INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4169, 31 July 1874, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

NORTH ISLAND. WELLINGTON. A Stud-breeding Company has been formed at Wanganui. The capital is £15,000, in £5 shares. For the present, the company will confine its operations to the breeding of horsestock. An accident occurred on Saturday, on the Wairarapa Road, near Featherston toll-gate, which terminated in the instantaneous death of a well-known member of the community, Captain Cleland, of the - Militia and Volunteer Forces. The deceased gentleman and Mr. Barber were riding down from Greytown to the Ilutt, when at the place named they met the mail coach coming down the hill. As the coach was passing the deceased the horse he was riding shied, apparently at some Maoris, towards the coach, the forewheel of which struck the horse, which again shied, springing towards the side of the narrow'road.. Captain Cleland had been partly unseated by the first mistake made by his horse, and now lost his seat, falling with his head between the wheels of the coach, which by this time had all but pulled up. From the evidence which was given at the inquest the fatal blow on the cheek and’ neck was given by the horse of the deceased, the bridle of which Captain Cleland still held in his hand. It had either kicked or jumped on the deceased in its alarm. Death was instantaneous. The Coroner held an inquest on the same afternoon, when the jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and added a rider exonerating the driver of the coach from all blame. Captain Cleland was fifty-six years of age, and at an early period of life was connected with the army. AUCKLAND. The barque Hokulele, which has arrived from Puget Sound with a cargo of 195,227 feet of lumber - , and 39,000 laths, came to this port for sale and has been bought by a local merchant. Charles Dyer has been brought down from Pukiri, charged with the murder, through jealousy, of Eliza Battersea, a woman he was living with.’ They were constantly quarrelling.' It is alleged that last Wednesday he beat her in a brutal manner, then poured kerosene on her clothes, and set lire to them. He then wrapped a sack round her, carried her to the river, and throw her in. A man named Watson, seeing her there, lifted her out, with. Dyer’s assistance. All her hair was burned off her head, her clothes burnt to the waist, and the whole upper part of her body half roasted. She lingered two days in agony and died.' .Dyer alleges that she spilt kerosene over herself, which accidentally ignited. Elackall, chief officer of the barque Pet, died from fracture of the skull, caused by an accident aboard. A number of the recently-arrived immigrants are being distributed over the Waikato and other country districts. Arthur Horsnail, who was formerly steward of the Mikado, has been found dead in the harbor. William Bartley, barrister, a sou of Mr. Bartley, a former Speaker of the Legislative Council, was found in an out-building of his residence, Woodside, with his brains blown out by a double-barred gun, which evidently had been inserted in his mouth. It is supposed to have been the result of low spirits from expectation of another attack of asthma, under which ho suffered greatly. The Sash and Door Company have declared a dividend of ten per cent. The Supreme Court has awarded £250 damages to the parents of Bridget Donelly, a servant at the Raglan Hotel, for seduction by Bannister, the landlord. Produce from the King couiitry still continues to pour in. A great number of Natives are hero to-day. They are getting 7s. for maize and oats per bushel, and 6s. 6d. for wheat ; potatoes, £5.

HAWKE’S BAY. ♦ A boat accident which recently happened, fortunately without serious results, is thus described by the Times :—The Schiehallion's boat was coming ashore for the captain, the tide being at half-ebb, when the boat was struck by-a sea and at the same time caught by the tide, and capsized. Four men were in the boat at the time, two of whom happily were swimmers. They seized their companions, and assisted them to the boat, which by this time had righted. The accident was observed from the shore, and the pilot boat was promptly manned by Captain Hair, of the brigantine Helen, Captain Campbell, of the Fairy, and others, who promptly pulled for the spot. The sea being too rough on the bar for them to cross, they took a course round the Rangatira Bank. Meantime the Halcione’s boat, which was coming ashore, made for the spot, and picked up the men before the pilot boat arrived. The men on being brought ashore changed their clothes, and were found to be none the worse for their immersion, • The first annual meeting of the shareholders of the Napier Land and Building Society was held last evening. Mr. H. C. Williamson was in the chair. The report and balance-sheet showed a satisfactory state of affairs, and were adopted. Messrs. Brookelin, Rehoff, and Martin were re-elected members of the committee, and Messrs. Grubb and Craig to be auditors. Mr. Walter Lome Campbell died suddenly at Waimarama, at the age of twenty-nine. The jury returned a verdict that Mr. Walter Lome Campbell died from natural causes, aggravated by prolonged exposure to wet and cold. TAKANAKI. The arrival and character of the immigrants who were transhipped from the Waikato to the Luna, and landed at New Plymouth, seem to have given much satisfaction in Taranaki, and the Ncivs, in connection therewith, contributes the following item of Provincial history :— : “On January 23, 1843, the ship Essex, 329 tons, commanded by Captain Oakley, arrived in our roadstead from Plymouth. She brought two sons of Colonel Aubrey in her cabin, and 114 immigrants in her steerage. With the exception of a few passengers at intervals, and of soldiers and sailors in time of war, no such a supply of population has since been poured upon our shores till the 119 immigrants, transhipped from the Waikato, arrived by the Luna on Wednesday last.” An unusual reason for the non-publication of telegrams is given by the Ta ra nahi which says:—“We learn that the telegrams did not go through on Saturday last. The reason assigned by the Native . for, not conveying them, was that, his father having died, he was engaged in making a coffin for him, and could not get another man to take his place.” The people of New Plymouth are very anxious that their Provinces should receive a share of the business of the shipping employed in conveying immigrants from England to New Zealand, as well as of the immigrants. The Premier has made strenuous efforts to induce the Agent-General to obtain the placing of a vessel on the line direct from London ; but the Agent-General appears to be unable to induce ship-owners engaged in the trade of carrying immigrants, although—as has been pointed out to him by Mr. Vogel—the roadstead of Taranaki is not worse now than it was years ago, when a direct trade was done between England and New Plymouth. It is possibly with a view to strengthen the hands of the Government in this matter, that a Taranaki journal publishes a list of the names of the vessels that arrived there direct from English ports between the years 1852 and 1859. From it we see that the number was forty-five, of tonnage ranging from 260 upwards to 1300 tons. Most of these ships had but small cargoes on board for Taranaki, having discharged the greater part of their burden at other ports, and others only went to Taranaki to load for home. The Waikato’s immigrants have all been satisfactorily employed. Wages—single girls, 7s. to 12s. per week ; married couples, 235. to 255. per week, with house, garden, and fuel found ; single men, £3O to £4O per annum, and found. AU the single men not privately employed have been taken by the Government survey party at 30s. per week. The immigrants express themselves pleased with the accommodation at the barracks, and with the manner in which they have been treated.

SOUTH ISLAND. OTAGO. The Provincial Secretary announces in the Gazette that the Government, being desirous of encouraging the establishment of pottery works in Otago, is prepared to pay a bonus of £250 on the following conditions : —On the erection of buildings and plant to the value of at least £300—£75 ; on the production of pottery to a value - of not less than £lso— of pottery to a value of not less than £2OO —£loo. The potteryware in each case to be suitable for household or domestic purposes, to be produced in works permanently established in the Province, and to be manufactured either wholly or to, a large extent from material obtained in the Province. Two merino rams, from the flocks of Mr. Loarmonth, of Ercildoun, Victoria, have been imported by Messrs. Roberts and Handyside, of South Taieri. They cost £350 each. " Extremes may be said to have met yesterday, says the Otago Daily Times of the Bth July. The Suez and San Francisco mails arrived almost together. We believe this is the first instance on record of the two mails coming to hand on the same day. We have no doubt but that the. Post Office people appreciated the occurrence. The Same thing has occurred this month. ' We have news from Oamaru, says the Otago Daily Times, to the effect that the construction of the breakwater is progressing as quickly as practicable. According to the returns relating to immigration and emigration at the port of Dunedin during the month of June, there seems to have been a balance of 1818 persons in favor of the Province, exclusive of 521 Chinese, The Bank of New Zealand have given a bonus of ten per cent, to their employes on their salaries. What is described as the best -sawing plant in the Province has been erected at Owake, for Messrs. Guthrie, Larnach, and Co. The hull of the wrecked ship Surat still holds well together. The divers have not been able to do much work lately on account of the frost, and a large quantity of'railway iron still remains on board. It is supposed that when the cargo is all removed it will be possible to get the ship afloat once more. The moa leg bone with the largo piece of flesh attached, found lately up country, has arrived safely at the Dunedin Museum. It is in really a wonderful state of preservation. Messrs Hodgkinson have sold the Bald Hill Station, on the Upper Waitaki, containing 70,000 acres of land, together with 18,000 sheep, 1000 head of cattle, horses, &0., to Mr. Duncan Sutherland, Omarama. '' Mr H. J. Walter, Dunedin, has now had plans prepared for his proposed mammoth hotel. The new hotel will extend along Manse street from Wain’s to High Street, being a distance of 103 feet ; and along High street to the Union Bank, a : distance of 55 feet 6 inches. The dimensions of the premises will be 103 feet by 55 feet 6 inches. There will be four floors. The building will be of brick and stone, and as much fire proof material will be employed in its construction as it is possible to use in a building of this extensive size. The exterior design will be in plain Italian style. Mr. Andrew McKinnon has been returned Mayor by a majority of 21 votes - over the other candidate, Mr. Lines. The new Colonial Bank of New Zealand has secured the services of Messrs Beal and Warren, who have been long and favorably known in connection with the Bank of New Zealand. It is also understood that Mr. A. W. Morris will join the Bank. Applications for shares are coming in steadily. In the Supreme Court to-day, before Judge Chapman, the libel case of Dawson v. Maokay was heard. It was a defamatory libel published in the Bruce Herald on November 11, as follows {—“Birth.—On Ist inst., at Fourth

Street, Dunedin, Mary, eldest daughter of G. B. Dawson, of a daughter ; both doing well.” The libel was admitted, and £lO paid into Court. The defendant pleaded that there had been no malice - or gross negligence, and that an apology had been published. A verdict for £SO damages was given. The heaviest fall of snow for many years* occurred this mouth. Mr. John Brooks, produce merchant, Manse street, Dunedin, was lost in the snow at Waikari this month. His body has since been found. CANTERBURY. The Provincial Council have negatived the following resolution :—“ That one train in the morning and one in the evening be run on the Northern and Southern Railways on Sundays,” Division—ayes, 12 ; noes, 19. A meeting is to be held in Christchurch to form a company, ■with a capital of £15,000, half the shares to be issued at once, for the purpose of erecting a market-house, and the other half to be issued when the post-office ir removed, for the purpose of erecting in its place a town hall. The Agricultural and Pastoral Association of the Province have lately resolved to encourage local manufactures. One of their resolutions is that a prize be offered for the best Whitechapel cart, as well as a single buggy, built on the American principle, either with or without hood, both to be of New Zealand manufacture. In the Provincial Council, on one of the last days of the session, a member asked the Government whether they were aware that §ome of the immigrants in the cottages erected under the supervision of the Road Boards had refused fair offers of employment, at £1 per week with rations, and £1 10s. ■without rations. Mr. Maude, in reply, stated that the Government would be very glad if any such cases as the hon. member mentioned were reported to them at once by the Road Boards. It was not intended that if fair wages were offered to immigrants, they should be allowed to remain in these cottages. The Lincoln Road Board was the first to move in the matter. ‘ One of their rules was, that immigrants were to work for the Board at ss. a day. So long as ss. a day was offered to them, and they refused to work for it, the immigrants so refusing would have to clear out of the cottages. Tree-planting has been proceeded with vigorously aloug the railway lines during the past two months, and the same work is now going on in the Domain. A meeting of the Board of the Governors of the Canterbury College was held on July 9, Mr. Ingles moved that the Museum be opened for three horn’s on Christmas Day and Good Friday. The motion was strongly opposed by the Church party, and ultimately withdrawn. 2500 immigrants have arrived in this Province during the past three months. The Government have provided barracks, and the Road Boards have erected cottages in various parts of the Province. The Road Boards are employing large numbers, and arrangements ha\ v 0 just been completed between the Government and City Council in forming outlying streets and the belts of Christchurch. NELSON. Moldhinui is the peculiar name of a peculiar place on the west coast of the Province of Nelson. At the mouth of a river so named, there arose a few years ago, a promising township ; but it fell, as it arose, after the fashion of Jonah’s gourd. Banks, stores, and hotels, at one time numerous, disappeared almost as rapidly as they had been, created, and the locality has lately been left with only a few inhabitants, who obtain subsistence as storekeepers for the few miners who have" remained among the ranges, or as the suppliers of rough food and raw spirits to the few travellers by the beach. Latterly, however; the place has gained some fresh importance, through the fact of its being one of the many available, although not valuable, ports for the shipment of coal, which is so extensively found along the west coast of the Province, In connection with the enterprise of working this coalfield, a small steamer, the Ino, proceeded recently from Westport to the river, and her report is satisfactory as to the state of the bar, and the shelter to be found there. She found nine feet of water on the bar at a quarter flood-tide, and under ordinary circumstances the harbor is suitable for the reception of vessels of much greater 'uiiage than the Ino. The trip made was apparently an experimental one, and the knowledge which was gained by it is accepted as encouraging ‘to the'shareholders in the company by which the coalmines are being worked. In the prospecting and preliminary working of these mines, some money has been invested by men of enterprise resident in Wellington and elsewhere, and it is believed that their enterprise and the existing facilities for shipment will soon lead to a large exportation of coal from the Moldhinui. Charlotte Boseley, landlady of the Bay ViewHotel, Suburban North, was found dead, under suspicious circumstances, on Saturday, July 18. A Coroner’s inquest has been held, and the jury, after an hour’s deliberation, returned a verdict of wilful murder against Norman Boseley, deceased’s husband, and against William Milyard, barman, as accessory after the fact. The body was terribly bruised about the head and face. The medical evidence was that death had been produced by rupture of a blood vessel in the head, causing pressure on the brain, and that the rupture had been caused by a blow behind the ear. WESTLAND. The Hokitika Borough Council are discussing the propriety of raising a loan of £IO,OOO on the security of “the dues”—possibly the harbor dues. The sum voted last session of the Provincial Council for 2>ayment or expenses of members, was £750, and this session £3OO more has been voted, making a total of £IOSO. Out of this amount £293 11s. was paid to members for the ' last session, leaving £756 9s. to be divided among twelve gentlemen excluding the three Hokitika representatives—or £63 os. 9d. each. The port of Okarito was physically closed a few weeks ago by the formation of a sandspit across ’ the mouth of the lagoon of • which it consists, and now it is officially closed as a port of entry for Customs purposes. Okarito was once the port of the richest beach diggings on . the West Coast, aud may again bo found to be the easiest entrance to a rich reefing district, but for some time the direct trade with other Colonies has been reduced to a,mere nothing, and it has scarcely been necessary to maintain the port as a port of entry. ‘ We hear (says the TFcs£ Coast Times) that the Government are taking considerable interest in the proposal for the construction of a line between here and Christchurch, aud it is rumored that one of their engineering staff has been detailed to check the surveys recently made by Mr. Browning between hero and the Pass. Should it be found, as we have every expectation will be the case, that a route to avoid tunnelling at all can be pointed out, the cost -will be vastly relieved, and the probabilities of early construction be greatly hastened. The subjects of education and public works seem to have, apart from administrative changes, received most attention in the Provincial Council of Westland during its past session. Referring to these In his closing address the Superintendent says : —“ The passing of the Education Ordinance I look upon as one of the most important features of the session, and I believe that the measure you have submitted to me as the result of your deliberations is one which will be found to be fair in its operation on all classes of the community, and will enable us to remove one great difficulty which we have labored under for so many years. - MARLBOROUGH. Laud in Blenheim, we are glad to see, is increasing in value. The Express reports “On Tuesday last quarter-acre sections on Maxwell Road were sold by auction by Mr. C. J. W* Griffiths, and realised from £57 to £7l ; a half-acre section in Domett Street, £55; section in Renwick Town, £lO ; aud the offices in the occupation of A. Rogeir, Esq., in High Street, £240.”