THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 146, 20 November 1874, Page 3

THE PROVINCES.

AUCKLAND. The Thames Advertiser of the 12th has the following with reference to the native meeting at Oliiuemnri : In our yesterday’s paper we published a letter from a correspondent at Ohincmuri. in reference to the important meeting now being held there. As our readers are aware, the meeting was called by Mr Mackay for the purpose of having a settling up with the natives, who have tor some years past been getting large quantities of goods on “ licences,” or orders, made payable on their lands. The total amount of money pnid to natives on account of lands in this peninsula is £26,000, and Mr Mackay now wants to lix that down on particular places, His policy is, of course, obvious—he wants to put as much as possible on lands at Ohincmuri, and to leave the blocks between this and Cape Colville, on which moneys have been paid, over for the present. The natives, however, are not very easily caught; they see the 11 move,” and adopt exactly the course best calculated to meet it. Mr Mackay says, “ Let us settle about this £26,000, and begin at Ohincmuri, and work downwards towards Cape Colville.” “ Oh, no,” say the natives, ‘Met us begin at Cape Colville, and work upwards towards Ohincmuri. £26,000 is a big sum, but by the time you pay all that is due on Waikawau and other blocks you will not have much left to charge; upon Ohincmuri.” This Mr Mackay will no doubt rcsisl. for we understand that most of the licenses issued bear that the amounts arc to be charged on lands at Ohinerauri. A native sends us a letter about the meeting, of which we give a translation : —“ On Monday. Mr Mackay addressed To Hira te Tuiri respecting the license 1 , to the amount of £26,000, which have been issued over lands beginning at Moehau (Cape Colville) and reaching on to Waikawau and Ohincmuri. Then Te Hira said, ‘ Give up the licenses and Hie men to me.’ Te Hira decided that the £26,000 should bo fixed upon Waikawau—that that should he the land for Mr Mackay’s money. Mr Mackay himself agreed so far as a part of the money was concerned. Then Tareranui, of the Kirewera, stood up and said,‘The land to be given in arrangement for the license is Waikawau.’ They all (the Kiriwera) spoke to the same effect.” We shall doubtless hear, day by day, how the negotiations are pro greasing. With reference to the manner in which the Prince of Wales’ birthday was observed, the Herald, of the 10th, says The anniversary of the birth of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has been invariably devoted in Auckland to festivity since the foundation of the colony. Yesterday was no execution to the rule. The only difference was that the sport s which had to be visited were some distance from town, and must be visited by railway excursion. This of itself was an inducement to townspeople. The result was that the railway station at Britomart, the steam ferries on the Waiternata, and the ’buses to the suburbs were besieged from an early hour. The principal sources of attraction were the Cattle Show and Caledonian Sports at Ellerslie. the cricket match in the Domain, and the promenades at and about the north shore. Towards the afternoon the whole of these places were thronged with pleasure-seekers. There was one feature of yesterday’s festive-making which is rarely seen. The visitors to Ellerslie racecourse and gardens, the scene of the cattle show and Caledonian sports, had to be conveyed at the stated hours by one train, consisting of twenty-six carriages pulled or propelled by five engines—two pulling in front and three pushing on behind. There was not, that we have heard, a single accident, but there was some grumbling at delays. The Waikato Times says:—“As there arc numbers of persons from the neighboring provinces visiting the Waikato at present in search of land, and as it is getting a rather scarce commodity, we consider it would be advisable to call the attention of strangers to a portion of the Waikato, where plenty of land is available and of very good quality. In consequence of there being no conveyance on (he road from Ngaruawahia to Alexandra, that portion of the district has escaped the notice of strangers in search of farms. We are confident that if visitors knew the extent and quality of the land on both aides of the Waipa river, that the country would be soon taken up, not only to the advantage of the settlers themselves, but to the district in general. The first Southern man who went on the Waipa purehaced a 600-acre farm, partially improved, at £6 per acre; and Mr A, Buckland, who has just come down that w 7 ay, speaks highly of the quality of the land. WELLINGTON. With reference to the charges brought, against Mr Henry E. dc Bathe Brandon, lately chief clerk and accountant of the Stamp Department—charges lately investi-gated-—the following appears in the Gazette : —The Commissioners have reported,—lst. That certain specific charges so made “had been proved, and the truth of them in fact admitted by Mr Brandon.” 2nd. With regard to the charge of habitual negligence in the discharge of his official duties, “ That, on the whole, whilst it is certain that Mr Brandon’s conduct has been irregular, we do not think that the irregularities proved are sufficient, apart from the specific charges, to support a charge of habitual negligence.” and whereas the Commissioners have further reported as follows : —“ We think Mr Brandon should receive some punishment for the grave irregularities he has been guilty of, but that dismissal from the Civil Service of the colony would be an unnecessarily severe sentence.” It is hereby notified, in accordance with the provisions of section 32 of the Civil Service regulations, that Mr Henry Eustace de Bathe Brandon has been removed from the Stamp Office, and w'ill be appointed to another department of the Government, and that his salary has been reduced from £3OO per annum to £2OO, at which rate it will bo paid from the date of bis suspension from office. Ngahuruhura, a venerable chief of the Arawa tribe, died, says the Times, on Thursday at Rotorua; He w r as greatly and worthily respected by the settlers and the Government. His loss is greatly felt by the natives; intense grief overspreads the district, and there is great and general lamentation.

A reward of £3O, with a free pardon to an accomplice, is offered by the Government for information that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons who lately opened a mail bag, while in the course of conveyance by mail coach between Wanganui and Otaki, and stole therefrom a regis'ered letter, containing a gold watch and hair guard. There is now, therefore, £IOO offered for (ho detection and conviction of this mail robber.

Counsel engaged in the Strathmiver case are (says the Heir Zealand Times ) making every endeavor to tiring this long-pending suit to a speedy termination. His Honor Mr Justice Johnston is to be consulted today with the object of fixing a time for the beginning of Hie action, so as to secure a sufficient number of days to conclude the hearing of Hie suit. It is questionable, however, if tin's can be accomplished for a fortnight yet, as the Court of Appeal will bo fully occupied this week with the. more important cases on its list, at the end of which time Sir George Arucy leaves for Auckland to swear in the new Governor, It can scarcely he expected that the remaining members of the Bench would consent to detach one of their number for the purpose of hearing the suit ; and the probability therefore is that it will drag its slow length along for three weeks or a month yet.

The intimation that spurious half-sove-reigns have found their way into circulation within the past week will no doubt, says the Times, come in time to save a good many businesspeople from being victimised. The first of the counterfeit articles was palmed off upon Mr Marshall during the rush to the money-taker’s office on the evening of Madame Goddard’s opening concert, and since that time the experiment has been successfully tried upon several tradespeople, w’ose suspicions were not aroused, although (lie spurious coin is a very clumsy imitating of the genuine article. In one case tlic victim has a distinct recollection of the person wdio presented the coin, who is described as a man of middle size, fresh complexion, sandy hair, moustache and beard of the same colour, and trimmed off, and dressed in a blue cloth suit. OTAGO. The Daihj Ti nes publishes the following telegram from Queenstown: —“ The American party for the observation of the transit of Venus have all their apparatus fixed, and arc taking nightly observations. 'the photographic instruments are nearly all arranged.”

We hear from an exchange, says the Times, that the Mount Benger people have decided to hold their annual races during the Christmas week, and to give £3OO in stakes. The Tapauui meeting, at which £350 is to be given, takes place on the 30lh and 81st January next.

On the gold-field, says the Dunstan Times, more especially in the “good old times,” reports of rich finds were of daily occurrence; but of late such reports are few and far between, like angels’ visits. However, there is now current a report that Lindsay, Anderson, and parly, who are working on the Clyde Commonage at the rear of the town, have struck a remarkably rich deposit of golden dirt, from which there is every reasonable hope they will be well repaid for the labor and cost in constructing their waterrace and the opening of their claim. The large number of immigrants who have arrived in the province during the last few months now appear, says the Guardian, to be almost absorbed in the rest of the population. On Saturday there were only fortyone persons, including both adults and children, receiving rations in the barracks at Caversham. The number in Hie Princes street barracks was thirty-seven : of these twenty-three came out to Wellington in the May Queen, and arrived at the barracks on Friday last. The Auckland is now duo with between 300 and 400 immigrants. On their arrival it is anticipated that they will obtain employment without the least difficulty.