SUPREME COURT. Saturday, 26th September, 1846. Before Mr. Justice Chapman. Civil Sittings.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 122, 30 September 1846, Page 2

S U PREME COURT. Saturday, 26th September, 1846. Before Mr. Justice Chapman. Civil Sitt ings .

The Queen, on the prosecution of Willtam Wakepicld, E-quire, Principal Agent of. the New Zealand Company, at Wellington, agaiust D^vid Scott. • T l»e tria' of this cause was fixed for to-day by a special jury. The question t<» be ti ied being the validity of a deed of grant under the public seal of the colony signed by the late governor, R^be^t Fitzkoy, Esq., d*ted 29th July, 1845, whereby ccitdin land in Wellington was granted to David bcoit, in feel' " On the cau-e being called on; - Mr. Hart (with whom was M-. King,) iribred that the trial be postponed, on the pr'-uud of the absence of ihrr-e material a:.d nei-essaray witnesses, and that there having been but 16 dear days between the making up of the issue and the 'lay fixed for trial, it was impossible to hate obtained the attendance of such witnesses, and an affidavit in support of the motion was read. Mr. Wakefield (with whom was Mr.- Ross) objected, on the ground thnt the affidavit did not fchew that any steps had been taken to^prociire the attendance of the witnesses., - 'Mr. Justice Chapman said he thought'Stiffiscient wa3khe«n on the part of the defendant, •^and ordered ihe trial to stand over to the March sittings of the Supreme Court. . ."„

Monday, 28/ A September, 1846. The Queen, »n the prosecution of William Esquire, Principal Agent of die N«w Zealand Company, at Wellington, against Alexander M'Donald. The question in this cause was to try the validity of a c< rfain deed of grant fn-in the Crown to the defendant, of a piece ot land in Wellington ; and the question in this cause was raised hv a demurrer, which came on for argument to day before Mr. Justice Chapman. Mr..WAKEFiELD. with whom was Mr. Ross, appeared for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeared in person. For the plaintiff it was contended there was a promise to him from Governor Hobson thaVthe New Zealand Company should receive a grant, such promise bei'ifg prior to tliednte of the grant to the defendant, and ths-.t Mr.Conimisstijner Spain, who reported on the defendant's claim/H ad no authority to act, not being appointed under the Laud Claims Ordinance of June 1841; and not having complied , with . <uich ordinance, liis Horibr deferred judgment. ' c= '

(From the Sydney Papert.) MELA.ufcHoLY Accident.—li is with sincere regret we have to annoijftce the death by accMent^oMbe R-ev. J. Jeunjngs .Smith, M .A., the Cbu'rch of England clergyman resident at

Pattrson. It appears that on 2d Sept. last, he was_ ruling in a gig with a gentleman nameil Grant, when it came in contact with a stump, which threw him out,' and falling on his head, he :eceivt d such severe injuries that he lingered until Tuesday afternoon, when he expired. Mr. Smith has lefc a very large family.— S. M. Herald.

Murder by the Blacks. —lt becomes our paiufu duty to report the murder by the blacks of a fine young man, namely, Mr. Andrew Beveridge, of the Lower .Murray, under the following circumstances: —On Sunday morning last, it would appear that the deceased and two men, named John Ryan and John Kelly, were silting down to breakfast inside a tent, when a black-iellow named ** Watiy" came over the hill behind the tent and cooied —upon hearing which, the deceased got up and a.sked a black called " Mr. Beveridge" (who was standing by the fire outside, near the tent), what Watty wanted ; the answer given was, " I dou'i know." The'deceased then went out of the tent and entered into conversation with the blacks* about the fire, and shortly afterwards he went round the tent, and calling to Watty, s ltd, " Be off —be off." At this moment, John Ryan came outside 0 c tent, and saw three blacks with their spears shipped at the deceased. A conversation here ensued between the deceased and the blacks relative to some sheep that had been recently stolen by the latter, which ended by the deceased accusing them of the theft; in a moment one cf the blacks, sent a reed spear into the deceased's pght breast, on which he ran into,the tent, crying out murder; in another,jnstan.t, a jagged spear, entered the unfortunate gentleman's back, and he fell on his hands and knees. Ryan was then sent off to Mr. CoghiH's station lor a gun (the one in the tent being useless), and on'his return Mr. Bevendge was dead. The blacks, who evidently planned this murder, are known. One is.njroed " Bobby," another "Wellington," and the third " Tungie" : the latter is the chief of the Burra Burra iribe, and the former •re what are called "dvilized" blacks. Tungie it was who threw the first spear, which lodged in the deceased's' breast; and Bobby the jagi ed one that entered the back ; a spear thrown by Wellington ente red the deceased's bead. During the time that Kelly was left alone in the tent', when Ryan 1 went for the gun, Tungie repeatedly threatened to murder him with an axe, but the other blacks prevented it. Piior to the blacks decamping they rifled the tent of every thing portable The unfortunate gentleman, who had been educated for the church, was very much respected. It is to be hoped his murderers,will not escape long, as they are well identified by the two white men, and know enough of English to be put on theii trial for the offence without the " mental incapacity" farce being likely to screen them from justice. —Port Philfi/j Herald.

Utility of Lime in Preserving Fence Posts. — Accident in some instances has led to the discovery that lime applied to wood preserves it from decay. The whitewashing of fences is practised, more as a substitute for paint and for appearance .sake, than to prevent decay. Even this superficial mode of applying lime, is of some use in preserving wood. Having Hill confidence in the efficacy of lime as a preservative of wood, to make fenceposts less subject to rot, I have this season for the first time, used it as follows: — [ provided a number of narrow boards, about three feet long, of various breadths, and one inch thick, with a hole in (he end ol each. When the hole in the ground w»s v ready for the reception of the post, some lime was put int > it ; on this lime the post was placed ; some of the narrow boards were then selected, and placed to and arouhd the post in the hole after the usual manner; and wlien filled, the boaids were drawn out This was done with greatet fudlity, by putting a stick into the hole in the upper end of the board, by which itf maybe raised by a lever or pry, if too fast to dr.awout otherwise. The boards being all removed, fill the space they occupied with quick Hnle ; if but partially, ins-better than if totally slacked, because as it slacks it- will etfpa'nd'j and make the posts stand very firm. If altogether slacked it also swells, and makes the p >sts quite secure. From three to five posts w.th hewn or uniform butts will require one bjshel of lime. Boards to surround the post half-an-inch thick (and perhaps this thickness of lime may be sufficient) would not take halt that quantity. The lime is all the additional experse, except the extra labour which is very trifling to be incurred by setting a fence, with that part of the posts in the ground enveloped in lim*. To prevent the ground from adhering to the posts at the surface, and'occasioning their decay, this part being the^one which generally firsl begins to rot, lime-mor-tar is applied, plastering round the posts with an eleyat oh adjoining to the wood. Into ibis mtirtar, gravel was pressed . to prevent i the rains from waihmg it away. This mor;ar may be applied at any time most convenient aftei the fence is made. — Adelaide Observer.