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Southland Times, Issue 1629, 6 September 1872, Page 2

The Ball Committee and their emplojos were busily engaged yesterday in fitting up the Railway Station. The flooring was finished early in the afternoon, and the business of decoration commenced. What with flags, festoons of tastefully arranged foliage and colored drapery, the ball-room was rapidly assuming the " gay and festive" appearance appropriate to the occasion; and so far as it was possible to judge last niiiht, the arrangements appeared likely to reflect the highest credit on the taste and skill of the decorators. It is announced elsewhere that tickets must be procured from the stewards, as no money can be received at the doora. I

Among the sishts which holiday-makers today ought certainly not to forget, we must mention the Museum of objects of natural history, chiefly connected with New Zealand, which has just been opened by Mr Andrew M'Kenzie, in Dee-street. Mr M'Kenzie is an enthusiastic collector of curiosities, and has accumulated a most interesting variety of specimens of native birds and fishes, most of which are beautifully stuffed and preserved. The collection of fishes is particularly worthy of attention, nnd would alone well repay a visit. There are also a number of Australian birds and beasts. The objects are for the most part tastefully set up in glass cases, but the exhibition as a whole suffers sadly from want of space, for there are crowded into two small apartments enough objects of interest to furnish handsomely a large hall. It is to be hoped that Mr M'Kenzie will yet be enabled to see his way to remedy this defect, A meeting of the Railway Committee took place on Wednesday evening at the Provincial Hotel — Mr H. T. Ross in the chair — when tho final arrangements for the demonstration were discussed and completed. The order of the processisn was arranged as follows ; — The Volunteers, headed by the Band, to start from the Drill-shed at a quarter past eleven exactly, march down Dee street, and up the south side of Tay street to the Union Bank grounds, where the children will join in ; thence to the Oddfellows' Hall, where the members of that order will fall in, immediately behind the Volunteers ; thence through Jed-street to the north side of Eskstreet. the Sons of Temperance joining at the Temperance Hall, in rear of the Oddfellows ; thence to the Council Hall, where His Worship the Mayor and the members of the Council will take a position directly behind the Volunteers. The procession will then lead down Don-slreet to Dee-street, where the Municipal Fire Brigade will fall in between the children and the Sons of Temperance ; thence down Clyde-street to the scene of action in Tyne-s'reet, where the ceremony of turning the first sod will be performed by Hia Worship the Mayor precisely at noon. At the meeting of the Town Council last night, there was no business transacted, and the Council, after hearing the minutes of the previous meeting, agreed to adjourn till eleven o'clock to-day, for the purpose of joining the procession as it passes the Council Hall. We have received a note from Mr M'GKllivray, M.H.R. for Riverton, calling attention to the error in the telegraphic report of hig speech in the debate on Mr Stafford's resolutions, by which he was credited with Mr Bunny's remarks as well as his own. The mistake originated in the report furnished by the telegraphic agent in Wellington, and, as our readers are aware, it was acknowledged and explained by us in the issue following that in which it appeared. We are glad to learn that with the return of fine weather M'lntyre's Royal Mail Coach to Popotunoa will recommence running. An inquest was to be held yesterday at the Mataura Ferry on the body of Mr James Eocles, who left Messrs Campbell Brothers' station on the Mataura about three weeks ago, to go to their property on the Hokanub. He did not arrive at his destination at the time expecteJ, but it was supposed he had teen detained by the snow. The body was discovered a few days ago, the head injured, as it is supposjd, by a kick from a horse. The Treasurer to the Hospital reports his receipt of £2 os from the Mayor of Invercargill (being the surplus of the Greymouth relief fun J) on behalf of the institution. The first meeting of the Inveroirgill District Board was held at til?} Council Hall on Wednesday. Mr E. D. Butts was elected Chairman of the Board, and it was resolve! to advertise in the local papers for a competent person to act as collector, clerk, and valuator. The Board theu a ijourned til! Wednesday, the 18th inst. The nomination of candidates for the Waimatuku Subdivision of the Aparima Road District took place on Friday, 30th ult., at Flint's Bush. The following candidates were nominate 1 : — Messrs Peter M'Neil, William Lyon, John M'lntyre, Duncan Fraser, J. R. Stu<-k, and J. J. Boyd. Tho poll will bo taken on Monday, the 16th inst. The election of members for the Hokanui ' Subdivision of the Oreti Road Board District, held on the 27th ult., resulted in the return of Messrs Cuthbert Cowan, Archibald Campbell, and G. M. Bell. The election for tha Waiau Subdivision was held on the 27th, when Messrs John Morison, George Brown, and A. M. Clark [ were returned. The Returning Officer was Mr D. S. Lawlor. There was a large attendance at the nomination of candidates for the Winton Subdivision of the Makarewa Road District, whif.h was held in the schoolhouse at Winton on the 2nd inst. The following gendemen were duly proposed and seconded : — Messrs Thomas M'Lean, Walter Henderson, Malcolm M'Oonachie, Matthew Bennett, John Thomson, senr., George Crosby, William Keith, David Anderson, and John Thomson. Mr Longuet, the Returning Officer, having declared the dhow of hands to be in favor of Messrs M'Lean, Anderson, and Bennett, a poll was demanded, and appointed to take place in the schoolhouse on Monday, the 9th inst., between the usual hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednes- | day, before W. H. Pearson, Esq., J.P., William Thomson was fined ss, or twenty-four hours' I imprisonment, for being drunk and disorderly. A Licensing Court was held at Riverton on Wednesday last, Messrs H. M'Culloch, R.M., and J. Petchell, J.P., presiding. A publicau'a license was granted to Hugh Rice, of the Carriers' Arms, Palmerston-street, Riverton. At the meeting of tho Southland Waste Land Boacd on Tuesday, the Commissioner of Crown Lands and all the members were present. G. F. Richardson applied by letter to prevent the issue of Crown Grants for sections, 3, 4, and 6j Hokanui district, on the ground that the survey fees had not been paid. It was resolved that as the survey had been made under a private agreement between the surveyor and the purchaser, the Board could not interfere in the matter. Lewis Longuet applied for a lease of the two Islands known as Ruggedy Islands, with a portion Of tll6 land on the point facing the same on Stewart's Island, known as Smoky Cane, not exceeding B'J acres, in terms of the mineral clauses of the Southland Waste Lands Act, Amendment Act, 1867, for the purpose of searching for minerals, or protection for the same purpose, for 12 months. It was .resolved that protection be granted for six months from date.

Among the immigrants brought to Auckland by the ship Celestial Queen lately, were about 50 female servants, many of whom were engaged before landing, at wages of 15s a week, with board and lodging. The correspondent of a Hawke's Bay contemporary adds :— " Good judges reckon tbat from 250 to 300 more female servants would immediately find well-paid employment here. The new-comers, without exception, appear to be respectable and well-conducted j it must be admitted, however, that a few of them are rather unreasonable in their expectations. One lndy, who is known to be very kind and liberal to her servants, went to the immigrants' quarters to eng.jge a maid, but miss turned on her heel without further parley as soon as the lady mentioned she had six little ones. Another young lady declined to go to a goo. l place unless her friend were likewise hired as cook. These instances are given to show how some immigrants foolishly stand in their own light, instead of ' turning to' wifh a will." i The Otago Daily Times of Wednesday publishes the following telegram from London, dated 16th July, to Messrs G. G. Russell & Co. :— " Wool improved 21 for New Zealand since commencement of sales " Our renders (says the Otago Daily Times) will have noticed the announcement of the death, in the 62nd year of hi 9 age, of Mr George Green, well known here, and, by repute at least, all over the Colony, through his enormous land claims. Mr Green came from Sydney to New Zealand in 1833. He remained in the Colony for about a year, &nd was chiefly at the Bluff during that time. It was on that occasion that he made his large purchases from the Maories. These purchases were as follows : — Centre Island (o3" the Southland coast), 2000 acres, for £20 10s ; 20,000 acres, Stewart's Island, £30 10s ; 20,000 acres, Kowokapito Bay, £20 10s ; 109 acres, Bluff Harbor, £15 ; 1,000,024 acres, Mistaken Bay, West Coast, £200. He had also made purchases of land at Catlin's River, and bought the Quarantine Island in Otago Harbor. After leaving New Zealand, he went to Sydney. He commenced to ! prosecute his claims to these lands in 1840, being one of the first to Bubmit hia titles to the Government, but he could not get a Crowu Grant. He came back to New Zealand in 1858 or 1859 to prosecute his claims, which he had all along been urging. He returned to Sydney, and again came to New Zealand in 1860, and has remained here ever since. No Crown Grant or compensa« tion of any sort was ever given him on account of these purchases till about two years ago, when he received 5000 acres, in two blocks of 2500 acr s each. Ten of Mr Green's family survive him. In driving a tunnel at Reefton, a seam of coal 16 feet thick, and containing a good deal of pure rosin, was bored through . " Wanganui," according to the Herald, " is at the present time suffering from an unprecedented stagnation." The Auckland Harbor Board has decided to adopt a scheme for providing that city with dry dock and increased wharf accom aodation, at a cost of £120,000. A complimentary dinner was given in D'.inodin on the 29th ult., to Mr James Mills, manager of the Harbor Steam Company, by the captains, I officers, engineers, and clerks in the employ of the company. Referring to the ignonnce to ba fodn 1 in the bush, the Bishop of Bathurst, in an adJress on the Ist inst., is reported by a Melbourne paper to have said :— I have found children with no knowledge of the faith, and, in asking them simple questions on Scripture history, they have exhibited the most profound ignorance. As an example of the eitreme ignorance that i^ previlent, there was a young man in Bathurst Giol who had never hear.l of Go 1, and had not the slightest conceptioa of the diffdronoe between right and wrong ; so utterly unacquainted was he with these facts that I got him reprieved. In the remote regions of my district I have found people that did not know when the SaWb ith day came. I know that these incidents are calculated to raise a smile amongst the incredulous, but, to portray the figure more forcibly, I will relate to you two case 3of the greatest ignorance that came before me:—A shepherdess, taking advantage of my presence, asked me to marry her to her intended husband, and when I asked hes? for his name, she had to go and inquire. Another perßon had something written oq paper on his door, and, as he could not read it himself, he took the door down and carried it to Dubbo to get some one to read it to him. A short time ago an infant was suffocated at Ballarat, by a cat lying on its breast. The t reswick Advertiser states that a little child in that borough narrowly escaped the same fate lately. The animal, no doubt for the sake of companionship and warmth, was found reposing on the infant's bead and bosom. When this was discovered, the child was already black in the lace, but a timely warm bath averted death. From the Honolulu Commercial Advertiser of July 27 we clip the following :— " The general public are not perhaps aware that there has been a case in process of hearing for a number of days past, before Chief Justice Allen, at chambers. The title of the cause is "Ferdinand W. Hutchison, Minister of the Interior and President of the Board of Health, v. the gtcamer Nebraska, her tackle, apparel, and furniture." The information charges tbat the Nebraska was the " means of clandestinely introducing into thii Kingdom a contagious disease," known as the small-pox, in violation of the provisions of section 295 of the Civil Code. The points of law and argument are very ably presented by Colonel Jones, who concludes as follows : — 'The object of the Government, in this prosecution, is not so much the confiscation and sale of the vessel as the vindication of the violated laws ; therefore, if condemnation follow, it is in the power of the Government to remit the forfeiture, upon payment of the expenses of the proiecution, as is the custom in the United States in analogous cases. Vessels of great value, such as those in the Cunard line, have been condemned as forfeited, for violations of the revenue laws, but, through the Secretary of the Treasury, such forfeitures are generally remitted upon the payment of the value of the articles imported, the duties, and the expenses of prosecution. That course can be pursued in the case now t before the Court. On Wednesday, August 5, the preliminary iteps were taken to fix the legal responsibility of the introduction of the small-pox upon the steamship • Nebraska,' by a writ of attachment of the ship. The agents of the line gate the necessary bonds to answer." The export duty on gold has been reduced in Queensland to Is an ounce till July, 1873, when it will be 6d per ounce for the next jear, after which it ceasea altogether. |