INTERPROVINCIAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2912, 2 March 1893, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

Wellington, March 1. The annual report of the Public Service Association regrets that Parliament has not seen its way to pass a satisfactory Civil Service Bill, and states that until classification can be secured the anomalies in the position ana prospects of officers must continue to exist and to bo a constant source of discontent and dissatisfaction. Also, that a scheme to provide retiring allowances is much needed. The total membership is 1124 The balance sheet at the end of December showed a credit of £98, and the assets i chow a surplus of £103 over liabilities. ' Dunbdin, Mirch 1. The run sale was largely attended. For only one of the first, thirteen Jicei>ses' offered was there any competition, and in that case, two sections in the Crookston district, submitted at the upset rental of £7, thsro whs spirited bidding, till they were knocked down at £20. For three . licenses theie was no offer, and the balance sold at the upset prices. For one of thejßilver Peak sections £51 wat> obtained, a» advance £28 on the upset. For thi* others in the name district the bidding ros^ quickly from £65 to £82, and for part of Benmore run, started at £20, £81 wasobtaired. J. A. Millar contests Port Chalmers. VV. Hutchison contests Dunedin City against all comers. Henry Brayser, 45 years of age, was drowned in the Clufha near Miller's Flat this morning; by falling off Bennett's bridge. He leaves a wife and young family. At a meeting of the Dairy Association, Mr W. B. Walters urged that there should be a brand on butter boxes recognised by the New Zealand and Home Governments, so that the Customs authorities in London would have no reasoa for opening the boxes and leaving them improperly dosed. He also urged that there should be a store in London in charge of a competent man. Since the 17th of November the Association have shipped from Port Chalmers 11,708 cases of cheese, of the'net weight of 1,657,307 pounds, on which the freight amounted to £4843. Of butter, 4487 boxes, of the net weight of 250,332 pounds were chipped, on which £1186 5s 6iX was paid on freight. Invercargill, March 1. In May last a somewhat romantic case came before tho R.M, Court here, when a woman, named Mary Brown, or Quiely, sought to compel Jamas Brown, horse trainer, to support her on the ground that she was married to him in County Clare in 1878. Brown, she maintained, left Ireland three weeks after marriage for New Zealand, and never wrote to her. Some years later she came to tfr& Colony and traced Brown by reading a horse advertisement to which his name was attached. She was then on the West Coast and came to Invercargill, where Brown denied having ever seen her before, and being unable t« produce pioof of the marriage, the Mji^i>n- re ruled against her. Having since uoui.ied a copy of her marriage certificate from Ireland, and a wit ness from the West Coast, she returned to the charge to-day, and convinced the Court that Brown was her husband, although he again by his counsel defied that he knew anything about the woman or had ever seen her. Mr Rawson said it was. a most heartless case^ and sent Brown fco gaol for three months with hard labor, and ordered him to pay 5s a week towards his wife's support. A violent thunderstorm was experienced here between midnight and five this morning. Somo of the petls were panied by a report like thai; of enormous cannon. The lightning was very vivid, and a contractor's workshop in the centre of the town was wrecked by it. The iron roof has evidently been lifted bodily and dropped back in its place as all the nails are dra^n about two inches. Every window was smashed, and a portion of the woodwork in the front shattered, a lead pipe was melted as if by fire, and a sheeV'df iron was blacrkenedi by the electric fluW and' deposited on thfc foot- ! path. $o far there are no reports of ' other damage by lightnpg, but fclie props i will have suffered considerably from yind and hail. An important mim'ng case was decided in the Warden's Court here torday. Parquhar McKenzio and George Howells sued Donald MoKeuzie for a one-third portion of a twelfth share in the Golden Site claim, at Wilson's river, on an alleged partnership which had not been reduced to writing. After a hearing ocieupyiiig two days Warden Rawson held thnt the'paVfoeri&ip was established and made an order accordingly, '!C#ste amounting to £38 wert'aHowed. '' ■ "-