The Western Star. (PUBLISHED WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1878.

Western Star, Issue 261, 7 September 1878, Page 5

The Western Star. (PUBLISHED WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1878.

We have been requested to acknowledge on behsll oi the Hospital ifmri mit *ce aseeon 1 donation of illustrated papers, &0., from -Ur P. Dully. There net being a quorum of members present at the meeting of the Harbour Board convened for Thursday, tbe meeting lapsed. Thu .members present were the Chairman and Messrs Daniel and Locke. A meeting of the shareholders'in the. Wallace Prospecting and Quartz Alining Company was held in the Oddfellows’ Hall on Wednesday. Draft rules were read-serialim, but owing to the paucity of attendance it was decided to defer their adoption till a future meeting.

Jas. Fitzgerald, the contra,'■for for cutting a road from a short distance outside the town boundary through the Hush to Colr.e Bay, is making good" progress with the worlc. Over 00 chains clearing arc already done, leaving about thirty still to do. Tile corduroying, of which about 70 chains arc completed, is a most substantial job, bn'■ it is to bo regretted that the Council did net carry out its original in <on I ion of making it right instead of six. fi>et broad, as by that means a dray could have easily travelled over it; as it is, it is onlv fit for a bridle track. There are several

gullies to bri Igo over, two of which are of sew magnitude, but thc-m enuld not he availed as

deviation would have taken the track on to surveyed ground. When this (rack is completed, the distance to Drepuki will not only he considerably shortened, but owing to its superiority over the old one, travelling will be greatly facilitated. As a temporary accommodation until railway communication is established, it will be found of great service and when tenders are called for the bi-weekly mail, it will be found that the service will bo performed at a reasonable rale. lUr Fitzgera Id ha s a consi lerablo number of Maorics from Colac Bay' employed on the contract, all whom, however, knocked off work this week to join in the funeral obsequies of a native woman who died at Colac Bay on Sunday.

Mr F. A. Coxliend, the enterprising Invercargill photographer, announces that he will open a gallery in the promises opposite Mr Coneher’s now store, Palmerston street, on Tuesday lOt’i insfc. The proficiency of this gentleman in his profession is well known, and his presence should be taken advantage of by those who wish to “ secure the substance ere the shadow fades.”

On Monday evening next the concert in aid of the Church of England takes place. If the expected result musically is not a success, it will not be for the want of practice and careful supervision ; but that it will be a success and a “ big ” success, wc have not the least doubt. Mr S. G. Instoue wields the baton, Mr J. J 3. Hunter acting as leader, and the following are the instrumentalists : Miss Howell, Mrs Crockett, MBs Yaughan, the Misses Dickenson, Messrs Hunter, Dickinson, Instone, Featherstone, Hancock, Young, Gilchrist, M'Killop, Goorlc, Geary, Hancock, sen. The concerted pieces, with band and chorus, are “God Defend Hew Zealand,” “ March of the Mm of Harlech,” and “ God Save the Queen the Hew Zealand Anthem, it will be observed, is in good company, and being so its merits relative to t he two other compositions will ba severely tested. Thu words 'arc by T. ■Bracken, Esq., proprietor of the “Dunedin Saturday Advertiser,” whose secure standing as “ the Hew Zealand poet ” guarantees them. The composition is by Mr Word -(late schoolmaster in Invercagill), the melody and harmony of which will be criticised in our next. At anyrate great care has been taken to render the music in as good a form as possible. As will be seen by advertisement in our fourth page, this concert will prove whether we have at present sufficient talent in the town to organise an effective I’hilharmonic Society. There can be no doubt that, from the preparations made, those who attend on Monday evening will be well pleased. A Feature is introduced into tlie entertainment of a novel character, and one which we can safely say has never before been witnessed in Hew Zealand or the Au-tralian ■.•olonio , viz., a violin trio by ladies, Miss Howell and the -VlAses Dickinson, the latter being respectively seven and nine years old. The object of the concert, together with the attempt to encourage local talent, should command the sympathy of both town and country.

An effort is being made to have quarterly ins'cad of half-yearly sittings of the Supreme Court at Invercargill.

A correspondent writes : -Mr W. A. Lyon, chairman of the Aparima Road B ard, who was sent to Wellington as delegate by the settlers in the Waiiuutuku, Orcti, and Limestone Plains districts, to urge upon the Government the claim of these districts for railway accommodation, has been most successful in his mission, the Minister of Public Works assuring him, if the majority of voters in these districts declared for a railway under the District Railway Bill, it would be the duty of t-he Government to give full effect to their wishes. As the great majority of the voters either for the Wmton or Waimatuku lines are settled in tli ’so districts, under this new aspect, it looks rather unfavorable for the wiuton route at present. —“ Southland Times.” The Stella returned to Bluff Harbor on Friday bringing with her the natives who claimed the r.ght to Centre Island. They did ndt give up willingly, but the look of the Police had the desired effect. When returning from Ihe Island to the steamer the Stella’s Boat swamped, and gave the inmates a wetting. But she was quickly bailed out. and afterwards reached the steamer safely.. The claim of Tcau, the son of the original grantee, will bo inquired into shortly by Government.

The monthly meeting of the Hospital Comrai ttee will be at 3 p.m. to-day at the Hospital.

A correspondent writing from Long wood says ; —The weather these last few clays lias been excessively rough, which to some extent has interupted mining operations. The tracks are in o very bad state and completely blocked up in some places by fallen timber. Hayes Bros, are pushing well on their drive to the south, and are gating out some very good stuff. As proof posifive that there is gold in the ground, 1 may as well tell you that I saw Air Cope of'Macctown wash about half a dozen handfuls in a dish from which ho obtained at least half a pennyweight, and as this prospect was taken out of the reef, brought to the surface, and washed by himself, there should be no doubt about the gold in the ground. —The Queenstown Company are driving and hope to be shortly on the reef. The Bendigo Co. are still working, and in a very few days Chirltoii and Co., the contractors, hope to have their contract of 50ft completed. This is the last sunk shaft on the field ; the timbering is up to the mark in every respect. Grant’s Glory, Great. Western, Prince of Wales, Wallace and Daniels’ l-o 1 and 2 are driving fertile reef. Fr nice and Co. of the Princess of Wales are down Tuft with their second shaft. This is a really hard-working party, and deserve further men l ion. On Skegg’s line both them and the John Bull are sinking. The rock in both cases is very bar 1, and progress necessarily slow. The Invercargill Company are si ill tunnelling in (heir lower tunnel, winch is in about 1.00 feel. They have struck nothing definite yet. It is a pity they did not further test the reef they are said to have struck in their upper tunnel. 1 hear that they ,viil shortly erect machinery at Specimen Gully.

! Donations of winnowed oat chaff will be thankfully received at the Hospital and acknowledged through the press.

Tl’Coffieial report ofJUic Snrgeon-SnpTiirondent iof 11 1 0 Hospital, for the wool; ending titli instant, shows 111 at there were pi m patients under treat-

ment — four surgical an i two medical. The balance of the plant or lercd from Home lias arrived at, B.uffcx Ijo'-hnagar, and will reach the i Insl it ul i m in line course. Wo have received the 9th Annual Deport of the Mutual L le Association of Australasia, for . tile year ending dOlh June last, which appears to 1 have been a very prosperous one. Mod policies j were issued for £501,300 pro hieing a now income j of £17,000, and being a total new business of over !40 per cent, more than that, obtained i>. the prej vious year. Tho Association has 4195 policies in 1 force assuring £1,473,300, producing an annual j income of over £52.000, and the invested funds I exceed £IOO,OOO. Tho deaths were much under t,tie number expected, none having occurred in I Hew Zealand since the branch was opened, and I t here is good prospect of a handsome bonus to be divided among the members next year. Mr G-. O. Gassels is the local agent. Mr T. V. Twinning requests ns to intimate i that bo will visit Divert on on Wednesday next, 1 and resume lessons.

The San Francisco mail closes at Post OiTloe, Riverton, on Tuesday, 10th inst ant, at 2 p.m.

The case of Murdoch and Mitchell r. Dully and APCarihv came on for hearing on Saturday last:, before J. Petcholl and T. Daniel, Esqs., J.F.’s. Plain!ill's claimed £8 16s 6d for rent. Mr Duffy appeared for defendants, and raised several technical points, which the Bench deemed it prudent to reserve for the decision of tho Resident Magistrate. The case was aocordin adjourned till 11th hist.

The Rev. Father Higgins will celebrate Mass in St. Columbkille Ctiurch on Sunday, loth i nsfc.

Considerable progress lias been made during the week with the Riverton-Invercargill railway, and fcha ballasting has proceeded as far as possible into the town. On the Oreti side the plates are laid for a distance of four miles and a half, and the contractors expect shortly to commence ballasting, two engines having am red per Lochnagac for this line. Given fine weather, the contractors are confident of having the line ready for traffic in three months. Provision is being made for floods at the Oreti Bridge by providing two additional, bridges. The original length of the Oreti Bridge was ten chains, but it was subsequently reduced to seven chains. During the recent floods, however, it was found too small, as a large quantity of earthwork was carried away, to the loss of the contractor. An accident happened to a man named Mackintosh, on Wednesday, at the Oreti. He was riding along this line on a trolly, when it, struck some obstruction, and lie was thrown off. Several of his nils were broken, and he was taken to the Invercargill' Hospital.