Telegrams.

Otago Witness, Issue 1502, 28 August 1880, Page 12

Telegrams.

INTERPROVINOIAL.

Chbistohdkch, August 19 th. Henderson, who committed Buicide at Wellington, has on several occasions been in Court here ; but he was a plausible man, and getting the blind side of clergymen and others, was a rather prominent figure in local matters. His last escapade has not, however, surprised the majority of people here. It is known that he always carried poison. His statement; about his wife is an atrocious libel He had taken the.

utmost precaution to deceive her, stating that he was going to Dunedin, and contriving to have messages sent from the South as though he were really travelling there. The unfortunate girl he decoyed with him was a mistress at the East Christchurch School, and was 19 years of age.

August 20th. A terrific N.W. gale has been blowing; all day, exceeding in violence the storm of September, 1878. It waa moßt severe in the niorning, and blew so hard in town that what dust there was was swept away instantly, and showers of small stones were flying about. From all parts of the country accounts of damage by it are coming in, but nothing very severe has yet been reported. The principal ravages are confined to trees, outhouses, windows, fences, &c. Some valuable trees in the Domain here were completely destroyed. A branch of a, blue gum was torn from the trunk at Cashmere, and hurled into a buggy, One man and horse were underneath. The man waa nearly killed, and lies in a critical state. The others were injured. At Lyttelton a man was at work on the roof of a building in the Gaol yard. The hurricane tore the roof bodily off, and by the fall of some 30 feet the man received such severe injuries that his recovery is doubtful. The high fence round the Moari prisoners' quarters was levelled to the ground. Another man, on the roof of his house, was blown off, and badly cut by a Bheet of iron. At Leithfield the Presbyterian Church was shifted off its foundation. The stack of chimneys at thelarge hotel just erected inßangiora in imitation of Wain's Hotel at Dunedin, was blown down. The tents of the unemployed at Weka Pass have suffered severely, and the railway station at Selwyn has sustained considerable damage. No damage was done to the shipping in port, as the gale waa foretold by Lieutenant Edwin at Wellington, and precautions taken. This afternoon it gradually softened down, and eventually subsided, being succeeded by vivid lightning. The glass has been falling steadily, and when it commences to rise a vigorous blow is expected from the south-west. Owing to the north-weßt weather of the last three days heavy floods are expected, and the Waimakariri has already begun to rise. Reports of damage by the gale still come to hand. The most serious is from Waimate, where the firebell tower was blown over, and the walls of the Primitive Methodist Church (of brick) wrecked. August 21st. During the gale yesterday Henry Alexander, in the employ of Sir J. C. Wilson, waß struck by a falling branch from a large tree and sustained concussion of the brain. He is now in a critical state. The gale subsided last night, but commenced again this morning, bnt it is not quite so violent as yesterday. At 2 o'clock heavy rain set in. The Waimakariri at Kaiapoi is very high to-day. A telegram from the Bealey reports that at 20 minutes past 12 the rivers were rising fast. The Rakaia and Eangitata were also rising. The first of a series of afternoon parades of the Christchurch battalion of Volunteers was held this afternoon, but owing to the heavy rain there was a very Bmall muster. Intelligence from the country districts shows that considerable damage was done by yesterday's gale, but not of a serious nature. August 23rd. The men working for Talbot and M'Olatohie, stevedores, of Lyttelton, struck this morning. Up to the present they have been paid' 12a a day of eight hours, which haa been reduced to 10a. The crews of the vessels at present under contract are working them. The strikers have hitherto been paid half a day if they worked even an hour only. O'Oonnor, the pedestrian, walked seven miles ! in 59£ minutes, at the Odd-Follows 1 Hall tonight. This was an exhibition previous to his departure for Australia. Cheistohuboh, August 24th. ' Thomas Cooper and wife celebrated their golden wedding to-day. They have 14 children, 64 grandchildren, and three great • grandchildren.

Timabu, August 20th. A very heavy N.W. gale prevailed all over tbe district last night. In Timaru a number of windows were blown in and fences levelled. At Waimate the new Fire Brigade tower was levelled, and also the wall of the Primitive Methodist Church, in course of erection. In different parts of the district stacks of grain and straw have been scattered to the winds. In the back country heavy rain is falling. August 21st. William [Brown, a resident of Pleasant Point, from which the only constable was removed a week ago, has been sentenced to two months' imprisonment for a dastardly assault on the proprietress of a boarding-house.

Inveroaegill, Atigußt 24th; At a meeting at Riverfcon re the non-com-pletion of the Orepuki railway, the following resolutions were carried :—•" That this meeting regret the Government have not seen fit to place a Bum on the Estimates for the completion of the Orepuki railway, although the same was recommended by the Bail way Commission and promised by the Government. This meet icg strongly urge the Government to place a sum on the Supplementary Estimates for the completion of the line." In the case of Louis Schmoll, recently sentenced to two years for shooting at his wife, it will be recollected that the strong point in his favour was that the bullet could not be found* The wife has now found the bullet embedded in a feather bed. It is a Terry rifle bullet. Schoaoll'a son is in the Invercargill Cadets, which use carbines requiring bullets of that description