Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 823, 19 September 1870, Page 4

Interprovincial Items.

*Ph© last that has positively been heard pf Te Kooti {remarks the Evening Post) was his futile attack on the friendly native settlement at Tologa Bay, and subsequent retreat into the wilds of the interior, as usual. Reports from Government officers pn the Ipast Goast, very industriously made public h.ere, represented him a miserable fugitive, with scarcely any following left, and forced to make the attack on To Joga Bay by sheer hunger. Ropata, whose 1 wrath, the Government organs informed us, was " awful," took the track after him, and swore not to return until he had captured him, dead or alive. For some weeks past we have heard nothing of either pur- " suer or pursued, and have been imagining Te Kooti, driven to desperation, plunging deeper and deeper into the recesses of the forest, with his relentless foe, like a bloodhound, following his trail with stern perseverance to the spot where Te Kooti at last would have to stand at bav, and either be captured or perish. But while anxiously waiting for tidings of our champion, Ropa ta, news reaches us from a different quar ser, and of an unexpected character. A great native meeting is to be held at Tojjcangamutu— the head-quarters of the King party-r-and among those expected to at tend are 200 Arawas, our staunchest allies and Titokowaru and party. Were it possible to apply ordinary rules to Maori proceedings, we might consider it strange to see the Arawas meeting in peace under the shadow of King Tawhiao, an outlaw like Titokowaru, upon whose head a price >s set j but really so many strange thing? have transpired in reference to our connection with the Maoris, that the faculty *>f wonder is lost. It seems now extremely likely that the next place from which wi shall hear of Ropata and Te Kooti will be at Tokaugamutu, where they will meet before the throne of King Tawhiao, anc mutually express their contempt for the besotted Pakeha, of whom they make such remarkably good use, each in his different capacity. It appears (says the Independent) that a new religious fanatacism has broken out in the country districts of this provinc< that has led to a great deal more excite men,t than attended the spoutings of Beau ,champ, the Mormon Elder. There is this difference, however, that the apostle of the new faith, who bears the name of Feist, instead of proselyting by holding out the bribe of polygamy, places his sole reliance in the water cure, and accordingly goes ir> for cold douches. According to all accounts he haß been tolerably successful in makin<: converts, as we hear that no fewer thai forty-three persons have joined hisstandard The strangest part of the affair is the hostility displayed against this new craze by the Maoris in the neighborhood of Palmer ston. An informant tells us that he had occasion the other day to visit the pa of the Rangitane, and relying on the usuai hospitality of the Maoris, with whom h< has been well acquainted for soine time, In was about entering the pa without cere mony ; bat he soon discovered that he had reckoned without his host. The Maoriibarred the way, and seemed determined to know whether their friend's " doxy " wa? the correct thing, as they demanded tc know, before allowing him to enter the pa. whether or not he had joined the new Pakeba-Hauhauism ? For a joke, our in formant told them he had done so. Hi.' Rangitane friends, who, by the way, ar. well known as the most loyal hapu in thi

whole islaudj seemed very much concernec at the information, and refused to hav< anything further to say to him. Our informant soon found that his joke was ill timed, as his appetite was very keen aftei a long ride ; bo he tried to undeceive hi: pative friends as well as he could. It tool Borne time, however, before he could ma nage this, but he eventually did so, ant great was the rejoicing accordingly. Ai impromptu dance gave evidence of theii satisfaction, the ovens were soon filled, anr our friend fared well that night. He d; j^

scribes these particular natives as loud in their anathemas against the nev. Baptists, and seem astonished thatPakebas should tolerate Hauhaus among them. The sixth annual report of $ ie Telegrapl shows that the number ol telegrams despatched during the Junt quarter under the shilling tariff gives ar increase of 22,565 over those during th< previous quarter under the 2s 6d tariff; whilst the cash receipts show a decrease o't £loll7s 6d. The immediate effeet of the reduction was to record during the firs month an increase of 1333 user* of th< telegraph over the previous period j whil>. jthe telegrams of all codes during the yea; have been increased by 29,256. While th< total cash receipts of the lines in boti islands were £17,218 Is 4d, there was yn

work done to the value of £29,470 7s 4d The total cash revenue of the line from tin Bluff to Napier, including the Patea line amounts to £16,799 18s Id, the total valu< of business done during the same perioe being £28,233 2s 6d. After deducting the cost of maintenance of the stationt £14,745 12s 8d), and of maintenance am reconstruction of lines £12,392 13s sd), this leaves a balance of £1,094 16s 5d tc the credit of this portion of the line Treated in the same way, the Auckland line shows a profit of £2,162 Is 3d, but, pn deducting £1,094 16s 5d due to the other line, the department is debited witl pnly £1,067 4s lOd j but, as £6,000 of the sum spent on Southern lines might bt charged to construction, the actual profits pugh.t to be something like £5,000. A contemporary tells us that a verj laughable case pf mistaken identity took pface in. Queen street, Auckland. A gentle man was walking with his wife towards tht

some "sweet bonnets." The gentleman did noJb seem to notice her quitting his side for a moment or so, as another lady was walking behind him, whom he mistook for his wife. He stopped for a second and said to her, " Come along, ray dear, we shall be late." He received no answer, and the lady endeavoured to pass him, but he caught her by the arm, saying, " You need not run away." Jndge his surprise when he got a sound box on the ear, which knocked his hat off, and was told never to dare insult a lady again. He saw his mistake at once, and his wife coming up at the time, added to the amusement of the spectators and embarrassment of the unfortunate man, who did not know his own wife.

A good deal of spurious silver coin is in circulation at the Thames. The Thames Advertiser states that the yield of gold from the Thames goldfield, for the month of -4 u g U3t » Was 13,00.50zs Bdwts I3grs, obtained from 7,750 tons LOewfc 241 bs of quartz, supplied from 78 claims. The yield for July was ll,850o?s 3dwts 22grs, the returns thus showing an increase for August of 1,1540zs 19dwts 15grs. Referring to the unemployed in Dune-J din, the Gromwell Argus says:—Our cor-i respondent informs us that several of the; immigrants who recently arrived by the Leucadia and E, P, Bouverie had during the past week been at work breaking stones at the Water of Leith, at 3s per yard, paying out of that for the carting of the unbroken metal—rhard, water-worn boul ders, from the bed of the Leith—to where they are working, the sum of lOd per yard. They can hardly make enough to keep them in the bare necessaries of life; and some of them are brokenhearted >\t having the bright hopes of a happy future in their new home which they entertained before landing, so completely dispelled, and at the gloomy prospect before them. To make matters ten times worse, the weather has been very bad and continues so.

The Maori prisoners—sole trophies of Kemp and Topia's East Coast campaign—who were so carefully nursed and fattened, so unceremoniously tried, and found guilty with all f* the pomp and circumstance " of law —on whose prosecution the lear.ied Attorney-General expended so much forensic eloquence and legal s&ilj, and whom another equally learned and more eloquent limb of the law so ably defended, —while a higher functionary still held the balance )f justice between, —are still under sentence of death, occupying the jail at Mount Cook Barracks, apparently forgotten, taken jut to be sunned jn fine weather, and stowed away in snug quarters afterwards. What is going to be done with them ? The expenses incurred on their account since their capture or surrender must now have amounted to a nice little sum, and the9e expenses are still g dng on. If the Government mean to giro them terms of im prisonmeut in lieu of their death sentences, why do they not do so without further de--1 iy, and set those who are fit to work r ad-making or stone-breaking, or some* thing else, to make them earn at least a ijortion of tkei ■ keep ? Many of them when in the Court appeared as if they could not carry a shovel, let alone use one, md what possible good can accrue from keeping th;m in prison ? If the Government mean to inflict any punishment upon them they should at once set those who are able to work, at it, an 1 the decrepit old wretches who can scareelv hold tnem*elves erect about their business : tl.ej r.erer could be formidable enemies. Keep i.ig them all in idleness is incurring an. unwarranted expense, and the sooner the iecision of the Government is made the better. —Evening Post, Sept. 1. A new application of the wire tramway las been devised at Taranaki, by Mr f nomas Hirst, for the purpose of landing from vessels. Mr Hirst's idea is to have two fixed iron stages, one at about 1,200 feet from high water, and another at ow-water mark. From the outermost itage a double wire rope will be fixed, and will be attached to the terminus on Mount Giiot. On these ropes, carriages (six feel by four feet and six feet high) will run, Oeing propelled by other wire ropes, worked oy an engine from the shore. The stages, Mr Hirst proposes, should be made of o.d railway iron, which, he says, can be purchased cheaply is England. The plan if orought into use will, no doubt, be a bene lit to the port, and, as to the cost, it is not thought to be likely to exceed between £3,000 and £4,000, and is therefore well worthy of theconsidesation of the Government Should this plan be carried out, mails, goods, &c, for Taranaki will never, as heretofore, have to be carried past the jettlement, in consequence of the :turf running close to the shore. Tne Canterbury Evening Star, sth September, thus records a narrow escape from drowning:— one p.m. on Saturdaj last a boy named Chartes Wright, about jigut years old, narrowly escaped drowing in the Waimakariri, at Kaiapoi. It would ippear that he had been amusing himself paddling about the river in a boat, but on getting into the current the boat became unmanageable, and drifted down the rivo despite his efforts to pull it ashore. Wlien opposite IJeicher and Fair weather's wharf the boy was observed to jump overboard; a cry was raised that a boy was in the water, when Mr Latkins, the mate of the Sturt, jumped off the steamer, then Ijing at the wharf, and sueoeeded in, rescuing him and bringing him ashore. He was then quickly conveyed home in a state of insensibility. Doctor Trevor was called in, but the boy was in such an exhausted state that it was some hours before he was completely restored. Great credit is due to Mr Larkius and others who assisted in rescuing the boy.