INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1055, 18 March 1873, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

On the Eoxton coach crossing the Manawatu river on the punt, on the 7th instant, the horses plunged into the river, and the coach sank in ten feet feet of water. The passengers were rescued ; no lives were lost. The Queen of the South sailed from Port Lyttelton for Boston on the Bth, with a cargo of wool, flax, &c, valued at £55,000. A hundred additional navvies for the railway works were landed from the Tararua last week at Oamaru. The Dunedin Presbytery have taken action against an office-bearer who is said to countenance Spiritualism. After 17 days' trial the jury in the Blue Spur burning case gave the plaintiff £2375 damages. The Christchurch shareholders of the South British Insurance Company have resolved to protest against the issue of new shares. The Wanganui shareholders are doing the same. The "Wellington Independent states that on the 21st ult., at the blacksmith works of Messrs John Brogden and Sons, Pipitea Point, some interesting experiments were made on iron lately manufactured from iron sand at the Auckland Iron and Steel Company's works, which gave the greatest satisfaction. The hardness and strength of the steel was. also tested, and trial was made to see whether an English pick or an Auckland made pick would bear the severest test, when it was clearly shown that the New Zealand steel was the hardest and strongest. A number of Mr W. B. Bhodes's alpacas have been turned loose upon his property near Turakina. The Maoris are said to have eyed them as something uncanny, probably "taipos." The Auckland Steam Packet Company are extending their operations so as to enable them to have an ocean service to Eiji. They have purchased the Star of the South with that object, and are increasing their capital from £25,000 to 50,000, by the issue of shares (£4 paid up) at £4 10s each. We observe by the advertisement that the New Zealand Insurance Company, and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, are shareholders, as well as several of the leading men of Auckland. A large portion of the new issue is already taken at the premium fixed by the Steam Company. The "old identities " of Otago have formed an" Early Settlers Associ. ations" among themselves, and it has been suggested also that the very

earliest Scottish emigrants in the province should form a "Pilgrim Fathers' Association." A bad form of typhoid fever has appeared in Turakina, in the province of Wellington, where several cases of it exist. From our North and South exchanges, we gather that the visits of sharks to the harbors round our coasts have been more numerous lately than has been known to be the case for many years. The groundwork of an extensive system of sericulture is being formed in Canterbury. Mr. Armstrong, the Government gardener, has propagated 400 mulberry plants of the best varieties for sericulture. The Dunedin Star rejoices at the change of opinion which has come over Mr. Stafford. .Referring to the late sale of station property in Canterbury the star says:—" Looking upon the ready sale of those runs as an indication of the confidence entertained in the continued and future prosperity of the Colony, it is calculated to give an impetus to the development of all branches of industry, and not the least encouragement will be felt from the fact that one of our leading statesmen, who during the last session of Parliament signified his intention of realising on bis estates and leaving the Colony within two years, appeared to be one of the most anxious to invest. It will be noticed that the Hon. E. W. Stafford notwithstanding his expressed conviction that the Colony was rushing on to destruction, was prepared to invest £52,000 in it. His caution seems to have lost him the chance; he let it slip, and the station passed into other hands, from which he could not obtain it even at the cost of an additional five hundred pounds. The admirers of Mr. Stafford will no doubt rejoice at this evidence of a change of purpose, or at least that his opinion of public matters is changed We are not sure this difference between words and works will not shake the confidence of his followers in the reliability of his political judgement, although we think there is good ground for the conclusion that his wish to invest in property of that character is evidence of a complete change in his views respecting the tendency of the present Administration; and to be consistent, he should be one of their active supporters. The first public sale of fish, on account of the Deep Sea Fishing Company, took place in Christchurch on Feb. 25. The Lyttelton Times says in reference to the sale: —".About 15cwt of fish were submitted, and the competition was exceedingly brisk. As giving an idea of the size of a great many of the fish, it may be said that some of the moki weighed 101b, trumpeters lb, and habuka 901b. Moki was sold at prices varying from 3 J-d to 4d per lb ; trumpeters, at from 3d to s£d per lb; baracouta, 3|d to 4jd per lb ; habuka, l£d to If d per lb : and crayfish at the rate of 15s per dozen." An effort is being made by the legal profession practising in the District Court of the Otago Gold Fields, to obtain an extension of the jurisdiction ofthat Court in various directions—viz., criminal jurisdiction in all cases to L 50 0; grants of probate and letters of administration, &c. It is intended to present petitions for the attainment of this object to the General Assembly next session. The Council of the Ofcago University had a meeting the other day, and have initiated arrangements for having a Law class and a Medicine class set agoing as part of the regular course. There seem to be doctors and lawyers enough in Dunedin already ; but per-* haps the lecures are for their special behoof. The Port Chalmers Sailway is doing very wel I. The trains are fairly loaded up with heavy goods, and the big shed at the station is chock-a-block with all sorts of goods. The passenger traffic is also large. Mr Chiarini has met with a somewhat severe loss in Dunedin. "Duke," a beautiful chesnut stallion, valued at L2OO, was driven round the ring lo stretch his legs. A little water had previously been sprinkled on the ring to bring it into better order. " Duke" slipped, and in the fall a fetlock cracked, and he was afterwards destroyed. It is said that steps are at length being taken to ascertain whether the present First Church, Dunedin, is suitable and available for conversion into public baths. This is a practical illustration of the proverb that " Cleanliness is next to godliness." The exhibition in a window in Christchurch of a colored photograph of " Lottie," the celebrated lady trapeze performer connected with the Magnet Variety Troupe, en costume, appears to have excited the indignation of a gentleman of the long robe, wellknown in Christchurch, and the tradesman in question has been warned by the police to remove the offending print from his window, as being indecent, a request with which he has refused to comply, on the ground that no such indecency exists. The Invercargill correspondent of the Otago 'Times' says:—l am informed on what may be considered good authority that in the neighboring West Coast Sounds there are either two or three large rivers known to the sealers, of which no mention is made on the charts. These rivers would also seem to have escaped the notice of Dr Hector; at all events, nothing is said about them in the narrative of his cruise. The rivers are reported to be broad and rapid at their mouths. It is thought that the island they communicate with will yet be found to contain much more level tracts of

country than the contour of the coast Hue indicates. It is also said that the waters of these rivers are wholly devoid of vegetahle coloring, from which the inference is deducted that they pass through a succession of lakes, instead of having an ■uninterrupted flow from their sources. The circumstance is one which might profitably engage the attention of the authorities.