INTER-PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1143, 20 January 1874, Page 4

INTER-PROVINCIAL NEWS.

WELLINGTON. The Wairarapa paper says that the Maoris in that and other districts " wallow in liquor without let or hindrance," and it adds that •' self/immolation from this cause is prevalent among the Natives." The Wellington correspondent of the Dunedin Guardian says:—Journalism here is at present all topsy-turvy, the entire staff of both, papers being about to be changed, as is reported, but nothing is known with certainty as to the coming men. Great exception, however, is being taken to this new plan of joint-stock papers, as people outside begin to fear that the papers will only reflect the opinion or advocate the views of a few leading men among the proprietary, and that such a thing as an independent criticism of public matters will be look for in vain. I should not be surprised if we saw before long a third paper started, to be conducted by a member of the journalistic profession, quite independent of any political leader. NAPIER. The Poverty Bay Petroleum and Kerosene Company have commenced active operations. Timber for erection of buildings and shafts has been contracted for, and the boring machinery has been placed on the ground. Advices were received from New York by last mail that two managers —one for the boring and one for the refining department—had been engaged, and were on their way to New Zealand. At Gisborne a bazaar in aid of the Presbyterian Church realised .£l9l. The Hawke's Bay Herald learns that the continued demand for labor in Napier in all branches of the building trade has at length attracted attention in the other colonies, where labor is more plentiful, and that a number of carpenters and bricklayers are making arrangements for participating in the good times their co-workers are here enjoying. The Napier Telegraph has the following : —" It gives us great pleasure to record one of the most successful results with the Taranaki iron sand yet made in New Zealand, at Mr Light's foundry at the Spit. Erom thirteen pounds of sand, upwards of six pounds of splendid metal was obtained by a simple and cheap process, of a character that any man, with a few hundred pounds can squat down upon the beaches where this sand exists and earn a competence. We could have scarcely believed this if we had not seen the metal ourselves, which has all the appearance of steel." AUCKLAND. The Auckland Herald of the sth instant says, the Manchester Guardian states on the authority of a correspondent, that a number of Bristish ironmasters have acquired nearly twenty square miles of property in the Wharekawa district, in the Province of Auckland, between the Frith of the Thames and the Waikato river. The property embraces nearly 8700 acres of coal and ironstone. The chief seam of coal is found in some parts within a few yards of the surface as thick as twenty feet, and it is computed to be capable of yielding an average thickness of ten feet throughout the whole of the 8700 acres. This represents 126,000,000 tons of good coal. The ironstone is of the brown hematite class, and contains as high a percentage as 62 of the fine iron, and is believed to yield an average of 50 per cent. It would appear from the New Zealand Herald that there are no fewer than twenty-two wives deserted by their husbands, and over one hundred deserted children in Auckland, most of whom are entirely dependent on public charity for their support. The Waikato Times and the N.Z. Herald both strongly advocate the establishment of an asylum for drunkards.

The Bay of Plenty Times says:— Mr J. A Wilson, Native Land Purchase Commissioner, has succeeded in effecting a lease, on favorable terms, for a long period of a block of 150,000 acres of land, known as the Motu country, and situate between the Waioeka or Opotiki river and the settled district of Poverty Bay. A large portion of these lands are suitable for special settlement, and others

are adapted for pastoral purposes. The lease contains provisions for the working of gold by payment of the usual fees to the natives (as at the Thames). CANTEKHTJKY. A Mr Buckley recently gave tho following original notice of motion in the Provincial Council of Canterbury : " That in the opinion of this Council it is expedient that the services of the present Superintendent and Executive should be dispensed with, and that His Honor be therefore respectfully requested to place on the estimates a sufficient sum to enable the Couucil to obtain the services of another Superintendent from England or elsewhere." When the time came, Mr Buckley renewed his motion for the next Thursday.