THE LATE STORM.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 41, 19 February 1868, Page 2

THE LATE STORM.

The Otago Daily Times of the 11th, gives the following account of several fearful casualties which occurred during the late storm at Oamara : — On Monday night, the 10th iust., between 7 and 8 o'clock, the Star of Tasmania, a wool ship loading for England, went ashore falling seaward. Three sailors and two children were drowned. The captaia and crew, with- the exception of the three drowned men,; got into the rigging, and hung there for what must have been to them a terri-

ble time ; the great difficulty in getting a line o.' lines to them, resulting from the position of the ship, with her deck sloping seawards. The three lost sailors jumped overboard, and strove to swim ashore, but the backwash of the sea proved too much for them. The Star of Tasmania had on board 2,200 bales of wool. Of the ship herself, there was nothing left on Tuesday, but fragmeuts scattered over miles of beach ; and the wool with which she was loaded was similarly scattered. About 9 o'clock the same night, the Water Nymph /went ashore, about a quarter of a mile to the north of the Star, aud immediately broke up. All hands were saved. The schooner Otago, bound to Oamaru from Wanganui, and laden with timber and stores, also came ashore iv two pieces. Much anxiety was felt at Wanganui on. Saturday last as to ihe safety of the screwsteamers Wainui, Capt. Hepburn, and William Miskin, Capt. Bain. The latter -would, in all probability, be on its way from Oamaru to Timaru, on Monday night; and the Waiuui would be at Timarn, or between, that port and Lyttelton. Nautical men have but little hope as to the safety of the wool-loading vessels at Timaru, for the gale was direct on shore there, and neither shelter nor holdingground would be better there than at Oamaru. A terrible calamity occurred at the Totara station, between Oamaru and WaikouaitL Ten men — probably all regular hands on the station — were in bed in a wooden house, which, with a blacksmith's shop, and a stone house occupied by the blacksmith, stood near the banks of the creek. It is assumed that, by some means, the flood water was at first dammed back in the creek ; for it seems to have come down so suddenly, that the house was washed away before any of its ten inmates could escape. The blacksmith himself is stated to have been the eleventh victim ; for the stone house and the blacksmith's shop have both disappeared.

In the Taieri district, in Otago, it is considered probable that Mr. James Shand has lost nearly 1000 sheep, and at the date of the last accounts, Mr William Milne had about LiOO sheep, and 180 head of cattle crowded, for safety, on two acres of ground. Mr. Milne's house is near the river : and the two acres is. the only spot in the vicinity where the sheep and cattle could be kept together. The loss of several lives ia reported, and the West Taieri Hotel, which was unoccupied, is now overcrowded by settlerß, whose houses are surrounded, or under water. The rising ground on which the Police Camp stood, has been ,washed away. Mr. P. Grant's house ia wholly gone ; and of all the buildings on the Camp, the only one that can now he Been ia the lock-up, and it baa been carried about 400 yards away,

We stated in a recent issue that $3 Honor the Superintendent, President qf the Financial Reform League, had int^ mated his intention to deliver an addre^ in reply to that read by Dr Irvine ojgi Monday evening, the 10th inst. Vf§ understand that this paper will be rejp^J oa Tuesday evening next, at the Colonel office. We are informed that the various banks in this city will be open to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock, only for half an hour, in cousequence of the Wakefield Steeple Chase;. A meeting of the members of the Nelson Cricket Club waß held yesterday evening at the Trafalgar Hotel, for the purpose of fixing the dates for the forthcoming matches with the- Wakefield and Motueka Clubs, at which it was proposed that the match with the Wakefield team should take place on the 27th inst., and that with the Motuekaus on the 10th proximo. A letter has, however, been received this morning from the Secretary of the Wakefield Club, naming some day during the first week in March as a convenient date for the match, and this may probably cause some modification in the above arrangements. We understand that the son of an old and well-known settler in the Waimea, named George Burkett, has been missing for some days past, and considerable apprehensions have been excited by the discovery of a shirt, torn and covered with blood, which is supposed to have belonged to him. Information has been given to the police of the circumstances, and every exertion is being used to discover the fate of the missiog lad.

We learn from the Grey River Argus of the 15th that the steamer William Miskin has been wrecked about a mile and a half north of Timaru, on the morning of the 4th inst., all hands being saved.

The Wakefield Steeplechase comes off to-morrow, the first race starting at 12 o'clock. The course will be three miles Tound, starting from opposite Mr Price, the blacksmith's, and ending at Mr Billiards storp, over a score of jumps, the * stiffest' of which is a water jump, of nine feet wide, and six or seven feet deep, ■with banks 'sheer to.' The couutry horses are all described as being in tiptop condition, and the races are likely to attract a large Dumber of spectators from town, for whose special accommodation Mr Newton has announced that his four horse coach 'Enterprise,' will leave his stables in Hardy-street, at 9 a.m., returning at half-past 6 p.m.

The criminal sittiugs of the approaching Assizes commence on the 2nd pros. The calendar is a very light one, there being only two cases for, trial, one for arson, and the other, from Coll ing wood for larceny.

We understand that an official intimation has been received from the Defence Minister, the Hon. Colonel Haultain, to the effect that for the future, no leave of absence beyond a month can be given to any volunteer by the Officer Commanding the District, without special application to the Defence Office.

It will be perceived from an advertisement in another column that the 'District Prizes', offered by the General Government for competition by the adult Volunteer Companies of the Province, will be fired for by the Wnkapuaka Artillery on Tuesday the 3rd proximo ; by the City Artillery, on the 4th ; by the City Rifles, No, lon the sth ; and by the Waimea Company, on the 7th ; the firing in each instance to commence at 10 am.

We have on more than one occasion alluded to the present very unseemly state of the uniforms worn by the Cadet Companies, which has been prodaoed by the unwarrantable delay which has taken place in the payment of the capita-

turn money, due in June last, and for which application -has been repeatedly but unsuccessfully, made to the General Governmeut. Not only has the term ' uniform ' become utterly inapplicable, through the vari-eolored tints of scarlet and blue which present themselves at each inspection of there companies, but in a large majority of cases the lads have outgrown their habiliments and the result is, as might be expected, neither comfortable to them nor satisfactory to the eye of the spectator. We are therefore gratified to learn that this state of things having been brought before Major Morse at the monthly Inspection held yesterday evening, he has empowered the officers commanding the Cadet Companies to order the requisite uniforms and to send in c the bills to the Government without further delay. We •may therefore anticipate that this neglect, which has caused mnch discouragement amongst the lads, will speedily be remedied. The annual supper of the Committee of the Nelson Institute took place yesterday evening at the Nelsou Hotel, H. Adams Esq., M.P.C. the President of the Institute, beiug in the chair, and R. Pollock Esq., J.P. acting as croupier. The supper was served in Mr M'Gee's best style, and a very agreeable evening was passed. The usual monthly inspection of the Volunteer Companies took place yesterday evening at the Botanical Gardens, in the presence of the Hon. Major Morse, the •officer commanding the district. In the absence of Captain M'Tavisb, the various manoeuvres were conducted by Capfc. Pitt, JTirst Lieutenant Hunter Brown commanding the Artillery Company, who appeared in great force, Lieutenant Percy the City Rifles No. 1, Captain Wigzell the Rifle Cadets No. I, and Captain Lane the Artillery Cadets. The ordinary inspection having taken place, the companies were afterwards passed in review, skirmished, and went through the manual exercise, and the Major commanding having expressed himself highly gratified by the result of the inspection, they were jmarched, preceded by the Volunteer Band, to the Orderly Room in Hardy-street, where they were dismissed, and where the officers of the various companies afterwards held a meeting.

A very general wish having been expressed amongst the music-loviug portion of this community that M. and Madame Simonsen should be induced to revisit Nelson on their return to Wellington (where they have been specially engaged to appear during the Prince's visit to that city), we learn that M. Simonsen has expressed himself willing to remain for two or three nights in Nelson, should sufficient inducement offer. We have little doubt, therefore, from the great gratification experienced by those who attended their late concerts, that there will be little difficulty in obtaining the requisite assurance of success.

We understand that Mr Moore will sell the fine schooner Mary Jane by auction, on Friday next.

His Excellency the Governor has announced in a Gazette, publishsd on the sth inst., that he will receive all persons who may wish to see him, on Wednesday and Saturday in every week, between the hours of 1 1 a.m. and 2 p.m. But at the same <time he desires it to be understood that public officers, and gentlemen from the country, or any other persous wishing to communicate with him personally on business which will admit of no delay, will be received on any day at any hour that he may happen to be at home. Lady Bowea also announces that she will reeeiv© visitors at Government House every Wednesday, between 12 and 2 p.m.

The Waoganni Times of the Isth insfc. states that, rather than lose the honor of having Mr. Fox aa the representative

of that town in the General Assembly, the present member, Mr. H. S. Harrison, of Warrengate, had expressed his willingness to resign in Mr Fox's favor. The Otago Daily Times says : — The new process of sheep washing by means of hot water, followed by the sheep being brought immediately after under a strong spout of cold water from a considerable elevation, has been successfully carried out this season at Deep Dell station, belonging to Messrs. Douglas, Alderson, and Co. We have seen samples of the wool so treated in. the office of Wright, Robertson, and Co,, and find the tips entirely free from dirt, and the whole fibres very pure and clean, with a five soft feeling, rendering it well adapted for immediate usfl by the manufacturer. The samples will be shown to any one interested in the result, which promises to be of some importance to the pastoral interest in this province. The abnndant water supply will enable the new process to be practised in the most efficient manner, aud will raise the character of New Zealaud clips in the London market.