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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1102, 24 August 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail, 17th inst., reports that while two men were engaged on the 10th inst. in putting in a blast in a tunnel at Anderson's reef, the powder, by some accident, exploded, killing one of them, and blinding the other. Mr Brown, one of the party to whom the claim belongs, volunteered to take the wounded man down the river to the hos pital at Westport, but in crossing over one of the falls, the canoe, in which they were, upset, and Brown was quickly lost sight of and drowned, while the biinded man, although wrapped up in blankets and heavy clothing, reached the shore in safety.

Seven photographers in Christqhurch have been summoned before the Magistrate for possessiug unlicensed stills. The Defence was that the stills were for distilling water required for the business of photography. According to the Press of the 18th, his Worship remarked that clause 9 provided for the distillation of chemicals, but cases like the present were not provided for in the act; there was no doubt that it was illegal to hold a still for any purpose without a license. In reply to the Bench, Mr Mills, the Collector of Customs, who was in Court, stated that he had no power to grant licenses j defendants must memorialise the Commissioner of Customs, and he, Mr Mills, did not believe there would be any difficulty, ftis Worship said that the minimum penalty was a heavy one, and he would dismiss the cases upon a guarantee being given that the apparatus would be left in their present condition, and an immediate application made to Commissioner of Customs for licences.

The Evening Post, August 16. says:— Possibly our readers may recollect that some weeks ago we published a letter headed "Rural Vandalism," mentioning that in one of our country districts the school board, for the double purpose of endeavoring to evade the new education rate and of punishing the schoolmaster (whose pigs sometimes annoyed one of the members), had closed the school and dismissed the schoolmaster, No names were mentioned by our correspondent. We learned shortly after the appearance of the letter that a certain school board, considering themselves to be alluded to, had displayed an amount of indignation against its writer utterly disproportioned to the occasion. The facts were undeniable, but still loud complaints were made of misrepresentation, and threats of legal proceedings were even indulged in. We wondered at this somewhat, but the mystery has been solved. Immediately after the appearance of the letter, the erudite members of this educational bjard held a meeting to ascertain whether their collective wisdom could discover the meaning of the word "Vandalism," which, to each of them individually, stood like the handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, " untold and awful still." Long and anxious was the debate, but at length an absent member arrived, and put an end to it, by assuring his confreres that he had looked in somebody's dictionary and there discovered that " vandalism" meant "cannibalism," Immediately there was an outburst of horror, the news spread like wild-fire, and the unfortunate schoolmaster, suspected of being the writer of the letter—which, by the way, he was not-—was held up to popular execration for accusing the district of being the nest of a horde of anthropophagi. This is certainly a queer district in which to close a school.

Kecently, the wife of Hohepa Tamaihen^ia—a chief of standing and influence at Porirua, in the Wellington Province, and, as we believe, one of those who shared the capture and imprisonment of Eauparaha—was sick, and as was thought, " sick unto death." Hohepa thereupon proceeded to collect all his available funds and call in his outstanding debts, in order to provide a fitting funeral feast for his spouse, when she had " shuffled off this mortal coil." The provisions were purchased on a scale of profusion corresponding with the rank of the chief, and all was ready; but, after all, the lady did not die, though, strange to say, Hohepa did immediately after her recovery, and the preparations he had made for her funeral were, under her direction, expended on his own.

At tbe sittings of the Supreme Court in Bankruptcy, which were held in Christcburch on tbe 17th inst., there were no fewer than 27 cases down for hearing. We learn from Oamaru that, on the 20th inst., a young man named Miller shot himself with a rifle in the pressroom of the Oamaru Times office. Deceased was one of the partners of that journal. An inquest having been held on the bod>, a verdict of " temporary insanity " was returned. The Lyttelton Times, 19th August, says;—" A meeting of creditors was to have been held yesterday, before tbe Deputy Registrar, in re W. S. Moorhouse, a bankrupt. No creditors attended, and the meeting was adjourned until Friday, 25th August, at 12 o'clock." The Chinese invasion continues in Otago. During the three weeks from the 25th July to the 14th August, 1,126 Celestials landed at Port Chalmers, or an average of 45 a day, Sundays included. His Excellency Sir George Bowen is apparently as open to depredation as other less distinguished persons. We gather from tbe Evening Post that a few days ago he lost a quantity of valuable plate, including nearly two dozen valuable forks, and up to the present time no trace of the thief or thieves have been discovered. As it happened, the day on which the theft was committed was identical with that on which the reply to the address was presented by au hon. member to the Assembly. No one can suppose other than this was au unfortunate coincidence, but the fact remaius the aame, The London Missionary Society is about to establish a mission, in New Guinea. It is a singular fact that missionary operations have never yet been undertaken iu this extensive and, fertile island,

The Evening Post, August 21, says; ■i—The Taranaki steel sand was success, fully smelted on Friday night. During the week previous the furnace was sub* jected to a drying process, and the first charge of ore was put in on Wednesday night. The workmen were at their worJc before daybreak on Thursday mornings aud kept close to it uutil the charge was cleared from the furnace on Friday evening about half-past five o'clock. These men deserve every praise for their un. remitting endeavor to bring about the successful end of this important under*, taking. For some time it has been very doubtful in the minds of most people what the results of the experiment would be. All doubts are now at an end, for an undeniable proof of the successful result is shewn in the shape of between four aud five owt. of pure steel from a little more than ten cwt. of Taranaki iron sand. The difficulties experienced in previous experiments made in Taranaki have been over, come, and it is now clear that the Taranaki iron sand can be easily smelted in a modern blast furnace as any other iron ores. The steel is to be cast into different articles of use, some of which will be ready for inspection during the week.. We understand it is the wish of a select few to form a company to carry on the working of this valuable metal on a large scale, but up to the present time nothing definite has been arranged. In a few days we may be in a position to state something more on the subject. The following narrow escape from a malicious attempt is related in a recent Canterbury paper :—" Yesterday morning, on the office of Mr Duncan, Crown Prosecutor, being opened, it was discovered that the newspapers which had been dropped into the letter box by the runners had been set on fire. The Press copy was almost entirely consumed, the Times was also scorched, and the remains of a match were found in the box. It is evident that the affair has been the result either of an unusual accident or of wilful mischief." The Brisbane agent, Mr J. 0. WiN kins, has sent to the Qaeenslander office, a sample of boiling down manure, a considerable shipment of which we under* stand goes by the Sea Star to London, where we have no doubt it will command a price as high as the best guano, to which it ought to be eqnal. It is prepared from the residue of the meat digestors at Red Bank boiling-down establishment, and consists mainly of dried flesh and particles of bones, the high fertilising properties of which are well known. In its wet state the refuse smells considerably ; indeed, the powerful fume evolved from it, though familiarly known as the odor of boiling-dowu violets, has, up to the time Mr, Alexander took it in hand, been the barrier to its use as manure. But the sample before us is a dry powder, as fit for transportation as guano or bone-dust. Many thousands of tons of offal have annually gone to waste, and we believe that this is the first attempt to make it an exportable article. We trust it may be successful, and that those in want of a condensed manure will bring its merits to the test. The Otago Daily Times of the 16th says :—lt will be remembered that some time ago the Corporation petitioned the General Government to carry the Clutha Railway outside the present line of Craw* ford-street. We understand the Govern ment have consented to do so, and that the necessary instructions have been given to the resident engineer. It is also stated to be the intention of the Government to reclaim a piece of land situated opposite the South Dunedin Recreation Ground, as a site for a Cattle and Pro« duce Station. "Dr FeatherstoD," says the Home News, " is anxiously looked for so that he may enter upon his duties as Agent Gen« erai for New Zealand. So favorable an impression did he create when in London in company with Mr Bell, that every confidence is expressed in the manner in which he will manage the affairs of the Colony. He will receive a nearly # come on his arrival in England."