TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4908, 14 December 1876, Page 4

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PEK' PBESS AGENCY.)

Auckland, Wednesday. A washing and laundry company is projected, with a capital of £SOO. At Hunter and Nolan’s wool sale to-day 250 bales were sold. Locks, 2Jd. to 4d., long wool, in grease, Bd. to lljd.; long wool, washed, 9d. to lojd. The City Council have decided not to borrow ah additional £25,000 for the water works loan, in consequence of its being regarded as a, breach of faith by the holders of' debentures of the original loan. The Council will .obtain temporary advances from the bank without hypothecating the debentures. News from the King country states that Winiata sleeps in the day, time, watched by i friends. At night he keeps vigilantly awake and well- armed, being afraid of capture by the 1 friendlies. ;

Nelson, Wednesday.

At a meeting of the Interprbvincial Regatta ! committee held last night it was decided that the sailing committee should haye. full power to alter the time of starting any race as they -may think fit.

, , t ' . Hokitika, Wednesday. : Another rich lode has been struck in the : Mount Rangitoto silver mine, nine feet below the present working, which gives an assay of 3400z5. to the ton. A large .reef, ten feet thick, of porphyrite quartz, impregnated with silver, has also been discovered oh the company’s lease, a quarter of a mile from the present working. Gold is also visible in the stone. The reef has been driven on for a distance of sixteen feet. The company have 366 ft. of tunnelling in, and are prepared to > stope out hundreds of tons of ore. They have just? erected a complete assay furnace. The ..Government’have given great satisfaction by calling for tenders for the construction of the remainder of the road, which will materially assist the development ef the mineral resources of the district.

Timaru, Wednesday. , The trial of Neil McGowan for arson occupied the Supreme Court all yesterday till halfpast eleven at night." The prisoner, on being found guilty, confessed his Grime. , He was ably defended by Mr. O’Meaher, of Gamaru, and Mr. Hammersley, of Timaru. Judge Johnston spoke very severely to him, and sentenced him to ten years’ hard labor. This is the second conviction for arson here in twelve months. . , . .

j Floods have done great damage to' the railway on the plains -and to Selwyn bridge. There was no through traffic yesterday,, but passengers and mails were conveyed from one train to another on a trolly. The weather has how cleared up. Christchurch, Wednesday. ! Reports from outlying districts show that . serious damage has been done by the late rains to crops,, which are very heavy ; also, that every Une of railway was more or less damaged ; but .with the exception of Selwyn bridge, all mil be repaired by to-night. At. the Selwyn bridge ah embankment 160 ft. long was carried entirely ' away. The .traffic is carried on in trollies, but it will be quite a week before the bridge can be permanently repaired. , , The Good Templar Grand Lodge for the Middle Island commenced its annual session yesterday. 1 Steps have been taken to establish a Masonic Lodge under the Scotch constitution.; ; I Mr. , Montgomery, M.H.8., addressed his .’constituents ’at Akaroa last night. He reviewed the events of last session at .considerable length. Referring to the next session, he said that they would have to consider, the: price of laud, , the system of deferred payments, and most, probably it would be tried to make the land; fund common property. He most certainly should oppose that. The question of represention, and perhaps re-distributibn of seats, might .be considered, and justly so, for, at present the town of Taranaki, returned as many members as the city of Dunedin, which had three times the number of inhabitants. That was not a fair representation. He was in favor of the franchise being given; on. a low, qualification to a Settled population. He was opposed to a nomadic population influencing the legislation of the country. ,He would ..support aijudioious schema of retrenchment,and would endeavor to; prevent, the.;enormous borrowing which had formerly ; prevailed. They were now entering upon a. new, phase, of, political life.,; ;Provincialism was a thing,.of the.past,, and would never return, for British people : never went back ;. and consequently, those Who:, were: earnest, men ■ would do well to unite to promote. the welfare of the - whole; National life had just, begun, and he hoped that ere long the whole people would unite: in order to promote the welfare of New Zealand, . and this he personally would endeavor to the,utmost of his power, to do. Mr. Montgomery, received a unanimous vote of i confidence.: . ~ , ... , ...,,;

' At a meeting of subscribers to the Rolleston testimonial to-day, it was that the subscriptions received amounted to £B2O. It was decided that the presentation should consist of plate to the value of £4OO, and the balance in cash. v ... - :c rp ), i - ■' jMr. Rolleston was elected without opposition to-day.,for the..,Avon- riding, and Dr. Turnbull for the iHeathcote riding,: both , in Selywn county. : , i , Dunedin, Wednesday. .

. | The conference of railway authorities concluded to-day, and the result is that all goods have been re-classified, and in future will be carried by weight. .The rates of traffic have also been .equalised throughout: the colony, and it is expected that - this ; will be ■to the general advantage of the■ public, although in . some districts the rates have, been increased. Bates will be considerably less; than those ruling in Victoria and other Australian colonies.’ < It: has also been: decided to. extend to. all-parts of the colony the advantages ofvthe Saturday excursion trains, with return tickets till Monday, A large fire occurred at Milton this afternoon, when the Criterion: Hotel,. Poole’s, barber, i Taylor’s, solicitor, and Capstick’s and Duthie’s buildings were destroyed. .The conflagration was stayed on one side by a brick building, and on the other by an unoccupied space. The only insurances areOapsticks, in the Northern for £3OO and . in the New Zealand , for £3OO. ,

The Otago Daily Times says re Otago wreck “ Wo. hold the captain to be much to blame in the matter.” ’ ,;Mt. Pritchard’s premises, Battray-street, a two-storey brick house, were burst in by a fall of earth from the hill at the back. His wife and family, were at tea at the time, and had a narrow escape. ;One child’s head was cut; Mr. Pritchard’s arm was lacerated, and bis wife, slightly scratched.; Hundreds have visited the scene. ■■■■> ;

It is proposed to present Captain Calder with a substantial testimonial by old travellers. Bright’s first .Sunday lecture is entitled “ Progress and its opponent Popery.”

Burton has become lessee of the Turkish baths for five years. . , ;The Halls opened here last .night, with the promise of a successful season. No more news here re the William Ackers.

, At tho Resident . Magistrate’s , Court this morning Mr. Bathgate delivered a lengthy judgment inthe Smythiea v. Bussell case. He expressed his opinion. that; upon the whole the information had not been supported by such evidence as was required tosubstantiatea charge of perjury. , The information was therefore dismissed.

The Royal Horticultural show was not a great .success. ■ i

■ The fittings and cases of the Museum will beicommenced immediately, the tenders having been accepted.

: Balcldtha, Wednesday. - The nomination took place to-day for the Mataura riding of the Bruce county. Geo. Ingles and das’. Petrie were nominated. Only one member is required.. The poll takes place on the 23rd. . . . "

AUSTRALIAN SUMMARY. - Melboubnb, December 8.

All . negotiations for the purchase of the Hobson’s Bay railway by the Government are at an end, owing to the House , declining to give the price i settled by Government. • This will probably determine the Government in their railway. policy, and bring the session to an early close. An immense number of petitions from all parts in favor of : the grocers’ license has caused in the Assembly considerable embarrassment, and the clause has been re-inserted. A second attempt to expunge it last night was defeated by a majority of two/ A railway accident has occurred on the line being constructed between Ararat and Hamilton. Pour men were killed/.and several wounded. . . •

Henry Taylor, the working man’s delegate, has met with little success from . his own class, on account -of his .strong free trade views, but has been lionised by the Eree Trade League.

A murder and suicide have been committed at Emerald Hill. A man named Carrington cut his wife’s throat, and then his own. They were only married six months. The Tararua replaces the Otago in the New Zealand trade. - - - .

Business is very brisk in sugars, brandies, rum, geneva, kerosene,: soda, and l cornsacks, all of which have risen in price considerably. ! Probably 'eighteen - of-' the: Melbourne cricketers will play the English . team on Boxing Day. 1 Great preparations are being made for the match. i- - • r . - /