The Provinces.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 23, 20 April 1870, Page 3

The Provinces.

A Wellington paper notices the discovery of a new kind of fibre, which is apparently as strong as flax, and will bear a knot without breaking. This fibre is said to have been obtained from the Manawatu block.

The Government account at Canterbury is put up for tender, and has just been transferred from the Bank of New Zealand to the Bank of Australasia, the latter having offered the most favourable terms. A reliable and experienced correspondent atWangapeka writes to the Westport Times : —" So far, this is the poorest place I ever saw. The men are getting no gold, and having no money. If all the reefs found prove payable it may in time turn out well, but of this I have great doubts." A Coklen correspondent sends the Greymouth Star the following : —" Knowing that you always receive local news of note, I beg to communicate to you that Mrs Clark, wifo of the late Mr Christopher Clark, was confined of a boy, on the 17th of March, having a set of teeth—an occurrence the like of which I have never heard of before."

A fatal accident occurred recently at Maketu. A. Wanganui native (one of Kemp's people) stationed at that place, was hauling up a boat on the beach, and was shot in the breast by a boy named Christopher Faulkner, a son of Mr Faulkner, of Taurauga. It appearj that the boy took the gun from the redoubt, not knowing that it was loaded, and, pointing it towards the deceased, pulled the trigger. Much to his astonishment, the man fell down senseless. The poor fellow expired next morning.

An accident 'which might have proved fatal, took place at St. Albans on tho 7th inst. Mrs Cooper, a resident in that locality, was passing over the lid of a well, when the woodwork suddenly gave way, and she fell into the well, which was thirteen foot deep, and contained some five feet of water. Fortunately she was discovered, and Mr E. Long, having passed a rope round her waist, succeeded in getting her to the surface, but in a very exhausted condition.— Canterbury iVm.

The fertility of the soil of this district (says the West Coast Times) has often been alluded to, but we do not remember having reported so much as 281bsof potatoes boing dug from two stalks. Several of the tubers, which wore exhibited in Mr Walker's window, weighed upwards of two and a half pounds—one of them boing ten inches long. There was also exhibited at the same time a pumpkin, weighing 31 pounds, which had been grown on the beach.

We learn from the Nelson Examiner that an accident, very fortunately not fatal in its consequoncos, occurred to a young man named John Kirkwood, a miner at Brown's Terrace, Charleston, on Monday, February 28. He was working in his claim, the ground of which was timbered, when it tilted over, and he was buried for two hours and a half. A number of miners rendered assistance, and he was brought into the Hospital, where he is at present lying, having received spinal injury, but he is showing signs of improvement.

The Grey River Argus says :—On Thursday last a most unfortunate and melancholy accident happened to two men named Daniel Dick and Dugald Cameron, whilst they were blocking out ground in a tunnel at Cariboo Creek, a branch of the Cock-eye. It seems that they had been engaged since Christmas taking in this tunnel, and had got in upwards of 2GO feet, but not finding airyi,L>g payable at that distance, they turned b*'' to block out a narrow run of gold that hi; ;.;?fln crossed when they were 90 feet from the mouth. L .->/y pecautjpn had been taken to secure the grouy<Lby' timbering it in the usual manner j'Jmt OH Wednesday last, when they were working alongside some old ground, they first perceived it to commence running from the roof. Everything was clone to stop it, and it was then considered safe to work. On Thursday last, however, an hour after dinner, a large body of earth gave way, smashing three sets of timber, and burying Cameron and Dick. The other mates immediately gave the alarm, and the men from the adjoining claims soon caniajljo lend helping hands to extricate the luafgr-' tunate men. Tons of earth must Wtm come down, and the bodies were not exir\4 cated until late in the evening, both men being quite dead. There was a "battle royal" nigh the upper end of Queen's Wharf, Auckland, a few nights ago, between a " swipey" Maori who asserted he was one of Te Kooti's crew, and a drunken carter. The self-accused Kooti-ite was getting well " licked" by the carter, when another Maori, said to be an aboriginal parson, interfered. He was dressed in a sesdy-lookiug suit, probably the exuviae of some former missionary " pastor and master." This sable preacher of tin Gospel appeared to be well known to the amused crowd, who hailed him by the name of Ebenezer. He was a sinisterlooking scamp, this Ebenezer, and forcibly reminddd one of a retired chimney-sweep. Unlike those Maoris whose noses are pressed fiat in infancy, this Ebenezer's was decidedly hooked, and what with that, the tattoo, and a trifling obliquity of vision, caused by an extensive squint, the countenance of Ebeneier was rather ugly. However, it came to grief even before the hustling commenced, for the carter and Te Kooti's friend, bung sobered by their own scuffle, turned their attention to Ebenezer, and between thtm blackened his eyes. Finally, the dusky ecclesiastic elected to bolt into the bottom of a canoe, leaving a portion of the seedy sut in the hands of his foes.

The "Wellington correspondent of the Westport Times writesas follows :—•" Have you any old trousers for sale ? Can you hunt up a few cast-off girments in Westport and aid a good cause by contributing a little to the comfort of Cur armed constabulary at Tarewera, to sy nothing of the cause of decency 1 I'm lot joking. Never were men in a worse plight than are our poor fellows, in spite of ifr Commissioner Branigan's proclaimed efficiency. At the present time, while sevejal hundreds of pairs of trousers are lying carefully packed up in the constabulary store-rooms, Wellington, the whole forco stationed at Tarewera cannot raise among thein. one pair of trousers. Those who have rags hanging to cover them as far down as fte knees are lucky, and very greatly in tha minority. Every ingenuity has been exercised in patching old garments with serm, bits of old coats, and even canvas ; and yet decency is shocked with the " Highland" appearance of our men. Occasionally an old blanket is found to bo a useful article among them to cover their nakedness, though it looks rather Maori-like, \md is a " demilitarised" dress. Highland iWtume may be pleasant and cool, as Brian ©'Lynn j says, in summer, although some Wight perhaps think it objectionable in the Neighborhood of mosquito 3, but few who wave, not served an early apprenticeship ttnhe style would choose it for their winter dras. Perhaps if you cannot raise trousers nor the poor fellows, the ladies could contribute someof their old garments, and thusco.mplfye the demilitarisation of our constabulary.',' From a private letter; received by « gentleman in Christchurch,, by last mai. from Auckland, it is said that Long Drivi shares l\ave fallen to ,£16.,