LAST NIGHT’S WIRES.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 83, 5 March 1884, Page 2

LAST NIGHT’S WIRES.

[Per United Press Association.] Nelson, March 4. At the inquest on the body of John Smith Furniss, found drowned, the following letter posted on Friday evening to Mrs. Furniss, and which had been obtained from the postoffice by her son-in-law with the permission of the widow, who is in Wellington, was read :—“ Mary,—When you receive this I will be no more. Sam and Sarah are as Judas Iscariot. They be a man by saying ‘ whomsoever I put my finger on take him.’ I forgive all your unkindness to me. Signed S. Furniss.” The jury returned a verdict of “ Drowned while suffering from temporary insanity.” Dunedin, March 4. A quantity of potassium has been found scattered about the railway-station platform. It seems a package was forwarded two years ago to the Otago University, and has been lying overlooked in the station ever since. Invercargill, March 4. The floods have driven thousands of rabbits out of their burrows, and the passengers by the Kingston train report the line almost blocked by the rabbits, which when overtaken took to swimming. Martin’s sawmills at Winton Bush have been burned down. They were insured for £650 in the New Zealand, National, Union, and Victoria. Timaru, March 1. Joseph Maekay, late a Government insurance agent, has been committed for trial on a charge of embezzlement of premiums. Other cases are pending against him. Wanganui, March 4. A boy named Hall was walking beside another boy on horseback on Sunday, when a third boy on the other side touched the horse with a stick. The horse kicked, and struck Hall just above the eye, inflicting a terrible wound, from which the brains protruded. He was taken to a neighboring hotel, where Dr. Earl and Connelly operated on him, taking a number of pieces of bone away. Yesterday the boy was well enough to be removed to the hospital and detail the facts of the accident. He is now progressing favorably. A man named Peoples who had been drinking heavily attempted to poison himself by taking a lot of “ Rough on Rats,” but

medical attendance being prompt he recovered. Hawera, March 4. A fire occurred this morning in the shop of Brookes, photographer, and extended on one side to the premises of Suitor, tailor, and on the other to Pitcher, watchmaker and jeweller. Suitor and Mrs. Pitcher narrowly escaped suffocation by smoke. The fire was got under before much damage was done. The buildings were insured in the Northern and National for £4OO, Pitcher’s stock and furniture in the Colonial for £7OO, Suitor’s in the National for £2OO, and Brookes, the principal loser, was uninsured. Auckland, March 4. A fire broke out last night at Mount Eden Road, destroying the premises of George Creamer, carpenter, and Mr. Patrick, painter. The fire originated in Creamer’s house, no one being in at the time. The building was insured in the South British for £125. Patrick’s house was insured by the owner (Mrs. Buchanan) in the New Zealand for £5O. Patrick’s furniture was also insured. The adjacent house, occupied by Nelson, carpenter, was also damaged. It was insured in the Liverpool and London and Globe for £lOO, and the furniture for £5O. The Auckland Fire Brigade went out to the city boundary, but finding the fire was on the opposite side of the boundary road they at once turned back to town. At two o’clock this morning the house of Wall, draper, Queen Street, was found to be on fire. The fire brigade was promptly on the ground and extinguished it, but great damage was done to the stock. The shop formed part of a block which is insured for £l,OOO in the Standard. Wall’s stock was insured for £3,000. The police consider the circumstances of the fire suspicious, and are making enquiries.

The schooner Golden Isle, which arrived in harbor last night from Tonga, brings news of a severe hurricane which swept over the island on Feb. 7, lasting to the 10th. The storm, which was of a rotary nature, commenced at S.E., ending in the westward. It did considerable damage to houses and plantations. A number of the former were destroyed, whilst trees were uprooted and blown down. Fortunately no lives were lost. When the first indications of the hurricane were felt, every preparation was made to meet the full force of the storm, so that the extent of the damage was not so great as might otherwise have been the case. The barometer was down to 29-18. The Golden Isle fell in with the hurricane when about twelve miles off the island, during which the starboard bulwarks were carried away and other damage done.

There is splendid weather to-day. The Auckland Citizens’ Match was the first, Southern men firing first to enable them to leave this afternoon. The Team and Civilian Matches are the only remaining ones. The Wanaka is being detained to take the Southern men this evening. The following is the prize list of the Citizen’s Match : —Buchanan (Auckland) Gl, £6 and Mr. Hayman’s Cup value £6 ; Bell (Auckland) 57, £5 and Mr. Porter’s Cup, value £5 55.; J. H. Haslett (Auckland) 56, £4 and Mr. H. Hazard’s binocular value £5 ss. ; Cox (Wangarei) 55, £3 and Kohn’s inkstand and pencil-case; Hoskings (Taranaki) 54, £3 and Goodson’s epergne; Paynter (Nelson), Newdick (Thames), 54; Patterson (Thames), Ross (Wanganui), Hawk (Thames) each 53, £1; Dixon (Wellington), Floyd (Thames), Churton (Wanganui), Trayes (Auckland), each 52 ; Henderson (Auckland), F. France (Wellington), Allen (Auckland), Dornie (Thames), Webster (Auckland) McGonagle (Wanganui), Moore (Wairoa), Williams (Napier), Taylor (Auckland), Little (Auckland), each 51, and Bucklie (civilian), 50, take £1 each.

The following are prize-takers of £lO and over during the meeting : —Churton (Wanganui) £56, Purnell (do) £29 10s, Ross (Napier) £29, Aamodt (Wanganui) £2l, White and Hughes (Auckland) each £l7, Cooper (Auckland) and Stitt (Wanganui) each £l2, Sterling (Auckland) £ll, Brownlow (Thames), Lee (Auckland), Gill (Thames) and Webb (Wellington) each £lO. A steady breeze blowing across the range yesterday kept the shooting from being as good as usual. The following were the prizetakers in the Marlborough Match, for rifles, 500 and 600 yards, 10 shots—White (Auckland) 69, £l6 ; Parnell (Wanganui) 66, £8 ; McGonagle (do,) 65, £6 ; Lee (do.) 65, £6 ; Giblin (Nelson) 63, £4 ; Churton (Wanganui) 63, £3 ; Hay (Auckland) 59, £3 ; J. Haslett (do) 66, £2 , Soper (Blenheim) 58, £2 ; A. Thomas (Thames) 58, £2 ; Harding (Blenheim) 58, £2 ; Leigh (Auckland) 57, £2 ; Hosking (Taranaki) 57, £2; Downie (Thames) 56, £2 ; Cooper (Auckland) 56, £2; Flyger (Wanganui) 55, Cox (Auckland) 54, Nutford (Wanganui) 54, Buchanan (Auckland) 54, A. Ballinger (Wellington) 53, Wills (Taranaki) 53, Fair (Auckland), Kennedy (Otago), Brook (do.), Hunter (do.), each 52, each take £l. Great interest was felt in this and the Union Co. Matches, as they were the last competitions before the selection of the twenties to fire the final stages of the Championship. Churton, of Wanganui, continued to shoot in his usual form, and, increasing his lead, he won the Champion Rifle Belt with a score of 298, being 23 above Purnell. Hughes also improved his position, and was placed third with a score of 264. J. H. Haslett fired for the Rifle Championship instead of Leigh. Very little interest was taken in the shooting to-day, and there were scarcely half-a-dozen spectators present. The matches to be completed were the Auckland, Citizens, Civilians, and the Rifle and Carbine Challenge Matches. In the former there were 140 competitors, and the principal prizes fell to Auckland. The Civilians’ Match was also won by an Aucklander, while they also appropriated first and second prizes in the Rifle Team Match, and first for Carbine Team Match. The shooting throughout the meeting has not been good and the range is not favorably spoken of by the representatives. The following are the results of the Team Matches:—Carbines.—No. 2 Team Auckland Artillery, 362, £3O; No. 1 Team Thames Navals, 353, £l5; No. 1 Team Auckland Artillery, 342, £5. The other competing teams were—Wellington Artillery, 310; Wellington Navals, 338 ; Wellington Navals, 330; Thames Navals, 324. Rifles.—No. 2 Team Victoria Rifles, Auckland, 364, £3O ; No. 1 Team Victoria Rifles, Auckland, 355, £l5 ; Thames Rangers, 319, £5. The other competing teams were—Wanganui Rifles, 318; No. 1 Team Auckland City Guards, 307; No. 2 Team Auckland City Guards, 307; Wanganui City Rifles, 307; Wairoa Rifles, 281. The meeting closed at six o’clock this evening, and most of the Southern representatives leave for home on Thursday. Wooley wins the Carbine Challenge Cup as highest scorer in the winning team for carbines, and Sergeant Taylor the Rifle Challenge Cup. Soundings taken at Tiritiri by Lieutenant Oldham, of H.M. Lark, have been taken Home by Captain Brotherton, who left today by the Zealandia, and will be available, should they be needed, at the impending law case between the late owners of the Triumph and the underwriters. The Cambrian Society gave a grand soiree and concert last evening, in honor of St. David’s Day. The Mayor presided, and 700 were present. The Auckland asphalted wharf has attracted the favorable notice of the Hon. Thomas Loader, a Melbourne Harbor Board Commissioner, and that body has applied to the Harbor Board for a tracing of the Queenstreet wharf. Wall’s stock was insured in the Colonial for £l,OOO, and in the Norwich Union for £2,000. As showing the altered state of the administration of the Licensing Laws under the new Committees at Kawakawa, a license was refused to Mr. J. Panter, on the ground of his being a single man. He had held a license in Auckland and elsewhere for sixteen years. At Karangahape the Licensing Committee refused a transfer of the license and adjourned the Court, as the police had not reported on the house in terms of the Act. It appears that the practise of reporting had fallen into disuse, and no report was prepared.

At a meeting of the Harbor Board, the motion of Mr. J. M. Clark to reconsider the appointment of Mr. Errington, C.E., as the Calliope Dock Engineer, was negatived by the casting-vote of the Chairman.

Christchurch, March 4. Mr. J. M. Moorhouse, 70 years old, and a seven years’ resident in Southbridge, was killed at noon by falling off a load of straw near Kaiapoi.

Mr. W. Pratt, an old settler, about to visit England, invites his friends to a muff cricketmatch and champagne lunch to-morrow. Mr. Fox has returned from prospecting in the Wilberforce district. He reports the country very rough and the weather fearfully severe. On one occasion he and his companions narrowly escaped drowning by a stream, which rose suddenly one night and washed away the camp. Sir W. Fox unveiled the f* un lation-stone of the Young Men’s Christian Association’s building, in the presence of a large assemblage, at Heathcote. All the candidates nominated for the Licensing Committee are temperance men. Wellington, March 4. Major Willis, formerly M.H.R. for Rangitikei, died at Marton on Saturday night. A fire which destroyed two wooden cottages at Kensington, the property of Marsden, tinsmith, occurred shortly before 12 o’clock last night. It originated in one of the houses occupied by John Massey. At the time of the fire only his two daughters were in the house, who state that when they went to bed they left a lamp burning on the dresser close to the shelf in the kitchen. Some time afterwards they were awakened by the cracking of flames and by smoke in the room. They knew nothing of the origin. The furniture (uninsured) was destroyed. The adjoining house was occupied as a board-ing-house by Mrs. Edwards. Her furniture and effects were also uninsured. Mrs. Croat, who owned the boarding-house, was insured in the South British for £3OO. Marsden’s house was insured for £650 in the London and Lancashire. A number of Chinese residents in Wellington have made a donation of £39 17s. to the funds of the hospital. Messrs. Baird and Hutchison, M.H.Rs., have been added to the Caswell Sound Company’s directorate.