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Southland Times, Issue 1672, 6 December 1872, Page 2

It will bo matter of pleasure to our readers to learn that by telegram received by the SheriQ', H. M'Culloch, Esq , the sentence of death passed upon the prisoner Caroline Witting has been commuted to that of penal servitude for life. Taa 'intelligence was conveyed oh Wednesday evening last to the prisoner, who received it without displaying any emotion. Since our last we have made enquiries in the neighborhood of the late fire at Clinton, with a view to estimate the damage done. As usual in these cases, we find there is much of loss and damage in a form of which no estimate can be made. Parties to whom the loss is of little or no immediate consequence, thankful to have escaped the far worse consequences which at one time they apprehended, are not disposed to speak of it, and the information we have been able to gather concerns the few persons who are seriously injured by the fire, and to whom the injury is of almost vital consequence. From our own estimate, and that of others, we put down the loss of Mr Cardie at £20, of Mr M'Master at £80, of Mr Taylor at tho like sum, and of Mr Stevenson at £12. This estimate we believe to be very nearly if not exactly in accordance with the estimate of the sufferers. Our townspeople, with their usual alacrity to help a fellow-creature in distress, have already set on foot a subscription to help the losers, and we trust that it will be liberally responded to. At the same time we cannot help expressing the hope that the warning note given by the fire will bo so far heeded as to induce tho proper attention to the means for self-preservation which we have at hand in the way of insurance agaiist fire. It is certain that sixpence per week, paid aa insurance premium, would have indemnified tb.« heaviest of the losers ; and while it is equally certain that there will be no grudging in the assistance to mitigate the calamity, it ought to be borne in mind that the duty rests upon every householder to provide against such a contingency as that of fire, and that he is hardly without blame if he neglect it, especially aa it may be done at bo very Birall a cost. Strange feats of legerdemain are occasionally perpetrated by experts in the science, yet the most wonderful feat of modern times is one, reported by the Southland News in its issue of the 4th instant, as performed by the Provincial Treasurer of Otago. According to that journal the conjuror in question having received during the quarter ended 30th September last, £46,656 Is 2d, has contrived to disburse during the period £57,449 9s 4d, and yet to have on hand at its close as the balance of receipt over expenditure, £10,793 8s 2d. Shade of Cocker ! Possibly, as the success of the conjuror is understood to depend upon the imperfect vision of the onlookers, it might be aa well to leave the dexterous manipulator to himself for a few quarters in hope thereby of a sensible advantage on the financial position of the province ! How is it to be accounted for ? The bakers of Melbourne annoanee that, flour having fallen in price, they have reduced the cost of bread, whilo almost simultaneously the bakers of Invercargill allege that a rise has taken place in the price of flour, and they are consequently compelled to increase their charge for the staff of life. Mr "S.. Rose, stationer, has submitted for our inspection a copy of a series of diaries, prepared in Melbourne by Messrs Sands and M'Dougall, after the style of the famous Letts's diaries. Tke colonial production compares very favorably with the home-made article, and — what is a better | recommendation — it can be sold cheaper. I

The Education Committee met on Wednesday i evening, 4th instant, with Messrs Calder, Lurosden, Perkins, and Watson present. The Head Master of the Grammar School, now on a visit to the North, having been requested to make enquiries, had reported a scarcity of eligible teachers, and it was resolved again to advertise for applications. The business of the Resident Magistrate's Court, since our last issue, has been coufined to dealing with a solitary case of drunkenness, in which the customary fine was inflicted. One debtor's summons, Cross and M'William v. F. Philp, claim £2 3a, was heard, and judgment given for plaintiffs, with costs, 9s. The Waste Land Board held its usual meeting on Tuesday, 3rd instant, the Chief Commissioner, with Messrs Dundas, M' Arthur, and Baker being present. Two applications by Messrs George Webster and Richard Gibbs for 120 acres each, were put in, as also one by Mr C. Cowan for 250 acres, and one by the same gentleman for 140 — the applications being for land on the runs of the respective applicants. The whole of the foregoing applications were referred to a future Board. The Chief Commissioner was instructed to settle on next visit to Stewart's Island a case in dispute between John M'Donald, a settler at Half-moon Bay, and the owners of adjoining land, which Baid case had been referred to the Board for settlement. Some rails seized by Constable Tuohy on section 1, block 2, Wioton, were ordered to be sold, after taking therefrom as many as would be required to fence in the Wiriton Station, leaving the number for sale about 300. At the Licensing Court on Tuesday, 3rd instant, Messrs H. M'Culloch, W. Wood, and D. M* Arthur sat to hear applications. Mr Q-eorge Smith, formerly of the Prince of Wales Hotel, applied for and obtained a license for the house at the foot of the bridge on the North Road, hitherto known as the " Waihopai House." The license granted was alO o'clock license, and the name of the house is to be the " Gladstone Hotel." James Doran applied for a license for a house in Spey street, formerly known as the "Fire Brigade Hotel." This house has been for a considerable time shut up, and the granting of the license being opposed by the police, it was refused. A license wa9 also asked for tho i " Caledonian Hotel," in Tay street, which house has been also for some time closed, and is in a bad state of repair. The applicant, Alexander Robertson, wa9 allowed 14 days in which to repair the premises, leave being given then to apply. The Horticultural Society held a committee meeting at Colyer's Princess Hotel on Wednesday evening, 4th inst., of which Mr W. P. Porter ■was chairman. The business of the evening was confined to the settlement of the preliminaries for the forthcoming exhibition. Letters were read from the various gentlemen selected to act as judges expressing their concurrence. It is intended to provide the customary musical entertainment, and there is eood ground for believing that fche exhibition will prove at least equal in interest to any of its predecessors. At the meeting of the Muncipal Council last evening, there were present Councillors Blackwood, Pratt, Lumsden, Jaegers, GoodwiUie, and G-arthwaite (in the chair). A letter from Mr Q-enerver, Consulting Q-as Engineer, of Dunedin, expressing a willingness to visit Invercargill and report on the erection of gas works » was r?ad, and it was resolved that he be requested to visit the town and to report, on the terms stated in his letter. A memorial from the inhabitants of Leven street, for the formation of a footpath, was referred to the Public Works Committee. The Town Engineer reported that a delay had occurred in carrying out the dredgiag at the Jetty, owing to the refusal of the lessees to grant the use of the trucks, and the matter was left over until next meeting of Council. A tender by J. Murray and Co., for 17 chains of ditching in Liddel-atreet, at 12a lOd per chain, was accepted. The wages of the workmen wew agreed to be advanced 6d par day, making the rate to be paid os 6d. A discussion on the question of the providing of a suitable building for the transaction of public business, on account of the frequent interruptions by the use of the chambers by the Supreme Court, was allowed to stand over. In consequeace of a misunderstanding relative to the acceptance of a certain tender at a previous sitting, it was resolved that "all tenders to the Municipal Corporation be opened only by the Mayor in presence of the Council.' Mr James Cook, of Riverton, has been appointed a Justice of the Peace for the Colony. Mr Horace Bastings, M.P.C. for Lawrence, has been appointed a member of the Executive Council, and also Secretary for G-oldneldft and Secretary for Works. Mr T. L. Shepherd, M.P.C, and Mr M'Kerrow, Geodesical Surveyor, have been deputed by His Honor the Superintendent to report on the 10,000-acre block at Marewhenua, sought to be purchased by the Son R. Campbell. It is proposed to form a Canary and Poultry Association in Dunedin. Plummer, the convict who recently escaped from the prison gang at work near Dunedin, received 25 lashes with a veritable cat-o'- nine-tails, on Monday last, for disobedience of orders. The first plough manufactured on the West Coast has just been turned out at Kanieri, Westland. The Otago Mining Conference met for the first time at Lawrence on the 2nd inst. There were present — Mr Miller, Arrow, in the chair ; Mr Alexander, Dunstan ; Mr Allan, Cardrona ; Mr Anderson, Roxburgh ; Mr Shaw, Switzera ; Mr Ferris, Waitahuna ; Mr Gray, Table Hill ; Mr Morrison, Tu&peka ; and Mr Crombie, Cromwell. The average compensation per acre of the land required for the Hutt Railway, in the province of Wellington, has been fixed at 55 s. Mr D. M. Luckie, M.H.R. for Nelson, addressed his constituents on the 29th ult. A vote of confidence was proposed at the conclusion of the address, but the meeting broke up without its being carried. The Timaru Herald hears " that there are this season in Canterbury representatives of well, known English manufacturing firms buying up wool." The Canterbury agent of the Northern Insurance Company has presented 56 volumes of different works to the Fire Brigade library, in acknowledgment of the services of the Brigade at therecent fire in Chriatchurch,

The locust plague in South Australia appears to be a formidable visitation indeed. From the Hummocks a farmer, who has sent his name and address, wrote on November 18 to the South Australian Register as follows : — " The locusts have taken possession not only of the crops, but of our stores of water. One man got a wheelbarrow full from the top of hi* tank, and afterwards discovered that they were three feet deep in the bottom. Other settlers have had to abandon their water-tanks altogether. Yesterday I took two bucketfuls off my tank, which is 20 feet in diameter, and to-day it needs skimming again. How many there are at the bottom I cannot say, but they have been hopping into it during all last week. As regards the wheat, I shall only speak for my own, and can state as a fact that there is not a square yard of ground on which the crop grew but is strewn with heads of corn. Yesterday I counted (not on a selected spot) 25 heads of wheat on two square yards. This is not all the mighty army is doing. The heads of wheat that they leave standing they eat j the chaff off from the top, and the new grain is exposed to the sun that scorches it. For years we have, in other parts of the colony, been gradually brought to poverty through rod rust, takeall, and fifty other plagues, and now that this season we are free of them this curse has come upon us. Surely there are Pharaohs in South Australia." The grasshoppers seem likely to cause serious loss in Victoria as well as in South Australia. A correspondent of the Ballarat Star writes : — " I have just had a conversation with some old friends of mine, Mr and Mrs Oyers, from the Lawlor Station, Wunmera, and amongst other parts of our conversation, he informs me that, when driving down last week, grasshoppers were in such swarms that they actually covered the ground for miles and miles, in some places actually • feet thick,' and as a matter of course eating the grass and crops. By Mogg's station Swan Water, a cockatoo settler had 40 acres of wheat completely destroyed, eaten, broken, gone ; and the grass from Scott's station, Warracknabeal, down past Banquyong, east and west, gone where these pests have been. In fact, in most places where a crop has been cultivated, it is gone. The furthest spot south where the grasshoppers were seen was St. Arnaud."