Untitled

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2046, 17 May 1875, Page 2

We regret to hive to state that the search for the body of Mr Andrew Petersen, who was drowned in the Kauwaeranga rirer, has been ho far unsuccessful, although the most-vigorous efforts have been made to recover the'" body. On Saturday there were 15 men employed in the .search, including Mr Kelly (manager of the Waikawan Jaw-mill; and brother-in-law of doceased), Kilgour and Coombes, four men sent out by Captain Richards, the police, and a number of others. They constructed two rafts', and draggedthe hole in which the fatal accident occurred, and the long reach of the river! below that, but without avail. They did not desist until it was too dark to pursue the" search further, and it was "renewed yesterday morning by a large party. The pools were again dragged, and in the hope that the body, if caught in snags or anything else at the bottom, might be liberated and raised to the surface, -twelve charges of Jithofracteur. were exploded beneath tbewa'er. But this experiment also proved unsuccessful, and tbe search, party returned last evening much dispirited.' Mr Banks states that on Saturday he visited the place where Messrs Kilgour and Coombes had blockaded the road, and found that although tbiy had closed that, track another one was left open, which led down clcse • ,tV their houses, but' they are about to remove their" fence-,"!'eo as to leave a track'open at tho bottom;of their paddock,, which will'.obviate the necessity for going through v ;'the swamp ground. In Saturday's •isaije}.we called attention io what we considered;' from information given to us, unwarfa'n'tflblpf conduct on the.part of Messrs who .were alleged to have upper crossing, and so pre-' vented,Petersen from taking it on the.occasion he met his untimely erd. It was stated that the" upper road had been made by Messrs Smith, the watpr-race contractors. Mr Fepper, manager for Messrs Kilgour and Coombes, called upon us on -Saturday to explain.several inaccuracies in the information'given to us, and the statement that tbe road in question was made by Messrs Smith is one, Mr Pepper saya tbe road was made by Messrs Kilgour and Combes and the Shorlland Sawmill Company. Messrs 'Smith did not contribute ono. farthing towards the formation of the road, nor over lend a pick and.shovel to aid in its construction, although it is stated that Messrs Smith took down some of the fencing which had been put round a paddock laid down in grass by Messrs' Kilgour andCoombes. The paddock was sometimes used before it was ploughed, although there is.a good dray road round it, but'the lower road is' more frequently'used because it is nearer,, and was so used by the deceased and Mr Banks on the day of the accident. The upper road was almost impassable until it was widened and made available by Messrs Kilgour and Coombes. The land is the property of these gentlemen, and the fencing complained of was only put across on tbe day after, not before, the accident, so that they must be absolved from all the blame attributed to them in the paragraph in our Saturday's issue,

MrLeLi'as's theatrical company gave their' closing performance on Saturday night at the Theatre Eoyal, on which occasion Mr Darrell'a new drama, " The Trump Card," was played, with Mr Darrell in the title role. Our space will not permit us to enter into a description of the play,'-but-'we may.saythat it is vigorously written, the characters are well drawn aud strongly marked, and the: situations and groupings are excellent. It reflects credit on the author, and the manner in which-it was performed was alike creditable to the company. Mr and Mrs Parrell were repeatedly called before the curtain, and the principal tableaux were encored, At the termination of the per=formauce, Mr Darrell stepped in front .of. thfflj curtain and thanked the Thames people for the very liberal support accorded to them. It was much better than lie expected, considering the dull state of tho times. He hoped they ■ found that/ he had improved during hia five years' absence. He was sure they would all prefer seeing him play Hamlet to singing comic songs, and he hoped when he next returned they would tee a further improvement in him, and_ that he would fee a great improvement ihl'heirtown and circumstance?. He had also to thank the company for the manner- in which they had supported Mrs Darrell and himself. It was as good a little company as had ever been collected' in the colony. During the last 15 nights they had produced 15 legitimate plays, acknowledged to be such in every theatre in the world, and the attendance and applause of the au Hence was a proof that they had done so successfully, Tbe members of (he company were always to be found in their places, and that, as they were aware, was mo; e .than could be said of all colonial corapanies. He thanked the audience . for their liberal support and appreciation, and trusted that he would be Boon back with new pieces and see them air rally round them again. Mr Darrell then -retired amidst rounds of apv : plause. '■■.-.:.■

The firat competition for- Mr Turner's prize took place at the baits on' Saturday. The prize, a suit of clothes;; open to the members of No. 2 H.R.V. and the T.M., is given, to tho highest aggregate scorer in two matches. The following are the highest scorers: -r"v*ol. Hicks, T.R.R., 48; VoLFenton, T.RR.V4B; Vol. Shepherd, T. 0., 46; Sergt-Oilpin, T.R.S, 40' b'ergt. Morrison,: No. 2 8.1t.V., 43; Vol. McKcc, T.S.R., 42; Vol. Gordon, T.U.R., 42; Vol. Roddy, No. .2 H.K.V.;.40.. .The range prizes were won byVol. Fcuton, 30.0 yards; ■Vol. Hicks, 400 yards; Vol. Stcpherd, 500 yards. Thefiring for the rifle presented to No.' 2 IT.RiV. by Captain Hszird resulted m favour of Servant Morrison, with a score qf4Bpoints. This is the second tioie that Sergeant Morrison has thown up to the front;..a fortnight ago he won the cup with a similar score. : ■■<•'..-

The De Lias Company left for A uckland im-. mediately after the performance-on Saturday nieht, per p.s. 'Enterprise,' and would experience a very stormy passage. .The wind shortly after the steamer left increased to a ~ gale, accompanied by heavy quails. The Thames Scottish fired on Saturday for ■ money and other prizes, and as the competitors were to be handicapped considerable interest wastakenin the match, ■ it being the first time pcSflts have been allowed to the young cosnpaoy competitions. The handicapping was carried out'by the officers, and the scores of the prizewinners will show how closely the relative meritsof each were estimated. We learn Ntiat the match has generally given much satisfaction to the members of the company, and there is a probability of similar competitions taking place periodically. The. only two prize winners who did not get points were Drummajor Campbell ard Corporal McLeod. Both shot splendidly throughout, Campbell finishing up with a magnificent score of 62 points from 15 shots, or 7 points over centres. The prizes were presented to the winners the same evening at drill. The company, we learn, have decided to call a meeting shortly to consider the advisability of sending homo to the War Department for new regulation uniforms—trousers to lie of 42nd or 93rd tartan, and tunics same pattern as the 93rd Highlanders. The ranges at which the match on Saturday was fired were 300 400, and 500 yards, 5 shots at each range, ' and'the winning scores are;— Vol. Lodge/ ,54; ' gcrgfc. Campbell, 52; Vol W. Vi'son, 50; Corpl. McLeod, 49; Vol. Qilberd, 47; Serrt. r Scott, 46;. Vol. J. & Murray, 42; Vol. O. -Smith, 41; MJ- Foi 'S ie > 4L Sergeants Kemp and. t'to.ckdale, of iNo. .2 Company, conducted the mstrking.

Tho s.s. ' Southern Cross' was expected to leave Napier on Saturday evening for the Thames and Auckland, witli a full cargo of fat Block to the order of Messrs Banks and McHardy. She may be expected here with to-morrow morning's tide. The ' Go-ahead' was to lesve papier the same day for Auckland, via Poverty Bay. Tlio bteamct 'Taranaki' was the' bearer of the'followiDg parcels of gold shipped at Nelson for Auckland on account of the Bank of Kew Zealand:—l. box,- containing 6770zs Bdwts Sgrs, value £2,119; 3 boxes,- containing 2,936czs 15dwts 12grs, value £11,727 2s. 'Total amount, 3,50ta 3dwts 17grs. Total value, £13,8462?. It is. said that an ingot of zinc will effectually, prevent incrustation if left in the boiler, ; . ,