TELEGRAMS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6238, 8 February 1882, Page 2

TELEGRAMS.

(P£r United Press Association.)

Auckland, February 7th. At a meeting of;the Society of Amalgated Engineers resolutions were passed expressing sympathy with the Union Sash and Door locked-out employes, and offering pecuniary assistance. Delegates of various trades have, been appointed to aid them in resisting the infringement of the eight-hour system. Messrs De Lautour and Macdonald, M.H.R.'s., have telegraphed to Mr Moss requesting him to add their names to the petitition for an early meeting of the Assembly which Sir George Grey presented to the Premier on Saturday. Twenty-three thousand admissions have been registered to the City Baths since the opening of the bathing season. The English Cricketers were passengers by the mail steamer for Sydney. Mr J. A. Fairfax, of the Sydney Morning Herald, arrived by the mail steamer, and it is said intends making a tour of the Colony. The Premier, Mr Hobbs, M.H.R., and District Engineer Hales have left for the North to ascertain local wants.

Fifty of the Union Sash and Door Company's employes locked out have got work, some with the* Auckland Timber Company, and some with other mills.

The Government have wired that they will probably take over the Home for Children, transferring the boys to the trainingship, and devoting the Howe street building, now overcrowded, to girls. The mail steamer brought a quantity of quail and grouse for the Auckland Acclimatisation Society.

Gisbokne, February 7th. ■ The sale of the Whataupoko blockj by order of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, took place to-dajv This is the land over which an important trial took place in Napier, and sub-' sequently in the Appeal Court, Wellington. The sale was in default of payment of the principal and interest. Mr Percival Barker bought it iv for £15,000.

Wellington, February 7th. John Edwards,-steward of the ship Waitara, was arrested to-night on a charge of smuggling four.boxes of cigars.

Blenheim, February 7th. The body of a man about 35 years of age was found in the Opawa River this morning. It has not yet been identified.

Christchurch, February 7th. Another scoundrel was'caught in the act of criminally assaulting a little girl in' Hagley Park this morning. He was collared at once by a passer-by and sent to the lock-up. A stable was burned at Rangiora this morning under circumstances said to be suspicious. The fire was with difficulty prevented from spreading to other houses. Two horses were burned to death. They were insured, with some harness, &c, for £100 in the Transatlantic Company, but the stable was uninsured. No sign of a light could be, seen two hours before the fire broke out, and a waggon was drawn up close to the building, out of its usual place. An inquiry is called for.' The Exhibition will not be opened on Sundays. '••...

A farmer named James Whitmore committed suicide at Kaiapoi Island yesterday. He had been harvesting during the day with his'family, and returned home before them. W hen they reached the house they found him hanging from the rafters of a cartoned. Therewas no evidence at the inquest to show.any cause for the deed, and a verdict ; was-^returned that he hanged himself, but.ihatrthere was no evidence to show his state of mind.

The "Exhibition Committee have passed a resolution affirming the desirability of Government exhibiting everything that will show the resources of the Colony, and the means hitherto adopted by the Government for developing them. The chairman was requested to ask the Premier to arrange with Mr J oubert and Twopeny for the necessary space. The last stone of the Lyttelton Graving Dock was laid on Saturday. The Licensed Victuallers of Christchurch have agreed to take action in conjunction with the representatives of the various Temperance Societies of the city to endeavour to prevent a contested election over the appointment of Licensing Benches for the districts. A joint committee has been formed to select five gentlemen to be elected to the office.

SPECIAL TELEGRAMS. (FROM OCR OWK CORRESPONDENTS.) Wellington, February 7th. I hear that his Excellency the Governor purposes paying another lengthened visit to Canterbury, and will probably leave Wellington in the course of a few days. The Colonial Treasurer also contemplates an early visit to the South Island. Major Atkinson will most likely start next week for Lyttelton, and will make a complete tour of the Island, remaining absent from Wellington about a month.

The Premier is not expected back in Wellington for another fortnight. All the members of the Cabinet will, it is understood, assemble in Wellington next month to consult as 'to the programme for the approaching session of Parliament. * I hear on good authority, and from Various well-informed quarters, that there is every prospect of an excellent Budget. January and. February, so far, have been even better periods for revenue than the previous nine months. Persons best qualified tp judge anticipate that customs will be nearly, if not quite, £60,000 above the estimate, and that stamps also will show very well, although the latter are necessarily trenched upon by the postal revenue, now that postage stamps can be used for receipts, &c. The property tax is already coming in most satisfactorily, and bids fair to exhibit even a better result, proportionately, than last year. The only item of revenue likely to fall short of the estimate is railways, but this was palpably over-estimated from the first, a.nd it is feared that the less favourable grain harvest likely to be secured this year will cause the receipts to bo still further behind. At present, the gross receipts do not seem likely to materially exceed £870,000, and there is hardly the remotest prospect of their very closely approaching the estimated £910,000. Fortunately the working expenses have been more under the estimate than the receipts, so that the net profits still promise to be very satisfactory.

Some little fear is expressed by those best acquainted with Native peculiarities that a little too much fuss has" been made with Tawhiao, and that it has not been clearly enough conveyed to him that he can never be more than a mere subject of the Queen. Croakers predict more future disappointments from this cause, as they are apprehensive that Tawhiao's ideas of "a little time" may prove much too wide to suit European aspirations for rapid progress. On the other hand, I am assured that a very favourable effect has been produced, and that not only has the thin end of the wedge been driven into Kingite isolation, but that the wedge has been driven well in. Mr Bryco will very likely go North to see Tawhiao after Mr Hall s return to Wellington.