TELEGRAPHIC.

Auckland Star, Volume X, Issue 3082, 6 March 1880, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT).

TAURANGA, this day.

Inspector Emerson isiaying informations against native chiefs,- and making them fiild baiL One case came off after two days, The natives were undefended, and the Case was dismissed. The natives cannot understand r the policy of tbc "present Government in dragging them 50 miles from their own home merely at the instance of Inspector Emerson, although' \there is a court at Rotorua. Surely the Government will inquire into the whole of the Ohinemutu disturbance.

{PER UNITED JPRESS ASSOCMgIQN.)

GRAHAMSTOWN, this day.

• SALE OF CALEDONIAN; »jll^B. , The county authorities have accepted the offer of £2,000 for the Caledonian mine, made by Mr C. J. Stone ou bpjialf of the shareholders of the company, Cbiicurrentlyr with the receipt, of a telegram notifying, tb.e acceptance of the offer by; Mr Stone, came one to' Mr Comer, instructing hint to clear away the pumps and get up steamii'and have thiee boilers in readinoss to 'make an immediate start. The purchase; ipcJvides the winding machinery and licensed Hold-1 ing of the Caledonian. ' • ; ' j The Thames sends another £100 towards the Irish Relief Fund to the Mayor of Dublin. ■ 1 -fi '..n-nii!M ' T

The Queen of Beauty will make a start at the end of next week. '■'■. .-.'..

The New Whau will break dow.n in a day or two, and expect good specimen: stone to hand. The starting of the pumps has given new life to raining speculations 'on [ the flat, but the,bulk of.the attention is directed to the MoanalarLsharemarket; .. ■•■

Saies-Alburnia, G2s.6d; sellers, 645. New Whan, 355; sellers, 33s Gd to. 355. Kuranui Hilt,B3 6d ; sellers, 9s. Caledonian, 33s j sellers, 35s 6d. Mii

FIRE AT NGARUAWAHIA.

'■'. i) IJ ,7 iNUAHUiffAHIA, rriuay. The roof of a large houee,-- occupied by Mr' Jaggs, was in flam6s this afternoon. Messrs Dickson, Brcnnan.and Kay swarmed up the roof at imminent risk of life, the eaVes being fully thirty feet high, and the shingles as slippery as glass, and extinguished the ilamcs, thus averting the inevitable destruction of a whole row of houses.

HAMILTON, this day.

THE "TIMES" ON PLEURO PNEU

MONIA

The " Waikato Times," in an article on "Pleuro Pneumonia," and alluding to the letter of the Attorney General* private secictury, says : " He has evidently made a big mess of the whole aflair, and written at random on an important matter on wbich he knows absolutely nothing. The vapourings of private secretaries, however, signify nothing iv themselves, except so far as they reflect discredit on their superiors, aud we much regret that no explanation of the stupid letter has been vonchaafed by the Attorney General, and cannot but consider the Cambridge Farmers' Club thus cavalierly treated."

GISBORNE, Friday.

THE CHARGE AGAINST WARD.

The case of forgery against Mr Ward, jun., solicitor for Captain Head's estate, was resumed this morning. Mr Brassey, solicitor, emphatically refused to produce the deed of Matawhero Block, relative to which the forgery is alleged, notwithstanding that legal notice to do so had been served. Mr Kees produced a certified copy of the deed. Rota Wipara and Riperata, and Riperata ltahutai, gave evidence showing that, during Mr Nesbitt's lifetime, as Fraud Commissioner he had icfused to certify to the alienation of the interest referred to iv the accusation upon various ground?. The evidence of Captaiu Tucker, the next witness, showed that for a long time, and tip to Mr Nesbitt's death, he had acted as confidential secretary and interpreter. The memorandum book of 1876, the year in which the deed in question purported to bear the signature of the Fraud Commissioner, have no record of the fact that it had been signed by Mr Nesbit. Mr Tucker said the deed was in Mr Ward's possession. This was two years after Mr Nesbitt's death. The deed was then without Mr Nesbitt's signature. It was only some time after the property had been purchased by Mr Ward that the witness learned the deed hid been certified to by Mr Nesbitt. The case was adjourned till to-morrow, when Mr SUipworth, interpreter in Captain Head's estate, and Mr Charles Major, until lately in Mr Ward's employ, will be called to give evidence for the prosecution.

Charges against Ward and Cooper, tor conspiracy in relation to the oil springs block, and a charge of perjury against Battle, have been adjourned till the 22nd ins taut.

NAPltlt, this day

ARRIVAL OF THE PREMIER.

The Premier arrived this morning, and procccls north this afternoon. Tlio Lincolnshire delegates also arrived by the Arawata and stay till Tuesday.

Mr Bryce has been engaged yesterday and to-day enquiring into native land disputes, between Mr Suttou, M.H.tt: and the natives and Har.tiiifjs and natives. Tho Court is sitting with closed doors.

Mr Power, sheep-inspector, retires, and Mr Canning of Nelson takes temporrary charge, pending the appointment of Mr Paisley from Canterbury.

WELLINGTON, this day

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. An cldeily man named Henry Ashton was charged at the Police Court this morning with attempting suicide by jumping off the wharf. He was remanded till Friday.

TIMAKU. Friday.

TBK ANTI-CHINIQUY LECTUKEK

AND FALSE PKETENCES,

Mr Moslcy, the anti-Chiniquy lecturer, was remanded to Christchurch on a charge of obtaining 3s from a tailor by false pretences. At the District Court, Frederick Arthur Sims, formerly a wholesale merchant, was sentenced to three months imprisonment for larceuy. The prisoner had sold goods out of bond which he had previously conveyed to tho Nation/it Bank, and, acting on the advice of his friends, refused to hand the proceeds over to the bank manager. He received an excellent character from a number of merchants (including the Mayor of Timaru), some of whom had known him thirteen years.—William Laid, for indecent assault, received twelve months and one flogging in gaol.—Wm. Harford, assaulting his wife, two months.—Frank Poff, charged with fraudulent insolvency, was acquitted.

CHRISTCIIURCH, Friday.

THE BIKDS.

The council of the Acclimatisation Society today liberated, at the gardens, the rcdpoles, hedge hammers, tcvitcs, reed warblers and siskins which arrived per ship Waimate; as the siskins aie considered objectionable birds, it was decided at a meeting of the council yesterday, that they be not liberated, but the majority this morning, resolved to let them go.

£400 were forwarded by cable, to>day, in aid of the Irish Distress Fund, making £1,000 sent from Cnristehurch. £300 were also sent fiorn Waimate to-day. This day

A succesful operation foo tracheotouy was performed yesterday, at Kapoi, on a child suffering from a severe attack of croup. After the operation instant relief waa expcoienccd. Ou tho plains between Fakaea and Ashburton, thore aro s'aoks of grain in all directions in marked contrast to last year. THE WALKING MATCH. Tho twenty-four hours' walking match, for £50 a side, between Pentecost and Swan, commenced at the Oddfellows' Hall last night, at ten o'clock. At eight this morning, Pencntecost had retired from the contest, having walked a little uuder 40£ miles. At cieven to-day, Swan was going strongly and had covered CO.]; miles. He has arranged with spells of 5i miles au hour. Swan hopes to beat young Scott's Ohristchnrck time, aud purposes ehalleugi.ig him. At two o'clock Swan had walked 72 milef. He is still walking strong. To-day] w ere sold privately one line of 3,100 bushels of wheat at 3s,7Ad, delivered at Hingsby, Lyttelton. 1 Sailed—Piako, ship, for London, with twelve saloon passengers, 3.452 bales of wool, 2,852 sacks wheat, and a quantity of sundries.

OAMARU, this day.

SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE.

Two shocks of earthquake were felt at about half-past twelve this morning. They were rather severe, and a few seconds intervened between the shocks.

Mr John Reid, member ot the Railway Commission, went North to-day.

Our Wellington Xiejbter.

(FROM OUH OWH COKRESPOHDKNaf).

WELLINGTON ASKS FOR MOKE.

A-i'-' ' . MOMDAY, MafAfi */- 1 STREmJOUS efforts are mow being made to secure tbe immediate construction of|a line af railway to connect Wellington and Foxton. Already a deputation of leading citizens headed by several prominent M. H.R, ; s, has waited on We' Premier and.'Colonial Treasurer to urge upon the Government the necessity of forming this line without further delay, and as the matter is being warmly taken up by. the Press and a strong committeereonsisting chiefly of members representing the' City and West Coast constituencies, Is being formed to keep the claims of the line before tlie^eyes of -the Government, the affair is not likely to end in smoke.* The "answer of the Premier to the deputation in question is not .accepted as satisfactosy. ; He stated that the expenditure on the Wellington and -Foxton railway had been much greater than fras generally supposed, and reminded-.the deputationists that a Commission had beea appointed to inquire into railway matters. He could, however, give' no defMte information as to the future intentions of the Government with regard to this particular line until the return to Wellington of the .Hfiuiiter for public Works.-. Of course the 'usual stock arguments are given in favour Of the: line. It is strongly declared that besides having the effect of relieving tlie terrible distress that has lately prevailed in the city—prevailed in fact to an extent^ hitherto uuappioacbed in any other par* of the colony-it would, open Up a largparea of country equal to'any to be met with elsewhere ,>n New Zealand; it woqld bring revenue tottie treasury.; it would teud in a great measure to extinguish, once and for ever,the native disturbances so continuously arising at present, and it would add another link to a grand chain of railway tb connect centres of population, viz, Wellington, Foxton, Falmcrston, Wanganui, Stratford, and New Plymouth. Of that chain 128 .miles have a'ready been constructed, and the remaining gaps—thosebetween Wellington and Foxton (about 50 mile*) and Ka" Iwi and Stratford (a similar distance) -have been surveyed and ought to be completed at once. Of course it is pointed jorxt that the present state of the Colonial finances will not allow of the construe- | tion of more lines of railway than those whose immediate co'iimencement is imperatively necessary, but it is probable that from the degree of pres-sure which ia being brought to bear on the matter that scruples of even this description may be overridden. Everybody ii agreed that in order to prevent the recurrence of periods of great distress such as that we are now passiug through the method of forcing the population back into the country ought to be adopted. Just as by taking care of the pence the pounds will take care of themselves, so by settling the people in the country districts toe cities need have no cause to fear. For tbe sake, therefore, of the colony at large, and Wellington in particular, the deputationists say their efforts ought to be crowned with success. A monster public meeting will be held on the subject this evening. THE UNEMPLOYED.

With regard to the unemployed, it i 3 pleasant to have to record that their number has greatly diminished during the week From a spirit of charity rather than anything else, the Government have engaged 150 men for the purpose of road-making on the Waimate Plains, and have forwarded them to the scene of their labours free of cost. The rrarried men will be paid at the rate ot 28s per veck, and the single men at 21s per week, while the Government will provide rations for Is 3d per man, per day. " Many persons consider that the single men have an unfair advantage over the marded mon, by the adoption of this scale of wages, but be that as it may the men, both married and single, eagerly grasped the chance offered to them, especially on being informed that they may throw up their billets so soon as they can obtain more remunerative employment. Already the efl'ect is seen to be of a most bonefical character. One meets fewer men wandering about the streets, like the men from Manchester, with no work to do. Loafers there ore naturally, ard always will be in circumstances like these, to the end of the chapter. For instance, one fair-haired youth, with a face as long as a fiddle, was till within the last day or two, going about with a most heartrending story about his having no food and no work, and having been obliged to sleep out, with the fair canopy of heaven for a ceiling. Touched by the story some have bestowed small silver upon him, whilst others have bestirred themselves to procure work for him One gentlemtn refused to offer money, but accompanied the youth to a leading hotel, and ordered for him a."substantial repast. While the servants were encaged in preparing the food the fair-haired innocent slipped away, and has not been seen since. Another person — a recently arrived immigrant.by the ship Buttenvorth—was brought up at the Police Court the other mowing for imposing on people after a similar fashion. It seems that the wan is an expert telegraph operator, and had just been dismissed from the Wellington oilice for habits of intemperance. By unfolding some concocted tale of a harrowing nature he has succeeded in obtaining small sums of money from various people, with which, it transpired, he instantly repaired to the nearest hotel, and invested in sundry pint? of beer. On theto facts being represented to t-ho R-sident Magistrate, that functionary on behalf of the Government engaged the imposcr for four weeks hard labour. In connection with this phase ot the subject, it may bo mentioned that for several days past a wellkuown contractor has been advertising for a large number of pick iind shovel men, but has not yet been able to secure them. This is a singular fact, and induces one to believe that so long as the New Zealand workman can hold on to the apron-striogs of the Government, he prefers to do so. The subscriptions towards the Wellington Distress Fund, in the rneanwhilo, are coming in slowly, nnd in comparatively small sums. A correspondent to a locnl paper suggests that the funds so raised should be tnrned to some useful account, such as employing those whom they arc intended to benefit at road-making. This would doubtleos be the meant of intimating to the unemoloycd that their sympathisers are not prepared to encourage idlenes\ but it appears to me that unless the subscriptions pour in more abundantly than at present, the amount will scarcely be worth dividing.

HOW THE PAWNBROKERS FARE,

One would naturally imagine that in these hard times the pawnbrokers are providing for the speedy reaping of a rich harvest—that they are in short feathering their nests in a most comfortable style. But they are not. The truth is that the Wellington pawnbrokers are as hard np as any other class of people. Ido not wish to mention names, but a friend of mine wishing to satisfy the oft repeated demands of his landlady and washerwoman to whom he was indebted, lately interviewed several avuncular relations of his in Manners-street with a view of raising a small loan on a large silver watch, but the reply, which soon became rather falling, was : " We are not leudiog on jewellery just at present." lie ultimately discovered that the descendants of tha Lombards were ulmost a^ moneyless as himself, being unable to dispose of sufficient stock to enable them to meet the wishes of customers requiring small loaus Two pawnbrokers, indeed have quite recently joined the majority, or in other words, filed their schedule, but there can be nj doubt that a uioney-lender with a few hundred pounds at his disposal would be able to reap " shent per shent" within a very short time. Passing along Manners-street a day or two ago, I perceived in a shop window where there were three golden balls over the door, a fiddle, which a musical friend of mine assured me is not worth a couple of pounds, with a label attached therto bearing the inscription " Paganini violin. Price, £500. Very cheap." This of course was merely to attract the attention of passers-by to the other gonds in the establishment.

THE OPERA COMPANY

brought their seasou to a close last evening, and return to Melbourne to-day by the Te Anau. Towards the middle of tbo week, the management reduced the tariff to popular prices, and the result was that crowded houses were the rule. "Aida" was presented on Monday and Tuesday, "TheKose of Castile" on Wednesday, "La Favorita " on Thursday, "LaTraviata" on Friday, and "The Lily of Killamey " on Saturday. Last evening the Company gave a sacred concert, rendering " Stabat Mater, "portions of the " Creation," and selections from "Elijah," and made their farewell appearance here to a house crammed in every part. There were rumours afloat that the municipal authorities intended to step in and prevent the carrying out of the programme on the plea tbat to give the concert would be to desecrate the Sabbath, but happily for the lovers of high-class music of this character the report was devoid of foundation. On the whole, the Operatic season has not been so successful as had been anticipated, but there can be no doubt that had the mauagement in the first instance fixed the pricea°of admission at afrate to be within the means of all, they would have been much more

satisfied with their ventuse- than has been the case. WELLINGTON WEATHER. ,v The weather, which for the past fo Bt 0 lire weeks, has been almost equal in geniality to the Auckland weather, has Undergone a great change, and Iffarea r are d&omed to a series of wet and trindv days for some time to come. '