Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 758, 3 February 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

LATEST FROM WAIKATO. [From the Southern Cross's Correspondent.] Cambridge, Jan. 25. I think I concluded my last letter by stating that the Constabulary had marched to join Lieut.-Col. M'Don nell's force on Monday morning. On the afternoon of the same day, news was brought into camp that Colonel M'Donnell had come upon a small party of natives and on their refusal to stand, after repeated orders to do go, they were fired upon, and one man was killed, the remainder —three men, two women, and two children —then gave themselves up prisoners. Volunteers to proceed to the Front were called for from the militia, and three officers, three sergeants, and eightyeight rank and hie responded to the call. These marched at 1 a.m to-day. A further demand for volunteers was made to-day, but I have not yet as certained how many have offered their services. As it is, there are not many men available for duty left in camp, as a transport is being organised by Mr Douglas, and nearly all the settlers who have horses, and most of them have, intend to join it. I suspect it will prove a more hazardous service than some of them expected; at any rate 25s a day for the services, of a man and two horses is no great remuneration; when it is considered that, if a horse be lost or killed, no compensation will be given for it. Guides, scouts, and an interpreter have been engaged. About 8 o'clock this evening a messenger arrived in camp from Colonel M'Donnell with despatches. He informs us that Major Kemp left Te Papa during the night, with the intention of working his way up to Te JCooti's pa, Colonel M'Donnell intending to follow him up at daybreak. Owing, however, to the fatigue his troops had undergone the previous day they were only fast a]t 4 a.ni. or thereabouts* when

they were attacked by Te Kooti, who fired into the camp. This fire was immediately returned, and Colonel M'Donnell, followed by some of hi< men, rushed forward to meet the enemy. At this juncture a party of -if natives carrying a Union Jack was observed approaching. M'Donnell, thinking them to be friendly natives, called out to them not to fire on him, but they, advancing some distance, threw down the flag, and gave M'Donnell and his men a volley, killing one man. Colonel M'Donnell had a narrow escape; a ball passed between his left arm and side. The total loss on our side is one man killed, one so dangerously wounded that he was not expected to survive the day, and four slightly wounded. Colonel M'Donnell received a slight wound by a splinter from a tree close to which he was standing. Some rather amusing incidents, showing remarkable coolness on the part of McDonnell's followers have been related, but I have not time to insert them to-night. Nearly all the available men will most probably leave here to-morrow for the front. A number of pack-horses laden with ammunition, left at half-past nine this evening for Te Papa. A lot of bullocks were driven from Cambridge yesterday, and are expected to arrive at M'DonnelPs encampment to-day. I fancy the correspondent, whom in your issue of the 22nd current you style " Our own Correspondent," may thank his stars that his offers of 16 and 20 to 1 were not taken to any considerable amount. I intended to have telegraphed the pith of this intelligence to you this evening, but on my arrival at the office I found the clerk, hard at an apparently very lengthy document, which, I suppose was a despatch, and was unable to obtain the use of the wires. This will account for your receiving my telegram later than you otherwise would have done. Jan. 26. Since last night I have heard some further particulars regarding the attack on M'Donnell at Te Papa. It would seem that Te Kooti had got wind of Kemp's march, and fancied that the whole of M'DonnelPs force was after him, and that consequently his camp whatever guard was left there, would fall an easy prey to him. And so it would, as, had it not been for the troops having overslept themselves, there would have been only about 50 men of the Armed Constabulary and the'Arawa women to oppose at least 270 men. Te Kooti left three men dead on the ground, and is supposed to have carried off some more. Kemp burnt his pa. DISCOVERY OP A RICH SILVER LODE AT TARARU, THAMES. The Thames Times, 27th January, contains the following:—We never for one moment doubted the existence of other minerals besides gold, and in quantities too that would make the extraction of these ores a profitable occupation. The presence of copper here has long been suspected, and work that .was done some thirty-five years ago by a party of miners sent expressly to search for it may yet be seen on the range facing the sea beach between Shellback and Kuranui gully. We were scarcely however prepared to hear of the finding of a veritable i silver lode (argentiferous galena), and that too of a size and quality that stamps it as being eminently valuable. The lode was cut in a tunnel opened near the boundary of the Silver Crown and Sunburst claims, and when some of the stuff was brought to grass, its remarkable appearance, dotted as it was with crystals of galena, was noticed by the workmen and one or two others who visited the mine. The galena, however, was supposed to be arsenical pyrites and antimony, so the lode was only regarded as being remarkably dirty and a few speculations were made as to the possibility of extracting any gold it might contain without the aid of a smelting furnace. At the same time the directors decided to test a few tons of it at Brown and Campbell's machine, and the lode was accordingly opened upon to S.W., and followed for 20 feet or so, in which distance it widened out to 3 feet, and showed a mangnificent face of glittering ore, the clusters of silver crystals sparkling like diamonds as the lights of the candles fell upon them. The trial crushing just revealed a trape oi

gqld and nothing more. To Mr Surveyor Goldsmith is due the credit of ascertaining the real nature of the ore, and making the fact known to the compane. His attention was attracted to a block of it lying in the legal manager's office (Captain Massey's), Grahamstown, and having been a long connected with silver lead mining in Sweden, he recognised it as silver lead ore. He submitted portions of it to crucial tests, and according to appointment attended a directors' meeting held lest week, and officially reported upon the tests, the mean results of which were about 200ozs of silver to the ton, besides a large quantity of lead, and some nickel and cobalt, both valuable minerals. Portions of the ore were also assayed at the Bank of New Zealand and the Union Bank, the result being nearly thesame. This was regarded by the directors as highly satisfacttory, and considered in connection with the finding of rich gold specimens in the Homeward Bound lease, and also with with the fact of the Sunbeam lode having been found in the Sunburst claim, both lease and claim being peg and peg with the Silver Crown ground, places the latter in a first rate position We may remark that unlike gold ore, which seldom yields more than one- [ fourth of what is indicated by assay, that of silver loses little or nothing in the extracting process. The above tests therefore actually represent the available value of the ore. The lode in the Silver Crown claim has a true strike of 30°, and underlies smartly to the S.E.' It runs very small on its N.E. strike, but in the opposite direction widens out. That it has dipped may be attributed to the formation of the ground, which towards the N.E. falls away and is broken by slips. We shall soon hear more about this interesting discovery, the directors having called for tenders for executing works that will develope the lode. GENERAL NEWS. Mi* Henry Anderson, who was for some time editor of the Wellington Independent, is, it is reported, about to resume the editorial chair, in connection with the Wa nganui Times, which is to be resuscitated as a daily paper, and placed under his management. We learn from the Chronicle that a slight shock of earthquake took place at Wanganui between two and three o'clock ; on the 21st inst. The following paragraph is from the Wellington Daily Advertiser, 25th Jan. : Whether we are to have a payable goldfield in the immediate vicinity of Welling ton appears to be still a matter of great uncertainty, notwithstanding all the pros pective efforts that have been made to find one in different localities. Humors in connection with the subject have at various times been plentiful, and a day or two ago it was reported that the quartz crushing machine which was erected at Terawiti, and which has been kept constantly at work ever since its erection, has at length lurned out some very satisfactory results ; but whether any more dependence can be placed upon this than upon any of the other rumors is more than we can say, but we hope that it may prove correct. The Waikouaiti Herald thus details the painful circumstances attending the recent death of a child of Mr Murdoch JJ.M. : "After five days of painful suspense and uninterrupted search, the remains of the missing child, daughter of J. W. Murdoch, Esq., K.M., of Goodwood, were found on Suuday morning last on Goodwood Beach, at a place known as Bobby's Head. At about 20 minutes past 12 o'clock on Monday, the 10th inst., the little girl was last seen alfve, and from that time until about the same hour on Sunday last, no traces were discovered of her, and the wildest excitement and apprehension existed, and vague rumors of foul play were afloat. The result of the enquiry held on the body on Monday last will however, set all doubts on this head at rest. So soon as the sad intelligence of the sudden disappearance of the child became known, the settlers and inhabitants of Goodwood, Palmerston, repaired to the scene of the mishap, and day after day a vigorous search was continued, but without success, and every effort that human ingenuity could devise or kindness prompt failed to discover the whereabouts. The Goodwood Bush, as far as it was deemed possible the little girl could travel, was carefully searched, and, we believe, the place where the child was found did not escape observation. The most reasonable supposition of the body having been taken to where it was found is, that it was washed there by the sea, the waves at high tide reaching that spot. We believe it is the only place along that part of the coast where all kinds of debris are washed and lodged, to be again carried out by the receding tide. How the child got into the sea remains a mystery, as for its ago it was a very bad walker, and could not walk any distance without resting. It is supposed that the poor little thing, which was in the garden at the time its mother went to visit a neighbor, must have strayed away, and having lost itself, must have wandered

about until it had either fallen into the sea or creek, and been washed where found' The distance from where the .child was discovered and the residence of Mr Murdoch, is about two miles.. The state of preservation in which the child was when found is accounted for from its having been for some time in the water." The jury at the inquest returned the following verdict —: " Found dead, within the influence of the tides; no evidence to show cause of death." A sad accident occurred at Alexandra, Otago, on the first week of the new year. A miner named G-eddes, while working in a cutting, was crushed to death by a fall of earth during the temporary absence of his mate. The deceased was only 29 years of age, and bore an irreproachable character. We take the following from the Thames Advertiser, 21st January:—" Mrs Robert Heir was married on Thursday to Mr G-. Darrell, at St. George's Church. Mr William Lloyd, of Grahamstown gave away the bride, and there were present on the occasion a number of ladies and gentlemen, both parties having made many friends during their stay at the Thames. This is not the place to speak of the histrionic abilities of Mr and Mrs Darrell, but we are sure that wherever they are known, they will have cordial wishes for their happiness privately, and their success publicly." We (New Zealand Herald, J n. 25) regret to learn that yesterday morning, about nine o'clock, a twenty one acre paddock of wheat, at Epsom, belonging to Mr Woodfield, was destroyed by fire. There were some half-dozen men working by the field at the time, but the fir 9 having once taken hold of the crop ran through, the field. We did not learn how the fire originated. The Evening News, Jan. 19, mention? the following suspicious fact: —A body of nearly 50 natives, men, women, and children, supposed to be kingite Maoris, arrived late last night at Drury, apparently on the tramp for Auckland. Tuey broke up their encampment early this morning, and were seen to disperse in several directions, all tending, however, towards town. Nothing, however, could be gathered from them. They were unarmed but appeared to have plenty of money, which they were freely expending while carousing in little sections at the different hotels in the township. The Wellington Daily Advertiser of the 24th January says :—The Government s.s. St. Kilda arrived on Saturday morning with about 90 rank and file of the 18th R.I. Kegt. on board, under the command of* Captain Dawson from Wanganui, they were immediately transfered to H.M.S.. Virago, which got under weigh at 11 o'clock en route for Sydney, where the headquarters of the regiment are to be stationed. We understand that prior to the St. Hilda's departure there were; some 25 desertions from the regiment, including a sergeantmajor.