General Intelligence.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 135, 9 February 1877, Page 6

General Intelligence.

The population of Melbourne on Christmas clay was estimated at 225,000 souls.

The County Council of Westland have fixed the payment of their temporary clerk at six pounds per week. The Parliament of New South Wales has appropriated for the present year no less than L 25,000 for education purposes.

The N. Z, and A. L. Co. are shipping 35 Lincolns by the' Wanaka for Napier next week, and have' several orders for other Pz'ovinees.

The Highlanders and Scotsmen of Poverty Bay subscribed £03 towards the establishment of .a Celtic chair iri the University . of Edinbuagh, ' We are sorry to learn from an exchange that Sir David Munro, formerly Speaker of the House of Representatives, is lying dangerously ill. _The post card is being utilised in Vincent County, in giving notice 1 of valuation to ratepayers. The necessary form is 'printed on the blank side.

The Christchurch Press of Friday says that during last week a number of. stories were discovered to have been placed on the Northern railway line. Two larrikins were fined £10 each, or ip default, three /months' imprisonment, with, hard labour^ for assaulting a police; constable in Melbourne one evening lately. -. .-,-.-; -. .-.■ 7 • .•' „

■'The- Marlborough Express says that the THom-Mr Robinson owns' only! twothirds of .'the' r Chevibt*Oounty,'ahd will

be able to return three out of' the seV6h County Council loi-s. iA ? J'' ■-'■ ' : '- ; ' ' Tictbria.is abbut; ! to have anew .tur-ret-ship, ;to carry 2o besides the Cerebus, and both are' to be "provided with the deadly Whitehead torpedo. ! '" A 'Sydney telegram I ' bays': 'it is understood that the. Hqw Zealand'Government'has secured an advance of half a million from the' Bank pL New 'South Wales' fort two years, on favourable terms. ■-..-,-

The Taranaki Herald says thsfr by the reduction in the numbers of the. 'Armed Constabulary Force in the. North. Island, the Government have effected a saving to the Colony of something-like. £30,00,0 per annum.

„The Hawkes Bay Herald says that it is reported that the Governmenthave it in contemplation to introduce an Education Bill during the ensuing session, which will assimilate our educational system to the Victorian.

. A sad case of drowning occurred at Kaiapoi. last week. A girl named Kate East, 13 years of age, daughter of a. well-known settler, was induced by the hot weather to bathe in. the' river, arid, was swept away by the current, and, there being no assistance, was drowned. The Christchurch Press says r that 13,000 of the young salmon have been liberated iii the Waimakariri, 10,000 in the Avon, and 2000 in the timaru district. About 1500 will be placed in the Hurunui". "An' order sent to California for a second;- dhipment was too late for this season.

The, barmaids of Dunedin are tolerably proud. A' visitor- from Napier fell's how he offered <one^' in payment for: two drinks, a sixpence, "a . threepenny bit, and three penny pieces'.' The lady drew herself up in virtuous indignation, and asked, naturally enough, ■ " Do youthink- I am going to soil my fingers with coppers ?" ■ l , .

A despatch from Lord Carnarvon, published in the TNew Zealand Gazette, intimates that degrees conferred by the University of New Zealand will be recognised as Academic distinctions and rewards of merit, and entitled ,to rank, precedence, and consideration in the United Kingdoms, and in the British Colonies arid possessions.

For time past experiments have' been made with the view of utilising a vegetable known to Queenslanders as- the okra plant for paper making purposes, and the results have so far. proved successful. Samples of the fibre were exhibited at the last meeting of the New South Wales Agricultural Society, but the members expressed grave doubts as to whether it would pay to ship the fibre to England. The Auckland Herald states that thirty-one fallow deer have been shipped for Auckland by Mr T. Russell in the ship Thurland Castle, wbich left Gravesend on November 3. They were obtained from tbe well-known herd belonging to the Marquis of Exeter, Burleigh Park, Stamford. The son of the head keeper of the Marquis comes out in charge of them.

The Southland News of the 2nd inst. says that two bodies, supposed to be those of part of tbe ill-fated crew ofthe William Ackers, have been found. There was no clothing except troupers, and the features were unrecognisable. Information was . sent to Mr Alfred Douglas, J.P., who proceeded to view the bodies on the 29th. Rough coffins having been made for their reception, the two were consigned to a grave on the bi ach.

The New Zealand Times says it is the intention of Government to introduce next session a Bill for establishing a new and inexpensive Forest Depart-, ment, the surplus revenue, over and above -working, expenses, fo be devoted to planting. As an argument for the necessity for some such measure, the Times, adduces the fact, that in South Canterbury forest land has been sold for 12s an acre, the" timber of which realised £30. an acre 'to the purchaser. Te Kooti, in a letter" to the Napier Telegraph, states that he.' has visited Te Kapu .and Poverty Bay without being recognised. It is to be hoped that this miscreant will some day, emboldened by impunity, make the same mis take as Kereopa, who walked into a settlement in openL day, and was apprehended for the sake of the reward offered' for his capture. The' fact that Te Kooti can walk about amongst pro-, fessed friendly natives without being apprehended, shows that there is a screw loose somewhere. — N. Z. Herald.

A man named Rodgers, ; alias Armstrong, was charged in the R. M. Court, Grahamslown, on Saturday, with having murdered , one William Mathers, alias Red Bill. The accused was remanded from Wangarei, where he had given himself up to a constable as the murderer of Red Bill, but subsequently denied the truth of the statement Red Bill was found dead in a deserted shaft in Karahe about the time above mentioned. The prisoner , appears to be eccentric, if not insane. -He was recoov. nised by several . persons in Court as having been amongst the pioneers of the Thames Goldfields. He was remanded.^

A Queensland paper relates the following horrible 'Story :— lt would appear that a number of ' Polynesians :were gn their way fo the Mitchell' 'district, and ope. of .them became seriously !ill — so ill in -fact that he coulfi not travel. It was that he was dying, and the man.in charge was .so. impatient that -he j. would .not wait -ior* the ; poor creature to die outright,, but had a hole

dug^d the Poly nesian_ roughly buried \ before death had actually 'taken'placeL'^ T-jyo If the Polynesians at night Are-tui-necltothe spot where' their comrade had bW-" buried; ; and '"exhumed bim , and thdstatemen't'is that the poor fellow lived n\arly two hours after his exhuoiation'.l * ■■;•' ■•■:>. y> The appointment of Dr Giles ''as Under-Sfcrefcary for Crown Lands has caused considerable- astonishment and commenthi Wellington.:. It is understood that^t was practically made before Mr Rqd joined the Ministry.. Dr Giles, chotVvh an able, man, possesses no special bualifications for this, important office, and his appointment is felt to be d great injustice to Mr PI. Elliott, who fW upwards of five months has been acting Under-Secretary..;.-In-deed, it is considered unjust to the 'Service generalW. It is attributed entirely to Mr Atkinson, Dr Giles; some years ago, when 'editing the N el spn Examiner, having beep, a .warm supporter ofthe Richmond-Atkinson family, y Our (Mount Ida Chronicle) Maerewhenua correspondent has given us a few particulars of a Very handsonie and spacious country house erected by the Hon. R. Campbell, at his Otekailfe estot-, near the Waitaki., The building is of white stone, obtained on the ground. In another direction local industry has been encouraged, for the slates for the roof came from the Otepopo quarries. The building contains forty rooms, all , supplied with water from the-Otekaike " river. In case of fire "the* reservoir is dbuilfc at an elevation sufficient' to' supply tvl power to throw water over the very top / of the.building. No expense has- been spared, and when finished the residence will be one of the finest in the Colony. It is situated in a valuable freehold of about' 20,000 acres, 10,000' of which once formed the Maerewhenua block.

The Government have received' from the A^ent-General the' following.^immigration advices by the San Francisco mail: — On the 17th November, tho Wiltshire sailed from Lyttelton with 282 souls j on the 28th November,, the Oxford, for Auckland, with 239 -, on the 18th, the Loch Dee, for Otago, with 17 who were landed sick at Weymouth from the Hurunui ; on the 20th, the Hurunui, from -Plymouth;- with 170. Twenty-three were landed at Plymouth, and are to leave by the Carnatic, for Lyttelton, about the 9th December. Thirty-one immigrants insisted on leaving the Hurunui. The following-vessels are engaged to take immigrants :— FernglenAfor Hawkes Bay, December 6th; Northampton, for ' Nelson, Wellington, and Westland. The above completes the Government requirements for the year. . All advertisements have been withdrawn, and the staff reduced.

The murderer of a man named Paddj J\ Morris was recently captured in Queensland by some blacks, through the following clever stratagem. The Northern Argus of the 27th ult. relates : —

Four blackfellows, named Tiger, Davis, Jaoky. and Dundally, went out to tha scrub to look for the prisoner, who for some time was invisible. At last they met him and proposed a game of cards, one suggesting euchre/ Sandy (the murderer) said he preferred poker; so they squatted down on their blankets, and played poker, their weapons, nullahs, boomerangs, etc., being the stakes. This was arranged to get Sandy's weapons from him. The knowing quartette formed a semicircle near the prisoner, who, having the. whole four against him, lost game after game; and as each weapon was. won by his captors it was removed to the other side, out of his .reach. After tho last ; weapon had gone . the way of the rest, / one of the others' got up to have a smoke, : while the three engaged Sandy's attention with- something. Suddenly the pretended smoker seized him from behind, and the other three were, upon him instantly. After a short struggle Sandy was overpowered and secured with a dog-chain. The prisoner confessed the murder, stating that he gave Morris " two fellow-blow."

An Auckland exchange says that among' the subjects discussed and decisions come to at the Native meeting held at Omahu, about the end of December last, were the following : — The meeting resolved not to take advantage of the Counties Act on account qf the the Native Reserves Act taking half the proceeds of Native lands. A great Native meeting is to be held in March in the carved house at Wakatance, ■or at Pakouwhai, and all the learned men in each tribe will be invited to attend. / All the legislation affecting the Maoris , was condemned, as being mostly framed without the knowledge and co-opera-tion of the tribes. At- this meeting, chiefs will be chosen to proceed to England to represent to the British Government the. grievances of the Maoris. The following resolution was passed :— The meeting,, and all the tribes of the East Coast, hereby pass a resolution of thanks to Sir George Grey, X.C.8., and member of the New Zealand Parliament, and those members who worked with Sir G. Grey, for the manner in which they used their influence and voice to assist the Maori tribes of these two islands/ It was resolved that all Natives who adhere to the ancient superstitution and rites repeated to the Maori -gods shall be forbidden to reside in the Eastern Maori Electoral District, and ; >ll .wizards andui witches are ordered to burn their goods. ' The us,e of intoxicating |drihk^7\v:as ordered to be abolished. A request was also made for resjdeufc Maori clergymen.