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Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 69, 26 January 1877, Page 2

Tbe winding-tip of the affairs of the Rainy Creek Company promises to become a rather intricate prooeding, and to involve a consider* able amount of litigation. On the one hand the Liquidator of the, estate advertises that the crushing plant and other property of the Eainy Creek Company will be submitted to auction on the 3rd February, while the present holders of the property— -Messrs Graham and Allen-~publioly caution all persons from dealing in anyway with such threatened sale, denying all right of the Liquidator to interfere therewith, and claiming the property absolutely in their own right. How the matter will be eventually settled lemains to be seen, bat it seems inevitable that a recourse will he had to the law on the one hand by Messrs Graham and Allen to vindicate their right and title to tbe property, and on the other by the Liquidator to teat the validity of the title under which they claim. The machinery and plant is said to have cost Messrs Graham and Allen nearly. £6,500, for irhich sum or thereabouts they rank aa creditors against the defunct company, the uncalled capital of which is, we believe, insufficient to liquidate the debts of the company. It will be recollected that some time ago the machinery wa» taken possession of by Mes3» Graham and Allen under the terms of their agreement with the Rainy Creek Company, and was offered by auction and knocked down for a nominal sum (about £900) to the firm named. The validity ot that sale was subsequently contested in the Warden's Court, when its legality was upheld. Later still the company lodged notice of appeal against the decision of the Warden, bat the appeal was abandoned, and the properly has since remained in the possession o Graham and Allen, and this is the position iv which matters stand at present. Wednesday's Greymouth mail arrived in Beefton yesterday afternoon, having been de» tamed at the Ahanra through floods in the Grey Valley Some of the cricketers re* turned by the coach, but there was no demonstration. , We are glad to learn from our Boatman's ; correspondent that there is every indication i of a good orushing by the Italian Gully Corns . pany, and visitors to that part of the district I gives a most excellent account of the prospects i of the company. 1 In connection with the election for the ) Antonio' Biding, we mentioned some time ago ! that the Chairman of the County Council had , communicated with the authorities in Wellington as to whether the election in question 1 should be conducted under the principles for l first elections, or under the cumulative voting principle, reply has since been received 1 through Mr Curtis, leading to the conclusion 1 that the election will require to be conducted • 83 a first; election. The wording of the tele--5 gram, we are informed, was however very i foggy, and in order to place the matter beyond doubt, the question has been referred j back to Wellington, and a reply will probably t come to hand during to-day. , A revolting crime was committed at Mela j. bourne a few days ago. A widow named Mrs r Williams entered the service of a widower , named Young, and by him had a child, who , at the time of the murder was eight months [ old. They then quarrelled, and had been , living on very bad terms, until at last the t woman openly said she would "do " for th» • infant. Finally, one evening a son of Young's ; on entering the house saw Mrs Williams sitI ting on a box, and the ohild on her knees , with its throat out. He gave the alarm and I upon the neighbors flocking in she seemed , quite unooncerned, and told the constable ' who had arrested her how and why she oom.- --' nutted the crime. i Astra ge case of suicide occurred at Bal* ■ clutha, near tbe Molyneux river on Friday last. For some considerable time ' James

Bobbie, the deceased, hal been suffering from suicidal mania. He bad bought poison twice, and at another tiare had sharpened a knife wherewith to cut his throat. Since he left bis situation he seemed to have lost all spirit, and was continually despondent, but became worse through an accident. Three weeks prior to his disappearance he was coming home from Tapandi on horseback, \ when his horse fell and rolled over on him, | causing some severe pains and braises about ! his bead. Until Wednesday last he did not exhibit any signs of his determination. On that day he informed his wife he would die by his own hand, but owing to his having spoken in the same strain frequently before, she did not apprehend any great danger. He would not go to bed on Wednesday night, informing his wife that he would not sleep until he slept his last sleep, and during the night ho unfastened his shirt front, and remarked to his wife his heart was troubling him, and that his head was in a fearful state. At one time during the night he beat his head against one of the kitchen walls. On the following morning, Thursday, he went to his bedroom, kissed the children, and wanted his wife to shake hands with him, but this she refused lo do, and begged him to sit down for a while, which he did. She then told him to endeavor to shake Satan off, as it was be only that was leading him to form such rash ideas. He replied that he knew it was, but the devil had got too firm a hold of him that time to let him go. He continued quiet till the afternoon, when he suddenly went to the back door aud called out, " G-ood-bye, you'll neve* see me more." From traces on the bauk he must hare immediately rushed to the river bank and jumped in. The body was recovered on Thursday. Judge Williams, referring to the Bankruptcy Act, said :— •" I can only hope that the present experiment will be a success. I would venture to remark that, in legislating Oa. commercial matters, and generally on those subjects in respect of which there can be comparatively little difference between the requirements of one civilised community and another, it seems desirable to maintain, as far as possible, uniformity in our countries. The Imperial Parliament has of late years dealt with these subjects in an advanced and liberal spirit, and the advantages, from a legal point of view, of uniformity in legislation are so great that it may be worth while to sacii fice some ideal improvements in order to ob" tain them. Ido not mean that the Imperial Act should be adopted, defeots and all, but merely that it is possible, in legislation en subjects referred to, to follow Imperial legislation, making only such alterations and varia* tions as the circumstances of the colony clearly demand. It may be stated broadly that every new Act that deals with a compli* cated subject must inevitably require judicial interpretation, and that this will hare to be obtained at the expense of persons whom the Aat affects. If, and so far, as one of our Acts are modelled on an English Aot, we have the benefit of decisions of the English Courts on doubtful points, our doubts are, in fact, solved at the expense of English suitors. If we cast aside English legislation, and venture on originality, doubts will arise as before, bat hare to be settled here at great expense to suitors, and with great waste of time and labor of all concerned. A higher degree of certainty in the interpretation of the law is too great an adrantage to he sacrificed, except for very valid reasons."