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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 44, 21 February 1871, Page 2

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The Late Boat Accident. — Oui readers will remember hearing of the •tocUent ilmr. lately took place at the Port, whereby three or four persons who had been out boating nearly lost their Jiv. s, Mr. Wright in pnriieuhir having been in a most precarious position, from which he was rescued by Cnpt»»in Scott of lh<steamer Lyttelton. We learn that by way of acknowledging tbe services rendered by Captain Scott, Mr. Wright , has presented him will) a handsome watch chain, of the anchor link pattern, haviug attached (o it a small mariner's compass. Fatal Accident at the Port. — We yesterday slated that a man named James Hughes was missing, and was supposed to have fallen overboard from the ship Wild Duck and been drowned, and we now regret to say that these fears bave proved correct, as his body was found yesterday afternoon near the stranded hulk. An inquest was held to-day at the Pier Hotel before Dr. Squires, the coroner, when the following evidence was taken : — Matthew Baillie, master of the Wi;d Duck, said : Deceased was watchman on board my ship. I last saw him alive ca Sunday night about 10 o'clock. It was then high tide, and a 8 I considered the gangway was dangerous for the men to go up, having seen several of them drunk as I went down to the ship, I told him to (ake it down and lay it ou the wharf. I heard nothing until next morning when I was told he was missing. , From the then appearauce of the gangway, which was banging over the side of the wharf, I came to the conclusion thst he had fallen overboard and been drowned. I consider that in attempting to remove the gangway he was overbalanced, and so thrown into the water. — John Kidson. Lighthouse keeper, stated lhat having heard deceased was supposed to be drowned, he looked for him wiih a telescope from the lighthouse, and about half- past four yesterday afternoon sa w his body at. low water mark, about a quarter of a mile above the wharf. He then got the assistance of two men, picked up the corpse, and brought it. ashore. Other evidence of an unimportant nature having been adduced, a verdict was returned accordingly. General Sysod. — Ifc was resolved on tbe motion of the Bishop of Auckland, "That this Synod sanctions the extensimi of fh'* 4 hours (if snh-mnising msiinnges to 4 o'clo.-k p.m." If was al.so resolved that as there is no probability of a cathedral being built in Auckland for a long time to come, the trustees should be permitted to lease the site set apart for the purpose, the income derived therefrom to be devoted to th*} found Mtioil of a Cathedral Building Fund. The Synod closed on Saturday last. The Busby Claim. — Poor Mr. Busby, says *he Post, is to be pitied. Almost from the date of his first appearance on the stage of New Zt-aland aff-urs, many, many years ago, he has been the sport of a wayward fate. His forlorn position at first when resident at the Bay. of Islands — "a man-of-war without guns" — -has been too often dwelt upon, to require comment ; and later, who has remained ignorant of his toils and troubles while urging his land claims upon the " House aud the country ? " Through long and weary years he was a suitor for his rights ; scorned and reviled by Fox, and looked upon as a "bore" by those who , sat to adjudicate upon his claims. At last Fortune seemed to have grown weary of persecuting him, an award was made, and he fondly hoped uo doubt, that all his troubles were over, and that he might spend the evening ofv his days in peace. But alas ! his Nemesis \o*^)d limn out again. The major portion^ tof*the sum to be awarded to him is * not" toVbe paid " until the loan is uegotfcfe-i." When that will be, is beyond the power of human foresight to predict, possibly about the time of the Greek kalends.

The Province of Wellington appears to be in desperate straits, and quite unable to kepp its head above water notwithstanding ihe large expenditure of General Government money iv its capital. Speaking of be Pioviucial Council being further prorogued thy Post says: — "Knowing the wretched condition of the Province, people are naturally anxious to know what is contemplated by those who guide its .iffiirs, a m) see no reason why they should ■>c kept studiously in the dark. The fact. •if having a little ea-h in hand from the nl- of tin*' fir-it instalment of the Manavatu land will nut, alter the position of matters much ; every one knows it is merely a. flash iv ihe paiLj^ud can have no passible permanent effect. '** The longer h* Province remains as it is, the more of i hia mone\' will b*» foolishly spent, and the -sooner tlie General Government takes it over in name as already in reality, the greater chance there is of saving a little of ii. This procrasiiuation confirms the '•eiinf which is gaining ground that an irteropt will be made to start tha Province i fresh on the old system, and carry on as long as tho Manawatu money lasts' — then of course the ineviia-.de collapse." A Novel Experiment. — The Hon. 'Mr. Fox, who has an estate in the district •if Rangitikei, lias rfcently had a block of itecween 2000 and 3000 acres surveyed, which he offers for sale in e.ighfyucre farms at £3 an acre, on deferred -payments. The purchase money is to be paid at the end of seven years, and to bear no interest for the first, two, and eight per cent': for the remaining five years. A village named Crofton, consisting of quarter-acre sections, is laid off in the middle of the block. Its peculiarity is, that the proprietor has attempted to make it an example of the advantages of the total abstinence principle, of which ho is the advocate. A number of tbe sections are to be leased for 999 years, at a peppercorn rent, on the one condition tbat no alcoholic liquors are ever sold on the premises. The remainder, after the Ist Jan., 1872, will be etold, subject to the same conditions, and the proceeds applied to the improvementa of the village, probably by the erection of a school and hall, or other useful institutions. Most of the land for farms was taken -up very readily. — Independent. Fire at Napier. — A fire broke out afc Napier early yesterday morning by which five shops in Shttkspeare road were destroyed. Oir many farms in Canterbury the crops have been threshed from the shocks instead of going through the usual process of being stacked. Murder at Christchurch. — From our morning contemporaries we learn that at tbe inquest held on the body of the woman named M'Leod who was stabbed by her husband a few daj's ago a verdict of wilful murder was returned. An accident occurred to a coach near Chi istehuu-h the other day which was very neatly being upr-et by a dog rushing out at. (he horses and causing one of them to shy to such an extent^hat it fell. Fortunately none of the passengers were injured hut the horse was muck- cut and bruised. Agricultural.- We {Lyttelton Times') are indebted to a correspondent for the following. He hup, however, omitted to say from what source it is derived : — A piece of laud,' 300 feet by 200 feet was laid off from a harley field, whiflh had been ploughed, and manured uniformly all over. Tlie piece of land thus measured, was exposed to the continuous influence of atmospheric electricity, by means of pegs driven down at the four corners, the longest sides of the parallelogram lying exactly magnetic north and south. To these pegs a strong iron wire, going from one to the other, was fastened and laid three inches below the surface of the soil. In the middle of the shorter sides, poles 15 feet high were raised. Frora the top of these poles a wire passed lengthwise over the niece of land to the foot of the opposite poles, and was there connected with the wire passing under the surface of the ground. The influence of tbe atmospheric electricity by such a contrivance may be still further increased by burying iv the earth, outßide the two louger sides, on the one side a berg of charcoal, and on the other a bag containing zinc plates j and hy connecting by a metal wire these two substances, which are peculiarly disposed to strong polaric action. This third wire is placed at the same height with the wire fastened at the tops of the poles, and carried through the air by means of poles erected at the points where the two bags are buried. Just in the centre over the field, wires cross, one running north and south toconductthe atmospheric electricity, the other going east and west to conduct the galvanic stream. Thus, by means of tbe wire running round the land, a constant stream of electricity is flenving below, which takes its origin from the mutual influence of the earth* and air, going on

above as well as from the two polarically opposed galvanic elements ; so that iv this way the land is wrought all over, and penetrated above and below, as by a net, work of electrical influence. The effect of this arrangement upon the seed sown, was everywhere perceptible. The aore thus experimented upon, bore 13^ quarters of barley, whilst the rest of the Held bore only tbe usual quantity of from 5 to 6 quarters to the acre. The kernals also, upon the piece of laud submitted to electrical influence, were so large and sound that a bushel of the same weighed 2lbs. more than a bushel of the other. The expense of the contrivance was estimated at 225. per acre, yet this expense decreases in proportion to the space surrounded by the wires, and the apparatus once provided, will last from 10 to 15 years, if the wires are takeu up every year when they have discharged their office, and replaced again at seed time. Married Women's Protection Act. — One Johu Bowmaker of Christchurch recently appeared before the Magistrate's Court m answer to a summons issued at the request of his wife Jessie Bowmaker, under the " Married Women's Property Protection Act, 1870," claiming protection of her earnings and property from her husband, on account of his having been guilty of habitual drunkenness during the last six months. In answer to tbe Bench, defendant said he did not admit being a habitual drunkard. The examination of complaint was then proceeded witl), when defendant, who had apparently changed his mind, asked the Bench to withdraw bis former plea, and admitted the charge, -at 'the same time stating that h# sometimes did not taste drink for a weefc* C-a?n plain ant stated on oath that the information was correct, and the Bench made SB order for protection. Kew Zealand Flax. — It has been suEmised that the late fire on hoard the ship Qity of Auckland, at Auckland was caused by* flax. The following is the captain's evidence on that point : — I exam in eel every 'bale of flax that came on board the vessel, and there were only two out nf the entire cargo that I found necessary to reject. I do not believe • that the fire- was caused by spontaneous combustion in the flax, or gum, or wool. About 300 tons of flax were in the'tweendecks forward. The flax was stoweJ entirely by itself, in the ' tween-decks by the fore hatchway, where ihe fire broke out. There was no flax in the lower hold. The fire broke out just where the flax was. Ido not believe that it is to blame. I took home 1800 bales last voyage, aud the previous voyage 2000 bales. I met with no accident on those occasions. I frequently examined the flax during those voyages, aud it was perfectly dry and cool. When I got home and removed the cargo, there was not tho slightest indication of a fire or spontaneous combustion in tbe flax, or gum, or wool. The flax was not screwed at. all. but simply put in its place. No pressure was used. It was only temporarily stowed. The weather had been very fine, and the flax could not have got damp in taking it on board. The flax was perfectly dry and had been in store for some time. Remarkably Eich Claim. —At Queenstowu, Otago, Finney and Poulton's claim has turned out over £30,000 worth of gold and mining matters generally are in a very prosperous condition, though water is scarce. Diamond Diggings at the Cape. — A Liverpool man, writing home to his friends from tbe diamondfield, says : — The part of the country we are now iv really belongs to no one ; it has no government, no law, until the diamouds were found, no claimants. Now, the Free State aud the Transvaal Republics have both pus in claims, besides native chiefs. All thiß, it is supposed, will bring about a war, but in such an event I shall clear out of course, for the simple reason that I did not -ootne here to fight. We have washed out thirty loads of earth, which we have carted down from the hils, and have washed in the river and sorted out ; but, unfortunately up to the present time we have had no luck. Diamond digging is hard manual work, and favors only the few. The other day I saw a diamond that a trader had found, for which he re--fused £6000; it is a beauty, and almost made my mouth water. It was as large as a hen's egg and as bright as a star. It is considered by people who know something of the value of diamonds that it it cuts well it will be worth £25,000. Diai Hionds of this size are of course very rare, . but small ones of the value of £10 to £30 are picked up daily. This is a rough barren country, made up of a series of ironstoue hills, intermixed with what is called itacolumite, a substance resembling gravel, but mixed with ironstone, lime, jasper, mica, ruby, garnet, and here and there the diamond. We commence work before sunrise, and knock off after sundown, have our supper and turn in. This

goes on day after day until Sunday comes, and then all hands go in for rest. Extraordinary Yield. — Telegrams in the Auckland Hei aid from the Thames, of Monday last, says:— The Caledonian retort is not off. They have finished crushing their specimens, whi'di average over 1| oz.s. to the pound. F**r six days successfully they broke out upwards of £2300 worth per day. Tbe stop'-s continue to look well. 7001 bs, of specimens ar" in han-d for the n*-xt crns-hin./. Tbe B-dl'iiSi is lo< king well. About, 80 tons bave gone tlnoogb, and the amalgam bora the plates Ir.s yielded 125 ezs. of yobi. Tbe Caledonian lodged at. midnight 800 ozs., making altogether 4590 ozs. Probably ih-y will lodge 800 to 1000 more to-morrow. 300lhs. weigh t of specimens were got from the stopes last shift.