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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5306, 28 March 1878, Page 2

A coroner's'inquest will be held this afternoon at 2 o’clock, before Dr. Johnston, at the Te Aro Hotel, to inquire into the circumstances and origin of the late fire at Mrs. Mason’s boarding-house, Willis-atreet. We understand that the inquest is called at the request of the insurance companies. About twelve o’clock last night the firebells rang out an alarm, and the brigades turned out promptly, as they invariably do, but fortunately on this occasion their services were not required, the alarm being a false one, arising from a bush fire in the direction of Wadestown.

An adjourned extraordinary general meeting of the Wellington Land and Building Company (Limited), was held yesterday at the office of the secretary (v'r. White), in Panamastreet. There were fifteen shareholders present. The following proposals were submitted to the meeting and adopted:—That in order to make provision for the increasing and profitable business of the company, additional capital be raised by the creation and issue of new shares. That IS,OOO additional shares of £5 each be now created. That 2000 of the said additional shares be forthwith allotted to the existing shareholders, in proportion to the shares respectively held by them, that is to say, for every share held by any shareholder, one additional share shall be allotted as a bonus, and that the sum of 455. shall be deemed to have been, paid up iu respect of each of such 2000 additional shares; and ss. per share shall, on application, be paid to the company by each shareholder accepting such bonus shares. That the remaining 16,000 of such additional shares be from time to time allotted and sold, as hereinafter provided, at such times and places, either-within or without the colony, as the directors may think fit and direct : provided that, unless otherwise ordered by an extraordinary meeting, six calendar mouths at least shall elapse between any two issues. That except as hereinafter provided such 16,000 shares shall be offered from time to time to the then existing shareholders in proportion to the shares respectively held by them as nearly as conveniently may be : provided that the directors may, if they deem it advantageous to the company, sell or deliver in exchange for landed property of adequate value 4000 shares out of the said 16,000 shares. That such of the said 16000 shares as shall not be disposed of under the foregoing raselutions may be sold on account of the company by the directors in such manner as they think fit, but not below par - . That the 47th Regulation of the company be altered by striking out the words “ ten shares,” and in lieu thereof inserting the words “ fifty shares.” That the following be a Regulation of Hie company, and be inserted in the it Hides of Association as Eeguh.tion 67a:— “ Tire directors may, with the sanction of the company in general meeting, declare an ad interim dividend to be paid to the sbe-e----holders in proportion to their shares. We have received from the Secretary of the Postal Department specimens of newspaper wrappers bearing a halfpenny stamp, which will be issued on the Ist of April. In the case of newspapers which are to be sent to places beyond the colony the additional postage stamp will have to b.‘ affixed. The wrappers referred to, which appear to be very well suited to the purpose for which they are intended, can be purchased at the followlrj rates:—lß wrappers for lOd.; 270 do, 12s. 6d.; 540 do, £1 55.; 1080 do, £2; 10s. Mr. Harrison Ord last night delivered a second most instructive and interesting lecture on the “ Tabernacle of Israel” to a large and attentive audience at the Athenreum Hall. The beautiful model of the Tabernacle and its furniture helped to increase the interest of those present, many of whom when the lecture was over gathering round it to enjoy a closer inspection of its details. Mr. Ord dwelt at some length on the necessity of a real and hearty acceptance of the atonement of, Christ, and illustrated his subject by several appropriate anecdotes. The course of lectures will be continued this evening, and the choir will again give their aid to .increase the interest of these services.

Mr. Sothern appeared as David Garrick in the piece of that name ,at the Theatre Royal last evening, and created a most favorable impression by his talented impersonation, especially in the second act. He was well supported by the company, especially by the three leading characters, Miss Edith Pender (Ada Ingot), Mr. 1 J. Musgrave (Mr. Ingot), and Mr. S. Poole, Squire Ohivoy). The afterpiece of The Windmill Man ” sent the audience away in thorough good humor.

Au adjourned meeting of the Board of Education will be held this morning at half-past ten o’clock. . The municipal regulations affecting: the supply of water for machinery purposes are published in our advertising columns. Tenders-are invited by Mr. G. A. Beere, Panama Chambers, up to the 6th April, for the construction of a cart road from Wellington to Kilbirnie. There were no cases heard at the E.M. Court yesterday. One civil case which was set down for hearing was adjourned until to-day. At Mr. G. Thomas’ sale yesterday six sections at Bunnythorpe were knocked down to Mr, W. K. Waters at £5 10s. each. Mr. G. Dixon was the purchaser of 150 acres of uncleared land in the Eaugtikei District at 15s. per acre. The lease of a section at Newtown, with a five-roomed house, shop, and oulbuildings, was baught in, the reserve price (£700) not being reached.

Yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock there was au alarm of fire, and as usual a large number of people rushed to the scene of action, which was an eight-roomed house in Taranakistreet, belonging to Mr. G. E. Macdonald, and occupied by Mr. Eons Marten. The brigades, with their accustomed promptitude, lost no time in hastening to the spot, but happily their services were not required, as the fire was extinguished before their arrival, and before any appreciable damage was done. From inquiries made yesterday the following appear to be the facts of the case ;—Mr. Marten’s servant was cooking dinner at the time, when someone outside called her attention to the fact that the roof of the house was on fire. On further inspection it was discovered that the shingles had . ignited, but before the fire had made auy head- | way it was put out by the assistance of the bystanders, just before the arrival of the f brigades. It is fortunate that the alarm was given as soon as it was, otherwise the consequences might have been much more serious. A case of more than usual interest, says the Hokitika Stay of the 19th inst., was heard in the Eesident Magistrate’s Court this morning, Ellen McNeil v. J. Woodward, public trustee. Mr. Button appeared for the applicant. It was au application for an order under the 7th, Sth, and 9th sections of the destitute Persons Belief Act, 1877, on the Public Trustee, to pay out of the estate of James Eae, a lunatic in the Hokitika Asylum, a periodical contribution towards the maintenance of four illegitimate children of the said lunatic. After hearing the evidence of three witnesses, which proved that the said James Eae was the reputed father of the children, the Eesideut Magistrate made an order for the payment, out of the lunatic’s estate, of 10s. per week for each child until they respectively attain the age of fourteen years. Mr. Button called attention to the fact that this was the first application under these sections of the Act, which made provision to do an act of justice and humanity to the illegitimate offspring of lunatics or deceased persons, whose . estate was able to contribute to the support of such offspring. Before the passing of this Act, the heir-at-law or personal representative of a deceased person had power to sweep away all his effects, regardless of the claims of the illegitimate children. The magistrate (M. Price, Esq., E.M.) said that the Act was a very good Act, and a very great improvement upon the old one, dealing with the oases of the destitute.

The Southland Times of Friday last gives the following particulars of the burning of the mail coach between Balclutha and Clinton:— “ Startling intelligence reached town by wire yesterday of the destruction by fire of the mail coach daring its journey from Balclutha to Clinton.” An occurrence so exceptional evoked much astonishment, and the arrival of the train from Dunedin was anxiously waited for the particulars it was expected to bring. It came in due course, and one of the through passengers, who declined to give bis name, informed us that when the coach was about two miles from Waiwera, on the Balclutha side, a dull explosion was heard under the box-seat, and the next moment the forepart of the coach was in flames. The coach was immediately stopped, the passengers hurriedly dismounted, disengaged the horses, and proceeded to save what they could of the luggage, mails, &c. But only part of each was rescued, for the fire spread with extraordinary rapidity, and in a very short time the body of the coach was reduced to ashes. It is beyond question that the fire originated in some explosive substance forming part of the loading, for our informant said that as he was carrying away from the coach a box covered with brown paper something inside exploded and blew it to pieces, luckily without injuring him. There were seven adult passengers—five males and two females, one of whom had an infant in arms. The other lady was Mrs. Martin, of this town. When the contents of the coach had been removed, the driver mounted one of the horses, and rode into Clinton for another conveyance, with which he returned, picked up his passengers, none of whom were injured, and reached Clinton in plenty of time to catch the train for Invercargill. We cannot state what mails were saved and what destroyed, but from inquiries we instituted last night we ascertained that the Dunedin mail bags had not come through. They were not destroyed, the labels having burned they had to be opened in order that their destination might be ascertained, and so were detained at Waiwera. In the interests of public safety a searching inquiry into the origin of the catastrophe must be made. Evidently highly dangerous substances were surreptitiously placed in the coach, and the offender deserves all the punishment the law prescribes. We hope he will be brought to justice.”

The Japanese raan-o’-war, the Tsakuba, which left Nagasaki on December 20, for a cruise to Australia, reached Brisbane on Marcli 9. The vessel is on a voyage tor the instruction and nautical education of several Japanese, cadets. The corvette, which carries 10 guns (the Brisbane Courier states), is under the command of Captain Z. Matsumura, and has on board 37 cadets and 238 officers and seamen, who, with the exception of two English officers as instructors, and three English seameu, are all Japanese, including the engineers. Her complement of officers is as follows;- —One captain, one commander, two first lieutenants, three second lieutenants, six sublieutenants, four midshipmen, one chief paymaster, one paymaster, two assistant-paymas-ters, one chief engineer, one engineer, and one assistant-engineer, two surgeons, and the English instructors, Commander Willen, Lieutenant James, and Gunner Cockram. The Tsakuba is the first Japanese man-o’-war that has crossed the Equator, and she has made the passage from Nagasaki iu fifty days. The Bast Ooftar relates an affecting instance of sisterly devotion. Baiba, a young female of Dhundhuka, while on a pilgrimage to Benares, hoard of the transportation for life of her brother on a charge of highway robbery. With the instinctive faith of a sister, Baiba refused to believe that her brother could be guilty of such a crimp, hut as the poor man was already transported nothing remained for her but to resort to quite a romantic way for the establishment of his innocence and his subsequent release. For this purpose she disguised herself as au ascetic, and went about from place to place, and at considerable personal discomfort and humiliation, gathering proofs of her relative’s innocence. The devoted sister is said to have visitedDhaudhuka,Dhrole, Wad wan, Ahmedabad, and several other places, beseeching official intervention in behalf of her banished brother. After incredible exertions she found herself in possession of written evidence showing her brother’s innocence. This she “ laid at the feet of ” the hon. Alexander Rogers. Mr. Rogers went through the whole with the patience of a kindly nature, and at last found the accumulative mass of evidence irresistible. Thus at last was the exemplary devotion of this young woman crowned with success, and Mr. Rogers communicated to the happy sister the news of her banished brother’s release. But the romance of tho whole story is spoilt by the news of the sudden derangement of the released prisoner’s faculties, on hearing of his good fortune. The poor man arrived at Bombay only to be sent to the Oolaba Asylum. Baiba, the heroine of the story, belongs to the class of hereditary

minstrels, known in Gnjerat and Kattywar as “ charans,” and is said to have inherited the gift of impromptu verse to such 'a large, extent as to be able to make Mr. Rogers the hero of some songs which she might be, heard reciting to admiring crowds in Bombay.- - The Argus of the 19th instant .says:— “ Melbourne yesterday was waterless. The Preston reservoir ranoufc at 10 o’clock ; the mains were cxausted in most localities by midday, and in the afternoon the city and suburbs were absolutely destitute, nor is there any prospect of relief until the communication with the Yau Yean is restored. Large numbers of citizens at the first,alarm stored what water they could, but thousands of houses have been unprovided for, and already distressing scenes are occurring. Water is begged for from house to house, and the fireplugs are beseiged in the . hope of getting a drop from the mains. The department holds out the hope that there will be water on Wednesday morning ; but this is Png to wait, and much suffering must ensue in the meantime. A pump has been erected on the Yarra near Edwards’ boathouse, and the muddy water thus obtained is at the public disposal ; hut the difficulty is how to distribute it. The extremity which has occurred is a very great one. The department ought to have made efforts to send out water-carts to the suburbs to supply households with gratuitous pailfuls of the Yarra water, which is all that is obtainable, but the immediate wants of the populace do not seem to have been thought of. Relief steps should be taken to-day. Barrels and tanks on common drays can be utilised for the purpose, and only energy of this kind can mitigate the disaster.” A correspondent of the London Standard, writing from Perpignan on the 20th January, says :—“The new lino which has been constructed along the coast of the Eastern Pyrenees, to connect the French system of railways with Spain, was opened to-day, amidst much pomp and ceremony. Hitherto the only railway communication with Spain has been by way of Bordeaux and San Sebastian upon the western coast, and the new line which will open on the whole of north-eastern Spain, and put Barcelona in direct railway communication with the great cities of the south of France,, will be a very useful one. The French railway from Narbonne has hitherto come to a halt at Banynis-sur-Mer, which is a small watering-place on the Mediterranean. The line has been carried, by a succession of short tunnels, under the Pyrenees, which are of a very slight elevation at this point, and at Portbon, a small village upon the Catalonian side of the mountains, is the first Spanish station. It was here that a special train from Perpignan, conveying the directors of the French line and several of the local dignitaries, arrived about one o’clock, where we were met by the Spanish railw .y authentic . who entertained us at a grand banquet, the Bishops of Gerona and Perpignan having first passed their benediction upon the new undertaking.”