Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume VI, Issue 296, 10 June 1871, Page 5

Local and General News.

The Lyttelton leaves Nelson for Blenheim this day. Bishop Neville was consecrated at Dunedin on Sunday last.

The ship Helenslee, from Glasgow, has arrived at Dunedin.

The yield of the Thames Goldfield for April was 37,154 ounces from G,678 tons of stone.

The coasting steamer, Tairoa, has been wrecked on the Molynoux bar. The passengers and cargo were landed. Smith’s tender has been accepted for tha Clutha line, for £21,000, being £9,000 below the estimate. The case against Mr Lemon, Superintendent of Telegraphs, tried at Wellington, was dismissed. The owners of horses and cattle resident in or near the Borough of Blenheim are cautioned against allowing them to stray or be at large, as the Borough bye-laws are now in force. We beg again to call the attention of the members of the Wairau Agricultural Society to the general meeting to be held at 3 o’clock this afternoon at James’ Assembly Rooms. The Wairau County Board announce that they will hold a meeting at Reuwicktown, oh Wednesday next, June 14, for the purpose of l&afing-'any objections to the assessment.’

Notices in the Provincial Gazette reserve from public sale, sections 51, 88, .89, 91, 100, 101, and 138, Picton Suburban ; and sections 146, and 148, Kaikoura Suburban. A Crown Lands Sale is to be held on Tuesday, July 11th, when the following lands will be offered Picton Suburban, sections, 92, to 96; Havelock Suburban, Sections, 8. 17, 20 ; Kaituna Valley, sections, 50.

Mr Conolly resigned bis seat in the Provincial Executive on Saturday last. We believe his reasons for so doing were entirely of a private character, having no reference to political matters, and he will no doubt be found next session giving a general support to His Honor Mr Seymour’s Government, as heretofore. The Provincial Government of Auckland, in consequence of statements which have reached them regarding the conduct of Provincial officers at the Thames, have given intimation to them to the effect that no employe of the Government is to have any interest, dircet or indirect, in any mining venture, on pain of dismissal.

At a meeting of the committee of the Literary Institute held the other evening, it was determined to resume the usual course of winter readings about Monday the 20th inst. when we believe Dr. Muller with some' other gentleman will commence the series. G entlemen willing to assist will confer a favor by informing the Secretary as early as possible, or leaving word at our office. .-’'■'“Picton County Board. —At the usual monthly meeting of this Board on Saturday last none of the members were present except the Chairman (J. Q. Western, Esq.) We learn that Mr S- Johnson and Captain Baillie have sent in their resignations. Another meeting is we understand, called for Saturday next, when it is to be hoped the members will be present.— — Press.

We learn, that the General Government (Treasury) officials have at last discovered that they were in error in deducting the interest and sinking fund of our public debt from the Land fund, and that the practice of so doing is discontinued. All land revenue received is consequently transferred to the Province at once instead of being held over, as it has been hitherto, until some matter occurred for which it could be seized.

King William of Prussia is a practical printer. All his family are obliged to have some trade. He chose to be a printer, and worked at the case for three years. From the way he has knocked the enemy’s forme into pie, locked up Paris, justified his own work, we conclude he was a smart devil, and it is certain he makes a firstrate foreman in the Prussian office.

List of Letters received in Marlborough during February, and remaining Unclaimed on 31st May, 1871. — Blenheim : W. Anderson, Rev. S. M. Anker, William Alexander (3 ), Airs Curteis, Mrs Curtis, Thomas Freeman, Andrew Frazer, Thomas Hickins, Robert Hill, Patrick Mulranoy, Patrick Mulrunoy, William Scott, James F. Scott. Picton : Neil Campbell, Emma Godfrey, Owen Hawes, M. J. Mulhollaud. Havelock : Abel Bent. Thomas Branigan, Captain Eckhoff, W. J. Gibbons, A well-attended meeting was held at the Ferry on Tuesday last, Mr Phillips in the chair, when it was announced that the subscriptions in aid of a new room to be erected had reached a total of £S2 11s. Messrs Phillips, Hathaway, G. Dodson, Busch, and Jas. Gane, were elect Building Committee and Trustees, and a vote of thanks to the subscribers carried. The Committee will meet on Monday, June 18th, for the consideration of a plan and estimates of cost. We have to defer the full report till our next.

Discovery op another valuable Reef at Murray Creek. —The Grey River Argus reports the discovery of another promising quartz reef, on the Inangahua, by Adam Smith and party. The prospectors have got the reef almost on the surface nearly the whole length' of their claim. The reef runs about north and south, dipping to the westward. It is impossible to say what width it is at present, as the face of the hill appears to be one mass of quartz, with gold visible in all of it. A considerable extent of ground has been taken up. Wairau Gold Field.—Mr. Gome,' sharebroker, reports that the present value of shares in the several quartz claims stand as follows : —Sutherland scrip, 25s (20s paid), but none for sale ; Masonic only in the eight original hands ; Golden Gate, .£lO for l-12th interest, enquires made at rate named ; Marlborough, in twelve hands, steady at £3 ; Homeward Bound, firm at .£2O; Blenheim, only in original hands, none for sale, waiting the result of the Sutherland first crushing, of which news may arrive at any hour ; Golden Crown (Walshc’s reef), at £4O, enquiries made, but no exchanges—this company has employed men to get out two tons of stone, which they intend crushing at the Sutherland machine ; Caledonian, in 1280 scrip, in demand at 10s per scrip. i/Oruination.—-The interesting ceremony orordaining a young minister took place in the Wesleyan Church’ Auckland, on Wednesday evening, May 17, in the presence of a numerous congregation. The young gentleman, the Rev. J. Simmonds, who was ordained, has been appointed te the mission of the Fijis. The Rev. Mr Rigg, Superindent of the District, pronounced an exhortatory prayer from the pulpit. There were present a large number of Wesleyan ministers, viz., the Rev. Messrs. Duller, Warren, Wallace, Buttle, Barry, Lawry, and Williams. The Rev. Mr Warren read the chapter in the New Testament—“ and Jesus came and said to them, ‘go ye unto all nations.’ ” The Rev. Mr Duller read out the formal interrogatories made on such occasions, to which the candidate, having previously detailed the circumstances under which he felt himself moved to undertake the work of the ministry, answered in the form prescribed. This was 'followed by the “ imposition of hands and prayers for the success of work which the young minister was called to undertake.” The sacrament ,of the Lords Supper was then administered to all the clergy present. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr Muller, who detailed from his own experience the difficulties that beset the of a missionary ministerihgrto a barbarbus'people.— Herald. 'y

The Berlin diggings, in Victoria, have already become notorious for the number and monstrous nuggets they have yielded. On May 11th, a nugget weighing 245 ozs. 9 dwts. was got on that field, and about that date, other nuggets, weighing 65 ozs. 2dwts., 23 ozs., 7 ozs and 3 ozs. were obtained at the same place. . Destitution at Greymouth.’—The Star says : —“ We regret to learn from one of our Borough Council officials that there is a larger amount of want and destitution in Greymouth than most of us appear to be aware of. He tells us that in the course of his rounds in the more remote and outlying parts of the municipality he meets with cases where children are pinched, for food and shrivelled with cold, from the want of sufficient covering. He says that instead of asking for the rates due upon some of these small cottages, which would simply be absured, he frequently leaves the door to return from a baker’s shop with bread, to stop the cravings cf hungry children. The mothers of these destitute little sufferers are, as a rule, bad characters, drunkards or prostitutes, women lost to all sense of shame, and every maternal feeling dead within them.”

Fiji.—One of the latest communications received from Fiji gives the following account of the state of the market there :—“ You would be surprised at the heaps of merchandise that are piled up in the stores upon the beach, far very far, in excess of the demand. Importers to Australia and New Zealand of wines, spirits, beer, hardware, dry goods, provisions, &c., have evidently looked upon Fiji as a certain outlet for their surplus stock. And here such stock is held, considering the population, in prodigious quantities. Much of it is as dead as though buried in the cemetery at Haslem’s Creek. In vain those gifted auctioneers, Messrs Burt and Cudlip, at their respective stores, offer, with eloquence that would do honor to your assembly, and with persuasive powers that you would think nothing could resist, goods that I am certain would be briskly competed for in any of your Sydney auction marts. All have abundance for many months to come—there is no money on “ the beach,” and no buyers for anything. lam concerned to think that there will be many sufferers in Sydney by this flood of merchandise to Fiji, although with the cessation of war, and the coming abundant crops of cotton, I think there will be a great reaction, and prosperity resume her sway. Yet with all the scarcity of money and depression in trade I have mentioned, there is one lino of business that seems to flourish like a green bay tree, and that is the public houses. Last June Levuka boasted only three hotels —Turner’s, Perkins’s and Unwin and Niemen’s. Now there areforty-two !”. /Divorce Court. —The first sitting of the Divorce Court in Nelson was held before Mr Justice Richmond, on Monday last, sth June. Only one case, Thomas v. Thomas and Bythell (co-respondent), was set down for hearing. The petition was granted after the hearing of several witnesses ; the claim for damages being withdrawn by the petitioner. The further hearing for the dissolution of the marriage is to be heard in Chambers. We expect to find some glowing accounts of the trial in the Nelson papers, as no less than four reporters were present, who worked hard to secure the particulars narrated.

The Taranaki arrived at Picton wharf a little before 12 p.m. on Tuesday ; and Lewis’ coach arrived here with a quantity of heavy freight about 10 a.m. on Wednesday which had been landed at 5 the same morning. Hamel’s coach with the mails arrived here at 3.25 p.m. The mail service is not being so efficiently performed as it was formerly by Lewis, who deservedly earned the title of the “ Indefatigable.”—Express Telegram. [Since the above was published we find that the fault does not lie with the present contractor, who is not required by this year’s contract to leave with a steamer’s mails before 11 a.m. on mail days when it arrives late in the day, and that under no circumstances can he leave within three hours after the arrival of a steamer. We regret that blame should attach to the wrong party in this case, especially as we learn that the contract was taken upon extremely low terms on that condition. — Ed.M.E.]

The ketch Foam, Captain Ashburn, left Lyttelton on May 5, with a cargo of oats for Hokitika. On the 17th when 8 miles from Greymouth she met with a heavy gale, and on the 19th a sea struck her carrying away the mizenmast, port cathead, bulwarks, and smashed the 'boat. On the 24th sprung her bowsprit, and kept away for Nelson for repairs, when off the Spit lost the jibsail in a squall and having then no cothmand she run oil the Spit where she now lies a wreck. Captain Walker, of the Lady Barkly, having seen the Foam on the Spit, kindly brought over' her crew to Nelson this morning. —Mail May 31st . Colonial Wheat. The Lyttelton Times says :—The advices received by the Nevada, both from Europe and America point strongly in the direction of a rise in the price of wheat. The crop in California is estimated as likely to yield only three-fifths of that of the previous year, while the state of the markets in Europe is certain to render high prices a matter of certainty for many months to come. Should the next harvest in England be deficient, wheat will rule high for the next year or two. . A great authority—Mr Kains Jackson —declares that England will have to depend almost entirely upon Australian imports for the best sorts of milling wheat to mix with the new crop due in September.”

Supposed Suicide. The Grey River Argus, of the 24th May, has the following “ A man named Bromley, of Bromley and M’Millan, has been missing from the Razorback for the last ten days. M’Millan was engaged for three days repairing the Government track to the Razorback, and returning on Saturday last to the house where he and Bromley lived, he found the place closed, and Bromley was missing. On the table was a writing,’ partly in ink and partly in pencil, as follows : —“ 1 leave, all I have in the world to my mate, M’Millan j I am pursued by a lot of devils. Good-bye, Geordie, I have been a disgrace to you. Write to my mother and tell her that lam dead. Don’t tell her how I did it. Tell her gently.” Bromley’s two dogs have been seen each day, and all day long, on a cliff towards the sea ; from which it is inferred that the man must have drowned himself. His body has not yet beenrecovered.”

Diamonds are reported to have been found by a police-trooper, 700 miles north of Adelaide. as i

The last rivet of the Wanganui bridge was driven on June Ist, by JVIr W. H. Watt, M.P.C., and was followed by a luncheon.

The Mails for England California will close here at 12 noon this day Saturday, and will be forwarded North per Ahuriri from Picton early on Sunday morning. ... ■

The Caledonian. The gold s already in bank for the present fortnight’s crushing has been melted into bars weighing 22,227 ozs. 14 dwts. ,

Wild Pigs roam in thousands over., the Blue Mountain range, from Beaumontto Waipaui, in Otago Province. Settlers shoot them and leave their carcases to rot J . ,

At Newcastle, New South Wales, the Magistrates have refused an auctioneer’s license to a gentleman of irreproachable character, and a resident in the colony for twenty years, on the ground of his being an alien.

Some of the late ardent supporters of the Superintendent of Auckland are now getting up a petition asking the Governor to withdraw from him the delegated powers under the Goldfields Act.

Eennie, who was the informant about the great gold robbery at Clyde, has received a free pardon, in consideration of the information he gave which led to the recovery of the stolen treasure.

Thomas Bett, a well-known butcher on tlie West Coast, was tried at the late sitting of the Supreme Court, at Hokitika, for attempting suicide. Bett was laboring under delirium tremens at the time, and as he had joined a temperance society while he has been at large on bail, he was let off on giving bail for good conduct for a year. The bay gelding Patch, three years did, belonging to Messrs Stevenson and M'Glashau, of Kelson, won three events at the Westport races. ■ They were the Maiden Stakes, the Ladies 3 Purse,- and the Cheroot Race, Patch winning easily. M'Glashan, an experienced jock, rode the gelding. There have been great floods in the country districts of Wellington. A telegram dated Marston, May 17th says : —“Great floods here. Cobb’s coach has not arrived. The approaches to the Turakina bridge are washed away. All traffic between here and Wanganui is stopped.” t . Gold in New Caledonia. —Gold has been discovered in New Caledonia. According to a letter of the Master of the Mint at Sydney, out of the 53 cwt. of auriferous quartz forwarded from the Diahot mines, New Caledonian, to Sydney, 434 ounces of pure gold have been extracted.

The Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Times writes that the captain of the Claud Hamilton, having, as it is said, been unable, in the opinion of the owners, to justify his turning back on account of one boiler being ■disabled, has been removed from the command of the vessel.

B.V.F.B.—As tlie Brigade has now finished their bell-tower and look-out station, they have commenced a canvas for subscriptions which was met with a prartial success, the sum of £22 5s being paid or promised. We shall publish the list as soon as the canvass is completed. The Mayor headed it with £5.

Charleston telegrams ofMay 29th say :• —Thomas M ‘Grawth, a miner at the Fourmile diggings, met.with a serious accident on Saturday. A truck tipped up and threw him off the tramway, down a steep cutting sixteen feet in depth. He fell on his stomach across a stump, and was severely injured. The unfortunate man died at the Charleston hospital.

We have often been surprised at the range of prices given by contractors for works tendered for, but we do not recollect a more striking illustration then the following for a temporary footbridge over the Hutt, as stated in a late Wellington paper. Five tenders were submitted, at the following prices -£460, £2OO, £l3O, .£‘6o, £ls. The lowest tender was accepted. . . ..... A Fine Nugget.—A few weeks since we mentioned the fact of a fine nugget having been found at Salisbury Open. This is now to be seen at Mr Hunter’s shop in Bridge-street. It is composed of gold and quartz, and weighs 10 ounces,, and has the appearance of having been exposed to the action of water for some time, although found at an elevation of considerably over 3000 feet above the level of the sea. — Mail.

Inquest. —An inquest was held on Monday last by S. L. Muller, Esq., R.M., as to .the death of Henry Hears, landlord of the Masonic Hotel, Blenheim, who died on Saturday last. Mrs Clax-ke, Mr T. F. Walton, and Dr : Horne, described the occurrences prior to find-ing-deceased lying on the floor in a pool of blood, with a cut in his throat 3 in, long.and | in. deep, and a white-handled table s knife lying beside him. , He lived only about five minutes after the occurrence. . .It was evidently the result of delirium tremens, and caused by excessive drinking. After some remarks from Dr Muller, the jury retired, and after 1A hours returned a verdict that deceased committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity..