WELLINGTON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 328, 29 January 1863, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

The twenty-third Anniversary of the Province was lield on' the 22nd inst., as a holiday. There were boat races, followed by a duck hunt, the duck being personated by/“young THebberley, who saved liimsclf from capture for a quarter of an hour.

There were rural sports under the auspices of Messi’s. J. H. Horner and John Martin., Twenty-one foot races were run for prizes varying from 10s to 15s, and these sports were wound up by a sack race, which, tickled the lieges. There ;was//ad’,f®?.wi^i°^/^yi^. e . Bird there was an abundance of refreshments. There was a cricket match between the Hutt Bridge and the Wellington United Eleven, the latter winning by 1 run and 2 wickets to go down, Mr. Laing showed his usual hospitality at the Hutt.

A ball was held at the Oddfellows’ Tlall in the evening, which the wearied condition of the racers and excursionists made not quite so popular as it would otherwise have been.

Daring Robbery: —A robbei-y, ;.„fc once daring and skilful, was perpetrated some time between the hours of noon yesterday, and six o’clock this morning, at the Coiach & Horses Hotel, Manners-street, when about £SO was abstracted from .a drawer one of a chest-—in a 'bed-room" upstairs. The .drawer was locked/and beais evidence of having beeh “ picked/.’Tin the most skilful manner, that some person'’with'ub small amount of professional skill had committed the crime. Suspicion has fallen upon an individual, seen about the premises at various places yesterday, well known to the police as having a peculiar liking for “ lifting ” tills, who was only liberated,, two or three days ago after a three months’ sojourn in gaol for having committed .an act of petty larceny. It is, .moreover, known that he was intimately acquainted with the premises, and* .we are informed, has been caught, under -very suspicious circumstances, by Mr. : .Woodgate, the, former proprietor of the house, in the room where the robbery was committed. The money consisted of eighteen 1/ notes, three sovereigns, two 51 notes, one cheque for 101 (which. has been.stopped), a cheque for 21 18s, an order for 31, 41 in silver, and a cheque the exact amount of which is unknown. Information has been given to the police, who will, nO doubt, be able to trace the individual and the money. — Advertiser, Jan. 24.

WILLIAMS V. FEATHERSTON. This case has been decided by the Commissioner of Crown Lands in favour of the defendant. It was a question arising from an undefined boundary of a run on the East coast, which Dr. Featherston bought from Capt.-Thomas in 1854. In 1858 Mr. Williams applied for a run of 10,000 acres on the ■ land that Dr. Featherston claimed as his run, and located himself thereon; : Dr. Featherston formally objected to the application being granted. Mr. Park surveyed the block in 1860, and' the" Commissioner of Crown Lands then decided in favour of Dr. Featherston. Mr,, Williams not removing, legal rsteps were taken to dispossess him, and his 'shcep 7 -Hvpre driven off the land by policemen. The present action was then' brought. Mi*. Brandon appeared for defendant and Mr. Hart for plaintiff. The,, case jias no peculiar interest except from "the position of the defendant, and am-attempt-r-quite unwarrantable as it appears to. us—has Been made to injure the Superintendent po-

litic'ally, because not' choose to have his prlyate property . seized without ascertaining! liis legal position. The ' Commissioner gave judgment in the following terms :—“ After having been employed four days in hearing this case in court, and tv o days since in reading over the evidence, examining the various documents put in, and the arguments of counsel adduced on loth sides ; and having further compared my personal know ledge of the country in question, acquired during a tour throughout it of ten days, —I decide the eastern margin of the Pukitoi forest, extending from the Qahanga river to the Akitio river, to be the western boundary of 1. E. Featberston’s run : and I have attached my signature, as Commissioner of Crown Lands, to a plan in this office delineating the boundaries of I. E. Featherston’s run ; and I decline to make an award of a run according to the application made by William Bassett Williams and transferred to John Bailey Williams.” In an article on this case the Independent makes use of language, with respect to the editor of the Advertiser , which we should think libellous. After defending Dr. Featherston from any personal imputations, such as it declares the Advertiser has more than insinuated, the. lndependent continues,—Let him remember that the Press is not the pi’oper channel for the outpourings of impotent personal spite, or for the envenomed attacks of one who, like a cold little snake, turns and stings the bosom which has nursed him.”

In reply the Advertiser says,—“ With reference to the principal party in this case, so far have we been from being actuated by personal spite to make envenomed attacks, that for twelve months after the- case came first before the public we refused to notice' it, though repeatedly urged to do so, because we felt firmly persuaded that Dr. Featherston would be the very last man in the Province-one of the last men in the world—to prostitute his public position, for personal and pecuniary aggi'andisement, and not all that we have heard since has been able to remove this persuasion from our mind, however strong appearances may be to the contrary. We speak of Dr. Featherston alone, and we do not here refer to any of the members of liis Executive But, at the same time, we distinctly and indignantly repudiate alike the doctrine and the imputation that a public writer ought to suppress public censure from personal considerations, or that we individually ever received any public or personal favour from Dr. Featherston that was not given for public or personal Services that we rendered to him. We regret that we have been compelled to refer, even thus briefly, to the editor of this journal, because it has been our endeavour to sink, as far as possible, our own personality and our individual views into that of the paper we edit, and the policy or party of which it is the organ, and this we have done agreeably with the practice in England, and in accordance with that we years ago adopted when writing leaders for the Independent .”

CANTERBURY - . The Superintendent, Mr. Moorhouse, has resigned on the plea of private affairs urgently claiming his attention. The Ly : tel ton Times has the following remarks : “ The resignation of His Honor the Superintendent has taken the public by surprise, and we must add that a very general feeling of regret has been expressed on all hands that Mr. Moorhouse should feel himself obliged at this juncture to retire from the office to which he has been so lately re-elected. He has held the position of Superintendent of Canterbury for more than five years—r-a period during which the Province has undergone all the vicissitudes of a young country. No man in high office can hope to pa s through his time of service without much opposition and much severe criticism. It is only justice to the present Superintendent to say that he has earned both from opponents and from friends, a character for ability, perseverance and an honest desire to do his duty by the public, which will follow him into private life. To his energy and determination must be mainly attributed the successful prosecution of the greatest publie works undertaken in this province. ” Mr. E. Wilkin. President of the Executive, is spoken of as a candidate. NEW SOUTH WALES. The correspondent of the Otago Daily Times , writing on the 24th ult , says : “ After a long and wearisome session, Sir John Young has prorogued Parliament till February 10. His Excellency assented to a number of bills, and signified that the Real Estates of Intestates Distribution Bill, and the State Aid Abolition Bill would be reserved for her Majesty’s assent. The latter bill is by far the mostimportant of the session, and though it has met with the most virulent opposition, no more popular measure was ever passed.” VICTORIA.

'! he Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Dai y Times writes :—- “ As the funeral obsequies of Burke and V\ ills are the | rincipal topics of interest just now, and likely to be till the grave has closed over their remains, 1 again devote a considerable portion of this letter to an account of the proceedings attendant upon carrying out this mournful ceremony.” After some upholstery details, he proceeds : “ The lying-m-state will continue forsome days yet, and on the 21st of the month the ‘ last scene of all 5 will be enacted. “ It is a matter of deep regret that the last offices to these unfortunate men..

should have been ’pi : ®f&'cl;ive of~B&Wtiblr v -A-- : i| 1-fejeljnjg and bickering:.'.: Bispatecacsittfic . precedence in, lie procession,./grave raq&i-.x - tat ions on the reputation of the members of the Royal .Society who have lmd the ; management of - the arrangements, AtilL; : graver, though utterly unfounded,charges: •. . against the unfortunate.'explorers them- . selves, and an endless newspaper dorres-,,. . . have marked ttae'closing-scenes-- ■ in this sad t-ragedy. Far better had: the :: dust never been disturbed,- and been left to sleep in peace in the far off grave at Cooper’s Creek. ’ “ The Argus has, in the . most pointed manner, accused Dr. Macadam* the Secretary to the Royal Society, of having been ‘ speechlessly 'drunk’- rofi- ihrrcnight— . ori which." the ho::6s were: tff&nsterred*>tOr. ; their coffins.” ■■ ■ '. * -■*

For this libel Dr. Macadanybrings an. action against the paper. ; . The lying-in-state began on 6th inst:, when 4000 visited the hall.-

A correspondent of theyZ)fl?7// 77wc.v writes, as to ..pi ou co-pneumonia and: drought : . - “ This is the- most severe season that has been experienced for ten yeats. That , fearful scourge, pleuro-pneumonia, is carrying off our cattle by tens of thousands. It is now spread all over the colonies, ; From Albury to Swan Hill there is not-a- - sound herd on either side of the Murray. It is perfectly uncontrollable now. Ho parliamentary enactments can be made of the slightest use, nor are any remedial measures known except inoculation, and ' that is being practised everywhere. Believe me it is strictly contagious, and cannot be disseminated except by contact.”

The Supreme Court of Victoria decided in the case of The Queen v. Smith, that a widow marrying a second time within seven years of the time when her first husband was last heard of alive, does so at the peril of being convicted of bigamy, although she married the second time iu belief of information received by her that her first husband had died. Of course the same law is applicable to impatient widowers.