Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 100, 8 February 1868, Page 3

Local and General News.

f The Cricket Match between Blenheim and Picton is postponed until Monday week, the 17th instant. The ketch Falcon, Captain Cracknell, arrived at Wellington on Wednesday evening, and will sail again on Sunday morning. The intended Tea Meeting, in aid of the Church Enlargement Bund, has been postponed for the present. The Spanish Government is fitting out an expedition at Cadiz for the immediate relief of the inhabitants at Port Rico. The Napier races take place on the 17th of March ; there is already much promise of a good meet, and consequently of capital racing. Walter Bell and Company, timber merchants, of Dunedin, have failed ; their liabilities amount to the sum of £45,000. The sale of 2,000 sheep, horses, &c., advertised for Wednesday next by Mr. Dodson, has been postponed for a week, in consequence of the recent floods.

A meeting of householders and owners of property in Blenheim will be held on Tuesday evening next, when the state of the footpaths should come under consideration. The Picton Road is reported impassable for vehicles; besides infinite obstructions in the form of trees and timber, some of the culverts have burst. Mr. O’Sullivan has put a number of men on to clear the road as speedily as possible. We learn from the West Coast Times that his Worship the Mayor of Hokitika has issued cards of invitation to a large number of citizens and their wives and families, to a ball at Hansen’s Assembly Rooins, to celebrate the inauguration of the County of Westland. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which commenced with fearful grandeur on 14th November, continues. The mountain is still sending forth pillars of fire from the old and newly formed craters and the display is magnificent. There are seven streams of lava in full flow. / Petroleum at the Buller. — A correspon" dent of the Westport Times states that a spring of oil has been discovered in the neighbourhood of what is known as the Sand-hills, but for reasons that will be understood, he declines to give any further information at present respecting the discovery. The Late Bishop or Nelson; —We learn from a home paper that, on November 16, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, at Beech Hill, near Reading, was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester. A sermon was preached by Bishop Hobhouse (late Bishop of Nelson) who is the incumbent of the new Church. The Brigantine Despatch. —The brigantine Despatch, which left Wellington in ballast, at eleven o’clock on the night of the 23rd ult., for the Chatham Islands, is ashore in Evans’s Bay. It appears that, in the dark, Captain Keenan mistook the bay for the entrance. The Customs have, we believe, this afternoon despatched a boat to the vessel, which is uninjured, and will be got off, it is thought, without damage.— Post. A man named Henry Marks was charged before the Resident Magistrate at Westport on the 27th ult. with having oysters in his possession and with offering the same for sale. For the defence it was contended that the oysters were from Sydney, and that the prisoner was therefore not liable to prosecution ; no evidence however was put in to this effect, and the Magistrate reserved his decision. Narrow Escape. —A little child, the sou of H. Johnson, one of the pilot men, had a narrow escape from drowning yesterday afternoon. It appears that the child was playing on the Government ]etty, when it fell into the water. The mother of the child, who lives just opposite, and saw the accident, immediately jumped in, and succeeded in rescuing her son from drowning.— Examiner, Feb. 1. Smart Work. —We are informed that Charles Thompson,’'wES' carries Lewis’s mail, left Nelson at G’3o a.m. on Sunday morning last, and dined at Havelock, arriving in Blenheim at 6 p m. the same day. He delivered our files for the previous evening about 7 o’clock, thus demonstrating at least the possibility of doing the journey in ond day—a circumstance which have been much doubted since we first announced. Lewis’s intention of doing it. o CV / Body Found, —On Thursday night Police/ConstaHe'Gresham reached town with the body of a man found at the Boulder-bank, which he conveyed to the Marlborough Hotel. Yesterday an inquest was held by C. H. Moffitt, Esq., Coroner, When the evidence went to show that it was found below high water mark by George Beesley. An open verdict was returned. The body has not been recognised, but the following is a description given by the police : —About 30 to 35 years of age, sft. 7iri. high, light brown hair, dark brown whiskers, beard long and sandy, and moustache clipped close, dressed in darkstriped Crimean shirt, with old grey shirt outside, moleskin trousers, yellow oilskin overalls, long sea boots, and sou’-wester hat. It was interred at the cemetery by the police last evening^' Earthquake. — On Saturday morning last, two shocks of earthquake occurred at Blenheim at about one minute to eight o’clock ; the first was but slight, but the second was a very smart one, lasting several seconds, and evidently came from the E. or N.E. It has given rise to a number of apocryphal stories, but it is certainly the heaviest we have had for the last three years. We take the following from the Nelson Evening Mail :—One of the smartest earthquake shocks which has been experienced for Some time past in Nelson was felt this morning about five minutes before eight o’clock. It was, preceded by a slighter shock which, however, lasted for some seconds, and its effects were very generally felt throughout the city. The earthquake appeared to come from the N.E. The p.s. Lyttelton arrived at Blenheim on Thursday last, at 9 p.m , from Port Underwood. She reports the ketch Alarm as being there in safety. When first seen she appeared to be in distress with her ensign flying half-mast high, having lost her threQ anchors, and in a sad plight. Captain Scott supplied a kedga and other necessaries, so that she Will probably get up as the waters resume their customary state. The Lyttelton was coaled during the same night, and at 5 a.m. yesterday was despatched to Wellington, having been chartered by a number of gentlemen interested, for the purpose of sending away their letters by the Panama Mail. We understand that Mr. Tetley went to the residence of the Postmaster about 8 p.m., with, a view of inducing him to despatch the English Mails by this opportunity, but that gentleman was uilable, on account of his ill-health to dd sd ; his reply was that it was impossible for him to make them up in time for next morning, as the clerk had gone home that night for the first time since the flood came on, and his (Mr. B. ’s) own state would not allow him to go and Sit in the stillwet office for two or three hours, as his life might be endangered thereby, consequently the Lyttelton went without the mails; and as very few, persons knew that she Was going, we have lost the last chance of forwafdiilg home letters for another month. No mails have left Blenheim this week, we believe, until yesterday. We must express regret that Mr. Bagge’s application for a few week’s relief was not granted, rather than so untoward ah event had occurred at the present time-.

Gold in Wellington. —The Evening Post, of the 25th, states that “the result of Mr. Grove’s recent tour through the Makara district convinces him that gold abounds within an area of two miles, and that beyond Makara there is none. The prospects obtained are of good quality and colour, and on the miners’ adage of where there is a little gold there is more, it is thought that eventually payable quantities of the auriferous metal will be obtained.” Loss of the Schooner Joanna.— The Evenng Post, of the 27th ult., says “ The schooner Joanna, Captain John Giffdrd, from Havelock, was totally wrecked last night in the Straits. The little vessel, with a cargo of timber for Wellington, consigned to Messrs. Grceulield and Stewart, left Havelock on Thursday evening, and experienced moderate northerly winds. When near Sinclair’s Head, she sprang a leak, afid the master and crew were forced to abandon -■‘her. They were picked up by the ketch Diana, and brought into Wellington this afternoon.” Caterpillars.— On Thursday last a crop of oats lying in a field situated in the Wood, .and belonging to Messrs. Harley, was suddenly visited by myriads of black and green caterpillars, from an inch to an inch and half in Luckily the oats had been cut, and were on the ground ready to be carted away ; t!ieCaterpillars, therefore, disappointed of the fresh food, which they had expected to find, were fain to seek a more temping repast from the beans and cabbages of the neighbouring gardens, where they, committed great havoc.— -Mail. I Cabbage Blight. —A correspondent of the Australasian gives the following as a remedy for cabbage blight, &c. He says : —“I had an acre of fine early York, just about becoming white, when the blight attacked it ; I had previously tried lime, soapsuds, and various other remedies, but without avail I then tried potato-water, and put about a pint of kerosene to three gallons of it. Strange to state, the blight disappeared, and I have used this cure eVer since, and found it the best of any I have ever seen or heard of.”

Narrow Escape prom Fire.— On Sunday, about four o’clock, the inhabitants of Freemanstreet were alarmed by the smell of fire, and almost immediately afterwards flames were seen to issue from Mrs. Quartly’s Ship Hotel A number of the neighbours, headed by Mr. Melville, preceded to the spot, and rendered all the assistance in their power, and the fire was soon put out, but not till the kitchen, where the fire originated, was consumed. We understand the fire was caused by the calico of the kitchen becoming ignited in consequence of the heat emitted by the chimney.— Westport Times, January 27. It may be in the recollection of our readers that at the time of the melancholy death at St. Mary’S of the Rev. Charles Safda in October last, we mentioned the fact that another young brother of the deceased priest, also in Holy Orders, had left the colonies for Europe in a ship of which nothing had ever since been heard We find amongst the list of passengers on board the illfated General Grant, in the ship’s clearance from Melbourne, the name of the Rev. Father Sarda, who, doubtless, was the ecclesiastic alluded to above, and was amongst the 68 persons who were wrecked on the morning of the 14th May, 1866, on the Auckland Islands.— Mail. Sir George Bowen.— We publish below a paragraph from the Wellington Evening Post, of the 28th. It will hardly be possible that the Ruahine should reach Sydney before the departure of the Kaikoura for New Zealand, as we learn by our Sydney papers that the latter vessel was to be despatched on the 30th iust. instead of the Ist prox., on account of February being a short month: —“By the Ruahine, despatches were received by the Government announcing that Sir George Bowen’s commission as Governor of this colony, had been forwarded to him. It is therefore expected that should the Ruahine reach Sydney before the departure from there, on the Ist prox., of the Kaikoura, Sir George Bowen g,fld his family will be here on the 6th prox.

Db. Livingstone.— The following letter respecting Dr. Livingstone’s probable safety, has been received by the .Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, from Mr. Churchill, British Consul at Zanzibar : —“ Mv Lobu —A native boat being on the point of leaving this for Makulla, near Aden, I hasten to transmit to your lordship the copy of a despatch of this day’s date, that I have addressed to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, acquainting him with the intelligence, gathered within the last two days from people who have come from the interior of Africa, with reference to a white man having been seen seven months ago at a place called Marunga, 050 miles due east of Zanzibar. Since writing the accompanying despatch, the slave on whose information more particularly the belief of Dr; Livingstone being alive may be based, has, among a hundred photographs, recognised in the portrait of Dr. Livingstone, the man he saw at Marunga. This is indeed glorious news, and Dr. Kirk and I leave this for Bagomoyo as soon aS possible to gather further information from other members of the caravan to which the slave in question is attached.—Zanzibar, September 28. Pbince Alfred in Sydney. —On the 21st ult. H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh arrived safely in Sydney. He was accompanied up the harbor by a large number of vessels, which had been waiting his arrival outside the Heads ; the Sydney papers report that the whole naval reception was a great success. The first division consisted of twenty-two Of the larger ships ; in the second division there were twenty-four smaller vessels. Following these again were the Royal Sydney Yacht squadron, and the Prince Alfred Yacht squadron. The procession is said to have been a most imposing sight, all the vessels falling into line and following in the most orderly manner as the Galatea steamed past their respective posts. In the evening there was a grand harbour illumination, the great feature being a huge representation of a fiery dragon, on board the steamer Yaamba. The weather was unfortunately as bad as it well could be, the rain , pouring down all day, and again after a short pause while the illuminations Were iri progress. “No amount of rain, however;” says the Herald, “ was able to damp thb enthusiastic public.” On the 22nd the Prince made his public landing, which was effected amidst all the demonstrations of loyalty that enthusiasm could siiggest. In the evening the itfflStsWere ifiagnificently illuminatfed; -