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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 239, 9 April 1866, Page 2

It would appear that winter had set in, the last three days have been stormy, with almost incessant rain and occasional showers of. hail, sleet, and snow. We understand that the railway engineer who had agreed to retain office pending the investigation of the Commissioner to be appointed has resigned, in consequence of its having- been intimated to him that he was subject tp dismissal on a month's notice previous to the investigation alluded to. We understand thafc he had some time since intimated to the Government his intention of retiring after the commissioner had reported. The Wellington Advertiser of the 30th ult. ■}buß describes a fire which broke oufc the previous evening :— "Afc a little past six o'clock jesterday morning, smoke was seen issuing irom some small stores belonging to Messrs Berfchune and Hunter* and situated between the Exchange Buildings and Mr W. B. Rhodes' extensive premiaes. An alarm was soon given, but, before assistance could be obtained, flames burst forth, and it was evident that a dangerous fire had commenced. Large numbers of persons quickly flocked to the spot, and used every endeavor to remove the contents — principally consisting of sulphur, pitch, tools and wool — from that of the buildings where the fire had not yet reached. In these endeavors they were fortunately most successful. The New Zealand Insurance Company's engine, being close at hand, was immediately brought to play on the burning building by Mr Petford, and, the sea being only a lew yards off, a very copious supply ■ of water was thrown from the hose. The other engines arrived soon after— the first being in charge of lieutenant Quin, V.F.8., and they also were soon at work. The consequence, was that the fire, which burned with great brightness, favored by the N.W. wind blowing at the time, was -speedily got under, and but a small loss of property was sustained." The Provincial Council of Auckland assented to to the proposal of the Government of the Province to recommend the Governor to grant a lease for 21 years of 80 acres on the Watekerei coast line of titaniferous sand, to Mr Erancis White, an Auckland settler. The Southern Cross says :— " Hitherto, we have heard of the Taranaki iron sand, as if iron sand existed only in Taranaki. It ought to be» known that ifc is generally- distributed along the whole of the West Coast line of the Province of Auckland, and in many of the bays on the East Coast. Mr White's lease of 80 acres, although it will cover somewhere like ten miles of the coast, is but an insignificant portion of the iron sand deposit of this Province. The fear expressed by some members, therefore, that this source of wealth would be locked up, was somewhat groundless." On the subject of the recall of Sh- Charles Darling, we find the following in the Hobart Town Mercury of the 27th inst. :— " We gather Irom a private letter received in Hobart Town yesterday, that His Excellency has been informed by home authorities that, so soon as he has earned hiß pension, wliich, it is added, will be in about another month, his services will be dispensed with. Apart from this, the long stay of Sir Richard Macdonald in London, after his appointment to Hong Kong, and whilst actually on his way thither, lends countenance to the belief that he is to be Sir Charles Darling's successor. In any case, Sir Charles Darling's power to work, further mischief must be nearly at an end." "Yesterday morning," says the Sydney Morning Herald of the 27th ult., "was the time appointed for the execution of Bertrand. No further reprieve had been granted, and no action had been taken by the Executive to stay the execution. The only instrument wanting was the warrant of the judge for the delivery of the body. Ihe case even in this, aspect is singular. Bertrand is now under no greater restraint than his companions, and is treated in every respect as a prisoner awaiting his trial." One ofthe longest trials on record is that of Bruce and Others ■». the Victoria Government arising out of the claims for extras &c, upon the er eat railway contract. On the subject the Argus of the 31st March, says':—" The trial afc bar of Bruce and Others v. The Queen was finished, so far as fcbncerhs the jury, on Thursday evening, at about ten a.m., the 'thirty-eighth^ day of the trial. The jurj found a verdict in ffivour of the petitioners on all the several' issues of the case. They found that most of the work charged for bad been ordered by the agents of the Crown, and had been done by the petitioners, The prioes given 'were, however, generally those named as fair by the Crown witnesses rather than those claimed by the petitioners. The verdict was for the petitioners j damages on all the twenty-nine items of claim put together, £166,000 odd, with interest at nine per cent, from the Ist July last, making £177,000 odd in all. Oa the oro§s claim of the Crown for injury to the plant lent to th-a petitioners, tliere was a verdict for the Crown j

Crown for penalties for> delay,' by non-complefcidn of the line on the contract day, the jury assessed the amount of thoso penalties et £120,000. yA special finding -was added, that the whole of the delay in the^ completion of the line was due to hindrances caused by the agents of the Crown. A formal verdict was entered for 405., subject to be moulded as the court shall, «n the law and fact?" and on the contracts between the parties, determine to be proper. The questions still to be determined by the Court affect the validity of the claim of the crown for the penalties under the special finding of the jury as to whose acta caused those penalties to be incurred, and as to a large proportion of the items of damages given by fche verdict to the petitioners. The Court intimated that there was not fche least probability that these questions could be argued and determined this term." ■