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Otago Daily Times, Issue 4171, 1 July 1875, Page 2

Our Auckland correspondent telegraphs: —"Counsel oa behalf of Hunter (charged with attempted suicide), in contending to day for the release of the accused aimply under

s.tfae bonds for future behaviour, said that Hunter was maddened by poisoned stuff vended as liquor in some parts of the city. The Magistrate doubted whether, the offence being proved, he could release the prisoner. He remanded him for consideration. —Tairna shares have advanced to £4 to-day. Our Christchurch correspondent telegraphs last evening fchat " at the Rangiora Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, a man. named Budge was charged, that on June 4th he made use of a railway ticket between Papanui and Oust Stations, the same not having been issued to him. D. M'Oandlish called, stated that a picket by the first train, which was available for the return journey, was issued to him at Gust Station on the date named. He met accused near Christchurch, and while in conversation the railway ticket was accidentally dropped from his pocket; accused picked it np, and said as witness would not want it he had better give it to him. Witness replied lie could have it, but it waa no use to biin. Accused said he would 'Try it on.' Further evidence was given that accused had travelled by means of. the ticket from Papanui to Cust. The Bench considering that the clause of the Railway Regulations was very explicit, viz., that tickets are not transferable, any person using or attempttng to use or transfer ticket or tickets, the proper use of which has expired, shall be lilble to a penalty not exceeding £5, imposed a penalty of £3, ordering accused to pay Court costs, 11s Gd, expenses of witnesses, 13s, and railway fare, 4s 2d." Through the courtesy of His Honour the Superintendent, we learn that the Christian M'Ausland sailed in May from London for the Bluff, with 339 passengers. At the Waste Lands Board meeting, yesterday, the Government recommended a number of sections of land to be classed as of special value. Exception was taken to the recommendation by Mr Connell, who objected to it being considered, on the ground that it had been entered in the minute-book after four o'clock the previous afternoon, contrary to a resolution passed 'by the Board a short time ago. Mr Reid justified the action of the Government, and demurred to the Superintendent being placed in the same category as a private applicant; his time being taken up with public matters. After some furtherdiscussion, in which Mr Reid remarked he had no time to waste with Mr Connell, the latter gentleman subsided. At the annual meeting of the Harbour Board, yesterday, a quantity of miscellaneous business was got through, and correspondence of an important nature discussed. The Engineer's" and Inspector of Works' reports on the works in progress during the months of May and June were read, and also a complaint from' the captain of the schooner Rosebud, on the subject of towage. A full report will be found elsewhere. Vital statistics of the Port Chalmers District, during the quarter ending June 30 th, have been supplied by Mr Monson, the Registrar, and from them it appears that 33 births, viz., 16 males and 17 females, occurred, whilst of deaths there were 5, 3 males and 2 females, 4of them being in the case of adults and 1 a child. Two of the deaths were the effect of accidents, upon which inquests were held. Eleven certificates of marriage were issued during the same period, one of them being a civil contract entered into at the Registrar's Office. The births given are exclusive of a still-birth registered. The meeting of the Shotover Terrace Gold Mining Company called for last evening stands adjourned to a -future date. it A correspondent, signing himself "Mud Lark," writes : —" Our streets are being entirely ruined for want of metal; now is just the time for doing it. There are three stone-breaking machines fixed in Dunedin by private individuals, besides those in use by the Corporation. Surely there is no excuse for the wretched state of our roads." The proverb of " ill news travels fast" has not been verified in the case of a sad accident that occurred at Tautuku Bay on the 14th inst. The particulars of the circumstance hays been forwarded by letter to Sergeant Neill, the officer in charge of the Port Chalmers Police. The letter is dated the 25th May, but asthe Southern post marks Clinton and Mataura on the envelope are each stamped June 28th, wo opine that the writer, David Logan, must have made a mistake in-the month, and so wrote May for June. He states that the whaling crew, who are stationed at Tautuku, went out in their b)atto (march for the oldtrypots at the old tying outstation, but did not succeed in finding them. The names of the crew were James Wallace, steersman; Nemo Nolla, native of the Mauritius; Henry White, native of the Maori Kaik; David Logan, of Port Chalmers, and John Toole. Having concluded the sea*bh, they got into their boat ana made for Waikava again, and ran along all right un&l the bar was reached when a heavy sea filled the boat, and the next one turned her bottom np, throwing all hands in the water. The men—all good swimmers— struck out for the shore, and excepting Toole, kept together. He was heavily clothed, and had on a pair of heavy sea boots, and struck out for a point of rocks which appeared to be nearer at hand. When the others reached tho shore, they looked about for him, but could see nothing of ltim ) and although a close search was made for his body it was .not found, and had not been re-; covered up to the date of the letter. The writer farther stated that the crew had no opportunity of despatching early intimation . of the accident. From inquiries we have made into the matter, w« are led to infer that the deceased man's name was James' O'Toole, and that Logan and fae came to Port Chalmers lasfcyear as articled seamen in the ship Peter Denuy. We suppose that as Justice is represented to be blind, we cannot expect our worthy Judgo to touch up the authorities as to the disgraceful state of the paths leading to the Hall where he presides;, but, really il; is, without exception, one of the very worst pathways ia Dunedin, and can only be compared to the exit place of the sewer when the tide it out. Those kindly summoned to J attend the Court, either as principals or witnesses, have always the terrors of the law before them, without needing the terrors of the sludge. The road and patfis by the Railway to the Court of Justice'would do ere.lit to a professional scavenger. Somebody must be ia fault. Who is it? It waa bad enough in olden time, when the golden era just commenced, to see Judge Gresson hop from tussock to tussock, on his way to Court, down from his lodgings near the Asylum, without insisting that the Judge, Bar, and witnesses should, ia the year of grace, 1875, have to go through a process, not exactly similar, but one calling other muscles into play. The complaints are so constant and bo urgent that it is high time that some one , in authority was mudded. A narrow escape from a serious fire occurred yesterday morning at Port Chalmers. A quantity of quick ' lime in bags had been stowed at the back of Messrs Clark and Son's store, and being wetted by the rain, fire was engendered. Attention was attracted by a volume of smoke rising from the place, and then it was ascertained that several of the bags were burned through. The fire was quickly extinguished and the lime removed to a safer situation. Tho Grey River Argus understands that the survey of the proposed ta-Iway between Grej mouth and Hol-.ii-l;ai> nearly completed, and that by the time the General Assembly '

meets full and detailed information to enable an estimate to be made of the cost will be in the possession of the Government. The engineering difficulties of the line are small, as it can be constructed for nearly the whole distance on a dead level. The bridging of the Teremakau will, of course, be an extensive operation, but it is the opinion of the surveyor that the cost of a timber bridge will not be so great as has been imagined. It is somewhat unfortunate that the deviation which would be necessary to include the mining townships of Greenstone, Stafford, and Goldsborough, would so greatly increase the length and cost of the line, that any idea of supplying those places with railway communication must be altogether abandoned. The line will entirely depend for its financial success upon the traffic between Greymouth and Hokitika, and there does not appear to be any reason to doubt that its results would be less profitable than those of any similar line in the Colony. The French have devised a new mode of slaughtering cattle. The head of t c animal is covered by a mask of suitable material which closes the eyes entirely, and is at the centre provided with a circular plate of iron, rivetto.d thereto, which guides in a central perforation a strong steel bolt or pin in a direction vertical to the plate. The inner end of the sliding bolt faces the head of the animal,' and is made hollow, while the outer projecting part is provided with a large knob. The masked or blindfolded animal has no idea of his fats, a single blow of the hammer or club on the knob being sufficient to drive the bolt into the brain, and produce the instant dropping of the animal as if struck by lightning. The whole opera ion is completed within half a minute. Several cities in France and Germany have provided by special ordinances for the introduction of this device. It may not be generally known, svys the •Ballarat Courier, that we have had resident among us in Ballarat one of that small band of gallant men who, under. General Havelock, marched to the relief of the sufferers in Lucknow, in Mr Andrew Gibson, who died in the beginning of last week. Mr Gibson was a native of Paisley, and followed for some time the business of a pattern-worker there. At a comparatively early age, however, he enlisted in the East India Company's Horse Artillery, in which he served through all,the years of the mutiny, being rewarded for ]$s services with the Indian medal and a clasp bearing the motto " Lucknow." Though present at mrst of the engagements which took place in connection with that ' critical period of our Indian history,. Mr Gibson escaped with a severe s-tbre wound, which he received in a skirmish with some of the mutineers. On retiring from the army he came to this Colony, and after residing for some time in Ballarat, through the kind efforts of Major Wallace he received an appointment in the mounted police of New South Wales, where he remained for about six years. During the time he was so engaged he was "stuck up" by the notorious Bin Hall and a p irty of bushrangers, while in charge of a bush police station. Having left the force, he returned to Ballarat, where he has since resided, aud. where, after all the dangers through which he had passed, he died peacefully in bed last Tuesday. His death, however, was caused by the results of the saure wound already referred to. The Border Watch, in referring to the escape of a prisoner from Mount Gambier Gaol, says:—"On Wednesday last Castro, who was the only prisoner confined in the Gaol, was in the day-room doing some ' hard labour,' at mending bags; and it appears that, taking advantage of the temporary absence of the guard, he wrenched two of the forms from the table (to which they are chained), and with them contrived a means of escape. He placed one above the other endwise against the wall, and lashed their, ends together with some of the twine be was using in mending the bags. This make-shift ladder was scarcely as high as the wall, but by its means he was enabled to reach the top and then throw bimself over. A few minutes afterwards Mr Plunkett, the guard, observed the forms against the wall, and on making search for the prisoner, could find him nowhere. Information was at once given to the Police, and in about an hour Castro was arrested at Mr J. Haye's, ■to whose kitchen he had repaired, as soon as he left the Gaol, for a 'feed.' Whilst he was in a cell at the Police Station, waiting to be brought before the Police Court on the charge of gaol-break ing, he nearly succeeded in making a second escape. He secured the handle of a slop-bucket, and with it coinmeuceil digging a hole in the wall. He was in a fair way to accomplish his purpose when he was discovered and handcuffed." Mr and Mrs George Darrell opened at the Wellington Theatre last Monday, in "As You Like It." From a telegram received in town, we learn that the house was crowded, scarcely standing room being obtainable. The Princess Theatre was fairly attended last evening, when "The Merchant of Venice" formed part of the programme. As Portia, Mrs Bates' appeared to advantage, and Mr Bates gave a ijpirited, though not altogether successful, impersonation of the avaricious and unrelenting Jew, Shy lock. Mr Steele assumed the role of Bassanio, and left nothing to be desired. Miss Stonebam as Nerissa, and Miss Willis as Jessica, apparently did their best to make the piece successful. The Duke of Venice, Antonio, Gratiano, and Lorenzo, were respectively impersonated' by Messrs Cliaton, Saville, Stoneham, and Power. Mr Musgrave, as Lnuncelot Gobbo, caused much inert iment by his capital acting. The audience were well pleased with the company's efforts, the principal actors being called before the curtain. The final act was omitted. " The Milliner's Holiday," an amusing trifle, concluded the appreciable entertainment. Another change of programme is announced for to-night, when "Our American Cousin" will be presented.