NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 879, 3 October 1868, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The cultivation of rice will shortly be commenced in South Australia. Bay of Islands coal is selling at 30s a ton in Auckland. The District Courts at Wellington, Wanganui, Nelson, and Marlborough, were to be abolished after the 30th ult. The Banks in Victoria have reduced the price of gold 6d an ounce, in consequence of a fall in the exchange on London. A woman has been seriously injured in Melbourne by the accidental explosion of a kerosene lamp. i t The West Coast Frontier Relief Association is said to be meeting with good support. A public pound has been established at Papakaio,-of which Mr James Dalgeiahhas been appointed keeper. A fortune of L7OGO has recently passed into the hands of a private in the 14th Regiment, stationed in Melbourne. The escaped Hauhaus, according to the latest advices, are engaged in planting potatoes. Miss Harriet Gordon and Mr J. P. Hydes have been giving a series of public entertainments at Auckland, with great success. A telegram in the Westporfc Times states that the Grey Tliver Argus is about to esI tablish a paper in. Hokitika. Mr T. G. Dugard has been appointed Returning Officer of the electoral districts of the Lakes and Hampden. The Auckland papers state that Bishop | Selwyn intends returning to England by the October mail via Suez, It is stated that the increase of revenue in Auckland, according to recent returns, is at the rate of L 240,000 per annum. At the new Whipstick diggings, a machineful of wash-dirt is said to have given the | handsome return of sixty ounces of coatae gold. We have received a pamphlet contaiaing a Statement of the History of the Dunedin Bishopric from the year 1861 to September. 1868. * A new township is being laid off for Messrs Connell and Webb on ground belonging to Mr Fenwick, on the north Bide of the Kakanui river. Latest advices from Adelaide speak of the continued productiveness of the silver mines, and their success appears to be now an established fact. A Magazine baa appeared in Brisbane j under the title of " Our Paper. " This is the j i first attempt of the kind, we believe, in j Queensland. I Mr James Hazlett, Mayor of Clyde, and Mr John Smith, Mayor of West Hawksbury, have been appointed Justices of the Peace • for the Colony. A solution of two ounces of lime, mixed i with two ounces of sulphur, to a gallon of , water, boiled for half- an- hour,' is said to be | a certain cure for scab in sheep, J A subscription, on behalf of the widow and children of the late Major Yon Tempsky, is being raised in Shortland, and a public meeting in aid ef this object was to be held on the 26th ult. The Arahura (West Coast) Road Board has resolved to apply to the Corporation of Hokitika for a loan of LIOOO to make an inland track. This is something new in Road Boards. The Victorian Government has prohibited the exportation of arms and ammunition from Victoria to New Zealand, without a license from the Commissioner of Trade and Customs. | Certain claimholders on the Gympie fields have lately sent a gentleman to Melbourne for the purpose of introducing machinery and starting Companies for the working of the reefs. It is estimated that the amount of ironbar and sheet — consumed in the various i foundries of Sydney is between 100 and 120 tons per week ; the amount of pig iron being about 300 tons per month. The Fiji Company are meeting with public support in Melbourne, and are oaid to have I already paid on their own account a large poriaon of the debt due by King That- ; ombau to the Catted States.

■ IttiheSupreme Court, onTuesday, Mr Jame* Smith applied that Mr Stephen ■ Hutchison might be Adjudicated a bankrupt. The application was granted, and the meeting of creditors fixed for October 18th. A proposition lately made by the Trea- | surer of Tasmania to levy a penny postage on newspapers in that colony, was rejected in the Souse of Assembly by a large majority. A Company is being formed at Port Adelaide to lease the salt lagoon at Yorke'g Peninsula, and to erect works for the manufacture of fine table salt, for home consumption and for export. We are informed that the first of the trout was hatched out on Monday morning at the hatching boxes under the care of Mr Clifford, at Captain Boyd's creek. Thifl is the first trout hatched out in the Province. A telegram from Orange, published in the Sydney Herald a short time since, runs as follows : — Christopher and party took out of their claim, at Ophir, yesterday, two buckets full of gold . A man named Douglas, on looking at it, fainted away. The Tasmanian Parliament, which recently refused a vote of thanks to Lady Franklin for her gift of Franklin Island, has apparently Been its error, and a vote of thanks has been passed to that lady for her gif fc of Betsy It land. A large pump for clearing out mining holes has been manufactured at Nelson for a party of miners at the Buller. It is said to have cleared out the claim in four hours, and is so much appreciated that orders for two similar pumps nave been received by the makers, A complimentary dinner 'was given to Bishop Selwyn, at Auckland, on the 9th ult., by the officers of the 2nd Battalion of the 1 8th Regiment. The guests included the chief legal and clerical notabilities of the place. The new company engaged for the Duke of Edinburgh Theatre, Melbourne, includeß Mr and Mrs J. B. Steele, and Mr Harry Jackson. The lessee, Mr Roberts, is said to be in treaty with several other members of the profession in New Zealand, Meat supplies are whimsically irregular at Gympie. The population was recently under the necessity of living on beef for some time because there was no mutton ; and we are now told that it is under the necessity of living on mutton because there is no beef. The hon. Colonel Kenny has carried a motion in the Legislative Council to the effect that the first-class Militia of the North Island should be immediately called out for the defence of that Island. The force will be enrolled for three years. Gold has been found on D'Urville's Island, in Cook Strait. The island belongs to the Province of Nelson, and the Evening Mail, a Nelson journal, states that certain parties in the capital of the Province have leased the island for 21 yeaxs from the Maori landowners. A large whale was captured last Thursday off Ikolaki, near Akaroa. It is described as being a very large one, and expected to yield from ten to twelve tuns of oil, with a proportionate quantity of bone. It is the second caught off that part of the coast during the season. Talk of good gold getting: at the Silver, stream diggings continues. A story was told yesterday, that two men who came into town for provisions, stated that they had fallen in with a party of diggers who showed them about 21b weight of nuggetty gold, got at the Silverstream. The goat nuisance seems to flourish in Invercargill as well as in Dunedin, According to the Southland Times, in the space of a month sixty-five goats were taken to the stock-yard. Twenty-six were , claimed and fche'r owners prosecuted ; and the remaining thirty-nine were left in the pound. At a meeting recently held at Launceston, the report of a Committee appointed to con' sider the advisability of establishing woollen manufactories in Tasmania, was read. It was then resolved that a Joint Stock Company should be formed for the purpose, and provisional directors were appointed. A discharged soldier of the 40th Regiment, was found dead in one of the rooms at tho Edinburgh Hotel, on the Thames. He wag sitting at a table, with his head between his hands. Two men were playing cards at the same table. This would have made a subject for Holbein. Some time ago a suggestion was made in our columns of the necessity for a regular conveyance to the Halfway Bush and the surrounding districts. That suggestion has been acted upon, and a cab now leaves the Criterion Hotel four or five times a day, for the Halfway Bush, and carries passengers to and fro at a moderate fare. Alfred Motherstone, the lunatic who stabbed Constable Hunt and Mr Cololough in their attempts to arrest him, was brought down from Clyde, and was safely lodged in the Lunatic Asylum on Saturday afternoon. During the journey he was very violent, and required the moat watchful care on the part of those in whose custody he was. His Honour Mr Justice Chapman stated on Tuesday, in reply to Mr Barton, that his duties as Judge would cease after that day. He explained that, in this colony, there could only be six Jndges at one time, and that, upon Mr Ward's commencing hia functions, the judgeship held by Hia Honour for bo long a tune lapsed.

The population of Wentworth, 'in South Australia, appears to be based on the Bound i old principle of *• six of one and half-a-dozen of the other." It is equally divided into males and females, and into those above and those below the ages of fourteen. Moreover, there are about as many people on one side of the main street aa there are on the other.

The works for the erection of footways upon the bridge in Thames street, Oamaru, are progressing. The local journal states that the iron brackets which, support the beams upon which rest the planks of the footways, have been erected, and it is expected that the bridge will be open for traffic within a fortnight.

An accident occurred on Saturday afternoon in George street. A cab horse suddenly fell,, the shafts of the vehicle were broken close off, and the occupants, Messrs Beal and. Gilchrist were violently thrown from the back of the cab over on to the hoKse's neck. Both received severe injuries, Mr Beal having suffered especially. Fortunately no bones were broken, and no danger is anticipated.

Prize fights are in favor at Ballarat. Several members of the fancy and tbrir followers, numbering about 100, left Ballarat at four a.m. the oth°r day, with the view of indulging in a little diversion of this kind on tbe Sujythesdale racecourse. They were followed, however, by two members of the Ballarat police force, who obtained reinforcements at iSmythesdale, and dogged the rowdies until the latter were obliged to retreat.

0n the 17th ult., one Wenkheim sued on* Smith, in the R.M < ourt at Qaeenstown, for goods sold and delivered to Mrs Smith. The goods were marriage presents. Mr and Mrs amith had been married a fortnight only, and had quarrelled during the first half of their honeymoon. The Bench thought that marriage presents could hardly be considered a3 "necessaries," and gave a verdict for the defendant.

The Melanesian Mission schooner Southern Cross, with Bishop Patteson on board, arrived at Auckland from Norfolk Island, on the ISfch ult. The Norfolk Islanders are said to be in a state of excitement about the Thames Goldfields, and some are thinking of coming over to them. They had also been pretty successful in their whale fishing, and bad about sixteen tuns of whale oil ready for shipment.

The Tuapeka Times states that there are at present nearly 200 Chinese busily engaged in the neighbourhood of Welshman's Beach, Mount Benger. They are earning from L 3 to L 5 per man per week, in cradling along the beaches, which, up to within the last few weeks, were lying unoccupied. A large number of Chinamen are also doing very well in the neighbourhood of the Horseshoe Bend.

The crops in Tasmania appear to promise well. According to the Launceston'Examiner, the weather continues all that farmers can desire. Copious showers have been succeeded by warm, bright days, highly favourable to vegetation. From all quarters the most cheering reports reauh us as to the present appearance of the crops, so that with a genial spring the prospects of the yet remote harvest are encouraging.

Tramways are about to be made at the Thames, to enable the miners to bring down their quartz from the claims to the machinery on the beach, and the Auckland Government have promised to supply the material. These tramways will supply a want much, felt, as it is stated that for want; of roadways to bring down the quartz to the machines, stone containing a quarter of a million of ounces of gold lies idly stacked upon the various claims.

A motion was agreed to in the House of Representatives on the 16th ult., to tbe effect that an uniform code of rules for the Wardens' Courts should be gazetted for the whole colony. Mr Barff, who introduced the subject, said that the rules gazetted for Otago, Nelson, and Caaterbury are different from each other. He was perfectly willing, on the part of the Westland miners, to adopt the Otago code.

Some of tbe Wellington Volunteers who took part in the engagement at Ruaruru have recently returned to tbeir homes. Shame to say, they were ' chaffed ' at the wharf as they stepped ashore. The Independent says that very little information can be got out of them. One private frankly replied to a question as to how many Maoris were killed, by saying :—": — " Well, I don't know. I never seed no Maoris at all, and I don't know of nobody else that did. "

A telegram in the Age states that Mr Parkes, the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, resigned on account of the dismissal of Mr Duncan, Collector of Customs. This officer was unable to please tbe present Colonial Treasurer, and a series of squabbles between the two has resulted in Mr lfuncan's loss of office. Mr Duicanhas been nearly twenty years in the pu lie service, but not long enough to be entitled to retire under the Superannuation Act.

The Wellington correspondent of the Timaru Herald supplies the following information on political topics ;—lt; — It is said that Mr JMacandrew and Mr Vogel are very jealous of each other in regard to Otauo matters, and a rumour was in circulation the other day that those gentlemen were engaged in dodging each othor about the town, each waiting to see if the other were going on board the steamer, until it was too late, and the steamer had sailed.

A atop in the right direction ha* been taken by Mr C. E. Jones, the Minister for Public Works in Victoria, who, has i*Bued a notice to the officers of the various departments over whiclthe presides, to the effect that in every case promotion will go by merit, and that he will nut receive any personal applications from, either officials or their friend.

The A SBisted Immigration policy of New South Wales haß ceased, owing to the withdrawal of the annual vote of LSO.OOO for the purpose. Thi3 is "retrenchment" with a vengeance. The Victorian' Ministry have withdrawn the Parliamentary grant for Acclimatisation and Scientific purposes, while the New Zealand Governnvnt has cut down its steam mail services. If these sacrifices, do not suffice, it is painful to contemplate what the next must be.

A meeting of the Otago Dock Board took place on Monday afternoon, at the office of the Secretary, Mr J. S. Webb. Some matters of detail only came under discussion. Provision was made for conduct of business dunng the absence of the Chairman (R. JS. Martin, Esq.), who is about to attend the Church of tn. land Synod at Auckland, It was announced that the first payment under the contract would probably have to be made during the present week.

The cloths now produced at the Geelong woollen manufactory is said to be a greit improvement upon the earlier productions of that establishment. The Register states : More durable, really good, and sightly cloths could scarcely be conceived than some just finished from this season's clip of wool, and sent up to the warehouse yesterday. This result is no doubt attributable to the fact that the workpeople are beginning to be more expert at their work than they were at first.

A gentleman who ha» recently travelled overland from Dunedin to Invercargill, informs the Southland Times that the road from the Lakes to Invercargill is in splend d condition ; the country is looking well ; in every direction along tbe road ploughing is being actively carried on, and a considerable quantity of new ground broken up ; while along the whole line tbe vegetation is most promising— better than he has ever seen it at this season of the year.

Amongst other consequences of the rush to the Thames goldfields, it appears that the wages of seamen have been raised. According to the Wellington Independent the r*tes now paid in Auckland vary from L 5 to L 7 per month. The wages of sailors out of Wel lingtoa port insailingvesselsare from L4to L 5 per month, steamers pay L 5 ppr month. The articles of agreement from Melbourne and Sydney show that steamers pay L 5 per month, and sailing vessels L 4 per month for able seamen.

Queensland is inclined to insist on a Mail Service via Torres Straits. The Brisbane Chamber of Commerce is about to discuss a series of resolutions on the subject, one of which is : Tliat the route via Torres Straits is safe and practicable in all seasons, and being the natural channel for communication between the northern colonies of Australia. Furope, and the East, this Chamber is of opinion that the colony ought not to join in any contract for a fortnightly mail service by any other route.

The following sensational story is related by a Melbourne evening journal : — A.t Kilda on Thursday night quite a seHsation was created at the George Hotel, where Mr M'Gregor and other gentlemen were playing billiards, by Mrs M'Gregor rushing into the hotel, and wildly asserting that robbers were in the house of Mr Aspinall, which was next door. A rapid reconnaisance of Mr Aspinall's premises was made, when, instead of burglars, a goat was found on the verandah, butting a rocking-horse, and Mrs Aspinall in a state of hysterical terror.

A substitute for cotton is said to have been discovered in the ramie plant, which has been introduced from Java inio the Southern States of America, where it is attracting con Isiderable attention. According tojbhe Liverpool Mercury it is believed that it will ultimately supersede cotton. Its fr res are said to be finer and stronger than the best flax — as fine, indeed, as Sea Island cotton ; and that they take colours as readily as the best wool or silk. The cultivation of the ramie plant has been tried in various Alabama plantations with success.

The following Melbourne telegrams were published in Sydney on the 12th ult. :—: — 16 appears from communications received by the mail, that her Majesty is likely to confer the honour of knighthood on the Mayors of the principal citie3 and borough* of the colonies. The commander of the Imperial war steamer Dorade, now at Wellingron, is said to hold a commission from the French Government to negotiate with the New Zealand Government to get the Panama m; i steamers to call at Tahiti, or to establish, a branch line between there aud Wellington.

The dangers of inquisitiveness are exemplified in the following anecdote told by the Melbourne correspondent of a country paper : — Some recently arrived Chinese one having a very splendid tail — were in one of the shop in Collins street when a young lady, with more curiosity than good taste, took hold ot the Chinam-m's back hair to examine it. whereupon John, imagining that she doubted whether it was real or a false creation glanced up at her somewhat preposterous chignon, and then looking complacently at his own head-dreßß, said " All mine t all mine II 11I 1

. Two ( men, belonging to the Timaru Volunteer Artillery have volunteered for service in the North, and four others say they are willing to go if sufficient inducement is offered. A fu;l meeting of the corps was held on the 25th instant, for the purpose* of ascertaining how many men would volunteer. A meeting of the Canterbury Yeomanry- Cavalry was called a few days ago for a similar purpose, when one man desired to have his name enrolled. The president remarked that 'they were not called upon to volunteer by the circumstances of the colony,' and was loudly cheered.

' Reviewing the recently published census of thiß colony, the S. M. Herald asks: — What has been the cause of this rapid growth ? — Great area of land, squatting, agriculture, manufacture ? — No.; the magnet has been gold. First Otago, then the westw est Coas^ and now the Thames Valley revealed the possession of auriferous treasure, and from the main land of Australia diggers, with their attendant satellites, have poured in. The greater part of the increase haß been drawn from neighbouring colonies. This is the weak point in the colony's future, for diggers who com* quickly may go quickly.

With reference to the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to New Zealand, announced in the last Suez telegrams, a private letter received the other day from Sydney remarks :—: — The atatements in the Knglish news received by the July mail to the effect' that the Duke of Edinburgh is about to vitsit New Zealand, are uoc credited here in wel' -informed quarters.' Letters received from the Duke by the mvil to hand to-day (7nh mat) do not mention a word of it ; nor does Lord Newry a'lude to it in his correspondence. The Governor and Ministry here do not credit it. Still it is just possible there may be some truth in it.

The diamond necklace subscribed for by the ladies of Brisbane, to be presented as a parting souvenir to Lady Bowen, reached New Zealand by the Mataura on her last trip. The Brisbane Courier gives the following extract from a le-ter to Colonel O'Connetl, of . Brisbane, written by Sir George Bowen in reference to this matter. — " Pray let it be publicly known how delighted Lady Bowen is with the necklace, and how splendidly Lady Young has executed the commission given her by Mrs O'Connell and the other ladies concerned. This will be an heirloom in our family, and will remind our children of Queensland."

Speaking of railways in New South W ales, the Minister of Lands in that colony stated at a recent Agricultural Show that the extension of the railway into the southern and western district had kept the loaf in Sydney this year a penny or twopence lower than it would otherwise have been ; large importations of wheat had been kept out, and at least L50,0000r L 60,000, which would have been sent to California for breadstuff's, had been diffused in the colony. The completion of the line to Sutton Forest had increased the price of wheat in the Queanbean district from 2s and 2s 3d. to 7s and 7s 6d per bushel.

A pro re nata meeting of the Dunedin Presbytery was Held on Wednesday in the room beneath the First Church. The object of the meeting was the moderation of a call to the Rev. Mr Alves to the Church at Oamaru. Minutes of a meeting at Oamaru were read, together with a memorial from some of the congregation for delay. The memorialists stated that Mr Alves's abilities and earnestness were much admired ; that he, personally, was greatly esteemed j and that the only object m asking for the delay was, that they might have an opportunity of hearing others before finally deciding. The Presbytery resolved to grant tlie delay, and not to sustain the call at present.

Speaking of the simultaneous rifle matches which recently took place in England, the Volunteer Service .Gazette pays the following compliment to the successful Sydney marksmen : — We heartily congratulate Private Stephen Lynch and Private J. Bushelle, both of the Sydney Volunteers, on their obtaining the two first prizes. Nor must we omit to mention another. Corporal R. Brownlow, who takes the fifth place in the first match. The high honour of these successes will, we doubt not, be appreciated at the antipodes, where the names of the world-re-nowned shots in contest with whom they have been so well won, must be sufficiently familiar among riflemen.

Our readers will remember that James M'Dermott, a£ias Conroy. alias Con Murphy, the man who was arrested on suspicion of having committed many robberies in the Cuapeka district, was remanded to Tokornairi.ro upon a charge of robbery, and one of vagrancy. The charge of robbery was heard on Thursday, before J. P. Maitland, Esq., R.M. The Commissioner of Police prosecuted. -Jas. Wilson, a hawker, proved chat a pair of boots found on the prisoner had been stolen from his dray. The piisoner was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, with hard labour, and upon another charge was remanded.

Tn the House of Representatives on the 23rd ult., Mr Reynolds asked the Colonial Secretary, whether Dr Hocken, of Dunedin, had formally accepted of the appointment under the Medical Board Act ; and, if so, whether the Government would have any objfction to lay a copy on the table ? The Hon Mr Stafford did not know in what school the hon member had been brought up ; or upon what model he constructed hia style of literature. He was asked to lay a copy on the table ; was the Government asked to lay

a copy of Dr Hocken on the table ; or a copy of one of his pupils ? He begged to lav on the table letters from Dr Hocken accepting the appointment referred to.

Judging from the comments of Pasquin, an Adelaide journal, the labour market of South Australia is miserably overstocked. Speaking of the Queensland Goldfielda. it says :—: — Several hundred persona have already left the colony for the diggings at Maryborough. The exodus does not benefit the circulation of the Pasquin ; but we feel sure it will in ita effects relieve the' country of much distress now prevailing, and of an immense amount impending ; therefore, we shall continue to afford every kind of useful information relating to Queensland and its gold discoveries that comes into our possession, and we hope and believe that many thousands of our depressed colonists will have reason to, rejoice that they have made their escape from a country which, for working men, ia far from desirable.

Mr George Weston -writes laconically to the Taranaki Herald to say : — Sir — By introducing the pure blood of stock, as it is called, you destroy your milk, butter, and cheese. It is only an artificial animal, grass being the least portion of its food. — To which A. B. replies :— Sir — I do not know how Mr Weston will account for the results arrived at at Bradley HalL in Derbyshire. During the height of the season and when fed upon the Bame pasture cows of four different breeds gave per day the following quantities of milk and butter :—: —

1 Jb of Butter

was yielded by Holderness 29 qts. and 3S} ozs 12 qts. milk. Attorney 19 „ „ 25 „ 12 „ „ Devon 1,7 „ „ 28 „ fig „ „ Ayrshire 20 „ „ 34 „'. 9£ „ „ It will be seen by strictly examining the above statements that breed has something to do with milk and butter.

An oil-painting by M. Chevalier, a well known artißt residing in Melbourne, represents a scene in the valley of Teremakau, New Zealand. The Argus of the 16th ult. gives the following" account of it : — The point of view chosen is a mountain spur overlooking a heavily-timbsred valley from six to eight mile 3 broad, through which winds the sinuous river from which the valley has derived its Dame. On the opposite side rises a mountain, magnificent in bulk and outline, with the snow encrusting its pinnacles, and wreaths of mist hovering about ita enormous flanks. In the foreground some beech trees, garlanded with the f .ntastic tendrils and foliage of the supplejack, constitute a charming framework for the distant landscape, which, in the subdued brightness of its colour, and the tender softness of the atmosphere, recalls to recollection the mountain scenery of the TyroL

A case on which we commented in our leading columns a short time Bince, seems fe> have given rise to a questioa by Mr Taylor, M.H.R., with respect to the principle involved in it. That gentleman asked whether the Government meant to .introduce a Bill providing for the recovery of losses incurred by the pulling down of buildings for the prevention of the spread of fire. The object of the Bill he wished to be introduced would be, to throw upon the owners of property saved in that manner the loss incurred in the saving of their property. Mr Stafford said that the subject had been fully discussed last session, when the Municipal Act was passed. That Act is an inducement to insurance. The honourable gentleman apparently wishes us to infer that persons who are foolish enough not to iusure must bear the consequences of their folly. A very good argument for the Director of an Insurance Company.

We believe there is good reason to be satisfied with the present management of the Benevolent Institution, at Caversham. There are now within its walls 26 boys and 27 girls, all, with one or two exceptions, under twelve years of age. They are kept in & state of the most scrupulous cleanliness, well fed, properly taught, and comfortably housed. The girls' dormitory and the nursery being too small for the present number of inmates, additional accomodation ia about to be provided, the foundation 'of a wing to the main building being laid, which will contain some twelve rooms. Mr Hislop, the School Inspector, visited the Institution on Tuesday last, and he reports : ■• I have examined the children under Miss Coxhead, and I am highly satisfied with the progress anc proficiency of the several classes. Miss Coxhead is evidently very well suited for her present position, and she ha,s undoubtedly performed her duties with fidelity and success. lam highly pleased, also, with fche general arrangements of the Institution."

From a report on the present condition of the Chinese m Victoria, which has just been issued as a Parlamentary paper, it appears that there are about 20,000 Chinese resident in that colony, being a decrease of about 55£ per cent, since 1559. Of this number, about 18,000 are engaged, either directly or indirectly, in mining pursuits. The remainder are chiefly employed as artisanß or agricultural labourers, and a few as professional men. With few exceptions, they are said to be in poor circumstances, and as soon as they make any money, they return to their native country. One portion of the report, which is divided into four parts,' refers to the gambling and other vicious propensities of the Chinese, and the beat means for their suppression. The Chinese interpreters and tne regulations of the BaUarat Chinese Society, recommend flogging with the rattan or the strap,' as the best way to put a stop to gambling and opium smoking, and this opinion is also shared by a portion oi the Melbourne press.

The Canterbury Acclimatisation Society have agreed to devote L'2o to the purchase of a piece of plate, for presentation to Captain Thomson [of the' Southern Cross], "in recognition of his services in introducing trout ova into the Province." A member of the Society proposed to feed the young trout en boiled eggs and liver. The Secretary of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association represented to the Society the expediency of introducing insectivorous birds, great damage being done by grubs, &c. The Society agreed to devote their energies to the task. Hedgehogs were suggested as useful animals, their natural food being beetles and other insects. . . The Auckland papers have been engaged in a literary squabble, arising from certain correspondence published in the Nelson Examiner by one C. W., writing from Auckland. This correspondence is denounced by the Thames Advertiser and the N. Z. Herald as a systematic attempt to 'traduce' the Thames gold-fields. The Advertiser sought to identily the correspondent, stating that he was ' a gentleman connected with the Southern Cross.' This, produced a paragraph fromthe Cross asserting thatits contemporary was 'completely in error;' to which the contemporary replied by saying that 'the writer of the paragraph plainly identifies himself as the party referred to.' A second paragraph in the Cross again denied the imputed authorship ; whereupon the New Zealand Herald took, up the cudgels. After expresßine a hope that the advertiser— the proprietors and managers of which were formerly members of the Cross staff — may be wrong •in its suspicions, it declares that a more dastardly attempt to cry down the interests of the Province, and to mislead the people of other Provinces and colonies, was never made than that attempted in the letters of '0. W.

A deputation from the Goodwood Koad District, Palmerston, consisting of Messrs F.D. Kich and Preston, waited upon His Honour the Superintendent on Wednesday. The object of the deputation, as explained by Mr Kich, was to ascertain what steps would be taken to cause the re- opening o£ a road recently closed. It appears that many of the settlers in purchasing their land, did so in the belief that the road laid down in the Government maps would be continued to their use. ■ The Government had, however, no legal claim to the road, and the owner of the land had recently closed it. This had caused great inconvenience and loss ta the settlers, it being impossible to get grain and produce to a market ; in fact, the residents m the district were completely shut in. The Superintendent was most earnest in the expression of Ms desire to remove the inconvenience. The deputation was adjourned to allow of the attendance of the Provincial Solicitor, and then during a lengthened interview a number of suggestions were made. No definite conclusion was arrived at, but Hia Honour promised that every step possible should be taken to meet the want of the district. The deputation thanked His Honour and withdrew.

A letter from a Hokitika settler to a friend, dated Auckland, Ist September, appears in the West Coast Times. Speaking of the now famous diggings, the writer Ba ys • — There seems to be no money spending, only what is brought by strangers. Things are very cheap on the diggings. Meals in first-class hotels are Is 6d ; beds, Is ; by the week, LI 3s ; nobblers, 3d ; meat, 6(1 to 7d per lb. Matters are not so good by a good deal as they have been represented to be. There are some very good claims, but where there is one good claim, there are fifty that never Bee a speck. If one hits a leader they all think they will do the same. There is a great deal of speculation in buying and selling shares ; the biggest lot of swindling that I have ever seen. There are a great many claim s have got out any quantity of quartz, but they say that the machines are no good for saving the gold. You can buy shares in all these claims ; when you go to see them, they can't show you a speck of gold. They say it will crush, forty ounces to the ton, will ask you from L3OO to LI,OOO for them, and tell you the reason they want to sell is, that they have not got money to carry it on. I was in a great, many drives, but I have never seen any gold.

A meeting of No. 1 Company, City Guards, was held on Monday, at the Drill Shed, for the purpose of installing Capt Paterson as the successor of Captain Moss. There were 62 rank and file present. Captain Paterson was introduced by Captain Moss, who took command for the evening, at Captain Paters r n'B request. The company was then divided into two parts, and put through several battalion movements by Captain and Adjutant Atkinson. Art adjournment was then made to supper at the assem ly looms of the Eoyal George Hotel. The usual loyal toasts hay- ; ing been drunk, Lieutenant Wales, after " reviewing, in an able speech, the history of the Company since its establishment, presented Captain Moss, in the name of the Company, with a handsome double-bar-relled fowling-piece. The gift was suitably acknowledged oy Captain Moss, who referred to the long period of his connection with the Company, and the vicissitudes out of which it had at length successfully emerged. Capt. Moss then proposed the health of the Staff and Staff officers, which was acknowledged by Captain Atkinson. Several songs were then sung, after which the health of Captain Paterson was proposed by Captain Moss, and warmly received. Captain Paterson appropriately responded, ana the proceedings were finally closed with " Auld Lang Syne,"

The Hastings correspondent of the New Zealand Herald gives the following cflpcription of a quartz crushing machine in course of construction for a mining compa^r in that district : — This machine is of the kind known as Smith's patent. It is worked by hand and water power combined. The .stuff i 3 crushed coarse in the first instance by means of a stamper, shod with iron, which is worked by hand and also a treadle; the stuff" then passes into a strong iron box with a circular bottom, into which oscillates a corresponding box somewhat smaller in diameter, but weighing over four owt., and made hollow so that the weight can be increased according to the power of the water wheel which sets this part of the apparatus in motion, the quicksilver is introduced into the trough before mentioned, and the refuse passes away through a wire gauze containing about 230 holes to the square inch. The water wheel is about four feet in diameter and about five feet in length. The site, by the way, is one of the beet possible, so that the merits of this machine will be soon known. -

A Mr M'Cubbin of Melbourne, who recently invented a kind of meat biscuit, has now introduced a new style of meat-preserving, in the shape of a soup-paste, of which the & rgus gives the following particulars :— His proposition is to reduce' soap "stock" to gelatinous form, not only extremely portable, but cheap, and calculated to remain fresh in any climai c foryeara. To its palatability we are ourselves enabled to testify. Some submitted to our inspection yesterday has been kept nearly nine months in an open jar, and was as fresh and well-flavoured as ever, resembling in every material point the paste vhichhad been made a week ago. Mr M'Cubbin haa registered his invention, the main principle of which is the introduction of flour as a means of preservation ; lib. of flour goes to 211b. of meat ; 4ib. of meat go to lib of paste ; and lib of paste to three quarts of soup. The production is amazingly inexpensive, as the joints of meat used are not those ordinarily offered for sale, but what butchers and housewives know as the "gravy" pieces, of which as much as five tons a day can be procured in Melbourne Thus the price of the paste is fid per lb., for each pound of meat yields a balfpsnny-worth of fat. and the whole process of manufacture is economical. Mr M'Cubbin has rot yet decided what to do with his invention and piainly says that he would gladly supply the ready-made article to a meat- preserving company who would include his product among their wares.

Tne demand for sugar-making; machinery in New South Wales is becoming very considerable. Experiments are in progress at the Sydney foundries for the purpose of simplifying the plant required in the manufacture of sugar. A detailed account of the iron trade in that city, published in the Herald, contains the following : — As it is, a very large number of these plants have been manufactured for this colony and for Queensland ; and if the experiments now making should prove successful, and the cost so lowered as to be brought within the reach of the purse of the ordinarily well-to-do settler, there is no doubt but that before long every farm on the coastline of any extent will have its sugar-making plant. The attention of farmers on our Northern rivers has recently beea very forcibly drawn to the importance of cultivating the sugar-cane, and the local papers teem with notices on the subject. Some fourteen or fifteen plants for sugarmaking have been already either supplied or ordered. These will be brought into operation next season, and the test of actual experience will be applied, not only in one locality but in twenty different places. The result cannot be anything but favourable, and must lead to a more general cultivation of the cane upon such spots as are most favourable to its growth. The Sydney Sugar Refining Company have also promised, by public advertisement, to erect sugar-making machinery at any spot where a sufficient quantity of cane is grown to keep the works going and to justify the outlay.

Comparative statistics of the Australasian Colonies have yet to be published, so far as we are aware. The following, recentlyissued by the Registrar General of Kew South Wales, will be interesting to the pastoral world :— ln New South Wales the horses had increased in number from 273,389 in 1863, to 280,201 in 1868 ; the horned cattle had fallen oft from 2,620,383 to 1 725,427 ; the sheep had multiplied from G. 145,651 to 13,909,574; and the pigs from i 25,541 to 173.168. In Victoria, between 1562 and 1867, the increases had been : — Horses, from 86,067 to 121,381 ; cattle, from 576,631 to 598,968; sheep. from 6,764,867 to 8,883,139 ; pigs, from 32,291 to 74,708. In South Australia, between 1863 and IS6B, the differences were expressed as follows :— Horses, increase from 56.251 to 74,223 ; cattle, decrease from 358 342 to 122,200 ; sheep, increase from 3,431.000 to 4 477^45 ; and pigs, from 58,850 to 89,304. In Tasmania, duiing the same period, horses had increased from 21,964 to 23,299 ; cattle had diminished from 90,446 to 16,598 ; sheep had fallen off from 1 800,511 to 1,743 914 : whilst piga had increased from 41, 986 to 54,286. New Zealand returns from 18:34 to the etdof 1867 showed an increase in horse stock from 49.509 to 65,704 ; in cattle, from 249.760 to 312,829; in sheep, from 4,937,2.73 to 8,418.579 ; and in pigs, from 61,276 to 115,090. Queensland, between 1861 and the middle of 1866, had increased her stock of horses from 28,983 to 52,311 ; of cattle, from 560,186 to 919,414 ; of sheep, from 4 093,381 to 7,978,778 : and of pigs, from 7,465 to 13,529,

The monthly parade of the first battalion of Otago Volunteers washeldonTuesday evening, under the command of Captain and Adjutant Atkinson. There was an excellent muster, there being present 230 rank and file, They were thus divided : — Staff — 1 major, 1 adjutant, 1 sergeant. Band— 2l bandsmen, 1 sergeant, and the bandmaster. Dunedin Artillery — 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 3 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 20 Volunteers. No. 1 Company — 1 captain, 1 ensign, 5 sergeants, and 35 Volunteers. No. 2 Company — 1 lieutenant. 1 ensign. 4sergeants, and 33 Volunteers. North Dunedin — I lieutenant, 1 ensign, 1 sergeant, and 25 volunteers. Waikari — 1 ensiga, 1 sergeant, and 26 volunteers. South District—l captain, 1 sergeant, and 17 volunteers. Dunedih Naval Brigade — 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 40 volunteers. The various Companies mustered at the Custom House, and headed by the band, which played excellently, marched to the reclaimed ground. There line waa formed, and manual, platoon, and bayonet exercise gone through. The following evolutions were then executed: — Advanced in doable column of subdivisions from the centre ; formed line on leading subdivison. Retired by subdivisions from both flanks in rear of centre. Advanced from line to right on right wing ; returned by companies from right in rear of left ; by successive companies rear- wing to front ; by fours from left rear-wing to front ; wheeled into line and charged ; wheeled by compani c s to right into column ; formed four- deep square — marched home. The movements were, considering the roughness of the ground, performed well, but they were much retarded by the unruly conduct of a nrnnber of boys, who created such a disturbance that it was often very difficult to hear the word of command.