TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5441, 4 September 1878, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PER PRESS AGENCY.) . Wanganui, Tuesday. Tbe tender of- Mr. William Lowe has been accepted this afternoon for the Gas Company s contract, amounting to £2842. The work will be commenced to-morrow. New Plymouth, Tuesday. Ex-Judge Thomas, from India, has visited Te Whiti, aud j esterday bad a two hours’ interview with Rewi. The native mind is becoming unsettled in consequence of his advocacy of leasing Maori lands. Waitara, Tuesday.

The Go-Ahead arrived from the Manukau to-day. The captain reports that when six miles off Waikato he picked up a ship’s boat 18ft. long, painted white over blue inside and black over white outside, brass cleets, one iron-bound black swivel, a hook with a portion of a rope and pulley iu the stern (quite new), three new knees, and a new thwart. From all appearauce the vessel had not been long in the ■water. The boat does not belong to the Kuiuma. Grahamstown, Tuesday. The Municipal Council nominations to-day brought out contests in each ward. Robert Graham, of Auckland, contests one of the scats, promising to take up his residence here if elected; . Good promising stone has been obtained from the 640 feet level at the Big Pump workings. The funeral of an old volunteer and Victorian settler, Mr. Henry Skene, brother of Captain Skene, of the New Zealand Militia, took place with military honors to-day.

Napier, Tuesday. Most of the places of business were closed this afternoon, in consequence of the people goiug holiday making to Farndou to witness the football match—Gisborne v. Napier—which was won by Napior by four points to nothing. The Gisborne was a much heavier team, (rat not nearly so active as the Napier one. Blenheim, Tuesday.

The Liberal Reform Association passed the following resolutions last night: —“ That this meeting regrets to learn that the Government Public Works policy excludes Marlborough and Nelson from participating in the proposed railway schemes.” “ That the policy fa calculated to benefit only a portion of the colony, while every part will have to bear the burden of the taxation ; and regrets to learn that our members are powerless to obtain any amelioration of the schemes in favor of Marlborough and Nelson."

Christchurch, Tuesday. The Mayor has convened a meeting for tomorrow evening to consider the new tariff. At the meeting of the Waste Land Board 16,000 acres wore disposed of for £33,000. The prospectus of a temperance hotel on a large scale will be issued in a few days. The tide rose eighteen inches above ordinary level at Sumner yesterday. It is supposed to have been a tidal wave.

At the licensing meeting to-day a considerable number of wine and beer licenses were granted, mostly iu cases of restaurants. The license to A 1 was again refused, although it was stated the hotel would be finished in ten days. The Bench expressed an opinion that there had been great delay. Mr. Coker, late of the Empire Hotel, applied for a license for a new house to be built by him. The application was opposed, but the Bench stated that the license would be granted if the premises, when completed, were satisfactory. A license was granted for an hotel. at Sumner which when finished will contain 135 rooms, Timard, Tuesday. The entertainment for tho shipwrecked sailors last night realised £36 13s. A subscription list has been opened to further assist them. The following are the insurances on the vessels wrecked :—Barque Melrose, £350, South British; brigantine Lapwing, worth about £3500, fully insured in the New Zealand Company ; ketch Fanny, £SOO in the New Zealand Company. It is not known in which office the ketch Glimpse was insured. Captain Evans, of the ketch Palmerston, was drowned on Sunday night. Two of the Palmerston’s crew were saved by being picked up by the crew of the Melrose. The ketch Fanny has broken up, and scarcely a vestige can be seen. The lessees of the Government landing service have taken possession of the Palmeiaton, and a salvage claim will result. The Lapwing was found uninjured, except that her false keel was knocked away, and part of the copper stripped. Her cargo of wheat and flour has been saved, and will be sold today. The Glimpse is high and dry. Her hull is sound, and her cargo of preserved meat will also be sold to-day. Oamaru, Tuesday. A largely attended public meeting took place to-night to consider Mr. Conyers’ proposal to place the railway passenger station north of the gas works. The meeting resolved that Mr. Conyers’ proposal meets with the approval of the meeting, an amendment, that Mr. Conyers’ proposal would prove inimical to the interests of the town, being lost. Dunedin, Tuesday. A man named Christie, a well-known coach driver at Outram, poisoned himself this afternoon by taking four ounces of laudanum. An inquest will be held to-morrow. At the quarterly meeting of the Licensing Court to-day the question of the desirability of hotelkeepers being allowed to carry on racing sweeps was raised, and after discussion the Bench directed the police to bring up at the next licensing meeting a report on the matter. The Licensing Bench complimented the Dunedin publicans, and said no city iu the colony was so well off as this for good and respectably conducted hotels.

The Harbor Board desires to express its sincere regret that the Hon. Mr. Reynolds, while Chairman of the Board, should have- expressed himself as he did iu his speech on the Harbor Board Bill. ’ Invercargill, Tuesday. Val Vose, the ventriloquist, Madame Cora, and company arrived from Melbourne to-day, aud open at the Theatre Royal to-morrow night. They will play for a week and then go North. Great indignation is felt hero at the proposition to construct a railway from Greenhills to Toi Toi. A public meeting is convened to discuss the question. The Bluff Harbor Board had a busy sitting this afternoon, mostly in committee. Thirtyfive applications for tho position of chief pilot at the Bluff were considered, and Captain George. Thomson, sometime a settler at Forest Hill, but an old sailor holding high testimonials, was selected for the office, and John McDonald was appointed junior pilot. With regard to Professor Black’s application for a part of the Bluff Harbor endowment, it was resolved that ns some aspersions had been cast upon him, an assurance should be conveyed to him that the Board was of opinion that he was quite justified in acting as he had done, and that it was evident the misapprehension arose through the mistake in tho names.