SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 30

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(Fuom Our. Own Correspondent.} Invercahgill, April 28. The p> st week, though not wholly of the Italian summer type, has beeu seasonable and pleasant, and>, if rfcp9»tsbetrue r it compares most favourably with that iv localities further north. Our grain Btores are rapidly filling with oats, nearly. all of which an; stored on farmers' account. Though fc'Dne?. it is sard, wne never duller than at present, nor cti«h scarcer, it was not always tliun that the Southland farmer could tak-i the independent action he is doing this season reiarding whether he will hold his grain or accept the low current price of to-day. The effect has really been that the farmers have been able to force the hand of b-. yew, who are offering to-d-*y a penny better prieeo than they were a fmtuiijht ago, and still cannot fill orders. Large quamifc es of this season's oats from north of Bden^ale are going to Dunedin, and even further north. I notice in a Canterbury paper this week that they. t>ay the finest cample of wheat they have s<=en in that district this season came from Lake Wakitipu. The Mataura papers furnish some large returns of this season'! crops in the Mataura and surrounding districts. Mr John Spratt, of Mataura L-lan<] v threshed off nine acres 900 odd bushels of oats, his averjge yiald being 93 bushels ; Mr A Cranntoa, of HMesdale, had a yield ot 83 bushel- yei- acre in one paddock, and 85 bmheU per acre in another; Mr John Cbisholm, of E-tendale, had from one paddock 83 bubhels par acre, with a general average of over 70 bushels ; and Mr J. Milne, of Wyridham, had an average yield of 80 bnshisis.

Mr G-. T. Richardsou'n political manifesto does not appear to have created a very profound sensation in these parts, and the chief of the National Association in the Mataura electorate centre says tbey have not yet by any means- • settled that G-.F.R. is to be the invited candidate to come and fight the general election in their interests. It maybe. a local man, Jbut-unlesshe decides for the Taieri or Dunedia City, from both of which it is understood he has pressing invitations — it is much morelikely to be Mr M. J. Scobie Mackenzie wbo will be asked to fill the breach. A change of programme has bean made for the Wallace electorate during the w««k. It ia announced t ha: Mr George M'Leod, of Waianiwa, has decided to contest Wallace at the general election. Mr M'Leod is well' known throughout Southland, and is sure to receive much enthusiastic siipport from various suctions of the community. For a number of yeats he was engaged in the teaching profession, part of the time in the lnvercargill High (now Middle) School ; but of late years he ha 3 been engaged in agricultural pursuits, his farm being situated near Spar Bush, on what is known as the t-p»r Bash block. He has been for years, ar»d is I now, a member of the Education Board, of which body be bas.alto been chairman. i Captain Russell has cousented, in answer to a j largely-signed requisition, to shortly visit Inv«cargiU and give a political address. Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M. and warden, received last week from, the clerk of the Warden's Court at Wyndham the following letter :--*' I beg to ; forward herewith C'lpie^ of three- applications for sp-cial claims— two in the name of Mr Erauk Holmes, and one in that of Mr Charles M'GllL" The applicants have deposited the fees for survey, also the cost of advertisement. Mr Holmes, who has recently returned from South Africa, represents a very rich mining firm there, and he rays they ace prepared to spend £100,000 in- testing the be*ch ground about Waikawa and Waipapa by the M'Arthur-Forest, or cyanide of potasiutu, process. Mr M'Gill, through Mr Holmes, represents the eauie firm of capitalists.' According t» scale of fees in Scheduled, I have received £26 15s for the. survey of the three claims Will you arrange with the land office in regard to the surveys." The agent for the magic slaioa (Mr C. Feoggatt) has received a letter from Messrs Lonnaker ana party stating that they think the sluice has proved a success on the gold-bearing sand at Stewart Island, and ordering a farther quantity » of the compound used ia the work.

Another 5000 acres of the Morton Mains estate are to be offered for sale on May 9 in small and medium-sized farms. The low prices at which the unimproved portions of this et>tate, since it fell into present ovaaw ta letpata&to

the possession of small farmers ia well for the future of lovercargiil and district. It ia closer settlement that this- description of country requires, and when properly drained and cultivated it is capable of producing ex-wllent crops ot turnips and oats. The original estate contained close upon 40,000 acre*, and lay within an average distance of only about 15 mile* of lnvercargill. There are also several more sections of the celebrated.Bayswater estate now Hinder, offer on most liberal terms by the Scottish and New Zealand Investment Company. All of these big companies are now recognising that it is necessary, if they want to sell their lands, to make their termsmore in accordance with those of the Government Land department. This they are doing in the casea I have mentioned above, and the results, are sure to be the effecting of sales. Since it has beeu made known here that the departmental decision upon the Waiwera railway coll'Bion on the occasion of the special tr*in from Eiiendale to Duuedin with guests of the Milbum Lime and Oinent Company was that Guard H'ighe* and Driver Wingham, as well as the station master at Clinton and acting station m-uter at Balclutha, received notice of dia-. inia<al r it ha- 'requently bean remwked that the iuq'iuy .shuu'd have beeu opan to th« pren-t and pniii'c It was generally considered that the conduct of the men in charge of the train at the time of the arcjdent was moat exemplary, and that tha whole fault lay with their superior officers in not intimating to them that a special was thut night on the line. The men, \ understand, admit having known from hearsay that a special was somewhere on the line, but had no instructions where they were to pass it, and were proceeding cautiously, as after event 9 proved ; but because they wew *c uot more cautious: they have had meted out to tbetn the severest puni»bment it was in the power of the Inquiry Board to inflict. If this state of affairs is not is accordance with facts the public should have had the opportunity of reading: the evidence which showed that it was> notsa- A. secret inquiry always leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction and insecurity. On next'the National Mortgage and A. noy Company offer Mr Allan Carmiehael's X .itnmore farm, in the Ot<ut*u distrirr, f..r s >le. I:i ihese p»rts ihia pioparty has always been Jo. >ked upon as one of the best farms for quality of land and situation in Southland, which is saying a grt> at deal, and it ought to be keenly competed for, ai such opportunitiss/jf acquiring a good farm do not occur every day.