GENERAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 847, 8 August 1871, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

The mail from Westporfc to the Inangabua '(says the Grey " Argus'") may be •classed under the head * intermittent.'* Oii Tuesday, 25th instant, the mailman from Westport made his appearance at Reefton after an absence of two weeks. The delay was occasioned entirely by the almost impassable state of the tracks. The residents in the Bulger or. Grey Valley cannot boast much" of their roads, but to show the superiority of the Grey Valley route to the reefs j over the other, at the worst of times, it may be mentioned that Sadler's ex* press has reached Murray Creek regularly every week for the last fou> teen months, with one exception, and the delay on that occasion was caused by an accident which befel the express man's horse at the Ahaura. , On Tuesday last a accident occurred at Finlay's Saw Mills, Hoki; tika. One of the men Was adjusting j the belt round the wheel, and by some 1 mishap was caught and whirled round I breaking his collar bone, and receiving 1 an injury to his thigh. The sufferer 1 was removed to the Hospital, where! he expired the following morning. ..Miss Aylmer/ a • passenger i froni jj Nelson to the Bluff, died on board the 8 Rangitoto during the passage fron« Lyttelton to Port Chalmers. |1 The s.s. Luna arrived with tbeg Governor, family, and suite at Wei-■ lington on Thursday. The MayorlJ presented an address on landing: a There were guards of hoiior and afl large crowd, despite the unfavourablelj weather. Tub Luna left Auckland on M Tuesday. fl M'Donald, owner of the WangahaH Hotel, Wanganui, has made a state-pi ment that the withers naine'd EJlioti«Jj set lire to the hotel by an arrangement™ to defraud the insurance The prosecution is still taking e vl «j The Auckland share market is firfflM Caledonians, £I9S to £200; Thamefg

\ a nd Tookey's,/£3B to £4O; Otagos, i £3 15s. Thd Nonpareil and Alburnia 'mines look well. The Caledonian "struck good gold at a lower level. Thoy last week crushed 4,406 dzs from 1 general stuff. The Hauhaua are reported as anxiouß, to re-opeh Kawhaia to traders. A runanga was to to consider the King's inten'tions'on the "subject. ftisV&Aed that £2OO will be handed over to, the Hokitika Hospital 'Committee.'as : the result' of a recent ' entertainment given at the Kanieri. J. W. Walker, "of 'the Thames " Scottish Volunteers, has published a 'challenge to Lieut. Wales, of Dunedin, or any other mail, in'the'colony, to fire a "match fbr £SO, ten shots at e&eh "range, from 200 to yards,.to'be fired at v " Auckland^',or 'Otago. Kennedy, late of Dunedin, has accepted the challenge on-behalf of the Otago Volunteers. £25 deposit has been made. ■. A man, named Scrivenor, awaiting a magisterial enquiry on the state of his mind, was found dead in his cell

at Christchurch on Tuesday last. The Doyleston and Burnham coach 'Was upset last week in the river Selwyn,. and the driver and a boy were 'drowned. ..

I A man was killed on the Lyttelton [ jjailway station en the Ist instant, [ paving been crushed between two | 'buffers of railway carriages. In addition to the cases disposed of 'on the 31st ult., at the criminal sittings' of ■ the supreme court at Nelson, there* was a charge of indecent 'assault against BeAjamin Harris, stew- ; ard of ,the Gothenburg, committed by him on Caroline Cochrane, a child of 'mWyears, oh the passage from Melbourne.to Nelson. .The prisoner was jband, guilty. Honour, in passing sentence, informed the prisoner 'be should'inflict upon him'the longest tetm of ,'jmpriabnment the law allowed \ for his offence, which' was of the gross- | jstiind, .As ah officer of thg vessel, [ .he bad abused his . trust, 'and if to 'iaprisoriment he added flogging the 'punishment "was well deserved. SenWeed to two years' imbripohment with hard labour. John Avery, charged with,fraudulently converting to their own use a quantity of hay, were acquitted. In the list of names of gentlemen .called to the English Bar in Easter Term (2nd May), by the honorable Society of the pinner Temple j we observe the names of Martin Chapman, Esq., and Frederick Bavans Chapman',! Esq., two of the sons of Mr Justice Chapman. Both gentlemen are ji&uves of this colony, and the former jwas for some time secretary to the 'learned judge. . The schooner Northern Light, from Melbourne, arrived in the Hokitika 'roadstead on August 3. , The s.B. Waipara returned -to Hokitika on Wednesday from Okarito, having been unable to enter that port in consequence of the bad state of the bar.

. Isaac Levy, charged with uttering a forged cheque at Hokitika, has been committed for trial. The cheque, drawn for £lO 10s, had been given to .Daniel Lynch, of the Swan Hotel, for refreshments.

The death of Mr Beaver, an old and respected resident of Dunedin, also well known on tha West Coast, is anhouneed. The deceased gentleman had been in failing health for several months past. His death will be much regretted by many, especially by those 'connected with friendly societies, with which he was largely connected. . The tender's received for launching the briganjine Wa&rman and bringing her into Hokitika river amounted to £I3OO, and, in view of so heavy a cost, it has been determined i 6 abandon the venture, and to break the vessel up, which work is how being proceeded with.

The " Bohemian'' is the title of a iew comic paper that has been started in Danedin. . . The Wellington Provincial Council has voted £BOOO for the erection of new Government buildings on the reclaimed laid, and a further sum for the necessary furniture. The good people of Wellington, evidently think that provincial institutions are to receive a fresh lease of life.