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Dunstan Times, Issue 258, 5 April 1867, Page 2

The usual fortnight'y escort left Clyde j on Tuesday last, taking down to Punedin the following quantities of gold : I (lvde, 701 oz. Alexandra, ... 3.-2 Cromwell, 500 „ Queenstown, ... 560 ~ Total, 2163 02. An important change has been resolved upon, in con ection with the Treasury Kscort Service; and, commenci g during the present month, the service Com l'u - stan to ! nnedin will be performed under contract, ly Messrs Hoy!. Chaplin, and Co That firm has contracted, for .£BOO a-year, to convey fortnightly, by its mail coaches, the gold from the Dnnstan and intermediate fields, and also to provide seats for armed officers who will be in charge of the treasure. 'J ho couch, conveying gold, will, in addition, be escorted from station to station by mounted officers, until Wtikouaiti is reached; and there, an escort from Dunedin will be in waiting, to accompany it to town. The officers who come down in the coach will be armed with Spencer's repeating ride—a very formidable American weapon '1 he new contract will not in any way interfere with Messrs lloyt, Chaplin, and Co.'s contract for the conveyance of tho mails. There will still remain the escort service from the Wakatipu and i uapeka district's to be performed by the police-force as at present. Upon the item " Treasury Escort Service," as it appears in tho Appropriation Act, the new arrangement will effect a saving of near £2OOO a-year; but that amount will not in fact be saved, as the Government will have to pay, in future, for the conveya ce to town of prisoners and officers in charge of them, and for officers coming down to attc.'.d the sessions, for whom seats have hitherto been provided in the escort waggon. The con met which has just been made -and which was not concluded until late on Saturday—is only the carrying out of a p'.au which was recbm mended by the commissioner of Police months ago; and the delay has been mainly due to the necessary difiic-il'ies that hav© miic'e, '■■■.<■ contract i;s for ' 'dve month': •■»;'■ - : is to m; vible at the end o r nix raxitcf, hud he 'icv-r/njit nt find v. i sped •.•■ !■. :■. ink.- i.U'/i :. eouive. ! a *v

It is our painful duty to recrd the death by drowning of a little boy, about 2 years of age, the son of Mr Robert Fiulay, of the. firm of Hall and Finlay, Alexandra, |f appears the little fellow must have fallen into the Water Race that runs on the , West bank of the Molyneux, and which terminates at the Frenchman's beach, and being unable through the rapid flow of wa ter to gain his footing, was drowned.v-.A large • umber of friends from the immediate neighborhood, and from Clyde, 'followed the remains to the New Cemetery at Alexandra on .Tuesday last. In respect to the withdrawal from sale of the " runs" in tha Wakatip District, we have been informed upon reliable authority that he Attorney General of New Zealand, gave it as his opinion, that the late Superintendent, Mr Dick had exceed-. e.i.t his powers in respect to certain regula tions relating to Lands withia Gold-fields. Mr Stafford upon leing made aware of the fact, at once communicated with the Pro vincial Government, aud with Messrs Driver aud M'Lonn desiring that the lands shou'd not Le sold. Writing on the subject of the Elections, the "Tuapeka Press " thus grandiloquently expresses itself.—" Mr Shepherd announced during his candidature that he intended to take up his residence permanently at i awrence, so that we may reckon that all three of the successful candidates are Tuapeka men. In addition to this, r M. Hay, a gentleman thoroughly identified with this district, has secured a seat in the Provincial Council as member for Wakatip, so that with Mr Hughes, who has been returned by a large majority for this district, we have no less than five local men in the Council." it is reported from California that a Chinese newspaper is to he established iu t-an Francisco. Type aud compositors have been imported irom China, and complete arrangements are being made to commence the publication of a weekly i ewspaper in the native language of the Celestials. 'J he Hon. J. F. Sullivan of Victoria has been eletcd without opposition for the lilectoral Dis rict of Mauduraug. A most disastrous tire occurred iu Princes Street, Duuediu ou Monday night, last. It is said to have originated uear the Criterion Hotel, and consumed the whole of the buildings from there to the, corner of Stuart Street, opposite ft Paul's tuurck. On the opposite side of Princes Ptrcet, a number of buildings were also consumed, amongst them that handsome new brick building the .South Australian betel. Dr Frayne has just returned from a visit to tho Barrier Ranges. He reports SCO men working on Lambert's run, on the eastern slopes of the range Holes have been sunk 5 to 15 feet, and good shotty guild obtained at the rate of from an ounce to an ounce and a half to the tub, and seven and eight pennyweights to the tin dish had been obtained. The diggers had taken possession of a waterholc on the stotlon containing water, which, although brackish, was available for domestic purposes. Mne parties were engaged sinking for water. Every one was pleased with the diggings. Bullocks were sel ir.g at £ls per head, and people coming in all directions. The squatters seek to keep the 'matter quiet. 1 r Frayne says the diggings will maintain from 10.000 to 20,000 people. From tho " West Coast Times " we learn that a most determined case of suicide occurred in Ilokitika on Saturday the 23rd nit. Mr I). Jones, of the firm of Jones and Leslie, auctioneers, Ucvell Street, was observed, about half past five o'clock, in front of his store, gazing strange ly above and around him, and immediately afterwards retired inside and closed the premises. He must then have proceeded to the back room and laid violent hands upon himself, as at half past six Mr Leslie who was about proceeding to tea at theCommercial Hotel, thought ho would fir.-1 see if the store was all right, and entered it by the bock way. There -a most horrible spectacle met his gaxe, for on the floor denuded of clothing to the waist, with his throat fearfully gashed, lay his unfortunate partner, quite deed. The scene was sickening, and beggars description, tic' floor being flooded with blood, and a'so bespattered the looki' g glass and dressing table, and drenched the body from head to heel- Inexpressibly horrified, Mr Leslie staggered out again, aud rushed to the Fo- | lice Camp, immediately retuvnirg with senior sergeant Hieksou and sergeant Clemen!?, and Dr Kyley, who happened to be there. 'iho latter examined the body which was yet warm, and at once pronounced life to be quite extinct. In fact ritath must have been instantaneous, ns iua windpipe aud arteries were complete")severu) ; the cut on the right, side extendi; : Lack to the vertebra. From the man e; ... i which the blocd 'was scattered it '•■'.-... -■lid'.-L.t tha the deed must have be6U

commuted in a standing position before the looking g'ass, the surface of the inirror being sprinkled with blood,-that lay in large splashes upon tliu dressing table, tho edge of which bore the impression of four bloody fingers, where the wretched man had made a despairing grasp as he fell backwards. The rash act is supposed to have been committed during an attack of " delirium tremens." . We extract the following from the an. uual report of " Greymouth Hospital com mittee"— "The Committee cannot close their report without adverting to the very valuable assistance of \)v Morice, not alone professionally but personally; and also to state that from the straitened - pecuniary position they have hitherto held they have ' been debarred from admitting patieirr-, whose eases in many irstaiice's would have been deemed worthy c.f iis'.ant iindoor treatment, but who were thus compelled to bo treated as outdoor patient?. When such was the case none but the very worst cases were admitted, and to this greatly must be attributed the heavy expenses of management and the comparative ratio of mortality. A glance at Dr Jloricc's report shews that less than 10 per' cent, had bee.i that ratio, and as 12 of the 109 total of admitted patients were chronic cases, and long incurable inmates when he took charge, the Committee think the public will agree with them in saying that the Institution haw fully proved its usefulness and power to meet the demands made upon its medical skill a d care. In addition, however, to the 109 admitted as indoor patients, there must be added !B'J who have received the benefit of outdoor treatment during the last six months ; and that such large numbers have been eared for and treated at the comparatively small sum, as shown by the sheet, shows ihat while nothing was neglected to combat disease, yet strict economy of management required to be and was exercised by those immediately iu charge. —" Urey Itiver Arg:*." We learn from the l; West Coast .Time.-.' of Thursday, that the first case of infringe.ment of the Stamp Act was brought before the Kesidoat-Uiigistrate at Hokitika, on Wednesday : —Jonathan Hitler was charged with Laving given an I 0 U to William >*ahr withouthavingattimped tho same. Mr 1 [prnc appeared for the Crown, and Mr Kees for die defence. V\ iiliam JS'abr, sworn, deposed that defendant gave liim an 1 0 U fcr To 9s in January h-i, ■jnyablc fourtovii days after date ; defen. daut said he had not a stamp about hiir and requested witness to put one oh, which' | he did the same evening or nex-t morning! i Mr I'.ees maintained that an I '.) U was j not a promissory note, and that the - tump ; Act had never been infringed by either of j the parties, and no infraction of the law had taken place; he also contended that either party could stamp an instrument < f the kind after it had been made. Mr 1! orne said that an 10 J was a promissory note, and that he had only to prove the no -.stamping of the instrument 11 the time it was made, which he contended hu had done, and i.o option was left his Worship but to intlict the penalty. ilia Worship reserved judgment, till next day. We notice that the person at Hokitika against whom the first prosecution has been brought for a breach of the Stamp \cthas been fined £SO. '1 he Magistrate said that the Act gave him no option but to inflict the full line when th< j oftencu was proved. Mr liees, for tho defence, gave notice of appeal. It will be remem bered that the charge w,is lor bavin" 1 given an I 0 U for above £5 without stamping it. £SO to pay for omitting to place a penny stamp, should act as a ' caution" to the public. i ho claims at Frenchman's Bench, promises to turn ou ; Splendidly this winter, the wash dirt now being obtained in tho '•'renchman's claim promises somcthing-ex-traordi ary, and should the season only prove favorable, the shareholders ought to divide at least £ - 2COJ per man.