TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5361, 3 June 1878, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

‘ - - . Adokcanu, Saturday. A atable.aud a quantity of hay, tin pro; perty of Mr. W, Robinson, was burnt near Mount Edeu. The loss, was £l5O. . , The dwelling-house .of . Mr. J. Shirriff, ’at Lake Takapuna, North Shore, was burned. '■ It was insured in the South British'for £l5O, and tho furniture tor £SO. ■ .Wi/; li.r; - . ;At the; Police; Court' to-day,;Mrs.-Major Croker was chained with obtaining goods' by ( false pretences. She got goods as a stranger . from a suburban storekeeper,, who said it must, be' a cash transaction. She replied in the affirmative,' and hurriedly gave an order on a solicitor,. to be paid out of the first money received on' her account from England; The storekeeper - did- not discover that the order was hot a demand until after s the goods were removed. The case was adjourned till Monday,! i. 1 *■’ ; -i " Mr./ J. S; Maofariane contradicts the-state- - meht that he said the Government were going to put,twenty thousand natives at ten shillings per day on tho railway froni’-Waikato to Taranaki. / He"says what ho’ did say'was; that, : arrangements ’.vere, ho understood, pending, by which a railway would be carried right through the, King Country to Taranaki, the natives, being employed on its construction. ’ ! / " ' • Napier, Saturday, ’ - There ! has ! beeu a good deal 1 of excitementT here lately about the supposed presence in the district of the murderer Sullivan.- The sus; pected man, however," is William'-Marshall,’ who came to the colony as a Feilding immigrant in 1874. - His resemblance to Sullivan, which is Very Strong, caused him to be hunted from the West Coast, "and- he made his way . over to this side. He was working lately at a farm owned' by a person "named'Boyle, who told him that ft was said of him (Boyle) that he was employing the murderer Sullivan,and sq/Marshall had bettey go to’ Napier to the 'lnspector of and have ; the matter ' bleared up. Ho came into, town yesterday with/his' wife -and-daughter.' ;; The lodginghouse keeper-turned them out into the street, as the other boarders complained of’having a murderer in the house with them. To-day he was taken up to the gaol, and was shown to a prisoner,- who alleges; that he, knew Sullivan well, but this is not the' man! Marshall is apparently a simple, inoffensive fellow, and speaks of his persecution very mildly, but is evidently overborne with grief! and: wants the Government to send him out of the colony. He is taller than SulUvan ia said to be, but resembles him a good deal, judging by the photograph of .that criminal. He fears that his life is not' safe, as some people insist npoii it that he is Sullivan, and ’ have .'threatened him with violence. , , , . - ! ' CHEisTCHORGH, Saturday. ’ ’’ Mr. Sheehan had: a long intferviewwith the natives at.Kaiapoi yesterday, A petition was presented setting "forth thb grievances of tho Middle Island: natives respecting tho land purchases by Messrs. Mantell, Kemp,. Symonds, and Wakefield, In 1818-53. The principal complaints were that the natives had been deceived, that they had not received all the money for the land sold, and that the boundaries fixed by the'Europeans included land which had nev/sr.been sold. , prayed the Government to look 'into ' the matter,' and; said that if • it were not/settled, the.natives would have to apply to the Queen. Mr. Taiaroa, M.H.R.,’ advocated the: native claims. Mr, Sheehan, in reply, said that if the natives wereagreeable the Government would appoint a commission, composed of people having no jar terest ju th« fiddle Island, to inquire into the whole matter. lie also promised that a sitting of tho Native Lsfids Court should bs hold at Christchurch at an early date." . The Times this morning says ''J Wo are in a position to' state that the Government has ordered the whole of the heavy, guns rebom--mended by the Imperial Commission, and these, together with the necessary ammunition; are now ou their way out. Regarding small arms, we have authority for stating that the Govern-ment-has mistook 5000 Sniders of tho ordinary and 2000 of tho shorter pattern, which, with another thousand, of.the former now ordered, will soon give the colony a total of 8000 Snider rifles-. For these .there arc in stock 2,000,000 rounds of ball, cartridges for the ordinary rifles, and a larger proportion.for the carbines. Some of this stock; only recently arrived," having beeu ordered by.the,Government shortly after taking office. In addition to the Sniders the Government can muster' 13,000 Enfield rifles and a largo quantity of suitable making* total 0f21,000 rifles at their disposal. The Government have - under - their considers-" tiou a plan of torpedo defence,’which trill pro-

bably be undertaken. The intention of Government is, should war be declared, to bring 'down a few Armed Constabulary men to each jiortns a nucleus of a force of rrtillery, also itd place tlie naval and artillery volunteers on a satisfactory footing, and to consider the question. of enrolling the militia. . Probably, with the; advice of Parliament, the: militia will be called'out. It will be interesting to know that the commission of officers that reported on the defence of New Zealand had the advantage of the latest charts of the colony, and obtained full information from officers, some of them scientific, of both services, who know the localities. They also had before them the report of Colonel Mould, R.E., made after the inspection pt the harbors, and the confidential report made by Sir Wm. Jervois some few years ago, which has been practically adopted by the committee. ( > ' ,

Dunedin, Saturday. - A .jvacas occurred, on the Anderson Bay road yesterday, between two. Peninsular'set- . tiers named ’ Walguist and Stewart. The former, received injuries about the head and face, and will bring an action for damages against his assailant. Professor Salmon delivered the first of a series ; of- twejye lecturer-last night, on the Person of Christ.

The disbursements in connection with Dr. Somerville’s, mission in Dunedin amounted to £277, and the receipts to £2B-J. ~ ... , ; i ~; ,;'i Sunday. The polling for .the city auditors took place -yesterday,,!«nd, resulted as follows:—,\V. p. Struct, 133 ; Geo. Watson,; 090 ; S. James, 360 ; H. Bayliss, 29. ’ Mr; James lias occupied the position for several years, , , The question of teaching science in schools was■ furthert discussed Educational In-, stitntion oh, Saturday, when a number of resolutions bearing,on the’subject were carried, i Lawrence, Svturday. Yesterday close on twenty applications were received at the Survey Office for the two blocks in* the! Croodatown (district'recently thrown open under'agricultural lease.- There were but few applications for the land on deferred payments in’the same neighborhood. i Magnificent, prospects continue to be reported from the t: Wetherstono cement. The original prospectors, Brown and - Gascoigne, have dropped across a rich lead, which turns out ■ of ; gold to the dish. ...Between fifty and' sixty acres of-ground have already been "pegged off,: and' great interest is manifested in several of the claims. Large sums have - been refused for a small interest in a claim. J ' Ui-.-'li' i

>'j In the absence of the'proposers of the fesohi;: tion'for the readjustment-of the county ridings, the ’ special meeting yesterday was allowed, to lapse. If the resolution be adopted in its entirety by a'majority of .the -councillors, therd is likely to be opposition in several parts.of the district.: /A legal /opinion; has; been obtained, which is adverse’tot he proposed re-division of tho riding.- -/ , • ' ■ '■ Riverton, Saturday. TheJ Courthouae wascrowded to-day with miners from Orepuki andßound Hill. ■ There were also' present large numbers of Invercargill speculators. A prospectors application in full was' granted. Other leases/and applications were also granted, but were cut down to one thpusapd ieelf on tjle line ; of yeef, and the applicants were compelled to employ four men for the first' six months'and; ten men thereafter. The' decision has given general satisfaction. Taylor, of, Hound Hill,presented a petition signed by, 240, people against granting leases, The Wardeni decided that each applicant must remain, within hia pegs.; Several applications for. supposed,Abandoned residence; areas and water rights were made, but all were refused, on the;,ground that the abandonment had not been proved. ; ,", . .