GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 261, 30 January 1873, Page 6

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

Messrs Peebles and Dunn, the American Spiritualists, were passengers by the Albion. MrL M'Gillivray, M.H.R. for Riverton, addressed his constituents on the 21st inst., and received a unanimous vote of confidence. The lnvercargill Jockey Club havo decided to postpone the autumn meeting till the 6th and 7th of March, in consequence of the Tuapeka meeting having been fixed for a date near to that originally announced by the Club. The Roman Catholic residents of Charleston, it is said, purpose entertaining Bishop Moran at a banquet. A quantity of salmon ova is expected at Nelson by the next San Frauci'co steamer, as well as a number of birds. A commission has been appointed by Government to inquire iuto the charges made against the private life (f Mr Eyes by a number of the residents of Marlborough. A recent issue of the New Zealand Gazette contains a notification that thre * blocks of confiscated land of 10,000 Acres each, in the Province of Auckland, havo been set ari.le fer the purpose of an endowment for the New Zealand University. Weundcrstand that warrants were received yesterday from His Excellency the Governor by Mr Caldwell, the t»overnor of *.he ftaol. for the liberation of the five Maori political prisoner^, convicted of high treason in the North Island, who have been confined in Dunedin Gaol since August, IS7I. — Star, Jan. 23. It may interest many to known that Sir B. C. Pine, I he new" (J verm>r of South Australia, is the son of Dr Tine, who was out in New Zealand somewhere about 1848, and for a short time staff-surgeon attached to the 58th. Mr Luckie, M.H. R., is succeeded in the editorship of the Nelson Colomtt by Mr Alexander 11 id, long connected with the Press in Dunedin, an-l favorably known as an experienced member of it in this Colony, and alto in the o'd country. Sittings of ths District Court of the <">tago Goldfiolds are appointed to be held at the Resident Magistra'e's Court, Naseby, on the second Wed rs.lay in March ; in the Uesident Magistrate's '"ourt, Civile, on the Monday following the second Wednesday in March ; in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Queenstown, on the second ; onday after the secoud Wednesday in March ; and in the Resident Magistiate's Court, Lawrence, on the second Tuesday in April. Should any of those days be a ho iday, the sitting is to be held on the first day afterwards that is not a holiday. Postal changes are proverbially prolifi j of mistake. The introduction of the halfpenny statr.p for the postage of newspapers within tbe Colony furnishes an instance, and the officers of th? post office have already begun to feel the aunoyance rt suiting from' ignosancs of the rule regarding these stamps. It 13 desired, f r statistical reasons, that the half-penny stamp should be used exclusively for newgpiper3 not s. Nt out pf the Colony, and consequently should not be. put upon le'ten of any clas*, or pa era posed to places out of the Colo iy The distinction made by the department in this matter will prove toniiwhat ' irksome at times, but no doubt there is sufficient reason for doing so, an-1 people will probably spare themselves co isid-raMe irritatiou by confining the use of the new half-penny s amp to papers addressed within the Colony. Writing to Mr Steward, M.H.R. for Waitaki, under date the 13ch inst , the Minister for fublic Works says, in reference t> tbe Waitaki-iuoeraki line : - " I have the honor to acknowledge tbe receipt of yonr letter of the 29 h December, in which you draw my attention to the promise made by the lite Minister for Public Works that the Wai aki and Moeraki railway should be undertake at as early a date as possible, and nr,'e the carrying out of this work without delay. In reply, f b^gto inform you that the w.-rkinsj plans are in the hands of Messrs BrQgden and !-ons, who are under enga?ement to send in a tender for the const uction of the line by the 31-st ; and to assure you that any delay that has, taken place has been unavoidable, the Governirient bein» anxious" to get the work in hand as spetdil/ as possible " The Riverton ferry dispute has been shifted into the District Court by the committal of Horomanu Patu aid George Howell for forcibly entering tue f rry-honse li c informations against lnstone, &liil<, and Campbell, charging them with destroying the boundary fence around the Maori reserve, were dismissed, as th»y involved aqu»stion of title, which placed the matter beyond the jurisdiction of a Resident Magistrate's Court The dispute has excited great interest at Riverton, and the approaching trial in the district Court is lookel forward to with considerable curiosity. At Melbourne on tin loth inst., Mr Joshua F-inner had an interview with the Hon. Julius Vogcl and the Hon. Mr Reynold*, and 'brqusht under their attentiqn the desir : ab.ilisy of- American gteamer? touching at gnnae other of the islands on thqr route across the Pacific, and so open up a traffic Vetween the Australian Colonies and Central and North America. Mr Yogel thought that at present there would ba considerable danger in performing such a service with the cla*s of steamers now engaged. Mr Reynolds endeavoured to impress on Mr Firmer the desirabil.ty of establishing a branch line via Sydney to Auckland. Mr Finner's object ■was to bring tbe Colonies into communication, via the Sonth Sea Islands, with NewGran 'da, through the Isthmus of which it has been proposed to cut a canal ; but his views received no encouragement from the New Zealand delegates. The sale of runs at the Crown Lands Office, on the 20th, attracted a large attendance. Mr James Milner was the auctioneer. Kun No. 303, situated on the west bank of the Waiau River, Opposite its junction with the Wairaki, and containing 15 20 1 acres, 6,20 acres Of -nrnicll are fairly grassed land (including 1,800 agricultural), 6,<i00 acres ferny land, and 3,000 acres of bush, possession to be given on January, 1874, realised LB2O, in addition to a premium of LBB 63 Id, the purchasers being Messrs John M Kellar and E. B Cargill. Run Ko. 350, situated r-n the west shore of Lake Wakatio, and c«ntaininz 48 PO l acres. 20,000 of which are grassed land (including 700 acres agricultural), 15 000 acres ferny land partly grMsed, 5,000 acres with little grass, and 6,0 0 acres of bush, possession to be given in February 1874. was purchased by Mr Larnach for 12,995. in addition to the premium of L 245 19.3 21. Run 394, on the east shore of Te Anau Lake, and containing 29,000 acres, 9.000 qf which are {airly grassed land (including 3 000 acres agricultural), 18..0Q0 ferny land, and 2,000 acres bush, w*s purchased^ by Messrs Oaliden and Booth for L 1.500.. 500. in addition to the premium of LI 39 16s 2d. Fun 443, on the *est bank of the Waiau, containing 2,600 acres, l,oooof which ars open country, the remainder being scrub and bush; and run 442, on the west ford of Te Anau Lake, containing 82.000 acres, 18,000 of which are fairly grassed laud, 30,000 high summer country, and the rest bush, were purchased by Mr John M'Gregor; the first for L 5, with a preminm of L 7 17s 7d added, and the second for LIOO, with L 167 3s premium. The following rural lands were also sold :— Bjueakin, sec. 1, VJock §, 190, 10, dp, Gv E. mi &> C&WjtOP*

T-3 each ; sec. 1, block 9, W. Percival ; Bees. 3 and 4, do., G. E. aud A. Charlton ; sec. 7, do, sec 1, block 10, see. 9, bock 10, W. Peroival ; s c 19, block 3. Catherine Butterfield ; Eeca. 18 and 19, block 9, Jane Fredrick, L 3 each ; sec 5, block 9, *V. Percival, I 303 ; Dunedin anl East Taiori, seo. 2 of 32, block 4 (93 acres 3r. 8o.). L 46 17s 6d, Jas Renton ; sec. 23 book 5 (112 acres), L 56 2j 6d, A 1 ex. Wilso.i ; Otakia. sec. 15, block 3 (116 aens 3r. 3p.), 1.98 11s 3d, Messrs Hepburn, M 'Laren, and Blatch. At the nomination for Waihopa', Mr Wood, who has been elected for the district, spoke as fo lows :—" With regard to the conduct < f the Superintendent, he would say that if \ anyone wished to feiid him up to Dunedin for the purpose of supporting Air Donad Reid, or for thn puipose of censuring Mr Macan^rew for his late action, he was a -it prepared to go up for any such purpose. He considered Air Macandrew and Mr Ueidboth to be good men in their places, and he thought it was a pity they could not pull bolter together. He considered the uperintandent was justified in asking Mr Ueid to lesign his SJiit in the Executive, when he accepted a seat in the Ministry, ile was also justified when he offered to reinstate him, and Mr > eid should have accepted that offer. Personal feeing might have entered into the de.ision which Mr Reid arrived at, but men iv *he positions of Air - acandrew and Mr Heid should not allow personal feelings to influence their decisions on pubUj questions. In so far as Air bed refused to accept the offer of re-instatonu nt he was wrong. As far as he (Mr Wood) was yet informed, there was no blame to be attached to the Superintendent up to that point, but then he ought to have called the (.Vuncil together at once The gentlemen whom he how had for his advisers might be eminmtly qualified for that position, or ihey might not. 'ihe repnsentativei of the people ' should have been called together, an<l afforded the opi ortunity of pronouncing their verdict < n the matter, wh'ci verdict the Superintendent, of c:ur>e, wou'il have had to accept. By not taking this course, the Superintendent ha I laid himself open to grave c mnre. Nevertheless, if he (Vlr wood) went up, he would undertake to investigate the matter on its merits, and bring no party feeling to bear on the question I f he found t ese gentlemen were not entitled to the confidence of the Council, he won'd be the first to help to put them nut ; !>ufc if he f"un>l that they were woithy of cinfidencp, he would not be a party to putting them out merely on account of the way in which they had been put in. He w u'd never go into any assembly pledged through thick and thin to support any man, or to pull down any man. He would like thi3 question and all others, to be decided solely ou their merits. He thought, however, that when the Council met, a measure should be framed with tho \iewof preventing similar notion on the part of the Superintendent for .the future."