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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 548, 28 August 1869, Page 2

As -will bo seen by advertisement elsewhere;, the brethren of the Loyal Charleston Lodge, Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, have determined on celebrating their second anniversary ball on the 23rd September nest, and, judging from the vigilant committee that has been appointed, and their arrangements so far, there is every prospect of it eclipsing their first. If such be the case, it will be a great success. The most liberal arrangements for supper, &c., have been entered into, and the brethren on the committee intend to do all in their power to make it the ball of the season in every respect.

At the Karamea there are at present only three miners at work, and at the Little Wanganui, a short distance farther north, there are nine miners at work on the bfttch. The cutter Harry Bluff called in at both these rivers this week, and landed four tons of provisions at the Karamea, and eight tons at the Wanganui. At the latter place the men are engaged bringing in a race to work the beach. No prospecting is being done inland, from the want of a track and from the difficulty of getting " tucker" through the bush. There is no store now at either place, but the men will not suffer from any scarcity of provisions for several months. The race about to be taken in at the Wanganui is supposed to bo a work of four months, and from the prospects already obtained by those at work, they confidently hope, witli a good supply of water, to be amply remunerated. Mr M'Dowell, M.P.C., returned to Westport on Wednesday by the steamer Murray, after a visit to Auckland and other Provinces of the North Island. The Roman Catholic church in Westport is now furnished with a belfry and a bell. There is so little to remind people of the regular recurrence of Sunday that the bell deserves to be welcomed as a new and useful local institution. It deserves also to bo complimented on its excellence of tone. The bell-man will, no doubt, deserve to be complimented after ho has had a little more practice.

A young man named Georgo Cameron, who was for some time agent for the Celt newspaper in this district, proceeded to Auckland some months ago, and joined the Armed Constabulary. From a letter which has been received in "Westport, it appears that, shortly after joining- the force, he sustained a serious, if not mortal, wound in an engagement with the Natives. The writer of the letter says:— " I have very sad news for you tlu3 time, and that is relative to poor Cameron. I heard from one of his comrades that ho was shot, and supposed to be mortally wounded. They had left him at the military hospital at a place called Tauranga, and we may never expect to see him again. The troops were attacking a pah down on the East Coast, and in a gallant charge poor George got Iris quietus.''

Some small specimens of the result of the first smelting of the Taranaki sand have this week been brought to Westport, It appears that an accident happened in connection with this smelting, the steel having run off in a fluid state sooner than was anticipated. Thus the specimens we have seen are mixed with somo of the charcoal used in the work. Otherwise the specimens are very good samples of steel, and there seems every reason to hope well of the new enterprise.

Accounts recently received from the Fijis are not of a very favourable character. From a gentleman who recently visited Sydney we learn tliat there he saw several New Zealand people who had returned from the islands greatly disappointed, and giving a poor account of the prospects of those who still remained.

It is said that Mr Halcombo, Provincial Secretary in "Wellington, and nephew of the present Colonial Secretary, has become editor of the Wellington Independent. An important Bill, to give somewhat enlarged powers to Provincial Councils, has been brought into the House of Representatives. It enables Provincial Legislatures to mate laws constituting courts for the hearing of applications for licenses for the sale of spirits, and to constitute appeal courts in matters relating to rates or assessments. It is to be hoped that the Nelson Government will take advantage of any privilege which may be thus extended, by at once amending the present very defective Licensing Ordinance. The Native news from Auckland is of a more reassuring character. Any apprehension of a descent being made upon the Eu-

ropean settlements seems to have passed away. Te Kooti has left the Waikato, and is reported to have returned to Taupo. We notice it stated that no less than seven tons of flax roots have been shipped from Hawke's Bay for the purpose of being planted in Canterbury. Dirt is at a premium in Wairarapa, The Mercury says:—" When Sir G. Bowen paid his visit to the Wairarapa, we noticed the fact that this Court-house had been cleaned out for the first time since its erection. We are now informed that this cleansing has not yet been paid for." Dr Carr still appears to draw large and interested audiences in Wanganui, and to retain the confidence of the public in his powers, notwithstanding a supposed exposure by Mr Day of an attempt to humbug the people. A Bill has been introduced in the General Assembly to amend the County of Westland Act. The object of the bill is twofold; firs l ;, to provide, so far as the imperfect system of government of the colony will allow, for a more efficient control of the county expenditure; and secondly, to empower the county to overdraw to the same extent as provinces would be allowed to do—viz., one-fifth of the previous year's revenue. Mr Brown moved as an amendment that the County of Westland be constituted a province. Such a course would get rid of a great deal of legislation. Westland had been long enough a county to be promoted to the rank of a province, and the creation of Westland into a province would fill up the gap that would now be made by the extinction of Marlborough. The Colonial Treasurer thought the amendment should be withdrawn and brought forward as a substantive motion; and Mr Brown withdrew it. The Wanganui Times gravely proposethat a duty should be imposed on cattle imported from Victoria and elsewhere for consumption in the mining districts of this Colony. A protective import duty, says our contemporary, would benefit the revenue and enable stockowners in this colony to compete with those of neighbouring colonies. Nothing is said as to the interests of the poor consumer. The Wanganui Times gives the following as the number of cattle, &c, shipped from that port from Ist January 18G9 to 12th August 18G9 : Oattle to v arious ports 1,758 Sheep ditto 14,936 Pigs ditto 1,050 During the first four months of the year, says the Times, sheep were selling at such ridiculously low figures as from Is to 5s each. Boiling down was carried on with a profit, and sheep-farmers were all but ruined. Now prices rule pretty high, boiling dow n has ceased, and shipping off has rapidly increased during the last two months.