MOTUEKA VALLEY.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 793, 2 June 1865, Page 3

MOTUEKA VALLEY.

Chubch of the Ascinsion. —This exceedingly pretty church was formally opened for Divine Servica by the Bishop of Nelson on Tuesday, May 23. Thursday previous was the day originally proposed, but the *torm and floods in the early part of th* week rendered delay imperative. At eleven morning prayers were read, and after an excellent sermon by the"Bishop, a collection was made in aid of the building fund. Notwithstauding the cold, bleat da», upwards of teventy rcsideuts, beside* visitoas, »er* present, tt appears from a statement, of account* presented to the congref*tion, that £333 14«. 9d. has been expended on the building, of which turn £215 sb. 6d. has already been r*i«*d, leaving £18 7s. 3d. still to be rawed. This it independent of the vslue of three acres of land, pMsented by A. B. Oliver, Esq. After -eervice th* congregation dined in a tent near Mr. Oliver* residence, and the after part of the day was »pent merrily by the juveniloa, in cricket and otherEnglith eporta. Th* church » «übstantially built in the oarly English etyl* ; th* lance* windows are filled with staiued g'***, and with the open roof, aud handsome work of the interior leave a pleasing impression, while externally the effect it equally good.

The Cractrs. —We are glad to report that th* attractions of Messrs. Greenberg and Foley's management at this ever popular place of amusement are even greater than anything they hare placed before a Nelson public hitherto. The feats of horsemanship »r# of a higher character than ou the last occasion j th« wonders of the trapeze hare a clever exemplifies and the shouts of laughter elicited by the dog and monkey performances are immense, while juggling of much excellence and the evolutions of the little pony Tom Thumb, with laughable aft*rpiece«, complete a large and very attractive programme.

Bkbach of the Customs' Laws.—On Tuesday, before Mr. Poynter, Jtesident Magistrate, Captain Rough, Collector of H.M. Cuetotns at Neleon, appeared to prefer » charge again«t 41e*and#r Stephen, captain of the barque Bo»«, lately from London. The case against defendant, »c stated by Cwpfctin Rough, wai that he had faile) to report, in entering his Tt»»el, that he hud two cue* of tobacco ou board, which weighed 8261b«. These were not entered on the ship's manifest; and Captain Bongh, in opening the case, said that it wim one which from the first looted *cry auspicious, and in pursuance of hi* duty •ndJfor the sake of the public revenue, and te preserve the rights of the fair trader, who now paid heavy duties on § oods, he felt it Decenary to bring thie case before the court in order that it mi^ht be thoroughly eifted, to as to afford C#pt#in Stephen* an opportunity of clearing himself if be could, and if not, in order that the prosecution might act as a warnin g to prevent other* from making any attempt at defrauding the revenue and injuring the fair trader. After the veeeel w£* entered at the Custom House he (the Collector) had warned Captain Stephen to r«port »ny other f ooda he might hate on board, ac captains had often venturo* of their own, end if he had anything of the kind then w»s the time to report it. Captain Stephen then replied that he had a case or two of wine, and he was at once allowed to place these on the manifest. He was afterwards asked if he had anything else, and be replied that that was all. He never said a word then of the tobacco. It was the practice when a ship left London that the Custom House authorities give the captain cockets or pspers representing the dutiable articles taken as stores. Instead of pring the Custom House officer ten cockots he handed only nine, tho other being torn off. Afterwards the captain came to the Custom House with the missing cocket, which was delivered up, as by this time it was evident that the tobacco could not easily be landed, as the ship was watched by,a Customs' officer. This circumstance showed an evident, intention to defraud the revenue, and hence the present prosecution. The Collector said also that in all cases when through ignorance or inadvertence, where there was no evidence of intent to defraud, captains of ships were at once allowed to amend their manifests of any omission that had occurred. Mr. Uaekworth, Chief Clerk of Customs, and Mr, Rodgerson, Landing Waiter, were then examined, and their evidence went to prove the statement of Captain Rough ; both stating, in cross-examination by Mr. Pitt, that defendant had mentioned that ho believed there were two cases of tobacco on board, but he was not sure, and he did not offer to amend his entry for that tobacco. Mr. Pitt, for the defence, said that there was a dispute with the brokers iv London who victualled the ship, and that the captain had refused to take the tobacco, and that therefore he did not think that it was on board. [The Magistrate : But there was a cocket for it, and how did the cocket come to be torn off, and afterwards produced by the defendant?] Mr. Pitt explained that the ship had but a small cabin, and the papers were in a drawer to which the mate and others had access, and it was easy enough for the document to become dis connected without defendant's knowledge and thus overlooked. But when he discovered it he at once went to the Customs and produced it. Had he entered the tobacco without knowing that it was on board, and it proved not to be on board, lie would have been liable to a heavy fine. Mr. Bounett, of Messrs. Edwards and Co., and Mr. G-arrard, the shipping clerk of that firm, gave evidence that the defendant had spoken to both, two or three days after the ship was entered at the Custom House, about two case 3of tobacco he had on board. Mr. Bennett said that this was tho first case which he had known iv which a captain wa9 refused permission to amend his manifest. The magistrate said there was no doubt of an intent to defraud the revenue, and if there had been any grounds of defence he would willingly have given effect to them, but there was none, and as he had no discretion in the matter he would inflict the penalty of £100, leviable by the act. The Collector showed that by the 202 nd section of the Act the magistrate had power to mitigate the penalty to one-fourth of the amount, and he would be satisfied with the mitigated penalty. The magistrate then, on this representation, reduced the fin* to £50 and costi,

Hoinuuusi*a.-4to HMoNday aight Mr. H. HounsdU's premises, In Bridgi-stnet, wait broken into in a moat determined manner, though, at far as has been appertained, the amount of property abstracted is fortunately but small. The point chosen for entrance was the little room at tht back of the shop, on the ground floor. The window of this room is defended on the inside by wooden shutters, and to these the first eiorts of the thief had been devoted, by attempting to prize them open. Not succeeding against the bolts at top and bottom, which held them, a slight attempt appears to have been made to cut out the panel of one of the shutters to §ot at the bolts, but this was speedily abandoned for another and more successful method. The room is lined up about four feet with boards, the rest of the inside wall being only canvas and paper over the studs, and this would appear to have been well known to the operator, for cases procured from the yard were nicely piled up against the outside of the building until a convenient level with the inside lining was attained j the weatherboards of the house were then forcibly removed, or split away, and the canvas being cut or torn an entrance was made between the studs by a youth or slim person. An old cashboz was turned over, and the desk in the front window ran. sacked and invoices torn, some silver taken away from the till, and lome cheeses are said to be missing as well as two revolvers, but no attempt appears to have been made upon the Milner'i *afe, which the thief must have stepped upon in making his entry. The whole matter should operate as a warning to the authorities and to shopkeeper*. Now that some of the evile of a shifting population are visiting our hitherto quiet and confiding citiiens, no store should be left without nightly protection, and the unlighted portion of the street* of the town should be the especial care of the constabulary, inttead of the more central blocks of the town, which are to a great extent selfprotected. The determination of the attempt is also a matter which assumes a serious) aspect, when weatherbosrding is noisily (as •• conceive it must have been in this case) torn away from one of our wooden struc. tures, and a burglary perpetrated which only b y chance was not seriously and considerably successful

Escape OF- jl Pbibosib.—A notoriou* character, called Dick White, was brought up by a constable from the Hokitika, on board th* William Miikin, to be taken to Canterbury. During the way he was very sick, or feigned to b* so, and kept hw b^rth the whole time. On Wednesday night, shortly affc*r six o'clock, while the iteamer wa* *t the wharf, White was in his berth, apparently very ill, and the constable was standing on deck. At this time a passenger of the Mwkhi, coming on board, missed his footing and fell into the water, between th* wharf and the steamer. The constable and steward immediately jumped overboard »nd rescued the man from drowning, and got him into a boat. A* they were conveying him to the ihor* th* prisoner Whit* mad* his escape from the vessel and has not be*n seen since. The description of White is as follows: —About sft. Sin. high, stout make, with fresh complexion, and then clean shaved He wore a black billycock hat, black beaver monkey jacket, and nsw moleskin trousers. He was formerly of Dunedin and Ho-

bartown.

Ndue-stbeit Bbidge and the Cbominq- at the Biveb. —The recent rains have ao *woll*n tha river at the Hile-«tr*et bridge th*jt the alopa in the banks fit the crowing for cart* and horse* has been largely washed away, ao that it i* with an ordinarily loaded cart scarcely poasible to croii. Yeaterday morning, three carts with fir*wood were all at one time atuck faat in th* river, and it wa* only by the paopl* in the neighborhood of th« Prince Albert Hotal turning out to assist that they contrived to get up th* banks. There is great need for a cart bridge at this part of the stream, a* there is a good deal of traffic steadily increasing. The cost of erecting a bridge of the kind wanted would not be great, and the preient state of the crossing, and the great inconvenience to the people would justify the expenditure.

Thi Bishopbic of Wilson.—lt will be remembered that upon Archdeacon Jacobs declining to accept the see of Nelson, th* Bishop of London was requested to nominate • clergyman for th* office. His lordship, we undemtand, has accordingly nominated the Rev Andrew Burn Suter, of Trinity College, Cambridge, incumbent of All Saints, Stepney, to the bishopric. The rev. gentleman, who is represented to b-• in e^rerj w*y qualified for the post, h*s accepted the appointment.— Lyttelton Time*.

A MOS*TB» ttoLD-WIBHIHG CSADLE.—Th* Dunstmn Time* (Otago |)*,per) M>ys:—" We h«»e received from a gentleman a description of a monster cradle which h«s lately come into use on some of the southwestern gold-field* of Victoria. It is said to be capable or saving gold of extraordinary fineness, and by u«ing it a man can make from thro* to four pounds per week from tailing* tliat have been cradled aud re-cr*dl«d by the Chinese. This is just the thing required on th* banks of the Molyneux, aud we believe would answer admirably where water is not obtainable for sluicing purposes. The cradle is twelve feet in length by five m width, and supplies itself with water. Two men can with ease pass through tm'enty load* per diem."

The doubt me eipressed of the reliability of the Indo-European telegram has been partially b'>rne out. Charleeton was evacuated on the 17th February, and the news mutt hare been received in Londonabout the time, or very shortly after the February mail stuamer left, and it may be aurmised that it might have been conveyed by other means than the Indo-European telefraph. The nme may be said with regard to the proposed withdrawal of five regiments, the fact being stated in Mr. Cardwell's despatch of the 27th February. It must therefore have been very itale news on the 20th March, the London date of the telegram to Gallo. Unfortunately, too, for the authenticity of the telegram, it stated that General Beauregard wae dead, which was untrue. The telegrams by this mail are still more unsatisfactory ; and it is evident that late news purporting to be received by this means must be received with caution. — Southern Cross.

The Ppopeietor or the Otago Daily Times and the Otago Provincial Council.—How to Eepoet One's Own Speeches.—A discussion took place the other day in the Provincial Council of Otago, on the following motion, which refers to the method of reporting followed by tho Daily Times : — " That inasmuch as the privilege of reporting the proceedings of this Council has hitherto confined itself chiefly to the lucubrations of the lion, member for Waikouaiti (Mr. Vogel), this Council is of opinion that reporters for tho press shall be excluded, or until the proceedings can be impartially or accurately reported." Speaking to the motion, Mr. Brodie observed: —" From th<; reports published, seeing how many honorable members were ' cut down, 1 it would be inferred that the lion, member for Waiiouaiti was the leader of the House. He did not blame the lion, member for trying, by means of his paper, to elevate himself in the opinion of the country; it was, perhaps, only natural; but he (Mr. Brodie) must deny that the hon. member had the influence in the Souse which those who read the reports would be led to infer." Mr. Adams observed—" He could only regard the motion as.'a sort of skit intended to ftouch the hon. member for Waikouaiti on a delicate part; but he did not know whether it would succeed, as the hon. member was the most insensitive politician ho had ever met with." Mr. Thomson said—" The hon. member rarely carried any of his motions; he was simply a member of Council—tnere was nothing very particular about him. (Laughter.) But from tho reports the electors of Waikouaiti and of the Province must think that the hot. member. occupied a Tory prominent position in the House. He could not see that there was anything so very extraordinary about the hon. member, as the readers of the newspapers must think." After several other very strong expressions of opinion as to the means adopted by Mr. Togel to " blow his own trumpet" at the expense of his brother councillors, the motion was withdrawn. Speaking of the discussion and its cause, the Wellington Advertiser passes some severe strictures on Mr. Vogel, the mildest of which is contained in the following sentence: —"The charge thus preferred against the hon. member for Waikouaiti iB of a serious character, and it displays a trait of political dishonesty , which we did not. think he was endewed with." •