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Evening Star, Issue 4166, 4 July 1876, Page 3

The following account of a curious accident to a crane on the North Shore wharf, at Auckland, last week, is taken from the 1 Star':—About half-past ten o'clock three or four men were employed at the five-ton crane of the Harbor Board hoisting up two timber piles weighing 1£ tons. The men at the winch bad already raised the piles the height of the tee, and were just about to swing them round on to the wharf, when suddenly something at the head of the crane gave way, and there was a momentary check. The men had scarcely time to look up to see what was the matter when suddenly the whole machine collapsed with a run, the logs fell with a mighty splash into the water, and were followed by the greater part of the crane, including the jib, stays, and chain. Luckily 4$ was clear below, and no damage wits done to life or limb. The dingy of the steam launch Transit had a bit of her gunwale smashed, but this was the only property that was injured besides the crane itself. The wreck of this was most complete ; scarcely a cog wheel was left whole and the huge solid iron frames were broken like so many pieces of stick. The cause of the accident can only be guessed, as no flaw appears in any of the ironwork to explain it. It is Burmisj||.tbat the chain must have got out of gear ori the jib-head, and in some way brought an undue strain to bear on the stays. Whatever the cause, the accident was of such a nature taat it is a wonder that a serious calamity has not to be reported. The crane was bought at Wellington, and was thought to be a cheap bargain at L 125. The Southland «Times ' of the 28th ulto. has deemed it necessary to assert the duty of newspapers to fearlessly expose falsehood, and gives utterance to the following pithy remarks :—" All mere differences of opinion, no matter how wide apart, may well be treated with respect. But falsehood as to notorious facts accessible to anyone even possessing a child's intelligence, is a different thing. .Quite lately, in exposing the falsehood—'a falsehood whose character was well known by every man who uttered it—of the statement officially made and published that Otogo was ' unanimous' in favor of Provincialism, we replied, 'that the man who made that statement was an idiot if he did not know better, and a liar if he did. We adhere to that reply. In this case there is no possibility of auy man in his senses being aware that the results of the last election gave a decisive answer as to how people voted then. Ignorant as the Dunedin people generally are respecting politics; there was not a solitary gossiper or stump orator there who did not, and who | does not know that the statement we. bare

referred to was a lie. Suoh being the case, we have called it what it was, in the same way as we should always'call a spade a ' spade.' If to use this plain language is to be scurrilous, as some two or three weak journalists, who write numerous anonymous letters to one another on the sxibject, and who are in love with lady-like phrases to gild public swindling and robbery, would have us believe, well, we shall continue to be, in that sense, scurrilous, having before us the high examples of Luther, Knox, Milton, and others, not to mention older writers whom the Christian world has deemed inspired, all of whom took some trouble to find out the truthggud then were not afraid to speak it."