TELEGRAMS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5603, 8 February 1879, Page 5

TELEGRAMS.

NEW ZEALAND.

[TIMES’ SPECIAL WIBE,]

AUCKLAND, Ebb. 7.

At the Waste Lands. Board the Chairman stated that it would he about three months before, the le Aroha lands would be open for settlement..^' The Volante, yhoht, containing two gentlemen named Allison and Nicholson, capsized off Orakai Bay.' The accident was seen by the Maoris at the Orakaieettlement, and by three watermen —Hunt, Williams, and Holbrook. Both parties were distant a mile and a half, and after a splendid struggle the two boats reached the men together, and saved them. ' Myers, an alleged deserter from H.M.S. Blanche, was remanded to-day for the tenth time, notwithstanding that counsel had be--a employed by a subscription fund for. the defence.

There is great excitement over the sailing notch for £l5O a-side between the Transit md lorca. , The course is round the Watchman off Cape Colville, distance 100 miles. A splendid start was made, with a medium breeze. The latest accounts to-night show the Transit to be about a mile: and a-half a-head of the Torea. The race is expected to be finished about 0 a.m. to-morrow, should the wind continue.

At a meeting of the Board of Education, held this afternoon, it was stated the average attendance of pupils at the Public Schools m the Educational Juiatricb was 9308, as against 8369 during the previous quarter. 1 The Government bare decided to hold an enquiry into the circumstances attending the drowning of the lad Taylor, who fell from the rigging of the ship Easter Hill, from Xoudon, on the way to Dunedin. Messrs W. Swanson and J. S. MTarlane not being satisfied with the way in which the captain and officers of that, chip behaved on that pccasion. commanicated with the Government, and received a telegram today from the Premier promising ah enquiry shall be at once held.

i The annual report of the trustees of the .Auckland Savings Bank'is published to-day. The amount at the credit or 3721 depositors on Dec, 81, 1877, woe £108,870 14* 6d. At the end of last year the sum had swelled to £131,825 Is Id. During last year the sum of £105,282 16*7d was deposited, and therepayments during same period amounted to £87,374 6* 6d, leaving, a net excess of deposits over withdrawals of £22,954 6s 7d. The interest credited to depositors during the year was £5045 10s 6d. The reserve fund now amounts to £13,600, The total year's cash transaction* amounted, to £140,80312$ I Bd, The institution holds 105 mortgages, for £102,778, besides £6106 in debentures and a working account with, the ’Bank of Australasia qf about £67.000, The report of the Denny Savings Bank is alto satisfactory, there tying;l999 open accounts,, with a credit balance of £2OIB 8s 6d. At a meeting of, the Chamber' of Commerce to-day, a Committee was, appointed to work in connection with the Hew Zealand Commissioners for the Sydney Exhibition, so that Auckland exhibits may ty fairly represented there. ‘ A meeting of Directors . of the Big Bump Association was held to-day, to. counter the effqpt of the riopgage .of tty pumps. They saw. no way of immediately setting the pumps Kin motion. It is expeotecT that in a time the level of the carbOnlo acid gas will have risen in the Caledonian, Moanatalri, and other mines, to (he sea level, when some 8000 mouths will be deprived pi food. iJsr £ Dempsey’s tynder, for the railway j si‘ctytween Brito mart and Queen street wharf, has been accepted.ty the Government, .The. amount b tytweeh, £38,000. w IBmx?s^(miH,'Fßß. : 7. ■ The Herald says the Government will im-

mediately make roads to open tipthe Walmate plains. oQ The Waitara regatta takes place on Maroh «8e .

. The Committee of the Thranaki Institute has decided to toll the books and instniments

. WAIPUKDRAF, Feb. 7. , Hawko’a Bay rate!fair, owing to the wae dofl. , The atorage prices realised by the various owners were—Slkdeu Si % £8 10. J hSEnGTON. Etc. 7. A young man Who hto for a long time bton collecting alms under the pretence Of Wile deaf and dtmb, sleepmg m Cobb’e eteblei, He was found poeseetod Of aP.O.Bavihgs’ Bank-book, showing he had, adder an assumed name, banked fromlOe to lto per diem for tome months P«to, as of Ms begging. Several wit-; nesses stud they had hearahim speak. He is remanded, The members of the Working Men’s Club have presented Mr Gilpln, their Tate president, with a handsome timepiece oh his leaving the eityv ; ' *' ; A reliable telegrem. from Tauranga says the rejMrted ditofirtement between Rewi and Mmor Scatotmlis untrue, The' Edneation Oornmiteioners. tolled Itot night 1 for Auoldand, but fiir, Oeprge 1 Grey and Mr Usher remain to console with Mr Sheehan who only returned yreterday, ‘ ' A telegram from the Agent-GeneraL dated Feb. 4, anneuneee the departure of.the Westland for Port Chalmers with 167 Immigrants.

■ . WESTPOR4?,Fj|hi,7. • The Ounmlssicnere, have reoeivefi. the, GovetnorV permission to IMorfe. Broad that the chargee .of intempemtoe againt him ore xiot’provod, end that no imputation nets on hie chaneter, I He hto applied to be removed from Westport,

, OAMARU, Feb. 7. , Messrs W. N. Blair and Hsahtohave-just returned ;(rom, inapooting Ahe alternative route, for the Oamaru aad livingstone railway. ■, Mrßlair expressed himself as greatly pleased, . both, . with; the route, and : the (htoaottojef toeroputry, • , ,/.■;■; vi..wi ; Very, little excitement is manifested over’ the Harbour Board deotions. ThorC are seven candidates fortbethree seats.

DUNEDIN, Ebß.7. ' There vu a olean sheet at the Police Court, this morning. • state that at u out of danger and progressing, favourably. . The Customs authorities are making inquiries into the circumstances of the drowning of tba lad Williwin Taylor from, the barque Basterhill, concerning whom some passengers made a statement which implied gross criminaUtyohthepartof the captun. The following is the entry in the log of the barque Eastorhill re drowning, of Taylor i—- “ William Taylor, apprentice, fell from aloft (about mairuroTal yard), being’ set by Mr Mitchell, the second officer, to overhaul and stop (he mainrojal buntlines. In his fall he struck the. boat, skid most heavily, and thenrebounded to the water. Life must-hate been extinotbeforo reaching the water after snohcontaot. Merer’ over, there was no sign of life whatever after reaching (he water. The only; part visible was (he bach, the slack parts qfhis jacket .and trousers, and as they beOame witlr water (ho corpse disappeared, close, to.the ship’s etem.it being perfectly useless to throw a lue buoy orrouna tbC ship to (he wips #>■ enable a boat to ,be. got out, as the corpse was disappearing so quickly. We are dlso 'of opinion that his body mush have been broken in two after such a fall across the skid end,— (Signed) David Evans, master j John Martin, first mate; JaS. Mitchell, second officer; John Thomas, cartpientor.” James Bulges* and William Hankey, for placing trolly wheels on" the railway near Palmerston, were committed for trial to day. The principal evidence against the lads was given by the foreman of the permanent way of the Sartigi section, who was present when both lads were arrested. Hanker said Burgees put the wheels on the line and he took them off, saying they would get themselves into trouble; but Burgess put them on again. Burgess said he was “ tight,* 1 and knew nothing: about it. The engine-dnver and stoker 6f the train which knocked the wheels off the line gave evidence as to (He marks made by boots where the wheels were pnt on. A charge against James Green, Chairman of the WajkouaitiOounty Council, of electing himself by his own casting vote, and thus voting on a question in which he had a pecuniary interest, was heard at Palmerston to-day. Mr Eraser appeared for the prosecution; Mr Haggitt for the defence. The County Clerk was the only witness to prove the facts, which were as follows :—Mr Green, ,in the beginning of 1877; was elected Chairman at £l5O per annum. He continued in office, with the' exception df his formal resignation of the appointment, till the fourth Wednesday in November, 1878; The meeting to have been held that day was adjourned till Dec. 2, when Mr Green and Mr M'Kenzie were nominated for the chairmanship, and Mr, Green, by his casting vote, sitting as Chairman, was Himself elected. No vote for mlary nad been passed since Jan., 1877, and MtGreenhad since drawn salary at the ratc of £IBO tjll Deo. 31, 1878. Therefore it was contonded that he voted in a matter in which he was peounarily interested. Mr Haggitt, for the defence, contended that there was no oriminality in Mr Green voting for his own election to the office of Chairman, and the mere fact that he believed tbooffioeto be vtorth £l5O a year did not make the act of voting criminal. No Council could vote a salary to its Chairman beyond its term, and if Mr, Green by mistake had been paid salary beyond that term, vis., beyond (he fourth Wednesday-in November, that did not make illegal watt was in itself legal. He bad not voted himself the salary, he only voted himself Cholftfaan. After a good »al of argumentj Mr Watt said that, taking the strongest view, that Mr Green voted himself Chairman solely for the ,benefit of the £l5O, his mere act of voting himself Chairman was not illegal. 1 Tbat action could not be made criminal becauseMrQreen had a certain belief of, the result; He dismissed the information on this ground. At 9.46 to-nigfat smoke was discovered issueing from B. M. Kirk’s milliner’s shoo in Gearge street. The door was broken open, and fire was discovered under the counter, It was extinguished almost as Soon as the fireball rang, and before the Brigades,reached the spot. The origin of the fire is unknown. It is stated that neither the premises nor stock are anything like covered by insurance.

INTBKCARQJDU Frow 7. At a meeting of tlm Municipal Council this evening, it was decided that debenture form* of £IOO each should be prepared, the debentures to bear interest at 6 per cent, and have afifty years’ carronpy. Tbe Tofru Clerk Was instructed to prepare an estimate of the probabto water revenue, and it wwjwdded that application bo made to .the-WastelAnda Bpard to reserve, and to the Government to grant, the land neoeeeary beyond the present grant at the Dunsdala Cmek, so as to give sufficient elevation ; and that Mr Dawson, the Town Surveyor, be requested tglay off. the beet route for the nmins noceeawyjio bringing the water from the Creek. The Coaneil will use every endeavour to prosecute the scheme to supply the town with mmi. The Horticultural Sooktyhaye decided to hold their next ihow on M»wh 7«od 8 next. Mr Dennlston, who wm elected amejaber of the Education Board o.«ph§rd•on, took hie eeat for the ftrst time, to-digr. Mr Hatch having retired from the contest for tho Bluff Harbour Bowd for tho town of Ihveroaraill, ‘ the Betuming , Officer ,boe dSoSd&rsJ.T. Mortinatid D..S«lyth dl S>!eidS«ble dUgupt apd' famontenienoeJs experienced by the orthe voripus Banks in Oallihg in advances. This his tocn done in a.number of cases in which the assets wore undoubted. •• Tho new theatre in Dee Ctreet, built by' Sloan Bros., is now in on advanced state, and

the proprietort expect to be In a million to open it in about h week’s time. The building is very handsome, end will seat a, large audience. Negotiations are said to be going on with Mr George Darrell to open it.