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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 375, 13 October 1868, Page 2

If a good attendance, unanimity o* opinion, a fair display of public spirit) and the carrying of a project to a successful issue, be indications of the success of a public meeting, then we must say the meeting held last night i& the Drill Shed, for the purpose of considering the advisability of forming a Progress Committee, was a decided success. A report of the proceedings will be found in another column. It was perhaps as well that advantage was taken of such a large and influential meeting to secure the election of a committee at once in preference to letting the business stand over to future day, and so run the risk of a possible miscarriage of the whole affair, for there are one or two matters which call for immediate attention. We trust that the committee now appointed, will meet together with as little delay as possible, and that after getting through the necessary perlimaries of electing a chairman, &c, &c, they will at once set to work with an earnest spirit to carry out the objects desired in their appointment, and with a sincere desire that their united efforts may fully merit, and bear out, the appelation given to the body of which they are members, namely, the " Progress " Committee. The only public business in the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday consisted of one or two cases of drunkenness and a small debt case, in which there was no appearance. Messrs Luke and Party of Giles' Terrace, struck gold yesterday in their new tunnel, and we are informed that the washdirt is likely to be of a valuable character.

Messrs Hormick and party, of Addison's, have applied for an extended claim of one acre in the third township.

There appears to be a prospect of some new ground being found in the interior. We refer to a well-known block of land called the Manuka Flat, situated at the junction of the rivers Lyell and Buller. The auriferous indications presented on this high plain have been thought well of for years, and from time to time parties of diggers have attempted to sink shafts, but were always beaten by the water. A party of six men have now conceived the idea of getting into the ground by tunnel-driving from the neighborhood of the river, arid yesterday the Warden granted them interim protection for that purpose. We take the following from the Grey Biver Argus of the 10th, —" For the first time the bell of the Q-rey-mouth Volunteer Fire Brigade gave the alarm of fire, on Thursday, about a quarter to two o'clock. Smoke and flame were seen in the direction of the cottages over the Seffcon Bridge, and a large number of men ran with all speed to the place to render what assistance they could. The fire was confined to a small two roomed cottage, which had for a long time stood unoccupied, and which formerly belonged to Mr Kissling, of the Bank of New Zealand. Stragglers had been in the habit of making it a resting place, and as the fire-place was built of fern-tree, it is supposed that a fire kindled the previous evening had smouldered for a time until blown into a blaze. The cottage was burnt to the ground in a few minutes, and scarcely a vestige remained when the fire, engine galloped across the Sefton Bridge. When the alarm was given, a number of the volunteer firemen mustered at the engine-house, and got the engine out, but it was apparent that, from their limited numbers, they could not them-1

selves drag it to the scene of the conflagration, and a messenger was sent for horses. When they arrived there was no shaft harness to be found, and, what appeared to be a most unnecessary delay occurred in yoking the horses to the dragging ropes. The fire was nearly out when the engine started, and the cottage was consumed before it was half-way. It was a blessing that the scene of the fire was not in the centre of the town, else the flames would havn attained a strength sufficient to bid defiance to our limited apparatus, before the engine arrived. Al' the officers, and a uumber of the members of the Brigade were very soon at their posts, and did everything they could to facilitate matters, but there appeared a want of drill, of discipline, and readiness for action which are so necessary to the efficient working of a Fire Brigade. But when the alarm is given every man should be a volunteer, instead of, as on Thursday, hundreds running past the door of the engine-house, without offering to lend a hand to drag the apparatus to the scene of the fire.