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Southland Times, Issue 1696, 31 January 1873, Page 2

The Nebraska, with two months' English mails ria San Francisco, was due at Auckland on Monday last. The children attending the Church of England Sunday School had their annual treat yesterday. About 80 children, accompanied by several of the teachers, the Her. W. P. Tanner, and other gentlemen and ladies went down to the Ocean Beach by the m °rning train to Campbelltown, and spent a very enjoyable day, an abundance of refreshments suited to juvenile tastes having been provided by members of the Church. The party returned by an evening train evidently higbly delighted with the day's recreation. We understand that applications for over 12,000 acres of land will be considered by the Waste Land Board at its meeting to-day. We call the attention of the Municipal Council to a portion of tne roadway at the western junction of Esk and Dee streets, which requires filling up with metal. The carters eomplaia that the sudden jerks caused by the sinking of their drays in this spot occasion much damage to harness and loss of time. At the usual weekly meeting of the Munici pal Council last night, the Mayor and all the Councillors were present, with the exception of Councillor Ross. A considerable amount of routine business was disposed of, and the following tenders were accepted i — Kerbing and gravelling Esk street, Derbie and Craven, £189 2s 7d ; gravelling paths in Jed, Don, Eye, and Liddel streets, James Hay, £36. At a meeting of the committee of the Acclimatisation Society, held yesterday afternoon, the hon. secretary (Mr Butts) reported that 100 trout had been placed in the Waikiwi River, 100 in the Puni creek, and 100 in the Waihopai 5 also that 200 fish had been forwarded to Dunedin in accordance with instructions ; that information had been received from Dr Hector to the effect that a shipment of salmon ova was to be made from the Clyde on or about the 20th of December last ; and that arrangements ha i been made at the ponds for hatching oat 100.000 ova. As the ova may be expected to arrive in Dunedin in March, the hon. secretary was authorised to j make the necessary provision, at a cost not ex. ceeding £20, for its speedy transfer to the ponds at Wallacetown. The hon. secretary mentioned that he had received a letter from the Colonial Secretary, which stated that Mr tfowar I was to have the sole charge of the ova. It was decided that His Honor the Superintendent should be communicated with, requesting that the shooting season for wild duck in the Southland district should be gazetted as commencing on the Ist February, and ending on the 30th June ; and also that an advertisement should be inserted in the local papers inviting special contributions of 5s from farmers for the purpose of introducing insectivorous birds. Captain Brown was elected a member of committee in room of Mr D. S Montagu, retired. At the meeting of the Waste Land Board on Tuesday, the following applications were granted :— Archibald Cameron, 230 acres, Winton Hundred ; George Martin, 20 acres, Invercargill Hundred; F. Wentworth, 440 acres, Hokaaui District. In reply to a telegram from the Provincial Secretary, suggesting the reservation of land for two miles on each side of the Winton-Kingston railway, it was resolved that the power of the Board to reserve land, under clause 29, Southland Waste Lands Amendment Act, 1867, was not intended to be applied to land deriving enhanced value from the construction of public works, but that the power of withdrawal lay with the Superintendent, under the .Southland Waste Lands Act, 1865. Madame Cora de Laraond, a lady magician and mesmerist, has been performing to large audiences in Dunedin. Her entertainment is described as one of the best, and certainly the most wonderful, ever witnessed there. Twelve jurymen entered a jury-box at Q-eelong recently, and six of the number affixed their signs manual to a document submitted to them in the form of the letter K. Imagine this in- i fallible half-dozen empanelled to try a case of forgery, in which the evidence turned upon a comparison of signatures. It might be very awkward for the accused, if innocent, very pleasant for him if guilty.

I It is said that an effort will shortly be mide to ' raise sufficient capital to -work the quicksilver deposits in the Bay of Is'.ands dis:rict. A similar venture, in San Louis, California, ha 9 recently been deemed a sufficient object for the floating of a company with a capital of £600,000. The Christchurcb. papers notice the death of the well-known thorough-bred sire, Maltoa. It appears that he receired a kick which fractured one of his legß, and it was fouud necessary to destroy him. Malton was bred by Sir Tatton Sykes in 1858, got by Rifleman, by Touchstone, Camel, dam by Hampton out of Centurion's clam. Volunteers Ellis and Matthews will represent the Province ot Taranaki at the Colonial Prize Firing. The former scored 79, and the latter 75. Volunteer Gray, of th ) Wanganui .Rifles, has qualified for the Colonial Prize Firing with a score of 71. Volunteer Guy, represent ; ng the Nelson Corps, scored 78. The following are the names and scores of the Volunteers who will represent Canterbury at the Nelson Firing : — Craig, 78 ; Clarke, Timaru Artillery, 76 ; Trevella, 75 Cohu and Trevella tied at 75. In the firing off, Cohn made a centre and Trerella a bull's-eye. The Timaru Herald reports that the damage done to the crops in that district by the high winds is but partial, and that, according to present appearances, a fairly prolific harvest may be confidently reckoned on. Grass seed, the Hawke's Bay Herald hears, is likely to be scarce this year j much was destroyed by the late rain in the Napier district, and also in Poverty Bay. The Wanganui papers report that the schooner Maid of OtagO has been wrecked 50 miles north of Wanganui. The crew were saved. The enquiry into the conduct of Mr Eyes, Commissioner of Crown Lands, &c, Marlborough, has been commenced. He is charged with bringing his public office into disrepute by leading a grossly immoral life at Picton and Bleinheim. A Wellington telegram in the Otago Daily Times states that " the Government hare instructed Dr Featherston not to enter into a new contract with Messrs Shaw, Savill and Co., or any other firm, for a long period. The applications of the Auckland, Dunedin, and Christchurch Shipping Companies have been referred to Dr Featherston, with instructions to accept them, if suitable. Shipping is still required for the conveyance of 17,000 tons of railway material." The Melbourne correspondent of a Dunedin contemporary says : — " I don't know whether it is worth correcting an error that you seem to have fallen into at Dunedin, relative to a supposed promise from New Sou'h Wales to pay half of the cost of laying a submarine cable to New Zealand. This is a mistake. No such promise has been made, and the subject is one to be brought before the Conference." A public experiment was made in Auckland on the 24th with smelting the iron sand, in the presence of a number of engineers, chemists, and spectators. The furnace was charged and heated, th« sand smelted, and the iron puddled before cooling. A portion was taken to the forge, hammered, bent, and twisted without fracture. The engineers declared the process to be a perfect success. A company to work it will be im mediately formed. The stnd yields 8 per cent, of malleable iron, at a cost of about £5 per ton. puddled. Eight Auckland Volunteers have qualified a 9 representatives at the Colonial prize firing. The medical society of Victoria have addressed a letter to the Government requesting that a bill may be brought into Parliament to give the Board power to erase from the register the name of any medical practitioner who shall huve bi-en guilty of any infamous crime, " with a view to rid the profession from the disgrace wh;ch attaches to it so long as the name of James Patrick Murray shall continue among the legallyqualified medical practitioners of Victoria." " The Ticket-of Leave Man" was produced at the Theatre Koyal last evening by the Star Dramatic Troupe to a good audience. The company performed their respective parts with their usual fi lelity and success. Mr O'Brien'a makeup and acting as Mdlter Mjss, the Jew, deserve special commendation, andMrSouth'a Hawkshawe seemed to meet with tho approval of the audience, as did also Mr Hesford's Dalton. Mrs Patchett'B Sam Willoughby deserves a word of approval, and Mr Wotton's Mrs Willoughby was admirable, and deservedly applau led. We need not say that the parts of May Edwards and Miss | St. Everemonde, entrusted to Miss Alice Bray and Mrs Charles O'Brien, were rendered in their ueuai pleasing manner. The piece is to be repeated this evening. A meeting of the Railway Committee will be held in the Council 11 ill this evening at 7.30.