GENERAL NEWS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 158, 19 November 1872, Page 7

GENERAL NEWS.

PBOVINCIAL AND COLONIAL. A salt spring has been found near Wellington.

Two new morning papers are projected in Dunedin.

Bathing machines are to be introduced this summer at the Thames. £225 were one day's proceeds at a Church of England bazaar held lately in Oamaru. " Revival" services have been held in the Wesleyan Church at Christen urch. The Lyttelton Times says Lurline must be considered the best filly in New Zealand. The Bruce Herald, after the New Year, is to come out as a bi-weekly of eight pages. 3000 persons were presentpn the first day of the Canterbury races. The weather was olorious. ° Trade in Auckland appears to be far from flourishing. • Bankruptcies are greatly on the increase.

By an Act passed last session, any person having in his possession a dead tui may be fined £2O. A man named William Bardsley was killed at Surface Hill, Mount Ida, on Nov. 9, by a fall of earth. The Bishop of Dunedin and party,—including two clergymen for the diocese, —have arrived from England. The Christian M'Ausland is to arrive at Port Chalmers in the beginning of December with 323 immigrants.

Lighterage from Port Chalmers to Dunedin is now at 4s. per ton. Before the completion of the railway, Bs. was charged. The severe frosts in the Wakatip district, as.in this, destroy blue gums. The Mail af . poplars are being largely planted. V'"he natives at Wanganui lately burnt down bridges, which cost L.600. The matter is said to have no political significance. The repoi'ted discovery of a quartz reef at picton, and the obtaining <">f lOlbs. of rich specimens, are contradicted by the Press. The price paid by Mr Walter for Peeress was L.BOO. He scratched her for the Cup, thinking Yatterina was perfectly fit to win. At Addison's the other day, according to the Westpurt Times, a Miss Jane Cochrane was the purchaser of a tunnel claim for £7OO. Tiie Chinese leper who had been in the Lawrence lazaretto for some time past was discharged a day or two ago, stout and strong. At Wallacetown, Southland, a wheat paddock of fourteen acres had to be ploughed and sown over again, owing to the ravages of the

grub. Bishop Moraii has been appointed by the Pope to the Bishopric of Wellington, which lie is to hold in conjunction with that of Dunedhi.

The Green Harp directors, who were to be l>rosocnt,ed, could not be found in answer to bail. It is believed they levanted in a small B;h< toner.

Ldmbing in the Waitaki district has shown an exceptionally high average this season, although there have bjen some losses from the severe weather.

A Southland paper says the General Go-

vernment have accepted tenders for the erection of immigrants' barracks at Port William, Stewart's Island.

Yatterina has accomplished the quickest urile-and-a-half yet run in New Zealand, winning the Metropolitan Handicap at the Canterbury meeting in 2.45. At the Market-house luncheon, Auckland, Mr Swan son, M.H.R., characterised the General Assembly as a " festering sink of iniquity and corruption." A theatrical troupe has set out from Dunedin for a tour of the goldfields. It includes Misses Anstead and Bray, Messrs J. P. Hydes, South, and others. The Timaru Herald mentions a fowl in the Orari district which possesses four wings, four eyes, two tails, one head, two bodies as far as the chest, and one eye.

A tender of £3499 for the construction of

a market-place has been accepted by the Auckland City Council. The next highest tender was only one pound more. Two tons 4 dwt. of stone from the Gabriel's Rock. Quartz Mining Co.'s claim, Tuapeka, only yielded 1 dwt. 15 grs., when crushed at the Government battery, Dunedin. Agricultural shows held recently in Oamaru, Timaru, Christchurch, and Auckland have heeu very successful. At that in Christchurch, 10,000 people were present. Recently in Auckland, O'Hare, a pedestrian, gave Signor Donato, the one-legged dancer, 40 yards in a 100 yards' race. The Signor hopped in only a yard behind. At Flagstaff, near Dunedin, peat superior to that of Scotland has been found. The proprietors of the Dunedin Distillery have hitherto imported this article of fuel. By the Dacotah, from California, at the end of tliis month, an Italian circus, consisting of fifty performers and fifty trained horses, is to arrive for a tour of New Zealand.

As an illustration of the caprice displayed by miners in naming their claims, an Auckland paper reports that "the Bismarck lode in the Siege of Paris level looks well." An oatmeal mill, with all the latest im-

l "mements, was made the other day at the foundry of Messrs Fraser, Wishart, and Co., for Mr Gilmour, of Hayes Lake, near Arrowtown.

Wanganui is reported to be rapidly advancing in prosperity. Nbw building's are constantly being erected, the streets are now well formed, and the shipping trade is geatly on the increase.

John Ewing, who shot the Chinaman at St. Bathans, after four months' incarceration n| gaol, has been liberated ; as also lias the Chinaman who war, imprisoned for assault at the Tinkers squabble.

At Tuapeka, a week or two ag~>, a Chinaman attempted to commit suicide by plugging hi 3 nostrils with paper. The attempt was not an immediate success ; but he died within a day or two. The Taupo hot springs are likely to be an attractive resort for tourists during the coming summer. Bathing houses are being put up, and it is expected the coach road will be through before New Year. The. Auckland correspondent of the Daily Times says it is roundly declared there that Messrs Brogden are getting £120,000 or £IBO,OOO more for the Waikato railway than it would have cost if public tenders had been called for..

Mr Freer, M.P.C., of Auckland, who died the other day, was refused Christian burial, or absolution, by the Catholic priest, unless he renounced Freemasonry. This he did, but his body was not buried in Catholic ground, because the Masons insisted upon holding ceremonies at the funeral. The Cadets in Auckland don't always " fetch" the target, as Mark Twain would say, when at riile-practice. A bullet went crashing through the window of a private house the other day, just in the place where a gentleman had been standing a minute or i two before, and lodged in the wall. Tn a recent letter to the Field in London, B*r Kingsley stated that a few years ago, the Maories consumed no less than 30,000 sharks a year ; and he expressed it as his opinion that the late increase in the number of sharks in New Zealand waters was owing to comparatively few of them being now eaten by the natives, who prefer mutton. Mr D. L. Simpson, C.E., reports that an average supply of water, amounting to fortyj five Government heads, and a minimum supi ply of not less than twenty-five Government heads in extremely dry seasons, can be brought in from the Manuherikia to Naseby without prejudice to existing rights, for the sum of i £20,000, traversing a line of not more than i fifty-five miles in length, presenting no engineering difficulty. The Colonial Government I will immediately call for tenders for the work. : — Evening Star. The Tuapeka 'Times says : —" Mr John Ah j Tong, of Wellington, Mr Brogden's agent, I arrived in Tuapeka on Saturday night. His j mission is to procure Chinese labour for the J construction of the Clutha railway. He offers I ss. Cd. a day for Chinese labourers, and Bs. j per day for skilled workmen. He has up to I the present time been prettv successful, having obtained about 20!) Celestials. The number required bv -ilr Brogden is about 500." I 320 men, including masons and quarrymen, I are already employed by the firm on their I section of the work.

AUSTRALIAN. The Victorian International Exhibition was to open on Nov. 6.

The Pope has sent his benediction to the Australian clergv bv telegraph. The Deceased Wife's Sister' Marriage Bill is expected to pass in Victoria. From London to Melbourne by telegraph occupies three hours ten minutes. Disgraceful squabbles are said to have taken place at a late Presbyterian Assembly in Sydney.

A Miss Turner preached recently in the Unitarian Church in Melbourne to a crowded congregation.

The Australian Colonists in London are arranging a grand public banquet to inaugurate the opening of the through telegraph. A Sydney telegram says : Beyers and Holternian, at Tambaroora, obtained 15,000 ounces of gold from a crushing of 400 tons of stone.

A man in Victoria recently left £lO to be divided between his three next of kin, and recommended them to walk righteously before the Lord, and abstain from quarrelling over the munificent legacy he had loft them!

EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. The Queen of Holland is visiting England. 60,000 emigrants have left England for America.

Agrarian violence is rife in Ireland, and several landlords have been shot. 30,000 horses in New York have been stricken with a new and singular epidemic.

The Princess Beatrice has been betrothed to the Marquis of Stafford, eldest son of the Duke of Sutherland.

Mr Roebuck, at Sheffield, eulogised the House of Lords as being the greatest safeguard the country possessed.

The British Court is in mourning for the deaths of the Xing of Sweden and the Princess Hohenlohe, sister-in-law to Queen Victoria. Another attack has been made on the life of the King of Spain by two men. They were pursued by the police, but escaped. The King was unhurt. The American papers consider General Grant's return as President to be certain. Greeley is said to be disgusted. Great political excitement prevails. A collision occurred between the Edinburgh train and another one at Kirtle Bridge. Great loss of life was occasioned. The station master has been arrested.

The London Costermongers are starving, in consequence of the failure of the fruit crop. Great distress exists in the country districts since the harvest ended. Tho deficiency of the wheit crop in England is estimated at thirty milion bushels. A conspiracy hal been discovered in New York among the police and detectives to fasten the murder of Nathan on one Forrester, who, however, has provxl an alihi. The reason for the conspiracy was the desire to obtain the reward of 50,100 dols. ollered for the 1 conviction of the irmderer.

, Water-Supply upon Gold-fields. By the " Immigration and Public Works Act," passed during last session, it is provided that monetary advances in aid of works for the supply of water upon gold-fields may amount to one-half of the capital proposed to be expended upon such works, instead of onethird as previously. . We reprint the clauses, forming part ix. of the Act, which deal with

the matter : " *. , 49. Notwithstanding anything to the con- I trary in the said amending Act, [the '' Ini- 1 migration and Public Works Act Amendment Act, 1871,"] the advances which may be re- ] commended and made under Part vm. of the i said amending Act in aid of the construction, extension, aim improvement of waterworks, ' may be any sums r.ot exceeding one-half of the estimated cost of such works.—so. The , provisions of Part in. and of Part vm. of the said Act, and, so far as they apply to waterworks, of Part vm. of the said amending Act, shall apply not only to works for the supply of water, but also to sludge channels, drains, and other works for the removal of the wash and refuse matter oozing or flowing from gold mining claims. During the discussion upon this Bill in the House, Mr Bradshaw and Mr Mervyn are I reported in Hansard to have thus spoken : i Mr Bradshaw did not intend to oppose the Bill, but wished to refer to its provisions re-! specting water supply to the gold-fields, and though he did not agree with them, he would not go so far as to move an amendment in, Committee, because the House had made up | its mind on the matter. He wished to dis- j sent from the principle laid down in the Bill, I of aiding and assisting private water supply | j companies on the gold-fields, and especially j !in Otago. He was clearly of opinion that J I most of the money which it was proposed to I i appropriate to the purpose of diverting streams \ I from their natural course to places where it i ! was thought gold would be found, would be j j a dead loss to the country. What was wanted | in the Province of Otago was the conservation | of water, which, during a large portion of the '' year, was wasted and lost. They wanted some I well-defined scheme for conserving, by means i of water-races and reservoirs placed in various I districts throughout the whole of the Pro-1 : vinces by Government, by which not only the j mining community, but other communities, | j would bo enabled to obtain water by tapping j j these reservoirs, and paying for the water I when tapped. He simply made these reI marks to place his views upon record, because I he was of opinion that most of the money j which would go to aid these private companies | would bo entirely lost, because good com- | panics ccmld get money on better terms than j they could obtain it from the Government, j and all those companies which were bad and I doubtful the Government would be called j upon to aid. Mr Mervyn wished to record his dissent ; from the views which had been expressed by I the honorable member who had just sat down, ! for he thought there were many cases in which [\ it was the duty of the Government to aid | private enterprise. He could quite understand that in some instances such assistance . might be attended with the evils the honor- | ablo member complained of, and that it might jbe undesirable to interfere with private en- [; terprise ; but, on the other hand, when the ' | circumstances of the Colony, and especially lof the gold-fields, were considered, and it j I was remembered that there were not many ?: capitalists on the gold-fields, and there were i many large works beyond the power of the I I gold-fields to undertake, it would be admitted I : that it was desirable that the Government , should assist private enterprise in the coni struction of water-races. He concurred in ' i the observation of the honorable member for I Waikaia, that the chief advantage to be derived from the Government scheme, to aid [and assist in bringing in water-supply to .the gold-fields, would be in the conservation r j of water, and he thought a great deal of the I £300,000 appropriated by the House could I be very well spent on the storing- of water on I the various gold-fields. He was sure that II on the Mount Ida gold-field more than half I the water was wasted simply from the want li of reservoirs in which it could be stored. It 3 was the same in the Mount Benger district, j and he believed that, by the expenditure of 3 £IOOO, to construct a dam or reservoir there, - j double the quantity of water could be made ! available for mining purposes. He considered 3 the Bill one of a most useful character.