Untitled

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 11, 18 March 1867, Page 62

; The Elections. ~ Tie Waima* rama Election, held on Monday last, resulted in.. the return of the , late •member, Jas. Weston,” Es<p, without opposition; that forMohaka was to have tak<£n place on Wednesday last, but the result has not yet reached us.

Rifle Fmms.-—The" competition

for the Government. prizes took place as advertised in .previous issues of 1 this paper, on Monday last, at the Napier Volunteer’s rifle range. Circumstances were unfavorable to good practice as- there was a strong wind and some rain. . There were 35 competitors, of which, however, only 11 scored 30 and upwards, they were:— : Capt. Kennedy, 37: Corparal M'Kain, Corporal North, 36 ; Captain Buchanan, 34; Privates Cresswell; 34; Collinge, 32 ;A. Irvine, 32; W. Smith, 31; W. Parker, 31; Caulton, 31; Garry 30; and the remainder under that number. We have ndt been able to obtain the list of the firing of the other Companies which took place next day at Waipukurau.

Theatre. —The farewell benefit of Mrs Chas. Poole came off as advertised, on Monday evening, and that to Mrs W. H. Newton last night. On both occasions there was, unfortunately, very unfavorable weather to contend against, -which was not without its influence in thinning the attendance, notwithstanding which, the performances must be pronounced successful. Mr. G. L. Seymour took a benefit on Friday evening last, but the attendance was not so good as might have been expected. To-night, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Poole were to have taken their farewell benefit, but it has been deferred, in consequence of the inclemency of the weasher, to Wednesday evening next, when we hope to see a full house.

The Atlantic and Pacific Routes. —The Times, of the 26 th November, in an article on the great ocean lines' of traffic, says:—Proposals have been issued to accomplish the first step towards establishing that transit route from the Atlantic to the Pacific which has been desired and discussed iu almost every civilised country for nearly twenty years past. The difficulty has hitherto consisted, in a great degree in the inefficiency, and insalubriety, of the harbor of Greytown for the Atlantic terminus, and the expenses that would he attendant on the canalisation of the River Late surveys, .however, by Captain Bedford Pim, have shown that at a better and more northerly part of the Mosquito coast, at a spot called • Monkey Point, an excellent natural harbour exists, whence a cheap railway may be constructed to Realejo, ou the Pacific side, one of the finest harbours in. the world. This line would pass through the Chontales mining district, which has lately at tracted much attention, and would b constructed under a ninety-nine years concession granted to Captain Pim, together with 1 300,000 acres of land. The proposed capital is £1,000,000, half of which is to he first issued in the belief that it will he sufficient for a light single line, capable of conveying passengers and goods at a moderate rate of speed, and Mr. Hawksley ia to be engineer-in-chief. The Pa nama line, which pays twenty-four per cent, per annum on a cost of £1,600,000, and at the same time puts aside extraordinary reserves for periodical distribution, makes little attempt to accommodate the traffic of goods, for which its rates are almost prohibitory, and there is full evidence that both for commercial and passenger purposes an extent of traffic remains to be. developed which would which would not only overtax the capabilites both of the Panama and Nicaragua routes, but also of additional ones that might be opened up. At present 'the Panama route is in the hands of an American company by which it was constructed, but in a few years, when their concession, which was for twenty years, will expire, it will pass to the Government of New Granada, on alpayment by that Govern•mentof £1,000,000. As regards the transit by California, British Columbia," and China, and also as respects the healthfnlness and capabilities of the district through which, it passes the Nicaraguan route has always been admitted -to be far superior to any other. Its neutrality lias been secured by treaty with all the leading Governments,: and with the Emperor, Napoleon it has, been an object of constant interest. To the English public |it would- be satisfactory if the present scheme could be made in equal proportions' a! subject of participation with Franw and the Uhited States,;

- ■ - BESIG-KATION 0» THE SUPER' " INTENDENCY ' ;

BY MR. WHITTAKER! * The - New Zealand Herald of the 12th inst. says : “ The past week has, been one; of considerable excitement in Auckland. The Superintendent of the Province resigned ; on Saturday week, ou the same day it became kuowu that a person in business in Onehunga absconded, leaving a heavy amoilnt of debts unpaid; and on the next day, Sunday, a solicitor in large, practice did the same, going, apparently, to America by the Panama route, having* for years. previously been engaged in a system of wholesale swindling.

It had been rumoured for some time that the Superintendent was on the eve of resigning, and the assumed reason was that he had sold himself to the Stafford Government, the price being the Attorney-Generalship of. the Colony. This rumour was industriously circulated by a narrow-minded envenomed clique of little influence, but it was seen that personal spleen was the prompting motive, and no one except the unthinking believed a word of that which they insinuated. Events have shown that his Honor has simply decided to throw up the reins of power in order that he may give more attention to his private business. This, we presume, every man may do, though it gave offence in certain quarters, as did also his retention of office at the salary voted to him. .It was thus evidently impossible to please this “ rump” either by retaining or giving up office. Who will be the new Superintendent is a question for the future. Several names have been mentioned, but it is premature as yet to put their owners forward as candidates. It is not certain indeed whether there will be any competition for the the office or not. It is a by no means easy one to fill, the responsibility is great, expectations of what can be done by a Superintendent are totally at variance with what he can possibly do, and the disappointment at the non-performance of what is expected from him soon raises opposition, and makes the - Superintendent practically acquainted with the difficulty of pleasing any considerable portion of the community in times whetf taxation is high and there is little money to give to those "who imagine they have a claim upon the public funds.

FATAL ACCIDENT. Mr Thomas Ashman, aged 20, and eldest son of Mr Ashman, tailor, of Shortland-street, proceeded on Tuesday morning from his father’s house to the residence of Mr Marsh at the Whau upon business. The young gentleman had informed several friends that he would take the rifle ranges by the way and have a shot at the target. Mr Ashman jun., had a very good Enfield rifle. He provided himself with twenty rounds of ammunition and about twenty-five percussion caps. The young man proceeded, upon his journey, and was not afterwards heard of until news was received in town yesterday that he was found with his scalp clean blown off opposite the 600 yards range. Mr Hazard first discovered the body and Mr Hill, who was passing at the time, brought the information to the police, who at. once started to the ground with a stretcher, &c. The following particulars are taken viva voce, from the several parties who knew deceased or saw the body:—Mr Ashman, sen., says that his son left bis house in Shortland-street about 10 o’clock on Tuesday morning- for-Mr Marsh’s at the Whau. He saw him cleaning his gun previously to his leaving the house, and he took the gun with him, but as Mr Ashman supposed, only to leave it at his lodgings, as he did not live with his father in Shortland-street. His father did-not think it, strange of his son remainining away all .night,_ because he was very intimate, with Mr Marsh, of the Whau, and he thought he had slept there during the night of Tuesday, and would have returned last evening. The person with whom he lodged had no seen him sincd ■ his departure. Mr. Hazard left Auckland about 10 o’clockoh Wednesdayand arriveda.tthe rifle-range When nearing

the stand at the 600 yards range he saw the body of a young man lying dead, and recognised it as that of Mr Ashman’s son; From what he could see it would appear the deceased had the hammer down on the nipple, and in drawing the rifle up to present, the hammer would get partially raised, and by falling on the cap would of course explode. The ball entered the forehead, just above the left eye completely shattering the back of his head. A portion of his cap was also blown away. The ramrod had on a piece of rag, and from appearance it had just been used in cleaning out the barrel. The gnn was found lying between the legs of the deceased. There Was no ammuninition about him and only a few caps. When he started he told Mr Hazard, having called upon him, lie was going out to fire a match against a yonng man at the Whau. There is much need of caution on the part of young men who may be possessed of what are called “hairtrigger ” rifles. It is more than probable that this fatal occurence was in the main owing to the ease with which the trigger snapped. It was as nearly as possible a hair-trigger, that is, it would cause the hammer to fall upon the nipple with a very small pressure. A safe trigger should be able to support the weight of the weapon resting upon it, otherwise there is danger of the hummer falling in consequence of numerous unforeseen causes. In the present case, possibly, the young man allowed the butt of his rifle to knock suddenly upon the ground, or to come in contact with the e£ge of a platform, or to strike against a stone, and from this trifling cause he met with an untimely but instant death.

;The Absconder • Cox. This swindler, who absconded from his dupes and creditors by taking the Southern steamer on Sunday, has, we learn, written to a gentleman in this town, making a clean breast of the whole affair. The letter, we understand, will be submitted to them. We trust that some decisive measures will be taken, and a reward offered for his apprehension. A couple of years at hard labour at the Mount Eden Gaol might have a deterrent effect on others, who, if they see an absconding debtor or swindler, as in the case of Cox and Kirkwood, escape, may be tempted to do the same thing themselves. As a in large practice, Mr Cox had a very extended field of operations, and it will be some days, perhaps, before the whole of the losses occasioned by his heartless villainy will be brought to light. We.have heard of several cases where persons will be utterly ruined by his acts. Money has been committed to his charge for investment which he has appropriated to his own private use. In one case, a widow and a cripple deposited with him her whole subsistence, something like £IOOO. This is irretrievably lost. In another case, money was entrusted to him to purchase a property for an individual. Cox purchased the property in his own name, and immediately mortgaged it for its full amount. And now, while on this topic, we would draw the attention of the authorities to the facilities afforded to absconders in the practice of vessels, especially steamers, leading port on Sundays. There is scarcely a Sunday but some vessel leaves this port, or the Manukau, and these absconders, in the face of anything short of a judge’s warrant, can go in defiance of their dupes and creditors if it be only Sunday. We would, at any rate, draw the attention of shipping agents to the facilities to roguery which the practice of allowing vessels to sail ou Sundays afford.

E. J. Cox. The creditors and dupes of the swindler Cox met yesterday at the auction-room of Mr S. Cochrane, when, after many propositions had been put to the meeting, it was ultimately agreed that an application should be made to the Supreme Court for the sequestration of the estate.: Mr Garlick and Mr Vernon were appointed sequestrators. A letter, not heretofore published, received from Mr Cox, was read to the meeting, as also the deed of assignment, the former of .which will be found in the report of the meeting. As far as is known, at present, the defalcations amount: to a sum of between £11;000 and £12,000.. ; :