General Intelligence.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 105, 14 July 1876, Page 6

General Intelligence.

There nro rumors of more disnffec'ion among tho employes of the Canterbury railways. Another attempt is being made to establish a third evening paper in Chvistchurclu A laborer fell from the scaffolding of a new building in Auckland tbe other day, and hacl his skull fractured. A Presbyterian Church is about to be erected in Mosgiel, in the immediate vicinity of Mr Will's fancy edifice. The Auckland police are making a j raid upon Sunday grog-sellers. They dropped upon one on Sunday last. Ho was fined £5. It is reported tbat Messrs Stevenson, Melbourne, have issued a writ against the Postmaster for £20,000 damages,, for detaining letters. The ' Southern Cross ' considers the proposals of the Government , to take a portion of land fund as only the beginning of tbe inevitable absorption. Roberts made his big-gest break at billiards in the Colonies, at Warnambool on tbe evening ofthe 4fch July; it was 250, including' 68 spot strokes. Professor Blackie has received £200 as a contribution to tbe Celtic chair, from the Hon. John Maclean, Esq., Redcastle, Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand. It is reported tbat Madame Arabella Goddard, who speaks five languages, is writing a book of her travels all around the world, which sbe will publish on her return to England. At a conference between the Chamber, of Commerce and the Lyttleton Borough Council, it was decided to prepare a draft Bill for the constitution of a Harbor Board for Lyttleton. liich gold has been obtained in the Kapanga reef at Coromandel, for which an English company has been sinking for four years, and have spent L_ooo., Great excitement prevails there. A Dunedin eon temporary says : — Mr W. H. Reynolds gets the credit of having, when in the Ministry, prevented the appointment of Mr Caldwell to the office of Colonial Inspector of Prisons. A wild boar, measuring no less than ?ft. Sin. in length, was recently shot a.t the White Cliffs, near . the Malvern Hills, Canterbury. ' From the nose to the top of the head it measured 2ft. 4-in. In the Supreme Court, Auckland, a Maori was sentenced to two years, and another to six months, for breakingin to the Bank of New Zealand at Opotiki, and other depredations in the district. A. suicide, found floating- in the Auckland harbor on Tuesday j left behind him the following note :— •" Dear Helen, yon will find my body off the Queenstreet wharf."' He had been drinking heavily. Mr Charles Elliott, Immigration Officer, and original proprietor of the ' Nelson Examiner,' dropped down dead on Wednesday morning, while going to port to proceed on board the ship Camperdown. A Sydney telegram '.ays News via Noumea reports that the labor vessel May Queen ran ashore on an Island at Tanua. The crew fired on the natives, who attacked and burnt the vessel, and killed the crew. While the Supreme Court, Christchurch, was being opened on Monday morning, Daniel Keefe, the crier, fell down dead. This is the third person in this Province within a month who has died in the same way. The Sustentation Fund Committee of the Dunedin Presbytery met on Monday evening, and the Treasurer reported that the contributions from 40 churches amounted to £4,229 6s. Sd. A halfyearly dividend of £107 6s. sd. was declared. Cats must be at a premium in Timaru, fbr we note that Mr G. Cliff advertises • — " Five pcymds reward for such information as will either lead to the conviction of the person or persons who stole two young cats from the Timaru Steam Mills, or the recovery of the same." The ' Taranaki Herald ' publishes another of J. G. S. Grant's letters, in which he says the Government and its agents are trying to damage his " fair fame and credit." 'He says Dunedin is literally swarming with fallen women, of whom not less than 500 are there. •The ' Canterbury Press' of Saturday says : — '•" We hear that an action for breach of promise of marriage has been commenced against a well - known" 'squatter, in which large damages are claimed. It will come on for trial shortly, when some amusing revelations will be made." The shop of Mr Riordan, stationer and tobacconist, Oamaru, was burned down on Monday night. An inquest is being held. A short time since a very mysterious robbery took place at Riordan's j but it was never cleared up, though Riordan stated he had lost a good sum of money. A Maori at the Bay of Islands being accused of having caused the death of a child by witchcraft, was sentenced at a Runanga to be handed over as a slave to the child's father, who testified his grief by firing guns, and killed one of his horses to bear the soul of his child to the world of spirits. A telegram from Riverton says Mr R. Aitken's residence, Clifton Station, Waiau, has been burnt to the ground. Mrs Aitken and family had barely time to escape from the flames in . tlieir night clothes. It was insured in fche Victoria for LIOO, but this does, uot coyer half the loss sustained,

The ''Daily Telegraph,' (Napier), says :■— The Piako Swamp sale is only one probably out of many ciiarges that can. be successfully brought against the Government. With tbe number of newmen in the House who prize honor and virtue abovo party considerations, it is certain the Ministry can not retain their seats through the session. The appointment of Mr J„ T. Thomson as Surveyor-General is gazetted. The name of his successor as Commissioner of the Waste Land Board bas not transpired. Evidently tbe Government wish to keep this- a secret in the meantime, as Mr Strode has been asked to act as Doputy-Oommissioner for a month. A Brisbane telegram dated sth inst., says: — Dr Schoefenberg, Messrs Pea- i roe, Johnstone, and Bowman, left Bowen on Wednesday in a boat, for Gregory River. The doctor's swag and one oar were found yesterday, near the Station. Subsequently another swag and two oars were discovered floating off Stowe Island. It is supposed thafc the boat capsized and that all were drowned. A brutal outrage was committed on Thursday on a married woman near Drury, Auckland. She was knocked down, gagged, and violated. The offender has been arrested and committed for trial. After .ths perpetration of the offence he apparently meant murder, but the woman, who is the wife of a respectable settler, pleaded with bim that if be would only let her go she would say nothing about it. 'The ' North Otago Times ' says :— As regards Sir Julius Vogol's expensive habits, this is no new thing ; no one denies they are a serious blot on his character, and raise suspicions of his economical management of public affairs. The House should by no means deal lightly witb tho extravagant expenditure of the public funds, and it might not be amiss to give Sir Julius a lesson, by disallowing a large part of his " little bill." Sir David Monro was fined £30 on Monday in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Blenheim, for non-compliance with the Marlborough Scab Act, as to dipping or dressing after mustering for shearing. Twice before the 31st May, Sir David Monro had a flock of 3000 dipped after shearing ; but instead of dipping or dressing the whole flock a second time, only those that were actually scabby were dressed. .Notice of appeal was given. Tt is reported that Mr John Broomhall, of Surrey, is shortly to pay a visit to New Zealand with the view of ascertaining whether it is a good field lor ■he establishment of a special settlement for well-to-do farmers on temperance principles. Mr Broomhall is a gentleman of means and position, and represents the Whitwov.ths and somo other wealthy Manchester men, who interest themselves in the temperance movement in England. He is expected to arrive in about two months. The « Southland Times' thinks that " there are several ways of regarding Sir Julius Vogel's Financial Statement. We are inclined to look upon it as a gigantic conundrum, or what Lord Dundreary would style a 'gwent widdle.' "It belongs to the same class of literary productions as Swedenborg's works, Shelley's Revolt of Islam, Hegel's Philosophy, and Carlyle's Latter-Day Pamphlets— very grand, but too foggy fbr any but a select few to understand thoroughly." At a native meeting held afc Mokan (Auckland) lately, Te Kooti acted as leader. The presents made wero :-— IOO horses, 50 head of cattle. 200 pigs (of very good quality), 20,000 dried eels, 2000 live eels, 200 Maori mats (some worth £4 each), 60 kits of fungus, 30 sacks of wheat, 3000 rolls of native grown tobacco, each roll between 21b and 31bs, 100 kits of kumeras. 100 kits taras. The meeting altogether occupied about a week, three days beingdevoted to feasting and three to talkino-. The ' Rangiora Standard ' understands that a block of no less than 12,000 acres of land .was purchased last week by the Hon. W. Robinson in the Horsley Downs district, Canterbury. Tbis is one of the largest single sales effected by the Waste Land Board of that Province for many years past. The Government land sales have been veiw heavy of late, and have surpassed anticipations. Well may the hon. gentleman deserve the nickname of " Ready money," by which his friends often distinguish bim. The * Arrow Observer ' reports that a rather desperate ease of attempt at suicide occurred last week at Half-way j Bay, Lake Wakatip, by a man who has been cutting wood there in the bush, and working horses and dray. He, with a razor, or sucli instrument, in one stroke gashed his throat deeply from ear to ear, then severed his windpipe a little above it, and then cut his throat again very low down. The unfortunate fellow was brought down to Queenstown in one of the steamboats. Dr O. Jackson sewed up the wounds, and it is believed he will recover. A woman named Sbeean was committed for trial at Christchurch, on Saturday, for the murder of her infant child, which was drowned. Mrs Sbeean said that during a sudden attack of faintness she let the child, fall into a bucket of water, ahd was powerless to remove it till too late. The medical evidence, went to show that there were no marks whatever on tbe child, and that it could not have possibly

fallen into the bucket-. Mrs Shcean had two children before this, and both were killed — one being smothered in and the other drowned in a well. The matter of the embassy of the " peripatetic commissioners " has cropped up in the House of Representatives. The correspondent of tho ' Daily Times ' says : — " Sir Julius Yogel referred in rat, ier uncomplimentary terms to the results of the mission of the three Civil . Servants, saying their report was not what had been expected, and tbat the Ministry had subsequently to clo themselves what they expected the Commissioners to haye done. At the same time he smoothed it over a little for them personally. Their report is published, and is certainly ono of the baldest and most useless pnblic documents ever laid on the table." The foiiowing items of English news are under date 12th June : — * Abdul Azziz, the late Sultan of Turkey, committed suicide by opening a vein with a scissors. — Regarding the Eastern question, a peaceful statement in connection with Eastern affairs has been made by Mr Disraeli. The Berlin memorandum has been withdrawn. — The Porte has consented to an armistice with the in-, surgents. No news of hostilities, and matters are apparently peaceful. — On 2nd June, at the Epsom races, in the Oaks, Camelia and Enguerranda ran a dead heat — the Duchess third. — Small-pox has broken out on board four ships of the flying squadron, which .recently left Bombay for China — A. plot has boen discovered to sink tbe ironclad training ship Caledonia. — A Constantinople telegram states that 118 I villages in Bulgaria, containing 100,000 inhabitants, are in ruins. The ' Guai'dianV Wellington correspondent writes : — " The Government are in an awful mess about financo, and are very near the end of their tether as to borrowing safely. They tried to sell .£1,250,000 of unguaranteed debentures in London, and failed ; then they tried to raise £1,000,000 on the security of these debentures, and the matter was alleged to be in suspense at the time of making the Financial Statement. It now turns out that ihey have hypothecated the whole of the unguaranteed debentures, and the guaranteed £800,000 as well, to the Bank of New Zealand as security for an advance of £1,000,000. This is the beginning of the end. It is quite understood in well-informed circles that not a shilling of the £1,250,000 of unguaranteed debentures, or of the £800,000 guaranteed, will be left available by Christmas.'' The following item from a home paper will interest not a few in this, and the Tokomairiro district : — A painful sensation has been caused throughout G-lenisla, by the fate of James Robertson, residing afc Brewlands, who was missed last week. He had paid a visit on business to Dalrulsion, and left Persic Inn in the evening for home, five miles distant. Nothing further whs seen of him, and search parties wero organised, who were unsuccessful in finding trace of him until dusk on Sunday last, when his dead body was found among the snow on the top of the hill of Kilry, several miles from the right track. , Mr Robertson had evidently lost his way, and had wandered on in the snow, sometimes, as the marks showeil, on hands and knees, till he had succumbed to cold and fatigue. He was shoeless, and the . stockings were worn to the skin. The deceased has left a widow and five children. From the ' Daily Times ' Wellington correspondent, we learn that seventeen Ofcago men assembled in caucus onMonday, Mr Reynolds was asked, but he did Dot attend. Messrs Pyke, Manders, and M'Lean were not asked. All were unanimous for separation; It is understood thafc twenty will agree to this, Mr M'Lean alone objecting. Messrs Bastings, Larnach, Macandrew, Hodgkinson, and Reid are appointed a Committee to confer with the representatives of other Provinces to see if separation cannot be carried. The Financial Statement proposals swallow up the land fund, and take the railway profits. Mr Stout urged that if Otngo revenues were not secured, Otago members should withdraw from the Assembly, and not participate in voting spoliation. The Canterbury members are beginning now to see that abolition means confiscationof land fund and railway profits, while towns and cities outside out of the subsidy must support Hospitals and Benevolent Asylums. The difficulty o't tho Opposition lies in the fact that none are inclined fbr office. The Wellington ( Argus, 7 a. strong supporter of the Government, refers as follows to the tour round" the Colony of the " three able civil servants" : — " Beyond giving rise to a lot of correspondence between the Premier, Macandrew, and Sir George Grey, and costing the Colony a considerable sum of money, the mission of Messrs Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles was absolutely fruitless. The Premier himself admitted this in the Financial Statement the other night, bufc his remarks very mildly express the real state of the case. Messrs Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles' report has been laid before Parliament, although certainly not worth the cost of printing. It is the baldest and most useless public document we ever perused. It occupies some 15 pages of a Parliamentary paper, bufc the most careful reading' fails to reveal a single useful suggestion, ov give tho slightest useful information. X^erhaps the most important

fact communicated by the Commissioners as the result of their mission, is that the record clerk at Christchurch is advanced in years and very deaf; that his son sometimes acts for him, and should get £150 a year instead of. .-£IOO, and supersede his father. We do not wonder the Government were disappointed at the result pf their action,' but they should nofc have carried that scheme out in defiance of the opinions advanced on all sides against it."