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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 932, 1 February 1871, Page 3

The Wellington Independent, Jan. 25, savs: —Yesterday, the day after the oOth anniversary of the Colony, the Gas Company, having sufficiently advanced their works, commenced the work of laying down the " mains," the first ground being broken close to the company's works in Courtenay Place. We regret being unable to make a simitar announcement lyith regard to water.

The Auckland Court-house, which cost the province a large sum of money, is little better than a shower-bath. The Herald, of the 29th ultimo, says:—" Can nothing be done with the roof of the Supreme Court ? Yesterday the rain poured into the jury-box, leaving little pools of water on the cushions. The Registrar had to leave his desk, the desk itself becoming half full of water. The cocoa fibre matting was saturated, and gave out an odour that, was almost intolerable. The Judge had the drip, drip, dripping, constantly going on before his nose; he could not hear the witnesses for the continuous dropping on the lids of the empty desks."

A telegram from Hamilton, Victoria, dated January 9, says :—A series of very melancholy accidents has occurred near Dartmoor. A boy, the son of Mr M'Queen, a farmer, went into the swamp after ducks, and got drowned. His two sisters in trying to save him were drowned also. A married woman named M'Lellan, seeing the position of the children, attempted to rescue them, and she met with a similar sad fate. A coroner's inquest was held on the Saturday, when a verdict of " accidentally drowned " was returned.

The following is going the rounds of the American papers: —There is a commission now in existence, holding its sittings at Washington, known as the Mexican Claims' Commission. Among the many claims before it is one purport-, ing to originate from bonds issued by a Virginia Land and Mining Company. One of these bondholders was met the other day in the street by a friend, who inquired —"What news from the commission ? "—" All right: it's all fixed," replied the bondholder.—" How large is the claim?" queried the friend. —"Oh, about 50,000,000 dols."—" Is that all ? " —" Well, it was first intended to make it about 300,000,000 dols., but it was concluded to reduce it."—" That was very liberal," said the friend; " but I thought Mexico has long been poor and had no credit." —" So it was —it couldn't raise a dollar ! "—" Why, it would not appear so now," replied the friend. "It must have raised some millions from your bonds, and, from the large number of claims we hear of, it would appear that no nation ever had such excellent credit." —" Oh, we never gave them any money." —"How the deuce, then, did you get the bonds ? " asked the friend, his curiosity having been much aroused. " Why," aswered the bondholder, with a truthful simplicity seldom seen in a New Yorker, " we printed them."

One of the most curious results of photography is certainly the use to which it is put in enabling long communications to be sent into Paris by carrier pigeons. Every balloon which leaves the besieged city carries away a certain number of these birds, which, by the marvellous instinct which guides them to their home, are enabled to carry back precious news, not only to the imprisoned Government, bat to private individuals. Of course the weight which each bird can carry is very trifling, and even on the fine silkpaper used, little space can be afforded for gossipping correspondents. Photography, however, which can reproduce the sheet of a newspaper in a square inch, obviates in a great degree this difficulty. In this way the Paris journals are said to have been supplied with a reproduction of the official papers published at Tours so minute that to the naked eye they presented no distinguishable letters until the powers of the microscope were brought into use, and thus provided the newapapers with tidings of the outer world. The Germans, irritated by the daily sight of post balloons, appear to have taken still further offence at this aerial defiance of their outposts and siege works, and to be training hawks to sweep the skies and pounce down upon these white-winged messengers. The institution of a corps of Prussian falconers would certainly be a curious result of the siege of Paris; but it is perhaps no serious violation of British neutrality to express a hope that M. Gambetta's pigeons will escape the cruel beaks of Count Bismarck's new allies, and find their way, as a rule, safely back to Parisian dovecotes.