Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1871. President Magistrate's Court.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 993, 15 April 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1871. President Magistrate's Court.

No cases tills morning. English Telegrams via California may now be looked for at any moment. The Live Stock Export from this port during the month of March last, comprised 60 head of cattle and 420 sheep. His Honor the Superintendent may be expected to return to Napier tomoi row, by the Napier from Poverty Bay. A Concert in aid of the funds of the M canoe Church was given last evening in Mr Lever’s Hall, Meanee, by the Musical Society. The attendance was fair, and the performance successful. The Volunteer Artillery Band gave an open-air performance yesterday evening, opposite the Herald office. The evening was very favorable, the music was good, and the attendance considerable. A very tasteful arrangement of Chinese lanterns was displayed, the effect of which, towards the close of the performance, was somewhat marred by a breeze arising, which extinguished most of the lights A little dancing took place on the grass, and some noisy youngsters succeeded in introducing great confusion by an ill-timed game of football.

The Postmaster-General of New South Wales has issued a public notice to the effect that the Califoruian mail contract having expired, he declines to guarantee the transmission of letters by that route for the future. They will, however, be forwarded as a mail by a direct ship. Late news from the Cape of Good Hope is on the whole favorable. The papers there state that diamond finding still engrosses much attention in Natal, in the Orange Free State. The Victorian Government have sent to the Imperial authorities in England a request that a war steamer might cruise off Western Australia to protect the mail steamers in case America should send out a filibustering expedition. One of the smartest dodges that we have heard of, for evading payment of rent, is mentioned by a Thames paper. Tt seems that the owner of a house in Pollen street, Grahamstown, had fallen into arrears in payment of his rent, and had received a writ for the same. To avoid seizure of his dwelling in lieu of payment, the owner hit upon the expedient of 1 emoving his house in parts, and for this purpose had it taken down at midnight, and shipped on board a cutter for Auckland.

The Grey Rivet" Argus says :—lt will bring Lome to our readers the murderous extent and horrors of the Avar when it is announced that the Prussian Government has ordered the supply of 200,000 wooden legs.

The chief harbor master of Auckland has issued a notice advising masters of \essels to give the Flat Rock off Kawau a wide beith, as the beacon recently erected on it has been cariied away.

The West Coa.st Times relates the particulars of a very painful accident which happened lately to a boy, the son of Mr Rholoff, a baker at Hokitika. The boy wat> enjoying the luxury of swinging behind M'Gurk's coach which runs between the Arahnra and Hokitika, and, while in the midst of his enjoyment, one of his legs was caught by the spokes of one of the coach-wheels. In a moment he was whirled round with the revolving wheel, and, by the entanglement of the limb between the wheel and the body of tho vehicle, the leg bones were so shockingly crushed in some places that they protruded through, the flesh. There were two lady passengers in the coach, and, as they saw the boy going round with the wheel, they alarmed the coachman, who at once stopped the horses, and rendered the poor- boy all the assistance that could be given, and had him conveyed to town, when he was transferred to the Hospital. His injuries were found to be so severe that amputation will be necessary. The little fellow continued sensible while being brought to town, and very naturally vowed that he would not again swing behind coaches.

A movement is on foot to establish a Volunteer Engineer corps in the city of Auckland. At Melbourne, on the 27th March, an illumiuated address from the employees of the Argus was presented to Mr Hugh George, late publisher of that journal, and the employees of the Age gave him a breakfast prior to his departure for Rngland. In these days of rapid passages, it may not be inappropriate to draw attention to what really is the fastest sailing on record, that of the China clipper Thermopylae, celebrated as having made the fastest passage to Mel bourne. On her first voyage she sailed 7,100 knots in 26 consecutive days, being equal to an average of 273 knots a day, and a speed of 113 knots, or 13-1 statute miles per hour. During one clay she ran 336 knots, equal to 14 knots, or 16-2 miles an hour, The New Zealand Herald, April 6, says : —The new brick kerosene store lately being built by Messrs. Archard and Brown, on the site of the one destroyed by fire, was completed at the beginning of this week, and the whole of the kerosene bonded in the temporary store was yesterday removed to the new warehouse, which is capable of containing 7,000 cases. Every precaution has been taken in the building of the new store to guard against fire; and it is in every respect well suited for the object for which it is designed. We learn from Sydney that the new batteries at South Head, Middle Head, and George's Head, constructed for the defence of Port Jackson, were manned for the first time on the 25th March, there being a public holiday on the occasion. Many thousands were present, and departed to their homes much gratified with the obvious efficiency of the Volunteers. The weather was splendid, and there were about 20,000 spectators along the shores of the harbor, and on board steamers. A 600-pound torpedo was exploded as part of the programme. The number of men of all arms who took part in the naval and military demonstrations was upwards of 2,500. The instruments at the observatory are said to have been much deranged by the heavy firing of the volunteers during the sham light.

Mr James Glassier, F.R.S., of England, in a recent lecture, said that the whole of the rain had its origin and fall 800 feet from the. earth. Desiring to discover the influence of the moon on the elements, he found, after a long series of investigation*, that on the 9th day of the moon there was much more rain than on any other day. and that on the first and last week of the moon there was the least amount. He had taken account from 1815 to 1869, of every day on which there had been an. inch of rainfall, and he had found that on 26th July, 1867, the rainfall amounted lo three and seven-tenth inches—the largest amount that had fallen in one day at the Royal Observatory, From careful observations made by him he had no doubt that the moon did exercise an influence upon rain. Another of his investigations was as to the time of day that rain fell most, and he had found that the largest quantity of rain fell at about four o'clock in the afternoon.

" As practical pi'oof of the fact of the diamond existing on Bendigo," writes the Bendigo Advertiser, " we have to record that on Tuesday week, just after the heavy plump of rain that caused the flooding of the low grounds, a young lady, in picking up some heavy specks of gold on Quarry-hill, which the rain had rendered very conspicuous, saw a glittering atom which she also picked up, and which proves to be a diamond of the very purest water, although it is so very minute as to be of very little money value. This tiny pioneer upon the road of a greater future to Bendigo has, from lis small size, escaped being much water worn, and so is very bright upon all but one wide, where it has got obscured, but to our mind it strongly suggests a repetition of some remarks we made a short time ago as to the advisability of a more systematic search being made for diamonds, which, as we have stated, are plentiful enough here, if people will only pick them up. This specimen, we may state, is in the possession of Mr Shiress, of the Bank of New South Wales."

News from Coromandel speaks highly of the progress of the mines in that district.

At Sydney, on the 22nd March, a melancholy accident happened at the Gearge's Head Battery. Sergt. Bower, late of the Royal Artillery, while assisting to place one of the heavy guns in position, got beneath it, and it fell upon him, crushing him in a frightful manner. He died at the Infirmary, after much suffering, on March 29.

A San Francisco merchant, who had an unsaleable article consingned to him from the East, got his personal friends together, assigned each a street, and instructed them to call at every store and enquire for this particular article. Then he advertised the goods, and the retail dealers, surprised at the unusual call which had been made for them, took them all off his hands at a high price.

Not many months ago (says the Grey River Argus) one of the tentdwellers at Ross, who had camped over a covered abandoned shaft, was cooking his breakfast, when he was suddenly dropped, with the frying-pan in his hand, some 50 or 60 feet down the shaft, the covering having rotted and collapsed without warning. On Sunday last, a similar accident, although not attended with the same results, occurred. One of the residents had erected the chimney of his tenement over an old shaft, and during the night the covering of Ihe shaft broke away, leaving the chimney, which was an iron one, suspended over the dark and deep chasm below. Ross must be a delightful place to live in !

Under the heading, the boldest crime yet, the New York Times of 7th Jan, prints the following story, in the form of a telegram from Albany, with the date of the previous night :—" This evening, just as the 8.20 Boston train started from the Union depot in this city to cross the Hudson .River Bridge, a man sprang into the American Express Company's car, and shot the express messenger, Thomas A. Halpine, through the neck, in the right eye, and in the right ear. The robber then took the keys from the messenger and opened the safe, front which he abstracted 2,259 dollars in bills. He accomplished all this while crossing the bridge, and on arriving at East Albany jumped off the train and made his escape. The crime was not discovered until the train had stocd at the East Albany depot some minutes, when the wounded messenger crawled to the door ot the cai* and attracted attention. He was immediately taken to the city hospital, and notwithstanding his terrible wcundy, was able lo converse and give an account of the robbery. Halpine resides in this city. His recovery is nob considered possible."

Private letters received from Mr Verdon by the mail contain (says the Age) several items of interest to the Colony. He states that he has been unable to make much pi-ogress in the purchase of the military stores required for Melbourne, from the fact thac everybod ', both at home and abroad, were wanting guns and powder, and the manufacturers were unable to supply all the wants at once. A few days before the departure of the mail he had obiained a private hint that the Imperial Government had decided to absolutely adopt the Martini-Henry rifle as theweapon for the Imperial troops. This course had been decided upon in consequence of several alleged defects in the weapon having been remedied, and it was now considered by able judges to be far preferable to any other rifle. It was his intention 1o send out a sample as soon as he could obtain it, but he was unable to purchase any, or yet to quote a price for them, as all the Birmingham houses had so many orders on their hands that they would not take another one even at their own figure. This was partly owing to the fact that lately France had been paying an} 7- price asked for anything that would shoot at all. As there was then every probability of the war soon being concluded, he (Mr Verdon) believed that Ihe price of rifles would go down as rapidly as it had gone up, and he would then do his utmost to secure the necessary supply for the Yictomn Government,

The bridge over the Waikato river, at Cambridge, has just been completed. The merchants of Auckland have decided in favor of the adoption of the cental system. It is notified in the Gazette that T. W. Lewis, Esq., has been appointed Chief Clerk in the Colonial Defence Department, and J. K. Warburton, Esq., Chief Clerk in the Chief Post Office. A cadet corps is being rapidly formed in Auckland. A number of ambitious youngsters have already boen sworn in. The Volunteer movement has received a considerable impetus .since the holding of the grand rifle contest. The Grey mouth Evening Star of a late date says that the Grey Paver has been so low for several weeks past that it was impossible to transport any coals from the pits to the township, and vessels have had to leave in ballast, causing a h>s to the Grey mouth people of over ,£2OOO. The low priee at which large mobs of horses may at times be purchased in the interior of Victoria, has (says the Argus) induced Messrs. Macmcikan and Keid, of the bone-mills at Footscray, to try the experiment of turning them to account in a way somewhat new to Victorians. A mob of 150 have been passed through the mill, and an account taken of the quantity of hides, tallow, -oil, bone dust, and manure produced. Should the experiment turn out remunerative, the firm will most likely close with offers they have received for about 2,000 head from squacters in New South Wales. In the Supreme Court in Auckland, recently, his Honor the Chief Justice drew the attention of the legal profession to the necessity of solicitors taking out their certificates as "legal practitioners" (Legal Practitioners Apt). By not doing so, they would be guilty of a contempt of Court, and be liable, by practising in contravention of the provisions of the statute, to a penalty noc exceeding £SO. H may be necessary to observe that the rule in England on the subject is very rigorous, tmd there are many reasons connected with the business of an attorney which should make the Court imperative in requiring the certificate to be taken out. The Evening Post is responsible for the following : - " A new use has been found for the " demilitai ised," and a guard is now regularly stationed at the gate-house of the Government domain. A good deal of curiosity has been expressed as to the reason for this, and current rumor has it that although Government House has been completed by the contractor, it has not been paid for by the Government —a decided difference existing between the parties as to actual amount due. The Government sticks to the contract ; the contractors say that the contract is nothing, as the Government has departed from it in a variety of ways. So a very prettly little dispute is pending, and as the contractors won't give up possession of the building till it is paid for, the Government has placed a " demilitarised " guard at the gate to prevent Mr Martin taking the house for the damage, and removing it bodily some night, as a decisive way of bringing matters to a conclusion.