TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4932, 12 January 1877, Page 3

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PER PBEB3 AGENCY.) Greytown, Thursday. . A large and influentially signed testimonial was presented to Mr, Hastwell this afternoon at the Town Hall. Mr. - Gilligan, County Chairman, presided. Large _ numbers of settlers from Masterton and other places were present. In reply, Mr. Hastwell stated that the testimonial was wholly unexpected, and that he had accounted for the few accidents that had happened on a dangerous road by the skill and care of his drivers. - , Auckland, Thursday. A special meeting of the Harbor Board has been called to consider the question of enlargement of the dock. . The dock under r instruction has only twelve feet on sill, and ' K.would be necessary to.dredge a channel 500 feetlong. . •, At a preliminary meeting to-day of the Commission re Gaol, Hospital, and Lunatic Asylum, the Mayor was appointed chairman. The proceedings ore private. The quarantined passengers per" Australia have been released. The Grand Lodge last evening finally approved of the action of the English Templars oh the negro question, and decided to support them. • , Grahamstown, Thursday. At a conference of the Borough and County Councils last night a resolution was passed affirming the desirability of the borough and county amalgamating, the County Council proceeding with.the routine work. The Bank of New Zealand is giving the county an overdraft of £SOO. • ■ ■ Nelson, Thursday. An interesting case arising out of a County Council election was heard before Mr. Lowther Broad, K.M., to-day. Joshua Bird was elected for Motueka riding, Waimea county. White, the defeated candidate, petitioned against his return, on the ground that his nominators were not duly-qualified electors. Thereupon, Bird, being aware of the validity of the objection, petitioned that the election might be declared void altogether, principally on the ground that sufficient notice of the election had not been given by the Eetuming Officer, and also that White’s nomination was as illegal • as his own. Both petitions were heard, and the election declared void. ■ Grbyjiouth, Thursday. The Bank of New Zealand shipped ■by the . Kennedy, for shipment to London by the Waimea, from Lyttelton, 13,050 ounces of gold as follows;—Prom Hokitika,_37oo ounces; Grey mouth, 6050 ounces ; Westport, 8300. Dunedin, Thursday. At a meeting of the Presbyterian Synod held yesterday, a very acrimonious discussion took place upon “The State of Religion.” Mr. H. J. Bennett, agent for the All England Eleven, and the Eev. Father Kelly, S.J., a well-known Melbourne lecturer, arrived in Dunedin yesterday. Mrfll Scott-Siddons opens at the Princess Theatre on Monday evening in “ Romeo and Juliet” The following is the final selection of the Otago team:—Messrs. Bouche, Cargill, Clarke, Meares, Millington, Morrison, Nicholls, Paramour, Read, Rose, and Rhodes, The team will meet this afternoon to elect their captain. Messrs. Millington and Nicholls will go to Christchurch direct from Oamarn, and the rest of the team will leave per Taranaki on Friday. The Dunedin players selected were all on the oval yesterday afternoon, but the very soft state of the ground prevented anything but field practice being indulged in. The Taieri County Council met in Dunedin to-day. The consideration of the question of bringing the whole of the Act into force was postponed for a month. A serious accident occurred this morning near the Southern Cemetery, where excavations are being carried on by means of prison labor. There were about thirty-five men present, and a shot was put in at the top of the cliff, about fifty feet high. The ipen were then removed: to a distance of a hundred yards. One shot.' goine off, 1500 tons of earth were displaced, fragments being scattered through the air in all directions. Part of the shower fell upon a group of prisoners and laborers, knocking four of them down.. One prisoner had his leg broken, and another was rendered insensible from a severe wound on the back of the bead. The other two were not much injured., Another accident occurred at the same place during the afternoon, by which a prisoner had the flesh stripped off the bone of his leg for several inches. Ghsibtchdrgh, Thursday. ■ ' A Canterbury passenger by the mail steamer Australia Writes to Christchurch complaining - bitterly of the treatment received by all thepassengers in quarantine at Auckland. He states that the quarantine barracks were filthy, and without firing, and that no food was received from Auckland for two or three days. He also states that the mails were fumigated in a .Very inefficient manner, and urges that 'an official enquiry should be made into the whole circumstances of the case. A public chess club.has been formed here. A new American reaping and binding machine has been tried here with great success. It is calculated to save 6s. per acre iu cost of labor, and also to effect a considerable saving in grain, which is tied up much cleaner than men can do it. aj. ;