The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1122, 1 September 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1869.

"We learn that it was decided at the meeting oi the Prospecting Association held on Monday, 30th ult., to cease working the Otipiri coal at the outcrop, and to commence boring for the main seam it a point considerably nearer Winton. The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society held its usual weekly meeting on Monday evening, 30th ult., W. P. Porter, Esq., in the chair. An essay on the " Dignity of Labor," was read by one of the members, and afterwards criticised pretty freely by thg others present. The subject for next meeting, a lecture on the " Art of speaking con ectly," was arranged, and the meeting broke up with the usual thanks to the Chairman. The Provincial Council met last evening at 7 o'clock, according to adjournment from the previous Tuesday, but ve ry little in the way of business was done. After the reading of the minutls of former sitting, Mr Clerke asked the Speaker whether he had received any communication from His H <nor the Superintendent, relative to his re-

signation of office, or to the appointment of a Deputy- j Superintendent, at the same time stating that the Council had suggested the appointment of the Speaker himself to' that office. Mr Wilson replied that from a conversation he had had on the subject with an hon. member after the last sit. ting, and from a letter received by him from another hon. member, he had thought it proper to wait upoiF-Hisr-Honor before leaving town. H : * Honor then told him th«.t he had been legally advised that he could not appoint a deputy unless he himself were going out of the province, it being contrary to law for a deputy to act while the Superintendent himself is in the pro* vince, and not incapacitated for the duties of his office, and that he had, therefore, decided to let the act take its course. With regard to the first part of the query, no further message had been received. Mr Pratt presented a petition (afterwards read) signed by 42 workmen lately employed on the Oreti Railway, stating that they had been dismissed from their employment on the Oreti Railway works ; that ; payment of wagei accrued since 24th July had been denied them ; that they had repeatedly made request to the contractors for payment of the same; that several of them had obtained judgment in the Resident Magistrate's Court for their respective claims, but that these judgments had not been satisfied, and that to all their applications the contractors replied that they could not pay because the Government would not pay them for the work done. The petitioners prayed the Council to take such •teps as it might see fit to enable them to obtain their just demands. Mr Caltler drew attention to the fallacious nature of the excuse made by the contractors. They had, in his opinion, no right to payment for any part of the work until the whole was finished, and had no right to throw the blame of their pecuniary difficulties upon the Government. Mr Hately presented a petition bearing the signatures of 50 residents, shewing that through the stoppage of the | railway works they were subjected to great pecuniary loss and inconvenience, having incurred obligations on the good faith of their being carried on which they now found it difficult ' to meet, and praying the Council to take such steps as might allow of the works being immediately resumed. Mr Johnston obtained leave to. move — " That in the absence of any recognised authority or government to carry out the business of the province, the Speaker be requested to lay the state of affairs before the Colonial Secretary by telegraph." He said it was clear His Honor's resignation had not been accepted, or the Speaker would have heard of it, and thought it advisable the Colonial Secretary should have the urgency of the case brought prominently under his notice. The motion was carried, and the Council then adjourned until 12 o'clock this day. The Otago 'Daily Times ' of 24th inst., says : — A case in which a road rate of a most excessive character has been laid has come under our notice. The proprietor of a farm situated in one of the southern districts of the proviuce, complains that his property, consisting of 2245 acres, has been put down a* the annual valuatio of £841 17s 6d, being at the rate of 7s 6d per acre, the assessment upon which at the rate of 2s per £, amounts to upwards of £84 for tha year. He also states that he would bo glad to lease the farm at the rate of 2s 6d per acre, and that another farm in the same neighborhood, with considerable improvements upon it, was leased last year at the rate of 2s per acre. The ' Wakatip Mdil'Jof 19th inst., says :— The dry and genial season which, until lately, was the common topic of everyday conversation has rather suddenly become |quite : wintry. On Tuesday night the district'lwas visited with a heavy snow storm, 'and our mountains, for the first time this year, seem, resignedly, to have accepted their usual winter's covering of snow. The mountain tracks are all but impassable, and the snow on Maori Point saddle is bix [feet deep. It may seem stranse to say that we gladly Jhail the present weather "as being more wholesome and agreeable ; for the reason that the cause of the recent mild weather has been intimately and unpleasantly associated, iv our mind, with the unusual frequency of earthquakes during that period. Education in Canterbury is in a bad state, judging from the following remarss in a letter addressed to the ' Lyttelton Times ': — If any person interested in the matter will examine for himself, he will see that with the solitary exception of Southland the children of Canterbury are the worst educated of any children in New Zealand. He will also learn that in the province of Nelson (where there are no school fees, and where the Board of Education is composed of the chairmen of local committees) 42 out of every 100 children between the ages of five and 15 can read and write, whereas in Canterbury there are only 28 in every 100 who can do so. '* The weather continues to be fearfully dry in this neighborhood," writes the ' Bacchus Marsh Express.' " The resemblance to the drought of last year is quite alarming. We have the same daily recurrence of north-easterly winds, with frequent cloudiness of sky, but no rain." Te Moanui, a .leading chief at Tauranga, and a faithful friend of the Europeans, lately died there. The following descrition of the scene at the great feast given the tangi or Uhunga party by his friends is taken from the Auckland Herald : — After a rather protracted inveral, boats and canoes began to arrive from the different settlements in Tauranga. During the day the ground was crowded with visitors. After performing the war dance on the beach, the tangi commenced by a number of old women, who had been previously selected to receive the Uhunga. One old man, noted for his grand speeches, raised up his voice to the highest pitch, and gave the order to light the ilres. No fewer than fifty pigs were then slaughtered, and in order that it should appear to the guests that there were treble that number, the poor swine were beaten to death with small sticks to increase the amount squealing, within hearing distance of the crying party. There were also large quantities of kuineras, potatoes, flour, and sugar, distributed to all present. The Uhunga then returned to their boats and canoes, amidst shouts of acclamation which rang in the ears of the visitors like thunder. "We are very sorry to hear," observes the ' Dunollf Express,' " that cattle are dying fast, owing to the present dry and frosty weather, there not being sufficient grass to sustain them. One farmer we hear has lost twenty cows ; and another small dairyman, who was, with his family, just struggling into a comfortable position, has lost eight cows — nearly his little all. These arjeounts are sadly distressing, and most fervently do we hope and pray for more rain and less frost."

A small quantity of prepared dax has been employed at Balclutha iv caulking a punfc, oakum not being obtainable. The experiment is said to have. given satisfaction. There is an anecdote of Mr Kichinond, slate Native Minister, says the Wellington correspon^ dent of the ' Lyttelton Times,' " wbich^ had h» been still in power, I should not lite to hdifo mentioned it, since I heard of it at the time of" its occurrence. Two or three years ago, a' Resident Magistrate having a very small' salary, WiVs" ordered on a special duty to a native district, and: was kept there for many months. Only by the strictest pinching was he able to make both ends| meet, when he resided with his family ; but now: that he had as it were to maintain two home?, he went to leeward fast. He came up to Wellington; and begged for an increase. The debts he had incurred hung like a millstone around his neck ; ana he informed Mr Richmond that he must leave the Bervice, sell his furniture ay his debts, and seek employment elsewhere, i' he could not be allowed back extra salary for the period he had been detached for native sefvice. Mr Kichmond saw it was a case of hardship that it would be unjust to refuse to rectify, and he promised that an increase should be granted. Next morning, when the Resident Magistrate came, Mr Richmond informed him that the increase could not be granted ; that he had 'been informed that if he did it in one case, he would have to do it in many others. The poor fellow was about to go away — great strapping man as he is — witb tears in hiß eyes,' when Mr Richmond slippt dan envelope into his hand saying, ' I'm not a rich man, but perhaps you won't mmd borrowing that of ma ; don't trouble about paying it until you are perfectly able.' The envelope contained a cheque for £50." We have Sydney papers to the 19th inst. The 'Herald' of that date states that a parcel of diamonds had been brought to the office of that paper, " procured on the land of the Australian Diamond Company, at the Two-mile-flat, and are 108 in number, the largest being one of two and a half carats. Mr T. T. Jones, the well-known jeweller of G-eorge street, who favored us with a sight of the gems, pronounces them to be stones of the first water. We are informed that the whole of the land in which there is any probai bility of diamonds being found has been taken up by lease under the mining regulations. On the day previous the ' Herald ' mentions having been shown a variety of sapphires, rubies^and diamonds, more or less perfect in character, which have been found on and in the neighborhood of land in Barrandong, on the Macquarie. This is well-known as a diamond locality, and is mentioned as such. by the Rev. W. B. Clarke in sundry of his works on the mineralogical resources of New South Wales." The Rev. W. B. Clarke'a letter on the Armidale " diamond," of which we have already published the material portion, contains only one other paraghraph which calls for extract. He says i — " The statement Mr Townsend gave of the size of the alleged diamond — however truthful it might be — showed the improbabity of its identity with that mineral. For, if not more than one in ten thousand diamonds in a diamond district is, as is said, woiih much consideration, how many million chances mußt there be against one, that a diamond larjjer than atiy /hitherto known should be picked ug from the surface of what is certainly not a diamond area !"