Local Intelligence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 783, 12 May 1860, Page 4

Local Intelligence.

A special general meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon, at two o'clock, at Mr. Alport's counting-house. The meeting, being called for important business, was very well attended. In the absence of the chairman, Mr. A. J. Alport, the deputy chairman, presided. Mr. H. P. Murray Aynsley and Mr. E. Dalgety were elected members unanimously. A letter trom the Colonial Secretary requesting the opinion of the chamber as to the propriety of an insolvent law in the present condition of the colony was then read, and a lengthy conversation ensued upon the topic. A resolution was finally adopted, to the effect that the enactment of such a law would be expedient, provided that any court to be established under it should be localised in each province. A question referred from the Auckland Chamber of Commerce was then considered, relative to the amendment of the law. of conveyance of real property and the registration of title. A resolution was put and passed unanimously recommending some action to be taken in the matter, necessarily (as recommended by the Auckland chamber) on the basis of Mr. Torrens'-Act of South Australia. The chamber then proceeded to consider the tariff question ; a set of resolutions on which subject were submitted and discussed. The chamber ultimately adopted a recommendation for removing the unequal operation of thej.tai-iff in the imposition of heavy duties upon goods classed as 'oilman's stores.' A. second resolution was carried, expressing a desire to have a recognised official interpretation of the terms employed in the Customs Duties Act, viz.:—lronmongery, hardware, oilman's stores, <fee., &c. And a third resolution was carried, urging steps to be taken for securing a uniformity of practice and procedure in the mode of levying duties in the various customhouses of the colony. These various resolutions were ordered to be forwarded to the proper officials of the General Government; to other Chambers of Commerce in the islands; and also to the members of the General Assembly for the province. A melancholy boat accident, attended with the loss of two lives, occurred at Okains Bay on Thursday evening last. It appears that twomen who had been living for a short time in the bay had gone to Le Bons Bay to make arrangements about sawing there, and wanted to return to Okains for their traps in a boat, partly belonging to a man named Morris, of Le Bons Bay, who would not lend the boat unless lie himself went in charge of her. The three men left Le Bons Bay about noon on Thursday in a nasty sea, and arrived on the Bar in Okains Bay, where there was a high surf between four and five o'clock in the ievening; when Morris, who held, the steer oar, made a-false stroke and the boat slewed round, a sea struck her broadside on, and she '; capsized. The three men clung to the boat some time, then Morris left her and the only survivor, Mclntyre,; after assisting the other man, named Robert Hilton, astride the keel of the-boat swam to shore. The tide was ebbing and as the boat was drifting out to sea Hilton, was "washed off. Nearly every able man in the Bay turned out to assist in ,the search for tlie : two; missing men,.but only the .body of 'Hilton has as yet been found. One of the' Policemen from Akaroa, who was in the bay, after assisting in the search returned to Akaroa to inform the Resident Magistrate, who held an inquest at Okains Bay on Friday afternoon on the body found, .when „a verdict was returned to the effect that the deceased, Robert Hilton, was accidently drowned by the 'upsetting of a whaleboat whilst taking the Bar. The search for the body of Morris was continued until Friday evening, everyone in the Bay appearing to be most anxious to render every assistance in their power. Morris has left a widow and two children in Le Bons Bay.