Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 94, 23 June 1866, Page 2

The General Government have promised to grant a free pardon to any one implicated in the murder of Mr. Dobson, at the Grey river, except the actual murderer, who shall give such inform ation as will lead to the apprehension aud conviction of the murderer or murderers. No doubt a similar offer will be made iu reference to the Maungatapu murders. It is not likely that where a great number have been concerned in a murder that all of them committed ihe deed, although they are all equally guilty in the eye of the law. It was the old custom in Tasmania to offer, iu addition to a free pardon, a large reward and a passage to Europe, to get the informer out of the way of his associates, who would have killed him had they caught him. It is to be feared that a similar attempt must be made to break up the gang now infesting New Zealand, and to discover the facts relating to these brutal murders. In the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, Mr. Warren (Warren and Hudson) charged Thomas Smith with stealing a sheep-dog of his in April last. The defence was that the dog was found in Motueka Valley in February lass, and that the dog was taken to prevent his being shot. Mr. T. M'Farlane proved that on the 11th March, he found two dogs amongst the sheep, one of which he shot, and the other he told the prisoner to do what he liked with. Prisoner was working for him, and took the dog. Mr. Nicholson, who bought the dog of the prisoner, said the latter told him he got it at Richmond. The magistrate accepted Mr. M'Farlane's version of the story, but contended the prisoner had no right to the dog. Fined 40s. aud costs. ' Tlie Nelson Harmonic Society, gave a successful concert in the Provincial Hall, ou Thursday evening last. _ „_-_ffi__H_nnr. the Superintendent of Nelson

has returned from his trip to the West Coast , and Wellington. The following gentlenien have been appointed members of the Legislative Council : — The Honorable Alfred Domett, of Wellington in the Province of Wellington ; the Honorable Ernest Gray, of Coldstream, Rangitata, in the Province of Canterbury ; the Honorable Matthew Holmes, of Dunedin, in the Province of Otago ; and the Honorable Walter Buldock Duraht Manteil, of Wellington. Messrs. Tan-ant, Grey, and Taunant, were re-elected members of the Lower Moutere -Education Committee, on the 13th inst. The Honorable Francis Jollie has been appointed Col. Treasurer, and the Honorable James Prendergast, Attorney-General. Thomas Brunner, Esq., in the Province of Nelson, and Joseph Ward, Esq., in the Province of Marlborough, have been appointed Commissioners under the Boundaries of Provinces Act, 1858. The Wellington Executive have resigned office, aud Mr. Borlase has. been requested by the Superintendent to form another Government. Mr. Isaac Johns had a narrow escape yesterday, on his way to the search party at the Maungatapu. His horse slipped off one of the cuttings the other side of the range, and was precipitated to the bottom of the gully, a depth of about 150 feet. Mr. Johns fell off the horse, but managed to retain the reins, fortunately, he was unhurt ; and the horse after a passage had been cut in the scrub, by the vigorous use of the whip, was driven up the opposite side, and both rider and horse proceeded on their journey, although the shoulder of the horse was slightly injured. We learn that another man answering to the description of Robert Stone was apprehended at Havelock, last Tuesday ; he was to have been examined on Wednesday. Some gunpowder was found by the searchers, yesterday, on a rock near the supposed site of the murder; it had been wetted and mixed up, evidently for the purpose of blackening the faces of those who committed the crime.- ' Ifc is suspected, says the Argus, in quarters likely to be well informed, that a great many parcels of gold leave Greymouth without paying the export duty, and it has been rumored that as much as 400 ozs. was taken away in one lot by a digger, who had previously offered his gold for sale to the Banks, and refused to accept the price they offered him. There is reason . however, to doubt the statement, as the miner is not known to have taken passage from this port at all. But it is quite certain that there are so many opportunities of evading the scrutiny of the Custom-bouse officers, that to put an effectual -top to the smuggling of gold a regular searcher should be appointed. Some slight examination is made -occasionally of the swags and pockets of diggers going away, but it is impossible that it can be effective. The Arnold correspondent of the G. R. Argus writes : — lt is high time that some police protection was afforded to us, as it is a well known fact that . two storekeepers were intended to have been waylaid and murdered last week, and T sincerely trust that poor Mr. Dobson may not have been mistaken for one of them. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mr. Inspector James and the police for the zeal and promptness which they are displaying in endeavoring to rid the colony of such cold blooded ruffians. The Nelson poliee-also are indebted to our warmest thanks, for granting an escort out of their own province to a gentleman whose life was threatened. The' reason of this is that the police force at Greymouth is shorthanded. This ought to be looked into by the authorities at once. According to the West .Coast Times, the valuable nature of some New. Zealand woods was exemplified in the repairs now being carried on on board the well-known schooner lona. When stripping off some planking the timber presented the- appearance of- having been cut but yesterday, and yet this little craft is thirteen years old, having been built in Auckland in 1853. The State of preservation in which the whole of her timbers are . is indeed wonderful. The kauri plauking in j

particular could not look fresher, however new. A Hokitika journal says : — We have been at some trouble to collect the information regarding vessels which liave sailed to or from this port, and not been heard of since. We shall be glad to learn any additional facts regarding these or others : — Blnerßell, ketch, sailed in May last from Hokitika for the Grey, supposed to have been capsized in the same gale which blew the Waipara ashore ; four men. Sangalier, schooner, Capt. Charles Clark, 60 tons, sailed 21st October last from Hokitika for Port Molyneux ; four men. Sir Henry Havelock, cutter, 17 tons, sailed from Hokitika for Invercargill ; ob board three brothers named Judd. Dove, schooner, 25 tons, sailed from Nelson for Hokitika, with cargo and about 20 passengers, with four of a crew. Jessie, schooner, Capt. M'Farlane, j sailed from Invercargill on 20th February i for Hokitika, calling at Stewart's Island on 26th February ; four hands tin board. The G. R. Argus reports an interesting capture made by some men camped near the beach at Point Elizabeth, in the shape of a species of seal or sea tiger, which had by some means allowed itself to be caught unawares. The animal was brought down to town alive for the purpose of exhibition, and exhibited at the Star Hotel Rifle Gallery. At the time of its capture it showed fight, and inflicted a severe bite with its cat-like teeth on the arm of one of its assailants. The Times has not yet heard the name of the Judge who is to preside at the sittings of the Supreme Court in Hokitika, which is to beheld in- July. It is rumored, however, that Mr. Justice Chapman, who has recently proceeded from Dunedin to Melbourne on some matters connected with his late melancholy bereavement, will return by the way of the -West Coast, and will discharge the judicial duties here on this occasion.. We are glad to hear that the residents of the Kanieri are taking, active steps to provide a place of worship for those who practice the ritual of the Church of England, a considerable sum having been already: subscribed for the purpose. For some weeks past Mr. Warden Schaw has held service every Sunday mom ing. at the Court House. At an inquest on the 25th May, when Sergeant Hickson was detailing the arrest of Mr. Bracken, he held in his hand a gun, which. in the fracas was broken iu two, and the disjointed parts held together by letting the do^-heads rest on the nipples. Whilst passing the damaged weapon from one hand to the other, the top portion, consisting of the two barrels, suddenly dropt off, narrowly striking in their fall Mr. O'Loughlin, the ' solicitor, whose look of astonishment at what, I no doubt, he supposed might have proved j matter for a second inquest, was truly inde- ' scribable. t The W. C. Times of the 1 3th, .ays— Two or three gentlemen, passengers by the" Albion, from Melbourne to some of the northern ports, were left on shore here through tbe impossibility of communicating with that vessel before her departure on Sunday last." It seems that, prompted by curiosity, they came ou shore to view the wonders of Hokitika, losing their passages in consequence. The Times learns that. Prof. Neumayer, of Melbourne, the illustrious meteorological [ observer, purposes, at an early date, to visit ' the West Coast, in the interests of the Victorian Government. rf*> The total amount of Customs revenue received at Grey river during the montli of May was £5,100 17s. 2d. Of this sum £3,149 15s. sd. was collected on goods cleared for home consumption, and £1,951 Is. 9d. as export duty on gold. The amount of gold exported during the same period was 15,698 ozs. 14 dwts. •8 The Chronicle has the following :— All things considered, a stranger comiug to Hokitika for the first time is nearly sure to lose a __ portion of his effects, either on board the steamer " or on the wharf ; and this double' risk is the more to be deplored, because the loafer on the wharf is emboldened to steal, '' knowing that there will probably be a doubt as to whether the missing property has not ' been taken on by the steamer "in mistake." ' On the other hand the captain of the steamer

has always the excuse, if a box does not turn up, that the thieves on shore are the people to look to. Nowhere, at home or abroad, have we seen passengers suffering so greatly in this respect as in Hokitika. !_,_ is ; full time that some remedy 'should be applied. For their own credits' sake, the shipowners should insist on more care being "taken both with the luggage whilst on board and in its delivery; and with regard to the Shore loafers it seems to us that a few policemen at the public expense might be set to watch the "little game" which is not. un frequently played in open daylight on Gibson's Quay. T- As a proof of the richness of some of the back terraces bordering the coast, we may mention that the prospectors of that terrace running parallel to the old Auckland lead, and separated from ifc by the swatnp only; will., take from 1000 oz. to 1500 oz. of gold off their claim. The Taranaki Herald has the following:— Te Ua; founder of the Pai Marire religion, and late prophet, has arrived here from a visit to the Governor, and is' to be sent down, it is said, on a peace mission to the southern natives; it is to be feared, however, thafc. the. prophet will not receive much honor in his own country iu this case when he comes ' preaching peace. It will be remembered that his successor, Taikoniako, a Warea native, has already been appointed, and he has, we hear, made considerable alterations in the Pai Marire ritual ; aud it is not to be expected that the deposed prophet will command much influence. > The recent purchase of Crown Land in Southland, which brought to the Treasury £52,500, is said to have been on behalf of John Ellis, Esq., Eelvedou Hail, iEssex, England, and Penzance, Mount Gambier, South Australia, and the locality of tbe selection was on the Five River Plain, including a portion of Messrs. Connor and Austin's run. From Rosstown we learu thafc the letters have been recovered which were stolen from the mailman Cameron, on the 20th March last. On the 19th ultimo as a digger ' was out pigeon shooting on the ! top of the Totara ranges he noticed some fragments of letters lying half concealed underneath a fallen tree. On coming into Rosstown he mentioned the circumstance to the police, one of whom, ac-. compahied by Mr. Cameron, proceeded to the spot indicated, which is situate about two distaut from the place where the robbery was committed. The found, under the log the greater portion of the missing .mail, the letters having been all opened, and scarcely legible. Mr. C. E. Button has joined the bar in Hokitika. Mr. Button commenced practice, as a member of the legal profession in New Zealand, in Invercargill, where he obtained both success and fame as an able advocate. . Okarita is gazetted as a port of entry, a warehousing, port, and a port for the clearance of gold. The Leotard Troupe have been during the week exciting the wonder and admiration of the Auckland public by a series of astounding acrobatic and gymnastic performances at the Prince. of Wales' Theatre. • At Hamilton some forty men have begun work, at very low rates of pay, on both sides of the river. , During the last twelve months £12,000 worth of gum has been exported from the Thames district. ; Mr. Mills, Collector of Customs at Auckland, has been called to a similar office at Wellington. \ Takerei Te.Rau has been industriously employing himself and a gang of followers in visiting the native settlement in Waikato.