The Westport Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1869.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 570, 21 October 1869, Page 2

The Westport Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1869.

The meeting last night, in re Superintendence-, was a lively one, and on the '.whole good-tempered. The -end was that the spirit of fair-play broke through a little pie-crust of Akerstenian feeling, and an adjournment was agreed upon, tacitly until Mr Gibbs should be heard. He is expected to-day. Of liis chances a gentleman well-known in Westport, and with no known proclivities, telegraphed on Tuesday from Nelson: —" Gibbs has two-thirds country electors. Akersten nowhere." Another gentleman who has since arrived says that, in Nelson city, Mr (iibbs is " nowhere." Thus, for the present, the matter " pendulates." Steps are already being taken by the electors of this district towards the selection of new members of the Provincial Council. Mr A. Reid has been first " wooed and won " by a requisition. There are two seats to be filled, and .Messrs O'Conor, Franklyn, (if eligible,) Alcorn, and Whyte are all mentioned, and deservedly mentioned, as still more desirable candidates. The doubt which prevails as to their ability to attend the sittings of the Council has alone prevented one or other of them from having already been made the recipient of a requisition. A new Evening Slat which has risen in Hokitika "gushes " on its'first appearance as to the power of the Press. " The most advanced thinkers of the age," says our contemporary, " give in their adhesion to the fact that the power of the Press is incalculable. It can break up or restore monarchies, make bond men free, and cause to be scattered the riches of millionaires." It was, no doubt, • under such impressions that the editor of another "twinkler" once commenced a scorching leading article on the subject, of the balance of power in Europe with the terrible words "We again warn the Emperor of Russia."

Particulars of the quartz discovery at Wangapeka will be found in another column. The Nelson papers speak of the Land Office being •'rushed" on the occasion. It will be seen that it was principally "rushed" by gentlemen in the other Government offices! From the Superintendent (or his storeman) downwards, the purchasers are officials or their friends. *" This above all—to thine own self be true." On Friday last, Dv Giles, Resident Magistrate and Warden at Westport, delivered, to a large audience in Nelson, a lecture on " Woman's Place in Creation." The resume of the lecture which appears in the Nelson papers we shall give in our next number. We stated in our last number that Mr Greenfield, the Provincial Secretary, had written to the Nelson papers stating that, at the nomination for the Superintendeucy, Mr Curtis did not know of the letter received from Mr Morrison on the subject of the railway. The Colonist says :—" There are more facts than Mr Greenfield gives. The letter, along with other official letters, was opened in the Superintendent's office on its arrival. Mr Morrison's letter was read ; its contents were perfectly well-known in the office; Mr Curtis was offered the English letters from Mr Morrison." The Colonist comments insinuatingly upon these facts. A Vestry meeting of the English Church was held yesterday. Present The Rev. B. W. Harvey, Messrs Harris, Whitefoord, and Winstanley. Mr Harvey read a tele gram from the Bishop of Nelson which stated that Mr Watkins, who had been sent for from England to take charge of the living at Greymouth, was willing to accept the appointment at Westport if it was arranged for Mr Beaumon* to stay at Greymouth, and that he couM be here by the middle of Noveml.er. It was proposed by Mr Harris, ami seconded by Mr Whitefoord, that Mr Walkins's olfer be accepted, and that Mr Harvey telegraph to the Bishop to that effect.

A miner named Martin Ford met with an accident yesterday at German Terrace by the upsetting of the truck in the claim in whi.h he was at work. He was precipitated a distance of twenty-five feet, and narrowly escaped serious injury. He was taken into the Hospital, and it is expected will speedily recover from the bruises sustained. We regret to hear of the death of M Charles Gasquoine, J.P., for somo time a resident at. Charleston, and a leading merchant there. .Mr Gasquoine, who had been for many months in delicate health, died three days after his arrival in Melbourne. Mr Gasquoine was in life respected, and is in death regretted. Wallabi street is "looking up." Capt. Leech's house is to be removed to the section immediately behind the Ti.mes office. The house occupied by Mr R. C. Reid is to " follow suit." Already the house occupied bv Mr Bedford has been re-erected in the* same street, which is understood to be one of the first to be improved. Mr Warden Aylmer contradicts the statement made by a Greymouth contemporary that he had received notice of his services being dispensed with at the end of the year. The discovery of a quartz reef at Taipo by a prospecting party sent out from the Greenstone is corroborated by the Hokitika papers. The quartz is undoubtedly gold-bearing, but the reef has not yet been properly tested. The Ministry are re-assembling at Wellington. Mr Bell and Mr Fox have returned, and Mr Vogel is shortly expected. There is a rumor that Dr Featherstou is not to proceed Home as Commissioner. Mr M'Kay, late Immigration Officer in Canterbury has been committed for trial for the embezzlement of £35. The Canterbury Executive have shown a good example. They placed the estimates on the table of the Council on the opening day of the session—an achievement not hitherto attempted. An Athletic Association has been formed at Christchurch under the patronage of the Superintendent of the Province,: and Mr Justice Gresson. As a proof of the healthiness of the climate of Tasmania, the Hobart Town Mercury asserts that, in proportion to its population, there are in that island more people over 70 years of age than in any other country in the world.

Mr T. R. Roberts, Wellington, at Poranghau, Wellington Province, has been thrown from his horse, dragged, fearfully disfigured, and killed. The first party of prospectors sent out by the Nelson Prospecting Committee have, we notice, abandoned the watershed betweon the Maitai and Happy Valleys, and gone to the neighbourhood of Wangamoa, which they consider more likely ground. They brought in specimens of quartz and gold, bat consider neither payable. A flax machine recently received at Nelson from Otago is now at work in the Government yard there, where it is driven by steam power. The Examiner says :—" At an early date the Government will receive one of the most perfect machines for dressing flax laoth from Canterbury and Auckland, and we shall then be in a position to speak of their respective merits." Might not the Nelson Government, with equal propriety, import one of Hunt's gold-saving machines ? Another Evening Star has been started in Hokitika. The plant is, apparently, that with which the Westport Evening Star, and afterwards the Hokitika Daily News were printed. Mr Robert Tnke, surveyor, has died in the Hokitika Hospital. The nest mail for England will be despatched from Hokitika on November 2nd, and on the following day the outward English mail is due from Melbourne. Mr Boyle has been unanimously elected Mayor of Hokitika in lieu of Mr Button, who has resigned, and who is about to go to Tasmania.