INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4386, 10 April 1875, Page 3

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

NORTH ISLAND. AUCKLAND. The quarterly Customs returns of duties collected at Auckland amounts to nearly £67,000. The past month exceeds the two preceding ones by £6OOO, the increase being in goods on which the 10 per cent, ad valorem duty is charged. Captain Fraser came down to the Thames by the night boat on Monday, aud left for Ohinemuri yesterday morning (says Wednesday’s Thames Advertiser). The Government have, it appears, agreed to Captain Fraser’s request that there should be au investigation into the matter of how miners' rights got out of the office before the field was proclaimed, and, indeed, they could scarcely refuse. In the street-corner talk about this matter it is said that the man to whom the knowledge can be traced will not divulge the secret, but will suffer six months’ imprisonment first. He will find it a difficult matter to resist the pressure of a special inquiry, and of the investigation which will arise out of the cases to come before the Warden’s Court. Sir Donald McLean has granted £55 towards the continuing of an artesian well at Tauranga, which had been brought to a standstill at 100 ft. through want of funds. MIDDLE ISLAND. OTAGO. The Queenstown correspondent of the Daily Times telegraphed on the 4th inst. as follows : .—“ It will be remembered that the charge brought by Mr. Powell against Mr. Barry, who was three times Mayor of Cromwell, for larceny, resulted in the acquittal of the prisoner after the Bench had deliberated for a nhdit. Mr. Barry has now brought an action against Mr. Powell to recover £2OO damages for false imprisonment. Nothing else is talked about here hut the disclosures on both sides. Powell’s servant girl was accused of larceny at the same time as Barry, and sentenced to one month's imprisonment. A monster address of sympathy for her is being signed by the clergy, magistrates, and nearly all the inhabitants. There is a very strong feeling in the matter.” An accident of rather a singular. character, but of a serious nature, happened to a man named William Mclntyre, a blacksmith, who has only been in the Temuka district about a fortnight, coming here from Otago, and was working near Epworth township, staying with some mates in a tent near to the contract. On crossing the Temuka bridge on Sunday evening last, about nine o’clock, the night being very dark, when over the part of the bridge under which the water was running, he imagined there was an embankment and got over the rails, and fell from a height of thirtythree feet on to ground as hard as concrete. He was insensible for some time, but assistance was speedily at hand, and a stretcher having been obtained from tho police camp, he was removed to Mr. Quinn’s hotel, and was attended by Dr. Gumming, when it was found that his leg was broken above the ankle, and he had also sustained other injuries. Magistrates are determined to put a stop to the cowardly and brutal assaults on tho police, which have of late been so common. A follow named Gaffe has been sentenced at Waikouaiti to a month’s imprisonment for assaulting Sergeant O’Keefe, Mr. Arkle, the Mayor, very properly considering that the imprisonment was Lilly deserved. The natives at Otago Heads are summoning their friends to a meeting to bo held there on the 24 th May, to consider the steps which should be taken to secure the£2,ooo,ooo claimed by Taiaroa in 1872 as compensation for the unfulfilled promises of the Government, alleged to have been made to the natives by Colonel Wakefield, Mr. Kemp, and Mr. Mantell. At this meeting it is intended to collect money for the purpose of defraying the expenses of sending certain of their number to England to petition the Imperial Parliament,/)!! the spot, and to request Mr. Mantell to go with them. CANTERBURY. On Saturday afternoon last, eight of the long-sentenced prisoners confined in the Timaru gaol, were placed on board the s.s. Maori, for conveyance to Lyttelton gaol. This step had been deemed advisable, owing to the overcrowded state of the gaol. A rather narrow escape from drowning took place on Sunday last, in the Waihi River, near Winchester, to Mr. Deßenzy and two of his friends, who were proceeding to attend church. When on the bridge crossing tho river, they sat down on the top rail for a rest, when it

suddenly gave way, and the whole three men were speedily immersed in anything but their native element. As the river was not very wide, they all managed to scramble out, having only sustained a few bruises, but presenting a most deplorable appearance. NELSON. Mr. Costello of the Totara ferry, has placed on the river a boat for the use of persons travelling the Addisons’s road, so that any one might cross the river in his temporary absence. Instead of feeling grateful for the accommodation thus provided, some individuals —we cannot call them men—have exhibited the basest ingratitude by leaving the boat unfastened after crossing the river, thus exposing the boat to the chance of being carried down the stream and destroyed. Only the other day, as our informant was riding to Westport, says the Charleston Herald, he noticed that some one had made use of the boat, and had left it stranded on the north side of the river, the boat’s painter having been cast off and left at tho boat’s moorings. Our informant seeing the state of affairs rode back, got the painter and made the boat properly fast ; had ho not done so the probability is that Mr. Costello would have been at the loss of the boat, as tho river was at the time rising rapidly. A Maori named Mathews, has been drowned iu the Buffer River, near Martin’s Island, opposite the Wakefield-street wharf, Westport. He was crossing the river in a canoe, and when about midway, he fell overboard ; he struggled for a short time in the water and then sank. A Maori, who witnessed the accident from the wharf, and James Fergusson, took a boat out to rescue him, but before they had reached tho spot he had sunk. A fruitless attempt was made by the police and some Maoris yesterday evening to recover the body. Next morning it was found. About eight o’clock last eveniug, says the Colonist of the 3rd inst., an accident occurred at the gasworks, by which Mr. George Garret and Mr. Thomas Harris were injured, the former rather seriously. The men were cleaning out the “scrubber,” from which the gas was shut off entirely. The man-holes were cleared away, and the dirty coke had been removed. Mr. Garrett lifted the bottom grating to ascertain whether anything was beneath it. Owing to the fact that the scrubber had not been cleansed for some time, a small quantity of gas remained in it, and when Mr. Garret lifted the grating this gas communicated with the light (lantern) which lie held in his baud. An explosion ensued, and the two men abovenamed were considerably burned. We may state that the work was being done at night, in order that there might be a supply of good gas for this evening. Mr. Garret’s right arm, face, and neck are considerably burned, and his left arm is also slightly damaged. Mr. Harris has also suffered from the effects of the explosion. His face is burned, but otherwise his injuries are slight. Both sufferers were driven to Dr. Sealy’s residence, where their hurts were attended to. Immediately after the explosion Garret ran into the street, a portion of his clothes being on fire. The explosion was purely accidental, and no blame is to be attached to auybody. Shortly before the occurrence Garret had warned Mr. Younger, the manager, not to go too close to the scrubber, and fortunately he attended to the admonition. Hugh Jones, Esq., of the Bank of New South Wales, has been presented, at the Melbourne Hotel, Charleston, with a purse of 100 sovereigns aud au illuminated address, as a token of the esteem in which he is held by the Charleston community.

The Grey River Argus says : —“ The Nelson Loan Bill, empowering the province to borrow ■£30,000, which some time ago we announced had .become law, has been taken advantage of by the Government. Tenders for the loan were invited, but none were sent in within the specified time, and it was thought the money would not be obtained. At length, however, a capitalist in Wellington—through his Nelson agent—has offered to advance the money at 7 per cent, interest, and the Government have accepted the offer. Of the above amount, £27,000 will be devoted to the construction of a wharf and dry dock, and the remaining £3OOO to the completion of the new Lunatic Asylum.” MARLBOROUGH. The valedictory ball to Mrs. Henry Godfrey and family came off last night at Ewart’s Hall, says the Times of the 2nd instant. There was a goodly gathering of the friends of Mrs. Godfrey, assembled to bid her farewell in a fashion which should take out the sting of the sorrow at the parting, by the joyousness of a jolly farewell ball. Dancing commenced soon after nine o’clock, when Mr. Henry Dodson led Mrs. Godfrey into the ball-room. The programme of the ball was then continued until its termination for its first part. Mr. Dodson then proposed “ God speed” to Mrs, Godfrey and family, remarking upon the hospitality that had always been shown by them to friends and strangers alike. He said that while feeling that ho should show to the departing friends a joyful departure, yet he could not but feel within himself a great regret at the parting. As a very old settler, speaking of another very old settler, he might be pardoned in speaking in terms of praise of one who had nobly fulfilled the duties of hospitality to all comers. It mattered not to her whether they were rich or poor, all that came by her way were welcome. And that was a time when such hospitality was a matter of importance. Mrs. Godfrey was now leaving the district, and she was taking away with her some olive branches that might probably return. At all events, that he had no doubt was the wish of all present, and in that wish he heartily joined. Mr. Henry Redwood returned thanks on behalf of Mrs. Godfrey. He expressed for her the pleasure she felt that she had so many friends who esteemed her so well that they regretted her departure from among them. At the conclusion of his remarks, Mr. John White proposed the health of Mrs. Godfrey with a “ Hip, hip, hurrah,” which was heartily responded to by the company. WESTLAND. Five acres for mining purposes have been taken up on the Hauhau lead, with a fall towards the Kanieri. There is every probability that a company will be formed to work a large extent of ground in that vicinity, and, with anything like the success expected, no doubt other companies will be found to work leads believed to exist throughout the district. The West Coast Times of the 2nd instant says : —“Judge Harvey, as is well known, is shortly about to leave this district with which he has been so long and honorably associated. In anticipation of his departure addresses have been delivered to him in the several centres of his circuit, and this evening he has been invited to the Empire Hotel, where his friends are requested to meet him, and to bid him a formal farewell.” JACKSON’S HAY SETTLEMENT. {From the West Coast Times,) By the steamer Maori some further particulars were obtained officially from the settlement at Jackson’s Bay. The resident agent reports that by her five passengers arrived—two diggers, who purpose prospecting the country to the southward of the settlement, and three whose intention is to become settlers. Mr. Macfarlane also reports the arrival of three men from Canterbury, by way of the Haast Pass. The latter state that they passed Mr. Hutcheson and a party of five men on the east side of the Saddle, where they ace forming a track, but their assertion is that, unless more men are employed on the work, it will take years to complete communication through the valley. In reporting these arrivals, Mr. Macfarlane propounds a problem to the Superintendent which his Honor and his advisors should have no groat difficulty in solving. He sa y S ;—“ When actual settlers arrive in this manner—that is, direct from Dunedin or Canterbury—and likely to become good settlers, will I grant them the same privileges as the other settlers !” We have not the privilege or the pleasure of being one of his Honor’s advisers, but we imagine that, from whatever quarter they may come, settlers are to be welcomed at Jackson’s Bay. It is not a settlement special to Westlanders, but free to all people from all parts, and if special consideration should be given, it should be to those who arc enterprising enough to come from a disI tance, and who do so at their own expense.”