INVERCARGILL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1340, 4 August 1877, Page 6

INVERCARGILL.

A PAMPHLET FOR SOUTHLAND. Some 10 years ago a prize of £50 was ottered by a committee of Southland settlers for the best pamphlet on Southland as a field for settlement. Several e3saya in competition were presented to the judges for award, and ultimately it was announced the prize had been gained by Mr Murray, the present Inspector of the Bank of New Zealand. This pamphlet was printed at Home, and circulated to a limited extent, but New Zealand was not in very good odour then, as may be judged in comparison from the fact of a portion of the Colonial £3,000,000 5 per cent, loan of that time, selling as low as 80 per cent., to the price a 5 per cent, loan would now bring. Hence the outlay and trouble which the Committee put themselves to were not at all repaid by the result. It is now proposed to reprint this pamphlet with the necessary alterations which the progress of tho district has rendered necessary, and to include in ita pages photographic illustrations of the public buildings, farms, and railway works, which were not in existence at that time. A pablic meeting was called on Wednesday last to consider this proposal, and it secured a moderate support, although many present held the opinion that the matter devolved more upon the Government in taking further stsps to circulate the present Colonial handbook, and assure us a fair pioportion of the immigrants which it was intended to bring to New Zealand. The promoters of Lhe meeting, however, took up the question pretty heartily, and a good Committee have been elected to give effect to the proposal. Personally I think it would be much better to offer another prize for a pamphlet, as although the award was gained at that time by an essay of considerable merit, yet to make it applicable to present circumstances, it would have to be nearly rewritten, and many parts entirely expunged. THE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. Friendly societies' annual meetings have been almost as plentiful as the May meetings in Exeter Hall, London. The most recent was that of the Orange Lodge, on the 12th inst , whi«h was very successful, about 300 persons attending. So far as this Lodge is concerned, the popular belief that Orangemen are Protestant Irishmen must be erroneous, for the attendance at the soiree showed that here they may be almost all named as Protestant Scotchmen. HARDSHIP IN THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE. It is a satisfactory sign to note that the eyes of the public observe cases of hardship in the Government service as readily as the street gossips invent imaginary instances of jobbery and corruption. At the Clyde

street crossing of the Invercargill-Wsipahi Railway an elderiy man has during the winter months been stationed to guard the crossing, as the traffic there is very large, and the approach of the train quite undescernible until the crossing is reached, for in the past, several accidents have only been averted by an almost miraculous interposition. This old gentleman, whose duties, although of course quite light in one sense, demand that he should be on guard before seven in the morning until eight at night, has been supplied by the Railway authorities with a box, placed in a hollow near the line where he may descend in the event of it raining, and feel the insidious attacks of rhuematism which will, and no doubt are making his body a study for ascertaining what the human constitution can bear before it has to succumb to man's inevitable destiny. In such a kennel, certainly no sportsman would allow his hounds to linger out their existence. A petition is now being signed by residents in the neighbourhood, and others, calling the attention of the railway authorities to the necessity of providing a proper lookout office for sheltering the man during the intorvals between the passing of trains. THB WESTERN RAILWAYS. A good deal of satisfaction has been evinced by the Waianawa and Jacob's River settlers in the — although long delayed — action of the Government in inviting tenders for completion of one of the sections of the Western Railways. These lines were commenced by the Provincial Government several years ago, with a great flourish of trumpets, Mr Macandrew visiting Biverton for the express purpose of turning the first sod. The railway • from Wallacetown to Otautau passes through a splendid agricultural country, and will be of great service to the community. When completed, it will be only a short distance from the excellent coal deposits known as the "Nightcaps," specimens of which have been pronounced by Dr Hector to be " very fine samples of coal." THE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. The difficulty which the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association has experienced in nob possessing a freehold upon which to hold their exhibitions is likely ta be overcome by transforming the Association into a Company, and purchasing a suitable site, and ejecting yards, grand-stand, &c. At a special meeting held .lately, a resolution, affirming the desirableness of so doing, was adopted almost unanimously.