TELEGRAMS.

Southland Times, Issue 3299, 16 January 1879, Page 2

TELEGRAMS.

(PER PRESS ASSOCIATION'S SPECIAL WIRE.) TARANAKI, Wednesday. Complaints are made through the papers of the mails not beiug sorted on Sundays, and when steamers arrive or until the morning after the arrival of the mail by coach. The staff consists only of the postmaster, a cadet, and the messenger, which the Herald deemsi s not sufficient, and advises the public to agitate till the grievance is rectified. The discharge of coal vessels at Waitara is greatly delayed by the want of railway trucks. The Herald publishes the following from Awamatu. It is correct that Rewi starts for Taupo on the 18th to gather Natives, and it is his intention to go aci'oss the boundary lines and form a new settlement on the disputed lands. His own tribe is turning against him, and Tainui who accompanied him to Waitara has turned against him and gone back to the King's old place. WANGANUI, Wednesday. A man named Scott was to have crossed the river yesterday on a half inch wire rope, but owing to the strong mad the attempt was postponed to Saturday. The charges against Sergeant Donnelly and Constable Buchanan of committing a breach of the peace by fighting in the streets, will be heard to-morrow. WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The Governor, it appeared, asked the Ministers to commission the Hinemoa to take him to Melbourne and bring Governor Robinson back. They replied, regretting that the steamer could not be spared from New Zealand waters. Mr Dignan is to be at once called to the Legislative Council. The following are the full returns of Customs revenue for the December quarter of last year: — Auckland, £53,746 3s 3d ; Thames, £2105 2s 9d : Russell, £435 lls 4d ; Mongonuis, £82 17s 2d ; Hokianga, £407 9s 7d ; Kaipara, £145 10s Sd ; Tauranga, £564 Is ; Poverty Bay, £2299 5s Gd ; New Plymouth, £2120 9s lid ; Wauganui, £6276 0s 9d; Wellington, £47.880 10s id; Napier, £9809 2s 6d; Wairau, £1148 5s lOd ; Picton, £353 lls 9d ; Havelock, £107 13s 3d; Kaikoura, £321 Ils6d; Nelson, £7526 55 1 id; Westport, £2589 18s 8d ; Greymouth, £8479 16s lid : Hokitika, £6015 19s 4d ; Lyttelton, £56,347 2s 9d ; Akaroa, £56 13s 8d ; Timaru, £5525 15s 2d ; Oamaru. £4184 0s 8d ; Dunedin, £84,344 8s 7cl:;invercargill, £12,4401657 d: Riverton, £908 8s 9d ; total, £316,782 14s Bel. The revenue for the corresponding quarter of 1877 was £302.792. The conduct of the College Governors in discussing the re-organisation of the staff with closed doors is severely condemned. They are understood to have resolved to retain the services of the present Principal, Mr Wilson. Mr S. J. Hill, who was recently in gaol for contempt of Court in persecuting his wife contrary to the injunction of the Court, is again in trouble, having been remanded on the charge of using threatening language towards his wife's shopman. The question of Penny Savings Banks has been considered by the Education Department, and the system will be introduced when the schools re-assemble. Books have been prepared by the Postal Department which will render the account-keeping a very simple matter. It will rest with the local school committees to appoint trustees and treasurers, and in many cases the master will probably undertake the duty of cashier. Any scholar having saved five shillings will be able at once to transfer his account to the Post Office Savings Bank without expense, as the two banks will be connected. The seventh New Zealand District Meeting of the Primitive Methodist connection is being held in Wellington this week. A large number of delegates from all parts of the colony have arrived in the city, and it is anticipated that the proceedings will be of an important and interesting nature. The opening sermon was preached last evening by the Rev. B. J. Westbrooke at the Sydney street church. To-night, an ordination service will be held at the same church, when the Rev. James Guy, who arrived from England last July, and has been assisting the Rev. J. Ward at Dunedin. where he lias acheived a considerable amount of popularity, will be fully admitted to the minis try. Several more of the Hermione immigrants will probably be released from quarantine this week. A novel affair occurred in the Supreme Court this morning. Plaintiff's solicitor, Mr Ollivier, challenged a special juror. His Honor said the name should have been struck off. at the proper time, and he had no power to take notice of the objection now unless the other side consented. Mr Ollivier said he must then resort to the challenge "for cause." As this right has oaly once before been exercised in the colony, his Honor and the counsel on both sides were engaged for more than an hour in settling preliminaries, and looking into law books to find, -the proper course of proceeding. Ultimately his Honor said Mr Ollivier must, in that .case, state his objection to Mr Capper, and the judge could then decide the validity of the objection or.: •order it to be tried by the jurymen already sworn, but the latter course need not be resorted to if a jury could be got together without Mr Capper. Mr Ollivier stated his objections which were that Messrs Turnbulls and Co., for whom Mr Capper was manager, were largely interested in the case, and asked his Honor to decide the question. Mr Travers wished it to go to a jury. .About this time the whole proceedings were found to be informal, Mr Ollivier having taken his objection at the .wrong time. The jury were called and took their seats, and they were sworn separately. When it came to Mr Cappers turn Mr OUiver took his objection and proceeded to question Mr Capper, who was sworn as a witness against himself, Mr Olivier saying that though he objected to Mr Capper as a juryman, he had sufficient confidence in him to take' his evidence. About half the examination had been concluded when it was recollected that a jury had not been sworn. After some difficulty as to the form of oath to be administered, Messrs Boai'dman and "Warburton were sworn as the jury. Mr Capper's examination was then commenced again, but when he had got to about the same point in his examination, it was discovered that he had been sworn on the wrong form of oath. This was made right and oace more h© was,

examined; he admitted his intimate connection with the firm of Turnbulls and Co. and that they were largely interested in the bankrupt estate of McLean. Counsel then argued the point as to whether Mr Capper, was disqualified, and at last the jury decided that he was interested, at the same time saying that they did not wish to cast any imputation on Mr Capper. Dr Skae's report on the condition of the Wellington Lunatic Asylum shows it to be fearfully overcrowded. He says: — "The number no vr in the asylum are : males, 66 ; females, 46 ;" total, 112 —being 40 more than when he first drew attention to its overcrowded condition. This has now reached a pitch which is quite unendurable and baffles all attempt at good management. Almost all. the . vbedrooms intended for -the", use of one patient only are occupied by two or three! There is consequently no possibility of safely disposing of -excited and violent patients, and the risk of serious ; accident,, even murder, is very great indeed, not to speak of the abominable vices which are liable to be encouraged by such distribution of persons of disordered passion and bereft of self control.^ The passages and lavatories are used as sleeping places, most of the associated dormitories are crowded -with beds, of which less than half the minimum cubic space thought consistent with good health is; allotted; the solitary day. room of malespis T cv. n more crowded than the dormitories. This room is 21 feet by 15 feet, and: when visited on the 29th, a rainy day on. which the patients could not go out to the grounds, it contained twenty patients packed so .closely: together on ■benches that' they had hot room to move their elbows, and although three windows and the door were open, the atmosphere was close and offensive ; but, as the superintendent explamed, it was nothing to /what , it usually, was in wet weather, when it is occupied by 35 patients and two attendants and the windows havejto be kept shut on account of strong cold""winds. It is absurd to pretend that this place in its present condition has any claim to be considered an asylum ;. it .would be an undei served compliment to call it a prison. A circular should be,senb to all Resident Magis-. -trates and apting Justices in provincial districts informing them that no more patients can be received into the Asylum till the building has been enlarged, and unless some such step as this is taken it seems certain that a dreadful catastrophe will happen. It cannot be too distinctly stated that the Asylum, is already in a dangerous and unmanageable condition; CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday, The rainfall on Monday and Tuesday registered at Christchurch was 2.14 inches. The rain was particularly heavy on Wednesday morning early. The opening of the line to Invercargill has been definitely fixed for Wednesday next. The invited guests from Christchurch will leave on Tuesday, and remain in Dunedin that night. Mr Cony ers. returned to-day after a month's absence inspecting the Westland and Nelson lines. The Lyttelton Times has compiled a table showing that during the year ended January 14, 1878, 145.G14 tons of grain were carried on the Christchurch section of . railways, which then extended as far at Palmerston. There were shipped at Lyttelton, 87,399 tons; at Timaru, 13,376; and at Oamaru, 44,839. The case of Cleave v. King and another resulted in a verdict for plaintiff on all the issues, subject to the law points. The damages, othsr than special, were assessed by the jury at £150, and the special damages will be settled by the Court. The above is from the notes taken by the judge, and the evidence taken at Invercargill. The case of Henderson v. the Napier Harbor Board begins tomorrow, and it is expected to occupy a week. Messrs Macassey and Harper appear for the plaintiff, and the Attorney-General aud Mr W. L. Rees, M.H.R., for the others. TIMARU, Wednesday. An inquest was held yesterday touching the death of Mary Connor, who hung herself at Waitaki Flat on Monday. A verdict of suicide while laboring under temporary insanity was returned. The deceased had only been, in the colony about a year. OAMARU, Wednesday. North Otago Coursing Club's Derby for puppies is to be run on the 13th of May. The following entries were received last night :— T. Macauly's Shylock, ditto Wildrake ; A. Turnbull's Ferret ; J. F. Reid's Malice, ditto Talisman ; Honour's Blondin ; M. Taylor's Colonel ; McCorkiudale's Wasp ; R. Smart's Tarn O'Shanter, ditto Rose ; W. Hayes .Warireka, ditto Totara ; S. G. Smith's Shoofly ; G. Duncan's Minnie ; W. W. Mitchel's Fly ; R. Stewart's Skating Girl : Smart's Veno ; M. Grant's Roving Robin ; T. Brydone's Brenda ; A. Riddle's Blue Bell ; J. S. Cavershill's Hinemoa, ditto Juliet, ditto Chevy Chase ; W. H. Royan's Kathleen ; M. Holme's YanYeen; B. Thomson's Kakanui; A. McLaren's Sly, ditto Piri, ditto Rose; J. D. Kett's Morning Star, ditto Shooting Star ; J. C. Banatyne's Snowy, ditto Blue Belle, ditto Bugler ; J. McDonald's Hawthorn, ditto Calceolaria ; J. McDonald's Miffira, ditto Victoria ; T. Lunna's Rifleman ditto Flossy, ditto Maritana ; A. Thomson's Clyde, ditto Marie Stuart, ditto Othello. DUNEDIN, Wednesday. It is understood to have been definitely fixed that the line from Amberley to the Bluff will be opened for through traffic on Wednesday next, the 22nd inst. An express train will leave Dunedin at 9 a.m., and another will leave Invercargill at 9-30 a.m. The trains will meet at Clinton, arriving at 12.30 p.m., and there a stoppage of fifteen minutes will be made for lunch. The express from Dunediu will stop at Balclutha and Milton. At the Waste Lands Board to-day, it was resolved to offer for sale 370 acres of Hawksbury commonage, close to the township, at £10 per acre. The land is said to be worth £20,000. The Board took into consideration the question of 20 runs, the leases of which expire in March, 1880. It was resolved that Teschemaker's run No. 9S, and Webster's No. 99, Waitaki. district, comprising 9000 acres, should be sold as rural land. It was also resolved to re-lease the other runs, which are in rough country, those carrying over 5000 sheep to be divided into two portions. In the case of Smart v. Brogden and others, a claim for £608 8s 6d, balance due on a contract for railway work at Mosgiel, the jury to-day returned a verdict for £571 6s, being the amount claimed by the man and paid into court. The case has occupied three days. All the single women of the ship Oamaru have been engaged at from £30 to £40 a year. The University Council lias decided to ask. the Governor for power to borrow a sum not exceeding £10,000. Should the desired power be granted, the Council intend to endeavor to borrow a portion of the amount from the Benevolent Institution Committee, out of the £8000 to be received, by the latter 'body from the Savings Bank in accordance with the Act of last session of the Assembly. When the line is opened the journey from Invercargill to Dunedin will occupy six hours and a half. . The Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland commenced its sittings last night. The Rev. Dr Copland was elected Moderator. (PER PRESS. AGENCY.) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. Mr James Mills is now on a,;.vjisit to Christchxircli on. /behalf oE tlie TJnion Sliipping Company, arranging the transfer of Mr David Mills from Lyttelton to Wellington and of Mr R. Puflett from Napier to Lyttelton. The rain has now ceased, but it has come too late to do any good to crops ; in fact, in some parts of the district harvesting has already commenced. . The railway authorities state that they are able to supply more trucks than merchants can keep gping, and they attribute the block to the overcrowded condition of the town bonds and railway sheds. . LYTTELTON; WEDNESDAY. Three locomotives were landed from the ship Marlborough this afternoon. '