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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 547, 26 August 1869, Page 2

The Bisliop of Nelson arrived in Westport yesterday by the steamer Charles Edward. The special object of the Bishop's visit on this occasion is to perform the ceremony of consecrating the new English church here, and to hold a confirmation. The Bishop, it is understood, -will not at present visit any other part of this division of his diocese. Dr Viard, the Eoman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Wellington, has forwarded from Borne an address to the clergy and laity of his diocese. We purposed quoting some passages of the address, but are unable to do so in this issue. The Hon. Secretary, Mr Munro, begs to acknowledge reciept of the following sums of money in aid of the Westport District Hospital fund: — From A. O'Shannessy, Hatter Terrace ,£llO From D. Curry, Hatter Terrace 110 Net proceeds of Amateur Dramatic performance 11 5 6 From Mr Hussey, for maintenance money, while a patient in the Hospital 12 0 0 Total £25 7 6 The earthquake of Monday was sharply felt on the northern terraces, in this neighborhood, but, except the shaking down of some earth in two claims, no damage was done. Gold has been traced still faxtbov north on Cnristanas Terrace, the most northerly section of the Great North Lead.

The inhabitants of Charleston have procured from Dunedin a gold watch and chain to be presented to Mr Gasquoine. J.P., who is compelled, through ill-health, to leave the district, and whose absence will be much regretted. It is stated in the Charleston Herald that the cost of the great Charleston Water Eace, according to Mr Dobson's estimate, will be £13,G39, or nearly double the estimate of his assistant, Mr Greenwood. Richard Green writes to the Charleston Herald regarding the earthquake of Monday : —""We were at work sawing timber between two and three o'clock p.m., when hearing a rumbling like thunder, we stopped to listen. The sound came nearer, and directly we felt the ground and the pit shake wonderfully. We had a large loc 12 feet long and 2 feet 3 inches in diameter, which was, I dare say, about 25 cwt., on the skids of the pit, and it actually danced on the skids. The trees and everything around were all of a shake. I suppose, the shock lasted for about a quarter of a minute." A painful accident which occurred on board the steamer Murray is thus reported by the Nelson Colonist: —One of the seamen, whose name we have not heard, was on the plank tending the coal-basket, (the steamer was discharging Grey coal on the Commercial Wharf), when from some cause—it is said the winch chain caught it—the plank upon which the man stood was thrown down and the man fell a distance of some ten feet down upon the steam winch, smashing the bone of one of his legs, just below the knee, into fragments. Mr Kirby, agent for the vessel, promptly conveyed the sufferer to the Hospital, where several bone splinters have been extracted. It is feared that amputation of the limb will have to be performed. The Wakatip journal mentions that a good deal of building is going on in that district, especially in Queenstown, which is being improved in appearance. According to the Star, the ladies of Dunedin have adopted the graces of the "Grecian Bend" so fashionable amongst the London monde some time ago, if not still. In New York it is called the "Yankee kink." A strange attempt at suicide was made in Wellington lately by a man named Johnston, who had been for some time employed in Mr Dransfield's coal yard. He poured about a pound of gunpowder into an ordinary gun canister, which he placed inside of an oil-can, over which he held his head. From the appearance of a linen collar which he had on, the strength of the explosion must have struck him on and under the left jaw. He was not, however, so seriously injured as might have been imagined under the circumstances, and is progressing favorably. A Maori named Paora Katipa, his wife, two children, and two other women, have been drowned at the Waikato by the swamping of a boat. Between the Thames and the Coromandel, a passenger by the

cutter Snowflake, named Chisliolm, has been drowned by falling over-board. At Taranaki an orderly named James Curran has been found drowned. Mr Gully, the well-known water-color artist of Nelson, is about to dispose of a number of .pictures of Nelson scenery by an Art-Union. Mr Locket's house, Victoria Avenue, Wauganui, has been destroyed by fire, involving a loss of .£l5O to the owner. The first smelting of steel sand at Taranaki is said to have proved a great success. Over half a ton weight has been taken from the crucible. De Lacy, whose name is associated with the West Coast murders, has been arrested at the Thames for larceny, and sent to prison for four months. Nathaniel Dorrington, the man charged with selling amis and ammunition to Natives in Auckland, has been committed for trial. The three Natives have also been committed. A Justice of the Peace in the Matanra district is reported to have said, when passing judgment on a well-known settler, who was prosecuted by a neighbor for sheepworrying by his dog :—" You deserve to be horse-whipped, and I'm d d sorry I cannot give you eighty lashes." It is stated by a Tokomairiro paper that two " young ladies " were observed a few days ago on their way to the Waikaka River Diggings, " swagging ifc with heavy loads on their backs in true colonial style."