TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1294, 24 January 1885, Page 3

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

A tire broke out at 1 o’clock on Thursday morning in Weythe’s (Bootmaker) shop at Masterton, which was totally destroyed. The loss is £2OO. The building was insured in the North British office for £IOO. The stock and tools were insured in the Northern Company. The adjoining two storey building of Bradford, gunsmith, was also destroyed. The loss is £250. The building was insured in the New Zealand office for £125, and the contents (partially sated) for £75 in the same office, The Land Board at Invercargill was recently compelled to refuse applications to complete purchase, by deferred payment selectors, owing to receipt of a circular from the Lands Department,! to the effect that the Act of 1884 was retrospective, so far as thfl clause relating to a six-years’ residence is concerned. The Board took the opinion of Judge Williams, and this was read on Thursday. Ho stated the Act was not retrospective, and failed to see how any doubt could have arisen on the point. The Board afterwards granted the applications. The Colonial Bank’s half-yearly report recommends the paying of a dividend of 7 per cent, to add £IO,OOO to the reserve fund, and carry forward £2565 19s Bd. It is rumored that the Government intends sending Mr Macandrew to Scotland to form a settlement of Highland crofters. The Qreymouth Harbor Board have accepted an offer from Mr Hamilton, engineer of the St. Kilda, for the removal and recovery of the Star of the South for a bonus of £2OO. William Sheehan was again remanded for a week at Auckland in connection with the Castletownroche murders. Superintendent Thomson stated he expected a detective who knew accused by the steamer Himutaka. The Waikato natives are making preparations for the anticipated visit of the Native Minister. In referring to the Sunday liquor trading case on Wednesday, the Wellington Resident Magistrate (Mr Wardell)]'said in order to get a glimpse of what was going on inside during prohibited hours, the police were obliged to slip in aud do other things which were not altogether pleasant. His opinion was that ifjthey would confine themselves to the maintenance of good order outside the hotel, and not show an anxiety to go inside, the whole policy of the Act would be given effect to. The Kingite natives at Wbatiwhatihoe have been holding a series of religious meetings, and the desirableness of abandoning Hauhau superstition has been generally affirmed, but what Christian denominational form of religion shall take its place seems not to be so easy to determine. All are agreed that the form of religion fixed shall have embodied in it Blue Ribbon principles as one of its chief characteristics, Mr R. T. Booth opened his temperance mission on Thursday night at the Theatre Royal, Auckland. The building was crowded to excess, and 200 took the pledge and donned.the blue ribbon at the close of the meeting. At the inquest on the body of Matteo Ta«z?ble, killed by a fall of earth at Pukerau tunnel, Wellington, the evidence showed that every precaution was taken during the progress of the work. An opinion was expressed that the earthquake which was felt previous to the accident might have something to do with it. A verdict was returned that deceased met his death by a fall of earth, but there was no evidence to show how the fall was caused. A man named Hall, a recent arrival from Victoria, was found dead with his throat cut in Goddard’s Hotel, Oamaru, on Thursday morning. He is said to have been in affluent circumstances, and was returning from a visit to a friend in the interior. The New Zealand Refrigerating Company has declared an interim dividend at the rate of ten per cent, for the half year. At Cromwell on Thursday Joseph Beston, a miner and an old resident of the district, committed suicide by shooting himself through the head. He was a single man. A Maori named Kiri was committed on Thursday at New Plymouth to the Lunatic Asylum. He is a Parihaka native, and his hallucination was of such a nature as to make Te Whiti jealous. He declared that he was appointed by God to rule the natives, and that he had power to kill all wicked people, both Europeans and Maoris. To Whiti did not. like this attempted

usurpation of his authority, <md was the means of having Kiri sent to an asylum. Remenyi, the violinist, appeared in the Theatre iloyal, Timaru, last Wednesday and Thursday nights, largo audiences being present.