Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 119, 30 May 1868, Page 3

Local and General News.

A correspondent of the Examiner, writing from Amuri, states that “the initiatory steps are being taken to have the Clarence district in Marlborough declared a county.” The weather has been very adverse this week to all entertainments. Mr. Kiernan postponed his reading until Tuesday next, when we trust he will have a good attendance. The Lyttleton arrived here from Nelson on Monday last, in charge of Captain Sdott, having been newly painted and overhauled. She took her departure for Nelson on Wednesday noon. The usual meeting of the Mutual Improvement Society, will be held on Tuesday evening next, in the School Room. This being the quarterly meeting, the. election of officers will tafete place.,, j ,

f We leam that Mr. Hanson Turton has sue-; ceeded the late C. H. Moffitt, Esq., and has been entrusted with the winding up of the estate. We believe also that Mr. Turton has been appointed Grown Prosecutor for this province. A Petition.—A petition, we believe, is being drafted, to be sent to the General Government, praying for a change in the present-system of government in this province. We are not at pjfbsent aware of any further particulars.— Press', The District Court sittings open'on,Monday next. His Honor Judge Ward having arrived via Ficton on Thursday last. The only cases for hearing are Gw Barton, for larceny, and a.case in banKTuptcy.; , . i

be seen by advertssement.that the Annesbrook stud of thoroughbreds is,, to, be .'broken up, and disposed of by lottery. . The list conrprises som^, good animals,; including . Magenta, Omen, and Nebula, a number of promising young stock, and several valuable, brood: .mares. — Examiner,

The first attniVei'saty of the Loyal Brethren Lodge of Odd Fellows was celebrated at Kaikoura on the 6th instant, by a dinner and ball. The festivities were held in the Kaikoura Hotel. The facetious reporter of the Herald says, “ the band struck up ‘ Fop goes the Weasel, and ol£ they went I” Friday evening a drunken man—a stranger in the neighbourhood came into our office, and fafter creating some little disturbance, was invited out again. Directly afterwards he was discovered to have got down to the water’s edge, by Mr. Elbeck, who, attracted by his strange been watching him. On going over to the place, he had just time to grasp him by the collar before he slipped into the deepest and most dangerous part of the river ; on being dragged out he shook himself, and rolled offii without so much as thanking his preserver, Flirtation.— On Wednesday evening last, Mrs. Evereste delivered her lecture on “Flirtation : its Evils and Remedy,” at the Council Chambers, before a discriminating and attentive attendance, although not a numerous one The fair lecturer was listened to with much attention, and the points of the numerous anecdotes with which she illustrated her remarks were fully appreciated by her hearers. After a discourse, lasting nearly an hour and a half, the audience separated, evidently pleased With the efforts made by the entertainer for their amuseMonday evening, which might have been fatal, especially as the river was up at the time. It appears that upon leaving the meeting at the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Budge, while trying to pick his way among the mud, which everywhere abounded, stepped into the river. Help being near, however, he was speedily rescued, and we are glad to say without greater injury than his immersion in the muddy water. We notice that a good footpath from Alfred-street to the door of the Church was yesterday being formed by five volunteers belonging to the congregation, whoT'besifles other contributions generally, brought down their drays, and worked heartily at the task, which they completed to their own satisfaction, as well as that of the public, Cruelty to Animals. —We were yesterday asked to look at the state of the public pound in Blenheim, with the request that we would direct attention of the proper authorities thereto. In it were two horses which have, according to a notice affixed to the gate, been confined therein 22 days (from May 7th). The ground is in a most deplorable state, and deep in mud, in which the poor animals have been compelled to lie down. An empty tub lying on its side for some days suggests the circumstance that they had not been lately supplied with water, and the spare appearance of their bodies show that they have not been supplied with a superabundance of food. Our informant says that on passing a day or two ago, he observed one of them licking an iron bolt projecting from one of the posts in order to allay its thirst ! There can be no question but that the power which created the pounds ought to see that they are properly conducted.

Marlborough Flock Owners. —The Auckland Herald says that, after considerable negotiations with the native owners, the following lands Lave been leased in the Tuupo country:—“A run of 30,000 acres to Captain Holt, of Wellington ; a run, comprising some 100,000 acres, to Mr. St. George; and one of 60,000 acres to Messrs Tetley, and H. C. Young, of -Canterbury. Several extensive runs, in addition to these, were also negotiated The largest was one of 150,000 acres, situate at Patetere and Paeroa, which has been obtained for the Hon. Mr. Tetley. Another run of 100,000 acres, at Kaingaroa, has been leased to the Hon. Mr. Seymour; whilst a third, of 90,000 acres, at Maketu, has been leased to Mr. J C, 'Chaytor, of Marlboroiigh. Various other runs are in course of negotiation. Altogether, some halfmillion acres have been leased, comprising an area of about 520 square miles, or equal to a block nearly twenty-three miles square.”

Ak accident occurred on the Omaka Bridge on Thursday noon, which was productive of much mischief. It appears that a horse belonging to Mr. Packman, Newtown, took fright, overturning his master and injuring his leg, and bolted full speed down Grove Hoad, with a dray at its heels. Mr. Ritter, seeing it coming, pushed 'On' ahead with his spring cart, and warned others to clear the .way. Upon arriving at the south side of the Omaka, Mr. C. O’Dwyer drew his trap aside to make room for the horse and dray to pass between it and Mr. Ritter’s vehicle. Instead of doing so, however, the dray caught Mr. Dwyer’s wheel, and smashed it to bits. The force of .the concussion was so great that the dray rebounded against the wheel of the spring cart, and then turned over. A crowd instantly collected, by some of whom the horse was seized and detained. Upon crossing the bridge, however, on his way home, the axle-tree of Mr. Ritchie’s cart gave way, and proved to be broken off at the shoulder. Packman is not, we learn on enquiry, seriously hurt; .

Marlborough and the General Government.—The saying that “ we must go from home to learn news” has been exemplified this week by our discovery of the following piece of information in the Auckland Southern, Gross of the 7th inst. s—“ Marlborough has been, unfortunate with: the General Government about overdrafts, which of course could not be permitted, intimating that, unless an overdraft were sanctioned, it would become necessary to open the gaol and let loose the prisoners. r Whereupon the General Government, still refusing to supply money to be dealt with at pleasure,, volunteered to defray the expenses of the gaol, provided that the vouchers were sent up to themselves. This proposal certainly does in with Superiutendental and is a sore blow toi the provincial dignity ; but it is clear that the General Government cannot venture on the risk of unauthorised expenditure without being assured, to a certainty, that the money advanced is spent only upon services of absolute necessity;” Not long ago Mr. Stafford found fault With the publication in our of certain inform afcion.:w£ioh we had obtained, and which it was'incorrectly stated must have been.furnished by a person bolding high office in this province. Now, oddly enough, • we find that just after a visit from Mr. Stafford, an. Auckland journal is enabled to publish private correspondence addressed to: the. Colonial Secre* t«ay.

The retaining fee of Mr Ireland, as counsel for the West Coast Fenians, is stated to 00 £2ooiy ;'-x Trfjs Cadets. —Judging from the following jp&ra, graph in the Nelson Evening Mail, coupled with°other remarks which have, appeared before* time in the same journal, it would seem that att unworthy jealousy exists in reference to oul? Cadets. Had we ever sought to elevate them to anything but what they are—a body of lads seeking to attain proficiency in drill and as marksmen, without any special pretensions to excellence —such jealousy might be permissible, but we have done no such thing; only simply recording anything that occurred respecting them. With reference to the notice in question, we may state, for the Writer’s information, that Tait is but 5 feet in height, and was therefore about equal with three of his Nelson com* petitors. The Wellington .boy was his senior, besides being taller, while- the Otago youth was 6 feet in height. Tait is by no means a strong lad, and we should suppose in this respect in* ferior to any of his -competitors. The Mail says:—“lt is stated in the account of the Champion Rifle Shooting at Wellington, which appeared in the Examiner this morning, quoted from the Independent, that the first Cadet prize was won by Private Tait, ‘a small boy from Blenheim.’ It is Only just to the Nelson Com* petitors to say that this statement is by no means a fair one, Tait being not only considerably older, but much stouter lad than either of those who represented this province on this occasion.” Such remarks are doubtless made with a view of encouraging the Nelson lads, but it must be re* membered that they have a contrary effect upon ours.