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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 62, 15 March 1867, Page 2

The announcement yesterday of the death of Mr. M'lutyre (the West Coast Times of March 7, says), of the firm of Morisou, Law, and Co., was received with feelings of siucere regret by the mercantile community of Hokitika, as the deceased geutleman was much respected for his many estimable qualities, both as a private citizen and an honorable man of business. He was moreover one of the earliest settlers in Westland. The shipping and the various shipping agencies in town hoisted colors half-mast, as a mark of sorrow for his untimely death, Mr. M'lntyre being a young man, and only very lately married. Relative to the Governor's visit the following telegram from the hon. Major Richardson was received on the Bth inst., says the Southland News, by the local Government: —" We leave Dunedin by H.M.'s s. Brisk on Fiiday, 15th, and (D. V.) will be off the Bluff next day, and stay three days." This explicit intimation is satisfactory as setting at rest the doubts that were rising unbidden iu men's minds as to whether tbe time of the expected visit might not be indefinitely postponed. With preparations in the forward state they are, the clear six days to elapse will suffice to perfect every arrangement. The Hokitika Evening Star ofthe 12th says: —A man named Alexander King, who had just entered the employ of Mr. Welby, a storekeeper at the Three-mile township, was yesterday stuck up by two men, one had a gun. the other a heavy whip, on the track leading to the Hauhau diggings, while bringing his employer's team of pack-horses down to Hokitika. The man haviug the whip hit King with it in the face, iuflicting a frightful gash and rendering the poor man senseless. We notice that Mr. W. B. Armson has resigned the office of Town Surveyor to the Corporation of Hokitika. Mr. John Millar is spoken of as his probable successor. On Thursday, the 7th inst., a number of gentlemen amateurs, assisted by Miss Rosa Cooper, Mrs. O'Brien, and Mr. L. Harding gave a dramatic performance at the Union Theatre, Greymouth, for the benefit of the Grey River Hospital. Says the Grey River Argus —A deserter named Peter Grant has been captured amongst the Hau-haus on the East Coast of Auckland. He is a deserter from the Ist Waikato Regiment; he escaped from, the stockade at Tauranga several months ago with handcuffs on ; since then he has been a perfect terror to the owners of horses in the district, and has been living with the Hau-haus in the different settlements in the neighborhood. He states that there are three other white men with the Hau-haus, and offers to impart all the information in his power. He is a young man, about 24, rather prepossessing ; is from Melbourne, where his parents reside; he is heavily ironed. Much sympathy appears to be felt in the Beechworth district for the misfortunes of Mr. John Johnston, late of Young's Creek, and formerly of the Woolshed. He has been obliged to file his schedule. It appears that some years ago Mr. Johnston was considered one of the wealthiest men in the Ovens district, Victoria, aud was said to have in his regular employment fifty miners, at the rate of £7 per week. In the palmy days of the Woolshed he was very successful, and it was his mate who performed the feat, chronicled even in English narratives of Vic» torian mining enterprise, of riding into Beechworth with his horse shod with gold. In those times, Mr. Johnston had tho reputation of being liberal as well as wealthy, and most of the old Ovens people regard his misfortune with regret. Orders have been received from Madras for Castlemaine ale in bottle, and a shipment is about to be made.

We learn from the West Coast Times of the llth instant — The breach in the North Spit was extended very considerably by the heavy sea of yesterday, for the tide being a high one placed the gap nearly on a level with the surf, which rushed through with great force, and towards high water quite cut all communication with, the signal station. ' As the tide made the surf increased, and when the former reached its height broke not only through the gap, but over that portion of the spit that was so devastated on Thursday, and still further reduced its proportions. Crowds of people assembled to witness the havoc going on, and the opinion that the river must soon break through seemed general. When that longprognosticated event will take place is, however, doubtful, as the spit — shrunken though it be — yet presents a tolerable barrier, that will only be overcome by a very high flood, and surf combined. Some of the rollers that burst through yesterday were very heavy, and washed quantities of logs and drift wood (cast up by the sea) into the river. Once a mob of horses were placed in imminent jeopardy, for whilst they were attempting to cross the channel, a succession of tremendous curlers swept it, washing one animal off his legs against the roots of s large snag — that fortunately stayed his further progress — and gave the remainder a sound ducking. Only half of them gained the north side, the rear guard turning back, evidently considering the passage too risky to be twice attempted under such circumstances. We (Grey River Argus) are surprised to learn lhat Mr. Blackett has retired from the field as a candidate for the Superinteudency of Nelson. This step will be regretted by all who had the opportunity of being acquainted with Mr. Blackett when ?~e held the first charge ofthe Nelson West Gold-fields. In all-probability now Mr. Oswald Curtis wiil be the new Superintendent. The Brighton Times of the 7th inst., states that Mr. George Donne and Mr. J. P. Klein will come forward as candidates to represent the Buller district in the next Nelson Provincial Council, the election for which is pending. The Grey River Argus states that Captain Ponsonby, s.s. Claud Hamilton, was charged on the information of Alexander Stevenson, postmaster at Greymouth, with having on or about the 6th February, neglected to use due diligence iu delivering a mail at Greymouth, placed on board his -vessel at Nelson on the 4th. The facts of the case were that the Claud Hamilton, on the voyage in question, passed Greymouth aud went on to Hokitika, intending to return immediately to this port with the mail. The agent at Hokitika ordered the vessel to the Haast river, and in consequence the vessel was detained uutil the llth. Mr. G. W. Moss appeared for Captain Ponsonby. The Magistrate inflicted a penalty of £20, although the Act made the captain liable to a fine of £100. Mr. Moss, through his solicitor Mr. O'Loughiiu, gave notice of appeal. A telegram from Wellington iu the Press of the 6th, inst. contains the follow, ing : — Letters from Dr. Hector, dated Westport, state that he had a most dangerous exploration, was nearly starved for three weeks, and had dislocated his shoulder. Dr. Hector (says the Grey River Argus of the 12th inst.) the director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand, arrived here from Fox's on Saturday by the Tasmanian Maid. It is Dr Hector's intention, we believe, to make some stay in this district to enable him to prosecute a thorough examination of the coal and gold fields. These researches will extend as far as the Seventeen-mile Beach, from which point Dr Hector will continue his investigations along the coast to Hokitika, and ultimately to Okarita. The coal seams up the Grey will also command a good deal of the Doctor's time. . , Hitchen, the billiard player, has been playing a series of successful - matches at Castlemaine and'Maldon with Bennett, his old' opponent, whose powers seem to have much increased. In one of his Castlemaine games the champion scored 500 points in fifty-two minutes, an average of over ten points per minute— an astounding feat. At Maldon he made his 1,000 points in two hours and ten minutes. His best breaks have been 79, 77, 66, 64, 52 points, and so on. ' A fire broke but in a portion of the Herald printing-office at Napier, on the lOth.ult.,. when considerable property was destroyed.

We (Melbourne Argus) observe from a blue book presented to the House of Commons on the 20th July last, that among the annual reports on the state of Her Majesty's colonial possessions for the year 1864, Victoria obtains but a small share of notice. Sir Charles Darling contented himself with transmitting a copy of Mr. Archer's summary of the statistics of the colony from 1855 to 1864. The Governors of all the neighboring colonies forwarded very elaborate reports as to the progress of the colonies they respectively governed. Large quantities of wheat have been brought into Portland, Victoria, during the last two or three weeks, affording the strongest evideuce of the progress of agricultural settlement in the district.

A man angling from the railway pier, Geelong, lately succeeded in hauling in a fine schnapper, weighing about twenty pounds.