THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 154, 1 December 1874, Page 3

THE PROVINCES.

OTAGO. The Guardian, of the 28th, says :—" At a meeting of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, held at Christchurch on the 24th instant, Mr Johnston, the curator, laid on the table a small parcel of jarrah seeds, received through Messrs Cuff and Graham, from Mr Wyndham, of Western Australia. The parcel •was wrapped in an Otago Guardian, of October Bth, 1874, and he wished to draw the attention of the members to the circumstance that it had evidently been tampered with. He thought the secretary should be instructed to take some action in this matter as the parcel must have been opened and robbed in Otago. We suspect the Canterbury parcel, like our own, was found to contain very few seeds, although carefully selected by Mr Wyndham. The Otago curator tells us that there was not one seed in those received by him." The timber frame, or jetty, at Waikouaiti Harbour, having proved of considerable benefit to the inhabitants, the Government has resolved, says the Times, to extend it 10 chains further." The total length will then be 22 chains. Tenders are now called for the work.

At the meeting of the City Council, the Mayor announced, says the Guardian, that

satisfactory arrangements had been made with the Bank of New Zealand whereby that institution agreed to advance to the Council before January Ist the necessary funds to purchase the Dunedin waterworks. We were shown yesterday, says the Times, a private letter from Mr Alfred Anderson, R.A.M., who is at present in Melbourne. He states that the Italian Opera Company, after a successful season at Ballarat, returned to Melbourne, where the company was broken up. Signora Tambourini Coy, Signor Dondi, and a number of other wellknown artistes, intend shortly to make a tour round New Zealand, and may be expected here in a few weeks. We understand that Mr Anderson has been offered the position of Conductor. This is the version given by the Cromwell Argus of the Bendigo deep level share-repu-diation business. At a meeting of shareholders " a long discussion took place about the 6000 shares that had been placed in Mr T. Logan's hands for sale in Dunedin. The facts as brought out were as follows : —At the former meeting a resolution was passed that these shares should have preference before any applications here up to November sth, until an answer would be received from Mr Logan by telegram ; and Mr G. B. Douglas (one of the promoters) was instructed to telegraph to him at once. This had been done, and, no answer being received by Mr Douglas, the shares were applied for, and the allotment paid in Cromwell. In the meanwhile, it seems Mr Logan had telegraphed to Mr Colclough, saying that these shares were sold ; but no information of this was given to Mr Douglas or to the ]?ro tern manager, so that no knowledge was possessed by any one in the district in connection with the concern except Mr Colcloucrh, of the sale of these shares. Under these circumstances, therefore, it was finally decided that the shares should be allotted to the parties in Cromwell who had applied and paid the allotment." It is apparent from the above that the sale of 6000 shares by Mr Logan in Dunedin was perfectly well known to the local shareholders when they decided to allot the whole 40,000 to parties in Cromwell. The Daily Times of the 27th gives the following account of two accidents:— As Robert Young, a farmer, living at Mosgiel, was driving a three-horse team along Princes street south, at noon yesterday, he met with an accident which proved fatal. He was walking at the side of the horses, and when opposite the Peacock Hotel, the leader shied at a stack of bricks, and swerving round knocked deceased over, and the dray wheel passing over his abdomen, he was so severely injured that he expired on reaching the hospital. The horses bolted, and were afterwards stopped by Constable Henderson when near Mrs Diamond's Hotel. Deceased has no relations in the colony,, and an inquest will be held on the body to-dav. A painful accident befel a stoker named William Lake, aged nineteen, about halfpast twelve yesterday afternoon. The Rob Roy engine, with a number of loaded trucks of earth, was proceeding at a slow pace opposite the Universal Bond, Crawford Btreet, when Lake jumped off in order to attach the tail rope, so as to divert the waggons on to another line, while the engine drew them slowly along. By some means, his right foot got jammed between the points, and before he could extricate it the foremost truck ran over his leg above the ankle, crushing it severely. The force was so great that some of the waggons were thrown off the line. The railway authorities had him removed to the hospital, where the limb was amputated below the knee by Dr Hulme, f with the assistance of Drs Yates, Burns, and Ferguson. Filling in the new pier reclamation works has been quickly resumed, says the Times, and the contractor does not entertain the slightest doubt about being able to complete the entire pier according to the terms of the contract, which has yet nearly three months to run. The old galvanised iron store that stood for so long a time opposite the railway station has been removed to make way for the filling-in process at that end. The new pier is assuming quite a substantial appearance, suggestivF of completion at or near contract time. The contractor for the Loan and Mercantile Agency's woolshed is pushing the work ahead. On oue side the foun dation is finished and the sole-plate laid, whilst nearly all the framework of the building is ready for placing. The demand for labor continues unabated. The Southland Times says that the Immigration Barracks at Invercargill have been quite empty for the last two weeks. The barrackmaster states that the demand for Mabor is very great; that numerous applications have of late been made to him, particularly for female domestic servants and young single men qualified to perform general country work on farms and stations. But in the meantime the Barracks are empty, and the demand for such servants remains unsatisfied, and the consequence is, probably, the retardment of much most necessary work. We are pleased indeed to hear, says the Times, that the construction of a line of telegraph from tha Heads to the Port is receiving the serious consideration of the Government; and what is more, that preliminary steps to give effect to the excellent idea are being taken. Mr Reynolds, of the Survey Department, has been for some days engaged in taking levels about the Quarantine Islands, where the wire will cross the harbor; and yesterday a surveyor and his staff proceeded to the Heads to commence level-taking and surveying at that end.