NEW ZEALAND.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1817, 17 December 1879, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND.

[PBESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, December 17. Parliamentary. The House gat in committee till 3 15 a.m. on the Public Works Bill. Ultimately progress was reported. Clauses 30, 31 and 32 relating to the purchase of the district railways were postponed. The House met at 11 o'clock this morning, ard went into Committee of Supply on the Supplementary Eitima'es. The votis —for services chargeable on the consolidated fund, £11,243 lis 8d ; Colonial Treasury, £5337 6s 6d ; Minister of Justice, £7023; Post-master-General and Commissioner of Topographs, £559; Commissioner of Customs, £5861 j Commissioner of Stamps, £555 were passed. The House is still sitting. The Trial for Wife Murder. The trial for wife murder continues. While croßß-examiuing Dr. Spencer, Mr Lascellei was

suddenly seized with Bevere palpitation of the heart, and the examination was adjourned until next day. POET CHALMEES, December 17. Effect of Missing Stays. The ketch Huon Belle, loaded with cement, foundered between Quarantine and Goat Islands, while beating down from Dunedin, through missing stays. It is expected the cargo will be got out, and the vessel floated, at low water. AUCKLAND, December 16. The Property Tax. At a meeting of owners of machinery re the property tax, Mr Eraßer, of Eraser and Tinne, said he had £30,000 worth of machinery covered with bagging for want of work for it. Nothing definite was arrived at. A Proposed Line. Cambridge residents propose to construct a branch line to oonnect with the ThamesWaikato line under the District Eailways Act. The Treaty with Tonga. According to the new treaty with Tonga, the High Commissioner's Court for the Western Pacific Islands will deal with offences committed by British subjects. Mr Maudslcy, Vice-Oonsul, left Tonga in the Emerald en route for England, with the treaty. Sir A. Gordon statod that if Tonga was favorable to annexation to Eiji it would be offered. Ho also offered to take young men to Fiji to be trained in a Native school, which His Excellency is starting in Eiji. A Cus'.oms CaseEmma Watson, wife of Harry Watson, at present at Palmerston north, was charged with possessing gin, old torn, champagne, and whiskoy, with intent to defraud the Customs. She admitted possessing the liquor, but not with criminal intent. She kept a publichouse in Melbourne, and said she brought them down as personal effects, and for her own use. She was fined £2O 12s and £4 5s costs. SingularThe railway contractors advertise for men and cannot get them. Farmers in the North are almost at a standstill for want of labor, yet the unemployed ore interviewing the Mayor to got the Government to let the railway reclamation contract as day labor. A Pilot Suspended. Captain Lowrie, pilot at Kaipara, has been suapendod by the Government. Fatal AccidentA boatman named Murray, employed as boatman attached to the Kaipara station, was drowned alongside the brigantine Nightingale. The man was not sober at the time he fell out. One of the boatmen caught hold of his logs and held on for nearly a minute, but was forced to let go, and the unfortunate man was never seen again. The Unemployed. At a monster meeting of unemployed, convened for to-night, 150 were present, principally Dempsoy'g men. A resolution was passed urging the Government to go on with the Newmarket contract, ar.d sublet railway reclamation pending the settlement of the dispute with, the contractor and enforcement of the time penalties. Eesolutions were also passed against assisted immigration and working excavations with falls of more than twelve feet. The meeting was orderly. NEW PLYMOUTH, December 16. Sporting. The Taranaki Jockey Club have published their programme for races to be held on 31st March and Ist April, 1880. The events are— Maiden Plate, 50 sovs ; Handicap Steeplechase, 50 sovs ; Taranaki Jockey Club Handicap, 250 sovs. Second day Handicap Hurdle, 50 sovs; Hack Hurdles, 20 sovs; Autumn Handicap, 100 sovs ; Selling Bace, 30 sovs ; Ladies' Purse, 40 bovs ; Consolation Stakes, 25 sovs. A Taranaki Derby of 1883, for three-year-olds, £IOO, for which nomination closes April 10th, 1880, was agreed upon. WELLINGTON, December 16. At the Magistrate's Court this morning three men, named Farrell, Eeilly, and Clark, were fined £5, £2, and £2 respectively for assaulting the guard, driver, ana stoker of a train on the Wellington-Featherston railway. NELSON, December 16.

The Supreme Court. The Supreme Court opened this morning, before the Chief Justice. There were no criminal cases, and of several civil cases all had bean held over for a future sitting except the case of Harper v Harper, in which the wife sued for a judicial separation, upon grounds Bet forth in the petition. Respondent admitted the several causes set out in the issues, and a verdiot was, therefore, given for petitioner. The questions of alimony have not yet been settled. DUNEDIN, December 16. New ArrivalsAmong the Ringarooma's passengers are Archbishop Steins, the newly-appointed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Auckland, and Mrs J. B. Steele, the well-known actreßs. The Suez mail is expected to reach Dunedin by speoial train to-night. Examinations. The examination of pupil teachers ant? candidates for the Provincial scholarships commenced. There are forty candidates for the pupil teachers' examination and fifty for the scholarships. The total number of competitors for the Provincial scholarships amount to over 100. Cricket. The cricket match Christ's College, Christchurch, v Carisbrook Club, on Carlton ground, was played to-day. Christ's College in the first innings made 146, and Carisbrook, first innings, 96. la their second innings seven wickets have fallen for 144 runs. Conway, the Victorian cricketer, was the highest scorer in both innings, making 36 and 47. For Christ's College Strode (not out) 46, and Rattray 32, were the highest scorers. TIMARU", December 16. Anniversary DayThe weather to-day was most unpropitious for the anniversary of the province. The principal events were a sham fight, in Timaru suburbs, between Timaru Artillery and Temuka Volunteers ; the annual flower show, which passed off most successfully ; and the annual regatta, in the roadstead, which proved a great attraction and was, despite the rain, witnessed by a large concourse of people. The racing, although a heavy sea was running, was carried out spiritedly and without accident. The Barque GlimpseA Court of Enquiry is to be held into the cause of the barque Glimpse, now lying in the roadstead, having been abandoned on Sunday and Monday nights by her crew, and taken possession of again yesterday and this morning. The captain slates that she was grounded on the reef, and he was forced to abandon her. Yet she was towed out none the worse for her adventure by the Wanaka this morning. The event has created more excitement in Timaru than any other foryears past, and the underwriters and a number of influential citizens have demanded that a [formal Court of Enquiry shall be held re her abandonment. The Weather. The wet weather has had a disastrous effect on the crops. Hardly a fine day has been experienced since September.