SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2325, 22 September 1898, Page 7

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, September 13. The fine weather continues, and fields are l>eg'Ening to look nice and green now. Lambs j are to be seen all round, and from the look of the early flocks the average this year will be good- Captain Gardner, of Birohwood, told me j the other day that he had 500 of his rams J shorn already. The Birchwood flock has al- j ways had a name for being early; but surely j this year it ia very far ahead of any other ] in Southland. Though there is a tremendous j area already vmder crop in Southland, the j pkughing still goes on, and in consequence draught horses are bringing high prices. Last Thursday afternoon Mr W. Quin, in conjunction with Messrs Wright, j Ster-henson, and Co., sold Mr J. Ji. j Mackenzie's famous Glenkenich stud. Buyers were present from every dis-J trict in Southland, Lakes, Taieri, Balclutha, Dunedin, Oarnaru, and Hawera, in the North Island. The imported entire Wallace passed in at 240gs, and two two-year-old colts were also passed in, but with these exceptions everything was sold at prices up to 122§gs. | During the week three ocean liners have been ! at the Bluff — viz., Indraghiri, Rakaia, and | Bar.fEsh.ire. ) The s.s. Banffshire finished loading on Wednesday night, and sailed for London, via Port Chalmers, at 6.30 a.m. yesterday. She took fro.v the Bluff 4599 carcases mutton, 570 legs mutton, 6487 crates rabbits, 175 casks tallow, 45 do pelts, 204 bales wool, 1 do hair, 13 do sheepskins, 2 do basils, 1 do leather, 9 do rabbitskins. The Tyser liner Indraghiri, Captain Firth, arrived from Napier on Saturday, berthing at 9.30 a.m. The Indraghiri loads about 12,000 crates rabbits, 300 cases meat, and 50 bales wool, and will sail for London direct. The s.s. Rakaia arrived on Thursday, and tal-es about 20,000 carcases mutton, 300 bales wool, 250 casks tallow, pelts, 1200 cases kauri gum, and 1000 tons coal, and will sail for London direct to-day. Southland sheep are still being railed in large quantities to Canterbxiry, there to be frozen ! and placed on the London market as " Prime j Canterbury." Last week over 8000 sheep were I despatched, and this week 87 truck loads have | be m taken to the Northern freezing warkß. To these- also have to be added 36 trucks from Otautnu, and 42 from Tapanui, which left on Saturday. This makes a total of 18,000 for the foiteight. A» the usual monthly meeting of the Southland County Council, held on Friday, an un- i usually large number of complaints about the ba<l state of various roads in the county were made by ratepayers. The schedule of worlc3 fo; the Winton Riding alone aincmnts to £989, vhile tenders were ordered to be called for j tfork estimated to cost £374 10s. The follow- ] ing return was laid on the table showing the estimated balances available for new works in th 9 various ridings after providing for surfacemen's wages and maintenance : Wnihopai, £420 ; Awarua, £14; Wallacetown, £626; Winton, £i&0; Oreti, £217; Hokonui, £320; and WaiVaia, £148. Accounts and salaries to the araevnt of £769 5s 7d were passed for pay-m-ut. At the Invercargill City Couucil meeting on Thursday night, it was decided, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, to inform the Exhibition Committee that the time is not ripe for the erection of buildings on the Market Reserve. In the course of the discussion, the Mayor said that if another scheme were submitted by the Exhibition Committee it would receive favourable consideration. It wxs intimated that the Invercargill and Dunedin Steamship Company intend placing a new eteamer on the trade to Invercargill. She was due in December, but at present the berthage accommodation at the jetty was not sufficient for two steamers, and it was asked that 50ft be «.ddel to the south end of the jetty, it being pointed out that the expense would be recouped Ito n berthage dues within three years. The, rf-fiuest was referred to the Harbour Comn.;ttee. It was decided to issue £5000 abattoir loaa debentures of £100 each, at a price not below par, with a currency of 10 years, and bearing interest at the rate of 4 £er cent., the debentures to be offered locally. At the last meeting of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board £50 was granted to the 1 Arrow Hospital Trust for the erection of a ! fever ward. ! At the annual meeting of the Highland Society, held in Invercargill last week, the following office-bearers were elected: — Chief, Mr A. M'Kellar; senior chieftains, Messrs H. S. Hunter, James M'Kay (Long Bush), and Hugh Cameron (Mataura) ; treasurer, Mr James M'Gregor; secretary, Mr Kenneth Cameron; bards, Messrs John Macrae and John M'Neill ; piper, Mr George Anderson ; committee — Lieu-tenant-colonel Thomson, Captain Macdonald, Messrs D. M'Farlane, J. M'Crostie, John M'Kellar, P. M'Ewen, and John Macrae (Hokonui) ; auditors, Messrs P. L. Gilkison and A. M'Nab. The annual gathering, concert, and ball will be held in Guthrie's buildings on the evening of the 30th inst. Great interest was taken in town on Saturday afternoon in the football match Canterbury v. Southland, played at Christchurch. At 4 o'clock when the result of the first spell was posted a large crowd had collected -in front of the Times Office, and it was the general opinion that Canterbury's score of 4 points in the first spell would be more than equalled by our ■" reps." in the second spell. By 5 o'clock a still larger crowd had assembled to learn the final result, which on being posted up was very silently received, it having been generally ■thought that Southland would win after Otago's ■decisive defeat of Canterbury the previous Saturday. Thus the Western Star: "Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., after an absence of aix months on ihe Police Commission, occupied his usual place at tha Warden's Court on Tuesday, and piiners and otherß were glad to see him looking so well. His capacity for work is prodigious, and waa proved by the business transacted. He disposed of 12 unopposed applica-

tions, two opposed, took evidence in five com- ] plaints, involving 'the examination of 22 wit- ' nesses, and dealt with four miscellaneous appli- j cations, besides presiding for a short time j over the Magistrate's Court. In order to over- ; take this work ha sat until 10 p.m. When he left the registrar had a clean sheet, and miners •whose cases had been long pending were extremely thankful. Mr Poynton does not spare himself in the least." ** j The accommodation for jurymen at our Su- • prcme Court, over which there were so many ; complaints by the various juries at the last j sitting, has been materially improved, and they ! will iind the new order of things much more | acceptable than the old. j What might have been a serious accident | happened to the evening train from Bluff at I Wood end on Friday evening. When at that point the engine-driver (Mr .P. Dunn) observed an animal, which he took to be a cow, on the line, and liv promptly shut off steam and applied the brakes. The short distance between the engire and animal, however, did not give sufficient time for the train to be stopped, and the animal was run over and* cut to pieces. The engine was found to be derailed when brought to a standstill, an'i close to an embankment about a dozer, feet high. The engin# had been off the rails for about a hundred yards and a good deal of 'damage was, in consequence, done to the liae, while the cowcatcher was 'broken. The Invercargill station was communicated vith by telephone, and a train was despatched to convey the passengers, who numbered 20, to town, where they arrived at 9.25 instead of 7.15, the usual time. There was a quantity of fruit in a truck and a number of boys amused themselves in pilfering from the cases, and it is understood that two or three cases were stolen. I am glad to note that since tho above accident, Mr Kelly, M.H.R., has a3ked to have the line fenced, as it is positively dangerous with so much wandering stock about to leave the line unfenced any longer. On Thursday evening Mr George Valentine Printz, after over 50 years' residence in Eiverton, died at his residence" in Havelock street at the age of 71 years. Deceased was a stronglooking man, but has been ailing for the past niDe months, and eventually fell a victim to cancer. He was born in Sydney in 1827, and 10 years later he landed at Preservation Inlet, and was employed at coopering. Since then he has been engaged in goldrnining, whaling, and station life, <m<3 in all his ventures has been singularly fortunate, amassing a vast fortune, lie leaves a widow, a daughtor of the late Captain Howell, and five sons and three daughters by a previous marriage. He was buried in the Itiverton Cemetery on Sunday. A special train left Invercargill in the forenoon, but owing to the boisterous weather only about 20 journeyed from here. A special from Orepuki, howevor, brought a large number of mourners, while residents of fiiverion and the surrounding districts turned out strongly to ; pay their last respects. The body was conveyed j to tha Anglican Church, where the funeial eer- j vioo was conducted by the Rev. M. W. Butter- ! field, the pall-bearers being Messrs T. M. Macdonald, B. A. Dickinson, Hy. Hirst, J. E. ' Mills, William M. Tarlton, and J. R. Stuck, j While the cortege passed, the bell tolled at i intervals, and on arrival at the cemercry eight j of the leading Maoris of Rivorton, Colac Bay, ] and Wakapatu carried the coffin to the grave, ] into which it was lowered by the sons of the | deceased. _ ] lntisrest in mining matters is on the increase ; in the south. Several new finds aro reported, ! of which high hopes are entertained. A quan- j tity of stone has'been shipped from Invercar- ! gill to Melbourne, and, if it is considered pro- [ raising enough, capital from that city will be I forthcoming to develop mining properties in this part of New Zealand. A letter was received by the Southland County Council on Friday from the Mines department, iaforming the council that their application for a grant of £100 to construct a road to the dredging claims on the Wainmnm Stream, near Mataura, will be considered when the public works estimates for the current year are being prepared. Mr R. M'Nab, M.H.R., arrived in Invercargill on Saturday. He is down on urgent private business, and expects to leave again almost at once. The Hon. J. G. Ward has been at the Bluff for some days now owing to the seriovis illness of his mother, Mrs Barron. I have just heard that her condition has improved somewhat, and hopes are entertained for her recovery. A gentleman who vi.sited Orepuki on Saturday and had occasion to see one of the miners working on the beach, states that he was shown a plank or board with the name " Philadelphia ' upon it. The plank appeared to be one of the sort that carry the name of a ship or her port of registry, and the letters, which are soft metal of some sort, measured about Sin. It had been tin own upon the beach close to where our informant's friend was working during Friday night, and although, from dirt and incrustation, the colour of the paint could not well be made out, the edges of the board had not been rounded, as would have been the case had it i drifted long inshore. The incrustation was not j heavy, and altogether the waif ha-d the appearj ance of not having been long at sea. Two gentlemen who arrived overland from the Inlet on Saturday evening bring very favourable reports from the field. There was a good deal of excitement on the ground during their visit j on account of the richness of the reef struck , in tho Golden Site mine, and also from the •, fact that the camp had sprung into a scene { of activity owing to the three batteries — Morni ing Star, Golden Site, and Alpha — all pounding merrily away. They are all engaged on good stone, the Golden Site especially being expected to show handsome returns, while the tables and berdans of the Alpha are looking well, the battery and winding gear having started last Tuesday. Specimens from the Golden Site lode were brought to town, and are on view at Mr B. Allen's office in Esk atreet. A largo number of interested parties inspected them yesterday, and they were'the means of raising their hopes and strengthening their faith in tho venture, and also causing shares to rise rapidly. It is expected that the Alpha will clean nip for the steamer after the one leaving this week, and should the Morning Star and Golden Site do so in time for this steamer

good cakes may be expected, if the statements of the miners can be taken as a fair criterion of the value of the stone. A good deal of exploratory work on claims has been going on, and new country has been vigorously prospected with satisfactory results. Winter and party have opened up a largo ie^ r in the Princes 3 claim on the Cuttle Cove o, having come acioss it from the creek \ . <li exits through it, exposing a face of 14ft. Fiom its position and the abundance of water it is calculated that this new discovery will be easily and cheaply worked. Good prospects were found in its vicinity, and a start is being made to test the main body of stone. Aspray and party have opened up a reef at Observation Point, called the Golden Eagle, from which they have obtained good piospects. They are now sinking on it, and are paddocking the stone, of which there is plenty. This claim is also favourably situated for economical working, and the owners are sanguine of having a good genuine show. In alluvial mining ttf'Kenzie and party have secured ground at the mouth o£ Sealers' Creek for dredging, and at the mouth of Kiwi Eurn Daniels and party have pegged out a sluicing claim which has prospected well.