News of the Week.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 16, 13 May 1871, Page 13

News of the Week.

The Provincial Council will meet for the dispatch of business at the Odd Fellows’ Hall on Tuesday, the 6th June. J. T. Edwards, Esq, has resigned the chairmanship of the school committee of the Porirua Ferry Distsict. Sheep Certificate Cancelled.— ln consequence of the sheep of L. C. Richards, Sea View, having mixed with sheep under scabby report, his clean certificate has been cancalled. Rhodes Highway District.— The following persons have been appointed a board of wardens : —Messrs J. Hooper, J. Norris, W. B. Rhodes, J. Wilton, J. Witten, S. Woodward. Mr S- Woodward was elected chairman and collector, and W. B. Rhodes, Esq, treasurer of the board. Kaitoki School Distbict. —The following is the school committee appointed for the ensuing year:—Messrs W. Pickup, John Fernie, Wm. Batchelor, E. Jepson, Thos Blyth, John Morgan, chairman, Mr W. H. Holder was appointed collector. New Post Offices. —The following offices nave been opened in the province since the Ist of January:— Alfredton, Palmerston, Te Nui, Wainuiomata, Waitotara Ferry, Porirua Ferry, Johnsonville, Tuwa Flat, Kaiwarra, Ohariu, Horikiwi.

Appointments. —Last week’s Gazette contains the following notifications :—William Patrick Crawford, Esq, to be deputy registrar of deeds of Hokitika, in the County of Westland ; Charles Mellsop, Esq, R.M., to be Registration and Returning Officer for the Electoral Districts of town of Onehunga, Eden, and Franklin, for the election of Members of the House of Representatives. Gymnasium. —We are pleased to learn that nearly all the shares for re-establishing the Wellington Gymnasium have been taken up, and that we may expect,soon to see the work proceeded with. John Davies Obmond, Esq, has been duly elected Superintendent of the province of Hawke’s Bay, under the provisions of the New Provinces Act, 1858. Carterton Road Board —Messrs George Smith, Henry White, Ormond Bennett, James Haxton, William Vickerstaff, and Robert Dixon (chairman) have been elected a board of wardens for the above district. Mr E. R. Jones was appointed collector of rates. Sheep Repobts. —Clean certificates have been granted to the following persons:— Ed. Pearce, Blinkbonny ; and Charles Cundy, Tauerau; and for the ewe flock of G. M. Waterhouse, Esq., Wairarapa ; Robert Langdon, Whareama ; Morgan S. Grace, Ohenga ; and Messrs Cameron and Simpson for their lock at Waiapu. Land Tbansfeb Act. —Mr Moorhouse, the Registrar-General of Land, returned on Monday from the South, where he appears to have had his time pretty well occupied in attending to the necessary details connected with the issuing of land brokers’ licenses. Some of our southern contemporaries are bristling with advertisements from those who are seeking “to get to windward” of the lawyers, and in one journal we noticed counter advertispments from solicitors, who offer to conduct business under the new system at the same rates as the land brokers. Although a very fair beginning had been made previously, we are informed that since the brokers have got to work the influx of business into the offices in Christchurch and Dunedin has been very great. We believe that up to the present time between forty and fifty applications for licenses have been granted. The Nevada. —Owing to the rough weather on Monday, and the distance at which the Nevada lay from the wharf, a great many people were prevented from inspecting the domestic arrangements of the big stranger. We have therefore been requested by Captain Blethen to state that arrangements will be made so that the vessel may be visited and inspected by as many as can make -it convenient, to whom a courteous welcome will be

given. Bank of New Zealand. —From the nineteenth report of the above Bank, presented at the half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors, at the Banking House, Auckland, we gather the following highly favorable facts : The net profit at 31st March, including £30,000 premium on the new issue of shares, after making provision for every bad or doubtful dependency, and for appropriations in reduction of Bank premises and furniture accounts, amounts to £74,643 10s 3d ; to which has to be added balance of undivided profit at 30bh September, 1871, £7,745 lls 7d; thus giving a balance available for division of £82,389 Is lOd. The following appropriations were recommended :—To addition to reserve fund, £30,000 j to payment of dividend at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, £30,000; to bonus of 58 per share, equal to 5 per cent per annum, £15,000 ; to balance carried to profit and loss new account, £7,389 Is lOd. Total, £82,389 Is lOd.

Balloon Lettebs. —By this mail we have received from Messrs Lett and Son, a fac simile of a balloon letter from Paris during the Beige. The letter has been lithographed for gale, and we believe the booksellers of the place have been supplied with a number. This little memento of the seige is of more interest than the photographed pigeon message and will sell readily. Well-desebved Thanks. —We understand that a letter has been sent by the Secretary of the Waipawa Rechabifce Tent to the Secretary of the Hope of Wellington Tent here, requesting him, “ in the best way he may think fit, to thank Mr Charles Seager, engineer, Wellington, on behalf of the Rose of Sharon Tent, for having on Good Friday last, at the risk of his own life, jumped into the Waipawa River, then being flooded, and rescued their worthy Chief Ruler, the Rev. R. Taylor, from drowning.”

Mb Alex Gillies has been appointed collector of rates for the Lower Yalley Highway District. Patea. —We observe in Taranaki and Wanganui papers paragraphs which would imply that the policy of the Government in reference to the return of natives to the Patea country has been changed. We have made enquiry, and are glad to be able to inform the settlers at Patea that the policy adopted eighteen months ago, and which has been attended with so much success, remains unchanged. What that policy was and is, may be understood by reference to the Premier’s memorand on Patea affairs, published in the Appendix of House of Representatives of last year, which received the general approbation of the House, including the members for West Coast. Nothing could in our opinion be more foelish than for the Government, without reason, to reverse a policy which so far has been productive of the best results : at all events, till the land question is finally settled, and the population is bo firmly located as to make the return of natives on ‘proper conditions , less dangerous and unsatisfactory than it would be at present. As far as we can learn, the Government had no intention of making any such change ; and the Patea settlers need be under no apprehension that a step which they consider fraught with so much danger to them will be taken. The resettlement of the Patea country is one of the greatest successes the present Government have had, and they are not likely to abandon a policy which has been at once so successful, and which has given so much encouragement to the returning settlers. We feel very confident they will not do it.

An Extaordinaky Position. Shortly before dusk on Thursday night the signalman of the outer station caught sight of two men in a boat, well outside of Barrett’s Reef. As it is common to see fishermen at all hours in that quarter coming and going, Mr Sawyer saw nothing remarkable in the circumstance until taking a closer look through his glass, he saw the boat was but a cockle shell, and that only one of the men was pulling, the other apparently sitting still. A very heavy swell was rolling in from the southward, darkness waa creeping on apace, and the boat was making no progress, though the second man had commenced to labor at his oar. The signalman did not consider much on the matter, and immediately signalled to the pilot station acquainting them of the circumstances. He soon had the gratification of seeing the rescued men transfer themselves to the pilot boat, which started back with the small one in tow. Whoever these two men may be, they are indebted, probably to the extent of their lives, to the chance glance of Mr Sawyer while taking a last sweep of the horizon before sundown. Once surrounded by darkness in a frail boat helplessly tossing in a heavy sea, they would have been fortunate indeed to have their eyes gladdened by another sunrise.

A Rate Case. —ln the case Mulhern v. Rhodes (claim, £44 11s 8d), in which judgment was reserved, his Worship delivered judgment as follows on Friday last:—l think this rate is bad. The annual meeting is held on the 6th of February, 1871, and the rate then made is afterwards assessed by the Board of Wardens, and is admitted to be unequal, being therefore contrary to the provisions of the Yaluation Act, 1870. It may be contended that the unequal acreage rate may be an equal rate according to annual value ; but there is no evidence of any valuation on this basis, and the suggestion is too remote. No minute appears to have been made of the meeting of the Board of Wardens, and although this may not vitiate the rate, yetit shows great carelessness, and the point admits of argument. Clause I of the Provincial Act, 1871, does not affect this case, although possibly a remedy may be found in Clause II of the said act. I shall hold the rate to be bad, and give judgment for defendant with costs.

Prize Cup. —The silver cup presented by Captain Pearce to the Volunteers, and which was shot for on Easter Monday, when it was won by Member D. S. Gray, arrived by the Omeo, and was placed on view in Mr Lyon’s window. The cup (or rather jug) is about fourteen inches high, and an elegant shape, and is mounted on an ebony pedestal. The body of the jug is plain polished silver, but it is beautifully ornamented with grapes, vine leaves and twigs, in frosted silver, and altogether is a handsome trophy and a credit to colonial workmanship, it being made to order in Melbourne-

Makara. —The children attending the Sunday School in connection with St. Matthias’s Church, Mnkara, met for their annual treat on Tuesday, 2nd inst., on the grounds of Mr R. Robinson. The weather was most favorable for the occasion, and the children, with their parents and friends, mustered in goodly numbers. The Rev. W. D. R. Lewis, the clergyman of the district, and the Rev, T. Fancourt, assisted the teachers in making the event as pleasing as possible to the youngsters. During the afternoon the children amused themselves with cricket, trap-bat and ball, swinging, and a variety of other old English games. At tea the children did full justice to an abundant provision of cake, buns, and other good things. Before leaving for home the Rev. Mr Lewis addressed a few kind words to the children in connection with their duties in church, at home, and in the Sunday school. YINEGAR.— The “Taranaki Herald” says: —Mr F. U. Gledhill has left at our office a bottle of vinegar, as a sample of some he has been recently manufacturing. We have tried it and find it is fully equal to any imported. Mr Gledhill says it is not manufactured from malt liquor, nor from wine, but by some process which of course is a secret.

Mb Webb, says the “ News of the World,” will remain in San Francisco for several months, giving every detail of the new line his most careful consideration, so that the line may be established on a basis worthy of its importance.

Local Coachmaking. —Yesterday our attention was called to a handsome, well built, and well finished express waggon, turned out of Mr Black’s coach factory on Te Aro. Considering the amount of money we are constantly sending out of the colony for Sydney drays and for coach importations from Melbourne and elsewhere, it is a gratifying fact to learn that this waggon, one of the very best of the kind, actually cost less than a similar vehicle could be purchased for in Melbourne, not to mention freight, an important item in intercolonial trade. Portion of the woodwork is imported from America, the spokes being of hickory and the felloes of ash. An important addition to this waggon, and one which we trust is ere long to become a necessary appendage to most other vehicles which ply for hire about the streets of the city, is a light but effectual break, which, when put down, will render bolting not an easy matter. No doubt as customers find they can obtain their carts and waggons made in the place at a less expense than they can import them for, the carriage-making business will become proportionately brisk. Pbospecting. —King and party, who have for some time been prospecting for gold in the province of Hawke’s Bay, report that they continue to find auriferous deposits scattered about so evenly where they have been trying that they think the gold must be in the reefs. They are bringing with them several samples ' of stone from some good-looking reefs they met with. They are now on their way to give a thorough trial to the Tauranga creek. The New Superintendent, as he appears to the correspondent of the “ Otago Times” : The support given to Mr Fitzherbert was of the most lakewarm character, and had there been any opposition on the part of any man of any fair experience, ability and respectability, very few voies indeed would have been given to Mr Fitzherbert. But Wellington is wofully deficient in men who combine respectability, ability and experience, and even the members of Mr Fitzherbert’s own committee openly admitted that they only supported him because he was the best of the three candidates, not because they thought him really the right man for the place. It was, however, essential to have a Superintendent with a seat in the House of Representatives, and of the Wellington members Mr Fitzherbert was decidedly the best man. People, however, do not trust him politically. He is regarded as rather a slippery individual in politics; and he has been so very reticent in the present contest, that there is no knowing where to have him. He may be a provinoialist or an anti-provincialist. All he has ever said or done can be reconciled with one side as well as the other; and not even his most intimate friends have the slightest idea as to which side he really inclines, or what course he may take in his new situation as Superintendent. Nor is any one likely to know it until that course is taken, beyond recall. He has, with I many misgivings, been elected Superintendent; paradoxical as it may appear, the electors have collectively confided an important trust to the j hands of a man whom individually they all 1 speak distrustfully of. , Customs Revenue collected in each province during the quarter ending March 31 : Auckland ... ... ... £34,203 Taranaki... ... ... 1,377 Wellington ... ... ... 17,308 Hawke’s Bay ... ... ... 5,849 Marlborough ... ... ... 1,464 Nelson ... ... ... ... 11,921 Westland ... ... ... 18,022 Canterbury ... ... ... 25,770 Otago and Southland ... ... 55,409 Total ...£171,323 The revenue for the corresponding quarter of 1870 was £199,698, and there is thus a decrease of £28,375. Ladies of the Press. —Some of the cleverest writers on the New York ,press are women, and all are as well paid as men for the kind of work they do. This is mostly of the lighter sort, as regards subjects; though sometimes a strong and stormy political article may be traced to a woman’s hand. Occasionally, a woman writer adds canvassing to her literary work, and makes a good sum weekly out of advertisements ; but the majority of them confine themselves to the pen, and manage to make it pay pretty liberally. Co-operation. —The prospectus has been issued of the London Co-operative Society, founded on the principles of the civil service, with a capital of £20,000, in 20,000 shares of £1 each. Immense success having attended co-operatiye societies, not only in London bu t also in the provinces, proves that there is still a large field open for the successful working of one on such principles. Auckland Wharf.— The “ Herald,” in referring to the reason the Nevada did not come alongside the wharf, sayß: —The vessel is so high out of the water that, were she berthed at the outer T with an ebb tide and a northerly breeze, she would cant over on the wharf and injure herself. Captain Blethen and Mr T. Henderson will see the Superintendent on the subject to-day. A very simple remedy has been suggested, namely, half-a-dozen long piles driven in alongside the T for the purpose of fenders. Something of the sort will no doubt be done, as it would be a great convenience in every way if the steamers were able to be berthed properly.—[We may add that the same device will have to be practiced to admit of the Nevada coming alongside the Queen’s Wharf, without being liable to injury. —Ed.] A Disintegrated Life. —According to a statistician, taken the mean of many accounts, a man fifty years of age has slept 6000 days ; worked 6500 days; walked 800 days ; amused himself 4000 days ; was eating 1500 days ; was sick 500 days, &c. He ate 9000 pounds of bread ; 14,000 pounds of meat; 4000 pounds of vegetables, eggs, and fish, and drank 7000 gallons. This would make a respectable lake of 800 feet surface and three feet deep.

Wesleyanism. —lt is proposed, says the “ New Zealand Wesleyan,” a Methodist publication in Christchurch, to ereot within the next ten years fifty new Wesleyan churches in London, at a cost of £300,000. Towards this Bum Sir Francis Lycett offers £50,00, on condition that the provinces contribute an equal amount; and the balance, £200,0C0, is to be raised in London. Cheap Labor foe Flax Dressing. —Mr F. H. Troup writing to the “European Mail” on “New Zealand’s future,” suggests a remedy to those who cry * flax don’t pay,’ the employment of Chinese labor. The writer Bays —‘ New Zealand flax, lam glad to say, is making a home and a place for itself here, even against unfair competition, and, when cultivated quantities and of a better quality, will no doubt form, both to England and America, a most important staple export of the colony. lam inclined to the opinion that Chinese labor imported from Califormia would make this a much better paying article to the colonist than under the present system of employing highly remunerated Europeans. I was very much struck, while in that wonderfully prolific country some months ago, with the versatile character of the Chinamen. They appear to do everythibg and be everywhere. They cook, wash, plough, work in gangs on the railway, grow vegetables, and tend vines for half the wages demanded by a lazy Irishman, and with double the amount of faithfulness and proficiency displayed by the latter. Of course it is an admitted fact that the Chinese make bad colonists, for reasons it ia unnecessary to repeat here ; but while on the flax question and now that we are to be in communication every twenty-four days with San Francisco , and think the hint will do no harm to those who cry ‘ flax does not pay.* An experiment of, say, fifty Chinamen, would practically test the matter. I think it worthy of remark that the Black Sea Conference now sitting here possesses more interest for New Zealand than would be at first supposed, as, in the evont of hostilities betwixt this country and Russia, flax of all kinds would rise considerably, reminding one of the impetus given to the jute trade with India during the Crimean war, and the demand for Egyptian cotton and seed during the American civil war. At the same time I feel sure that such an event would be considered as a great calamity in New Zealand as it would be in Great Britain.”

Electrical Phenomenon. —The telegraph operator at Santa Ee, New Mexico, writes, on February 23rd, to the Santa Fe “ Post,” the following :—A most singular electrical phenomenon took place on the telegraph line running into this city yesterday. On returning from dinner I notioed an unusual strength of elec tricity on the line. This continued to increase in a wonderful manner. The main battery—that is, the battery which generates the electricity for working the entire wire—was entirely disconnected from the line ; the operating key was then thrown open, which is exactly the same as breaking the wire and leaving the the two ends about the eighth of an inch apart. The line had become so heavily oharged with electricity that the current passed between the two points, emitting a most beautiful and brilliant light, at times nearly as large as a candle blaze, but much more intense, accompanied with a hissing sound similar to escaping gas, and a strong sulphurous smell. I placed pieces of paper between the two points, but this did not stop the wonderful flow of electricity, which passed through the paper, burning little round holes as the paper was moved. This singular phenomenon lasted nearly two hours, when it gradually died away. The same circumstance took place in Laa Yegas and Fort Union. The same thing has been known to occcur on western wires hefore, but is very uncommon, and generally, if not always, during a high wind. I should judge the current was equal to a thousand cups of battery. We use, to work the the wire, about thirty-five. Gas Wells. —Gas wells of a very remarkable nature have been discovered in Ohio, and described by Dr Newberry, of the geological survey of that State. Near Millwood tsvo wells give out oil; two or three miles below these, in the valley of the Kokosing, borings have been made, and at the depth of 600 feet the augers struck into vertical crevices, and sunk several feet without resistance. From these borings such a volume of carburetted hydrogen issued as was unparalleled in any of the oil explorations. The wells give out salt water intermittingly, throwing it to a height of more than 100 feet. The gas of one of these wells, lighted at the end of a pipe two inches in the clear, set in the well-head, produced a jet of flame 20 feet long, and as large as a hogshead. The gas appears to be pure, and in quantity sufficient to light a large city.

Paris’s Visit to the Mokatt. —The Civil Commissioner, one or two Europeans, and a number of natives, left town yesterday for the Mokau, on a visit to the tribes in that dis» trict. The Mokau natives have been very persistent in their request that Mr Parris should visit them, but the Civil Commissioner has deferred doing so until the present occasion. A large meeting is to be held at Mokau, at which Rewi and a number of other influential chiefs will be present. —“ Herald.” Gored to Death. —“ The Lyttelton Times ” of the sth gives the following account of a fatal affair on the station of Messrs Innes and Place, at Mount Brown, on Wednesday morning last, which resulted in the death of a man named Ralph Williams, aged thirty years. The unfortunate man was in the employment of Mr Innes, and principally acted in the capacity of cowman. He went out about 8 o’clock in the morning to bring in the cows and milk them, - but as he did not return to dinner a search was made for him. After walking about for some time, the searchers were horror stricken on finding the object of their search lying dead in a hollow portion of the farm, about 400 yards distant from the cowshed. The body

was lying face downwards, without an artiole of clothing on it, except the collar band of deceased’s shirt. There were a number of severe bruises and two or three wounds on the body when found, and as no one had witnessed the sad occurrence, a further search was made with a view of revealing the mystery. In a short time shreds of deceased’s clothes were found strewn all over the ground, and suspicion at once pointed to Mr Innes’ bull, it being well known that it was rather a dangerous brute. From the information we can gather, there is but little doubt that deceased was killed by the bull, after a hard struggle, and as the spot where it occurred was in a sort of gully, his cries for help could not possibly have been hea.d at the house. [The bull has since been destroyed by the owner.*] , Native Intelligence.— The “ Hawke s Bay Herald” writes Pursuant to appointment Mr Locke met Matuahu and the West Taupo natives from Tuhua. They have hitherto been disaffected, and have acted vnlh Te Kooti and against the Europeans. They are relatives of the Ngatimaniapotoe, and their land adjoins the land of that tribe. They came in to Tapuaeharuru a few days ago, and have formally expressed a desire to ally themselves in future to the Government. Like all the rest of the Taupo natives, they have finally renounced kingism. Their secession will cut off another large slice from his Majesty’s territories. _ Mr Locke went on Friday to Niho o te Kiore, where the bridge is to be laid across the Waikato, in order to meet the Ngatiraukawa. It is understood that questions, with regard to the beßt method of opening up the country, by means of road works, telegraph, Ac, will be discussed. This Hon. Mb Sewell, says the Westport « Times,” is engaged in inspecting the gaols and lunatic asylums of the colony, in view of the probable creation of a central establishment of both kinds for the whole of the Middle Island. Gboping in the Dark.—A miner named Hyndman went under ground, at Rose, one Wednesday morning lately, at about 10 o clock, to examine some drainage tunnels, and being an unusually long time without making his appearance, mates made a search for him, and found him at eight in the evening, groping about in some old workings, vainly endeavouring to find his way out, his candle having been consumed long before. Tamati Waka, an old friendly chief, died at Aramobo on the 2nd. A Wanganui paper Bays This friend to the early colonists, distinguished himself on behalf of the pakeha, by shooting his uncle, who had been led into a mistaken path and become a rebel. This grand act was always a source of pride in the breast of the deceased chief, Tamati, who was distantly related to Wirihana. Mb Shepherd, of Cobb’s coach, says the « Taranaki Herald,” is making arrangements for erecting a hotel at Hawera, which will be a great convenience to persons travelling along the coast who have hitherto had to encroach on the hospitality of Hone Pihama, at Oeo, for a night’s lodging. Telegbaph to New Plymouth. —The « Herald” understands that the telegraph poles have all been ereoted between Patea and Opu* nake, and the wire is now being strung on them. There appears still to be some difficulty about the telegraph being allowed to cross the land at Pariaka, one of the old chiefs not agreeing to it. A Frightful Accident, which occurred at Sandhurst some time ago, is thus related by the “ Bendigo Advertiser” s—“ A number of hoys were playing around one of the shafts of the Royal Albert Company’s mine, when one of them, W. E. Davis, seven years of age, climbed up the steps of the whip pole. When he got to the top, the other boys shouted out “ the man’s coming,” and Davis hurried down In the hurry he lost his hold, and fell down the shaft, a distance of2ooft, with water in the bottom. The alarm was immediately given, and Mr Guest, manager of the Rainbow Company, and Mr Hobart descended the shaft, and found the unfortunate hoy in the water. They brought him to the surface, and it was discovered that the right leg had been severed clean off, a few inches below the knee, and was left behind in the water. The boy, who was quite sensible, was conveyed to the hospital, where it was discovered that he had also sustained a compound fracture of the left leg. The little fellow bore his sufferings manfully.” The Caledonian Claim. —Of this famous claim at the Thames, about which so much has been heard recently, is situated on the hill side, just above Tookey’s and the Golden Claim. It is fourten men’s ground, and scarcely one-thirtieth part of it has been worked out. The workings are still 140 feet from Tookey’s claim. There are two shafts sunk in the claim, of which the main shaft is 234 ft in depth (being 153 ft below the level of the sea), and the smaller shaft 218 ft in depth. The bottom of the latter, however, which is sunk through a Bpur, while the main shaft is sunk from a hollow, is 30ft above the lower point of the main shaft, or 60ft below the level of the sea. The dimensions of the two shafts are:—Main shaft, 9ft by 4£ft smaller shaft, 7ft by 4ft. A winze sunk from the Golden Crown Co.’s drive at a depth of 113 ft joins the two shafts. The pumping engine, which is on tha horizontal principle, is of 40 horse power nominal, with a 22in cylinder. During my visit it was pumping out water at the rate of 250 gals per minute The winding engine is of 14 horse-power, and has a 12in cylinder. There is also 14|in double-acting plunger pump, supplied by two drawing lifte, 12in and 9in respectively. The number of stampers at present kept in use by the company is 54, of which only 24 belong to the company, though the purchase of another battery was being negotiated. The engine-power of the company’s own battery is equal to 15 horses, being about the same as (bat of the other two batteries collectively.

The three batteries crush on an average, 220 to 240 tons of stone per week. They are kept going night and day without intermission from 10 o’clock on Saturday, the men working in three shifts of eight hours each. The number of men and boys employed in connection with tho mine, carting, and the batteries is 100. The average wages of the men are from 6s to 8s per ton, which pays more than twice over the cost of crushing. Presbyterian Chubch. —On Tuesday evening last a soiree was held in the schoolroom in connection with the re-opening of the church after its recent enlargement. Tea was announced for half-past six o’clock, and long before that time the rooms were crowded in every part. The tea was provided by the ladies of the congregation, and, we need hardly say, consisted of the usual delicacies, most bounteously provided. Insufficient accommodation for all who attended necessitated the tables being replenished a second time. After tea, the company retired to the Church, which was also crowded. Mr Paterson presided, and in an appropriate speech introduced the business of the meeting. The following gentlemen addressed the meeting, viz., The reverends J. Cumming, J. Moir, T. Buddie, W. H. West, and Mr G. Gray. The choir sang some sacred pieces at intervals with good taste and effect. The speeches were highly interesting, appropriate to the occasion, and elicited frequent applause. Votes of thanks were given to the rev. gentlemen who had addressed the meeting, and to the ladies for the liberal provision they had made for the tea; and to the choir, coupling the names ef Messrs Smith and Carver—the former for playing the harmonium and the latter for leading the choir, all of which, we need hardly say, were heartily responded to. The meeting was brought to a close about 10 o’elock, when Mr Paterson pronounced the benediction, and the company separated. The addition that has been made to the church will accomodate some 72 persons, and nearly the whole of the new sittings have been taken already. We ars pleased to hear that there is a prospect, when all the subscriptions are paid, of the church being occupied free of debt. Mb S. Atkinson (late secretary to His Honor Mr Justice Richmond) has entered into partnership with Mr Bell, of Nelson, as barristers and solicitors.

Lady Bowen, according to the Auckland papers, was indisposed on the 6th, and could not receive visitors.

Accident.— The “ Otago Times” regrets to learn that a fatal accident took place on Monday between Eden Creek and Blackstone Hill, Mrs Kermode, whose husband has an hotel at Ida Burn, being killed by the upsetting of a cart. She leaves four children to mourn their loss. Shooting Wager. Captain Travers, ot Rochester, New York, has made a wager of 25d01s that he will, at a distance of 36 feet, with a pistol, shoot from the top of a wine bottle a cork, on which is placed a bullet, dropping the bullet into the bottle and not breaking the bottle. He has twelve shots, and engages to perform the feat four times. The Late Election. —The Wellington correspondent of the “ Otago Daily Times,” whom it would also appear is connected with the Reform League, thus sums up Major Finnimore: —His speeeh on the nomination day was an intensely absurd one, and he rested content with the one speech. He tried to obtain the support of the Reform League, but was unsuccessful, that body being too wise to commit itself to the cause of a wild, headstrong, inexperienced, talkative youth. The League resolved that as a body it would not commit itself to the support of any of the candidates. Suspicious. —An Auckland correspondent writes to the “ Lyttelton Times” : —I am sorry to say sinister rumors are afloat respecting the action taken by the provincial authorities in the matter of the Hidden Treasure and another claim. Lately Gazettes have appeared about midnight notifying how a certain claim is open for lease. It is argued that as the Provincial Grvernment printers are really nothardly worked, and people are usually in bed at midnight, facilities are designedly afforded for officials to snap up likely claims to the prejudice of the general public. It is only from a strong sense of duty these rumors are referred to by me, but perusal of late Auckland journals will show that an impression widely prevails that an unfair dealing is at work in a quarter which it is thought should be above suspicion. Acclimatisation. —The ship North Star, which arrived at Port Chalmers from Hong Kong last week, brought four moose deer — two bucks and two does —a cock and a hen golden pheasant, and a silver pheasant, for the Acclimatisation Society. They are very handsome creatures.

Maet Preserving in Otago. —The Otago “ Times” learns that, in consequence of the apathy manifested by stockowners, and the difficulty experienced in filling up the share list, the directors of the Otago Meat Preserving Company have felt constrained to instruct their buyer to limit his purchases of stock to the property of actual shareholders. What Bad Water May Do.— A southern paper says that a series of sad occurrences has taken place in the family of Mr A. M'Nab, of Knapdale, Southland, four of his children having died of violent dysentery from the 21st to the 25th April, inclusive, while the remaining two are dangerously ill with the same malady. A coroner’s inquest elicited the fact that the disease had probably been caused by the children drinking of the water from a rivulet near the house, the well having become dry. Thisjrivulet is fed by several springs, one of which has a peculiar alkaline taste. Some of the water has been sent to Dr Hector, in hermetically sealed bottles, for analysis. The ages of the children who died ranged from five years and a half to a few months.