Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 821, 12 September 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

THE LATE EARTHQUAKE,

The Wellington Independent thus gathers the published information relative to the late earthquake : From our southern files we gather the following particulars respecting the late earthquake shocks that were felt in various parts of the South Island, on the 30th ultimo:—

The Lyttelton Times says:—Amongst the most noticeable instances of damage in Christchurch are the displacement of the stone cross on the east end of the roof of St. John's Church, and the opening of all the old cracks in the walls of the building. The general stability doe 3 not appear to be materially injured. At Avonside one or two chimneys have fallen, and that at the Railway Station. About three feet of the upper portion of one of the chimneys has been slewed round out of the square between two and three inches. The shock was severely felt in the Opawa district. The Town Hall is reported uninjured, but the committee have requested a rigid examination.

At the Canterbury Meat Preserving Company's works, on the Southern Railway line, the vibration of ths earth caused the tall brick chimney to sway to and fro. At Lyttelton a heavy gust of wind preceded the earthquake, and the people are described as being nearly demented for a short time. A chimney at the Rev. E. Knowlcs' parsonage was thrown down, and fell on the roof of the house, smashing the slates. Another chimney was turned half round, but did not fall. A chimney at Dv Rouse's and one at Mr Merson's were thrown down. The bricks at the Railway Hotel came down the chimneys in such quantities as to cause a general rush out of the house. The churches, fortunately, have not r ceived any injury. The shocks were also felt at Dampier's Bay, but no damage resulted. Two violent shocks were felt at Kaiapoi in rapid succession, the last and most violent being two seconds after the first. Several chimneys were damaged. Nearly ail the clocks were stopped. At Woodend, Rangiora, Flaxton, and Eyreton, the earthquake was felt in an equally demonstrative manner. Opinions as to the directions of the wave are numerous and conflicting, but the majority seem to agree that it was from S.S.E. to N.N.W. At Saltwater Creek it commenced with a violent shaking of the earth, accompanied with a noise resembling thunder, and ending with a rocking similar to the roll of a ship from north to south. The vibration lasted three seconds. There was a heavy fall of snow in this district.

At Southbridge the shock was more severe than has been experienced for 20 years. At Selwyn Forks, the shock was of 30 sees, duration, and the current appeared to travel from W.M.W. to E.S.E.

At Pigeon Bay the direction seem 3 to have been from N.W. to S.E., though some persons living in the gullies affirm that the shock came from the opposite direction. The shock was most severely felt in the upper parts of the Bay than at the beach. Great excitement prevailed for several hours after. In some quarters two distinct shocks were felt, while in others only one, which lasted eight seconds. Severai chimneys were cracked, and rendered unfit for use.

At Akaroa two severe and separate shocks were felt, the latter more especially. A resident for thirteen years Buys that ouch severe shocks was never before experienced in tiiat locality. It was so sudden that it could not be said if the motion were vertical or horizontal; but it was thought to be tho latter, and bearing ea.-t ai.ct west; the shocks wore perceptible by people out of doors, and the groaning of the houses was fearful. .

fhe Lunediu people seem cither to have felt the shock but slightly or tried to make as little of it as possible. The following meagre account is all we can glean from our files : —lt lasted for several seconds, and the direction of the motion appeared to be from north to south. Wo have not heard of any damage having been occasioned by it, tho shock having apparently been only strong enough to ring bells, jingle glasses, and give other harmless indications of its occurrence.

At Greymouth and Hokitika tho shock was E. and W., lasted 30 seconds, and ap pears to have been only slight.

We learn from the Wellington papers that the farewell ball given b) T colonists

' now in Wellington to Commodore Lambert and the officers of the Australian Squadron on the night of the Ist September was a most brilliant success.

We glean the following further particu lars from our Southern files respecting the perpetrators of the Clyde robbery : —The Tuapeka Times learns from a Cromwell letter that M'Lellan, the policeman, attempted to dash his brains out against the wall of the cell in which he was confined. The police, to prevent his committing any violence against himself, put him in chains. On being brought up before Mr Vincent Pyke, R.M., at Clyde, the evidence of Rennie was given in a clear and conclusive manner:—A. private letter from Clyde says :—■" Notwithstanding the wretch Rennie having turned Queen's evidence, and restored in the first instance the greater part of the stolen treasure, there was still missing two parcels of notes containing respectively £212 and £537, also about £'oo worth of gold. This he asserted he had lost on the road on the night of his flight, but fortunately as it turns out, the police did not believe him. In the course of a week, persuasion had the effect of his revealing where £l6l worth of the notes could be found, which were accordingly obtained, ' but as. for the rest they were down the river, or somewhere else.' Tlvs did not satisfy the police, who have all along been prosecuting the most persistent search, and the result was that they found on the Gentle Annie track, not far from where it will be remembered Rennie camped and burned his clothes, the bundle of notes containing £537 intact. This now reduces the loss to £sl in notes on the Bank of New Zealand, and £6O worth of gold belonging to the Bank of New South Wales." The Star says :—There is strong circumstantial evidence against tl e prisoner M'Lellan. He pleaded not guilty, and stoutly denies all participation in the crime. He was committed for trial. We learn from Clyde that a petition to the Superintendent has been very numerously signed, praying that the case of Sub-In-spector Dalgleish, who is under suspension, may be considered as leniently as possible. The Evening Post, 6th inst., says:—We have all heard a great deal about the opening of Ohinemuri, and a large section of the mining population of Auckland consider that their fortunes would be made if they could only get permission to uncartii the deposits of wealth existing as fiiey imagine, in that auriferous region. For our own part, wejj consider, and have long done so, that the place is much over rated, and that were it opened, nothing would be found to justify the sanguine hopes entertained of it; still, " opening the Ohinemuri" has been made one of the pol'tical questions of the day, which the Government in their usual round about fashion, have endeavored to resolve. A number of the Maori owners are in favor of allowing the Europeans to dig on the land and only a small minority opposes , their wishes; but as is genorally the case, the obstructive minority carries the sway. Negotiations innumerable hare been held, , and sittings of the Land Court appointed to decide upon the rival claims, but all to no purpose. An obstinate old savage called Te Hira, backed up by an old woman called Mere Kuru, suffice to interrupt the proceedings of the Government, and keep the country still closed against the miners. It too ridiculous to believe, and yet is a fact, nevertheless, that a Judge of the Native Lands Court, who went to Ohinemuri recently for the purpose of holding a sitting, was, along with ull his paraphernalia, bundled back on the steamer which brought him by Mere Kuru, and prohibited from accoraplising the business on which he was sent, to the great disappointment and dissatisfaction oi both natives and Europeans. Such is the boasted influence of the present Ministry over the natives—one old woman can upset all their arrangement*. We take the following report of two fatal accidents from the Daily Southern Cross, sth September: —It will be remembered by our readers that, on the evening of Wednesday last, a little boy of 10 years of >ge, named Horace Johnson, a nephew to James Bray, farmer, near the Three Kings Institution, was missing. The particulars of the case were, that about dusk he was sent by his uncle to bring home the ducks. Near to Mr Bray's house is a pond, which during this wet season was pretty deep in some parts, but during the summer time it is dry. As the boy did not return, search was made for hisu, and on the brink of the lake or pond his boots and socks were found which gave rise to the supposition that he had taken them off to wade in to drive the ducks out, and had stepped into some of the deep parts and thus been drowned. The pond was dragged, but without success, and every effort made to recover the body in vain, until Saturday evening, when his uncle was successful in bringing to the surface the dead body of his nephew. The coroner has been communicated with respecting the matter, and we believe his warrant will be issued this morning fur the purpose of holding an inquest into Luo cause of his dfiitli to-day, at 2 o'clock at the house of deceased's uncle, James Bray, about five miles from Town. Another fatal accident occurred on tho evening of Saturday last, by a man tailing over Queen-street Wharf, and getting drowned, it appears that about half-past 10 o'clock on (Saturday night, a sailor, named Legg, lately discharged from the Argyleshire, was standing near 'midships of the Excelsior, and while there saw a man fall over between the wharf and the starboard bow. He raised the alarm, and the unfortunate man also screamed, when the steward of tho Excelsior and a sailor on boat J, named J ones,

rushed on deck, and saw the man in the wafer, floating towards the ouser-dolphin. As the tide was flowing strongly at %ho time. Jones with great presence of mind, threw a rope's end to the floating man, while a boat was being launched to reach him, and Jones asserts thut the r&pe went over the man's breast, and that he that instant called out to him to catch hold of it. This he sems not to have done, for he floated away on his back, apparently struggling to keep himself up. When the boat was lowered it was found there was only one oar in it, and as there was no one in the boat who could U3e the oar as a. "scull," a little, delay ensued until an other oar was got, and Jones jumped into the boat. The man's hat was then picked up, near the dolphin, but the body had disappeared. Search was made to recover the body, but in vain. Legg describes the man pretty accurately:—From sft. Bin. to sft. lOin. in height, stout built, age from 35 to 40; sandy-colored whiskers, worn rather short; brown coat and trousers, black felt hat much worn. His trousers soemed to be dirty, and his general appearance was that of one hard up. He was coi s derably under the influence of drink at the time. He saw him in Mr Copland's hotel, but not drinking, about half-past eight o'clock, and several times during the day on the wharf. On each occasion he seemed somewhat under the influence of drink. The man is unknown, does not belong to any vessel in the harbor, and up to a late hour last night no report of any person being missing had been made to the police. During yesterday on both occasions of low water the Water Police were out in their boat dragging for a considerable distance where he was last seen, but without success. This morning at 'ow water they are to resume the seai'ch. , About a quarter-past four o'clock on Saturday, a man answering the above descriplion was seen on the lower end of the wharf by the Water Police. He was not ho drunk as to justify them in looking him up, but with commendable prudence they desired him to go up the town and get olf the wharf. One of them walked up to the foot of Queen-street with him, to prevent any accident occurring by carts or otherwise, and, while there, a gentleman came forward and informed the constable that he knew the individual, and promised to take him to his home. The constable watched them for some time, and saw them a considerable distance up Queenstreet together. Both men were unknown to the constable, but from several expressions used while coming up the wharf together, it is believed that the half-drunk person was a married man, and that he has some connection with the iN'orth Shore.

It would appear (says the Evening Post) that the Government nave taken the hint we threw out a short time ago in reference to Kereopa. Afraid or unwilling to arrest and execute justice upon the cannibal murderer, they have done the next best thing by ordering him out of sight ot the people of Wanganui, to whom his presence is e, standing insult. The Evening Herald of August 27 says:—"As soon as the Government were aware that Kereopa was known to be in Wanganui, they took steps to have him sent to the locale of his tribe. A communication was received yesterday from Mete Kingi by the chiefs of Putiki lo the effect that none of the Waitotara natives were to be allowed to go where the Pakeba was, and ordering them away from Waitotara and Wanganui." Those who compare the above extract from the Herald with a letter from General Mete Kingi, which appeared in our columns a short time ago, will be able to judge what credence is to be given to the statements of that dark skinned legislator.

From inquiries wo (Southern Cross) learn that the shares in the proposed Now Zealand Steam Paper-mill Company (Limited) are being applied for with more rapidity than could have been expected considering the dulness of ttie times; but this is a strong proof of our assertion thae such an industry is much wanted here. We are also informed that the applicants for shares embrace not only residents of this province, but also of the Australian colonies, as well as many who are now engaged in the flax trade. While on this subject, we may state that we have good reason to believe that a paper-mill proprietor in Australia is now negotiating for the tow of one of our largest flax-mills. Are we, as usual, to supply others with our raw material, and then buy it in the manufactured state ? or shall we, having the raw material, produce ourselves, and thus keep our money and labor in the province ?

Three young men, named M'Cormick, Murphy, and Smith, were drowned at Port Cooper a few days ago, by the accidental capsizing of a boat. A fourth who was hi the boat, named Emmet, was saved.

The D. S. Cross, Sept. 6, says;— Tha party to survey the ELaipara railway started yesterday. This is an excellent for the future, and we t<"ust the Provincial Government will carry the work through with the same energy that they have commenced it.

The We lington Independent, 6th Sept., says: —Last evening, in the House, ou the Water liights Bill, Mr J. C. Wilson cruelly proposed that the Speaker do leave the cnair that day six months! Only fancy the hun. Speaker being compelled to sit in his chair, like Alexander Selkirk, '"Alou.ivch of all he surveyed," for the space of i>ix months ! fortunately, some hoa. members—the hou. member for Heathcoto particularly —pointed out the hardship of ;auch a motion, and the hou. member ry. I looted and withdraw it,