NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 176, 11 August 1876, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The storm which prevailed in Dunedin during the night of the 3rd instant, also visited Port Chalmers, where it displayed far more violence than was experienced from it at the head of the harbor. Chimnies, fences, roofs, trees and windows were overthrown or seriously damaged in all directions, and the night in question seems to have been one generally of alarm and confusion. The correspondent of the • Brisbane Telegraph' at the Hodgkinson goldneld, gives the following account of a discovery which is causing some excitement in that district : — Considerable excitement has been caused within the last few days by the report of the discovery of a good harbour, with a convenient anchorage, wharfage, &c, on the coast, within seventy miles of this place. It is reported to be but six miles from the range continuation of McAllister's, which is sixty-five miles distant from here, and, from the description furnished by one party, must be at the mouth of the Mossman River, due east from here, and within the immediate vicinity of Mount Beaufort. This will place the new harbor some twenty miles south of the Daintree River, and eighty miles north of Mourilyan Harbor and the Johnstone River. A party of four were out prospecting, and while in camp one of the party, while searching for horses on the Jrange, suddenly saw the open sea, and, upon reporting to his mates, the whole party went down and had a swim. They came straight to the point, and call it seventy miles, having walked and driven their pack-horses in three days. They pronounce the road good, and the range low and easily crossable by teams. If this discovery turn out to be correct, it will be of the most valuable importance to us, instead of the 200 miles to Cooktown. One of the original prospectors of the old Palmer says that he was beche-demering there some years ago, and that the harbor is good, with deep water alongside the river bank. A party starts from here to verify these reports, and to test the practicability of a new.Northern porb. When Sir Julius Vogel went away on his memorable trip to England, remarks " Atticus" in the ' Leader/ he was given a special allowance for expenses of £1500, in addition to his year's salary of £2000. He asks now for a further vote of £2500, his total expenditure having amounted to £6000. "I do not pretend to say," writes Sir Julius, "that I have been economical. I lived in what I considered to be a reasonable manner, and, much as I would like to make the Colony a present of my services, I do not feel at liberty to do more than allow my salary to go in reduction of the cost to which I was subjected." There is a lordly style about this that commands one's admiration. The easy, Skimpolian grace with which he frankly owns that he was not exactly economical, and the calm, unbounded assurance with which he claims to have lived in a reasonable manner, in the face of the fact that he exceeded his allowance and salary by £2500, is very amusing. There was once a time, and a very good time it was, when plain Julius Vogel in Victoria would have managed to live in a " reasonable manner" on something less than that. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Otago Harbour Board was held on the 3rd inst. . A complaint was received from the Deputy Harbour Master respecting the state of the Rattray-street Wharf. It was resolved that the matter should be again referred to the Com* mittee, in order that the three interested parties — the Government, the Corporation, and the Harbour Board, might be induced to do I whatever was necessary. A letter was read, signed by 72 owners of

lighters, and calling the attention of the Board to certain grievances from which their trade suffers. These being that thef railway carries timber and heavy goods at rates considerably below those charged for ordinary goods, that the rate of wharfage dues on goods brought by lighters is double the charge made on goods landed at the Railway Pier, Port Chalmers ; that hindrances are thrown in the way of consignees obtaining goods by lighters from ships berthed at the Railway Pier ; that there is a want of shed accommodation ; that vessels using the Railway Pier are not required to pay berthage dues, and that berthage dues charged lighters at present are not fairly regulated. The letter was referred to the Finance Committee. The report of the Finance Committee drew the attention of the Board to the fact there is now a considerable charge against the revenues of the Board for interest on money borrowed on the security of its endowments and rates. It also recommended that application be made to the General Government for a Crown Grant of that portion of land indued in the plans of Harbour improvements, approved by the Governor ia Council, and further, that application be made to the General Government, with a view of arriving at some definite understanding as to what is required for railway purposes out of the Board's endowment. A protest signed by Messrs. J. M. Ritchie, Henry Tewsley, and Hugh MacNeil, was made against the resolution adopted by a majority of the Board, at their last meeting, to accept the Crown Grant for the Board's endowment lands, excluding the triangular piece lying between the Port Chalmers Railway line, Castle and St. Andrew streets. The Engineer's recommendation that the tender of £140, for the removal of the shed, be accepted, was uuanimously adopted. Mj. D. L. Simpson forwarded the Inspector's monthly report, and commended the remarks therein contained to the favourable consideration of the Board. It was resolved on the motion of Mr. Tewsley :—": — " That the Board petition the General Assembly to determine who ought to be the Trustees to carry out the purposes of the Trust for which the Wharves and Quay 8 Reserves were set aside, and that the Go f eminent be asted to introduce a Bill to give effect to the decision, whatever it may be. That a copy of the foregoing resolution be forwarded to the Colonial . Secretary, with a request that he will take the necessary steps to have the objects thereof carried out." The following accounts were passed : Progress payments on account of the new dredge, £2700 ; do. sheds, £520 ; wages and sundries, £1691 7s Id ; total, £4911 7s Id. At about four o'clock on the morning of the 4th inst., a shanty at the rear of Messrs. Reid and Gray's premises in Princes street was discovered to be on fire. The high wind of the preceding night is supposed to have blown some sparks from the furnace of the neighboring foundry towards the building in question, and thus to have caused the conflagration, which, however, fortunately waa not attended by any serious consequences. The schooner Dagmar foundered under the Nuggets on Thursday last. Her crew were holding on to the vessel's side, having no hope of escape, when their position was observed by Captain Tunbridge, master of the cutter Jane, which fortunately for the shipwrecked men came within sight of them at the critical moment. Captain Tunbridge at once hove his vessel to, and proceeded alone in his dingy to the rescue, without delaying for a moment to consider the danger he would incur. He succeeded in saving the lives of the men in question, .and proved himself well worthy of admiration, for his courage and kindness of heart. The Melbourne Central Board of Health has issued the following notice, to which persons who are interested in the health and welfare of children especially, would do well to pay attention : — Recent analyses of the confectionery commonly sold in and about Melbourne having shown that many of the colored articles are in a high degree dangerous to health, the Central Board of Health consider it advisable to draw public attention to the matter, and especially to caution the public against the use of confectionery which is colored yellow, orange, or green, these colors being in many cases produced by means of chromate of lead, arsenite of- copper, or other highly poisonous materials. With a view to putting a stop as far as possible to the sale of poisonous confectionery, the local boards of health have received special instructions to enforce the law in regard to this matter ; but the Central Board deemed it well, also, to point out to all concerned, that the " Act for the Prevention of Adulteration of Articles of Food or Diink," imposes penalties of fine or imprisonment on any one convicted of selling adulterated articles, and also enables the purchaser of any such, article to have the same examined by the Government analytical chemist, with a view to proceedings under that statute, on giving notice to the vendor at the time that the articles will be so examined. A man named Robert Roberts, a native of North Wales, committed suicide on Friday last, by poisoning himself with strychnine, which he had obtained under the pretence of wishing to destroy rats. The unfortunate man had been observed to be in low spirits for some time previous to bis death, and the jury qualified their verdict by stating that the act had been performed during temporary insanity. A double i,a»d£e dredge is being built for tie Harbour Board by Messrs. Kincaid and M'Queen, at a cost of about £20,000. The dimensions are :—llO: — 110 feet long by 33 feet beam, depth of hold nine feet.. It is calculated tbat the dredge will lift 500 tons per hour, and it will be fitted with a compound engine of about 60-horse power, and two donkey engines for pumping, working the winches and lifting the bucket-ladders. The final polling for the election of the Mayor of Duuedin came off on the 3rd inst. The results were as follows :—: —

The Derby Ploughing Match came off oa Saturday last in Mr. Muir's paddock, North Taieri. The day though cold was dry and favorable. There were about 300 present. The result of the match ■was as follows :— Class A. For single-furrow ploughs, nine entries. Ist prize, £10- James Gilbert (Fowler) ; 2nd do., £6— Thos. Christie

(Ponton) ; 3rd do., £4—Thos. M'Taggart (Ponton). Special prizes V — Best feering and finish (box of tea, gift of Mr. M'Nee, and churn, gift of James Walls) — Thomas Christie. Best in field:— (Pair of backhands, gift of J. Chesney) — J. Gilbert. Class B. For ploughmen' who have never won a first or second prize. Five entries. Ist prize, £7 — William Haugh (Ponton),; 2nd do., £s—George5 — George Gordon (Allan) y highly commended — James Walters (Reid and Gray). Best feering and finish (pair swingletrees, gift of J. Smeaton, and pair leggings, gift of G. Dowse) — Wm. Haugh. Class 0. For youtbs under 14. Two entries. Ist prize, £s— -Alex. Miller (Ponton) j 2nd do., whip, value 20s. (gift of J. Rennie) — J. Sinclair. Best feering and finish (hat, gift of Mr. Muir, and pair leggings, gift of G. Dowse)— Alex. Miller. Best finish for reaping machines, 20s. gift of Mr. Muir— A. Miller. Class D. For double-furrows. Nine entries. Ist prize, £6-* JBjL John Houden (Eeid and Gray) ; 2nd do., £s—Charles5 — Charles White, jun^m (Fowler) ; 3rd do., £4 — Peter Adamson (Eeid and Gray). Best ploughing, silver medal — J. Houden. Straightest : pair leggings; gift of James Collier — Alex. Collier. The Theatres continue to be well- patronised, notwithstanding thevery inclement weather prevailing lately. Amongst the principal attractions are the Lingards at the Princess. "Frou-Frou" was produced on Friday evening last for the benefit of Mrs. Lingard, and wasa great success, Mesdames Lingard and Hoskins appeared to great advantage, and at the close of the performance were honored with a call before the curtain. At the Queen's on Tuesday evening, Mr. Talbot made his last appearance in Dunedin. It is ;to be regretted that he has not been playing under more favorable auspices, as he iB a most deserving and painstaking actor. His engagement must have been anything but a profitable one for the lessees. Mr. and Mrs. Darrell make their re-appearance this evening in "As You Like It," when,, no doubt, a large audience will assemble to welcome these favorite artistes back to Dunedin. Evident fruits of the establishment of the Christian. Brothers in Dunedin were seen on Sunday morning last, when 42 boys attending the newly-opened schools made their first communion at the 8 o'clock Mass, in St. Joseph's Church. The boys, each wearing a sash of blue ribbon commemorative of the occasion, were under the supervision of their teachers, and the manner in which they approached the altar, together with their whole demeanour, bore the best testimony to the excellence of their preparation, and affords a most happy augury for their future. His Lordship the Bishop administered the Blessed Sacrament, and afterwards delivered an impressive address to the -youthful recipients. On the night of the' 2nd inst. the residence of His Lordship the Bishop of Dunedin was entered by a burglar, and several small articles, amounting in all to the value of about «£lO, were stolen. Information was immediately given to the police, and the result was, that on Tuesday hist a man, named Edward James Donolly, was arrested on suspicion of the robbery. It seems that the accused, who has been known by several assumed appellations, is an accomplished thief of no ordinary kind. His appearance is said to be most respectable, and his dress is the height of the fashion; when brought before the Magistrates, he even went so far as to wear a pair of white kid gloves. He had passed himself off in Dunedin as a musician and teacher, but on his belongings being searched by the police, he was found, to be furnished with a complete set of house-breaking implements, including a pair of pistols ready capped and loaded; and taking this latter circumstance into consideration, it seems extremely fortunate, that his entry into the various houses he is suspected of having robbed was not perceived by their inmates. Besides the residence of His Lordship the Bishop, this interesting gentleman is further accused of having entered those of Mr T. S. Graham and Mrs G. K. Turton, stealing .£BO worth of jewellery from the former, and a gold watch and guard from the latter. He was brought before the Magistrates at the Police Court, Dunedin, on Wednesday last, but at the request of Inspector Mallard was remanded for a week.

South High Ward. Ward, teeves ... 255 459 Voodland ... 245 317 Bell Waid. 277 470 Leith Ward. 442 297 Total. 1433 1329 Majority for Reeves ... 104