Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume VI, Issue 297, 17 June 1871, Page 4

Local and General News.

We are informed that the Bishop of Nelson will again visit Blenheim alout Wednesday next, on his return from the South,

A late number of the Otago Daily Times announces :—The Bishop of Nelson will deliver a lecture in the Masonic Hall, Dunedin, on “Periods, Persons, Points, Prospect? of Con tact between Presbyterians and Episcopalians. ” The City of Auckland is now an established Borough. Mr P. A. Phillips has been elected the first Mayor and a salary of .£250 per annum, Mr Harrop is appointed Treasurer at £250, and applications are being called for a Town Clerk, who is to be “a gentleman of lesral training,” at £3OO.

At a meeting of the Caledonian Goldmining Company held on the 14th instant in the Eoyal Hotel, Mr O’Mahoney in the chair. It was resolved to form themselves into a Company, under the Limited Liabilities Act. The following gentlemen were appointed Provisional Directors :-Messrs Wemyss, Gorrie, O’Mahoney, Davis, and Lawrence. Mr Gorrie to be Secretary.

Our attention lias been called to a slight error in our issue of a few weeks back when in stating the case of Maclaine y. Kiernan briefly, we intimated that the manuka the defendant was charged with stealing was firewood. It appears that on the contrary it was the boundary fencing of the run which he tore down and carried away, for use at his own homestead.

'We learn that his Honor the Superintendent, in compliance with the wishes of a large number of the mining population, has entered into a contract with two practical miners, Messrs Proudfoot and Lyons, of the Wakamarina, to cut a track through the bush and scrub over the ranges from the Forks to Bartlett’s Creek, forming water places at intervals for the use of travellers. The usefulness of this work will be sufficiently apparent to all, and it has been taken at a very reasonable rate.

Marlborough Alarmed.—The Marlborough Express is startled at Nelson proposing to rush largely into debt, and expend, if . we can get the money, .£300,000 on railways and other public works. The Express asks, “ Will not these new loans tend to the disadvantage of the whole [ colony ], by hastening the period when all the provincial debts shall be taken up by, or rather put upon the entire colony ?” Our contemporary, for a supporter of the present Government, is singularly backward in understanding the new order of things We recommend him to get rid of his squeamishness, and join in the popular cry.— Examiner.

Solar Eclipse.—Although eclipses of the sun are much more frequent than of the moon, yet each solar eclipse being limited to a comparatively area of the earth’s surface, whilst a is visible to more than a hemisphere, there are few opportunities in any one place of noticing the former. We therefore call attention to the one which occurs to-morrow, Sunday, in the afternoon, which will be visible here as a partial eclipse. On referring to Card’s Almanac we find it there, stated to be an annular eclipse, partially visible in New Zealand, beginning on the earth generally at llh 13m a.m., the central eclipse begins at Oh 25m p.m., ending at 3h 56m p.m., and ending on the earth generally at 4h Bm. The line of central eclipse will pass north of Australia, through New Guinea and north of the Fiji islands. A Real Injustice.—The Marlborough papers complain of the injustice of charging that province the full expense of maintaining the telegraph in repair throughout its boundaries, and amount to about ten shillings per head of the population, while in Nelson the charge does not with the cost of its stations. It is said this amounts to a quarter of that sum. If the fact be as stated, the whole arrangement is most iniquitous. The charges of maintaining the telegraph should not be a provincial charge, but be borne by the whole colony. Otago and Canterbury, to the south, and Wellington, and presently, Auckland, to the north, are more interested than Marlborough in maintaininga through telegraphic communication, and it is a monstrous injustice to make (she latter province, with its sparse population, pay ’out of all proportion to its relative means to keep up a communication for the benefit of its more wealthy and populous neighbours.— Examiner.

The xV. Z. Illustrated Herald published at Dunedin, presents this month in addition to a double number, a very excellent view of Sydney on a large scale, similar to that of Melbourne presented a short time ago. The current engravings comprise a view of the new race-course at Forbury Park, Dunedin ; the new turret ship Cerberus ; Easter festival of the Druids at Melbourne ; Paterson and Go’s new warehouses, Melbourne; group of Aborigines ; a surgeon’s hut in the bush ; a carrier’s camp in the bush ; Pyrmont bridge, near Sydney; the American Creek,-Mt. Kembla ; view of Paramatta ; a series of sketches on the overland route via Suez, by Mr Chevalier, including the verandah of the Royal Hotel, Galle, with passengers waiting for the steamer ; the town of Aden, the coaling station of the P. and O. Co’s steamers; the deck of the Surat on the voyage between Aden and Suez ; the bitter lake and fresh water canal between Suez and Alexandrina ; scene on the Nile, with the pramids in the distance ; the pyramid of Ghizeh and the Sphynx. We note that the engravings are greatly improved and are in fact superior to many of those published in the London Illustrated News. The paper is especially interesting for those who wish to transmit papers home. From a file of Fiji papers we take the following items :—Two hundred pounds was subscribed in Levuka in aid of the distressed and wounded amongst the Prussian troops, and forwarded to Europe.—A new church of England body was opened at Levuka on .Easter Sunday. It cost £33o.—Mr J. C. Bird has been appointed by the British Consul to administer on behalf of H.M.’s Consulate the estates of British subjects dying intestate.—Lieutenant Woods, R.N., had arrived for the purpose of surveying the Manuku passage, and selecting lights for the guidance of the Californian Mail steamers. The cost of the survey and erection of the proper lights was estimated at £3OOO, and it was arranged that the work should be done by public subscription, Lieutenant Woods to receive .£3OOO for superintending the work. —The late hurricane had blown off all the poultry from one of the islands.—Messrs Henning are erecting a jetty at Levuka at which large vessels will be able to discharge and load ; this will be the first wharf erected at the port.— A rifle corps has been formed at Levuka. A similar corps has been formed at Rewa, which acts also as a sort of police and has already done good service in capturing offenders. —The cotton plantations on the Navua River are in excellent condition, and large and profitable yields are expected,—Another war amongst the natives is looked for, the natives making every preparation for it by laying in arms and ammunition.—The attempt to form a local bank has failed. Another newspaper is about to be started at Levuka, Fiji; the staff and plant was to start from Sydney a few days since. Following up the Permissive Bill it is now proposed in Auckland to attempt to obtain a law prohibiting persons imder age from smok°Avpointment. —Joshua Green, appointed Returning Officer in the election of members of Provincial Council for the town of Picton, Queen Charlotte Sound, and Tua Marina, in the room of Duncan Guy, Esq., resigned.

. A Nice M.P.C. —Tauranga telegrams state ; “Mr Mitchell, M.P.C..pleaded guilty to using abusive language to the Chief Taipara, and was bound over to keep the peace in two sureties of £SO each. He has also been convicted of selling grog without a license, and was fined £10.”

Supposed Loss of Life.—A human leg was picked up on Saturday last at Brighton, on the beach between Fox’aßiver and Woodpecker Bay. It had on a new neat Wellington boot, reddish brown cloth trouser, and flannel drawer. The flesh was all stripped off the thigh bone. As the ferry boat at Fox’s River has been missed lately, it is surmised that some person while crossing at night had been carried out to sea.— Westport Times. A great stir has lately been caused in Dunedin by the new Catholic Bishop Moran. He has denounced the system of education taught in the.public schools of Otago, and interdicted the attendance of children of Roman Catholic parents. A large withdrawal of children from the Dunedin district schools has followed, and also from schools in other parts of the Province. In country districts, priests have intercepted children on their way to local schools, aqd sent them back to their homes. The conduct of Dr Moran has roused a strong feeling in Otago, and appeals have been made to the Catholic body whether they are so destitute of independence as to||be rode roughshod over by their priesthood. |

Mr. George Donne.—The only business at the JrCesident Magistrate’s Court, on Monday, were two actions at the instance of the Receiver of Land Revenue against Mr George Donne, for Crown Grant fees. In one case the sum claimed was £2 IBs 6d, and the other £3 15s. Judgment was given for the plaintiff, in both cases, with 16s costs.

Christchurch telegrams of June 8 say : —Four convicts, landed by the barque Queen of the South, have been ordered back to Western Australia, and are kept in custody until the vessel sails. Four Fenians, who arrived by the same vessel, have been set at liberty, on their own recognisances, on the understanding that they will proceed to Sydney. The Act of Parliament under which the men were arrested makes no distinction between political and other offenders.

Cheap Meat. —The practices of selling beef, mutton, and pork, by auction, in joints and by the carcase, which for some time past has been adopted in Otago and Canterbury, was introduced here a few weeks ago, and is now becoming general. When half a sheep is sold for less than three shillings, legs of dairy-fed pork at 4d per pound, and beef at the rate of about 3d per pound, no one can complain of dear living.—Colonisi.

Wellington telegrams of June 7 say : —Mr Fitzherbert (the Superintendent) opened the Provincial Council yesterday. He made a long and able speech. He recommends direct taxation for education and for roads. He is also in favor of the construction of a tramway ; of disposing of land on deferred payments ; of assisted immigration; of borrowing £IOO,OOO, for payment of arrears for surveys and public works ; for the erection of a new building for the Provincial Government; and for taking the fullest advantage of the General Government measures.

An Evil to be Remedied. —The disgusting horrors of the lock-up at the Ahaura (Nelson) are continually forcing themselves on the attention of the public. It is composed of two compartments, each intended to hold two occupants, although they are totally inadequate for the purpose. One of these black holes was occupied by a female prisoner the greater portion of last week, and into the other five men were crowded. When some terrible catastrophe occurs, such as the murder of all his fellowprisoners by a maniac, the Government will be moved by the instincts of common humanity, and begin to consider it necessary that “something should be done in the matter. ” —Grey Hirer Argus. A case of some interest was tried at Hokitika, on Wednesday last, before G. G. Fitz Gerald, Esq., R.M., in which the plaintiffs, Thompson, Boyle, and Co., were the toll-keepers at the Ahaura bridge, and the defendant was a butcher named Hildebrand. The claim was for a toll which the defendant had evaded by crossing at the surf on the beach. Mr Button appeared for the plaintiffs, and pointed out that, under the fifth clause of the Bridges and Ferries Act, the defendant was liable to pay whether he crossed the bridge or not, unless the river were crossed outside of a mile from the bridge. The Bench held that the defendant was liable. New Gold Field. —An Auckland paper tells the following story :—A certain coasting schooner, trading between the Thames and the Bay of Islands, took in a quantity of quartz ballast at the former place and sailed for the latter. During the passage the master mused himself with “fossicking” amongst the stone, and was encouraged to preserve some by the sight of a “speck or two.” The further he worked into his claim, the better it became, and the end of it was that he collected 221 b of golden stone, which, on his return to the Thames with a cargo of another color and character, he had crushed, and obtained 52dwt of gold. The Queen of the Thames, the loss of which is confirmed by our telegrams elsewhere, was a vessel of 2607 tons register, her dimensions being—length, 336 feet; breadth of beam, 41 feet; and depth of hold, 31 feet. Her engines, which were on the compound principle, were of 400 horse-power, nominal, but could work up to 2000 horse-power. She was built by Messrs Napier and Sons, the well-known Glasgow shipbuilders, for Messrs Devitt and Moore, London, and was launched at Govan in September last. She made her maiden voyage to Melbourne in between 50 and 60 days, and was on her return voyage to London when her loss is reported to have occurred. She was fitted with all the best modern appliances, and her passenger accomodation is said to have been splendid. She was commanded by Captain Macdonald, who is spoken of as a careful and accomplished navigator