NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 909, 20 March 1869, Page 13

NEWS OF THE WEEK .

The first escort from the Greenstone? diggings arrived in Hokitika on the 2ad instant, bringing 1000 ounces of gold.

We Understand that a Canterbury gentleman at present on a visit to Dunedin, lately bought; 1000 sheep in the Thnaru district for LlO, or rather less than 2M each.

Letters of Naturalisation have been issued in favour of Mr C. P. Beck, cordial manufacturer, Clyde, and Mr Charles Nieper, hotel and storekeeper, Alexandra.

Mr R. M. Robertson announces that" owin? to private business obliging him to proceed to England, he has fouud it necessary to resiga his seat m the Provincial Council for the Taieri district.

According to a statement corrected to the 3rd inst., and sicked y the Chief Commissioner of ihf Waste Land B ard, the are* of the survey. d rural lands in the province open to selection on that date was 65,075 acres.

Persons whn visited the Oce-m 'Reach the other riay, n >tic^d an extraordinary flight > mutton bird", whi h continued from abou twelve to iwo o'clock. The migration was southwards the flicht being in a narrowline. F. om 'he Oamaru Times we Jearn that a similar flight was observed recently.

The rabbit misance is now demanding attention in another portion of the Colony, m which it appea-e to ! e 8' reading, in the Kaikoura district M arlborougb., the rab 1 its are described as being " a perfect pest and intolerable nuisance"' while au " importation" of ferrets is about to be made for the purpose of keeping them down.

A telegram from Teviot, dated the 12tn inst . and published m the Tuapeka Times f Saturday, says : Twenty-seven applications for agricultural leaden on the island block, Horse Shi c Bend just thrown open for sett'ement, have been lodged to-day, representing an acreage of one thousand three hundred and filty acres.

A new brick yard has been opened at Waikouaiti, nearly opposite the Cherry ''arm flour mill. The site would appear to have been pai Ucularly well chosen, as, according to the local journal, excellent clay exists there for the manufacture of bricks, while the main road pas°es in fronb of the establishment, thus affording a ready means of transport for the bricks to any quarter.

The premises of Mr Zierk, Thames street., Oamaru, had a narrow escape from being burned down last Friday eveniug. It seems that a kerosene lamp fell on to the floor, and broke in pieces, the oil instantly flaring up With some difficulty it was extinguished, and the building, a wooden one, was preserved from destruction.

The consumption of powder on the B'ue Spur, says the local correspondent, of the Tuapeka Times, is rapidly increasing During the last three days of last week 9250 ibs of powder wera fired m heavy blasts bj four of our mining companies, viz , N. Mills and Co., 45001b5; E. Peterson and Co., 1350; British American Co., 1300 ; and the Great Extended Co , 2100.

The following wa3 the state of H.M. Gaol, Dunedin. for the week ending on Saturday last : — Under remand, 1 man ; penal servitude, 20 men ; hard la our, 72 men and 9 women ; imprisonment, 2 men ; in default of bail, 3 men and 1 women ; debtors, 3 men ; total, 101 men and iO women; 12 men and 4 women were received during the week, and 17 men and 4 women were discharged during the same period:

A new tariff came into operation on the Indo-European line of telegraph on the Ist of January last. From India to Galle, the charge for ten words is 4s, which will carry the message 4000 miles, or only Is for every 1000 miles of wire traversed. Twenty words can be sent from Galle to Lo don for L 3 Is, with LI Is 6d for every additional ten words or under. From Galle to New York or Boston the charge for 15 words, including five for the address, is L 6 8s Bd, with 6s 9d for every additional word.

Our losses during the present war are thus summarised by the Wanganui Evening Herald — Since the attack on Turotaromokai, we have had killed and wounded, on the East and West Coast, 24i) Europeans, including the families massacred in Poverty Bay. About 100 stand of arms, in rifles, revolvers and swords, have been captured by the Maoris. This calculation has beeD made by Sergeant Forsythe of the 18 eh R 1., who has kept a record of the accounts of all the actions.

Some little time ago Messrs Starkey & Co., Cromwell, sank for gold m their treehold property situated in the to v\ nship of Cromwell, ai.d met with such success that their exam- le was largely followi-d by the other residents. The Town Council, however, being apprehensive that injury might arise to the town pr <peity through these workings, have, according to a correspondent of the Dunstaa Times, ann >unced that mining within the boundaries of the municipality will not be allowed in future. The difficulties in which the Provincial Government of Wellington are placed for waut o f funds, have led to the adoption of very radical measures in the way of economy. The Independent say s : — The {Superintendent, we are told, wi 1 recommend the repeal of the Executive Act. and the abolition of the Provinci^. Executive. The Provincial Executive, in their ta n, it is said, will support a vote for the reduction of the salary of the Superintendent by one-half, while they will both oppose any payment being made to th<3 members of the I'rovsncial Council. The latter hope, by the cutting down of salaries, and the abolition of departments, to save something for grauta-in-aid of school committees and road boards. A coal pit has been opened in the Papakaio district by Messrs Dougtas and Bradbury. The Oamaru Times says : — The working is about > 1 miles from Oamaru, and is situated in a gully at the back of Mr Ful ton's property. SampJes of the coal have been brought into town, and may be seen at the stores of Messrs Bee and Booth. It is said that this coil is of better quality than a £>ood deal which has hitherto been brought into the market, and as the price at v>hich it is offeied. 30s per ton, is very moderate, the demand will doubtle°s be largf, should its qualities for fuel prove as good as it is anticipated that they w 11. The shaft has now been sunk some 30 feet, the seam having been penetrated to a depth of five feet, and the coal is said to improve as the workings proceed.

The first general meeting of the Otigo Yacht Club was held on Monday evening last — B. C Haggitt Esq. , in the chiir. Twentyone gent emen proposed by the Committee appointed at the preliminary meeting were unanimously elected members of *the Club. The Oommittee also reported that they would shortly be in a position to propose a still larger number. The following gentlemen were < lected ofS-er3 for the current year :—: — Commodore, H. 0. Haggitt, Esq. ; Vice-Corn. mouore. C. FT. Stref t, Ksq; Secretary, MrP. tf 1 Beag ; Treasurer. Mr W. Adam ; and Messrs Cundell and Brent, Auditors The election of the sailing committee was postponed until a future meeting, in order to admit of new members being present.

The body found on the evening of Thurs day -week at the Ocean Beach has been identified as that of a man named James Ross, a painter by tri.de who has worked for the last six or seven years partly in this town and i artly at the X eat Coast. Pur some time preceding his death he resided at the York Hotel G-eorj:e-street, and on Thursday morning heMt about 10 o'clock, taking along witb. him some brandy in a bottle. It was also observed that before leaving he packpd up his clothing as if he intended to leave the place. This was the last tme he was seen alive. He is said to have been drinking pretty freely of late, but otherwise he is reported to have been of a gui t inoffensive disposition An inquest was held on Saturday afternoon, und an open verdict of ''Found drowned wa returned.

A sad accident occurred on the Port Chalmers road on Monday to Air George Uyland, the well known and generally esteemefi chief steward of the ss. Airedale It appears that Mr Eyland was proceedingon horseback from Port Chalmers to Dunedin, and that whilst turning one of the shai-p corners of the road his horse stumbled and threw him, falling upon him heavily, and breaking his thigh. On hearing of the accident, Mr Crickrnore, of the Hoyal Hotel. Port Chalmers, immed'ately drove out to the scene of the mi fortune in his buggy, and conveyed him back to the Hotel, where he was attended by Drs 1 rquhart and O'Domtghue, who set the injured limb. We are glad to tay that it i 3 expected Mr Ryland will r<-cover without any serious pennant nt injury resulting from the unfor tunate occurrence.

The operations in progress on the goldfield i lately dißcovered on the Waikaka river, are thus detailed by the Tuapeka Times of the 13th instant :— Green's party. Waikaka, have already formed twenty-three miles of their race, which is to bring water from the "Waikika river, to bear on the auriferous ground in Ainslie's run. The whole length of the race, when completed, will be thirty m^les, its termination being about three miles from the Winding Creek, on the Tapanui side. It is legistered to carry twenty heads of water. The ground to be worked consists chiefly of terraces, three or four mil^s tielow Ainslie's stafoa, and it is expected to pay 1 8 or L 9 per man per week. This estimate has been formed from the results of washings already made on these terraces, a creek running into the Waikaka having been tapped, and L7O worth of gold realised for five days' washing. A few weeks ago, a share was bought in the race by a resident in Tapanui for LI SO, the same share having been a short time before sold for L6O or L7O. Tt will he within the recollection cf our readers that in alluding to the Macraes Quartz Crustrniz Company in a recent issue, we mentioned that another experiment for testing the value of the reef waa about to be

made. That experiment has since taken place with, we are happy to arid, satisfactory results. Writing froia Macraes, under dati the 15th instant, a correspondent informs u^ that a quantity of stone, estimated at six tons, has been passed through the stampers, and gold to the amount of 11028 15dwttrealised. The stone was taken out of the Duke of Edinburgh Reef, better known as the Eclipse. A quantity of stone, it would seem, still remains to be crushed, as our informant adds that the machine was brought to a stand still for want of water This is doubtless an encouraging prospect, and should stimulate the shareholders to further operations. The battery is a very complete one, and if it could be kept in constant work an immense benefit would be conferred upon the district. From other sources we leari' that the long continued drouahc is beginning to be fait severely by the other workings in tho pi cc.

About three weeks ago the North Duuedin Riflcw sent to Mr M'Lean, the Superintendent of H&wke's B:y, the sum of L2O. which had been subscribed by the members of the co. ps. in aid of the sufferers by the war raging iv that province. The following is the reply of Mr M'Ltan to the letter from Captr in Copeland, enclosing the remittance referred to :—: — " Superintendent's Office, Napier, 3rd March, 1569. Sir — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the '2,3 i d February last, transmitting an order on the Union Bank of -Australia for the saim of 1 "20, subscribed by the members of the North Dunedin Volunteer Rifles for the relief of the sufferers by the present Maori rebellion. The amount has been duly handed over to the chairman of the Refugee Committee, and every care will be taken to hive it distributed in. such a manner as to afford the greatest amount of relief to the unfortunate sufferers ; and I feel sure I express the sentiments of the refugees, by re questing that you will convey to the members of the volunteers my best thanks for their kind donation. T h-ive the honour to be. Sir, your most obedient servant, Donald M'Leah, Super. ntendent.'"

The following donations were received by the Museum in the New Post Office Building during the month of February la=t : — From Miss Solomon, 3(5 specimens of Tasmaman seaweeds, skulls of codfish and bird. From Mrs Johnston, a mat made of the phormium teuax by the Maoris at the Taieri. Fr.im Mr R. Mackay, a specimen of Angora wool from the Oamaru branch of the Acclimatisation Society. From. Mr Ick, Waikouaiti, a wiiite-eyed penguin (Maori nam», Tauke tawaki). From Mrs Thomas Johnston, Fijian sulu, female fishing dress, specimen of paper made from the bark of the mulberry tree, fibrous bark used for tying, and pearl shells. From Mr E Quick, specimen of Taranaki iron sand. From the Hon. Dr Buchanan, a good collec turn of shells From Mr Joyce of the cutter Lapwing, a flying fox (Pt ropida; roussetta) from the Fijis, together with four bottles ot insects, lizards, &c. in spirits, model of a canoe (waga rua), and pillow. F>om M George Hay. an iguana in spirits, also from theFijis. From Mr William Keuuedv. London Hotel, a large moa bone, ;ind an Indian chair. From Mr Hugh Calder, lar^e stoiv 3 adze found at Otago Heads, and otolite of

Mr Justice Richmond, on opening the late Criminal Session of the Supreme Court at Nelson, referred at some length to the present state of aff-tirs in the North Island. In the course of his remarks he said : — There was a case now pending in theCourfcof Queen's Bench with regard to a Colonial Act of Indemnity passed in Jamaica, which Act thera was reason to suppose would prove invalid. That was a matter of concern to us all, because it hail now become impossible to carry out the ordinary law in an ordinary way in the North Island. The news that had just been received of the arrival of the Himalaya in Wellington, suggested to his mind that if we were to be burdened with the responsibilities of independence, we should also be permitted to enjoy its powers, and be enabled to deal with the urgent necessities of our position, and he helieved that the same vi-w would appear a just one to the home statesmen. As a Judge of the Supreme Court, he considered it was not going out of his way to say that the ordinary law of England was quite inadequaie to deal with such exigencit s as we were now called upon to face without aid from the n other c >untry. If the Jamaica Act of Indemnity were considered invalid, it i ecame imperative to deal with the state of the law.

An accident, which unhappily resulted in the loss of two lives, took place on Saturday week near Mr Smith's home-station, about sixteen miles from Lawrence. The Tuapeka Press relates the occurrence j s follows :—: — Two men, named Harry Nehoff and John Davies, were engaged m taking firewood ! across the Molyneux. To facilitate operations, they had stretched a wire rope across the river, by means of which to ferry their boat over. The rope not having been tightly stretched, it caught the water where it dipped in the centre ; and to remedy this defect the two men went out in the boat to lift up the rope, so that it might be hauled taut by some men on the lunk of the i river. To accomplish this, they ran the stem of the boat under the rope, when the sudden weight, combined with the strong current running, forced her completely under water ; and the two men were left struggling for life in the. rWer. Nehoff sank almost immediately, and never rose again. Davies atuck to one of the oars for a few minutes, but not being able to swim, he also sank, and was drowned. They were two steady,

industrious men, and Nehoff leaves a wife and two children to lament his sad fate. A greal number of the station hands and others turne'l out to search the banks of the river fur the bodies, but we understand that neither of them has as yet been recovered.