LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 328, 29 January 1863, Page 2

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATES COURT. Wanganui. Before D. S. Durie Esq. R. M. and T. Harper, f. Waters, H de C. Martelli, J. Handley, J. Al ison, T. B. Taylor Esqs. J. P:s, 'Jan.' 22. G. M Gregor v. R.. Hume, Air-' M £ Gregor, sheep inspector, charged defendant with a. breach of the Scab Act. It will be remembered'that Mr. Alexander was before the Court on the previous week for the Same offence, and was acquitted because there was no proof that he was owner.

Alexander Aiken said that he was in. the employment of defendant, and helped, him to drive;vtlie . sheep, in fmm Forded on the.3td inst., .IJnderstooddrpm ;a coh-. versation that, took .place hetween, defendant anct/Mr. Phillips that the latter was. the did-* not know .whether the. sheep, werepassed/bythe inspector. Jas; Lockhart, forrrman, deposed that 'the sheep were crossed over at the ferry by the. order of Mr. Phillips, who paid him by an order on Mr. Alexander. Gregor M.‘Gregor, Sheep Inspector : had examined the sheep in October ; did not give notice because he suspected that when he did so the seal .by sheep were in

some cases .removed ; fouud the flock •'srseabby,; not-bad, pretty clean ; did not i'«examine them particularly then, because *f they., had been diseased in May; rode • through them; was applied to by. Mr. ■ Alexander for a pass for those shipped in the beginning of January, but wonld not give it because the flock was diseased, and had- not been dipped,, he believed, since. 'October ; could not say that any of those shipped were scabby. , Mr. Alexander gave him to understand that -he could see the sheep and examine, them ; the sheep were hot drawn off that he might examine them; had been mistaken before now: i the appearance of scab ; spear grass pricking sheep might give the appearance of it; sometimes had difficulty in proncmncing sheep scabby when diseased.. Defendant said he "would have nothing to do with the sheep, but deliver i hem in the paddock. John Cameron, Gentleman, Wanganui, said : I heard a conversation which passed at my house between defendant and Mr. Phillips. Defendant said that he would not sell the sheep as clean sheep, that he had not got a certificate from the Inspector, .by. which X understood him to mean that he would not be answerable for any responsibility incurred in driving, the. sheep.’ Mr.. Phillips mid Mr. .Alexander were present at.the time. ; ... By Mr. Ross.-—I understood that Mr. Alexander was commissioned to buy sheep for Phillips—that he was his agent here. I understood that the sheep would be removed at the risk of Messrs. Alexander and Phillips.* Defendant was fined £'lo and costs. The case is appealed to the Supreme Court.

Before D. S. Lurie Esq. B. M. Jan. 23. —J, L. Carte v. J. Mervin and P. Conolly.' ; The defendants (seamen on hoard the steamer Corio) were sentenced to one week’s imprisonment with hard labour for disobedience to orders. Jas. Cathro o .Vm. Pearson. Plaintiff claimed £2: los. for an acre of grass sold to defendant, be refusing: to pay ; on the ground that cattle, had broken into the enclosure and eaten part of. the grass. Judgment for "plaintiff.

Before D. S. Durie Esq. R. M. and-T Waters Esq. J. P.

Jan. 26.—Isabella Wentworths Richard' Oraigh. Defendant, a Corporal in the 57th Regt„ came into plaintiff’s house about .10 o’clock on Friday night, and after remaining About a quarter of an hour, was about going away when-belaid hold of plaintiff, who after some struggling fell on the sofa. She cried out several times, op which he released her and asked her fm*giveness, saying he merely meant it as a joke.. Plaintiff knew the defendant previously very slightly from having given some Work to his wife. He seemed the worse of drink at the time. Capt. Stewart bore testimony to the good character of defendant.

There being no evidence of criminal intent, defendant w;as sentenced to pay a fine of £5, or to undergo two months’ imprisonment.

Before D S. D.urie Esq. R. M. and T.. Handley Esq J. P. Jan. 27.—-W. Kells v. Rowland Dowsett. Debt £9 11s. lGd. Judgment confessed.

jT. Baldwin v. R. Dowsett .Debt £ls 3s. .—£lo money lent, £5 3s liquor. Judgment for Plaintiff.

W. Collopy, a discharged soldier of the 65th Regt., was sworn in as a constable for twelve months.

Accidents. —In the shipment of cattle last week one or two accidents occurred, though happily not of a serious nature.

On Friday evening a bullock ran at a soldier in the Victoria Avenue, and might have done him serious injury, had not

Mr. McMinn, teacher, who was riding past, come to his rescue. Tlie attention of the furious brute was diverted to the

horse, at which he ran, injuring him con- , siderably on the hind leg. Mr. McMinn | -was thrown, but was not much injured, , and, assistauce.having arrived, the bullock was drivenroff. ! ;■

On Friday morning, about 7 o’clock, a Maori on the beach near the .Post-ofjfe was knocked down by a bullock, which then rushed at Robert Taylor, a son of* T. B. Taylor, Esq., and tossed him. He sustained” some internal injuries, but is now, we are happy to say, recovering. Fires.- —The dry weather, which continues has been the occasion of numerous fires. All round, the country is illuminated at night, by the flames, which spread for miles, and continue burning for days. In this immediate neighbourhood little injury has been done, except in one .or two .-cases t'o fencing, one settler having lost about ;£3O woith of posts and rails, and to part of the bush at Gordon Park, which was on fire in the beginning ,of the week. At the Wangaehu Mr. Simpson, one of the tenants on the Maori reserve, set fire to fern last week ; the fire reached the bush and lias burned a considerable part of it. . The Maories claim .£ISOO for the damage and intend taking the-case into court.

The Cattle Trace.— To judge from the increasing shipments of cattle from this place, the demand seems greatly . increasing.. During " the last .week no/ fewer .than four cargoes have been /despatched north. and south, airiong which was that by the Curio ; which left, on. Saturday. . Two steamers in, the :river at one time have, we believe,: not been seen before last Saturday, Bird, was lying at one wharf and the Corio, at the other, giving an appearance of active trade .to the river, rather unusual, but very pleasing to behold. -

Immigrants. —The arrival of several German immigrants by the Storm Bird, is note-worthy.' They are from South Australia, and form part of the band, some of which arrived three years ago and settled in the Rangitikei. They must be satisfied with their quarters, otherwise their friends would not have followed them. The new arrivals set off for Rangitikei on Tuesday, and their large amount -of household arid other, gear together with three large four'wheeled waggoxis, shewed that they Will not be without the requisites for domestic comfort and. agricultural industry, in beginning what will no doubt be their course of successful exertion hex*e.. We wish them all happiness and prosperity in their new homes.

R ain.- —There was an appeai-anee of rain yesterday* and a little came in the afternoon. The sky this morning is watery like, but the barometer is not falling. •

Acclimatisation Society. —We understand that the request of this Society to have the deer belonging to the Province committed, to their care has not been complied with, Mr. Carter, of the Wairarapa, having first offered to take them to his farm there. : TURAKINA, At a meeting of magistrates held last Monday, it was decided to hold courts of Petty Sessions monthly; first one on February 10th, and on every second. Tuesday in months following. James Wilson. Esq , chairman of the Bench. The bridge is not yet finished. The row of piles is' driven, which has prevented the bridge from sinking any more, but little has been done to the new abutment or wing, or whatever it is called, that was injured by the last' floods.

RANGITIKEI.

The drought still continues—grass is dried up—feed scarce ; crops are light in most places. People take advantage of it to burn off their land, and the extreme dryness causes the fires to run great distances, sometimes doing great damage to feireing. -Two dwelling houses have been burned down in Rangitikei, one belonging to Mr. Henderson, the particulars regarding which we have not learned. The other was Mr. Masterson’s, in the Bonnie Glen. He had set fire to some toi not far from his house, and gone to cut down some grain. In his absence the wind changed a little; the fire spreading through some fern reached a heap of -fire-wood, and then the house, which was rapidly consumed, Mr. Masterson having little time to save anything. The fire then ran up the hill behind the house and reached a heap of valuable manuka posts and Vails, which were soon blazing with a flame twenty to thirty feet in height. The loss altogether is very considerable, and falls on Mr. Masterson, the property not being insured. The Western Rangitikei church nearly suffered the same fate on Sunday last, and if great care had. not been taken by the congregation assembled it would have been destroyed.