INTERPROVINCIAL AND INTERCOLONIAL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 887, 18 April 1879, Page 3

INTERPROVINCIAL AND INTERCOLONIAL.

It is stated In Auckland that the validity of t*'e land tax will he called i(i question there on various grounds by a test case, if a collt-ctioi,i-is attempted. ,v i

Fidget was sentenced to ton years’ imprisonment in Auckland for fire-raising. On being sentenced he spat at Judge Gillies. At the inquest on the; body of William Pitt, solicitor, held at Greyinouth, the jury returned a verdict . “ that deceased was accidentally drowned in the Ahaura on March 30th, and that every exertion was was made by tbbse on shore to save him." ’ . Arthur J. N. Goodwyn of Timaru, was committed for trial for fraudulent bankruptcy, by concealing a large quantity of goods from his creditoVs,’ The latest novelty in Wellington is the opening of a shop by a female hairdresser.

The schooner Tubal Cain, which was wrecked some time ago on the Group, has been recovered, and has arrived in Auckland from Levuka, . A Maori, whilst working, in a sawmill at Auckland, was severely injured about the head by a falling tree. It is feared it will prove fatal. > a < >ne Peter, lately r»siding a| Urenni, New Plymouth, was found dead last Saturday on the sea beach, near the Bell Block, in a kneeling position, with his head in the sand. He is supposed to have fallen from his horse in a state, of intoxication, .and to have been suffocated in the sand.

Robert Drew, a carpenter in Wellington, burst a blood-vessel recently, and died in half-an-honr.

During the last eight weeks the traffic on the Wellington tramway averaged about 15,000 a week.

The report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the escape of Weiburg while under arrest for the Avooa gold robbery, severely censures the conduct of the detectives. ■

The sculling race between Laycock and Rush was a splendid race, and was won by Laycock by half a length. Wanganui was lighted with gas for the first time bn Saturday night. • It is stated that the land revenue up to the end of the quarter ending 31st March realised" L 76.000. -The estimate for the year was L 1,229,090. There will he a large deficit, in the rp.yenue from laud. The deficit will, however, - 'probably *ba more than covered by the increase ia the receipts from Cvtaskf, railways 4c.

A respectable,woman ansJ,child, have disappeared : mysteriously from their home in Wellington. Brighton, the acrobat known as Beletti, fell and broke his-I.eg whilst walking on a telegraph wire-stretched across to the racecourse, Christchurch The wire, owing to a ilaw broke beaeat hj him.

The brigantine- Ahthons from Melbourne, has been chartered for two years to carry coal from GreymoUth to Wellington and other ports of New Zealand. A balloon ascent took place in Midbourne on t}ie 14t,h, And when the balloon had reached a- great height it collapsed.' The aeronaut escaped uninjured. Over 300 men are now engaged upon the Exhibition building,, and the., structure is wil forward.

Boyd’and Mackie’s mill at Newstead, Victoria has be m destroyed by fire. It was filled with wheat and flour. The insurances amounted to 1,15,250.

Another large fire occurred on Monday night in Christchurch, by which Messrs Edwards, Benpett, and Co’s store was totally destroyed. The following were the insurances :—N'W Zealand, L2OOO ; South British. L2OOO ; Sun, LIOOO ; Union, L 2000; Standard, L2OOO ; Sa'bmal, L2OQO (of which LSOO is ie-insured) ; United Transatlantic, LIOOO ; total, LI 1.500. The loss is not yet ■ ascertained, but it will probably be L 20.000, only a few and casks ■being saved. The origin of the fire is nor. known, the store not having been entered at all-for three or four, days; A boy four years old, son of a settler at Berber, named James Coulter, fell off a djay on Tuesday, and thf wheel passed over his head, causing instantaneous 'death. A man. named O’Ciinhell Hamilton fell from his horse in Auckland on Tuesday* and died from the injuries! Robert M'Millan, of New Plymouth, has been remanded on a charge of attempting to murder Joshua Jones, of Mokau.