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Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 779, 21 February 1871, Page 2

Tho Suez mail was due in Moibotuiio on Thursday last, and the telegrams would bo received in Melbourne on Tuesday, assuming that the P. and 0. Co.'s steamer arrived with its customary punctuality. The s.s. Bangitoto will be the first boat from Australia, and she may be hourly expected at Hokitika.

The tenders for the Charleston and Addison's Hoad have been accepted. The entire work has been let in six contracts at prices varying from £2 7s Gd to £7 5s per chain. The latter figure is for putting a short tunnel through a sand-stone bluff and carrying the road along a side cutting. No. 1 and No. 2 contracts, commencing at the Shamrock Lead and extending to peg 2, at the edge of the first bush, have been taken by Moore and Thompson at £2 7s Gd and £2 10s per chain respectively. For No. 3 section, extending to the bank of the river Totara, Cox is the successful tenderer at i."4 per chain. No. o contract, consisting of a tunnel and side cutting, has fallen to W. Pell, at £7 5j per chain, whose tinder has also been accepted lor section No. G—from peg 5 to the bank of the second river at £4 12s 9d per chain. Section No. 5, extending from peg 4 jto the end of the Pakihis, falls to Dwyer at £2 11 Gd per chain. Each contract is to be finished within eight week:-, subject to a forfeit of 20s per day. Tne tunnel, referred to above, is about 130 ft long, 10 ft wide, and 14 high to the crown of the arch. The road will be constructed throughout 12 ft. wide, and passing places 20 ft wide are to be made at every 10 chains, at least in the level ground, and at all short turns and angles in the side catlings. The bnsh is to be felled throughout for a width of 10ft.

There was every indication of rain yesterday evening, which is looked for very anxiously throughout the entire Coast. The recent entertainment in aid of the Volunteer Fire Brigade, resulted in .the sum of £l4 7s fid being placed to the credit of the institution, in addition to a further sum of £2 103, the proceeds of uncollected tickets. Ths gross receipts were £39 7s Gd, while the expenditure, amou-iting to £2"«, was Mi follows :—Band, £'B ; printing, &e., £4 12s 6J; mas tor of the ceremonies, £1 10s; decorations, £\ j confectionery, £5 10s fid; refreshment i, £3, lis fid; butcher, i'l 2s; sundries, 4s fid. The treasurer also desires to acknowledge the receipt of £', Is from Dr Thorpe as a subscription to the fund.

Tho Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade held their usual weekly practice yesterday evening.

In consequence of the exposed condition of the protective works at the foot of Glad-stone-street, it has been decided to deposit IGO tons of stone in the vicinity. The sum of .£lO is to bo expended, and the work has been entrusted to Hale and party, who had tho former contract-

On Saturday thesnagpreviously referred to as impeding thefairweighof the channel, was removed to the left bank of the river, the p.s. Charles Edward taking tho barges in tow, Tho mooring chains were partiallyrecovered yesterday, the steamer being unable to tow them away. The remaining portion of the chain will be recovered todav.

MY Dobson, acting under instructions, has proceeded to Collingwood to report upon the claims of that district to a portion of the £300,000 voted by the Assembly for water supply to goldfields. Although the claim of such a district as Collingwood actually is, and doubtless will be, regarded a3 interior to that ot' the m ire productive workings of the south-western districts of the Province, it may to some extent be worthy of notic;. Iu wny case a report upon the capabilities of the various goldfields, and the facility with which they may be provided with water, in order to be complete, must include every district throughout the Province.

The following iteinj, respecting the Karamoa, aro supplied by a party who has recently visited that locality:—About thirty men aro eugaged mining on the beaches in the neighborhood. Hughston and party have comr)leted.a wator-wheel, constructed to raise water a height of sixteen feet, a sufficient snpply having been obtained from a neighboring creek to drivo the wheel. A flumed race, nearly a mile in length, conveys two sluice-heads of water to the beach, where the party are working two boxes ; and they purpose rigging a third pump to enable them to work an extra box. Makomson and party are brin°--ing in a flumed race 28 foot high from the ranges, and, when completed, it will fnrnish an excellent supply of water. M'Meckan and party have expended eighteen months'

labor hi bringing in a flunied race, also from the ranges, and tboy have now feur boxes at work day and night. A few other parties are scattered over the beaelie3, but having no permanent supply, they are dependent ujjon tlio rains to work the beach. Our informant gives a deplorable account of the journey overland. At one bluff fully fifty feet in height, the only means of asceut or descent is a rotten rope which renders either task very perilous. The Government should cut a track round the bluff, or, at least, replace the rope with a chain to ensure safety. At other points bluffs have to bepassed, the passenger following the face of the rock at a height of thirty feet above the sea. From what we cau gather the overland journey, in the absence of a track, is not alone an arduous undertaking, but attended with no little hazard to those desirous of testing the locality. A preliminary meeting was held at Cadigan's Hotel, Charleston, last Saturday evening, for the purpose of making arrangements for sports and public amusements, to celebrate the approa.-hing St. Patrick's Day festival. A programme of sports was drawn up, and several sub-com-mittees appointed for the purpose of cari'yhrg out the details, which we have no doubt will reflect credit on all concerned, and afford the Charleston public a good day's enjoyment. Notwithstanding the dulness which the long continued dry weather has brought upon Charleston, evidences of confidence and enterprise are not wanting. We new premises in the course of erection, and Mr Holme 4, of the Oil-skin Factory, has made a very neat addition to Princes-street in the premises which he has erected for the purposes of this new local industry. The painters are also busy restoring the cleanly and plea-.ing appearance of the s iveral shop fronts. The long continued drought has at last exhausted Haines's large reservoir at Charleston. The various claims supplied with water by the above race were knocked off on Saturday last, and, with few exceptions the miners in Charleston are idle. Among the exceptions to the general state of depression are the claims deriving their water supply from such permanent sources as the Nile and Cosmopolitan water races, both of which are fed by the Nile River. The following notification appears in a recent " Gazette " : —A. bonus of 50 per cent, on the value realised is offered for the production of the first JJIOOO worth of cocoons of the silkworm or eggs of the silkworm produced in the Colony, to be paid on quantities of not less value than £SO or more than £IOO pro uced by any one person ; also, for the first 500 reams of printing paper, a sum of £ tOO; and a further sum of £230 for the first 500 reams of packing paper, and the like sum for the first 10,000 yards of scrim-cloth suitable for covering flax bales. The conditions are that the required quantity of each article be completed before June 30, 1872; the printing paper not to weigh less per ream than 301bs, and the packing paper iOlbs; each piece of scrim to be 100 yards in length, double width, and weighing not less than 30lbs. His Excellency has approved of the scheme of the Superintendent of Auckland, under which £12,400 of the £50,000 available for Road Boards, under the Payment to Provinces Act, has been allowed to the Auckland Province. It has been suggested that in order to hasten the opening up and profitable working of the Bnller reefs, the Provincial Government might advantageously advance the means of placing steam batteries on one or two lines of re f. A charge might bo made for crushing, sufficient to pay working expenses and reimburse the cost of placing the machinery on the ground, and we are satisfied that such an undertaking would prove speedily reproductive. In behalf of the reefers it may be argued that in localities to which water cannot be conveyed at a reasonable cost, Government might very properly be asked for assistance in the shape of machinery, as it would be incompetent for such districts to avail themselves of the bjuelit derivable tinder the General Government water-supply-scheme.

Mr Busby has to wait for the ,£13,000 balance of his compensation till the loan is negotiated. This further confirms the stoppage of Government advances by the Ban!:.

The question of prohibiting the sale of drink on Sunday is agitating the public mind in Wanginoi at present. The " Chronicle" advocates the closing of public-houses from eleven o'clock on Saturday until sis o'clock on Monday morning; while the "Herald declare; that "this is

a p?ece in keeping with the intolerance and blind bigotry of a pack of zealots." At Jones's Fiat, Wostland, James O'Donnoll, a fine young man, has been killed through falling down a shaft—a depth of 140 feet. At the same place, the bucket in one of the claims became unhooked while a man named Wm. Warren was being lowered down the shaft, and he fell a depth of sixty-feet. His legs were boken, besides sustaining internal injuries. A cargo of sugar, per Malay from the Mauritius, is expected in Nelson daily, consigned to Messrs N. Edwards and Co. A government return shows that the value of certain goods imported into Grey - mouth from Australia during the last three years, for the production of which there are manufactories in the colony, wa3 £27,506. Five thousand pounds worth of rations were issued to the destitute of Auckland during the month of Jauuary. The following has been received as a special from Alexandra, dated, Feb. 10th:— Whitiora, with thirty armed natives, are at Whareruekau, five miles from Alexandra, lie visited Tapihana on his way. Tapihana was defiant, and daaced a wat--dance. Whitiora's companions from Orhia say Tapihana'B movements must be stopped. Bar!on's party, who returned with Whitiora, say Tapihana will not be taken alive, neither will Todd's murderers. Barton did not agree with Tapihaua's work, and ordered him back to Kawhia. Tapihana consented to go. When Tapihana returns to Kawhia the Pakehas will feel safe, but till then they are on their guard. He has left fifty men at Pukanai. Christchurch now contains about 500 artesian wells, more than ninety of which have Been bored during the past year. An Artists' Exhibition is shortly to be held in Auckland. Work t intended for the exhibition would be received in the City Hall on the 15th instant, and during five following days.

By the ship City of Dunsdin the Acclimatization Society of Otago, ha 3 received six red and ono axis deer. Two of the former .died on the voyage, eight head having been shipped. A miner, named Sullivaw, atTapu, Auckland, recently had _ his neck crushed by a falling log, Hie recovery is doubtful.

The fact that the members of the next Victorian Parliament will receive 4300 a year for their services has, of course, brought into the flald a !io3t of candilates, many of rery questionable character, and some of no

character at all. This has induced some persons hastily to form an opinion that payment of members will prove very detrimental to the Colony. It is> however, altogether too Boon to arrive at such a conclusion. Very many of those who have impertinently placed themselves before the electors will never go to the poll. The £SO which they are required to deposit, and which thev will absolutely forfeit if a certain number of votes are not recorded in their favor, will stop them.

It is stated in a Queensland journal that a powder flask, marked "Leichardt 54," has been found on the Aramac, near itsjunction withthe Thomson. Slight trace though it be of the lost explorer, it has been thought sufficient to suggest the propriety of making a fresh effort to discover Dr. Leichardt.

The Quebec and Gosford wooden railway, which is 25 mile 3 in length and has a guage of four feet eight and a half inches, admits of a speed of 20 to 30 miles au hour for ordinary trains, and the whole cost including right of way, grading, trackand rolling stock complete, wa3 only £I2OO a mile.

The first number of the new Gentile paper in Salt Lake City was to be issued Jan. ist. Sewing machines worked by water from the Yean Yean, are being exliibited in the shop windows iu Melbourne.

According to a Melbourne paper, a strange disease is re. orfced to have made its appearance amongst horses on some of the stations of the Murrumbidgee, below Wagga. It commences with a stiffness in the joints, the horse is unable to bend his knees, and in a short time waste.3 away and dies. Out of six horses attacked on one station, only one is said now to survive.

A serious fire broke out the other day on the Canterbury l'iains. One settler lost 50 acres of growing corn, and two horses.