General Intelligence.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 161, 10 August 1877, Page 6

General Intelligence.

A number of spurious bank notes are in circulation in Sydney.

A vote of censure ha 9 been carried against, the Tasmanian Ministry, who have resigned.

A proposal is before the New South Wales Assembly to make the honorarium L3OO per annum. The New South Wales Government was defeated on Friday night.- The House adjourned to allow ministers to consider their position. Mrs Lomas's store, adjoining the Dunrobin Hotel, Heriot Hundred, was burnt down on Friday evening. The stock was insured for L 450 in the Victoria Company.

The excess of deposits over withdrawals in the Post-office Savings Bank of the Colony, lor the quarter pending 30th June, was L 4085 18s, as against LBI3B 8s lid excess of withdrawals over deposit for the corresponding quarter of last year.

A large meeting was held at Orepuki the other eyeing, and resolutions were passed urging upon the Government the necessity of the immediate completion of the Riverton and Orepuki Railway. A petition embodying the same has been numerously signed.

2150 children attended at the New Knox Church, Dunedin, on Sunday afternoon, to hear the Rev. James Chalmers, of Raratonga, give an address about the mission in the South Seas. A collection, on behalf of the New Guinea mission was made, which amounted to L2O.

Upwards of 70 applications, says the Guardian* have been received by the Education Board for the newly-created office of Inspector of Educational Reserves in Otago. The applications have been forwarded to the members of the Board at Wellington, and on their return they will be finally considered by the Board in Dunedin.

The girls' portion of the Christchurch Normal School is so overcrowded that the question was debated at a meeting of the Board of Education of turning away all children who did not strictly belong to the district. Some of the members expressed themselves as averse to such a course, and finally the matter was referred to a committee*

The Christchurch papers record the death on Friday last of the Yen. R. Paul, late Archdeacon of Waimea (Nelson), at the advanced age of eighty. He was a fellow and tutor of Exeter

College, Oxford, a ripe ; classic, an ex. cellont German and French scholar and is well known as an' authofc and translator, Paul's " Grecian. Antiquities'* being regarded by many as a textbook-

In anticipation df the possible 'e'fets of a European war on the grain markftti abroad, most of the farthers on the Taieri Plain this season are said to \ placing their newly-ploughed \_\^ under wheat. The Guardian says it\_ confidently believed that breadstu&j tf\\\ maintain a very high standard in London market during the coming ye&r. and if so there will possibly be some'ex' tensive consignments from the Colonies —that is, should the harvest 'pc'ove favourable. '

At the ietebt Canterbury 'coa'rsuta meeting a man named T. Milner acfel in a very unsportsmanlike manner hy releasing a dog he had' with ' him on a hare which had just been Coursed into cover. The dog killed the hare, atimi the howls of the bystanders, and it ha*;* ing been ascertained that Milner had no license, he had to appear before the R.M. He attempted to excuse himself by saying that he could not hold the dog, but Mr Mellish inflicted a fine ttf L 3. ;

The following "special" i?arliamen. tary telegram is receiving extensive currency in the North: — An amusing incident occured at the Occidental Hotol this froming. The housekeeper of an Otago M.H.R., whom to name is need less, arrived unexpectedly, and demanded to see his wife. An altercation ensued on the stairs, which was prolonged for some time, much to the entertainment of the bystanders. At length Mr Coker, the landlord, compelled the honourable member and the two ladies to seek fresh quarters; The affair caused great amusement in the town.

A meeting of the Auckland unemployed, which was largely attended on Saturday evening, passed resolutions urging an appeal to the Government-, through the Mayor, to open railway works on the second section of tho Kaipara line, or at Auckland station, by day labour ; or, if contracted for, to prohibit contractors from sub- letting the work — a system which led to great evil. The meeting also resolved oa asking the City and Harbour authorities to push on the works. Among the resolutions passed by the meetiDg was one for stoppage of free immigration, * The 12th anniversary of the Court Bruce, A.0.F., was celebrated on Friday evening by a soiree and ball in the Volunteer Hall-, Milton. The celebration Was 'the most successful ever held by the Court. The annual state** ment shows that there has been expended during the year— On medical attendance, sick pay, &c, the sum ot £204 ls Gd ; on the funeral fund, £id 12s Qd ; incidental expenses* £68 19a 2d. There was a credit balance at the last anniversary of the sum of £212 18s 1 Id. The sum of £331 18s 2d has been received during the present year, and there is consequently a balance now trt the credit of the Society of £257 9s sd.

From a late issue of the f Poverty Bay Herald ' Tve learn that additional testimony to the excellent quality ot kerosene to be found in the Poverty Bay district has come to hand. At the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, a sample of the Poverty Bay kerosene wias pronouced to be the best ever tested in America — its superiority consisting in the large percentage of lamp oil atid paraffin it contained. The flattering verdict was communicated personally to Mr Chew, a member of a well-known Wellington firm, by the head Com** missioner and principal judge of the department in which it Was exhibited,

The special correspondent of the Timaru Herald says : " Major Attain** son's proposal to supplement the defi* ciency of Ll 90,000 by direct spoliation of the Otago and Canterbury Land Fund was received with derisive cheers, and a strong Opposition is likely to be consolidated. The Treasurer's proposals are said to be 'quite illegal" The correspondent of the North Ota{?o Times says : " The Otago members consider it would have been better if the Government had made a distinct proposal to make tho Land Fund Colonial revenue. It is believed that a proposition of this kind will be made, and further, that it will be carried."

A telegram from Auckland says ':— A quantity of wreckage has been washed on the beach near the North Cape, and several cases marked " Mission" have drifted ashore. This leads to fears for the safety of the schooners Waiwera andEbenezer, bound for Norfolk Island with stores for the mission* Numorously signed petitions have been sent from Nelson in favour of Bible reading in schools. Those opposed to it are ialso about sending a petition praying that section S of clause 85 be modified by adding the words, * That at the discretion of each school committee of each district the school may be opened with reading of the Lord's prayer and a portion of the Scripture, without note or comment either by teacher or any other person."