Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume IV, Issue 177, 29 May 1869, Page 3

Local and General News.

/n. G. Morse, Esq., has resigned, his seat in the Legislative Council of New Zealand. His Honor Dr. Featherston was re-elected Superintendent of Wellington without any opposition. Mr. Eyes left by the Stormbird for Wellington yesterday, in readiness for the meeting of the Assembly. / An extensive sale of 78 sections in the town of ! Picton will take place to-day ; every section is Ito be put up separately. /“Mr. J. M. Hutcheson has been appointed a Trustee for the Blenheim Cemetery ; and Mr. D. Gtay for the Picton Cemetery. At the Eastern Volunteer review at Dover, a £250 testimonial was presented to Corporal Peake, of Wimbledon. Mackenzie and Aylmer, principals intherecent Southland conspiracy case, have been tried, found guilty, and lined £IOO each. The quantity' of gold on which export duty was paid in Auckland during the March quarter was 41,674 ounces, valued at £131,273.

Mr, Joseph Ward has, we learn, resigned his seat in the Executive. The Superintendent has appointed P. R. Mcßae, Esq., as his successor. ’“’’Tenders for the necessary repairs to the Opawa Bridge have been received as follows :—Davies Brothers, £69 155., accepted ; Wall and Co., t'76, declined.

** It is intended to give an Amateur Entertainment in about 3 weeks for the joint benefit of the Blenheim Brass Band, and an old inhabitant' s of a neighbouring town. 1 are informed that Sergeant Goodall sent' in his resignation to the Superintendent on Saturday last, and that a successor has since been appointed in his stead.

The attention of our readers is directed to the report of the Council proceedings on Friday evening and Saturday last, the subjects being of more than ordinary interest. The lease for 14 years of the Government Reserve of 470 acres lying between Picton and Waikawa was sold at the Land Office, on Wednesday last, to Mr, Pulliene, at the upset rental o£'£2o a year. / The first meeting of the recently elected Council for the Borough of Blenheim will be held on Wednesday next at 10 in the forenoon, when they will proceed to elect a Mayor, and otherwise put the Act in execution.

f At a recent meeting of the Picton Volunteers ’Lieut. Phillpotts was unanimously elected captain in the room of Nepean Kenny, Esq., resigned, to whom a testimonial letter was presented signed by all the members. At Wellington, on April 24, the steward of the s.s. Rangitoto was fined £5 10s., for having in his possession ten boxes of cigars, which the Independent terms the “soothing weed,” upon which duty had not been paid.— Colonist. new Blenheim-built ketch, Amateur, left the wharf on her first voyage on Thursday evening for Wellington, on which line her spirited owners intend to place her as a regular trader. We trust to hear of her safe arrival in the course of to-day. tenuous, but True.— A correspondent draws attention to the fact, that a letter for Napier, posted in any of the Wairarapa Post Offices, has to be sent to Wellington, is there put in the mail bag, and actually passes the place where it was originally posted, on its way to its place of destination.—Wairarapa Mercury. The details of a melancholy accident in the Wairarapa are these :—Mr. Feist, accompanied by his fwife, was driving Mr. Backlund down to Carterton to perform his devotional services there ; there was a fresh in the river, and neither knew much about driving. In attempting to cross they got into a deep hole, the water flowing into the trap, and the horse jibbed ; all were very nervous, and Backlund seized the reins oat of Feist’s hands, when the horse turned round, capsizing the trap. All else is lost to the survivor except a confused imagination o£,a woman floating, a man sanking, a horse kicking, and the contents of the vehicle ’going down the stream, until he found himself on shore, without knowing how he got there. The horse broke the shafts and so released himself. The bodies of Mr. Backlund and Mrs. Feist were found about one and a-half miles down the river.— Post.

Tieokowaru is said by the Wanganui Chronicle to.be quiescent at Waitara, making no sign, and having no attempt made to dislodge him. Col. Lyon’s expeditionary force returned on the 15th to Patea, after having explored the bush round about Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, and the pa itself, without finding the trace of a rebel.

In reply to a question by Mr. Seymour, in the Council, the Crown Land Commissioner said the gross amount of Laud Revenue in the province was about £4130 per annum, which was contributed by the several districts thus : Picton, Wairau, £2467. This was inclusive of land sales. The Lund Commissioner notifies that decisions have been given in favor of the applications of Suisted Bros. ; W. E. Allen and J. Mulroy; A Beauchamp and H. Godsiff, in respect of lands situate in the district of Pelorus An application for a Pastoral Lease has been made by W. Brownlee in the District of the Pelorus Valley, the estimated extent being 760 acres. Resident Magistrate’s Court. —Before S. L. Muller, Esq., R.M., on Tuesday last, the following cases were heard. The defendants did not appear in any of them, and the judgments were for the plaintiffs :—Parker Bros. v. Hopgood, claim £lB 4s. Bd., with £2 7s. costs ; Bomford v. Action, claim £ls 45., with £1 16s. costs ; McLauchlan v. Burtlett Bros., claim £l2 10s., with £1 15s. costs.

A novel railway accident is reported from India. As a train was passing between Sahebgange and Mirzapore it approached a mango tope, where some 70 elephants were stationed. A scene of an unrivalled character ensued, all the troop, being alarmed, tried to break away ; one large male broke his chain and charged the engine with head and tusks, but proved no match for the supposed enemy. The poor animal was killed, and the train, comprising 11 carriages and engine, were capsized into a ditch. The fireman and guard escaped, but the driver received injuries from which he is not likely to recover.

We are much pleased at learning by the Eng A lish mail that one of our most esteemed fellow colonists, Mr. Frederick A. Weld, has received the appointment of Governor of Western Australia. However widely many of us may have differed from him in politics during his career as a public man here, we venture to say that there is no one who knows him but entertains the greatest respect for him personally. Upright and honorable in the highest degree, with great urbanity of demeanor, and very large experience and knowledge of colonial life, there is little doubt he will prove a most popular Governor. Post. -

Duncan v. Rattray.— This case, involving a question of some importance to the shipping community, was heard at Picton before S. L. Muller, Esq. 11. M., on the 13th inst. The plaintiff had sold to the captain of a vessel a cargo of timber, some two years ago, for which the captain never paid, and it was now sought to render the defendant liable. It was contended for the defendant that the captain had no authority to pledge the credit of the owner, except for necessary outlay on the vessel, stores, &c., and respecting contracts in the usual course of the vessel’s trading. The Court gave judgment for the defendant, with £3O costs. Mr. Conolly appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Nelson for the defendant. Her Majesty’s Birthday was kept as a general holiday on Monday last The only affair worthy of notice was the Tea Meeting reported elsewhere. A parade of Volunteers and Cadets was called on Seymour-square, but the attendance was so very meagre as to suggest that it is desirable to re-organise the whole affair. Those present were put through their drill, and afterwards preceded

by the Blenheim Bandmnarchcd through the town AT'lcß^W a^, "was celebrated by a rifle contest. The highest marksman was Private Esson, who therefore} retains the Challenge Cup won by him on the Ist November last. The lowest obtained the wooden spoon. In the evening the Volunteers dined at the George Hotel, and later in the evening a ball took place in the Council Chamber. _

The Lytelton.— Our old friend the steamer Lyttel on arrived here from Wellington on Sunday last. She has latterly been employed under the direction of Mr. Balfour, Marine Engineer, in examining the sites for the intended lighthouses at Cape Campbell and Farewell Spit, and fixing the buoy in the French' Pass and the beacon in Pelorus Sound. She landed some tanks and material at Cape Campbell, and twice visited Nelson, the French Pass, and Pelorus. We understand that she is to be sold, and that Captain Scott, determined not to forsake the Wairau, purposes purchasing a vessel of his own, and placing her on the line between here and Nelson. There cannot be a doubt as to his success in such an undertaking.

The Independent says the Picton Volunteers, are, it seems to lire on Monday next, the Queen’s hßirtday, for a challenge cup, and, wishing to kill two birds with one stone, they have telegraphed to Colonel Reader offering to name ten of their men to fire on Monday against ten of No. 1 Company W.R.V. for a sum of £lO a side—the conditions to be ranges 300, 400, and 500 yards ; position, kneeling at the first, any at the other ranges. All. the Wellington Volunteers being under orders to parade on the reclaimed land on Monday morning next, for the purpose of firing feu de joie, it is impossible for No. 1 Company to accept a challenge to fire that day, but we believe that the members of the company have signified their willingness to tire such a match as the one. suggested on a future day.

James Thomas Purnell was indicted at the Supreme Court, Hokitika, on the 11th instant, before Justice Richmond, that he did, on the 27th day of January last, commit a rape on Hanna Smith, a girl under- ten years of age ; and Anne Smith, the mother of the child, was indicted for having aided and abetted in the commission of the offence, and found guilty. His Honor in passing sentence, said the prisoners had been! found guilty of an offence so heinous and unnatu-l ral, and it was impossible to enlarge upon it, and for the sake of common humanity, it was as well to get it out of sight as soon as possible. The sentence of the Court was, that the prisoners be coafined and kept to hard labor in one of Her Majesty’s gaols of New Zealand for a perod of ten years.— Post.

Crown Grants for the following persons are notified as being ready for delivery at the Land Office :—Clemett and Turner; G. E. Levieu ; J. T. Warren, W. I). H Baillie, and J. A. E. Greer - sill; R. Timms (3) ;J. McArtney ;J. Hunter ; J. Leary ; E. Warner ; F. G. T. Gooch (2) ; R. Beaumont, and H. Wharton ; F. and G. F. Bulleyn (2) ; J. H. C. G. Schroder, C. R. and G. R. Keene j R Ale Donald ; H. Cole ; 0. H. Aloffitt; S. L. Muller; and W. H. Bursill (8). We learu that Air. Collie finds it necessary on account of uageut private affairs to visit the old country once more, and that he will leave here this afternoon. His assistant, Mr. W. Macey, will have charge of the business during Air. Collie’s absence. We hope that he will have a prosperous voyage, and a speedy return to the place of his adoption. Blenheim will, we need not say, miss one of her oldest and most notable citizens. A.r Collie’s resignation will necessitate a new election for a member of the Borough Council.

At Ficton, on Tuesday last, Mr. W. formerly of Tua Marina, was brought'~beTore a bench consisting of W. D. H. Baillie, Esq., and J. Allen, Esq., charged on the information of Air. Neave, of Pic ton, with having by false pretences obtained a bill for £29 from him. The . details of the case show that a series of accommodation transactions in bills had taken place i f between'the parties, which appear to have re-/ : suited in the informant becoming liable for the? defendant, and having to pay two bills of £2OO each. Upon the statement that defendant had paid the .a4OO, the plaintiff was induced to accept a bill for £29 more, which he had also to pay. Mr. Couolly appeared for Neave, and Mr. Nelson for Strachan. The latter elicited that Neave was indebted to defendant to the amount of £2O or upwards, and consequently the Bench found that there was no case, and the defendant was discharged. He had been brought from Wellington upon the information.

[ The following was published in an Extra issued on Saturday last. ]