Interprovincial News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 361, 11 January 1879, Page 19

Interprovincial News.

From the West Coast we hear that in reference to the damage done by the recent floods that the chairman of the county telegraphed on the 30th ultimo to Sir George, and to the Hon. Mr. Macandrew, asking for assistance to cope with the emergency that has arisen to the extent of £SOOO or £6OOO. And to these replies are expected as soon as the Ministers l-eturn to Wellington. With reference to the Christchurch road, nothing has yet been done, and it is said that Mr. Grimmond does not propose to do anything regarding it till the meeting of the Council. In respect to what he has done, the chairman has taken the advice of such members of the Council as were within reach. It is thought that great destruction will have to be recorded at Ross, if the weather has been anything like that experienced here. The Octmaru 'Keening Mail makes the following suggestion to the subscribers on the railway line, which might be worthy of imitatation in this province:—“Would our country subscribers who do not receive their papers regularly be good enough to adopt the simple plan of putting up a small flag—a piece of split stick with a piece of white paper inserted in the split—where they wish their papers thrown out. This would act as a reminder and a guide to the guards ; so that there would not only be a better chance of their being left, but they would more likely be left at the right spots. This should be done whenever papers are missed; and if the guard is at fault, as we fear they are in some cases, there will be some chance of having the matter rectified. In the case of new guards, the plan suggested should prove effectual in indicating where papers are intended to be left.” The Auckland Evening Star of December 27 says: —Cabbage Bay, long noted for the rich specimens and loose gold that have been from time to time discovered in its creeks, is at last, we are glad to learn, about to receive a more practical trial than creek-fossicking; as a company has been successfully floated for the purpose of working several promising reefs lately discovered in the above district! The last reef found showed gold freely, both in the stone and dish, directly it was cut, and should tarn out well. Mr. Featon, formerly agent for the Cure, Central Italy, and other well-known mines, has been appointed secretary to the company, who intend to start operations directly after the holidays. Several Thames miners, who have just returned from a visit to the mine, speak highly of its prospects, and have taken large interests in the company. One of the most common subjects for paragraphs in colonial journals is the “ servantgalism ” of the period, and in these the topic is invariably the cool indolence of servants. We have beard (says the Auckland Herald) of one instance, however, wherein an Auckland tradesman made a servant girl “ toe the mark,” and no mistake, in a manner which few could have done. The girl was engaged to come home on the Thursday, which she did, bringing her clothes with her. Immediately after, however, she left, and did not return till the Saturday, when she said that she had been called away by telegram to attend to her uncle, who resided at Panmure, and who had had been taken ill. The tradesman happened to find out that the excuse was false, and he said, “If I had not been prepared to take you when you came to me after being engaged,- you could have demanded a week’s wages, and therefore I will not give up your things unless you pay me a week’s wages.” The girl was astounded, and refused, but after some time, no doubt wanting the contents of her box for the Christmas holidays, she sent Bs., which has been banded over to us for the Orphan Home, Howe-street. The Evening Star of the 31st ult says : Free passes on the railways will be limited in number from to-morrow. The limitation does not come a moment too soon. The system was grossly abused. Every civil servant and dependant of the Government, to the remotest degree of consanguinity, had come to regard a free pass on the railways of the colony as his peculiar privilege, and the number of “ deadheads” bad grown to be legion. There was one case where an M.H.R., who was also a “ Commercial,” travelled free throughout the colony for a whole year, charging his employers with the fares ; and another, where a discharged civil servant, who still retained bis magic “ pass,” travelled about the colony for months as agent for some kind of “ show.” It was only when a high railway official in the South, travelling incog., found himself in a railway carriage with fifteen other “ deadheads,” that he determined that the line must be drawn somewhere, and where that has been drawn will be seen from a Wellington telegram in another column.

The Neio Zealand Herald has the following : —“ We understand that the Government have purchased from Mr. Isaacs .some 14 acres at the junction of Remuera and Newmarket 'Roads, for the sum of £4OOO. It is, we understand, intended for the erection of workshops in connection with the Railway Department.” The Wellington Cadets were treated to a sail in the Aurora on the 31st ult., by the members of the Naval Rrigade. Reaving. Nelson in the morning with a fine S.W. wind, the Aurora soon ran across to Motuska, off which port she was liove-to while tne party partook of refreshments. They then started on their return voyage to Nelson, which was reached in the afternoon, the party having thorouglily enjoyed their outing. The Auckland Evening Star says e; New Zealand’s champions have signally triumphed in the cricket match against Ballarat. A win with S wickets to spare is certainly not a bad beginning. In this case the men of wool have been too much for the men of gold, and whatever may be the odds opposed to them, w r e may rest assured that our New Zealanders will acquit themselves like men. Peradventure, the day is not remote when the youngest of Britain’s colonies will emulate the grand achievements of Australia by wresting laurels from the cricketers in the mother country, who have long defied all-comers. Will Macaulay s New Zealander be a cricketer ? There has lately been a great drought on the East Coast. A Gisborne paper says :

“ Another week has passed away, and still no rain to moisten the parched iand, and give nourishment to grass and herbage. Much of the grass seed has been harvested by the aid of Maori labor, but it is very light, and large quantities have been lost by falling from overripeness There is scarcely a bucket or tank of stored water in town. Most of the wells are dry, or the little water remaining in a few of them is quite unfit for use. If the present sanitary state of Gisborne does not arouse the inhabitants to devise some scheme for obtaining a water supply, then nothing else which may happen is likely to awaken us from our lethargy.” From Dunedin we hear that the Wanganui has brought the first instalment of the tramway plant for that city. The remainder of the plant is to follow in the Oamaru and Benares. Twenty-two cars and five engines have been ordered; besides these several engines and cars are being manufactured in America, the former by the Baldwin Company, of Philadelphia, the latter by John Stevenson and Co., of New York ; part of the cars from America will be of the “ Hokoben” description, but an improvement on those in use in Wellington. The English engines are by Hughes, of Lougborough, and Ketson, of Leeds, and all are of the smokeconsuming and steam-condensing class. It is the intention of the promoter to push on the construction as soon as sufficient rails are landed from the first ship. The ordering of the plant has been superintended by Hugh M c Neil, of A. Briscoe and Co., while in England and America, and everything is said to be of the latest and best construction.

With reference to prison management in New Zealand the Lyttelton Times makes tbe following remarks :—“ The evils inseparable from the present system of the colony, if it can be called a system, have been the subject of denunciation from the judicial bench for years, and have been put on record by competent men specially commissioned to examine into them. As long as the prison discipline cares for nothing but the safe custody of tbe prisoners, as the Commission of 1868 reported, so long do the prisons deserve the reproach of Mr. Bowen—made when introducing his motion last session for the appointment of the special committee—that they are nothing but vast criminal education establishments. It is impossible, perhaps, to wholly deprive any prison, however conducted, of this character ; but the evil can be induced to a minimum. It is at present a recorded fact that the evil is at as great a height as it is possible for it to be. One of the objects of good government is the repression of crime, and one of its highest aims should be reformation of the offenders which the State punishes. We hope that the Government will see their way to bring down next session a scheme of prison management based upon the various recommendations of the two reports at their disposal.” We clip the following from the N.Z. Herald of the 25th December:—“ The death of Mr. A. Keane, the mate of the s.s. Rmvena, on Friday night, was one of these mysterious incidents on shipboard which ever and anon-occur, aud for whic no reason can be assigned. No person saw the poor fellow fall overboard, noi was there any rough weather prevaing. The last seen of the deceased was about 9.45 p.m., about- four miles from the Watchman, when the man at the wheel observed him ®n the starboard side of the main deck, and, the vessel’s course having been slightly altered, he walked over to the lee or port side, and this w-as the. last seen of him. Shortly after this the man at the wheel thought he heard several moans in the water, and, listening, heard them again, and when he threw the life-buoy, which was close at hand, into the water, and called out to those forward to stop her and go astern. This was immediately done, and, looking for the officer of the watch, Mr. Keane,, who was in command at the time, was found missing. Captain Sellars, who had been relieved by the poor fellow at 8.20 p.m., was by this time on deck, and kept the steamer as near tbe position as tbe man at the wheel could tell when he first heard the sounds. There was a heavy sea running at the time, and no boat could be lowered; but the steamer cruised around for fully an hour, burning lights and using every means to discover the poor fellow, but without success, and the steamer was reluctantly put on her course again without rescuing him who had latterly been amongst them. Mr. Keane leaves a widow and one child to mourn his loss, and we are sorry to hear that the loss of their bread-winner is such as to render their position one deserving of the attention c£ the charitable.”

The Lyttelton Times of a late date says : “ The members of the Charitable Aid Board appeared to be fairly staggered at the amount of distress which they are called upon to relieve. The yeax* just closing has not been an exceptionally hard one for the poor, yet the amount of relief afforded by charitable aid has nearly reached £3OO in one month. Half of this was given in the shape of rations, the rest in hard cash.”

A Napier paper says :—Napier is said to aboxxnd in nuisances, nor is this to be wondered at when the Corporation is more celebrated for somnolency than for any other characteristic. Who is responsible for the disgracefully dirty condition of the streets and side drains ? The Shakspere-road, by the side of the Government lawn fence, looks more like a stockyard than a street in a well oi-dered borough. The “ new blood ” in the Council does not seem to have infused fresh life in the actions of that body. The New Zealand Press News says :—" The Otago Daily Times made a good haul on December 2nd. In a supplement to that issue there were sixteen columns of Government notifications,, which, at the current contract rate of four shillings per inch, amounts to the nice little total of £76 16s. for one insertion. That is the way the money goes. No doubt this advertisement was compulsory according to law, but had the lowest tender for advei’tising been accepted by the Govei-nment, it would only have cost one-fourth, and in addition would have received nearly three times the publicity. The Wanganui Herald says : —“ Satisfactory progress is being made in all departments of the work to provide Wanganui with a new illuminating agent. On a personal visit to the principal scene of operations this morning, we found the gasometer to be complete as far as the placing of the plates is concerned, there being but four (left off for the purpose of light and access to the interior) yet remaining to be put in position. Much has yet to be done, however, in the way of riveting, binding, painting, both interior and exterior, cleaningout the inside, &c., before the huge holder will be ready to fulfil its proper functions. The whole of tiie pillars and transverse girders are in position, but have to be painted. The gasometer, when filled to its utmost capacity, will probably hold between 33,000 and 34,000 feet. A few yards to the westward of the meter the retort house is being built. The exterior* walls, which are of good and solid construction, have now reached the height of four feet or so from the ground. The smoke stack, however, which is to be about forty feet high and of tree trunk shape, is not yet begun. None of the interior ai’rangements of the retort-house are commenced, and probably will not be till the exterior is near completion. To keep pace with the other parts of the work, the gasometer and the distributing apparatus—particularly the latter—more hands, if obtainable, miglit advantageously be employed on tbe brickwork of the building.” The Napier Weekly Mercury says : —A communication from the Government some time ago, to the local governing bodies stated that owing to their intention to support the hospital, no deductions would be made from the subsidies due to them. The Hawke’s Bay County has accordingly received its subsidies in full, but one-half of those due to the borough of Napier have been stopped. There is owing to the borough on the general rate subsidy to March 31st last, £2286 12s. 4d., but only £1143 63. 2d. has been paid. The Corporation has caused to be addressed to rhe Colonial Treasurer a strong letter of remonstrance. NEW ZEALAND INSURANCE COMPANY. (per press agency). Auckland, January 8. At the New Zealand Insurance Company’s half-yearly meeting the following was the statement of accounts :—Profit and loss—Dr. : To dividend for half-year ending May, 187 S, £15,000 ; to commissions, salaries, and other expenses, £23,154 4s. 4d. ; fire and marine losses, £60,148 os. fid.; appropriation for unpaid losses, £23,415 ; reserve fund, £SOOO ; balance,£l9,2B3 Is. lid.: total, £145,999 6s. 9d. Cr. : By balance from last half-year, £18,873 Bs. 6d. ; appropriations last half-year, £30,520 ; fire and marine premiums (less re-insurances), £86,100 13s. ; by interest, rents, transfer fees, and profit on investments realised, £10,505 ss. 3d.; total, £145,999 6s. 9d. Balance-sheet— Capital, £200,000 ; to re-insurance fund, £100,000; to reserve fund, £20,000; appropriation for unpaid losses, £23,414 ; deposits, £14,400; balance, £19,293 Is. lid.; total, £307,09S Is. lid. By investment, £351,952 ss. 3d.; fire and marine premiums due, £1832 15s. 3d. ; interest and rents due, £2066 9s. 2d.; bills receivable, £1979 14s. lid ; branch and agency balance, £26,063 17s. lOd ; furniture, fire engines, &c., £1313 Is. 7d. ; cash in bank, £11,089 17s. lid. ; total,. £307,098 Is lid. The directors, in submitting the report and balance-sheet, after making due provision for all ascertained losses to date, and carrying £SOOO to reserve fund, which now stands at £40,400, said there remains some £19,283 is. lid. available for division, which the directors propose to appropriate as follows :—To payment of a dividend at the rate of. 15 per cent., £14,000 ; to balance carried forward, £4283 Is. lid. ; total, £19,283 Is. lid. Warrants for the dividend will be issued at the company’s office to-morrow, and at tbe several branches and agencies on receipt of advices.

The Chairman said that the report now presented brings to a close the 19th year since the establishment of the company. He was pleased to be able to state that the directors still find themselves enabled to recommend a dividend being declared of the accustomed 15 per cent., a recommendation which would cause the report to be received with satisfaction. That the receipts should, in face of the keen competition and reduction of rates have nevertheless kept up to enable the present dividend to be declared, must be especially gratifying.

The losses, though they have been numerous, have not been for excessive amounts ; and it is remarkable that those sustained in the maiine branch have nearly all been on first-class risk 3 ; for example, the ships Piako, City of Auckland, Taranaki, and others. You will observe by tlie report that we pi*opose an addition to the l'esei’ve fund of £SOOO, which will make it stand at £40,000. To this had to be added the re-insurance fund of £IOO,OOO, which amount must not only cause satisfaction to the shareholders, but also must be a source of confidence to the insured. The past progress of the company had been one. of almost unexampled pi’osperity, but the period had now arrived when we have to face competition, not hitherto existing, for we have nowmore than thirty rival, companies in the field, keenly contesting business. The result has been the reduction of rates which may not be even now maintained, as now existing, as we have to contend against new offices striving to obtain business by offering the bait of lower terms. It is a new element which may result in the dimunition of our premiums in future years. The shareholders of this company have reason to congratulate themselves that however much premiums may be diminished, it can from its own resources of invested capital always ensure dividends being declared. Directors deem they are warranted in asking a continuance of that support which has been accorded to this company, as they caxx refer with satisfaction to the manner in which its business has been conducted. It is hardly necessary to remind shareholders how much the company can be benefited by their individual exertions in its favoi*.

Messrs. Macfarlaue, Stone, and Wilson were re-elected directors, and Messrs. Laurie aud Fraser auditors.

WAIKATO. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Hamilton, December 27It seems probable now that Ministers’ threatened visit to Waikato may be postponed. I wired you a few days ago that a message had been sent by Honana to Maioha on behalf of the King’s people to Sir George Grey and to Mr. Sheehan warning them on no account to think of going to Te Kuiti at present. The meaning of the notice I understand to be this : tbe report of the nonsense, truely or falsely, alleged to have been talked by Rewi at Taranaki about railways and other matters has thoroughly alarmed and annoyed the Waikato Kingites. It was officially announced I believe in the Government organ, the New Zealander, that Mr. Sheehan would have come overland from Mokau with Rewi if the weather had been fine enough, but as the weather was not fine, it was arranged that the Native Minister should come to Waikato from Auckland instead of Mokau, aud meet Rewi at Te Kuiti at Christmas. This is what the Waikatos will not allow. They say that if such a meeting were permitted to take place it might be thought that the King’s people had condoned Rewi’s wrong-doing, and made themselves parties to the engagements said to have been entered into by that chief. The feeling against Sir George Grey on the part of the King’s people, aud, as I believe, on the part of the King himself, is very strong indeed ; and if there should be a March meeting, which is now doubtfxll, it will be politically a greater failure than the last one, and the Premier may hear, regarding himself, opinions more forcible than polite. Tapihana desires to be permitted to speak first at the meeting, and as he has been lately heard to say that Grey “ is a dog that laps blood” the style of his intended salutation may be imagined. You may have seen a letter from Paka Kohatu, an influential, chief of Ngatimaniapoto, which appeared in re Wananga of the 14th December, in which strong language is used as to Grey’s deception of the people. The general distrust and suspicion of . the Premier is very remarkable. Tawhiao is • at Raglan at some hot springs, and Major Te Wheoro has been with him for more than a fortnight, vainly hoping to cause a diversion in favor of the Government; but up to the latest advices it is said that he had ‘not had even oue favorable sign from the king, whilst his detention must, and maybe intended to, cause annoyance to Ministers. The gallant Major’s influence with the Hauhau people is gone. They cannot, as they say, understand how a manlike Te Wheoro can properly serve two Governments so diametrically opposed to each other as Sir Donald McLean’s and Sir George Grey’s—and I have reason to believe that he feels that he has put his foot in it. There has been much preparation at Punui for the reception of Ministers. A half-caste lady, who has played a prominent part as aide-de-camp to the Hon. Native Minister, and who spai’es no expense, has been busy, but tbe game cannot, I think, be kept up much longer. Government money will not buy personal influence for Ministers in this quarter, however lavishly it may be scattered about. Native news from Taranaki is not assuring. There is a general belief here, based upon statements of returned Maoris, that trouble will come out of the Waimate plains business, for their superior management of which Ministei*s have impudently demanded so much applause. I read that the Colonial Secretary in the Legislative Council had officially declared that Hiroki, the murderer of McLean, would be delivered up at any police station in Taranaki within half an hour after a request for his surrender had been made to Te Whiti. Mr. Sheehan wisely did not make any such request, because he knew that it would not be complied with. Te Whiti has a very large following just now, and has abundance of arms and ammunition. The number of his adherents increases daily, and his tone, I understand., is very defiant. The Waitara demonstration must have been very expensive to Government and profitable to the Taranaki storekeepers. There was a x*egular “ muru ” of the shops at last before Rewi left, and Maori ladies might be seen decoi’ated gorgeously .and carrying ostrich feaihers at the ends of sticks,

not having room on their heads for such ornaments. If any good were to come of it all there would be no very great cause for complaint. Tukokino was up here lately about the Ohiuemuri road. This is another question which Ministers boasted that they had settled, but it is just where it was. If the Thames railway is to be made, Tulcokino’s grievance must be satisfied, or that excitable old gentleman will have to be locked up. He says there is “ too mxxch of the gammon about Kerei. and Hiauga,” a sentiment which is becoming very general amongst the natives. You will be prepared to beai* that the first sod of the railway from Waikato to Taranaki has not yet been turned. The weather, as Mr. Sheehaxx would say, has been against it. Rewi has not yet given the land he is said to have promised, nor have Purukutu and Nuku abandoned their watch for adventurous surveyors on the confiscated boundary line. Heoiano till the next time. INTERESTING TO MERCANTILE MEN. Dunedin, January 6. At the crimiual sittings of the Supreme Court, which commenced to-day, Mr. Justice Williams, in charging the jury, said—There is a case whei’e the accused is charged under the Fraudulent Debtors Act with having as. a trader obtained property on credit under the false pretences of cai’rying on business and dealing in the ordinary way of his trade. At the preliminary proceedings before the magistrate, the trustee in bankruptcy of the accused was examined, and gave evidence as to statements made by the accused to him as trustee. By an Act, however, passed last session, this evidence is no longer admissible against the accused, so you will have to consider the case independently of it. The evidence is that tbe accused was a retail gi*ocer, and that the day before he filed his declaration of insolvency ke ordered and subsequently obtained from a merchant with whom he had been in tbe habit of dealing certain bags of sugai* which he. did not pay for. If you think that an order given by a retail trader for goods of a kind dealt with in his trade to a wholesale house, with, whom he had been in the habit of dealing, amounts to representation that the goods were required for ordinary trade purposes, and if you think from the circumstances that the retail trader became bankrupt the day after he gave the order, affords a reasonable inference that the representation was false, you will find a true bill.

“ PITY THE POOR CHILDREN OF CANTERBURY.” (Timaru Herald.) The Premier went on to say :—“ I believe the mind of any man who cared for his country would have felt such pity,” Well, we move about in Canterbury as much as anybody almost, and make it our constant practice to study the condition of the people. Our heart is as much prone to pity, where proper objects of sympathy are seen, as that of the tenderest humanitarian could be. We love our country dearly, and honestly do our best to serve It. Yet, strange to say, we have no pity for the children of Canterbury. We find that they are the heirs of one of the wealthiest and mest independent peoples in the world ; that free selection has placed a comfoi'table freehold witnin the i*each of every industrious and steady man ; that capital and labor have been so well balanced that men of all callings have thriven together ; that no class distinctions exists save those which successful industry or education or refinement indicate ; that class privileges are utterly unknown ; that there is a fearless and watchful Press ever ready to expose wrongs ; and that the children have every advantage which a free, rich, and marvellously progressing counti’y can confer. The struggles of the first settlement are over, and the rising generation start fair with their fortune half made for them, and with none of those dangers and difficulties to face which their fathei’s had to contend with. Sir George Grey recalls grotesquely to our miud that joke of poor John Leech, in Punch, where an old woman was pitying a jolly-looking toper sleeping smilingly against a post, and where the cabman scouted her pity, and wished he only had half the gentleman’s complaint. If the children of the Thames or Auckland, or any other part of New Zealand where Sir George Grey hawks his crocodile’s tears about, could only see the children of Canterbury, we are sure tliat, instead of pitying them, they would only wish they had half their complaint. Nothing can be more ridiculous or contemptible than a persistency in pity for those who refuse to be pitied ; and the people ot Canterbury absolutely refuse to be moaned over in this idiotic manner by a man who has done evei’ything in his power to injure them.