TOWN NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume I, Issue 41, 14 October 1867, Page 3

TOWN NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Tuesday 6 a.m. Parliament is to be prorogued to-day —Captain Buckley and the Volunteer Artillery will furnish a guard of honor on the occasion. There are now* only a small number of members in town. The schooner Manukau was wrecked the other day at the mouth of the Manawatu, when two men were drowned. The vessel was proved at the inquest, held on one of the bodies, to be in a very unseaworthy condition, and the jury condemned very severely the conduct of those who permitted her to go to Sea in the rotten state she was in.

A sale of sundry lots of reclaimed land was held yesterday, out of the forty allotments offered) seven only found purchasers. A man by the name of Duncan Thompson was accidently killed by a fragment of rock blown up when the men employed by Mr Tonks .were blasting the hill behind Willis-street. An inquest has been held at the hospital and a verdict of accidental death returned. The Carandini Concerts are ataracting large audiences, and, judging from the tone of the press, are exciting much enthusiasm. Dr Featherston left with Mr McLean in the St Kilda, and will return overland through the "W airarapa. Mr Barron, late of the “New Zealand Advertiser,” is appointed permanent reporter to the Government at a salary of £SOO per annum. The way the Hansard has been brought out reflects , great credit upon him, and indeed upon all concerned.

In answer to a question by Mr Yog-el with reference to the possession of the island of Opara, Mr Stafford said—“ The sooner the world recognised the fact that there no longer existed an English Imperial Government the better. There was a local Government in Downingstreet, but not an Imperial Government in the old sense of the word. He thought Government did not now attempt to acquire or rule dependencies. It was quite possible that it might be desirable for the New Zealand Government to take possession of Opara on its own account; and the Government would attend to the matter.

The “Taranaki Herald” says from the tenor of two letters addressed to Mr Paris that now Taranaki may congratulate herself on the re-establishment of peace. The last party of those in rebellion have now discovered the uter futility of further opposition, and have made up their minds to submit to the Queen’s authority. Later news has been received from the Thames Gold Field. The “Herald” of the 3rd says:—“ Two of shareholders brought up by the Enterprise 44 ounces of amalgam, which was handed to Mr Beck, and by him retorted and smelted. The result was an ingot weighing 15$ ounces of gold.—This is an addition to the 157 ounces sent up by Midge the previous day.—The 15f ounces was the produce of 501b weight of quartz, and of 3i tons crushing in the Berdan machine. We are informed that the claim holders have stacked ready for crushing between 80 and 90 tons of quartz, estimated to yield about 15 ounces to the ton. Of course so long as there is nothing but a Berdan machine to crush with, none but the picked stuff will be turned into gold. Were there two or three powerful machines at work at the Thames, we should have a regular return of gold from that field would astonish some people.”