Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 798, 23 June 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial Items.

The Punedin Evening Star says:— There has recently been seen at Queenstown some of the most direful effects of intemperance; and the consequence has been some people there are making praiseworthy efforts to establish temperance societies, and judging by present appearances they are likely to be successful. The local correspondent of the Dunstan Times writes : —" The consequence of drinking has been brought forward very prominently in the B.esident Magistrate's Court lately. The police made a seizure at a shanty, at Arthur's Point, of some of the vilest compounds ever prepared to poison man. Brandy and whisky ap peared to consist of raw spirits from some illicit still—spirits of wine and kerosine. So vile were the compounds that the Bench ordered samples to be retained for analysis. The delinquent, who very properly was fined £SO, said that she purchased the liquors from a highly respectable house in Queenstown. But that is a palpable untruth. No tradesman ever sold such stuff. No wonder that men go mad from drink, and either commit suicide or tumble into rivers and get drowned, or live like beasts rather than men. Two notable instances of this have occurred lately. The body of a man named William Thompson was found in the Shotover, a little below Arthur's Point, stark naked, having a comforter tied round the middle. The deceased had evidently been engaged fighting, and' from the effects of blows and drink, tumbled into the river, from whence his poor body, covered with sand, was dragged ashore, for the purpose of a corouer,s inquest.—Blair's Shotover Ferry Hotel was the scene of a disgraceful row among the roadmen, who, under the influence of drink, did their best to batter each other and Mr Blair into the bargain. Here fourteen men were living like beasts in a stable, with horses for their companions, instead of pitching their tents and living comfortably as is the case (generally) with road parties. There is no questioning the fact that the gold-fields are cursed by drink and its dispensers in the shape of publicans and grog sellers. A contemporary says that a gentleman resident in the borough of Blenheim (Marlborough), has this year realised the handsome sum of £127 6s lid from fruit alone, grown on less than an acre of land. Four pear trees in this orchard, we are told, bore 850 lbs weight of fruit. The working expenses attending the above, our informant sets down at the outside figure of £27—leaving a clear profit of £IOO.

A man named William Fagg, a gasfitter, at the Thames, has been found guilty of selling arms to natives in the year 1869. The gun in question was sold to a Maori named Henare, for the sum of £42. There being four other charges of a similar nature against the prisoner, sentence was deferred.

The s.s. Hero, which left Auckland for Sydney on the 14th inst., was the bearer of 4,793 ounces of gold. The following items are from a recent letter of the Opunake correspondent of the Taranaki Herald :—The road through the old pa is conseuted to at last, but no Maori may work at it —it is too dangerous. Being tapuod ground, evils innumerable might befall the rash individual who dared to stick his tool into the soil, so the pakeha, who is proof against such enchantment, will have to b-eak the spell by defying all the evil spirits of the place, and like the northern farmer " rene and ramble them OH t ( » —Tatooing is all the rage here. All the Maori ladies who wish to please their lords are getting their lips and chins disfigured, and the artist is doing a roaring trade. The price is 30s, complete in three operations at 10s each, so if any of jour readers wish t~- be operated upon, the artist is at home at Te Namu from six to six daily, Sunday not excepted. At the last meeting of the Nelson Association for the promotion of Science and Industry, held on the 1-it inst., Dr Williams read an interesting account of the Alopias yulges, thresher, or fox shark, a specimen

of which was taken in Blind Bay on the 31st May. We quote the following portions relating to the conflict with the monster and its capture:—"On the 31st of May, 1870, as a fisherman named "Westrupp was barracouta fishing in Blind Bay, about ten miles from the Bluff and off the Motueka coast, a large fish attacked him, striking him with its tail, and after a severe struggle, he succeeded in securing and bringing it to land. The following is his account of the affair, and, at the risk of boing wearisome, I venture to give it almost in extenso as it exemplifies some of the habits of the fish in question, and as such another opportunity of obtaining the testimony of an eye-witness may not soon occur again. Westrupp's boat, a cutter of about ten tons, was under easy sail, and going about three knots, the dingy being in tow. Westrupp's son was in the cutter, fishing over the side with the usual barracouta tackle— a stick and short line, with a piece of wood for bait, and bent nail for hook. Westrupp himself, with a similar apparatus, was seated in the dingy, with his bait towing over the stern. 'All at once' he received a sharp blow on the back, the shock of which knocked the barracouta stick out of his hand. In great surprise he called to his son in the cutter, and asked if he had seen what had struck him; he had not, but looking towards the dingy he called to his father to make haste on board the cutter, as a large fish was rising and making towards him. This he lost no time in doing, but before he could reach the larger boat the fish struck him again a violent blow with his tail, and immediately dived. Westrupp was safely on board whpn the fish rose (again, and struck at the barracouta bait, which young Westrupp had been plying vigorously, to take the fish's attention off his father until he could escape from the dingy. After delivering its stroke, the fish dived as before,' but immediately re*ap« peared, and again lashed viciously at the bait, repeating the blows with great rapidity,' the tail, which was each time raised quite out of water, coming down with tremendous force, the fish meanwhile turning and twisting about with singular ease and celerity, and being apparently actuated by the fiercest rage. Westrupp, watching his opportunity, at length harpooned it, the weapon entering j ust behind the pectoral fin on the left side and passing right through the body. On receiving the wound the fish lay still for a few seconds as if stunned by the blow, and then darted off, but by the united strength of the two men they succeeded,in checking its career, and by hauling in the line, three or four fathoms of which had been taken out, they managed with'considerable difficulty to get the fish alongside. It fought desperately for its life, lashing the boat furiously with its tail, which reached half across the deck, and kept the men actively employed in avoiding its ponderous blows. Bringing the creature as near to the side as possible, Westrupp's son at last disabled it by a blow with an American axe, which took effect just behind the head ; it was then hauled on board-without further resistance, and laid upon the deck. As the harpoon had completely transfixed the fish, the line was unfasteued from' the staff, and the latter drawn through wound, the barbed head preventing the withdrawal of the weapon. As the fish lay across the deck, its struggles had ceased, but, although motionless, it was observant; for both the men say, that as they moved about and stepped over its body, its eyes were always turned towards them, as if watching. It appeared move its eyes in every direction, but (to use the narrators' own expression) chiefly ' fore and aft.' It lingered two or three hours in this apparently conscious state before life was quite extinct. Westrupp declares that the violence of the blows was so great, that the dingy must have been knocked to pieces had the fish struck it as it did the cutter. On examination, the fish proved to be a male Alopias vuljpes, or Thresher, known also by the names, Fox Shark, Sea Fox, and Sea Ape. Its total length is 9 feet 2 inches; the length of the tail from base to tip being 4 feet 10 inches, and of the body, 4 feet 4 inches." Our readers will remember the capture in the Inner Harbor, Napier, some time since, of a much larger specimen, measuring 12 feet 8 inches. As, however, it ha-d been disabled by a rifle bullet, no such desperate encounter took place as is described above.

The Supreme Court at Auckland, on the 15th inst.,' was occupied the whole of the day in trying a somewhat remarkable case. A man named Houghton was charged with

shooting a native, with intent (1) to kill and murder, and (2) to do grievous bodily harm. It appeared in evidence that the natives at the Bay of Islands arrest persons whom they suspect to be runaway sailors, and carry them down to Eiissell, where, it was suggested, they get a sum of money varying from £3 to £5. The prisoner was challenged by several natives, and the result was a pistol-shot. The actual amount of interference by the Maoris was in some obscurity. The defence was, that there was not so much an intention to kill as a determination to resist an unlawful capture. The case suggests a variety of com» plications which might arise from loss of life under such a set of circumstances. The jury were in deliberation three hours and a half, and acquitted the prisoner. A painful case of supposed suicide has occurred in Auckland. Mr John Kosskill, —a man noted for peculiar religious ideas, who used to conduct open-air services } in reference to which he inserted curious advertisements in the local papers, —had been missing since Siiriday evening, the sth inst. He had been residing with hi 8 sister, in Newton, aud on the day in queswas at home with Mr Knott, a visitor, teaching a Bible class of young children. Shortly after 10 p.m. he locked the door of the sitting room, which he usually occupied, putting the key in his pocket, and left the house, after which he was never again seen alive. On Wednesday, the 15th, a man named Buchanan found his dead body floating near the wharf, Cus-tom-house street. Attached to the left wrist by two half-hitches was a rope about eighteen inches long, made fast to a kit containing a heavy boulder of scoria, weighing from 60 to 70 pounds. The face could not be identified, but from the. general appearanee of the body it was concluded to be that of Mr Eoskill, a supposition which was confirmed by the finding of the door key in his pocket. Deceased was about 50 years of age. The New Zealand Herald remarks : —" However erratic his career n>ay have been, there is no doubt but that he was thoroughly conscientious in his professions, and that he labored hard and earnestly in the cause of his Maker, before whom he now stands for judgment." —An inquest on the body was held on the 16th inst., when an open verdict was returned.

The Wellington Advertiser is now published as a full sized journal of twentyeight columns, and promises to be a very powerful rival to the ludependent.

The Lyttelton Times says : Some young trout of the last hatch, many of which measured four inches, have been turned out at Cashmere, near Christchurch, considerable expense having been incurred by Mr Cracroft Wilson in diverting and enclosing a portion of the river, for the safekeeping of the fish. Two large perforated zinc door 3 at each end of the stony-made race confine the fish and exclude eels, whilst a covering of close stranded wire effectually removes all apprehensions of danger from shags. An extensive length of the Cashmere stream has also been cleared out and widened, &c, with a view to adding to the comfort and well-doing of its new tenants, from whose present nursery the eye can wander over many a rich broad acre, which but a few years ago was an unprofitable swamp.

An association has been formed in Marlborough for forwarding and encouraging the growth of flax.

We regret to hear that the Hon. C- J. Pharazyn, one of our deputies relating to the pi'oposed San Francisco Steam Mail Service, is confined to his house in Melbourne by illness.—Wellington Advertiser, 13th June. The Acclimatization Society of Otago are doing good work. The Committee reported on the 7th inst. that there were in the district a herd of " axis " deer, now amounting to eighteen, plenty of pheasants, hares, quail, starlings, Australian magpies (known as the farmer's friend), English linnets, trouts, partridges, fallow-deer, blackbirds, common poultry of good breeds, and a valuable collection of seeds of forest trees. It is worth notice that the Society have paid for the destruction of 623 hawks, and that many more have been destroyed without payment j and also that they recommended the destruction of kingfishers, which abound in that harbor, as great enemies to young trout. This morning, about a quarter before ten, (says the Auckland Evening Star, 31st May) a woman wa3 found lying on the roadway off Harding-street, and on examination was found to be quite dead. The body

was identified as that of Mrs Mary Anne Priaux, the wife of a boatman at present on a trip since Sunday last, in a cargo-boat to Henderson's Mill, and who is expected to return to town to-day. It appears that the deceased had been known to be subject to periodical fits of intemperance, and during the past three or four days had been drinking excessively. When not under the influence of the enslaving vice, she was a tidy, nice-looking, respectable woman. The deceased, who was about thirty years of age, has left three little children of about six and eight years, who it appears brought spirits from a public-house to the deceased yesterday evening, three bottles having been found beside the bed in the house ; one having contained beer, and another rum, and the third gin. This morning, about eight o'clock, or an hour and a half before the bodj was observed, the deceased had been visited by a neighbor, Mrs Donaldson, and had made her join her in a cup of tea Deceased, it appears, was at that time somewhat under the influence of drink.

We yesterday morning caught sight of one of the oddest crafts it has ever been our lot to set eyes upon. It is a veritable "Yankee notion" embodied in a sailingboat of most peculiar build. at one of the T's of the Queen street Wharf, and conveys the first iinprossiou of being a boat sawn across the middle, the a'ter part having gone away down among the little fishes. It is singularly sharp in the bows, and literally ii it as the floor behind. It is partly decked, and bears one mast forward, but not so far as the real Yankee boat, which, we are informed, carries its mast almost on its bowsprit. Keeping before the eye the queer proportions of the thing, an idea will be formed of it from the following figures: length of keel, 26 feet; over all, 25 feet 9 inches j beam, 10 feet 6 inches ; draught of water, 1 foot. She was built by Valentine Savage, of Shoitland, from a Yankee model direct from New York. Hsr sails were made by Mr Le Boy, and she is owned by Mr E. Poore, and in consequence her home will be on the waters of the Waitemata. She is called the IS.Y., after the commercial capital of the States, and is to be used, among other purposes, for pleasure parties, for which we could hardly fancy anything more suitable. For though this peculiar kind of boat is called a " New York Plunger," she seems as if she would be all but incapable of capsizing. W e welcome the N.Y. as the avant courier of an immigration of Yankee notions by the San Fran cisco route. —New Zealand Herald, loth June.