News of the Week

Otago Witness, Issue 761, 30 June 1866, Page 11

News of the Week

[PROM THE DAII.Y TIMES.]

The Sup n rintend Q nt has nppointed Messrs William Mason, William Hunter Reynolds, and John Alexander Ewing, to be visitors of the Lunatic Asylum. On Monday morning, Charles Forster, a carpenter employed at the New Post Office, fell from the roof of that portion intended for the sorting room to the floor, a depth of thirty feet. He was itomedia^ly conveyed to the Hospital, when it w;is found that he had sustained severe external, but no internal, injujuries, and he is now progressing favorably. On Wednesday as Mr -J. H. Barr was driving down Rattray street in a buggy, accompanied by his wife and children, the horse suddenly took fright, and starting off, caused the vehicle to capsize, and the whole of its occupants were thrown out. They were all uninjured, however, with the exception ef Mr Barr, who received a slight wound on the hear].

Information was received in Port Chalmers yesterday, that the bo ly of a man had been washed ashore at the Heads, and the Wnter Police at once proceede-i to the spot. Information was received in town last night that the bo'lv was found, but that it was sadly mutilated ; the arms, legs, and head being jronp, and t^s trunk alone remaining. An old belt was round the hotly, which may po?sibly lead to i<"s identification. It was brought up to the Port, where it now lies awaiting an ie quest. Four hundred and fiftj'-fonr allotments in the township of I/iwrence will be offered for sale by public auction, at the Court House there, on Saturday, 7th July ; 413 of the sections at the upset price of L 2, and 41 sections at the upset price of Ll2 each. The Appropriation Ordinance of Southland, which had bten reserved for the Governor's pleasure, has received His Excellency's assent. By an order in Council dated June 16th, the fourth regulation for the conduct of business under the Debtors and Creditors Act, has been amended as follows: — "Every inspector shall keep a book of register as well us a book that shall show a statement of all receipts and expenditure relating to the ■several estates under administration, which books shall be open during office hours for the inspection of any creditor who has proved his debt, and shall be in the forms 1 and 2 prescribed in the Schedule hereunto annexed,"

ItsppeaTS that,. notwithstanding the issue ©f warrants for the apprehension of Burgess, Kelly, and Sullivan, on suspicion of being the murderers of Mr George Dobson, at the Grey, the body of the missing gentleman had not ■ ieen found up to the date of the list newa from Greymouth. A telegram which was shown to us last evening stated-—" Burgess and party have been arrested in Nolson Province. Dobson's body has not yet been found. JEEe had to pass where Burgess and his party ■were lying in ambush, armed and masked, on the 28th ult. There is little doubt that they stuck him up, murdered him, and then buried his body in the bush." From what vre have heard, we expect to find, as one result of the apprehension of Burgess and his ■mates, that some of them will be identified as having been concerned in the recent stealing of revolvers, %c. from the Police Camp at Hokitika. We mentioned last •week that the news of* the issue of the ■warrant against Burgess, Kelly, and Sullivan, for murder, was the first intelligence to the police here that Sullivan had returned from New South Wales, whither he went when he escaped conviction for the sticking-up and shooting at the police at Wetherstones, in 1861 or 1862, which led to the imprisonment of Burgess and Kelly here. Sullivan, it will probably be found, was the man who, pretending to be a stranger to those charged -with the robbery from the Hokitika camp, stated that he had found on the beach some of the missing revolvers. The next papers received from Greymouth and Nelson should contain information of interest to the whole colony, as concerning the fate of Mr Dobson, and the probable chances of the daring criminal Burgess and his associates.

Bnshranging is not extinct in New South Wales. Late Sydney papers record the exploits of a gang ot five ruffians at Micilago Plain, where they visited a public house, robbed a srore, and behaved brutally to a fine young fellow named George Fowliss, who, in spite of their arms and their threats, refused to give up the key of a store entrusted to his c*re by his employer, Mr A. Levy, of Queenbeyan. The villains broke open the store and rifled it, and thin went over to the public house, where they treated about twenty persons, who were mean enough to carouse with them. Though they became brutally intoxicated, no attempt was made to secure them.

Bird v. M'Lean, an action for defamation, the trial »f which was commenced ia the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon, the 21st instant, before Mr Justice Richmond and a Special Jury, terminated at five o'clock on the following evening, with a •verdict for the plaintiff— damages, LIOO. The plaintiff was Mr C. E. Bird, and the defendant was Mr George M'Lean, formerly •manager here for the Bank of New Zealand. The action was tried in October last, vhen the verdict was for the plaintiff, for L3O ; but the defendant moved on a point reserved, and the Court grunted a new trial, on the ground that the slanderous words were, prima facie, spoken on a privileged occasion. This decision led in on the new trial a good deal of evidence which was formerly excluded. Then, it was tendered as matter of aggravation; now, it was admitted as bearing on the question of tnahfp or no malicf.— To.day, the Court sits in Banco.

The following as to petroleum will be generally interesting. At the March meeting of the Manchester Geological Society (Mr E. W, Binney in the chair), Mr W. R. Barr read a paper entitled " A Fossil Shel from the Oil Wells of Canada." After enlarging on the importance which the subject of oil springs had assumed, he said there were certain indications of large reservoirs of petroleum in certain portions of the earth's surface. He produced specimens of shells which he had received from Mr W. L. Eskrigge, the e::mayor of Stockporc, and which that gentleman had collected. The place from which the shell had been brought was the village of Oil Springs, in the township of Enniskillen, in Canada. They were picked up from the stiff blue clay by Mr Eskrigge, having been brought up in his presence by the boring tGols. He had come to the conclusion that the fossils themselves were truly carboniferous, and were the same as our spirifera striata, which were only found in this country in the carboniferous limestone. The oil was found in the underlying rocks at different depths, but whatsoever character the Tock might have, it was certain it had nothing to do with the origin of the oil it contained, but rather that it had come from some extraneous source, and was only found ia the crevice 3 and cracks with which the rock was penetrated. These cracks being better filled, and the yield being more abundant near the surface than deeper., seemed to poiut to the supply coming from above. He suggested tha the origin of the oil was from the new over" lying clay which, from its embedded remains' must have been a member of the carboniferous series ; it most probably was originally a shale similar in character to the bituminous shales so well known in our coal measures, «r a band of bituminous matter as found in the mountain limestone, but he was the more inclined to think that it was originally a shale, from the dark blue play residue in •which these shells are deposited— that by a decomposing process, of which we have no knowledge, the bituminous matter was distilled into an oil, and filled up the cracks of the underlying rocks, forming the reservoirs from which modern energy and skill are now, for the first time, bringing it to light. An interesting discussion followed, in the course of which the Chairman s&id that many years ago he read a paper on the petroleum oil formed from the decomposition of peat going on at Downholland. Unfortunately, the supply was not great, but the quality was undeniable. More than 150 years ago, there

irere petroleum springs at Wigan and Coalbrookdale, in the pitch and flint coal. There was no difficulty in accounting for it when found in coal, the decomposition distilling it to oil. Petroleum abounded in India and China, where it was used as a' cure for iheuinatic pains. The Chinese used it for burning in lamps. The Americans found out its use in the course of a trial that took place in this country, in which he was concerned.

Mr Justice Richmond and Mr Justice Chapman sat in Banco on Saturday- Argument on the rule nisi for an attachment for contempt, granted in re Howorth, Barton and Howorth, was heard ; and Mr Justice Richmond gave judgment, discharging the rule with costs.

The following appears in the " Mining Journal.'' — " We observe in tie " Diario de Lisboa," of March 5 th, that Mr James Mason, the enterprising founder and chief proprietor of the celebrated copper and sulphur mines of San Domingos, has been created a Portuguese noble, under the title of Baron Pomeron. We learn from the same source that Mr Mason has earned the distinguished honour recently conferred on him for having, in the short space of seven years, under considerable difficulties, established a mining undertaking which, for the magnitude of its operations and perfect organisation, may be said to be, of its kind, without a parallel in Europe. It has given rise to a flourishing colony of over 3000 inhabitants, in what was before a barren waste, to a railway connecting the mines with the Guadiana, and to a shipping port which has also spTung iDto existence, and from whence, upwards of 150,000 tons of pyrites are now annually exported to England for the use of our alkali trade and copper smelters. In thaa publicly recognising the merit of a distinguished engineer, the Portuguese Government has shown considerable tact, by encouraging a profession whose exertions may prove of such great importance in developing the mineral resources of the country."

Attention is being given ia Victoria to the establishment of manufactories of woollens. The "Argus" of the 14th contains an account of a meeting of the provisional directors of the Australasian Woollen Mill Company, which appears in a fair way of shortly being: organised. The applications for shares were numerous, and some of them were for 500, 250, 200, 150, 100, and 50 shares.

A memorial from the inhabitants of the Clutha District has been forwarded to the Governor, praying for a reversal of the proclamation abolishing the Port of Molyneux. They adduce, as reasons for retaining it as a Port »f Entry, that the River Molyneux disch»rges 1,600,000 cubic feet of water per minute — a larger quantity than the Nile, and 16 times that of the Thames— that it is navigable for small steamers to a distance of 59 miles from its mouth ; that it runs to within 55 miles of the West Coast, and presents no engineering difficulty to make it navigable to its source; that it passes through one of the finest agricultural district? in the Colony, where land amounting to L 130,000 has been purchased, and opens out a large extent of fine pastoral land, every acre of which is occupied ; that it panetrates the centre of richgold-producinir districts, and will ultimately open up the only means of transit for the rich minerals known to exist in the interior ; that by its tributaries it abounds in water-power adapted for the introduction of manufactures ; and that it forms the natural outlet of a coal-producing area. They further urge that since the port was opened, a township has been created, and nearly L7OOO has been transmitted to the Treasury ; a bonded store has been erected ; and the neighboring country has been largely cultivated, with a view to opening up a direct export trade with various Australian Colonies ; that the port has paid all its expenses ; and that the district ought not to be subjected to a special burden to save the Colony the necessary cost of maintaining a port of entry and preventing smuggling, The memorial then gives statistical tables, shewing that during four years and five months 4272 bales of wool; 1314 ton 3of potatoes; 34,7-25 bushels of oats; 8218 bushels of wheat; 55 kegs of butter, and 47 tons of turnips; have been shipped from the Molyneux. The number of vessels entered was 237, measuring 8401 tons. They also urge that goods can be delivered cheaper by coastal and river steamer than by land, to within 12 miles of Gabriel's Gully.

The " Mining Journal" makes the following remarks on a new machine invented tor dressing oreß •. — " Mr John Hunt, of Porthleven (Cornwall), has found by certain alterations in his machines for dressing ore, and treating auriferous alluvial deposits, &c, that he can not only treat orey matter of low produce with great advantage, but the machine is now so complete that it deposits the best quality ore in the first compartment, the second quality in the next, aud so on, according to the number of divisions. For simplicity and real practical utility this invention (which is secured by patent) has everything to recommend it. It is stated that the machines are about to be introduced into the gold fields of Canada, as well as the Australasian Colonies. They will not only save very fine gold, but all precious stones of a specific gravity equal to a diamond, ruby, sapphire, &c will be saved; and with a fnll size machine, about 40 tons of sandy matter can be dressed per day. The machines can be made to lock, so as to protect the gold. This improvement is not brought abcut by mere chance, but is the result of many years' experience in the separation of ore from its matrix. The machinea are admirably adapted for separating lead ore from zinc or copper ore, or, indeed, any that differs sufficiently in its specific gravity, can bo easily separated."

"We clip the following mining intelligence from the " Tuapeka Press" of Saturday:— ** At the Blue Spur Beveral washings-up have lately been made. Blasting is being resumed to some extent, despite the high prices of powder, a small blast having been firad by Manuel and Co. in tho course of last week, and Fenton and Co., Victoria Gully, arc preparing to fire one this wef-k with a charge of 600 Ib 3. Strong and party finished last week in No. 1, the result being nearly 400 ouuees for twenty weeks' running. This is the best yield that has ever been obtained in this claim, showing clearly that the cement improves in quality towards the upper part of the claim, and no doubt many good yields may be expected hereafter from that direction. In Strong and Co.'s No. 4, tke tail race is being raised and constructed up in a higher level, in conspquence of the accumulation of tailings rendering it difficult to get through sufficiently large quantities of stuff Livingston and party have just finished washing up after nine weeks' running: the yield is about 200ozg. They have still several months' washing remaining of their last blast, which may be expected to yield equally well, if not better. Morrison and Co. are at present engaged in washing up, but their operations are somewhat retarded by falls of stuff taking place occasionally. The yield, so far as is yet known, is excellent. The Wetherstones Company are now ready to fix their massive iron pipes on the bottom of their future reservoir, immediately after which the full compliment of the men will be engaged. Eiddle and Co.'s wa'er-race is completed, excepting sundry portions of fiuming, which they expect to have finished this week. There are a number of gullies about four miles from Wetherstones, in the vicinity of what was once Bungtown (which still retains the name, though the little town has disappeared) in which several scattered parties are quietly working. This neighbourhood was once famous for nuggets ; the largest pieces of gold yet obtained on this field came from that quarter, which is not nearly worked out. We have seen a large quantity of gold from that locality lately, priucipally in nuggets from 1 dwt to 4or 5 ozs in weight. We have no doubt, judging from the coarse and jagged appearance of the gold, that there are quartz reefs of; considerable value in the neighbourhood, which will yet be developed to the great enhancement of the resources and prosperity of. the whole district. Smythe's claim, Post Offise Gully, has amalgamated with three others (Parsons, Anderson, and Parsons' cement claim) to cut a large tail-race, 500 yards in length, to enable them to work to better advantage. Smythe's party are also opening two new faces, which will enable them to put through a large quantity of stuff."

On Tuesday evening, a magic-lantern entertainment was given by Mr Bamford at Mornington Sch'iol-house,in aid of the Sunday School funds. The pace was crowded to excess there being 150 persons present. At the close, Mr De Carle stated sufficient funds had been realised to pay the debts incurred; and a vote of thanks was proposed to Mr Bamford, and heartily responded to. Mr De Carle then remarked that as the present building was much too small for the requirements of the district, the trustees and other gentlemen had decided upon endeavoring to raise money for adding to it ; and also that it had been arranged that a soiree shouH be held on. tha 2Gth proximo, and that a sale of all such articles as might be presented would be held on the following Saturday. We are requested to state that any contribution will be thankf'u'ly received by the members of the Committee. A f ter a vote of thanks to Mr Russell (the C lairman), the meeting was dissolved.

The " Tuapeka Press " gives the following version of the proceedings towards creating Lawrence a Municipality :—": — " The memorial to the Superintendent, requesting the proclamation of a Municipality in the township of Lawrence, was carried to town by Mr Bastings, who was appointed at the meeting for that purpose. On the following day, on presenting the memorial, he was inform°d that the Saperintetident had held an interview with Mr Donovan the same morning, and that a meeting of the Executive would take t)laca at 3 p.m., to take into consideration Mr Donovan's objections as well as the prayer of the memorial. The following members of the Executive were present at the meeting .- — His Honor the Superintenden the Provincial Treasurer, the Provincial Secretary, aud Mr Hughes. Mr Donovan was asked to show cause why the memorial which was read should not be received, and the Municipality proclaimed. In reply, he mentioned several names (in all eighteen), which appeared on the memorial, and which were not duly qualified, or being qualified, were not genuine signatures. Some of these objections were held good ; on others, the Provincial Solicitor was consulted. A farther objection was made by Mr Donovan, that some of the names had been added after the certificate of the Warden as to the genuineness of the signatures had been appended. No definite action was taken in the matter at the time, but it has since transpired that the proclamation of the Municipality was signed by the Superintendent the same afternoon."

The " Tuapeka Press" gives the following account of the progress of the prospecting shaft at Wetherstones:—'' This shaft is now some 350 feet in depth, and as yet no definite indications of approaching the bed rock have been met with. Ltyers of wash containing a few grains to the dish are met with at distances of six or eight feet apart, in most cases heavily charged with black sand. The contractors have strengthened their party to tho full complement of nine men, who are constantly engaged prosecuting the work in shifts night and day, Sundays excepted."

We have heard with much pleasure thatr our local Rifle Volunteers are likely shortly to be gazetted as a battalion. The formation of administrative battaliens at home, by group— ing together companies existing outside the limits ef ]arge towns, in which alone the formation of regiments was possible, had) amost excellent effect in the early days of the Volunteer movement in England. For thepurpoaps of drill, for effective administration in othtr matters, and generally for orbiting a true esprit de corps, and thin supplying the moat effective stimulus to efficiency, no better thing, we believe, eouid be done for our Volunteers than tips formation of battilions. As we axe intormed, an application has been made to the Govern nripnt, that the City Guards, the Scottish, ttie South District, the North Dunedin, and the Wakari Companies may be constituted a battalion j and it is added that the application has bean so favorably received, that the five companies will shortly be gazetted as the first battalion.

The "Pall Mall Gazette" says :— "lt is rather expected that the Attorney- General's new Bankruptcy Bill will be but a slight improvement upon its predecessors ; that it will in some sort adopt the Scotch system for the collection and distribution of assets among the creditors ; and that it will, probably, simplify the tests of insolvency . It will also, we understand, attempt to consolidate all the previous enactments in regard to bankruptcy."

The " Sydney Mail," of the 9 th, giv c s the following account of the finding of the gold taken off the Barwon: — "It will be ia the recollection of our readers that on Tuesday, the 10th April last, an. extensive robbery of gold was found to have been committed on board the Barwon on her voyage from Hokitika to this colony. The Barwon, under the command of Capt. Lowrie, arrived at the Commercial Wharf on Monday evening, 9th April, having brought to Sydney 23,160 ounces of gold — 11,000 ounces of which were consigned to the Bank of New South Wales, the remainder to the Oriental Bank. Oa the following morning, whilst the gold was being removed from on board, it was discovered that one of the boxes, containing 1000 ounoes, consigned to the Bank of New South Wales, "was missing. Suspicion fell upon three persons — Charles Nixoa, steward ; William Smith, as-sistant-steward ; and Margaret Daniels, stewardess ; who were charged at me Central Police Court with having committed the robbery, and, after several remands, Smith and D.uiiels were committed for trial, Nixon being discharged. At the late sittings of the Criminal Court a postponement of the trial was granted ; and ou Tuesday, May 29th, Detective JBowden was despatched to New Zealand to procure additional evidence and information. About three o'clock on the Thursday afternoon, such information was given at the Detective office as led to a search being made on the Queensland Company's Wharf by Detective Elliott, who succeeded in finding the gold buried but a few inches below the surface of the earth, in the angle formed by the fence and the Custom House officer's box, and not far from whtre the Barwon lay. The gold was found deposited in the original bug", some of which, however, had decayed, and the gold had mixed with the soil ; both soil an I gold were carefully placed in tubs and removed t© the Detective ofßoe, where it -will be washed and weighed. It is oelieved that the whole of the gold has been recovered. Strange to say the day after the robbery was discovered Detectives Elliott and Bovrdenwere engaged searching on the other sMe of the fence which separates the Queensland Company's Wharf from the Conirnerciril Wh<jrf, and withia a few inche3 from the spot where the gold has been found. Tha ground where the gold was found buried consists of loose coal screenings, which are easily turned over and trampled down again without making much show, and this will partly account for the spot not having been detected before. Numbers of people were on Thursday congregated on the wharf witnessing the operation.

The " Timaru Herald " gives the following explanation of the non-return of the fishing boat feared to be lost :— " We are glad to report the safety of this boat, which left here on the 7th instant. It appeal s that soon after getting clear of the shore, the men gave up all idea of fishing, and shaped their course for Akaroa. arriving at the Heads on the third day. They then made a trip to one <of the B-iys, taking wool and other produce, and eventually they sold the boat at Akaroa.''

The " Southern Cross" of June 13th states : 4t The largest block of greenstone ever seen is now at Mr Kobertson'a store, Queen street. Our readers will recollect that some weeks ago we printed a paragraph recording the finding ot this block on the West Coast of the Middle Island. The atone waa sent to Melbourne with the idea that the Chinese in Victoria might purchase it. The Celestials, however, did not bid so high as expected, and the block has been sent over here in order to give the Maoris or pakehas of the North Island a chance of purchasing it. Some idea of the size of the stone may be formed when we state that it weighs 510 lbs Ono side of it is light-colored and the other dark; and judging from what can be seen, there are in the stone some beautitul pieces of pounamu. Few of our readers will need to be reminded of ths value attached to greenstone by the Maoris from the earliest times we have any record of. When Captain Cook asked what was the Dame of the Middle Island, he was told " Te Wahi Pounamu," or " The Place of the Greenstone," which was got most plentifully there, and on the old maps the Middle Island is named "Tarai Pounama." We understand that the price asked for the block now at Mr Robertson's is about L 2000."

We are glad to find that t o in "the interior are alive to the ft ' .intage of the "volunteer movement. The " Dnnstan Times" gives" the following account of '• A meeting of gentlemen interested in th*> formation of a Uiffe Corps, was held on Monday evening laßt, at the Union Hotel, Clyde. Mr W. Hull occupied the chair. It being unanimously agreed thnt, as soon as sixty members— the number sufficient to constitute a corps — could be obtained, that the enrollment be proceeded ■with. A committee of the following gentlemen were elected to carry out the object of the meeting, viz.:— Messrs Stratford, Bate, Coates, Hull. Austin, Stnitham, Robinson, Morice, and Fitch. The names of forry persons were given in as willing to become members. It was therefore resolved that "drill" should at once commence. Contingents from Alexandra and Cromwell will no doubt swell the number of the corps to a very respectable amount

The "Lyttelton Times" gives the follow ing account of the death of a person through taking laudanum :—": — " A sad misfortune occurred on Friday last to a man named George Gibbs, by which he met his death. It appears that the deceased, who lived at Woodend •with his wife and fnmjlv, was in Christchtirch last week, and on Wednesday last went with a friend to Mr Pinching, chemist, in the Papanui Road, nnd purchased two ounces of laudanum to take up the country with him. On Friday night it would seem that he got intoxicated, and having the laudanum with him, drank it by mistake. On the following morning he was seen lying outside a house in Kilmore street, and on being asked by the inmates what was the matter with him, said that he had swallowed some laudanum. They sent for Mr Pinching, and the deceased was taken by him to the Hospital, where he died, between eleven and twelve o'clock yesterday rooming. An inquest will beheld on the body..'

A correspondent of the " Dunstan Times." writing from St. Bathans, gives the following account of mining affairs there: — " Winter has n-)W set in with great severity. Within the last fortnight we h~ve been visited with several heavy falls of snow, which lay upon the ground for some days, rendering everything very wet and uncomfortable. The snow, however, has proved a great boon to the miners, there being an abundant supply cf water in the races, which has not been the case for some time past, owing to the protracted dry weather lately experienced. The Sludge Channel Company have well nij'h completed their arduous job, and the channel may be said to be a great success. It has already made a great hole in the vast accumulation of tailings at the foot of Kildare nil!. In Blue Gully, for instance, they have been uniformly lowered ten feet, ard many other places in proportion. A number of claims •which had long been idle are once again in full work. The Scandinavian Company's race is bringing in very satisfactorj r dividends, and shares are going up rapidly in the market. There is no immediate return to the sh ireholders as yet, the \ resent income having to be devoted to the discharge of old liabilities. The miners generally are doing extremely well, their emplos ment now being of a settled character, thanks t:> the system of large claims. Some parties have lately applied tor permission to take water out of the Dunstun Creek, conveying it by means cf a race to Welshman's Gully. The application, however, has been refused, owing to the difficulty of divining the exact quantity required to carry away the tailings diech irged from the sludge channel. Mr Mining Surveyor Coates and the shareholders of the Channel Company appear to differ considerably in opinion respecting this matter, and litigation may probably arise. At all events the Channel was cut with the understanding and knowledge that there would be sufficient water to carry away the tailings, or it would never have been constructed. The difficulty is, if the volume of water is reduced in the creek the channel will be rendered useless, while on the other hand parties at Welshmans may be prevented working ground, lackirg a supply of water for sluicing operation*. The Channel Company certainly deserves first consideration, the interest itself being a very large one, while numbers, although not immediately interested in the Channel, nevertheless depend upon its successful workirg as a means of livelihood, their claims being utterly worthless unless there is a get-away for the tailings. The case will doubtless be a knotty point to decide ; but we have every confidence that Mr Warden Bickson will do what is fair and equitable to all parties. Welshman's Gully still continues a very prosperous community of miner?. The tunnelling into the hills has given way to hydraulic sluicing, and very handsome returns are being made. The splendid seam of lignite discovered last winter has added much to the comfort of the residents. The most humble may now pass away his evening before a comfortable blazing fire. The coal is, without doubt, the best ever yet discovered in this Province, the seam being fortunately so situate that it can be worked at all seasons of the year. Messrs Pearce and Washer, who hold a licensed area on the seam, are pushing forward their operations in a very systematic manner, and are kept busy all day loading drays for Blacks, Drybread, Thompsons, and the surrounding country."

A few days ago a man calling himself John Smith was arrested at Port Chalmers, and brought before the Resident Magistrate, on suspicion of being one of three prisoners who in May last broke out of Cobden Gaol. He was remanded to .Nelson ; and from a telegram received last evening by the Commissioner of Police, we learn that he has been identified as Robert Stone, the ringleader in the escape, and for whose apprehension a reward of L3OO had been offered.

We extract the following from the "Southern Cross" of the 13th:— "The fol lowing particulars of a second meeting of the natives are furnished to us by a gentleman, writing from the Upper Waikato on June 6th, who has access to the best sources of information : — ' Another great meeting was held at Haogatiki on the lat instant, at which several King natives from Taranaki were present. The report of the death of Rewi is not true, as Takerei Te Rau. who is now at Ngaruawahia, saw and shook hands with Eewi a few days ago. It was also reported that the latter was at the Hangratiki meeting. The Hau haus mustered Rtrong from the various districts, and the High Priest was kissed three time* on the cheek by the Taranaki party. Several new laws were framed, the first of which was that no European should pass a certain boundary, which wai at the stme time prescribed, being tapued by the High Priest. In the second place it wa<» arranged that all traffic with the Europeans should be from that date prohibited beyond the boundary line ; and, thirdly, that especial care should be taken to store all food that could be obtained, including dried fish and mussels, which was to be taken into the interior. These appearances are ominous. Takerei te Rau has been industriously employing himself and a gang of followers in visiting the native settlements in Waikato. His reason for doing this remains a mystery. We regret to say that many natives in the Upper Waipa district are in a very pitiable condition from the raging of fever and other maladies. One of the leading men of Ngatimaniopoto, whe figured prominently during the war, and who, it is said, escaped from Orakau. was attacked by fever. He gave orders for his coffin to be made, and expired the same day. It may be remarked that ha was a zealous member of the Hau-hau Club, or, in other words, a firm believer in the new faith."

Mr Hanghton, M.P.C., for the Like District, waited upon His Honor the Superintendent on Monday, and presented a memo-ial from the inhabitants of Arrowtown,of which the following is a copy :— " To His Honor the Superintendent and the Executive Council of the Province of Orago. — The memorial of the undersigned inhabitants of Arrowtown, humbly sheweth : That Arrowtown is the centre of a district rapilly becoming settled, and is in close proximity to a line of quartz reefs now proved to be payable. That Arrowtnwn is situated upon a terrace which has been sat'sfactorily tested, and found not to contain gold in payable quantities, the ground having proved too poor to afford the smallest return for ground sluicing, even if water were available, which is not the case. That Arrowtown, being within a gold field, your Memorialists are heavily taxed for business licenses, miners' rights, and have no certain tenure of the ground, run great risks in laying out money upon the property. Your Memorialists therefore pray that your Honor and the Executive Council will direct the immediate survey of Arrowtown, according to present occupation of sites, with a view to the sale of the allotments-, with as little delay as possible." Some 50 signatures are appended.

A change in the Provincial Executive of Wellington has taken place in consequence of adverse votes on two different occasions. The Governmeßt had taken their stand on three points in reference to the Small Farm Association, viz — the size of the blocks, the price of the land, and its bona fide occupation by shareholders. The Government proposed that each member of the Association should be en itled to a Crown Grant at the expiration ot twenty-four months after payment of the purchase money, provided he had been in bova fide occupation of the land for eighteen months previously. The Council passed a resolution, alterin the time for issuing the Crown Grant to eighteen months, and pro viding that occupation might be by a shareholder, his son, or servant. The other point was in reference to the price and survey of land. Mr Fitzherbert having proposed, iv op position to resolutions moved by Mr Borelase and Mr Halcombe, that the increased price of land to Ll an acre, should not come into effect until the Ist of January next, and that no land should be sold until after survey. Mr Fitzherbert's amendments were rejected by eighteen to ten. The " Independent" compliins. that the Small Farm Association is destroyed.

Emma Loder, alias Neville, appeared in the Police Court, Sydney, on the 20th ult., to answer an information made by William Arthur Hellyer, for having, on the 25th April, unlawfully assaulted him. The complainant said that on the day named he went, at the instance of his father, to defendant's lodging, in Ja'nison street ; he asked to see Mrs Loder, and on proceeding upstairs, found his father with the defendant and her husband ; after a few minutes, he said to his father, " You wished for this interview, did you not ? ' his father replied in the affirm itive, and Mrs Loder said, " Wait until the servant has cleared away." They had been taking luncheon. As he sat on a chair, Mrs Loder passed him, saying as she passed, " You are a liar ;" to which he (witness) responded, " You are a ;" she then struck him on the face with a paper. Other words took place, in the course of which he repeated the epithet to Mrs Loder, and told Mr Loder that he was a " contemptible thing " to allow his (witness's) father to run after his wife's heels as he did. The defendant then struck him with her hand on his head, and with her fist, upon his face— the latter blow of such violence as to raise a lump. Mr Hellyer and v> r Loder then interfered, and the witness said that if she struck him again, he would floor the whole lot of them. She had no conversation with de-

fendant until she called him a liar; he said he would make Sydney stink for all of them, and then Mr Loder ordered him out of the room. Mr W. Hellyer cross-examined the witness at considerable length for the d°fence, and for the defence gave another version of the affair. The Bench found the assault to be proved, and ordered the defendant to pay a penalty of Is, with costs, or tobe imprisoned twenty-four hours. 11 The Norwegian barque Ariadne, previously reported as having arrived off the Heads, sailed up on Mondßy forenoon. Having powder oa board, she anchored in the Quarantine ground. Sne left the Downs on the 23rd January, having been detained by a continuance of S.W. winds. Took her departure from the Start Light on the 26th, but owing to heavy westerly gales, did not clear the Channel until the sth of Febrnary. Crossed the Equator on the 10th Mirch; had light S.E. trades, which being well to the southward, was abreast of Tnnidada on the 24th ; passed the meridian of tha Caps on the Ist May, off which she encountered a heavy S.E. gale, which stove in the cabin doors and filled it with water, and carried away the maintopmast backstay chain plates. She had afterwards a heavy gale from N.W. for four days, and subsequently heavy weather in running down her easting in lat 40 S. Made the Snares and Stewart's Inland on the 19th, and sounded between them, getting 80 fathoms. Made Nugget Point on the 20th, and received pilot on board on the evening of the 21st. The late S.W. gale commenced shortly afterwards ; veered out 75 fathoms chain. Ac 6 p.m. on Friday she parted her cable about 10 fathoms from the anchor, and drove to sea; hove the ship to, but it was not until Bank's Peninsula was sighted that the gale moderated, and the vessel was able to make any progress. Light N.E. winds were afterwards met with, until her return to the Heads. On Monday morning, a strong flood tide setting in, she was enabled to make her anchorage. The Ariadne spoke the following vessels : — Ceylon, ship, on 4th April, 43 days out, from Liverpool to Hong Kong; Addison, ship, 6th April, 43 days out, from Liverpool to Shanghai; Malvern, ship, 28th April, from Sunderland to Madras, 117 days out; Alehymist, ship, from London to Adelaide, 84 days out; lat. 38 S-, long. 57 E.

We extract the following from the " Dunstan Times":— "Mr Warden Stratford gave his decision on Friday last, at the Kawarau Gorge, in the case of Perriam v. Kitchingham. The case was of rather more than usual importance, and settled a very knotty point between an applicant for an agricultural area and a mining party who required the greater portion of the area applied for, as the site of a dam for storing water for sluicing purposes. The objector based his objectioop on two points, viz. : — That he had marked off and occuoifd the area since October, 1864 ; that on the 11th May, 1866, he made a re-application under the new leasing regulations, for the same site' and that his application was dated three days prior to the ground being applied ior by Kitchingham and party. A cross-examina-tion by defendant's counsel elicited the following /acts : — That the objector never re ceived a certificate for the land from the Warden in the first place, he merely held a plan stated to have been made by the Mining Surveyor, but such, was not authenticated, and no notice tor occupying the land under the new regulations had been posted. Mr Warden Stratford over-ruled the objection on the following grounds. That he could not recommend the land being leased to the objector, it being so much more valuable for mining purposes. Kitchingham snd pirty had spent L7OO in the construction of their water-race, and the site was the only one without an enormous expense, that could be devoted to the purposes of a dam. He would, however, allow compensation for the value of produce that might be contained in the ground, and for the three days' priority of right of objector. The amount ot compensa'ion to be decided by arbitrators — one to be chosen by objector the other by defendant, and one by the arbitrators themselves, should they not agree in arriving at a decision."

The trial of Special Jury Causes was fiaished on Monday, before His Honor, Mr Justice Richmond. M'Kay v. Burke and others was an issue in an equity suit,, praying that the plaintiff might be declared to have been a partner in ths contract for the erection of tha Dog Island lighthouse, and that LIISS received by the defendant aa the trustee in the insolvent estate of Garside, the nominal sole contractor, might be ordered to be applied to partnership purposes, &c. The ca-e was not without interest, in its complications ; but it was virtually undefended, counsel tor the defendant simply submitting that the defendant, in resisting, so as to lead to an injunction motion and the present suit, had simply done what he was compelled to do as trustee in Garside's estate. The issues were found in favor of the plaintiff. — Russell v. Howurtk and others was a claim for LSO, and the evidence was simply another getting of much of what became known to the public through the recent proceedings in the Resident Magistrate's Court, on informations for perjury. The verdict was for the defendant. This was the last cause for trial. — Dalgety and others v. Driver, which stands for Monday, the 9th July, is an equity suit, and will be tried before one of the Judges.

A meeting of ratepayers in the Mornington District was held in the school-house on the evening of Monday last, for the purpose of electing Road Trustees for the year ensuing — Mr Reginald Macdonald in the chair. Considerable interest appeared to be taken in the matter, judging from the number of proprietors attending. The choice fell on the following gentlemen, viz.: — E. De Carle, 15. Sievwright, W, Barr, J. Mitchell, and A. H. Shurey.

Efforts are being made to extend the Wharf Accommodation at Hokitika. The " West Coast Times" of the 14th says: — " According to a resolution passed at the meeting held at the Criterion Hetel, on Tuesday night, to devise, if possible, means for the extension of the wharf westwards, a deputation, consisting of Messrs Pahn, Fifz9immons, Binney, Byrne, Cassius, Hudson, and Prosser, waited on Mr Sale for the purpose of ascertaining what steps had been taken in connection with the wharf extenßimj . Mr Prosser introduced the deputation, which was courteously received by Mr Sale, who, in reply, stated that he had called for tenders for the purpose*? ascertaining the probable cost of constructing a work to protect the river bank, and form a thoroughfare sufficiently wide to admit the passage of a dray to a point a little below Revell street. These were duly sent in, and on being opened, it was found that the necessary improvements might be effected for about L6OO. He at once communicated with, the Executive in Christchurch, and in reply, received a telegram to the effect that the Government was not prepared to incur such an expense. Mr Sale, however, being evidently f ully alive to the importance of the work, advised the deputation to draw up a memorial and forward it to Chriatchurch, as such a procedure might result in the Government giving its assent to the construction of the required work. A memorial to the Superintendent was afterwards adopted, pressing the necessity of increased wharf accommodation upon his notice."

The following appeared in a letter in the " Orange Guardian," an Australian journal: — " Some twenty years ago I recognised the asbestos or amianthus rock in this district, and since then I have from time to time exposed portions of the stone to atmospheric influence, and the result has always been a perfect change of the stone into asbestos, or into a substance closely resembling the finest staple of wool, only something stronger, and, if possible, whiter in appearance. I have sometimes obtained it six inches in length, have combed it out, and found it as soft and pliant as any silk. The substance^ as no doubt you are aware, is inconsumable by fire, as its name indicates, and was used in ancient times by nobles and others of greafc wealth (being too costly for the poor) as a material of clothin?, and tor various other purposes. Mr Phillips of your town is, I believe, a peTson acquainted with the manufacture of this substance. The stone may be brought into the state of asbestos in a very short time, and thereby intimates that the tone itself is of great prospective value. I have been employed sinking a well of late and some days I got as much of this mineral as would make a suit of clothes. I can show the stone here in all its stages, from stone itself to the asbestos state. Should asbestos ever come into general use, it will, in some measure no doubt, from its incombustible nature, supersede the evils of crinoline. Besides this great advantage, it will also set aside the vexatious expense and use of soap and water — for all a lady will have to do whea she unrobes herself, will be to pitch her articles of apparel into a glowing fire, and when they have become as white as a snowflake she may resume them at her pleasure. Perhaps you may deem some pirt of the foregoing rather extravagant ; but nevertheless, I really believe that, by proper appliances, the amianthus may yet become a source of revenue, and I therefore recommend the thing to your attention."

The "Mining Journal" says:— "An interesting series of experiments with sodium amalgam in the treatment of auriferous ores has been cond icted under the superintendence of Professor Siiliman, and the results obtained have been highly satisfactory. He states that having at his disposal a considerable quantity of California gold quartz from a mine in Calaveras county, he proposed to Mr Wurtz to subject these ores to his method of amalgamation, under conditions subject to control, both as expressing the actual value of the material experimented on, as well as giving the value of the r suits and the loss in the process. The crushing and grinding •were effected in the apparatus of Mr M. B. Dodge, of New York, which doing its work dry, gives unusnal facilities for exactness. The details obtained in these experiments as to the degree oE comminution reached by this apparatus h ive been very carefully worked out, but are reserved for a future communication, having no bearing on the subject now before us, although believed to be of value to the art of ore-dressing. After detailing the several experiments which were actually concluded, Professor Siiliman continues that the experiments are still ia progress, but the results show that with unaided mercury the gold saved is less than 60 per cent, of the whole quantity of gold known to be present. In one experiment less than 40 per cent, was saved, while by the aid of the amalgam of sodium the saving is increased to 80 per cent., or 80-3 per cent., or an increase of more than 20 per cent., leading to the reasonable expectation that in the large way at least 80 per cent, of the gold present in a given case may be saved, and iv many cases, where the gold is coarse and free, that even better results than this may be attained. The first experiment detailed in which a different amalgamating apparatus was used gave results surprisingly close. He does not think the barrel as good a form of apparatus for this description of amalgamation as some ona of the numerous forms of pan now in use. It was employed in these experiments simply because it was a convenient means of treatog. small quantities of ore in making comparative experiments. Experiments in California, under his direction, have been set on foot upon a scale of magnitude adequate to test the value of this discovery in the metallurgy of gold in a satisfactory manner, the results of which may new fceLoked for shortly."