PROVINCIAL NEWS

Kumara Times, Issue 2897, 10 February 1886, Page 2

PROVINCIAL NEWS

[UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.! Wellington, February 9. Four of the Sydney magsmen were brought up at the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day on a charge of playing the "three card trick" on the-race-course on Saturday. Two of them were fined £lO or a month in gaol, and one of them was discharged. Another was remanded. Dunedin, February 8. At the inquest on Howard a verdict was returned that deceased met his death accidentally. Attention was drawn to the fact that deceased had been fully half an hour in the hospital before he was attended to. Dr. Roberts, house surgeon, being absent. As it. was shown that the heart was ruptured and the delay had not accelerated death, the matter was not gone into. At the inquest on Howard the surgeon was said to be absent at a tennis party. A labourer named Thomas Dunn, while discharging coal from the Wakatipu, fell into the hold. His spine was found to be injured, and there are but slight hopes of his recovery.

Christchurch, February 8. The United Charitable Aid Board, instance of the Orphanage Com-' mittee, decided this afternoon to dismiss Mr and Mrs Ritchie, the master and matron of the Orphanage. The reasons for this decision were not stated. Mr Ritchie has commonly been regarded as peculiarly suited for the position, and has made himself very popular since he obtained the appointment. A petition is in course of circulation to have the Orphanage constituted a separate institution. The Board appointed a committee to draw up a reply to the allegations contained in the petition.

Ixvercargill, February S. The Borough Council to-night appointed John Halliday, of Melbourne, formeily of Dnnedin, as borough engineer. There were 34 applications, 16 being from Victoria.

TniAitu, February 8. A little boy named Cornelius Kaan was drowned in Stony Creek, near Waimate, yesterday, while bathing. At the inquest a verdict of accidental death was returned.

Auckland, February 9. Tlio Star reporters on the search expedition for the derelict vessel telegraph that the lighthouse keeper at Cape Maria was strongly of the opinion that the object seen floating forward and backwards past the lighthouse for three days was a large vessel bottom up, but they could not launch the boat. The search expedition discovered a whale about 60 feet long floating and partly devoured by sharks and other fishes. They also found a quantity of wreckage. The object seen by Captain Savory and the lighthouse keeper was probably a whale, but it. is just possible that there was a wreck as well as a whale. There is no sign, however, of any vessel snch as described. Surprise id expressed that Captain Savory did -

not at the time determine this matter by approaching the object. The theory about the new island is of course shown to be nonsense.