NEWS OF THE DAY

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 910, 25 May 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Gr/N ACCIDENT. —A man named Matthew Doif, who resides in Montreal street south, was admitted into the hospital shortly after six o'clock last evening, suffering from the effects of a gun shot going through his left hand. He was immediately attended to by the house surgeon, and is progressing as well as could be expected. Accident NEAB Kaiapoi.—On Wednesday night Mr J. Miller, Masonic Hotel, Southbrook, was thrown heavily from his horse on the Drain road, near the Sneyd's Arms Hotel. He was taken to the hotel and next day conveyed home. On arriving at Southbrook Dr. Dowries, Bangiora, was called into attendance, when he found that the young man's lower jaw had been broken. He attended to the fracture, and the sufferer is doing as well as can be expected. The Lyell Aegtjs.—The latest deliverance of the irrepressible editor of the Lyell Argus is as follows :—" Matrimonial. —Wo hear that Little Cupid is up to his little pranks again. Three well-known bachelors having caved in and a heavy wager has been laid by a Duller Squatter—That he gets married before Ye Editor. (If its to that Eed Headed Nelson Girl, that I saw him squeezing the other day at Hampden by gum old chap you can have her and welcome...e.a.)" Bank Books in Evidence. —An Imperial Act of considerable importance to British banking institutions, remarks the " Australasian Insurance and Banking Record," became law throughout Great Britain and Ireland in August, 1&76. The removing of bank ledgers and other boohs of account in daily use lor the purpose of their being produced in legal proceedings, has for a. long time been felt to be a serious inconvenience. Not only for a shi'de day, but lor many consecutive days, these ponderous volumes have, in important) and sometimes in trivial eases, been carried backwards and forwards between the bank and a law court, necessarily breaking the continuity of entries, and disturbing that regularity and precision which are essential in a well-disciplined administration. In order to obviate this inconvenience, Parliament has devised a measure to facilitate the proof of transactions recorded in hank ledgers and other account books. It provides for the acceptance of certified extracts from books as evidence in court, in place of in all cases com*. pelling production of the books themselves. !

Maori Maeeiag-es.—Alluding to the expressed opinion of Judge Richmond, to the effect that the Supreme Court conld take no cognisance of Maori marriages, the Herald says that in Hawke's Bay scarcely any marriages arc in conformity with the Act. The cases arc tolerably numerous in this district, in which purchasers and lessees have obtained the signatures of female grantees, but are accustomed to look upon their titles as invalid because the husbands of these females are not consenting parties. We imagine, however, such fears may be dismissed. If Judge Richmond's opinion is correct, the signatures of the husbands—unless, indeed, the marriages are registered in Mr Grubb's office —are not required. It is satisfactory to find that there is one ground the less on which the validity of Maori titles can be contested.

The Wreck of the Ocean Mail.—"F," who writes frankly on all subjects in the columns of the Nelson Mail, says : —" I amnaturally of a sympathetic disposition, and never hear of a misfortune having fallen iipon a friend without feeling it keenly. So it happened that yesterday on meeting a sheepfarming acquaintance who I knew had wool in the Ocean Mail I said, ' Well old fellow I really um very sorry to hear of this sad disaster: had you much wool on board?' With an equanimity that was surprising under the circumstances, I with the air of one who was endeavoring to bear his troubles manfully he replied ' Not much, only twenty bales.' ' Right glad am Ito hear it,' said I, " I was afraid your whole clip was on board.' It was a, rude shock to me to hear him reply, ' I wish to goodness it had been. Don't you sec it was insured for £2O a bale, a price that it is not likely to realise at home in the present state of the market.' Seeing that my sympathies were wasted in this direction, I hare since been bottling them up for the Insurance Agents, but these gentlemen look so horribly lugubrious, and wince so perceptibly and sigh so deeply whenever the Ocean Mail is mentioned that hitherto I have not dared to address them on the subject."

The Teremakau Rush. —The Kvmara Times, of Saturday last, reports: —"The yield of gold from the Ktimarafield chiving the past week lias been of the average amount. An exceptionally good washing up of GOoz. from one paddock and another of 64<oz. have been reported to us from the neighborhood of the Dunedin claim. A nice little nugget of Bdwt or 9dwt. has also been reported from the neighborhood of the Prospectors. A rush—■ every week now must have its rush —has taken place beyond Dill man's Town, on the left hand side of tlie track. The ground between the race and the terrace lias been all pegged out as far as Elake's Saw Mill ; 2oz. are reported to have been obtained from Hyc loads taken from an abandoned shaft. It is said that of the five loads only three were, strictly speaking, washdirt. From the old shaft a drive was carried in 20ft., when lift, of washdirt Avas reached. At Murphy's Rush, during the week, several claims have duffered, and no new ones have struck gold. Two claims bottomed yesterday, one at 55ft., the other at 55ft., but with no satisfactory results. The owners of the former intend to drive; before they abandon hope. A claim, which is supposed to be on the 'fancy line,' is now down 100 ft. It has to be slabbed, and the owners certainly deserve success for their enterprise. The permanence of this rush, from which such great things were hoped, depends in a great measure on the result of this shaft."

The West Coast Road. —The Christchurch coach of Friday last reached llokitika at five o'clock on Sunday evening, being nearly twenty-four hours behind time. Under the circumstances, says the Times, the delay is not to be wondered at. The driver describes the journey as the roughest he has experienced this year. Leaving the Cass at the usual hour on Saturday morning, the coach in several places got literally bogged in the snow, necssitating the clearing of the road of the snowdrift in order to obtain a passage. Though every exertion was made with fresh teams of horses to push through in time, it was found impossible to approach the river Taipo that evening, as the river had risen several feet, and was rushing down in perfect torrents. The driver consetpiently had to put up at M'lnerney's for the evening. At eleven o'clock on Sunday morning the river had sufficiently fallen to allow the coach to pass, though it was then so high that the water was rushing through the coach, unavoidably saturating the mails and other baggage inside. The passengers nearly all went round the bridge, and they speak highly of the perseverance and hardihood of the driver, Thomas Power, in his endeavours to get tlirough under such fatiguing, and, at times, dangerous circumstances. Auctioneers' Licences.—The Dunstan Times last week, speaking upon the legal right or otherwise of an auctioneer, who has obtained his license within a borough, following his occupation outside the borough boundary, without first obtaining a fresh license from the County Council, thus states a pretty clear view of the question: —Section 23 of the Financial Arrangements Act, 1876, includes, as a source of county revenue, auctioneers' licenses ; as does also the Otago Local Revenues Ordinance, 1875, include auctioneers' licenses as borough revenue; but, as neither Act or Ordinance repeals the Licensed Auctioneers' Ordinance, 1862, under which all such licenses are issued; and further, as such Ordinance licenses the holder to act as an auctioneer within the province of Otago, which, we take it, means in any and every part of the stud province, we must hold that the contention on the part of the counties will be futile and of no effect. The license fee demanded is in all conscience heavy enough even with the right of exercising the privilege in all parts of the province, but to curtail that right to either a borough or a county would be monstrous.

Westxand Railway.—The Government have for the present declined to ask Parliament for an appropriation for the construction of the railway between Grcymouth and Hokitika, on the ground of the large estimated cost of the work. We learn from the West. Coast Times that at the meeting of the West land County Council, held on Thursday last, a letter from the Hon. Dr. Pollen was read in reference to the resolution of the Council urging the Government to proceed with the construction of the llokitika and Grcymouth railway. The reply of the Government to the chairman's letter stated that Dr. Pollen had consulted with his colleague, the Minister for Public Works, on the subject, anil had ascertained that Hie cost of the work would he no less than £220,000. Under such circumstances the Colonial Secretary regretted the inability of the Government to recommend an appropriation for this railway to the Assembly. Our contemporary considers the estimate a most exaggerated one, but advises the inhabitants to go in for a tramway -to connect with the Grevmouth and Kumara line.

Goi/dfielus Wardens.— Some changes have been determined upon by the Government in respect to the boundaries of the Wardens' districts. Mr Rcvell will relieve Mr Shaw of a portion of his duties in the Grey Valley, where Mr Rev ell will hold Courts more frequently. Mr Price will also take charge of the Greenstone district, relieving Mr Revell of the Courts there. The change may possibly necessitate Mr Price's residing at Kumara, as, though Hokitika is at present more central for his visitations to Ross and Kanieri, the bulk of the business, now that Greenstone is included in his long range, will be in the northern part of district. The Gaiety.—There was a very large attendance at the Gaiety last evening, when the programme of the preceding night was repeated. The Zingari Minstrels made their second appearance, and Mr Hall danced his silver belt jig most successfully. The sketch of "A Slippery Day" created roars of laughter. The burlesque concluded the performance, and was played with great spirit. Miss Wiseman sang the music allotted to her with success, and the double song and dance of the Misses Vivian and Alice Johns received due appreciation. Mr Hall as King Hal was exceedingly funny, and he was ably supported by the rest of the characters. To-night the members of the company take a benefit te dered to them by the management. On Tuesday next they leave for Oamaru and Timaru.

The Holiday at Lyttelton.—When the men mustered for work at the railway, Lyttelton, yesterday morning in pursuance of orders receive! on the previous evening, some were dismissed for the day, but a few kept to work at the Wakatipu, for which vessel a single truck was expected by the 10.30 a.m. tram from Christchurch. Of course, in the majority of instances, the day had been spoiled, for all preparations had been postponed, owing to Wednesday night's orders. Many visitors came through to port, tempted by the beautiful day, and appeared to enjoy themselves much after the usual manner of strangers at a seaport, namely, making short excursions on the water, trying to catch fish, and loading their baskets and pockets with common shells and seaweed. The publichouses, owing probably to there being no restriction on the liquor traffic, were hardly so well patronised as on Good Friday or Sunday. The ships at the Gladstone Pier and several of the smaller craft showed loyalty by hoisting all the bunting they possessed.

Revision of Electoral Rolls. —Edward J. Lee, Esq., revising officer, held a court at Rangiora Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, for the revision of the roll of electors for the Ashley district, and on Thursday he held a similar court at the Magistrate's Court House, Kaiapoi, for the revision of the roll for the Kaiapoi electoral district. The registration officers only were in attendance, and the objections, as advertised, were sustained. The objections to the lists sent in by the clerks of the Road Boards, with two or three exceptions, were considered valid, and therefore the majority of the lists, inclusive of the one sent in by the Kaiapoi Borough Council, are so much waste paper, and represent labor lost. The Kyrefon roll, which it was pointed out in a previous issue had been sent to a former registration officer, had not turned up. It is certain that several of the electors of these districts, who were certain that they would be enrolled by the Road Boards lists, and hence did not send in claims to vote, will now be disfranchised, and with the prospect of a general election at any moment, after the Assembly meets they are not a little disappointed in being left off the roll for another year. A suggestion has been made that a proper form and explicit instructions ought to be furnished to the clerks of road boards and borough councils to assist them in forming the lists properly, with a small payment for the work, and a penalty for neglect in sending in the lieccssary information to identify the owners of properly, aud in all probability the law will be amended to ensxire the proper registration of every elector entitled to vote. This is only as it ought to be.