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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 554, 24 February 1868, Page 2

Tuk fSrrE .intexijent. —J iis Honor the

Superintendent look his departuro for tit Fast Coast in the .Sturt on Saturday last.

Promotion Lieut. John Chapman George lias been gazetted Captain—date of commission 2Tth January, 1863.

Toll-Oate. —Tenders, receivable up to Saturday next, are invited for the erection of a toll-gate at Tareha’s Bridge.

English Mails. —The Lord Ashley is due lure from Southern Ports on Thursday next, with the English mails via Suez and Panama. The South. —Numerous extracts from late Southern papers, relating principally to the late gales and floods, will be found elsewhere. The Depence Minister. — The Hon Colonel lliu'.tain, Minister for Defence, was a passenger by the Sturt on Friday lust. lie proceeded to the East Coast in the same vessel on Saturday evening. English News —No telegrams of English news had been received in Wellington up to 7 am. on Thursday last, —al 1 communication being suspended with places south of Blenheim,

Armed Constabulary Force. —Tester day, a statement (which we have been unable to trace to a reliable source) was current in town, to the effect that the men comprising the Armed Constabulary Fore, had received the “route” for Opotiki. Tin; Weather. —Strong gales of wind from west and north-west have prevailed during the week past, causing incalculable injury to the whole country. Prayers for rain were cif.-red up in the various places of worship yesterday.

Reception Committee,— The lion. A. Domett, his Honor Donald MM.can, Dr Hector, F.R.S., and Lieut. Benson, R.N.R., hare been appointed to seme on ilia Royal R-eceution Commission.

Peize Fiuixo —Owing to the distances being incorrectly measured at the prelimi nary competitive firing on Wednesday last,

the shooting will come oil' again on Monday, 2nd March, at 10 a~m. Wc h;;;-n '.hat

the firing will take place This time at Green' meadows.

Government Officials.—ln view of aj falling revenue, and the great demands j made on it on the part of the General Go-1 vernmeut, the officials in the employ of the I Provincial Government, and parties rec-.iv-1 ing subsidies have received notice to hold themselves in readiness for a termination of the several engagements of the Provincial Government with them, should such step he found necessary. We presume that the whole question of Provincial expenditure will be agitated and settled at the approaching meeting of the Provincial Council.

W hale. —A large £hh, which looked remavkabiy like a whale, was seen in ins roadsfead on Saturday afternoon, quite close to shore. After spouting once or twice, and taking a surrey of thp moorings, the marine monster put to sea. Ifo attempt was made to caoture him.

J.UE vjOVehnoesku' or the Cape of Good Hope. — We take the following from the Otago Daily Times, 27th January The Governor of the Cape Colony has received leave of absence for six months, and it is not expected he will return. A strong hop.-; is expressed by the Cnpo colonists Liiui. oil uoorgo uicy v,iii be appointed ins jiiiCC jSaur.

The Attempted Incendiav.ism at the Wanganui Cuuoniclf. Office. —The inquiry into this case wn concluded on the 11th inst., when the jury returned the following verdict: —“ The jury find that an act of incendiarism was at'empted at the Chronicle office on the evening of the 30th January last past, but that there is no evidence to implicate any particular person ; at the same time they are of opinion that tlie act was that of some person well acquainted with the interior of the premises, and no stranger to the business.”

The Taenhale Teagedt. —The Nelson papers report at length the inquiry before cue Coroner relative tn the murder of German Charlie, and suicide of the murderer, tvauhoe Stanley Augarde. A b ief report of the melancholy tragedy, as telegraphed to the Wellington Independent, has already appeared in these columns. It would appear that German Charlie had been entrusted by Augarde to convey a letter to i Mi=s Gee, a young lady to whom the latter had been paying his addresses; that he had opened it, and showed it all round the neighborhood, in order, as he said, to “ spite Ivy.” The young man resented this, and in a fight which ensued with the German, the former, it would appear, came off second best. Augarde subsequently obtained a rifle, rode to the station where the German was employed, and shot him dead. He subsequently blew his own brains out. The jury found verdicts according to the facts, —“murder” in the one case, and “felo-de-se” in the other.

Muedee ax Gi-;h.max Gcl lt, Hokitika. —A man named James Douglas has been committed for trial by the Ilokjtika magistrates, on the charge of having murdered Hugh Carmichael, at German Gully, on the 6th December last. The body was discovered by Charles Day, secreted in a water hole, on (lie 17th December, and the same witne s discovered a pick handle belonging to the prisoner lying near the hut ~l' the deceased. The prisoner was then arrested, and remanded from time to time for the purpose of procuring further evidence. On the 22ml ho confessed the murder to a follow-prisoner named Thomas ‘.Villiams, and the whole conversation was overheard by Constable Hickson, who was concealed iu the cell. The following is a portion of the evidence given by the man vVilliams : —‘‘l remember Wednesday ni" ht, 22nd January ; I had a conversation with prisoner. He said that he did kill Hugh Carmichael. He said that Carmicha. 1 had robbed him of imll-an-ouuce or twelve pennyweights of gold ; he had seen him do it, and plant it on a rock under a mu-tard tin lid. He (prisoner) went and looked at it, but did uot remove it, and Carmichael must have seen his footsteps ; and when he saw the gold, and knew he was being robbed of it, he then made up his mind what ho was going to do. They never worked as mates afterwards. This must have been about three months previous to the night of the murder. Ha (prisoner) said that he went to deceased’s hut ami asked him what he had done with the gold ho had been robbing him of. Prisoner said he went into the hut, and Carmichael seized a tomahawk. Prisoner ran out, and Carmichael foiloweh him with the tomahawk. Prisoner had a piece of firewood in his hand, half round and half square, about seven or eight pounds weight, so that it would either cut or bruise. He 'aid they were fencing outside the same as if they were going through sword exercise, and at one lime he thought Carmichael had the best of it, for the wood was so heavy lie could not well fence with it. Prisoner s dd they had been fencing about four or live minutes, but at last prisoner struck deceased a blow between the left eye and ear, somewhere about the temple. Decea-o 1 fell, and never got up or spoke again. When prisoner saw the mm was dead, he threw the tomahawk in a water hole, and deceased after it into the same water hole. Prisoner thought that hole w ig not deep enough for him, so he dragged him out, and threw him in another water hole about twenty feet away. Prisonersaid he never struck deceased with a tomahawk in the water hole where he had first Thrown him. 1 a-ked him if he had any jparticular reason for killing him thatnight. !He said, he had, for it was raiuinghard, and | he knew very well it would wash away all -traces of footmarks. I asked prisoner if ho had anything more Ur tell me. He said. j‘No, Tom, I have told you all. You know ias much about it now as I do. My life jrests in jour hands.’ Prisoner said if he g it clear of the charge he would settle a Tew more before he left the coast. If ho jluid the name he would have the gains. | Prisoner said he would settle Detective Crowue the first place he met him. Pri« I soner had, on the morning of the 22nd, j made a similar statement to me. On the isame night, in the lock-up, Sergeant Hickson said, ‘Douglas, I hare overheard all the conversation you have had there. If \ you move I will blow your brains out. Do you recognise me ? lam senior Sergeant i Hickson, from Hokitika. I arrested you I at the Hospital on suspicion, but 1 now arrest you as the actual murderer-* ’*