Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4134, 20 June 1874, Page 2

We are informed that the Hon. Dr. Buchanan, who has been for some months in England, has resigned his seat in the Legislative Council. The proposal to establish a Colonial Bank of New Zealand was yesterday the subject of consideration at a meeting held in the Empire Hotel. The original promoters of the proposed Bank were represented by Captain Boyd and Mi - . Cutten, of Dunedin, and the local promoters of, and prospective shareholders in, the new institution were represented largely by leading merchants of Wellington. The Hon. W. B. Rhodes was the president of the meeting, and ho, with Mr. Cutten and Captain Boyd, explained the purposes of the meeting, the practical work of which consisted of the appointment of a local committee of twenty gentlemen, “ with power to add to their number” and the “talcing up” of 33-10 shares in the new bank, with promises “to add to their number.” Mr. Cutten and Captain Boyd proceed on their journey northward to-day by the steamship Wellington. The San Francisco mail, which will bring' London dates of the sth of May, was due at Auckland yesterday. It would be brought to Fiji by the Mikado, and from thence, probably by the City of Adelaide. A telegraphic announcement of the arrival of the steamer in Auckland may be looked for at any moment. In our report of the proceedings at the meeting - of the City Council on Thursday evening the sum of £500,000 was mentioned, instead of £250,000, as the cost of reclaiming the Te Aro foreshore, as estimated by the City Surveyor. An ingeniously contrived and pretty little mail table has been issued by the PostmasterGeneral. It is called the “ Combined Australian and New Zealand Time-Table, 1874,” and while it gives the dates of the arrivals and departures of the mails from and to New Zealand by the San Francisco, the Suez, and the Torres Straits routes, it also gives the postal rates for letters, book packets, and pattern parcels and newspapers, and also an almanac for the year. Yet the whole is printed on a small card, which folds into three, and fits most conveniently in a waistcoat pocket. This lijou time-table has been very neatly printed at the Government Printing Office, and will be found very useful. The missing child, Ettie Needham, who has been missing from her parents’ residence at the Upper Hutt since Sunday afternoon, was found between four and five o’clock on Thursday, about a mile from her home, by a gill named Hogan, who was out in search of cows in Hogan’s Bush, near Barton. The poor child was alive when found, but was in a very exhausted condition, having been exposed for four days and nights to the bleak weather of the past week without sustenance of any kind, and without clothing such as would afford protection from the wintry blasts. She was promptly conveyed to Mrs. Hogan’s house, where restoratives were administered by Dr. Wilford, but the trial upon the system had been too severe, and she expired between eight and nine o’clock yesterday morning. Dr. Wilford’s certificate, that the child died from exposure and exhaustion, will obviate the necessity for an inquest. Mi - . Ballinger’s blast, alluded to in a former issue of this journal, was yesterday subjected to a severe test at Seager’s foundry, where a 5-inch shaft for the steamer Napier was welded. The blast was found to answer admirably, and although some of its force was lost in consequence of a slight defect in fitting it up, the necessary heat was secured and the shaft welded at an expenditure of labor which contrasted very favorably with the process hitherto adopted in the foundry. Since the completion of this blast Mr. Ballinger has received an order to make one of similar power for another foundry in the City.

The s.s. Claud Hamilton was detained at Nelson until ten o’clock yesterday forenoon, when she sailed for Wellington. She would probably arrive off the Heads about midnight. A strong gale was blowing from the south, a heavy sea was running in the Strait, thick rain fell throughout the night, and as it would be difficult to make out the entrance to the harbor, it is probable that the Claud Hamilton would not come in before daylight. A correspondent at Palmerston furnishes us with the following notes as to the progress of that township and its district ;—“ The enterprising firm of Richter, Nannsted, and Co., who have purchased the new steam-engine and Cornish boiler from Mr. Hugh Owen, of Wellington, have had it set to work by Mr. James AVilson, engineer, of Molesworth-street, who has given the firm great satisfaction by his workmanship. The engine is of about 14horse power, has a cylinder of 12J inches diameter ; the boiler is 5 feet 6 inches diameter and 16 feet long ; the engine was manufactured by Messrs. Wright and Edwards, of Melbourne, and is of very simple construction, and makes 110 strokes per minute without the slightest vibration whatever, and is in all its parts very strong. The above firm are also putting down two circular saws, and also a vertical breaking-down saw; and seeing the rapid progress Palmerston is making, there is a bright future in store for them, as the demand for timber is very great; in fact, far in advance of the supply. It is also the intention of the above firm to supply the district with doors and sashes ready made, an article very much required, as the settlers have cither to go to Wellington or Wanganui for them. The firm have about one of the finest totara bush sections in the district. Besides this, Mr. P. Stewart is pushing on with the railway from here to Wanganui through the hush on to Peildiug, and over some of tho finest land in the Province.”

The following tender appeal—on a question of “ efficient and economical drainage”—is made by Mr. Millar, F.S.A., Borough Engineer of Wanganui, to the Mayor and Municipal Councillors ;—“ As your professional Engineering adviser, X once more adjure you in your collective capacities, and as you value the interests of the Burgesses of Wanganui, to forego the determination arrived at by a late resolution, that the Campbell Place sewer be a

9 inch diameter pipe. ...... I need scarcely remind you that the limited funds under the control of the Council will not admit of playing at crude experiments in either sewerage construction, or any other scientific aooomxJlishment.” Some apprehensions were entertained as to the safety of the barque Frowning Beauty, as her arrival at Newcastle from this port had not been telegraphed up to yesterday, though she left Wellington a considerable while ago. The telegrams by the Otago report that the Frowning Beauty had not only arrived at Newcastle, but had loaded and sailed again for this port on the 13th instant.

This evening a new sensation will be offered to the public of Wellington, the Siamese and Asiatic Circus Company having arrived by the Wellington, and playing for the first tune this evening in a very large marquee which will be erected to-day ou spare ground not far from the theatre. The company is a very strong one, comprising not fewer than thirty first-class performers, three of whom are females. The Southern papers speak very highly of the troupe. Madame Ritchie is the star equestrienne of the company, and Mr. Mottitt —very popular in the circus—is the clown. The Siamese Juvenile Troupe are reported to be wonders. It is to ho hoped that the weather will favour the enterprise,

The s.s. Otago, Captain John McLean, arrived at Bluff Heads about seven o’clock last night. The news she brings will be found in another column.

The Otago Harbor Board Bill was passed in the Provincial Council at its sitting on the 12th instant.

The second call of 10s. per share upon shares on the Colonial register of the National Bank will bo due on the Ist proximo, and may be paid at the local office, Featherston Street. The condition of the Terrace between Bowen Street and Woodward Street, auent which deputations to the City Council have at various times said so much, is shortly to bo remedied. The Corporation invite tenders for the improvement of the road.

To meet the convenience of residents in those localities, railway stations are to be erected at the usual stopping-places at Kaiwarra and Ngahaurauga. Tenders for the erection of the stations, which will be of the sixth-class, will be received at the Public Works office up to Wednesday next.

It will be observed from the items of Australian news in another column that Major Kopata, who accompanied the Hon. Donald McLean on his visit to Australia, was in Melbourne when the Otago sailed. The telegram does not state that the Minister of Native Affairs is also there.

Lady Bowen is to visit England—so the telegram of Melbourne news informs ns—leaving Melbourne in September next. Sir George proposes to follow in December or January, returning to Victoria in company with her Ladyship. A meeting of persons interested in the welfare and progress of the Wellington College will be held in the Superintendent's office on Monday, to assist the Governors in deciding as to the host mode of holding a demonstration on the occasion of opening the new college.

The result of the proposal to increase th < salaries of the Corporation officials, which was discussed at the City Council meeting' on Thursday, is that the Town Clerk, AssistantClerk, and City Engineer, have had their salaries increased by the sum of .£SO. The messenger also received an increase of £25. At a numerously attended meeting of the Wellington Jockey Club, held yesterday at the Empire Hotel, the following nominations for the Wellington Jockey Club Derby of IS 7i were made ;—Mr. Walter Brown’s Voltaire, by Traducer out of Maid of the Mist ; Sir. T. Quinlivau’s Maid of the Mountain, by Traducer out of Myrtle; Mr. John Walker's ch. f. Glenavy, by Traducer out of Sweetmeat ; Mr. John Walker’s ch. f., by Traducer out of Policy ; Mr. O. E. Barker’s hr. f. Remnant, by Caleclor out of Gitaua; Mr. T. Delamaiu’s Eliin King ; Mr. J. Stevens’s Ranakia, by Traducer out of Estelle; Mr. W. Walter’s ch. f., by Towton out of Symphony ; Mr. J. Murphy’s b. c. Hercules, by Ravensworth out of Polly ; Mr. James Watt's Kangi ; Mr. James Watt's Tioko; Mr. James Watt’s Ngaro ; Mr. James Watt’s Toi; Mr. James Watt’s Wainui; Mr. J. Emerson’s Guy Faux ; Mr. Redwood's Wainui; Mr. Redwood’s Tetoko ; Mr. Redwood’s Ngaro. The number of entries is by far the largest ever made for any Derby run in New Zealand, and it is expected that the meeting of next year will be equal to that of the great racing metropolis— Christchurch.

One of Hastwell’s wagons met with a serious accident at the Taita on Thursday night, which •resulted in one of the horses being killed. Various versions have been given as to the cause of the accident, hut they concur in the fact that the wagon was turned completely over into a ditch, one horse killed, and another seriously injured, the driver escaping unhurt. Mr. Hastwell will no doubt arrive at a correct explanation of the cause of the mishap. The Registrar of births and deaths yesterday proceeded against four out of 100 persons who have neglected to comply 'with the clause in the Public Health Act, which requires that every parent shall forward to the Registrar a certificate, signed by a medical man, testifying to his child having been vaccinated. The Registrar forwards to each person a blank form to be filled up, and all they have to do is to return the form to him duly certified. But even this simple duty seems too much for some people, and Mr. Hammerton has no option but to put them into Court. The first batch appeared yesterday, and were mulcted in coats for their negligence ; another dozen or, so will be called to appeal' before Mr. Crawford in a day or to, and so on, until the 100 uoncompliauts have been taught that they must respect the law.

In the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday the charge against James Dunn for assaulting his wife was again remanded for a week, to admit of an amicable settlement of the case being effected. J. Fulton, J. L. Bees, C. J. Cottle, and A. Fisk were charged with breaches of .the Public Health Act, in neglecting to return within the stipulated period the certificates of vaccination forwarded to them by the Registrar of births and deaths. The certificates having been returned since the issue of the summons, the charges were withdrawn upo payment of costs by the defendants.

At the land sale at Venn ell’s rooms yesterday, a section at the corner of Pipitea street, opposite the Hospital, brought £6 15s. a foot. Prosperous as are the times, this price was regarded as a little beyond the mark, and the bidding was, therefore, confined to two persons, although there was a very crowded attendance of speculators anxious to invest. The section was started at £6, and after three bids it was knocked down at £6 15s. to Mr. Liverton, of the Hutt. A section in Webb street fetched 19s. a foot, three others being withdrawn. A man named Donald McCormick, who was found in the Mungaroa bush on Thursday afternoon, by a party of surveyors, was brought in to the Hospital yesterday by Constable Lyster, of the Upper Hutt. McCormick states that he wandered into the bush on Monday last, though he furnishes no explanation for his idiosyuoraoy. It is very certain that had he remained much longer in the bush he would have slept the sleep of death, for when brought out his legs were swollen and paralysed, and he was in a listless condition of exhaustion. Strangely enough, he was not more than fifty yards from the road when found. McCormick is not altogether unknown to the public functionaries of the City. For some time he was an inmate of the Hospital, where his conduct was the reverse of circumspect, and it is not more than three weeks ago that his bibulous propensities brought him into contact with the jwesiding Magistrate at the City Court. McCormick’s misfortunes are of his own creation.

Some idea of the severity of the weather experienced ou the rocky shores of this Colony may be gathered from the fact that on the 11th inst., during the heavy gale from the S.E., the wind instrument at Capo Campbell registered 1036 miles for twenty-four hours. Six inches of raiu were registered on the same day. Ou the following morning (the 12th) the wind instrument registered 1134 miles for twentyfour hours, the quantity of raiu which fell on this occasion being nothing remarkable. It will he remembered that the weather experienced about this time was also very severe, the wind and rain recorded ou the lltlx being G 75 miles and two inches; and on the 12th, 400 miles and IT2 inches.

A sad accident occurred at Wanganui to a lad named Price, ou Tuesday last. The lad (says the Chronicle) was playing marbles with some other boys in Campbell Street, iu the swamp, when a horse crossed the road and came iu their Way. The lad ran to drive the horse away, and while in the act of striking him the horse lashed out and kicked the unfortunate hoy iu the face, breaking his jaw and cutting his head iu a frightful manner. The IThnyajiui Chronicle speaks of a rumor being current to the effect that the Ngatiawas had stopped the traffic on the Bull’s and Palmerston road, by digging a trench across it. We have not been able to find a better origin for the rumor than some threats made by the Natives that they would obstruct the road. No information as to the stoppage of the road was brought hy the Wellington coach.

Tho Mauris about Wanganui seem to have

developed a somewhat aristocratic taste —that o£ driving coaches and four. “ Considerable amusement was created in town yesterday,” says the Wanganui Chronicle, “by the appearance of a four-horse coach driven by a Native and loaded with Maori passengers. The horses seemed to be well selected, there being a pair of cuebalds and a pair of bays, and a number of natives were riding behind the vehicle on horseback. We have not heard what is the intention of our dusky Wends ; probably they are going to start in opposition to Cobb and Co.”

“ The Borough Council,” says tho Wanganui Chronicle, “ has at length done something towards putting the engineering department on a better footing. It has determined to relievo Mr. Millar of the supervision of the ordinary works of the town, and to confine his duties to the more important works connected with drainage and the water supply, and to tho preparation of a map of the town. Tho former will henceforth be under the management of a foreman specially appointed for the purpose, with a salary of £l5O a-year. An apparent increase in the Borough expenditure is here involved, but it is expected this will be more than counterbalanced by the cessation of the present waste and oxtravageuco caused by the conflict of authority between tho Works Committee and the Engineer.”

■Wanganui is progressing rapidly. The Chronicle reports that a large amount of building is going on. During last month a number of cottages were erected, and ten or twelve new houses, some of them of large dimensions, are now in course of erection. These include a seven-roomed cottage for Mr. J. Cr. Woon, and a villa for Mr. Paul. Town sections at Cnmphelltown are rising rapidly in value. CANTERBURY. A sample of lime obtained from Malvern Hills’ stone, burnt in Air. Langdown's kiln, is being exhibited in Christchurch. A man has mysteriously disappeared in the Timaru district. The particulars, so far as they are known, are thus given by tho Herald; —On Tuesday evening last, John Treanor, a fanner living at Kakaku, on returning with his waggon and team from Timaru, stayed at Mr. Glasson’s Arawhenua Hotel for a few minutes, and while there his horses started on. Upon going into the river-bed, one of the horses fell down. AVith tho assistance of Messrs. Frew and Orton the horses were loosed and the one that was down extricated, when it was found that he was seriously ripped. Treanor started on to Temuka with the cripple, and asked Frew to take the other horses and put them in his paddock. The night being very dark Erow could not find the horses, and returned to Temuka to inform Treanor that they were not to be found. On his arrival, the horse Treanor started with was found following Quinn’s waggon, but nothing could he seen or heard of Treanor, and, strange to say, nothing has been heard of liim up to the present time, although his partner Godsel, together with some of his men and the police, have been searching in every direction. An extraordinary instance of vitality is thus related by a correspondent of the Press :—As Messrs. F. Houghton, of Pigeon Eay, and AVm. Masefield, of Gough’s Bay, were on a shooting excursion at Lake Forsyth on Tuesday, April 11th ult., their attention was attracted by a fine specimen of the green lizard, which was secured by Mr. Houghton and placed in a common tin match-box, with the intention of preserving it in spirits. On his arrival at home the box was temporarily laid aside, and afterwards forgotten until Thursday last, the 11th inst., when on its being opened, instead of a shrivelled skin being found, not only was the original animal alive and well, but also two young ones which it had produced during its two months’ imprisonment, all of which appear at present as strong and healthy as though they had never been in confinement. It is Mr. Houghton’s intention to forward both animals and box to Dr. Haast by first opportunity.

Reporting on the progress of the Timaru and Temnha Railway the Timaru Herald, of June 15, says : —The locomotive for this railway was got into working order last week. On priday it was drawn along the line nearly to the Washdyke by horses, and will bo set to work as soon as the trucks are ready, which are now being put together on the beach.

The Chamber of Commerce are agitating for a reduction of railway fares. A deputation from the Chamber have waited upon His Honor the Superintendent and the Executive, and laid before the Government the request of the Chamber that the proposed reduction in charges should be of a more substantial character. The subject, says the Times, was fully represented and discussed, and the Government informed the deputation that the proposed reductions were only tentative, and that further reductions would be made if the revenue justified them. OTAGO. The circumstances of the late gas explosion in the house of Mr. Edmond, sailmaker, Dunedin, are thus stated in the Guardian of the 16th About half-past nine o’clock an escape of gas was thought to have taken place in the parlor, in which room it had been turned off on the previous evening by Mrs. Edmond. Mr. Edmond, having turned the gas off at the meter, lit a match, and applied it to the whole length of the pipe, which extended from the meter to the burner in the middle of the room, but did not succeed in detecting any escape. Ho then applied a light to the burner, and when, the flame was about half an inch in height, a loud explosion took place. The result was that the south and front walls of the room were blown out- and left standing at an angle of about seventy degrees. The roof was lifted off, and fell on the floor with a loud crash. The door leading to the passage was also blown off, and other injuries of a lesser nature -were done to other parts of the house. The furniture and pictures in the room at the time were also much damaged. Mr. Edmond unfortunately did not escape without injury, as he had his face and hands somewhat burned. Dr. Alexander was called in, and did what was necessary under the circumstances. Mr. Edmond was insured in the Northern Insurance Company for the sum of £BOO, which will no doubt cover his losses. The Eire Brigade was promptly on the spot, but their services were not needed, as but little burning had taken place. Dr. Webster, in speaking to a vote in the Provincial Council of Otago for the improvement of the Kaikanui harbor, stated that the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company intended to establish a sugar manufactory at Kaikanui, if the facilities for shipping at that port were increased. The property purchased in Dunedin for the Colonial Bank is the freehold and building in Custom-house Square, next the Bank of New Zealand, owed by Mr. Hallenstein.