TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5632, 18 April 1879, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PEE PRESS AGENCY.)

Auckland,’ Thursday,

At the soiree of the Working Men’s Club, the secretary said it would shortly be entirely clear of financial burdens. , i

The adjourned inquest regarding the death of George Cox, stoker on the Kaipara railway, was continued on the 15th April, at the Kaipara Hotel. The jury, after a long deliberation, Agreed,’—That the deceased George Cox, stoker on the Kaipara- railway, met with his death on the 4th April, 1879, through injuries received while in the execution of his duty by falling of a water-tank on the said railway ; that we, the jury, are of opinion that this accident would not have happened had not there! been gross negligence on the part of those entrusted with the duties of supervision. In the Supreme Court to-day, the Judge had ju-t passed sentence on Hill for forgery, and prisoner was emerging from the dock, when an elderly woman of notorious character, who had been sitting hard by, unobserved, rushed over and struck him severely two or- three times with her parasol, accompanying the action with a shrill exclamation, “ You have got your rich deserts ; I commend the magistrate lor his decision.” The Court gazed upon the scene with countenances indicative of blank amazement, and the prisoner hastily sought a place of refuge, while Detective ; Jeffrey - made for the irate female, and adroitly ran the Offender out of Court in about the quickest time on record. The following sentences were passed Henry Charles Hill, forgery, eighteen months; Eliza Ellis, larceny of wearing! apparel, &0,, and larceny as a bailee, two years ; Joseph Button, receiving stolen property, twelve months. ~The Waste Lands Board to-day granted a small island near Tanranga for the use of the natives; ~ '• ■ '' ’

Thos. Bridgewater, cook on .the steamer Minnie Casey, was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment for stealing a silver watch from a man at Matakohe. ‘ ■

c Mr. Alfred Cox, a leading’settler in the Waikato, was presented by the residents of Hamilton this afternoon with a magnificent solid silver epergne, two and a half feet in height, and a valedictory address prior to his departure from that district. Napieb, Thursday.

■ The Hawke’s. Bay .County. Council decided to-day to vote,£soo towards the erection of a new hospital,..besides a vote of £250 for for the year. ~ There, is some feeling being excited, here respecting the intention of the Governmenji to, alter the bouh-

dary of the Hawke’s Bay County without the consent of the Council, and without even consulting it. This is to be done under the Temporary Powers Act of last session, at the instigation of the Eangitikei County Council, to procure the annexation to that county of the Patea District, now included in the Hawke’s Bay County. To-day the County Council passed a resolution protesting against the contemplated action by the Government. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court to-day the charges of conspiracy against G. Kinross, F. Sutton, and G. B. Worgan were discharged, there being no appearance for the prosecution. There were three informations ; two by Keihana Ikatahi and Meihana Takihi against Kinross and Worgan, and the other by Poaro Nouoi against Sutten and Worgan, Mr. Rees being the solicitor of all three cases. He is in Auckland at present, but if he had chosen he could have got another remand had he had any chance of making a case against the defendants. On the part of the prosecution it is alleged that the reason the cases were not proceeded with was because Worgan, who is in prison at Wangauui, could not be produced. But there was no absolute necessity for it, as it is not at all uncommon for only a portion of the parties to a conspiracy to be prosecuted in the absence of the others. The prosecution made a great show about the difficulty of Worgan, though really there is nothing in it. They applied to the Crown to produce Worgan, but of course they were refused; they then applied to a Judge in Wellington for habeas, but that also was refused, and now they say that the cases stand over until Worgan can be produced. The information against Kinross for perjury is fixed for hearing in Wellington on May 1: —the informant is Paramene One One. Nelson, Thursday. At the Supreme Court last night Samuel Colam was charged with perjury, but was acquitted.

The case of McNamarav. the Norwich Union Insurance Company is now proceeding. In this case the claim is refused on the ground that the stock destroyed in plaintiff’s store, which was burnt, was very largely over-insured. The claim is for £6OO.

Rekfton, Thursday, A fatal accident occurred at the Golden Fleece mine to-day. A miner named Richard White was standing at the mouth of the shaft doing some work when his foot slipped, and he fell to the bottom of the shaft, 150 feet. Death is supposed to have been instantaneous, as when found a few moments later life was extinct. The body was dreadfully mangled. He leaves a wife and two children. John Allan, of Allan and Graham, was thrown from his horse to-day and seriously injured. The tender of Mr. J. Fraser (£11,504), for constructing the Ashburton branch railway, has been accepted. Mr. Commissioner Conyers has resumed the duties of his office.

A project is on foot to form a private railway from Christchurch to Taitapu, with a view of ultimately connecting with the proposed Akaroa railway. Chbistohdech, Thursday.

At a meeting of the Board of Education for North Canterbury to-day a committee was appointed to proceed to the Southbridge school to make inquiry into several alleged cases of cobbing. At the same meeting it was resolved to defer the appointment of the master of the Normal School until the next meeting. At the Ashburton Resident’s Magistrate’s Court to-day George Hamilton, whose stacks were recently burned down, was committed on a charge of incendiarism. Bail was allowed. A most determined attempt to burn down the furniture shop of H. Fuhrman, Colombostreet, took place last evening. At the rear of Fuhrman’s warehouse, in which there was a very large stock, is a sort of lean-to open to the back yard entrance, which is gained by a gate in Cathedral-square. This lean-to is lighted by a small window. The person or persons attempting to set fire to the premises had broker, open this gate, and then smashed in . the window. Immediately under the window were a quantity of iron bedsteads wrapped round with paper, and close by a heap of paper and wrappers from bedsteads sold and removed from off the bedsteads had been poured a quantity of inflammable liquid, consisting of kerosene, varnish, &c., and by the bedstead was lying a full bottle of the same mixture. Judging from the number of matches lying about several attempts had been made before the stuff took fire however, and this must have been at last accomplished, as when it was discovered this morning the fire had burnt the whole of the wrapping paper off the bedsteads, and had also ran part of the way up the lining of the building, burning the boards. Fortunately the fire must, when it reached nearly to the ceiling, have died out of its own accord, as there are no further traces. Had it once caught a heap of paper in the corner a large and probably destructive fire would have occurred, as the shop is surrounded by wooden buildings, amongst them being the present ! Telegraph office, which is next door. Oamaeu, Thursday,

The annual meeting of the North Otago Rifle Association took place to-day. The weather was fine. Forty-five men competed for the Ladies’ Challenge Belt, which was won by Volunteer R. Harding, of Oamaru. Dunedin, Thursday. A man named Wilson was admitted into the Hospital this evening for treatment, he having taken poison. W. Martin, a railway employe, had his skull fractured to-day by having his head jammed between two railway trucks. The master bakers in town have agreed to raise the wholesale price of the 41b. loaf to 5Jd. on and after Monday next, and to form an association for the protection of their interests.

The Public Works Department are calling for tenders for reclaiming 40 acres of the Upper Harbor. The following telegram, from the Minister of Public Works, addressed to Messrs. Oliver, Bastings, and Driver,- M.H.R.’s, has been made public:—“Von must be under some misapprehension re Addington workshop. You cannot mean that there are to be no workshops in Canterbury, or that the removal of the existing workshop from Christchurch to Addington is detrimental to Dunedin, or implies that the principal workshops in the Middle Island is to be at Addington, The whole of the railway station ground at Christchurch is required for other purposes, hence the removal of the shops to Addington as provided by the Appropriation Act. I regret that this should offend the mercantile people at Dunedin.— J. Macandrkw.”

So disgracefully did some of the Volunteers returning from Invercargill behave themselves when in Dunedin on Tuesday night that the interference of the police on more than one occasion had- to be invoked. An information has been laid against a man named Eastwood, belonging to the Timaru Corps, lor his disorderly conduct, and he will have to answer to the charge at the .City'Police Court as soon as the warrant can be executed.

Invercargill, Thursday.

An inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of Thomas Lynch;' concerning whom Timothy Whelan was yesterdayarrested on suspicion of murder, was held to-day before H. McCulloch, Esq., coroner. The evidence went to prove that a scuffle took place between the parties in a tent at the New River railway bridge, but that it was of a trivial nature ; it ended, however, in the death of Lynch. Medical testimony was to the effect that death was caused by congestion of the lungs, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly, adding that the evidence did not’ warrant them in saying how this was caused. The Town Council are taking preliminary steps towards giving his Excellency a befitting reception on the occasion of his visit here a few days hence. The report of the Inspector of Forests for the past month, which was read at the Waste Lands Board to-day, showed the largest return of timber cut in one month since the commencement of the industry in Southland. The amount was 13,180,092 superficial feet, and the royalty on the same was £l6i 15s. , , Poet Chaucers, Thursday. An artillery corps is being formed here. Over sixty members have joined.