ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, ETC.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1248, 4 October 1884, Page 3

ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, ETC.

The body of a Frenchman drowned at Tauranga has been recovered. A boy named James Edie, while gathering ferns on the bank of the Waikato river at Hamilton, slipped in and was drowned.

A portion of a human knee bone, with a large piece of skin attached, was picked up on the Paikakarki Beach, Wellington, on Friday last. It. is believed to belong to one of the Lastinwham's victims. A man named Merrit w;is on Thursday arrested at Auckland on account of his extraordinary conduct in a public street. A loaded revolver was found on him and £162. Drink is believed to bo the cause of his excitement.

New has been received at Auckland from Wairoa of the death of three native children by burning at a place called Whakaki, on Sunday night. A party of fifteen were holding a tangi over the Kndy of an old woman, and went to sleep. The whare caught fire, and the children were burnt before they could be rescued. At the R.M. Court, Waimate, on Wednesday last, George Clark, remanded from the previous day, was charged with an assault with intent to commit rape on Mary Anne Silleaves on the 29th September. Three _ witnesses were examined, the Court being cleared part of the time. The result of the examination was that Clarke was committed for trial at the Supreme Court at Timaru. Bail was allowed, himself in £SO and two sureties of £25 each. The sureties were at once found.

A great fire occurred at Invercargill on Thursday morning, when the premises of Messrs W. Smith (draper), R. Sloan and Son (bootmakers), Reid and Fergusson (watchmakers), Ross (fruiterer), B. Cleave (seedsman), and Cooper and Wilson (ironmongers), were entirely destroyed. The stock of Mr Smith was almost entirely destroyed, but a great part of the goods of the other sufferers were saved, though, of course, damaged by water, etc. The total insurances amounted to £18,650. The cause of the fire is unknown. The fire could have been limited to Mr Smith's establishment (where it originated) but for a scarcity of water.

The libel case at Wanganui was continued on Wednesday, and the case for the defence was finished. Mr McMinn, the defendant, gave evidence, admitting that he wrote one article alleging that Russell had Constable Gillespie removed through malice. He, however, denied writing the letter as to lustful advances, but was prepared to take the responsibility. Mr Izard, for the plaintiff, called a number of witnesses, who spoke highly of the plaintiff's moral character. Mr Russell himself made emphatic denial of the charge relating to the assault on Louise Crawford, and the Maori woman who cannot be found, and explained the cause that led to his writing about the constable. The addresses of Counsel were lengthy, and the summing up of the Judge occupied nearly an hour. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, damages £lO. Considerable interest was taken in the case.