SOUTHERN SCRAPS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3457, 14 August 1868, Page 4

SOUTHERN SCRAPS.

It is Baid to be in contemplation to amalgamate the pilot service wiih the Custom-house staff iu Canter bury. SeiL ° m BCiatiC *- H ° h UnS/otvfhS wShrST* 1 * i?* Otago goldfieldt seems 111 » 7 ? ecll , niag ' * A - *>* day. »go, on the Dunstan, S.SmS °? -*»* machinfl of the Scandinavian S™ I™ on— •* Skipper's Creek, worth ■ome £JU,OO Jf WM knocked down for £400 Q uartz . crusmnp neTer w-g BaccMsftl j , n ofcago. of the Poultry Association of «as held on the Ist instant^ at ChristIt proreTa great lucoesi. Piiswsiwere given for the best specimens of pigeons, canaries, turkey*, ducks, and rabbits. Forty prizes were distributed. During the progress of the fire in Rattray-street, Dunedm, the Commissioner of Police antborised the palling down of the one-atorey wood building which was occupied by Mr. M. Levy, pawnbroker, and Mr. Hatoh, bootmaker. A claim 6n the Commissioner ha. been made by Mr. Levy for £370, as regards the building, »nd by Mr. Hatch, for £50, for loss in biMioess. ' S JL teWMt » of * be Oamaru Times, has arrived in Wellington as a delegate from the inhabitants of the Uamaru district, in order to watch tbe " march of events m connection with the fate of the petitions he bin brought up from the people of Oamaru, praying tor local self-jjovernment. The careless way in which the infected o»U1e are •hot on the Maori run, Woodend, Canterbury, ia «vi<ienced by persons complaining ot the inconvemence cawed by bullets whizzing close past them, lue Unneld rifles are used, and carry a long distancu u the marksmen miss their aim, which not unfrequently happens. Inoculation of cattle is being tried »s a preventive from rattle disease. .4 a mam ff6r *M of the 25th July relates that «t 4 o clock on the previous afternoon, as the men employed in the landing service were stowing grain m the upper «torey of the shed, a large portion of the floor suddenly gave way, and fell into the lower compartment, with some 400 bags of gram. Two of the men were a little injured." The same journal, on tbe 29fcb, &t»tet that " further inquiry into the cause of the accident on Friday establishes the fact thnt the accident arose simply from the improper description of timber used for the joints and heavy beams of the building." Dr. Hector's report on the Mount Eochfott co*l seam will be shortly published. There is a great deal of talk in Westport about this team, but there does not appear to be sufficient enterprise in the place to open ib up, de« p ite the handsome offer of the Nelson Government to grant a gub. sidy of £25,000 to any company who raises a sub« scribed capital of £75,000. The Westland Observer aays :— u An attempt is about to be male to form a local museum, and to atart an acclimatisation society iu connection "with it. " A man named Henry Mahen committed a most determined act of suicide in Dunedin on the 29th ultimo, in the Universal Botel. He hanged himself to tbe balustrade of the staircase, where he was found by the landlord qnite dead. The jury returned » verdict of temporary insanity. Another case of a aimilar nature ocourred in Chrittchurch a few days •go. A man named George Mansfield was discovered at " Uncle Tom's" coffee-house in High-street, lying on the bed in his room, with his throat cut and a large pocket-knife lying on the floor by the bedtide. A verdict of temporary insanity waa returned.