The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1881.

Kumara Times, Issue 1402, 30 March 1881, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1881.

An adjourned meeting' of the Borough Council was held last evening, but the meeting was again further adjourned till Thursday evening next. This evening his lordship the Bishop of Christchurch will preach at Holy Trinity Church, when a very large congregation may be expected. We are glad to learn that the sub-com-mittee appointed to canvass Seddon street on behalf of the annual subscriptions for the Hospital met with a very hearty response at the hands of the residents of this street, and that with very few exceptions subscriptions were forthcoming from nearly everyone. We understand that the Committee will shortly publish their annual list of subscribers and ticketholders. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court this morning, before H. A. Stratford, Esq., R.M., there were no criminal cases, and the following civil business was disposed of : —ln Rudkin v. Sweeney, claim £6 16s 6d ; Rudkin v. Hay, £4 8s 4d ; Dr. Acheson v. Hyrer, £6 6s ; Dr. Acheson v. R. M l Lean, £6 6s ; Dr. Acheson v. Moyle, £4 4s—judgment by default for the amount claimed was given. In Dr. Acheson v. Murtha, £l3 2s 6d, judgment was given for the plaintiff. The case of Dr. Acheson v. J. S. Pearn, claim £4 4s, the plaintiff was non-suited. The Warden’s Court opened this morning at nine o’clock when the following applications were granted :—Tsbester and party, double area ; Reynolds and party, double area; Thomas Muirhead, waterrace ; and Mr M ‘Laughin and party, tunnel. In future the Warden’s Court will be held every Tuesday, opening at the same hour it did this morning. A number of men were this morning put on to work to repair the damage done by the late flood at the Waimea, under the instructions of Mr Gow, the manager, who is in hope of having the necessary and most urgently needed portion of the repairs effected within three weeks. The new rush at the Greenstone will in all probability turn out better than was at first expected, as we learn that some more very good prospects have been obtained in close proximity to the shaft originally bottomed by the prospectors. At the same time we would caution parties from a distance being induced to visit the locality until the ground has been more thoroughly tested. Some little time ago we published an account of an accident to a clergyman at the Taipo, and in reference thereto stated that if our information relative to the action of the groom on that occasion was correct, the sooner he was removed from there the better. From subsequent inquiries we learn that the groom in question, Mr Green, so far from not lending a helping hand on the occasion referred to, was one of the first to run to the assistance of the half-drowned clergyman, and that on several other occasions he has been the means of extricating many persons placed in a most dangerous position through the treacherous nature of the Taipo river. The Rev. W. West and other residents of this town have stated to us that Mr Green is well known to them, and they have at all times found him both civil and obliging. We regret that our informant should have mis-stated the facts of the case at the time relative to Mr Green’s action on the occasion referred to. A friendly match between five men of the Greymouth and a similar number of the Hokitika Rifle Volunteers, fired under the following conditions, resulted in a victory for the Greymouth men by five points Five men a-side ; competitors to be under 21 years of age. Ranges ; 200, 400, and 500 yards ; seven shots at each range. Appended are the scores ; GREYMOUTH TEAM. 200 400 500 Tl. Corporal Badger ... 25 21 24—70 Volunteer Moss ... 24 24 20 68 Corporal Hosie ... 23 24 18—65 Corporal Garth ... 19 24 20—63 Sergeant U orth 20 20 19—59 325 HOKITIKA TEAM. 200 400 500 Tl. Volunteer Ross ... 22 23 27—72 Volunteer E. Lloyd.. 22 23 21—66 Volunteer Stevenson 23 24 17 64 Volunteer Grams ... 19 23 18 GO Volunteer Wright ... 23 17 18—58 320

We hear that the local Rifle Contingent intend challenging both the Hokitika and Greymouth men to fire a triangular match on the rifle range here On Good Friday next. The Supreme Court sat until 6 p.m. yesterday. The case against Daniel Whelan, charged with stealing from a dwelling was concluded, and the prisoner was acquitted. The trial of David Hutchison for the murder of his wife commenced at 2 p.m. Messrs South and Gniness appearing for the Crown and Mr Purkiss defending the accused. The Court adjourned at 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. this day, when Hutchison’s trial will be resumed. The rabbit nuisance in the Kuri, Seacliff, and Greytown districts has now assumed alarming proportions. The Henley correspondent of the Bruce Herald mentions an instance of bunny’s destructive powers:—“At Brighton a paddock containing five acres was sown with oats, but to-day the field is absolutely bare of vegetation. ” The Palmerston Times says that a local resident last week succeeded in bringing to the bank an exceedingly fine representative of the salmon trout, measured in girth 17-|- inches, and weighing over 101 b. On the same day another successful angler hooked and successfully landed on terra firma three good-sized fish, the largest weighed about 121 b and measuring two feet in length. Mr Berry, the Victorian Premier, draws £4O a-week from mines in which he is interested. The Melbourne correspondent of the Bendigo Independent says:—“Many of his colleagues are equally successful. I went into an Eaglehawk mine a few weeks since and cleared 350 per cent in two weeks. Altogether, I think 1881 is about to be as good a mining year as 1871.” “Atticus,” in the Leader, confirms the above statements, and adds “The latest intelligence is that a company has been formed of which the promoter’s shares are held solely by Liberals ; and so many are anxious to get a finger in the pie that the scrip is already at a premium. If this venture is successful the electors will have to look out for a new set of representatives, as their present members will then have fitted themselves to shine as a propertied Upper House of the most aristocratic type.” Some idea of the extent of Australian sheep farms may be gathered from the fact that Sir Samuel Wilson has recently sold one of his pastoral estates for ten yearly payments of £50,000. The run comprises about 3,000,000 acres of land, carrying about a quarter of a.niillion sheep and several hundred head of cattle and horses. The station w r as bought five-years ago for less than £109,000 but since then over 1,300 miles of wire fencing have been erected, and, as it is direct from the Crown, the value of the property will steadily increase, especially if the efforts to export fresh meat in carcase are successful. There is at present in the Paramatta Benevolent Asylum an old man who, 30 years ago, was worth quite £50,000. Gambling and drink were the factors of his present misery. On New Year’s morning a Mr Sweeney, who resides in Maryborough, Queensland, was rather rudely aroused from sleep by a somewhat startling occurrence, which will doubtless impress New Year’s Day on his memory for some time. It seems he had, before retiring to rest, placed a lft> flask of gunpowder underneath the bed. From some inexplicable cause the flooring of the room became ignited, the fire traversing the flooring to the flask, when an immediate explosion took place. The bedstead and its occupant were lifted to the rafters of the house, coming down again with a bang. When Mr Sweeney got to thoroughly comprehend what was the matter he found himself pretty severely burnt about the chest, face, and arms, but having procured skilful medical advice he is now in a fair way of recovery. He says it is the greatest fright he ever received. A Scotch clergyman, the Rev. A. Bisset, of the Free South Church, Peterhead, has retired from the presidency of the local temperence society for the curious reason that some members of the choir appeared as “Nigger” minstrels at the annual festival of the society. He stated that he would not have objected to the singers appearing “ in their natural state.” The man-of-war Pyramus, captured by Nelson from the Danes in 1801, was sold not long ago in Halifax, N.S. She had served for some time as a training-ship, and was not at all unseaworthy. The ship which brought General Wolfe to Canada in 1758 is said to be still in active service, and it is only a few years ago that the vessel which brought over the Prince of

Orange, afterwards William 111., in 1688, was broken up. The Journal d’Alsace announces that an interesting find has been made at Berlin An old trunk full of papers, which had not been touched for 70 years has been discovered to contain, among documents of Marshall Berthier, different papers in the handwriting of Napoleon the First. One of them is his appeal to the Saxons in August, 1107. For list of prizes in a grand art-union at Hokitika see fourth page.— [Advt.] To those in search of merriment, visit S. S. Pollock’s, and obtain the great Irish song “The Babies in our Block,” or “Little Sally Waters”; price sixpence. [Advt.]