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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 8, 25 November 1863, Page 2

To day will be inaugurated the commencement of one of the most important public works in the province — viz., the construction of the Great Northern Railway. In order that the proceedings connected w-ith what is technically called " turning the first sod " for the proposed line, may be carried out iv a manner worthy of tbe occasion,- the ceremony will be performed by N. Chalmers Esq., the Deputy Superintendent — in tbe absence of His Honor the Superintendent of the Province. As the evenf is one that should be recorded as a red letter day in the history ofthe province, we understand that tbe most of t-h-i places of business will be closed together withthe Government Offices, with the exception of the Custom House. Captain Ellis has, we are given to understand, no option in the matter, or he would be only too happy to follow the general example. About 1 p.m., will be the time selected far the performance of the ceremony. The site selected for the purpose will be the Reserve, at the rear of the Government offices. At thfe conclusion of.the'ceremony, an adjournment will take place to the krg« iron building, erected by Mr Watt, in Dee-street, where luncheon will be provided for tb c invited guests by Mr J. It. Davies. the contractor for the works. There will be a Ball in the evening at the Southland Club Hotel. We have received the following from a correspondent on whose authority we can place reliance.- - —" Hawksbury, Monday, Nov. loth, 1863. News has just arrived of a- rush at the Horseshoe Ranges, distant from 15 to 18 miles from this, and on the road to the Moeraki. There are about eighty on the I spot, doing 30s a-day. Tae find is on private proI perty, and for that reason haß been kept as quiet ' as possible. We have to acknowledge the courtesy of Captain Jarvey, of the steamer. Titania, in handing us the latest Dunedin papers, on hia arrival yesterday from that place. Tiie proprietors of the Argus have despatched a special correspondent to the seat of war by the Himalaya.

We haye: long boasted that fche £»T orthYßoad was. the shortest and best route to tho YJ^akatipY Lake.^ .This has.beenproved by acoroparison ofthe rales; of cartage from Dunedin and from Invercargill. > Whilst from Dunedin the rate -is L4O per ton, from H Invercargill it 13 only LlB. Now although natureY has done a great deal in giving this advantage, we . fancied the Government had done something. We find, however, we have been mistaken. Yesterday we learned from a drayman loaded for the Lake*! that he was compelled to take the longer route I by the Eastern Eoad. because the North Boad 1 wa6 not kept in repair. He stated the road was good enough eicepfc -in some half-dozen "'places,'" between Wallacetown and Winton Bush, where the culverts had broken down and needed repairing. How is this ? On looking at the Estimates for the year ending 30th Sepiember, 1864, we find the following salaries for the Road Department : , " Roads Engineer, £400; Assistant do, £300 ; Inspector, £800; District Overseer £400." Now, what nre all those gentlemen doing for their money ? £1900 per annum, and a few culverts can-not be kept in repair, to secure the Lake traffic in summer weather. Verily that poor, patient, and enduring animal, the public, is hardly treated. We do no* object to pay a man well for his services — every good man deserves to be well paid, but we do ex--, pect he should do something for his money. In connection with the shipping afc the Bluff, it appears that thoro are two great wants; the first, and most important is the inconvenience which attends the landing of passengers and goodß from the steamers which call there. Even in ordinary weather, the boats cannot, come sufficiently close to tho beach to land passengers comfortably, and when there is any sea on, the landing is a work of great difficulty. TLis would be obviated by tbe construction of what is termed a 'Ya boat-slip " and shed. The second want is a water tank for supplying the ships with water. With regard to the latter requisite we are glad to see that Mason and Company have already commenced 'he coHsfcni'-'fcion of a jetty, and are getting a water-tank from Dunedin, capable of conta'ning 25 tons, or 3000 gallons of water. Messrs Fordham and Company, we understand, would at once construct a boat-slip, but in order to do so they require a grant of a frontage from 46 to 50 . feet, the best place for which would be below the old Custom -House. We hope they may be able to obtain the grant de.-ired, as the construction of a boat-slip would be a great advantage to boats coming from the 6teamers. In rough weather, the danger, more particu'arly in regard to the transmission of the mails, has often been so very great that it is a wonder the Government has not taken the subject in hand. This was done at Sandridge, in Victoria, by the Government there, at a cost ot £2000, while here, we have a private firm prepaved to do the work If they only get a, grant of tho necessary land, and it appears thafc the site required is at present useless for any other purpose. Wo see that the new Jetty at the Mdkomoko is being rapidly constructed by the c jntraetors for the work, and will be likely completed in a short ime. We sec by the Vicfc< Tian Gazette, that by a prr - clamation the Parliament is further .prorogued from the 17th November to the 18th December. We understand that the Provincial Government have received advices by the last mail to the effect that the •whole of the plant required for the -railway may soon be expected from E-njr'land. About 700 tons of rails, with the necessary chains, plates, keys, &c, were to have been shipped by the Edward Thornhill, to sail from London on the sth Oct., and 300 tons of rails, &c, per the Commodore, to sail from the same place on the 15th October ; the same vessels also bringing waggons and carriages; the locomotives and the remainder -of -the plant will be furnished by the end of the year — probably they will be shipped by that time. The promptness and decision shown by Mr Morrison, our Provincial agent in London, deserves fhe'thanks of tho community. The works in connection with ther formation of the line between here and tho Bluff will be likely completed by the time of the arrival of the plant referred to, when very shortly afterwards we shall be deriving some returns for the large outlay on the works. It is anticipated that before next July the Railway from the Bluff f o Winton will be un fait accompli. On Sunday evening a very serious boat accident occurred on the River. AM.V Martin, a gentleman in business, accompanied by Mr Tudor, of tbe Customs, was returning in a boat from the Alexander. While the boat was going afc the .rate of about eights knots an hour, Mr Martin, who was sitting aft, suddenly lost his balance end fell overboard. Mr Martin, who is a good -swimmer' managed to keep himself afloat for some time> but, although the boat was smartly prtt about, he had sunk more than once, an-i afc the moment the boat came up to him, his hand only was raised above the water. Mr Tudor very promptly caught hold of the boat's painter, aud jumping overboard dived after the drowning man. He succeeded in getting hold of him by the hair of the head, and • with difficulty dragged him into the boat We regret to hear that Mr T. J, White, who has been Jfor some time back acting as a lay reader for the Church of England, has been compelled to discontinue his duties in ooneequenceof ill health. Mr White was one of the first of our residents who took active steps for the establishment cf the Church of England m Invercargill, and hrs been ever since very zealous in the performance ot his lay duties. We understand that Mr Thatcher, the inimitable humorist and song writer, will pay a visit to this place about the latter end of the month. MiThatcher has been lately fulfilling a professional engagement at Sale, in Gipps Land, which a very flattering notice from the Gipps ALaiid Times informs us was highly successful. Mr Thatcher wil be accompanied by Madame Vitelli,*a lady vocalistl of considerable musical talentFrom tbe Argus we learn: — "Ifc has been frequently remarked during the" bad weather prevalent of late, that no sucb season has been experienced £in this colony siDce 1852, if, indeed, within the memory ofthe usual authority on such a subject, ' the oldest inhabitant.' We are reminded by Professor Neumayer, however, that day for day, the weather was almost of fche same characfce r during October and November, 1857. In that year, rainy and stormy weather continued into December, breaking* tip, -however, in the first week ' of that month." j We have to acknowledge the courtesy shown to ( our agent at the Bluff by Captain M'Lean, of the ■ Alhambra, in furnishing him with the latest copies of the Melbourne papers, on the arrival of the vessel on Saturday. Also to acknowledge the attention of Captain Rolls, of the Edina, in fur- j nishing our agent wifch the lafcesfc.Dunedin papers | on the arrival of his vessel from that place. I The landing of the passengers from the Robert ! Henderson on Friday evening" last appeared to be quite an event in the town. The end of the Jetty, at the time of the debarkation of the passengers from the William Miskin, which brought them from the BlufF, was crowded by the townspeople Amongst the passengers was a number of Government assisted emigrants, and it was remarked that they appeared to be of a class much superior to those generally sent oufc. The great majority were single givls, and from the favor, which tbey evidently fouud with the crowds of admiring bachelors, ifc is very probable that the engagements made will be more of & matrimonial character than as domestic servants. All the passengers appeared in axcellent health and spirits, and spoke i in high terms of the ship and passage.

' v s * x '*■ f■" ' " ' ' We see thdt Mr Hoskins," of the Criterion, -Ji is commenced the alterations forgthe extension of. the Concert HalL Whentfi'riisHfed/ the larger extent of stage and generatjiutefimrappearance, will sufficiently YJustify its new, title of Theatre. It-will 'likefy'be, finished jiajjfche course of the week, the' opening night vill be celebrated, wo believe, by the mysterious production of the Ghost, as it appeared and disappeared in the Melbourne and Dunedia Theatres. --S-- " - ~ * The following instance of Maori shrewdness, is from a Hawke's Bay correspondent of the Canterbury Press jxr" A most excellent story has come to my ears, touching a Civil Commissioner, I will not say in what district, who was talking as he was bid to the natives, and impressing on them that they should - 'amalgamate ' with the English. Amongst other things he said that they should intermarry bo t th . with men and women of the English. At a runanga at which the Commissionev, as present a short time ago, a young and lusty chief rose and, reminding the "official of his recent speech _ said he would take his advice and marry one ofthe Commissioner's daughters ! 1 ! ' Ifis -said tho official was utterly . dumbfounded at this applea I ion of his theory,, and literally said not a word. An instance of what must always happen to those who talk what they don't believe. The Maori tomahawk clave the humbug in twain!" The Bcndigo AdverVser, states " That den of nuggets, Red Jacket, on Tuesday yielded to the induetry of John Williams, a -New Zealander, one of those lumps of gqld'for which that gully is so famous. The nugget is very handsome, o a carious shape, and weighs 176 ozs, or 1 41bs or 8 ozs, and represents a money value of £609 — not a bad day's work. The lucky tatooed individual has it all to himself as he belongs to the genus ' hatter,' to whom fortune is usually generous, especially with regard to nuggets. This will not be. the last that will astonish the natives from Red Jacket, as there is abundance of ground still to open up." " We," Otago Times, " were much amused on Saturday at witnessing the 'sagacity of a dog who acted on that occasion as long st op^at a cricket rehearsal. Towser would follow the ball with his greatest speed, and, picking it up when its centrifugal force had ceased, present it to the wicket keeper. He was a canny dog too, for, instead of ■ rushing at the ball w hen pursuing it with hot haste, he would run alongside, and time his seizure with mathematical precision as to its diminished revolution. What a fine auxiliary such a dog must be to a cricketer whose wind ifi not typical of his prowess in the field."