INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4311, 14 January 1875, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

| NORTH ISLAND. HAWKE'S BAY. The surveys for the reclamation of the swamp at Napier have been begun. The immigrants by the Clarence are already being rapidly absorbed into the working population. A number of engagements, at the current rate of wages, was made on January 6, and those desirous of securing the services of the new arrivals, says the Herald, will do well to make early application. Two sailors of the Clarence have been arrested and lodged in the lock-up on a charge of broaching cargo during the passage out. They have been in irons for some time on board the vessel. On Sunday last, the 3rd iust., Mr. and Mrs. Nairn, of Pourerere, celebrated the sixty-first anniversary of their wedding, all their children being with them. Such an unbrokeu family circle is seldom to be met with. Mr. and Mrs. Nairn were amongst the earliest settlers ia Taranald, having lived in New Zealand upwards of thirty-three years. Mr. Peddle, the contractor for a portion of the timber for the reclamation works at the Spit, has successfully floated a large quantity' of totara from the Pohui down the Petane Eiver, a work which has entailed upon him considerable difficulty in the removing of biff boulders, deepening the channel, &c. We hear that Charles Nairn, Esq., of Pourerere, has become the purchaser of the five rams recently imported by J. H. Coleman, Esq., for the sum of £7OO. Mr. Nairn having used Cotswold sheep for the past eight years, has determined on adhering to a breed which he has found to be most profitable for the hill country, for wool and mutton combiued. The rams are fine specimens.

MIDDLE ISLAND. OTAGO. The Otago Iron Works, which for many years have been carried on in Cumberlandstreet by Mr. William Wilson, were taken over on January 4 by Messrs. Davidson and Conyers. The new firm intend very shortly to extend their premises with the view of overtaking every description of iron work for which orders may be given in the colony. Mr. Conyers has not yet ceased to act as general manager of Otago railways, but will retire as soon as his successor is appointed. An unusually handsome present is to be made by the Catholics of Otago to the VicarGeneral of the Diocese, the Rev. Father Coleman, on the occasion of his return from v -1 Europe, in recognition of his labors for the benefit of the Diocese. Father Coleman wa* a passenger by the Janet Cowan. The subscriptions amounted in a few hours to more than £IBO. The temporary Sailors' Home at the old immigration barracks, Princes-street, is expected to be formally opened about a month hence. The Bruce Herald is glad to learn that the authorities of the Bank of New Zealand have recognised the lengthened and meritorious services of one of the olde.st of their servants. Mr. Alfred Jones, who has so long conducted the branch bank at Tokomairiro, has received a handsome bonus and an advance of pay of £IOO a-year for life from those who, of all others, should be best able to appreciate hi» services, the directors of the Bank of New Zealand. The visit of the Vire to Port Chalmers has resulted in the Museum being enriched by a valuable collection. The presentation of chief interest is a young albatross in the down, given by one of the crew, M. De La Tromblays. As showing the value of this, it may be„mentioned that in no other museum is there a young albatross in the down—not even in the , British museum. Since the obtaining by the "Vire of this and similar birds, a doubtful point in the natural history of the albatross never understood before has been cleared up, and will form the subject of a scientific paper. There are two penguins, a large penguin presented by M. Blin, and a small crested penguin by M. de Miniac. M. Couajolles, one of the scientific officers of the transit expedition, has contributed shells, and Dr. Filhol fossils and fish. The Samson will take to Oamaru sixty immigrants per Nelson. There is a great demand for immigrants in the district. It may be thought there are no domestic servants among these—that they were all engaged in Dune din —but this is not so, members of some of the families being open for employment as domestic servants. On the morning of New Year's day (writes the Hampden correspondent of the North Otago Times) a melancholy and fatal accident happened at Port Moerald. It appears that two men set out in a dingy from the Port towards a vessel lying in the bay, when somehow or other the dingy capsized, and the men were thrown into the water. One of them swam ashore for assistance to save his mate, but by the time he returned the drowning man had disappeared, acd, I believe, the body has not yet been found. The large number of sharks known to frequent the bay almost forbids the' possibility of its ever being recovered. The dingy was afterwards found upside down. The Corporation of Clyde are calling for tenders for the erection of a wire suspension"!!! bridge, over the Molyneux, at Clyde. The r bridge will have a span of 200 ft. in the clear, and the width of the roadway will be 15ft. It will be suspended on twelve wires, each twoinches in diameter, and will carry the heaviest traffic that will likely need to pass over it.t The masonry will be of a substantial character, and the pillars for supporting the wires will be about 20ft. in height. The first competition for Mr. J. L. Gillies's prize by the Bruce Rifles resulted in a victory for Volunteer Gordon, who scored 40, the other scores being Capstick 36 and McKechnie 35. The ranges were 200, 400, and 500 yards; five shots at each range. The new large workshops now in course of erection for Messrs. Fergusson and Mitchell,, printers and stationers, are nearly completed, and possession will be taken of them in a short time. The building occupies a site immediately opposite the Bank of New South Wales, ia Princes-street, at the end of the right-of-way where the London Portrait-rooms were formerly situated, and occupy the length of the entire section—looft., being of three storeys, or a height of 38ft'., and a width of 20ft. Th» structure is of brick and stone.

The single men and married couple 3 who arrived by the Nelson from Glasgow were open for engagement soon after arrival. All the former readily met with employment, at very high wages indeed, the demand being exceedingly great. Five married couples also obtained situations, at salaries which must have almost surpassed their expectations. The following engagements were effected:—Farm servants, six at £55 a year, one at £BO and find himself, one at £72 do., four at £6O and found,. two at £65, two at £54, one at £52; two milkboys, one at £4O a year, and the other at las. a week. Married couples: one at £BO, one at £S2, Wo at £7O, one at £IOO and find themselves. The single women by the samo ship were roadily engaged at the following rates per annum:—Four at £25, two at £32, one at £34, nine at £3O, one at £35, two at £36, and one at £4O. One farm servant was engaged at £4O, and one married couple at £SO. A man named John Owen was burned to death at Drybread on the 27th ultimo, under the following circumstances:—The deceased and mate were drinking in their tent; the latter left, leaving Chven in bed with a lighted candle in the tent. On some of his mate* going the following morning to awake him, they found the tent burned down, and th« charred body only of the deceased remaining. Owen was fifty-four years of uge, and a native of Denbighshire, in Wales. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." Messrs. K. Hudson and Co., wholesale confectioners, entertained the employes of the firm—the factory contributing about thirty men, boys, and girls—to a social gathering iu the Masonic Hall a night or two- ago. Each employo was supplied with an invitation card for as many friends as he or she liked to bring, and a gay assemblage, numbering about 200 waa the result.

Pheasants (says the Tuapela Times) art(becoming very numerous on Armaglate Station Flat. They appear to have got thoroughly acclimatised, and the number of young birds is quite astonishing, plainly showin- that the New Zealand climate is admirably suited for them. . One of the immigrants by the ship Nelson was picked up by the police in the streets of Dunedin, in a drunk and riotous state. Un being searched, there were found upon him an order on the Bank of New Zealand for £SO, £l2 in gold, 245. 6d. in silver, and a watch and gold chain. . A very painful scene occurred on the platform of the Port Chalmers railway station yesterday afternoon, prior to the departure of the 5.30 up-train. The facta are briefly as fol-low-.—Just as the lahpr gang of prisoners ■were marched on to the platform a female passenger, who has lately arrived by the Nelson, sprang forward and accosted one of the prisoners as her husband. On being informed by the officials that she could not be permitted to hold conversation with him, she became greatly excited, and was assisted from the platform in a fainting state. Concrete houses appear to be the order of the day They are now going up in all directions in Dunedin. Perhaps the largest and most extensive block will be that now m course of erection at North Dunedin for Mr. Justice Chapman.

CANTERBURY. A man, whose name we have been unable to learn, says the Press of the Bth, was seen yesterday morning to suddenly stagger in Here-ford-street, near the Bank of New Zealand, and immediately afterwards to fall to the ground. He was quickly picked up by some persons passing, and was found to be suffering from sunstroke. After applying some restoratives he was placed in a cab, for the purpose of being conveyed to the hospital, but before reaching there he recovered sufficiently to be able to give directions where he lived, and was driven home. A report has been received by the trustees in the estate of Mr. I. B. Sheath from Mr. Jebson that, on an SOft. shaft being sunk on section 3717, river Selwyn, a seam of coal 6ft. in thickness was cut through, of good quality, and giving about 7200 tons to theacre. The said to be regular, giving an indication that the coal extends over a large area. Water is rather plentiful in the shaft, and the report stated that pipes and scaffolding would have to be fixed before the boring could be further proceeded with. A decision of an important nature was given in the Supreme Court. Mr. W. F. Warner applied that a cheque which had been stolen from his pocket-book and subsequently cashed by the accused at Cashel House, should be returned to him, as if not, he would be loser of the money. His Honor held that it was a negotiable order, and that as it had been given in payment for goods purchased at Cashel House, Mr. Warner had no right to it.