Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume VI, Issue 295, 3 June 1871, Page 4

Local and General News.

■». HaMMEXIS .Coach arrived in Blenheim with the English Mails at 12 - 30 this morning. Correspondence.—We are obliged to omit letters by *• Spartan” and others, till next week. The Lyttelton is to leave Nelson for Blenheim to-day, returning on Tuesday next. In Queensland attention is being turned to the manufacture of castor oil, with, according to the Queenslander, encouraging results. Small-Pox in Sydney. The Glen Lora, which arrived in Sydney on the 11th inst. had small-pox on board, and was placed in quarantine. A female auctioneer has commenced business in Taranaki. It is said she has a good voice, a thorough knowledge of business, and is an excellent advertiser. Would that she shipped to Greymouth. —Greymouth Star. Cultivation of Mulberries. Tlie| Council, on the motion of Mr Collins, agreed, on Monday evening, to devote £IOO to the purchase of mulberry trees for distribution among persons disposed to engage in sericulture. The vote was in every respect a judicious one.— Colonist. friends in the Flax trade will be interested to note that Messrs Logan and Sinclair’s brand (L & S) has become known in the English market, and have the unprecedented honor of being mentioned in the English telegrams in another page. Their flax fetched L?A.j

We learn that a suit for a Divorce lias been commenced in which more than one of the inhabitants of this locality are interested, and that some singular disclosures as to the domestic habits of a certain female once resident here, are likely to transpire.

The Beth Shan. —We find in the Home News that the Beth Shan which sailed from London for Nelson early in February was, in the first week in March, still in the Channel. It will therefore in all probability be another month or six weeks before she is signalled here.

f On going into the Bank last Saturday we found two miners named Croft and Green disposing of two nuggets weighing respectively 9oz sdwt figrs, and loz 17dwt, with some smaller pieces, valued in all at L4O. In reply to a question they stated it to be Lyell gold, but we are credibly informed that they found it at the head of their sluice-box in Cockatoo.. Gully, WcUran.Walley,on the Queen’s birthday, and Have an idea of getting more of the same kind in that locality. The nuggets in question were nearly pure, but covered with a black Ohukch of the Nativity.—A meeting of members of the congregation was held in the Institute on Thursday evening, but the attendance was confined to about a dozen persons. The Ven. Archdeacon Butt took the Chair, and read the Bishop of Nelson’s mandate declaring the parochial district with the boundaries named in the resolution of Easter, 1870, asking for a parish. Mr ButtchcseMr Hodsonas his Warden, and Mr A. G. Fell was elected by those present, It was decided to have five vestrymen, and Messrs A. Dobson, James T. Robinson, Hull, John White, and H. G. Clarke were elected. Mr Hodson presented the balance sheet to Easter last, and the meeting closed with a benediction.

A Warning. —A Grey mouth, contemporary states that a case of nearly fatal poisoning, from the careless and reckless use of a useful medicine, occurrred recently in that district. A female, who was sufferingfrom toothache had been using chlorodyne, and in an agony of pain she swallowed the contents of a bottle full at a draught. She became insensible shortly afterwards, and those about her becoming alarmed at the symytoms, procured the attendance of a chemist and druggist, who administered the usual remedies in such cases, and, after some trouble, succeeded in bringing the patient round again. The usual dose, as directed by the label on the bottle, is from 10 to 30 drops, and there were 240 drops in the draught taken by the woman.

Past Grand’s Society, 1.0.0.F.M.U. The members of this society celebrated the^:sixth anniversary by a dinner on Wednesday evening last in their Lodge room, Odd Fellows Hall, P. O. Robert Smith in the chair. The dinner was provided by P.P.G-.M. Bell, and gave great satisfaction. The usual loyal, patriotic, and fraternal toasts were given, and heartily responded to. Several songs were sung by the company, which contributed greatly to the pleasure of the evening, and the party separated at half-past ten o’clock, after enjoying themselves to their heart’s content. —lndependen t

Discussing the privileges of Parliament, a correspondentof the Sydney Mail says : • ‘ Then, again, nobody now-a-day can approve of the fiction by which the presence of “ Strangers” in the House of Parliament is ignored, or of the power possessed by a single blockhead of having everybody- reporters and all—hurried out of the galleries to gratify some piece of spleen. This “ privilege” was exerised last session by one of the most stupid men in our Assembly, and neither the entreaties nor the threats of Ministry or Opposition could divert the silly man from his purpose. The trial of election petitions is admittedly a standing scandal. Everybody knows that the result depends more upon the constitution of the committee than upon the evidence adduced, and it is high time that an independent tribunal were established to decide all questions of bribery, corruption, and other disqualifications alleged against members, so that the decision should be uninfluenced by its effect on political parties.”

The Yalue of Totara.— Specimens of totara, blue gum, and red pine (says the Ota/ o Daily Times), from wood which has been under water during the last eight years, and removed in order to allow of the extension to the Rattray* street Jetty being made, are to be forwarded to the Government offices, and possibly to the Museum. Of these woods the totara has stood the test far better than either of the other two, and it looks in the centre of the specimen as fresh as wood does when about to be driven down for piles, and bears hardly a sign of wear on the outer edge. The other specimens, on the contrary, have throughout a sodden appearance, and are far more decayed in the part exposed to the water.

The fortune bequeathed by Mr Brassey, the railway builder, is probably, the London Observer says, the largest which ever passed the Court of Probate in London—for the very few estates which exceed his in value are usually transferred by settlement. This fortune is believed to exceed seven millions, the personality alone having been sworn under six and a half millions. With the possible exception of the Rothshildfamily, this wasthe largest amount of money ever accumulated by one man in Europe by industry and enterprise. Narrow Guage.— Mr J. R. Fairlie argued at the British Association that a threefeet guage line could carry, and had been proved to carry, two and a-half times as many tons of traffic as were now, for instance, carried over the four-feet five and a-half inch guage of the North Western Railway, and this without an additional charge for haulage. Every inch added to the width of a guage beyond what was absolutely necessary for the traffic would necessarily add to the cost of construction, increase the proportion of dead weight increase the cost of working, and in consequence increase the tariffs to the public ; thus,by just so much reducing the width of the line, railways could be made cheaply, and at the same time thoroughly efficient. There was no country too poor to have railways sufficient for its requirements, and they furnished the cheapest possible mode of transport. Moa Skeletion. —The hitherto unrivalled skeletons of the Canterbury museumhave ffieeu thrown into shade by recent discoveries. The Lytleton Times says that the moa skeletons brought from Glenmark station by Mr Fuller, of the Museum, have been articulated, and will be placed in the Museum in the course of a few days. The tallest of the skeltons stands about II feet G inches high, which is considerably more than any of the other specimens of the same bird in the Museum.

Floods. —We have had very high floods here, which appear to have been general through* out the province. The Wangawa was never bejj fore so high ;it overflowed its banks, did considerably damage, and flooded part of Masterton. Mr Duncan Morrison, who has resided near the banks of the Euamahunga for these twenty or thirty years, says he has seldom seen that river higher than it was last week ; but fortunately no damage was done. Since the floods, we have had snow and sleet storms. The Eimutaka is now covered with snow, and the ranges beyond would indicate that it was now midwinter.—lndependent.

Diabolical Act.— At Ballarat, Samuel Burgess, commonly known as the Australian Tom Thumb, has stabbed with a penknife the eye of a little girl named Marriott,aged twelve years, while she was endeavoring to get a glimpse of Chang through an aperture in the boards of the marquee in which the giant was exhibiting himself. The wretch has been arrested.

A Melbourne contemporary says:—“One of the most remarkable instance of good fortune in mining is that of a Sandhurst resident who, some time ago, accepted six shares in a now wellknown company, in satisfaction of a doubtful debt of £45. He has just sold one of the six for £3,000, and at this rate his cheaply acquired in* terest is worth £IB,OOO.

Accident. —An accident of a serious kind but which fortunately did not terminate fatally, occurred to a daughter of Jas Speed, Esq., on Saturday afternoon last. She had been out for a ride along the Wairau Road, and when returning, and at a short distance this side of the second elevation, the horse reared up and threw her off, her foot catching in the stirrup. The horse then started off at a trot, and dragged the unfortunate girl behindit. Mr Allport, seeing theaccident, immediately made after the horse, but was not able to overtake it until it had gone about 200 yards. By this time she was almost unconscious, being unable to speak, and her clothes were nearly all torn off. After some difficulty in relieving her foot, she was conveyed home, when it was found that, although severely cut and bruised, no bones had been broken. She is now, we learn, progressing favorably.— Press. / /

One of the tramway bridges between Stafford and Ahaura, seventy feet high, gave way on May 11th. Dr Smith, of Greymouth, was the sole passenger. Ho had two teeth knocked out, and his jaw fractured. The driver was much shaken.

The Wairau Club are actively preparing for their seventh entertainment, which, will take place in about three weeks. Two pieces are in rehearsal for the performance : viz., ‘‘A Morning Call” and the “Area Belle.” The “ Porter’s Knot ” is also cast, and will be produced shortly. Invercargill telegrams say : —Last night the brig Lady Darling, from Riverton to Melbourne, -with a cargo of produce, was lying at anchor in HirrelTs roads when it came on to blow a tremendous gale. The cable was slipped, all sail was set, and she was run high up on the beach. She is a complete wreck—but the cargo is expected to be saved. Both are fully insured. Weather is still very boisterous. Dunedin telegrams say ;—The Council met to-day. The Superintendent congratulated the House on the progress of the province, which was greater than if a distant colony, left to its own resources. While advocating great retrenchment, he thinks it will be incomplete unless the General Government reduces the number of its civil servants by amalgamation of offices. — Campbell’s store, at Kakanui, was totally destroyed by fire; the loss will be £I,OOO ; supposed incendiarism. As the last new thing in bankruptcy, the Otago Times recommends those who are requiring to be white-washed to apply to the District Court of an up country township, where it appears a bankrupt will in one day surrender and pass his last examination and apply for his discharge. The Times wants to know whether the Dunedin solicitors cannot take the cue from the case, and oblige their unfortunates ? Much of the public time, also, would be saved by the initiation of a system of swift white-washing.

An interesting fact has turned up in connection with the affairs of the late Mr Scott, who has been so generally set down as the murderer of Mr Baillie, in Fiji. The will of Mr Scott has been opened by the executor, a gentleman residing in Collingwood, and it appears (says the Melbourne correspondent of the Geelong A dvertiser) that the deceased was possessed of a good deal of town property, the whole of which he has bequeathed to Miss Baillie, a daughter of his supposed victim. Malt and Hops. —That a great deal of money is sent out of New Zealand, which should never leave the colony is clearly shown by the following paragraph which we copy from a Northern contemporary : New Zealand imported hops, in ISG9 to the value of £20,633, and yet perhaps there is no finer climate in the world for the growth of this plant than this colony. A large brewer in Auckland says that he has found the finest British or American hops far inferior to Auckland or Nelson grown ones. _To keep the breweries in this colony working, £55,500 was imported in 1862 ; half of this came from England, Victoria supplying the greater portion of theremainder ; we readin a contemporary a statement to the effect that barley is actually taken from Canterbury to Melbourne, and brought back again in the shape of malt.— Wanganui Chronicle. Agent in America. The Lyttelton Times says that during last session of the Provincial Council a select committee appointed to inquire into the subject of new industries, suggested the appointment of a special commissioner to the United States, whose duty it would be to report on labor-saving machines and other matters connected with agricultural industry in particular. The suggestion was favorably received by the Council and the public, and we understand that the Government have appointed Mr Coates, of the firm of Taylor & Co, who is about to pay a visit of some three or four months to the States. Mr Coates is a passenger by the Nevada, and we have no doubt, from his extensive knowledge of colonial requirements, coupled with his American connections, he will be able to collect a good deal of valuable information. The Evening Star (Groymoutli) says : “ It was about this time twenty years ago, that gold was first discovered at Ballarat, the date on which the first gold was dug out of the eajrth by Hiscock, being the 11th April, 1851, at a spot near Buninyong. Hiscock was afterwards rewarded by the Victorian Government by a money grant of Then he set up as storekeeper ; made a large amount of money, the whole of which he lost by subsequent profitless speculations. The exodus from Geelong was so complete that only about three of the male adult populations was left in it. In 1852 the gold brouht gdown by the escort from the Ballarat district averaged 46,000‘0z5., per week, a yield which before in California, or since in the auriferous district of the world has never even been approached. Of all the miners, traders, and merchants who flourished in those prosperous times, not half-a-dozen escaped the reaction which took place in 1856, when the insolvencies in eleven months exceeded over twelve millions of money.” Meat Preserving.— Ho less than 8000 sheep are now weekly being potted or boiled down by the New Zealand Meat Preserving Co., at their three establishments at Longbush and Kakanui in this province, and at the Washdyke, near Timaru, each establishment going through from 400 to 500 every working day ; and but for the shortness in the supply of tinsmiths to got the meat, a much larger quantity still would e manipulated upon. Presuming that the establishment at Green Island consumes an equal number of sheep, the yearly consumption of the three establishments would represent 416,000 sheep, or one-sixth of our total stock. In the course of a month or two the mutton will become too lean for preserving purposes, and great cattle will then have their turn, and as the consumption will be very large, no doubt rising prices may then be expected by farmers and other stockholders. Supposing that sheep are only operated on during six months in the year, the number required would nearly double the increase upon the flocks in the province, which last year represented 131,421 sheep, so that this diminution will no doubt speedily tell upon the numbers held in the province, and reasoning upon the ordinary rules which regulate consumption and demand, consequently raise their value. —Bruce Herald, j

A company is to be started in Lyttelton for the manufacture of salt by the evaporation of seawater.

Important to Confectioners. The Resident Magistrate in Dunedin has decided that ginger wine comes within the definition of spirituous and fermented liquors under the Licensing Act, and that persons selling it without a license are liable to the penalties of sly grog selling.

A Hat Plague. —The northern country of South Australia is at present being visited by a plague of rats, wliicli infest, in swarms every waterhole and. spring. Tliey are attacking tlie grass roots and destroying the feed. The blacks |ook upon the visitation as a windfall, as the rats are to them a great dainty. Population op Hawke’s Bay.—Thecensus of the province of Hawke’s Bay shows the followingresult;—Males, 3379 ;females, 2339;t0ta1, 5718. Town of Napier, included inabout—males, 1164; females, 1015 ; total, 2179. This shows an increas in the province since 1867 of 435, and of this number 352 are shown to be in Napier.

Ladies op the Press. -Some of the cleverest writers on the New York Press are women, andall are as well paid asmenfor the kind of work they “do, This is mostly of the lighter sort, as regards subjects ; though sometimes a strong and stormy political article may be traced to a woman’s hand. Occasionally, a woman writer adds canvassing to her literary work, and makes a good sum weekly out of advertisements ; but the majority of them confine themselves to the pen, and manage to make it pay pretty liberally. Auckland telegrams dated Grahamstown, May 22 say .—The Caledonian company have lodged 20,106 ounces in the Bank.—The Bass Rock company, near the Nonpareil, have taken out some splendid specimens. The Middle Star have crushed three tons, which yielded 6 ounces of gold.—Dixon’s No 1 had a crushing of 47 tons which gave 194 ounces. —The Golden Line have opened a good reef, and scrip is enquired for.—The new reef supposed to be on the Golden Crown No 2 ground, has every appearance of containing gold.—The Caledonian took out 8 cwt of rich specimens. About 3000 ozs will be lodged in the bank this afternoon. Cheap Laws. — The Evening Post says : —Every Englishman is, by a legal fiction, supposed to know the law, and ignorance is no excuse for a breach thereof, The inhabitants of Marlborough, however, evince no particular desire to make themselves acquainted with the enactments of their local legislature on matters of every-day interest, and seem to think that when ignorance is bliss ’twere folly to be wise. Wo learn from a local journal that the publisher of the Express some time ago printed the “Roads Act, 1870,” the “Education Act, 1870,” the “Impounding Ordinance,” and the “Cattle Trespass Act, 1867,” in a neat Bvo form at 6d each, under the expectation that he would, at that price, sell at least sufficient copies to repay the cost of production. 1' hiding that they are not in demand, he has reduced the price to Id each, or 3d for the four, in order to clear them out. This is cheap law with a vengeance. The Bight Way to Civilise the Natives. —We hear from the Bay of Plenty that the working capacities of the natives employed on the Tauranga-Taupo line are highly appreciated by the con trad ors. It is not perhaps generally known that the old system of daily payments from the Treasury has been abandoned in the case of roadworks entrusted to natives, and that everywhere regular contracts arc entered into. In some cases these arc taken by Europeans, who gladly avail themselves of native labor ; in others, the natives themselves undertake the performance of a certain piece of work for a definite sum. It appears that under proper supervision, such as we learn is exercised at Tauranga, native workmen get through a daily amount of labor sufficient to enable the contractors to pay a high rate of wages.—Auckland Herald.

Paris Prices During the Seige.— The prices of the necessaries of life during the seige of Paris have an historical interest of their own. The following can be relied on as the market value during the hardest time, the English pound being taken as the standard : —Bread and biscuits, Is 3d ; rice, Is 8d; sugar, Is 8d ; cheese, 25s ; fresh butter, £2 Ss 4d ; olive oil, £1 4s 2d ; ham, £2 ; salt pork, £1 ; dog’s flesh, German sausage of horse flesh and brawn of the same, 5s 8d ; a fowl, £2 5s ; a turkey, d.’o ; a goose, £C ; a duck, -£ 1 15s ; a hare, c£3 5s ; a cat, £1 ; an egg, 2s Gd ; a rat, the same ; a tin of sardines, 13s; a rook, 4s; a sparrow, lOd ; cabbages and cauliflowers, 12s 6d each ; turnips and carrots, 2s each ; a bushel of potatoes, -£'2 ; a hundredweight of coal, 12s Gd ; of wood, 10s, and everything in proportion. Large fortunes have been made, it is said, out of the very rich and luxurious, by those who managed to conceal provisions. A Scene in the French Assembly.— We take the following from the “ Pall Mall Gazette —M. Jules Oharetie-writes from Bordeaux to the “Siecle,” that no one who knows it solely through the medium of the “ Mouiteur Officlel” and the coldness of a short hand report, can form any idea of the dramatic scene provoked by M. Conti in the National Assembly. The whole Assembly springing to its feet by an irresistible movement of revolted conscience ; seven hundred representatives vociferating, waving their hats, feverish, indignant, resolute, and crying “Dechcance !” At the tribune, calm and livid, his eye-glass on his nose, thin, with a threatening yet comical aspect, M. Conti braving the just anger oj the Assembly, and remaining frozen and motionless before the storm ; cries, invectives, meeting about the head of the confidential secretary to reach the master: “Outlaw of the 2nd of December; no more of the coward ! no more of the traitor ! The fury increasing, the vociferations becoming ferocious, fists clenched, eyes blood-shot. “Down with the Bonapartes !” Then suddenly in this tumult, in this crowd, and this tempest, a forehead—rising as though by chance on the tribune, close to the thin face of M. Conti, a face appearing, red, sanguine, the bread and hair white, the face of Victor Hugo, author of “ Napoleon 1c Petit,” by the side of the secretary of the Man of Sedan and of the 2nd of December; and. as if the same cry burst from every breast, might be heard on every lip the words, “ Chastisement! behold the chastisement !”

The Superintendent of Otago, in his speech at the dinner given by the Chamber of Commerce, Dunedin, to the officers of the Nevada, said :—lt was remarkable that out of the seventy-eight gentlemen who now composed the House of Representatives in New Zealand, there were only three members who had seats during the first session of the Assembly, and of those three he had the honor to be one. (Applause.) He was very much inclined to think that the people of this colony had very little reason to be grateful to the General Assembly for what had been done in the past, whatever might be done in the future. He trusted the future would be very different to what the past had been, excepting the session of 1870, which was really the only bright spot in the history of the General Assembly of New Zealand. We might think that, from the policy of the last session, a new era, probably, was about to dawn upon the country—an era of railways, of immigration, of the development of our auriferous resources, and last, though not least an era of the friendly communication which had been established between this country and the great continent of America. (Applause.) Regarding ing his .Excellency's Ministers, of course it would ill become him on that occasion to pass any euloginms upon them, however much he might and did agree with and support the policy with which they were identified, a policy which was the policy of peace with the aboriginal natives, and of acting in which harmony withtheprovinces existed, and of utilising the credit of tlm colony, not upon gunpowder, but in developing the material resources of the colony. He returned thanks for the compliment paid to his Excellency’s Ministers and the General Assembly. (Applause.)