INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4357, 8 March 1875, Page 3

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

NORTH ISLAND. AUCKLAND. Persons .who pass the strand day by day cannot have failed to remark upon the rapid progress which Mr. Lannigan has been making •with his contract for the filling in of the inner intake in Mfehanic's Bay. A very small portion now remains to be reclaimed, and some eight or ten acres of very valuable new land will be shortly in the possession of our Harbor Board. The material for filling in has been obtained up to within the last few days from Fort Britomart, and the thousands of loads removed have made a very palpable impression upon this fast decreasing eminence. The staff of telegraph clerks for the Kussell station are expected shortly from Wellington. Tho completion of the line wifchm contract time is very satisfactory, considering. the difficulties that have been met with through bad weather, native interference, and hindrances from other sources. The work has, nevertheless, progressed at the rate of l one mile per day, including bush-clearing, cutting, erection of telegraph poles, and stretching of wire. Great credit' is due to Mr. W. H. Floyd, the electrician to the New Zealand Telegraphs, for the activity displayed in the matter. As soon as the Russell office is opened Mr. Floyd will direct his attention towards opening up communication with Wangarei, through which district the line of telegraph passes. After that the line will be extended to Hokianga, and we (Herald) hope shortly to hear that it is decided to give Kaipara, North Cape, "Wangaron, Mongonui, and other districts the advantage of telegraphic commuication with other parts of New Zealand.

The few disturbers of the peace who have driveu away some cattle at Opunake have very promptly had their temporary activity stopped by the presence of the additional detachment of Amied Constabulary sent down last week by the order of the Native Minister. Even expectation of the presence of the extra force had a quieting effect on the. cattle " reivers," which appears to have been increased by their actual arrival. The native police judiciously settled the fellows and ousted them from the settler's house of which they had taken unlawful possession. Influential native chiefs of the Ngatiruinui tribe (once the most truculent and bitter of our opponents) are earnest supporters of the Government and the cause of order. Our own correspondent (says the Southern Cross of the 3rd'instant) telegraphs that any real apprehension of a disturbance is allayed, if indeed it ever existed. This is, perhaps, one of the best evidences of the admirable auxiliary of peace which the telegraph forms. Less than a week ago the news of the seizure of the cattle was telegraphed to Auckland. Yesterday the ready Constabulary landed on the ground. A few persuasive words from the Native Minister, significantly endorsed by the small encampment of constables, and a complete and satisfactory conclusion to the little difficulty would very soon be effected, and a warning given that the little piece of border " cateranship " had better not be repeated. Mr. Frank Brodie, the Treasurer of the City of Auckland, had a very narrow escape from a serious accident on the 25th ulfc. About a square yard of plaster fell from the ceiling upon the chair whioh two or three seconds before had been occupied by Mr.. Brodie, who had just left it for a moment in order to reach a book from the other side < of , the room. Several, of the large pieces of plaster were fully two inches in thickness, and of sufficient weight to come in very violent collision with anything upon which they fell. The escape is the more remarkable from the fact that the place ,011 which the plaster fell was his usual office seat, which he seldom quits for more than a few minutes during office hours. THE LOSS OP THREE LIVES AT POVERTY BAY. By the arrival of the Southern Cross from Napier and Poverty Bay, yesterday afternoon, we have particulars of the destruction of Mr. A. Tibbal's hotel and store at Murewai, and the burning of Mrs. Tibbal and her two children, .a bare announcement of which has already been received by telegraph. The inquest on the fire showed that Mr. Tibbal was away from home that; night. The fire broke out about midnight, and was first observed by natives, one of whom deposed :—-" I broke Mrs. Tibbal's bedroom window, and called 'Harriet.' I hoard no reply. I saw no one in the room. The room, was full of smoke aul flame. The fire took place about twelve o'clock. The wind was from the southward at : the time. The bedroom door was closed. After tho roof fell in we heard an explosion and we all ran away. I don't know of anyone being at the house during ; the night., We did not like to break open the store, fearing we I should do wrong. . .1 don't know of anyone

having any ill-feeling against Mr. Tibbal We are all very sad at Mr. Tibbal's misfortune, for they were all very kind to us." Mr. Tibbal said the custom was to leave a candle burning at night. He thought it very probable that Mrs. Tibbal had left a light burning, as he had promised to return home on the night of the fire. On Mr. Tibbal being informed that the weight of evidence given by the natives showed that the fire originated in the part of the house away from his bedroom, he said that if. such were the case the house must have been set on fire, although he had no suspicion of anyone having done so. The bodies of Mrs. Tibbal and her two daughters were found on the ground floor, so burned and charred as to be incapable of identification. The fact that they should not have been able to escape by one of the many doors, although sleeping down stairs, gave rise at first to various suspicions of foul play, but the Poverty Bay Herald thus explains the circumstance : "There can be no question that had Mrs. Tibbal been content to save herself, she could have done so without difficulty. Her first thought, however, was for her children. Instead of making either for the front door or the window, she made straight for the room where they were sleeping. Having roused them, all three, apparently, attempted to make their escape together ; but whether it was that they were suffocated by the smoke, or killed by falling bricks or timber, or destroyed by the explosion of the powder—a fifteen pound keg of which was in the house—certain it is that their bodies were found all lying beside each other in a room where none of them ordinarily slept. If this is the true explanation of the circumstances—and we have no doubt that it is—it seems to us that in the conduct of this unknown and unobtrusive wife and mother, we have an instance of true womanly heroism that is more worthy of admiration than many of the most pretentions examples of which history can boast. The deceased is universally spoken of as a thrifty, careful, kind-hearted woman, and her daughter Emily, who, together with the baby, was burnt along with her, was, we believe, a most promising sensible young girl, about fifteen years of age. TARANAKI. A young man named John Vagues was stuck up whilst riding in from Omata on Satur day evening, Feb. 27. He was pounced upon by a party from the furze hedge by the side of the road, and a demand was made for what money was iu his possession He replied to the demand by a sharp cut with a supple-jack stick across the face of the would-be thief, and, at the same time, putting spurs to his horse, hurried away. Travellers had better be on the look out. The Wesleyan Church at Waitara is completed, so far as the carpenters are concerned. It is proposed to open it the Sunday before Good Friday. Considerable excitement and some little alarm was occasioned on February 28, about 8.30 p.m., by the violent' entrance into the Egmont Restaurant of an escaped lunatic—the same, we believe, who has before gained his liberty. Imagining himself possessed of unlimited fortunes, he was highly indignant at being followed by the police, and could not be induced to go with them. At length Sergeant Duffin, procuring the handcuffs, did, with the assistance of Constable Forster and some others, succeed finally in overcoming the marvellous strength so often manifested by insane persons, and, on being ironed, the lunatic was led quietly away to the gaol, the police promising him that his money should be taken good care of. A new waggon, built for the pxirpose, to the order of the Iron Sand Company, started on February 26 for the Waitara, to make a beginning in bringing the boiler and heavy machinery for the blast furnaces at Henui. Hop-picking is to be commenced here today (Bth March). ' HAWKE'S BAY. readers (says the Herald of the 6th iust.) will doubtless be interested to leam that Messrs. Shrimpton and Rich intend forming a stud merino flock at the Matapiro station. The 200 merino ewes which arrived by the s.s. Easby, were carefully selected by F. Rich, Esq., from one of the best flocks in the Otago province, whilst the shipment also included six choice rams of the same breed, one of which was the champion ram in Queensland, of this year, and realised the handsome price

-of 100 guinotwa at the annual sale. Twenty Lincoln ewes and two' Lincoln rams, specially selected from the flock of a celebrated English breeder, to the order of P. Russell, Esq., arrived in port yesterday by the s.s. Southern Cross. They were in excellent condition when landed. The stud flocks in this province, thanks to the enterprise of those gentlemen who are devoting themselves to the task of importing and breeding good sheep, are already attaining a well-merited celebrity, and in the com - se of a few years it is to be hoped that there will be no necessity for looking beyond the confines of our own province when we wish to obtain first-class stud sheep. It is worthy of note that, owing to the recent improvement in the dipping apparatus at Port Ahuriri, the whole of the sheep ex Easby, 1800 in number, were passed through in six hours.