LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1672, 8 December 1883, Page 8

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The adjourned meeting of the Tuapeka Couuty Council washeld on Thursday, the whole of the members being present. The principal business was the election of a chairman for the ensuing year. On the motion that Mr F. Oudaille be appointed chairman there voted : — Ayes : Messrs Fraser, Buchanan, Cotton, Mervyn, Oudaille, Sheath. Noes : Messrs Bennett, Herbert, M'Nab. On Mr Oudaille being declared elected, Mr Bennett gava notice that he would protest against the election of chairman as illegal under clause 54 of " The Counties Act 1876."

The Blue Spur Tailing 3 Company's claim is at present well worth a visit. Those who have, not seen the magnitude of the workings can '( form but little idea of the enormous quantity *- of stuff that the Company are now putting through their sluice-boxes, and of the immense hydraulic power they have at their command. The Company are rapidly approaching the ground at tho head of Gabriel's, where rich gold was taken out in the early days of the iielcl, and old Blue Spur miners and residents entertain • the opinion that when the proper spot is reached there will be handsome returns. At the present time a quantity of fine gold is being saved from the blankets which have recently been added to the sluice -boxes. After a run of about 16 hours this week the manager took from these blankets about l£oz of fin© gold, wheh had previously not been obtainable. The coarser gold is also being obtained in greater quantity. Por the past 12 months there has been taken out of the claim gold to the value of about £3000, and this has shown a satisfactory profit on tha working. When it is remembered that this has been the result of working ground which it was supposed would not pay to sluice, but which it was necessary to remove, shareholders may be congratulated on having satisfactory prospects before them. Mr M. W. Green, M.H.R., is (we learn froro the Temperance Herald) likely to become lecturer during the coming summer for the Grand Lodge of Good Templars, and to make a tour of the Celony.

The actual succession of Marwood's office has passed to Bartholomew Binns, a foreman platelaySr in the employ of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company.

The Grey River Argus gives the following account of the Chinese murder which has taken place at Baxter's, eight miles from Ahaura :— '' The name of the murdered is Ah Young, and that of the murdered man Ah Chung. Prom what can be gathered, there was nothing to account for the murderous desire of Ah Young. One of his mates got up about daylight to make the fire, and while he was st engaged Ah Young walked in with a Chinese chopper in his hand. While the unfortunate man was busy lighting the fire, and in a stooping position, Ah Young attacked him with the chopper, inflicting nine severe cuts on the head of his unfortunate countryman, and by one vicious blow he nearly severed one arm between the wrist and the elbow. The murderer then left his victim and attacked another occupant (Ah Chung) outside, whom he killed outright. It is feared that the wounded man will not recover, his injuries being very severe."

The Lyttelton Times speaks of the visit paid to Christchurch by the Dunedin Orchestral Society as one of the two leading events in their musical year. The other Waa the Festival of the United Anglican Choirs.

Tho remains of the late Captain Logan were interred in the new cemetery at Port Chalmers on Saturday afternoon, in the presence of fully 200 persons. The bells of the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches were tolled as the funeral cortege proceeded through tha town, and the business places were closed in respect to the memory of the deceased gentleman. The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. J. Ryley.

The bazaar in aid of St. Joseph's Cathedral fund was continued on Saturday afternoon and evening, and was well patronised, despite the wretched weather. Several amateurs supplied excellent vocal and instrumental music, and the maypole dance by the Convent children was repeated. At half-patet 8 o'clock the balance of fcthe goods was put up to auction, and disposed of by Mr James Milner, who kindly volunteered his services for the occasion. Considering the bad weather that has prevailed, the bazaar was successful from a financial point of view.

There are now 250 subscribers on the Dunedin Telephone Exchange, and three additional firms have applied, but cannot be accommodated until a new annunciator comes to hand. It may be of interest to mention that conversation by telephone has been carried on between Dunediu and Cromwell, a distance of 160 miles. The experiment was a thorough success, quite a lengthy conversation being maintained, and the talking being heard with great distinctness.

Those who suffer from asthma will be glad to learn (says a contemporary) that Dr Peris, of Brest, has invented an elastic respirator, by means of which important relief is afforded to the afflicted. The difficulty of respiring in the case of the asthmatic is due to the lung having lost a portion of its' elasticity, so that, after having been opened by the efforts of the muscles, it does not resume completely its original position. The inspiration is followed by an insufficient expiration ; the" air thus rests in the cells of the lungs, and renders the oxydatiou of the blood difficult or imperfect. Efforts have been frequently made to force the lung to part with its non-evacuated and vitiated air. Dr 'Fins, accepting the elasticity of the lung as lost, substitutes for the natural elasticity of the muscles a kind of double spring, acting simultaneously on the back and the chest. The apparatus thus keeps the lung in its normal position. Patients supplied with

the springs have been able to mount two flights of stairs where previously they could not ascend any, and to inhale 140 quarts of air where otherwise 82 could with difficulty be inspired. »

The Auckland Herald has the following on the mishap to the triumph :—": — " To say the catastrophe to the Triumph is in everyone's thoughts but half represents the universal feeling of astonishment with which the public mind is seized. That in a calm, clear night a large steamer should have suddenly turned at nearly right angles from her proper course and run stem on to an island, with clings overhanging her masts and the light of a lighthouse illuminating her decks, is an incident so wholly unprecedented, and so utterly inexplicable, that all the world wonders. It is idle to say that we should not prejudice the case while a searching investigation is impending. Everyone will prejudge it. The judgments may be right or wrong, vague or definite, reasonable or unjust, but everyone will judge, and hazard every kind of speculation in the effort to account for what at present seems unaccountable, except on a basis which people will be loth to accept. We have read of many incidents in maritime adventure, but we venture to say in the whole annals of seafaring life no one port in any one year can furnish any parallel to the two cases of the Loch Ken and the Triumph. In the one case a large sailing-ship passingon the wrong side of a promontory, and con.i'ig insensibly to a standstill in a mud flat'-with all sails set, and the mariners believing she was sailing onward still ; while in the other a big steamer comes butting up against a lighthouse. There is something so ludicrous in the one case, as in the other, that one would be indisposed to treat them seriously were it not that people at a distance will be inclined to credit such disasters to something of intricacy or danger in our hdrbour navigation. On this account it becOrtiies imperatively necessary that there Bhould be a rigid inquiry iuto the disaster. It should be here and on the spot. The Loch Ken escapade was allowed to pass as a good joke that would have been spoiled by serious treatment ; but this disaster is of another kind, and it is not merely the owners of the Triumph or the underwriters that are concerned, but the credit of the harbour is at stake, and justice to ourselves imperatively demands that the whole world should know what was the influence that pulled up the Triumph at the base of the lighthouse on Tiri Tiri."

A young man named James Young, a watch maker, shot himself shortly before 10 o'clock on Saturday night, in Melbourne street, South Dunedin. It is believed that the deceased committed suicide because he was disappointed ia love. Some threats had been used by him, and a relative (Mr Cunningham), with whom he -was staying, sent for the police, thinking that their interference might be necessary. The police arrived at Mr Cunningham's house at a quarter to 10, and soon afterwards they heard a shot fired, and then saw deceased running from the house. A second shot was fired in the street, and the man fell. It was then discovered that Young had shot himself through the right breast. The police sent for a medical man, and at about a quarter past 10 Dr Fergusson arrived, but the deceased had expired a few minutes previously. The deceased, we learn, arrived in tha Colony about four months ago, having come from Great Britain by the ship British King. On his arrival he went to live with his uncle, Mr Cunningham, at South Dunedin. He became attached, we are informed, to one of Mr Cunningham's daughters, but his suit was discouraged by his uncle. A short time since the deceased went to Outram, and there opened a small shop as a watchmaker and working jeweller. On Thursday last he came to town, and met Miss Cunningham, who declined to have anything to say to him. After this he knocked about town drinking, and once or twice spoke of committing suicide. On Saturday evening, about two hours before he shot himself, he told a young woman at Kensington that he had been badly treated, and that he would do something at Cunningham's at 10 o'clock. Mr Cunningham was told what the deceased had said, and sent for the police, who, as we have stated, were in the bouse, and were making inquiries at the time that Young fired the first shot. The first shot seemed to be fired into the street; then the deceased ran from the building and fired again, the second shot penetrating his right breast. *

Some trouble has been given to the police by a man named Harry Dunstan, alias Edward Stepan, who is at present awaiting trial upon a charge of forgery. Some time last month it was reported that Dunstan had forged a cheque at Clinton. The police, after inquiry, found that the man had left for Inyercargill, and that he had taken a through ticket. This timo, however, the telegraph was set to work in vair, for Dunstan left the train before the journey was half done. It was a difficult matter to trace him again, but as soon as the barque Lochnagar had sailed it was discovered that he had shipped as a seaman on board of her. Information was sent to the police at Napier, a warrant was also forwarded, and upon the arrival of the barque at Napier, Dunstan was taken into custody. He was then remanded to Clinton, and has since been committed for trial and lodged in the Dunedin Gaol.

The New South Wales Government have obtained a shipment of mongoose from India for the purpose of rabbit extermination.

Jj^.is asserted that an aerolite fell on the Crown Terrace, Arrow, on Wednesday last, A loud report as of a heavy gun was heard throughout the Wakatipu district, and also at Cromwell,' Clyde, and Alexandra.

According to the Southland News a comet was visible to the westward last Friday morning, between the hours of 1 and 2. The visitor lacks at present the size and brilliancy of the one that attracted so much attention some 12 months ago.

The Oamaru Times thinks there is abundance of work for Mr Reynolds' projected political associations^ and whilst writing on the subject says :— " We dare say it would be rather difficult for some people in Oamaru to realise that the thousands which have been, and are being, Bpent on the new Courthouse, the Customhouse, and the Post-office, are thousands misspent; but it is a fact nevertheless, for these buildings could have been done without for many years to come, and in the meantime they add to the indebtedness of the country, and the interest on their cost necessitates additional demands being made on every taxpayer in the i y 'i.i. We dare sa y. tof \ ifc strikes but few people that a Customs Department is not needed at_ all in Oamaru, or in other towns similarly situated, and that it is within reason to say that all the Customs work of the Colony tb Th P t ffi 16 at * tithe ° f itS presenfc

The Mayoral election in Wellington appears to have mealed a great deal of excitement. Mr Fisher, who gave M r Hutchison such a beating, in returning thanks after the declaration of the poll is reported to have said: "He petted that he could not speak in

Mr Hutchison's political days were, however, ended. He was a political sham, and aa an individual he was a contemptible calumniator." Mr Fisher is chief of the " Hansard " staff ; Mr Hutchison is M.H.R. for Wellington South. During the evening a band paraded the streets, and the crowd which followed it groaned at the office of the evening paper, and cheered at the office of the morning one.

Amongst the most important items of European cable news this week are the statements that England and Germany have combined to protect their interests in China; that O'Donnell has been found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of James Carey ; and that the conversion of New Zealand bonds has been attended with great success.

The Rotomahana, which has now completed her repairs, made a trial trip on Monday to the Ocoan Beach and back.

The explosion at Mr Mackley's powder-mills, on the Owake River, was luckily unattended by accident to any person. It took place en Thursday, the 29th ult., at about a-quarter to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The incorporatingroom, in which at the time there was a charge of powder weighing about 501b, exploded, shai£ tering the place, and severely damaging the lighter parts of the machinery,, which is of a very substantial character. Mr Mackley attributes the cause of the explosion to a fire which was lit on the ranges by some men who were felling trees for saw-milling: purposes. There was a light N. W. wind blowing at the time, and this drove the burning embers from the fire on to Mr Mackley's property, and no doubt caused the explosion. We are glad to hear there has been no stoppage of the work, and the manufacture of the powder is still carried on ; while in the course of a few days the incorporating machinery will be in perfect order, and a new room built.

The South Dunedin Council has resolved to protest against the high fares charged by the Tramway Company on race and show days. That Dody is_ of opinion that in terms of the agreement with them the Company has no legal right to demand more than an ordinary fare on any of the cars on such occasions. The Council^will uphold the action of any ratepayer who refuses to pay more than the ordinary fare on those days. They, however, only extend their protection to the ratepayers of the borough.

The University of New Zealand (says the Argus) has been now fully recognised by the University of Melbourne, and therefore students who have pursued a part of their curiiculum at the former University may finish it at our own University, and will be received as alumni ad eundem statum.

At a confirmation service held at Kilmore, in Victoria, the Bishop of Melbourne took occasion in his address to point out to the postulants that many of the so-called conversions made by the Salvation Army are nothing more than the effects of hysteria.

A meeting of the Vigilance Committee appointed at the recent public meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce on Tues day afternoon. The members present were —The Hon. W. H. Reynolds, M.L.C., Messrs V. Pyke, M.H.R., E. B. Cargill, J. T. Mackerras, G. L. Denniston, O. Hodge, R. Wilson, J. M. Ritchie, K. Ramsay, and E. Wilson. On the motion of Mr Pyke, seconded by Mr R. Wilson, the Hon. W. H. Reynolds was elected chairman of the Committee. Mr Pyke was appointed convener. It was resoived that the following gentlemen be added to the Committee : — Messrs James Fulton, H. S. Fish, M. W. Green, Thomas Bracken, and John Bathgate, M.H.R.'f, Messrs John Roberts, James Rattray, George Turnbull, James Hogg, and Robert Gillies. The following gentlemen were appointed a sub committee : — Messrs E. Wilson, Mackerras, Denniston, Hodge, Ramsay, R. Wilson, John Roberts, Bolt, the Chairman, and the Convener. At a meeting of the sub-committee, afterwards held, arrangements were made for interviewing the Hon. Mr Mitchelson during his stay in Dunedin.

The master bakers of Dunedin and suburbs have decided to raise the price of bread one halfpenny per 41b loaf after 10th inst.

Applications have been received at the various land offices in Otago during the past few days or two for 8000 acres of deferred-payment land situated in Wendonside, Wendon, Greenvale, Mokoreta, Wyndham, and Gimmerburn districts. Altogether 14 applications were received for nine sections in Wendonside; 29 applications for nine sections in Wendon ; three applications for two sections in Greenvale ; 14 for seven sections in Mokoreta ; one for one section in Wyndham ; and four for seven sections in Gimmerburn. For two of the sections in Wendon there were nine applications each. For land of a similar class in Upper Taieri and Nenthorn districts no applications are to hand.