LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 30, 23 January 1862, Page 3

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Election for the Town of Natter. —The nomination of a person to serve in the Provincial Council for the Town of Napier, took place at the Council Chambers yesterday. The attendance was very limited, and but little interest seemed to be taken in the matter. The Returning Officer having read the Writ, Mr John Begg proposed, and Mr. P. Searles seconded Mr. James Wood as a./Cindidate. No other person being nominivad, the Returning Officer declared Mr. Wood duly returned. Mr. Wood then came forward and thanked the Electors for this mark of their confidence. He said he was not accustomed to speaking, and as his opinions appeared before them at least twice a week he hoped he might be excused from making a speech. The meeting then separated.

* Inquest.—ln our issue of the 9th inst., we expressed a fear that Mr. O. Imrie, who had lately been drinking, had perished. Such fears unhappily proved to be too well founded. On Sunday morning last, the attention of a native was drawn, in consequence of a disagreeable smell, to a creek in the neighborhood of Mr. J. M’Kain’s residence. In this creek was found Mr. Imrie’s body. It will be remembered that Mr. Imrie was intoxicated when last seen alive. The unfortunate man was at all times subject to fits, and it is not improbable that an attack may have seized him, which aggravated by his condition, may have proved fatal. At an inquest held at Patane, on Monday, before T. Hatchings, Esq., the jury, after a lengthened consideration, returned the following verdict;—“ We are of opinion that the deceased, George Imrie, came to his death through misadventure by falling into a dangerous creek, in which was about three feet of water. John M’Carthy, Coroner.”

Death by Drowning.—On yesterday week a person of the name of Ebenezer Russell was drowned whilst bathing in a creek near Mount Herbert, Waipukurau. He appears to have been siezed with cramp. A boy who was with him, being unable himself to render assistance, gave information to the first persons he could find, who, upon arriving at

the creek, saw the body quite lifeless, through the clear water at the bottom. An inquest was held on the Thursday following, before Dr. English, the coroner. The verdict has not reached us.

Another Case of Drowning. —We have again to record the death of another person by drowning, that of William Stewart, millwright at the native mill, Wahaparata, whose body was found in the Ngaruroro river, on Thursday, the 16th inst., by a native. At an inquest held at the Settler’s Hotel, Waipureku, on Friday last, before the coroner, Thos. Hitchings, Esq., it appeared, from the evidence of Monaeua, a native, that, on proceeding to Wahaparata on Thursday, and finding deceased’s clothes on a box, he concluded he was bathing, and called out “ William” repeatedly, but no answer was returned, He then went to the bank of the river Ngaruroro, and traced his naked footsteps on the beach, and found his flannel shirt, and also saw his tracks to the water. He suspected something was wrong, and returned to the Karamu to get assistance, and went back with two natives in search of him. They discovered his body in about six feet of water, and twelve yards from shore, and drew it out. Deceased had previously remarked that he could not swim, and the place where he entered the river was dangerous to any one who could not. There was nothing further elicited in evidence touching the deceased’s death, and the Jury- returned a verdict of “ found drowned.” He was a healthy looking man, 35 years of age.