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Southland Times, Issue 1782, 19 August 1873, Page 2

We referred last week to the serious illness of Mr Fleming, Rector of the Grammar School, expressing the hope that he was then in a fair way of recovery. Within the last few days we regret to state that very unfavorable Bymptoms have appeared, and from the nature of the disease (tuberculosis), and the rapid pace with which it has been developed, Mr Fleming's medical attendants have now reported his case as being very serious. Great sympathy is expressed in town both for Mr Fleming and his friends under the circumstauces. The Woodlands section of the Mataura railway will be ready for traffic in about four weeks from thi3 date, but, bo far as we are aware, there are no advices of the carriages, waggons, &c, ordered for the Mataura line, having been Bhipped to the Colony. On the 23rd January, 1872, we find that the following order was sent to the Agent-General on account of the InvercargiD to Mataura railway : — 2 locomotives, 9J inch cylinder, coupled, with duplicate fittings ; 1 second-class passenger carriage ; 2 composite carriages ; 3 covered carriages ; 6 high— sided waggons ; 6 low-sided waggons ; 2 brake vans ; 2 waggon weigh bridges ; and 12 tarpaulins. On October 26, 1-72, the following additional order 1 was despatched : — 1 locomotive, 6 wheels, 9^ inch cylinder, leading wheels on a boijie, coupled ; 1 brake van, small ; 2 first-class carriages, small ; and 4 second-class carriages, small. Under the circumstances the Railway Committee should take the matter into consideration, and endeavor to procure some information on the subject. It is unnecessary for us to urge that no time should be lost in opening up the line for traffic, seeing that the impassable condition of the East Road during the winter months ha 3 been a matter of notoriety. We believe there are some ten carriages, besides a number of waggons, now in Dunedin awaiting the completion of the Clutha line, and as they cannot be brought into requisition for a considerable time, there is no doubt that if the state of matters herj were represented to the authorities in Wellington, a sufficient quantity of rolling stock would be ordered to Inve"cargill to enable the line to be opened as far as Woodlands. We have received from Capt. Tall, of the steamer Lady of the Lake, a sample of the Kaitangata coal. It i<? similar in many respects to that obtained at the Nightcap, and appears to burn very well. No other coal is used on board the steamer, and Capt. Tall assures us that he finds it answers capitally for steaming purposes. A new arrival, named Scott, was found by the police upon the footpath in Dae street, late on Friday night, apparently in a fit. He was taken to the Hospital, from which he made his escape during Saturday nig'it, through the window. Being re-taken by the police, almost in a state of nudity, he was conveyed to gaol, from whence he was brought before the Resident i Magistrate yesterday, and remanded until tomorrow. The man is evidently suffering from delirium tremens. The steamer Lady of the Lake, which has not visited any Southland port for a number of years past, arrived in the 270w River on the morning of Saturday, the 16th inst., with a cirgo of coal from Kaitangata (Clutha). The Luly of the Lake has recently undergone such a complete alteration, having been lengthened anJ otherwise improved, that very little of the original vessel i remains. She has now a considerable carrying capacity, and her steaming powers are of no mean order. Tliß vessel is owned by Messrs Findlay & Co., Dunedin, and is chiefly engaged in the trade between that port and the Molyneux. At a special meeting of the Municipal Council, held on Friday evening last, Hi» Worship the Mayor and all the Councillors, with the exception of Councillor Pratt, were present. Several accounts, left over from the regular meeting, were considered and passed for payment, and a sum of £3 12s was voted to several persons who assisted at the late fire in Esk street. The report of the Firj Brigade was brought up, and referred to tie Finance Committee. The number of signatures forwarded with the petition for the amendment of the land laws, amounted to 511, and 50 additional names were, received too late to be appended. The immigrant vessel, Allahabad, from London, expected to arrive at Port Chalmers about the 26th of this month, brings, we understand, 229 statute adults, equal to 276 souls, all being nominated immigrants, and amongst them the following nominated through the Invercargill office, viz., Alexander Mackay, Alexander Sutherland, Isabella, John, James, Janet, and Q-eorge Hall ; Jane, Henrietta, Mary E-, Maria, and Sarah M. Hargreaves, and Kite Conwiy, The report of the Public Works .Committee, submitted to the Municipal Council at their meeting on Thursday evening last, recommends that the Surveyor be requested to report as to the cost of forming the paths in Clyde street, from Dee street to the Puni Creek bridge. It also advises the adoption of the Surveyor'a recommendation referring to Gala street, Leet street, and Yarrow Btreet, namely, that open drains should be formed where not at present drained, and that the existing drains should be acoured, and proposes to leave for further consideration the question of the formation and dvainage of the upper portion of Deo street. Councillor Pratt'a motion, which may be looked on aB an addendum to the report, provides for an estimate of the cost of forming, gravelling, and permanently draining the portion of Dee street referred to in the report of the committee. The New Zealand and Australian Land Company are to receive £1020 from the Government for erecting six miles of double fencing on their estates, being for the line of the Mataura railwayThere are within the Colony 4932 miles of water races, carrying 6776 sluice heads, constructed at an estimated coat of £763,899.

We were recently advised by telegraph that the Agent-General had forwarded to the Colony certain war medals. It seems thut these medals were ordered in 1871. but owing to some dispute which had arisen regarding an inscribing machine supplied to the Government, the medals have been lying at the Royal Mint for over two years. The following is a copy of the Mint charge for supplying them : — 99,550 ozs. of silver, at 5i 6d, £273 los 31 ; manufacturing 1000 medals, at 3d each, £12 10s ; total, £286 5s 3d.

The balance at the credit of the Government Life Insurance and Annuities Department on the 30th June last was £36,801 13s Bd. The number of policies issued during the year was 1161, the sum assured being £429,450, on which the annual premiums amount to £16,430 9s 9d. The claims during the year were ten in number, caused by the death of nine persons. The amount of the claims was £2800, which comprises all claims except a disputed one for £2000. The expenses of management during the year amounted to £5288 7s sd. The following extract from a private letter received by Mr A. Eichardt, of the Queen's Arms [ Hotel, Queenstown, from Si r George Houston, of Johnstone Castle, Scotland, who some time ago visited this part of the Colony, on his tour round the world, is published in the Wakatip Mail. The letter is dated San Francisco, 13th April, 1873. The writer says : — " I shall always be glad to hear from you, and trust to have favorable reports of the prospects and prosperity of Queensstown. I have written to your new Governor, Sir James Fergusson, who is a friend of mine, and have drawn his attention to your part of the world, and have told him what I think the Lake district might with energy become. A railway to the foot of the Lake is most important, but the secret of success will lie in the proper advertisement in Melbourne of the localities around Queenstown, and the means of access there. On the 30th June last, the Armed Constabulary Force of the Colony consisted of 704 men, occupying 46 stations in the North Island. In his report, the Commissioner, Lieut.-Col. Moule, says that " should their services be required in the field, judging from their training and character, they will be found an efllcient and reliable Force." A correspondent of the Lytteiton Times complains that the growth of trees in Christchurch causes an excrss of dampness in winter and a want of ventilation in summer, highly injurious in a sanitary point of view. The number of miners employed on the goldfields of the Colony during the year ending 31st March, 1873, was 22,335, of which number 4262 are Chinese. Dividing the value of the total quantity of gold exported amongst the mean number of miners employed in alluvial and quartz mining, in 1872, the average was per man, for the year, £77 103 3d. Referring to the Sre which occurred in "Dunedin on the morning of Saturday last, the Guardian Ba ys : — The fire originated in a small bottlingroom in the rear of Messrs Marshall & Copeland's premises, and was discovered by the night watchman about half- past three o'clock. He at once gave the alarm, and as at that hour the corporation carts were just starting for the purpose of collecting the rubbish deposited in the streets, no difficulty was experiencei in bringing the engine and hose reel to the site of thi firj. The building in which the fire took place was compose 1 of wood, and, it is needless to say, was very quickly reduced to ashes ; and the members of the Fire Brigade, quickly perceiving that there would be no use in attempting to save this or any portion of its contents, turned their attention to confining the damage to that portion in which the flumes had obtained a mastery. The rest of the buildings in Marshall & Copeland's brewery are composed of s,tone, and the Brigade were thus enabled without difficulty to prevent the fire from spreading further than the building which we have already indicated, yet nevertheless a destruction of property ensued which may be set down at between £900 and £1000. The cost of messages on the proposed cable between Australia and New Zealand is to be 15s for the first 20 words, and 9d for every additional word. The Diocesan Synod of Canterbury have agreed to vote £5,000 out; of the Church Property Trust towards building the Cathedral in Christchurch. The work will be gone on with at once. There are 342 companies in the Colony regis tered under " The Mining Companies Limited Liability Act, 1865," and amended Acts, having a nominal capital of £4,510,026 ; 32 under the Joint Stock Act, with a nominal capital of £557,625 ; and three under " The Mining Con • panics Act, 1872," having a nominal capital of £15,160. At the meeting of the Ofcago Waste Land Board, held in DuneJin on the 14ih inst, Mr W. Gardiner wrote requesting to be allowed to purchase 10 acres at Mataura Bridge fora manse site, or be permitted valuation when the land is offered for sale. A recommendation was maJe to the Government that the land should be cut up into quarter and five-acre sections, according to position, and declared open for sale. The amount of gold duty received in the Pro- j vince of Otago during the year ended 31st December, 1872, was £19,709 8s 7d. At a meeting of the Otago Institute, held in Dunedin on the 12th inst., it was resolved " That copies of Dr Lindsay's paper on ' Salmon Acclimatisation in New Zealand' be transmitted to the Colonial Government, the Provincial Government of Otago, and the Acclimatisation Societies of Canterbury, Otago, and Southland ; and that attention be at the same time called to the information supplied in this paper as to the suitability of the Pacific Coast of British America as a source of supply, to the suggestion of Dr Ransom for conveyance of ova by cold water in swinging veaseh, and to that of Dr Lindsay that the experiment of salmon acclimatisation ought to be persisted in for some years regularly under the superintendence of expeits." It is said that negotiations have taken place between the Canterbury and Otago members of the Assembly as to a severance of the two Islands, and removal of the 89at of Government. The average rate of wages paid to miners in the Colony during the year ending 31st March, 1873, was as follows : — In Auckland, £2 per week ; , Marlborough, £3 ; Nelson, £2 8s to £4 ; Westland, £3 to £4 } and Otago, £2 10d to £3 10s.