INTER PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1137, 30 December 1873, Page 2

INTER PROVINCIAL NEWS.

AUCKLAND. A fire occurred at Shortland on the 14th in.stant destroying the dwellinghouse and furniture of Mr J. B. Stoney, Clerk of the R. M. Court. By a mining accident occurring in the Bright Smileclaim, a man named Richard Owen received severe injuries, a portion of the wall of a drive having fallen on him. The Coromandel Mail of the 13instant thus notices what it calls "Another new Goldfiekl:.'— " It is authentically reported that another gold find has been made close to the ' Who'd a Thought It,' a leader having been opened out containing good gold in the stone. The spot is between Quintan's claim and the Saddle, and still further goes to prove the existence of auriferous country to the eastward of the Tokatca."

His Honor the Superintendent has nominated the following coalition Executive. Mr John Sheehan, Provincail Secretary ; Mr (jr. M. Kccd, Provincial Treasurer ; Mr Andrew Bcveridge, Provincial Solicitor; Mr Patrick Dignan, without portfolio. It is understood that the Executive is incomplete. A Thames member'will bo asked to accept a seat after the meeting of the Council. The Queen of Beauty mine has again given a dividend of £llO per shareholder after every expense has been paid up, from a very broken fortnight's crushing. WELLINGTON. The Post of a recent date says : Considerable alarm was caused in town on Saturday morning about half-pas'; nine by the appearance of a number of gentlemen of all ages scampering in a frantic and headlong manner along the beach, while divers cabs and expresses were also seen driving furiously in the same direction. It was conjectured that a great fire had broken out at the Thorndon end, and the silence of the fire-bells and absence of the engines created much surprise. The excitement ultimately was allayed by the discovery that those gentlemen were Government officials, whose rapid progress was inspired by the new Civil Service hours —9.3(J instead of 10 a.m.—which came into operation that morning for the first time.

A newspaper is to be started, to be devoted entirely to the educational interest in Wellington. Its* object will be to watch and maintain the interests of national education in this Colony, and the scholastic profession in all its branches. Mr T. A. Bowden will be the publisher; the paper is to be a monthly, the first number to appear on the Ist January next. The Wanganui Borough Council has determined to plant their Market Square with trees, and place a miniature lake in the centre, thereby mking the space both useful and ornamental.

The endowment of the Wanganui Industrial School consists of 250 acres of laud situated in the town of Wanganui.

The building for the accommodation of the female electricians shortly to be attached to the staff of the telegraph office is fast approaching completion, and the army of feminine cadets who have already offered their services will shortly be wiring into the rudiments of their new profession.—lndependent. OTAGO. Recent telegrams from Dunedin announced the approaching retirement of Mr A. C. Strode from the office of Resident Magistrate of Dunedin, after upwards of 30 years service. The Ofcflgo Guardian mentions the probability of the Minister of Justice, Mr Bathgate, nominating himself as Mr Strode's f»uccessor. Commenting upon this, the - Canterbury press makes some severe remarks on Mi- Bathgate, and seems to consider that the rumor is probably well founded. The Olajxo Guardian states that the Cromwell Company has obtained "277 ounces of gold from 68 tons of stone.

Ail important bridge is fast approaching completion in Otagd Province; that now being erected across the Mataura river, at Menxie's Ferry. It is a lattice truss bridge, measuring 86Lft in length, and consisting of eight spans of 45ft each. The width of the roadway is 14|ft. The bridge is constructedentirely of New Zealand timber, and it will be finished about the new year. The contract price is ;£2B2i«.

The following pastoral items are from the Naseby Chronicle :—" We understand that Mr Shennan, of Puketoi Station, marked 103 per cent of half-bred lambs this seasou, from a flock of ewes which were put to his Leicester rams.—We learn that Mr D. Maitland, of Eweburn station, tried an experiment to produce fine early lambs hy crossing 400 half-bred Cheviot ewes with Leicester rams. The increase was this season 110 per cent, and the lambs have proved heavy weights and of a very superior quality." Organ.—A Duuedin contemporary remarks :—" We are in receipt of the December number of the Evangelist. The number is one of average merit. It is stated that next year the Evangelist will be published in a different form, and that it will appear as a newspaper, resembling the Christian Review of Melbourne. It will also bear the second title of the ' Presbyterian Herald of Otago,' ' for the purpose of indicating more explicitly the views held by the promoters.' It is also added that, ' although the Evangelist has now been published during five years, it has not attained to that circulation which might fairly be expected in a place where Presbyterianism is so largely professed,' Better results are looked for from it in its new form." A Southern contemporary says : "An accident occurred the other day near Dr Inglis's farm to a man working upon the Southern Trunk Line, at Mosgiel, Otago. He was working rather too close to a man picking, and got the pick driven into his head. Dr Inglis was quickly upon the spot, and stated had the wcuud been two inches higher, the man would have been instantaneously killed."