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Southland Times, Issue 1648, 15 October 1872, Page 2

We have repeatedly called attention to the pressing necessity which exists for providing additional wharf accommodation at the 'Bluff. Sorac time ago tenders were invited by the Provincial Government for extending the wharf, but up to the present date we have not heard that the work has been let. It would seem as if the authorities in Dunedin did not realise the importance of the matter. It is difficult, upon any other grounds, to account for the cause of so much unnecessary delay. During the last wool season the accommodation was notoriously inadequate for the trade of the port, and since that time our i shipping business has extended in many different i I directions. We need only specially refer to the rapid growth of the timber trade, which has now | become a very important industry in Southland The number of sawmills in th.3 district is steadily increasing, and it is our duty to provide the necessary facilities for thi3 very satisfactory expansion of our commerce. How the railway authorities have hitherto managed bo well is indeed a marvel. It must have taxed their ingenuity to the utmost to conduct the trade at all satisfactorily with the limited moans at their disposal. However well they may haye succeeded in the past, it is almost certain that unless increased accommodation is speedily afforded there will be loud complaints during the wool season now fast approaching, and the port, which ought to be among the best in New Zealand, will fall into disfavor among shipmasters, to whom delay in getting cargo on board means serious loss of money. The unfortunate man, Michael Clear, who was tried at the District Court on Friday for attempted suicide, inflicted another wound on himself since his return to gaol, with a table knife, which he had temporarily secreted. The inj ury is understood to be but trifling. He is to be brought up for examination at the Resident Magistrate's Court this mornmi'. The fiat has gone forth against the goats, and our columns this morning bear testimony to the zeal with which the Inspector of Nuisances haa entered upon his duty. The owners of these useful though mischievous creatures ought to be aware that the regulations of the Municipal Council are very stringent with regard to animals which may be allowed to wander at large within the town, and heavy fines may be inflicted for their infringement. Late advices from the Manip->ri and Uppor Waiau state that the lambing, contrary to expectation, will be quite up to the average, and the grass is now well forward for the season. We understand that the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company have chartered a large ship to convey a cargo ol Southland produce from the Bluff to London. The vessel may be expected to arrive at the Bluff in about six weeks from this date. The erection of the telegraph line to Winton has now been commenced, and the work will no doubt be pushed on vigorously. The announcement calling for tenders for a post oifice and telegrap h station at Winton appears in this daj's paper. We understand that up to the present date, Messrs Brogden and Sons have sublet the construction of 21 miles of the Matuura railway. From a telegram receive 1 on Saturlay by Mr A. J. Smyth, from Messrs Brogden and Sons, we learn that that firm intends sending thirty single and seventeen married men of the immigrants expected by the Bebingtou (now due at Welling, ton) to Invercargill. They will be employed on the railway works of the Mataura line. We understand that the Railway Committee has undertaken to see to their reception and proper accommodation on arrival. The flax mill at D-icre, belonging to Mr Basstian, and rented by A£r U. T. Oullen, was totally destroyed by fire on the evening of the lOih. inst. The establishment consist© lof two buildings, containing two dressing machines, scutchers, press, driving gear, &c, together with about four tons of fibre, packed in readiness for sending away. The mill was usually kept working to a late hour at night, and the origin of the fire is no doubt attributable to carelessness on the part of some smoker in throwing away a lighted match. The property was totally uninsured, and the loss is estimated at £400. We regret that thia misfortune should have fallen upon Mr Cullen, who is one of the pioneers of the flax industr in Southland, and one who has persevered through many difficulties. It is satisfactory to be able to add that notwithstanding the heavy loss sustained by Mr Basstian, the proprietor, and Mr Cullen, the lessee, there is a prospect that operations will be resumed in about three weeks' time. At the usual meeting of the Southland Land Board on Friday, 11th, the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Messrs Dundas and M' Arthur were present. The application of John Thomson and Sons for 76 acres, section 21, block 8, Winton Hundred, was granted. A meeting of the Town Council was held last night, at w..ieli the Mayor and Councillors Lumsden, Tapper, Blaekwood, Jaggera, Goodwillie, Pratt, and Garthwuife were present. The Mayor announced that he had received a telegram from Mr Calder, stating that the Invercargill Special Rates Bill had been thrown out on the seconi reading. It was resolved that Mr Kingsland should be allowed eight days after the sale of the lease of section 11, block 5, to remove the fence, as he had been occupying the section by permission of the Superintendent. The report ol the Reserves Committee regarding the leasing of the town belt was adopted, recommending that the belt be leased by tender, either as a whole or in sections, for seven years, lessees to fence according to specification within twelve months, ancl lay down in grass within three years ; the Council to have a right to make hand-gates or turnstiles, aud pathways, and plant and fence trees ; no buildings to be erected by lessees ; and the Council to have the right to determine leases in three years, in which case compensation to be given for improvements. Councillor Jaggers moved : — " That this Council having taken into consideration the question of gas supply for the town, is of opinion that the Corporation should undertake the formation of a gas factory upon its owd responsibility ; and that a copy of this resolution bo sent to Mr

Stephen Hutchison, of Dunedin, and Mr A. J. Smyth." Councillor Blaekwood moved as an amendment — " That Mr Smyth's app'ication and the concessions he aa&3 be granted, with the exception that the Council decline to bind themselves to contract for the lighting of any 1 lamps by gas." For the amendment there voted Councillors Blaekwood, Tapper, and Garthwaite ; and against it Councillors .Taggers, Lumsden, Pratt, and Goodwillie. The amendment was consequently lost. Councillor Garthwaite then moved, also as an amendment — "That the Mayor be requested to call a meeting to express an opinion on the subj -ct," which was negatived on the voices. Councillor Jairgers's motion was then put, and carried on the voices. There is now every prospect (says a home paper) that the getting of coal by machinery will be more generally adopted than has hitherto been the case. At present it has only been adopted at a few places ; but a new machine, patented by Messrs Gillott and Copley, has just been tested . at the Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery, near Barns- ) ley, in the presence of a number of mining engineers from various parts of the kingdom, j and with, most satisfactory results. In 136 minutes a cank of coal 58 yards long, and four feet eight inches thick, was cut to a depth of three feet one inch. The quantity of coal so cut would be about 80 ton 3 in the time stated. In connection with coal machinery, a hydraulic coalI breaker, patented by Mr Clubb, of London, has just been very successfully tested at the Oaks Colliery, Barnsley. It brings down the coal in vast blocks, effecting a great saving by making little or no slack, as wedges and gunpowder make from 25 to 40 per cent. The owners of the Oaks Colliery are so satisfied with the machine that they have given orders for four of them. The Wellington Independent says : — After Mr Stafford had intimated that the Government would make no reply to Mr Vogel's speech, but would take a division at once, he changed his mind and rose to speak, after the voice 3 had been taken but not declared by the Speaker. Mr Yogel said " too late." The Speaker ruled that it was not too late, as he had not declared the result. Mr Stafford, thereupon, amidst mingled cheers and ironical cries of "Oh ! Oh !' was proceeding to speak, when the Government whip strodo up to him, and in joyous tones, loud enough to be heard in the gallery, exclaimed, " It's all right !" Mr Stufford then said " If the hon. gentleman (Mr Vogel> desires a division now, I shall not baulk him." The division was taken, and the result we know. The over-con-fLlence of the whip produced the shortest debate on a no-confidence motion that has ever been witnessed, we believe, in any Legislature, and effectually prevented any repetition of due or undue influence such as previous divisions have displayed, and of which we have probably not heard ihe last. The old Wakatip steamer was sold by auction at Q, leenatown on the sth inst., and realised £100. John Turnbull, Esq., of Tuturau, has been reappointed a Justice of the Peace for the Colony. The Dunedin Evening Star learns that His Honor the Superintendent, as soon as the resignation of the Stafford Ministry became known, offered to Mr Donald Reid to reinstate him in the ofllce of Provincial Secretary, from which he had been dismissed on liis acceptance of a portfolio in Mr Stafford's Cabinet. At Green Island, near Dunedin, a shaft is being sunk some 200 feet in order to reach a seam of coal which it is proposed to work. During the quarter ended 30th September last the arrivals at Port Chalmers were 561, and the departures 293, thus leaving a balance in favor of immigration of 263 souls. At a meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, j held in Dunedin on the lOtli inst., protection was granted to Mr Andrew Thompson for a period of six months to prospect for coal between Trig. Station G. and South H^ad, Waikava, on condition that he did not interfere with prior pro-•pecto-s. Mr Longuet's application to purchase land in the Tois Tois district, said to be auriferous, was declined. The annual exhibition of the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association takes place on the 23rd inst. A £53 Cup is to be given for the largest prizotaker in the Merino Classes, and a £20 Cup for Draught Stock. The Ballarat Star has been shown " a lump of black, exceedingly moist, and soap-like wocd, taken from bluestone in the Guiding Star Company's claim, Sebastopol, at the depth of 452 feet from the surface. The wood, which is thoroughly decayed, and when touched with the fingers soils like black moist chalk, forms the lower part of a tree standing vertically in the bluestone, and measuring at the butt 3 feet in diameter. The tree is hollow for 100 feet in height, and it is not known how tall it is. It i 3 surrounded everywhere with blupstone, and s mked with water. Judging from the lump of wood ehown us, it is impossible to tell of what species the tree has been, but when it has been thoroughly deesica'ed, possibly some idea may be formed as to its place in Australian phytology." A Parliamentary return informs us that from 1853 to 1872 (both years included) thia Colony expended in Native and Defence services no less a sum than £4,327,353 ; for Native £673,029, and for Defence £3,654,339. The expenditure out of revenue was £L,59i,782 ; and out of loan £2,735,576. Many miners, it is said, are still leaving the Otago Goldfiolls for Port Darwin and Charters Towers, notwithstanding the unfavorable nature of the intelligence received from those localities. The Llanberis Company, Ballarat, crushed 3000 tons of quartz, averaging only 2dwts 4§grs per ton, and yet made a profit of £150. The Wellington Independent suggests that the tombstone of the latest Stafford Ministry might bear the following inscription, to delight the eyes of some future Old Mortality of politics : — Sic Jacet The Staffobd Superintend entali Minister. Aged 28 days 20 hours.