Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 140, 17 October 1868, Page 3

Local and General News.

The Charles E l ward is expected here from Nelson during the week. A smart shock of an earthquake was felt here on Tuesday last at G a.m. His Honor Mr. Eyes is expected to return from attending the Assembly on the 20th iust. Both the Marlborough members voted against the Libel Bill, and for the Printers and Press Regulation Act. Native Land Court. —The sittings announced to be held at Blenheim on the Ist December are postponed nine die. From a notice in the Herald, we find that Mr. Cook, the electro-biological lecturer, has been operating at Kaikoura upon a meagre audience. Mr Curtis called a meeting of his constituents at Nelson on Monday last, when he proposed to give his view of the proceedings of the session. Mr. and Mrs. Newton (Annie Merton) performed with great success, last week, in Nelson, On their return from Motueka, they will go on to Auckland. A pressure of more important matters compels us to leave over the report of the proceedings at the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday last, which were of little importance. A' telegram has been received from Napier to the effect that the Militia had been called out, and that the call had been cheerfully responded to —lndependent.

Ox Tuesday last, James Smith was brought before the Resident Magistrate charged with stealing a dog. The offence was proved, and the prisoner was committed to Fiction Gaol for 3 months, with hard labor.

The teacher of the Government School, Kai- I koura, complains, in a letter to the Herald, that t no examination has been held by the Inspector I for the last two years, which, he considers, is an f injustice to himself as well as the children. We learnt last evening that all the wires were down, both to the Nor h and South, except to Picton, and Wellington via White’s Bay. As the linesmen are out in both directions, communication will be restored this morning. Captain Keexe.— This gentleman and his I wife (formerly Miss St Hill), were passengers by | the Asterope, and are bound for their station at I the Kaikoura. We heartily welcome their return | to their adopted country.— lndependent.

We have published elsewhere the remainder of the proceedings in the Assembly with respect to the Awatcre Shearing Reserves Bill—showing the extraordinary conduct of the hon Mr. Seymour—but are not able to make any comments thereon this week, as more vital matters claim a priority of notice.

Accident at the Bush. —On Saturday afternoon last, while holding a horse belonging to Brown and Co., bakers, for its rider to mount, Mr. Alexander Herd, blacksmith, received a severe kick on the thigh, causing a severe fracture. Dr. Horne being sent for, was speedily in attendance, and we believe the patient is now doing well. Shipping Telegrams. —On the 7th instant, in the Assembly, Mr. Eyes asked the hon. the Postmaster-General whether instructions had been given to the Telegraph Officer at Blenheim to post up the shipping news outside the telegraph office for the information of the public. In reply, the hon. Mr. Hall said he would see that wnat the hon. gentleman desired should be done.

The Maori King. —We learn that the Rev. Samuel Williams has seen a letter addressed to the Hauhaus of Hawke’s Bay, in which the present month is fixed upon for a general rising. A meeting of the Hauhaus was held yesterday in that province. Mr. Deighton, the Resident Magistrate, takes a very unfavorable view of native affairs in Hawke’s Bay.— lndependent. Wreck of the Ketch Folly. This vessel, of 17 tons, which sailed for Havelock on Thursday night, Bth iust, meeting with a change of wind and a rough sea outside the bar, attempted to run back, but went on shore on the Boulderbank, a little below the Lighthouse. The night was exceedingly dark, and the crew experienced some difficulty in getting from the vessel to the beach.— Examiner.

We are always glad to join issue with our Picton contemporary, and as he this week but anticipates what we should like to have said on the atrocious Press Act, just passed by the Assembly, we shall only need to say that we endorse his every sentence ; and the Ministry that could introduce, and the House that could pass such au arbitrary measure deserve thepillory, and we trust they will get it. The Stafford Ministry have earned the greatest amount of obloquoy than any since the times of Castlereagh, whom we believe mast have been their model.

The current of water running across between Wall’s Bridge and Shepherd’s Hotel, Bush, on Wednesday last, was unusually great. The telegraph line being down between White’s Bay and Blenheim, an assistant, named Johnson, started from the former station to put it'right; having done which, he came on for Blenheim. Upon arriving at the place indicated above, he waded through the water ; before getting through, however, ne lost his foothold, and was swept aside, buc fortunately being able 10 swim, he succeeded in getting tnroaga with no worse result than a good soaring.

Applications for Pastoral Leases have been made as follows :—E. W. H. Cawte, Pelorus Sound; Mills Brothers, do. ;L. W. Stobart, do. ; Cradoc Beauchamp, Queen Charlotte Sound ; and Puis ted Brothers, Mahakipawa. The news of the great fall in wool is now con* firmed by other sources than those we published week.. It appears that at the commencement of the sales prices fell Id. per lb, and towards the close the fall reached 3d. It is quite evident that the time has fully arrived when th MarlBorough wool-growers must, in order to make any profit on their business, make arrangements for not only washing their wool before shipment, but also for sorting it into the numerous qualities. ! Notwithstand the loss of the dirt—which may after all be set against its freight—the experience . of last season’s washed wool shows a profit of 3d. per lb after paying for washing and sorting ! Can any further argument be wanting than this ? How to Conclude the War.— The Editor of the Nelson Colonist suggests the following method of putting an end to the native difficulty:—“Give a reward for every rebel’s head that is brought to head-quarters ! Exeter Hall may lift up its pious hands in holy horror at such a proposition ; but what else is left to us ? The remedy may be desperate* but so is the disease Once more : consider the present leagued action of the Maori, and the futility of our past proceedings, and few will hesitate long to recommend the adoption of the doctrine and practice of ‘head-money.’ Sir Rajah Brooke destroyed piracy in Borneo by this means. We may stop the Maori warfare by the same method. Fiat /” f The children of this locality have lost an old i playmate. On Sunday last the large Newfound I land dog belonging to Mr. J. M. Hutcheson died | suddenly while swimming in the river after a stick which had been thrown in for him. The poor animal swam a little way, when he was observed to drop his head and gradually sink. : Efforts were made by those on shore to save him, ; and, although he was speedily got out, it was i found that life was extinct. His owner expresses ' an opinion that disease of the heart was the i cause of death, but we feel compelled to refuse | credence to this notion, for a better-hearted or \ kinder animal never lived than poor Caesar. His shun has been preserved as a momento. Provincial Atrophy. —The Wellington A dvertiser (the organ of the Stafford Ministry), of the 30th ult., has an article in which the financial state of all the provinces of the colony is passed in review, and the following resume is given ; “The only provinces in the country that can exist as they are, are Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, and this is solely in consequence of the existence of a land fund, or the non-borrowing of

money, as in the case of Nelson. That is the question, then, for the constituencies. Are the emasculated provinces to be kept up as provinces, for the benefit of officials, with nothing to do but draw their monstrous salaries ? Or is the Government of the country, with respect to local affairs, to gradually lapse into the hands of the people, who best know their own wants, and are more capable of supplying them than any Provincial Government can possibly be ? This is the question on which the election, if a dissolution ensues, will have to be fought, and we give it concisely in three words—the * People against Superiutendentalism.’”

The Financial Statement, No. 2. — la the absence of the Hansard, we take the following extract from Mr Hall’s latest Financial Statement from the Independent :—“ There were certain provinces which were in great difficulties. There were the cases of Southland, and Marlborough, and Taranaki would certainly require some assistance. The Government proposed to make a temporary advance to. Marlborough. He had been assured by the Superintendent of Marlborough that her land fund would very soon accumulate and be ample for all purposes. [?] The only amount to which she was entitled out of the consolidated fund would be £242. The advance would be recouped by the Government out of the territorial revenue. In the case of Taranaki, all she would receive would be £3O. That was clearly not sufficient to carry on with ; and harbors, police, and gaols must be maintained. It was proposed to make advances to Taranaki from time to time for necessary purposes. He was aware that objections might be taken to these new proposals. He was also aware that they were open to, criticism, and the principle upon which they were based might be denied. But that was not the fault of the Government. The proposals of the Government had been suspended cby the action of the House. The main principle of their tirst proposal had been accepted by the House, as he had already stated, so that the scheme was not reserved bub suspended. He believed that the proposals previously brought down would have met the difficulties of the crisis much more completely, but the Government were not responsible for the change in the proposals.” The Lake Wakatip Mail , of August 27th, writes :—“As an instance of what maybefalthe lonely worker amidst our mountain fastnesses and wooded ravines, we have just been told a remarkable case, worthy of a page in a tale of real romance. About three weeks ago a splitter, working in the Five Rivers Bush, Southland, had his thigh dislocated by the fall of a tree which he had just before been cutting down. No assistance being within several miles, the unfortunate fellow was placed in a most critical position Nevertheless, nothing daunted, after vainly endeavoring to crawl to some place for human relief, he made a crutch, by means of which he struggled slowly on until a search party hearing his cry came to his relief—not, however, until the poor fellow had become lean and, haggard with the endurance of hunjger and pain for five days and nights on snowy ranges and amidst thick forest. When found he presented a most pitiable object—his clothes nearly all torn off him, his limbs nearly paralysed and his toes frost-bitten, while under his armpits the flesh was almost worn away to his bones from tie friction ofl|the crude crutches. Only once, the brave fellow admits, did a tear fill his eye- for hope wavered and his heart nearly failed him when, struggling through the bush, one of his cratches tripped him, and,' in angry agony, he threw away a great support, which cost him many hours ; of fruitless search ere he found it •f. again. We hear the young man’s name is John Nolan, and there is little doubt that his youthfalnaes has saved him from an untimely end.”

I Mr. Commissioner Ktnnersley has ceased lo be a public servant. His resignation has been accepted. Mr. Kynnersley, we believe, proceeds fto England.— lndependent. _JSTartling de-ails connected with the escape from the Chatham Islands crop up from time to time. One of the most exciting is reported by a correspondent of the Ilawkes Bay Herald. He says : —“Daring the late Hauhau panic, an old whaler who had resided on this Island for many years was, to his unutterable disgust, metamorphosed into a soldier pro tem, and as such, was one night posted as sentry on an enclosed track of land overlooking the western side of Waitangi Harbour. Pacing to and fro in the dim religious light, he heard a strange and mysterious rustling amongst the adjacent bushes, and perceived, or fancied he perceived, the. indistinct outline of a figure advancing towards him. We will venture to say his heart began to throb and beat like his old ship in a gale of wind ; nevertheless, he called out boldly and in a stentorian voice ‘ Who goes there ?’ To this interrogatory, however, he received no reply, and still the mysterious figure continued its advance ; whereupon, with musket presented and finger in deadly proximity with the trigger, he was about to let fly, when a most euphonious * Baa ’ saluted his ears. ‘By the holy poker,’ said he, ‘ that pass-word has saved your mutton this time ; pass on, old woolly head.’ ”