New Zealand Probinces.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 15 October 1863, Page 3

New Zealand Probinces.

OTAGO.

[jBOM OUE OWN COBItESPONDENT.] Dukedin, October G. Our Provincial Council will Tjo prorogued to-mor-row, or tho next day. It has been, although a stormy, not an unprofitable session. The principal items of extra provincial interest are as follows : — £4,000 have been voted as a grant in aid of the Industrial Exhibition of 1865, and a vote of £9,500 for a building for the same object. A guarantee of six per cent, on £50,000, for five years, has been voted to a company for the construction of graving docks at Port Chalmers, on Clarke's hydraulio system. It is understood that the requisite capital is forthcoming, and that the walls will speedily be commenced. It has been decided to erect a splendid pile of Government Buildings, to cost about £100,000. Provision is to be made for two Houses of Legislature, and sixty other departments. The site is not yet decided on, but it iB likely the buildings will be erected on the elevated plateau on the top of Bell-hill — a most commanding site. Dunedin is to be created a municipality, and the present Town Board abolished. £35,000 have been voted for water supply for Dunedin.

The proceedings of tlfe Council have been enlivened by two transactions, involving that vexata quaestio " the privileges "of the House. On Thursday last, MV. Reynolds afforded no little amusement, under the following circumstances : — Mr. Hardy, one of the members, had occasion to leave the chamber through the refreshment room, and, on reaching the door of that apartment, he found it locked. Having called the attention of the Speaker to the fact that his liberty of motion was interfered with, that functionary ordered the constable in attendance to go round aud arrest the person who had locked the door. In a few minutes the constable returned, bringing with him no less a person than Mr. W. H. Reynolds, ex-Provincial Treasurer. On being informed of the reason of the summons, Mr. Reynolds said he had, in a joke, locked the door on Mr. Hardy, and, being called away, he had forgotten to unlock it again. Having expressed his regret at the occurrence, his apology was, amidst loud laughter, received. The following morning the papers contained an account of the occurrence, and Mr. Reynolds was spoken of as having been "in custody." When the House met, Mr. Reynolds asked the Speaker if he had considered that he, Mr. Reynolds, was "in custody" on the previous evening P as, if such had been his idea, he (Mr. Reynolds) disputed the right of the Speaker to order his arrest ; had Buch a view of the case presented itself to his mind, he would certainly have not obeyed Mr. Speaker's summons. The Speaker said, that whether, as Speaker, he possessed the power of ordering the honourable member into custody or not, he (the Speaker) was a Justice of the Peace, and had authority to order the arrest of any disorderly person. Some one had, on the previous evening, caused a disturbance, and he had ordered the constable to take that person into custody, and the policeman brought into the House the honourable member. The affair ended amidst loud laughter in which Mr. Reynolds joined. On the same day, Mr. Vogel, in the heat of debate, made use of the term "dodge," as applied to the Chairman of Committees having put a question during the confusion which ensued relative to a motion proposed by him (Mr. Vogel). The honourable member's words were ordered to be taken down, and himself desired to withdraw to the- refreshment-room, pending the decision of the House as to what should be done to vindicate its dignity. Before withdrawing Mr. Vogel explained that the word had escaped him in the heat of the moment, and that he had not intended any disrespect to the House. During Mr. Vogel's absence, although some members voted him guilty of contempt, and urged condign punishment, it was decided to accept the apology he had made. A messenger was despatched to acquaint the culprit of the decision of the House, when it was found Mr. Vogel had left the place ! Then ensued a most ludicrous hubbub ; such conduct was moat contemptuous, and a motion was passed summoning the honourable member to appear at the next sitting, and show cause why he should not be fined £20 foi contempt, aa provided under the Standing Orders. Yesterday, Mr. Vogel appeared, but distinctly denied the right of the Speaker to summon him under such circumstances. He came simply out of respect to the Council, but he was not prepared to admit any power of the Speaker to fine or otherwise punish him. A hot discussion ensued, but ultimately, the House, more discreet than valorous, contented itself with passing a vote of censure.

It will be good news for the cricketers of Nelson to learn that the All England Eleven are to visit Dunedin, to play a match against a New Zealand Twentytwo. A few months ago, when the visit of the Eleven to Australia was arranged, the Dunedin Cricket Club entertained the proposition of getting up a match at Dunedin, if the terms of the English champions were not too high. Correspondence was, lam told, opened with the various provincial clubs on the subject, and a letter was sent to Mr. George Marshall, the agent of the Eleven at Melbourne, asking the terms on which a match could be arranged. A reply has been received from Mr. Marshall, asking £2,000 in cash, and the travelling and other expenses of the Eleven, as the conditions under which a visit could be arranged. This amount was considered beyond the ability of the Dunedin Club to guarantee, and the affair would have lapsed altogether, had not Mr. Jones, the enterprising proprietor of the Provincial Hotel, come forward and offered, for a guarantee of £1,500, to undertake all the responsibility and cost, providing he was granted the monopoly ot the cricket ground during the match. Mr. Jones's offer has been accepted, and that gentleman went to Melbourne the other day to arrange with Mr. Marshall. Already over £500 has been subscribed in Dunedin towards the requisite £1,500, and it is expected that further subscriptions here and in the other provinces will make up the amount. It is intended to make the match a colonial one, and champions will be invited from all the provinces. Some 120 more Volunteers for the Auckland Militia are now awaiting transport, making near 500 men raised in this province. Ihe Supreme Court criminal teirio&i are over, The

I libel case, Vogel v. Grant, ha 3 ended in the acquittal ! of the defendant. The captain and mate of the steamer , Favourite, on a charge of manslaughter, in connection with the late fatal collision, have been acquitted. j The gold-fields intelligence is good, hut does not possess any particular imprest. The escort arrived to-day, with 19,585 ounce?, and the quarter's return shows a largo increase over the corresponding period of last year. During the September quarter in 1863, the escorts have brought down 94.4G3 ounces, against 41,926 ounces tor the same period last year. A very lamentable occurrence has taken place near the new "diggings at Mount Ida, of which the following are the particulars : — " Sergeant Garvey and Mounted Constable M'Donald left the JTogburn, on the 23rd ultimo, for the purpose of reporting on the rush, about fourteen miles to the eaßt of the Hogburn. They arrived at the foot of the range about 530 p-m., and, on the following morning, reached the rush with great difficulty (occasioned by a very heavy snow storm), about halfpast eleven o'clock. Having obtained information as to the operations and prospects of the diggers, and finding no food or shelter for their horses, the two left the diggings in company with a baker named Harry M'Gee, at about one p.m., during a severe snow storm, and after proceeding for about three hours and a half in a south-easterly direction, as they supposed, they came to a gorge which appeared to them to run south. After following it for some distance, constable M'Donald advised Sergeant Garvey to return and take the spur, believing the gorge to be impassable. Garvey, however, insisted on following the gorge, and, in consequence, his companions and he parted company — the constable and M'Gee turning their horses loose and treading down a track in the snow. They continued walking on it till daylight, the snow drifting all the time. On the morning of the 25th the constable saw that they were in the vicinity of a high mountain, to the top of which he proceeded to get a better view of the country. Prom this point he saw two men on a range about three miles distant, and, proceeding towards them, at last succeeded in attracting their attention by pißtol shots. He learnt that he was about a mile north-east from the diggings, at which he arrived at about 11 a.m., himself and his horse being thoroughly exbasuted. M'Gee being unablo to proceed, was left at the diggings, and the constable having given his horse some stimulant, succeeded in reaching an accommodationhouse at the foot of the range, where he arrived at about four p.m., ; and, on the morning of the 26th, left en route for the Hogburn, and reached that place at one p.m., with both feet frost-bitten, not having seen or heard anything of Sergeant Garvey since leaving him on the evening of the 24th. On the 30th, Sergeant Ryan reported to the Commissioner the progress of the search expedition. Mounted constables Paschen and Hurrell, in compauy with a volunteer named Galbraith, went out on Saturday to examine the locality where the Sergeant was lost, but returned on the following night without having discovered any trace of him. They found it impossible to continue the search further, their horses being quite knocked up and the ground covered with snow. On Sunday morning, a volunteer party o1o 1 six, headed by Mr. De Wolfe, started on a searching expedition, and succeeded in tracking the Sergeant for a distance of sixteen miles, up to where a leading spur dips into the Waitaki Plains. This party returned on Tuesday night, their provisions being run out, in the full confidence that Sergeant Garvey had made some of the sheep stations on the Waitaki. On the Monday, detective Rowley and four volunteers started in search, with the intention of following up the missing man's track, and penetrating through to the Waitaki. Detective Rowley's report now follows in order, and narrates the finding of the body of the illfated Sergeant. " The officer, in company with three men named Joseph Potter, Isaac Allen, and Thomas Fleming, came across what they supposed to be Sergeant Garvey's tracks, on the morning of Tuesday, the 29th September, in a deep gorge about ten miles northwest from Clark's Rush. They followed the track about ten miles with the stream, when they lost it in the snow for several miles, but found it again on Wednesday, the 30th September, leading in an easterly direction to the top of a high mountain. Here they once more lost it on account of a fresh fall of snow. But, in descending towards the river to get shelter for the night, detective Rowley saw the body of Sergeant Garvey lying beside a rock. This was about sundown on Wednesday. On examining the body it was found to be quite dead, and seemed to have been so for some time. It was surrounded with three or four feet of snow. The Sergeant had evidently been quite exhausted when he lay down. In hie pockets were found a gold watch and steel chain, a £5 note, sixteen £1 notes, 18s. in silver, an order on the Union Bank for £10, a purse, small key, revolver, &c. The horse he had ridden was found about half a mile off, with his saddle and bridle on. The horse and the body were conveyed to the Mount Ida Police Camp, which was reached on Saturday last."

The following extract from the Wakatip Mail, will be interesting : —

" Those who were early on the Wakatip field will doubtless remember the intrepidity and gallantry displayed by Maori Jack, in risking his own life to save those of Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Rogers, the former of whom he rescued after a desperate struggle — their boat having upset iv a storm on the 9th August, 1862. A testimonial of a character likely to be of use to Jack was subsequently presented to him — a dray and team — by which he has succeeded in earning a respectable livelihood. Mr. Rees, in addition, wrote to the Royal Humane Society, in London, stating the circumstances, the result of which kind and considerate application is contained in the London Times of the 6th July, in a report of the meeting of that excellent society : — ' The Council awarded the society's medal to Maori Jack, who saved the life of Mr. Mitchell, aiid tried to save Mr. Rogers, whose boat upset on Lake Wakatip, New Zealand, on the 9th August, 1862.' We are happy to learn that this deserved honour will most probably arrive by the next mail to Mr. Rees, for presentation to Maori Jack."