Provincial News in Brief.

Otago Witness, Issue 1503, 4 September 1880, Page 21

Provin cial Ne ws in Brief.

(Condensed from our Contemporariet.i Mr Vincent Pyke is now an advocate of Separation. The Tokomairiro Farmers' Club have a credit balance of £28 9s 9d. The new workings at the Canada goldfield are only about five miles from Milton. The Eoslyn Tramway Company have accepted tenders for sections of the line to the amount of £1300. The second lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids in Dunedin now numbers 56 members It has been named " Ivanhoe." At a recent entertainment at Oamaru thereporter of one cf the papers counted 22 pipes and ona cigar "puffiingTgreat clouds of smoke." The Lunssden correspondent of a Southland contemporary says that a prospecting party are abont to proceed to Te Anau lake. The Orepuki Public Library Committee have added 148 volumes to the shelves of that institution during the past year. The additional rate of 6d now charged on telegrams sent from or to non-paying offices is to bo rescinded. The land set apart for the construction of the Tapanui railway is about to be classified, with a view of opening it for settlement. The total amount of Customs revenue co!lected at the port of Oamaru during the month was L 1557. During August 45 births and 10 deaths were registered in the district of Invercargill; six marriage certificates were issued. Ihe following was the return of births, deaths, and marrisges at Oamaru during the month of August :— Births 43, marriages five, deaths five. The .Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway Company intend to work their line on the tramway system. They are taking steps with that view at present. Some boys at Invercargill have been arrested on a charge of stealing fowls and gelling them to Chinamen. A "Nichtwi' the Scottish Covenanters" is the title of a lecture delivered at Invercargill by Mr G. Johnston. At the Scotch entertainment at Invercargill in aid of the local hospital, 1600 persons attended, and £120 was realised. Oa Saturday last there were 14 male and three female patients in the Invercargill Hospital. Mr Gordon (of Roxburgh), who had a leg amputated in ihe Tuapeka Hospital last week, continues to do well. The Clutha Horticultural Sooiety have a credit balance of £8. The annual show is to b« held in January. The Tuapeka Hospital last week contained eighteen patients— viz., eleven males and seven females. A writer In a Southland paper says that Maori hens are now practically extinct in rabbit districts, thanks to the dogs of rabbiters. "Sharps, Flats and Naturals" was the title of a lecture delivered at Oamaru by the Rev. S. Slooombe, on Tuesday evening. The Dunedin (Hospital returns for the past week are :— Remaining from the previons week, 128; admitted, 14; discharged, 16. Total remaining, 126. The Nortfe Ofcago Agricultural and Pastoral Association have passed a resolution to the effect that prises not claimed within six months after the date of the show shall be forfeited. At the reopening of the Maheno public school Drißowie, of Otepopo, made a careful inspection of all who presented themselves for examination, | and found only one suEpicious case. A concert and dance given by the local Caledonian Society in aid of the Oamaru Hospital and the Benevolent Institution realised for division about £70. The Finance Committee's report to the Roelyn Borough Council shows that the assets for the current year amounted to £1039, and the liabilities to £992. The moorings of the Kawarau bridge have been completed, and the first wire was expected to be suspended over the river some time during the week. The new Oddfellows' Hall at Havelock (Waita. huna) is to be 45ft long by 25ft broad and 12ft high, and is to have an anti-room the full width of the building. A contingent of the Southland Hussars is abont to be formed at Wyndham. A local squatter has promised* that three of his sons, although they will have to ride 21 miles to attend, shall join the contingent. The Tokomairiro High School Committee have resolved that after the expiration of the present quarter, a fee of 23 6d be imposed for each subject of the higher branches of education, the maximum not to exceed 10s. The Rev. Mr Hobbs announced in the Naseby Church lately that as it was probable that he might soon be called upon to resign the Mount Ida cure, he was desirous to put the financial position of the church upon a satisfactory basis. A lady in Oamaru had a narrow escape from poisoning last week. By mistake she took a portion of a^poiaonoos liniment intended for outward application. Medical aid was fortunately called ia in time. We are informed that Mr J. Bathgate will resign bis judicial appointments at the end of j the present month. It is understood in town that there is a prospect of either Mr Simpson or Mr Mansford being appointed. The Caversham Borough Council have determined to levy a separate rate of Is in the pound for the purpose of paying of! the Council's liability (£1000) in respect of the property handed over to the Council by the Road Board. Mr J. A. Hislop, solicitor, has written to the Roslyn Borough Council questioning that body's power to compel owners of gorae hedges to prevent them from spreading to the Borough street. An unfortunate Hindon resident givea it es his opinion that " a few months in that locality would destroy the principals of anyone, and make them commit any atrocity to relieve the dull weariness of existence." At the late meeting of the Wakatip Steam Navigation Company is was stated that the Mountaineer coat £3 53 per day for coal alone. An attempt is about to be made to use firewood n place of coaL very old resident of Palmeraton — Mr J. H. Guligan— has left that plase to settle in Victcrii, Mr Gilligan was Mayor of Palmerston for some time, and was formerly proprietor of the North Western Hotel A movement has been set on foot to erect ?. P nbl jc hall at Calcium (Limestone Plains), the schoolhonse having been found inadequate for the accommodation of meetings there. T £ e , 1*1**"" »away employe* have sub■enbea£2ofor Mrs Withers, the widow of a railway employ^ who lost his life through an •ccideafe tbat oooarred at Clinton some months ,

A miner at the Blue Spur— Mr Joseph Ken- ! dall—had a narrow escape from death lately through drinking water while his system was overheated through worV. A serious illness supervened, necessitating his removal to the local hospital. In reference to the Cromwell astronomer, the Wakatip Mail facetiously remarks that as there m not time to wait for the astronomer royal of ±inglajid, the next best man to meet Mr Thomas is perhaps Mr Ellery, of Melbourne— provided that gentleman is not afraid to risk the terrible upshot of being " knocked into a cooked hat." The local paper points out that for three or four months in the year the saw-mills in the Tapanui district have to efcop work because wheeled traffic to and from them is impossible, and that consequently the district suffers materially from the enforced idleness of a large number of men. The Scotch entertainment at Inveicargill on the 27th in aid cf the Hospital was a great success. Over 1600 persons attended, and probably Ll2O will b<» givea to the institution. An Irish entertainment with the game object is spoken of. Some difficulty will ba experienced in getting ratepayers to allow themselves to be nominated for the position of borough councillors at Oatnaru Twelve are required, but; at the present time few care to seek the honour of election. Last; year's councillors decline to come forward again. The Invercargill Volunteershave just received two 12 pounder muzzle-loading guns from the Government. The News says that although they are very old fashioned looking pieces, mounted on standing carriages of icon they will be very useful for drill purposes. An Oamaru paper states that Mr George Warnock has sold his three-year old -Clydesdale colt Bonnie Scotland to Mr John Macfdrlane, Kaitanga'a. The price was 450 guineas. The New Zealand Insurance Company has decided to pay the insurance on Mr Holmes' house at Pipakaio, recently burned while the owner was in Oamaru paying the renewal | premium, which had eipirad. A " bachelors' ploughing bee " is the latest i Tokomairiro novelty, 10 bachelors having ploughed 12 acres for ilr James Fergusson, near Canada reefs, one day last week. Mr Forbe3, who took the chief priz9 at the recent Southland Champion Ploughing Match, has contributed £5 to the Invercargill Hospital, j | This ia the second occas on on which Mr Forbes has shared hi 9 winnings with this deserving institution. The North Ofcago Times mentions that it is rumoured that < he bridge already constructed over the Maerewhenua is to be abandoned, on account of the heavy compensation required by the owners of the land through which the line surveyed passes, and that another bridge will be bnilfc come distance below the road. A boy of 14 years of age went through ona of the holes ia the notorious bridge at Tuapeka Mouth, and (remarks the correspondent of the Tuapeka Times) if it had not been that his arms stopped him, it is jusfc possible he would never have been heard of at Tuapeka Mouth. The Rev. James Blackie was ordained to the pastoral charge of the Presbyterian Church, Cromwell, on Thursday, 19th nit., among the speakers being the newly-ordained pastor, and the Beve. Messrs Telford, Allan, D. Borrie, and Messrs S. N.Brown, D.MacKellar, Smith, Adams, and D. A. Jolly. In describing the new school at Blue Spur, which has just been erected at a cost of £593 103, the Tuapeka Times .says the Board is certainly self -sufficient in these matters. Strange to say the Blue Spar School Committee were not asked even to make a suggestion either before the building was started or during its erection. A boy and girl named Peter and Lucy Ambrosia, whose mother had gone to the Hospital, leaving them without food or shelter, were, at the Dunedin City Police Court laft week upon the application of the police, sent to the Industrial School for seven years, to be educated aa Roman Catholics. The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition and management of the Industrial School at Look-out Point have, in their report to the Government, expressed their satisfaction with the management of the institution and the zeal of the master and matron. " Mind your P's and Q's " was the title of a lecture delivered by the Eev. Mr Murray at Milton last week. The reverend gentleman classified his lecture as follows : — " Mind your prejudices," "mind your punctuality," "mind your promises," " mind your prayers," " mind your passions," " mind yourquarrels," "mind your questions." The Tapanui Courier complains that the riding still contiaue3 to reap the disadvantages of being governed from a distance ; and that, daspite the remonstrances of up-country members, money is voted away with a lavish hand by the Tnapeka County Council in the lower ridings, whilst the up country districts are in a great measure neglected. While Mr Malone, of White Kocks, was taking home his horses acd dray from Oamaru a boy trundling a hoop startled the horses. They shied, and Mr Walone was in the act of turning his hand to put on the break, when the dray, swerving, gfcmck him in the small of the back and knocked him down. One of the wheels passed over his loins. He lies in a precarious state at Oamaru. "Captain" Jack Barry has added mineral discoveries to his present employment o£ lecturing. Whito at Orepuki he "spotted" an outcrop of coal and oil shale. He has applied for a lease of 240 acreß, and expresses himself sanguine of being able to float a company The samples of co?.l and shale he showed us (Southland Times) were of excellent quality, the former in particular being nearly, if not quite, equal to Kaitangata. £535, the approximate value of contracts let at the last meeting of the Waimate County Council, on the 25'h instant, when compared with the sums £812, £1377, and £890, total amounts of contracts for the months of May, June, and July respectively, would tend to show that the councillors recognise the necessity of husbanding the county funds as much as possible by only carrying out works of pressing importance. The Tuapeka Times suggests that the local Hospital Committee should put up boxe3 in prominent parts of the town, in which residents could put the daily or Home papers when they are done with them. The idea is a good one, and might ba adopted by the Committee of the Djinedi<i_ Hospital, Benevolent Institution, &c, with a view of obtaining supplies of Htrar >tuTe, which people would not take the trouble to send a distance to any of these institutions. At a poiree held at Kaihiku lasb week Mr Joseph Anderson, in the name of the con^reeationa of Warepa and Kaihiko, presented their pastor— Rev. Mr Inidia— with a horae, saddle, and bridle. The Clutha Leader eaya that in the course of his few remarks, Mr Anderson numerously explained as to the docile disposition and very superior qualities of the animal, its 1 honoured pedigree, etc, '

Six o'clock closing on Saturdays in Dune<?in, after two and a-half years' trial by four Princes street firms, has been abandoned by one of them in favour of 9 o'clock, the reason being that the George street competition is becoming too strong for the Princes street firras to throwthree hours' business into the hands of their north end compeers. In their annual report the commitfc9Q of the Tokomairiro Farmers' Club express regret that at the last Agricultural Show there was very little improvement as far as fre3h blood was concerned, and they urge upoa members and others the advisability of seen*! in? to travel in the district one of the two Clydesdald <? nlire horses brought out from Scotland by Mr David Patou recently. The first prize iv Strong's Art Union (says the Mt Ida Chronicle)— a hov e valued «t £200, or cash for 90 per cent, of ica value— was won by Mra W. G-nffie, of Naaeby. A chi'que for £180 was promptly handed over by Mr Strong. It is rumoured (hat the pecoad prize has also been won by a locil resident, but aa yet it has not besu claimed. Some of the prizes go to different parts of the Colony, one as far as Taranaki. At a recent meeting of the Tokomairiro High School Committee ifc was resolved " Thafc as the Education Uoa,rd has materially reduced the committee's allowances for school purposes, the Rector be authorised to levy and collect the sum of Is per quarter from each Bcholar iv aid of the funds ; but in no case to levy more than three shillings (3s) from oue family. The committee will ia future pay for ink and pena ; but the arrangement does not commence until the Ist October next." A rather .remarkable bachelors' ball was re cently held at TuapekaMouth. Each bachelor was decorated wi'h an insifgna according to his age— thirty years one little bunch of creeping jeanid ; forty, two bunches ; and sixty, three. The Chairman wore the latter badge, and iv a speech, which opened the proceedings, he informed his juniors there wag great danger in delaying too long in a state of celibacy. Take an example by me (he said). Behold an old man who will have to sleep the rest of his days where no wife will be seen 1 In mentioning tho flooded* state of the Lauder Creek during the i ecent storm, th.9 Mfc Ida, Chronicle says that it must be a matter of great regret that the financial circumstances of Vincent County are not sufficient to permit ifc, iv conjunction with the county of Maniototo, to_ go on with the really necessary work of bridgiug the creek. A few hundreds of pounds for the Lauder Creek might h<ve been saved from the costly structures which sDan the Clutha, all in the neighbourhood of Clyde. Toe folio wing was the state of H.M. Gaol, Dvn j din, for the week ending 21^t August, 1880 :— Awaiting trial, 97 males, 2 females ; P-mal fervitude, 30 males, 2 females ; Hard labour, 55 males, 20 females ; Imprisonment, 1 female: Imprisonment (default of bail), 47 males; Isnprfronmeat (remand), 1 male total, 230 male 3, 25 females. Received during the week, 7J males, 8 females ; Discharged, 14 males, 7 females. "Writing on the proposal by the licensed vie tuallers of the colony to return representatives interested in their business to Parliament, the Daily Times says if the trade is desirous of rousing on this question the bitter hostility which has been aroused both here and elsewhere ' by the Roman Catholic block vote on the educa tion question, they could not take more effectual means to effect their object. But "if they wish to conciliate, and place their claims on the grounds of justice and common sense, they will refrain from any suoh political demonstrations. The non-opening of the first section of tho Tapanui railway is still an enigma to the residents. The Courier says that the Government with an ample staff of officials on the ground cannot complete and open for traffic a four-mile line of railway, without a single difficult piece of work throughout its length within two years and a. quarter, is one of those inexpressible enigmas that "no fellah can understand," but nevertheless the fact remains that this line has been in hand] for 27 months ; while the first four-mile section that the people want opened has been taken over from the contractors, and haa been iv the hands of Government for some weeks past. At the annual meeting of the Tokomairiro Farmers' Club the committee reported : Your committee, in looking over reports of the Club of former years, find that they have always reported the little interest which is taken by the farmers throughout the district generally, and are sorry to say thafc there has been a fall- ■ iag off for the past year. It ia much to be regretted, thafc so little interest ia taken in the affairs of the club ; and we would now agaiu urge upon them to take more interest in the affairs of an institution peculiarly their own, and which, if properly suDporred by them, would bs an institution worihy of the district