The Provinces.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 8, 29 December 1869, Page 3

The Provinces.

-0— As some men were engaged digging a hole recently in. the hack yard of Messrs W. G. Harrison & Ch.’s premises, PollenStreet, they unearthed a pretty largo frog, at a depth of four or five feet from the surface. Wo saw the frog in a bottle of water during the evening, and it appeared as lively as could possibly he expected after a rude awakening from a shop of perhaps centuries. The formation in which the frog was found was of gravel, and quite . drv. During the last few months frogs have been .found at Tar im and Puriri, and with this latest discovery in our midst, there can be no longer any doubt, we imagine, of their being indigenous to the country.— Thim'.s Eoaniwf Sur. The Wellin'/ton Iwhnvvhnt in a late issue announces that Wirimu Mihunuku, a Maori, has dnlv filed his schedule, and declared his inability to pay his debts. This is the fi’st insolvent of the native race who lias come under our notice, bat in all probability the fashion once started will be extensively followed, and onr dusky brethren will leirn to appreciate the ad vantages of whitewashing ns highly as any of their European neighbours. The Wxvrctrzm Mercury mentioning the aTdr says : -Hii liabilities amount to £'33% including £t()0 due to the estate of J. M. Taylor and Co. ; his assets are one horse, vilue £5, and two foils, value £2'). Tie event is noted in a Wellington oontemoonry as the advance of civilization ; hub the richest part of the affair is th it he is one of the we ilthiest landowners in the valley, but the creditors cannot touch the land, as it. has not gone throu ;h the Land Court. The yearly rents received by this noble savage (writes our contemporary) amount to something considerable. A destructive whirlwind was recently experienced in Nelson, and did considerable dam ig« to property in the town. The l arge panes of gl-iss in some of the shops were blown in ; corrugated iron roofing was strioned oT and carried away ; a large crate, in which cracker/ hid been imported, was whirled into the air to a height of fifteen feet, against a hotel window, which it smashed ; stacks of timber were thrown down, and sheds levelled with the ground ; a cow was killed by the falling of a shed upon it; and other serious damage was caused.

A fatal accilcnt occurred in the Tim am H irlmur on the ISc-h hast., by the capsizing of one of the beats of the steamer Maori (com nan led by Gapt. M alcolm) as it was returning from the shore, there being a heavy swell on at the tine. The names of the passengers who were in the boat were M i ss>-s Btlfonr, Joel, Small wool, Farrier, Menzies, Parker, Barker, and Cant. Malcolm—eight in all. Six of the passengers were saved, but Mr Balfour and Mr Smallwood were drowned, every effort nude to rescue them being unavailing. Mr Balfour was on his wav to Wellington to sir's I C iristm as with his family there, but hearing of the death of Mr Paterson, who was an old schoolm ate, he determined to return to Dunedin to attend his funeral, and return North by the Tararua.— '<Vaikouiiti Ihrdd. The New Zealand Matron olitan Rice Meeting is to lie held on the 0 iristchurch race-course during the visit of the Flying Squadron to Lyttelton, sand as near the following dates as possible, namely, the 4th, sth, (sth January, 13T0. The total amount of raon°v offered for races still open to entiy is £l2lO, in 14 events, the great one being the Canterbury Cup, of £IOO, added to a sweepstake of £2O each, £5 forfeit.

Mr J. B. Thomson, formerly Chief Detective Officer in Southland, and who has for some years held a similar position in the Otago Police Force, has been apoointed to an Inspectorship in the New Znlanl Cinstabulary Force now being organise 1 under Mr Commissioner Bnnigan. Mr Tn«»i»BRWS on old member of the Victorian Force, and dun>^~ihk v TOsidenop in Dunedin has shown that he possesses ff-sul',ties which pre eminently fit him for the office' to which he has been appiinted, A rather singular coincidence occurred at the Masonic installation in the Kilwinning Lodge at Hokitika on Tuesday night, or rather Wednesday morning, 2nd inst. Mr John Lazar, as is well known, is one of the highest M xsons in the C deny, and lias assisted at all occasions like the one in question. As a matter of course, his health is always a toist of the evening, and on this occasion it was proposed at a quarter past 12 exactly. Mr Lazar, in responding, remarked that that day sixty-six years, in the year 1803, on the Ist December, at twenty minutes past 12 o’clock, he first saw the light. As might be imagined, this created a furors amongst the brethren assembled, and foaming bumpers of champagne were drunk to the health of their veteran guest, in honour of his natal day. A terrific thunderstorm occurred at Picton on the 15th inst. Houses were struck and destroyed by the lightning; and a boy, ten years of age, son of Mr Conolly, barrister, was also struck and instantaneously killed. Several vary narrow escapes occurred. Dr Featherston and Mr Dillon Bell sailed from Melbourne by the home mall steamer on the 7th inat. , |