INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Issue 126, 1 November 1866, Page 3

INTERPRO VINCI AL NEWS.

Sudden Death at Wexlingto^, — A most melancholy occurrence took place la3t evening. Mr Patten, an old gentleman who for many j^ears has been acting as tide-water in the Customs here, was found dead in the water-closet attached to the Queen's Wharf. He had completed his> official duties for the day, closed his books, and was suppcs3d to have returned home when one of the workmen on the wharf went into the water-closet, and there found him lying on his face on the floor. Assistance was at once prooui'ed, and he was conveyed to the Pier Hotel, Sergeant Crowder sent for Dr. Boer, who was promptly in attendance, but declared that life was extinct, and had been so most likely before the unfortunate man was taken to the hotel. The c/uise of deatfi is at present unknown, but a post mortem examination of the body will be made to-day, and an inquest wiil be held on it afterwards. — " New Zealand Advertiser," 24th ult. AcqmiATiSATioN ik Canterbury. — . By the Blue Jacket, the Curator of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society has received a patent incubator, capable of hatching 20 eggs. The six hares consigned to, the same gentleman all died on the passage ; their loss .is attributed to change of temperature, as they all died in the tropics. Several of the passengers had on board small birds, none, of which lived to. reach New Zealand. A quantity of game fowls' eggs were, however, received' in apparently good condition, the i hatching of which will be watched with considerable interest. [ Wanganui Bridge. — The "Wanganui Times"- expresses its satisfaction at finding that a portion, of the bridge intended for their river, has arrived 'a,\ Wellington in the JClectra. " : The Superintendent of Taranaki on R-eligious Toleration. — The .Superintendent of Taranaki is not in the habit of attending any place of worship, and, from what follows, we imagine 'his.

Honor's conduct has given ofTonce. At a late meeting of the Literary Institute in New Plymouth, we are informed by the " Herald," that " his Honor entered into an explanation of his reasons for not attending any place of public worship, s'.ating that the iiuklcs of worship at present adopted by the different Protestant sects were so entirely opposed to his ideas pi what was the proper mode of addressing the Creator, that it would jar upon his feeling to enter any place oi public worship. . He made this explanation bcgnnae, as the chief civil functionary of the province, he might hi looked upon as setting a bad example to young lnou. He only asked for tolerance from those who were opposed to his views, and. wished to be argued wifh m a Christum, although not belonging to any sect." As a specimen of the high respect in which even the most friendly of our Maori broth oven hold the laws of the country (says tho "Wellington Advertiser") We may mention that four of these gentlemen rode at full speed through the tnrniuke gate a.t Kaiwa-rawava, on'Mon-. day, leaving the disconsolate toll-collector gazing after them in blank amazement. They were i^nonstrated with by another equestrian, but said they had no right to pay, and would not do so. They kept their promise, and did not pay, and will not pay. Had their skins been white, and had they enjoyed the privilege of being " sons of Britain," great would have been the outcry, and a vigihmt police would already have had them in durance vile, but they were Maoris, and " ipso facto," possess an immunity to do as they like. The Panama Railway. — A special correspondent of the " Southern Cross," who left Wellington in the Ivaikoura, on her first trip to Panama, has furaisljed an interesting account of his voyage as far as New York". Speaking of the railway across the isthmus, he shows the gigantic traffic which is growing up there. He says: — "While speaking of the railroad we may mention tljat it is exported soon to pass into the hands of an English company ; but it may soon meet with serious opposition, as projects are on foot to construct both another line and a caual. The present line is doing a good business —paying a dividend of about 15 percent. In 1883 it carried across the Isthmus 100,000 tons of freight, 31,000 passengers, and specie of the value of L 14,000,000. It is daily becoming of more importance ; there are at preseiit 11 ocean steam routes converging on it, and it will shortly become the highway from America to China, as the Pacific Mail Steamship Company are about to establish a line from California to Shanghai, connecting with New York via Panama." Fike-Raising ix Auckland.— We take tho following from the " Herald," of the 17th inst., by which it will appear that two other attempts at incendiarism have been made in Auckland, since the occurrence of the fires on the. 10 th and 11th ult. : — " Two attempts to fire house-pro-perty in the city, within the last few days, both of which happily failed, show how necessary it is that "some steps should at once be taken by the inhabitants to set on foot a system of protection against the attempts of incendiaries. On Monday night a bundle of shavings, and other combustible materials, were placed in an outhouse connected with a dwelling in Anglesea street, and fired by some ruffian. When discovered in the morning, the walls of the outbuilding were found to be barred, but the fire had gone out of itself. The very articles, and a portion of the shavings used, wore found. In the other case,* a policeman, on the previous night, passing an unoccupied shop in Queen-street, saw in the fan-light the reflection of :i fire inside, and, forcing open the door, found a candle placed in the angle of the corner of the room, and the skirting already ignited. This is one of the many instances to which we referred on Saturday, where the vigilance- of the police has prevented the outbreak of fires, and which are not mad.3. unofficially known."

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