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Southland Times, Issue 1610, 26 July 1872, Page 2

The Tararua, which was expected to arrive at the Bluif from Dunedin on Tuesday last, met with an accident to her steering-gear, which might have proved serious, but for the timely assistance rendered by the Alhambra, which took the disabled vessel in tow, and brought her back to Port Chalmers, about one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon: The Northern mails, which had been shipped by the Tararua, were expected to have been brought on by the Storm Bird, but owing to the stupidity, or carelessness, or both, of the Postmaster at Dunedin, that vessel arrived without them. When we consider that the Tararua returned at one o'clock, and the Storm Bird did not sail till seven, and that all the trouble re« quired on the part of that worthy functionary was simply to telegraph to Port Chalmers, authorising their transhipment, it will be seen that his conduct fairly deserves to be characterised as culpable negligence. We hope that some notice will be taken of the matter by tho authorities at head-quarters, as we have had repeatedly to complain of similar acts of neglect on the part of the same official, who seems utterly unfit for the responsible position he is permitted to occupy. The Invercargill Band of Hope meetings were recommenced in the Temperance Hall last night, when the Rev. Mr Stobo delivered an appropriate address. Mr M'Arthur, M.P.C. for Makarewa, has been invited by a number of his Winton constituents to meet them this evening at a complimentary dinner, to be given at Mr White's Railway Hotel, when it is expected that Mr M'Arthur will give some account of the history of the lato session of Provincial Council, as regards the action taken in matters more especially of Southland interest. Many of our readers will learn with deep regret that the telegraphic intelligence received by last Californian mail announced the death, on 16th June, of Dr Norman Macleod, widely known as the editor of Good Words. Dr Macleod was for more than twenty-five years minister of the Barony parish, Glasgow, and latterly one of Her Majesty's chaplains for Scotland. The Queen, it iB said, regarded him as a private friend, and trusted much in his good sense and sterling piety. Dr Maeleo J was distinguished among his Presbyterian brethren by ihe liberality of his VICWS, arid i~'a laTve-V^ 0 -"**^^ mid non-eccfcarjan Christianity. He was one of those men who leave a mark on their generation, and of few can it be eaid that their influence was more entirely for good. As a writer for the young, Dr Macleod has never been surpassed, and the ticings of his death will be heard with sorrow in mauy a household, where his " Good Words" and " Good Words for the Young" were a monthly source of never-failing deli_ht. We have been shown by Mr M'Callum, of Seaward Downs, a sample of European flax, growa by him in that locality. The specimen has been pronounced by a competent judge to show a very fine staple, and unusually long and sound fibre, thus proving beyond a doubt that this valuable plant can be cultivated to perfection in this climate. Would it not be worth the while of some of our farmers to make the experiment on a small scale ? We believe the Tararua left Port Chalmer s last night about ten o'clock. A specimen copy of a proposed new work, entitled " An easy method to learn French without a master," ha 3 been submitted for our inspection by Mr L. Rodgers, the agent for Southland, who is desirous of obtaining subscribers' names for the work, which is to be published in Melbourne if sufficient support is received. From the specimen pages, which we have examined, the book will be well adapted for accomplishing the object intended. Mr John Brown being the winner of the first prize given for double-furrow ploughs at the Western District ploughing match, held at Flint's Bush on Friday last, becomes the first winner of the handsome silver cup presented by Mr 0. Basstian to the Association on the occasion of its last annual meeting. The cup becomes the property of the fortunate individual who first succeeds in winning it three times, though not necessarily in succession. We have been requested to state that the followiug memorial to the General Government will shortly be circulated for signature : — That we (the memorialists) consider that an increase of the rural population ia urgently required for the welfare of the District, and that there aro many parts of the country which are admirably adapted for agricultural settlement. That we also believe that the ecclesiastical institutions of the United Kingdom are well adapted to supply the best class of emigrants with all the necessary information. We therefore earnestly request that surveys of farms and townships should be made in localities that can honestly be recommended to the prudent immigrant, such as the Aparirna, Jacob's River, and Mataura ; that such sections should only be given to actual residents on a system of deferred payments, and that maps should be freely supplied to the parochial clergy of England and Scotland, with as much local information as possible, together with the names and addresses of the ministers of the various religious denominations. A meeting of the Presbyterian congregation at Long Bush was held in the schoolhouse on Thursday evening last, the Rev. Mr Alexander presiding. After the financial statement of the past year was read, the meeting proceeded to take into consideration the necessity of having a church erected to accommodate tho people of the district. Mr Alexander having made a fow remarks on the subject, it was proposed and carried, " That this meeting considers that tho time has now arrived

when a suitable place of worship should be erected to meet the requirements of the district, and that the manse ground, being land belonging to the church, aud centrally situated, be the site for the same." A building committee w.t.s thereafter elected to carry out the object. At the meeting of the District Waste Land Bo;ir.i on Tuesdar, t-hero were pr^si'.nt (ho Commissioner of Crown Lands and Mi- M*'A.rflmi\ Section M, block 8, Jacob's "Rirer Hundred, containing 7 acres 3 roods 14 p.iles, applied fov | by James Fullarton, and having been advertised I for a month, wa? sold by auction t> Mr Fullarron at 40s per acre, there being; no competition. Mr Roche, through his solicitor, Mr W.vle, presented a petition from 26 miners and settlers, praying that two sections purchased by Mr Joseph Rogers in 18f59, ba withdrawn from sale, on the grounJ that they contained tlie only valuable timber in the district. Mr Roche appeared personally, and supported the petition by evidence to the effect that the bush in question wag urgently required , for public use. It was resolved to defer further consideration of the matter until a quorum of the board could be obtained, but in the meantime it was intimated that the only question which could now be entertained was whether the land had been surveyed strictly in accordance with the original application or not. At a meeting of the Waikiwi School Committee, held on Wednesday evening last, Mr A. Macdonald was elected teacher in pursuance oi recommendation to that effect by the Board of Education. The following gentlemen have been elected Mayors of the several municipalities mentioned : — Dr Wait, Oamaru ;Mr Goodall, Milton ; Mr Herbert, Lawrence ; Mr Fraer, Cromwell ; and Mr T. S. Pratt, Hawksbury West. A private letter, published by the Otago Daily Times, gives the following amusing account of " Vaccination from the Heifer," as practised in Auckland: — "Attracted by the glowing descriptions in thejpapers, I found myself, with forty or fifty others, at Dr W.s, waiting my turn to be vaccinated. The Doctor's houso is a remarkably nice one, and the garden and grounds among the best in Auckland. The Doctor was one of the lucky Caledonian holders, remarkable for the tenacity with which he stuck to his shares, and the readiness .with which in adverse times he paid up his calls. Now he has his reward, and has become a great public benefactor, by purchasing heifers, vaccinating them from the human subject, and then re-vaccinating from them. Of course it was necessary to make a small charge to cover the loss in re-Belling these heifers, as the newspapers put it, which small charge the doctor has fixed at ss. On my visit the scene was curious. A heifer tied to the verandah post and surrounded with iron hurdles. Inside the hurdles the doctor with two assistants, and hanging over the hurdles an array of arms, white, black, and whitey brown. Outside the hurdles, the owners of the said arms — men, women, and children, of all ages, sexes, class, and color. Oq the verandah a crowd waiting its turn, and a gentleman with a small table registering names and taking fees. In a corner another small crowd clustered round a young lady who had fainted under the excitement of the process. What is doing at Dr W 's is only a sample of what may be seen at tho house oi e-rery medical man in town, excepting in some cases tlie heifer, which, is neglected by those who have greater faith in the arm to arm process. This small-pox fright will s on wear itself out, but it is a sad pity the disease has been introduced ; and there is a strong feeling to prosecute those whose false declaration alone made the introduction possible." In a lecture delivered recently to the Young Men's Christian Association of Auckland, Mr T. B. Gillies' s-iid : — This brings me to my moral, that if you want better laws and better made, you must select your legislators better. You must select men who know the wants and requirements of the community — men who, knowing these, have no greater wants and requirements of their own of greater personal importance — and, if you can get them, men of trained cultivated minds, who can, even if they cannot speak, put laws in such a shape that even lawyers cannot pick holes in them." A civil servant having written to Mr D. M, Luckie, M.H.R. for the city of Nelson, asking him to " use his influence" with the Ministry in obtaining an advance of salary for the applicant, Mr Luckie replied as follows : — " I should be glad legitimately to assist deserving public officers ; but I already find myself receiving so many applications of this kind, all based on an iina-gina-y ' influence' of mine with the Ministry, that I am compelled to decline all such action as that you desire. You will not fail to perceive that (even did this fancied influence really exist), for ! either myself to exert, or the Ministry to be moved by it, or to act in the direction indicated, unless on the basis of service and abilities, irrespective of applications from any member of the Legislature, such a course would, in my opinion, be an improper exercise of a member's influence, and of the powers of the Administration. It is presumed that the officers having the management of departments, are both just in their dealings with, and recommendations of, the officers under them, and that they take the necessary trouble to ascertain their deserts and capabilities, according to the rules of the public service. In casea where injustice is done, there is always power of representation and appeal. But to my mind, unless such cases are made out, and just appeals neglected, it is no part of a representative's duty to exercise intuence, real or imaginary, with members of the Ministry in the manner you propose. A representative has other work to perform than, on the strength of his personal acquaintance with any offijer like yourself, to recommend additions to the civil expenditure, while ignorant, as almost always he must be, of the real business merits of the case." Under the heading "An Interval of Twenty Years," the Nelson Examiner writes on the occasion of receiving the first direct telegrams : — A correspondent refers un to the Examiner of July, 1852, which announced the arrival in Nelson of the ship Persia, from London, after a passage of 155 day?, " with latest English dates." in our columns to-day will bo fouud tho Grst through telegram from England, giviug English dates only nineteen days old. Business in Oamaru, according to the local journal, " is nearly suspended, from tho state of the roads." According to a statement mado by some of the Tauranga natives, Te Kooli is quietly engaged in I organising a fresh force.

It will be observed from a notice in our advertising columns that the half-yearly meeting of tho Invercargill District ol" Oddfellows takes place this evening. '