PROVINCIAL NEWS

Kumara Times, Issue 2965, 4 May 1886, Page 2

PROVINCIAL NEWS

[united PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, May 1. A cablegram has been received from Loudon announcing that the contract with the syndicate for the construction of the East and West Coast and Nelson Railway has been assigned to the company, which is duly formed, and that its prospectus will appear in the London papers this morning. T . May 3. It is not yet decided by the Government who will move or second the Addressesir.-Reply in the House of Representatives or Legislative Council this session, but it is probable that Mr Bevan, M.H.R. for Hokitika, will move the Address-in-Reply in the Hoase of Representatives, and should a Government supporter be returned for Sydenham, he will be asked to second it". Marton, May 1. A man named M'Deritt met with a f-ttal accident on the road in connection wuh the central railway works, about 40 miles from here. Dunedin, Mav 1. The railway traffic was uninterrupted through the rain. The Pomahaka River was in hi«h flood, and the inhabitants of the township of Kelso had barely time to escape. t L M& y 3 - In the divorce case Wakefield v. Wakefield and Withers there was no appearance of respondent and co-re-spondent. The evidence was conclusive, and a decree nisi was grrnted, the pititioner to have the custody of the children. The co-respondent was ordered to pay costs.

Port Chalmers. May 2. A Masonic baziar was opened last night with g, eflt ceremony by the Bio. C. de L. Graham, in aid of the local chanty and bursary funds. The building was decorated with Masonic devices, and the ladies presiding at the stalls were emblematically dressed. Auckland, April 28. The half-yearly meeting of the Bank of Zew Zealand's shareholders was on Monday, when a dividend of 15 per cent, was declared, and £30,000 was carried forward. The Chairman stated that the figures showed a more active employment on the Bank's resumes, a diminution of Government deposits, and some increase in the ordinary deposits. He alluded to the inevitable larger piecentage of losses incident to the time of world-wide depression, owing to which, notwithstand,, ing the increase of earning power, th e profits did not admit in the meantime of any addition to the reserve fund, lie gave an emphatic contradiction to tiie sensational reports of loss by Holt's defalcations, and stated that the loss cannot exceed £IO,OOO to £J 5 ; 000 and is reasonably expected ultimately to prove much less.

TT- T-i n . a y 3 His Excellency the Governor I,.ft Inspecial tram to-night for Onchiiiioa (u joui the Hinemoa. In going down the Onehnnga wharf he beame dazzlc.l l.y the wharf light and walked over th«> wha.f nun the sea. Mr N..l>],-. ||„.> mule of tin- rlawea, which steamer .v ; . s lying alongside, jum,„..| i„ t „ ~,..,,.,„. luin, '''.it the Gnvvn,,, ~H , ,.,(,,, (] „j d a Striker of tho wh.t i :lil I° 4iW J^;^

up by the aid of a rope, apparently uninjured. Fortunately, it was flood tide at the time. His Excellency went on board the Hinemoa, which sails at 8 o'clock to-morrow morning. Lady Jervois and party were on boaid tho Hinemoa at the time of the accident. Smith, who broke the leg of tho constable arresting him, was sentenced to three months' to follow after the sentence of four months for vagrancy he is now serving. Christchurch, May 3. The inquest on Jacques Fluty, who perished so miserably on board the Coptic, was held this afternoon. Papers found on deceased showed that he was a native of Berne, Switzerland, and he had expressed the intention of stowing away in the hope that after he got as far as Rio he might he able, to get a passage home. He had evidently falleu between the boilers while poking about foi some place of concealment, and was probably stunned at once, as his head and arm were jammed between the cylinders. A verdict of '■ accidental death " was returned. THE AUDIT PROSECUTION AT REEFTON. Reefton, May 3. In the R.M. Court nine actions were brought by Thomas Plasket, an elector of the county, against Messrs Williams, Craig, Paterson, Irving, and Biennan, late and present members of the Inangahua County Council, to recover from them sums amounting in the aggregate to £285 of ratepayers' money, alleged to have been illegally expended. A special audit of the accounts was held some time ago under the direction of the Auditor-General, and the accounts sued for, chiefly traveling expenses, formed portion of the amount (£2000) reported by the special auditor as having been unlawfully expended. A nonsuit point was raised, based on the contention that the auditor referred to in the section of the Act on which the case was based, was the ordinary counties auditor, and not the "special auditor" referred to in section 13G of the 1876 Act; and as the counties auditor had uot reported that any of the sums in question had been unlawfully expended, therefore the ratepayers were debarred from action. The Magistrate upheld the point raised, and nonsuited plaintiff with costs. Notice of. appeal was given.