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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 6329, 25 July 1881, Page 2

. ..4,.hcr?e, whose owner is at present unknown* wandered into Mr. James Smith’s paddock at the top of Taranaki-stceet on Friday last, and shortly afterwards was found lying on the” ground quite dead. The committee appointed to inquire into the accounts of the New Plymouth Harbor Board, its powers, and functions, met on Saturday last,, when preliminary business of only :a formal character was transacted.' *

The attention of members of the Artillery Battery is directed to a notice in our advertising columns of the annual meeting to he held to-morrow - evening. The -parade will assemble at the usual hour in the new drillshed.

The Westport Times of the loth .instant says ; —“Mrs. Spence, who is engagsd at McFarlane’s Hotel, Waimangaroa, after retiring on Tuesday night, 1 yawned,' and immediately found, to her surprise, that she had dislocated her jaw. All efforts to replace the bones were ineffectual, and after suffering great pain all night, Mrs, Spence, accompanied by Mr.'W, Tavandale, walked "into town'next moruiog, leaving Waimangaroa at 4 o’clock and arriving at 7, . An hour and a half’s work on the part of Dir. Thorpe was requi-ite'before the.jaw was-placed fnits proper’position.” . A somewhat ludicrous event happened to a young man named Latvia Oswell on Saturday afternoon. . He was. " paddling his own canoe, . or some 'one-ojse’s, at the rear of the 'Umpire Hotel, when the concern suddenly' capsized, precipitating the unlucky navigator into the harbor. There being a boat at anchor a short distance off,.he was .soon clinging to its side, until rescued by a boat manned -by- Frederick • Gleech and David Anderson, who quickly put off to his assistance, and lauded him on terra, Jirma none the worse for the duckirg.

There is every prospect of a coal famine in Wellington owing to the heavy southerly winds which have prevailed for the past ten days. Stocks in the hands of. wholesale-and retail dealers are exceedingly small, and it is at the present time almost a matter of impossibility to obtain a supply that will meet demands for more than a day or two. Until the wind moderates it is impossible for:colliers from the' West Coast or Newcastle to beat through the Straits. At the same time the cold weather compels householders to consume more than the ordinary quautityper day. '-C : An inquest was held at the Asylum on Saturday;, touching the death of a; patient named George Fills, a half-caste Fast Indian, aged, 65. . The,' deceased,' who came , from i Wanganui on the 17th April last, had been suffering since bis admission to the institution from.general, weakness, and had been subject to convulsive fits, and-finally sunk under his sufferings on Friday afternoon. Tbe-jury returned a'verdict ot' l f died from natural causes,” adding a rider to the effect that on.the.occasion of future inquests the Press should be so advised that a reporter might be present during the proceedings, «. > ; The Gold Fields Committee report on the petition of the Buffer County Council is ; as follows The Gold Fields Committee, to whom was referred the petition of the Bailer County Cohiicil, praying that all the rivers and public watercourses in' the Buffer Cotmty be made available in the; development of the mining industry, have the honor to report that this petition be referred to the Government, with the recommendation that the Waste Lands Boards of the colony be instructed not to sell lands on the banka of rivers or streams in the vicinity of gold fields without due reservation being made to.protect the mining industry.- -They further recommend -that the watercourses on gold fields should be .all proclaimed, and that the existing riparian rights affecting all outlets used for. tailings be done away with.” About three weeks ago. both Houses appointed committees to inquire into the rabbit nuisance. The committees sat together and went at . their task: with moat commendable vigor, so much so that they were able yesterday to present their report, having collected a large amount of. evidence, both oral ’and written. This was given by gentlemen from many districts in - the South Island and the Wairarap >, and is likely, when printed, to make known a condition of things which has hitherto been little suspected by the geueral public, and which the committee state in their report, to avert 'absolute', ruin, must be remedied by amended legislation,, and which . they, urge shonld. be immediately passed this session. One cause,of the committee's celerity was their having the questions printed and submitted to the witnesses beforehand, and their keeping themselves and those appearing before'them rigidly to the point.

V The steamer Rotomahana, from Melbourne, arrived at the Bluil last night, but being nnable to enter we . are not iu a position to publish her Australian and late English news in this issue.

Mr. Geo. Thomas sells at 2 p.m. to-day, a valuable building site and building in the town of Masterton. The property is situate in the main street of tho most thriving inland town in the provincial district, and should therefore attract more than- ordinary attention. The Police Department received telegraphic information of a clever capture of an illicit still, plant, and a quantity of whisky on the Taratahi Plains, by Constables Biunskill and Evans early on Saturday morning. They also arrested a man named Fritz Van, Schlnter on the premises at the time, who is supposed to be the principal offender.' This'same" person was convicted and incurred a heavy fine for a similar offence committed at Palmerston North a short time ago.

. An accident which might have resulted more seriously occured to a cabman named Patrick Smith on Saturday evening. He was driving with two horses attached to his vehicle down Buulcott-street, when, from some unaccountable cause, he tell off his seat. The horses at once bolted, and shortly afterwards came into contact with a bridle post in front of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, breaking it short off. The concussion liberated the animals from the carriage ; one of them was at once secured by the bystanders, the other went at .full full speed down Manners-street, and in reaching the corner of Cuba-street, was fortunately stopped by Constable Doyle, but for whose prompt presence of mind in stopping the horse’s mad career some serious injury to the numerous pedestrians in the street at the time might have resulted.” The Bandmann Combination Company presented Schiller's tragedy of “ Die ILcuber” as a farewell performance on Saturday night. The unfavorable weather which interfered with the financial success of the season from the beginning still continued, and ; the stalls and pit were only moderately patronised. Presented without scenery to give it proper' effect, “ The Robbers” (an inadequate translation of the German title) was certainly a great success, so far as the leading characters were concerned. Herr Bandmann acted his part with an ease and precision which bespoke a long acquaintance with it, as ..well as careful study.- Miss Beaudet played the part of the unhappy Amelia, the bride whom Charles de Moor (the robber) left behind him when the treacherous conduct of his younger brother Francis has caused him to become an outcast. Her part was one of great difficulty, being made up of a display of her passion from first to last. She really left no room for adverse criticism. Mr; J. F. Cathcart as the hunchbacked villain Francis, and Mr. Nunn as Count de Moor,-were both good, the latter more particularly iu the scene whore Charles releases him from the dungeon into which an unnatural son had cast him. Spiegelberg, the cowardly braggart, was fairly represented by Mr. Musgrave, and Switzer by Mr. Charles Hall. The concluding scene, in which the three members of the Moor family, and Amelia, meet their fate, was most impressive, and a fine piece of acting throughout, Herr Bandmann's fine little comedy, “The Radical Cure,” wound up the evening.. The company leaves for the South by the Albion to-day.