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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5240, 9 January 1878, Page 2

The steamer Ladybird, with the Canterbury cricketers, arrived last night, having been detained by head winds. When the steamer arrived in harbor two guns were fired from the St. Leonards, so as to collect the Wellington cricketers on the wharf to give their rivals a hearty welcome. When the boat came alongside, some hearty cheering was indulged in on both sides, and Captain Todd, of the St. Leonards, then invited the Christchurch men on board his vessel to partake of some refreshments, which were liberally provided. It has been decided that the teams shall meet punctu-' ally at 10 o’clock this morning on the Basin Reserve, at which time play will commence. At the Supreme ; Court yesterday Daniel Burke, convicted of stealing £2O and a quantity of clothing from a wliare at Masterton, was sentenced to six months’ hard labor.— Thomas Williams and Thomas Freeman, charged with robbery from a tent at Mungaroa, were each sentenced to nine months’ hard labor.—William John Lawrence was found guilty on two charges of obtaining money by means of’ valueless cheques, and remanded for sentence until this morning.—Edward Tyler was found gnilty'of obtaining money by false pretences, and James McDougall was found guilty of an indecent assault. —The.first case for trial this morning is that of Richard Boss, charged with horse-stealing. A full report appears 1 in another portion of our columns. The Hutt County Council met yesterday at one o’clock. Present—Councillors Mason (in thd ehair), Monaghan, Smith, Speedy, Dick, Morgan, Lancaster, and Chew. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. : An opinion from Mr. Travers, solicitor, &0., was read, stating that providing the engineer'produced his authority from the. Council he could'enter, - upon any lands, for the purpose of surveying the proposed now road from Kaiwarra to Johnsonville. Accounts for wages amounting to £286 were ordered to he paid.

On the up trip of the s.s. Easby from this port to Sydney a birth occurred, and strange to say on the downward trip a circumstance of a similar nature took place. Both mothers and children were up to latest dates doing well. Next Thursday evening Signora Caranti Vita will appear as Margherita in “Faust,”-on which occasion she will take her benefit. During the time this talented artiste has been amongst us she lias made many friends by her representations of the different characters that have been entrusted to her. The tickets are already in great demand, so a large audience is sure to rally round her. It will be seen by reference to our advertising columns that Mr. B. W. Cary will take his benefit on Monday next at St. George’s Hall, under distinguished patronage. The great success which has attended this popular place of amusement 'for some time past is, it will be very generally acknowledged by the public, due to the indefatigable manner in which the management has catered for their wants, and it is unquestionable that Mr. Cary has succeeded in hitting the popular taste, as has been amply testified by the full houses which have been drawn nightly to St. George’s Hall for many weeks past. We expect to see Mr. Gary’s benefit favored' by a large attendance. His exertions in catering for the public are certainly deserving of such a recognition, and there can be little doubt that they will be duly recognised on this occasion. His Honor the Chief Justice, during the hearing of a case in the Supreme Court yesterday, made some observations concerning the Wellington police detectives. A prosecutor, in the course of giving evidence regarding the obtaining of. some property from him by means of a valueless cheque, said Detective Farrell had communicated with him on the subject, and that the officer had asked if witness would be content if he got the property back. His Honor remarked that it was no part of a detective’s duty to fish up a prosecution, nor was a paid police force kept for that purpose. Such a mode of proceeding was improper, and there was a strong feeling on the subject in England at the present time.

A special meeting of the W.V.F.P. Corps was held in the Central Eire Brigade Station last evening at 8 o'clock, Lieut. Walden in the chair. A complaint was preferred by one of the officers against a member of the brigade, for insubordination at the fire which occurred on Christmas Day in Cuba street. This resulted in the member referred to being expelled from the corps. The folio wing alterations to ruleswere passed, viz. :■ —That the monthly meeting should be held on the first Thursday, and the practice on the third Wednesday, in each month. That members should wear full uniform at all practices, and that all apologies for absence should be in writing. It was then resolved that the corps do now hold its general monthly meeting. . .The election of. 'a captain, vice Captain Scott, resighed, was then proceeded: with. The following candidates were nominated :—Lieut. Walden and members Asher and Marryat. Upon the poll being taken, Lieutenant Walden was declared duly elected. The following were then nominated for the office of First Lieutenant ;—Lieutenants Ambrose and Silvery and Members Asher and Marryat. Upon the vote being taken, Member Asher was duly elected. The following resignations were received and accepted :—Members Turner and Hudson. The following gentlemen were pro. posed as members and elected;—Messrs. E. Sheen and Kay. At the conclusion of the business, the meeting adjourned, the members afterwards proceeding; to the' Central Hotel, where the healths of the newly-elected officers were proposed by Lieutenant Ambrose, and after the toasts had; been duly honored by the company and responded to by Captain Walden and Lieut. Asher, the meeting separated.

An accident of a serious nature occurred at the Patent Slip on Monday evening last. It appears that the steamer Stella was being lowered down, when suddenly, without the slightest warning, the large flywheel connected with the machinery gave way, and as it was revolving with great rapidity, it flew into many pieces, the greater portion of it going out through the roof of the engine-house, making a large hole in it. Some pieces of great weight were found nearly a hundred yards from where the engine stood, and one piece in particular, weighing some five cwt., was buried in the ground, having doubtless been thrown high in the air. The steam-pipe which connected the boiler to the engine was broken, and the steam rushed out with a great noise, filling the engine-house, and rendering it impossible to see anything inside for some considerable time. Fortunately the accident was unaccompanied by loss of life, though the escape of the engineer, who was the only person in the engine-house at the time, was almost miraculous. He was standing quite close to the flywheel when it gave way, yet none of the pieces injured him. The severe shock knocked him down, and when he was picked up it was found that the debris of the wheel and the shed lay all round, and quite close to him, while he was untouched. The wheel was a cast-iron one, sixteen feet in diameter, and weighed nearly six tons. It was composed of sections, and it is supposed that through some fault in one of these the accident occurred. It is anticipated that in a few days hence the slip will be in working order, as tbe engine being a double one it can be worked without a flywheel. The damage done is estimated at about £IOO.

In our issue of yesterday we stated that at Mr. T. K. Macdonald’s sale of city, suburban, and rural land there was a good attendance, aud that fair prices were realised. The following additional particulars of the results of thejsale are since to hand;—Sections2, Vorirua, 120 acres, with nursery garden, orchard, &0., R. Greenfield, £1200; leasehold allotment No. 6, College-street, subject to a ground rent of £lO per annum, J. Adams, £27 10s.; dwellinghouse, six rooms, with frontage of 38ft. to Ghuznee-street, by a depth of 72ft., W. Driscoll, £6OO ; allotment 13, £l2O. Seven allotments in the township of Woodville were sold at prices varying from £l4 to £lB. An allotment in the township of Palmerston was sold to P. Coffey- for £22. Section 193, in the township of Fitzherbert, was purchased by J. D. Baird for £236 Bs. 6d. A number of the lots which were withdrawn have since been disposed of at the reserve prices. At St. George’s Hall last evening there was a good house, on the occasion of Miss Edith Pender’s benefit. The programme was an exceedingly strong one, consisting of the trial scene from the “ Merchant of Venice,” in which Mr. Dillon (who reappeared for this occasion) took the part of Shy lock, and Miss Pender that of-Portia. During the interval between this and “ Maritana," Miss Stoueham and Mr. Cary contributed two excellent, songs. The concluding portion of the bill was “ Maritana,” with the full .strength of the company. The hall will be closed for a few nights, but will be reopened again shortly with a panorama of the Russo-Turkish war. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before J. 0. Crawford, Esq., R.M., William Price, charged with drunkenness, and also with using abusive language towards Henry Schultze, was fined 10s., and ordered to be bound over to keep the peace for three months!—J. C. Murtagh, charged with, a breach of the municipal regulations, by feeding his, horse in the public street without a nosebag, was fioed ss.—P. A. Jones, hairdresser,; Willis-street, was charged, on the : information of Inspector Monaghan, with neglecting to keep the-back, yard of-his .premises clean, but as several witnesses who were called for the defence said that although they resided in the immediate locality they rad felt no inconvenience arising from the state of defendant’s premises, , the Court gave.-Mr. Jones the benefit of the, doubt, and dismissed the case. , ,'v'-v Tenders are invited up to noon on Thursday next for tlio supply and delivery of'sooo sleepers at any of the stations or sidings on the Wellington and Masterton railway. A terrible accident 1 occurred at Ternes last week. Some extensive works are in progress for enlarging the church of St. Ferdinand, and while the men wore' occupied on one of the side walls that portion of the building suddenly gave way and fell into the crypt below.

Mr. Harcourt Lee, late pianoforte tuner to Madame Arabella Goddard, is now on a professional visit to Wellington, and advertises that he is prepared to receive orders for tuning and regulating pianos and other musical instruments. Mr. Harcourt Lee produces testimonials from Messrs. Glen and Co., of Melbourne, and other eminent firms, speaking of his abilities in very high terms, and we have no doubt that his undoubted merits will meet with a suitable recognition at the hands of the musical portion of the community, which embraces a very large section. An accident happened in Auckland harbor last week which nearly proved fatal. Recently a sailing boat was built by a man named Williams upon a new principle. The bottom was like that of a canoe, and the bow rose out of the water. It was anticipated when being built that it would prove a failure ; but the designer and builder expected to get great speed out of her. She has been rigged, and Thomas Brown and John Jones went out in the harbor to try the new craft. The wind was very light—in fact it was nearly a calm; but the boat speedily capsized, and the two men were 'thrown into the water. A steamer coming up the harbor at the time went to the rescue, and saved the two men from drowning. The boat now lies sunk in mid-stream, her topmast being just above the water. A very remarkable illustration of the affection of a greyhound for its master, says the Chester Guardian, has just occurred at Crewe. A few days ago a notorious Crewe poacher, named Thomas Blackburn, was sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude, for nearly killing a policeman near Nantwich. He was the owner of a favorite greyhound, which, in many a midnight poaching raid, proved itself valuable to its owner in the game preserves. Thus a strange hut powerful affection existed between the man and his dog, and never were they found apart. After Blackburn’s imprisonment the actions of the' animal became singular. Regularly every day he visited the man’s previous haunts, with a wistful look in his brown eyes ; and, when the shades of evening fell, he would lie down under the seat of Blackburn’s favorite inn, and there for several hours await the master who never came. The landlord, to his credit, put food before the animal, but latterly it did not seem to eat much. In the afternoon the faithful animal, like a sentinel on duty, was seen to parade Market-street, backwards and forwards, between the corner of Earle-street and Vic-toria-street, looking for its master, but he appeared not. Gradually the movements of the heuud became more languid, and on Friday night, in Market-street, it dropped dead, as one of the crowd said, “of a broken heart at the loss of its master.”

In reference to recent alleged discoveries of gold in New Guinea the Sydney Morning Herald of December 31 says :—Mr. E. H. S. Minton, just returned from New Guinea in the cutter Loelia, has sent the following communication to the Echo in reference to the reported gold discoveries in New Guinea :—On looking over the Echo I was much surprised to see a statement from a Mr. Beddome, a magistrate at Somerset, that gold was discovered in Papua. • I can safely say that during the three weeks that we remained at Papua I explored not ;only the creeks .and prospected their banks, but also the rivers and at the foot of the falls and base of the ranges, and found no gold whatever ; and I must state that I found any quantity of mica, which had the appearance of gold, and would deceive any non-experieneed miner or prospector ; and therefore I doubt not Mr. Goldie has made such a mistake', Mr. Goldie being a botanist. I brought sand from the river’s bank, from the creeks, and base of ranges, the same being analysed by one of the most experienced analytical ;chemists in Sydney, who pronounced it micacious, and of no value. I mention this, .hoping that my experience of sixteen years as a mining engineer and prospector will be sufficient evidence that Mr, Goldie must be making a mistake. I may state that I have known non-experienced men in mining and minerals, and some who professed to be miners, to mis-, take mica for gold ; therefore there is the more probability of Mr. Goldie, who is a botanist, making the mistake alluded to above. Such rumors are detrimental, not only in causing a “ will-o’-the-wisp ” exodus, but also in entailing the greatest misery and suffering to those who may be led away by such a “Goldien vision;” ’ The Maitland Mercury states that two deaths by drowning occurred on Christmas Day in the Hunter River, which were attended with painful circumstances. The first was that of a man named William Dillon, a plasterer, and a very old resident of Maitland, and the second that of an aged man named Edward Maher, who was found drowned at the rear of the Roman Catholic Church about 8 o’clock on Tuesday (Christmas) morning. The facts of the latter case are briefly these:— About 8 o’clock on the morning in question, the deceased was seen by two youths placing his hat on the bank of the river. He looked around, apparently to see if anyone was watching him, and then deliberately dived into the water and was drowned. An alarm was raised, and the police and other persons were soon on the spot, but it was some time before the body was recovered by a young man named William Morris. The deceased had been to Mr. Grogan’s hotel in High-street that morning, had borrowed a pencil, aud had a handbill, on which he had written something. The paper was afterwards found In his hat, and it stated that he had been persecuted by his family—persecuted even unto death, aud that he was now tired of his life. Inquests were held in both cases, the verdicts being respectively “accidently drowned” and “premeditated suicide.”

Owing to the inadequacy of the rolling stock on Russian railways, and the inability of the native firms to execute the orders entrusted to them, the Minister of Ways and Communications has sanctioned the expenditure of 6,000,00(1 roubles in the purchase of locomotives and carriages abroad. The firm of Reichhofer and Co., of Vienna, aud the Railway Waggon Company, of Hamburg, are spoken of as, having received the largest orders, which will have to be executed during the ensuing six mouths. The Home Neivs of November 15lh says : A fortnight ago the wife of Mr. F. Williams, brewer, of Malton, died, as was supposed, aud preparations were made for her interment, the grave being duly prepared. However, from what Mr. AVilliama aud his friends observed, they were led to believe that the lady was not dead, but in a trance ; aud as she was known to have been in a trance of some duration when quite a young girl, the fnueral was postponed for a week. The body presents none of the usual characteristics of death. The countenance retains its natural expression and color, the limbs their flexibility, aud there is said not to be the slightest trace of decomposition. There is, in fact, every indication of presence of life in the body except motion. The affair has caused the utmost interest in the district, and many persons have been to see the lady, who is well known. Subsequent accounts state that all doubts as to the lady's death are now removed, and the funeral has since taken place. An attempt has been made by an inventor resident at Berlin, in the Maryborough district, to introduce iron buggies into use. All coachbuilders have hitherto intermixed irou .with wood; but Mr. Alexander Jamieson• (the Aryua states) h is constructed a vehicle which consists exclusively of irou and steel. For instance, in the place of hickory spokes and oak felloes, he has employed iron tubes and T iron. The tubes fit into the axle-box at one end, and are riveted to the T iron at the other. The first noticeable effect of the employment of iron for all parts has been to add to the weight of the vehicle. This has accrued in spite of the thinness of the parts. The cost also has been enhanced. The extra weight is not. considered important by the maker, in view of the strength which must result from the use of irou in place of wood, nor should it be felt (once a start is made) except in, the ascent of hills. Strength aud durability are regarded as a full equivalent for the increase of cost, and to belong to that form of expensiveness which proves cheapness in the long run. The vehicle has a neat look, and the appearance (if not a reality) of lightness which renders it attractive.