INTERPROVINCIAL

Otago Witness, Issue 1478, 13 March 1880, Page 11

INTERPROVINCIAL

Auckland, March 4fch. The Attorney-General, in reply to a communication from the Cambridge Farmers' Club, replied that the wdght of professional testimony goes against the existence of pleuropneumonia in Auckland. Mr. Kinlock, veterinary surgeon, commenting on Ibis letter, emphatically reiterates that tho disease does exist. Subscriptions are still coming in for the Irish Relief Fund. Somo singular facts have come to light in connection with the recent Mormon scandal. Mrs Lucky, wife of the fish-hawker, who tried to bolt with Elder Poarce by the mail steamer, says she wag very unhappy at home owing to the harshness of her husband, and she appealed to Pearce for advice. Several prayer-meetings were held, and the Mormons recommended her to pray for guidance. She alleges that she saw the Virgin Mary in the night, and that an angel told her to go to Utah. Mrs Jackson, a Christchurch widow with three children, accompanied Elder Pearce to the Salt Lake. Four applications were made to-day at the Police Court by married women for separation from their tyrannical husbands. The discontent is attributed by the Press to Mormons. la connection with a feud between two sections of temperance advocates at Onekunga, who had privately purchased an harmonium, Borne person or persons unknown entered the Masonic Hall at night and removed the harmonium and the charter of the Hope of Matiukau Lodge. The charter has since been recovered, but not the harmonium. The Lodge hopos to obtain a clue to its whereabouts. March sth The captain of an American whaler in in a fix at Russell, Bay of Island*, two parties claiming the American consular agency, both producing credentials. At the Waste Land Board a letter was read from Mr Lundon, saying that the Hokianga County Council would esteem it a great favour if the Board could see its way to decline all applications for land from settlers in their d{s-

trie*; excepting through the C'>m:cll. Tho B-.M-d thought Mf Luntlcn'a request unfair, and desired a Ktec to be s«nt informmg him that the Wu»te Laud Board was an open Board, and accessible to overy person of whatever calling— tho humble??; person posses'iogan equil right with the wealthiest to counnunic&te wiih the Board without consulting atiy local body. March Gth. Plouro-pnenmonia is exciting groat interest ara^ngst the farmers. A largo area of land at Te Aroha aud Waikato, ranging from 26 to 314 aorea, has bcea proclaimed opou on deferred payments. Maroh Bth. The Government havo t'ti cidad to appoint tiv.> Cattle Boards— one for Auclslan 1 fu.d one fu- Waikato— and gazatte r^gnh'iuna Iw tf-en-"uiiknce. At a meeting <>f the Tijiuuoj FurTiß's' Club if: was stated thn't tho caulo in th.it district were not diseased with pleuropiiHi'inouia, but that they had Butf-Te.l from exh .iiiation in consequence of a long vovag^. Auckland, March 9th. At a meeting of Volunteer officers bold fconisfJit a mnina of resolutions were agreed to for Mil>M.i-.nion to C<>Lmt»l Leckie, embracing tho .' Inr's-ii/indut.v frao of voluatesr accoutre rooata v. il chthe-i Ifc was stated that Captain Movvfmvy, of the AuokUud Sco'.tUh, ha 3at the prmmt time 1.05 dn^v to pay ou clothing recently ordered from England. Gbahamstown, Mfuv.h Bth. S^lnvn hs.ro been seen id large numbers in the Olrineinnri River, ac-oarfanily making their way up the »ire»m. The Natives have bean catohing them, but the police are takiog steps to prevent their doing so ia future. Napier, March 6th. Me Power, sheep inspector, will retire. Mr Canning, of Nalson, takes- tempi >rjuy clia.rifi>, pending tbe appointment of Mr Parley, from Canterbury. Wellington, March 4th. Sir John Coode's report on Greymouth H&rbour has been received by tho G-ovdrntnent. He estimates the cost at L 162.000, and when the plans are cairied out they may, under any circumstances, get 10 feet at low watar and 18 feet at hi«h water, spring tides ; and as trade increases to the port, this rnvy be furfcb.gr increased to 13 feet at low water and 21 feet at high water. He recommends tho deepening of the lagoon channel at once. He also \ «;commend locks ou Re veil's Logoon and Kavora Lake as very important to koep a good scour in the channel. He further recomtauuda the reservation of all laadd by tha iagxm and Karora Lake for the futore CDasLruotion of docks. March sth. The Hon. Thomaß Dick, M.H.R., the newlyappointed Colonial Secretary, arrived to-day, and waa sworn in. March St. 1 ?. The total amount subscribed iv aid of the Irish Diatresß Pund ia L 660. The Royal Commission appointed by thfl Government to report on the economical value and paving probabilities of the various New Zealand railways undertaken or projected, held a preliminary meeting on Friday last, and met twice on Saturday to make various arrangements in regard to their session, but as all the Commissioners h»d not then arrived, no definite steps were taken until this morning, when all the five Commissioners wero present, viz. :— Colonel Pearca (Wellington), Mr O. Curtis (Nelson). Mr J. MC. Clark (Auckland), Mr E. G. Wright, M.H.R. (Canterbury), and Mr J. Reid (Otago). The meeting was held at the Parliament Buildings, in a committee-room specially allotted to the Commission. The first business consisted in tbe appointment of a chairman, to which post Mr Curtis was unanimously elected. It was decided to meet daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and that the meetioga should not be open to the public. An interesting discussion ensued on some matters of routine and on the appointment of a secretary and shorthand writer. The Commission adjourned till Ihia afternoon, when they met again to draw up a list of various reports, returns, estimates, &c. which they required to assist them in forming their opinions regarding the various railways undertaken or proposed. The secretary was instructed to apply to the Government for them, as also for other information likely to further the object in view. Mr E. Downie was appointed secretary, and Mr William Mitchell shorthand writer. Both are members of the "Hansard" staff. The ComnuVsion will sit in various parts of the Colony after the session in Wellington. Wellington, March 9th. The total number of Volunteers in the Colony is 8247, exclusive of cadets, who number 190 L Blenheim, March Gth. At the R.M. Court, Waiau, today, M'Arthur Bros, were fined Ll5O and costs for breaches of the Sheep Act. Jone3 and Kent were also fined LlO on two similar informations. Nelson, March 4th. The Education Board accepted Mr George Hodgson's resignation, and resolved to advertise for fresh applications forjthe Secretaryship, reducing the salary from L3OO to L 250 per annum. The Aniseed Valley Copper Company yesterday struck a lode of pure black oxide of copper, two feet six inches wide, 120 feet from the surface. The vein was followed down the whole distance without a break. Kumaba, March sth. An important case was decided by the Bench today. L. Seibegk was summoned for having a public billiard-room open, contrary to the bye-laws of the borough, without a license according to the Municipal Corporations Act. Mr Warnes, counsel for the defendant, contended that billiard-rooms here were never contemplated to come under the clause referred to, but the Bench held that although not specially defined, billiard-rooms were public places of amusement. The case was, however, diamissed through the insufficiency of the evidence to prove the charge. This caae was tried as a test one. Christohurch, March 4tb. The Acclimatisation Society's shipment of birds by the Waimate waa landed today. Out of 240 partridges 221 died, and out of 40 pheasants only 19 survived. Tha rest of the birds also suffrred, but not to such an extent. Of thfise, 107 bramble-finches, 12 crossbills, 22 yellow-hammers, 30 buntings are to bs sold to some other Colony or destroyed. These are all d? Btructive birds to grain, and as a great deal of indignation hai been lately expressed in tho public prints about the importation of birds, the Society havo been forced to givo way. In connection with this question a regular paper war haa been carried on for weeks. March 6 th. ' The 24 hours' walking match for LSO a- side f between Penticost and Swan was commenced at 10 o'clock tat night. At 8 this morning ' Pentioost retired from the contest, having

1 walked a little tinder. 40£ miles. At 11 to* ' (Tav Swan was going strong, and had covered ' 60£ miles. Ho haa averaged, with spells, five and a-half miles per hour. He hopes to beat young Scott's Christchurch time, and proposes challengiog him. At 2 o'clock bwan had walked 72 miles 25 laps— 3o laps to the mite— and fo still walking strong. A uuccessfal operation of traohotomy wag performed yesterday at Kaiapoi on a child suffering from a severe attack of croup. After the operation inofcant relief was experienced. j The appearance oJ the plains now between I R-ikaiaand ABhhurfcon, with stacks of gram m f all ciirtetioxis, is in marked contrast to the appearance they prese/itod last year. • P.O ft. WWlfofl, founder of Forestry in C.xrterWy, who \\i\h just attained his 72nd yp;tr, in trt'b) presented with a testimonial from tho various Omr'.s next week. March 7th. S»ai) finished 100 miles at 9.20 last eveninc. Hi) teemed sleepy, but not distressed, j aixl, afti-r a short n-st, slowly walked over the i cottrso till the appointed bour of 10 o'clock. ! March Btb. E. G, Crisp, the Borough Council solicitor, hammered ft criminal action for libel against the A^hburton Mail. Throfhrn^-trnvohinej) ate busy throughout the whole of t li fl BUesmore district. One crop of barky yielded 73 bu-'luls to the acre ; two cr«>p< of barley each 68 ; a crop of oats 85 ; and a crop of wheat 60 bushels. la the Eyretou aad Cust districts the farmers are suffering from a nr:avcifcy of threshing-machines. Thft Premier lias written to Mr J. L. Wilson, chairman of the Koad Boards Conference, stating that the reason LBOOO, balance of the sum duo to the Canterbury Road Boards, has not been tad is because the Waimate County (.louwil claims a largar shßte than has hitherto : bean a' lotted to it. Twelve ciseaof typhoid have been reported dij"ng fcbe past fortuitfht. ! Up to date the total quantity of grain carried | on the Canterbury section from Winchester to ! Amberley and branches amounts to 119,331 I bags. On Saturday last 9500 bags were brought through to Christchurch. The number of entries for the ram fair are— rams 1714, esves 108. A fire occurred on Mr M'Cormiok'a farm, near Southbridge, on Saturday, damaging the grain, and totally destroying a considerable quantity of some 1500 bushels of wheat just thrPßheS out. The fire is supposed to have been caused by a man lighting hia pipe beside a stack. The grain was not insured. . Chmstohuboh, Maroh 9th. The City Council have placed the old Post* office at; the disposal of the Review Committe* to provide sleeping accommodation at Easter. An attempt was made at 3 o'clock yesterday morning to burn down Manchester Brothers' store at Waimate. The perpetrators are unknown. Elizabeth Gilpin, three and a-half years old, while getting into the train yesterday at Burnham with her parents, fell between the platform and the carriage. The train moved on af that moment. Before the child could be rescued her left arm had been smashed to pieces, and she sustained a compound fracture of tho left foot. When brought to the hos« pital the arm was' amputated immediately below the shoulder. The little sufferer is doing fairly well. A lunatic named George Ford, who eßcaped from Sunnyaide Asylum on March Ist, waa captured on Sunday evening. He had been out on the West Coaßt road. A man named Cawlea, while driving a cow to Kangiora, was attacked by the animal, and badly gored in the left leg. Timaru, March 4thi At the District Court to-day Mr Stout moved for a new trial of the persons found guilty of riot, on two grounds— (lst) Erroneous reception of evidence, Judge Ward having asked a witness whether other processions wear» ing opposite colours had ever taken place, and having received an answer respecting Father Heunebery'a temperance procession wearing green sashes. Mr Stout objected at the time, and today argued that the evidence was calculated to biaß the Jury, who might think that as that procession was not objected to, those persons ought to be punished who obstructed the procession wearing the opposite party colour. The second ground was, misdirection of the Jury &a to the value of O'Driscoll's letter ac evidence against him. Mr Stout contended the letter should have been withdraw* from the Jury, as there was no evidence that it was received before the disturbance, or if received that it waa acted on. If the letter was withdrawn- he contended there was no evidence at all against O'Drisooll. Grain is now coming in freely, but the un. settled state of tho weather has been against harvesting and the progress of the crops. March 5 th. M. Mosley. the auti-Chiniquyite lecturer, was arrested last evening on a warrant for obtaining money under false pretences in Christchurch. He ia charged with obtaining 3a from a tailor under false pretences. At the District Court Frederick Arthur Simms, formerly wholesale merchant, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment; for lar. ceny. The prisoner had sold goods out of bond, which he previously conveyed to the National Bank, and, actirig on the advice of his friends, refused to hand the proceeds over to the Bank manager. He received an exceJlent character from a number of merchants the Mayor o* Titnnru), some of whom had known him for 13 years. William Tait, for indecent assault, received 12 months in gaol, with one floggiuß ; William Haifnrd, for assaulting hia wife, two months ; Duncan Cruickßhinks, fraudulent insolvency, nine months. Frank Poff , cb&rged with fraudulent insolvency, was acquitted. ._ . „., H March Bth. Afc tho B. M. Court to-day W. Quinn, Charier Pontiff, Charles Hawkins, John Keem, MicJiaul Lynch, and Joseph Sans, labourers, were committed for trial at the Supreme Court for forcible entry on the land of Jame3 Coll, at Makifeihi. Quinn held a mortgage ovor the Mrßeetham, judge of the Assessment C'borft, ordered a new roll to be Btruck for the Levels road board district, on the ground of informalities in it.