News of the Day.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 52, 29 June 1870, Page 3

News of the Day.

Thb Mails. — It will be seen by a Post-offico notioe, that a mail for England, via Suez, will ho forwarded by the Eangitoto, which will leave for Mclprobably about the 3rd of July. The next m&il eteamor for Honolulu, convoying the mail via SMV^Frftttoiieo, -w>sS be despatched from Auckland on # tn*e 7th, and will leuve Nelson, we presume, on the .iJfeVening of Tuesday next, the sth of July. The 'mail by way of San Francisco will roach England nbQut a week before the one by way of Melbourne ; and Suez. Postages to America.— The postage of Jettera ! and newspapers to the United Stateß iB now the ! same as to England — sixpence for letters, and one penny for newspapers. DKPABTtTOB op Mbmi)Bßß. — By the Gothenburg, to-day, hia Honour the Superintendent and the ."Eon. T. Eenwiek will take their departure for WeiHjigton. Mr. Baigent, who had been detained by <ne prolonged sitting of the Council, left by the iPhoBDe on Friday last. The sole member of the Assembly remaining in Nelson will be Mr. Edwards, ' -whose health, we are sorry to say, will not yet permit of his leaving home. 'Meeting of Electohs ov Waimea. East.— The two members for Waimea-east, Mr. Baruicoat and Mr. P. Xelling, have called a meeting of their constituents, at Bichmond, on Monday evening next. PiouoniNG- Match.— A ploughing match is advertised under the auapicoa of the Agricultural Society, but the place and day ?s not yet named. „ . Pheasant Shooting.— The pheasant season will 1 commence on Friday," the Ist of July, and accounts from Motueka state that birds are plentiful. The Lady Barkly will leave Nelson for Motueka .»at sereu o'clock on the morning of Friday, which t.»,Trill> be a convenience to those who are eager to commence sport. St. John's Day. — The Masonto brethren, resident in Nelson, celebrated tho festival of St. John the Baptist on Friday last. The JJodge met according to custom at high noon, and in the evening sat down to an excellent dinner provided by host M'Q-ee. The evening was spent in a highly agreeable manner, and during the festivities an interchange of courtesies was made by telegram with the brethren in Blenheim, who were celebrating the festival by h grand ball. Doban's Reef Wangapeka.— Efforts are about to be made to float a company to work this very promising claim. It is proposed to raise from a body of promoters, thirty in number, a subscription of £3 each, to defray the expenses of sending a trustworthy ; person to tho reef, who will examine the ground, and superintend the getting out of from 10 to 20 cwt of stone from different parts. If this stone, after being mixed, gives an encouraging result, shares will at onoef be placed in the market. A meeting of persons .^ntejnding to beoome promoters will meet to-morrow at the Masonic Hotel, at seven o'clock. /■] J?£ood in the Waiiiatt. —We hear there was a very heavy flood in the Wairau river on Saturday last, when the chain broke which tho punt, and the latter was swept away, thus cutting of communication acrosß the river. As the great body of , \he wator brought down by the Wairau has for the last- few yearsgone into the Opawa, to thp relief of tho lower part of the main river, we presume by the . sweeping away of the forry that the river is again running in its old channel. '''.vDBATH FBOM DHOWNING. — Captain Davidson, of the schooner Bonnie Lass, was drowned in Lyttelfon harbour on tho ovening of Sunday, the 12th instant. ■ Captain Davidson left the schooner in a dingy for ' 4 the shore, on the evening named, about nine o'clock, < and was not seen afterwards alive, but his body was _' found, on the following Tuosday, under the platform " extending over the aca wall, the dingy having been found adrift in tne harbour on Monday morning. It is supposed tho unfortunate maa fell into the water when attempting, in the dark, to get on to the •wharf. A Coroner's jury returnod a vordict of ♦'Found drowned." The deceased w(is well known in Nelson, and we believe has relation! here. i* Pbeskntatlon of Sw.obds to Maori Chiefs.— Qn k Monday, June 13, his Excellency the Governor, in the presence of Ministers and several members of the Legislature, presented to the chiefs Hepa, Eopata, , arid Mokena, the swords bestowed on them by her , Majesty as a recognition of their important services \a the field. # There are others to be presented when an opportunity of doing so is offered. < The swords bear tne inscription—" Given by Quee^i Victoria to [name] for his unfailing loyalty and valour. May you, long wear it in health and honour." The swords are fine specimens of workmanship ; tie hilt is of ; the basket kind, and is lined with crinlson velvet. *' The • scabbards are of crjmson morocco, richly [mounted with silver, and are Blungi from the shoulder by crimson morocco belts and slings, all y fUrer-mounted. >f . ■ , . ... , A pair of stampers constructed in Wellington, are about to be ereoted at Terawiti. Mr. Gh Cotterell, we are glad to see, U very sue- ' Oessful with his entertainments in Otago. It has been determined in Taranaki to obtain for the province one of Thompson's road steamers. * The yield of gold for the past month in New South Wales shows a decrease of forty percent. '.',yA bill legalizing marriage with a deceased wife's •l»ter, has passed the Council in South Auittalia. The Imperial Government have ' warned the troops stationed in Sydney, to be ready to remove on August 1. A child about two years old, at Canterbury, recently met its death by drinking hot tea out of the •pout of a teapot. Government have decided on prosecuting Henry Hamilton for perjury, the half-caste on whose evidence Tricker was convicted of the murder at Eangitikei. Hamilton is now serving in the Armed Constabulary. • A numerously signed requisition has been presented to his Worship the Mayor of Lyttolton, asking him to call a publio meeting to consider the best means of obtaining a portion of the million loan for the harbour works. Country travelling in Otago has almost been suspended by the state of the roads, rendered nearly impassable by a continuance of heavy rains. The streets in Dunedin, in some parts of the city, are < . described as being in no better condition. , Margaret Patterson and Emily Jane Williams, the ( two womou tried at Ohristohurch for setting lire to tho London Kestaurant, in Cash el-street, were aoquitted. The jury were locked up all night, but in the morning a verdiot of acquittal was given. Mr. Kane, a settler of several years' standing in Wellington, after entertaining a few friends on the evening of the 23rd instant, retired to bed about midnight in the best of health and spirits. In the morning, when Mrs.* Kane awoke, she discovered her husband to be dead. The residence of Mr. Isherwood, Bolton-street, Wellington, was destroyed by fire on Friday afternoon last. The fire is supposed to have originated from a defect in the chimney. On the Saturday previous, tho residenco of Dr. Featherston had a narrow escape of being burnt. An out-building took fire, and the flames reached the stable and dwelling-house, but were timely extinguished by the neighbours. A somewhat serious chapter of blunders have occurred in Wellington, in connection with the sitting of tho Suprome Court. The Court was opened on Whit Monday, on which day several crimiuals were tried. It was afterwards discovered by Mr. Justice Johnston that the Court could not legally sit on the day in question, and that the whole of the proceedings were informal, if not illegal. Thereupon the Judge held another Court, on the 20th of June, which alao was a holiday, being tho anniversary of her Majesty's accession ; and as a crowning blundor, having signified that tho proceedings of the day on ' " ' " irt was first hold would bo referred of Appeal, for its opinion on their jarned Judgo orderod the prisoners iriod to be brought up for final adju10th of July, which happens to be a