LATEST INTERPROVINCIAL.

Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 993, 6 August 1872, Page 2

LATEST INTERPROVINCIAL.

AUCKLAND. At the annual meeting of the Thames Company the receipts were stated to be £70,171 {dividends during the year, £54,000; equal to 180s per share. The directors are in future to be elected; formerly they were permanent. _' , The county districts have against the Highways Board, luapower-,' ing Act. It is believed that half of them will soon cease to exist if the As- § sembly does not alter clause six. The people are willing to rate themselves heavily, but have not the power to do 80. The annual meeting of the Loan Mercantile Agency Company was held on the 31st ult., when the report preseated to the London meeting declaring a dividend of 12£ per cent was I submitted. Messrs J. Lt. Campbell and T. R. Russell were elected directors. ... Over 30,000 shares have already been applied for jn the South British 1 Insurance Company. It is expected that the numbers will be 40,000 when all the returns are in. John Lawler, miner, has been killed I in the Caledonian mine by a fall of 1 earth. ... A man named Baker has been removed to the hospital, suffering from variola. The family have been secluded in the Domain blockhouse. Caledonians are quoted at £27. The Prima Donna has arrived from Fiji. She brings papers to the 17th. The Rev. J. Nettleton, Wesleyan Minister, has left Fiji for Sydney. Previous to the departure, at a public meeting, he was presented with a testimonial and purse of 100 sovereigns. George Derby, a passenger from Fiji to New Zealand, was drowned «t Lomo Lomo. A severe gale occurred early in j July. The crops suffered a little, and several small crafts were wrecked at Taninna Bay. The settlers are obliged to watch 1 day and night, as the Mountaineers have assumed a very menacing attitude. The settlers are expecting their descent upon the coast.

"WELLINGTON. The turning of the first sod of the Ilutt Railway has been postponed. At a» meeting of Superintendents and Provincial Officers sitting in tho Assembly, nil the Superintendents, except Mr Ormond, were present. A programme was drawn up, and submitted to the Government with the intimation that it would be insisted Upon. The chief feature of this deuiand, is that the Superintendents be appointed Government agents), to carry on public works under the powers of delegation provided by the Public Works Act, and that the office of Resident Minister for the Middle Island be abolished. The Ministry, it is understood, will"* not accept these terms, nor consent to entrust the delegated powers to all the Superintendents, although willing to retain a discretionary power to do so when advisable. If the Provincial party insist upon the proposal, and defeat the Ministry the latter will probably ask for "a dissolution. It is understood that the Ministry absolutely refused to accede to the demands of the Provincial caucus, and that hostile action will consequently be adopted.

DUNEDIN. At a meeting «f the agricultural delegates it was resolved to hold a provincial show at Dunedin. Grace's claim, at Skipper's, has struck a rich lead. £SOOO has been refused for a sixth share. The ' Evening Star,' in an editorial, says the report of the American Congress, re subsidy, was ingeniously circulated by the opponents of the service. The speeches delivered early in IS7I had reference to the subsidy applied for by a China line and not Webb's. The facts are known, and papers are printing the report. The 'Star' calls on the ' Daily Times' to explain. Alexander, tide-waiter in the Customs was reported as drowned near Mosgiel, but the report was a canard. It appears that he got out of the buggy he was driving, to wade the creek, and on not returning home, the creek was dragged ; hence the statement. He turned up next morning. A Ladies Challenge Shield, value 130 guineas, for volunteers, was received by last mail.