THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 33, 8 July 1874, Page 3

THE PROVINCES.

AUCKLAND. One of the most heartless hoaxes ever played upon the Auckland public was perpottated on SaturdayeveningMay 27th when the whole town was thrown into a commotion by the rumoured intelligence of the loss of the ship Queen of Nations on the eastern side of the G reat Barrier Island on the night of Thursday. This vessel is now 130 days out from London, and brings a full complement of immigrants. On the news being spread, numbers of people rushed down to the wharf and several distressing scenes were there witnessed : the relations of various of the immigrants giving way to uncontrollable grief. The report turned out on enquiry to be a pure fabrication, but the originator of it- cculd not be traced. The correspondent of the “ Daily Times ” gives the following account of the education agitation in that province : The Education Bill is passed at last, After a fortnight of strong agitation, of crowded meetings and powerful petitions outside, but with very little response inside the Council, it has been finally settled that the old household rate of 20s shall continue. There is an addition ox 10s on ail over twenty-cne years old who do not pay as heads of households, and the capitation rate is raised from 5s to 10s, payable on all children between sin and fourteen who attend the public schools, or who don’t attend any school at all. These tares are estimated to yield £13,000, and the Provincial Government forego their claim to the £9OOO advanced to Use Boanl sires January last. The same rates will bo levied next year, and the Board thus be

able to pay its way till June next, when the Council meets again. The whole affair will then be re-opened, and have to be fought out again unless the General Assembly take up the question of education in the meantime. The country members have all united, and determined on a system of public education. The town people are opposed to it while coupled with a tax, while a minority of the Protestant sections in both town and country are only half pleased at the Bible not being read during school-hours. The Catholics are strong in opposition, and it is perfectly clear that nothing • but schools under the control of their clergy will satisfy them, whether the Bible be read or no. Except in the taxing clauses, no change, however, has been made in the Act of 1872, and for the year to come every thing now depends ou the collection of the rate, against which a formidable opposition is threatened. Quite likely the opposition, like that of last year, may in this respect break down when it comes to the point. In the meantime a very bitter feeling is rapidly spreading against the General Government, who are charged with gross carelessness of the interests of this province, and with disgracefully shirking their duty in not facing the education question, while depriving the province of the funds through which alone it could cope with the difficulty itself, without entire dependence on direct taxation. The provincial revenue can ill afford the £9OOO it is forced to contribute for this year, and no further aid can be depended upon from that source. Tu making the advance, the Superintendent relied on being recouped from the rates, and but for that reliance, no advance would have been made at all. ["The Superintendent has reserved the Education Act for the Governor’s assent.] WELLINGTON. For several days past (says the c< New Zealand Times”) the Colonial Museum has been visited by the eminent scientific gentlemen comprising the Challenger expedition, who have found many objects of interest and great scientific value to engage their attention. . The many excellent works compiled by the officers of the Geological Survey Staff, Dr Hector’s works on the fishes of New Zealand, and other works contributed to the scientific literature of the colony by Dr Hector and Captain Hutton, formed the subject of high encomiums, and it is intended to present the members of the expedition with a complete set of these works, which are regarded as proving New Zealand to be far in advance of many older countries which claim to be much more advanced than we are in scientific knowledge. The following particulars of the"robbery from the Challenger are taken from the “ Times —Taking advantage of the absence of some of the officers of H.M.S. Challenger on Thursday evening, some designing person, evidently well acquainted with the construction and contents of the ship’s cabin, made an entrance by the stern windows, and carried off a box containing money and a quantity of valuable papers. The robbery was discovered late in the evening, but at too late an hour to admit of any effective steps

being taken to recover the property or track the thief. In the morning, however, a party was told off to reconnoitre the shore, and after a short but diligent search, the box, with the papers still remaining iu it, was found on the beach near Pipitca Point. The 10.-s of the money was more than compensated for by the recovery of the papers, which were very valuable documents ; and though every endeavour will of course Ire made to discover the thief, his crime is deprived of much of its seriousness by the fortunate discovery of the box, which would probably have been washed away by the succeeding tide had the search party not been actively on the alert. A correspondent at Foxton forwards to a Wellington contemporary the following copy of an extraordinary notice posted at Palmerston, Manawatu : “Notice! Awa Huri, June 24th, 1874.—T0 the inhabitants of Palmerston.—On and after the 25th day of June, the road to Rangitikei will be stopped to traffic by a gate at the Oroua Bridge, erected by the Ngati Kauwhata, and will continue closed until all disputes between the Government and Ngati Kauwhata are settled. NA TB KOOROXE-ONEjNA Ngati Kauwhata. N.B.—No offer of money will be accepted as toll.” The same journal of a subsequent date says : —Mr A. Young has not yet heard what is to be done in respect to the stoppage of his line of coaches between Palmerston and Ball’s. The Maoris have put a gate up at the bridge, through which the coaches are not allowed to go. This necessitates a detour of about eleven miles, and a delay in the delivery of the mails of about six hours. The “ New Zealand Times” says :—Aftermany years of patient labor in the commendable endeavor to “ make bricks without straw,” the hospital trustees have, it is said, at last hit upon a plan to secure the erection of a new hospital for the city. It would be too much to say that the present hospital is a disgrace to the city ; on the contrary, it is rather a credit, thanks to the untiring industry and tact of the hospital authorities. Still the number of wards and the general accommodation of the building cte manifestly inadequate to the requ Foments of the city. Invariab'y the ward?: were fall when the population was n third less than it is now, and it ban to be borne in mind that formerly the great proportion of the . patients were these who had mat with accidents and could count upon being discharged after a short; detention. It if. a, fact, however, and one that should, attract attention in another quarter, that latterly the hospital has become the last resting place of persons who have passed' the emigration authorities in England ac suitable immigrants, and rom.e out here hopelessly incurable and penniless, increased immigration having had the effect of largely increasing the number of patients, the trustees have been compelled to face the difficulty of providing another building upon a site different from that upon which, the present one stands, and this desirable work ii; is proposed to carry out by raising a loan upon the security of the hospital reserves. The question has not yet bean formally or officially discussed, but prompt action in the matter could not fail to meet with the .approval of the citizens generally. OTAGO. The ceremony of turning the first red of theWaireka Valley railway was gone through by the Superintendent of Otago on Thursday in the presence of a large company of the principal inhabitants of the district. Hie Honor having filled and wheeled a burrov, fail of earth in the usual style eu such cacti-' slcco, then congratulated the district on the groat prospects of success that might be ex-

pected from this work then initiated. He spoke of the great importance of the branch lines as feeders, and considered the line begun as a highway that would lead to an inexhaustable gold mine in the agricultural and pastoral capabilities of the district through which it would run. The Southern Trunk line, from Dunedin to Green Island, was opened for regular passenger and other traffic on July Ist, when two trains ran to and fro. The “ Tuapeka Times” says, during the week two sixteenth shares in the North of Ireland claim, Blue Spur, were sold for the sum of £GOO. Shares are in great demand, owing to the recent discoveries. The Green Island Meat Factory, says the “ Daily Times,” is doing a good business this season. At present, there are slaughtered from sixty to seventy head of cattle and 1400 sheep per week. The company, it is stated, received at the rate of per lb for preserved beef and mutton in the London market, the brand of the company being much sought after. Another industry, started in connection with the establishment is smoked mutton hams, which are exported in casks preserved in tallow. The “ Tuapeka Times ” says “ some good sport has been had on the lagoon at Havelock during the recent frosty weather. The ice has been bearing, and skates have been at a premium.