Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 822, 15 September 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

A Miners' Protection League has been inaugurated at the Thames.

We regret to learn that tlie Pioneer Steel Company of New Plymouth is to be wound up.

A company for the importation of pure bred stock is being formed in Auckland, with a capital of £I,OOO. An inquiry into the cause of the late fire in the premises of Watson & Scanlan, oil and colormen, Lower Queen street, Auckland, resulted in an open verdict. A late Taranaki paper says an accident happened at the Waitara while the Rangatirti was being loaded with cattle. It appears (hat a derrick had been erected in iho rivo- for the purpose of hoisting the horses and cattle to the deck of the vessel; and while one of the largest and fattest oxen was in the slings, the tackle gave way, and, fulling on the deck of the vessel, struck two of the lady passengers and one of the sailors, who fortunately escaped without much injury. Mr W. Giddy, however, who was standing on the deck of the steamer received a blow on the side of his head, and on his shoulders and spine, from a chain as it fell, which for a short time ren dered him insensible, and afterwards produced partial paralysis of his lower extre_ unties. The young man is in great danger, but Dr St. George, his medical attendant, reported that he was as well as could be expected. The Thames correspondent of the Daily Southern Cross, under date Ist September, says : —A truly sad event, that has created an intense sensation in the neighborhood, occurred yesterday morning at half-past eight o'clock, and resulted in the death of a fine little boy named James Clarke, aged some seven or eight years, and the son of Mr James Clarke, of the Donegal Arras Hotel, Abraham street, Grahamatown. The lad,'it seems, was playing in Mr Lamb's timber yard on the opposite side of the street, and, seeing a cart laden with coal about to leave the yard, he, boy-like, begged the driver to give him a ride. The latter, however, having a restive stubborn horse to deal with, refused, and bade him get out ot the way, at which admonition the youngster, it seems, darted between the piles of timber stacked up on each side of the cart-way, and there thought himself secure. This was on the off side of the cart. Not seeing the boy about the cart, the driver imagined he had run away, and without further ado proceeded to take hi? cart out of the yard ; but the horse turned restive, and backed the cart against the pile of timber behind which the boy was standing and upset it- right on him, jamming the poor little fellow against the next hulk, and killing him instantaneously. He could not have lingered even a second, for the body was absolutely flattened and the: head horribly crushed. Some men who were standing by rushed forward and released the mangled remains, and carried them over to the parent's house, where a scene ensued better imagined than described. The brunt of the affliction and its sickening details fell upon the mother: the father, Mr Clarke, having gone to Auckland by Tuesday night's steamer. Dr Croft was called in, but could render no assistance, the boy being quite dead.—An incniesfc was hold upon the body, and a verdict of " accidental death " returned;

Great distress is said to exist at the Thames and on the West Coast goldfields. The anniversary meeting of the Drury ; Auxiliary of the United Kingdom Alliance is to be held early in October. The prospectus of a boiling-down company at the Tamaki (Auckland) has been published—capital, £750. The hatching of trout ova by the. Auckland Acclimatisation Society has proved successful. It is hoped that larger quantities of ova may be obtained from California.

The Government has expressed a deter ruination to give greater encouragement to the Volunteer movement, and has voted £2,500 for prizes at next year's annual shooting.

A few days ago, Mr Kenny, of Kihikihi (Auckland), fell over the parapet of the bridge near Penrose, in the dark, and was n good deal injured. He was refused admittance, in the most brutal manner, at the Harp of Erin Hotel. We learn from the Auckland papers that the barbers in that city are to be allowed to hang out their poles again, as it was found on counting noses that there was a majority of members of the Town Board who made use of barbers, and it was too much trouble to look for the Bhops, after being so long accustomed to look for the poles. The pole is therefore to be permitted but it is only to hang at an angle of 70 degrees. Double-furrow ploughs have been introduced into Southland by several farmers in that province, and the expeditious and satisfactory manner in which they do their work is greatly admired. The News states that Mr W. A. Lyon, of Islabank Farm, Jacob's River, has one regularly at work, and states that the increased traction, as proved by dynamometer, required over the ordinary plough, is as 4to 2£. Thus three horses and one man are capable of doing the work of two teams and ploughmen—the labour of holding the double and single ploughs being about equal. The saving thus effected, at the present rate of wages, is no small item of account.

The Otago Daily Times says that on the telegraphic news reaching Port Chalmers On the 2nd inst. that Mr Micandrew's resolution making Port Chalmers the terminus of the San Francisco service, had been carried by a large majority in the House of Representatives, the Port was; jubilant. Bunting was hoisted "galore," and the majority of the vessels in Port dressed ship. In the evening the Naval Volunteers fired a salute in celebration of the result, and blue lights and rockets weiv simultaneously displayed all over the town. Some of the vessels in harbor also sent off rockets in compliment to the townspeople. —A public dejeuner is to be given to Mr Macan ;rew on his return to Dunedin.

Amongst the papers laid on the table of the House of Representatives, consequent motions of members, the following comparative return of the quantity and value of wool exported from the several provinces of New Zealand, during the financial years 1868-9 and 1869 70, will be found interest-

Total ... 31,335,453 £1,596,290 The Lyttelton Times says :—For some time past it has been surmised that an illicit still or stills has been at work in one of the bays. Nothing however was known until Tuesday last, when Sergeant Ramsay, of Akaroa, received such information as to cause him to arrest a man named Moses Barton, who was then sailing a cutter named the Zealandia. The man confessed he had a still on board, but that he was only carrying it for freight. Great excite ment was caused in Lyttelton on Wednes day by the arrest of three persons wellknown in town, on a charge of complicity. They were taken before the Resident Magistrate and remanded under heavy bail. Yesterday morning Inspector Pender and several officers proceeded in the s.s. Halcyon to Pigeon Bay, and arrested one man named Ryan, and we learn that it is most probable other arrests will be made. The stil seized is one of excellent manufacture, and shows signs of having been in operation some time. The " Grey River Argus " also mentions the capture of an illicit still, near the township of The police left their horses and proceeded on foot for about a mile and a half up the New River, till they came upon a tent, in which they found a man named Robert Simpson, an old offender in this line. At first he denied all knowledge of the existence of a still, but after some pressure he showed where the still-house was. In the hut all the appliances for carrying on dist.llation wero found, including the mash tub and seven casks of wash, so far prepared that during the wt ek nearly 200 gallons of spirits could have been run off from them. The prisoner had been arrested in September, 1868, for a similar oifeuce, was fined £IOO or six months' imprisonment. He chose the latter alternative*

At the Criminal sessions, Auckland, a true bill has been found against Commissary Innes on three counts. A number of specimens of the hotete, or vegetable caterpillar of New Zealand, have been found at the Thames. The Customs duties collected at the Port of Auckland for the month ending 31st August amounted to £14,552 17s 2d. The Customs revenue for the port of Thames for August, amounted to £896 10s Bd, showing an increase over the previous month of £77 10s.

Miss Ross, of Maungatua, the young lady who has rivalled the Welsh fasting girl, has recovered from her trance, but is yet unable to rise. Her complete recovery is doubtful.

Mr Francis H. Mulloch, formerly employed by the Bank of Otago as a clerk, died suddenly in Dunedin on the 4th inst. He was found dead in his bed in the Maitland Hotel.

We learn from an Auckland paper that the Supreme Court building, erected at enormous expense, is fast going to ruin by reason of the culpable neglect of the Covernment. Except in fine weather the Court cannot be used on account of the leakage of the roof. Thousands of pounds are being destroyed for lack of expenditure of fifty. The following is from the Wellington Independent, 6th instant:—On Sunday three of H.M.S. Challenger's crew who were sailing about the bay in a small boat had the misfortune to get upset, and narrowly escaped from being drowned. The accident occurred some few hundred yards from the shore at Kaiwara. The men, however, clung to the oars, and made for the shore. The casualty being witnessed from the beach, a boat was immediately launched and sent to the aid of the struggling sailors, who were picked up considerably exhausted, about half way from the shore. Beyond the ducking and a severe chill from their immersion the men were nothing the worse for their misadventure.

A correspondent of the Daily Southern Cross at Wellington, speaking of the proposed Waikato Vail way, says :•—" Great efforts have been made to secure the carrying out of a line from Wellington to Wairarapa, and from Wellington to Napier. There is at present a large coast trade growing up between Wellington .and Napier. The 'RangMtira' has principally been placed on the line. How is it that a steamer is not subsidised to ply between Auckland, Tauranga, Maketu, Opotiki, Poverty Bay, and Napier ? This would draw the whole of the trade of the East Coast to Auckland, and pay handsomely. The commercial men of Auckland should never let the Provincial Government rest until something of this character is afloat." The Thames Evening Mail, August 30, in referring to an accident to the Shotover machinery, says : —This morning the connecting rod of the engine having become broken, the engine had of course to b,stopped for the necessary repairs, and the boiler was accordingly blown off. The engineer then discovered that the engine was damaged to a very dangerous extent, bein« frightfully corroded and honey-combed, the result being more similar to the efFects of nitric acid than to the action of any water. Up to about a week ago the engineer had been in the habit of using the mine water in the boiler, but since then had constructed a tank to obtain a supply from the creek, and this water has since bven con stantly used. Before turning on the creek water, the boiler was carefully examined, and found quite perfect, so that the damage must have since been caused by the creek water, which is to all appearance quite clear, and apparently free from corrosive matter. But if the creek water has damaged the boiler, the mine water has very materially damaged the pumps and plungers, and in man£ instances the bolts are quite eaten through. Singular to say, the mine water has had an effect on the brass work as well as on the iron, for the cocks of the stop valves and other portions of the machinery are very much corroded. In fact, the whole of the damages more resemble the effects of nitric acid than anything which it was hitherto supposed possible for any water to effect. At the Supreme Court, Auckland, on the sth instant, William Fagg, convicted at last criminal sittings for selling guns and ammunition to natives, was brought up for judgment. The validity of the conviction, it will be remembered, had been referred to the Court of Appeal. The certificate of the Chief Justice was read, reciting the confirmation of the conviction of the Court of Appeal. His Honor said the judges were unanimous in confirming the conviction. The evidence upon all five cases upon which the prisoner stood charged was of the clearest possible kind. The charge was of a nature, too, of which jurors were frequently overscrupulous before convicting, except upon evidence of the most convincing character. Fortunately for the prisoner, the offence was not punishable with penal servitude. Still the Court was bound to pass a severe sentence. The prisoner had been found guilty of one offence ; he pleaded guilty to two others; there were two others against him with respect to which the evidence was also of a very convincing kind. The sentence of the Court was that for the first offence the prisoner be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for the term of three years j for each of the other offences to which he had pleaded guilty, to one year's imprisonment with hard labour; the last terms to run' concurrently. (This is equivalent to four years' imprisonment witn hard labour. The Act aiso inflicts a fine, and a fine of one shilling for each offence was inflicted.) —New Zealand Herald,

in** :— 1869. , lb. Value. Auckland ... ... 1,012,555 £ 65,894 Wellington... . ... 3,467,150 178,948 Hawke'sBay. . 832,444 48,511 Marlborough. ... 1,473,301 50,530 Nelson ... , 270,957 10,136 "Westland ... 17,230 589 Canterbury... . .. 10,576,838 414,276 Otago ... 8,859,176 529,399 Southland ... -., ... 1,899,663 115,995 Total . ,.. 28,410,419 1870. £1,414,165 lb. Value. Auckland ... . ,.. 1,341,563 £ 73,558 "Wellington... . .. 3,780,284 187.660 Hawke's Bay. , ,.. 2,029,214 102,452 Marlborough. . ... 1,377,760 53,089 Nelson ... . 327,296 12,488 "Westland ... , 27,667 1,390 Canterbury... , ,.. 11,169,066 440,772 Otago ... 11,741,715 573,372 Southland ... . .. 2,532,878 151,509