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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 854, 29 October 1870, Page 2

We have been informed on good authority that the Siew £eala d Insurance Company will not hse more £3,000 by tba flre which took place at Lyttelton last night.-~3<}fening The Secretary ol the Kelson Acclimatisation Society has imported a quantity of the seed of the? Bamie grass, which is now growing largely into use at home for textile purposes. The plant is a species of thistle, perennial, and oap« able of producing 3,0001bs of fibre to the acre, which readily commands $230 a ton on the spot. A crop that will yield £BO an aere must be worthy of attention. The Wellington Advertiser, Oct, 28, report* that a sad accident occurred on the previous. * day, by which a little boy, ot about ten, years of age, son of Mr Tandy, lost his life. From what we have be m able to gather, the particulars of the melancholy affair are as fol« lowsH=Tbe unfortunate little fellow left home for school at 2 o clock in the afternoon, and instead of returning at four o'clock, it would appear, Went down to Hunter's wharf to see see his father (who is a lighterman), as he was in the habit of doing, Playing about on the wharf, he must bare fallen overboard un« perceived, and been drowned. Mot returning home befoi'e dark, his parents naturally be* came anaious as to his safety, and Mr Tandy, accompanied by Mr Pressman, his brother-in-law, proceeded down the town, making eirery inquiry, bat Without avail. They then tui'ned their steps to Te Jtro, and, having obtained a lantern, searched the sea beach, This they had not lung done before it proved alas { too suecces»ful. There the lather found his poor boy lying apparently lifeless just below high-water mark, hating been, no doubt, washed up by the tide. The body was calif eyed to S&'lntosh's New j2ealander JdEotelj and JJr France w<>s at once sent for. On ar*. ming on the spot he pronounced thgt life had been extinct fo? some time. The face of the. little fellow presented a perfectly calmand' placid appearan.ee, there being no signs q| any struggle* '

We take the following from the Wellington Independent, October 25 ?—Telegrams were rewired to-day by tbe Minister for Public Works announcing that Mr Roehfort (who has for some weeks past been, engaged in exploring the Birautaka range with a view to the formation of a railway into the Wairafapa) had fotind an entirely nevr route, practicable for a railway, and crowing the range at a point at least 450 feet below the highest point tf'f the present road line. The new line starts from some point in thn valley of the Manga* roa River, and comes, out. near the centre of Wairarapa hake. Mr Rochfort speak" confidently of being able to find a line which will give a gradient of not more than one in forty, from the Mangaroa to the Wairaiapa Valley. Mr Rochfort's large experience as an explorer in the province of Sfelson, and in the difHcalt and* monntainous country of the West Coast c»f the Middle Inlands, allows him to speak with a confidence which we should regard as a species of presumption in one who bad not undergone a special training for this work, in a mtieh harder school than the Rimutaka Banges. We look forward with no little »n%ietf to the completion of trial track, which he expects to cot through in about three weeks, and we understand that Mr Blackett will then immediately be sent to inspect and report upon the line. Among French newspapers, one oi tbe most pungent of articles on the present crisis is due to the fertile pen of M. Louis Blanc. This celebrated writer exclaims} " Without doubt it would be better for us if a Prussian Prince was not on the throne of Spain, But to draw the sword for this reason, when it was left in the sheath while Prussia was conquering Germany, is simply ludicrous. Can we imagine Spain becoming Prussian the day that it receives a Prussian monarch ? Is it impossible to give a glance at the different thrones of Europe j how many are there that are not occupied by foreign princes? In England tbe dynasty originates from Hanover; in Prussia It originates from Swabia j in Austria.it originates from Switzerland $ in Italy it originates from Savoy j in Denmark it originates from Holstein j in Sweden it originates from France; in Greece it originates from Denmark ; in Prance tbe present dynasty comes from Italy. If Napoleon 111 desires to know how it is that a king, though a foreigner to the country be governs, ceases to be devoted to bis native land, he has only to read the history of his father, who became a Dutchman in heart and soul as soon as he was made King of Holland."