GENERAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 841, 25 July 1871, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

On Thursday, the;l3th instant; two tons of stone from the G-olden Crown Reef, Onamalutu, were crushed at the Sntherland battery, and gave 2 ozs 1 dwt Ggrs of retorted gold. The tailings from the crushings were afterwards found to contain gold, and there was also a quantity of metal, supposed to be lead and silver, a portion of which has been sent to Dr Hector, to "Wellington. The following particulars respecting the death of Mr Manson Sinclair who accidentally shot himself with a revolver, are from the Nelson papers:— The accident, contrary to the too sanguine expectations of his numerous friends, terminated fatally about a quarter to five o'clock on Monday morning the 17 th instant. To all appearance Mr Sinclair was progressing favourably up to about noon on Sunday, when he was attacked with a severe pain, and experienced a difficulty in breathing. It was then found tbat inflammation had set in, and the patient grew so rapidly worao that all hope of his recovery was abandoned. The following medical evidence, given at the inquest shows tho nature of the wound and tho cause of death : —Tho ball passed from the orifico of entranco through the extreme point of tho left lobe of tho liver whore it overlapped the stomach, through tho stom,^' 1 ' ontering on tho front part four j«chcs from the pyloric end, passing trough the stomach and leaving it hack

part two inches and a half the caidiac end. It then passed tJ>Tough the thickest part of the spleen, thence through the diaphragm, fracturing the tenth rib completely, and passing upwards lodged under the skin between the eight and ninth ribs. The left lung was not wounded; it was in a complete state of gangrene. The stomach, liver, and spleen, were all more or les mortified. The funeral took place on Wednesday. The mem. bers of the .Freemasons, Oddfellows, Volunteers, and Fire Brigade together with a large number of friends of the deceased assembled at his father's house, whence they accompanied the body to Church, where the first portion of the service was read by the Eev. G. H. Johnstone. The procession then reformed and proceeded to the cemetery. The Hon. Julius Vogel was presented by Lord Kimberley, at the last levee held by the Prince of Wales for the Queen, at St James's Palace, and Mrs Vogel had the honor of being presented by Countess Granville, at a drawing, room held by the Queen. Mr Vogel has been elected an honorary member of the Reform Club.

At Wellington, a woman named Catherine Petford has been summoned for thrashing her husband. The magistrate ordered her to find bail in two sureties of £SO each for her good be. haviour for six months, which, under the circumstances, is tantamount to six months' imprisonment. At Wangarei, lately, the wife of Mr M'Leod, residing at the Whau Whau, was induced by a party to take a vapour bath, believing that it would cure her of the rheumatic pains which had rendered her a cripple for years. It appears she was kept in the bath one hour and twenty minutes, and that she lived but three hours after her removal therefrom.

By a recent order in Council, the fea of £1 heretofore charged for each certificate of title under the Land Transfer Act, is remitted in cases where land has not been previously dealt with, and the certificate is applied for in the name of the original grantee. Original grantees who have not dealt with their land can now bring it under the Act in their own name, on payment of seven shillings for each grant and a half-penny in. the pound on.the value.

The increasing number of pupils at. the girls' school at St Mary's, Nelson, now under the charge of the recentlyarrived Sisters of Charity, requires ati enlargement of the building, and a meeting was held after vespers, on Sunday evening last, to elect a managing committee to see to the carrying out of the work, and the following were appoined :—The Rev. Father Garin, Messrs. L. Broad, Franks, Bunny, James, Armstrong, Par. menter, Franks, Mullion, Collins, Corrigan, Russell, and Devaney, for Nelson} Mr. Redwood, Waimea west; Messrs. Hale and Eiley, Takaka j Messrs. Holt, JDraeger, and Smith, Wakefield; Messrs. Eedwood and Ward, Wairau } Mr. Cardell, Stoke; Mr. Fowler, Spring Grove; the Rev. Eather Walsh and Mr. O'Pady, Westport; Mr. J. Walsh, Matakitaki; Messrs. M. Bohan and Harold, Rev Fathers Colomb and Binsfield, Grey; and Mr. Sawyer, Collingwood. The sitting of the Supreme Court, which should have been held on Monday, the 17th ultimo, has been postponed owing to the absence of his Honour Mr. Justice Richmond, who is attending the sitting of the Court of Appeal, at Wellington. An Auckland contemporary says : From a private letter we learn that Mr Vogel was to leave London on the 29th June, and he may, therefore, be expected to arrive in New Zealand about the 17th August. The Auckland " Evening Star," of July 4, ascribes the recent fall in Thames scrip to a ruse on the part of mining brokers. It says: —"Many persons wondered yesterday why the share market had so suddenly fallen. The arrival of the Hero with the Victorians reputed to bo on board was supposed sufficient to cause a rise in shares, and the contrary result was looked upon by many as remarkable, These are they who know not the nwes of the mining exchange. It appears that in anticipation of the purchases of the Ballarat men, their friends here commenced " bearing" the market by rushing about in a seemingly anxious way, offering their j shares to everybody at a low price. ] The ruse of course succeeded with the green 'uns, thongh the older birds were not caught. The Thames Gold Mining Company's shares, for example, fell to £33 10s under the influence exerted, and wo believe a number of persons with few shares and not mud means, and consequently timid, I«f considerably. They are smart Jffli j very smart men entirely, these Vic j torians, and we shall be as glad to sea j as many of them as can come; bat j little discreditable games of this sort cannot be expected to succeed oftenIf the people of Auckland are flats, they are, of course, fair game f° r smar J I men, but we hope this "hullingand j bearing" for which Ballarat has been somewhat scandalous, wifl not be over* done."

K"ot long as° a gentleman |*j occasion to rci'rore his little son, aged four and a "wf years, for an offence which b* l °n other occasions called forth T-ords of corroction. The parent with, " Now, I don't w .ot to speak to you again about .iiis!" which was promptly and very decidedly responded to as follows: " Well, pa, I doesn't want you to!" Thoro was nothing further to be saia» but father has concluded that the boy needs watching.