BOARD OF WORKS ELECTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 137, 13 August 1866, Page 2

BOARD OF WORKS ELECTION.

The election of Messrs. Burn, Bentley, Carter, and Aitken having been deelared void, this morning the ratepayers proceeded to a neAv eiection. On the motion of Mr. Pollock, seconded by Mr. Hooper, Mr. Merrington Avas elected chairman. The Chairman thanked the ratepayers for this mark of their confidence in electing him a's chairman, after the little mishap that occurred at the, previous election. He Avas sorry that, by an informality ia the mode of the election it was .declared to.be contrary to laAv, although the results would have been the same. The Secretary had acted in perfect good faith, but had unfortunately departed from the strict letter of tlie law. The protest Avhich was handed to him by Mr. Webb he had handed to the Superintendent, Avith the result of the election. Tato objections were made to the election, one on the ground of Mr. Rout being present, and the other that the voting papers Avere not signed by those Avho gave their votes. The Chairman read to the meeting the letter he had received from the Provincial Secretary, stating that the election had not been conducted in accordance with the 10th section of the Nelson Improvement Act, and Avas consequently void. On the receipt of this intelligence the Board of Works met, and appointed this day as that on which the nomination of new candidates should take place. Having read the advertisement wliich called the meeting, the chairman said it was noAV the duty of those present to proceed to the nomination of candidates. The nomination of a number of gentlemen then took place in the following order: — Mr. R. Burn, proposed by Mr. J. Barton, seconded by Mr. Nation. Mr. R. Carter, proposed by Mr. Watts, seconded by Mr. Richardson. Mr. Joseph Webb, proposed by Mr. Hibble, seconded by Dr. Irvine. Mr. R. Aitken, proposed by Mr. Nation, seconded by Mr. Gentry. Mr. W. Jennings, proposed by Mr. Harris, seconded by Mr. Leech. Mr. Jaines Bentley, proposed by Mr. J. A. Thornton, seconded by Mr. Gentry. Mr. W. Osman, proposed by Mr. Percival, seconded by Mr. Browning. Mr. E. Smallbone, proposed by Mr. Percy, seconded by Mr. Richardson. Mr. John Jarvis, proposed by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. J. A . Thornton, Mr. W. Akersten, proposed by Mr. J. A. Thornton, seconded by Mr. Harriss. On a show of hands being taken, the numbers were as folloAvs:— Burn, 35; Carter, 32; Webb, 14; Aitken, 22; Jennings, 7; Bentley, 40; Osman, 9; Smallbone, 5; Jarvis, 7; Akersten, 15. The chairman declared Messrs. Bentley, Burn, Carter, and Aitken duly elected. A poll was demanded on behalf of Mr. Osman, and the election appointed to take place between the hours of 12 and 4, to-morroAA r . Exception Avas taken to the candidature of Mr. Akersten, because he has a contract uuder the board. Mr. Akersten replied that his contract would expire in a day or two, and that the act referred to future and not to past contracts. At an early stage of the proceedings Mr. Pollock suggested that as this was an election de novo, it Avould be proper to pass the balance sheet and report again, to preyent the election being declared void on the ground of informality. The chairman said the report and balance sheet Avere passed in a proper form , at. the previous election, and the laAv had been strictly complied with in reference to them. . , The Provincial Solicitor, who Avas .present at the meeting, said the chairman was quite right.

Mr. A. G. Betts writes to correct a misstatement which has been made in our co-

lumns, in reference to the enginehouse and bell, of which he is in charge. He says : — "The doors of fche enginehouse are never fastened. There is a simple latch ou, which a child cau opeu. The rope which was first used to ring the bell was discontinued, to prevent parties who used to amuse themselves at night ringing the bell. A ladder was made and a stage to stand od, a toggle was put on the bell similar to a ship's bell, to ring it. My employers are perfectly satisfied with what I have done and I care little for '•'aught else." We learn from the Melbourne Post that the Steam Navigation Board of Victoria held au inquiry on the 4th ult., under the powers vested in them by the 83rd section of the Passengers, Harbor, and Navigation Statute, 1865, into the cahse of the strandiug of the Barwon, in Lousdale Bay, on the 24th Juue. It appeared from the evidence that Captain Lowrie, an old sailor, had made upwards of 300 trips iu and out of the port. The Barwon left the bay for Sydney about midnight ofthe 23rd June, iu thick and hazy weather. She proceeded ou past Shortiand's Bluff at the rate of six and a half knots an hour, and shortly after the captain, ou lookiug astern, found that one of the lights of QueensclhT, which he should have kept in view could not be seen. He had all along been shaping the vessel's course by what he considered to be the position of the Heads, aud this was the first occasion in which he had looked for the guiding lights astern. On seeing thafc he had ■'shut out" oue of these lights he immediately ran to the helm, and, finding it ported, with the chief mate's assistauce, at once hauled ifc hard-a-starboard, and at the same time giving directions to the engineer to go full speed astern. The order, although promptly obeyed was given too late, and the vessel grounded. The captain said there was nothing wroug in the compass. The Barwon was jusfc 10 points out of her course. The chief mate said the helmsman was sober, but did not repeat some of the captains orders as be should have done. The mate made no remarks at the time. The helmsman said he was nofc steering by the compass, but by the orders of the captain, who was standing on the bridge, and gave his instructions through the mate. The decision of the Board was that the Barwon Avas stranded through the gross uegligeuce of the master, and that his certificate be suspended for six months. The vessel was sold where she lay to Mr. S. C-. Plenty for £3000. The Thane, with cattle from Wanganui, arrived at Hokitika on lasfc Friday afternoon. The Hoktika Chronicle of the 7th has an account of a new rush to the north, a mile beyond the Auckland diggings. About 1000 men were present. On testing a claim ifc was found to give a prospect of one and a half grains to the dish. The prospects shown would pay from £4 to £5 per week per man. The claim shows 15 inches wash dirt, afc eight or nine feet stripping. Afc the Waimea Creek a prospect was obtained of two dAvts. in a layer of black sand at a depth of 14 feet. The ground was immediately rushed by 1500 persons. Afc a rush near StaffordfcoAvu the prospectors have struck payable gold afc a depth of 60 feet. The "Grey River Argus" says :— We were shown a remarkable specimen of auriferous quartz found in a sluicing claim at Maori Gully, Arnold District. It was a small boulder about the dimensions of an orange, composed of a pinkish colored quartz and thickly studded with gold all over its outer surface. The weight of gold in the stone was calculated afc from four to six ounces The singularity of the discovery of this rich stone consists in its beiug the only one ofthe kind yet found iu the gully. It was found at a depth of about seven feet. Two slight shocks of an earthquake were felt at Napier on the night of the 29th ult. — one at. eight, and the other afc uiue o'clock. The vibration in either ease did not exceed seven seconds duration. A new Wesleyan church at Springstou, Canterbury, was opened on the 29th ult., sermons being preached by the Rev. T. Buddie, Superintendent ofthe Wesleyan Circuit, and by Mr. Garrick. On the following Monday, a tea meeting was held, at which about 200 persons were present.

The E. Mail says Mr. Tunnel, of Akaroa, was recently severely injured by a bull belonging to him. The animal gored him iu the thigh, inflicting a painful wound, but we learn that Ahe is progressing favorably. Raffles seem to be just now the order of the day in Christchurch. Articles of value are constantly chauging hands by this means. We learn that the authorities intend questioning the legality of thus disposing of property. In the House of Representatives Mr Stafford recently stated thafc the debentures had been sold at home afc 92, notwithstanding the late panic there, and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has proposed to the House of Commons that the Imperial guarantee should be given to the half-million debentures remitted home last year. The Marlborough Express gives the following as an extract from a private letter, received from Wellington : — Mr. Dillon Bell has put his foot in it. When in the debate on the question of subsidising the papers to publish full reports, he voted against it ; and iu doing so, said they should shut those filthy advertisements out of the papers, and publish the reports without any remuneration. This has so '"riled" the proprietors that they have put him in " Coventry," and have taken no notice of him at all, and did not report a single line of his speech on the Separation question, although he spoke for more than an hour. Mr. Fitzgerald called the attention of the House to the fact, and said that it was a breach of privilege ; but whether they will keep out all strangers and reporters from the House, as threatened, I cannot say. The N. Z. Advertiser calls attention to the fact that, by a standing order of the House of Representatives, all petitions to that body must be written on parchment. Henry de Burgh Adams, Esq., of the Commissariat Department, long and favorably knoAvn in this colony, is about to leave for England. He is to be presented by the people of Auckland with apurse of sovereigns, as a mark of their appreciation ofthe services he has rendered New Zealand, The Panama Company's new steamer Mataura, 500 horse power, Lieutenant GE. Bird, R.N.R., commander, was to leave London for Melbourne. Sydney, aud New Zealand, early in Juue, calling at the Cape of Good Hope. We (Lyttelton Times), are sorry to announce the death of Mr. James Dowling Rogers, of the Hinds, who, we understand, committed suicide whilst suffering from a fit of delirium tremens a few days ago. Mr. Johu Gill, oue of the oldest architects in Victoria, died iu Melbourne ou the 16th June, after a useful ancl honorable career, in the seventieth year of his age. Mr. Charles Harpur, the Australian poet, strongly denies the common assertion that the birds of the country are destitute of song. A Northern contemporary says thafc the debt to which the property of New Zealand colonists is subjected, is nearly double what the National debt of Great Britain amounts to in proportion to the population, and the rate of Customs' duties in New Zealand is nearly double that of the national taxation of England. It is supposed thafc one of the unfortunate victims of the Maungatapu tragedy — J. Pontius — is an old resident at the White-hills. The Maryborough Advertiser, Victorian paper says : — He left here about three years ago, and his letters have been regularly forwarded to the place from whence the four murdered men were proceeding. The name by which he is known to his acquaintances here is James Dowues Pontius ; and as the surname is an unusual oue, the supposed ideutity is probably a correct one. The police authorities in New Zealand have been written to on the subject, and a correct description of the man forwarded. The Pontius formerly living here is a native of Long Island. The Wellington E. Post learns from the Canterbury papers thafc, owing to the prevalence of heavy weather and contrary winds retarding the arrival of vessels from Newcastle, the stock of coals in Christchurch is at present very small. They are informed that

not over 100 tons areinhahd. The shipments daily expected amount to about ; 4ooo tons. The Taranaki Petroleuuj- Company have erected a derrick and made all preparations for drilling. The directors have gone to the Sugar Loaves for the purpose of testing Mr. Lewthwaife's new boring apparatus. & The Melbourne papers lately received contain an account of the death of Mr. MTntyre the leader of the party sent to search after Leichardt. His despatches from Gregory River, dates 2nd May, state that no direct traces ofthe explorer had been found, he had ascertained beyond a doubt that white men had resided amongst the natives. Not a few suspected the motives which led M'lntyre to accept the command of this expedition, and aspersions were cast upon him which have since provee utterly unfounded. Mr Sloman the second in command, in a despatch dated River Gilliot, 7th June, informs us how keenly his gallant leader felt the suspicion which he labored under. Rumors, he observes, had been widely spread to the effect that he had accepted the post of leader ofthe expedition simply to benefit himself. On several occasions Mr MTntyre mentioned the subject and once added, "It's no use telling them they are wrong, I'll show them." BuUhis he had not been able to do, and in his last letter of instructions, dictated to his brother, this: single-minded and noble man said, "All'those who have travelled with me will be able to give evidence if I adhered to the terms of the agreement, to really search for Leiehhardt while a horse or a camel remained ofthe expedition.