Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5301, 22 March 1878, Page 2

Amongst the passengers by the Hinemoa, which arived here last night, were Sir George Grey and the Hon. Mr. Fisher, i A New Zealand Gazette, published yesterday,' notifies the appointment'of Mr. G. A. Johnston to be clerk in the Resident Magistrate’s Court at Wellington, and of Mr. 0. P. Lissou to be clerk of the Supreme Court at Wellington, ■ the latter appointment to date from the 17th July last. Notice has been received from the Inspector of Sheep for the East Coast District that he has granted a clean certificate for a mixed flock of sheep be- ; longingto Messrs. W. and G. Cox, Mount Ararat, dated 2nd March, 1873. Notice has also been , received from the Inspector of Sheep for the Wairarapa District that, he has granted clean certificates to Messrs. W. and D. Sutherland, Pahaua, dated 27th February, 1878 ; Messrs. ; Cameron Brothers, Pahaua, dated 2nd March, : 1878 ; Dimcan Morrison, Glenmorven, for 427 mixed sheep, dated Ith March, 1878. ; The Commissioner of Crown Lands notifies in a Gazette, published yesterday, that there will be offered for sale by public auction, in the Council Hall, Wellington, on Tuesday, the 23rd April, 606 sections of surveyed Crown lands in the.Hutt, Ohariu, Pahautauui, Manawatu, Wanganui, Featherstou, and Mauriceville Districts; also, the township of Carnarvon, lower Ferry, Rangitikei, which has -been subdivided into town and suburban sections. Volunteer scrip can be exercised in the purchase of any land included in this sale. In addition to'the price realised at auction the Crown-grant fee of one pound and one farthing per acre for every acre over one hundred acres will have to be paid. Town and suburban Crown lands can only be purchased at auction Rural lands unsold at auction may be purchased after thirty days’public notice.-^ The Inspector of Sheep for the Rangitikei District reports that the number of sheep within his district on which assessment is'payable is 288,610, being: an, increase,'of 86,926 over last year; and that the increase in fees amounts to £lßl Is. lid. The flocks -scabby are few in number, and earnest efforts are now being made by the flockowners to procure clean certificates. . A clean .certificate for a flock of mixed ewes and lambs, numbering about 1600, belonging to Mr. Alexander .SimpIson, Turakina, was granted. The Waste Lands Board met yesterday. IPresent—Messrs. Holdsvvnrth (chairman), H. Bunny, M.H.R., W. , Johnston, M. 11. bl., and T. Mason. A letter was read from, Mr. b'itzherbert, solicitor, stating that he would require a definite resolution from, the Board belore taking action against Mr. Wilson for trespass at Okutuku. After some discussion, the Board resolved “That Mr. Fitzherbert, Crown solicitor at Wanganui, is hereby authorised to sue ,Mr. Wilson under section 165 of the Band Act of 1877 for illegal occupation -f, ami trespass on, Crown lands in'the Okutuku District.” The Chairman reported that since lasi meeting 19 acres in the Wairarapa bad been sold and £9 1 Osi received.. The sinn of £897 had also been received for bind at Maurice'ville. A meeting of the District Grand Dodge for the North Island of New Zealand was held last evening at the Masonic Hall, B-niic.ilt-street. Representatives from the . vm-imi-i lodges were present. The Right Worshipful the Deputy Grand Master presided. The ordinary business having been concluded, ■ the lodge was closed at 10 p.m. - As a sign of the improvement in tins vabi ■ of property, in Taranaki, owing to the prposed harbor works, the fact is worthy of noti-o that Mr. Courtney has sold privat ly 795 acres of .bush belonging to Mr., W; S. Mo r house for £1500; - The reserve on. the same laud five months, before was £I9OO. - “A Tourist” writes.to the Melbourne Arym i complaining-that the owners of the steamers i.o New Zealand do not pay onough ivli'ontiim lathe tourist, and says-:—“Every summer. New Zealand will, become more and more the .play"round of the colonies, as Switzerland is that of the mother country.’! I It is the intention of the .Victorian Government to supply all State huliool* - through.. . the country'with a colored'chart illustrative of the common!-insectivorous birds of, Victoria. The chart has been prepared by .Mr, A. iv. Wallis, Secretary fyr Agriculture. for tin- Education Department, and, >yill. lie. ia-ined from Government Printing Office within ;t few lays, jit is prodrided■'by'' oliWiirio-1 itbogbiphy. Tim chart: contains'illustrations of 36 speoioi : >f birds indigenous to the colony. v The -letterpress attached will give the omi mmi aid scientific; name; of: each -, bird, .llitv J.nMlitv ->f Victoria where it is found, and -nm - p-.r ii-u----lars respecting the nature of its 1.-o-l. Thu illustrations are from the original- dr-v-' i ; g •. the late John Cotton and Gmil-i's work on “ The Birds df ■ Australia.” We nedei- 1 1. • i (says tbo Aryus) it is oqntninplab-d to prate--these birds from destruction by statute.

The Lyttelton Times of Tuesday last says:— “A shocking accident occurred last evening, at the Christchurch railway station, at about a quarter to 0 o’clock. A young man named Edward Quarterman, aged ' nineteen, was engaged in cleaning one of the large engines, and while so employed, was sitting upon the ground, with his legs hanging over, the edge of the pit, by means of which easy access is gained to the under parts of the engines. Another engine was being moved into the shed at * the time stated, and .it touched the engine at which Quarterman was employed, causing it to move on. The wheels passed over his legs, both of which were badly broken between the knees and ankles. The screams of the unfortunate fellow: brought him immediate assistance, and as speedily as possible Dr. Bell Hay was in attendance. He applied bandages, and had the* sufferer conveyed on a stretcher to the hospital, where Drs. Bell Hay, Nedwill, and Frankish did all that lay in their power.”. ' '

A discovery which promises to be ultimately of great importance to this district (says the West Coast Times of the 15th iust.) has been, made about twenty .miles up the, Hokitika River, between Bald Hill and the south side of the river at the foot of a • range. Messrs. Grimmond, Zala, and party, of Ross, who have been lately prospecting for minerals near the locality referred to, discovered on Wednesday last a seam of coal cropping up from the surface of the ground. Samples of very good quality were . brought to town yesterday, and some ■excitement T wai caused by the news of the find. The seam is about 18 inches thick, and there is nbdonbt that the qual ty is excellent.: The spot where the coal was discovered is nearer Ross thau Hokitika, as the , Hokitika River takes a considerable bend to the south.: The distance from Ross is about 11 miles. -Application has been entered at the Waste; Lauds Office for a prospecting license, and steps will be taken to teat the value of the discovery without delay. A resident at Oraata, near New Plymouth, named Grayling, has been experimenting on the chemical properties af some of the native trees. Years ago we remember a substance, having something of the properties of catechu, which had been extracted by Mr. Grayling from the bark of the Kowai. More recently he has, according to the News, produced a valuable alkaloid, possessing all the qualities of quinine,, from the bark of the pukatea (Atherosperma). It is in the form of a resinous extract, and from personal experience our contemporary is able to say that a small quantity taken up on the point of a penknife has the effect of a strong tonic on the stomach. This valuable drug would be in a more sightly form if it were crystallised, but the high duty on a'cohol, which is necessary in order to produce crystallisation, prohibits the idea of that process being carried out economically. Mr. Grayling has also devoted some attention to the ferns, and succeeded in producing an extract containing a large percentage of tannin. By last mail he received from a Bermondsey tanner an order for five tons of this substance. The West Coast Times of the 15th inst. says A small company of twelve has been formed to prospect the sounds south of Jackson’s Bay for minerals and valuable stone. Samples*of marble of excellent quality have been shown by the promoters, and there is a fair hope of discovering a large body of it. There are two working and ten subscribing shareholders. Messrs. Tucnley and Smith are the working shareholders, and they go down by the Maori to-day, fully equipped with boat, tent, blankets, and provided with provisions for at least four months.

The Lyttelton Times thus describes the progress made in the Glentui district “ This part of the Ashley district has undergone a great change during the last two years. The land which was two years ago covered with manuka scrub and flax, in fact quite a wilderness, has now, under the energetic hands of Messrs. Richardson, been nearly all cleared, fenced into paddocks, and broken up. They :had a,considerable quantity of-crop in,during last year, and produced very good and satisfactory returns. Messrs. Richardson and Co. have erected on their property a number of substantial buildings for the use of their,.employes, and are still busy erecting a number of enttages... The woolshed, granary, and stables are very extensive buildings. The, freehold and leasehold held by them is about 80,000 acres, mostly, hilly country, a quantity of it being covered with bush in which there is a, sawmill belonging to them and leased to Mr. H. Bacheler. The whole of the timber now. being cut at the mill is made use of for the erection of buildings on the property. The mill stands about two miles in the bush, a tramway leading all the way to it. The old flax-mill site at the Ashley Gorge has been completely washed away by the encroachment of the Ashley River. A bridge has been built acioss the river at the mouth of the gorge, but it is of very little use at the present time, as the approaches on the north side have not been completed, and are not likely to be .finished for some time, as there is a dispute between the Government and the Ashley Road Board os to who should complete the work. The Ashley Road Board very naturally think that the Government, having commenced a work, ought to complete it. Glentui bids fair to become a place of great importance at some future time, there being large deposits of various kinds of minerals on the estate. A walk up the Glentui River bed will he found very interesting. A -little way up from the woolshed there are to be seen several veins of really good potter's 'clay, high rocks «f good budding stone, shell limestone, sand thickly impregnated with sulphur, veins of coal, quartz reefs,'glass sand of superior quality, and pyrites. Specimens of the above can be seen at the museum here which were collected some few years ago by Mr. McKay, of the Wellington Museum.” In Queensland a matter of much importance iii connection with the grasses and grazing capabilities of the colony has been brought before a Board of Inquiry into Diseases of Plants an 1 Animals. And, from th e Queenslander, we learn that it has been decided to appoint a committee of invest!" Jion, with power to follow the routes taken by. sheep that line been travelled from runs where they w.-i-h badly diseased to country where all (races of di ease had seemingly left them, and tins sheep are now quite healthy. The object in Sew is 'n start with a person well acquainted with the detai s of squatting and over-1-i.iiding. The party to also include a botouist, .-•nd a third able to describe the characteristic f - :u es of the country through which they in -v,d. As they proceed, f the prevailing grasses and plants are to be collected and pre■erved, with the object of discovering such as are especially beneficial to sheep in the country where they are doing well. Whatever else one might reasonably expect (. ivb an, English paper) of Austria, in the way o r superiority, it is certain that few will fail astonishment to learn that it is in the con-n-notion and equipment of a casement war steamer she has, excelled anything in even the ..- isisil.navy of Great Britain. At least this is ihe extraordinary praise bestowed upon the ■Viistnan armored vessel the Custozza, by his ;-ral .Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and ral Bitish naval officers, after a careful examination of that warship, a few weeks ago. . Pi ; I bike assured the Emperor that “sho was i. tv re of a ship of which there was no example in the British navy,” and he was so deeply impressed with her superiority in several important: respects that ho requested, as a special favor, permission for Admiral Drummond and oth'-r Briish officers to inspect and study her eon-traction. It is abig'feather in Austria’s cap, and proves that Francis Joseph is keeping his weather eye open against the probability of a bre- ze in the Mediterranean, in case the war between Russia a -d Turkey shall drag nr force his Empire and the other great Powers into the vortex, ;