INTER-PROVINCIAL.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1046, 14 February 1873, Page 4

INTER-PROVINCIAL.

Three wealthy deposits—coal, iron, ore, and limestone—have been recently discovered near Raglan, Aueklaud. Iron sand is also obtained from Raglan harbor. These mineral deposits predict a prosperous future for that district. Copper ore has been found by W. J. Barry, in the course - of a prospecting tour, somewhere " between MouriPisa and the Arrow." Those comt petent to form an opinion have assured Mr Barry that the stone contains at least 50 per cent, of copper. The specimens—of which Mr Barry has about 601bs weight—are to be sent to Sydney for chemical analysis. MiBarry also informs us that while prospecting in the neighborhood of Lake Wakatip, a few days ago, he discovered a splendid seam of coal within three miles of Queenstown. Invercargill, so long the " Deserted Village," of New Zealand, has for some time been improving rapidly and is now one of the most flourishing towns in the Colony. The large number of houses erected during the building mania of 1863, which were so long unoccupied, and were so derisively written and spoken about for years, have all found tenants, and houseroom is an exceedingly difficult thing to procure. So scarce are dwellings that in view of the approaching arrival of a number of immigrants, a committee of citizens had to be organised to provide accommodation. During Invercargill's long season of adversity, its inhabitants clung tenaciously to the idea that it was destined to be a prosperous and important place. These hopes seem now to be on the point of realisation, and the prosperity now dawning gives promise of a long and brilliant day. The Tuapeka Times says : —The dilapidated old shanty which does duty for a post-office in Lawrence still continues to offend the visual organs of the citizens. Day by day its unsightliness increases, and of fast approaching destruction more conspicuous. The walls stand for no other reason than that they are all in the same last stage of decay; and it is probable that the first heavy gale will scatter the sheets of iron of which the building is constructed promiscuously about the Government reserve. The verandah posts have tumbled down, and the windows are stuffed with old rags. When rain falls, the postmaster and his assistant are, in consequence of the state of the roof, treated to a copious shower bath ; and when any wind is about, it makes itself quite at home in the building, providing the officials with healthful recreation, in the way of holding on to the various documents in order to prevent their being swept in chaos. To sum up with, the interior of the building is less protected than that of a whare, amd the exterior reminds one forcibly of a fifth-rate marine store. A Dunedin paper says :—One hundred and forty degrees in the sun is rather hot for Otago. Whether it be that the opening-up of the country is changing our climate, or that the side of the sun turned towards us is getting hotter, we know not; still the fact is that the summers seem to get warmer. It is worth notice that while in New Zealand the weather during the summer has been similar to that experienced in England, and has been exceptionally dry, in Australia complaints have been general as to the wet season that has just passed. The Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, referring to a statement which has been going the round of the New Zealand papers, writes: —l dont know whether it is worth correcting an error that you seem to have fallen into at Dunedin, relative to a supposed promise from New South Wales to pay half of the cost of laying a submarine cable to New Zealand. This is a mistake. No such promise has been made, and the subject is one to be brought before the Conference. The Wanganui Chronicle declares that " there are shoals of children at Wanganui growing up as ignorant as heathens." " A Waikato Farmer," in a letter to the Southern Cross, says that in the district from which he writes. " countless millions of caterpillar infest tne pastures." The Bank of New Zealand is about te erect handsome new offices in Taranaki. They are to be completed before the Ist July next. In an article on the decline of volunteering, so far as drill is concerned, in Wellington, the post says : —No. 1 Wellington Rifle Volunteers, however, is only a type of many other Volunteer companies in the Colony. Everywhere a like decadence is visible; even in Otago, whose volunteers are so often held up to public admiration, the companies are rapidly degenerating into shooting clubs, and losing sight of perfection in drill. The Arrow Observer has the following:—" On the Frankton racecourse, on Friday, a hurdle race (20Q yards), was run between one named Brake (a well-known running' charater), and Master Dixon, Arrow River, for £25 a'isWeP ! A good deal of money was laid 5n the result, the outside public backing Drake, from a knowledge, no doubt, of his prowess in this line. The lad, howfiver, won the race. If rumor about the affair be true, the transaction was discreditable to all connected with it." The Timaru fferald reports that the damage ddne to the crops in that

district by the high winds is but par-' tial," and that, according to present appearances, a fairly prolific harvest may be confidently reckoned ou. Two persons have died from English cholera at Taapeka. The Southern Cross statos that the "new oil, an Auckland product, known by the name of' kauri gum oil,' is beginning to attract some attention amongst our painters. It is a product obtained by the distillation of kauri gum and coal. Its preservative properties are spoken of in the highest terms of praise, and it is said to be far superior to tar for preserving wood when exposed to damp. It gives a beautiful soft brown color to any article painted with it. If the high opinion now formed of it Bhould be borne out in actual and lengthened tests, there cannot be a doubt but the successful manufacturing of this oil will add somewhat to the price of the well-know kauri gum." During the Governor's visit to Queenstown, an excursion on the Lake in the steamer Antrim was projected, His Excellency rose on the morning selected, at half-past eight o'clock, and on proceeding to the steamer, found that the Mayor of Queenstown was the only person there to receive him. Everybody appeared to have overslept himself, and neglect of punctuality by those who were to accompany the viceregal party appeared to have annoyed Sir George, who, to teach them a lesson, gave orders for the boat to start on the voyage at once, and wait for no one. The Arrow Observer remarks that it is reasonable to suppose the Camp officials were fearfully sold, as whbu the dignified party arrived at the jetty they had the mortification to observe the Antrim a couple of miles on her journey. Our readers can judge of their feelings. A billiard table at the Kaikoura is thus described by the Artemus Ward of the Canterbury Press : —I wish to give this hotel its due, and to say that the landlord's treatment of us was very all right so to speak, but the billiard room is a wonder. It is, I think, the most remarkable feature in the Kaikouras. It has a small table, from whose cushions the balls will scarcely condescend to rebound unless driven with herculean force. There is only one cue, but he is a cue. I should like to meet the man who tipped it, and learn things from him. There is no mistake about your hazards, when you play on this table ; for the pockets are mostly bottomless, and the ball falls on the floor. In rainy weather the rain comes on the table, but once you get used to allowing for it, I think its an improvement. It leaves a watery track across the cloth, and the plashing of the rain on the table makes an accompaniment to your game at once musical and cheering. Lately, a farmer residing some nine miles from Christchurch, and who had engaged men to tie his crops, was astonished about seven o'clock in the morning by the sudden advent in front of his house of a Hansom cab ; hastening out with all speed, under the im prcssion that some serious accident had occurred, he was astonished to fiud that one of the newly engaged harvesters had taken this singular and somewhat expensive mode of going forth to his daily labor. Finding that his mates had not arrived according to promise, the new arrival declined to work by himself, and returned to town by the same conyeyance in search of them. A Thames miner called on his ladylove the other night, and found his rival engaged in cutting her corns. The ponderous dimensions of the Grahamstown miner's boots are proverbial, and the mass of that foot multiplied by its velocity on that occasion was sufficient to entirely obliterate the rival. A shark was captured last week off Queen's Wharf, Auckland, measuring 18 feet long, and weighing half a ton. On being cut open, a fore-quarter of mutton, a loin of mutton, a piece of suet weighing about ten pounds, and a sirloin of beef was found inside. The meat was some that had gone bad, and been thrown overboard from one of the ships in the harbour. The Wellington Post says:—"At length the secret respecting the many thousands of pounds which Colonel Gorton was said to save the Government when first appointed Inspector of Stores has transpired, and if all his services have been as useful as the saving of which he and others boasted so much, the colony has not been much the gainer by them. In nearly all that Colonel Gorton has been connected with there has been a striking touch of the ridiculous, but this last saving surpasses them all. When making his first tour of inspection he carried round with him lists of the furniture and articles that had been supplied to various offices. If, on inspecting the articles about an office, he found that any one thing had been cast aside as worn out or useless, he did not allow himself or the officials to rest till, probably at the expence of more time than would have paid the original cost of the article, it had been brought to light. Having accomplished this, he entered the worn-out article ou his list of "savings," putting down its value at some hypothetical sum. In this way, of course a list amounting to some thousands of pounds was made made up, but it represents articles compared to which, in a great degree, Judge Fenton's coal-scuttles were rare and valuable."

Motto for a Prosperous Merchant: if Early to bed and early to rise ; never get tight, and advertise."