WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12607, 10 March 1903, Page 5

WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

.(Fbom Ode Ows OmBEsrosDEST.) :--iv ' WELLINGTON, Maich 9. v';.; A (mystery in connection -with tho voyage of the fine new steamer low on her first voyage to New Zealand has been cleared "up , in.tho local Magistrate's Court. On tho .3rd ' Maroh, when tho ship-was nearmg Wellington, ft rope liawsor, weight on© and a-hal£ tons, longth 120 fathoms,. value £50, disappeared from the spot in tho bow, whore it was ooilod pending its use in port, ant! whore it was fastoned by no attachment, its '- own weight being sufficient to tether it. There was only ono way in which oxie . man could make away with the rope, that ; ■was by paying out a portion through the \ ohock till it rcached the water, after oontaot with which the hawser would be .dragged through the ohook by tho force of its own weight plus the speed of tho ship, till the > last fathom of the £50 ropo "was tost in the sea,. When tho loss of the xopo was dis- ' oovered, Captain Kanson questioned tho >• members of the starboard watch without discovering tho culprit. Ho offered a, reward . without result. Tho evidence further is that ho withdrew tho xewaid, and thai 1 subsequently an able seaman named JTnlley. gave information against another seaman] named A'ndrpw Leve'l. Tho result was iha.il Levcll was chargcd this morning with havr ing wilfully damaged certain of {he ship's stores (a Jiawser), and aitanativaljr with haying damaged the ship by throwiag; or passing overboard tho same article.,. Mr ■ Myers, who appeared for tho Marine Department, pointed out that if tho hawser alleged to havo been payed out by accused had be-, come entangled in the propeller, heaven only know what tho result might have been. . The captain, in his evidence, said under, such' circumstances the ship would have b& \ oome unmanageable. Halley said that from' the crow's nest lio saw Lovoll paying out the cable through tho chock, and then dodging away. Tho Magistrate, in sentencing tliei ' accused to six months' imprisonment, eaidi there- hid' been more than ono instance of ships being put in very great difficulties through accidents to propellers or propeller shafts, und the lonic, being a bigger^ship than these, might perhaps havo been placed . in. greater .trouble. Ho had to consider, the danger of immense damage to property.and ■ great loss of life. Tlio Government have accepted tho tender of Mr Charles Judd, ironfoundor, for the construction of an iron tower for the new . lighthouse at Cape Campbell. Tho new tower will bo 67ft high, or 13ft higher than the tower of tho East Capo lighthouse. Mr Judd has already built sevoral 1 lighthouse towers for the Government. . . The Government and the Wellington Acclimatisation Society aro not in accord regarding the regulations gazetted for tho ■ deer stalking season. Tho present _ season corresponds with that of last year in date of'opening, in duration, and in tho number of heads allowed to bo taken. The council . of the society recommended that the season open late, but close on tho same dato as last year, and that only three heads instead «of - five be .allowed to bo taken. . . ' Madamo Molba abandoned her intention! of returning to Europe via San Fraurisccy last woek. She has booked a passage ft®",. Sydney by the Waikaro this ovening. Her '. present intention is to leave Melbourne England on the J3th pros. _ . ,' In consoquenoo of the accommodation on , the Tutanekoi being limited the Hon. O. H. Mills has been obliged to refuse applications from quito a small army of artists, journalists, and interpreters to bo allowed to' ac- • company the parliamentary excursion party to tho Cook Group. Deok cabins aro to : be built on tie steamer "for "th© trip. When the sterilising plants for tho treatment of imported bones have been erected at Auckland and the Bluff future cargoes ' will be allowed to land only at those potts. The cargoes now on the water will bejal-, .. lowed to land at their ports of destination, and the importation of bones will then pe prohibited until tho sterilising plants work. , It is understood Mr Bratby. gaoler at 111', vercargill, will auccoed Mr Phillips in charge . of the Dunedin Gaol, and that Mr Armstrong, the principal warder at Dunedin, ; - will be promoted to the charge of _tiw .. : Invorcargill Gaol. .' " ■