DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT WAIUKU,. (FROM AN OCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.) June 11.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3404, 13 June 1868, Page 4

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT WAIUKU, . (FROM AN OCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.) June 11.

THe fUx mill, on the Waipipi Road; the pfoperty,"of ,< Mr. jfi. Constable,' leased and worked by Messri. ' Street, Watson, and Price, was this morning burnt entirely to the ground, destroying the whole of the. machinery, and from three to, four tons- of flax, , almost ready for market. The particular! are. as.\ follow :—l he lessees, owing to the late bad weajh,©^' had accumulated a very large quantity of flax, whiefi { only required to go through the process of scutching ( to be ready for market,, and in order to hasten this,* and indeed to keep the storage room .clear, w,ere L forced to work the scutching machine night .and, day. Last night this work was being carried on, r and, at four o'clock this morning, Mr. Street, whpj was working, went outside to turn off the wittev, in order to stop working, and' on returning found ; quantity of flax in a flame, about the size of his. 'hand. He at once gave the alarm of fire,' and before' , the .rest 'of the hands on the premises— seven number— could clear out, the whole of the building was one mass of flames. In fact, Mr. Watson anov i two others were obliged to, make, their escape, by, one lof the windows^ The j whqle,qf the, property wajicinfr, : insured. lam .requested particularly^,- state. Hums the only light. in the building was enclosed in"*, 'lantern. . . it , ,• "

'...,'■ . . . '[ : Two men have been hung at Ba'thurstfor jnurdety and 10 clumsily as to exoite a feeling of disgust* The rope was so long and the fall so heary that the men's heads wera nearly torn from ttheir ahonlderiv There was, of course, -no. cruelty > in this, as the sufferers were unconscious of the fact, and the tfloss of sensation must have been instantaneous . But the effect on' the few spectators,) and the public at large who read of it, is bad. The unnecessary, mangling of the human body shocks proper feeling. L Cases, of this kind will probably tend to precipitate the :*boli* tion of capital punishment: altogether. TJie effeofc-of the recent Commission on the subject! iri • England clearly tends that way. Fublio opinion is.notiyet settled on the subject, but the drift is f towAEdSuthf more humane conclusion. —Mail, May 30. [• < >u<' The Guardian says : — " Frdm information weh*T» received it appears that the gdld and wive)- plate at Windsor Cattle, for the use of hen Maj&ty and. .the Court, weighs neatly thirty tons, and that. ibi .Value may be roughly estimated at £8,000, 000. ( l ,It>is secured in stone chambers with .vaulted* ceilufr^ Which form part of the' original buildings, i and? aito thoroughly proof again&t burglars. AmoDgithe plain is a single dish, not of "silver gilt, but riiisoiidigold, made by order of George IV., and representing; all the orders, both domestic and foreign, wbichithat sovereign wore, or was entitled tovwearjijrituk estimated at £B^ooo. ■ Grand and magnificent as the assortment of plate' is, our readers wiUbetastonished to hear that very little of it indeed* is oldoDonrious.: moat of the 'plate used 'by forme'rjjsoT i «reign»iJ>aye 1 been ■ melted down and remodellea" by George JTD; Tery much of it, consequently, is tawdry and tocoto, as might naturally be expected from thaanthbrotthe Pavilion at Brighton. One exception; howerer^lo the 1 above rather sweeping statement must beymade in favour of the plate which belonged to' Frederick, Prince of Wales ; this is exceedingiyj massive^liolid, and in good taste, and by some chance or o'ther.U. was spared by George lVi'? A .if i . •> '>') •.-!. o» T It was 'told Diogenes how the.Empetorihad sal that he loved peace. c< Ido not doubt it, .sinoti^ >git«i hiniJtim* to prepare for war/,' « ./■• i.^o - '. %