Telegrams.

Otago Witness, Issue 1423, 1 March 1879, Page 17

Telegrams.

PEOVINOIAL ITEMS.

Queenstown, February 20th. The County Council to-day adopted No. 4 site, recommended by Mr Stout on his recont visit, as the alternative one for a bridge over tho Kawarau. M'Corniick's tender for its erection for L 12,000 was accented. The plans are to be approved by the Goverameut, who contributo LBOOO, atid pound for pound above that amount. Three bridges and approaches have to be made.

The new steamer 13 running satisfactorily, but is not yet passed. Harvest operations will be general next week. The ground under crop ia very limited, and all raised will be required for home consump tion.

Oamaru, February 20th. The first meeting of the Board of Governors of the Waitaki High School was held to-day, Mr Shrimski, M.H.R., was appointed chay>

man and Mr Sumpter honorary secretary. Mv Shrimski, iv acknowledging the compliment paid to liiin for getting the Act passed last session authorising the establishment of an endowed high school for North Otago, particularly mentioned the Hons. Robert Stout and W. H. Reynolds as having assisted materially in its passing ; and the secretary was directed to write to those gentlemen, thanking them for their assistance. The formation of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand does not appear to ba meeting with so much success as was anticipated. Although three months have elapsed since the meeting of delegates took place and the Society was formally started, only about 20 residents in the district have become members. An active canvass for members is now to ba made. February 21st. The servant girls by the Wellington received L3O, and farm labourers L 55 to L 65 per year. Two married mcD, with families, got LBO. The immigrants are spoken of as a very good lot. February 23rd. Owing to the presence of fire-damp, the St. Andrew's coal-mine haa been closed. February 24th. The barque William Wilson, of 650 tons burthen, i 3 now loading at the Macandrew wharf, for London direct. The greater part of her freight is engaged. A case of sunstroke occurred at Papakaio on Friday to a man in the employ of Messrs Millington. When found he was lying in paddock speechless. He, however, recovered sufficiently to be taken to the hospital, where he is at present under medical treatment. Great sympathy is expressed for the widows and orphans of those killed in the Kaitangata explosion. On a requisition from the clergy of all denominations, the public, and miners, the Mayor has called a public meeting for Friday night, to take steps to relieve the suffererß. There are several miners' here who previously worked in the Kaitangata colliery. February 25th. As showing the value of land in Oamaru, Mr Galbraith sold to-day section 15, block IV. Thames street, erected on which are the shops'! of Messrs Murray, Familton, and Ferens, for the sum of L 4200. February 26th. Oamaru only sends three representatives to the Nelson rifle competition. They are : SubLieutenant Morris, Sergeant King, and Volunteer R. Harding, all members of No. 1 Com* pany Riflea. Inveeoargill, February 24th. The advantage of through railway communication is shown by the fact that a number of passengers from Wellington, who lately arrived at Port Chalmers, came here on Saturday, ap« parently to " spy out the land." The people are a superior class. The Chamber of Commerce held a meeting this afternoon. A resolution was passed condemning the existing bankruptcy laws, and recommending that no bankrupt should receive his discharge unless it could be shown that the estate would pay 10s in the pound. The reckless trading and speculating induced by the existing tax laws was warmly commented upon. Mr J. L. M'Donald was the mover of the resolution. The question of co operating with the ! Commissioners of the Sydney Exhibition was introduced, and a sub-committee was formed j to take immediate steps to collect exhibits ia Southland. A tradesman was fined 20s at the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning for a breach of the Stamp Act. February 25th. A quarter-acre section in Tay street was sold to-day for L2OOO. The purchasers were Messrs Price and Bullied, drapers. Only three representatives from the district will beabla toattend the Colonial Prfze-firiug at I Nelson. They are Volunteer Cuff, Sergeant Aitcheson, and Volunteer Hancock. February 26fcb. At Wallacetown to-day there was an exhibition of the Wood, Osborne, M'Cormiek, and Marsh reapers and binders. The field selected to be operated upon was a field of oats. The affair could hardly be called a competition— it was simply an exhibition, and at the outset it was agreed that no ballot as to the respective j merits of the machines should Le taken. One and a-half acre of a light crop was allotted to each machine. ' Unfortunately, neither Wood's | nor Marsh's worked well, but the others were really excellent. The opinion amongst experts as to their relative merits was about equal. The M'Cormick wa3 the first to finish, but this was owing to the fact of the horses being much quicker than those of Osborne's, while the driver was a skilled hand, and had driven the machine at trial« elsewhere. The driver of the Osborne was a local farmer. The binding of the latter machine was generally reI garded as the best. The agent for Oaborne's (Mr G. F. Martin) succeeded in disposing of three on the ground. M'Cormick's machine was also very much admired. There was a very large attendance, including a number from luvercargill. Messrs Macrorie and Cuthbertson to-day sold the Strathearn Estate. The sections realised from L 34 to L 7& each. Large numbers of fat cattle and sheep are going from here by train to the Dnnedia market. INTEUPEOVINCIAL. Auckland, February 19th. At seven Auckland City public schools, 2200 cm'ldre are attending. Eight hundred children in the city ara not attending any school, and it is suggested by the Press that the compulsory clauses of the Act should be enforced. _ The facilities giveu for affording religious instruction at schools ara not generally availed of by the city clergymen of the various denominations. February 22nd. Another stampede from the Naval Training School bas occurred, and seven juvenile deserters have been recaptured. The Star, referring to the City West eleo. tion, says : — " The contest will be narrowed down to one upon the question of education. No secret is made of the fact that Mr Dignan is put forward by a section of the party which f avour* the restoration of denominational education, while Mr Goldie will find support amongst that large party who desire to retain the existing system, and who regard any Btep in the direction of restoring denominationalism as retrogressive." February 25th. H.M.S. Sapphire sailed this morning for Portsmouth, via the Falkland Islands. Myas, the deserter, who was on board aa a prisoner, made a bold attempt at escape this morning before the vessel's departure. He had broken loose, and was on deck when caught and put under restraint. 1 At the sale of Crown lands held to-day the number present was few, and the sales were equally few. The land tax frightens away all speculators, The Volunteers from the Thames have arrived here, en route for Nelson, for the meet* ing of the New Zealand Rifle Association. The Thames Volunteers will be represented by Captain Small, Sergeant Clark (sapper). Kelly (Naval Brigade)} Petty-ofEcerj Thomas, Walker, and Gordon; Seamen Ainwtjjeng

and Harris. The Thames Scottish Rifles send Downing, Weir, M'Leod, Fenton, Dreek, and Hobson. The company send Corporal MacCarthy at their own expense. Major Te Wheoro's daughter died yesterday of typhoid fever. Dr Lee, the newly-appointed Native officer, attended her, but the case getting serious he called in Dr Philaon. She died before his arrival. She had been sent to Mrs Lewis' school at Epsom, and Te Wheoro intended to have her educated and brought up as a European. Her untimely end will cause great grief among the Waikoto tribes. She was one of the principal lineal descendants of Te Kanawa, one of the great ancestors of the Waikato tribes. Her body was removed to Waikato to-day, and will be buried with those of her ancestors. The Star says :—": — " Every day furnishes new evidence of the damage to our timber-industry caused by the abolition of the import duty of 2s per 109 feet last session. By one act of foolish interference with a great industry Mr Ballance had imperilled the prosperity of Auckland. His meddling is moreover less excusable inasmuch as it was without public opinion, and without precedent to support it. A petition in favour of restoring the duty before the timber trade of the Province is completely crippled is now on the tapis, and by united effort it may still be possible to |step back." Petitions in favour of the restoration of the duties on grain, butter, and cheese are also spoken of. It is certain that the Auckland farmers have been the chief sufferers from the policy adopted last session. In addition to the Thames representatives at the Nelson, meeting, Auckland sendß Volunteers Cooper, Allen, and Fairs, Lieutenants Kelly and Skinner, and Volunteers Cameron and Woolley. February 26th. At the Government land sale yesterday, for 44 lots, from 50 to 260 acres at Hokianga, there was not a single bid. The cause alleged is the dread of the new land tax. No Northern land was sold. A fine collection of ornamental woods from the province will be forwarded to the Sydney Exhibition, including .five varieties of mottled kauri. __-__». Wellington, February 21st. During the last few days several deputations have interviewed Mr Macaudrew, asking aid for County roads in different places. The answer in each case has been that there are no funds, and the Government is not prepared to open the door to innumerable applications by recommending Parliament in any one case to depart from the rule laid down, that roads should be locally made and maintained. February 24th. The Kaitangata disaster was alluded to in most of the churches yesterday. The papers all urge assistance to the survivor?. The following tenders have been received for theWaipuku contract (permanent way) of the Waitara-Patea Railway:— Accepted: D. Wilke, New Plymouth, L 1730. Declined : J. Multree, New Plymouth, L 1822; W. G. Baasett, Wanganui, L 1987 J D. Glendining, New Plymouth, L 1994; Hursthouae and Bevy, L 2703; R. M.'Gonah, L 2859. February 25th. Complaints having been made about a contract for furniture being improperly let by the Colonial Architect's department, Messrs Eliott, Under-Secretary of Crown Lands, and Barron, chief reporter, were appointed a Poard to investigate the matter. The complainant is a German cabinetmaker, and he empbyed Mr Ollivier to conduct the case. The Board, how* ever, declined to bear a solicitor, and insisted on the complainant going on with the case himself. He refused to do so, and withdrew, saying he would appeal to Ministers. An extraordinary general meeting of the New Zealand Titanic Steel Company, held last night, confirmed the special resolutions passed on the 20th January. The Working Men's Club have appointed a committee to collect subscriptions for the Kaitangata sufferers. The Secretary of the Rifle Association and some members of the Committee have left for Nelson, to make the necessary arrangements for the prize-firing. February 26th. The Attorney-General has given an opinion to the Corporation that the construction of new streets is a work within the meaning of the term "public works" in the Municipal Corporations Act, and for which a Bpecial loan may be raised with the approval of the ratepayers. The city solicitor has advised differently. The barque Aberdeen from New York, which port she left on the 20th of September, on the Bth of October fell in with the Eoglish brig Ada Fulton, bound from Prince Edward Island to Cuba with coal, in a sinking condition, after encountering a cyclone. She took off the captain and eight men, and on the 19th transhipped four f men to the Salodora, ship bound to Pernambuco. On th» Ist November she transhipped the others to the British ship Balcome, from London to the West Indies. Six guDB for harbour defence, three of seven tons and three 64-pounders, and the material for a drill-shed, are on board the ship Lorraine, now daily expected from England. The following are the City Rifle representatives at Nelson: Sub Lieutenant M'lntosh, Sergeant J. Ballingher, Lance-corporal W. Ballingher, Privates W. Ballingher, Cordingxnan, and Reeves. The Post says :•— " Mr Green has completed the valuation for the Porirua district, and finds that the total unimproved value of the district is about LIOO.OOO, but as the larger number of the holdings are small, and come within the LSOO exemption clause, the actual value of the district for taxable purposes will be reduced to L 20,000. At a liberal estimate this, at one halfpenny in the LI, will produce about L4l. The expenses of valuation, collecting, &c, will come to about L7O, thus showing an actual loss «f about L3O in that district. The Hutt andWainui Omat a districts will probably show even a worse result, especially the latter, owing to the fact that the unimproved value of the property has been fixed at a lower price than in the Porirua district. We believe that Mr Green's valuation averages over L 2 per acre, while in the Wainui-Omata Valley (where land is certainly more valuable) the average is nearer 253 per acre." Napier, February 24th. Karaitiana Takamoana, M.H.R., died this morning. He had been ill a long time, and his mind was also affected. February 26th. The Hawke Bay Herald's Wairoa correspondent telegraphs^ as follows :—": — " Te Kooti has warned the Natives at Orepoto, Lake Waikapnoua, not to eat or sleep in their settlements for a month, or they will be destroyed by pestilence. The Natives, in consequence, left their kaiangas in a body, and are camped out on the banks of the Waikareka waiting orders. At present there are only five men and a Bergeant stationed at Orepoto. It certainly seems like tempting Providence to leave an imSortant post— in the heart of the Waiwera lounty, where Te Kooti'a word i» law— so weakly garrisoned. ..... , The long-continued drought is beconipf ftlftraiagt

New Plymouth, February 24th. The Rev. Father Berkely, of Wellington, has arrived to take charge of this district. The members of his church met last night and subscribed over LSO on the spot to repair and furnish a house for him. Sir John Coode has telegraphed his report on the harbour, and the plans will leave London on the 15th of March. February 26th. A meeting of the creditors of A. S. Faithfull was held to-day. The liabilities were stated to be L 2222, and the assets L 1450. The examination of the bankrupt showed rather an unsatisfactory state of affairs, and after some severe remarks the meeting adjourned for a vreek, to allow the trustee time to investigate the matter. Westport, February 19 th. Typhoid and scarlet fever are raging at Boatman's Creek. Two or three fatal cases are reported, and great alarm is felt in families. Hokitika, February 25th. The Waipara, from Jackson's Bay, reports that great numbers of residents there intend leaving on the arrival of the Stella. Kumara, February 25th. At the firing for choice of representatives^ the Nelson meeting Lieutenant Munyard with 72, and Marshall with 65, were selected. The late rains have caused a large fall of earth in the Government water-race tunnel. The water has been turned off for repairs, and large numbers of miners are idle in consequence. With every exertion it will take at least a week before the water is on again. Christohuroh, February 25th. The steam crane for the Timaru Harbour Board, manufactured at the Canterbury Foundry, was sent down by the special goods train last Sunday morning. It took 16 trucks, and weighed over 100 tons. At a meeting of the City Council last night, the Mayor offered to bet any councillor L2oto L 5 that if certain work were done it would involve the Council in litigation. The bet was not taken up. The session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church opened last evening in St. Andrew's Church. The Rev. D. Sidey, of Napier, was appointed Moderator, and delivered an able address. The Assembly appointed a committee to prepare an address to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. The Acclimatisation Society are going to send to Mr Creighton for more prairie-hens. They have determined, in consequence of remonstrance, to omit jackdaws from the list of birds to be brought out by Mr Bills. They are going to import English crabs and lobsters. February 24th. The Canterbury Rifle Association have determined that the 12 highest scorers during the season shall form a team to compete against the Otago men on their return from the Nelson meeting. Some pedigree greyhounds from Victorian kennels were offered by auction on Saturday, and went at very moderate prices. February 26th ; At yesterday's sitting of the Presbyterian Assembly, the Rev. D. Bruce, of Auckland, expressed regret that owing to the accident which lately occurred representatives from the Auckland Presbytery had been prevented from punctually attending the Assembly. A committee was appointed to consider and report on an overture submitted by the Rev. D. Bruce relative to filling vacant pulpits, by the congregation appointing three commissioners, who, acting with two commissioneia appointed by the Presbytery, would select the minister. Timaru, February 25th. It is expected that the steam crane for the harbour works will be in working order within a month. It ie now being put together at the end of the breakwater. During the four weeks ended to-day the principal exports by sea from Timaru were 45,000 bushels of wheat, 1768 bushels of barley, 854 sacks of flour, 7200 bushels of oats, and 1492 bales of wool, besides lesser quantities of bran, pollard, potatoes, &c. The roadstead is now full of shipping. Another excellent seam of coal has been found in the Waimate district. Dr R. B. Hogg has been appointed resident surgeon ti the hospital, out of five applicants. The commissioners passed a resolution warmly thanking Dr Macintyre for his services as resident surgeon during the many years he filled the position. February 23rd. The total sum realised on Saturdayby the sale of the privileges in connection with the forthcoming race meeting here was L 38 5105.