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Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 990, 26 July 1872, Page 2

Mails for the Australia Colonies close at the Bluff this day (26th) at 2.30 p.m. Telegrams will be received until 12.30 p,*u. Serious inconvenience is experienced by the owners of building materials now lying in and around Gladstone street, in removing them to safer locations. The contractor who has formed and metalled Palmerston street refuses to permit traffic thereon, as the work has not been passed by the Government Surveyor; and the new contractor, who has engaged to carry out the extended works to Rintoul street, is unable to obtain workmen. Thus all traffic, prese.it or prospective, is imppded, and those who would instantly rebuild on tho upper portion of the township, are delayed, at much 3o?s and inconvenience. A deputation waited on Mr Warden Giles yesterday to request that he would communicate with (he Superintendent, and suggest the immediate necessity for throwing open Palmerston street to the extent formed, and also employing, on Government guarantee, as many men as can bo possibly obtained to complete the extension works at once. Dr Giles at once concurred with the views expressed by the deputation, and telegraphed to his Honor, at Wellington, and also to Mr Dobson at Cobden. Tho result was that his Honor intimated by telegram, that instructions would be given Mr Dobson to on the work with all convenient despatch. What seems most urgently needed ns a preliminary measure, is the laying down of a temporary tramway up to the now sections, so that every individual so disposed, might convey thereto his stores of timber and building material, now lumbering the streets.

Some excellent specimens of quartz from the Little Wonder claim, Lyell, held byCarrol and party, has been brought into town; obtained at a depth of sixty feet from the surface. The stone is a conglomerate of white quartz and granite, with gold interspersed throughout, in quantities sufficient to prove that it would pay remarkably well under proper manipulation. The prospects of the Lyell district are mo3t encouraging. Mr Donne, notifies that ho will address the electors of the district at the Theatre Royal, Charleston, this evening, upon matters of general and special interest. The latest ore dit in political matters is that Mr Stafford has formed an opposition to oust the present Ministry. Messrs Fitzherbert and Bunny will join, and Mr Curtis, of Nelson, will be offered a seat in the new Executive, and thus relinquish his Superintendency of Nelson. It is intended to romove tho Post Office and Telegraph Office forthwith to Palmerston st e ;t|; the building now occupied by Messrs Pitt and Fisher, to be used as a temporary office in the meantime. Prom present indications, there seems every probability that the entire block of government buildings will soon need removal. The names of the Parliamentary committee to investigate Mr O'Conor's little land transaction show that it consists of one Wellington member, three Auckland member, one Marlborough, four Otago (including Sir David Monro), two Canterbury members, one Taranaki and one Westland member, the latter being Mr John White, member for the Hokitika district. It becomes the serious duty of all who care for themselves, or others dependent on them, to take every precautionary measure against small-pox. Telegraphic news inform us that one patient died of the smallpox on the last trip of the Hero from Auckland to Sydney, and twenty-six others are infected. As a matter of course stringent quarantine regulations are put in force in Victoria and Sydney. Two deaths are reported. As the disease is carried to distant colonies, it can easily radiate throughout New Zealand, and it behoves all Boards of Health to be on the alert, as also private individuals of every degree and station. The continued inclemency of the weather has prevented the Rev. Mr Soutar from visiting the Roefton congregation as contemplated, and he will not now leave Westport until the beginning of the coming week. It will be seen, from a notification appearing in another column, that he will conduct divine service at St John's Church a-i usual on Sundav next. Thf> chapel in Walhibi street, erected by the United Methodist Free Church congregation will be opened on Sunday next for divine .service, and at morning and evening, special sermons will be preached and collections made in aid of the building fund. The building has been lined, papered, and painted throughout, and fitted with roomy seats, and is now a comfortable, well arranged meeting-house. Frc3h tenders are called for tramway and paddock, on the Excelsior Claim, Lyell, in ponsequence of the inclemency of weather,

and depth of snow lying on the ground at the time the work was first ottered; preventing tenderers from then making any eligible offer,

Mr Munro advertises for sale, to-morrow, the substantially built premises known as the Royal Oak Hotel, which, from its position, and the present demand for house property, should realise a satisfactory figure. We also remind intending investors that the mining property in the intestate estate of Charles Osterland, deceased, will be also submitted for public competition to-morrow. The Charleston ' Herald' reports that last week the long looked for, long expected, and long delayed opening of the beach workings near the Totara river was consummated by the bringing into operation two of the water races. Thus several claims have been got to work, and in another mouth or less the whole line of beaehes will be in working order. Tho beaches promise well. The average ratum looked for is between £5 and £ti per man per week, so that one hundred or one hundred and fifty men on such wages constantly, must make a material monetary difference to this district. \ The business men have stuck well to their men, and we trust, for their sake, expectations may be fully realised, as also that they may be honorably dealt with by those whom they have stood by for the past few months supplying them with all necessaries. The recent alteration with regard to tho Court at which applications, etc, are to be made, is a great inconvenience to those working on the beaches mentioned.

The sea encroachment has compelled many men of business in Gladstone street, to seek elsewhere * a local habitation and a name.' Messrs Graves and Fleming will reopen to-morrow in part of Mr Falla's premises at the corner of Kennedy street. Messrs Why te and Pirie have tuiken up temporary quarters nexc the Union Bank, preparatory t j removal into Cobden street, and the entiro business of the Empire hotel is now ca ried on at the new establishment, 1 ite thj Ship and Castle. Mr J. A. M. Turner, the well-known watchmaker, has a'so been compelled to once more remove, and is now located in Palmerston street, opposite Jules Simon's store. Great inconvenience and oftentimes expense is entailed on miners and business residents in the Lyell district on account of no duty stamps being obtainable there. Wheneror an agreement for transactions in shares or other business is made, a journey to Westport or Reef ton is necessary to obtain stamps before the bargain can be legally concluded. The business of the Lvell district is fast rising in importance, duty stamps are daily and hourly needed, and a distributor should be appointed. The removal of the stone groin placed ab ->ve Kennedy street has become nocessary, in consequence of the encroachment of the sea and river. The tide has washed away the south end of Kennedy street, leaving the remains of the wharf isolated, and cutting in at the rear of the groin ; and this woek's flood in tho river caused a similar encroachment above it, so that the groin now forms an impediment to the free flow of the current, rather than a protective work. Under these circumstances it has been considered advisable, by the District Surveyor and Harbor Master, to utilise the stones by placing them along the bank of the river, from the transit shed upwards towards Cobden street.

Tho •* Colonist * says:— " A sample of coal from the Ngakawhao mine has reached us, and upon being applied to our office stove burnt with a steady glow that was pleasant to see after the queer fuel, and uninflammable stuff that the late scarcity has made housekeepers so familiar with. The Lyttelton has returned from her trip to Ngakawhao Inlet with a cargo of those coals. Captain Scott reports ot this place that there is a good straight entrance, with about 8 feet inside the channel at high water. The channel is bad, with a rough stony bottom, but the water deepens as you approach the mine, opposite which there is plenty of water. A dangerous rock, which masters will do well to respect, is in close proximity to tho place where vessels are expected to load, but there is every appearance of a plentiful supply of coal, and if a proper channel for vessels could be formed, and the rock removed, there would be no difficulty in the way of obtaining numerous cargoes of these coals, which we consider superior to Grey coil. The Lyttelton used them on her up trip, and they were much approved of by the engineer. It is very desirable that something should be done to improve the channel," The rock referred to has been since blasted away, and the late floods washed a channel wide enough and deep enough to float a man-of-war at high water. It is contemplated running out a solid built pier head from the wharf into deep water, bo that vessels may load at any time without inconvenience. Mr R. Kirton, late chief clerk in tho Christchurch Post Office, has been appointed Postmaster at Hokitika.

The following is a copy of the memorial to his Excellency the Governor and the House of Representatives, praying for an enquiry into the recent purchase of town lands at Westport by Mr O'Conor:—"The petition of the. undersigued inhabitants of the Buller district humbly sheweth, —That on the 4th of June, 1872, Eugene J. O'Conor, a member of the honorable House of Representatives and of the Provincial Council of the Province of Nelson, did purchase certain sections of land in the township of Westport, which the said Provincial Council have condemned, and have thereupon passed certain resolutions gravely and injuriously reflecting upon tho character of the said E. J. O'Conor in such a manner as to bring him into public hatred and contempt. That the said E. J. O'Conor has brought certain grave charges as to the manner in which thesa resolutions have been passed, to tho great scandal and discredit of our Provincial institutions. Therefore we humbly and respectfully pray your Excellency and your honorable House to cause a strict judicial enquiry into the whole proceedings in order that justice may be done." Enquiries have been made as to the purport of a notification appearing in the ' Nelson Government Gazette,' dated Feby. 17, 1872, whereby the whole of Westport is reserved under tho Provisions of the " Nelson Waste Land Act, 1863, section 9," for public purposes. Namely, one portion as a Recreation Ground, another as a Municipal Reserve, and a third for public utility. The only information to be obtained is from the Act itself. Section 9 reads as follows: "It shall be lawful for the Board at any time, by resolution published in the ' Gazette,' to make reserves of lands, whether surveyed into sections and advertised for sale, or not so surveyed and advertised; and although at the time under license, or under application for sale, lease or license," for the following purposes and things:—Districts to be constituted gold districts; lines of communication; drains around, through, or from swampy districts ; gravel pits, &c; quays, docks, landing places, &c; sites for schools, libraries and reading rooms ; hospitals, infirmaries, charitable institutions, institutes, markets, court houses, and other public edifices; oemetries; embellishment of towns, or for

health and recreation, anil, gonei ally, for any purpose of public profit, advantage, utility, convenience, or enjoyment. This does not convey the idea, suggested by many, that the land has been withdrawn from the Ooldtielda, and that then by the power to issue business licenses for sites thereon has been annulled ; but rather that the Provincial Government may now use discretionary powers irj the granting or refusal of business liconses in any part of the township, according to public exigencies or requirements. The " Honorable" Mr 11. H. Lahman's new born dignity is not altogether an honorary appointment. There is one thing pleasant attached to it, viz., a hundred guiueas and travelling expenses per session, which the Upper as well as the Lower House receive per member. Thi3 is not generally known ; but it is a fact that the Lords and Commons of New Zealand alike receive honorarium. Many letters are being written at present on the subject of the small-pox. A.mon'j these is one from a Mr Sutton of Dunedin, who gives his experience of the disease and one of its remedies. He.says . " In 1852 I was on board a ship where a passenger was seized with small-pox. The doctor had a tent prepared for his reception on deck, and a newly tarred tarpaulin placed over the tent to prevent the disease from spreading. It accomplished this end, as the man recovered, and was the only case on board. They have another way in Odessa, where they smoke everything—merr and women, parcels and letters —no matter whether there is any sickness on board or not." The fumigating system is generally spokon of as an effective preventative.

A sensational paragraph has been going the rounds of the Now Zealand press lately recounting the kindness shown by Freemasons in New South Wales to an unfortunate man named David Cameron, who in a tale of ' moving incident by flood and field' related how, while fighting the Maoris in New Zealand as a volunteer, he was, with two mates, made prisoner by the natives, who bound them to ar tree in a state of nudity, and smeared them with kauri gum, and set fire to the same, leaving them to their fate. His two mates died, but he, after suffering most excruciating torture, managed to release himself, and wandered into the bush, where he was found by a search party, who at once attended to him, As proof thereof, the poor unfortunate fellow showed how his left arm was burnt off, the fingers also of his right hand almost to his knuckles, his right side and thigh completely shattered, and where the flame careered around his chest and back, most unmistakeable signs of the agony he must have endured. The ' Tuapeka Times says in reference to this character :—" The individual alluded to is " Boon the Burn Davie," well-known on the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. He sustained his injuries by being burnt in his hut, at Tuapeka, while in a state of inebriation. The story he has told the N.S.W. folks as a work of Action is really excellent." Davie will probably improve as he travels. Mr Sheehan, the new member for Rodney, in the House of Representatives, was introduced therein by the Speaker, who, in a few well placed words, congratulated the House on the fact that Mr Sheehan was tho first person of European descent born in this Colony who had been elected a member of the House, a statement which elicited numerous approbative ejaculations. In order not to be found unprepared, should the frightful pest of sni;ill-pox bo introduced at Nelson, the Government is taking measures to have buildings ready, to which patients could be removed should the disorder unhappily be brought there. On Monday, Dr Vickerman, Health Officer, paid a visit to Astrolabe Roads, to select a site for buildings which the Government are having constructed in frame, so that they may be put together in a few hours if required. The only safeguard however is vaccination, which should be submitted to by adults and children alike, whether already vaccinated or not. If this be done, no fear of the disease need be entertained, whereas, if this is neglected, there will be more or less of danger whatever other safeguards are resorted to. The 'Otago Daily Times' says, that at no time has there been amongst the public, even of the Middle Island, such a feeling in favor of financial separation as there is at present, and states that if the Northern railways are not reproductive, the loss must fall on the inhabitants, and not be shared by the taxpayers of the Middle Island. From the Nelson papers we learn that Mr Thomas Berry, or, more properly, de Berri. a lineal descendant of the French Duke de Berri, and one of the oldest Freemasons in Mew Zealand, died last week in Nelson, at the very advanced age of ninetysix years. He was mado a Freemason at the Grand Lodge of England in the year 1821. the Duko of Sussex being then Grand Master. The father of deceased was son of the Duke do Berri, who, escaping from France in 1793, in the Reign of Terror, ultimately settled in Colchester, England, and obtained the freedom of that city, under the name of Berry. The son passed much af his time in America and France, mixing largely in the political intrigues of those days, and ultimately died in Colchester, at the very old age" of one hundred years and four days. His son, the subject of the present notice, appears to have continued in trade more steadily than his progenitor, and to have acquired some means. He was subsequently induced to emigrate to these shores (through the representations of sons who had settled here previously), then being at the ripe age of seventy years. He will be remembered as having been in the employ of the Nelson Government for many years ; and tho craft will. recollect him as having been for a similar period an office-bearer of the Nelson Lodge. A Masonic funeral took place on Thursday last, the hoarse being preceded by the members of the order in full regalia, with jewels encased in crape, and proceeded to the new cemetery, where the Rev. G. H. Johnstone read the service of the Church of England, after which, the beautiful prayer used by the Masond on such occasions was offered up by Past Master Robert Burn, who officiated in the absence of Mr Joseph Shephard, the W.M. The circuit of the grave was then made, and the branches of evergreens cast wpon the coffin by the brethoren present, and the solemn oeremony was brought to a close by tho singing of a hymn. . The recent discovery of moa bones and saurian, remains near Christchurch, proves of some importance. The ' Lyttelton .Times' says;—ln addition to the moa bones, remains'of several other representatives of our extinct avifauna, which will throw great light upon the animal life in thi3 island, in times preceding our own; were also discovered during the excavations. The first portion of " the great find " was brought to town in a four-horso American waggon yesterday. There wore no less than tweuty-fourlarge cases, and it is, therefore, unnecessary, to say that the waggon was not too largo for its freight. A further consignment is expected to follow immediately, and the draying will be continued until the supply of bones is exhausted. I

Yesterday' the Museum also received six large cases containing a tine collection of saurian bonps, which have been procured from the bed of the river Waipara, where Dr Haast has had an efficient collector eraployed for two months past. The collection includes some largo blocks weighing several cwts, with nearly comxdete skeletons. The Canterbury people are strenuously bestirring themselves to obtain the formation of a road by way of Hurunui, Waiau, &c, to connect at Ahaura with the Reefton road. It is stated that the difficulties of formation are comparatively slight, that feed for cattle may be obtain along nearly the entire route, and that the streams to be forded are inconsiderable. The following route is proposed :—Christchurch to Waiau bridge, 76 miles; Waiau bridge to the confluence of Boyle and Hope's (chained by Woolley), 20 miles; Thence to Doubtful and Boyle junction, 5 miles ; Boyle junction to Doubtful Paddle (Rochfort's), 9 miles; Doubtful Saddle to Tutikuri, 15 miles; Tutikuri to Kaupara Flat, 8 miles ; Kaupara Flat to Ahaura township, 20 miles. Total distance from Christchurch 153 miles. A fine nugget, weighing 3.Jozs, has been sent to Nelson from the Anatori river. It was obtained in the alluvial workings, and showed signs of the action of the water. The reefs also in that part of the country have a very promising appearauce.