TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4907, 13 December 1876, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PER PRESS AGENCY.) Auckland, Tuesday.

A boy named John Neal, eleven years of age, son of a fireman on the steamer GoAhead, was killed instantaneously by the fall of shearlegs used by a contractor for emptying silt basins.

In reply to a representation from the Auckland Waste Lauds Board, the Government have promised that confiscated lands shall be vested in the Board. In reply to Mr. Broomhall’s second application, a resolution was carried by the Waste Lands Board that 47,000 acres of the Te Aroha block shall be sold, the price to be paid by the Ist February, 1877, Mr. Broomhall to introduce 610 adult immigrants, and erect 150 houses, churches, chapels, stores, &c.; to provide land for educational endowments ; bring one-fifth of the land under cultivation before the Ist January, 1883; £11,425 to be deposited as a, guarantee, to be absolutely forfeited if the conditions are unfulfilled ; and a Crown grant is to be issued when the money is paid. The price of the land is not published. Re Prichard’s application for 62,000 acres a resolution was passed that the land be sold at £1 per acre, 10s. per acre to be paid before the Ist of March next, and 10s. by the introduction of equivalent immigrants, one adult for every 75 acres ; 210 . houses to be erected, and other conditions to be' similar to Broomhall’s. £15,000 to be deposited. A man bearing the sobriquet of Tiohborne, cook on board the schooner Colonist, fell off the lauding stairs •at the Manukau last night, and was drowned. ,

Mary Ann Kane, a servant.at the Thames Hotel has been arrested. She admitted being the mother of a dead infant found in a carpet bag. She said she gave birth to a child on Sunday night, and concealed it in a carpet bag. The nuraegirl repotted the suspicious circumstances to Mrs. Gratton, the wife of the .proprietor. She interrogated, the girl, who confessed, and said she did not know whether the child; was alive or dead when born. The inquest to-day was adjourned for & post mortem examination, and for the recovery of the accused. , ,

The Presbyterian General Assembly finished their sittings yesterday. The following persons are nominated for the Mayoralty:—Messrs. W. J.'Hurst, J. Cosgrove, and B. Dickson.

Cheistchuech, Tuesday.

The heavy rains yesterday caused one of the greatest floods in the Selwyn and Ashburton rivers experienced for many years. The railway traffic was. stopped. The Selwyn bridge on the main South line is seriously damaged, and the permanent way between Bakaia and Ashburton is also very much, injured. It is reported that the Selwyn bridge on the Southbridge line is partly washed away ; also that the. Homebush railway station on the White Cliffs branch line is partly destroyed. The Union Bowing Club has decided to send a crew to the Nelson regatta, but it is feared a really good one cannot be obtained. A large number of stock will be sent from Christchurch to the Dunedin exhibition.

Heavy rains experienced yesterday have done considerable damage to crops, which are extensively laid. The Acclimatisation Society has .decided to send to San JFrancisco for. prairie hens and humble bees. . - Timabu, Tuesday. The afternoon train from the North yesterday was detained three hours by floods five miles from the Bakaia. Some of the passengers were transferred to a goods train, which continued the journey, and reached Timaru considerably damaged.. The rain, which was tremendously heavy, formed wide sheets of water running rapidly towards the lower parts of the plains. ' The Supreme Court yesterday was held in the Mechanics’ Institute.' Judge Johnston complained bitterly of his sufferings from cold. He sat on the stage in front of the proscenium. He said; he would not be able to hold Court to-day unless the weather improved. The weather moderated, and the Court is sitting, though with great discomfort. The Grand Jury made a presentment as to the Government not proceeding with the Supreme Court buildings, in which the Judge concurred. Several unimportant cases were disposed of yesterday. Neil Maclowan, of Waiting!, is now on his trial for arson. Owing to the scarcity and high price of flour, the bakers have combined to raise the price of bread to 9d. per 41b. loaf at the shops, and lOd. on delivery. This is dearer than for years past. Dunedin, Tuesday. Some of the Otago passengers’ luggage was found to have been plundered. Dorrell opened the season successfully last night. The Guardian thinks the second officer’s' certificate should have been cancelled, but does not exonerate the captain from blame, considering that he should not have left the boat in charge of an officer who he says was incompetent and careless. The assessors in their award referred to the fact that Captain Calder was obliged to retain the second officer’s services ; “ that Captain Calder is to be commended for the way in which he discharged his duty under the painful circumstances in which he was then placed. There is one point that cannot be overlooked, in the opinion of the assessors and the Court, and it is one that creates a little difficulty. It is this—that the second mate being incompetent in the opinion of Captain Calder, did not entail some responsibility upon the master during the mate's watch. Yet the Court is of opinion that under all the circumstances he is in no way responsible for the appointment of that officer, or for his continuance in*the situation in which the owners had placed him ; so that the Court does not.think that any further remark on that point as regards Captain Calder is called for." Invekcaboiel, Tuesday. In the Supreme Court to-day Church pleaded not guilty to an indictment in which

he* was charged with an unnatural offence. In the firat case the jury returned a verdict of not guilty ; and in the second case the Judge directed the jury to acquit prisoner on the major charge, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the minor one. No evidence was offered on the other indictments, and the prisoner, was discharged. The criminal business is all disposed of. Information has been received here that the barque WiUiam Ackers, which left the Bluff .. Monday for Lyttelton, with a cargo of 185,000 ft. of sawn timber, struck a reef off Waipapa Point early this 1 morning.' She drifted on to the beach, and is a total wreck.Seven of the crew are said to be drowned, ineluding the captain. Three were saved. Another account says that the crew are sup. posed to be saved. So far as can be ascertained, the cargo is uninsured.

Blot, Tuesday, The William Ackers, which left here yesterday with a cargo of timber, bound for Lyttelton, is a total wreck on the Waipapa beach. Three of the crew were saved ; the remainder, including the captain, are supposed to be lost.

Greymouth, Tuesday. A large public meeting was held last night under the following circumstances :—A few weeks ago a company was formed for the construction of a tramway from here to Kumara, and application was made to the Government for protection to it, under the 13th section of the Goldfields Act. The Minister for Public Works directed the company to come under the provisions of the Tramways Act. The directors urged that the Tramways Act was quite , unsuitable to goldfields, and the delay ia complying with its provisions would be fatal. In the meantime the company proceeded, feeling convinced that protection under the Goldfields Act would be granted, as the line goes through a virgin forest, and will be the means of opening up a large tract of land. The Waste Lands Board made a temporary reserve for the tramway, and upon Mr. Bonar receiving the delegated powers under the Goldfields Act, application was again made to him for protection, but he not only refused, but persisted in the company proceeding under the Tramways Act. Finally, a telegram from John Knowles, D.S.P.W., came to stop the works, and the company was warned accordingly. Great indignation is felt here at the conduct of the Government agent,'Mr, Bonar, who, to prevent Greymouth competing for the Kumara. trade, has from the first opposed the line, which is fourteen miles long,- and traverses a country where probably man never before put foot The following resolutions were unanimously passed, and forwarded to the Premier ; —“ That this meeting is of opinion that the Greymouth and Kumara tramway, being a. work calculated to be of great public advantage, should have received every encouragement from the Government”— “ That the refusal to grant protection under the Goldfields Act, and the difficulties thrown in the way of a line which would open up a. large tract of country, reduce the cost of supplies on the Kumara goldfield, and generally promote public convenience without interfering with private rights, are not justified upon any. grounds of policy.”—“ That this meeting regrets that one of the first administrative acts of the Government in this part of New Zealand since the abolition of the provincial system of government should be an irresponsible and vexations use of power, as exemplified, in the present ease, that would have been impossible had the Provincial Council of Westland still been in existence.”