SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2302, 14 April 1898, Page 24

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(Fjrom Ouk Own Correspondent.) Ikvercargill, April 5. The low barometer and gale that Captain j I Edwin, predicted would occur in the south oa j I the sth and 6t,h inst. is now on in a medium ; form, and is making another check to harvest \ operations. Previous to this we have bad a week , 1 of very good weather, several farmers taking ad?" '< \ vantage of it -to thresh out of the stook, a pro- i cedure not to be much commended in a climate j like oura, and especially in a late beason like the i j present. With such valuable crop-i as raany • I of our farmers possess one might naturally especi j to see Virgent effoits made to get them iv by put- j ling on extra labour, at a shilling an hour if j necessary ; but no suel 1 bustle iv observable in 1 these parts, and harvest operations are dragging | on unnecessarily slow notwithstanding the valu- j able risks at stake. It is true extra haiKk may ! i be hard to obtain just n -w owing to the highly i remunerative employment men and boys, find in • I rabbit trapping in all parts of ths d-stuct. Ve 1 :- ; terclsy (Mrnday) morning I saw 2000 rabbits sent J away from Otautau by eaily trahi that had been driven in from stations 50 milei inland from thev2 j anil other places on the Sun'iay. i "\Ve are expecting a visit this week from Sir j Ritc'jie, the bead of tbe Stock aud Rabbit depart- 1 i inent, aud the Hon. Minister r'or Lands, and shall ! • wait with patience to see how they view the : changed aspect of ihc rabbit question in these | parts since the rabbit h.*3 become a good and J cheap food for the Londoner, aad brings money to the trapper, the carter, the railway, the ex- j porter, and the fieezing company Ib has been j mooted by a few who are ready to, see evil in ! many of the actions of the Hon. Minister at the head of this department, that it is owiug to the . large profits accruing to a certain fieezing company heie that hs is endeavouring to compel poisoning straight away. Is has also been pointed > ! out that the Rabbit Act only says " Must take ; , steps to destroy," and further than ■(bat, that, no ! man is iuv?er any compulsion. That steps are J now being taken to enforce the act with a ' vigilanca never before experienced in tliese parts j nobody can deny. ; When giving a list of the New Zealand pas- \ scogers on the P. and O. Company's &teatner ; China, wrecked at Perim, you, with other papers, \ \ omitted the names of Colonel anil Mrs Chalmers, s lof Mount lustoa station. In a letter from Mrs j I Chalmers, written from Albany, she describes j j the magnificent accommodation they found on j ■ this gigantic boat, and how pleased they were ) that they had decided upon that route for the ■ Colonel. Their many friends h?re are anxiously s f waiting for further news regaiding how they ■ ! fared at the time of tbe wreck. 5 ! A ceremony, termed in the Catholic Church | j " The Alonth.lv Miud," iv commemoration- of the ' i late Father Vereker, took pUce in the Winton ; j Church last Wednesday forenoon. The number ) ! of priests in attendance as far as Southland is ' J concerned was unprecedented, the following being ' present :— Fathers W. M'Mullpu (Port Chalmers), i P. O'Donnell and P. ODea (Gore), J. O'Donnell I (Queenstown), J. M'Graih and Dean Burke I (luvercargill), P. O'i.eary (Lawrence), J. O'Neil I (Milton), P. Mu-.phy nn<i H. W. Clesry (DunI edin), J. Coffey (South Dunedin), J. Lynch. i (Palmerston), M. Wal.b. (Riverton), and P. O'Neill (Winton). The Rev. Father Murphy was master of ceremonies, the Key. Father , O'Donnell deacoa, the Rev. Father Coffey sub- I deacon, the Rev. Father O't-javy celebrant ; • chanters, Fathers O'Neill and O'Dounell. At the j conclusion of the office Dean Bmke prtached a ; mo3t eloquent sermon oa the object of the cere- ■ raony, and ref dried feelingly to toe many good ' qualities of the deci-asad. i The Hon. J. G. Ward, Mayor of Bluff, at the request of a number of towusmeu, convened a meeting l*st Friday evening, to consider the question of resuscitating the volunteer corps. Mr Ward, who was the founder and first commander of the original Bluff NAval«, explained I how the commander of the forces iv the colony j was leorgauhing the system of Ibe forces gene- \ I rally. There was a large gathering, and the | ! question was apparently taken up and discussed ( with much enthusiasm, the result being that it j I was decided to establish a new corps, to be J known as the Bluff < Joastjsuard Company. >. A correspondent from Preservation Inlet informs me that the track from there to Orepnki will be completed in about a fortnight,, and that the track between Te Oncroa and Cromarty is veiy muddy. Mr J. Grant, of Bfyross Bush, ha? forwarded to New South AValeis k three-year-old-sti»llion, SO pedigree Ayrshire cows, and three lambs. j The subscribers to the Tnyercarpill Athenaeum ( have authorised th« charging of the property ; of the institution with the repayment of the I £10,000, for which debentures are to be issued. i The Invercargill Cl.C 1 . cling Club held a race meeting last Wednesday on tliu Uuion giniimlft. when the champions at present racing in Now Zealand were all present. The flub wero fortunate in having a perfect day and tbe trsick in uood order, j but the racing was tpoilt, as far ;is the scratch ' men were concernec!, by the hamliropxing. The ' chief prize— the Wheel Rac\ cf £'i() - w:is won by W. Tierney, lOOyd.s ; second (X'l2) by .1. dial- ,' mers, 165 yd s; and third (jCC) l.y A. italßlon, j j COyds. Great interest was marnlcstcil in the j j Mnlticyc!e I!acs, and the win of the local Irani — j ! Cuthbertson and Mackenzie, with i7oy<ls start— j I waa a very popular ona. 'the Invitation Scratch j ' Race was won by Don Walker, the English chain- j ' pioD, of who?!! victory th#* Southland Times mi- J I generously So.ys : " Walker was alternately paced i j by several of the other competitors, and allowed j to come to the front at the finish. The action is not perhaps reprehensible, as bis comrades were anxious that be should at least place one win to his credit, but it was nevertheless vary unsatisfactory to the public, who would have liked to hsve teen a fair ' go.' " Last Sunday the First Church pulpit was occupied by the llev. Robert M'lntosb, of Alva (one of the delegates fiom the Free Chuich of Scotland to the Otago Jubilee), at the mjrning service, j and in the eveniug.be preached in St. Paul's Church At both services the rev. gentleman preacheiU:o very large congregations. On Tuesday last a young man named Edward Lifctlelund, alia? Glover, slightly under the influence of liquor, obtained a blank BRnk of New Zealand cheque from a tradesman in Gore, and filled it in for j£9, signing ifc "J. M'Donald." He then tried to cash it at other shops, and, failing to do so, took ifc to the bank, where he was told . \ there was no such account, and warned that if j he tried to cash it he would be landed ia guol.

Eventually a draper named M'Gruer took the cheque in payment for 7s 10d worth of goods, and gave the change to Littlelupd, who immediately took train for luvercargill, where Detective M'Henvy arrested him when the matter was reported to the police. Littlelund was committed I for trial at tbe Police Court yesterday on a charge of forgery. I F. J. Thonmson, a postal officer, has been cona- ! mitted for trial for .stealing money from letters in I the Riveiton post office. I The Bluff Harbour Board's tug Awarua left for i Port Chalmers to-day, to be overhauled there. j Mr Georgeson's cutter is to be employed to-mor-row to convey the mails to Stewart Island. ! The demand for the new issue of stamps, which I were offered for sale to-day, has been very great all day, it taking an officer all tha time to supply j the demand.