DUNEDIN.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3534, 4 November 1882, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

November 4,

It is reported that Bela Singer, merchant, bas called a meeting of his creditors. The liabilities are stated to be £1500.

The National Insurance Company's balance-sheet to the 30th of September has been published. It shows a net income from all sources of £146,369, to which must be added £3288 from last year. The losses were £90,279 ; working expenses and other items, £30,833— leaving a surplus on the year's operations of £28,344. The directors recommend the payment of a dividend of 10 per cent, for the half-year (mating, with the interim dividend, 20 per cent, per annum on the old capital of £50,000), absorbing £5000, and £5619 14s is carried forward. Of the new issue of shares all with the exception of 3785 have been taken up by the shareholders.

At the enquiry into the recent railway accident the evidence given by one of the platelayers named Blaekley was to the effect that the ganger who was in charge of the portion of the line where the accident occurred did not know his duty, and that he had once threatened to the ganger to report him in relation to this. Messrs Hannah and Lowe say: — " The statements made by the platelayer Blaekley regarding tbe ganger's manner of doing his work fom a subject of independent enquiry. Blaekley asserts positively that the statements he makes of portions of the line being improperly treated do not apply to the curve on which the accident took place, which he, equally with others, states was in good order. All that portion of his evidence is therefore foreign to the subject of this enquiry."

A rather serious gas explosion occurred about 9 o'clock last night in the Robert Burns Hotel, George-street. Tbe landlord had entered a room to discover the cause of a smell of gas, and pushing the gaselier up the gas which was lying near the ceiling exploded with great force, among other things blowing the door off its hinges into atoms. Tbe landlady, Mrs Sinclair, was hurt ty some of the fragments, and was thrown down some distance away. Mr Sinclair miraculously escaped with a few bruises. There was great damage done among the bottles in the bar.

The nominations of immigrants forwarded Home from here in October number 112 full adults.

A country paper states that during last week a gale of extraordinary violence was experienced on the Carrick range. So great was the force of the wind that a dray and three horses were blown over, while an unfortunate miner who was .aught in the blast was lifted clean off his feet and hurled into a neighbouring gully.