TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4230, 10 October 1874, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

THE SUPPOSED MURDER ON BOARD THE ONEGA. [Press Telegraph Agency.] Dddkdin, Friday. The Oneca inquiry was continued to-day, and created great interest in shipping and other circles. Mr. Stout, on the opening of the Court, said he hoped that what had appeared in the Guardian of that morning would not be continued. The report was headed “ The Oneca Murder,” which was unprecedented in journalism. If the paper wished to keep up sensationalism, it was only fair to the accused that the words “ alleged murder” should be used. Sharp, a seaman; —who had been examined on the previous day—on cross-examination said he could swear that Green fell, and did notjump, overboard. He did not tell the Consul the whole facts because he was afraid of bis life.

Joba White, another seaman, said he saw Green tumble from the gallows three times on the night of the occurence, striking the deck each time. No man could stand on it with the wind blowing as it was. After he fell the third time he (witness) heard three distinct groans from the water, but saw nothing. Sergeant Neil said the accused remarked on the night of the 29th of September that if he had not taken the advice of others he would not be where he then stood. On being arrested, he said he did not plead that, he did not do it, but that he did not do it wilfully. George Campbell, the cook, was the next witness called. He was awoke on the night in question by a noise on the deck. He got up. He heard Dodd, in answer to Green, who pleaded for mercy, say, “I’ll murder you.” He heard blows and groans, and afterwards the cry, “ Man overboard.” He declined to answer a question whether he intended to leave the ship, or to prefer a charge against the captain, so as to get quit of the vessel, Charles Brown, the chief officer, said he was aroused by the cry of “ Man overboard.” He afterwards asked Dodd how Green got overboard, and Dodd replied that be had fallen from the main rigging; “he fell over from there. ’ He (Dodd) afterwards said “thefool” had jumped overboard. On a subsequent day he told him things that led him to infer that he (the accused) was not altogether to blame, as it was partly by obeying orders that he had got into trouble. On several occasions Dodd told him the Captain had driven him to do it. Dodd also told witness that the Captain had tried to induce him to heave Sharp, the principal witness, overboard, as then the others might he blocked off. Dodd also said the Captain offered to run the ship close in to land to let him jump overboard aud swim ashore. Dodd regretted his actions, aud said if he got over this it would teach bim not to be led by an unprincipled man. Dodd also said he would not throw Sharp overboard because it would be wilful murder. Dodd drew witness’ attention to the third belaying-pin from the gallows, and said, “ There’s the belaying-pin with which it was done.” In cross-examination witness said there had been disagreements between himself and the Captain on the passage, of which more would be heard hereafter.

Frederick Ti-avers, a boy in the second mate’s watch, was on the look-out on the night of the 17th September, and saw nothing. At the conclusion of his evidence the boy Travers asked to be allowed to say something for himself.

The Magistrate said if he had a complaint to make against the Captain he would hear it next morning. The Captain must let him come ashore for the purpose. Constable Carter read the depositions made by the prisoner, who said the Captain had given him an opportunity of escaping. The means were the furling of the sails, when Sharp and White were sent aloft to take in the main royal. After they were up. Captain Henry pointed aloft and said to him, “ That’s your salvation ; go up and throw both off.” He (Dodd) answered that he had done enough, and would bear the brunt of it. He (Dodd) then went aloft, ordered Sharp down, and took in the royal himself. Prisoner was committed for trial.

The Hart fund now amounts to £I6OO. Timaru has forwarded over £IOO, and Akaroa £9O. Christchurch, Friday. A complimentary dinner was given by the Philosophical Institute to the members of the Transit of Venus Expedition last night. The toast of the guests of the evening was proposed by* Dr. Haast, and Major Palmer responded. He said : I hope to have the transit instrument and clock erected and adjusted next week, and the other instruments to follow would be in full working order in a fortnight. lam in hopes that we shall have a chain of at least four or five stations, extending from Wellington to Dunedin. Lieutenant Darwin and I, with the three non-commissioned officers of Engineers who have accompanied us, shall operate at the main station at Burnham. Lieutenant Crawford will take a transit instrument and telescope to Timaru. lam endeavoring to establish a station at Dunedin. Archdeacon Stock will, I hope, be able to observe the transit at Wellington. Bluff, Friday. An English screw steam man-of-war has passed bound for Otago. Could not get her name. She wished to be reported all well. Nelson, Friday. Mr. Curtis addressed his constituents last night. He commented at length on the State Forests Bill, taking exception to the clause for placing 3 per cent, of the lands under General Government control. He looked on the Bill as merely subsidiary to the desire to increase the revenue at the disposal of the Government. With regard to the abolition of Provinces, he declared his intention to continue to oppose it, till he knew and was satisfied with the form of government to be substituted ; and pointed out that, financially. Nelson would be a large sufferer, as she would have to undertake the responsibility of loans raised and public works carried out in other Provinces. The other portions of his speech were only of local interest. Resolutions in favor of the abolition of Provinces were carried by a small majority. Very few hands were held up on either side. The meeting was not large, and the proceedings tame. Mr. Richmond addressed his constituents last night at Waimea. He spoke in favor of the abolition of Provinces. Mr. Bamicoat, Speaker of the Provincial Council, moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Richmond ; but that electors desire to reserve their opinion on the Provincial question till informed of the character and probable cost of the institutions to follow. The meeting was poorly attended.

Alexandra, Friday. The Hon. Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Seed, of file Customs, are expected here to-day. No Native news. Auckland, Friday. Charles Dyer has been sentenced to death for the murder of Eliza Battersea. When leaving the dock he pointed at the constable whose evidence chiefly convicted him, and said, “That man is my murderer.” He protested that the occurrence was accidental. A tender at £3753 for repairing the Swedish ship Condoren has been accepted. She came in here dismasted, on her voyage from Sydney to San Francisco. Napier, Friday. Bonos of a moa, sufficient to form on entire skeleton, excepting the lower jaw-bone, have been found in a landslip at Mararekakaho. They are a valuable addition to the scientific suriosities of the Province. Miss Aitken, with the assistance of local amateurs, has played “The Bonnie Fishwife.” to a tolerably good house. The railway to Hastings will be opened on Monday.

ARRIVAL OF THE MIKADO.

ANNEXATION OF FIJI COMPLETED, ERUPTION OF MOUNT ETNA. BAZAINE VISITS ENGLAND. EMIGRATION OF ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL UNION LABORERS.

BAZAINE ON THE HATE FRANCOPRUSSIAN WAR. Auckland, October 9. The Mikado arrived at midnight with large English and American mails. She left San Francisco on the 13th nit.; made the passage to Honolulu in seven days and fifteen hours ; arrived at Kandavau on the 4th inst., and left the same day at noon. She comes on the owner's account. Passengers : Mrs. Graham and infant, Messrs. J. H. Lewis and J. Brownell; and thirty-six for Australia. She has no cargo for Auckland, but 655 packages for Port Chalmers ; 350 for Lyttelton ; and 2 for Wellington. She sailed for Sydney at four o’clock in the afternoon. The annexation of Fiji is completed, and the English flag was to be floated for the first time yesterday. Lieutenant Woods is a passenger by the Mikado. GENERAL SUMMARY OF EUROPEAN NEWS. The English pilgrims arrived at Pontigny on the 2nd September. The party numbered 313, and included Bishop Manning, Earl Gainsborough, and other members of the nobility. A great German Sangerfest was held at Waterloo on the 2nd of September. The eruption of Mount Etna shows no signs of abatement. The inhabitants are fleeing from the villages at the foot of the mountain; but it is thought that no harm will be done, as the direction taken by the lava streams is remote from the cultivated parts of the mountains.

The anniversary of Sedan was observed throughout Germany as a holiday. The Prince of Wales was present at a banquet in the evening. Russia has seat special agents to the Republican and Carliat bead-quarters, to report on the military position of the contending parties. It is reported that an order will soon be issued from Berlin, expelling from Prussia all foreign priests, monks, and nuns. There is a rumor that Spain proposes to sell Port Rico, in the West Indies, to Germany. It has since been contradicted, but not officially. Marshal Bazaine proceeds to England shortly.

Victor Hugo declines the invitation to a Peace Congress at Geneva; he says peace cannot be established until another war has been fought between France and Germany—points to the hatred between the two countries, and asserts that war must be declared between the principles of Monarchy and Republicanism. A great strike of cotton operators at Bolton has begun. Four mills, employing 13,000 persons, are stoppied. The Trades Unions throughout the manufacturing districts are collecting subscriptions for the idlers.

A letter from the Marquis de Safrago, Charge D’ Affaires of the Carlists,regarding the shooting of some Republican prisoners in Clothe, says that Republican soldiers had previously shot and bayonetted Carlists who were wounded and lying in hospitals at Clothe. No one regrets the sanguinary character the war has assumed more than Don Carlos, but when the enemy will not respect the ordinary usages of civil war, no means are left for the Royalist generals but retaliation.

Apprehensions regarding a second year of famine in India are ended. There is a partial failure of the crops in some districts, but no greater than in ordinary years. The newspapers of Paris publish an official despatch acknowledging that Royalists fired oh the German gunboats Albatross and Nautilus. The despatch declares that the vessels were endeavoring to effect a landing of armed men under the pretext of exercising their crews ; and in conclusion says that the Carlists will recognise no combination of Serrano and accomplices, but will exact respect for Spanish territory, and resist the bravado with which the German Government has endorsed the act of the gunboats. The steamship Alexandria, which was sunk in the Mersey by a collision with the Spanish steamer Tomes, has been raised and taken into dry dock. She had only ballast on board. The Tomes has also been docked.

The ship Euxine, on the voyage from Shields to Aden, took fire and was destroyed. Twentyone of the crew escaped. Two boats arrived at St. Helena, after a voyage of 1100 miles, during which neither boat saw the other. A third boat, containing the remainder of the crew, has not been hoard of. Five hundred laborers, members of the English Agricultural Union, have sailed for Canada. The German Government will not interfere with the internal affaire of Spain.

A letter from Bazaine ro dews the late war between Germany and France. He complain that he was the victim of the army, and that the Empire had but two supports—the Emperor and Thiers. He says he would not have attempted to escape had McMahon seen fit to lessen the severity of his captivity. He considers now that during his trial he should have employed the same weapons as McMahon, and shown how the latter was defeated, and had evacuated Alsace, which was one of the chief causes of the army disasters. McMahon was as unfortunate at Sedan as he (Bazaine) had been at Metz; as Trochu and Ducrot were in Paris ; and as Bourbaki and Clinchart were in the East. But McMahon forgot all this when he became President. AMERICAN NEWS. Preparations for the Presidential election are again commencing in New York. It is said that Grant’s re-election is certain. Mr. H. H. Hall left San Francisco for the East the evening after his arrival from Australia.

Madame Agatha States died at New York on September 2. The Champion Swimming Race between the American and English champions, for 1000 dollars, distance three miles, was won by Johnson, a Londoner. Scenes of violence and murder have occurred in the south-west of the United States, a war of races being the exciting cause. Arrangements are in progress for laying a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable from San Francisco to Honolulu.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS. The published report of the Austrian Polar Expedition shows that after the ship was abandoned the party travelled for seven months in sledges, and spent two winters on the ice. Only one of the party died. The Belfast strike has ended. Ten thousand workmen have resumed employment at reduced wages. A fearful railway collision has occurred near Norwich, in which twenty persons were killed and fifty injured. The agricultural strike promoted by Mr. Arch has ended in failure and disaster. The farmers are getting labor for the harvest, and leaving the men who turned out unemployed. The Union announces its inability to support them, and many are emigrating. Ex-Governor Colonel Gore Brown has become a Director of the New Zealand Trust and Loan Company. Outrages have occurred at Dundrum, Ireland, directed against the farmers who are using agricultural machinery. An encounter has taken place between Brazilian troops and religious fanatics. The troops were defeated, lost forty men, and abandoned their artillery. COMMERCIAL. San Francisco, September 12. Quotations of the Liverpool wheat market are given to-day, at 10s. Id. to 10s. Bd., for average quality, and 10s. BJd. for superior. At New York, the price is Idol. SOcents. to Idol. 45cents. In this market, the rates are : Wheat : Idol. locents. to Idol. 55cents. per lOOlbs.; choice oats. Idol. oOcents. to Idol. OOceuts. Wool here is IScents. to 21ceuts; in New York, SOcents. to 35cents. ENGLISH SHIPPING. Arrived : Jungfrau, Warwick Castle, Otago, and Crusader, from Lyttelton ; Queen of the North, from Napier. Sailed : May Queen and Mataura, for Otar'o, August IS ; Carnatic, for Wellington and°Picton, August 15 ; Soukar, for Wellington, August 21 ; Cheviot and E. P. Bouverie, for Canterbury, August 16 ; Waitara, Aug. 19.