GENERAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 905, 26 December 1871, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

The Dunedin Artillery Company have been beaten by two home companies in rifle matches by large majorities. At Christchurch a society has been formed for the erection of an Observatory, and a large sum of money has been subscribed. It is calculated on a reliable basis that the recent ri?e in wool has added £BOO,OOO in value to this year's clip in the Middle Island. Rigg, the Town Clerk of Wellington', is suspected of embezzlement, owing to iregularities having been discovered iu his accounts. A General Government " Gazette," issued December G, makes the following announcement of Ministerial arrangements :—The Governor, having accepted the resignation of the Hon. William Gisborne, holding the office of Minister of Public- Works, his Excellency has been pleased to appoint the Hon. John Davies Ormond to be Minister for Public Works ; the Hon. John Davies Ormond has been appointed a member of the Executive Council ; the Hon. William Reeves has been appointed Resident Minister for the Middle Island of New Zealand; and the Hon. George Marsden Waterhouse has resigned his seat in the Executive Council. The Auckland Provincial Council has passed a resolution in favour of the remission of the £90,000 harbour debt, and has voted £2OO towards a female reformatory. Important evidence has been published in reference to the existence of extensive alluvial goldfields in the Waikato. The Executive intend taking action to test the ground.