Provincial News in Brief.

Otago Witness, Issue 1499, 7 August 1880, Page 21

Provincial News in Brief.

(Condensed from our Contemporaries.) Building operations are proceeding apace at Otautau. A quarter- acre section on the main road at Otautau was sold the other day for £120. Putting printers' ink on door handles was the amusement in vogue in Oamaru last week. It is intended to form an Angling Club at Tapanui. Mr W. Kelty, of Brooksdale, intends experimenting with sugar beet this season, The West Hawksbury Town Council have £50 out in last year's rates. Mr A. G. Keid has been eleoted Mayor of West Hawksbury for the ensuing year. Vincent County's share in the surplus land revenue will be £4000, The funeral of the late Mr D. Matheson, of Chatton, waa attended by over 70 persons. Reports of the extreme mildness of the season come from all parts of the province. A township is being laid out in the vicinity of the Miller's Plat punt. Tree planting is receiving attention at Balclutha. The Rev. James Blackie has accepted a call to the Presbyterian Ohuroh at Cromwell. A Committee of the Legislative Council has been appointed to inquire into the alleged disqualification of the Hon. H. K. Taiaroa. Arthur, O'Neill was on Tuesday committed to take his trial at the District Court Lawrence, on August 20th, for fraudulent bankruptcy. An eighth of an acre of land in the main street of the township of Gore recently changed hands at a price between LSOO and L6OO. Out of 121 patients in the Dunedin Hospital on the Ist July, 61 belonged to Dunedin and 60 to country towns and distriots, Tapanui is exporting turkeys. . One hundred and thirty have just been sent to Melbourne from Mr Kitching's Moa Flat station. • Mr R.H.Austin had one of his kneecaps fraotured through catching in the brake of a spring- oar t at Tapanui last week. '-■ Messrs M'Gill and M'Millan's new flour and oatmeal mills at Tapanui will be opened shortly. , The Tapanui School Committee are about to expend a further sum of £13 6s on their recently ereoted play sheds. At the end of last week there were 22 patients under treatment in the Tuapeka Hospital— l 7 I males and fire females. ! With the aid of 12 guns and 15 dogs a party of sportsmen in the neighbourhood of Clark's Flat bagged 23 hares one day last week. The remains of the late Mr Anthony Knowles, of Horse-Shoe Bend, were followed to the grave in the Moa Flat cemetery by nearly 300 persons, all on horseback. I The Hope of the Spur Abstinence Society, Bide Spur, though not six months old, has 27 adult and 125 juvenile members. The Dunedin Fire Brigade forwarded an order Home for plant on the 11th March, and it has just come to hand in the Inveroargill. The Danedin Fire Brigade are applying to the! City Council to have their lieutenant appointed a fiie inspector. At Invercargill on Monday next a poll of the ratepayers will be taken on the proposed loan of £20,000 for town improvements. • A strong and united effort w at present being made to reduce the debt of £1400 or £1500 that still attaches to the Presbyterian Chutoh at Balclutha. The Matau Ploughing ■ Matoh Committee have a credit balance over from the late matoh of £8 8s lOd. The Bruce Herald suggests that the Aocli matisation Society should send up some brown trout for the Tokomairiro River. Mr Arthur Gifford, of Oamaru, has been appainted second assistant teacher at the O-maru DisiriotHigh School. There were three applioants. > At the end of last w;eek the Southland Hospital contained|22 patients— l 6 males and 6 females. The attendance at the Invercargill District; High School during the past month averaged 353. The Invercargill South District Sohool had 477 names on the roll during the past month. The highest attendance was 391, and the average ,370Mr Gurr, the new head master of the Inveroargill Distriot High Sohool, and Mr Ham, the new second assistant, have both assumed their positions in the sohool. The Otago Acclimatisation Sooiety have reoently liberated a number of brown trout, caught in the Water of Leith, in the Clntha River and Waihola Lake. The line to Pomabaka was passed on Tuesday. It will be finished to Tapanui station and completed four weeks from that day, and to Kelao failO weekß. The Otago Harbour Board on the 29th have granted tho sum of L2O to the parents of the lad who was killed on the Board's reclamation works as funeral expenses. The petition got up by the railway employes of Dunedin, protesting against the proposed reduction in wages contained about 350, signatures. The Palmerston Times understands that there Is every probability of the fire in the mine, reported last week, being subdued in the course of a day or two. The Dunedin Hospital returns for the past week are:— Remaining from the previous week, 125 ; admitted, 15 ; discharged. 11 ; death, 1 ; remaining in the institution, 128. The average daily number of patients in the Dunedin Hospital during the past half year has been 114, while the out- patients have totted up 1832 males and 1948 females. The coßt of each patient in the Dunedin Hospital for six months in each of the past three years has been :— IB7B, 2s lOd ; 1879, 2s 9£d ; 1880, 2s 6f d. The Dunedin School Committee have recommended the appointment of Mr Cossgrova, of Porcobello, to the post of second assistant at the Arthur street school. Mr T. Gluyas Pascoe was presented with anaddress and a ring by the employes of the Colonial OJothing Company on the occasion of his leaving Dunedin for Ohristcburch. Mr Evans estimates that the yield of gold from the Otago quartz mines will be nearly doubled by the introduction of the Denny and Roberts' amalgamators and grinders. The settlers on the Limestone Plains have presented to Mr Macrae, teacher there, a handsome riding saddle and bridle as a mark of their esteem. A resident of Mount Hyde, named Elizabeth Martin, met with an unfortunate accident recently. Her son, aged 10, accidentally dtscharged a loaded gun, and its contents lodged in the back of his mother, She was received into the Hospital on tto 29th,

A party of men is being organised in Oamaru for the purpose of proceeding into the interior in search of gold. They intend starting about the Ist of September. Mr M'Gill, the well known miller, reoommends the farmers of the Tapanui distriot to grW more Tuscan and velvet wheat in place of red straw. Tree planting is being vigorously prosecuted this season in Cromwell, both by individuals and public bodies. The corporation alone will plkut out over 1000 forest trees. | At Palmerston, on the 23rd, a young fellow driving a dray while under the influence of liquor fell over, head first, the wheel of the dray grazing his forehead and leaving the S3ull bare. He is recovering Blowly. Daring a hurricane at Inch Valley a roof was blpwn off at Mr Brown's, as were also the roofs of a Bhed and barn at Mr Delziel's. At the latter place a stack was blown down on two oows, smothering them. A man named William O'Brien, aged 60, was received into the Hospital from Mullocky Gully on the 29th. While at work on Thursday he fell down a catting and broke two ribs, inaddition to sustaining an injury to his head. Peter Boyne committed suicide at Tapanu on| Monday by taking poison after a drinking bout. He was an old identity, and an early settler in the neighbourhood of Dunedin. He leaves a wife and family. A very extensive bush fire was observed by the passengers in the express train from Kingston. The fire was on the hills between Milburn and Clarendon, on the seaward side of the line. Elder Ball, the Mormon apostle, appears to have been very successful at Oamaru. It is reported that several families have expressed to the Elder their intention of receiving baptismal immersion at his hands, Mr Steven, late teacher at Kaitangata, was presented with a handsome ivory mounted inkstand by the scholars, and a writing-desk by the residents, on the occasion of his leaving for another sohool in Canterbury. The Aberdeen yellow turnip hap been introduced into the Tokomairiro district by Mr White, nurseryman and seedsman. It is remarkable as well for its size as for its symmetry, 1 being about nine inches in diameter, and almoßt a perfect globe. Mr White says they are of excellent flavour, are perfectly sound, and grow from a very small tap-root. The new goldfield at Mt Misery has created some stir in Milton, the various tradesmen benefiting by the rush. The Bruce Herald cautions people from a distance not to make for the new field until it has had a trial. ' A young woman named Lynch, at Milton, had her face seriously scalded the other day, through the bursting of a tin of salmon, wbioh she was heating without opening. It is feared she' will lose her sight. Mr L M'Gillivray, formerly of Riverton, and who for some time represented that distriot in Parliament, died at Kaiapoi, to which place he removed some time ago, on the 31st ult., in the 72nd year of his age. Mr A, Purves, teaoher, Port Molyneux, has opened a olass for advanced pupils on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Mr Purves gained the medal for composition at the Dumfries Aoademy in 1856. He is an accomplished Latin, Greek, and Frenoh soholar. One hundred and thirty- five volumes have been added to the Warepa Library during the past year. It is estimated that the Committee will be able to add £20 worth of books during the present year. Miss Mary Nicoll, one of the teachers of the North Oamaru sohool, on the eve of her departure to the Dunedin Normal Sohool, was presented with a very handsome silver locket and chain, by the teaohers and pupils of the North Sohool. The Wyndham Ploughing Match Committee, after first limiting the competition to ploughmen living within a radius of 10 miles of the township, afterwards decided to throw the field open to all comers, barring winners of two first'prizes in either olass. Mr and Mrs Forbes Dawson were thrown out of a buggy near Wyndham last week, the horse having bolted. Mrs Dawson got her faoe very severely injured, and her knee hurt. _ She was quite unoonsoious for a considerable time. Mr Dawson esoaped with a severe shaking. Presentations are as thick as blackberries just now, notwithstanding the hard times, j Mr ' Charles Hawson, acting manager of the National Bank at Tapanui, received an address and a purse of sovereigns on his leaving for Dunedin. A resident in the Waikiwi district, a married man with a family, having been long laid aside from work by illness, the neighbours determined to Bhow their sympathy in a substantial manner. They accordingly went earnestly to work, and got up a concert which realised £21 clear of all expenses. A Chinese hawker, named Charlie, committed suicide by jumping from the Beautiful Star into ihe water, shortly after her leaving Oamaru on a recent trip. He had just paid his passage. The motive of the act is said to have been despair at being discarded by a fema'e to whom he was much attached. The Dunstan Times qualifies in its last issue the previous assertion made by it to theeffeot that cattle, horses, and pigs had been poisoned by phosphorised wheat on the Dunstan Commoiiage. The report has been denied, and j the piper will nob cay whether ie is correct or lot. The West Hawksbury Town Council began the past year with a deficit of £81, £80 of whioh has been cleaved off, the revenue for the year being £353, while the expenditure was only £323. The assets and liabilities this year show a credit balance of £162, as again&t £111 laßt yeai. The Otautau train ran off the main line on (o a aiding on the 28th through the points being left open. The driver was fortuuately on the lookout for points at the time, and steam was at onoe shut off and the break applied— not, however, before a number of empty ballast waggons had been run into, the first of which was smashed to pieces. Messrs Ford contractors for the Waicola section of the Otautau-Nighlcipa j railway, are making good iirogrdsa with the earthwork. There are 50 men employed at present, but it is said that a number more will be taken oh in spring. Wag s vary from 6* <o 7s yer day. Judge Williams on Monday suspended the order of discharge in the case of George Campbell-, a bankrupt, for two years. Campbflll was master r f 1 h < hteamer lao, recently wrecked at tho Mo yn ux. The cer'ificato was suspended on the tintui.il o f grosi recklessness in speculation.

M'Kerz'e, Thomson, and Co. 'a slore at Balclutli.i was broken into between Saturday ni-;hfc f.nd Sunday morning. The burglar )i*h\»d a-iuaHtance by removing the glii^ n i fiHuo f «f a back window. Tie <i» *> li (I '<? 'i n arched, and the lock of the •>- c 'in 1 aho be - n tried, but without effeot. NilN i' l u<n i< mlnued out of the store, The polioe aio luVtßtigttliug the raatteft

The official investigation into the recent rail way accident at Edendale (says the Olutha Leader) has resulted in the drivers and guards of both trains being reduced. The guard of the down train at the time is now porter at the Gore railway station, while the ' man who was previously porter is in his place. The drivers now occupy the position of firemen. The South Dunedin Borough Council deadlock still continues. A meeting takes place every three days and ends with an adjournment for wantof a quorum of councillors. On Monday evening, as usual, the Mayor and Crs Carey and M'Allister were the only members who put in an appearance, and an adjournment was made J for the customary three days. The liabilities of Mr George Ludeman— a Queenstown bankrupt, are, we (Mail) under- j stand, about £10,000, andbis total assets are put down at the same amount. Most of the latter are secured, and it is doubtful what| they may realise if brought to the hammer. The Bank of New Zealand and its kindred association are the largest creditors. While Mr James Pratt, of Riverton, was trying to melt some glue in an iron dish over some bot embers the dish suddenly burst, the pieces flying about in all divections. He himself took a small piece of iron out of his eye, and Dr Ypung extracted another piece nearly an inoh long, and one third of an inch wide, whioh was completely buried in the eye. Immediate excision of the eye was neoessary. A correspondent in a Southland paper thinks that uniform and simultaneous aotion is all that is necessary to effect the eradication of bunny. He suggests that three weeks should be set aside as "rabbit poisoning days," on whioh it should be obligatory on every landowner to lay a stated quantity of the poisoned grain per acre, and almoßt complete Buccess might be looked for. The Daily Times says that Mr W. D. Stewart's mission seems now to be to introduce bills into Parliament. He claims the paternity of more than half a dozen, the last of which is one to amend the law of evidence. In former days, an honourable member, who had similar proclivities, was once designated by Mr Stafford as a sort of " omithoryncus paradoxus ' —a beast with a bill. At the meeting of the Vincent County Council, Or Eraser said that from what he had gleaned there was only some £900 in hand, and liabilities exceeding £13,000. Or Cplclough said that at one meeting, when salaries were wanted there was plenty of money ; at the next meeting there was none : he did not know the position of tho county, nor did any other oounoillor. The following was the Btate of her Majesty s Gaol for the week ending July 31st, 1880 :— Awaiting trial, 95 males, 1 female j Penal servitude, 21 males, 2 females ; Hard labour, 61 males, 21 females; Imprisonment, 1 female ; Imprisonment (default of bail), 46 males j Imprisonment (debt), 1 male ; total, 234 males, 25 females. Eeceived during the week, 8 males, 3 females; Discharged, 6 males, 2 females. Everyone who has passed through Milton will remember the square tower on the Presbyterian Church. In consequence of improvements being necessary in the building, it has been deoided to out it down, and thuß, as the local paper expresses it, remove an " old time landmark of the Valley of Tokomairiro." It has been up 18 years. In writing of the subduing of the new fire in the Shag Point coal mine a correspondent in an Oamaru paper Bays — The fire whioh existed in the old workings before Mr Williams assumed control of the mine still continues, but everything is being done to keep it under. It has been a great obstacle to the beeping of good air in the new workings, and had it not existed, there would have been far less difficulty in securing good ventilation. At the last monthly meeting of the North Otago Benevolent Society, the barraok- master reported that there were six children in the institution ; that three persons had been admitted during the month and still remained m the 'institution ; that fourteen domestic servants had been admitted to the Servant's Home, of whom twelve had obtained situations ; and that the Society's cottages were in a fair state of repair. The Maniototo County Council passed the following motion in reference to the Pnblio works report at its last meeting :— " That this Council is of opinion that the report of the Commissioner on Publio Works, bo far as it relates to the Otago Central Railway, is not reliable ; that it is misleading in its charao'er, and utterly without foundation in its statements 5 and that the abandonment of the works, as recommended by the Commission, would be a serious blow to settlement in the district, and against the best interests of the oolony. That a copy of this resolution be telegraphed to the Government, and to the Member for the District." Mr Isaao M'Farlane, of the Blue Spur, met with a serious accident at Evans' Flat on a dark night last week, through a horse ridden by Mr Buohanan ooming into violent contact with him. The concussion must have been very severe, as the poor fellow's upper teeth, and with them part of the jaw, were driven in.^ The sufferer was rendered unconscious, and it was not until : the second day after the accident that consciousness returned.