Untitled

Southland Times, Issue 1693, 24 January 1873, Page 2

Mr M'Gillivray, M.H.R., addressed his constituents at Riverton on- Tuesday evening. Our report of his speech is unavoidably held over. At a meeting of the Committee appointed to apportion the subscriptions collected for the sufferers by the Ciinton fire, held at the Council Hall yesterday, Mr D. Flemington was requested to act as treasurer, and distribute the amount collected as follows : —Mr M'Master, £27 10s 3d; Mr J. Taylor, £24 Is 6d; and Mr Stevenson, £5 3s 31. The amount collected was £56 15s. Mr David Strang has submitted for our inspection a sample of coffee ground and packed at his establishment in Esk street. The coffee is certainly of rerj superior quality, and the p lckage being neatly and tastefully got up, the article will, we doubt not, meet with a ready sale. A shipment, we understand, has been sent to Hokitika, and Mr Strang contemplates being able to establish an export trade t3 other parts oi the Colony. A meeting of the Invercargill School Committee was held on Wednesday evening, when it was decided that His Worship the Mayor and the members of the Municipal Council should be invited to formally open the Grammar School on Monday next, at 2 o'clock. The Secretary vai instructed to notify by advertisement that the c'asses would be formed at nine o'clock on the above day. Parents of intending pupils should therefore enrol at once. Subscribers to the Scottish Art Union will be glad to learn that the engravings and prizes for last year arrived yesterday by the Wallabi. Messrs Mair and Harvey may be fairly congratulated on their prizes —statuettes of Ruth iu Parian marble—and Mr An Irew Stiith. on his neat little picture, the River Orchy, in water colors, by J Kemp, which by the way appears Tery like New Zealand scenery. Mr Collins, of Spar Bush, has brought to our office a fine sample of timothy grass in seed, and nearly ripe, but which has been much injured by the depredations of a small brown caterpillar. If any of our farming friends who may have suffered from these pests have discovered any means of preventing or diminishing their ravages, it would 1 e well that they should publish their experience for the benefit of others. The ■ introduction of insectivorous birds is of course the true remedy both for this evil, and for the depredations of the grub in the wheat crop, lately noticed in several localities. This the Acclimatisation Society professes to be willing to do, but cannot as yet for want o( funds. A subscription amongst the farmers for the purpose might be raised, and devoted to this special object. The farmers have not hitherto as a rule given much to the Society, and a small contribution, averaging say 5s a subscriber, would, if raised over the whole district, probably furnish funds sufficient to make a very good beginning. At the meeting of the Municipal Council last night, the Mayor and all the Councillors were preeeut, with the exception of Councillor

Tapper. In response to an invitation from the School Committee, it was resolved that the Mayor and Council should attend the opening of the Grammar School on Monday next. In accordance with a request, made by the residents in the north-east part of the town, it was resolved that the prisoners shoald, as soon as possible, be «et •to work on the footpaths in thit locality. It was resolved that tenders be called for gravelling footpaths in Liddel, Je I, Don, and Clyde streets, and for the kerbing and gravelling of Esk street paths on both sides. The Council adjourned at 11 o'clock. We have reoeived from " Master Humphrey" a copy of his letters on the finances of the oolony, published from time to time in the Otago Daily Times, and now reproduced in pamphlet form. At the meeting of the Land Board on Tuesday, the application of George Martin for 20 acres, Invercargill Hundred, was refused, not being in accordance with the regulations. The following applications were granted: — Duncan Campbell, £00 acres, New River Hundred ; and Hugh Cameron, 100 acres, Lindhurst Hundred. A memorial from settlers in the Winton district to the Superintendent, praying that the Wiuton racecourse be vested in the Winton Jockey Ciub, having been submitted by His Honor to the Board for their opinion, it was resolved that, in the event of the various Jockey Clubs in the district amalgamating, the Board would recommend that the raoe course reserves in the district be rested in trustees, to be named by the amalgamated Jockey Club, and approved by the Superintendent, the reserves to be administered in terms of the Racecourse Leasing Ordinance, 1870. A telegram from the Provincial Under Secretary was read, to the effect that the Governor's sanction for the amount of land set apart last session of Provincial Council for public works had been applied for, but had not been obtained. It was resolved that for the future the Board cannot recognise the withdrawal from sale of lands for public works until the Superintendent's certificate has been laid before them, in terms of clause 36 of the Southland Waste Lands Act, 1865, the Governor's sanction having been first obtained. Two app'ications from Henry Peers and William Seymann, each for 5 acres of land at Horse Shoe Bay, Stewart's Island, were received, and it was .resolved thai when the special settlement was established, two half-acre sections with frontage to the bay should be recommended to be granted in each case. A meeting of the Invercargill District Road Board was held in the Council Hall on Wednesday evening. There were present Messrs Butts (chairman), Tucker, Gilmour, Wuddel, and Dalrymple. The assessment roll, amounting to £7880, was received, and Mr Longuet was appointed clerk and valuer at a salary of £50 per annum. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Tucker, to forward to Campbelltown, for the inspection of tlie ratepayers, a copy of the assessment roll for that subdivision. The chairman was requested to ascertain on what terms the services of Mr Dawson could be obtained as engineer to the Board, and the n?eeiing was adjourned until further notice from the chair nan. The Wellington Independent suggests that Mr Calder, M.H.R. for lavercargill, should be called upon to' resign his seat, he having taken a contract for supplying sleepers. It; says that in the House Mr Calder stated that sleepers could be got at from '2s to 2s 61 each, at the outside, but his contract price is 3$ 4 id each. The New Zealand Gazette of the 9th i-st. contains a notification calling attention to tha provisions of the Ptiblic Health Act, 1872, by which it is made incumbent on medical practitioners attending cases of infectious or contagious disease, or householders wirhin whose premiaee such cases may arise, to give notice of the same to the local Board of Health, under a penalty not exceeding £10. Where there is no local Board, the notice is to be sent to the General Board of Health for the Province. The Brisbane Courier reports that the great Queensland railway case — William* v. the Commissioner of Railways — has been concluded by the jury returning a verdict for the plaintiff for £13~386 5s sd. The jury' took ten and a half hears to deci le upon their verdict The plaintiff was a railway contractor, and he had sued the Queensland Government on a contract account for upwards of £30,000. The Inspector of Nuisances in Wellington seems to be no respecter of persons. The other day he served upon the Resident Magistrate (who is also Bheriffj, while he was sitting upon the bench, a notica to the effect that the drains from the Supreme Court buildings required looking to. Strawberries have been exceedingly plentiful is Auckland this season. Pine, large, and fresh pulled were being hawked tkrough the streets of the city, and retailed at threepence per quart. Growers sold to the hawkers at twopence per quart. The Chronicle urges the desirability of opening a branch Land Registry Office in Wanganui. At the present time all transactions under the Act have to be sent to Wellington, which necessitates the employment of an agent there and on& in Waaganui, thus adding considerably to the cost, besides making the process very tedious. A commission has been appointed by Government to inquire into the charges made against the private life of Mr Eyes (Commissioner of Crown Lands, &c.) by a number of the residents of Marlborough. * At the Perry Chistmas sports in the Wairau (Nelson), a man engaged to run a quarter of a mile, ride, pull a boat, walk, and hop, each the same distance, and swim a hundred yards. The match was loat by fifteen seconds, owiDg to a alight delay with the boat. Although the man was unsuccessful, the spectators were so much pleased with hit performance that they subscribed a purse of £4 for him. From the Ist August, 1871, to the 30th September, 1872, 33 Friandly Societies were registered in this colony ; of these 18 belonged to the Order of Oddfellows, 6 to the Foresters body, and 2 to the Rechabitee. It is said that, including 29 police officers of various grades, there are no less than 150 civil servants in Westland, inclusive of those employed by the General Government, and paid out of county funds. As a pendant to this may be added a well confirmed statement, that the Hokitika Municipal revenue amounted during the last financial year to about £900, of which £050 was expended in salaries.

la-Nelson and Marlborough, according to the Colonist, flax mills " are in fall operation, and the export of' the article shows a steady and satisfactory inorease, especially in Maryborough. There is a growing improvement in the quality .of the article, and a consequent enhancement in the priea. ilerchanta, whose knowledge of 6his trade has been Ruined by experience, are of opinion that as time goes on this will form a staple article of export, grewing every year, provided due oar© is exercised in the proper cutting of tha flax plant, so that the future vitality is not injured." Daring a thunder-storm at Hokitika the other day, the lightning struck a bird-cage, suspended outside an hotel, and killed threa oat of four canaries it contained. Whooping oough ia said to be eioeedingly prevalent in the Tuapeka district. Mr B, P. Wright, of Christchurch, ia the successful tenderer for the Ashburton and Raknia 1 railway. The amount of hi« tender is £15,2fi9, • subject to a deduction of £7687 for sleepers to Ibe supplied by the Government. The tender of j Messrs Calder, Blacklock, & Co., Invercargill, has been accepted for 100,000 sleepers ; and that of Mr Bruce, Waimatw, Canterbury, for 20,000 sleepers, to be delivered at Timaru. A project has been mooted in Cbristchurch to etart aa Artisan's Industrial Exhibition, confined to models, &c, by mechanics. It is thought that the movement is likely to succeed. The National Bank of New Zealand has purchased offices in" Wellington. Som« town sections in New Plymouth (Taranaki) have been sold as high as £12 103 per foot. Land jobbers are buying up allotments, and holding for an advance. Iron aand is said to be the cause of this sudden rise in value. The Wellington Post authoritatively states that the stock of the National Bank of New Zealand will be shortly offered for subscription. Shares to the amount of £14,000 in the Taranaki Iron Sand Co. hare been taken up in Wellington. The late gales have done considerable damage both to the grain and fruit crops in the Clutha district. The success of the " Star Troupe" in Invercargill seems established. Full houses every evening must be gratifying to the company and to the manager, and is a proof that their talent is fully recognised. " His Last Legs" was givea on Tuesday night, Mr O'Brien again keeping the house in good humor by his capital acting as O'Callaghan. The rollicking, reckless, irrepressible Irishman — ever good tempered and alive to the oddities of his situation — is perhaps the most salient point in Mr O'Brien's presentment, and certainly his O'Callaghan, if it differs somewhat from the usual conception, yet is a real mirthprovoking character. " The Corsican Brothers," on Wednesday night, drew a full house. The piece is well known to most theatre— going peopls, and is deserve Uy a favorite. The principal characters were sustained by Mr O'Brien and Mr South, well supported by the rest of the company. " The Corsican Brothers" gives more room for the display of good acting — or rather acting of a higher class — than any of the playa hitherlo presented by the company, and the opportunity was not lost. Mr O'Brien and Mr South particularly were very successful. There is a freshness and dash about Mr South's acting that cannot fail to please. The apparition scene was especially goo 1, considering the difficulties to be overcome. This company deserve great prais*, for they must have expended both time and trouble 02 their scene paintings. So much novelty in this respect is peculiarly acceptable here, and the expressions of approval from all parts of the house testified that the t fforts of the company were appreciated. The characters throughout were well sustained, the ladies' graceful acting being much admired. The assistance rendered by Mr Wotton was very effective, and called forth well deserved applause. The " Irish Tutor" is a laughable trifla, and was well received, manyhowever, being compelled to leave on account of the lateness of the hour. This might be remedied by greater punctuality and occasional cutting down. List night " The Corsican Brothers" was reproduced, but after the first act, inconsequence of the indisposition of Mr O'Biien, who wa9 suffering from a severe cold, it was found quite impossible to continue the piece. The audience were accordingly offered the option of the return of their money, or tickets for the ensuing evening's performance, which is announced to consist of the drama of " Rory O'More." The company will visit Riverton on Tuesday and Wednesday next.