OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 772, 14 November 1870, Page 4

OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

{From the Daily Times.") Copper is reported to have been found in the Waitahuna district. The rate of cartage between Cromwell--and the Nevis is from £5 to £6 per ton, while the distance is only 17 miles. Subscriptions in aid of the widows and orphans of those slain in the present European war, are being collected in several of the goldfields townships. The agitation among the miners regarding the increase of the Chinese on the goldfields continues. It is "proposed to memorialise His Honor the Superintendent on the subject: The Acclimatisation Society at Invercargill, at their last meeting, passed a resolution affirming the desirability of the Society being affiliated to the Otago Acclimatisation Society. The number of schools in the late province of Southland is stated by an Invercargill paper to be only 11, with an average attendance of 195. Such a state of matters is truly described as " lamentable." The completion of the railway to Win ton has already had the effect of raising the value of property in that township. At a sale held at the Land Office, Invercargill, a few days ago, two building allotments in Winton, measuring an eighth of an acre each, were sold for £54 and £50 respectively,' being at the rate of £432 and £400 per acre. With respect to agricultural mattersiin the Waitahuna district, our correspondent writes as follows:— Corn sowing is finished, and the young crops look well so far, but rain is much needed to keep up steady growth. The season promises well for fruit crops. Both bush and tree fruits are very forward, and are also very heavy. Cattle owners in the district have lost heavily of late by the tutu. Mining and agricultural matters at -the Arrow alike wear a promising aspect. The increase in the population of the district, owing to the influx of Chinese, leads the farmers to look for good prices for their pro-: duce, and the weather has hitherto favoured them. The miners are also steadily at work, and have been so for some time past. It is rumoured that one or two claims have been yielding " almost fabulous " returns. Letters have been received by this mail from Dr Candlish, intimating that in conformity with instructions forwarded some time ago by the Church Trustees, a professor of mental and moral philosophy has been selected for the University of Otago. Casual reference only is made in these letters to Mr Macgregor, as the gentleman appointed, full particulars having apparently been forwarded through! some other channel. Further information will probably be received by the next San: Francisco mail. ; We take the following agricultural kerns from yesterday's Bruce Herald: — The crops, : which throughout the district generally were; in a very languishing condition in consequence of the continued drought, have now: been refreshed by the few recent genial showers.' These, however, have only pene-i trated a very short distance into the soil, and; more copious rain is anxiously looked for. — '■■ A gentleman who has just returned from Horseshoe Bend informs ub that every kind; of cjop is , far advanced in .that quarter. He saw field potatoes earthed Hp, and the crops i about six inches above ground. Bees have commenced to swarm, both in the Tokomairiro and .Taieri, districts. We learn by telegram from Queenstown that Mr T.L. Shepherd addressed the electors 61 the new goldflelds electoral district for the General 'Assembly of the " Wakatipu," at Arrow town, on Saturday last. In the course of' a long speech he pointed out the injury that would' accrue to the province unless stringent measures were taken to prevent the further influx of Chinese on the goldfields of Otago; and to check it he : proposed that a poll tax of £50 be imposed upon Chinamen, as well as a heavy duty on rice. Mr Shepherd's views on this subject were received with acclamation, and a vote that he was a fit' and. proper person to represent the district in the General Assembly was carried unanimously. A brutal assault was committed on Saturday, the 29 th lilt, on 'a wood-carter named barker, living near the' Portobello Road. It seems that Barker had a dispute with a man .who goes by the name of German Charlie, and who is in the employ of Captain Stewart, about a fence, when German Charlie threw hi down, and bit a piece of flesh nearly an inuh out of his chin. Mounted Constable BeVan, having been informed of the assault, called upon Barker, but the latter steadily refused tb prosecute stating that the matter iiad been compromised by German Charlie promising to compensate him for the injury he had received. All attempts to indues him to depart from this determination proving unavailing, the police were obliged to allow His brutal assailant to go unpunished. , The circumstances under which Mr Mad dock, 'late of the firm of Eenyon and Maddock, splicitorfl, 1 was arrested in Auckland, a short: tiitfe Bgb, were elicited at trie Resident Magistrate's: Court yesterday. He was eliarged-at the instance of Mr Michael Sherlock Gleeson, with 1 having, on the 17th OctoI er, misappropriated the !Buni of £359 9s lid," which he held: in trust for Gleeson's children. Mr Gleeson endeavoured to obtain a postponement of the case for a few days to enable I; i.ni'.'ttL .obtain professional assistance, and procure documents which he regarded as material, to the case. Mr Macassey, counsel f rir 'jift- pTaJddock, stated that not only had his c l it ; ut been arrested without the slightest vestige of authority, but that it could be shown by documentary evidence and otherwise, that the charge had been made without a dsadow oi foundation. He also urged that with a "view" of satisfying the public mind on this point, Mr Gleeson- should be placed in the witness-box. Mr<3leeson then gave cvi cc ih justification;©! ■thearre»t; and •' was afterwards subjected". to^a rather severe cross-

examination by" the learned .counsel.- Ultimately the case was postponed and Mr Maddo6k was admitted to bail, himself in the sum Of £400, and two Bureties >of £200 each. Our Green Island correspondent writes : — In proximity to the Main South Road, a few hundred yards beyond the Ocean View Hotel, a quartz reef has been discovered which promises to prove highly remunerative. On the road' bank a shaft 30 feet deep has been sunk, with a few feet drive, revealing a splendid looking reef, from eight to ten feet thick. A quantity of .he quartz, consisting of a few hundredweights, has been already crushed with inferior appliances, and the prospects obtained were fully two ounces to the ton. A ton weight of atone is to be sent to the Canada reef, in order to be properly tested, when a better estimate of the value of the Btone will be possible. The parties engaged are three practical miners from the Thames goldfields, and they are perfectly satisfied with the prospects already obtained. They state there are scores of reefs wrought on the Thames with less results. An ounce to the ton in this locality, from its proximity to a coal supply, would prove remunerative. With a continuance of prospects the party at work intend erecting suitable quartz" rushing machinery, and to retain the working wholly in their own hands. Should their anticipations be verified, it will give a great impetus to quartz crushing in the district, for reefs yet untried crop out in every direction, requiring only capital and enterprise to develop them. TheTeport of the overturning of the Toko-mairiro-coach on Wednesday, and the killing of Mr Ryrie, a passenger, thereby, turns out to be unfortunately too true. It appears that the vehicle was the mail coach going to Tokomairiro, having on board 14 passengers — 3 on the box, 3 on the back seat, and 8 inside. It was driven by Mr Henry Nettlefold, a well-known, experienced, and careful driver, who has : been engaged for 19 years as driver and road manager for Cobb and Co. ®n arriving about a mile and a half beyond the Taieri Ferry, or 23 miles from Dunedin, the nut, from some unexplained cause, fell from the axle, and the near fore wheel came off, the coach tipping over inwards toward the bank on the side of the road. The king bolt, which is made loose as a (precaution against similar accidents, fell out, and the horses went away with the fore carriage, leaving the body of the coach on its side. It appears that the deceased was sitting on the near side end of the box, and that when the coach overset he held on to the guardrail, being thereby swung round and falling on his back. As the coach overturned, the corner of the box seat came on this chest, his head and shoulders being under the coach and the remainder of his body lying at an angle outside. Mr Nettlefold with the assistance of some of the passengers lifted up the coach from him, and bathed his head with water, tout to no avail, for after gasping a few breaths, the unfortunate man expired. He was at once carried to the Taieri' Ferry Hotel, and a messenger sent on to Tokomairiro with a telegram to Mr Mansfield. On its oreceipt that gentleman started at once for the scene >of 'the disaster, and remained there until yesterday, when an inquest was held before Mr Dewe, the coroner for the district. The facts of the case were elicited from Mr Keall, Wesleyan minister of Lawrence, who was passenger by the coach, and who attended to give evidence. The verdict was that the deceased had been accidentally killed by the overturning of a coach, and a ■rider was attached to the effect that no blame was attributable either to the driver or to the proprietors of the coach. It may be mentioned^ in connection with the verdict, that the coaches, on thi9 line are always carefully overhauled on arrival in Dunedin, and oiled by the head groom before their departure from town. The following is acknowledged by the Times as " communicated " : — No one can be ignorant of the fact that much of the adverse action taken in regard to the amalgamation of the University of New Zealand and the University of Otago, has arisen from the misconception that Otago had seized the opportunity of establishing a Univereity which the colony wbb about to avail itself of, and thus, as it w ere, jockeyed the latter ; and, also, from an impression that the people of this province, were too much iufluenced by national and religious prejudices to do justice to a Colonial University. It is in the interests of Education, a motive common to both : parties in this question, that these reT markoare submitted for consideration. When the association was formed in 1847 for settling the southern portion of this island, by the purchase of a block of 400,000 acres, it was a part of the scheme, that of , the £289,200 realised, or rather to be realised from the sale of certain properties, threeeighths was to be devoted to emigration and the supply of labour, two eighths to. surveys,, roads, bridges, &c., one-eighth to religious and educational uses, and one eighth to the New Zealand Company. The educational and religious institutions were to be "in con; nection with the Frte Church of Scotland," and " to accomplish this object one-eighth part' of the price paid for land, or five shillings an acre, was to be set apart for churches, schools, and a college. While this plan was being carried put, the Association ceased to exist, and the character of the colonies was changed, the territory held being enlarged, and the settlement formed into a province under the Constitution^ Act. The ; Church still rightly retained its endowments for religious and educational purposes, in accordance with the design of the original settlement. In the progress of time and extension'of settlement, the Government took dp the duty of assisting in the education of the people by grants of money and resjerves of land,, and lately, as part of ihe original scheme, .by the institution of a College or University. !■ eeing that the iJnvernment of the colony had: not taken any effective steps toward providing. an endoKibeot, and, moreover, that time \vas_ slipping away," and also that" bur you'tlts wcW being

sent elsewhere to obtain that collegiate education wbfch by education we were able to provide, on the Provincial Government taking the necessary steps to complete their educational system, the Trustees under the Association immediately, without any conditions, intimated their desire to nominate a professor of mental and moral philosophy, and to meet all the»expenses connected therewith. Here it may be remarked, that so far from evincing any narrow-mindedness, they overlooked the fact that the means at their disposal were for denominational purposes, hut they wisely deemed that, in acting, as they did, they best consulted the spirit of the original settlement. It is not unlikely that before long— if the University prove a success — they will nominate and provide a second professor, if such be needed. Were additional argument necessary to prove that Otago was not influenced by national or sectarian bias in its action, I might remark that scarcely more than one-half of the Counoil are from the north of the Tweed, and barely one-half are in connection with the Free Church of Scotland; and, as if to give the most complete refutation to any such charge as that referred to, the Council, by a unanimous vote, appointed an Englishman and a Church of England man to the chair of classics — its first appointment. Following in the steps of the older establishments, and in the spirit of the age, the province passed an Ordinance instituting the University, making the appointment of the Council irrespective of nation, profession, or creed, an 1 thus placed itself in the position of selecting the services of the best men in their endeavour to give to the community a higher kind of education than' had hitherto been attainable.