WELLINGTON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 327, 22 January 1863, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

The Superintendent has returned from his visit to Wairarapa and East Coast, but seems not to have done much, in consequence of not finding Mr. McLean there. Mr. McKelvie, of Rangitikei, has bought at public s&.le, for £65 0, the premises known as Loxley’s stoi’es. The overseer of the Pahautanui saw mills, Mr. Taylor, has been seriously injured on the back by a circular saw. He lies in the hospital in a precarious state. Mr. Crawford has been exploring from the Hutt to the mouth of the \\ aikanae. Nothing new found. HAWKE’S BAY. Messrs. Smith, Kennedy, Wood, Hitchings, and Colenso, have been elected members of the provincial council for the town of Napier. Mr. Donald McLean has been asked to stand, in order that he may be elected Superintendent. OTAGO. By the Corio we have received the Daily Times up to the 13th inst. The following extracts give the most interesting news : The Separation movement is to be revived. The Times ascribes its languish ing condition to its opponents having outwitted in the General Assembly its ardent but easily cajoled advocate, Mr. Dick, to whom the conducting of the agitation there was entrusted, on Mr. Gillies, the Ajax of the movement, taking office, and thus continues :—The session thus passed over without anything being done, and the Separation League was as far from its object as ever. We believe they then determined to prepare a petition to the Queen, and circulate it for signature in the Middle Island. The delay in making it public has been occasoned by a negotiation on foot for procuring the co-operation of the other Provinces, and we have reason to think that an important step in this direction will be immediately effected. Three Presbyteran ministers are expected shortly from Scotland. THE GOLD FIELDS. Our last Melbourne narrative was published on the 7th ult. Since that date there has been but little to record in the way of strictly mining intelligence. The miners at the Dunstan took a tolerably good spell at holiday making; and a variety of sports, including horse racing and athletic games went off with great spirit. At the Lake diggings there was not much opportunity lor amusement, the township at the Arrow being so recently established. The township at the lake has received the name of Queenstown. The Molyneux l'iver has continued to rise, and is now once more quite unworkable except in the high hanks. r l he Manuherikia in the meantime has been falling, and is being worked to some extent with fair results. Potters gully No. 2 is not turning out so well as the first gully of the same name, but it finds employment for about a hundred and eleven miners, who can make from TT to £2 a man per day. There is nothing particular to note of the other diggings in the neighbourhood of the Dunstan, beyond the fact of a decided increase of population consequent upon the return, within the last few days, of a considerable number of diggers who went off to the Lake country unprepared with sufficient means to face the difficulties and expences of the pursuit of mining, or rather prospecting, in that district of splendid but scattei’ed and uncertain deposits. The last accounts from the Lake diggings are not so encouraging as what we have become accustomed to. Although we still get word of enormous individual gains, the great body of the mining population do not seem to be in such good spirits. The fact appears to be, that they all went up with the most extravagant expectations, and that they are disappointed that they have not yet been realized. Some have, as already mentioned, realized magnificent returns. One man told our correspondent, whom he had known in Victoria, that for the last nine weeks lie had not made less than a pound weight per day. Other instances of almost equal good fortune are freely quoted at the Arrow, the Shotover, and the Twelve Miles’ Rush, as it is called. Some excitement has been caused by tbe leport of rich discoveries on the Greenstone river, on the west side of the Wakatip lake. A new rush is reported to have taken place to a district some twenty-five miles to the north-west of Queenstown, the township at Ree’s station on Lake Wakatip. The escort from the gold fields arrived on the Oth inst., with 23,490 oz. 5 dwts.

pf gold, divided as follows :—Dunstan, 10,405 oz. 10 dwts. ; Tuapeka, 3537 oz. 15 dwts. ; Waitahuna, 850 oz. 10 dwts. ; Woolshed, 396 oz. 10 dwts. ; Wakatip, 8300. The smallness of the Wakatip escort has been a subject of much remark and no little disappointment. It was mentioned in our last that 3600 oz. had been taken down to Invercargill by an escort sent up to protect Southland gold buyers. The Dunstan township was on Friday night last visited by a severe storm of wind, which nearly levelled the whole with the ground, even buildings of a substantial character suffering serious damage.— Times, 13th inst. AUCKLAND. The C Field Battery has been practising at a pah with great success, the salvo firing having quickly effected a breach, which was made more practicable by shells. The firing was good, and showed favourably the quality of the Armstrong gun. Green, an artilleryman, and his wife, were drowned on the 6th inst-.; by a boat upsetting. 'I he Hon. Mr. Swainson saved two boys, named McCormick, who were also in the boat. Murder at Whangaroa.— On Christmas day, an express arrived at Mongonui to the effect that a carpenter, by the name of Isaac Van Arsdale, had been murdered, and that another man, named Whitaker, had been dangerously wounded by a strange man who had arrived at Wangaroa the day before. Information was immediately forwarded to the coroner, and an express sent on to Kaitaia requesting the immediate attendance of Dr. Trimmell, who had been at Kaitaia for a day or two. On Friday morning early, the coroner, W. B. White, Esq., and Dr. Irimmell, attended by constable Reilly, and Mr. Kelly, interpreter together with several others, started for Wangaroa to investigate the circumstances. A jury of the settlers was ernpannclled, with M. .Whitelaw, Esq., as foreman- The inquest was continued by adjournment till the 27th, when a verdict was returned of “ Wilful Murder” against George Johnson, and the coroner issued his warrant committing the prisoner for trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court Auckland. It appears that the prisoner had been working for Mr. E. Williams, at the Waimate, but had left there and travelled on to Wangaroa, and stated that he was going on to

Mongonui to look for work. He applied for work at Wangaroa, and on the 24th dined at Mr. Snowden Davis’s Wangaroa hotel. He then purchased a square bottle of gin, and put it into the breast of his shirt. He then went up to Whitaker’s house, wheie Van Arsdale and his wife and two children also lived. Upon reaching the house, Whitaker was sitting just outside the door on a bench. He spoke to Whitaker, and asked where his mate was. Whitaker told him he was lying in his bed. Whitaker then asked him to take a glass of rum as it was Christmas Eve. He refused the rum, and said he had something better than that, and produced a square bottle of gin, and asked Whitaker to take a glass. Whitaker took a glass, and he then went and asked Van Arsdale to take one also. Van Arsdale took a little, but complained that he was not very well j he had a headache. The prisoner then asked the women, Mrs. Van Arsdale and Mrs. Slade, who were thei’e, to take a drink. Whitaker objected to his giving them- drink, because, he said, he had so often seen mischief produced from a man offering drink to another man’s wife. The prisoner immediately made use -of very bad lauguage and struck Whitaker, who is 62 years of age, in the face and knocked him down, and whilst Whitaker was attempting to rise he took him by the back of the neck, and, reaching back, took his knife out of the sheath, which he wore similar to a seaman, and plunged it several times into Whitaker’s body. Fortunately in each instance the knife came in contact with a bone which prevented the wounds being mortal. Mrs. Van Arsdale seeing the prisoner stabbing Whitaker struck at him with a piece of wood, and Van Arsdale hearing the noise came out of his bed and pulled the man off Whitaker, telling him he had better leave as they did not want such characters there. He immediately attacked Van Arsdale with his knife and stabbed him in the throat, severing the jugular vein, and giving him several dangerous stabs in the abdomen. Vad Arsdale lingered for about three hours and then died. Whitaker is very weak from loss of blood, but Dr. Trimnell considers that, although the wounds are dangerous, he will survive the injury. Van Arsdalewas a very quiet inoffensive man, and has left a young widow and two children to lament his loss.

The prisoner is a fine looking young man of about 25 years of age, and states that his name is G. Johnson, a na'.ive of London. He enlisted in the 40th fot at Melbourne, and deserted. There is nothing whatever in the appearance of the man to indicate so fearful a character as he evidently is. His countenance is quite of a mild cast, and he has rather rather large red wiskers. Besides the prisoner, Constable Reilly also takes with him in the Kiwi to Auckr land, a man supposed to be a deserter from one of the regiments now in New Zealand.

The Southern Cross, of Jan. 7. has the following : We have nothing of consequence to report, since the dispatch of our usual monthly summary for Europe. The Governor, accompanied by Mr. White as interpreter, has gone on a visit to the Waikato, but nothing further is known of his movements. The Hon. F. Whit-

aker has accepted the office of Attorney General. The Provincial Council held a short sitting, and passed a vote of credit for three months, to enable the Superintendent to carry on the business of the country. The Council re-assembles on the 20th February, when the policy of' the-Executive will be stated.

-J The New Year holidays passed over "‘v v <sry J 'pleasantly, the principal features being the fair at Lake Takapuna, and the annual races. The race meeting was well conducted, ad considering the quality of the horses, the racing was good. In commercial matters we have little to report. The cargo of the barque £ Constance,’ from San Francisco, was partly quitted at auction yesterday, but the prices were not very satisfactory. There is a glut of breadstuffs, and bulk ale and porter in the market ; and staple commodities are well supplied. The ship ‘Silver Eagle,’ 1,000 tons, which arrived from London yesterday, puts us in better supply of most articles in general consumption. There are also two English ships due. The weather which was very fine and warm, changed two days ago to high wind, and gradually settled down to rain last Weniiig. The general appearance of the country is good, and the prospects of the coming year are encouraging. RAGLAN. Raglan has lately had a visit from Lieutenant Bates, interpreter to the 65 th regiment His mission was understood to be to enlist Maoris for a corps of armed police, which itisin contemplation to form to garrison Mangatawhiri, and other out posts. No doubt tlie Maoris would rather be guarded by their own brothers and cousins, than by the invaders ; and so would they prefer having a king of their own color ; and the lawless of them would like to be left without any kind of government whatever, save the freedom of their own will. But the versatile .Maori is beginning to be tired of the King move ■ment and the land league will soon oecorue a burden to them.

The Runanga mania is fast passing away and soon the king mania, and the land league mania, your corespondent ventures to predict, will be put on the shelf of history, to become dusty, moth eaten, despised and neglected. The Maori isbegining to open his eyes on this subject, and be will soon see that his “ dog-in-the-manger ” policy don’t pay—that its disadvantages are vastly more than its advantages,—and by the time that the new act for the legalization of the long wanted system of direct purchase comes into force, he will be ready to carry it shonlder high into the heart of their country to have their “swords beat into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks,” and cease hurtingand annoying within her Majesty’s dominions. A wise and foreseeing government can discern the state of the native mind, as well as can your correspondent, for they have sent two blacksmiths into these parts. One is stationed on the Waikato river, near Kohunga and gets £75 a year ; the other is settled at Raglan and gets £SO a year as retaining fees. They are not required to do any work for these subsidies, but get paid besides for what they do The Government road goes on in a satisfactory manner, so far as the work done is concerned, but taking tbe costs into account, the results are really contemptible. I have just learned that the fern and bush cutting along the remainder of the line to the Waitetuna, is to be let out to Maoris. This substitution of piece for day’s work is a step in the right direction and will be a benefit both to the Maoris who ; will be able to work eai'ly or late just as they please, and to the public who are supporting these “poor .distressed operatives,” for they will get a nearer approach to value for their money. The bridges along the whole line have also been put out to tender, and several settlers have offered to contract. So that there is every probability of this road being completed as far as the Waitetuna river, before tbe close of tbe present summer. Then will come the tug of opposition, if any is to be made, and then probably tbe inland natives will have agreed to the continuance of the roadmaking on the Waipa,—making a virtue of necessity, all the money already paid has been taken out of the Colonial Treasury, the Provincial Government having never been asked for any of the £SOO voted in last session of the Council, for this road. A more direet process of pacification is going on in the model schools on the Waikato, as whole tons of material go up the river from Waiuku to aid in bringing up industrially, and not merely theoretically the young Maoris of the interior. That system being a straightforward one, and not a blind, as the Raglan road making is, will be more likely to succeed in its object, and to elicit the gratitude of the recipients.— Southern Cross.