NEW ZEALAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 8124, 22 March 1887, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND.

[Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND, March 21. A gumdigger named Olsen was burned -fearfully in a whare at Waipu, and had to 3je forwarded to the Auckland Hospital. David George Cox and George Perry, aged fourteen and ten years respectively, were drowned yesterday whilst bathing in creek at Maukau. Mrs O’Neill, wife of an expressman at Onehunga, died yesterday, it is supposed from the effects of “ Rough on rats,” taken on Monday last. The woman has been , ill since then, hut her husband would not call in a doctor. An inquest takes place this afternoon. Shortly before midnight last night a fire broke out in Bhrenfried’s spirit stores in Lower Queen street. The fire got a good hold, but the Brigade suppressed it within an hour. The insurances are as follows: On the building—.£2oo in the United; on stock, .£3500; and on plant, JESOO. These latter lines are believed to be in the New Zealand and London and Lancashire, but partly reinsured. Of the reinsurances the Colonial holds .£7OO, and the National .£IOOO. The damage to the building will probably be .£SOO, and to the stock, .£2OOO to jE23|DO, all the stock on the top floor being destroyed. The origin of the fire is a mystery, as the*'premisßß have been closed since 1.80 on Saturday last.

NAPIER, Mabch 21. T. J. Wills, late a Wesleyan minister, was ordained a deacon of the Anglican Church yesterday by the Bishop of Waipu The continuance of dry weather is Becoming alarming. There has been no xain to speak of since November, and the whole country is dried up. On some farms willow trees are being cut down t 6 feed the cows. It is feared there will be no growth of grass before frosts set in. . GISBORNE, Mabch 21. After a two days' inquest into tbe origin of the recent fires, a verdict was given that Hie stables of the Albion Club Hotel were feloniously, wilfully and maliciously set on fire by some person or persons unknown. WOODVILLE, Mabch 21. It. G. Williams, saddler, was arrested on Saturday on a charge of forging the name of E. Lowes, late of the Gorge Perry Hotel, on the back of a promissory note for .£44. He was remanded. WANGANUI, Mabch 21. Captain Summerville, Executive Officer of the New Zealand Rifle Association, bad an interview with the Hon J. Ballance in Wellington re Martini-Henry rifles for LTxt year’s meeting. Mr .Radiance said he wSJI ordered.-Boh»»h>f xepcatiilaexpected them in time, but he would ascertain by cable if they were likely to be here in time, and if not he would at once order 400 Martini-Henry rifles. If the Schulof xifles come they will be handed to shootists on payment of a certain deposit to ensure care and return in good condition; but if the Martini-Henry’s come out they will be sold at about £2 10s each. The ammunition will cost 9s per hundred. In the Resident Magistrate’s Court today, A. Tod, wine and spirit merchant, sued the heads of the Railway Company for the price of the champagne and whiskey supplied on the occasion of timing the first sod. The evidence given showed that the liquor had been ordered by C. S. Cross, late Secretary, against the orders of the Chairman of Directors, and plaintiff was accordingly non-suited.

WELLINGTON, Mabch 21. The Gazette issued this afternoon calls Parliament together for the despatch of business on Tuesday April 26, at two o'clock. Mr H. P. Higginson, CE, has been appointed by the City Council to make a report as to the condition of the Wainui-o-xnata water supply. The heavy weather experienced off the English coast by tbe Western Monarch, from London, and the Brier Holme, from Liverpool, which arrived on Saturday, was exceptionally severe. The captain of the German barque Bassil, which arrived on Saturday from Hamburg, has learnt from his letters received on arrival that three vessels which left that port on the same Ray as himself (Nov. 22), have been lost with all hands. The Zealandia, with the English mails of Feb. 24, left San Francisco for Auckland on March 13, one day late. The Alameda, with the Colonial mails of Feb. 28, arrived at San Francisco from Auckland on March 19, one day in advance cf the due date. The charge against oyster saloon keepers for having rock oysters in their possession daring the close season was dismissed, it being proved that the oysters had been taken from mud. Enquiries are frequently made as to why the 10-40 five per cent New Zealand loon, of which the press constantly publish quotations, is so little over par. The explanation is simple. The ten years expire in 1886, after which it is optional for the Government to pay off the loan at par, on six months notice. Tbe price, therefore, varies with the amount of interest accruing between each half-year, together with some small amount representing the value of the firs per cent, with four per cent interest, ’Until the time when the loan is payable at par. Cable quotations in this loan, as transactions are small, vary only as described above.

WESTPORT, March 21. A new issue of shares in the Mohikinni Coal Company has been floated in Dunedin, and tenders will be called for immediately -for the extension of the Company's railway line to the outcrop of the coal. It is expected that the Government line will be extended to connect the Westport harbour with Mohikinui. DUNEDIN, March 21. The Hon Mr Reynolds leaves Dunedin for Invercargill on Friday. He returns to Dnnedin on Monday. This month’s escort brought in .£26,000 worth of gqld r A cable message notifies the death of William Denny, head of the ship-building firm. Sandilands, the Corporation labourer who was in the sewer when it was flooded, died yestei day. INVERCARGILL, March 11. The crew of an oyster cutter report passing the nude body of a man in the Straits last Friday. As it was blowing a gale, with a heavy sea, they could not pick it up. A Portuguese rabbiter named Silva came town for medical treatment at tbe Ho«pital, and it wae found that he was

leprous. The Hospital authorities declined to keep him, and the matter was referred to the Charitable Aid Board. It appears, however, that the Borough Council^ as the Local Board of Health, must deal with the man, and he will be kept in the Hospital till after their next meeting. This makes the second case of this disease in this district.