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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 546, 6 February 1868, Page 3

Carriages and Conveyances.— Law* yers not unfrequently come to ride in their own carriages from the clever way in which they have managed the conveyances of their clients.

New Oat Blight in Australia.—A < Western journal states that a new and - most destructive species of blight has at- ) tacked the oat crops in the vicinity of Lis- t power, and at the farms 'situated near i the Bald-hills, whence it is traced as far as i Yarram Yarram on the one side, and for ( a great distance amongst the farms to the ] north of the latter place, on the other. ( The blight referred to is a description of insect. Mr Elliot, who is the largest set- ; tier in the neighborhood where it was first observed states that whole paddocks have j been so completely destroyed that they are > now being mown down, or thrown open : for cattle. In some instances wheat has | also suffered so badly that the scythe is at ! work, and the cattle admitted. Mr Petri, | who lives but a short distance from the ! Hopkins-hill, states that his whole breadth of crop is completely destroyed. The ravages of the insect give the ear a prematurely ripe appearance, and on opening the leaves myriads of them arc disturbed in nearly every instance. Native Quarrel at Tauranqa.— On the 22nd Jam, Mr Commissioner Clark paid the natives another instalment on the Kakati block. On the following day a large number of Maoris, upwards of two hundred, congregated on the beach, for the purpose, it seems, of having a “ spree.” The various settlements at Tauranga were duly represented, viz ; Maugatapu, Matapihi, Uaerini, Oponui, Rangawhia, Matakana, Kaituai, and others whose names I cannot now remember. In the afternoon, with the exception of about a dozen, the whole of the Maoris were more or less in 1 toxicated, and soon commenced fighting.! when a scene followed which beggars desciiptiou, men with their fists pummelling one another, while the women contented themselves with pulling each other's hair, and using their tongues and eyes to some purpose. There was no respect shown to 1 persons, and the various chiefs, of whom there were many present, fell in for a I fair share of hammering. Yet no blood , was spilt, ns no weapon was resorted to | but the fists, and those anything but in the John Bull fashion. By about dusk everything became quiet, nearly all of the na- ■ tives, with a small exception, having left ! in their canoes for the opposite shore. , The cause of this quarrel was, as usual, a I lady, a daughter of one of the chiefs, which became mixed up with the division of the ' money received from the Commissioner, 1 with regard to which great heartburnings . must continue to exist. The natives I have spoken to appear heartily ashamed of the ’ exhibition they made of themselves in the presence of pakehas.—Herald correspondent i The Duke of Edinburgh. —We take ■ the following from the Wellington Indej pendent, 6th February : —“The approachj ing visit of the Prince is beginning to bo much talked about, though little has been 1 done in the way of preparation. The i Royal Reception Commission has been t entrusted with the disposal of £SOOO voted j by the General Assembly for the reception v. of his Royal Highness, and have hitherto 1 kept their intentions perfectly secret; so * that, from all that appears, any enterlainS meet given to him in the town will be at the expense of the public. The Town e Board, on Saturday last, voted, subject to . the approval of the ratepayers, a sum of ■ £SOO towards the Prince’s reception ; but : i . e ratepayers at a meeting held yesterday, 0 annulled the resolution, and the only a means left of raising funds appears to be f public subscription. His Royal Highness has promised to visit Otago, and also to * open the Moorhouse tunnel, between d Lyttelton and Christchurch: and it is a pretty generally understood that ho will , visit most if not all of the principal towns ' of the colony.”

Bishop Seiavth. — Our last_ English telegrams announced that the Bishopric of Lichfield had been offered to, and declined by, Bishop Selwyn. The Wellington papers now say that a private letter has been received from His Lordship, in which he states that he has accepted the Bishopric aforesaid. Regret is expressed by our Wellington contemporaries at his Lordship’s decision, and wish that he con’d have seen it his duty to remain in New Zealand. Bishop Selwyn will return to the Colony to take part in the next General Synod, to bo heldjn Otago,

A-tTfeiIPTSD INCESDIAEIBM IN lliJlli. inn.—The Wanganui Evening Herald, Ist a». u» iiaij, s»i4 jo; v*u j,uureuaj Aixguv, uil? foreman, printer of the Chronicle, having occasion to go to the office, after all hands had gone, found a candle burning under & wood bench. Too candle was surrounded with paper, which had been immersed in kerosene, so that when the candle burned down to the paper, the whole office must have been quickly in a blaze. A lot of -1-_1 J li. 3 1 3 1 .1 . DUOircd QUU X'UUCU VXJUU 11 au utfou cuuacu to place the combustible materal in. The windows had been blinded that the light could not be seen outside; and what was more surprising than all, the door* were properly locked, and no evidence existed of anyone having broken in. The place had been carefully locked up an hour or two previously by Mr Hutchison, junr. When the discovery was made, the police were at once communicated with, but no positive t.'lua has been found whereby it is likely to trace out the would-be incendiary. It will be remembered that when the fire occurred some time ago in the Chronicle office, a candle was discovered in the midst of some timber near to where the fire originated. This is the first attempt at incendiarism we have yet heard of in Wanganui. We may add that it ia rather singular our contemporary, the Chronicle, in his issue of Saturday last, says nothing of so serious a circumstance. On the night of the 24th June last, a fire occurred upon the same premises, which, with the adjacent block of buildings, was only rescued by great exertions from total destruction.” The Times, of the 4th says ; —The agents of Fire Insurance Companies waited on Major Durie, R.M., yesterday, and requested him to instruct the Coroner—H.l. Perham, Esq.—to hold an inquiry this day into the reported attempt to burn the Chronicle office on Thursday night last. The inquiry will take place to-day.”

New Zealand Affaies fhom an English Point of View. —The following will no doubt be read with a degree of satisfaction by the majority of our readers. The London correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, under date 25th November, says: —“The columns of our press teem with information respecting New Zealand —your increasing population, revenue, and expenditure, imports, and exports, shipping and postal statistics; all are dwelt upon, and the homo interest now taken in your welfare is conspicuous. With regard to Sir George Grey’s recall, however variously the Governor’s conduct may be viewed at home and abroad, there can bo no question of his untiring zeal in behalf of the colony, or of the invaluable services he has rendered for so many years as her Majesty’s representative. You are evidently loth to part with him, and all here must join you in the hope that the Queen will signally testify her high approbation of his Excellency’s long and useful career.”

ArrEEHENsioN or Campbell. The Southern Cross, of the Bth instant, says:— The man Joseph Campbell, who committed a murderous assault on his wife in Parnell |on Friday, the 31st ult., was apprehended by the police late last evening at Shelly Beach, and brought into town at midnight. From information received Detectives O’Hara and Ternaham paid a visit to an unoccupied house on the property of Mr John Campbell, at Shelly Beach, where prisoner Campbell was found secreted. He offered no resistance; and on being apprehended stated that it was his first attempt to secure shelter for the night, as he had not slept since committing the assault. On his person were found one shilling and sixpence half-penny in money, a whistle, and a small phial of oxalic acid. Campbell stated that after leaving the Greyhound Hotel —where he had been traced by the police—he purchased the oxalic acid, and drank' a portion of it in a glass of rum at the Eagle Inn, since which time he had been suffering greatly. He was, however, m ach recovered. He said he had purchased the acid at Mr Gundry’s shop. Since then ho had tasted little except some wheat and and wheat and bread be had begged, and his exceedingly wretched appearance went to confirm the statement. He was in fact so weak that he was scarcely able to speak, and Mr Commissioner Naughton ordered refreshments, to be supplied to him on his being brought to the police guard-room. Dr Hooper tvas also called to examine him. He will be brought up at Police Court this morning and remanded. The Herald, of the 10th itist., has the following:—The man Joseph Campbell alms Hutchison, 1 who had been apprehended late on Friday 1 night was brought up in custody on Saturcay morning, and on the application of Mr 1 Naughton, remanded until Tuesday next, \ the Commissioner stating that iu the mean- [ time he would aseestain what probability : therewasof chaining the woman's evidence.

A Conscientious Cobbles. —At the Church Conference at Wolverhampton on Wednesday, the Bishop of Alabama said some few years he was brought into contact with a colored working man. He was nothing but a cobbler; he said himself he was not a decent shoemaker — (laughter)—and he (the bishop) could testify to that from some experience of hi* work. —(Laughter).—But if not elegantly done, it was thoroughly done, and that was the point. He told the speaker that when he became too old and crippled to work in the field and the house, ho took to cobbling. He said to him, "My friend, after this cobbling oa earth is done, hew about that other world ?” "Ah, master," said he, “ I am nothing, as I told you, but a poor cobbler; but 1 feel, as I sit here and work at my stool, that the Good Master is looking at me, and when 1 tak* a stitch, it is a stitch, and when I put on a heel tap it is not paper, but good leaths'i"