Local and General Epitome.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 480, 30 May 1867, Page 3

Local and General Epitome.

Hopd.— We understand that. « subscription list has b'*Cii opened at Te Wairoa for the purpose of erecting a tombstone to the memory of the late chief Kopu. '

Lorat, Fatter Lodge of Odd FelXOWB.—The tenth anniversary of the above lodge was celebrated in the Masonic Hal!. «ii ihe evening of Friday, May 17th, by a ball. The attendance was very good •some 26 or 26 couples being nresent. The music was perhaps limited, but what there was of it was ncedent—Mr G. L. Seymour presiding at the piano ; Mr Bishop performing on the cornet, a id Mr Dunfoy on the piccolo, ihe refreshment department was under the able supervision of Mr John Bobottom ; and the good things provided by that experienced offerer were of a class rarely equalled in Napier. The dancing was kept up with vigour through-I out the night, and it was not until the: faint streaks of light gave warning of ti e near approach of another d.ty that the convivial party broke up and dispersed every one highly satisfied with the evening’s amusement. Perfict order reigned from first to last,—-a fact t pon which the The managing committee deserve to be congratulated.

Occax of Appeal. —The Court of Appeal of New' Zealand has been appointed to be held in the Supreme Court, Wellington, at 11 a-m. on the 3iih July. INSPECTOR OP MUSKETRY —--ifliptaiu W idium Magoe Hunter has been appointed Inspector of Musketry to the volunteer force of the colony. Fhobmiom Texas,—Mr. M. Murrav rope manufacturer, of Auckland, has been granted letters patent for an invention or improvement in machinery in the preparation for use ot the Fkormk.n Ter,ax. . Tolttntekh Artillery Cores.— We learn that a corps of the above nasure has been formed in Nelson, and that His Ex- 1 cellency the Governor has promised to present it with an Armstrong gun.

A Step ik the Bight DnujcTioH.—The ■following is from the New Zealand Adrer- ■ iiser, May 22:—-We are glad to gee that the Government are taking active steps towards the detection ot those malicious persons who seem to find exquisite tan in the destruction and damage of the lines cf telegraph throughout the Colony. By an! announcement very recenUy made,* we' learn Inac a rewa d of fifty pounds will bei .given to any one aodti inform nmliOTi £5 may lead, to the conviction cf persons guilty of damaging any of the fiu ruling teii g> ap;j plant. We are pleased '■ and grieved to gee this step taken j r grieved that in a conn try settled by civilized I people suck an announcement should be -Necessary ■ bn? pleased to find that the necessity having been shown it is met in ; , the proper way. One aheraiicUj however*] r wo wuuldgladly .see made, namely, that] 'cfiendere, wi?en caught, instead ot being] £ned os imprisoned merely, sh< old bsj ’wnippea at a cart's iail inrciignuuv tut] district where their destnj&svs may] asT* fcoKs TssSsd- I

i Blb Reyn plus ha-fbeen elected Speaker jot the Otago Provincial Council. Bank op -New South Wale?.—Tim Xilitiu U 1 Low uijtith Wales' i.-pOrii, jus! printed, shows iha half-year’s uet nrofit;to be £BJ,CUO. A dividm d and bonus have been declared of 20 per cent, per annum.

Bushuangino in Apstealia.— Our dates fir.ni Sydney sra to the 30th alt. The papers to hand ‘ar?’fu'l of , details of encounters between bushrangers and the police. ihs outlaw- (tiers and bis brother John were captured by a body of constables after some sharp fighting, and brought into Braidwood. They are io be sent to Sydney for trial On the 30th prisoners, while being conveyed from Bathurst to Sydney, wore placed for the night in the lock up at Pulpit Hill, when, according to the report of the con stable, “they rushed out and caught the two constables by the throat, and were strangling them. Sergeant. Casey, who had been sleeping in the lock-up, instant!? sprang up and shot the man who had hold of Constable Maadea. Sergeant Caseythen shot the prisoner Thomas Herr, aud fired at the prisone Southgate. The pistol hung fire, and when it did go off, wounded | Constable Madden who had been pushed towards Sergeant Casey. Sergeant Gassy fired again and drove thirteen out of the fifteen prisoners into the cell He then found out that Madden had been mortaliv wounded by his fire. Madden died at lb 1 o’clock this morning, before the arrival of the , doctor. Sergeant Casey fired five shots ; one shot struck Kerr in the arm, ! one shot glanced off Kerr’s heed, one shot ] struck James Morgan iu the hip, and two : struck poor Madden. One of the p: ison er? '• (Hutherford) has ju -t beer. a-rcstcd and 5 brought in by senior-constable Macma-. 1 namy, and the Hartley and other police arc 1 on the track of the other absconder, Holmes. Sergeant Casey is so agitated at ' the dreadful occurrence that he is unable 1 to mate the proper report." 1

Coroner's Inquest. —An inquest was held at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 'lO, at the Ferry Hotel, Western Spit, before Thom,as Hitching?, Esq.,coroner, and a jury, upon the body of George Cnarlton, then ami there lying dead. The following evidence was adduced:—John Eaton, sworn, tiejjcsed : “ I am a master mariner, and belong to the brigantine Vistula. I have been acquainted wnh deceased for about three years. I was in ids company from aboai three to five p in. yesterday. We were conversing upon various subjects ; he seemed desponding and absent-mi tided ;he did not appear to he under the iuliuenco of liquor ; I noticed a difference in his manner to what I had seen before.” George Edward Charlton, sworn, deposed: “I am the sou of deceased, and was at ny father’s house last night. X arrived about ten o’clock ; my father had gone te bed.; I heard him speaking, but cid not see him. Upon asking my mother if he had returned home, ] heard him make some remark, but did not catch the words. I saw him this (Mo> T day) morning. He got up io breakfast about S a.m. He s*t at the table with my mother and I; he did not eat much, Except we spoke to him he did not speak, but appeared absent and low-spirited. He got up from the table before I left the house ; he we? walking about the room. I raw nothing more of him until I saw him dead, which was about ten a.m. lam at home about once a week, and knew he was absent, from i home a good deal lately ; and when asked | why he stayed away he could give no reajson. I know he lias been drinking a good deal lately." Franklyn Tuxford, swora, I deposed; “I am a publican, residing ai the Ferry Hotel. lam son-in-law to tindeceased. I saw him a good deal jester cay; he was walking about with Captain Paton, and was in my house once, where he had one glass of brandy. He seemed very low and emaciated ; desponding in spirits; absent in mind ; not giving answers to questions, or entering into a* y conversation—quite different to his usual manner. I last saw him alive about five p.m, yesterday. At about half-past nine this morning I saw Mrs Chariton, and heard her calling out and screaming for help ; my wife and I ran to the house, I met Mrs Charlton in the passage, aud she told me to go to the sail room. I ran there, and saw deceased suspended by a rope from the beam by the neck. There was a knife lying on a' bolt of canvas; by its means I cut him down. Ho was warm, but life web extinct. I should think he had | not been dead more than ten minutes. A stool, apparently kicked over, was lying under his feet. Mrs Charlton and her son had both left the house after breakfast; the former was in my premises looking at a stove; the latter had gone with the mail iu the ferry boat. It was during their absence that the event occurred; upon Mis Charlton’s return to the house she gave the alarm. Deceased’s house is close to mine; I am in the constant habit of seeing him. : He has been absent from his home for three weeks; during that time I both know and have seen that lie was -drinking heavily.” .Tills being all the evidence, the jury re- !&:•?«*;* rerdm.t to $».» offr-j that dcrsAccdi destroyed himself when under the innuonce of temporary insanity. Bewasd son a Payable Gold Fmm “A Provincial Government Gazette, pubiished bn Tuesday, May 21, contains the notification of the offer of a reward of one thousand pounds for the discovery of an available gold field within the Province of ITT'.ota’. ~._U n ill *" - “ "TOU OVBUOOLl! gOIU UvKi | defined to be-one that shall he con-j ridered by a Commission of three persons,j Ito be nominated by the Superintendent, as] capable of affording employment to a b :dy ! ;of not }est' than si* hundred digger# at a: ; remunerative rate of wage#, ■ ' - .1