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Southland Times, Issue 1713, 11 March 1873, Page 2

Mr Barr, late Provincial Engineer, whose name trill loug be remembered in Southland as the designer of the ridiculous Waihopai bridge on the North Road, and who lately resigned bis appointment, still retains, it appears, by some special arrangement with the Government, the engineering control of the contract for the new bridge over the Makarewa at Wallacetown. The impropriety of entrusting work of this kind to a gentleman who ia no longer in the service of the Government is too apparent to require comment, and we desire to direct the attention of the Executive to the matter. We had occasion some time ago to notice t. e design of this bridge, which is expensive and faulty in construction. Mr Barr has lately visited the site, and decided to erect another monument to his partiality for "crooked ways," by building the new bridge alongside of the present structure, instead of in the same dace, as at first designed, thus rendering useless the existing approaches, which are superior to anything of the kind in the district, beei ies permanently disfiguring the road. Tbe aulumn show of the Horticultural Society opens to day at the Theatre. The remarkably fine season we have enjoyed should cause the exhibits to be not only numerous as regards quantity but excellent in quality, and all that will be required to render the exhibition a complete success is the liberal patronage of the public. Carl Witting, charged by the police at the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 4th inst., with being a dangerous lunatic at large, and remanded for medical ex imiuation, has been examined by Drs Grigor ani Cotterell, and pronounced to be of unsoutvl mind and of homicidal tendencies. The Rjsidant Magistrate accordingly made au order for his admission to the lunatic asylum, Dunedin. The Resident Magistrate held a court at the Bluff on Saturday, Bth iaatant, at whL-h Captain Greig, Harbor-master, sued Captain Smith, of the barque Celestia, for damage to the wharf caused by discharging stone ballast. A number or witnesses were examined, but His Worship did not consider th»t the dam i»e was prove. l, and therefore dismissed the case, with a caution to defendants Mr Forsyth, of Messrs Forsjth an 1 Mason, reports having seen four trout, about 8 inches in length, in the tail race of his wash- pool on the Waikivri, on Saturday last. The meeting of the Land Board on Friday, 7th inst., was adjourned to the following Saturday, when the application of James To bin for 50 acres, Forest Hill Hundred, was granted. The bye-laws passed by the wardens of the Oreti Hundred were read and approved of. Our Riverton oorresoon lent writes that the only business heard before the Court there on Wednesday last, at which the Resident Magistrate presided, was a civil case, M'Donald v. Henri, being a claim for £8 5s lid, goods sold and delivered. Judgment was given for plaintiff, defendant to pay in instalments, with 13s costs. At the meeting of the Municipal Council last night, all the Councillors were present, with the exception of Councillor Tapper. It was resolved that no further extension of time be granted to those contractors who had already obtained a prolongation of the period of their contracts. The question of drainage was discussed at great length. It was resolved that the surveyor be requested to prepare plans for the drainage of Dee street, and that tenders be invited for the work. Parties who may desire to have their names placed oh the electoral roll can be supplied, free | of expense, with the requisite forms, as well as I the necessary information, on application at our office. The New Zealand Gazette of the 20th ult. contains a notification that Patrick Finnegan Fleming hat been appointed Inspector of Weights and Measures for the Southland district . The Provincial Government Gazette contains a proclamation appointing certain roads in the Invercar^ill district to be main district roads. Edward Lloyd Trevor, who has been shearing during the recent season in Southland under the name of Edward Lloyd, and who has been advertised for during the last eighteen months, is now on his way to Ireland, where, it is said > an estate worth £1500 a year has come into his possession. The Illustrated New Zealand Herald for this month contains engravings of the reception of the Governor by the Maoris at Foxton, the bridge over the Huranui river (the boundary between Canterbury and Nelson), and the bridge over the Waiou river in the province of Nelson. There are also several illustration! of Australian •cenery and incidents. The conditions on which Mr Fox took office I are caid to be that the Governor on Mr Vogel'e return asks him to becoma Premier, which, if he accepts, Mr Fox at once* retires. Should Mr Vogel decline, Mr Fox will, if desired, retain office on condition that Parliament be summoned as sooa as possible, which cannot be until May, as it now stands prorogued to April 15, and the necessary accommodation could not be provided before May. As the Provincial Councils nearly all meet in April, an earlier session would be inI convenient.

Mr Yogel, says the Wellington Post, is Buffering from angina, pectoris, and hia medical adviser in Sydney h*s recommended him to retire from public life for two years. At the meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, held ia Dunedin on the 6th inst , a letter from Mr Thomas Perkins, trustee in the insolvent estate of D. S. Lawlor, was read objecting to the renewal of the license to occupy land at Mussel Bay, on the grounds that Mr Lawlor had incluJed the former license in hia insolvency schedule. The Board declined to interfere in the mutter. The application of Mr John M'Lean to purchase a portion ot the bush reserve ob block I, Wyndham district, in area 33 acres, was referred to the ranger for report, j Mr Or. B. B. Elliott, of Melbourne, claitns to have invented a process whereby wood can not only be preserved from decay anl ants, but also protected from fire. The Commissioner of Police has refused to allow a sergeant stationed at Port Chalmers to receive a testimonial from the inhabitants of that place. The following from the Dunedin Star m noteworthy : — Travellers along the line of road intended to be benefited will rejoice to learn that the Provincial Executive are fully alive to the importance of encouraging an increase of traffic to the goldfields by way of Tuapeka. Last week Mr Bastings, Goldfields Secretary, and Mr Simpson, Provincial Engineer, made a special journey from Dunedin to Clyde, via Lawrence, for the purpose of ascertaining the probable cost of making such reductions of gradient, and other similar improvements, as would be requisite to make the road fit for heavy traffi 3in winter, and to enable the larger description of mail coaches to travel between Lawrence and Clyde throughout the year. The Queen of the South sailed from Lyttelto n on the 6th inst., for Boston, with 2147 bales of wool, 73 bales of skins, and 220 bales flax, valued at £55,000. Official advices (says a contemporary) , confirm the rumor of Mr Vogel's having entered into a united guarantee with New South Wales and Queensland for a cable connecting Queensland with Singapore, and Now Zealand with New South Wales; The Melbourne papers report a case of a man who passed himself off as a postman with a registered letter to deliver, and so secured service of a fraud summons on a too bashful and indebted widow. It is in contemplation (says a Christchurck paper) to start another Flax Spinning and Weaving Companv, the capital to be £15,000, in 3000 shares of £5 each. This company will not undertake the dressing of flits, but will confine itself simply to manufacturing the fibre into sacking and fabrics. In an article on the San Francisco miil service, the Lyttelton Times says : — Whatever the grounds on which Congress has a third time declined to grant the subsidy, it is clear that the existing service cannot be maintained ; or rather, it is evident that New Zealand would be acting in an extremely foolish manner if it allowed Mr Webb to drag on for as long as he thinks desirable, in the sanguine hope that he will ultimately be able to " lobby " the subsidy Bill through Congress, and thereafter establish -an efficient line of boats. He has been very leniently dealt with from the outset, and there is at least some ground for saying that the Colony has allowed him to lead it by the nose as tenderly as asses are. The time seem9 to have now arrived when it is both desirable and necessary to determine the contract un ler which we are bound to Mr Webb, on certain conditions, for a term of years. These conditions have never been fulfilled by him, and the penalties to which he is subject for non-fulfilment have not been enforced, from a conviction that it was a far wiser policy to forego than to insist upon our legal pound of fljsh. A further continuance of this leniency, in view of the latest intelligence from America, is out of the question, and the Government will n» doubt s*o the necessity of making a definite and final arrangement with Mr Webb. With reference to the report that Mr March, British Consul in Fiji, had been recalled, the Sydney Morning Herald states, upon the best authority, that Her Majesty's Government have not only approved the conduct of Mr March in the difficult position in which be was placed, but hare intimated their intention of conferring a superior appointment upon him. We have been requested by Mr Maerorie to direct special attention to the sale to-day of the imported tn&re, along with the saddle and bridle, belonging to Mr J. T. Crosf . Tho Treasurer to the Hospital Committee reports his receipt of £14 8s 6d through Dr Grigor, being amount, accompanied by list of i collections, from miners and others at Orepuki.