Untitled

Kumara Times, Issue 1403, 31 March 1881, Page 2

An adjourned meeting of the Borough Council will be held at the Town Hall this evening. Another new rush in the Greenstone district was reported this morning, but the statements to hand of the auriferous nature of the discovery are of such a conflicting nature that we only give the rumor for what it is worth, pending more reliable and authentic information. After some considerable difficulty and a large amount of personal labor by the miners who so generously volunteered to endeavour to find the body of the unfortunate man Edward Thomas, who was supposed to have been killed by a fall of earth during the late floods at the Lamplough, their efforts were yesterday afternoon crowned with success. Shortly after 3 o'clock the working party (consisting of thirty-five miners from Goldsborough, Stafford, and Chesterfield) discovered the body of the deceased man between thirty and forty feet from the south end of the slip. From the appearance of the body the deceased had evidently heard the fall of earth commence and had endeavoured to run from his tent along the track, but had been caught by the falling earth and no doubt killed almost instantaneously. The body of the unfortunate man was conveyed to Stafford Town, where an inquest will be held on it to-day. - His Lordship the Bishop of Christchurch preached at Holy Trinity Church last evening to a large congregation. The Primate delivered a most impressive sermon, taking for his text the 12fch and two following verses of the Bth chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. The right reverend gentleman leaves for Christchurch to-morrow morning. Yesterday afternoon we had the pleasure of witnessing a series of experiments made by the agent of the Australian Lithofracteur Company on some large boulders and stumps in one of the claims on the Dillman's Town road, to show the extraordinary rending properties of dynamite and lithofracteur. The experiments were of the most successful nature, one massive boulder especially weighing several tons been reduced to a heap of broken metal with a very small charge of dynamite. Messrs Campbell and Kettles of this town are the agents for the explosive compounds, manufactured by the Australian Company. The Court Minstrels will make their reappearance before a Kumara audience at the Theatre Royal to-morrow evening. Although the authorities failed to obtain sufficient evidence to secure a conviction against those persons who so wantonly destroyed a number of fish in the Terentakau river by means of dynamite, we understand that the same parties have been seen fishing with nets, the meshes of which will not allow hardly a whitebait to escape ; and that under the "Salmon and Trout Act" the law will take cognisance of them on this occasion. The trial of David Hutchison, for the murder of his wife by setting fire to his hut at Kanieri, on the 24th September last, was resumed at 10 o'clock yesterday morning, at the Supreme Court, Hokitika. The evidence showed that the prisoner had saved a gun and a bag of provisions from the burning house and that he had hold of his wife's leg, but did not save her. The Judge summoned up in favor of the prisoner. The jury retired at 7.30 p.m., and not having agreed at 10 p.m., they were locked up ; but at 1 o'clock this morning they returned to Court with a verdict of not guilty. The prisoner was ordered to be brought up at 10 o'clock to-day, when he would be charged with the manslaughter of his child. A match, £IOO a side (says the Inangahua Herald) has been arranged to take place at Easter between Mr John Gallagher's Lillipie and Mr Moonlight's Dandy. I

At the blast fired in connection with the Greymouth harbor works on Saturday last, the charge consisted of a thousand pounds of colonial dynamite, and 2501bs of colonial lithofracteur. It was the first large charge of such explosives fired in this colony. Although the rock was full of seams and cavities, it is estimated that about 9000 tons were thrown out and loosened. It is intended to carry on arrangements in regard to hospitals and charitable aid after the close of the current financial year (which expires on the 31st inst.,) under the same provisional and temporary system adopted in similar circumstances last year. The Lyttelton Times states that Mr G. F. Lovegrove has just finished threshing a paddock of 50 acres of barley grown on his farm at Leeston, which yielded the enormous quantity of 36G1 bushels, or 3504 bushels firsts and 157 bushels seconds which is equal to over 73 bushels to the acre. Late Australian telegrams state that the reports from Wilcannia are very discouraging. Numbers are returning, and it is stated that more police protection is required for the place. Laycock will have a public reception on his arrival in Sydney. £350 has already been received, and more money is coming in. The works for the improvement of the Yan Yean water are rapidly increasing. The Sydney papers ironically suggest an expedition to discover Skuthorpe, the alleged discoverer of Leichardt's journal, who richly deserves flagellation with his own stockwhip for perpetrating his wretched hoax. England imports some £100,000,000 of of food, without including wine and other articles of consumption. If the Australian colonies can establish a trade with her in butter, frozen meat, and cereals, the effect on our market will be to relax its present stringency ; a further effect will certainly be a return to better timeSj to which all classes are anxiously looking forward. The colony of New Zealand is passing through -the worst times it has ever known, and is bearing the heavy burden of taxation laid upon it with patience and fortitude. The low price of produce in the colonies is causing some of our leading men to look farther afield for a market.