THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 24, 27 June 1874, Page 3

THE PROVINCES.

AUCKLAND, The “ Herald ” of the 20th gives the following account of a suspicious death at Rangariri:—On Monday last one of the men engaged upon the road works in the abovenamed district was, we arc informed, found lying dead a short distance from Shirley’s Hotel. On Wednesday an inquest was held to enquire into the circumstances of his death. [Our informant is not ; aware of the deceased’s name.] And evidence having transpired leading to the belief that deceased had not died altogether from natural causes, it was deemed advisable to obtain the services of a medical man, for the purpose of making a post mortem examination. With this view the enquiry was adjourned until the following day (Thursday), medical assistin the meanwhile being sent for to Ngaruawabia. When our informant left Rangariri upon Thursday, the medical gentleman scut for had not arrived.^ A deputation waited on the Superintendent on the 20th, for the purpose of presenting a petition, signed by between 4000 and 5000 names, praying the Superintendent not to give his assent to the Education Bill passed last session of the Provincial Council. All the members of the Provincial Executive were present. His Honor told the deputation that the action he had taken in the matter of the Bill was, so far as he was concerned, final ; that he had reserved the Bill for the signification of his Excellency’s pleasure with respect to it. The only proceeding left was to petition the Government. He undertook to forward the petition. The “ Cross” df the 22nd gives the following account of another attempt to set fire to the Catholic Institute :—Another dastardly attempt at incendiarism was made yesterday morning, the building this time being the Catholic Institute in Wellington street. Mr

Smith, who is in charge of the premises, and who resides next door, discovered at halfpast six o’clock yesterday morning that an attempt had been made to fire the building during the preceding night. He found that a quantity of paper and rags had been placed in the cellar pnder-the institute and set fire to. The partition near where the fire had been made was fortunately protected by a piece of tin, or we would probably have had to record the destruction of this and a large number of adjoining buildings. Mr Smith states that at (12 o’clock on Saturday night he passed through,the premises and saw that everything was safe, there being no indication of fire. At half-past 2 o’clock on the following morning he was awakened by a brick being thrown through the window of his bedroom. On looking out he could sec no one about. It is difficult to conceive what the motive of the miscreant could be, and it is to be hoped that the police will use their best endeavors to effect his capture and thus prevent this Gyrus Halcyism from becoming epidemic. WELLINGTON. “ Considerable amusement was created in town (says the “ Wanganui Chronicle ” of a recent date) •* by the appearance of a fourhorse coach driven by a native and loaded with Maori passengers. The horses seemed to be well selected, there being a pair of cuebalds and a pair of bays, and a number of natives were riding behind the vehicle on horseback. We have not heard what is the intention of our dusky friends; probably they are going to start in opposition to Cobb and Co.”

It appears (says the ■* New Zealand Times”) that Captain Martin, of the Chevert, did report to the French Consul the loss of the colored seaman on his arrival, and also made the required declaration of the fact before a notary public. The following extract from the barque’s log is the entry made at the time of the occurrence :—“ Tuesday, 21st April, 1874. —Wind S.S.W., fresh breeze at times, with high and heavy confused sea ; all sail set. At 2.15 ship rolling heavily ; the starboard maintopmast backstay parted, and the whole of the spars of the mainmast went over the side; the mast carried away under the main rigging close down to the top, carrying away mainmast head, maintopmast, maintop gallant yard, mizentopmast, and forotop gallant yard. One man, of the name of Coco, a Kanaka, was aloft bending the mainroyal sheet, when the mast carried away ; he went overboard, and was drowned. Rounded the ship to, and the man was close under the ship when she went round. The ship’s way was totally stopped, and we stood by to heave ropes. When about twice the length of the ship, he suddenly sunk, and he was not seen again. Signed, George Alfred Hyde, chief officer.” There is another entry to the effect that the seaman who gave the information published in our issue of Wednesday had been guilty of disobedience and other offences.

Some idea of the severity of the weather says the “New Zealand Times” experienced on the rocky shores of this colony may be gathered from the fact that on the 11th inst, during the heavy gale from the S.E., the wind instrument at Cape Campbell registered 1036 miles for twenty-four hours. Six inches of rain were registered on the same day. On the following morning (the 12th) the wind instrument registered 1134 miles for twenty-four hours, the quantity of rain which fell on this occasion being nothing remarkable. It will be remembered that the weather experienced about this time was also very severe, the wind and rain recorded on the llth being 675 miles and two inches ; and on the 12th, 400 miles and I*l2 inches. Wanganui is progressing rapidly. The “ Chronicle ” reports that a large amount of building is going on. During the last month a number of cottages were erected, and ten or twelve new houses, some of them of large dimensions, are now in course of erection. These include a seven-roomed cottage for Mr J. G. Woon, and a villa for Mr Paul. Town sections at Campbelltown are rising rapidly in value.

It has often been said, says a Wellington contemporary, that St Paul’s Cathedral, Thorndon, i D “the most handsome church in the colony,” so far c. a the interior. The opinion may now be with greater justification. The addition of northern aisle and transept complete the symmetrical proportions of the building (which now provides sitting accommodation for about 1500 people), and the removal of the lectern to a position midway between the transepts, and more toward the body of the building secures manifold advantages. In the first place the preacher’s voice is heard with greater clearness in all parts of the cathedral ; the cramped appearance of the chancel is entirely done away with ; the many beautiful memorial windows in the neighborhood of the communion rail are seen to proper advantage ; and the general effect is very considerably improved. A little child named Ellie Needham went missing from its parents’ residence at the Upper Hutt, and although every search was made, was not found till Thursday. The poor child was alive when found, but was in a very exhausted condition, having been exposed for four days and nights to the bleak weather of the past week without sustenance of any kind, and without clothing such as would afford protection from the wintry blasts. She was promptly conveyed to Mrs Hogan’s house, where restoratives were administered by Dr WilfOrd, but the trial upon the system had been too severe, and she expired between eight and nine o’clock next day. ' WESTLAND. The “West Coast Times” of June 19th says : —Last evening the new Executive were announced, Mr Woodcock being the Provincial Secretary, and Mr W. Todd, the present Mayor of Hokitika, accepting the Treasurership. The third office, that of Provincial Solicitor, has not been filled, but the Provincial Secretary stated that the Government intended, as authorised by the Executive Ordinance, to appoint a gentleman outside the Council, as Mr Guinness had declined the position. The Goldfields representation has also been abolished, and there are now only two Executive members in the Council. We (“ Register ”) regret that the male ward of the Sea View Lunatic Asylum is becoming very crowded, there being now thirty-nine male patients confined under the charge of Mr Gribben and his four assistants. It will be necessary to make immediate additions to the Asylum, in order to insure the comfort of its unfortunate occupants, and the Government would not be deemed guilty of extravagance if they added another assistant to the meagre and over-worked staff of the Asylum.

A rather singular ease of what may be fairly entitled as somewhat comprehensive kleptomania comes from Greymouth. A carpenter named Robert Haynes was convicted on no less than six charges of larceny, viz., stealing a box of tea and a child’s chair from Mr D. M'Lean ; a keg of butter from Mr Woolcock; a quantity of timber, the property of Mr Gleeson ; a saw and plane, the property of Wm. Arnott; sawfilea, carpenters’ pencils, and sheath-knives, the property of Forsyth and Masters; and a plane the property of another person. For these accumulated oifences he was sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment.

A most beautiful tree fern of an entirely new species has been discovered (says the “ West Coast Times”) by Mr James Tait, of Sale street, the well-known horticulturist and botanist, und wc had the pleasure last evening of inspecting two of its magnificent fronds. The largest is eighteen feet in length and from five to six feet in breadth. They droop far more than the ordinary species, forming a complete and graceful canopy as it were. The locality in which the treasure was discovered Mr Tait very wisely keeps a secret, but it is in this district. The stem of the tree is about throe feet in length ; as he describes it, “ immensely rich and of a dark velvety color.” In its centre, young fronds are being developed in the form of a scroll. The tree is growing about six feet off the ground on a kind of mound of roots of black birch and clay. The mid-ribs of the fronds average two inches at their thickest part, gradually tapering to extreme fineness. There were only six fronds on the plant of which Mr Tait brought in two as samples, and without exception they are the most beautiful specimens of the fern tribe that we have ever seen. Could such a growth be transferred to England, money would be no object in its purchase to adorn the lawns of country gentlemen. Mr Tait, as many know, is a skilled judge ; he assures us that the tree ho has found is entirely new and unknown, and it is well worth the while of those who take an interest in this beautiful class of vegetable life to pay him a visit before the specimens are submitted to the drying and pressing process. Steps have been taken at Hokitika to revive the local museum, and to establish the same as a branch of the New Zealand Institute. The following committee was appointed to undertake the management of the institute for the first twelve months His Honor Judge Harvey, his Honor the Superintendent, Dr Derraott, Dr Maunscll, Messrs Duncan, Roberts, Orerar. Archdeacon Harper, Rev Mr Kirkland, Rev Mr Rishworth, Father Martin, the Mayor of Hokitika, Captain Turnbull, and the mover, with power to add to their number. Messrs Harvey, Bonar, and Duncan were appointed trustees, Mr Duncan treasurer, and Mr Reid secretary. The result of the scraping of the plates of the Wealth of Nations claim for the week ending the 20th instant was 311 oz 9dwt of amalgam. What may be truly termed a narrow escape from a fatal accident (says the “ Grey River Argus”) happened to Mr H. Castle, of Maori Gully, on last Friday evening. He was proceeding homewards at a somewhat late hour, riding a borrowed horse, and when beyond French’s store and within a few hundred yards of the coal pits, the vicious brute became restive and bolted with the bit between his teeth. Immediately following this Mr Castle was thrown down the embankment a distance of about 20ft and rendered insensible. He must have remained so for nearly four hours, as it was close upon 2 a.m. before he arrived at Alabaster’s, a distance of 200 yards only from where he found himself. Mr Castle complains of his back and ribs being injured, and he has likewise some severe scalp wounds. He is, however, rapidly getting better, and able to walk about. OTAGO. We have some further news about the murderous assault at Invercargill. The “ Times” of June 18th says :—“ Our readers will be no less surprised than gratified to learn that the young girl Mary Hall, who was so murderously assaulted on Monday last, begins to show very encouraging signs of recovery. On inquiring late last night, we found that she was then, aud had been during the day, able to see, hear, and speak -Hth tolerable case and distinctness.” The “News _observes :—“Notwithstanding the fearful injuries oq girl Mary Hall, she was alive last night, aua recovering somewhat. She had no cou»ui sions for about thirty hours, could speak better, had partially regained her sight, and was better able to swallow liquid nourishment. Sensation, too, which was dormant for the first three days, had returned, and she complained of suffering acute pain.” Some months ago the remains of a man—or rather the skeleton were (says the “ Southland News”) discovered in a clump of scrub on the Wallacetown and Riverton road, near the latter place. There was apparently little clue to the identity of the person. No resident in the district was missing or unaccounted for, and the bones aud shreds of clothing, it was therefore to be presumed, were the relies of one who was a total stranger. A correspondent informs us that the correctness of that surmise has now been placed almost beyond a doubt, thanks to the indefatigable exertions of our highly intelligent aud efficient police. The clue was first picked up from two gentlemen who, when the remains were found, remembered passing a stranger in an exhausted state one day ‘during the previous winter. He had then called at the house of Mr G. Howell, and been relieved to some extent by Mrs Howell, and also by Mrs M'Kenzie, at whose house he had likewise called. To one of these ladies he stated that he was a native of Colchester, England ; that he came out as a first-class passenger, had only been a short time in the colony, and was on his way to Riverton, where he believed there was a lady living whom he had known many years before, but he did not know the name of her husband. One of Mr Howell’s boys had seen the man at the edge of the scrub, but took no thought about the matter at the time. Inquiries made elsewhere have identified the deceased with a Mr E. B, Webb who came out a cabin passenger by the ship Cissy to Lyttelton some 15 or IS months ago. He was a printer by trade, and made his way to Dunedin, where ho worked in Messrs Mills, Dick, and Co’s office for three weeks. To the landlady of the hotel ho lived at in Dunedin he gave some particulars of himself—said he belonged to Colchester ; that his family had at one time possessed considerable properly, but it had passed out of their hands at the death of his mother. Before leaving Dunedin he destroyed all the papers, books, &c, in his possession, saying he was going up country, would probably never

return, and wished to obliterate all traces of himself. His landlady saved from the fire a carte do visitc of himself—taken when something' ymr> •er —and one of an aunt. The mi ss In - on leaving Dunedin corresl> iiide/l ui;:. 'hat exactly described by Meadames Howell and M'Kenzic as having been worn by the forlorn stranger who called at their doors, and also with the rags found upon the skeleton. A knife of an unusual kind, containing a corkscrew and sundry other little implements, was an article which Mr Webb was observed to carry always with him, and a knife precisely similar was found with the remains. His carte-de-visite —that of a middle-aged gentleman of a very prepossessing appearance—when shown was recognised Joy Mesdames Howell and M'Kcnzie as bearing a strong resemblance, allowing for lapse of time and change of circumstances, to the wanderer. Nothing having been heard of Mr Webb since his departure from Dunedin, the evidence seems conclusive that he and the homeless outcast who died a miserable death in a patch of scrub at the roadside are one and the same person, It is almost needless to add that the unfortunate gentleman was addicted to intemperance, and that to that vice his melancholy end is almost directly due. The “ Otago Daily Times ” informs us that rapid progress is going on in the excavation of the Chain Hills tunnel, there being now eight chains of it completed—firmly built with bricks and mortar. In consequence of the unstable nature of the ground, the roof has to be supported with strong timber, and forming it into the shape required as work proceeds. The whole length of the tunnel is twenty-two chains, and it is calculated it will be finished in eight months, provided no unforscen accident takes place, and there is reason to believe, from the progress made in laying the plates, the Southern Trunk Railway will be open to the terminus. We take the following description of the new North School at Oamaru from the “ North Otago Times” : —“ This handsome building, which is situated at the corner of Reed and Torridge streets, is an ornament to the locality, and a credit alike to the architect, Mr Forrester, who designed it, and the contractors, Messrs Munro, Given, and R. Hewat, who have repeatedly been entrusted with the mason and carpenter work, and who have evidently very faithfully executed their task. The present building, which forms the south wing of an edifice calculated to give accommodation for 500 pupils, will provide for from 150 to 200, aud will supply a long-felt want in this part of the town. The style adopted is the early English Gothic, the work being rock-faced ashlar, in half courses, the corners and window dressings plain ashlar. The gables are finished with neat coping gablets with finials, and are pierced above the windows with ventilated openings, having moulded dripstone with carved terminations, the work of a local artist. The height of the outside wall is 18ft, and the height to the cap of the roof 27ft. The building, which is 72ft in length, by a maximum depth of 38ft, is divided by sliding partitions into three class rooms, each 20ft by 26ft, with 16ft kauri ceilings, with Gothic moulded panellings. There is an open fireplace in each room, the llooring throughout being of kauri timber. The school is lighted by 18 windows, and ventilation is further provided for by six louvre ventilators in the roof, with openings in the ceiling to admit of the egress of foul air, and ventilating tubes carried through the walls. In all its details the building appears to be well arranged and well adapted for the purpose to which it is to be devoted ; and, although not pretentious in style or unnecessarily ornate, it is yet a very handsome edifice. We understand that it will be ready for occupation in about a month from date.”