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Southland Times, Issue 1692, 21 January 1873, Page 2

The results of the polling at the Waihopai election wero officially declared by the returning officer, Mr Macrorie, at the Court House yesterdiy at noon. The results were, for Mr Wood 99, for Mr Wilson 49, majority for Mr Wood, 50. Three votinsj papers were rejected, the requirements of the Act a 9 to the manner in which the papers should be marke I not having been complied with. The stupidity evinced by some voters in marking their ballq£ papers is very surprising, and receives fresh illustrations at | every election. In tbe cases referred to one paper contained the vocer's name appended to that of one of the candidates, neither of whose names were cancelled ; in another tho names of both candidates were cancelled ; and in thft third the Christian names of both candidates were j cancelled and the surnames left standing. As a proof of the lack of interest in 'his election, wiiich we have alrea 'y noticed, it may be remarked that out of 457 electors on the roll, only 151, or less than one-third recorded their y >tes. Some little enquiry was caused in town on Saturday by the publication in the News of telegraphic advices fr^m Melbourne, quoting" the price of New Zealand oats in that market on the 9th inst. as 4s 3d to 4a 4d. Prom our Dunedin files we observe that the Melbourne prices on that day are staled at 3s 3d to 3s 51, being a yery trifling advance on previous rate 3. A meeting of the steward 3 of the Invercargill Jockey Club was held in tho Southland Club Hotel on Saturday last, when it was de?i led to postpone the autumn meeting till the 6th and 7th of March, in consequence of the Tuapeka annual meeting having been fixed to come off within a few days of the time previously appointed. The " cock-fight" mentioned in the account of the Riverton New Year's Day sports is noticed with amazement oy a Dunedin paper, evidently under the impression that the combatants were feathered, not human, bipeds. \ At the statutory meeting Tor the election of a school committee, held «t Winton on the 13th inst. the following gentlemen were duly elected : — Messrs T. S Bromnor, T. M' William, T. Lamport, A. M' Arthur, W. Keith, A. Gerard, D. M'Leod, B. Cameron, and J. Thomson, junr. The Illustrated New Z »ilan 1 Heiuld for this month contains a view of Nelson, whicli is pleasing and aceu-ate ; two illustrations of Ch-istmas Kve and ( hristmas ifornint;, after the Australian style ; a view of Batman's Hill in 1837 ; and the site of the Melbourne Custom House in 1839, interesting as historical illustra-. 'ions ; and a series of twenty-nine cartoons depicting the scenes and mci lents of Mr Uomer's j Christ mas Holiday, which -are clever in conception and execution, an i will afford all who are I willing to be amused the materials for a hearty | laugh. 1 At the meeting of th« Waste Lin I Board, hdd on Friday, the Coirniiasionor of Crown Lands and Messrs M'lrthur and Dundaa w.;re present. The application of Mr James Mackintosh, for 346 acr s, being sections 45, 47, and 49, block 2, and section 30b, block 3, Apa-ima Hun Irad, was granted. At the request of Vlr M'Pher^on, who appeared on behalf of Messrs Bell and Wentworth, it was agreed that as the contract for the Pyramid bridge had not yet been issued, the applications O' those gentleman, sanctioned at last meeting, should be allowed to staud over until it was ascertained from the Government whether the mosey, if pail at once, would bo placed to the credit of the brilgo account. Mr Stock applied for and obtained leave on behalf of Roderick and Jane MT' wrick to alter tlv position of 50 acres granted to them on the 13th December, as Mr Stock, not having at that time seen the ground, had applied fir the wrong piece. Mr Watson, on behalf of Mr Mackintosh, handed in a certificate from His HoHor the Superintendent authorising tha issue of a tree grant, under the Or9ti Riilwuy contract, for 4>oo acres of land in the Oreti Hundred, which was sanctioned by the Board. A letter was rea 1 from Mr J. W. Mitchell applying to be allowed to purchase, at the upset price, sections 5, 6, 7, and 8, in the township of Gore, on the grou-id that he had duly applied for them, pai i the deposit, and on the day appointed for the sale (being the only person present to purchase) he was informed that the sections hai been withdrawn from sale) by telegram from the Sup-jrinten lent, without any reason being assigned — a proc-?e iin? which he (Mr Mitchell) had been advisoi was illegal. It was resolve 1 that th* ra uter shoul I be referred to the Provincial G>vernment fjr the Provincial Solicitor's opinion. The Tuapeka. Times says that rhere should be no further delay in including M'Nab's tud within the goldfields. Eeilly (?uvß a goldfLl.ls contemporary) who in company with Hartley discovered tho Dunstan g ldfield-, is at present in Duneilin. During tho past few years, he has travelled over a great portion of Amerija, an 1 visited nearly all the goldmining districts of Australia. Ho expreses his opinion that New Zealand is a far better counlrv for an enterprising colonist than any part of the world he has visited, and that noh goldfields yet to be worked exist in it. M- R -iilj contemplates giving practical proof of his faith in his belief of the existence of undiscovere I auriferous deposits, by starting on a prospecting tour. What part of the country he intends to devote his attention to, we do not at present know.The establishment of a factory for making sugar from beet-root is being agitated in Auckland. It is stated that the capital required is £10,000. Diphtheria is said to have been very prevalent in the vicinity of Ran^iora (Canterbury) during the pa*t tew weeks. It has, in nearly every instance, attacked children, and its ravages have proved Jatal ia several caiee.

The Lvttelron Times says :— We are informe 1 that of all the iiumi^rants imported by Messrs BrnLjrl^n for the construction of the S lUthlau'f railways, scarcely one has remained on the wovks to fulfil his contract, with the firm. However embarrassing this may be to the contracn.-rs, it certainly uSbrd9 the strongest possible proof that New Zealand is a first-class country for tho .laboring emigrant frora the off worU. When the working c'assca in the Unite! Kingdom are told — as we triut tln-y will be by the AgentGeneral — that the terrni offend by Messrs Brogden are not sufficiently tempting to keep the men trua to their •ngaji'rn'jnts, they will ft' ©nca see that the laborer in N T <3\v Z^iUni is sure of obtaining a very full value in return for his , 1 work. The simple recital of such a fart as is , ' here noted, ought to do more -zoo I than h:iif adozen lectures on the general benefits of cmi gration . The New Zealand Gazette of tbe 9th inst., contains a notification of the re-ign-ition of Jonas • Woodwar I, Esq., as Assistant Treasurer and Receiver- Grenentl 5 and the appointment of 0. T. Bat kin, Esq., as Secretary to he Treasury an i Receiver— General, Mr Woodward having been appointed Public Trustee. Mr Miiler, of Melbourne, is the suioe3-> r ul tenderer for the Ran^itikei brHjje Cha amount of his tender is £3 )S7. The Luna returned to Wellington on the 15th from her visii to the West Coast. Dr Hector reports that the coal at Preservation Tnl-'t is indifferent in quality, and not equal Po that, at Collin^'wood (Nelson). There is a largi" quantity of it but ths s j am is tliin. His Excellency the Governor his telegraphed to the Premier in Wellington, th*t ho h id received, a perfect oration on hi* -Viv t > Q1 3 »-nt. >>v \. II ■ says the scenery is rq lil to >iiy in S-vitzerlan 1 Some o 1 the fruit-growers in Piston, havi ij suffered from garden-robbers, have hit uoon » plan of making a small incision in the fruit, and placing therein a small portion of some euDtile drug, usually croton oil. The quantity used ii •o small us to prerent any danger of serious consequence, but is quite sufficient to cau»B the depredators to wonder what " tin dickens" possesses them. Ome of the stubborn, unpleisint facts the last few yean hare drille I into us (says a Melbourne paper) is that the stream o' immi^rati mi has, for the present, set directly away from Australia. Our increase o'populitio 1 frivn outside sources might al-nost be called con tern ptnb, the colony ha ring indeed, a<'cor lin^ to t ie last census returm retrograded since 1861, in its number of bread winners, that is of m iles between twenty-five and forty. Emigration from Europe is as large as ever, but America absorbs the whole of the stream. The driblet* that co ne to us are as it were but the waste of the rich man's table ; our growth must mainly depend && America's did, the generation after the revolutionary war, on the actual increase of p.^pulatioT alrealy in the land from the excess of births over deaths. The Sydney Empire writes : — " The Carl caa« hai came to a curious conclusion in Melbourne, more curious even tin a its conclusion hero, where »t least we di-1 la.viajje tn punish somebody. The enlightened Melbou-na jay harv found Mount an I Mo-ri.s gui!y >•" ' ag^-ar^tfl I manslaughter,' aud the eni^htened Melbourne judge says that for bu :\\ an ofF^-it."* it w >vi 1 be the grossest injustice fo nass a haavwr sentence than two ye.-irs. If thr b-othor ofF.;n 1 thee seven time* he is to be foramen ; yea, and if he offend thee seventy times seven, he is to be forgiven fir more, sesms to be tlie admirable Christian doctrine upon which this remarktble rerlict and sentence 1 are founded. To be sure the ' brothers' in this oai9 were only ' niters,' which m.iy make a difference, but we fancy we bare heard of some cases of ' aggravated manslaughter' wh ro a much heavier sontenc-i was fouu I p >3sib!o, yet which were fir less like aggravate I murder rh*n that atrocious massacre and flinging ov«rboa t- 1 of wounded mmi. [f the p-i toners we"c iinp'icUa 1 at all in that horrible cri ne, chev w<j"o guilty of murder, and tho jury can have nothing to s:ty for themselves, though the jul^e. perhaps, may. When the verdict is a palp ible farce, it may be only proper that, the sontenoe should follow suit." This criticism, appropria'e so far as the verdict goes, is unfair to the ju Ige, who summed up for " wilful murder," and seemed to regret th-it a lesjal difficulty mi^ht possibly put it out of his power to award a heavier sentence th*n two year; 1 ' imprisonment. At the distribution of prizes at St. Mary's Cathoric School, Ahaura, some prizrs were given by a lady to those o£ the scholars who had been distinguished during the previous sis months by " senenl good con luct, with a particular regard to truth-telling." • The New Zealand Gazette of January 2, 1873. contains a comparative return of telegrams forwarded, tho revenue received, and the ralue of General Government telegrams transmitted during the quarters respectively endiag on 30th September, 1871, and 3Jtli September, 1872, as follows : — Number of telegrams forwarded, September quarter, 1871, 95,780 ; September quarter, .1872, 3 33,029, or an increase of 37,249, For the same periods the cash revenue stood at — For 1871, £'i 678 2s 6d, against £9375 for the corresponding quarter of L 872, the increase consequently amounting to €2697 3s. The General Government telegrams have been reduced in ralue from £2397 18s in the September quarter of 1871, to £2132 18s for the corresponding quarter of 1872, or a reduction of £265. It is said that the City Council of Auckland are about to publish a list of their defaulting ratepayers. The accounts have been audited, and the report will be published with the black list in a few days. It is said to amount to some thousands of pounds, extending over Beveral years. ' # A serious fire, which resulted in the destruction of property to the value of about £3500, took place in George street, Dunedin, on the morning of Tuesday last. The fire was discovered about a quarter past five o'clock, in a two-storeyed wooden buil "ling occupie 1 by a lithographer and printer ot the name of George. The watchman lmvin^ lefc the tower as usual at 5 o'clock, a delay of seven minutes elapsed bsfore the alanu was gu r en. In geven or eight minutes more the Fire Brigade were on the seen*, but by that time the premises in which the fire broke out, with an adjoining tailor's shop and dwelling house, occupied by Mr Rpbaon, and the shop of a paperhanger named Gilohrist, were completely e&yeloped in fliines, and the Hibernian Hotel adjoining was in imminent danger. As soon as the hydrants were fixed, however, the flames

werp got under conf> - >' ■ i>i iKho iih tbe fir-;t - named buildings were reduced to ruins, the hotel was saved, though in a verj blistered and dilapidated conli im. The opposite aide of George street wa? also much damaged, ihe establishments of Mr Coventry, tinsmith, Mrs Algie, fiinov dealer, and Mr Bacon, bootmaker, being seriously injuved. Thp great pressure and abundant; supply of water which can now be brought to bear on a fire in almost any part of Dunedii, render thrr n->k of any extensive conflagration vory much loss ihan tormerly. The Auckland correspondent of a contemporary writes as follows : — Tho36 Waikatos who were employed on th» r ilway ha r o been discharged* S irne Left of their >\vn aecm] after carving iheir names v on : ' the everlasting rocks." They have lx>eii bliinird for so doing, and perhaps they deserved "ensure for p •actisuig with the style, or knife, when they wen) supposed to be handling the pick and shovel. The Maoris are- capital bushmen, and often become good shearers. . Shearing especially suits the Maori, when Ms ni!'e is allowe.i to ?quat by the shearing pen, in <->rder that she may slily indicate where ParePerrios (barebeliies) are to be 'ound when it is his turn to catch. Of course everybody must see how much more quickly a aheep can be shorn when the most difficult part to shear — the belly — is innocent of wool. With due assistance from his " better half," a smart Native will clip his 15 ) she-p p*r day ; in fict he can earu nearly, or quite as mu.-h as his European mate who has no vvi'a at the pcm. I don't think that " navvying" nine hous a day under European surveillance will ?ut M.ioris. I should say, let them I work by the piece, and be directed by responsible clue's. Trie .Star Dramatic Troupe gave their first |ier!ormance last night, and in spite of the very (ml ivorable weather, the house was well filled. The ope tun piece, " Ben Bolt," familiar to most of oar readers from the song of the same name, may be described as a melodrama in which tragedy and comedy are mingled in almost equal proportions, the latter, however, preponderating. It was placed on the stage and rendered in a manner which appeared thoroughly satisfactory to the audience, as was amply testified by the applause which greeted the " striking situations," and the laughter which was evoked by the comicalities. The dance, Sir Ro^er do Coverly, by the whole company, was very clever and picturesque, and was highly appreciated. The succeeding farce of " Slasher and Crasher," was produced in a style amusing enough to keep the audience laughing nearly all the trme, and " Paddy iv India " regarded from this point of view, was even better. The company promise, with the assistance of some of our local amateurs, to produce sereral piece 3of a higher character during their stay. For j t->— night the programme is " His Last Legs," and " Dead Shot." We must not forget to notice the music provided by Mr T. White, pianist, which rendered the interlu les not the least agreeable portion r >f the entertainment.