The Westport Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1870.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 672, 16 June 1870, Page 2

The Westport Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1870.

A sufficient time has elapsed since the resignation by Mr Gallagher of his seat in the enabled the, rnent to furnish the Keturnmg Officer -with a writ for the election of a new member to represent Westland North, and the comparatively short interval that intervened after the seat became vacant until the meeting of the Assembly, but rendered a little expedition the more urgent. As it is, the Assembly met on Tuesday last, and no writ has yet been received, nor will there be an opportunity of its arriving for at least a week. It will be then too late for the elected member to take his seat during the present session, unless it happen that Mr Kynnersley who, as yet, is the only candidate before the constituency, should be returned without going to the poll. If a second party come forward and the seat is contested, there will be little likelihood of the constituency being represented in the present session of parliament. J.t is well-known to the present Ministry that the ex-member, Mr Gallagher, was not a supporter of their s,and it might be reasonably inferred that any person representing these goldfields would be opposed to the Ministry upon the Provincial question. With these facts before us it is difficult to believe that the delay that has taken place is due to accident only, and not to political intrigue. No intimation was received yesterday at the Engineer's office, from Nelson, with respect to the letting of the stone contract. Dr Giles and Mr Dobson, District Engineer, are expected to return to Westport from Charleston to-day. The Treasurer of the Westport District Hospital acknowledges the receipt of £1 9s 6d, the amount of collections from the Hospital donation box, lodged at the Courthouse, Westport.

The Eobert Burns Hotel, originally supposed to have cost about .£6OO, was sold at auction by Mr Munro, on Monday, and realised £BO. The purchaser was Mr Sheahan, who intends removing the building immediately and re-erecting the same in Oobden street.

The lighthouse, recently erected on the sandspit at the western entrance to Cook Strait, will be permanently lit on and after Friday the 17th instant. An accident, happily unattended with fatal results, occurred at Addison's, yesterday, to a miner named John Morris. It appears he was engaged ground-sluicing, when a large mass of earth unexpectedly broke down, burying Morris,' who, when extricated by his mates, was found to be severely contused and crushed, but escaped without broken limbs. The injured man, who is a shareholder in the mining party, known as O'Toole and Company, was conveyed to the District Hospital the same afternoon.

The following judgment was given by Mr Justice Clarke, in the appeal on an interpleader, Bank of New Zealand v. Reid, tried in the District Court, Charleston, yesterday:—"l am of opinion that this appeal must be allowed. Costs to come out of claim, but not against the wages men." Drennan v. Wilson and others, (Maori Chief Gold Mining Company,) also an appeal case, is now before the Court.

Mr Mackley, M.F.C., was a passenger per steamer Murray, from Nelson to Greymouth.

An inquest was held at Charleston, yesterday, on the body of a child, named Mary Ann Hannigan, who died suddenly on Tuesday last. Particulars will appear in our next issue. Petitions were laid on the Council table on Thursday last from Mr Epps and Mr Hales, Nelson, gardeners and nurserymen, praying that no money should be given for raising the mulberry. The petitioners stated that they had grown thousands of young

tree 3, and had thrown them away for lack of a sale for them.

Michael English, a deserter from the 18th was forwarded by the s.s. Auckland from Auckland to Sydney on the. 23rd ult. Walter Tricker was well received by the inhabitants on his arrival at Kangitikei. The matter of gold export duty is exciting considerable attention at the Thames. Looking at the tax comparatively, it is estimated that the Thames gold, owing to its inferior quality, is taxed to the extent of 3s 9d per ounce. A passenger named John Smith, aged 48, died, on the 13th April, on board the barque Huasquina on her passage from Liverpool to Auckland. The deceased was a native of Donaghadee, Ireland. The Auckland News of the Dai/, an evening paper issued from the office of the Morning Advertiser, cl< sed a short-lived existence on the 22nd ult.

A native, named Hori, recently committed suicide at Tarawera, by blowing out his brains with a loaded pistol. Deceased had been recently discharged from the armed constabulary, a fact which appears to have preyed upon his mind.

We learn from our northern files that the Hau-haus and King natives are determined to resist the construction of the teleg'raph line to Hauraki or Waikato, and they threaten to cut the posts down and make a fight, if either of the lines are persisted in. A large native meeting was to be held during the present month at Tauparuru to consider the question of putting a stop to the construction of the telegraph.

The committee, to whom was referred a petition from the publicans of Nelson praying for a reduction of the licensing fees, have not recommended any alteration, on the grounds that it would only tend to aggravate an existing evil—the unnecessary number of licensed houses—without relieving the present license holders.

From the West Coast the news is that the Maori King is a guest of Mrs Charleton, at Kawhia. His Majesty is said to be still unfavorable towards making roads, and carrying the telegraph over his land.

Hau-hau emissaries, from Waikato, have been busy with the Ngapuhis in the North, making converts to their fanaticism. The ostensible object of their mission was to prevent Maoris killing Maoris; but, as the Southern Cross remarks, this means that they may turn their undivided attention to Hlling pakehas. Although no great success may have attended their efforts, yet there is the danger that Hau-hauisin may grow in the extreme north, when once planted there.

The Kuranui Gold Mining Company, Thames, appropriated £6,500 for the payment of dividends during the month of May. Constable Forster has been placed in charge of the gaol at Shortland.

A verdict of wilful murder has been returned by the jury against Martena Te Rakitangi for the murder of his wife, Eawina, at Waiuku, on the 17th ult. The murderer is not yet arrested. The recent fall in the price of kauri gum is causing a pauic amongst the diggers in the Wairoa and other districts of the North Island. Mr "Wrigg, C.E., estimates the cost of a dry dock at Auckland, which would fulfil the conditions to enable a loan to be obbataxkx Irum Ctta liupurlul OtovemuienC, at £150,000 to =£loo,ooo.

The European Mail of March 25th has the following :—" The steamship Nebraska will leave San Francisco, for Sydney, this day (March 25th). She is intended to be the pioneer vessel of a line to run between the two Pacific ports. In taking this action, the Yankees have exhibited another instance of their propensity to "do." whilst others are only talking. In London, meetings have been held, and plenty of talking indulged in, on the subject of utilising the Great Pacific Railway for the purpose of Australian communication. The Americans have, in the meantime, commenced work, and they deserve to succeed." The Nebraska belongs to Mr Webb of New York, but we hardly think the above can be correct, inasmuch as she would have been long overdue at Sydney, and up to the present we have no news of her arrival at that port. The Province of Otago spends £17,000 a year on its police establishments. At Savuni, Fiji, fowls are 3d each, and pigs Gd to Is.

Mr Brunton, C.8., leaves Otago shortly for England to negotiate the Southern Trunk Railway Loan. It appeared in evidence taken before the E.M. at Shortland that William Pagg, who is committed for trial charged with selling arms to natives, had disposed of two double-barrelled guns, a quantity of unloaded cartridges, and a cartridge machine for £62,. The arni3 had been sold to Henari ti Paura and Hoera ti Hangi in January and June, 1869. The two abovenamed natives gave evidence for the prosecution.

The Bank of New Zealand shipped, per Kennedy, to Hokitika, on Tuesday last, ISSOozs lOdwts 3grs gold; the Union Bank 223-lozs 2dwts 6grs, and the Bank of New South Wales, per Murray, to Greymouth, 14030zs lodwts 9grs. The export duty paid on the above shipments amounted in the aggregate to £6S9 16s Id.

A fire broke out in Trafalgar Street, Nelson, about two o'clock on the morning of the 7th inst. The fire was promptly extinguished though a good deal of damage was done to the stock of Mr Wiesenhavern, who occupied the pi-emises. The cause of the fire is unknown, and it is stated the stock was partially insured. The Gazetle of the 4th instant notifies the rev Executive as follows:—"Henry Adams, Esq., Provincial Solicitor; Alfred Greenfield, Esq., Provincial Secretary; John Sharp, Esq., Provincial Treasurer pro tern.-. Joseph Shephard, Esq., Member of the Executive Council; Alexander Beid, Esq., Member of the Executive Council, representing the Golduelds' interests.

The news from the new goldfield in Marlborough is encouraging, and it appears that the field is more extensive than was anticipated. The Marlborough Express of the 4th says:—" Humphrey's party have struck heavy gold in a claim above the prospectors, and have found several small nuggets under an ounce. They are now preparing boxes for sluicing all before them. We understand the gully is between three and four miles long; and .. e fact that payable gold has been found u' different points throughout its length goes for to prove that the whole was payable. Greenlaw's claim, at the junction of the prospectors' gully and Bartlett's creek, was not bottomed when our informant left, but they are believed to have found excellent prospects. The wash-dirt is said to be payable for some feet in depth. Last night we heard that new auriferous ground had been discovered in another creek running into Bartlett's creek, but could not obtain particulars. There are about 300 on the

field, all of whom are setting in steadily to work, and appear satisfied with their prospects. It is a significant fact that only a few have returned, and those chiefly miners having claims on the Deep Creek." In the course of Mr Fox's speech at Christchurch, on the 12th instant, he is reported by the Press to have said:—l wish to contradict a statement which has appeared in the press here, in which I am charged by the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, that I had received a telegram altering the figures which I laid before the Otago .Meeting, and that I had suppressed it. Now this is untrue. I did receive a telegram containing a summary of the information, but I told the Otago meeting so; I told them I had received later information from. Wellington. The paragraph I allude to will be quoted in the newspapers of the colony, and will go the rounds of the press, and I have therefore thought it right to refute it. I will read the extract I allude to. Here it is:—" In fact I am aware that on one or two occasions solemn enquiries have been held with a view of finding out how I obtained certain items of information ; for instance, Lord Granville's reprimand to Sir George Bowen in re the New Zealand Order of Valor. Clerks have been cross-examined and threatened with dismissal and all sorts of things, but yet Mr Fox has not found out, nor is he likely to find out, how I discover liis secrets. I see he has given the Dunedin electors a lot of figures regarding the defence expenditure. I don't believe in them at all, and I have reason to know that Mr Fox's reservation about actual correctness was meant to cover a very great discrepancy, for he was in possession of the real figures—had received a summary of them that very day." I cannot help expressing my indignation at this attempt to fasten upon me the odium of this falsehood. I have the highest possible respect for the Press of the colony, and believe it is conducted in a manner deserving the highest commendation ; but I cannot help expressing my utter astonishment at the conduct of the Otago Daily Times in inserting contributions from a person who purloins the secrets of the Ministry, and even the secret despatches of Ministers from their private despatch-box despatches which it was never intended he should see; a person who surreptitiously gets to know the purport of telegrams forwarded to me at two, for me to speak on at five, and who publicly boasts of these acts; and I ask is it right, is it honorable, that any section of the Press should employ a double-eyed soundrel—one who tells all' the world that he has done these disreputable acts, and will do them again and again ?