WELLINGTON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 379, 28 January 1864, Page 4

WELLINGTON.

The Porirua races came off on the 14th inst, but the attendance was small, and the sport poor. The hack hurdle race, which was the best, was won by Captain Noalte, of the C. D. Force. The Wairarapa races come off on tHe 31st March and Ist and 2nd April. Major Dwyer and Capt. Furneaux juoceed immediately to Auckland, to “ the front.” - The Advertiser states that Ngatuere, a Maori magistrate, had nearly lulled a Maori at Messrs. Buck and Kemble’s station in the Wairarapa, whom he suspected of being too intimate with his wife. C. L. R. Ward, Esq., J.P., R.M., and Sheriff’of Wellington, has entered on his duties as Resident Magistrate. The Anniversary of'Wellington Province was celebrated on Friday. A regatta was the principal attraction. Tht gig and whaleboat race, prize £l2 was won by the M-ignei, a boat built

by a Mr. A. Thompson of Wellington. A boat by the same builder gained the sailing boat race* prize £5 ; but the yace was by no means good. , The Post Boy won the Watermen’s boat race, prize £5 Avhich. was Avell contested by the If onqa tf onga. For the Amateur gig and whaleboat race there were three entries, —the Bride, which Avon, the Lord Duncan, and the Magnet, the last being manned by printers. The rural sports came off in the afternoon, and were largely attended. Foot races Avere run with great spirit by .men and boys.. A wheelbarrow race and a hurdle race excited considerable interest. A Maori secured the leg of mutton at the top of the greasy pole. A jingling match consisted in twelve men blindfolded endeavouring to catch a man l’ingiug a bell. Jumping and lifting Aveights diversified the sports. A cricket match came off on Friday between Abe United Wellington Eleven and the Forirua road cricketers, the former winning after a hard contest by one run and all wickets down. Mr. R. M. Clelaud, storekeeper Upper Hutt has been fined £SO for sly grog selling.

AUCKLAND. By the s.s. Queen which arrived at Wellington on Saturday afternoon we have Auckland news to the 18th. The s.s. Phoebe arrived at Manakau on the 17th inst. The flat-bottomed steamer recently imported from Sydney in sections bad been put together and launched at Waikato. She is named the Kolieroa. Naval and Military Items. —lt is reported that the men of the 68th Regiment in barracks are to proceed to Raglan when opportunity offers. The Esk left the harbour yesterday morning, to relieve the Miranda at the Thames. His Excellency the Governor was on board, and was to be left at the Kawau. It' is said that an expedition to the East Cape is in contemplation, but we have no positive information on the subject. The Naval Volunteers at the Thames are to come up by the first opportunities. —Southern Cross, Jan. 16. Arrival of more Troops. —The ship Light Brigade, which arrived on Saturday night from Calcutta and Rangoon, after a very smart passage, brings us further reinforcements to the extent of 261 rank aud file of the 43rd and 68th regiments. It will be seen by an Adelaide telegram that the troop ship Armenian, left Adelaide for Auckland on the 4th inst-., and if so she has now been out a fortnight. — Ibid , Jan. 18.

EXECUTION OF A MAORI SPY. From our ( N. Z . Herald )s Mangatawhire correspondent’s letter, which has been crowded out with others, ayc take the following interesting extract : “ The General seems to have begun to show the friendly natives that the playing the spy and carrying two faces will do no longer. The. following are the facts of the case as I heard them about a Maori spy. As your readers are very well aware from my former letters, the mail was carried from the head-quarters of the army across the country to Raglan by friendly natives. The postman goes twice a day, and it appears that one of the natives has been in the habit ef coming to the camp among the soldiers, and passing himself off as the postman. While he was in camp lie had been in the habit of making inquiries of the number of troops at the different posts. Suspicion having been raised against him, a party was set to watch him, and at last the gentleman was caught. A drumhead courtmartial was held over him, and the result was that the natives of Te Wheoro’s tribe were drawn up in line, the prisoner was brought up, the word ‘ fire ’ was given, aud the spy fell a lifeless corpse.”

The Auckland Harmonic Society had their first meeting on the 7th when 40 were present, ond the Oratorio of “Elijah’ was selected for practice.

The New Zealander calls in question the capabilities of the members of the Marine Board for their office. It thinks that onlj’ gentlemen of scientific fame should be Wardens. We hope the present Board will shew the absurdity of this attack by doing what is required of them with despatch and at least ordinary ability. The same paper declares that if the Government head-quarters is shifted from Auckland,- that province must have separation, as it “ cannot be governed from a distance” owing to the native population. The Southern Cross advocates a railway from Auckland to the Waikato River via Drury, if the Auckland people wish to keep the Waikato trade to themselves. A vessel is already laid on for Waikato at Melbourne. It also advocates the immigration into Waikato of families instead of single men, tho’ half a million should be required instead of a fourth of that sum. A township has been laid off by Mr. Heaphy at Waikato Heads, and a.wharf 240 feet long by 14 feet broad with a T end of 80 feet ,is to be set about immediately. Mr. Domett has received the appointment of Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands at A: 600 a year. , /. Mr. J. C. Crawford has been appointed Inspector of Post Offices for . the Colony of New Zealand. A new paper has made its appearance at Onehunga called the “ Onehunga Warc!on and Marmkau Telegraph./ The first number appeared, on tie 2nd inst. and it is got up very .. credflpffy.. From its leader we learn that Onehunga was laid .off for one of the, pensioner villages in 1848, and that now it contains a population of 1,423, of whom 707 belong to the

gentler sex. Great things are expected for Onehunga from the colonisation off the Waikato. At present the town has five churches, four schools, five surgeons seven hotels, tAventy-four stores, and now there is a Printing Office to which we wish every success. CANTERBURY. The of 11th inst says:—-“The pi’ovince has verged toAvai'ds a financial crisis for several months past. It has we believe, been staved off for . this season, but we should not beat all surprised to see it recoil upon us Avith increased force next year, unless a good deal of prudence be exercised by the six banks which will then be doing business in. Christchurch.” The three new Banks are, the Bank of A u.stralasia,-the Bank of Otago, and the Chartei'ed Blinking Company of Ncav Zealand.

With respect to the crops, the Press of 13th inst. has the following remarks:- “ Enormous crops of grass have everywhere been cut, but we are sorry to say in few cases has it been well saved, and although new hay is now being forced into the market there is every reason to believe that really good will pay for holding. In our last month’s report we spoke of the crops of wheat as premising an abundant yield, but almost daily since that time the blight has been gradually spreading. It first appeared on badly cultivated stubble land, but within the last fortnight it has attacked crops on some of the best cultivated fallow land. The flag appears to suffer first, turns white and drops to the ground ; the si-raw follows, and last the ear dries up without a particle of corn in it. Heavy flourishing crops of wheat estimated at 50 and 60 bushels per acre, in two or three days have withered away in large spots and appear to be hardly worth cutting. Various opinions are given as to the cause of this blight. One gentleman who has been watching the blight gradually extend over his wheat fields, has found a minute grub at the root of all the blighted plants. If all would make careful examinations, a remedy might be found for another season. Oats and barley appear to escape this visitation, ? the ci'op-s of the former are generally good, a few are already in the market at ss. to ss. 6d for immediate use, but owing to the large quantity of old oats left there is little demand for new. Barley is already enquired for, but, so far as we can learn, no price has as yet been fixed. In its description of affairs for. the month the Press says :—ln the. Public W orks Department there is a- lull occasioned by the great change about to be made in the machinery for constructing roads and other public works through'-the country. The plan which has been so often adopted and so often fallen through, for handing over the great bulk of the expenditure on public works to local Boards, is now again 'to be attempted. The only works worth notice are the Kaia-poi bridge which is finished and works exceedingly well, being capable of being readily opened and closed by one man. It is worthy of notice that this iron swing bridge of considerable magnitude has been entirely constructed in the Province. All the iron work including the heavy castings having been executed at Mr. Anderson’s Iron works in Cashel Street. This bridge may be literally said to be opened for traffic, but in a peculiar sense. The Council voted £2OOO for the work. The contract was taken at £2IBO the inhabitants of Kaiapoi and the Northern District undertaking to find the odd £IBO. But the list is lost and the money is not forthcoming, so the contractor keeps the bridge open so that vessels can pass through, though nobody can pass over, until his bond is fulfilled. In the mean time the tolls have been let by the Government for £4OO a year.. The works on the road to the West Coast are still going on, about 45 men with their wives and families occupying the huts built by Government in the Waitohi Gorge. A survey party under Mr. Drake is engaged in surveying the road from the saddle to the West Coast in extension of Howitt’s track, which was cut as far as Lake Brunner. The works in the Weka Pass are still being carried on, though aproaching completion. The Waimakariri has not been so active in its vagaries during the past month. Mr. Thornton cut a channel in the shingle bed about 400 feet long, 50 feet wide and five or six feet deep, to take the water, which had broken into the north branch of the river back into the south branch. The scour of the water has already greatly enlarged this outlet, as it is now 300 feet wide, and in some places has as much as seven feet of water. The heavy drainage works carried on in the North Selywn swamp are completed ancl are doing good seivice.

The Immigration BaiTacks near the railway terminusare occupied,arid, though far from complete, would satisfy, one would fancy, Miss Rye herself. They .will hold three-ship: loads of immigrants. The Rev. J. W. Habens 8.A., has arrived to take the ministerial charge of the Congregational church in Christchurch. A meeting of Jewish residents was held on the 10th ins’t. in Christchurch, at which it was resolved to build a Synagogue. A committee was appointed and .£3OO subscribed. Mr. J. Joseph of Wellington offered a piece of land as a site for the building. HAWKE’S BAY. There is nothing of importance. On the 12th Mr. Thomas Edwards was returned to the Provincial Council in room of Br. Hitchings. On same day a

valuable watch and-chain were presented by No. 1, Company-of Militia to Drill Instructor Thornton, in" testimony of his efficient services. Certain reserves of land are proclaimed in the Provincial Gazette for Military Settlers, we presume those to he introduced under the recent arrangements.

OTAGO. During 1862 the escorts brought down 339,722 ounces of gold valued at £1,316, 617. During 1863 they brought down 562,888 ounces of the value of £2,183,191 The gold exp ir e 1 in the latter year ox. ceeded the export in. 1862 by £788,926. The Lake district residents are dissatisfied with the manner-in which the Provincial Government treats them, and threaten separation from Otago. The Caledonian Society held its second annual festival on the 2nd and 3rd insts. The athletic sports were those usualy on such occasion. Tilting at the ring was a novelty. Two rings were suspended from posts and the horseman in passing endeavoured to carry off these rings on the point of his lance. Each competitor had nine rounds, and the contest was decided by the number of rings carried off. The first prize, a silver cup, valued at £2O presented by Mr. S. Jones, was won by Mr. Wm. Logie ; and his brother, Mr, John Logie gained the second, also a silver cup of the value of £5 ss. In the course of the sport Mr. S. Jones was thrown from his horse, but did not sustain any injury. The Dunedin Leader of the 9tli Jan. gives the population of the several diggings at present as follows : Miners, Storekeepers, Total.

TARANAKI. We understand that a letter has been received by his honor the Superintendent from the Colonial Secretary, informing him that the compensation will be paid as soon as the money has been raised in England ; but as this cannot be done until Mr. Wood arrives there, it will be five or six months . probably before the money is paid. The House of Representatives, it, will be remembered, directed that it should be paid forthwith, and as the word ‘forthwith’ was introduced at Mr. Whitaker’s suggestion, it is now receiving a freer interpretation than might have been expected ; more especially as Mr. Whitaker also stated that there would be no difficulty in getting the money if the House ordered immediate payment. We are informed also that Mr, Fox- speaks of a reinvestigation of the claims, whieli we suppose the Government can do if they like, but it is probable they will get a different result from what they expect. — Herald.

Arrow . . . 2120 &c. 380 2500 Nokomai . . 2750 300 ' 3050 Dun stall . . . 2200 500 2700 Switzer’s . . . — — 1250 Waitahuna . • 768 217 985 Mount Ida . 1780 250 2030 Mount Benge v 500 . 250 750 Gabriel’s . . 1200 700 1900 Upper Shotover—No return.