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Southland Times, Issue 1652, 22 October 1872, Page 2

At the meeting of the Southland Waste Land Board on Friday, there were present tho Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Messrs Dundas and M'Arthur. The application of Jamas Inglis Boyd, for 185 acres, sections 39 and 45, block 11, Jacob's River Hundred, was granted. The application of Mathew Holme*, to have a peat bog on run 181, which had been excluded from the area of the run at the request of the former lessees, added to the license, as it had been foun I necessary to fence round it, was granted. On the application of Peter M'Knlar, tha temporary reserve on sections 320 and 321, run 207, was removed, and it was resolved that the sections should be advertised as open for application. It was resolved to make a temporary reserve of 900 acres on run 207 b, adjoininj the boundary of run 207. The settlers of Druid's Grove and the surrounding district held their school soiree on Friday evening last, 18th inst., in the schoolhouse,Druid's Grove. The gathering was intended as a celebration of the anniversary of the opening of the school, and in honor of the occasion, all, or nearly all, of the inhabitants within a reasonable radius must have gathered together to make up the concourse at the try sting placo. The school itself was not large enough to seat the guests, and consequently tea had to bo taken in relays. As the need of one set was supplied, another set came on, and the ladies found abundant provision for all coiners. After the clearing of the tabtes, Mr M"Ma£h (chairman of bho school committee) was called on to preside, and the teacher (Mr White) presented the financial report of the committee, with his own report as to the educational position of the district, which was highly satisfactory on tho points of attendance and progress, but not exactly so as to finance, there being a small debt reported. After some excellent addresses by the Roys. Messrs

Westbrook aud Rishworth, and Messrs Andrew Fleming, W. Russell (Invercargill), and Thomas Perkins, with a song and recitation by Mr White, a collection to wipe off the debt was made in the room, which resulted in clearing off the liability of the committee. The thanks of the meeting being accorded to the lady contributors, a re eponse on their behalf wa? m ide in a humorously effective " anner by Mi* H. Pay, from Woodlands. The whole affair was well got up, and afforded evident satisfaction to all concerned. A One Tree Point correspondent writes: — The last of the series of popular entertainments came off in the schoolroom here on the evening of Friday, llth, and from the number in attendance, and the excellence of tbe performances, it fully equalled any of its predecessors. Mr Brown (chairman of the school committee) presided, and in the course of the evening read one of Mrs Caudle's famous " Curtain Lectures." Although a bachelor, and having never tasted the sweets of such tokens of conjugal affection, he read it very well, considering that he did so from an imaginary standpoint. Mr Warden, who deserves honorable mention for the zeal he has displayed in the promotion of these social meetings, read «' Selling Chickens to the Legislature," and " Handy Andy's Mistakes." aud contributed two songs, "The Spruce Linen Draper," and Sf Vegetable Pills." " A Scotch Tea-party," and "Finisher of the Law," by Mr M'Leay, were well received. Selections from " Marmion," by Mr Birch, though of a higher standard, were duly appreciated, and Mrs Smith's rendering of one of Caudle's " Curtain Lectures" was felt by the audience to be a very strong blast against tobacco smoke, and not a whit stronger than such poison deserves. " Logic o' Buchan" and " Dobbin Gray," by Mr M'Leay, " The Pride of Glencoe" and the JEttriek Shepherd's charming ditty, " When the Eye come Hame," by Mr Craig, " My am Fireside," " The Cottage by the Sea," and *' Her bright Smile hauu s me Still," by Mr William Christie, were all sung with credit to the singers and enjoyment on the part of the audience. Not the least interesting part of the programme consisted in recitations by Miss and Master Smith, and " Annie Lyle" by Master Warden, who acquitted themselves wonderfully well, and were rewarded with the applause of the audience. The singing of the national anthem brought this interesting and successful series of entettainmenta to a close for the season. 'Hie Provincial Government Gazette contains a notification to the effect that the Revs. W. F. Oldham and C. S. Ross, and Messrs D Murchie, R. Rocke, B. Bailey, and G. Reid, junr., have b2en appoiuted Managers of the Riverton Cemetery. At the meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, held in Dunedin on the 16th inst., Messrs Henry Wilson, David Lamb, and Thomas Hunter, miners, complained that Mr M'Arthur, of Waikaka station, had closed the road from Waikaka to Swi'zers and Teviot, ani had thereby shut up the only available timber in the district. They stated that Mr M'Arthur assigned as a reason that the road passed through his pre-emptive section. The matter was referred to the Warden to report upon. The reason for the ch.mge wliich was mide a short time ago in the colors of the virious New Zealand posrage st imps is thus explains 1 iii the report on tlie posfal service recently presented to both Hiuses of Parliament : — " It having been discovere I that the colors in which certain of the denominations of the postage stamps were printed were liable, by chsmical proce3?, to be so alte-ed as to resemble the colors of stamps of a higher valuo : in order for the protection of the revenue it was doomed advisable to alter the color of suoh Bfcivm;>3. These are now so arranged that the effect of any change in the colors will be to assimilate them to those of postage stamps of lower value." Mr Charles Elliott, the compiler of tho New Z-aland Stud Book, intends shortly to issue a second volume of that work. When the proposed vote of £50") for the acclimatisation of salmon was under discussion in the Assembly, Mr Peacock, a Canterbury member, expressed the desire that some of the expected ova should be sent to Christchurch, instead of the whole going to the Southland ponds. Several members explained that the whole of tho arrangements had been completed with the consent of all the Acclimatisation Societies concerned, andj;hat Dr Hector's opinion was strongly against dividing the ova. A Nelson contemporary of October 5 says : — By the mail on Monday last Mr Huddleston, Secretary to our Acclimatisation Society, wrote to the secretary of the society of San Francisco requesting to be supplied with salmon and sea trout ova at the end of the present year, which will be the suitable soason for sending ova to New Zealand. The Resident Magistrate at Wanganui, in order to enforce punctuality in his Court, would not allow Mr Roberts, a barrister, his professional fee on account of being ten minutes late. A case is reported in the Warwick Argus, N.S.W., of a singular nature. A man named Hawker brought a claim of £5 against the Government for damage done to a crop of lucerne by the erection of a telegraph post in a corner of his paddock, combined with the poisonous effect of the dew that fell from the telegraphic wire. The claim was referred to appraisers, who estimated the damage at £25. Tho Tuapeka Times of the 17th inst. says : — We have much pleasure in stating that the working aurvey of the railway from Tokomairiro to Lawrence has been commenced, and that the line has been pegged off as far as Glenore. This seems to indicate that the oft-repeated promise of the General Government, to commence the line this summer, is about to be redeemed. At any rate it is unlikely that having gone so far, the Government will now draw back, but will call for tenders as soon as possible. We believe the work will be let in small sections, so that our local contractors will have a chance of competing. By the " Protection of Animals Act, 1872," licenses issued under the 19th section of the "Protection of Animals Act, 1867," are to bo in force until the 30th of June only, instead of the 31st of July ag heretofore, and licenses under fcho 20bh section until the 7th of July only. The Act also provides that no person shall hunt, take, or kill any seal except during the months of June, July r August, and September in each year under a penalty not exceeding £20 for each seal so hunted, taken, or killed. Mr Frederick R. Chapman, son of Mr Justice Chapman, was admitted to practice at the New Zealand Bar on the 15th inst.

It is said that the Rev. Mr Bannerman, of the Clutha, will be the moderator of the Synod of Otago and Southland for 1873. The New Zealand Herald says that one of the subjects likely to ba brought before the Church of England Synod, at the meeting now being held, will be the question of allowing the exchange of pulpits with ministers of other religious denominations. The following intelligence from Fiji has been brought to Auckland by the mission schooner Southern Cross : — The murderers of the Lavinia's crew are known, and were reported by the Rev. Mr Brooke to the captain of H.M.S. Basilisk to belong to a town close to where he was living. The alleged cause of the murders was the negh-ct of the Lavinia's people to pay for some Mche de mer they had obtained from the natives. The murders were planned by a native of the same town, named Paddle, who for some time was at the mission station at Eohemarima. The Rev. Mr Bice had a narrow escape. Several canoes were swamped in coming off to see the ship, and the natives lay in wait to take revenge after their fashion. Fortunately one of them swam off, and warned Mr Bice away. The total area of the County of Westland is said to be 3,025,000 acres. Of this acreage only 3324 acres have been sold for cash, and 7238 acres otherwise disposed of. The cash received for land Bold amounts to £17,831. . The area of Nelson Province is said to be 6,928,000 acres, of which 725,927 have been sold, realising £271,816. A correspondent of the Otago Daily Times supplies the following information regarding the gentleman who is to succeed Mr Ormond as Minister of Public Works :— So little appears to be known of Mr Richardson that perhaps it may not be out of place for one who was for many years intimately acquainted with him in Victoria, to mention that he is an old contractor and OAE., was a member of the Victorian firm of Holmes and Richardson, and later of New Zealand ; of large successful practice in both colonies— the Lyttelton and Christchurch tunnel being one of the last works of magnitude executed by them. He may not be over-gifted in oratory ; I should rather expect him to be extremely laconic, to the point, cipable of supporting any action in eon nection with that department— Public Works— in a straightforward manner : deceiving none. I take him to be the right man in the right place. Writing on the 18th ult., the Hobart Town correspondent of the Launceston Examiner says: — Feeling sura you would like to know how the hatching of the salmon ova was progressing, I paid a visit to tho Museum, and was favored with a view of the hatching procesj of the salmon ova brought dowo. from the Salmon Ponds at New Norfolk hy Morton Allport, Esq. The apparatus is fixed up in a large room of the Museum, and visitors aro enabled to see the eggs in the various stages. Mr Allport placed the ova in the apparatus about a fortnight ago, and since that time many have hatched out, aad are now lying amongst the gravel with the umbilical sac of each well displayed. With a hand lens the large blood vessels distributed orer the surface ol the S'dC, and tlie muscular action of fcho heart, are easily seen. The young fish will be kopt in their narrow quarters for about six weeks longer, by which time the sacs will havo disappeared and fie young fry will then feed greedily. The practical lesson to be learnt from the whole exhibition ia, that any person wiih a trickle of water at command may for a few shillings fit up an apparatus for hatching a few hundred trout, and then distribute them in neighboring waters for future sport, and thus sare the comparatively j heavy cost of transporting young fish from the ponds at the Plenty. Mr Allport informed me | that in the winter of 1573 quantities of ova will I bo available for any individuals who "WiH undertike to fit up suitable apparatus. Since it has become known that the ova hatching is going ou, numbers of ladies and gentlemen visit the Mu?eum forthe purpose of witnessing the process in its various stages, and doubtless they are amply rewarded for the trouble. To the curious such an exhibition must commanJ their attention ani admiration. We obtain the following information from the thirteenth annual report of the postal service of the Colony :— ln 1871 there were 188 inland mail services in the Colony, of au aggregato length of 5096 miles. Of these services, 64 were performed by coach or mail-cart, 92 on horseback, 13 on foot, 15 by water, and 4by railway. The number ol miles travelled by these during the year was 1,050,358, at a cost of about £23,000, being an average of about si-l per mile. The total number of letters received in 1871 was 3,296,990, against 3,018,923 iv 1870 ; and the total number of letters despa f ched was 2,784,707 in 1871, against 2,626,947 in 1870— showing an I increase in both classes of letters in 1871 of I 435,818 over 1870. The total number of newspapers received in 1871 was 2,303,634, against 2,266,934 in 1870 ; and the total number of newspapers despatched was 1,871,150 in 1871, against 1,622,728 in 1870, being an increase of 290,122 newspapers in 1871 over 1870. The revenue also shows a satisfactory increase, being £47,053 18s 3d in 1871, against £43,085 15s in 1870. A want which has been long and severely felt by the bar of this Colony (says the Dunedin Star) is a periodical containing colonial law reports and other information of interest to the profession. The expediency of supplying that want was recently brought under the notice of the leading members of the profession here, and the result is a suggestion for the publication of a periodical to be based on the model of the English Law Times, and to be equal in size to the monthly numbers lof the Law Times Reports. The New Zealand Law Times will be its title, and the first number is announced to appear in April next. The names of its editorial managers — Messrs Macassey, Haggitt, and G. Cook — are sufficient guarantee of the thorough reliability of the proposed work, which we feel sure will, on issue, be largely supported by those to whose interests it is to be devoted. A northern contemporary says : — We have received a copy of a hand-bill issued by the Messrs Brogden " to agricultural laborers, navvies, and others." It says, " Messrs Brogden and Sons will pay the whole passage money from London to New Zealand, to be repaid by dei ductions irom the wages in New Zealand, spread over a considerable time. Work will be provided from the day of landing, for at least two years, at wages not less than 5s per day. Prices of provisions in New Zealand — Beef, 3d to 5d per !lb ; butter, 6d to 9d per lb ; mutton, 2d to 3d | per lb ; potatoes, £1 per lb." We are afraid that Messrs Brogden would find some difficulty in guaranteeing provisions at the rates abovo stated.