SOUTHLAND NEW NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2120, 11 October 1894, Page 22

SOUTHLAND NEW NOTES.

(Fbom Ouk Ovrs Cokbkspondent.)

IH;vEECi.EGiLL, October 9.

A mamage takes place to-day of special Interest to the old identities of Invercargill and Southland — viz., that of Miss Grigor, eldest daughter of our much-respected medico, to Mr Herbert M 'Donald, eldest son of Mr T. M. M'Donald, senior member of the wellknown firm of M'Donald and Sons, barristers and solicitors here.

The long spell of fine weather we have had has enabled farmers to get the bulk of their sowing done, and push general farm work well forward. We have experienced some very sharp frosta this vretrk, and grain that is just coming through the ground shows the effects of tfce visitation. The young graes, too, is coming on s'owJy. A day's warm rain now would be welcomed by farmers and others.

The fourth annual Band Contest, under the auspices of the New Zealand Brass Bands' Ass* ciation, opens bere to-morrow, and will continue daricg. Thursday, Friday, aud Saturday. It is probable. now that only eight bauds will take, part in tbe content, some three or four wh'cb originally en'ered haying tfe'clined to take part, i wing, it is said, to the Railway Commi'skitners determinatHn net to make any concessions (or inch tr.fi ng ones that they are nob -worthy of mention) in fares to and from Invercargill on this special occasion. Every devisable me»ns have been ut ed, inclading petitions, public meetings, indignation meetings, and such like, to induce the commissioners to act differently, but all without avail, and the residents of Invercargili just now are' in high dudgeon with the authorities who reduced f«res to 10s and 15s return from here to Dunedin to enable Invercargiliites to hear Dr T&lmsge lecture or inspect the ss. Gothic at Fort Chilmers only the other day, and will not on an occasion of this kind give similar facilities to travel to Invercargill. Apart from its being &uch an. Apparent injustice to the southern c'.ty and tbe surrounding dittrkt, it appears to be a great mistake from a financial p^ii.t of view, for the Bands Conterthas been really well advertised in this district, and I know there were hundreds of country people who have been contemplating a two or three days' -visit to Invercargill this week.

The Southland 4cc'.iajati?at:on Society have decided to di- tribute trout fry this season in the fol'owiug livers aud lakes: — Otaufciu, 15.00Q ; Waimatuku, 5000 ; Waihopai, 15,000 ; "Wintot Creek, 10,000 ; Otapiri, 10,0 CO;C O; Upper Mataura, 25,000 ; Or<-ti, 125,000 ; Makarewa, 25,000; Upper Ureti, 20,000; Cleddau river (Milford Sound), 10,000; Otamita, 15,000; Waikiwi, 5000 ; Oramia, 10,000; Upper Mimihau, 3000; Lake George, 10,000;— t-tal, 203,000 ; it' any snrp'us, 5000 to be placed in a 6tream in Stewait Island. The secretary was authorised, as opportunity offers, to place out 12 opossums in Stewart Island and a like quantity in the-bu-h at Milfrrd Sound.

The Rev. J. Gibson Smith, the newly-chosen minister in succe'sion to the Rtv. Mr Fergusson in First Church here, assumed h's new duties last Sabbnth. The Rev. Jnmei Giob, ofFitst Church. Dunedin, rondncted the introductory, service in the forenoon. At tbe evening set vice Mr Smith occupied the pu'pit. The large church was crowded to overflowing* although seats had been provided in. passages and other parts. Mr' Smith preached an eloquent, earnest, and impr< s-ive hermon fiom the tezt, ."Tfce kingr'om of G«d comefeh not with observation." Ou th« following evening (Monday^ the rev. gentleman was given a welcome sccial in tbe <;n< rca building by his congregation. An exec 1 nt snd well-servfd te j , given by the ladies oimed the preliminary to a long but interest! g programme of speeches and musical selection--. One of the provisions inserted. in- the call to Mr Smith is th>t he be allowed a month's holiday every year, his congregation findiig and paying his pulpit substitute.

The s.s. Hawke's Bay arrived at the Bluff on Saturday, and is now taking -in cargo for London. She will take from the Ocean Beach Freezing Works 25,000 Ckrcases mutton, besides a quantity of wool and tallow, and from other consignors 15,000 sacks oats and a large quantity of gtn^ral CH?gi>. Ihe United Fritndly Societies have decided to celt- brate . their summer gala this year on November 9, at Mokotua, and arrangements .are already nearly 'complete. A coesirierable amount of money has been voted for the purchase of prizes, &c., and the committee are confident of making the outicg the largest and most enjoyable of tbe series.

A meeting of the Southland branch of the New Zealand Education Institute was held on Saturday afternocn in the Temperance Hall. The vice-president, Miss Sangster, occupied the chair, and there was a- good attendance of membeis. The special bns'mss for consideration w»s the question of classification of schools, and an address on the subject was given by Mr Ss_lby. A discussion followed, the members thinking some di- finite scheme should bave been submitted. A committee was appointed to draw up a system of classification for consideration at next meeting. Should the scheme submitted prove acceptable, it is intended to ask the Education Board to consider the advuableness of adopting some such system. By that means some teachers thick »n equable method of promotion may be established. A communication came from an -education body of another district asking the branch to co-operate in an effort to secure an interchange of inspectors. It was decided, however, without discussion, that while inspectors are officers of the several Education Boards and not directly under the Education department, such interchange was not desinble. The questioa of remits for the annual conference in January was dt-f erred till next meeting. .The secretary was authorised to make & levy upon members to meet expenditure entailed in connection with the legal defence fond.

On Tuesday evening last week a meeting of the Waikaia congregation (Presbyterian) was held, at which tte Rev. J. M. Davidsor, moderator, presided. The object of the meeting was to consider the practicability of givirg a call to the charge to the Rev. Mr Gray, who'is at present officiating in the parish. There is a strong desire amongst the parishioners to obtain tbe services of Mr Gray, but owing to the rule that ministers must officiate for 12 months under the Presbytery before they can get full status, there is a difficulty in the way. An effort will be made to have the objection waived in tb.p pre3mt instance Tbe race f.om Gore to Ma' aura and back, under tbe auspii es of the Gore bicycle Club, came off on Wednesd\y. Considering the strong wind that was blowing, the time t« ken to do the distance, about 16 miles— viz., 61 miuutes — was very fair. There were i-cveral protests entered against the corn pet i'ors who gaiced places, on the ground that they had entered their machines wrongly as regards weight ; bat the committee f< und that should they entertain any of them the race would have to bs ran over again. It was ascertained that

nearly all the machines were lighter than when er>tered. A very large crowd gathered to witness the event, and a considerable amount of betting was indulged in— in fact, it was believed a totalisator would have paid handsomely. The fol'owing was Ih<t result : — S. Dyer (scr) 1, D. Greig (*min) 2, R. Smith (scr) 3, J. Campbell (8mio) 4. The remainder reached home in time for tea.

Besides a number of persons known to fcave died within the last few months of cancer, it is said there are close on 20 malignant cases of this terrible disease now under treatment in this town.

The Waimea Pla ; ns Review's Invercargill correspondent supp'i> s the. following under the heading "Double Tragedy and Denouement" : — "A two-act tragedy, with a singular denouement, has come to light ia Invtrcargill. Act first took place many long year* ago in the City oftbeFarMaid— Perth— Scotland. An unfortunate youi g woman, or g^rl, was brought to trial for child rnurdnv The surroundings were considered exceptionally brutal ; still there wre extenuating circuirstancf-s. After being sentenced to dea'h the capital sentence was re-'vokc-d, and she w*s ordered to be transported for life beyond the seas. That meant one of the neighbouringpenal settlements ; and thither, it is known, she proceeded. Act two defcs back rather more than a quarter of a cfntury. lavi rcargill, north from Tay ftreet, w«»s then a bewilderment of bush Bfctions. On one of these, in the vicinity of what i*.no.w tbe Water Tower, an iso'a'ed dwel ing had been erected. The occupant was a lone woman in bumble circumstances, understood to be a widow. One morning she was found dead. At first it was taken for a case of Sudden death from natural causes Further investigations discovered violence, the woman's skull having been fractured. A hat and stick found bene-.th the body gave clue to the perpetrator, and, forthwith, the poice had a gentleman, holding an official position, in hand. To the amazement of everyone, the jury acquitted him. The whole affair occasioned something longer than a nine days' wonder. Still it died out, and ha* long sine been at rest amongst old -sores Recent inquire* instituted in the interest of a property succe-sion in Penh brought to light the fact that the girl convicted of child murder in Perth and the woman found dead at the bush section, ( Invercargill, wa* one »nd the same. What' rend* rs the affair more striking is that the manner of death inflicted on the child was the same manner of death inflicted on the mother ; snd thus the prophecy has been fulfilled— violence shall overtake the violent." GORE STOCK SALES. Tie J. G. Ward Farmera* Association report that there was a very large entry of sheep but few cattle at the Gore fortnightly stock sale to-day. Hoggets comprised the greater portion of the entries in the sheep pens, but comparatively few found buyers. To effect sales vendors had to submit to a Is to Is 6d drop on the prices ruling at the same yards a fortnight ago Prices varied greatly for hoggets, according to quality, some culls selling as low as ss, others 6s lOd, Ss, 10s 6i, and one large pen (a very superior lot) at 12s 2d. Ewes with lambs sold from 10s 6d to 13s 3d. The recent frosts, which are still keeping the grass backward, are largely accountable for the dulnees of trade in stock and low prices. Invercargill, October 8. a tourists' pabadise. Hamer and party have returned to Preservation Inlet from a prospecting tour inland from the head of Chalky Inlefc. They discovered a chain of three beautiful lakes, connected by one river. One lake is six miles long, the others smaller. The scenery around was very beautiful, and there are waterfalls near the mouth of the stream. They saw several reefs, bub tried only one, which showed colours. They passed through a belt of granite country, and reached slate formation, but had to return for another boat and supplies, having had nothing butbirds to eat for a week. Ducks and swans were very numerous on the lakes, and the district is an attractive tourist country. • October 9. THE BAKD CONTEST. Five bands — Sydenham, Oamaru Navals, Dunedin Navals, Dunedin Engineers, and Kaikorai— arrived this afternoon, and were formally welcomed by the mayor in the Post Office Quadrangle. The Timaru Garrison Band will cope by express tomorrow and march straight to the grounds to take part in the quickstep competition. These with the Invercargill Garrison and City form the total. The mayor received a telegram from the Defence Minister stating that he had recommended the Railway Commissioners to grant some concessions — namely, free passes to the bands, as was formerly given. This concession comes too late, three if not four of the bands having fallen oub of the contest owing to the expense of travelling.