West Coast Times. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 382, 13 December 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1866.

By n private telegram received at a late hour last night, we are informed that the Provincial Council assembled on Tuesday night, when a motion — •' That the new Ministry did not possess the confidence of the the House," was proposed and carried, by a majority of one, after an exciting debate of five hours' duration. Yesterday, Air Stewart was sent for by the Superintendent, and at 5 o'clock the House met, when explanations were made, and the Jollie ministry resigned. Mr Stewart is endeavoring to secure the adhesion of Strange Williams, who promised to give a definite reply this morning. The House will meet again at 5 o'clock this aftornoon. Political feeling is running very high. If Stewart carries out his present ideas, there will be a coalition ministry.

Tho " Now Zealand Advertiser," of Deo. 5, states that tho tenor of recent despatches received by the Government from Euglaud indicates that the Imperial authorities are willing to leave something like 1200 to 1500 soldiers in the colony. As the Ministry have not asked for tho troops, it seems that the Imperial Government hare come to thiß conclusion of their own accord.

A considerable crowd asstunblo.l about thu old Monte/Aima yesterday afternoon, to watch a whiileboat which wusobservodmnivp iverin^ outside i he line cf surf. Presently tin little oraft made a diish for tho slic-iv, und ihe sea fortunately being remarkably smooth, a landing was safely effected. The bo it contained four men, named respectively William Griffiths, John Givivc, John Smith, John Cl.iuse, who, in reply to the eager questioning of those assembled stated they hid been prospecting in tho viciuitv of Barn Bay during the last nine months, with such indilfercnt sue 'ess that, hearing of " good rushes " farther north, they determined to leave, and accordingly manned their whaleboat last Monday, and proceeded nlong tlic coast Favored by fine weathei aud fair winds, the voyage proved tolerably pleasant. Wishing to ascertain what' was doing ou shore, as well as to renew their stock of provisions, they landed three timrs on their way up, c illing at Jackson and Bruce Bays and at Gillespie's Beach, and. imnlly beached their boat, as above stated, abreast tho Montczuma. The little vessel in which tlioy performed this most hazardous journey is an ordinary whaleboat about twenty-five feet long. A sad scene occurred in Revell street yesterday afternoon, as on the arrival of the Eclipse coach from the Wuimea it was found to contain an unfortunate miner, who was cvi lently in a dying state, and uiutten led by cither a mate or an acquaintance. Thero ho lay on a rough stretcher, covered with dust and gasping for life, with the- hot sun pouring upon him, and surrounded by a crowd of curious lookers-ou, who, however, to their credit be it spoken, soon bestirred themselves to aid the poor fellow. The police were communicated with, but they declared themselves powerless to act, nol. being invested with the slightest authority to incur the trifling expenses n3ccs^ary to relieve even extreme cases of destitution 1 brought on by sickness or accident. It was, however, suggested that Mr Sale should be applied to, but the party despatched to seek him returned from n bootless errand, as'tlmt gentleman was not to be found* I'iie dying man remained in the coach in the meantime, and liis dreadful appearance, coupled with tlve too evident fact that no provision whatever was made by the authorities to deal with such cases, excitod the indignation of the crowd, who gave vent to their leelings in murmurs of disapprobation and cries of shame. At last the police took upon themselves the responsibility of removing him to the Havelock Hotel, the proprietor of which, Air Fane, charitably consented to receive him. Dr. Dermott being summoned, procee.lecl to administer tho relief that lay in his power, but after examining the man, pronounced his case to be hopeless. He was alive at a late hour last night, but evidently dying fast. We hear his name is Patrick Lanigau, and that for some weeks past he has been working in Greek's Gully (Waimea), but, stricken by sickness, he was confined to his tent, and, but for the charitable intervention of neighbors, would have porished miserably. Yester lay he was sent town by coach for admittance into the hospital, but unable to onclure the fatigue t>f such a journey, arrived in a dying statd Last night Mr C. E. Button delivered his lecture on " Voltnic Electricity." Ho traced electricity from its infancy, and forcibly demonstrated the proficiency which, by the aid of science aud the ability of Voltaire/Gat vain, Dufay, and others, it had attained. He then proceeded to show the truthfulness of his assertions hy practical experiments. Tho lecture was most instructive and cntertaiuing, and we can ouly express our regivt at the paucity of the attendance. We sincerely hope that Air Button will be prevailo 1 upon to re-de-liver his lecture, and that he wdl meet with that support which his gratuitous exertions in such a praise-worthy object so justly entitle him to receive.

Wo perceive that Messrs J. F. Byrne and Co. have imported a very substantial air-pump, which, when worked by six men (drawing a suction of seventeen feet with one hundred and fifty feet of hose), i& capable of throwing a jet of eighty-four gallons of water at every stroke. In case of fire this pump is calculated to do signal service, and we trust that the necessity for its practical use will be fully recognised by householders here who can at a a small expense provide themselves with a very efficient aid in the event of fire.

The usual weekly meeting of the Hokitika Literal y Debating Society was held last night at the Fire Brignd" Hall. The minutes of the last meeting were rea I and confirmed. The report of fcno committee appointed by th • society to select a suitable place for the holding of a soiree was brought up. It stated that the committee had beon unable to obtain a suitable building for the above object. Mr Moir strongly advocated the patronage of the society being accorded to some publican, who would no doubt x>hice a ivom at their disposal. After some discussion, a new committee was appointed, with instructions to report at the next meeting of the society. Messrs Harrison, Bunton and Gumming then gave some recitations, which were ably criticised, after which the meeting dispersed. The " Southern Cross" of the 24th ult. says: — Two of the natives who were sentenced to long periods of imprisonment for being concerned in the murders of Mr Fulloon and the crew of the Kate, at Wuakatane, are now in the hospital at the Stockade, so far reduced by consumption that perfect recovery is not to be hoped for. One of them — Heapatare, an old man — is, we are informed, by a gentleman who lately visited the Stockade, so far reduced that he could not l->o removed. The other, Parahavaha, might linger for a time, and it wotdd not be too great leniency in the Government to let him end his days out of prisou, aud among his tribe, the members of which, ever since the trial, have steadily refused to listen to invitationst to tnko up arms again.

We are informed by the " Lyttelton Times" of the 7th inst. that a General Government " Gazette," published, on Thursday, contipns the iollowing proclamation, by his Excellency the Governor, addressed to tho mombors of both Houses :—": — " Whoreas on the Bth day of October last, I thought fit to prorogue the General Assembly of New Zealand to the twenty-seventh day of December next, at which time you were held and eonstrainod to appear : Now kuow you that for divers causes and considerations I have thought fit to relieve you and each of you of your attendance at the time aforesaid, hereby convoking and by these presents enjoining you and each of you, that on Tuesday, the nineteenth day of February next, you meet in Parliament, at the City of' Wellington, thei'e to take into consideration the state and welfare of the said colony of New Zealand, and therein to do as may seem necessary." The "Advertiser" thinks it probable that tho meeting of the Assembly will afterwards be prorogued to a later date than February.

The " Wanganui Times" of Nov. 30 says : — The friends of Captain M'Donnell will beglai to hear that to-day he threw away his crutches, and can now walk about the town with a stick Tlie doctors declare this to be a most extraordinary case. Their patient, with a wound right through his body, and from which the splinters of bone and gun wadding were extracted only a fow clays ngo, won't ho down and die, or even go upon crutches. He is determined to get well iti spite of them. In its summary of intelligence for the week, the Auckland " Weekly News," of the Ist instant, says — "It is quite evident, from tho news published in the letters of our correspondents this week, that some preeoncorted movement by the rebellious tribes is afoot. The intelligence published by ue last Saturday is corroborated to the tidiest, both from the Thames and Tauranga. A. private lettor, from a well informed settler at Tauranga, contains the following:—'Matters hero do not look very satisfactory just now. I fancy, however, that you will hear all sorts of rumors, and of a much magnified nature; hence this note to you. There is doubtless much to alarm, at the same time I do not think a shofc will be tired. Our news from Opotiki fc bad, Major St, John has

enough t<i do with his low nifu — all told, only 150. Ho is threatened by Rewi an I Koivopa, tit lliu hoiid of v large bo ly of men. 1 Of courjc, it is impossible for us to promise what turn event r may ta'<e, but to all appc<irauco tho Huu H:uh are bciit on making an attiuk upon some place. It. has been considered necessary to build a redoubt on tho land at T.iuranga, about tho ourvey of which thero has boon some difficulty. This redoubt, will bo garrisoned by 100 men of tho Ist Waikatos. At Opotiki there are mauy rumors of projected attacks, bill nothing more. The most serious nnil ularmiiig news ia from the Thames, from which wo 1-mru that a party of 100 men has loft, to reinforce Rewi, wherever that chief may be. This statement is confirmed by one from Cambridge, on tho Waikato, that two men travelling between the Th lines and Cambridge saw 200 armed men miking their way towards Maungatautari. Wo learn from a native letter that 200 Taranakis had reached Taupo. Groat complaints reach us from tho natives on the East Coast with respect tp the operation of tlic East Coast Land Titles Act. These complaints are thoroughly just." ' The " Lyttleton Times" informs us that the following is the return of the number of persons who have crossed tho Bealey on their way to and from the West Canterbury Goldfields, and of the number of stock driven p.»st ib during tlio week ending December 1. To the goldfhilds, males 39 ; female 1 ; horsos 27 ; cuttle 87 ; sheep, 903. From the goldh'elds, males 78 ; horses 31 ; permanent residents at Bealey, 6. Tho " Southland TimeV' says that, " on Wednesday afternoon considerable excitement took pace in consequence of ono of the gang of prisoners employed in repairing Deveron street, having made a determined effort to escape. At the period named, a prisoner named Murphy suddenly flung down the tools he was working with, and bolted. There was only one warder in charge of the gang, and consequent!,) ho could do but little except shooting the runaway. Ho gave tho alarm, aud the prisoner having ran in sight of Sergeant Shiny, a most, exciting race ensued. The prisoner with terrific speed darted through Esk and Deo streets, making for the j Blulf Road, with Shury following and gradually gaining; upon him, and when opposite the Custom House, a gentleman, divining the nature of the race, gave evident signs of a determination to take a part in the chase, upon which Murphy hesitated, and was >pec lily captured There can bo no question the system that has been adopted of employing prison labor in tho construction or repairs of the streets, is of great advantage to the inhabitants, but one warder is not sufficient to guard six or seven reckless and determined convicts." In the Supreme Court, Dunedin, on the 6th instant, before his Honor Mr Justice Chapman, Thoma-i Robson was indicted for having, in August List, wounded Edward Birt, with intent to disable him, on the occasion of the attempt to escape of two mon from the Dunedin gaol. Further founts in the indictment charged the prisoner with having committed tho assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, and with the intent to resist and prevenC his lawful detention. The evidence for the prosecution was the same as that extracted by us from tho columns of the " Otago D.iily Times," on the occasion of the examination beforo the Resident Magistrate, with the addition that warder Maenarmara and constable Fair detailed a conversation they hud wit') tho prisoner, in which he admitted that ho had struck Birt the first blow. Mr S iiythies, who appeared for the prisoner, offered no defence, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty upon the counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and with intent to resist and prevent Ins lawful detention as a prisoner. Sentence was deferred.