TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5560, 23 January 1879, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

(PER PRESS AGENCY). New Plymouth, Wednesday. The Surveyor-General has countermanded his instructions to the Survey Department here to send surveyors to Mokau. The garrisons at Opunake and Waihi are being strengthened. Grahamstown, Wednesday. The Kurunui mine got a rich leader, which is crushing remarkably well. J. P. Hall, long a manager of mines here, goes to the Tokatea mine, at Coromandel, at a salary of £SOO a year. The Church Mission Society hare given a site for a station on their lands at Puriri. The Hou._ F. Whitaker, 8.W.P.G.M., Scotch Constitution's here, holding an installation of Scotch and Irish Lodge officers tomorrow. The Government give £4OO towards the cost of the erection of an old men’s refuge here. Auckland, Wednesday. Mr. Barr, the contractor tor the plate laying on the Mountain-road, took with him seventy laborers. Captain Dearborn, of the City of Sydney, who recently visited Russell, has decided to take his steamer there when repaired, and take in 1000 tons of coal. The following is a list of the vessels likely to take part in the champion race at the annual regatta on the 29th :— Brigantine Myrtle, schooners Transit, Reward, Torea, Albatross, Acadia, Sissy, Madonna, Energy, Winifred, Mary Hogan, and ketch Ada Start. The statement that Puriri sleepers can’t be obtained in sufficient quantities for contract in Auckland causes much indignation. An unlimited quantity is obtainable, but from some cause the Public Works Department’s, in Auckland, tenders stipulate that sleepers must be sawn. Good judges, like Swanson and Hobbs, say split sleepers are superior to sawn. Opposition to Auckland tenders is said to be from a desire on the part of some official in the Public Works Department to injure Auckland for criticisms in regard to public works. It is also said tbat Auckland members will take the matter up next session. . At the Wesleyan Conference to-day it was agreed that the stipends of ministers on native stations should be fixed at £206 per annum, and that all moneys raised on those circuits he brought to the Home Mission Fund.

Mr. Sheehan on bis return from the Thames was interviewed by natives to-day, who desire to accompany Mr. Simpson, the surveyor, to point out the best road from Cambridge to Ghinemutu. Another deputation is now waiting on Mr. Sheehan. They wish to sell to the Government the celebrated springs at Roto Iti, on the Tauranga side of the hot lake district.

Judge Gillies gave judgment to-day, on application for the discharge of Kennell, charged with the'murder of Captain Moller at Butaritari, outside the Queen’s dominions. After reviewing the facts previously telegraphed, the Judge said that counsel for the Crown appeared imperfectly instructed in respect to such an important case. The provisions of the Foreign Offenders’ Act applied only to offences committed within the Australasian Colonies; therefore the Act did not apply in the present case. The argument that the offence was committed within the jurisdiction of the colony of Fiji did not apply, as the act was committed at Butaritari, outside the limits of Fiji. The Judge felt compelled to come to the conclusion that both the warrants—original and substituted—are equally bad, and that neither of them legally authorised the detention of the prisoner. The Judge concluded that, after a careful and anxious examination of all statutes which might give power or jurisdiction to the Court to try the charge against prisoner, he failed to find any that confers that jurisdiction. Had he been able to find even an apparent authority for assuming jurisdiction, he would in the interestsof public justicehaveassumeditjleavingthe Court of Appeal ultimately to determine ; but he could not find even an apparent authority. He was therefore compelled, through a legislative defect, to permit a manifest failure of justice, and the prisoner must be discharged, but he (the Judge) trusted that the Government of the colony would take such measures as would prevent a recurrence of such an event.

A man named Charles Phillips has been arrested on warrant, charged with forging and uttering an order on Mr. Phillips, painter. The Government steamer Stella, with the Hon. the Native Minister, sailed to-night for Whangarei. A child named Jones, whose parents reside in Baker-street, fell down a well, and before assistance could he rendered was drowned. An inquest will be held to-morrow afternoon. At Helensville three serious accidents occurred yesterday. The Helensville hotelkeeper’s son, aged twenty months, had his hand literally torn off by a huge log drawn by a team of oxen. The boy’s name is James. Amputation of the wrist is necessary. Another accident occurred to a boy eight years old named John Hammer. He jumped into a railway truck on top of the incline, and took out the break-pin. The sta-tion-master's two children were in the truck, and caused him to call out to Eimmer to stop the truck ; the latter tried to re-fix the breakpin, and turned a somersault on to the line. The truck went over him, stripping the flesh from his shoulder to his hip and breaking his ribs. The Helensville telegraphist was thrown out of the same truck on Saturday, and lay between the sleepers, so escaped crushing. A third accident happened to a little girl two years old, daughter of Dr. Stewart, of Kaukapakapa, who, while walking along, the trunk of a large tree fell a considerable 3 distance on a stake, which entered her breast. The child lies in a precarious condition. The community is quite dejected in consequence of these accidents. Oamaku, Wednesday.

A dray accident occurred near Ngapara yesterday, by which an old ’ Hampden settler named Thomas Howie lost his life. Deceased was proceeding to the Tables with a load of

coal. When one mile beyond Ngapara, the horses shied and cc.psized the dray, which fell on deceased, killing him instantly. An inquest will be held to-day. The following gentlemen have been chosen to represent the North Otago Rifle Association at the New Zealand Rifle Association’s meeting, to be held in Nelson in March next: —Captain Martin, Oamaru Artillery ; Captain McCorkeudale, City Cadets ; SubLieutenant Morris, Color-Sergeant King, Privates E. Harding, E. Harding, and A. Hardy, Oamaru Rifles. At the reaper and binder competition to day, for the gold medal given by the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association, McCormick and Reid and Gray were the only makers represented. The former obtained thirty-seven votes, the latter four. Christchurch, Wednesday. By the barque Times, from Loudon, there arrived a number of combined threshing engines, also another locomotive for the Railway Department. The rateable value of Sydenham this year is £43,765, being an increase for the last twelve months of £4946. Yarley held his farewell meeting here last night, and left this morning by train for Oamaru and Dunedin. At Rangiora yesterday a case was heard in which the Bench held that in all ordinary cases claims against the Railway Department must be made against the Minister for Public Works, yet where an employe causes unnecessary delay in the delivery of packages, he was personally liable for damages. Mdlle. Charbonnet will give her first concert to morrow. In the case of Henderson v. the Napier Harbor Board the jury found substantially for the plaintiff. Several issues with regard to small sums are not yet settled ; they will probably be referred to arbitration. Basingthwaite, the fraudulent bankrupt, was to-day committed for trial. Dunedin, Wednesday. At the Synod to-night a proposal will be submitted to vote £SOO for the erection of a theological college. At the Synod to-day the following resolution was adopted,—That the Synod view with satisfaction the steps recently taken by the Council of the University of Otago to secure for that institution an independent charter, and earnestly hopes that this action of the Council may be crowned with success. The railway employes’ picnic will be held on the Ist proximo, as the Dunedin section now extends from Waitake to Clinton. It has been decided to hold two picnics this year. That at Hampden will be attended by employes and their friends living between Timaru and Dunedin, and it is expected about 800 persons will be present. The locality of the other party will probably be Milton, and will be sought by those residing between Clinton and Dunedin. The Attorney-General has received the following telegram; —“Gore, 4.20 p.m. I regret to inform you that Mr. Conyers, in passing from one carriage to another near this station, came in contact with a tank, receiving a terrible blow on the forehead, and fell on the ground. He remains unconscious, and the doctors fear he may not recover. We leave him here tonight, but the sad accident has completely marred the trip. —Ballance.” This evening a deputation from the Synod waited on the University Council, to intimate that the Synod had agreed to endow a chair of moral philosophy and political economy in the Otago University, and not one of English language aud literature, as recommended by the Council. The council having heard the deputation, resolved, —That the council having already appointed a professor of mental aud moral philosophy and political economy, at the request of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Otago, by whom he was nominated; and further, being informed by Professor Percival, believed that the arrangements for teaching these branches are sufficient to appoint another professor to teach the same subjects in the University, and they accordingly respectfully decline the proposal made by the Synod. _______________