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Southland Times, Issue 3290, 6 January 1879, Page 2

Education Board. — At a meeting of the Invercargill school committee held last week, Mr T. Denniston was unanimously nominated to the seat at the Education Board, vacated by the demise' of the late Sir' J. -Richardson. Vital^Statistics.— For the year ending December 3lst, J 1878, there Avere registered in the district of Invercargill, 467 births, 105 marriages, and 101 deaths. For the month of Deicember All, deaths, 31 births, and 12 hi'ariiagess'were registered in the district, and of these 5 deaths and 18 births were Avithin the borough of InvercargiU. ; Theatre .RoYAi.^The. counter attraction at tlie Caledonian Grounds" ori Satu.rd.ay xiight iclqubtlesswasthe cause ;of. there being such a small audience to seethe final performance of the Marionettes, which hoAveverwas gone through in the same satisfactory manner that has hitherto, characterised their efforts to! amuse the InvercargUl public. "; .; : iGßl9)jET!,r— Last Saturday afternoon, a game played on the InvercargiU ground: between sides chosen by Messrs Hamilton and- „ Howard respectively, eight a side. The former were the winners by 6'i runs against 62; scored by their opponents. Howard Avas topr scorer oh bis side with' il; to his credit, Searle. Taylor, Gascoigne, and Bishop making 9 each. The top Score on HamUtqn'sY side was that of Thomas, Avho went in "first and ' after batting with the last man, and making 22i was -run out'by! pressing a little on the previous loose fielding which had distin--quished ,the play on both sides. . .ffhfc ground' : -wl^livolyV^butih" isx Qidw • r r' ■ A. !

-Southland Hospital.— The weekly return ending January 4th, 1879, for the Southland Hospital, showß tbat two females knd two males were discharged, and that fiye , males were admitted, leaving a total of I twenty-one at present in the Hospital, con- I sisting of sixteen males and five females. ] ;,•', At Last. — The Riverton paper^ of Satur- . day saysi — Mr Robertson, contractor ;»f or the I Otautau raUway, made a start yesterday with j the formation. He has been fortunate in. securin^agang of men who have been lately J '- :WoMmg!!!ohiibE-C_ntbh secfioh ofT.tM.olutha;l line, just finished. The men have been em- j - ployed" by ;Mr Robertson ■■on raUway works . during theipast f our. years, and are very suit- . able for the work. The contractor intends to i exertion to push onthe work. '• The West. GoAsT.--TheWestiCoast Times of the 28th December gives a lamentable account of the, damages ;done by jthe rec snt floods. In the Arahura district the river com--Wtted/; sad .bayqp, ;washing, away. the a_o»proaches of the bridge, and partly destroying the. flatter.- and ; also - washing away .much valuable, land;: The f'Chnstcburqh road was also.much damaged, several chains of it being removed. Great damage was also done . at Ross, and the ,,'qicl, 'wharf, Gibson's Quay, Hokitika, ,-waS; partly destroyed. Distressing accounts were coming in from all parts of the, district, and as the Times remarks Avith regard to. the : Arahura—" The settlers, one ■■ land" all, are gettine. worn, out with theii- trials ahjisayitis no' use- contending further Avith theVe^emeh^ Makarewa Road Board.— A meeting of of the Makarewa Road; Board was held on Saturday; .',,; .Present ::.:-—! Messrs McArthur (chab:man)y Mclvor, Balciey, Keith, Thomson, ; Hamilton/ ißrown, and Toshach. Accounts amounting to about £46 10s. ; vvere passed for •payment. Tenders were accepted for the folloAving works:— Gravelling at Wallacetown, McPherson and Ronald, £73 6s ; forming and gravelling Makarewa Township Road, John Baird, formation 8s per chain, gravelling 7s '.6d 'per yard ; tussocking road in Forrest Hill District, Laurie and KU- . Patrick,." Is 4Jd per chpin. The Engineer was directed to inspect, and • report at next meeting on the work required for Mr Geo. • Gorman's Road, New River Hundred. In accordance with the Government authorisation the Board decided to offer to the parties , Avhose land it adjoined, at £2 per acre, the road live in the Forest Hill Hundred. The Board then adjourned. The Rev. J. W. Inglis.— This gifted lecturer on Scottish subjects preached in the First Church yesterday morning, and in St. Paul's Church in the evening. There was a large congregation on both occasions, and the discourses of the reverend gentleman were . distinguished by great eloquence, pathos, and impressiveness. He is to deliver one of his Scottish lectures to-night, in Ramsay's Hall, when the' audience should be a very large one. The Rev. J. W. Inglis, as a lecturer, is at once amusing and instructive, possesses a perfect delivery, and handles his subject admirably. The subject of the lecture to-night avUI be " Songs and music of Scotland," and the rev. lecturer avUI repeat the lecture at Riverton to-morrow evening. On Wednesday night be will again lecture in Ramsay's Hall on " Pen and Ink Pictures" of the past, while on Thursday evening he will probably take for his subject that most attractive one to all Scotsmen, "Burns." On Friday morning he leaves for Dunedin, but will lecture at Milton on the evening of that day en route. The Rangitata Railway Bridge.— The damage clone to the Rangitata is, we learn from a recent visitor to Christchurch, much greater than is generally supposed here. The bridge, which is a very long wooden one, is stated to be a complete wreck. The Rangitata, which in ordinary summers is a mere creek, has swollen, in consequence of the melting of the heavy snows on the ranges far inland, into a series of broad roaring torrents of water, in all, perhaps, a quarter of a mil 3 wide, and these have undermined the piers, curling round them in deep rapid eddies. The planking of the bridge has almost all gone, and on several occasions passengers have had to leave the trains and walk across the bridge whilst it has been in an unsafe state, and Avhilst there have been broad gaps between several of the loosely-laid planks, put down temporarily. Already a good deal of money — it is said some thousands — has been spent in repairing this bridge, but it is the opinion of many persons that it will always be liable to serious injury from floods, and that the erection of a cylinder bridge, like that over the Clutha, will be before long regarded as an absolute necessity. However, it has now been patched up again, and, as has been telegraphed, the Avhole line will be open for traffic on the 13th or 14th inst. Invercargill Road Board. — A meeting of the Invercargill Road Board was held on Friday. Present : — Messrs Tramble (chairman), Stone, Phillips, Watson, and Colquhoun. The Board's debentures to the amount of £1600 were allotted to tenderers. A report from [Messrs Willoughby and Flemington, with regard to the loan and sinking fund, Avas adopted. The Engineer's specifications and estimates for certain works, having been laid on the table, it was resolved that tenders should be called for tbe following works : — Contract No. 1 Seaward Bush Road ; gravelling and forming 38 chains of One Tree Point Road ; repairs on Watson's and Mill Roads, and at Richmond Grove. A communication was read from the clerk to the County Council, intimating that that body had resolved to grant the Road Board a sum not exceeding £100, at the rate of pound for po und, as a subsidy for the forming and gravelling of One Tree Point Road, from the Main East Road to Mr Dawson's tramway. The clerk Avas instructed to reply accepting the subsidy, and intimating that the work would be proceeded with at once. A letter from the Colonial Secretary's Office was read replying to the enquiry of the Board as to why no subsidy had been paid on arrears of rates for previous years. The communication stated that the Financial Arrangements Act, 1877, under which the subsidies Avere paid, apparently did not contemplate existence of arrears. The Board then adjourned until the 1 6th instant. The New; Zealand Blondin. — There was a large crowd of spectators at the Caledonian < Society's grounds, on Saturday evening, to "witness the performance of the New Zealand Blondin. As his agent bad announced, he simply appeared in consequence of his not having been able, owing to the high wind prevailing, to perform on the tight rope Avith any real effect during the sports. The weather o.a. Saturday, however, was most suitable, hardly a • breath of -.wind stirring. Morris commenced by Avalking the rope, afterwards running, ..and then Avalking over it blindfolded. To the spectators this latter performance presented a most dangerous aspect, and on any slightly false step being made a , thrill of horror ran through them, but the performer was evidently at his ease and took matters as calmly as ordinary persons do Avhen traversing "mother earth.'' During the evening he carried a precocious youngster over the rope, and at another time walked the hawser Avith .wicker-work baskets doing duty as boots. At another stage he most ingeniously balanced, himself, a chair, and a table gn the rope, and partook of a repast -with, the most consummate nonchalance. His general agUity oh the rope was a theme [ of admiration to • those beloAV, and frequently he was loudly applauded for his skill and nerve in, accomplishing some of the numerous feats he has learnt since he first took upon I himself the sobriquet of " The New Zealand I Blondin." The pole carried to balance him I was between thirty and forty pounds weight. ! The Garrison Band was present and played some enlivening music during the evening. j Shareholders in the InvercargiU Permanent i Budding, 1 Loan, and Investment Society wiU observe that the fortieth monthly meeting will be held to-night. A notice affecting, consignees by the ship j Waitara wiU be found elsewhere. - Burton's Circus avUI open here on Monday next, l3thinst. His Worship; the Mayor notifies the day of poU to determine the question of borrowing a sum of money to' supply the, toAvn of Invercargill Avith water. .. ' . The usual monthly meeting o£ the Sontaera Crosa _oage, Wo; 997-,— f.C, win be held on "Wednesdaynext. ; The electors of Applebywill have an opportunity of hearing ,Mr Shanks, one ; . of the candidates for the !Mata_-adißtrict,. explain his yieAvs .on political mfcttjers generaUy. this evening. The meeting wiU be held in the schoblhquse, andAviU commence'at 8 p.m. ; - ...-•'■ Consignees of goods ex Oreti and Wanganui width future-have 'to present' biUs of Jading and -pay freight at' Mr Brodrick's bffice. Arrears of freight for 1878 AA'ill have to be paid :up. . ••Quite a number of additions are made in our ". wanted ": . > Amongst , them ; avUI be found some • interesting; to, -parties, wishing to procure work on the;ra_Avky works now being prosecuted. 1 :' .Messrs; Proudf bote and Mackay advertise for lot) men alone for the Tapanui v raU;Way r works;.;' ; ;-.- ;':. ■'..- ''.•"'. . ; " : . A;-. y ia "... ;;':' /■ ' -■ '' ■- , : ; The homhiatiph of candidates, for the Mataura election is to take place tq-day."at the old Post Office, Gladstone. For the convenience, of those "requiring to be present from town, Clifton's 'bus wUlst?irtfroiu the Club Hotel at UASi ;^