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Evening Star, Issue 3751, 2 March 1875, Page 2

It ia understood that • the Hon, Mr Fox goes Home by this month’s San Francisco mail. Funds are now being raised for the erection of a memorial tablet within the First Church, in honor of the late Rev Dr Burns, In consequence of Mrs Macandrew’s death, the Harbor Board’s monthly meeting convened for to-day was adjourned for a week.

A meeting of dairymen was held at the Royal George Hotel this morning, Mr J. A. Reekie in the chair, at which it was agreed that after the Ist prox. ’the price of milk shall be follows :—Wholesale, 4Jd per quart; retail, under two quarts, 6i ; two quarts and over, sd. All the single girls ex the Wellington have been engaged as .domestic servants at from L2O to L 35 per year. Many of the single men have found employment in town. There are now about 130 souls in the barracks, To-day forty-six immigrants were sent to Oamaru by the Samson, and to-morrow forty will be forwarded to Invercargill, At the monthly meeting of the Fire Brigade last night a letter was received from the City Council, instructing Captain Wain to procure a new ladder truck. Donations of L 5 from Messrs Reeves and Co., L2from Medsrs Steele and Keogh, and of eleven volumes of books from Fireman Sinclair, were acknowledged. Messrs Tewsley, Haydon, and Walker were elected hon. members. The land sales in Canterbury are stated by the ‘ Lyttelton Times ’ to have steadily decreased during the last year, and as the railway returns, which will be made up in March, are expected to show a deficit, the Provincial Government will have to rely on past accumulations of the land fund instead of on current revenue for carrying on works authorised. The prospect is said to cause some anxiety in Canterbury. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court to-day, before Mr J. Bathgate, R.M., Alexander M‘Gavin, charged with drunkenness, was let off with a caution; James Eadie was fined ss, with the alternative of twenty-four hours* imprisonment; John Kidd, 20s, or six days’.—ln Collie v. Thomas, a claim for L 6 11s for the illegal detention of clothing, his Worship gave judgment for plaintiff, the amount to be reduced to Is on the goods being returned. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Port Chalmers, this morning, before Mr Hansford, R.M., and Dr. Drysdale, J.P., John Tasker, a seaman belonging to the ship Weilington, for disobeying lawful commands, was remanded for the production of the ship’s articles.—James Middleton v. D. Proudfoot was further adjourned by consent for four weeks.—ln Baucbop v. W. Marchant, judgment was given for plaintiff for the amount claimed (L 34 8s 8d) with costs. A young woman named Jessie Kirkpatrick was received into the gaol to-day at noon, sentenced on the Ist by Mr Maitland, R.M., Tokomairiro, to one calendar month imprisonment, with bard labor, for stealing one lady’s serge dress, one lady’s skirt, one gentleman’s handkerchief, one towel, one lace collar, one lace collar braided, one lace collar (crochet work), one skein of silk, and some scraps of silk, the whole of the value of two pounds, the property of William Dartnell, engineer. A serious accident happened yesterday to Mr Hector Mercer, shipping clerk to Messrs Cargill and Gibbs. Tie was engaged at the railway sheds examining some goods, previous to a survey being held upon them, and was in the act of passing between two large and heavy cases, when one of them fell upon him, fracturing his leg just above the shin. He was immediately conveyed home, and there attended by Drs Fergusson Brown, and Burns, and is now progressing as well as can be expected. Mr John Tennant, of Akatore, died somewhat suddenly on Sunday morning last. He had not been in the best of health lately, and in riding home on Saturday night with Messrs Noble and Gardiner, he fell twice from his horse—the second time into the water at Falconer’s Ford. He reached home very chilled and numbed, and got gradually worse during the night, though he was attended to by his friends. On Sunday morning Dr M'Bean Stewart was sent for but before his arrival Mr Tennant had expired.

Balclutha is going ahead very fast. A pew Episcopal Church, capable of seating 120 persons, is being erected from the designs of Messrs Mason and Wales, at a cost of LSOO, and the Bank of New Zealand, new two-storeyed concrete building, will coat L 2.000. The * Bruce Herald ’ reports a great scarcity of carpenters at Balclutha at the present time. A number of extensive buildings in the township are contracted for, and unless an influx of good workmen takes place, it will be an utter impossibility for the builders to carry out their contracts within the time specified. The commencement of other buildings is delayed indefinitely from the same cause. The ‘ Bruce Herald ’ learns that Brogden and Sons expect to be in a position to hand over the entire line between Mosgiel and the Clutha river ,to the Government in about two months hence. The railway bridge over the Taieri river near Otakia is being rapidly proceeded with, the main beams upon which the superstructure will rest being now laid over three-fourths of the entire length of the bridge. The heavy beams of the bridge near the Taieri Ferry are on the ground waiting tiie completion of the heavy work on the Reliance Bridge, when it too will be gone on with, and should they not be delayed for timber supplies, both bridges are expected to be completed within two months hence ; meanwhile, the permanent way is being laid between the two bridges, and it is very shortly expected that this portion of the work will be facilitated by the locomotive being enabled to cross the Reliance Bridge for ballasting purposes. The Waitaki Bridge will be finished for traffic in nine months. The piers of the bridge consist of 220 cylinders. The main stream cylinders are already in position and the girders placed. The woodwork is to go on as soon as the ironbark timber arrives.

As might be expected from the evidence and surrounding circumstances, the jury unanimously decided upon an open verdict at the inquest upon the burning down of Mooney’s Red Lion Hotel building at Franktown. The verdict, however, is more circumscribed than an open one—it is a charge of arson against some person or persons. It is stated (remarks the ‘ Mail ’) that, had all available evidence been brought out, the claim would have been sufficiently complete to point pretty clearly to the cause, if not to the suspected culprit. But the most remaskable phase of the affair was the insurance of the building beyond its value, and the jury might very properly have added a rider touching the matter. In fact, one was proposed, but being too strongly and pointedly drawn up, it was shelved without further consideration. The correctness of the enunciation made by Mr Geisow, agent for the Company in which the burnt building war insured —as to the basis upon which

risks were calculated—namely, according to the sum it would cost to re-erect the insured building—is not only open to grave doubts, but, upon public grounds, it is most objectionable. The adoption of such a policy would hold out an inducement to incendiarism by unprincipled persons during periods of depression and deterioration in value of property. We had always thought that risks were accepted at two-thirds the marketable value of the properties.

A letter from a resident at the Palmer is published by the Queenstown paper. The writer, who is a well-known miner and business man, who left the Lakes district for Queensland about six months ago, writing under date January 5, says “It is something fearful to see the number of people that are laid up. But the fever seems nothing compared to other diseases, such as scurvy, dysentery, sore eyes, and sunstrokes. People are dying like sheep. I lately went out of town a few miles to have a look round, and saw plenty of people trying to walk, and when they got near town drop dead. The thermometer is 130 degrees in the sun to-day. There is no life in the people here at all—their blood seems dried up, and their bodies little better. It is not to much the heat that causes disease, but bad ‘ tucker * and the swampy ground. When one gets up every morning on the diggings there is a smell like burnt rags and bad water. That kills the people. Any quantity of New Zealand people are sick and dying. The only chance a man has here is to be on the diggings just as a rush breaks out—if he is not he will stand a poor show, as the ground is so shallow that, with the number of people congregated together, it is crowded and worked out before you can get them I would advise any person that is thinking of coming over to be very careful, and look before he leaps, as the gold is not near so plentiful as people think. They ought not to come over before March, and then they require money so as to enable them to purchase a couple of horses, as no man can stand swagging it—which kills half the people. I don’t intend to advise anyone to stop away or come, but I would certainly say to those who are doing anything at all to stop where they are, as there are a great number here not making ‘tucker;* and if a person gets a few ounces, it is made pounds of before it gets to Sydney. Do not believe in the papers at aU. The gold is awfully patchy. Any amount of people have to stop up there (the diggings) on account of having no money, and they must try digging to make ‘tucker.* You can tell any friend of mine to stop where he is, because it is harder to make ‘ tucker* here than where you are. A person might strike a patch, certainly, if he is one of the first on the rush; but, taking the risk ot sickness and danger of blacks - and the finds that have been got are not very big —it is not worth risking; and any man that is fond of drink had better stop at home. As lam writing this I see the cart going up the town with three dead bodies—deaths caused by sunstroke. I assure you were I in New Zealand I certainly would not come over to try it, as people have no idea of the place at all. There might possibly be some back to Queenstown —who have been lucky enough to get a few ounces —and indulge in a little ‘ b l ow*. about this place, and notify their intention of returning, but when the time arrives for them to start back, you will find that they are not so fond of sacrificing their lives a second time.” Mr and Mrs Case have succeeded in securing the Queen’s Theatre, and will appear there on Thursday and following evenings.