AUCKLAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XX, 16 February 1861, Page 4

AUCKLAND.

At the time of the departure of the mail, the elections at Auckland had not all terminated, so that we cannot yet estimate the ministerial loss or gain in the metropolitan province. For the Eastern division of the city, Mr. Forsaith was defeated by Mr. Russell ; for the Western division, Mr. Firth and Mr. Williamson defeated Messrs. O'Neill and Daldy ; and for the Northern division, Messrs. Henderson and O'Neill defeated Messrs. May and Cooper. Colonel Nixon and Mr. R. Graham had been returned for the district of Franklin, defeating Messrs. Styak and "Wilson ; for Marsden, Mr. Muuro defeated Mr. Walton ; for Onehunga, Mr. O'Rorke had a majority of one over Mr. Weekes ; for Parnell, Mr. Wood defeated Mr. Ileale ; and for Newton, Mr. Graham was returned by a majority of one over Mr. Clark. For the Pensioners' Settlements, Mr. Mason was returned without opposition.

It is amusing to read the tirades of abuse launched against the Ministry by some of the Auckland candidates, as well as that indulged in by a portion of the press. One journal, the Examiner, says, " Nelson has been made the head-quarters of steam at the expense oi Auckland, and would have soon been made the capital, if the wily Stafford had succeeded in obtaining the funds necessary for the erection of au Asylum and Penitentiary ;" and again, " the Ministers who brought forward the infamous Arms Bill, the New Provinces Bill, the Native Offenders Bill, and who now seek to remove the seat of capital to. Nelson, will never more be allowed to tyrannize over the people, who now see through their fine-spun sophistr>;\" The twenty-first anniversary of the foundation of Auckland had been celebrated by a regatta, which is stated to have been equal, if not superior, to any that has yet been witnessed ou the Waitemata. The head-quarters of the 5 7th, which arrived in the Castilian from Bombay, landed at Auckland on the 22nd January. A "Rifle Association," formed in Aucklaud, has issued a programme of prizes to be shot for on the Bth of April next. Those prizes have been fixed according to the following judicious system. The Enfield rifle takes precedence, and the first prize is to be a Champion Cup of £30 value, a second prize of £20, a third and fourth of £15 each, two of £\O, and five of £o each. Then, to afford an opportunity of testing the merits of weapons of different characters, three prizes of 5620, c£lo, and £5 respectively, are open to competitors with breech-loading rifles and carbines. That no class or kind of firearm may be excluded, a prize of to be increased by an entrance fee of ] Os. to be paid by each competitor, is offered to all comers, and with auy weapon. A Colt's revolver, of the value of is likewise to be given as the prize for revolver shooting. Three shots at 100, 200, and 300 yards. Ties to be shot off in three shots at 200 yards. Such are the conditions set forth by the Secretary. A rather remarkable case has been decided in the Resident Magistrate's Court. On the 11 th of December last, a little boy named Baldwin, about eleven years of age, whilst amusing himself by turning over earth on the site of a stable at Otahuhu that had recently been burnt down, turned up eighteen sovereigns, which had been buried several inches below the surface. He thereupon called for Mrs. Rogers, whose husband was tenant of the premises, but before Mrs. Rogers came up the boy's father, who was working beside him, observed the sovereigns and covered them with his foot. Mrs. Rogers then came forward and claimed the sovereigns as " Dan's," on which the boy's father handed them to her, and she gave the boy two of them. The boy and his father having, however, immediately afterwards been advised that Mrs. Rogers and her husband could not institute any ownership in the sovereigns, raised an action of trover against them for having obtained the money under a false representation. Several wituesses having been examined by the parties, and after the case had been argued by Mr. Wynn, as solicitor for the defendants, and by Mr. Beveridge as solicitor for the plaintiffs, the Court pronounced judgment in favour of the plaintiffs, with costs.

Street Railways for the Metropolis. — A decision has been come to by the Marylebone council, to adopt the invention of street railways, tried with so much success in many towns in America. It is proposed to construct them in the following streets, &c, within the parish of Marylebone, viz : Edgware-road, Oxford-street, Marylebone-road, Chapel-street, Upper Seymour-street, Portman-square, Sey-mour-street, Edwards-street, Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square, Mortimer-street, Charlesstreet, Goodge-street, Finchley-road, Wel-lington-road, Park-road, Hanover-place, Upper Baker-street, York-place, Baker-street, Upper Gloucester-place, Dorset-place, Dorset-square, Upper Gloucester-street, Gloucester-place, Gloucester-street, Portman-street, Upper Avenue-road, Albert-road, Albany-street, Great Portland-street, Devonshire-street, "Wey-mouth-street, Portland-place, Langham-place, Regent-street, and Regent-circus. — Times. A New Throne for the Queen. — The famous crystal throne which Shah Jehan counted amongst the most valuable of the splendid trophies which adorned his palace, is on its way to England, destiued for the Queen. But little is known of its history prior to its having come into his possession. Subsequently, on the takiug of Delhi by the Mahrattas, they made a great effort to destroy it by fire, but succeeded only in injuring its appearance, the heat to which it was subjected having caused it to crack and open out in seams. It consists of a single mass of rock crystal, two feet in height by four in diameter, and is shaped like a sofa cushion, with tassels at the corners.

A« A.jGnzsiz, HA.ir,yrAY OVER Jj.<3NOQN% Mr. Barlow, G.E., has put forward a suggestion, in a pamphlet just published, for relieving the traffic in the streets of London by constructing aiirial railways over the houses, as well as tunnels underneath. The author contends that the plan, adopting the suspension girder principle, with spans of 1,000 feet, can be carried out with less interference with house property than by either of the other schemes, and that such a viaduct of ample strength will not exceed in cost i£ 15 0,000 per mile. He proposes two main communications from south to north, the first commencing at the Elephant and Castle, and terminating near the Shoreditch station of the Eastern Counties Railway ; and the second from west to east, commencing at the junction of Oxford-street and Tottenhamcourt road, and terminating at Whitechapel. The Red Ska. — Owing to the extreme heat in the Red Sea, three deaths recently occurred on board the Colombo, on her passage from Suez; namely, the Captain-General of Manilla; Mr. M'Laren, managing agent of the Labuan Coal Company ; and a young lady. Sixteen of the passengers were dangerously prostrated by the heat. So great were their sufferings that Captain Dunn, in order to afford some relief to them, lay the ship sometimes broadside to the light north wind, and then made a course back to Suez, by which means the breeze was enabled to make its way through the open ports and cool the heated cabins aud saloons. — Liverpool Albion,