Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. MONDAY, JUNE 13, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 1040, 12 June 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. MONDAY, JUNE 13, 1871.

The only case before the Resident Magistrate io-ilay way one of drunkenness, which was dealt with in the usual manner. ,

We observe fi'om placards posted round the town and Spit to-day. that the Government oifer a reward of £25 for such information as shall lead to the conviction of the person or persons who, on the night of the Bth instant, broke into the Ciihtoms examining shed at Port Napier, and removed therefrom a certain distillery apparatus detained there under seizure.

In Wellington they are getting up a petition in favor of the Pei missive Bill. The result is encouraging. At latest advices the document had attained a length of thirty feet, and bore 1,700 signature*, including those of many ministers of religion and justices of the peace, and six or seven publicans ! We learn from the Lyttelton Times that the Trustees of the British Museum have presented to the Canterbury Museum a complete set of iheir natural histoiy catalogues, many of them illustrated. The set consists of 175 volumes, and is of course a very valuable contri-r bution.

The following is from the Otago Daily Times of the 6th in.st. :—" Mr Barton, while making one of his humorous speeches in die Provincial Council yesterday afternoon, announced his intention of " blazing away " to day upon the honorarium question. This statement, which was made amidst much laughter, was elicited in moving an adjournment of the debate on a mo tion by Mr Reid, to the effect that the payment of honorarium to members of Council should be fixed at iss per diem. To this Mr Shand moved as an amend ment--"That the honorarium payable to members of Council, except such as are members of the Government, shall be £25 for each session of the Provincial Council; and that mileage, at the rate of Is per mile each way, be allowed to all members ; and that £\ per day be deducted for each day any member may himself from hi> duties, except through illness or with leave from Mr Speaker." Mr M'Glashan seconded the amendment, which was supported by Dr Webster, the hon. Mr Holmes, and Mr Reynolds ; and opposed by the hon. Mr Bell. Mr Mervyn spoke in favor of maintaining the old rate; and Mr Shepherd supported the motion of Mr Reid. The debate was then adjourned to this day's sitting." The Daily Times from which the above is quoted is of the latest date from Dunedin.

The Canterbury Press of the Bth inst. says :—" The existence of gold in Canterbury is a question, on which it is as well perhaps to say as little as possible. Notwithstanding this, an old resident in Canterbury, who has just returned from the Thames, and who has greai experience in gold mining in New Zealand, lias stated that he is about to test the gold-bearing appearance of a certain district (the precise locality being for the time withheld), and so sanguine is he of the result of his undertaking, that he announces it as his firm heliet that before Christmas he will be enabled to prove conclusively that the precious metal is to be obtained in paying quantities in this province." The Otago Daily Tinier, June 5, says :—The doubt in which the reported loss of the Queen of the Thames is involved, i-> increased by the statement in the San News of the World, as mentioned in our Wellinjrton correspondent's telegram. Her loss is now " rumoured in Liverpool" instead of reported in London. By the 25th April, rhe date of the London report, the steamer was only sixty six days out, vhich was hardly long enough to justify fears for her safety ; but by the 6th May—the latest date brought by the Nebraska—she would be seventyseven days out. After aP, it may turn out, as in many similar cases, that the report regarding her is unfounded, and that though, crippled, she may eventusVy succeed in reaching port. Let us hope so iiieaiiivhiie.

No native news of importance from the Ea-st Coast came to hand by the Luna last night. Everything is reported quiet.

The Canterbury Press, of the 7th inst., says :—Considerable excitement was caused alongside the Government wharf yesterday morning, owing to the pitch pot on board the Wild Wave catching alight while on the galley stove, and netting the galley on tire. I'j blazed furiously for a short time, but a rush was soon made by plenty of willing hands, and the names extinguished before much damage was done.

We observe the following advertisement in the Otago Daily Times of the 6th hist. : —" The Telegraph Libel Case. Regina v. Barton. Will shortly be published, in demy Bvo, price Is, a report of the proceedings in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Lhmedin, on the hearing of the charges of libel brought by the General Government of New Zealand against Mi G. B. Barton." The Evening Post says :—We notice that a new blast is now in course of erection close to the armouiy depart ment of the armed constabulary depoc It is being put up to the order of the General Government, for the purpose of experimentally smelting the Taranaki iron-sand, on a somewhat larger scale than has hitherto been tried. The furnace is one patented by Mr Smith, Government armorer. It will contain a crucible eighteen inches square, and the whole will be constructed of brick, except the chimney, which is to be of iron, lined with tine clay. We shall look with some interest to the result of the fresh experiments shortly to be made with the valuable mineral.

The New Zealand Herald of the sth instant gives the following -particulars of a fatal accident at Auckland, a brief •announcement of which we received fonie days ago by telegram :—" Mr Ritchie left town on horseback for his residence at Remuera between five and six o'clock on Saturday evening. He was seen by Mr JEd wards, saddler, of Newmarket, proceeding at a hand-gallop near the junction of Pass with the Parneli Road. A few minutes afterwards the horse was observed without a rider, and Mr Ritchie was seen on the ground. Mr Edwards went immediately to render assistance, but unhappily no assistance was of use ; Mr tiitchie killed instantaneously. His horse was caught by Mr Edwards, who rode with all possible haste tor Dr Phii>on. When Dr Philson arrived, the unfortunate gentleman had been taken into Hooper's • the chemist, but Dr Philson at once pronounced that life was extinct. A further examination proved that the spinal column was separated, in other words his neck was broken. The accident is the most painful that could happen. Mr Ritchie was fast rising to a high position in his profession. He was a partner of the legal firm of Beveiidge and Ritchie, was unmarried, and only 26 years of age,