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Taranaki Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 820, 11 April 1868, Page 2

Chief Justice Sir G. Armey. — His Honor jChief Justice Sir G. A. Arney is expected to thrive in New Zealand by the Panama mail, duo in" Wellington on the 22nd instant. 'The Taranaki Agricultural Society.— Tho I monthly meeting of the members of this Society, will be held this evening at the Taranaki Institute, at 5 o'clock. Tauanaki Land and Building Society. — The monthly meeting for the payment of subscriptions on shares of the abQve Society ,_ will be held at the Freemasons' Hall, on Mondny next, at 6 p.m. A special general meeting of shareholders, for the purpose of considering the new rules, with reference to borrowing on tho -security of leasehold property will, be held the same evening at half-past eight o'olock. The Royal Garrick CLUn/-We believe that this Club will- perform agaifi on Monday and Tuesday, the 20th and' Silst instant. Tho " Dream at Sea," and a lively farce are in course of rehearsal, but we understand that they intend to have a change of perfon imnce eaoh night. Military TNTELMGENCE.-rjCaptainH. A. Brett, 43rd Light Infantry, ha 9 bfJen appointed brigadomajor of the Ist Infantry/brigade at Aldershot, in succession to Captain Maclean, Rifle Brigades, whose period of staff service will expire on the 31st January, and the 44th, 56th, and 72nd Regiments were under orders for Ireland.

The Town Board met on Monday evening last. Littlo or no business was introduced, bnt the balanoo sheet, which is published this day in our columns, was laid before the mombore and approved of. Wo perceive by that statement that £G67 15s. 9'J. hns boon collected in rates, and £29 2s. 2d. for encroachments ; and with a balance on tho Bank of £121 9s. 4d., leaving a total of £818 17s. Od., rather bettor than half of which has been handed over to the Provincial Treasurer to meet tho interest on tho loan, tho remainder being spent in labour, cartages and sundries connocted with tho working of tho Board.JOim Ikon Sand. — Wo see by tho manifest of tho ' Rangntira/ that Mr. Viviau has received- a cupola and fan by which ho means to test tho iron sand that abounds on our coast. We wink him every success in his experiments, for if he succeeds in smelting it, ho will not only benefit himself, but the Province generally will reap tho . advantage. Our Oat Crop. — We noticed a week or two since that a paragraph which appeared in onr journal of tho 22nd of February last, in reforenco to our oat orop, had beeu copied at random in our numerous exchanges without acknowledgment. We mentioued the fact from the Soutltern Crossinsinuating that wo had oopied from that journal some military items ; we now call the attention of the Editor to the fact that ho has done the very same thing as we did, for we flad in his issue of April 1, that " Our Oat Crop" has again appeared in as healthy a state as ever, but without acknowledgment. Wo can only repeat the expression of that journal on a former occasion " that the circulation of news fa a colony like New Zealand, must often prove a great mystery to many who call themselves ' constant subscribers' to newspapers, and ore fully conversant with, what transpires around them." Provincial Government Gazette. — We have to acknowledge the receipt of the last Provincial Government Gazette. In it is a notice from tho Commissioner of Crown Lands, to holdors of military and naval land orders, that on' and after tho 4th of May next, is tho time fixed for the purpose of making selections in tho Tarurutangi block ; also, that military settlers entitlod to receive Crown Grants can have separate grants of their town and rural land. John Bus jell is appointed Registrar of Dogs for the Elovonth (or Huirangi) Road District, and William Doughty for tho Twenty-first (or Mataitawa) Road District. John Patrick Carey is appointed keeper of the pound at Clifton, vice T. Hoskell, resigned. The Gazette contains an abstract of receipts and disbursements of tho Province, for tho quarter ending December 31st, 1867. The revenue consistß of — Balance in hand, October 1, £52 25."8 d .; consolidated revenue, £150 ; land fund, £550 ; miscellaneous revenue, £149 2s. 2d. ; reimbursements, £358 lls. ; proceeds of sale of materials, • £16 7b.; licenses, £5G9 ; advances, £G53 Is. Bd. ; sundry payment* from Jas. Hirst, £26 ss. Id. ; cash received from Bank, £2106 17s. 9d. The disbursements are — Super, iutendent'd department, £133 9a. 6d. ; Executive Council, £37 10s. j Provincial Counoil, £30 j Provincial Treasury, £50 ; Publio Land and Survey, £127 9s. 6d. ; Harbour, £118 10s. lOd. ; Police, £81 10s. ; Gaol, £101 3s. 4d. ; Inspector of Brands, £50 j Registrar of Dogs, 7s. 6d. ; Town Pound keeper, £13 ; General Contingencies', £171 14a. ; Roads and Public Works, £539 9s. Id. ; Waiwakaiho bridge, £476 Bs. Id. ; Miscellaneous £212 18a. Bd. ; Advances to road - districts, £238 10s. 5d. ; Cash received by J. Hirst, for licenses at Patea, £30 ; Cash paid to the Bank, £2220 Is. Bd. <£The late Case of Arson at Canterbury — Thomas Deasley Swalo, alias " Thomas Swale Deasley, was tried at the last criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Canterbury, for the murder - of John Rankin. It appears from the Crown Prosecutor's opening address that on the 7th February tho prisoner and the deceasod were i living as partners in business at a residence in Market Place, Christchurch ; that before that day they were oh bad terms, aud on that very night they had a quarrel : that during the night a young woman living next door heard a noise, and saw the house adjoining in flames, and the prisoner looking -on without giving alarm. It seems that the deceased, who was . in the honae at the time, was stunned before it was fired, and being unable to make his escape .was suffocated by the smoke. The prisoner was charged with setting fire to tho house and causing tho death of . John Rankin, and after a two days' patient trial ' he was found guilty, and sentenced to death in tho usual form. Tub Census of Nelsov. — Tho census of this Province has been taken, and we believe the . general figures have been totted up at least sufficiently to arrive at a close approximation of the population of the Province. On applying to the chief enumerator for the figures, we find that he declines to give them, on account of the restrictions placed on him by tho recent extraordinary circular of Mr. Stafford's ministry, and some very absurd regulations contained in the instructions to enumerators, by which the the information so obtained, and which is intended to be made public, the earlier the better, must on no account be devulged, not oven the totals of population ! If this isn't tithiug mint and cummin, while neglecting the weighter matters of the Government, the ■ phrase has little meaning. We believe that the population of the City of Nolbou, as per last; census, it is a little over 5,500, which figures, as compared with those of 186-1, show an increase of about 1,000, the population of 1864 being 4,543. b <} Patea. — Tho Wanganui Times says that sixty of the settlere at Patea have been called one to serve as militiamen instead of the men of the Armed Constabulary so needlessly ordered to the West Coast by the Government. The people of Hokitika are well able to take caro of themselves. Whore a thousand special constables can be sworn in in one day, and two thousand more are ready if wanted, the appearanoe of sixty or • seventy of our constabulary is only calculated ,to begot ill feeling and load to mischief. Wo trust the authorities at Patea will act firmly, and lob the natives see that even the European residents are able to preserve law and order. If the Resi* dent Magistrate flinohos in the performance of hisduty, his leniency will be looked upon as an indication of weakness, or positive fear, and therein lieg the germ of insubordination. Let • ;ho natives know that we are thoir masters, and that knowledge will save them from many ' j troubles. * A kEMARKABLE CASE OF SWINDLING has OC curred in England, and tho perpetrator, Patrick Murray, a private in the 12th Regiment recently stationed at tho Raglan Barracks, is being par. sued by the police. Murray obtained the ohequo book of the paymaster of the regiment, Lieut. Gibba, and forged oheques to tho extent of near £120*. To one tradesman bo represented that he had a considerable sum due to him for services in New Zealand ; he then ran up a bill with him for £50, and gave a forged cheque in full dischargo of the debt. From a jewoller ho got £40 worth of goods, and a third tradesman ho swindled to the extentof £10, getting the amount in two five pound notes as " small change" for • * a cheque. He afterwards .bought two pair of booto oa credit and absconded . i _ tsta. __ -