PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Kumara Times, Issue 2823, 8 October 1885, Page 2

PROVINCIAL NEWS.

[UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.! Dunedin, October 7. The inquest on Georgina Butler, who is supposed to have been murdered, was continued to-day. Regarding the hair found in the hand of the deceased, the doctor expressed his opinion ifc was some of her own hair. A number of the neighbors were examined, but nothing was elicited to conuect anyone

wilh the affair, and the jury returned a verdict that Georgina Butler was murdered by some person or persons unknown. The police have made no anests. Westport, October 5. The Coal Miners' Union sent £3O to the Lumpers' Union at Lyttelton. They also made a levy of Is per week per man, amounting to £lO per week. James Hall, fireman aboard the Wareatea steamer, was drowned this afternoon. He fell into the river when stepping from the wharf to the steamer. The body is not yet recovered. A WOMAN BOILED TO DEATH. Auckland, October 5. Last Saturday night, Mrs Seddon, Comet store, Rotorua, rushed out of her bedroom, in her night dress. Her husband made an energetic search, and being alarmed at not finding her, called in the assistance of the police, who, aided by several residents, kept up an active search all night without success. Early yesterday morning some Natives lent a hand; one of them reported seeing a considerable amount of fatty matter floating on the surface of a hot spring near Mrs Morley's bath-house. Constable Abrahams, procuring a long pole with a hook, succeeded, after several futile attempts, in hooking something which, on being hauled to the surface, left no doubt as to what it was. The body presented a horrible sight, being partly cooked, both hands were clenched and full of particles torn from the breast in the agony of death. Large pieces of flesh hung from her limbs, and the whole body had lost a third of its original size. The unfortunate woman had shown symptoms of being a little queer lately. One sister is an inmate of a lunatic asylum. An inquest will be held this afternoon. THE HUTT TARRING CASE. Wellington, October 7. Contrary to general expectation, the Grand Jury returned a true bill against J. Walden charged with tarring Sydney Nimmo Muir, at the Hutt in August last. It is said some fresh evidence has been obtained for the prosecution, and that some interesting if not startling disclosures may be anticipated. The case has created as much interest here as the E«st and West Coast Railway, in consequence of the high position some o( the parties occupy, one of them being a Minister of the Crown. He might well exclaim, " Save me from my friends J" It is even stated that not alone have party politics been imported into the case, but the old world quarrels of orange and green are mixed up in the hotchpotch.

THE NEW SAN FRANCISCO MAIL CONTRACT. Wellington, October 7. Arrangements for the San Francisco mail service are now almost complete. The contract is to be undertaken by the Union Company between Sydney, Auckland and to Honolulu, and between Honolulu and San Francisco by the Oceanic Company. The contract as fixed now provides that four boats shall lie in use, two between Sam Francisco and Honolulu, and two between Honolulu, Auckland and Sydney. The contract time is to be 25 days between Sydney and San Francisco, and 20 days between Auckland and San Francisco. The last service was at first for 27 and 21 days respectively, and for the last year 26 and 21 days, so that the new service, notwithstanding that it is broken at Honolulu, will be a day quicker. The penalties and bonuses are the same as before, only that the bonuses are limited to 36 hours in any one trip. There are adequate provisions for detention of vessels, for mails, and one that for first 36 hours of such detention no demurrage shall be payable. There are also provisions made for duly loading and unloading mails, cargo, and passengers. In most other respects the contracts run upon the same lines as those of the existing contracts. The payment is to be £30,000, less two-thirds of the £4OOO that the United States are to contribute. New South "Wales is to pay £IO,OOO of the amount, less one-third of the United States' contribution, and New Zealand is to pay £20,000, also less one-third of that contribution : in other words, the £4OOO is to be divided equally between New Zealand, New South Wales and the contractors. The deduction of a third of the £4OOO will make the nett payments of New South Wale 3 and New Zealand respectively a little under £9OOO and a little under £19,000. From each there will then have to be deducted the postages received from the other colonies, estimated to amount to £6OOO, or £3OOO from each of the two colonies, leaving a nett payment of a little under £16,000 for New Zealand and a little uuder £6OOO for New South Wales.

The payment for New Zealand will thus be under what the House authorised. These estimates of receipts just given may almost absolutely be counted on with the probability that the postages of the other colonies will continually increase. If, as is likely, the new service will be supplemented by such arrangements as will make it the quickest route to and from Japan and China, a material increase may be expected. Those contributions do not take into account the postages New Zealand and New South Wales will each receive in its own colony and England. The amounts New Zealand will receive will leave a considerable profit on the service.