LATEST WELLINGTON NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2311, 3 May 1887, Page 2

LATEST WELLINGTON NEWS.

«■ —— Tby telegraph.—PßESS ASSOCIATION. I Wellington, Monday. A GOODS train ran into a landslip on Saturday on the Hutt line, when the engine and three trucks were derailed, the former being seriously damaged. The New Zealand Times this morning came out an eight page paper. A meeting of the country representatives, numbering 20, of all parts, passed a resolution to-day deprecating any interference with the proportion of the country to the town members, calculated to make the former less than at present. It was stated that the Bill would give the country two members less than towns, whereas, if existing proportions were observed, the country electorates, allowing for increased population, should have nine members more than towns. A deputation was appointed to interview the Premier on the subject. It has been suggested that the fire by which the Post-office was destroyed was caused by the practice of keeping a pot of sealing-wax for closing the mail bags over a gas jet. This pot hung close to the lift which spread t,the flames upwards rapidly, and the theory is that the gas may not have been turned off, and the wax boiled over and caught fire, and so set light to the lift. Just about where the pot was placed, a large hole has been burned completely through the flooring, which is not the case anywhere else, and this fact would seem to support the probability of the fire having started in some such manner as described. The destruction of the Post Office will not interfere with the establishment of the parcels post system. All documents were already in type and plans of hampers, etc., issued before the lire. The men have continued the work of clearing the debris yesterday, and the coping of the back hall is now being removed. When the clearance is finished, a thorough inspection will be made and a scheme of reconstruction settled. The weather was wet and miserable the last three days. The proposal to raise a loan for a water supply at Petone was lost, neither a majority of votes or voters being secured. Only three local candidates passed the recent law examination in law, and none in general knowledge. A landslip occurred on the Masterton line, near the summit yesterday, and prevented an excursion train returning. The passengers, knew nothing about it until the announcement was made from the stage of the Opera House at the last moment, and had to stay in town over night. A special was put on to take them back yesterday. Warned by recent experience, a night watchman lias been put on in the building where the telegraph office is now located.