The Westport Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1869.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 464, 11 February 1869, Page 2

The Westport Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1869.

The late robbery of 274 ounces of amalgam from a party working at the Shamrock Lead, Addison's Flat, has occupied the District and \V»iden's Court for the past two days. The charge against MTntyre, who was accused of stealing the gold, failed to be sustained in the District Court on the ground that he was joint owner of the gold, and that there was no trust or treasurership proved on the part of M'Geehin, the mate in whose custody the amalgam was. After the rising of the Court, a complaint was made against him to the Warden by M'Geehin and the other mates, the complaint being that he had possessed himself of so much amalgam, and refused to account for it to his co-partners. There was a fear that he would not answer the summons, but this was managed, intentionally or otherwise, by one of the mates assaulting him, and •' causing a crowd to collect," and, after the hearing of the alleged assault, &c, the case in the Warden's Court was proceeded with. The Warden gave judgment for the complainants, or the mates in the claim, and MTntyre, failing to satisfy the demand, was committed to prison for three tnonths. Similar commitments ma 3' follow on his failing to satis:y the demand of each of the eight partners. The erection of the new Court House and Warden's offices at Charleston is to be commented immediately. We were in error so far the other day in stating that the works were stopped. A telegram was received in town to stop the present works, but it was with the intention of commencing the new building. Mr Lowe has received instructions to draw the necessary plans, and tenders will be called for in a few days, and the works so much required will be proceeded with on an early date. We understand that Mr J. R. Dutton has resigned his appointment of Resident Magis- • trate and Warden at Cobden. Mr Dutton purposes leav ng the colonies for England, We have not yet heard who is likely to be , appointed as his successor. The shareholders of the Northern United > Water Race Company, at Hatter's Terrace, expect to commence washing to-day. We noticed the christening of this race last week. There are at present three parties of miners c nnected with this race, and they are said to have a sufficient supply of water to be carried on to Giles Terrace. In this work, which took the men about six weeks to complete, about 6000 feet of timber have been used. The race is one and a half miles in length, a yood proportion of which has been blasted and nearly all flumecl. By the arrival of the Alhambra, at Hokilika, we are in receipt of Melbourne papers to the ."rd inst. The news is unimportant. Small-pox was becoming more prevalent in Melboi rne. Some fresh cases, of the conlluent form, had occurred. The Southern Empire, with 498 passengers, had arrived, and, several passengers being ill with infectious diseases, had been placed in quarantine. A jreat fire had occurred at Talbot, burning the Bank of Australasia and other premises. Late news from the Barossa goldfield, South Australia, is of a favorable character. Count V. n Attcms, who swindled the people of Sydney and Queensland, was expected to receive a heavy sentence in Batavia. News of he wreck of the Hellespont, from Melbourne to San Francisco, and of the captain and seven of the crew missing, had been received, l'ho Rev. Mr Quinlivan, Roman Catholic chaplain at Port Macqu irie, had been drowned while bathing. By t 1 sram, and by tho letter of our Weliii gtsn correspondent, the capture of Nukumarn pa has already been reported. Liter Wanganui papers, received yesterday, report hat there had been another smart skirmish, in which Henry Roach, David Murray, and William Thorns wounded, Sergeant Keefor i nd Pri\ate Hawkesley were missing, and me Maori was killed. Som? of the enemy were also killed and wounded. Tho enemy were be Id, and shouted out that they had the Native the-y shot, and would eat his heart. A daily mail is likely to be established at iast between Westport and Charleston. We are given to understand that this operation has been recommended by the Superintendent rhrough representations from the district, ind that the Postmastir-General has signified his intention to comply with the recom niendation. One month's notice will require to be given to the present mail carrier, at t :e expiry of which time tho daily mail will ba commen : d. Tenders for the conveyance of th mail daily will, meantime, be invited. A chandelier with four large kerosene lamps fell in Trinity Church, Greymouth, on Sunday oveninar, and set thi building on firo.. The Brijade turn, d oi t, but th • 1 re was, by the exertions of others, extinguished. Had the accident happened when the building m< full, the consequences might have been dreadful

By the arrival of the steamer Bruce, last I evening, and by the oourtesy of Mr Campbell, | the engineer, we have Hokitika papers of yesterday's date. There is little news of interest. A telegram from Christchurch in the West Coast Times announces that the first day's play of cricket between the Canterbury Eleven and the Otago Eleven resulted as! follows : —Canterbury, first innings, 211 ; Otago, first innings, 104. From Melbourne the news has been received that the ss. Otago was to be put up for auction, and, failing a purchaser, would be held for ten days in the hope of some New Zealand steamboat speculators investing. In the Resident Magistrate's Court, Hokitaka, James Thomas Turnell has been charged with having, on the 2Sth or 29th ult., committed a rape upon Annie Smith, a girl of ben years of age, and Ann Smith, the child's mother, was charged with having aided and abetted in the committal of the offence. The case, says the Daily News, was heard with closed doors, and only a portion of the evidence taken. The details of the evidence were most appalling, and utterly unfit for publication. Iftrue, they show that not only was a most horrible outrage committed upon the poor child, hut that h:-r mother forced her tc I submit, holding her by the throat and threatenJ ng to choke her «vhile the male prisoner accomplished his fiendish purpose. The prisoners deny the charge, and assart that it has been trumped up by the girl's father for motives of revenge. The prisoners were fully committed for trial. Although recruiting for the Armed Constabulary Force was stopped some time ago, three men have been enlisted by Mr Andrews, Collector of Customs at Greymouth, owing to the peculiar circumstances attending their application. One of them, says the Argus, is the brother of Captain Buck, late of the 65th Regiment, who, it will be remembered, was killed witb Von Tempsky and others at Nguta-te-o-Manu. He was working a claim up the river, and for a considerable time did not hear of his brother's death; but when he did, he and his mates at once abandoned their claim, came to town, and made application to be allowed to enlist. They were sent to the front by the Beautiful Star. The Grey River Argus reports that the only remaining house in the once busy Blaketown, with four freehold sections of land, have been sold by auction by Mr D. M'Lean, and knocked down for £3O. In the "Westland County Council, on Monday last, Mr Rees was to move " That, in the opinion of this Council, it is advisable that that portion of the Province of Nelson, situated between the River Grey and Razorback, should be added to the County of Westland; and that this Council petition the General Assembly at its next session to carry the above opinion into effect." The " opinion of this Council" says the Evening Star, may be that it would be " advisable" to annex the whole province of Nelson to the County. But as Westland's boundary line 3 have been defined in the Act, it is not likely the General Assembly will alter them, especially if Nelson protests, which it most assuredly will.

Tho schooner Spray has arrrived at Greymouth. She was becalmed off this coast, and the Argus reports that during the time she lay becalmed, the sea in the vicinity of the schooner appeared to bo literally swarming with fish, and one monster of the deep hovering about. Captain Ruxton thought; it was a large shark, and tried to harpoon it, but failed. While the crew were watching the big fish, it leapt clean out of the water, and showed itself to bo an enormou3 sworifijh, measuring about 14 feet long, aud having a sword about 6 feet in length. A d scussion is going on at Auckland as to who is entitled to the reward for discovering a payable goldfield in that Province. Tho Cross says : —lf Mr Walter Williamson was the first to discover that payable gold existed where it is now being worked with such marked success, ho is clearly entitled to the promised rewerd. If Taipari or his friends (or servants) Paratene and Hamiora were the first to discover the existence of payable gold on the Karaka Creek, the question will only remain as to the division of the money between them. The stewards of the Greymouth Annual Httc'-'S have issued the programme of the forthcoming meeting, which takes pla-je on Wednesday, the 17th March (St. Patrick's Day) and the following day. For the Greymouth Handicap—the great event of the meeting—a prize of £>2s is offered, and for the Town Plate and Hurdlo Handicap prizes of 100 sovs each. The entries and nominations are to be made on Saturday evening, March 13. Another distressing instance of the callousness of some parents, says the Otago Daily Times, was brought under the notice of the Resident Magistrate on the 15th ult., when two interesting little boys, about six and three years old respectively, were brought before the Bench to be dealt w.th under the Neglected and Criminal Children Act. They were the children of a solicitor of the Court, Michael Kidston, now in Melbourne, and were taken from the mother's house by the police. They were found in a state of com parative nudity, huddled together on the cold boards of their dwelling, covered only by a few rags. As tho police were not able to make out a case of habitual drunkenness against tho m>ther, or to prove that her house was the resort of bad characters, the Magistrate Slid, much as he regretted tho facts, he had no alternative but to discharge the children. Those who are prospecting for gold a Taranaki have got some more specimens of quartz with gold particles visible. A report was current amongst the natives in Taranaki, when the Airedale left that port, that Te Kooti had died from the effects of the wounds received by him at Ngatapa. Tho story of finding Von Tempsky's remains is contradicted. Colonel M'Donnell's official despatch to Colonel Whitmore, detailing th-' rail on Ngutu-o-te-Manu, mentions

he discovery of the charred bones of our 11 men, but says nothing as to any being identi- i liable. I Mr J. I. Mere wether, on leaving Nelson for < Marlborough, has received a testimonial | from the congregation of St. Mary's. A destructive fire has occurred at Epsom, Auckland, by which a three-roomed house, a I stable, and the valuable racohors.) S.itellit J, belonging to Mr Chadwick, were destroyed, An agitation is being got up in Nelson in favor of the system of voting by ballot. Several meetings have been held. There are said to be forty-seven machines at work at Shortland, driving five hundred stamps. Memorials of Mr Dobaon and other Canterbury surveyors who lost their lives on the West Coast, were brought to Grevmouth by the Beautiful Star, and are to bo erected in the cemetery. Auckland papers state that Mr Alex. Kennedy, Manager of the Bank of New Zealand, has, owing to private pecuniary difficulties, been compelled to resign his office. The Bank is a large creditor. Captain Corbett of Taranaki has had his foot pulled off" by the rope of a vessel at the wharf in Auckland. Dr Jenner, the Bishop of Dunedin, waß allowed to land without any demonstration. It was intended to present an address from r Port Chalmers, but the Mayor refused to assist in the presentation, and the proposition fell through. On the night before his arrival there was an influential meeting in Dunedin, ■ at which it was resolved to oppose his settle--3 ment as Bishop. r Auckland Punch contributes the following essays on the means for securing the perma--3 nent settlement of the mining population of » New Zealand : —Essay No I.—Legislate pro--1 perly, and don't endeavour to humbug them. Essay No 2—Place efficient, trustworthy, and 1 painstaking intelligent men in responsible • situations, without regard to personal pre--1 dilectioh or state jobbery. Essay No 3. — 3 Give them their rights as a most important part of the community, and reduce the taxa- ' tion on the product of their labors at once.