The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 1241, 8 February 1881, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1881

We have devoted all our available apace in giving a resume of Home intelligence coming by the Suez mail.

We fell into au error yesterday, re the missing ; : mail-bag, containing Southern letters. We stated that the duty of receiving the mail bags was relegated to the boatman bringing off passengers. This is not the case. The duty has been attached to the'pqrt pilot service, and Messrs. Kennedy & Bennett, who bring off passengers and luggage, ha.ye. nothing to do with the postal 'service in any way. The general opinion appears- to be that the duty of receiving ; .th« mail bags should only be entrusted to the post-otKce officials, and those only should be held responsible for .mistakes or neglect,

The time of the Commissioner was pretty well taken up all day yesterday taking evidence Relative to a aale made by Kate Wyllie aud Jfts. Wyllie to Henry Harris, in 1872. After hearing both sides, the Commissioner adjourned until next week, when he will give his decision.

By perusing an advertismeut headed " Read This," on the following page, tomething very adVantageous will be found to all intending visitors to the forthcoming Race Meeting. —[Advt. ]

It will be seen by our advertisement columns, that Messrs. Pittand Bennett will hold an important sale of cattle and horaes (the property of Mr. Harris), at Makarak* to-morrow Wednesday, at 2 p.m. The cows are perfectly quiet and well bred, and tbe draught stock is probably unsurpassed in the district.

A good deal of talk lias beeu indulged in lately ad to whether there is an office estabHshed in this town as promised by the Board for the registration of snares in the South Pacific Petroleum Company, or, whether tfie Board have delegated tsnfricient power to Mr. Berry or not. Tha plain case is thia, that Mr. Berry has to send the transfer to Sydney to be registered, after which the scrip is issued iv Sydney and returned to Mr. Berry . for delivery to the owner in New Zealand, thus Involving the loss of a month before the owner can be placed in possession of his property. So that whether the new office is an office for registration or not, the New Zealand shareholders are not a whit better off than they were before ; nor does it appear to us that there is any advantage in the establishment £>i an office on iiicK terms. The object to be desired is the rapid transfer of the property of the' shareholders when sales are effected. A purchaser deajrjjig to register bis shares is debarred from celling for a whole month, during which there might be any amount oi fluctuation.

It is proposed to erect a small landing atage for boats near the Recreation Ground, should permission be obtained from the harbor authorities ; and with a view of carrying on the work, which is much needed, and the want of which is greatly felt by the" residents of the upper end of the townahip, a subscription list has been opened. The sum of £10 has already been subscribed in small amounts, aud more has been promised. The proposed length of fth« jetty is 150 ft. and the breadth, about 10ft. It is also intended to! ask the Borough Council to assist with a grant of, say, £1 for t*T or" that obtained by subscription. *

A gallant rescue oueuried during the transhipping of passengers from the Waitaki to fche Annie Milbank at Whangarei Heads oa Wednesday night. A gentleman who suffers frojn short-sightedness, walked off the Annie Milbank into the water. Hearing a cry for heh> Captain Aubrey immediately sprasg overboard, and rescused him at the risk of hw own lire. A strong flood tide was running at fche time. This is the second time Captain Aubrey has saved life ; surely he ifc deserving the Humane Society's medal.

If there be any relianeu to be placed upon the word of the oldest inhabitant— <Wfc;ch is very far from ceftjun~4o*day has fbeejp the hottest since the first white man jplaced Alia foot on the sands of Gisborue.

The "iPtc^erty Act " Assessment Court, ifor bearing and entertaining objections to assessments, was jlteld to-day in the Court 3?ouee. The procecd,in&3#re, v»ry properly, not allowed to appear in the newspapers. What otfc man possesses is ,nofc for any one else io know, p.nd ocrtainly not !>•;!>; '<:■

•*-mVI V loolv-.ti .if 1 "- '■/ \ v.v.

We would remind tlio Ladiea that we hay&'refeeiYied vo> me nice, Millinery Goods, Silk^ichues, Hoarfs, Fancy Rij>bou« t Laces, &c, &c, ; Trimmed Hats, 3ci. 6d. 4b. 6d. and ss. 6W, suitable for the coming Races— GdilhimteVo.-Z-fAdi'f.)

Information was received this afternoon that the telegraph wires were down all JSouth of Napier.

From Wellington on the 24 instant the veracious special correspondent of the Lyttelton Timts telegraphed as follows : — 41 It has to-day become known iv Wellington that a private letter, most damaging to the interests of the Colony, and written, as alleged by the well-known publication Truth, by Sir W. Fox, has been made public in London. It 18 peifectly clear that the letter was not intended for publication, and was, if really written by Sir W. Fox, probably only intended as a caution to a personal friend financially interested in New Zealand. The following is an extract : — ' Our colony is at present in au unprecedented state of depression, even proportionately worso than any part of the Old World has suffered.' The English Press publishes this as a warning ' to those who intend emigrating to New Zenland, or speculating iv the securities of the Colony,' and lays stress on the fact that the opinion quoted is that of an ex-Premier of the Colony. Opinions here are divided as to whether Sir W. Kox really wrote anything of the sort, and it is felt that even though the communication was intended to be private, now that it has obtained such wide publicity some explanation should be forthcoming. Even in Wellington, where the existing depression is felt perhaps a3 keenly as anywhere, the statement attributed to Sir W. Fox is characterised as a gross exaggeration. It is, of course, quite possible that the authorship is wrongly attributed to Sv W. Fox, iv which case a prompt and complete denial is looked for from him."

For the more effectual supervision aud detention of the habitually criminal class, we are informed that by a regulation the detectives of Wellington attend at the gaol every Saturday, and inspect the prisoners, who are drawn up in a hue in the gaol yard. There is the more necessity for this step inasmuch as during incarceration the appearance of prisoners often materially alter, especially just before dischargewhen the hiiir, for example, is allowed to grow. It is understood that beueficial results to society have already resulted from the regulation mentioned.