NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 1651, 4 August 1881, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS.

« [from our owx correspondents.] THAMES, Wednesday. It is rumoured that Mr. James Mackay, jun., will bo a candidate for the Thames district at the next general election. [press association.] NEW PLYMOUTH, Wednesday. The work at the harbour works is now proceeding rapidly. Another 42-ton block was placed yesterday, making six bloeks laid within a fortnight. At the end of the breakwater at high tide there is from ten to twelve feet of water.

A disrstrous fire occurred at 4.30 this morning, the residence of Peter Bell, draper, St. John's Hill, being burned to the ground. A portion of the furniture was saved. The inmates escaped witli much difficulty. The cause is unknown. The building is insured. The estimated loss is £1000.

There is no clue yet to the robbery from the Stormbird. Robberies of various kinds are greatly on the increase here.

WELLINGTON, Wednesday.

An accident occurred on the Wellington and Mastortou railway this evening. The train had reached a point at one mile on this side of the Kaitoke, when through some unaccountable cause four timber waggons ran off the line, and were thrown over the embankment. Fortunately the coupling gave way, or otherwise the engine and passenger carriages might have also been carried over. The only damage done is to the step of on» of the carriages. The intercolonial weather exchange from Sydney on Wednesday, says :—The high pressure has now begun to give way in the north. The barometer at Brisbane is now 30 inches along the south coast, and in Sydney it is 30 2 inches, with cloudy weather and light S. and S.W. winds. The following tenders were received for the goods shed contract at Auckland railway station :—Accepted : Mercer and Marshall, Auckland, £1100. Declined: W. F. Wilcox, Auckland, £1269; T. Constable, Auckland, £1387 ; Robert N. Smith and Co., Thames, £1299 ; Scott and Coombe, Auckland, £1426; A. Watson, Auckland, £1450 ; W. H. Kavanagh, Auckland, £1466 ; H. S. Haile, Auckland, £1490; W. James, Auckland, £1519; H. B. Kavanagh, Auckland, £1550; Jones and Pollard, Auckland, £1570; R. Kaye, Auckland, £1737 ; H. T. Jones, Auckland, £1765; E. Mills, Auckland, £1784; C. Rhodes, Auckland, £2053.

CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. Work on the Weka Pass section of the Northern line is being pushed forward, so as to have the line to Waikari open for the next grain season. This is the line on which trains are only run when anybody asks for one, and has a station along it. The Guarantee Society, which has for some time refused to pay charters' fidelity bond of £500, has now handed the amount over to the directors of the Building Society. The man who felt himself aggrieved by something in the society paper the other day, met one of the employes in the theatre, and attempted to "thump" him. They were separated without any damage being done, and the person assaulted has now sued the other for assault. Pun is expected. Pifty thousand ova have been secured from the trout in the society's ponds this

season. The Wanganui horse Dan was omitted from the list of acceptances for the C.J.C. Handicap. A petition is being started in Ashley electoral district asking tlie Hon. E. Richardson to allow himself to be nominated for that constituency. ASHBURTON, Wednesday.

The body of a woman named Ruddock was found in the river yesterday near Ashburton Forks. She had been missing from her home for some days. An inquest was held yesterday at Geraldine on the body of a man named Healey, who shot himself through the heart while getting his gun through a fence. The verdict was accidental death. A man named Marling, a refreshment-room keeper at the railway station, was fined today for abusing and assaulting the station master. DUNEDIN, Wednesday. Messrs. Whitclaw and Co. offered 3500 packages of the new season's sea. The whole consignment was passed in without a single sale. The Chamber of Commerce have forwarded a telegram as follows to the Government: — "Warehousemen represented to Chamber the serious loss from requiring to bond calicoea, shipping, &c. Cannot Government allow them to pass sight entries, depositing present duty pending consideration of tariff. The New Zealand Australian Land Company intend starting a dairy factory on the American system on one of their properties. At Milton, yesterday, Arthur Stewart, a boy, was playing football, and while running very fast with the ball, was observed to drop down suddenly. Medical aid was obtained, but life was extinct.

Mrs. Hampson proceeded North to-day.

■ The Dunedin Presbytery unanimously sustained the call of the Rev. Mr. Inglis, of Ballarat.