LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1847, 15 April 1887, Page 9

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The Easter encampments were all broken up on Monday afternoon, and most of the Dimediu men from the St. Andrews Camp reached home early on Tuesday morning. The Northern men left the camp by train at 6 o'clock, and Southern men at half-past 6. Colonel Lean and the staff returned by the express to Christchurcb yesterday ; and Major Newall and the fatigue party returned to Christchurch by special train, taking all the baggage with them. The Wellington volunteers returned home atl o'clock on Tuesday afternoon from the Taranakf encampment. The men speak well of the encampment generally, but condemn the catering arrangements in unmeasured terms. Some of them wished to take their provisions with them, having had a taste of bad catering at other encampments, but they say they were prohibited from so doing by their commanding officers. A new book has recently been introduced into the Dunedin Athecseum, in which subscribers ate requested to, recommend any books '"for .the perusal of Iheir fellow members which they themselves have found interesting or instructive. There appears, however, to. be little inclination on the part of subscribers to comply with the request, as only three or four p 'rsons have made recommendations. A tutor named Frederick Mackey has been arrested in Melbourne under rather peculiar circumstances, charged with personating a detective. There was staying at an hotel', an mdi* vidual named Walker, who desired -to leave without settling his bill. The landlord, ,uhwill- - ing to submit to be defrauded, detained his lodger's clothes. Walker then sought the assistance of his friend Mackey, who adopted a I ruse to gain possession of the apparel. '.'Repre- ! senting himself as a police 'officer, he demanded to see the clothe?, which on being shown to him he declared were .stolen property, and td deceive the hotelkeep'er he pretended to apprehend Walker, with whom, taking the clothes, he leffc the house. Suspecting, from his unprofessional conduct, that he was practising a deception, the landlord followed Mackey and gave him into custody. The robbery on boarc the Arawa occurred on April 3 within five days' sail of Tasmania, A concert was being given in the evening, and between 8 and 9 p.m. Mrs Bertha- Elser, of Cape Town, a passenger for Melbourne, left her cabin to attend it. She forgot to take the keys out of her trunk, and, on returning, 'discovered a ' largo quantity of jewellery stolen. Mrs Elser was recently married, and the trinkets,, were mostly weddiug presents, and of more ,thau ordinary value. Among them was a pair of diamond earrings worth £80, five rings, two chains aud brooches, lockets, &c., besides 15 sovereigns and a draft for £45. All the articles i were contained in a jowol case. ' The'detectives came on board at Hobart find .searched all' the stewards aud sown bu.spe.cted. passengers; but nothing was found. No secrecy was observed, and plenty of time was given the thief to secrete the goods. No oue has been arrested, and no clue whatever has been obtained to the culprit. The police were informed of the passengers who quitted the ship at Hobart, iv case the robber : got off there. - '<■ '-— The picnic orgnniscd by ' the ' Onejrative Bakers' Association on Monday proved unusual^ successful, despite the rather forbidding aspect of the weather. Over 1100 people "left Dunedin by the special train in the morning, and more were picked up at Cavewbam and Abbotfeford. The picnic , and," gports were held in Mr Young's paddock at /Mosgiel, and the proceedings were enlivened -"-by the presence of three pipers, who played .'indefati-" • gably throughout the day. The programme. o£ , events was most varied, inoluduag Jsrjokefc,'~run« . uing, jumping, walking "every 'practicable

form [oraftiletici. Keen contests were the order of the day. The tea was well looked after, and credit' iS- due to Messrs Livingston and Robertson .and others of the committee for tbe excellence' of the arrangements generally. Before leaving Mosgiel a vote of thanks was passed to Mr Young for the use of the ground. The whole of the large party returned without misadventure by the special train which reached Dunedin shortly after 7 o'clock. A scene lately occucred in a Roman Catholic churchyard at Armi3ale, New South Wales, which s is causing much comment, The grave was prepared,' and tbe bell tolled for a burial, when -at the last moment Dean O'Connor refused . to - perform the burial service on the ground that the deceased had not lately been complying with the rites of the church. A. fresh grave was 'opened, and the body removed to the Church of England burying ground, where Archdeacon Ross, by consent of Bishop Turner, after several hours' delay, performed the burial service.^ , • " The jubilee -is "going" exceedingly well in India, where the release of 25,000 prisoners is alone a step likely to profoundly impress the native mind.' Thousands of copies have been circulated of an " appeal," in which the following perspicuous invocation occurs : — " May that Empress in whose empire men of science sing with delight the manifold blessings of telegraphs, railways, and other inventions, may the Empress whose moonlike deeds spread a halo of light far and wide, may the Empress Victoria by victorious. This is my constant prayer to Shiva." A suspected case of murder at Stawell, New South. Wales, turns out to be only a tragical ' case of accidental shooting. A young girl named Charlotte Morcom had stopped at a friend's house one night, and as she was leaving on the following morning she was accidentally shot by a little boy named John Smith, 10 years old, who was engaged at the time in the garden shooting birds that were destroying the fruit. He ran to the house of the girl's father, about a mile away, and told him that his daughter had fallen down in the orchard and could not get up. He then decamped into the mountains and remained out until night time. This proceeding gave rise to the belief that murder had been committed. When the unfortunate girl was found she was dead, and an examination showed that several grains of shot had pierced the brain. ' " Mock auction swindles " are stated to be of daily occurrence in San. Francisco, and the process is described in detail by the police for the benefit of the unwary. The stock of these auction stores, it is said, " consists of a varied and brilliant assortment of brass and white metal watches, averaging about 3dol in value. These places are open for the express purpose of swindling strangers whose attention is attracted by the red auction flag attached to the door. Within you will see the bogus auctioneer apparently auctioning off a watch ; standing in front of him are several men dressed in farmers' or working men's clothes ; they are apparently bidding, but they are the bogus auctioneer's cappers;. A gold watch is put up, and one of the cappers buys it very cheap. Another gold watch is put up, and the auctioneer descants upon it until you bid. The capper runs your bid up to 20dol, SOdol, or 40dol, or as much as you will stand, when the watch is knocked down to you. You pay your money, and get a guarantee that assures you the watch is "gold on a coin basis." This means that it is thinly gilded. You are then approached by another of the cappers who, while admiring your purchase, suggests that you have it tested, whereupon this capper leads th 6 way to a poorly-stocked jewellery store in the neighbourhood. The clerk, who is also a confederate of the swindlers, asks if you desire to have the watch tested. Upon your assenting he takes the watch and proceeds to test it with acid. In a few minutes he' informs you he has tested it and demands 3dol, which you have to pay to get the watch, when he informs you it is brass. You find that you are swindled ; but the capper suggests that you return and put the watch up for auction again and not let on that it is brass, and you may get more than you gave for ' it. You take his advice and pay the auctioneer Idol foe selling it, when it is promptly knocked down to a capper for about 2dol. Your friend the capper whose advice you have taken is gone, and you-tire swindled again. News has been received at Lagos from the French settlement of Porto Novo of some horrible atrocities committed by King Tofa, the reigning monarch there. A prince and his son having been accused of possessing poisons with which they intended to kill the king, were seized, and by order of the king their jaws were broken and their tongues cut out, and they were afterwards hanged. Not very long ago two, boys, sons of another prince, were murdered in the presence of their mother and sister. Both of the latter are Btated to be now in prison. Previous to this another terrible atrocity was committed on two other subjects, a . man and a woman. The torture went on for four days, during which time each had an eye put out, the woman was scalped, and the man otherwise ill-treated. Their bodies were afterwards cut with knives, salt being put into the wounds, and finally dry grass was tied round them, and then oiled and set on fire. It is also stated that when the news of the death of one of the Lagos Government Commissioners reached King Tofa he ordered guns to be fired to celebrate the event. The railway traffic on Monday was exceptionally heavy, all the trains being full, and the resources of the department to provide accommodation for passengers were taxed to the utmost. For the Southern express 250 passengers were booked, and for the Northern express 350; but these figures represent but a small portion of the passengers, as a great number were travelling on return tickets, of which no record is kept in Dunedin. .- During the day 1100 persons were taken ■by special train to Mosgiel and were brought back again in the evening, no less than 28 carriages or seated trucks being used for this purpose. Shortly before 7 o'clock a message was received at the principal station stating that the express from the South was crowded ; and at five minutes past 7 a special left the station for Abbotsford and returned with the Abbotsf ord and Burnside passengers— about 130 in all. This caused some delay, and the Southern express train, consisting of 18 long passenger carriages, arrived 30 minutes late. The express from the North was also crowded, and was five minutes late. It is satisfactory to state that notwithstanding the crowding of the trains the traffic went smoothly and with punctuality, with the slight exceptions mentioned, and that no casualties occurred. At an early hour on Monday morning a young man named Wm. Johnston, 18 years of age, was seriously injured by falling from a horse at the Lower Junction (Normanby). It is stated that he was ridiDg at the time with his hands in his pockets down the Junction road. The horse $iied or stumbled, and he was thrown off with

great violence. He received severe injuries to his headland was rendered unconscious. He was taken to the Hospital and attended to, by. Dr Roberts. The injured man was a labourer, and resided with his father in the North-East Valley. • An American paper contains information relating to a probable suit for divorce by the Princess Louise from the Marquis of Lome. A Canadian journal says the rumour caused no surprise, and goes on to state that the questionable things talked about the late Governorgeneral would fill a book. Visitors, to Rideau Hall all noticed strange relations between the Marquis and the Princess. The cause of the trouble is said to be an extremely fascinating, and well-educated young girl, who, through the failure of her father, was reduced to the, position of governess. t Having gained the' entrie to gubernatorial society, she was a constant visitor, and openly boasted that she had fascinated the Marquis, and had letters from him. If the suit should be commenced, several.witnesses will be brought to London from Ottawa, Canada. M. Grevy receives as President of the French republic a yearly salary of £48,000 besides the following allowances: £4000 for heating and lighting, servants and washing ; £12,000 for his enter taiments and journeys; 'and £5000 for the maintenance' of his game preserves. With respect to the latter, it is worth while noting that the game is no longer sent to hospitals and barracks, as in former times, but is sold exempt from the octroi duty, -for the private benefit of the president. The cost of his travels is always defrayed by tbe railway companies, over whose lines he travels as a deadhead, and he has a free box at the opera and all the theatres. The most perfect of official residences is provided for him in the beautiful and commodious palace of the Elysee. Mr C. Cowan, M.H.R.for Hokonui, addressed his constituents in the Town Hall, Gore, on Thursday evening. The attendance was small, only about 70 being present, the Easter holidays no doubt being the cause of the very small attendance. The address lasted for fully an hour and a-half. Mr Cowan was well received, and was accorded a vote of thanks for his able and explicit address, and of continued confidence as member for Hokonui. The Evening Post remarks that there is something specially appropriate in Mr Ballance's bill for the resumption of private estates being brought forward in the jubilee year. The principle of land nationalisation is as old as the days of Moses, and the law as laid down in Leviticus provides against land monopoly by preventing the alienation of property beyond the jubilee year. Every 50 years the ownership of lands reverted to the original possessors. In our case this would be the State. There waß, however, under the Mosaic law, no compensation paid; no valuation with 10 per cent, added. In fact, usury of all kinds was strictly prohibited, and the chief injunction of the jubilee year was " Ye shall not, therefore, oppress one another." What a < glerious thing it would be if we could celebrate this year's jubilee strictly after the Mosaic fashion. All mortgages and debts would be wiped out, the State would resume possession of the land, and we should all make a fresh start. It would not, however, be much of a jubilee for the great loan companies, the banks, or the English money-lenders. The famous Blue Grotto of Capri has given rise to one of the most curious lawsuits which have ever been heard. The Vita Napolitana, writing on the subject, says that some years ago an American became possessor of that part of Capri under which the Blue Grotto is situated, and the owner asserts now that as the surface of the ground belongs to him he is also the owner of everything below it, which in this case happens to be the grotto, which, however, is at present in the possession of the town of Capri, the administration of which has not the slightest inclination of giving up what is its own to the Yankee. The latter, on being informed of this, has begun a lawsuit, the consequences of which, whether he wins or loses the case, may be very j serious. In the former case he can permanently injure the grotto by making a hole through its ceiling, by which the marvellous reflections in the interior will be lost for ever. If he wins it, ! the chances are that he will close it to the public. What are called Socialistic colonies are being tried in the Far West of America. One of very large dimensions is now started at Sinalon, on the coast of Mexico, and already some hundreds of people have gone there, while thousands more are preparing to go. They purpose making a good harbour, railways, cities, &c. Their leader is A. K. Owen, who appears to be a good and strong man. He has a lot of very able people to assist him, and the movement promises to be one of extraordinary extent. The Mexican Government has contracted to give *• concessions " amounting in value to fifteen or sixteen million dollars. According to the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, the German Chancellor confessedly created or availed himself of the war scare to further political objects. This correspondent wrote as follows: — "I am assured that Prince yon Bismarck, in a recent conversation with M. Herbette, asked the French Ambassador to explain to his Government that the Chancellor would be glad if the French Cabinet made no attempt yet awhile to reassure public opinion in France. In other words, Prince yon Bismarck wished the scare to be kept up until after the elections for the Reichstag should be over. The story is to some extent substantiated by observations which I have myself heard from members of the Government, and it explains the obstinate refusal of the Cabinet to make any official declaration of their peaceful intentions. It may also account for the fixed and steady faith in peace which is entertained by all who are nearly or remotely connected with those who have now in their hands the administration of France." Mr J. D. Perrett, who has been for some time past devoting himself to the teaching of drawing and painting in Dunedin, is exhibiting three specimens of his skill as an oil painter in the Dresden Piano Company's rooms. Of these the view of the White Terrace, although haying some points of merit, is the least noteworthy. A characteristic scrap of New Zealand scenery showing a waterfall cascading into a rocky 'glade is remarkable chiefly for its excellent shadows and the] smoothness of its colouring. The foliage is also well executed, and barring a certain stiffness j the picture is very meritorious. By far the best j of the three works, however, is a large view of Lawyers' Head, in which the artist is seen at his j best. The rocks are boldly drpwu, and the water I has been managed with more than ordinary skill, the waves having just that appearance, of transparency which is so hard to get and so effective when got. . •/'*', One of the most recent outrages reported from Ireland occurred in County Cock, where a gang of Moonlighters surrounded a house and cut the hair from the heads of the two dau^torsof

the occupant. The girls, it is, said, were forced on their knees while a ruffian with, shears cut the hair off. When this was done a quantity of tar was poured over the head, face,' and neck of one of them. The second daughter escaped this last indignity, all the tar having been wasted on her sister. The latter was a comely girl,and in addition to the shock received, her endeavours to remove the tar from her head and neck had the effect {of irritating and removing the skin. A man who protested against the outrage was fired at with a revolver. The girl who was , tarred had given offence by speaking to a policeman, and the ruffian, after disfiguring her in the manner described, said, M Now will you speak to the bobbies again ?" Mrs Dr Potts, who will be remembered in Dunedin, has had a rough experience in Cork, where she attempted to lecture lately. A large, number of medical students forced their way into the hall, and by means of exploding gunpowder squibs, hissing, and indulging In other noises, forced the lectures? to retire. They then made their way to the platform, and threw about a number of skeletons with which it was intended to illustrate the lecture. Despatches from Queenstowri give an account of an attempt to assassinate Judge Fitzgerald, who presided at the Irish Convention recently held at Chicago. - The judge is reported to have been in a most nervous state after the' attempt which was made at his residence at Cincinnati. A coloured man called, and after conversation fired at him. The ball passed through his coat, and he staggered back into the sitting room, his assailant making his escape. A week previous another man hurled a brick at the judge's head as he passed through the street. A good many passers-by in the Octagon on Saturday were attracted by the exhibition of a new patent rapid limestone filter by Mr W. M. White, who has already established a reputation for this class of manufacture. The present filter is of an improved pattern, and it was publicly tested with great success. The following was the state of the Dunedin Hospital at the end of last week : — Remaining from previous week ... ... 105 Admitted during the week ... ... 16 Discharged during the week ... ... 11 Death (Charles Paterson) .». ... ... 1 Total remaining ... .■» ... 109 Another case of leprosy is reported, a Chinese in the Cromwell d strict being the sufferer ; he is described as being in a very wasted condition. The traffic on the railway lines on Good Friday was unusually heavy, about 2966 passengers having booked at the Dunedin station, of which number 1089 travelled north and 887 south. These figures include excursionists, of whom 219 travelled north and 127 south. The receipts at the Dunedin booking office for the two early trains were no less than £750. Dr Pebal, professor of physics at the Gratz University, author of numerous works on chemistry, and one of the foremost scientists of the day, has been fatally stabbed by a man named Nebel, The latter, who had been dismissed from service in Dr Pebal's laboratory, evidently perpetrated the murder out of revenge.- He was traced to a public-house the same night, but on the approach of the police he committed suicide by taking poison. Some of the London clergy (says the Pall Mall Gazette) have taken a very remarkable step. " Concerned at existing social conditions, and conscious of their own faults," they have drawn up and circulated a grand remonstrance, in which they call on their brother clergy to do nothing less than begin preaching genuine Christianity. The time has come, they say, for the church to cease prophesying smooth thißgs to the rich and prosperous, and to begin proclaiming the kingdom of the poor. Possessors of knowledge, beautiful objects, or luxuries, should be exhorted to share them with the poor. Fashionable ladies must not parade in gowns which have cost " a sister's shame or death." Political economists are to be told that five per cent, is not a law of God ; and the whole congregation of faithful people is to be warned that the one thing Ineedf til is the service of Christ's fellow men. The remonstrance is nothing else, in fact, than a proclamation of real as against formal Christianity.' And that being so, it is no wonder that the world cries out through the Times for a somewhat "less rigid and peremptory programme." The Indians, who possess a peculiar faculty of connecting names with ideas, have nicknamed Sir John A. Macdonald", of Canada, ." Old To-morrow," for the reason tbaV he is accustomed to put people off. Sir John was so much the counterpart of Disraeli that when in 1873 the Canadian Tory Premier-called upon the British Tory Premier the latter was actually startled, and when he had gauged him mentally as well as physically, remarked that he might be his long-lost twin brother. Sir John's gift of making newspaper correspondents imagine that he gives them news is very great. Once an eminent ecclesiastic came from a distance to obtain from him an appointment for his nephew. Sir John wrung both his hands in a state of ecstasy and said, "Monsignor, the place is too small for, your nephew ; I wouldn't; offer it to him. Just you wait till to-morrow." And he did, but to-morrow never came, and the ecclesiastic is dead, and so is the nephew, and Sir John is getting out of scrapes of the same nature every day by the same means. But still, somehow or other, everyone likes Sir John. An outrage of a peculiarly cruel and dastardly, nature was recently perpetrated on a young London journalist. He lives at Finsbury Park, and one evening lately he attended at a workmen's hall in Clerkenwell, where he is known as an energetic worker in the cause of temperance. He had not been there long when an unsigned telegram was put into his hands, sent from the post-office nearest his house, and contained these words : " Come home at once. Your wife is dead." Almost demented by the shock, he rushed out, jumped into the first cab, and was driven home, to fall in a fit on the threshold as soon as the door was opened. For four whole days he remained in a state of unconsciousness, to the great alarm of his wife, who was in perfect' health, and of his friends, none of whom could guess the cause of his condition. Wh#n he recovered consciousness he found the telegram in his overcoat pocket, and recollected the circumstance of its reaching him at' the hall in Clerkenwell. The author oi this abominable outragey wbo-appears^to^have .acted, from motives of jealousy, is known, but will probably-^escape ; tpun!Bhment,Aa8 i «the- Post - Qffice dec^toejs^ feko.np the flitter. :j: j ' "\ Some interesting war cmtipilbd" bjT a' former Austrian Cabinet Minister, Herr Yon Schaffle, reviewing the fighting power of the various Continental armies. He marshals the - German and Austrian armies against the Russian and'Frencfcwith tfie-fcllowing figures ':— German soldiers, 2,805,000 j.AustroiHurigarian, 1,270,684 ; :t#S?».AOBMB4}' Russian sfciaieTs,, 2J0Q000,.,

French, 2,B62,4op uliotal, 5,^62,400. ;In thisaddition, however* Hen* "Yon* Schaffle omits- to reckon thel,ooo,ooo men of the Austro-Hun-garian Landsturm'.... ", Coming to the \ probable cost of war, he then computes that a struggle between France and Germany alone would cost at least £640,000,000, whereas if the four countries fought the "expense could not fall short of £1,200,000,000. Having conjured up this financial nightmare, the Austrian statesman concludes that a European war would bring on universal bankruptcy. According to information received from America, a moat extraordinary case of " lynch? ing "recently occurred in the Kansas town' of Leavenworth, through the streets of which the. culprit, with: a rope round his neck, was dragged by a running horse till he was strangled. ! From the particulars it seems that 75 masked and armed men rode up to the gaol and got the gaoler to open the door by telling him they had a prisoner for him. They then rushed to the cell where a man named Richard Woods was incarcerated on a charge of criminally assaulting a' little girl. The man was polled out, and a rope put round his neck. The rope was fastened to the. horn of one of the horses' saddles. The party then set off through the principal streets of the town, dragging the prostrate man after, them. The scene • was sickening, and when the "lynehers" were satisfied that the culprit was dead they left the corpse in the road. It was 3 o'clock in the morning when the affair took place, and when the inhabitants of the [place arose the' marks were distinctly visible, Jshowing where Woods had been dragged over the frozen ground. Woods was a negro. The same despatch gives particulars of another " lynching " scene which ! ocenrred at Springfield, Louisville, when Wil- ! Ham Lud Cornish was taken from prison and ! hanged by a>and of "lynehers.^ Cornish killed a young woman named Lulu Green because she refused to marry him and preferred an elder brother. The mob went to Springfield Gaol, but the gaoler hearing their approach, hid in a ; stable. The mob could not get the key, and, obtaining a sledge hammer from a neighbouring blacksmith's, burst open the prison.. doors. Cornish was dragged out, put on a horse, and was found hanging the next morning to a tree on a neighbouring farm. In the announcement in our cablegrams last week of the death of Lord Hind Tip, many persons would not recognise that this referred to the la.te head of the great firm of Allsopp, of Burton-on-Trent. Mr Henry Allsopp sat in the House of Commons for many years, until, as put by Sir Wilfred Lawson, he was "raised from thebeerage to the peerage." The business was recently floated as a joint stock concern, when the public rushed to take up the share?. The applications for shares amounted to about £100,000,000, and it is asserted that those concerned cleared a nice little sum by the use of the money of the applicants. At any rate, those who applied unsuccessfully, found that their cheques had been cashed, and that instead of the money lying at their own bankers accumulating! interest, it had been withdrawn by the cheques having been cashed. The meeting of creditors in the estate of James Henry Palmer, labourer, Waihola, which was to have been held at the assignee's office on Thursday.lapsed for want of a quorum. The bankrupt's liabilities, mostly to country storekeepers, amount to £109, and his assets are nil. At tbe Resident Magistrate's Court, Temuka, on the 6th iost., a very important case to storekeepers and others was settled. It appears that a tobacconist named Reid had given instructions to his boy to supply no one with tobacco without receiving cash for it. Velvin and Taylor, storekeepers in tbe town, having an account against Reid, obtained in the first instance 61b of tobacco from the boy in Reid's absence, which was booked to them, and subsequently endeavoured to obtain more. Owing to instructions received, the boy declined to sell without cash. Velvin subsequently, however, went to Reid s shop and obtained from the boy some tobacco, which was taken across by the boy and Velvin to Velvin and Taylor's shop, weighed, and left there. On Reid's return he demanded an immediate return of the tobacco. This was not complied with, and he thereupon laid an information against Velvin for larceny. The hearing of the case occupied several hours, and ultimately a conviction was recorded against Velvin and he was fined £10 and costs, the goods or their value to be returned. The decision (adds the correspondent of the Christchurch Press) has c&used some little astonishment in the district. At Wellington on the 7th a man named Jacobsen was arrested on a charge of threatening to blow his wife's brains out and cut off her hands and legs. He was bound over to keep the peace for three months. The Tuapeka Times states mission work is making progress among the Chinese of the goldfields, and instances are constantly arising ! to show that the Rev. A. Don's labours are not | altogether destitute of happy results. A Chinese [ convert, over 40 years of age, was baptised at Adams Flat on Sunday last, the ceremony being i attended by a large'party of Celestials, who took great interest in the proceedings. The Fortrose correspondent of the Southland Times states that the two Bluff oystermen, Morgan and Connor, when returning to their n wn cutter were hailed, and went on, board the cutter ! Bravo. • When they got into the boat again one of the oars was missing, and the strong ebb tide carried the dingy out of the harbour. They tried to make Dog Island, but were unable to do! bo. When- morning brofie they were nearing Waipapapa lighthouse, and were abreast of that place about midday. : They made a signal by hoisting a coat on the oar, but they must have 'been too far off the shore, as the signal was not noticed by the lightkeepers. The flood tide -now set them towards the rocks at Waipapapa, at which place they tried to land about 4 p.m. The coast at this place is rockbound, and the boat struck the rocks and was almost immediately capsized and the men thrown out. The one saved (Morgan) got hold of the kelp on the rocks, 'all the while holding the boat's painter, thinking to keep to the boat if washed off the rocks. In this way, and holding on to the kelp, he gradually gqt ashore, much exhausted. His mate (Connor, he says, he never saw after the boat capsized, and thinks he must have been struck and stunned by the boat or on the rocks. Morgan made his way to the, hut of Mr Richard Macguire, miner, who rendered him every assistance/ Nothing has yet been seen of the body, of Connor. jthe City Police Court on the 7th inst.i Michael Coleman was. charged, on the information of Alfred Clulee, with having, on the 26th March', by means of false pretences, obtained an order for £2 .12s 6d, with intent to defraud the Otago Benevolent Institution contributors.—Mr J. A. 'Cook appeared for, the prosecution^ and Mr "Hodge for "the defence.^fMr Cook,' in opening, the case, said 'that 'the charge was - brought "under section 88 of the ftarteeby Act, The at&usecl had stated that his

wife had; died, add that he, had no means whatever of burying her,.; that he ;had .not- done 'any work for some time, and had no means ever. The secretary referred the matter to, the chairman of the .institution, (Mr" Solomon), to' whom the man, made the same statement. An order was in consequence given to him on Messrs A. and T. Inglis for a funeral. It was ' afterwards ' discovered that ,he ' had been employed at the Taieri, and also at Maori Hill at 7s a day, a month before his wife's death, £6 or £7 being due to him by the council. Accused told Mr Solomon that he was utterly destitute, heavily in*debt, and that he had been out of work for some time; that he had been compelled to leave, his, work in -the country to ' attend .to his, sick wife.- .- Edward Clark'e; town clerk of , Maori .Hill,, stated that | the accused" had been working < for the borough previous to the 26th," His wages' were 7s a day, and £6 odd was due him. He could have ! got the money '"on Tuesday,' the 29th. He was not discharged on the Saturdays but was still in the employment of the borough. Tbe accused was sentenced^ to >14' days' 'imprison* ment. ' ' „ "-vi .". ■ - . - <*■ ;