Untitled

Southland Times, Issue 1714, 14 March 1873, Page 2

The rifle presented to the Artillery Volunteers by Mr J. E. Hannah, late Lieutenant of the Company, to be competed far at an early date, is now to be seen in Mr Lumsden's window. It is one of Jacob's make, and has a sword bayonet and bullet mould attached. We understand thai Mr John Aitken has been appointed engineer and surveyor to the Aparima Boad Board. I At the meeting of the Land Board on Tuesday 11th inst., the following applications were granted: — George Webster and Kichard GHbbs, 250 acres, Uokanui district, run 148 ; John O'Neill, 110 acres, Forest Hill hundred ; Patrick Deegan, 200 acres, Wiuton hundred ; Patrick Deegan, 200 acres, Hokanui district ; John M'Pherson, 250 acres, Forest Hill hundred. The bye-laws passed by the wardens of the Oteramika and Jacob's River hundreds were approved of. The New Zealand Gazette of 27th ult. notifies that Mr A. <J. Henderson has been appointed Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in room of H. M Culloch, Esq., resianad. At the meeting of the Municipal Council last night, the Mayor and all the Councillors were present. In reply to a communication from the Inrercargill District Road Board, suggesting that the Council should co-operate with the Board in the formation ol Dalrynjple road, forming the ■outh m boundary of the Town Belt, it was res lived to uscertain from the Board ihe nature and estimated cost of the works proposed before giving a final reply. It was deoided that the salary of the Inspector of Nuisances should be raised to £30 per annum. The following works were decided upon : — Formation of Conon street and Forth street ; gravelling in Kelvin and Jed streets. His Worship the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr H. S. Fisb, jun.) occupied a seat beside Mr Wood during a part of the proceedings. Our Biverton correspondent informs us that a concert was given in the Oddfellows' Hall there oa Tuesday, 11th inst., in aid ot the Volunteer Band fund, when there was a very fair attendance. The Municipal Council is making come

very necessary improvements in the streets, and although business is somewhat dull, the operations going on in every direction prove that the community is prosperous. A Western District correspondent informs us j that a naee f ing of settleri interested in th 3 im- . provement of the Mill road was held on the evening of Saturday, Bth inst., at Guranay's Bush. The Hon. Mr Nurse wne called to the chair, and briefly stated the object of the meeting. After sdme discussion it was resolved, on the motion of Mr Lastone, that a deputation, consisting of Messrs Francis, Nurse, Guise, M'Kay, and the mover, should wait on the Apariraa Road Board at its nest sitting, and impress upon the members the necessity of devoting a larger sum to the improvement of the Mill road. After several dolorous complaints from ratepayers present regarding the very inadequate sum votei, and tha heavy rate levied (the latter seeming to I be the most prominent and universal grievance), . and a few humorous remarks by a member of the j Board, who happened to be present, descriptive of the cordiality which existed amongst the members, and their general desire to deal as liberally a 9 possible with the rates, (he meeting concluded with the usual vote of thanks to the chiirman, and retired to enjoy the hospitality of Mr Bath. A Winton correspondent writes : — The weather still continues good, and thrashing is being carried on successfully. Crops are yielding better than was at first anticipated. The samples of wheat and barley are very good. The new chums that are knocking about seem rather awkward at the thrashing mill, but a little eloquence from Mr Hay of Riverton, and a mug of Invercargill beer, rouses them into activity at once. I hear that Mr Hay intend* sounding the steam whistle in the district of Forest Hill shortly, where the steam thrasher has never as yet been employed. Mr Reeves, M. H.R. for Selwyn, addressed his constituents at L9eston on Friday, 7th inst. He defended the Government in the matter of the Brogden contracts, alleging that the charges of extravagance and recklessness made by their opponents had never been proved, and were untrue. Offers to undertake the various works had been made by contractors who were totally ignorant of what they would have to do, at ridiculously low prices, and these offers had teen made the groundwork of charges against the Government. The cost of 178 miles of line, authorised by the Assembly, including plant and rolling stock, would be £4,800 a mile. In no other country in the world had the same amount of rail .ray been so cheaply constructed. With regard to the events of last session, it was known that the Wellington members desired to obtain the conduct of the Rimutaki railway, and were ready to join any combination that promised this boon. The Government had not been fairly treated by the House last session. They had entered on a policy which was to last ten years, and at first they had neither sufficient professional assistance nor materials for railway nuking. Yet at the end of eight months they were called on to show results. The charges mada against the Fox- Vogel Government were disproved by the fact that when Mr Stafford and his friends were in office they made no discoveries of previous malailministratijn, they had no change of policy to propose, and the reforms they suggested were merely nominal. Mr Stafford had spoken of " political railways." Mr Reeves though*: Mr Stafford's reading of "political railways" meant leaving lines like the Foxhill and the Ellesmere branch line out. in the cold. He declined to join the new Yogel ministry because he thought the first had been treated unjustly by the House, and as there was another gentleman of experience r.-ady to take his place he saw no reason why h e 6houhi sacrifice himself for the sake of his party. Mr Yogel, also, had not been very candid with him, having given certain pie Iges to other partis* which he (M> Reeves) could not entertain, but which were not mentioned when he was first asked to join. Therefore he determined to hold ! aloof. He had firm fiith in the prospects of the J Colony, under a wise Government. A dissolution was not wanted. The leading men on both sido9 should 6ink their diffareacea, and a^ree to carry out the policy. A vote of confidence in Mr Reeves was proposed, but was superseded by an amendment, which was carried b> 23 to 16, to the effect that the meeting thanked Mr Reeves for his address, but did not approve of the unqualified support rendered by him to the unsatisfactory Fox- Vogel administration. From a Dunedin contemporary we learn that the Government have received advioe3 irom the Agent-General that arrangements have been made for the despatch of the following ships from London : — Parsee, for Auckland, with eighty immigrants, to sail on January Bth. On January 25th, the Edwin Fox, for Canterbury, with 200 immigrants, and 250 for Otago. The latter have been shipped in the Ed* in Fox owing to the Oberon proving unsuitable. Ttiey will be forwar led from Lyttelton to Port Chalmers by steamer, at Shaw, Savill & Co.'s expense. The Wild Duck was to sail on January 29th for Nelaon, with 150 passengers for Nelson and Wellington. The whole are nominated passengers. During the December quarter tlie Agent-General despatched nine ships, with 1567 immigrants — 1460 British, and 107 foreign. 719 were selected by the Agent-General. Dr Featherston was suffering from gastric fever. His condition at one time caused great anxiety. The experiment in Auckland of boring an artesian well to procure ago id supply of water seems likely to be successful. A depth of 125 feet has been reached, and the flow of water is increasing. All the necessary shares in the Coal Company recently started in Wellington have been taken up. Chamberlain and Levy, two long-sentence prisoners, escaped from the hard labor gang at Hokibiku on the 7th inst. Tho various landmarks in Auckland (sajs a northern contemporary), which bore evidence of the struggles of the past between the European and the Maori arc fast disappearing. Fort Britomart, the great stronghold of the citizens in the event of a Maori incursion, is only a wreck of its former self; while breaches are being made in the walls of the Albert Barracks for the conitructiou of a line ef road through from Wellesley street to Symonds street. Westland had 169 exhibitor! at the Christchurch exhibition, and has taken >5 broaze medals, 23 first-class, and 23 second-class certi- < ficates ; 71 prizes.

A fire, by which seven stacks of wheat were destroyed, took place at Kaiapoi, Canterbury, on Sunday, 2nd inst., on the farm of a Mr Rosser. Suspicions of incendiarism, were entertained, and the coroner's jury returned a verdict to the effect that the fire had been maliciously cause ) by a maa named Fred rick Berg, who was accordingly committed for trial. The Auckland police have received orders to discontinue the practice of wearing gloves while on duty. A.t Timaru the Municipal Council are bringing in a water-race 32 miles long, to supply that town with water, under the Water Works Act. One owner offered a bonus of £30 to bring the water through his property, and two or three who asked excessive sums, which thus necessitated recourse to arbitration, have been " left out in the cold " Sir J. Cracroft Wibon, M.tf.R. for Heathcote, has had one rib and shoulder-blade broken by a fall from horseback. The beach claims on the Molyneux hare again started. The river is said to be within four inches of its last winter's level. A rush of Chinamen has taken place to the Lower Pomahaka. About 500 are reported to be on the ground. It is reported (says the Southern Cross), that the flourishing fl^x trader is not keeping in view the requirements of the future. Flax it is said is steadily being cut down, and none planted. If this continues for a few yean scarcity must follow. Thefl'X plant should always have its young shoots left, and planting ought to progress as cutting goes on. The Honolulu Advertiser aays : — " By a recent arrival from Micronesia it appears that the notorious Captain Elayes is dodging about somewhere in those seas, with a British man-of-war, the Barossa, close at his heels. If fallen in with by John Bull, it is anticipated that he will be detained on "strong suspicion " to answer for some of his numerous -nisdeeds. But it would be only a continuance of Hayes's good luck — or shrewd management — if he got off clear. Pease, formerly a confederate with the firtt-Hamed buccaneer, was some time ago arrested and taken to the United States for trial for some crime ; but luckily for him the only witnesses against him died, and so he was discharged. He went back to his old haunts, and is now at the Bonin Islands." " The Customs returns of Tasmania for 1872," says the Cornwall Chronicle, " show a very gratifying increase in the trade of Tasmania for that year, as compared with the returns for 1871. In the value of imports we find an increase of £29.095 ; of exports to the exteut of £169,125 6,249 bushels of wheat, 6,114 bushels of oats, 18,829 bushels of fruit, 99,211 packages of jams, 248 tons of hay, 741,303 lb of wool, and 3721 tons of bark more were exported in 1872 than in 1871. There was a decrease in the quantity of flour, potatoes, timber, and dairy produce exported in 1872, but, on the whole, tha returns show a very soun I ani improving state of trade ; an i the grain crop fchis year is far in excess of the yiald of last." The prospectus of the Shotover Gold Mining Company, an undertaking which seems to have secured the support of some influential men in various parts of the Province, will be found in our advertising oolumns. Mr F. Nutter ia the local at'ent. A lecture on behalf of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, by Mr B. Short, in the Exchange Hill, is announced fo>* Tuesday evening, the subject being '' Incidents and facts connected with Mr Short's travels and Evangelical labors. Mr Mussen, photographer, elsewhere announces his return to Invercurjjitl.