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Southland Times, Issue 1557, 29 March 1872, Page 2

It is elsewhere notified that the Rev. J. S. Smalley, of Port Chalmers, will preach two sermons in St. Paul's Church, Leet-street, on Sunday first. On Monday evening the rev. gentleman will deliver a lecture in the Exchange Hall, on " The History of the English Bible," the proceeds, after defraying travelling expenses, to be given to the Hospital. As wo believe Mr Smalley ha 3 gained a considerable reputation as a popular lecturer, we anticipate that there will be a large audience present ou the occasion.

There was no sign of the San Francisco mail ■ when the Times went to press. The Hon. Mr Reeves informed a deputation : which waited upon him at Inangahau that the Grovernment will introduce a new G-oldfields Act 1 during next session of Assembly, stating at the same time that it would be found to be as perfect an attempt at legislation as anyone could expect in the shape of an Act of Parliament. ! The Marlborough Express gives a cheerful , account of a tbeati'ical performance attempted b y t the Wairau Club. It states that in the i "Illustrious Stranger," "the King was most ; imperfect in his part. Fatima read most of hers, and spoiled the others ; Izra was indistinct, and i the scene shifting was badly managed." fl amlet, with " the ghost left out by special desire," must • have been a treat to this. ! It will be observed that an entertainment is 1 announced to be given in the Theatre Royal on the evenings of Monday and Tuesday next. With two such popular favorites as Miss Dolly Green and Mr J. Small (the latter having recently returned from a tour in China), the patronage of the public will no doubt be freely extended. Our old friend Mr T. White will preside at the pianoforte. A grand demonstration in honor of Mr W. J. Barry (says the local Argus) , who is about to leave Cromwell for a time in order to take possession of some valuable property iv Bathurst, N.S.W, took place at the Welcome Home Hotel, Lowburn. An entire carcase of beef was roasted for tbe occasion, and, together with other and choice viands, was partaken of by a largo assemblage of visitors, who were also treated to champagne ad libitum at Mr Barry's expense. The surgeon sent on board the vessel which recently arrived at Wellington with immigrants, among whom small-pox had broken out, reports as follows : — " On the 13th inst. I examined every one for the vaccine mark, and found in every case, with two exceptions (vaccinated 25 years ago), that vaccination had been properly performed within 7 or 14 years, no eruption of any kind had been found on the patient, or if so, even then a great modification had taken place. Again, in Spring's and Miss Tee's cases, where vaccination had never been performed, the disease was -virulent. The captain of the ship was present at the vaccination, and was convinced of the efficacy of vaccination. Thus it was positively shown that both measles and small- pox, where vaccination had been properly done, were innocuous, or nearly so, or much ameliorated. The captain further feels so satisfied of the result that with all future emigrant passengers he will compel vaccination before they go on board. In one special case, which 1 pointed out on the ship's side to a medical officer of the board, no vaccination had ever been performed." | Latest accounts from Fiji describe the condition of affairs as unchanged. The British Consul was j still in opposition to the Government, and the | Premier, Mr Woods, had gone to Sydney to seek the intervention of the Governor of that colony. The collection of taxes had not yet been commenced among the white settlers, and the threats of those opposed to the Government were loud and strong. The Government, however, hive no fear that when the proper time comes they will be able to assert the law, backed by aa overwhelming majority of the people. Collisions of jurisdiction are constantly occurring between the Post Office and Custom House powers of the Grovernment and British Consul, each of which claims the right to mail bags, and to the clearance of vessels frequenting the port. The season had been wet, especially in the Windward Islands, and much damage was done to the cotton. The Ramie plant was attracting renewed attention, and its cultivation is likely to replace that of cotton in the more rainy districts. Sugar is also likely ]to be taken in hand when the security offered against internal disputes by the present mixed form of Government is appreciated. Each of the native governors in districts where white man are settled has a European secretary, who is adviser and the medium of communication between him and the settlers. The labor question is absorbing great attention, and it is hoped to solve it by getting the Fijian natives to work under yearly engagements. The heathen mountaineers are to be put down, but this will no doubt be a work of time, although, from the size of the islands, and the facilities of access afforded by the rivers, the work is not looked upon as.forraidible or beyond the means of the Goverament when fully organised . The "New York Herald" of December 26 prints a long letter from the leader of the expedition which the proprietors of that journal, with unexampled enterprise, sent in search of Dr Livingstone. In a leading article on the subject it says : — " The Arab village of Kwihara, in Unyanyembe, was reached on tho 3 )th day of May, and in tbis place the expedition halted, after having travelled 525 miles in 84 days. It is from this Arab village, far away from civilisation, in tho wilds of Africa, amid a strange people, and hemmed in on all sides by the surroundings of barbarism, that the ' Herald ' correspondent writes os the first tilings ha has heard of Dr Livingstone. ■ I saw the Musungu at Ujiji last year. He lived in the next tent to me. He has a long white moustache, and was very fat,' said Salim bin Rashead to our correspondent. ' The Musungu has gone to Marrierna,' replied the Sheikh. Abdullah bin Washib to the queries put to him. ' 1 lived with him at Ujiji. His men have deserted him. Ho had nothing with him to buy food for a long time. He is a very old man, and very fat, too,' answered Sheikh Thani bin Massoud. These and like answers did the correspondent receive from the native chiefs regarding tho great traveller. From all the information received, which is detailed in our correspondent's report in another page, there is every reason to believe that Dr Livingstone is alive, and though age, fatigue, hardship, and want have laid their marks upon him, vet he lives, and the labors of his years will yet enrich science, and add to the general information of the world. The work of the expedition, however, is not yet i completed, the journey not yet ended. The point, however, has been reached from which a new departure will be taken. Onward is still the cry, and deeper still into the wastes must the journey yet be carried. The mission so favorably commenced, so energetically persevered in, so courageously upheld, must crown its enterprise with success ere the announcement can be made to the world that the goal ia won, and that the great traveller whoso name is a home word throughout the uniyerse bus been saved or has i k sunk to a lonely grave among the wilds of Africa."

A meeting of subscribers to the G-reymouth relief fund, convened for Tuesday afternoon, lapsed for want of an attendance. Besides the convener (Mr Wood), only one person put in an appearance. The objeofe in view was the closing of accounts. We understand that the Christian M'Ausland is now a full ship, having over 4000 bales of wool on board, besides a large quantity of preserved meats. It is expected that she will clear at the Customs the early part of next week. A few hundred bales of wool of this season's clip yet remain for shipment. The transposition of a word in the article republished from the Evangelist in our last issue completely distorts the meaning of the writer. The error referred to occurs in the seventh line from the top of the second column of the article. Instead of reading, " the expense of the State, but, as he alleges," it should have read, " the expense of the State as he alleges, but," &c. The following extract from a private letter received iv San Francisco, and dated December 19th, which the News of the World is permitted to publish, gives the highly favorable impressions made by Auckland on Mr Webb : — " lam much pleased with tho harbor of Auckland. The entrance from the sea is very open aud good , clear of all hidden dangers ; deep wafer everywhere ; well defined landmarks ; within the harbor vessels are better protected than in the harbor of San Francisco. For all practical purposes it is quite large enough. The weather here is perfectly delightful — about as warm as with you in midsummer, but without your fogs. Fruit and vegetables are abundant and good. * # # * Upon the whole, Auckland impresses me favorably, and is, I think, destined to become a place of much importance, being the nearest point of departure for America. In replying to a toast at the banquet given in Melbourne to Mr Webb, of the San Francisco mail service, Mr Yogel said : — " It would not be proper to anticipate the statements which would be made in proper course aa to the nature of the arrangements, but those arrangements would be such as to give very great satisfaction to the commercial classes — nay, more, to the producing classes of Victoria ; at any rate, they ought to give satisfaction, for they must be of very great benefit to Victoria. Durine the 10 years ending 1870, nearly one-third of the entire imports of New Zealand had come from Victoria. Very large advantage must have been derived by Victoria from the trade, though no help had been given to New Zealand in the matter of mail subsidies. Tbe joint service to California would not only increase the trade between the two colonies, but enable them to look beyond each 'other, for they had the prospect of an immense trade before them with the United States and the innumerable islands of the Pacific. All classes of producers would benefit from the trade, but it would be of especial advantage to the wool-pro-ducers, for it would bring them to a new market, and enable them to supply the manufacturers in the States." The Ballarat Star has a leading article founded on the reports of some fire brigades in America, giving some curious particulars regarding these organisations. Says the Star — " The inventories of apparatus are annually given by American brigades, and they comprise some suggestive items. We soe that spittoons are an almost invariable portion of the outfit of every company. Three spittoons to a company of 12 seems to be the average allow ince of these elegant necessaries of American life. Blunderbusses, too, apoear to be another article of furniture. Two blunderbusses are the proportion to three spittoons, we perceive, the firemen being, as it would seem, mightier men of tobacco than gunpowder. Peradventure the times, even in California, are more favorable to a quiet quid than to " wars' alarms' and the need of active blunderbusses. They are honest, not to say humorous fellows, those invontory makers, and exhaustively minute withal in details. * One coal shovel, useless ;' • two currycombs, one very bad ;' ' one washbowl, good, one bad ;' ' two cotbeds, worthless ;' and bo on, show a careful attention to exactness. Now and then the reporter seems to bo emphatic. Thus we h*vo two ' blunderbusses, good,' as contrasted with merely • two blunderbusses' and * three iron spittoons, good,' inste.id of the ordinary ' three spittoons.' Tables aud bedding appear to ba the weak points in the firemen's outfit in San Fraucisco,' for * broken,' 'worthless,' ' entirely worn-out,' and such like melancholy adjectives recur frequently. The hook-and-lalder company's inventory almost curries us back to the blessed days of that holy Christian man Torquemada> and the equally pijus Aha. We line! the company boasted the possession of ' two tormentors,' 'five hooks,' 'one battering ram,' ' one jackscrew,' ' one monkey wrench,' and other ugly-sounding things, and, of course, the inevitable ' three spittoons,' to qualify aud pacify the whole." The Nelson Mail fairly admits that Nelson proper— that is to say, the province of Nelson as it existed before the gold discoveries, had reached its highest condition as a settlement. Ie confesses that if any immigration of labor were directed to the shores of Blind Bay, it would swamp the market, and " simply aid to the ranks of pauperism." The pastoral lan is havo '* long been fully occupied and stocked." But our frank contemporary goes on to say, "it may be naturally objected that if there is no land for the small farmer, no room for the scock-breeder or the flock-owner, no opening for the miner, and no employment for the day-laborer, our community must be in a pitiable and unhealthy condition." No one will dispute this ; and whit is the opening that does exist in Nelson for fresh population? — it is simply that the shores of Blind Bay offer great advantages to persons of small but settled incomes. Hear the MaU : — " There must be hundreds in the mother country belonging to the ever-increasing ranks of the middle class, brought up, ifc may bo, to no particular trade or profession, whoso lile is one long struggle to keep up appearances upon very straitened means. To them we can offer much. Spots are to be bought or rented cheaply enough all round the shores of Blind Bay, combining every advantage of scenery and climate, where such as we have described may live on wonderfully small incomes, d'fying the terrible Mrs Grundy, reapectable and respected. Here, if anywhere, a man m ty choose his own standard of living without losing caste, and if ambitious, may become with comparatively slender pretensions a much bigger man among his neighbors than he could have hoped to be at home."

A gentleman residing at New Norfolk, Tasmania, writes as follows to an Otago friend concerning the salmon experiment in that colony:— The parent salmon hatched in tbe ponds here have been twice in the Derwent to spawn since their liberation. Salmon, according to my authority, Mr Ramsbottora, of Clitheroe, visit their original breeding places only every two years. We have parr, the results of two of these visits from the sea, showing that at an interval of one and a half to two years, the parent fish came to spawn. I have been down to see at least three veritable specimens of salmo salar, but not iv one case were the fish trumps. Still, a salmon will be taken some time, of that you may rest assured ; but so far, this fish has proved more than a matcb for the anglers. As to trout, fish from one to nine pounds are constantly killed. One gentleman lately took six, which weighed over 301bs, one of tbem being nearly 91bs. The Cromwell Argus says : — The return of Mr Hallenstein by such a large majority over his active opponent, Mr Macassey, for the representation of the Lakes district in the General Assembly, may be regarded as a sign of the healthy state of public opinion in that part of the Province on the question of" education, for we have no doubt that on the views of the respective candiiates on this matter very largelydepended the result of the election. Backed aa the defeated candidate was by the influence of a party holding views identical with his own, and who exerted themselves greatly on his behalf, and possessed of more than ordinary ability, as Mr Macassey undoubtedly is, Mr Hallenstein may congratulate himself all the more on his brilliant victory, and at the healthy state of public opinion evinced by it. While not wishing to say one word in disparagement of Mr Macassey's fitness for the seat to which he aspired, we are very decidedly of opinion that the better man of the two has been returned, and congratulate the Lake district electors on their choice. At a well-attended meeting of the shareholders in the Old Wakatipu Deep Sinking Company, held last night in the Clarendon Hotel, it was decided that the scale of voting should be one vote for every share up to ten, with an additional vote for every five shares held by any one individual beyond that number, vote by proxy being allowed. The following gentlemen were elected a managing committee, with power to appoint secretary and treasurer : — Messrs W. Wood, David Smyth, W. J. Moffett, Peter M'Ewan, John Blacklock, and John Kingsland. Power was given to the managing committee to lease ground on behalf of the company, to allot or dispose of reserved or unallotted shares, and to do all other acts which they may deem necessary in connection with the management and affairs of the company, an instruction being given that the committee should take steps to have the company registered under the Mining Companies Liability Act, when it was considered that that step was necessary to protect tha individual shareholders.