TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VI, Issue 286, 4 May 1875, Page 5

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

[from our own correspondent.] ■'/.I; 1 '- us 1•• t‘ !■> 1 r f n £ ( D U NED I N. / : Y ■'■■■■■ 1 Monday, 8 p.m. At the inquest held on the body of the woman Jeffrey, held on Friday, the prisoner Orossan was present in custody. After taking medical and other evidence, the inquiry was adjourned. A'painful rumour, which was soon found to be correct, obtained currency on Saturday, to the effect that Mr Langse»n, woolbroker, was missing from homeland that it was supposed he had committed suicide. He lived near Caversham, and on a search party being sent out, his body was discovered in the bush at the back of his house. It is supj Dosed he poisoned Himself with strychnine le bought on Thursday. Late mavy losses which ho had sustained in his business are supposed to have induced the act. The number of births in Dunedin during April were 130; the deaths were and the marriages 32. _ \ ■ The Governor is to leave Christchurjh for Dunedin to-morrow. \ At the half-yeirly meeting of the Bark of New Zealand, hdd at Auckland on Wednesday, the report diowed the net profits to be £48,058. \ At the inquest on the body of Langseigi,e this afternoon, tie jury found a verdict ty the effect that tie deceased died from thq effects of strychnkie, taken while in a state of temporary insanity, , The result of the polling in the Waikouaiti election to-day for a member of the House of Representatives in the room of J. L. Gillies, resigned, was— M'Lean, 203; Rich, 164. OPENING OF THE PROVINCIAL . COUNCIL. His Honor the Superintendent opened the thirty-fourth session of the Provincial Council in a very lengthy speech to-day. The reading of the address was followed by some formal business, and then the hon. Speaker entered into an explanation regarding his intention to resign his office as Speaker, in consequeice of some members holding the opinion tlat the two offices of Speaker and Secretary \o the Harbour Board should not be held by him. He therefore intended to forward ha resignation at the close of the session, in erder to give members an opportunity of electhg another Speaker, if they wish. i , John Armstrong took his seat for Mount Ida, being introduced byDe Latonr and J. 0. Brown. He subsequently gave notice that to-morrow he would nove the Reply to Address. Wellington; April 30. Mr Adam Bnrnes has retired from the office of General Manager of the National Bank. Mr Bridges, one of the London Directors, who has been for sohe time on a

visit of inspection, will act pro tern.

Our Arrow correspondent telegraphed yesterday;—“ A Ghiunman hangpd himself ia bis hut at Cardrona yesterday, hj a lit of insanity.” i

The charge of perjury brought 'against Mrs D, Powell on the information of W. J. Barry was heard at Queenstown on Saturday, nnd resulted in a complete failure to establish guilt. The Magistrate remarked that the ]*iy left the Court without a stain on lier reputation. The Home mail via San Ft-sn cisco closes at the‘local office this day, at 2.30 p.m., and that by way of Suez on Thursdiy next, at the same hour. The Postmaster reqiests us to intimate that in future the Monday mails for Arrow and Queenstown will be cbsed on Sunday afternoon at 5 p. m.

Within the past few day? the weather has assumed quite a wintry aspect, which culminated yesterday iu a miserablr wet, cold day, such as is seldom experienced lure even ift midwinter, Evidently our coal merchants’ fervest is approaching, while the drapery establishments are displaying new and large consignments of seasonable raiment. The surrounding lulls arc pretty heavily coated with-snow, givingindications of an early winter —indeed, the dejjth was yesterday so great on the Garrick Rarge that the Nevis mailman failed to ge; through

The topographical knowledge cf some of the postal officials must lie very limited, as an instance brought under oir notice vill show. Mr Solomon, merchant, of this town recently Tcceived a letter from a mercantile firmin Christchurch, the postal mark ihowing tbit it left that place on Match 2frd. The address is legibly written, and couldnot, one -weald think, be mistaken by the merest schoolboy “ Cromwell, Otago,” being particularly distinct. The letter is endorsed “nissent to Auckland,” missent to Coromande,” “ missentto Kapanga,” and as a climax, ‘This letter hai been raissent to Coromandel thee times” ! Comment on such stupid blundering is unnecessary

Previous to Mr MacKellav leaving for his duties in the Provincial Council a deputation of directors in the Carick Eange Water Supply Co. waited upon him with a view t j obtain his recommendation to ;he Government towards assisting the associatiffi (in the shape of a loan) to complete this moa important anl necessary work. We under Sand Mr MacKclfar expressed the opinion that tie undertaking vas one well deserving of Govirument assistance, from the fact that, when completed, it yould render woikable a large irca of known auriferous ground which now lies unutilised for wmt of water ; and promised touse his best influence to further the wishes of tb company; We hnccrcly trust Government wil render assistance to the extent desired, as thee is not the slightest doubt that this water suply when brought in will be the means of givin- employment to hundreds of men, and will also fonsiderably augment the revenue of th« Provine. / 1

His Excellency the Governor, and suite are expected in Dunedin on Friday next, and will remain ten days or a fortnight. Mr Lowther Broad, R.M., and formerly Warden of the Arrow District, was called to the bar oh the 29th ult. Judge Gillies complimented him highly on his successful examination, and said no doubt he would prove an honor to the bar.

We have received a letter from Queenstown, under date 27th ult., in which the writer says :—Great excitement in Queenstown this morning on receiving the girl Charlotte Sloane, after serving one month in Queenstown gaol. A buggy was drawn up to the gaol-yard to receive Miss Sloane, and she was driven through the streets of Queenstown, having with her the sympathy of the people.”

An eight-roomed house, valued, with contents, at £llOO (uninsured), situate in Heriot Row, Dunedin, was destroyed by fire on Friday morning. Scarcity of water alone prevented the property being saved. The Corporation water supply has recently been very limited, residents on the upper levels being unable to obtain any of the element, while others have been regulated to a bucketful per day.

In a postal notice elsewhere will be found published full details of the service under the new—or rather old-renewed—system. Let us hope the Chief of the department will see fit to study the public interest to some little extent, and not allow this most important branch of our government to assume weather-cock characteristics. Unless very good and urgent grounds exist, a service upon the regularity of which so much depends should not be trifled with, to the inconvenience and annoyance of the public.

Mr Geoi’ge Millar, head master of the Rvercargill Grammar School, died last week Tie deceased gentleman assumed his duties about 16 months ago, having succeeded the late Mr Andrew Fleming, a teacher of great promise, who; like his successor, died from consumption. Mr Millar had, previous to his appointment to the Invercargill Grammar School, held the post of assiaijant-master in the Scotch College, Melbourne, and the ability which he undoubtedly possessed was probably matured in that excellent scholastic establishment. At a special meeting of the Dunstan Hospital Committee on Thursday evening, Ur Allan was granted leave of absence to visit Dunedin, Dr Corse having arranged to take charge of the Institution during Dr Allan’s absence. The question of the indebtedness of the Cromwell District to the Institution was also considered, when, after discussion, it was reolved that the Treisurer make out a statement and send same to tin* Chairman of the Cromwell Local Committee of the Dunstan District Hospital.

It is greatly feared that the whole of the salmon ova received by the Timaru has proved lifeless. From the entire absence in the eggs of even the signs of life—such as the eyes ot the young fish, which were to be seen in previous shipments—it is conjectured that, even- had the Timaru made a good voyage, the result would still have been—failure. The causes are being Ihcussed, but no very credible hypothesis has yet been started. The ice kept good all the way—one foot of solid ice being found above the top box when the shipment was broken. The Mount Ida Chronicle records two mining accidents in that district last week. Robert Paisley, while working in Cuffie’s claim, at Clark’s diggings, fell off the wire rope suspending an iron fluming. He fell fully forty feet, but fortunately was not killed. One thigh was dislocated, and one of the small bones of the arm slightly fractured.— H. Woodhill, while working in a claim with M. N. Cooper and Denis Murphy at Naseby, got buried in a fall of earth. When rescued he appeared to be suffering greatly, and was at once removed to the hospital. He was found to be badly hurt—one arm being fractured in three places, and the chest and ribs being also badly injured.

For the benefit of those interested, we reprint the following paragraph from our Queenstown contemporary :—“ The latest day to lodge applications for publican’s licenses is the 10th May. The Court sits on the Ist Juno. It will be the only quarterly meeting at which any new publicans’ licenses can be granted, the other quarterly meetings being held for the purpose of transferring licenses. Bottle licenses can only be applied for at the June sitting, and the form of Schedule E has to be altered so as to suit the purpose. New hotels cannot now have any retail store attached to them Renewals of licenses can only be made at this June meeting. Publicans'applying for renewals need not attend the Court personally or by solicitor unless notice of objection have been sent them by the Clerk of the Court.”

Our Queenstown correspondent gives details of a sensational scene which took place there on Wednesday last, when Mr Henry Manners, M.P.0., was subjected to the indignity of a severe horsewhipping at the hands of Mr D. Powell, auctioneer. This little “episode,” as Artemus would call it. arose out of those cases in which Mr William Jackson Barry has recently been a prominent actor. Since the hearing of the cases, letters have appeared in the Waha tip Mail reflecting to some extent on Mr and Mrs Powell, ami in the writing of these letters Mr Powell rightly suspected Mr Manders had some hand. Boused to anger, the knight of the hammer “went for” Mr Manders, who appears to have been “knocked down” in a very summary manner. For this breach of the peace, Mr Powell was arraigned before Mr Heetham, 8.M., who sentenced him to 14 days’ imprisonment, without hard labor. A rehearing was applied for and granted for Saturday last, when the Bench found mitigating circumstances sufficient to warrant it in inflicting a fine of £lO in lien of imprisonment. Our correspondent says this reversal of judgment gave popular satisfaction. Everyone who knows Mr Powell will give him credit for having assaulted Mr Manders rather in the heat of passion than after cool and calm reflection, as has been stated. Looking at all the circumstances, one cannot help thinking Mr Powell was as much sinned against as sinning. It is a difficult matter for a man to restrain himself when he and his family are dragged into the public print, and his wife forced to answer to a, groundless criminal charge.

At last week’s sitting of the Waste Lauds Board, the opinion was expressed that the services of a solicitor to the Board alone would be of ad vantage —one who could give his whole time to the business. The Chief Commissioner Said he often required the assistance of a solicitor at a moment’s notice. Mr Reid approved of the idea, but said he was in doubt as to whether the Government would agree to pay the salary of a solicitor to the Board.

A Dunedin contemporary claims to be in possession of private information from which it learns that the Attorney-General of England is in communication with Mr Angus Alphonso Macdonald, J.P., of Hokinui (Mataura), who was a fellow-student, friend, and companion of the late Roger Tichborno, at Stoneyhurst, and was actually present with Lord Bellew whilst the disputed tattooing operation was performed on Tiehborne’s arm. There are other important points on which Macdonald’s evidence throws light, and, amongst others, the contents of the mysterious sealed packet of which so much was heard at the trial. In fact, it seemingly falls to the lot of this witness to for ever fasten the bolts that imprison Arthur Orton. The surprising portion of this information is, that Mr Angus Alphonse Macdonald, J. P,, did not volunteer his evidence at an earlier stage of the proceedings. Clearly, we shall never hear the last of the Tichborne case.