CANTERBURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 559, 16 August 1862, Page 8

CANTERBURY.

(FROM THE DAILY TIMES CORIIESI'OXDKXT.) Christchurch, 6th August, 1862,

I was absent from Christchurch the early part of last week, and did not hoar of the arrival of tlie Gothenburg till too Lite to send you a letter by her; but }our readers have lost nothing by my silence, for noising whatever bos occurred since my last likely to possess any interest to persons unconnected with the Piovince.

The Provincial Council met according to summons on Tuesday week, when a somewhat ludicious coyitretrmpi occurred. The Superintendent, who represents the district of Ikatlicote in the Genera Assembly, is attending in his place at Wellington, and did not come down to open the Council, under th? imprest') 11 . I presume, that ho would bo sufficiently represented by his deputy. However, when the Council had assembled, thpv received the agreeable information that the prpsence of the Superintendent was absolutely necessary to set thorn going, and that, as lie was not wrthcoMing, nothing more could be done than merely elect a speaker, and adjourn till the rleus c machinu tliouhi descend to relieve them from •their embarrassing position, ana "give them voice an I utterance once ."gain." At this, ono honurablc member was inclined to be satirical, on the want of legal knowledge displayed by an administration, hca lyd by a barrister and mimbeiing a gentleman of the piofcssion amongst its executive members; and another fervently trusted, that should not he a second time called upon to undertake a long journey from up-country merely to be informed' that his services would uot be required till sonic future occasion ; but, on the whole, the Council took the matter muoh more good humoiedly than might have been expected. After a little discussion on the point, whether the Superintendent's bodily presence w.is absolutely requisite, or whether lie might not confirm the election of speaker and open the Council by letter or message, the Council adjourned till the 18th instant, on which day the Provincial Secretary on behalf of the government had pledged himself to produce the mining Super. It n, understood that this is to be only a supplementary session for the purpose of voting another L 50,000 towards the extinction of the railway loan ; but it U probable that an attempt will be made to bring some other business before the Conn-oil, especialfv as regards the subject of immigration and education, both matters of tho hiuhosfc importance, the extinction of which was purposely postponed last se.-sion till the Council Enlargement JJill should have taken effect, and on which it is now very desirable that the public should bo informed what measures the government purpose to introduce.

The railway contractors are now mailing better progress than they have been able to effect for some time previously, as they have got away from the hard rock which frightened Messrs. Baynes and M'Candlish into throwing up their contract, and have come upon much softer strata, through which they are of course able to drhe at a much more cheering rate, Mr. llr.a«t, the Government Geologist, who made a scientific examination of the Port hills before the works were commence 1, came to the conclusion that but little oi this peculiarly hard rock existed in the line of the proposed tunnel, and I hope for all parties' sake — the contractors, his own credit, and the province at large, — th it his prognostications, which in other respects have been found remarkably accurate, will be verified in this particular as well. Another accident occurred a short time ago at the railway works, fortunately without any iatnl results. A fuse which had be&n lighted hung fire for a considerable time, till one of the men lost patience, and went up to see whether it had not burnt itself out, when, at that moment the explosion tool: place and lie was struck down, but luckily escaped with some bruises about the body and face. This is the third or fourth accident which lias happened in the tunnel from precisely the same cause.

It seems as though we were to have literally no end of wet weather this winter. For the last week the rain has been incessant, especially on Friday, when we Avere favored with a sou'-webter which caused such a fresh in the Avon as I have never seen before. I am afraid much damage must have been done in other parts of the country. Cbristehurch is in a most miserable condition, and presents a sodden, water-lGgged appearance, which must be anything but captivating to our visitors from Australia or Iho. Jato arrivals from England. Business howe-.er, appuirs tr> be tolerably flourishing; several large sales have taken placo lately, which were well attended, and prices ran high. In the Land Office the receipts have fallen off for the last few weeks, but that is always the case at thiß time of the year, and a rise mayJbe confidently expected. The following are the amounts taken oa the different board

days during the menth of Ju!* : — )>'-i" ;' 1L 1928; 7th, L 1292; 10th, LtiO4; 'l4th, Ll'iC".! 17th, Lf>24; 21st, LjOu; !!4ui, L4(>l % :>; 23t! , LG4O. Total ibt* the luomh, Lll 7l>o. 'J Lo whole of tlif Hioroughbnd sty-k imn.itfp.l per lve.isington, by .Mfs-:.,. II -n-.s and .fa.<- -. ;u'e" to be sold on Satuulav iickc.

A small suspension bridge is now in course of ereetiou ovtr liio A ion, ii.-a; the Government buildings. Tins is tho li.-st of il& kirn' ln.ro, and will be both ornamental and lud'ul. The Municipal Council have albo dLt-.i-.nine I on p!a linsr the rough suep piece of ground betwi >-n the riv^r and Oxtord'JYTface,ono of iho chief tHi-i-ou^hfiu'e-s and the enlivii cc into Chrislehure'i from the south, wliidi m!! he a _ r re<i.t iniproveuu'! t lo the jjJijearancL' of that part of the town, ard give it something of the aspect of a boulevard. The work of lighting the town progresses but slowly; it appeaib biieh a difficult point to del ermine tlu best liiudo of cai'iying it into execution The Lyttleion people have taken up the idea, and the Town Council there commenced operations by placing lanterns along the st costs at those points :.here l ; .;ats appeared most needed, which pioved a great convenience, though not precisely in the way tlu>y had intended. It was a very obvious lO'-ource when ti man bad to travel mj the .streets aitei iiig'atf.ill, to appiopriate one vi' thc-A, lanterns for hi-< own particular beneut, and certiiu of the townsfolk aeconiingly used to avail Uicm^eiv 1 ? of theii Council's liberality ; hut of course, nicer t'ne wayfarer lnil at length reached his home through many perils, which the welcome light hid enabled him to avoid, it would have been an uL>..iudi r y to have thought of ivtiac.nti hi*> steps t'i ren' 'cc the lamp, which too he unglit piohably want the next evening; «o at b-t it was found, that through his attention to individual advantage, the public interest was uot much' furthered by the lights, and they aic, henetbrlh, to be elevated on p>sts, in the accustomed manner.

A public Ball comes oil' in Lyti.cl'vi to-ui^h 1 -, in honor of the Telegraph. Clui&tc! .i,-'i m.<} perhaps fullow suit, and tinMi, at last, wilt he nil end to these rejoicing. I can't conceivewli.it tho peopl.3 ot Canterbury will !o, v. ho.i the rnilwav i.-i opened, .since they have ih.vujla it ueee-sary' to welcome the telegrrui ":-«■ loudly, and so lo'.ig," but I suppose at Liv bottom, the principle, is much the same ai that or" tie old MJ.ig— '• I warrant 'twill prove an c\:n-,u for t'lo i^hi 1 --;." T!ie barque lTarc*.,-oo*l ariivcl in L_\ tielton <n t ! i 0 int., aftxva rather tedious pa^t.ig-* o f no days iiom London. lam sony to sty ili.it the iiilunpt M introduce do:*: into Cn'ifcrhury, of which I told you in in. last, ha« turneJ out a failure. The fallow-dec* 1 wore not put on board ac all, not bc'uvj; in a til, cm'ition to tt.inl the voyage when trie \cscl <-iiiU"l. Of the red deer, the bt.u; anl one of riie hind-, died on the w.iy, the '•f i c t'nm an aciid j:i!, the iiin I !■■ ijvintr birth to n fawn, which perished with its i»i~othoj\ Tt h'i> bee i proposed to send t'ae solitary survivor to "WolliJiL* l jh, where some o:' its kind 'have Leen Micce&sluily imported, and arc, I believe, doing well.

A .scientific s-oeicly has lately been stfirtod in Christchurch, under the nain: of the " Piiihsophical Institute of Canterbury." Its obj nets,n cts, a-; may be conjectured from its title, are the fiirthernnco of science, arts, and litoiatiue, .md the "eneia! de-volopment of the intc'lei-lu il lesomecs of t:io Provmeo. It i.s iutende ! io hold iuonthivnicctiuj;s, at which the mcinb' re.r c . will lead mipcri" o1:o 1 : scientific and literary .subjects, to be alien ■.var.l'- ptintal a^> pait of their transaction-, — after the manner of the Royal British A'—ociation, and in addition to tlioe io.Teatioii' J , it i^ in eonteni] l:Ulon to found a Public Library, a Mv wum, and an Observatory, and to start an A-vlmuii/ation .Society. This Institute commences its c ireer with gre'.'i, ctitlmsia.sm on the part of iv fotnrlers, and w." 'loub:less be produetae of much mio i, ;f ics In^l't. 'aim^ and objects are kept Etcadil;. :n mi"v,!\h '■/. <. (.v-iy pursued, A pi'oiJOSnl hu 1 - bun uu io to eif -ct ail ainalgsimat-du viiHi the luciuy at .ji\:«. i ite-..i'r,i"..- < -, under the name of tin 1 i\l»e'iian:\ V / ln»t'Mt-'. u\ i< is understood that the member.! of iiie Pijj^i -> phical look ujv>n ti!:t f at a very dci-o^Vory ji.jsalhance, and reject the piopo-cd .natch with disdain.

An important meciiiiff .<■•■? XLI iv Chr^tchurch early last wefk, to coiwldor tho !>:>t nipan.s of working the Kowai Coat Field, the purchase of which by Mr, Sheath gave iibc to sy rv.ich^iscu sion du.l'iy the last ses»iou 01 the Prjuaual Council. Tl'e committee appointed at a previous meeting to examine 1 he locality and iv depo its, reported th:it " thc'fonnatiou is jvrilctSy regular, and will be l'o-.nd to extend o\era vwv much larger cxtc.'.!/ than h.u him genoi •IH3 .Mip'Kisci. Tim coal he« in sections, nearly veitically, and cm be worked .it a conipa' ativoly small cost. It is estiiuaic i that a supply equal to .1,0(10 tons per annum can be brought "to the pit's mouth, extending over a period of seven ye.irs, without resort to any extensive ,'ystem of pumping. The total capital estimated as required i'oi tin's purpose may be set down at 1,5,000 undor the existing rale of v.".i^vs; and atier making libjr.il allowances for niana^eni^nt and all oilier charges, it is thought that cujl <v,ii bo dcliiercd at the pit's mouth nt 11 pruv \Mi3i i,r iVoni IC. {<■> 205. per ;oa." Mr. She.itii hi-, oiF'jrpil to lease the whole estate lor a |,eiio<l ot' Ot; year-:, to any company £v the purpose of working the mines, on condition of his receiving one-eighth of the market value of the coal raised. It was acoi^rtinjrly determined to raise the sum of L 2,500, in shares of LSO eacli, for the purpose of opening tho mine, and proving beyond doubt the existence of coal, by bringing it to view at the pit's mouth ; and, that accoinpli.slied, to for a company for continuing the works on a lin-gor scale, and to apply to the Provincial Council for power to form a tramway firm the Kowai to Christchurch. All the shares have liecn taken up, an I the work will be commenced immidiately. Whether the anticipations of the proprietors will bo reali- ■ 1 to tin ir full extent, experience alone can diri I<> • but there is little room for doubt thnt the bc-Lniie will prove sufficiently remunerative, and none at ali that it will be of the greatest possible benefit not to Christchurch only. I.it to ihe whole Province.