TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5435, 28 August 1878, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PEn PRESS AGENCY.) ' Dunedin, Tuesday. The shock of earthquake on Saturday was very distinctly felt at Portobello. The houses seemed to stagger as if from a heavy blow rather than wave-liko motion. A carnival in aid of the. Benevolent Institution will be opened by the Mayor on Septembe 7. It will continue for a week. At a meeting of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association to-night it was resolved to draw up a petition for presentation to Parliament against the beer tax. The action of the Government was strongly censured, and the chief blame attributed to Mr. Stout. Invercargill, Tueday. With reference to Professor Black's application for part of the Bluff Harbor Board endowment, and the inference that he had become aware of its value from samples of stone sent to him for analysis, it has transpired that the stone was not sent to the professor, but to Mr. Biair, General Government Engineer. It appears that the sender of the stone confounded the names Blair and Black. Christchurch, Tuesday. At the meeting of the City Council last night a committee was appointed to consider the necessity of remodelling the staff. For some time past there has been a feeling in a section of the Council that the working of its officers has been very unsatisfactory. The meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday to consider the Customs tariff was adjourned in consequence of the thin attendance.

Miss Fidler to-day initiates her school for cookery. At a sitting of the Supreme Court to-day, the case of the Avon Road Board and the Colonial Treasurer, better known as the Laud Fund case, was adjourned to the 12th prox., when the Attorney-General has signified his intention of being present to argue on behalf of the Government.

The Mayor and Council of Dunedin will be present at the Mayor’s banquet at Christchurch on the occasion of the opening of the railway from one place to the other. It is expected that other municipalities will also be present. It is being reported about town that a scandal of a very unpleasant character will be brought to light in a few days. The approaching civic elections are likely to be lively. There is already a good field of candidates.

At a largely attended meeting of the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon, the following resolution was moved, —That this Chamber supports the principle of free-trade, and is of opinion that if flour and grain duties are to be repealed all duties of a protective character should likewise be abolished. This motion was carried by 18 to 23, and the following amendment, —That this Chamber expresses approval in general terms of the Hon. the Treasurer’s proposed alterations in the tariff in the direction of free-trade. [The above appears to be incomplete.] Oamahu, Tuesday.

At a meeting of the council of the North Otago Rifle Association to-day* the question of forming a National Association was discussed, and it was resolved to telegraph to Wellington that the movement would be heartily supported by the volunteers and shooting men generally of North Otago. Ahaura, Tuesday. A letter from Mr. R. Reeves, M.H.R. for Grey Valley, concerning the East and West Coast railway via Haupiri, connecting with Canterbury, is published in to-day’s GreyUivcr Argus, and has been favorably received by a large section of his constituents, and the scheme is deemed practicable and worthy of attention. New Plymouth, Tuesday. A passenger by the Tui, steamer, writes to the Taranaki Herald, and states that on the 13th August they put into Guard’s Bay during a gale, and found the schooner Atlanta there, four weeks out from Patea for Manukau, She had run out of food. The captain said they had to subsist on fish and mussels for nearly a fortnight. The Atlanta was not damaged in any way ; he believed she is still sheltering in one of the inlets of Cook Strait. A piece of a ship’s rail has been picked up on the Henui beach. It is about sffc. long and thick. It is supposed to have belonged to a vessel 150 to 200 tons, and had only been in the water a short time, as the green paint on it was quite fresh. Ghaitamstown, Tuesday. The steamer Rotomahana picked up a body floating on the surface of the water, on her passage from Auckland to Thames, to-day. It is jbelieved to be the body of one of n party lost about ten days ago. Auckland, Tuesday. The Jockey Club has adopted the following programme for the summer meeting:—First Bay : Railway Plate, £SO ; Auckland Cup, £3OO ; Hurdle Race, £SO j Maiden Plate, £BO ; Hurry Scurry, £lO. Second Bay : Becby, £IOO ; Publicans’ Purse, £6O *, Selling Race, £SO ; Racing Club Handicap, £2OO ; Hack Hurdle Race, £lO ; Grand Stand Handicap, £IOO. Third Bay : Mares Produce Stakes, £IOO ; Auckland Plate, £100; Steeplechase, £l5O ; Stewards’ Cup, £IOO ; Consolation, £4O.