INTERPROVINCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 142, 18 June 1877, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

„- .. • Wellington, Monday. The-H^ivea sails for Nelson and North at 1 pjn. * Passengers .* r Hon. Dr. Pollen, Messrs Woodward, Bowden, J. Richardson, Fordi.au., ahd Redwood, and Miss Bowden. ! .'" " r L ' ' A cckl and, Saturday. ... ..Chajjlea Rowley, a Thames prospector,' is missing. u He is now. generally believed toi_e the person*^hose drowning cries were heard on thfe wharf on Thursday night. , An: expldsion occurred last night at the Loan and; Mercantile offices, Onehunga. i It was caused hy a clerk named Hosking epterihg a room onjhe upper floor with a {lighted match after aq esaape of gas. Hosking was slightly injured, and the glass from the win-dows-was blow.h across the street. Sailed— Zealandia, for Sydney, at2)3orp.m. Passengers— Messrs Fay and Davies,|and 14 Auckland passengers, ' ;,.'-■ -The ship Queen Bee, Capt. Davis', sailed from London for Nelson oh the 22 nd! April. The steam tug, Lionel, while crossing the Manakau bar, broke her propeller on the bank; and was in imminent danger. She sailed back. ' Monday. Arrived— Hero. ]-• Dunedin, Saturday. A gas explosion took place in the Glasgow Pie House yesterday, when about .£SO damage was done and v a young man named Wilson was badly burnt. A pugilistic encounter look place at lhe meeting of the St. Kilda Council last night between Auditor Eager and Councillor Halli- - gan. ---A' number of ratepayers formed a ring, and acted the part of lookers on until both combatants were Severely punished, when the | fight was stopped. t '. i. '-SS' Lyttelton, Sunday. | Shortly after two o'clock this morning a fire broke out ,in;the wharf office on the railway, and speedily communicated with the large export>shed on. the breastwork. . The; shed was filled, up with potatoes and grain, and was. entirely; consumed. A stong westerly wind was blowing all the time, which kept the fire f roun the sheds on the other side of the lines. The breastwork has been considerably, burned, but the wharves have escaped without damage. . None. of the shipping sustained; any, in jury. Both the Government and the Railway Telegraph offices endeavored to communicate with Christchurch for aid, bat were unable to do so, as there was apparently no one in either office in Christchurch, . Messengers were despatched up through the tunnel, but the railway steam fire engine did not arrive through from Christchurch until 7 am. Had the fire occurred inany of the other sheds, an immense amount of damage would have been done. Sailed— Hawea for North, at 5.30 p.m. Passengers for Nelson— Mr and Mrs Rice. Monday. Sailed — Margaret Galbraith, for London, with a cargo of wool, wheat, and tallow, valued at £16,000. The ketch Clematis arrived from Hokitika yesterday morning. One of her men, James Moore, was carried overboard and drowned. Afc the time a N.W. gale was blowing, and the vessel could not g.t round in time to pick the man up. •.- Mr Davis, the engineer of the Piako, yesterday fell between the wharf and the side of the vessel, into the water. He was rescued, but was much exhausted, and died about a quarter of an hour afterwards. . - Chkistchukch, Saturday. The Hon. E. Richardson addressed, the electors .of Christchurch last night. Refer-, rihgjto the events of last session, he said it .was a mistake introducing permissive clauses into the Counties Bill. Where these clausehad been the County Councils ie vied "no 'fates, and thus received no subsidies towards hospitals and charitable aid, the cost of which thus falls unfairly on the municipalities^ which the Government was unable to avoid, but he hoped; tijis would be -altered next session. -He would oppose Separation if it was- again brought up, and hoped the Government would not allow such a long debate on it as . before. Referring to the revenue, he said the Customs would show. a deficiency of £3.0,000 to £40,n00, owing,. he thoughj;, in a great measure to the increasing manufacture of boots, shoes, clothing, and woollen goods in the colony • and from pergonal knowledge he was satisfied there would be an increase iu the Postoffice and Stamp Departments, and there would be an absolute" profit of £l"O,000 on railways. Treasury Bills to the amount of £150,000 had been issued to assist t*e land funds of the various Provincial Districts. That advanced, to Otago would no doubt be recovered', but in other . cases recovery was somewhat problematical. £710,000 had also been issued to aid the revenues of Auckland Wellington, and. Westland; and if the recent changes iu the form of Government were got over at double that cost, it would be cheaply done. He spoke in favor of deferred" payments for land, and warmly endorsed the proposal set forth in the Native Lands Bill for the discontinuance of the purchase of na'vive lands by the Government. Definite provision nmst be made in the Counties Bill for' managing hospitals aud charitable aid, which should he under the supervision of local committees. Governn ent must also make provision for liberal contributions from some source for hospitals and charitable aid. Education provided by the Government should be strictly secular, and managed by j elective boards presiding over moderate sized districts, lie did not see how the Government could make education free except by imposing fresh taxation,, and if this were done, it should be in the form of a property tax. He did not see what there was to fight in Mr Stout's Local Option | Bill, as far more power was given under the .Permissive Bill of 1873. He supported the Permissive Bill before, and would do so again. Though opposed to Sunday traffic, he would he in favor of public houses being open for a short time on Sunday, rather than allow drinking to go on in them all day as now. Referring to defence and fortification, he said a comprehensive scale was beyond our means, but he certainly thought the provisions of the Volunteer and Militia Act, should be more stringently enforced. ?As to railways, it waa quite clear that the present lines were absolutely unable to carry the traffic; but notwithstanding this, and the fact that the country wants opening up more, it will be the duty of the Government before going further to see that the existing and authorised lines are efficient. In reply to a question, he said he was in favor of triennial Parliaments. A vote of thanks and confi-

——^ — i~-— — \ dence was Carried afc the conclusion of fche address. , : A Coursing G!uj> was formed here last night. Monday. The damage done] to the export shed at Lyttelton, is estimated at £ 10,000. The lira , Commenced in the wharf office, but the origin * is unknown. The fire would have been nothing had there been a good fire engine on the ground. All the books and papers were saved. Hokitika, Monday. . There has been a terrific gale aud heavy thunderstorm lasting ' 24 hours. Considerable damage has been done to houses hy the wind. Communication between here and Greymouth is stopped by floods. The Owake is reported ashore along- the coast. , . * 'Greymo-Th, Monday. The schooner Mary Ogilvie arrived in the | roadstead on Friday afternoon, biit was" beached about a mile south of the Grey River yesterday, after struggling for thirty ! hours against a terrific N.W. gale. No lives were lost, and the cargo is likely to be got out without much damage. «■•• I The sqhooner Owake, which was in company with her on Saturday afte-noqft, 1$ is j heard, has al.o been driven ashore 'towatds I Hokitika. ' -■ ;