News of the Dag.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 28, 5 August 1871, Page 10

News of the Dag.

Diocesan Church Fund. — Subscribers to the above fund are invited to attend a meeting, to be held in the Assembly Room, on Monday evening next. The chair will be taken by his Lordship the Bishop, and addresses will be delivered by the Eevs. G. H. Johnstone and 0. O. Mules, and by Messrs. Barnicoat and Huntor Brown. Feost-bitten. — A man, named Samuel Ford, was received into the hospital a day or two since with his feet frost-bitten. Ford arrived at the Top-house, on Monday, the 24th ultimo, on his way to tho Wairau ; and, strange to Bay, instead of proceeding down the valley, he went in the opposite direction, towards Tarudale. The weather being very severe, drove Ford back to the Top-house, after an absence of two days, with his feet severely frost-bitten. Mr. Wiesenhavern gave the poor fellow such assistance as ho could, and sent him into town. Teachebs' Association. — At the quarterly meeting of this association, to be held to-day, Mr. Mackay, second master of Nelson College, "Will read a paper " On the necessity of specific training of teachers." The Pheasant Season. — Tho open month for pheasant shooting closed on Monday last, and although the weather has been unfavourable tho number of birds killed must be considerable. We know of one sportsman who took home over forty brace of birds, and we believe there were several who each bagged over twenty brace. The nature of the country is so favourable to the birds that there is no fear of their numbers being injuriously diminished, and next season the district immediately around the city may be safely thrown open. SritiNG Gbove Literacy Institute. —We are glad to perceive the practice of lecturing on popular subjects in country Institutes is extending, it being advertised that Dr. Irvine will deliver a lecture on " The Functions of Respiration," at Spring Grove, on Wednesday evening next. Female School at St. Mary's.— We see by advertisement, that a Bazaar is to be held to assist in providing funds for the enlargement of the female school at St. Mary's, presided over by the Sisters of the Marist convent. The object of this intended Bazaar being so worthy will doubtless find support. Suegeon TO the Hospitai,. — We learn that Dr. Boor, of Wellington, has been appointed surgeon to the Hospital, vacant by the resignation of Dr. Farrelle. Winter Evening- Lectures. — The sixth lecture of the series was delivered last evening by the Bey. P. Calder, the subject being " Burns," the national bard of Scotland. There was a fair attendance, which no doubt would have been larger had the night been less wintry. The reverend lecturer in terse and appropriate language described the early life and education of Bums, and the particular characteristics of his poetical as well as prose compositions, interspesed with well-chosen extracts from both, illustrative of the genius, humour, and pathoß, with which they were distinguished. Mr. Calder was warmly applauded at several points of his lecture, and at its close received the cordial thanks of the audience for the very pleasurable literary treat he had afforded them. Hajipden Street School. — The committee met on Tuesday, for the purpose of appointing a master to the above school, in the place of Mr. M'lntosh, resigned. There were only five applicants. The successful candidate was Mr. R. M. Sunley, who for several years held the mastership of the Richmond Boys' School. Hip Excellency the G-otebnor. — Sir George Bowen, accompanied by Lady Bowen, left Auckland, in the Luna, on Tuesday last, and arrived at Wellington on Thursday. Latest Prices of Thames Shares. — The Cross, of the 2nd instant, says :—": — " The sharemarket was rather inactive to-day. Sales comprise — Thames, £38 ; Central Italy, 85a. ; Nonpareil, 90a. ; Bright Smile, 355. to 40s. The market closed with— buyers : Caledonian, £190 ; Thames, £37 10s. ; Tookey, £37 ; Central Italy, 405. ; Bright Smile, 405. ; Golden Calf, 425. 6d. ; Tokatea, 82s. 6d. Sellers: Caledonian, £195 j Thames, £38 10s. ; Tookey, £38." Native News. — From the Southern Cvoss, of the 27th ultimo, we learn the opening of the Upper Thames is again agitating the native mind, and Te Hira is 6aid to be more favourably disposed then heretofore. Rifle Challenge. — Mr. J. Walker of the Thames Scottish Volunteers, has challenged Mr. Wales, the champion, or any other man in New Zealand, to fire a match for £50 ; ten shots each, at ranges from 200 to 1,000 yards, the firing to take place either at Otago, Canterbury, Wellington, or Auckland. Mr. Kennedy has accepted on behalf of the Otago Volunteers.

Flood in the Bulleb.— The Westport Times of the 20fch ultimo, says .— " A very heavy flood came down the Buller River yesterday, the volume of water discharged being greater than that of any previous flood experienced Bince 1868. As the tide fell there was a difference of fully six feet in the altitude of the river and sea, and but that the mouth of the Buller is fully one third wider than on the occasion of the flood of '68 the probability is that the river would have overflowed its banks. The immediate effect of the flood appears to have been the scouring out of the North channel, and during the whole of yesterday immense stacks of timber were deposited along the beach from the extremity of the spit to the Orawaiti, favouring the supposition that the sea encroachments ars at last likely to cease, giving place to deposits of sand that may ultimately restore the beach to its normal condition. At daylight numbers were on the beach busily collecting the driftwood, but were, later in the day, ordered to desist. Although admitted that the presence of timber is not likely to stay the inroad of the sea, it has a beneficial effect in arresting the violence of the overflow, and for a brief interval may be thus instrumental in preserving the threatened properties. Navigation on the river has necessarily been suspended with the exception of a few boats crossing and recrossing the river. A canoe and a cargo boat — the former supposed to have been carried down from the Old Diggings, seventeen miles up the river, and the latter to have parted from her moorings at the Maori pah, were swept down the river over the bar, but were washed up uninjured on the beach. An incident occured during the height of the flood which might easily have terminated seriously. A boatman had thrown the painter to a bystander on the wharf, the boat then being in comparatively dead water ; as she 6wung round, however, her stern was caught by the current, and, unable to control the boat, the man was being rapidly dragged over the wharf, and while close to its edge very nearly capsized a person into the river who, unconscious of danger, was viewing the flood. Both men seized the painter and by their combined efforts succeeded in dragging the boat alongside tho wharf. Tho groins which have been constructed during the past twelve months on the river bank form a very effective protection to it and to the wharves. Previously, on the occasion of floods, huge masses of tho bank were carried away, and the wharves jeopardized by large snags hurled by the flood against the piles. The upper groin, in diverting the current ha 3 altered this state of things. Considerable quantities of driftwood brought down by the river lodged upon the groins, and floated in tho backwater caused by these structures, and during tho whole clay persons were engaged fishing out the logs for the purpose of firewood. The true State op the Caledonian. — We of late have heard of extraordinary fluctuations in the price of shares in the Caledonian mine, at the Thames. Falling from £196 to £100 in the course of a few days, and then almost as rapidly going up to £145, and the cause of such fluctuations has to most people here in the South been a mystery. The reason is given in the following communication from a correspondent of the Auckland Mining Neivs: — "There has been no inquiry, no talk, no interest, concerning anything to-day but ' Caledonian.' The prospects of all other mines here, the rise and fall in all scrip, have been neglected in view of Caledoninn. At the Courts, in hotel bars, over the luncheon I table, under umbrellas in the rainy streets, everywhere it has been Caledonian. Therefore, I do not purpose to write any mining news under its usual head, but to tell here as concisely as possible the exact position of affairs in reference to this same Caledonian. Tho find of three cwt. of specimens yesterday was, as was then mentioned, from the old lode, and has not been followed up by much more of the same sort. The exact position of the mine then, about which so many and so anxious inquiries have been made, is as follows : — There is a large back of stone in the lode that has previously given such extraordinary j yields, but from this there does not seem to be j much chance of any more specimens being obtained. Nevertheless, the yield of the gold would bo great were it not that future yields from this lode will be judged by those of the past, and will, therefore, bear unfavourably in comparison. But for this the yields from this reef, which is fully fifteen feet through and will run nine ozs. to the ton, would be something magnificent. Then, again, the lode in the Otago is, there can be no good in disguising the matter, rather poor and niullpcky, but this is no more than coufirination of former opinions expressed here. The case, therefore, remains that for some time the dividends will come out of the back on which they are now at work, and will be got under the circumstances which have been detailed. When this shall have been exhausted, there will remain a great deal of heavy, and most likely expensive operations to be put through before the shot of gold can be recovered at a lower depth j though, that it will be so recovered, there can be no reason to doubt, for it has been already as we now know, worked with great evenness and regularity on two levels. In conclusion, handsome dividends will still bo the order of the day in the Caledonian, but these dividends will appear small when contrasted with those that have gone before." Maori Road Making. — The Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times says :—": — " A gentleman who has recently been making a tour in the North Island, and has Been a good deal of the much-vaunted road works being carried on in native districts by native labour, assures me that, despite all the glowing official reports, most of the money spent in this way is actually thrown away, while the roads themselves arc a mockery, a delusion, and a snare. My authority is a gentloman fully competent to judge." Scaelatina IN Otago.— This disease intro duced into Otago some months since by an immigrant ship, still, we regret to learn maintains itself there. A late paper says :—": — " Distressing news come from Tapanui that scarlatina is still raging there. Mr. A. Allan's children are in

such a fearful condition that he has been com* polled to close his hotel to prevent infection. Mr. Purdue's children have also been very ill for some time, but we are glad to say they are now recovering. Every precaution is being taken to prevent the disease trom spreading." Important Discovery. — The Moonlight correspondent of the Qiey River Argus announces a very important discovery, probably the finding of the old lead which was lost some years ago. The discoverer is Mr. Nelson, the prospector of Nelson Creek, and he is reported, during the last week, to have taken out 100 ozs, from the bottom of a paddock ten feet square. The gold found was coarse, as is the usual case at Moonlight, including several lavge pieces, one of which was a beautiful nugget, entirely free from quartz, weighing 16 ozs. . A small rush has set in, but as Moonlight is proverbially patchy, we discountenance any large influx of men to the district until it i 8 ascertained whether the old rich lead has, in reality, been struck. Attempt to Poison in the Hokitika Hospital. — This day fortnight, one of the wardsinen in Hokitika Hospital having occasion to go out, placed his porridge, which was a portion of his breakfast, in the oven. On returning, he took a mouthful, but finding it distasteful, spat it out, and gave the rest to a dog. To his surprise the animal died in about a qnarler of an hour, and, on examination, it was found that strychnine had been mixed with the food. Australian Magpies Friends ov the Fabmeb. — These birds are so highly valued by the farmers in Tasmania that a law has been passed prohibiting their destruction or exportation. Magpies may be 6een following the plough like a flock of rooks, picking up all the grubs. A number of these birds have lately been imported by the Canterbury Acclimatization Society. Discovery of Human Remains neab Akaboa. — The skull and other bones of a man were discovered about a fortnight ago in French-farm Valley, Akaroa, in a crevice of a rock, in a most inaccessible spot, by a man engaged in cattle bunting. They are believed to be the remains of Mr. Joseph Dicken, a Canterbury pilgrim, and a settler at Akaroa, who was lost in the bush there fourteen years ago, and of whom no trace could ever be discovered. Sea Encroachments at Westpobt. — The illjudged policy of laying out a township on a shingle bed has been strikingly exampled at Westport, where the sea having claimed what was its own of yore, has swept away no inconsiderable portion of the town. Great as this calamity must be, something of wild pleasure has been extracted from the misfortune, as will be seen by the following extract from the Westport Times of the 20th ultimo : — "Since Monday the sea has continued to make serious inroad upon the beach near Palmerston-street. On Tuesday a stable adjoining the property of Mr. M'lntosh, and belonging to Mr. Drysdule, tho packer, had to be removed. In Gladstone-street and Moles-worth-street there has also been further encroachment; the Nelson Hotel is now seriously undermined, and Mr. Cass's property has only been maintained by replacing daily the piles necessary to its support. The proprietor of the Nelson Hotel, by means of sand-bags, has partially succeeded hitherto in arresting the work of destruction. Amid the gloom which this terrible devastation of property has cast upon Westport, therehave not been wanting incidents of a comic character in connection with the hasty demolition and removal of buildings. North Gladstone-street and the vicinity immediately endangered are daily and nightly, visited at highwater, by numbers for the purpose of witnessing the extent of the ravages and to assist in lending a hand towards the removal of property. This amusement, however exhilarating, is attended with no little risk from the sudden rush of periodical breakers which, curling over the high lino of beach, bound with pi'odigious force and velocity over the lower ground discharging themselves in the hollows and low lying portions of the adjacent Btreets ; and, as may be well supposed, victims to immoderate curiosity are not rare nor do they meet with the slightest sympathy. We heard of one sober elder of tho church — holding no less an office than that of churchwarden — being suddenly immersed or rather buried to the armpits in a dismantled closet, from which he emerged a sadder if not wiser man, his misfortune serving only to excite the most extravagant merriment. At the Nelson Hotel, which, during the present weather, is liable at any moment to be converted into a complete wreck by the angry surf, dancing nightly continues, the danger from the approaching element appearing to add a zest to the giddy votaries of the danee # Occasionally a huge breaker hurls its waters against the establishment, forcing its way, with diminished strength and volume, into the very body of the hall. The occurrence of bo striking an incident would ordinarily suffice to rout musicians, dancers, and all the giddy throng, but due preparation is made for such extraordinary contingencies. Two men armed with brooms sweep out the water, and a little sawdust distributed over the floor suffices the not very fastidious taste of those who nightly gather afc the scene of revelry. The music strikes up anew and the dancing continues until interrupted by a fresh eruption. The history of Rome tella us that during the fire that destroyed that capital, and whilst the flames were raging, Nero, its emperor, sang a poem of his own composition on the destruction of Troy. History, in a very humble way certainly, is reproducing itself at Westport — scenes of excess and folly being enacted side by side with wide-spread destruction." A subsequent paper says :—": — " The removal of the Nelson Hotel will, we believe, be commenced forthwith. A large brick chimney in the building has slightly given way, while the encroachment of the sea is progressing notwithstanding the low state of the tides. Early yesterday morning the sea had undermined Cass's premises to such an extent as to sweep away the piles from the centre and rear of the building. It is at present entire, but should the weather continue, will, unless removed, become a complete wreck in the course of a few tides."

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