INTERPROVINCIAL.

Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 979, 14 June 1872, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL.

The document contained in a bottle picked up recently on the Ocean Beach, Dunedin, and purporting to be written by the first mate of the missing ship Matoaka, is now considered to be a stupid forgery. The Dunedin ' Star' says :—" It may be noted that a period of nearly two years elapsed between the date on which, presumedly, the bottle with the document quoted above was thrown into the sea, and the date about which it was picked up on the Ocean Beach, near Dunedin. The hand-writing of the document has been closely and carefully compared with ship receipts in the possession of Messrs Miles and Co., and it is clear that the handwritings, are totally dissimilar in every respect. It would thus appear that a very cruel and wicked hoax has been perpretated, and taking everything into account there can be no doubt that the perpetrator was a person of some education, who was acquainted with ocean currents. It has been suggested that

the Dunedin Spiritualists, who some time back gave forth a vision about the Matoaka alleged to have been seen by one of their number, may know something about this so-called message from the deep. Mr E. VV. Fereday, solicitor, of Ohristchurch, in order to test whether a receipt given for a cheque is liable' to duty under the Stamp Act, has given an unstamped receipt in a case of the kind to a person with the request that he would report it to the Government. This was done, and according to the ' Lyttelton Times ' the Attorney-General's opinion having been obtained, Messrs Duncan and Jameson have been instructed to commence an action against Mr Fereday for a breach of the A.ct. Mr Fereday is very confident of being able to show that the Act does not render it compulsory to stamp receipts for cheques, Mr Fox has contributed inter alia the following tit-bit to a contemporary : —The Charleston people have a flag-staff and harbor-master to signalise, and they want a Custom officer. Some assert that a good deal of smuggling takes place there. Where it not for the contiguity of the town, it would certainly realise one's beau ideal of a smuggler's cove. In connection with this there is an anecdote current that is too good to be lost. It seems some patriotic Charlestonian in advo. cacy, I presume, of the claim of Charleston to have a Custom-House officer, went to Mr Curtis, Superintendent of JNelson, and told him that there was a large amount of smuggling going on in Charleston, that the spirit was imported in butter kegs. He stated also that the spirit came from Rangitikei. The Superintendent told him to report the matter to the proper authorities, the Inspector of Customs. " That's no use," said the man, " he's in it; all the Government are in it. Why, you know, there's Mr Fox going about and lecturing on teetotalism." Well, said Mr Curtis, what has that to do with it ? " Why," replied the man, " don't you see, it's all a blind. This spirit comes from Rangitikei; he's in it; all the Government are in it." Tiie Government have been requested to appoint a commission of disinterested persons to select a site for the Central Railway Station, Christchurch, for which four different schemes have been brought forward. The Auckland Grammar School, in conjunction with the Central Board of Education, proposes to offer five exhibitions of ,£3O a year each. Bishop Moran has refused to recognise as members of the Church, Catholics who signed petitions in favor of secular education.

Tobacco is being successfully cultivarad at "Wairoa, near Wangauui. The ' Thames Advertiser' says : " A somewhat singular circumstance has been brought under our notice by the manager of the Hauraki Saw Mills. A few days ago, a large log ot kahikatea was brought to the mill. It was sound at both ends, and was, to all appearance, an excellent solid log. * But, when the first slab was taken off it, a cavity of about three feet in length was discovered, and iu it was found the remains of a tui bird, in good preservation. It would appear that the bird died while sitting in its nest, and the wood grew around it. There were eight inches of solid timber on all sides of the bird." The « Waikato Times' states that the ' Auckland Volunteer Gazette' is defunct. After a flickering existence of some four months it has expired (so rumor has it) of a diagnostic common to infants—a tightness of the chest. JRequiescat in pace. A new definition of a gentleman was given in "Wellington the other day, when a witness said a man was a gentleman because " he did nothing." On hearing this Mr Justice Johnston said he had heard the word " gentleman" defined as " one who spent other people's money." Mr Hickey one of the Goldfields' members for Otago, has carried a motion affirming the desirability of reducing the duty on gold by 6d per ounce each year until it is altogether abolished. But this was afterwards amended by leaving it to the Assembly to decide upon. His constituents at Cromwell are seriously considering the question of calling upon him to resign; and hence his anxiety to do something to win back their favor.