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Southland Times, Issue 1628, 3 September 1872, Page 2

The arrangements for the celebration, of- the turning- of the first sod of, the MU t a ur,a .railway on Friday- are ' reported to' be" in a forward state. All the school children of Invercargill and the neighborhood are invited ■- to asseniSle in the Union Bank.groands -in- Tay^ street at .11. o'clock for the purpose of joining tho procession. It is intended to give them a treat in the shape of tea and games after the ceremony is performed — A performance in the 'theatre, by' the Dramatic Ciub, is announced to take place in th'a eveningFlint's coach from Kingston was upset on Friday" night about six miles from his accommo-dation-house. Fortunately none of the passengers were hurfc. The horses got away, and ' were not recovered till next morning. ' * ; Donald Morrison, now awaiting trial for the manslaughter of John Simmons, according to the verdict of the Coroner's Jury, was further charged 'by the .. £oli(!8 .with -the wilful murder of the same person. Th 6 enquiry was held in ~ tlie * gaol, before H. M'Culloch, Esq, R.M. „Mr Wade appeared for the accused. No new facts were elicited,' with ' the exception of the evidence so* Constable Tuohy; 'who Stated that Morrison' had admitted to" him- that he had struck the deceased with a waddy when he would not leave the house. Morrison was committed for trial on thia charge also. : . . • . •: • . The efforts of those gentlemen -who have been exerting themselves to get the new Waihopai bridge built in the proper place on the road line, have been so far successful that orders have been' received to stop the -work in the meantime, until Mr Barr, the chief engineer, reports ' on the proposed alteration in the - plans. Our readers will-be glad to observe froth' ah advertisement in this : issue, by Messrs J. and N. Campbell, that the work, on the. Mataura Railway has actually been commenced at EJendale. The Messrs Campbell invite their old hands to return, as they can offer steady' employment for a lengthened period. ■ ■ The announcement in the News of Saturday that Mr Turnbull, of Tuturau, had been g;izctted r a Justice of the Peace for the Colony, outfit to have been that that gentleman's resignation of his appointmenfe'had been, accepted, as notified in the Gtazetfee of the 22nd ult. At the meeting of tho District Waste Land Board on Fricay there were present Messrs Pearson, Baker, and M'Arthur. A letter was read from J. A. Ross, stating that the improvement on section 21, block 4, Campbelltown Hundred, had been valued at £209, but that he would ba willing to accept one-half of that sum in event of the land being sold, allowing ,the other half to go as rent for the time he had been in occupation. The Board, after consideration, decided to throw the land open for sale at the up3et price of £1. per acre, subject to a valuation for improvements of £2 10s per acre, or £95 in all. The application of John M'Lean "for a sawmill license of 100 acres^ in Seaward Bush, witn 3 JO acres reserve, and right of making a tramway into the samo from Woodend township, was granted, subject to the usual conditions, the propoao.l tramway line to be surveyed. ' I

I The following letter has bsen handed to us for publication by Mr Thompson : — University Laboratory, Dunedin, 25th Aug., 1572. Dear Sir, I have to report on three samples of store from the Mataura, brought to the Laboratory by the Eev. Father Carden, from you. No. 1, a greyishyellow sandstone, very hard, compact., smallgrained. The cementing matter, being .gilicious, gives the stone the property of great durability and the power of -resisting long the'diaintesrating action of the weather. Its hardness will make it, however, difficult to work. It is, I should think, excellently ad.iphed Tor ordinary building purposes, and especially for heavy work, in which it could be need in lftrge blocks. No. 2. a greenish sandstone, softer than No. 1, less silicious, the binding material being mere oxide of iron, therefore uot so compact nor so durable as No. 1. It ia, however, more easily workoJ, and is well adapted foe ordinary building purposes. Being more porous than No. 1, it would i admit moisture, and the oxygen and carbonic acid of the air more readily, and is not therefore so. reliable as : the former. No. 3(a soft'clay-stone) is too soft apparently for extensive use in building. The sample is, however, too small to afford fair grounds on which to found, a .reliable estimate of its capabilities/ If ; it ihardens: on 'exposure, it should form a useful stone, but not for roofing purposes, as the cleavage is very imperfect. Pressure of work must be pleaded for delay in reporting on these specimens. I am,&C, JAME3 'Or. Black. The following letter was read at tho last meeting of the Town Council; — Invercargill, 29th 'August, 1872. To His Worship the Mayor. Sir, lam instructed by .Mr A; J. Smyth to make an offer to construct gas works, for supplying the town of ' Invercargill with gas, on the following terms. I—The1 — The contractor to get at his own expense land ! on which to build the necessary gas works. 2 — The contractor to procure and supply all necessary plant of every description ; the same to be of good and efficient materials. 3 — The contractor :to supply gas to the' citizens, as private consumers, at a. price, not tip exceed seventeen "shillings" and' sixpe'rice per thousand cubic feet. 4 — To grant to the contractor the solo and exclusive right of supplying the city with gas for a period of sayeighteeri^ months,, after completion of the works. s—The5 — The contractor to be allowed to open up streets arid thoroughfares for laying main 3 and services, such openings to be closed and made good within ' twenty-four hours of opening/ to the satisfaction of tho Town Surveyor.' "6. -— Tile' Gorlpo.ratibn- to'have riotleas .than thirty ! lamps lighted, at a price not to exceed ten pounds per lamp per annum. 7 — The Corporation, at any time afte^r completion of. the worl^,, to have the option of' purchasing the whole' of the landswprks >: ahd plant,- at a valuation. In the event of the Municipal Council declining to accede to the foregoing proposal as it stands, but being willing " to consent to a modification of the same, I would .be glad to receive a proposal, from thorn to submit to my client.— l have,.&c, pro F. W. Wade, P. M'Ewait. The nomination of candidates for the Wallacetown subdivision of the JMakarew.i RoaJ took place afthe 'schbolhouse, Wallacetown, on Friday- last. There was a large attendance, and ' the meeting was very animated. Mr Longu;t, Returning Officer for the District, presided. Tb.3 following gentlemen were duly propose 1 and. -aaoiirxdorl.-^Ma^ro TU: "nM 'Crumble, Jama 3 - BJakie, Archibald Cameron, Alexander Hamilton, John Crjvin, arid Colin Gray. The show of hands was declared in favor of Messrs Trumble, Blakie, and Hamilton. A poll was then demanded on > behalf of the other candidates, and it was ani riounced that- the '■.polling /would be .held at the schoolhouse on Saturday, 7th September. The following Road District elections were held liistweek VMr Nutter. Returning Officer. Fjr the Lothian Subdivision of the Oterainika Road , District , on 23th August, at Morton Mains, Messrs Thomas Brydon, William Daw3on,. junr., and Andrew Riddell were returned without opposition. In the Waimumu Subdivision of theLindhurst District, Messrs Thomas M'Gibbon, John Elliott, and Thomas Brydon were also returned without opposition, on 29;h August. The election ,wa3 held in the Mataura .Bridge Hotel. For the Mabel Subdivision of the same District, Messrs W. D. Basstian, James Allen, and Alexander M'Donald were similarly elected, .on the 30th, at the house of Mr Mor ton, Mabel "Bush. For the One Tree. Point Subdivision of the Oterainika District, the nomination was held on Tuesday, 27th Aug., and four candidates were nominated, viz., Messrs Joseph Ly'.e, Proctor Nicholson, Thomas Denniston, and John Brown. The show of hands being in favor of the three first-named gentlemen, a poll was demanded on behalf of Ml- Brown, and will take r pl -ice at the house of Mr'Dennisfcdri; on Tuasday, 10th mst. The nomination for the Myross Subdivision of the Lindhurst District toot place on Saturday, 3Lst August, at the house -of Mr F. Calvert, Roslin Plains, and six . candidates were proposed, viz., Messrs Thomas Marshall, Robert Hamilton, Douglas Watson, Thomas M'Math, "William Halliday 1 ,- and Benjamin Bain. The... show of hands being in favor of the three former, a poll was demanded on behalf of Mi* M'llath, and was appointed to take place on Thursday, the 12th insfc: In the course of the debate on Mr Stafford's resolution, Mr Collin3 referred to" a return showing the amount expended by Government in advertising, with the view; of proving that those journals which were understood to support the Ministry had been unduly favored. The two Tnvercargill paper 3 were not quoted by him, but we are now enabled to supply the omission, as follows :— Southland Times, £52 ; Southland News, £68. Who would have thought it ! The News, after all, appears to have been regarded by the Ministry. as their special friend in Southland, if there is anything in Mr Collins's idea. . A meeting of the shareholders in the quartz claim at the Inangahua, .known as the Golden Fleece, was held at Kilgour's Hotel, Grey ofiouth, on the 17th ult., when a dividend -of £549 lls lOd per full share was declared. It was stated at the meeting that the reef varies in 'thickness from sft. to 13ft., and that the stone can be raised ab tho rate of 12s 6d per ton. It was arranged that the future working of "the mine should be done by contract, if that plan -were fou"udto;be more economical than the 'present method. * : A great many lambs died in the Tokomairiro i district during the recent snow-storm, which has now abated,, and stock of all kinds which had been exposed to it iv the paddocks had suffered I severely-

The doctors' strike at S uvl hurst (Victoria has been terminated by a compromise. For the sum of twenty shillings per^hsad per annum the members of the benefit societies -'of Sandhurst can now be drugged and doctored to their hearts' content. The annual report of the Board of Visitors to the Melbourne Observatory states that the number of stars observed ajt that establishment had been i 8.672, b\it the number reduced was only 36,917, from the want' of adequate assistance. The Auckland correspondent of a contemporary gavß : _Tli3 N.Z. Herald is wroth with the Southern Cross re an article headed " Exposure of the so-called debate on the Sari Francisco mail service." It will be remembered that the " debate" referred to was first published in this colony by the Herald, .and how it was immediately afterwards telegraphed (at great expense) to the Otago Daily Times. Here, after the " debate" appeared in the Herald, a great many people , seemed to ' think there was something rather suspicious in the hasty manner used in transmitting the saii debate ' southwards ; eventually it transpired that the apocryphal debate was forwarded from San Francisco in manuscript, and when this circumstance became known, it was common to hear people say, " If all was fair and aboveboard, why was manuscript sent when it would have been easier and cheaper to forward an American newspaper containing the debate iv full. The Herald now states that its San Francisco agents have been instructed to make enquiries. The general impression here seems to be that it would have been better, in the first place, to have exercised a little more caution, and that the sooner this strange business .is satisfactorily cleared up the better it will ; be for the credit of Auckland. ; ;-A contemporary says : — The Maori Representation Act of 1867, limited its own duration to a period' of five years, such- limitation, of course, not to prejudice the retention of their seats by the members already elected, till vacated by resignation or-dissolution of Parliament. The Renewal Act, reported in our, telegrams as having been introduced into the House of Representatives,' is thus only to enable the native members to be re-elected, or others to ba elected in their places, should any of such contingenc'e3 as those referred to be realised. It is worthy of remark as a public recognition of the success of the experiment of native representation as to which so many doubts were expressed on its initiation. : It is expected (says .a Northern, paper)' that the usual grant of £28,000 made by the G-aneral Assembly for Militia and -Volunteers, will be reduced ■= this y-session to -. i such r .an. extent. as to vii > t*uaHy"]3'ur < a"h v eri"i to the" "Volunteer movement throughout .Sew Zealand. .:;;>•.!:;•. j Under the bead " Coal Fields," we find the following in the Public Works Statement made by Mr Ormond : — •" The immediate necessity.jfor the development. of the coal fields -of .the whole Colony is i'uliy recognised by the Government, i and will receive earnest attention. I will take an ea-ly opportunity of bringing this subject more fully before the House." At the meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, held in Dunedin on the ' 28th ult., six months' protection was granted to Thcophilua Daniel to prospect the shores I of Milford Sound .for minerals, from J Ann's Point to Hnrris"jh"3~t/Jve"r~'JUJsß3"rs~i3fj r oTii~ana-ciuij-Instone and Co., Paterson, M'Leol and Pollock, M'Dennid r M'Leod and Howorth, applicants for mineral'leases at Bligh's Sound, did not appear.. The export duty on gold has been reduced in Queensland to Is an ounce till July, 1873, . w . Q . 8n i -it-will be 6d per ounce for" the next year, -after which it ceases altogether. I am just listening (says the Wellington correspondent of a Hawke's Bay paper) ■■ to Mr Murray' (member for Bruce) talking to a; miserable an ay of empty benches on the subject of tho G-01l Mining Act, and am compelled to speculate upon the question as to how many or how few members in Parliament really possess any weight or influence. Yesterday, when speaking to Mr O'Neill's motion for an additional representative being given to the Thames, Mr Gisborne said it was unadvisable to increase the strength of the House ; not only do I agree with the Colonial Secretary, but I would even go further and suggest : that.the number should be decreased. Look down the list of the members of the Hous?, and strike out all those of no weight; or standingi and you will quickly find that tha colony would not lose by 25 or 30 of them being struck off the roll. The expense of the sessions would be less, the ■'honorarium would be 'smaller; the duration of Parliament would be shorter, the expense of printing returns, and /' Hansard" would be about half what, it. is at present, (for the most useless men talk the moat, arid' call for the most voluminous returns) and business would be more promptly transacted. Negotiations are being carried on to secure the opening of a telegraph station at Popotunoa. Fish are reported to be very scarce about Port Chalmers at present. Some of the fishermen complain that the scarcity is owing to the practice of netting small fry which ought to escape until they attain a good size for market. The Fiji correspondent of the Southern Cross says : — " Unquestionably in Fiji the. unprincipled canaille are the only people who are securing monetary wealth, since integrity and righteous principles are at a fearful discount, and wickedness ot the worst type is at a premium." The same writer says that " the roll of magistrates contains the names of many persons who have suffered shorter or longer /terms of; imprisonment in one or more o£ Her .-Britannia Majesty's gaols." According to the Natal Colonist, the site for the grand stand- at a race meeting held at the diamond fields fetched £920, and on the following day no less than 3000 tickets for seats thereon were sold without difficulty at one guinea apiece. The manufacture of umbrellas has been commenced'at Nelson. jr.fSawn timber. (DJ.Z.) is quoted at from 15s to 465. per 100, .feet in Timaru, and firewood at £2 15s, per cord. In the course of a speech delivered by the Rev. T. Norrie at a soiree held at Waikato, the rev. gentleman^ is reported to have said that "he would congratulate the people'of Waikato on the establishment of a newspaper in the district. It had been said, arid he thought to a great extent the saying was a true one, that if a man read his newspaper and his Bible he was educated." The criminal prosecutions and payment to uirors cose" the Government of the Colony for the financial year 1870-71, £7407 3s 7d.

Tiie Ballarafc Hangers (says the Star) are establishing an institution in connection with their Orderly-room, to he called v The;" BaUarat^ Rangers' Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Club." A reading-room, which will be supplied with the daily newspapers, and eventually a library, containing military literature, and works on kindred subjects, will be features of the movement, and these will be open five nights a week to all members of the corps. Classes for elocution and music will also be established, in order that amateur entertainments may be given by the members, and so make the institution selfsupporting. It would appear— says a Canterbury, paper — that there is a probability of the skinß of wild pigs being turned to a profitable account. We are informed by Mr L. C. Williams, the manager at the Teviofcdale Station, Waipara, that Borne men who were deatrojing wild pigs on that station, lately disposed of between two and three hundred skins, or more properly speaking, hides, to a firm in Christchurch, at a very remunerative price — the men are not desirous of the exact 1 price being made public. These hides are just roughly salted. We understand that the men who were killing at Teviotdale, have just taken a contract from Mr Moore, of G-lenmark, <to destroy a considerable ' number of pigs on that property, with a view of obtaining skins, as .well -_ as the usual price per tail. At the annual meeting of the Caledonian Company, held at Auckland, on 28th August, it_wa» • stated that the tailings were valued at£l2,ooo; and there was also a balance in the bank' of £10,000, while the value of the machinery "and works was estimated at £50,000. The dividends paid during the year amountei to £154,410. The quantity of atone crushed was 15,777 tons, yielding 73,732 ounces of gold. An Auckland telegram of 28tn AugusT^aifeß that the Pri'ma Dohna had reVurhsd from her cruise after the missing mission schooner Southern Cross. ' It appears ;that the. Southern Cross had arrived at Norfolk Island two days after the letters from thence about her had been despatched to Auckland. She haJ gone on another cruise to the F.orida and other islands, where she was peaceably received. The missionaries were well. Mr Casey, the Victorian Minister of Lands, in a late speech in the Legislative Assembly, sai 1 :— From a return which he had asked Mr Byron Moore to prepare for him, he found that the number of squatters' hoUing^, embracing Crown and purchased lands, was 97 1-, with an are^a of 30,298,105 acres ; the number of farmers and smaller selectors was 33,196, and the area- in their hands 7,787,097 acres,- or something les3 than a fourth of the territorial area held by the squatters. But while the squatters had only 20,000 horses, the fanners had 161,000} and while the squatters had 162,000 cattle, the farmers had 635,000. In sheep, the squatters beat the farmer*", having .6,187,000 to -their 3 804,000, but. whereas it topk 4-9 acres of squatting land to keep a sheep, it only took 2 acres of selected land. The Hokitika Coal Prospecting Association have received (says the Time?) a very favorable report from the manager of the coal mine. The shaft, on the new seam, which is now, bsini sunk, is 37 ft. down, and the coal seam, which was 7ft. 7in. on the surface, is increasing in thickness and in quality. The firat seam tried, showel a depth of 77ft. and a thickness of Bft. 6in., as measured by Mr ]VlueU"er7"c;mei-ourrcsjur. — 0~..*i~ — : — — tion have now, in two seam?,.a thickness of 16ft. of coal. It is said that there are several other seams cropping out on the surface, and that the association intend trying more of them by. sinking shifts. ■ " - The Lyttelton Times of .the 19th says: — Fri.lay, the 16th August, was the thirty- second anniversary of the arrival of the Frenph. settlers at Akaroa. On the 16th of August, 1840, the ship Count de Paris landed her passengers at Akaroa, in weather very similar to what has been experienced during the last few days, snow and blow were then— as they have just nsw been— going it. the hills b-nn- then, as now, covered with" winter's pure mantle." In honor of the day, flags were hoisted at the different places of business and hotels, and in the evening a ball and supper took place at Waeckerle's Hotel.