DUNEDIN.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4513, 22 June 1883, Page 2

DUNEDIN.

Yesterday,

The Harbor Board to-day considered ' the offer of Kincaid, McQueen aid Co. to alter tbe big dredge and dredge the bar j to a depth of 24 feet at love water. The Chairman of the Board ( lMr Fish) wrote' from Wellington expressing a afcrong opinion that tbe offer should be accepted. After discussion it was resohred to inform Kmeaid, McQueen and Co. that by section 67 of the Act, the Board could not accept the offer without calling for public terdew. The Board also instructed the Works Committee to draw up specifications with a view to calling for tenders ' for the deepening of the bar. With regard to the dredge, Mr Boss, a member of tbe Board, asserted that the inefficient results attained by | the dredge were due to the inefficient i management. He tbought the wrong ' people bad charge of her, and sugges'ed , that, conjointly ■ with the engineer, he i should be allowed to hare control of her for a month; and' they would get out of her what she was capable of doing. The , following motion was therefore carried ; —•• That Mr fioss be authorised to make •ny changes in the working of the dredge during the next two months that he may see fit, and that he be authorised to employ any additional labor on board the dredge-'.' • ,5,' I This day. At the gaol enquiry to-day the chaplain made grare charges, implicating Caldwell, the/late Governor. He said oue night warder Clarke went to hint saying that he did rot kno^r whether he was doing right, but felt ill <at ei&e because a prisoner named Ciimmoek (of Atheneum fire no!":>riety) was bein<r ill treated, acd some action should be tikea. He promised the warder that be would call and see for himseif; he saw Cummock, who was in one of the^dat'kest cells, and said that for three nights he wa9 made to lie in an open corridor with asphalt fleering, and had to sleep on f'jo hire asphalt. Cummock suffered from rheurnuism, and' considering what he said, (he chaplain concluded they were trying to drag irom hisn what ho had told the Inspector of Prison*, Hand an nttoropt was being." made if> rorio'jsly injure him. Ho ' did *no*t s'.afe t'lolo tliiugs U\ \'w visiting justices because he had no ,comfi.dence in. them/ This kind of persecution had apparently been put a stop to. He did not complain to CaldweU; his reason for aaying that he had no confidence in the justices was that, Qaldwell seemed have supreme power, and because witness paid special attention to some prisoners, Caldwell seemed manifestly--down on thsm; on that account C^ey were worried and annoyed, 1 but he could not tell for what reason; this caused . him, to refrain from ! rendering special services for two years | -and.nine months. Prior to a change in the management, the relations with the gaoler were not of a most friendly character. He noticed a marked difference regarding the additional terms of imprisonment since the change of governors ; prior to that he bad noticed "every Saturday, for years?, a whole striufr pf teu or twelve, perhaps more, and the Court sitting for hours. Since the change, this < had gone, prisoners invariably expressing/ themselves-satisfied. ..with the present managememt.' The witness further stated that he had taken advice from several we'll known citizens and" friends, in good positions, as to what course he should take ;•- *their replies were in effect " here is Cald- , well a valuable Government servant, who you say is doing these things—can you prove he doss, if you cannot you will only make matters worse, you will go to the wall and get credit for being an officious

■ gaol chaplain of a hnmatiitarian kirii." A , feeling of utter helplessness and impotency prevented him from .taking action. Before entering on his duties fye ! had been told that " Cald'well 1 was Lord Gtod of the gaol,? and had found I thil to be a fact; his power was immense. The Commissioners visit the Hulk at Port Chalmers, and ait ugain on Monday, when Mr Stout will appear for Caldwell.