Provincial and General.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 25, 4 May 1870, Page 7

Provincial and General.

At a late meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society it was stated that the General Government had placed £250 ia the hands of Mr Grey, the inspector in charge of the San Francisco mails, for introducing birds, plants, and animals from California. Chamberlain, the man who was convicted in 1867 of having been guilty of perjury in giving evidence in favour of Bui'gess and gang at the time of the camp robbery on the West Coast, and sentenced to foyr years’ imprisonment, has been charged with repeated contravention of the gaol regulations at Hokitika, and the charge having been proved, he was sentenced to receive thirty lashes with the cat-o’-ninetails'. The mining prospects of Westland, after a season of unparalleled depression throughout the county, have at length commenced to improve. We (Evening Star) hear the most favorable accounts from the older established districts ; and the later rushes are, as a rule, turning out very well. In addition to this, news occasionally reaches us of payable gold being discovered in entirely new ground—on the beaches and in the rivers of the far south, and in the new country in the districts of Lake Kanieri and Lake Brunner. A telegram in a contemporary states that another serious fire broke out at four a.m. on Tuesday last in Boundary-street, Greymouth. The following buildings were' totally destroyed :—The Grey River Argus printing office ; Reay’s (merchant tailor) ; M'Naughton’s; Kittelty’s boot and shoe warehouse; Winsch’s furniture warehouse; and Levinski’s and the Boundary hotels. The damage is estimated at upwards of £4OOO, not a shilling of which is covered by insurance. The writer of- “ Town Talk,” in the Wanganui Chronicle , contributes the following amusing paragraph :— ‘ By the way, while speaking of officials, I am reminded of a good story of a gentleman, holding very high office in the neighboring province of Taranaki, He was travelling hereabouts not very long ago, and had occasion to taka his ease for a short time at an inn at Turakina. He is temperate—all officials who are indulging in expectations are verytemperate at present, —and he called for a draught of pure water, and a very small quantity of bread and cheese. Mine host supplied the wants of the traveller, who by-and-byo sought his bill He was- told that a snack of that kind was not charged. “ But I prefer paying,” said the great main- “ Oh, very well. What you please," was the rejoinder. Whereupon the high official took three pennies from his pocket, and laid them down upon the table. “ That,” said the landlord, wich a sly twinkle in the eye, which, however, was lost upon the traveller, “"that is too much. Allow mo to return you one of the pennies." The superfluous copper was graciously received back again, and the gentleman went on his way, in the full consciousness of an overflowing liberality.’ In our last issue we • had a > paragraph > announcing the death of Mr Lawrence Lazard through intense excitement, caused • by an adverse J udgment in the Auckland Police Court. We take the following particulars of the melancholy occurrence from the Auckland Herald :—ln the death of .. Mr Lawrence Lazard on Saturday evening, . it is our painful duty to record one of the most melancholy instances of the uncertainty of life that has ever occurred in this city, Mr Lazard had been charged by the Customs authorities with a breach of the “Customs Regulations Act Amendment Act, 1868,” in that he had caused to be entered oertaim casks as containing earthenware, paying threepence per cubic foot for Customs duty, .which, casks ■ were ■ alleged ■ by the Customs officers to contain Parian ware and glassware, thereby being liable to a duty of one shilling per cubic foot. There were eight charges, one of which has been the subject of investigation before the Resident Magistrate during Friday and Saturday last. After a careful trial the Resident Magistrate was constrained by. the peculiar stringency of the Customs Act to find for the Customs authorities. The penalty, as laid down by statute, is a fine of £IOO, or six months’ imprisonment ; and, as interpreted, without appeal. Px-eliminary steps were taken by the counsel for the defence for removing the trial of the remaining charges to the Supreme Court; and the Court rose at about four o’clock. Mr Lazard elected togo to prison in preference to paying the fine, although members of some of the first firms in the city came forward with cheques for the amount. His committal had been made out, and he was waiting for the officers at the rear of the Court House. He was observed to have become greatly dejected—even weeping,—and was beingcheered up by a friend, when he complained of feeling ill. He was helped out into the corridor for fresh air, and laid down, when, in a few moments, and without the least struggle, he breathed his last. Dr Nicholson was immediately in. attendance, but at once pronounced him beyond the aid of earthly power. The sad intelligence spread, rapidly through, the-city, and great numbers, of business men came to look on theremains of one who had so recently been in their midst; and the scene in the corridor of the Courthouse, when strong mem wept, Wiis exciting in the extreme..