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Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 800, 11 April 1871, Page 2

The Bank of New Zealand, Westport, shipped, by the steamer Kennedy to Hokitika on Saturday last, two boxes of gold, containing lolOoz 12dwt 3gr, the export duty upon which amounted to £IBB 16s 7d. The Bank of New Zealand, Charleston, forwarded by escort to Westport, for shipment, on Wednesday last, 8520z Bdwt Bgr of gold. Weather permitting, the Sunday school children's picnic will take place at White's garden, South Spit, to-day. Some of the watermen's boats will ply during the day at half the usual rate. The entertainment, got up by our local amateurs, in aid of the building fund of St. John's Church, took place at the Masonic Hall yesterday evening and proved a great success. The hall, during the performance was densely crowded, and the amateurs who performed on the occasion acquitted themselves to the entire satisfaction of the audience, who frequently testified the same by hearty plaudits. The net proceeds have not, as yet, been ascertained with any degree of certainty, but there is every reason to believe that they will form a handsome contribution to the building fund. It will be observed, by advertisement, that Edith Pahnerston will shortly give an entertainment in Westport, and, from the manner she is spoken of in the sister provinces, we expect a treat. Her performances have been immensely successful at Auckland, Grahamstown, Napier, and Wellington. She plays at Nelson to-night and Wednesday. An account, furnished by a correspondent, of a trip up the Buller River and its tributaries, the Lyell and the Inangahua, is unavoidably held oyer. The last Otogo esoort brought down to Dunedin 11,614 ounces of gold. The following scale of fees has been fixed by the Resident Magistrate, G reymouth, for civil cases in which solicitors are engaged : —For undefended cases, where the amount is paid into Court, or judgment is confessed, or judgment goes by defaidt, under £lO, a fee of 10s 6d ; over £2O aad urder ,£so, £1 Is ; over £SO, £2 2s. In defended cases, £2O, a fee of £1 Is; above £2O and £SO, from £2 2s to £3 3s; over £SO, £3 3s. It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we have to announce the death of Robert Abbott, Esq., Registrar of the Supreme Court, at Hokitika, which occurred at a late hour on Wednesday evening. Mr Henry Driver, of the firm of Driver. Stewart, and Co., Dunedin, has received the appointment of Consul for the Hawaiian Islands for New Zealand. It has been noticed that some of the Waikato natives are armed with Snider rifles and breech-loading carbines. Where did they get them ? A return of the value and quantity of gold exported from the port of Greymouth during the quarter ended the 31st March, has just been made up in the Custom House, and is as follows :—22,495 ounces, of the value of £89,981 13s 6d; upon which duty to the amount of £2Bll 18s 9d was paid. The suspension bridge which is being constructed across the Arahura river by Mr Hungerford, is rapidly approaching completion. The bridge will be loft in width between the side rails. The piles are all driven, and the wires stretched across. The middle arch is 100 ft in the span, and there are two others of 60ft each. Mr Hungerford expects to complete the work in five or six weeks.

The '* fasting girl " at the Taieri is still occasionally noticed in the columns of the '* Bruce Herald." Last week's number says:—"She still continues in the same helpless state, all the sustenance she partakes of being the smallest bit of biscuit twice a week, and her mouth only moistened with tea. Her left side is still paralysed, and the convulsive fits she only now takes once or twice a week, instead of daily as before. There is stiJl the lingering pain in the chest. She still, however, maintains her healthy, happy, smiling countenance and cheerful conversation, and is quite resigned to meet the result of her affliction, whatever it may be." John Dunn has returned from America to Melbourne, where he is now playing. Batcheldor is said to be in Boston, U.S., engaged m the preparation of a monster panorama of the route from the colonies via San Francisco, which he intends to bring out to the colonies. Mr and Mrs George Darrell are playing with success at the Prince of Walts Opera House, Sydney. Barry Sullivan has accepted an engagement in a London theatre.

An antidote to strychnine is common smoking tobacco., mode of application hitherto adopted has been to cut up half an ounce of fig tobacco, saturate it in a quarter ot a pint of hot water, press it out, and administer from one fourth to the lot at a dose, according to the circumstances of the case.

Already credited with having made the largest break on record, W. Cook, in a match with J. Bennett, in London, on the 14th of January, far exceeded all his previous performances by scoring the astounding number of 752 off the balls. The Chinese who arrived by the Whirlwind have located themselves in Tuapeka, Otago. Te Huaki, one of the Maori prisoners, has died at Wellington. A Sydney paper states that delicious pine apples are now being sold in cartloads in the streets of Sydney, at from Is to 2s a dozen. In one of the Californian papers we find a case of suicide thus pithily reported:— " Franz Haun committed suicide at Santa Clara on the 6th instant. Cause—Woman."

We understand that Mr G. B. W organ is engaged, at present, in laying out a township for the natives of Tologa Bay. They intend to sell the sections to Europeans, when the work of surveying them is finished.—" Hawkes Bay Herald," March 28. The " Southern Cross " of a recent date, states : —" A rather laborious attempt to get clear of the irksome duties of Mount Eden Gaol was made on Saturday last by a long-sentenced prisoner named Wilson, and, doubtTesß, but for the breach of faith of his comrade, the plan would have succeeded. It appears that another inmate of the Stockade, by name Jerry O'Shane, was ac-

customed, towards the close of the day, to clear up and empty the sack filled with chips and other sweepings at a place outside the walls. Wilson conceived a " happy thought," and immediately proceeded to action. He persuaded Jerry to place him in the sack alluded to/ and, when his instructions had been obeyed, he quietly subsided into dust, and consoled himself with the idea that Jerry was of the same opinion, and would accordingly " empty him amongst the rubbish on the freedom side." But, alas for human plans! Jerry thought better of it, and did not care to undertake such a huge responsibility as to let a criminal be at large amongst honest folks ; so he hatched a counter plan. Instead of emptying the rubbish in the usual corner, he marched straight with his load to the authorities of the gaol, placing it at the feet of the chief warder, Mr O'Brien. Captain Kyre, Governor of the Stockade, was shortly afterwards called in; and in the front of them both, Jerry emptied his sack. The feelings of the man who was enacting the " low part" of mere rubbish may perhaps be imagined, certainly not described. Thus suddenly made aware of his peculiar, not to say laughable, "position, Wilson made a rush for the door, in his impetuosity, knocking over Warder Young, who happened to be stationed just outside. But in this last daring effort he was thwarted, being pulled up and brought to book for his surprising and irregular conduct." The " Ballarat Courier," of the 28th of February, states that four locomotive engines have been entirely made at Ballarat, the raw material only being imported, and also remarks that " with proper encouragement, such as a Government can and ought to give, we can promise them that we have men among us who could go in strong for tendering for the locomotives which will be required in our railway extensions." The present state of Europe is thus curtly , described by an English journal:— Russia covets, Turkey fears; Austria ponders. Italy cheers. Belgium—Holland, Wait in dread; Denmark 's palsied, Spain is dead; France lies bleeding, Prussia soars; Britannia shuts her eyes And— snares '