Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 782, 28 April 1870, Page 2

Interprovincial Items.

" Many of the friendly natives, it is well known, suffered a 9 much as their European neighbors from Titokowaru's aggressions." So says the Wellington Independent—a piece of information which (observes the Chronicle) will be new to the people hereabout. We can assure our contemporary that losses of the natives are not so well known as he assumes—indeed, not to put too fine a point upon it, they are not known at all. Will he kindly tell us what Waitotara natives lost and how much ? The Thames is made a warehousing port under the Custom House Regulation Act, The following notice, signed by Edward Jollie. Provincial Secretary, appears in a Canterbury paper:—"Officers employed in the service of the Provincial Government are hereby informed that they are expected to refrain from taking any part in elections for the Superintendency or for members of the Provincial Counoil, beyond recording their votes if they desire to do so." We observe from a notice in the New Zealand Gazette that the reward of £5 for the apprehension of deserters from the Queen's military forces is withdrawn. The similar reward for deserters from ii.M. Navy will be paid only in any cases of desertion from H.M.'s ships on the New Zealand station. At Hokitika, on the 4th April, a man named Chamberlain, a prisoner in Westland County jail, received a sentence in the Resident Magistrate's Court of 30 lashes with the cat for repeated infringements of the jail regulations. He is in for four years, for- perjury in the Maungatapu murder cases (Sullivan and Co.) Mr E. P. Sealy and' par*y have started from Tiraaru to Mount Cook, to, take a series of photographic views of its glaciers. Among other objects, they mean, if possible, to reach the summit of the mountain. The B.s. Tararua, on her last trip, was rather longer than in going from Greyniouth to Wellington. The reason for this, it is said, is that she took on board 50 tons of Grey River coal by way of experiment —an experiment which it seoms did not succeed, for she could only make six knots an hour while burning them. It 13 stated that low fevers among adults, and dysentery among children, are very prevalent in Greymouth. John Avery, of Nelson, is applying for a patent for invention of an apparatus for the prevention of fire from spontaneous combustion taking place in ships, stores, warehouses, &c.j stored with wool, flax, or other fib,re_.

The Waiuku vcorrespondent.of the New Zealand Herald furnishes an interesting report of a meeting'held in Mr A. Campbell's Agricultural Hall, on the 13th inst, to bid farewell to the Bev. J. Whewell, Wesleyan Minister, who has labored there three years; Mrs Whewell; and Mis 3 Allen, whose services in the choir and Sunday School were warmly acknowledged by the different speakers. Mr Whewell said " that meeting called up in his memory soma affecting scenes. He thought of the time when he had to say -farewell to father, mother, sister, and brother,' in the dear old homo —when he had to say the same word to beloved friends in Melbourne, and also fifteen years ago in Auckland, when he and Mrs W. took their departure for tho sunny isles of the Southern seas, to labor in the missionary field. But he did not know that he ever felt it more difficult to say 'farewell' than he did that night." Mr Whewell was presented with a hand* some tea service, and Miss Allen with a beautiful walnut writing desk and canterbury ; each gift being suitably inscribed, and accompanied with an address. Mr Whewell is succeeded by the Rev. Mr Law.

By the Auokland papers we see that Mr James De Hirseh has been charged on the complaint of F. A. Whitaker, Esq., with the publication of certain malicious libels, relative to the lands at Kaueranga, in the T mmes Advertiser newspaper. By agreement of counsel, the case was adjourned to Wednesday, 27th April (yesterday). The following is from the New Zealand Herald, 20th April;—The cutter Woodstock, Captain Baker, from Opotiki, arrived in port yesterday. We learn that on Saturday last a couple of rebels came into the camp and surrendered at discretion, giving information that their late leader was sulking in the Waikawera Gorge with about 20 iren. Preparations were being made ou Sunday, when the Woodstock left, for an expedition to start on Monday to endeavor to capture the party, Should the movement prove successful, our native troubles might fairly be considered at an end. The Eev. Mr Herring, of the Hutt, being about to leave this Colony for Victoria, was, on Tuesday evening last, at Welling-* ton, presented by the members of his church with a purse containing £7O, and a valedictory address. The Lyttelton Times gives a long and interesting account of the volunteer encampment, which appears to have terminated very succesfully, and, according to what we read, the sham fight was well conceived and carried out, with fully the average credit of volunteer forces. The men all worked well and zealously, the large guns, though in very heavy ground, were smartly handled, and the only regret that could be felt was the still small muster of the various corps. The encampment terminated on the 19th inst. The Bruce Herald learns from authentic sources that the Otago Provincial Government chest boasts of something like £25,000 on hand. The proposed floating dock at Auckland does not seem to be making much progress, to judge from the following extract from the Herald: —We regret to have to publish such a report as appears in our (columns of to-day respecting the long? talked-of Floating Dock Company. All we can say is, that we are surprised at the apathy shown in such a matter. It might reasonably have been supposed that an undertaking of this kind would have found numerous and energetic supporters. It would, however, seem that, like a gcod many other things here, there is "great cry and precious little wool." Insanity, we are told, is greatly on the increase in Westland. And the cause is said to be produced from drinking certain illicitly distilled, spirits, very large quantities of which are manufactured in the up-country districts; and owing to the abundance of water, and the dense, almost impenetrable nature of the scrub, detection is almost impossible. The spirit which is made and sold to shanty keepers, and even to some of the up-country licensed houses, is a vile compound of the most poisonous nature; which, when indulged in, brings on delirium tremens and insanity jn its most aggravated forms. An Order in Council has been published delegating to Major Charles Heaphy, V.C. all the powers competent to Commissioners under Ihe New Zealand Native Reserves Act, 1856, without any restrictions, qx stipulations w^ateve^,,

Our Taranaki contemporaries have lately been congratulating their readers on the very satisfactory state of native affairs in that Province ; while at the same time their columns contain unmistakable evid- I ;ence to the contrary. In native matters Mr Parris, the Civil Commissioner, rules . supreme ; and any little difficulty is readily "arranged" by the simple process of al'owing the Maori his own way. Not long since a settler was severely taken to \ task by this official for repossessing himself of his stolen horse, which he happened to see fastened to the fence of a Maori pa. He was told that he had endangered the peace of the district; rnd that he should have informed the proper authorities instead of taking the matter into his own hands. In the Herald of the 2nd inst. ; .appears a letter from Mr J. Nicoll, a settler, which admirably shows the kind of action taken by the authorities in these matters. He had for some time missed small ,*ums of money, articles of clothing, ,&c\, from his dwelling, and his suspicion .fell-upon a native in his employment. The extent of these depredations gradually increased, until one day when three £1 notes and sis white shirts vanished, he gave information of the robberies to the police, who referred him to the Civil Commissioner—that functionary at the time being absent from town. Mr Nicolljthen marked the money in his house, and concealed himself in the fern. The second day he saw the native go into the house, where he stayed about ten minutes, and then went to work. More mo!>ey had disappeared ; assistance was procured, and the Maori,—who stoutly denied having been near the house, —was searched, and the marked coins found upon him, tied in the tail of his shirt. Mr Nicoll went to town to lay an information, and was referred to the Superintendent, who told him that an attempt to arrest the thief would most likely be resisted by the natives ; that he had better not mention the matter till the return of the Civil Commissioner in a day or two ; that that officer " know the native .character so well that'most likely he would go out himself and see it settled." Up wards of a week passed before the return' of the Civil Commissioner, who then informed him that he had held a meeting of the natives belonging to th<? pa where the Mauri dwelt, at which the offender was not present; and in .conclusion (we quote the wiiter's own words) " censured me severely for the action* I had taken, and threatened to bring me up .for taking the law into my own hands " ! Another suggestive fact is recorded by the Herald of a later date. That journal " regrets to hear that the contractor has been prevented from commencing to build the bridge over the Stony River, through the interference of the natives. Mr Grey, who was employed to cut the embankment, was ordered to stop, and has consequently come into town." The next number, referring to the same affair, says :—" Since then, as we anticipated, Mr Parris has seen the natives, and everything has been arranged ; so that for the future there will be no stonpage to the works." We may fairly ask here, —Did the mere sight of Mr Parris effect this change ? or, if not, what were the terms of the " arrangement" ? Elsewhere will be found an item from the Taranaki Herald relating to an attack by rebels upon some men of the Armed Constabulary. The affair is represented as a "misapprehension"" on the part of the men. They must have been strangely deluded to fancy themselves " rushed" by a party of rebels, if such was not the case. The correspondent of the New Zealand Herald states that they were fired upon. The matter, to our mind, resolves itseil into a mere question of the veracity of the men who reported that they hud been attacked.

Our contemporary the Post observes : The manner in which, some of our northern contemporaries exaggerate every thing, from a gold mine to a fight with the Hauhaus, is something reauy wonderful. This is how the Southern Cross ppeaks of the 31 miserable wretches now in Mount " Cook Barracks, being fattened in order to make a decent appearance before the Judge :—" The account brought up from Opotiki by some passengers on board the Star of the South is to the effect that the more violent of the prisoners had made several attempts to escape, necessitating the employment of additional guards; and that some of the prisoners had been shot. We believe, however, that the story as to the shooting of prisoners is not a reliable pne. There had, however, been trouble jn preyenting thp escape of some of them."

At the annual meeting of the Auckland Auxiliary of the Bible Society on the 14th instant the Eev. Dr Maunsell (as reported by the New Zealand Herald) made the following remarkable statement: —" The whole world was divided into two classes of religionists, viz.: liberal Catholics and true Catholics, and the present object of the meeting of the (Ecumenical Council at Rome was to fuse those two classes together." We wish the rev. gentleman had been more explicit. The expression "the whole world " must include all denominations of Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, and Pagans. In which division would he place these various bodies ?

On the evening of the 14th inst. a farewell soiree was given in the Music Hall, Symonds-street, Auckland, to the Rev. David Bruce, Presbyterian Minister, who is about to visit the Mother country for the benefit of his health, after seventeen years' service in the Colony. Mr Bruce was highly eulogized by the various speakers, among whom were the ministers of several denominations; and a purse containing £IOO was presented to him. In a long and interesting address Mr Bruce said that when he came to the Colony it was with the intention of .-taying five years ; but " he had never seen it to be his duty to forsake the sphere upon which he entered when ho came here, and to which he was, in the first instance, led by the good providence of Cod to devote himself. The five years of the reckoning had been multiplied by three and more> and he returned, by the permission of his congregation, to his native country with those views unchanged, and in the full intention, should God restore his health, of devoting the remaining years of his life to that sphere of labor in which he had been employed so many years." At a meeting of the Auckland Ragged School committee on the 14th inst. Mr Daldy proposed a motion recommending that the Government should undertake the management of the endowments for the education and support of destitute child ren. To this the Rev. Dr Maunsell objected —"If Mr Daldy meant the endowments set apart for the Maoris, why did he not say so ? " Mr Boardman pointed out that in the trust deeds of these grants it was distinctly stated that they were set apart "for the education of children of both races, and for the natives of the islands of the Pacific." The Rev. Dr Maunsell considered that the passing of this motion would change the purpose of the committee from a philanthropic to a political one. (!) It would cause disruption among the committee. There was now a revival among the Maoris in the matter of education, and it would be manifestly unjust to them to take these educational endowments for purposes for which they were not originally set apart. —The resolution was ultimately shelved by an amendment, moved by the Rev. Mr M'Nicol. There is a very evident quibble in Dr Maunsell's remarks. No one proposed to apply the endowments to " purposes for which they were not originallv set apart; " but on the contrary to carry out more fully the intention of the original grant. The " manifest injustice " is done to the European children, deprived of the benefit to which they are legally entitled. As to the " revival among the Maoris in the matter of education," we fear the rev. gentleman's " wish was father to that thought."

A correspondent of the Evening Post 1 suggests the advisability of establishing a School of Art in Wellington. A contemporary gives the following summary of politics in Taranaki:—The Provincial Council is still in session. The members meet once a week, and seemingly talk for a few hours with very little satisfactory results, and then separate. The members appear to be always talking about economy and retrenchment, and have proposed to reduce the police and jail department —which at present, we believe, consists of five persons—down to four; and at the same time they pass resolutions authorizing the Government to guarantee a loan to a private individual to purchase a steam-ei)gine and plant, because he had no money to buy it, or property to give as security. The amount is not large, it is true; but the present instance is the first on record where a Provincial Government has been authorized to back a tradesman's bill to enable him to raise money to buy extra plant. It is not a new industry that has to be fostered; but simply to assist a blacksmith who has started a foundry there, and enable him to make castings larger than he was capable of doing with the appliances he had, \

His Honor F. A. Carrington, Esq, Superintendent of Taranaki, has issued his address to the electors of Omata, for a seat in the General Assembly. He will support th.Q present Ministry because " under their able administration war has almost ceased—peaco is at last, after many years of strife, likely to prevail throughout New Zealand —and we may reasonably hope that the Colony will soon attain that position, both in wealth and population, ro which its natural capabilities justly entitle it. the attainment of which the late disastrous rebellion has so long impeded." He approves of immigration as a General Government scheme, provided means are furnished for supporting the immigrants by public works till they can gain sustenence without, and " considers it a very doubtful benefit, perhaps an injury to a Colony, to encourage pauper immigration — i.e., to introduce a class, which, in a depressed state of the labor market, will most likely become solicitous for charitable aid." He will oppose separation if, as ho fears, the "members of the late Ministry, in their desire for office, may endeavor to gain the Southern members by introducing an Act foi the separation of the Colony into two Governments." He will en deavor to get Government aid for constructing a harbor at New Plymouth ; and the balance of the £50,000 loan to be expended in local public works. He " approves and will support the road-making policy of the Government by endeavoring to obtain a grant for continuing the much needed inland and mountain road, and thus placing us in direct communication with the now isolated settlement of Patea." He will "also urge on the Government the justice of at once meeting the well merited claims of the Militia and Volun teers of this province, which he brought to their notice when last in Wellington."

The following is from the Taranaki ( Herald, 20th April:—Between one and '' two yesterday morning a mounted orderly ' rode into town, bringing a despatch from - the Waiiti camp, for Major Tuke. An ( orderly coming in that untimely hour, and l the immediate departure of Major Tuke, ' Captain Messenger, and several men of ' the Armed Constabulary for Waiiti, caused ; some excitement in the town when the j affair became known at a later hour in the • day. Many were the runiors that were ' afloat respecting what had occurred, hut-; nothing authentic was obtained till late in the afternoon, when his Honor the Superintendent and the Civil Commissioner received letters from Major Stapp, in which it stated that the whole affair was a misapprehension on the part of some men As far as we can learn, the particulars of the affair are as follows: —On Monday afternoon two men of the Armed Constabulary, named Charnock and Charlton, were searching for their horses, and had proceeded a short distance from the camp, when, as they stat<>, they saw Maoris crouching amongst the fern. One of the men, we believe, was stooping, and in the act of lighting his pipe, when, it is asserted, the rebels darted upon them. The men at once took to their heels, and arrived at the camp in a breathless condition. They reported the circumstance to the officer in command, who at once despatched an orderly to Tikorangi with the information j and Major Stapp being there at the tima, sent the man into town, to report it to Major Tuke. Yesterday morning a detachment of the constabulary, with their officer and Major Stapp, went to the spot indicated by the men, but we believe that no signs of any natives could be discovered. It is thought that the men must have been mistaken, although they both positively declare that they could not have been deceived. A Masonic Lodge has been formed at the Thames. A correspondent writing to the Wanganui Chronicle, says Wanganui is overburdened with lawyers. He thinks there is one to every hundred of the adult population, It is proposed in Wellington to raise a subscription to present some testimonial to Commodore Lambert and the officers and men of her Majesty's ship Challenger. The Evening Post says:—"We could afford to entertain the officers of the Flying Squadron, who were strangers to us, and surely we will not allow the Challenger to leave our shores without showing in some degree the appreciation in which the Welliu"ton community hold Commodoro Lambert, his officers and men, who have, on repeated occasions during their stay on the station, proved themselves our warm and sincere friends,"

The harbor works at Tiaiaru (save f southern contemporary) were tuccessfuli? completed on 24th March. The experimental nature of the whole work has caused more than ordinary interest to be attached to its progress, and it is with no little satisfaction that we • are enabled to make this announcement of its final completion. It will be remembered that, with a view of improving the shipping facilities at the port of Timaru, the General Assembly in 1857 granted the sum of £B,OOO to be expended for that, purpose ; but with a view of exercising considerable supervision, any works undertaken were to be done only on the recommendation of the Colonial Marine Engineer. Tha late Mr Balfour consequently gave a report, and a very able one, to the Tiniavu and Gladstone Board of Works on the whole question, suggesting any one of three works named as giving fair chances of success, but two of them were beyond the funds at the disposal of the Board, and the third was consequently taken in hand This was the raising of the reef to the south of Cain's Landing-place so as to afford additional shelter to the boats, and to form the nucleus of a larger work, to be carried out—if the small trial works were found successful —as far as funds would admit. Mr Balfour did not fail to point out the risky nature of die undertaking, and to show that the risk is always greater in proportion for small works. He also drew attention to another uncertain element —the travelling shingle—and said it was impossible to tell how far the landing-place might be sheltered without it becoming so choked as to render the shelter useless. The work was therefore undertaken purely as an experiment, and commenced in December last. The work may be said to be a small artificial stono pier, built on a natural reef to the south of Cain's landing-place, 87 feet in length, and 7 feet high. The shore end was commenced near She edge of the reef, about 150 feet from high water mavk, so as not to iuterefere with the travelling shingle, and it was designed to be about a foot out of water at high tide. Knowing the difficulty of firmly knitting together large stone, and appreciating the tremendous force of the sea at Timaru, the late Mr Balfour determined to compose the work of large blocks of concrete, moulded on the reef, the whole fastened together in one huge mos 3. The work was undertaken} as we have stated, and the first attempt to mould a block was made on the 2nd Bee last, which resulted in failure, as it was washed away the same evening by a very heavy sea setting in. Of course, it was at once predicted that the whole work would be a gigantic failure, and wiseacres assured us that it was simply throwing money into the sea to attempt the work at all But the contractors made a second attempt on the 4th December, and successfully laid the first block. It was then asserted by many that the work would all melt away under the sam? heavy sea, but it stands now to speak for itself, and contradict all cavilling. We believe no possible power of the sea will ever injure the work, for it resists its forces just as a block of stone would, and is quite as hard, whilst the process of hardening, we are told, will go on for at least twelve months. There cannot be the slightest doubt about the stability of the work. What effect it will have on the travelling shingle remains yet to be seen. The late Mr Balfour, on the morning of his melancholy death, at an interview with the Board of Works, said: " The first block had been put down, and for an experiment it had been very successful. But he could not yet tell whether it was going to be very beneficial, but he thought it would be." Mr Balfour feared the work might fill up the harbor with shingle, but it has not yet done so. Singular' to say, the work has had an effect already —and a beneficial one, too —which no one predicted or ever contemplated. A tongue of shingle now runs out to the breakwater itself, so that the landing-place was as well protected as though the concrete wcik had been commenced at high water mark and carried to its present limits. There is no difficulty now in walking to the breakwater along this tongue of shingle from the shore. Thousands of tons of shingle are btiug deposited between the break* water and the shore during the last fortnight, and it may be said that a new beach has been formed, but when the formation will cease does not seem clear. If it continues the breakwater will itself soon be buried, and should the scour of the channel between the reefs keep the shingle from depositing there, a very snug little bay will be formed for the bouts, And

this process may be carried on .again unjtjt small vessels can come into smooth water. Of course nothing further can be done until the appointment of a colonial marine engineer, as all. works must be under his eontrol in accordance with the Board o Works Act. The contractors for the work were Messrs Crawford and Green, ojf, Timaru, and the price was £974 The contract has been well carried cut, and the contractors are to be congratulated on the successful completion of a very risky undertaking. The resident engineer for the work was Mr Williamson, of Timaru. The Government of Otago have offered a reward of £SO for the discovery of the perpetrators of the late outrage on the Chinese, at Moonlight Gully. A correspondent of the Bruee Herald thus describes " Invercargill of the present dav " ; —Grass growing in the streets ; deserted houses and shops on all sides j the main road only gravelled or metalled ; cows ind goats browsing undisturbed on unoccupied quarter-acre sections; open drains in all directions, which, however, thanks to the thinness of the population, the constant breezes from the sea, and the frequent scourings from the abundant rainfall, have not hitherto told injuriously on the health of the town.