INTERPROVINCIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1449, 30 August 1879, Page 9

INTERPROVINCIAL.

Auckland, August 21st. At a meeting cf the vVaste Lands Board, a telegram was re id from the Government requesting the Board to withdraw the land offered for lease at Taiaroa to the Union Sash and Door Company until affairs on the goldfields would improve, aa otherwise a number of gumdiggers would be thrown out of employment. It was agreed to do bo. Mr Firth strongly deprecated the action of the Thames County Council in appealing to the Government instead of to the Waste Lands Board, us the proper channel. The dwelling-liou*e of William M'Millan, Papatoitoi, was burned down last evening. Mrs M'Miilan was getting her children to bed, and when pulling down a blind it caught bre from the candle, tvnd the flame 3 spread to the ceiling. Mr M'AEillan was absent from home, und his wife bud only time to save the children before the housa was in flames. The building and f urnitnre wer«a insuixd in the Imperial office for L3OO. August 22nd. At a stormy meeting of the Artillory, which was convened to fleet a captain, owing to tbe promotion to major of Captain Buruo, part of the Company yob up a requisition to an cufcfider; others though; Lieutenant Payne entitled to the position. Major Burns ended the dispute by statiog that he would retain the captaincy hiumlf. The eight Natives arrested last week at Gi»borne for riot, and forcible entry on lands leased by the late Captain Head, were committed for triol at the next sitting of tbe Supreme Court. Mr Kees defended the prisoners. August 23rd. Tenders for tbe first section of the Thames Waikato railway, at the Hamilton end, will be called for immediately. The route is finally fixed to strike the liver at the lsnding-plaee opposite Te Aroha, instead of a few xmles lower down. August 24 th. , The Herald says: — "A great commotion was caused in Court during the hearing of the Minister of Marine case. Mr Cooper stated that he had a witness whom the captain efferdd to bribe. The evidence showed that the captain had offered a man Ll6 to tell him who put the staple in the beam, according to the instructions of hiu solicitor. _Mr Tyler stated that since the hearing of this case the sailox'a were ungovernable. t They worked ju«t when th< j y chose. Hm Worship said that the Court w.*» open for Captain Murphy as well as the ri-st of the sailors. Sailor.* refusing to work could be prosecuted." August 26th. MissFidler's introductory lecturo on cookery was atteuded by 500 ladies. Lamb's Ngaruaw&hia flour-mill wai burnt down. The origin of the fire is not kno *n. The insurances are — engine and house, L2IOO in the New Zealand Company ; reinsured for LISOO. Wellington, August 21sfc. A rifle match was fired to day between the Wellington Artillery and men of H.M.S. Emerald. After an exciting contest, tbe latter were victorious by one point. The total scores were :— Emerald, 387 ; Artillery, 386. The Emerald men fired with Martini Hi- nry rifles, which gave them an advantage as against Snider carbines us id by the Artillery, especialy at long ranges. Peter Austin and T. L. Murray, of the Thames ; J. Gorman and S. Gibbs, of Oam«ru ; G. Goodwillie, of Invercargill ; D M'Leud, of Winton; S. H. Morton, of Gladstone, have been appointed J.Ps. August 22nd. Morton Quin, late secretary of the Ancient Order of Foresters, was committed for trial this morning, for embezzling the sum of L9 l9s, moneys of the Order. A deputation waited on the Minister of Public Works thi3 morning, relative to the placing of the unemployed at work on the railway. Mr Mftcandrew replied that ovary endeavour was being mado to get tonders out for the railways sanctioned, when the unemploj ed would be taken on the works, which would probably be commenced in a month. A prospecting party at Wairarapa Laka have sent to town a ton of quartz, which will be sent to the Thames to be crushed. It is expected chat the Btone will yield a fair percentage of gold. The ship Hyderabad was sold at auction today as she now lies stranded on Horowhenua beach. She realised LSO. Mr Holmwood, brother of the captain, was the purchaser. August 22nd. The Post to-night says, under the h«ading " Another Thames Job " : " Yesterday the following carefully-worded telegram from Grahamstown was published :— * The dispute re the water supply for domestic purposes has been satisfactorily arranged by the Government between the two local bodies. The County authorities reoeive a very substantial monetary consideration for banding over to tbe borough their interest. The Legislature will give the borough the necessary powers to raiso money for the improvement of the supply.' Tbis relates only to one point in the list of matters included in the mission of the Thames delegates, and yet we believe we are correct in stating that " the substantial monetary conaider'ation" therein referred to represents a cash payment of the sum of L3S.GCO, for th« o*nceu»tion of an agreement most foolishly

and improperly entered into by a newly -fledged TJnder-Secretary, who visited the Thames in November last, and took it upon himself to deal definitely with matters which were entirely beyond his comprehension, and which under any circumstances should have been referred to the Cabinet before being decided upon. The Government constructed a waterrace on the Thames, and when the Provinces were abolished, handed it over to the county and borough. The county wanted the water for mining purposes, the borough wanted it for general municipal uses, and the two could not agree as to the respective shares each should enjey. The TJnder-Secretarv already alluded to vi3ited the Thames at a time when a municipal election for the M«yoralty was going on. There was a hitch in the proceedings, and there was therefore no one te guard and represent the interests of the borough. The County Chairman did the honours of the district, and the result was that the borough was ignored, making tho water-raca the County's property. Of course there was a row, and now th« position has been reversed, and the borough get* Ihe water-race: while the County is to ge L 35.000 as compensation for breach of agree ment." August 23r.3. The interesting Masonic cereraonv of installing Bro. C. J. Toxward as D.G.M. of Wellington under the English Constitution, in succession to Sir Donald M'liean, took plaoe to-day. Representatives of lodges of other constitutions and from different parts of the Colony attended, and about 150 brethren were present. The ceremeny was impressively^ performed by Bro. i George Graham, District Graud Master of Auckland. Augnst 26th. The directors of the dTJrville Island Copper Company have received the following letter from their manager, Mr Owen, at Newcastle: — " The last Rhipmeut of ere has been smelted, the assay result being 20J per cent. Mr Vale, manager of the English and Australian Smelting Works, considers this very satisfactory, the highest percentage of the celebrated Ballade mine, New Caledonia, being only 17 per cent. , and considered rich. From the upecimens I have shown Mr Vale having, a trace of yellowore, he is confident we have not far to (link to come upon the main lode." Some stone broken off a reef at Mastsrton when tested by the Government Analyst yielded 2dwt of gold and silver to the ton. At the Polica Court John Joseph Walsh, who until recently had been spcratary of the Hibernian Australasian Catholic 'Benefit Society, was committed for trial on three charges of appropriating the sum of L 2298, the property of the Society. Wangakdi, August 26th. A fire destroyed a dwelling-nonse belonging to Mr Armstrong at Durietown. It was insurpd in the Norwich Union Company for L 450, and the furniture in the Liverpool Company for Ll5O. New Plymouth, August 22nd. Mr Bayley, an old settler, was buried to-day. He arrived here in 1840. August 25th. Afc 7 o'clock this morning the gaoler discovered that the notorious prisoner feufc here from Canterbury — named Orr, alias Hail — had escaped during the night. The prisoner was onfinedin a cell ever since his recent capture, and had not been peimitted to leavu it uuder any pretence. He was last seen at. locking up time last night, when he wa3 safely, aa it waa thought, secured iv his celL The gaoler, on viaiting hii cell this morning, found the door unlocked and the prisoner gone. The prisoner escaped through a yard, and the padlock of a gate in it had been also unlocked, and not wrenched or broken in any way. The constables are actively searching for him, but up to the present time he has not been secured. There is no doubt tbat he was assisted by ac complices, who must have been thoroughly acquainted with the interior of tho gaol. The prisoner made a burrow in the ground at the base of the_ outside wall, and by this means made his exit. An attempt was made to release a Native prisoner, but was unsuccessful. _____ Gisbqene, August 22nd. Twelve N.itiveß wore com-jaittsd for trial at the next sittings of the Wellington Supreme Conrt, for riotously, entering on Bond'd farm LSO bail waa accepted for each. Mr Re<?s, who appeared for the Native*, said they had bean swindled and robbed of their lands. Hokitika, August 26tb. A large aud important preliminary meeting was held in the Town Hall to-day for the purpose of insisting on the construction of tho railway between the East and West Coasts. Th' Mayor was in the chair. The Hon. Mr Bonar vnado a speech pointing out the advantages of constructing the line. A quantity of new and valuable sfatistical information was placed at the disposal of the meating by a number of meTchauts and others presant, showing I that this) railway would ba as payable a line as any in the Colony, while the West Coat po»Nes»td an asset in the unsold Crown lands tbat i f itbtlf would more than pay the cost of the railway. It was stated roughly that there were 100,000 acres of land between the Toremakau and Grey River 3 alone, which, if a railway was made, would easily realise from L 4 to L 5 per acre — or a sum more than xufficient to defray tho whole coat of the line. Carefully-prepared estimates were given, showing traffic amounting to Beveral thousand pounds par annum altogether omitted or under estimated in Mr Blair's report. Energetic action to get railway made was determined on, and it was resolved to a<»k Greymouth, Kumara, Christchurch, and other towi s interested to co-operate earnestly A stiong league was formed to insist on having the work carried out. Chbistchurch, August 22nd. The Premier did not arrive at Christchurch till half -past 1, instead of 12 as announced. A lar#« crowd, principally working men, who were released at their dinner-hour, were consequently disappointed, but there was again a crowd at the later hour fixed on, who welcomed Sir George Grey very heartily. A short addiess of three lines was spoken by the Mayor, and Sir George was then invited to lunch with the Council. In the evening he visited the theatre. j August 21st. | The amount allotted to the North Canter- ! bury Board of Education out of the annual grant is L 17.500. # j Some time ago two guineas was offered as a prize to the first who flew pigeons from Dun- j fdin to Chri3tchurch. Yesterday morning Mr M. Donoghue sent two birds down, which were liberated at 8 o'clock this morniDg. They j arrived in Christchurch at 1.45 p.m., thus taking lees than six hours to do 230 miles. , The number of nheep in the district of Canterbury on May 31at was 3,371,904. August 26th. Some alterations have beeu made in the Canterbury football team to play against Wellington on Thursday, which will greatly strengthen it, and give the Northern men all their work to do.