INTERPROVINCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 271, 22 November 1878, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

[PRESS AOENOT.I Dunedin, Thursday night. Mr Macandrew arrived iv Dunedin yesterday. It is stated that a deposit of a very valuable kind has heen discovered near Lake Hawea. Signor Morley has given £100 to the Benevolent Institution. This amount was the proceeds of the second amateur performance of ■' II Trovatore." The Albion, which left Melbourne yesterday, has been taken over by the Union Company. The Tararua, Arawata, and

Ringarooma will be transferred as they arrive in Melbourne feroitt their present Voyages. The Claud Hamilton is not purchased, but the Union Company get the use of her until ono of their new steamers arrives from home. Wellington, Thursday night. The Chronicle to tijgnt says. The organisation of the Laud Tax Department is proving-, we ucuorstand, a work of Considerable "Irtgiiitude, tbe time required to Complete the valuation being limited, Anil the finding of qualified men os valuers being difficult. It is intended to divide the colony into six* districts, three in each Island. Commencing in the north the first district will be Auckland; the second Hawke's 6ay, inttluditig the county of Cook- the ihitd Wellington, including Taranaki. In the South the first will be Nelsou, including Marlborough; tbe second Canterbury, including Westlnnd; tbe third Otago, including Southland and Stewart's Island. Each of these districts will be in charge of a sub-commissioner. Over 17,000 passengers were carried on tbe tramway last week. In order Hie better to keep down the dust the city will be watered with a mixture of fresh and salt water. The Post states that Sir George Grey has no present intention of visiting the Australian Colonies of New South Wales and Victoria on a semi-official tour. Air George Thomas reports -Flour, Adelaide, £17, Colonial £10 15s to £11; oats, -ts 8d; bran, Is 3d; pollard, £6 6s; wheat,' 4s 3d; hams, 9d; bacon, 8.1; cheesej 9d; maize ss; potatoes, old, £3 10s, new, lid bbt lb( butter, lod. * Mi F. W» Tewhwii&ker, M.H.R. for Gladstone) died to day of typhoid fever. ._ ».ie Resident Magistrate, in delivering judgment in the case of the wreck of the t ity of Auckland, after quoting the clauses of the Act under, which the enquiry was held, stated that as the assessors appointed to enquire into the case with hiui were not agreed, it devolved upon him to give an independent judgment* Having carefully gone over the evidence taken abd considered -the entries jn the official and ship's logs, and ■having conferred with the assessors, he was of opinion that the loss of the City of Auckland was caused by the master having laid off the position of the ship incorrectly on the chart, such terror having arisen through his having inadvertently pricked his distance irom longitude instead of latitude, making a variance of 14 or 15 miles, aud hiving overrun his distance through hot kuowing the rate his vessel was going, probably arising from imperfect or incorrect information on the Admiralty chart, thereby causing him to mistake Kapiti for Stephen's Island, tte was further of opinion that assuming the master to have beea WheWft hte khtiofcht he was at the time he-ttiade the feßfe fyftition on the chart his xttptttt WeVfe right and the same as tosed by tllfe majority of masters eomittg through the Straits. He considered the master culpable in not using the deep sea lead, though at the same time frbfci the soundings on the chart the aatiie depth would have been found in the 'true and false positions, atid the tant of soundings would not have determined his actual position. Such errors would be considered serious in the Royal Navy and could hardly have happened, but in the merchant service a practice Rlmost amounting to a custom exists for masters to work out their own observations without consul tatiou with the officers. He considered the practice Very reprehensible, but it would uot be fair to punish the master for doing that which is done by nearly every master in the service. Taking into consideration the confidence placed in him by hia owners and the implicit reliance by the officers," and his praiseworthy and energetic conduct in successfully landing all the passengers and crew without loss of life, he was not prepared to say he had acted in such a culpable manner as to justify the suspension of his certificate. The judgment was based upon the less stringent rules reguiatiug the merchant service rather than the service code of tbe Royal Navy, and the decision was influenced by tho assessor representing the merchant service rather than the other assessor representing the Royal Navy. There was nothing in the conduct of either of the officers ot the ship requiring the slightest censure, and all the certificates were returned. In the Appeal Court the demurrer in the case of Holt and M'Carthy was argued, Messrs Travers and Edwards appearing for tbe plaintiffs, and tbe Attorney-General and Mr Chapman for the defendant. The defendant, who is the proprietor of the Poverty Bay Herald, copied Press Agency telegrams from another paper without payment, and an action for an injunction was commenced by the plaintiffs. Defendant demurred on the ground tbat tbere was no common law in copyright, and that there was no special statute restricting the right of publication in New Zealand. Mr Travers contended that the question of copyright did not arise, and if there was no statute iv New Zealand the common law operated, and plaintiffs had a right of property in these telegrams, just as a merchant had a right of property in merchandise. The Court took time to consider its decision. Grahamstown, Thursday night. The Premier and Minister of Pablic Works have been communicated with by the local authories asking that Messrs .Conyers and Lawson, be instructed to visit the Thames to take steps to procure a survey of the Thames Valley line. The Premier says he goes to Kawau for rest and quiet, and hopes Mr Macandrew will attend to the request. ' Auckland, Thursday night. Messrs Conyers and Lawson to-day visited the Kaipara railway to decide on the proposed alternate routes. They met the Harbor Board on Monday to confer respecting the harbor reclamation for the Queen-street railway station. Quantities of inferior kerosene are being sold and accidents are frequent. At the annual Wesleyan meeting to-day, additional agents were recommended for the Maori districts. . . Friday. Arrived— Loch Fleet with 24 passengers and lioo tons of cargo valued at £76,600, 94 days from London. On the Bth instant she experienced a strong gale from W.S.W., during which a heavy sea was shipped, and the two men at the wheel were washed forward but escaped without injury. McDongell, A.B , was slightly injured, and the iron rails at the poop, and the wheel wero broken. Sailed— Wanaka for South. The insurances on the Tubal Cain are :— New Zealand Company, £750; Union Company, £750. Csrgo : Union Company, £1520, £500 of which are reinsured in the New Zealand, and £250 in the Batavia Company. Ciiiustchubch, Friday. Over and above the insurance on -Montgomery & Cos. sawmill the loss is estimated at £1000, and of the £1000 it was insured for, £500 was reinsured in the National.