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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 51, 27 September 1864, Page 2

We have been informed on reliablo authority, that Mr. Calder intends offering himself as one of the Invereargill candidates, for a seat in the Provincial Council In a few days Mr. Calder will enlighten the electors as to his political tenets. We have also to report that Messrs. Pearson and Harvey will not, at this election, ask the suffrages of any constituency. There is a fast increasing impression that Mr. M. Holmes will fill the post of Superintendent. The chances have been very carefully calculated, and should the various districts fill up the writs as is anticipated, Dr. Menzies will be " nowhere." Elsewhere, will be found the requisitions which have been got up and presented to Messrs. J. R. Davies and C. S. Button. Wa observe from an announcement in our advertising columns that a public meeting is to be held in the School-room, Long Bush, on Friday week next, for the purpose of considering the advisability of organising a mounted rifle corps in that district. All favorable to the movement are invited to be present. Wo beg to remind our readers and the public generally that tlie bazaar in aid of the Building Fund of the Church of England will open to-day, in the large waiting-room at tho Railway Station. Great preparations were being made up till a late hour last night. Tho walls are being profusely decorated with banners of many colors and .nations, while a plentiful supply of evergreens lend a fresh and gay appearance to the scene. The effect in the evening, when the stalls are bedecked with all their varied •' knick-nacks," and the rooms are enlivened for the first time with the hum of many voices, cannot fail to be pleasing. Nor will the ladies.' stalls form the solo attraction. On the Eailway Platform a stage has been erected, and its whole ' length has been canvassed off for tlie purpose of forming a temporary petite theatre, where several gentlemen amateurs will entertain all those who choose to step their way. "Aunt Sally," we understand, will likewise be presenfc to afford some of her old friends an opportunity of renewing their acquaintance with the old lady. We have little doubt, if the weather continues favorable, that large numbers of our citizens will patronize the Bazaar. We observe that a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Mechanics' Institute and the Evening L'lcture movement, is to be held in the office of Mr. J. S. Johnstone, Registrar, at four o'clock this aftemor n. Business of importance being to be brought forward, it is to be hoped that there will be a good attendance. The Oamaru Times has the following : — " Having made some inquiry regarding- the demand for Oamaru stone, we are enabled to state that the approximate quantity quarried during the last three months, exclusively for use in the district, including Otepopo, is 12,000 cubic feet, equal to 600 tons, of -.vhich about 4,000 feet have been conveyed to the Otepopo district. The price of the stone is 7d. per foot delivered at the quarry. This stono can be obtained in blocks of any required size, as is proved by a block shown to us a short time since, quarried by Mr. Chalmers, owner of the White Rock, in this neighborhood, wliich was of the following dimensions .- — It was 24 feefc in length, 3i feet broad, and 1\ feet deep. The stone, although quite soft when quarried, and capable of being cut with the common cross-cut saw, and worked generally with joiners' tools, becomes hard when exposed to the air, and the exposed surface loses its porosity. A large number of new houses are being built in town almost exclusively of stone, which is chiefly now to be tho material employed for erections in this district, the difference of price between a house of thafc material and one. of wood being only 10 to 15 per cent. As fche season of the year is como for building operations, greator activity may. now bo expected to prevail." A Coroner's Inquest took place afc tho Newmarket , Hotel, Dee-street, on Saturday last, on the body of Hugh M'Gowan, who had boon found dead near liis residence at Grovo Bush, on tho morning of Thursday last. The following evidence was adduced: — -Charles Laurie deposed that ho was a farmer rosiding at Grovo Bush. Deceased a,nd witness lived together. ~ On Thursday morning deceasod came into fcho houso, and aßkod witness' daughter for tho gun. It waa. about; ton > minutes past six o'clock. When deceased got -up

,- - • I : \ . that morning he kindled the flro oa usual, put on the kettle, and then washed himself. , Deceased then went out, and i returning \in a fcwominutea - asked for witness' gun,' Which witness' daughter 1 , gave to him) Deceased then went "out, and in about five or ten minutes' witness heard a report. The gun was loaded wheu deceased took it. Ho was accustomed to go out of a morning to shoot cacaws, pigeons,- and woodhens.-- Witness *got;up soon after the report, and cooyed for deceased to 'come' for breakfast-; /but as -, deceased did "not"' come; witness thought that he was' following up.a,pigeon. -.Witness went- and- tookbreak&st. • Finding deceased did not come , , afterwards, witness and his daughter went out to the swamp in front of the house, and then to the saw-pit at the back of the house. .•'.: We were standing ; together !when the girl gripped witness round the waist and said" There he lies." Deceased was.lying on his back, with his hat oh, with his gun-lying as if it had fallen from his left hand. Deceased's head was lying on open ground, but about three feet from his feet there was alarge quantity of scrubby stuff, about .six or seven feet. Deceased's left, hand was lying" clenched *on his breast, -and.his right hand was lying on, his thigh. - Had. not noticed anything peculiar in deceased's manner. He came from Invercargill on the^ Wednesday morning ; he had evidently been drinking,' but ho was well "enough "that -evening Vvheh he went to bed. Witness., was in partnership with deceased Deceased had been up three or four, times to the Long Ford since the 16th July, to get some money he had lent there and when he camo back, about a fortnight since, he was quite dissatisfied, because the party denied having it. In reply to the jury, witness said — "The butt of the gun was about two and a half feet from deceased's feefc, with the muzzle pointing in a slanting direction from the body. ■ Bothhammers of th& gun were down, one barrel was loaded and the ; other discharged ; the locks are good, and if tha hammers were drawn back a slight distance by a- : twig, it would snap off a cap." Euphemia Laurie, daughter of the preceding witness, gave corroborative evidence. Adam Swan deposed that he was in partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Esdaile, and resided at drove Bush. Oir Thursday morning, about 9 o'clock; Laurie came down to Esdaile's, and said that he had found Hugh's body lying in the bush. Witness said, "it is strange ; how lias it been done ? " Laurie said, " I cannot tell, but he is lying in the bush, shot." Laurie then asked witness to come into town and report it, and witness did so. Deceased and Laurie always seemed to bo on good terms. Witness saw M'Gowan on Sunday last ; he seemed just as usual — quite happy, and was speaking of what he was going to do in future. Deceased spoke of leaving Mr. Laurie on the place, and said that he would go on the roads driving again. Dr. Murray, having made a post mortem exami* nation, described the position of the wound, and said that perhaps the most likely position when the charge was fired was by deceased stooping over the muzzle of the gun, and that he fell back from the explosion. Police-sergeant Butler deposed to tho finding of the body, and. gave other corroborative testimony to tho habits of deceased. Balph Shaw said, that he had known the deceased for two years, and saw him in town on lasfc Monday or Tuesday. Had known Mr. Laurie for a short time. Had not noticed any change in M'Gowan lately. M'Gowan was a hard drinking man at times, and used then to be half cranky. Last Tuesday, deceased told witness that he thought of selling off his horse and dray, leaving Laurie in the place, and going to Queensland. He seemed to be in low spirits. He said, " Tell no one that I am going away; say nothing about it ; but you'll never hear of me any more." Laurie and deceased appeared to be. on good terms. The jury found thafc the deceased met with his death by a gun-shot wound, whilst the gun was in his own hands ; but there was no evidence to show how the gun was fired. The WaTtatip Mail reports that the Arrow Prospecting Association have sent out four men in the direction of Bracken's Gully to prospect. They are paid at the rate of 30s. per man per week, and are to keep what gold they find. They have been both energetic and successful, and wetrust their efforts for the public good will be rewarded. The mail steamer this month brought a very fine set of instruments, sent out .by the British Meteorological Society, to their New Zealaud observer, Mr. Charles Bous Marten, the lately appointed Meteorological Director for tliis Province. An adjourned general meeting of the Town Board will be held to-morrow evening, in the Board room, Tay-street. In adddition to other business, the parties who were not served with tbeir assessment notices in time to enable them to appeal, at last general meeting, bufc who have since sent in written appeals, will have an opportunity of being heard in support of the objectionstlny urge. A meeting of tho gentlemen who signed the requisition to C. E. Button, Esq., is announced to take place in the Southern Cross Hotel this evening, at half-past seven o'clock, when a committee will be formed, to take the necessary steps to secure his return at the forthcoming general elections. On the authority of Mr. Daniel Bray, senior pilot, we are informed that one of ths lighters, named the " Why Not," trading between Invercargill and Bluff Harbor, was lost on Saturday afternoon, on the passage to the latter port. At that part where the unfortunate " Guiding Star " still lies, the channel is always shifting,|and ifc happens at present that vessels passing require to pass within five or six feet of the wreck. The "Why Not," however, by some unforeseen mischance, came into collision with the " Star," and shortly afterwards went dow l also. She was owned and commanded by Captain Burke, and had a light cargo on board for fche Bluff. We hope this fresh disaster will • arouse the authorities to the necessity of clearing the channel of the.unsightly wreck of the " Guiding Star." It forms a serious obstruction to vessels at that part, where the channels are so narrow and so liable to change. The " Star," we are informed, is the property of the Bank of New South Wales, and if so, we should recommend tho directors at once to perform what should have been done long ago, either by the Government or the owners, i.e., clear the channel of this dangerous impediment to the free and safe navigation between the two ports. We take the following important announcement regarding the disposal of troops in Australia from tiu Army an I Navy Gazette : " The new military arrangements suggested by the Colonial Oflice for the Australian colonies, exclusive of New Zealand, have been made public. It is proposed to allot in future fifteen companies of infantry, consisting of one entire regiment, and the headquarters wing of another regiment, in the following proportion : — New South Wales, four companies, about 19- . officers, 343 men ; Queensland, one company, about 3 officers, 88 men ; 'Victoria, five companies, about 22 officers, 423 men ; Tasmania, three companies, about 11 officers, 249 men; South Australia, two companies, about 6 officers, 166jmen ; being a total strength of 1327 of all ranks. The four companies in New South Wales, and the single company in Queensland will probably bo a wing of a regiment, of which the other wing will be in New Zealand. Another regiment will, in that case, furnish fche ten companies in Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. The colonists have been asked to contribute payment of £40 per man actually maintained up . to this strength ; but the scheme still remains uncompleted, owing to a hitch or tho part 'of the colonial Parliament."