[Per Press Agency.]

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1339, 4 January 1879, Page 2

[Per Press Agency.]

Auckland, Jan. 3. At the inquest on the body of Bridget Connelly, the jury returned a verdict that the deceased committed suicide whilst m a state of temporary insanity. Dr. Philson, Dr. Bowing, and the husband of the deceased, gave evidence clearly proving that the deceased swallowed carbolic acid. During the month of December there were 22 deaths m Auckland. The Star say Sir George Grey will turn the first sod of the Waikato Railway at Hamilton, m a few days. Mr Slieehau proceeds to the Waikato to-morrow, to visit Rewi. Mr F. J. Moss arrived at Cambridge this morning, and reports the track through the Kahora bush offers no difficulty for a good coach road. The Like could be reached comfortably fro'ii Cambridge m a day from Auckland. The road would be far superior to the Tauranga one. Mi- Moss left the Awahou school house at 6 a.m. on Monday, entered the Kahora bush at 7 a.m., and got out at 3 o'clock on Thursday afternoon. He reached the Native settlement at Tapapa the same evening, and started during the night for Cambridge. The truck had not been used for many years, and was quite overgrown. The Natives who accompanied Mr Moss had great difficulty m finding it, and had to cut their way right through. The bush is no more than twenty miles broad at Tapapa, and is an equal distance from Cambridge and Awahou. There is no creek to bridge, and it is a fine bush country for settlement, consisting chiefly of rimu and good land. Napier, Jan. 3. The total revenue collected at the customs, Port Ahuriri, for the quarter ending December 31st, was £9990. The births for the past year are 440, the marriages 115, the deaths 225. New Plymouth, Jan. 3. By permission of the Government a surveyor is about to proceed to Mokau to survey land for which Jones and Co. ar9 m treity with the natives preparatory to the sitting of the Native Land Court L'irue numbers of natives are assembling at Parihaka, and large quantities of provisions are being conveyed thither. Extensive crops of potatoes are being cultivated there, and from the bearing of the natives it is thought that they will make a stand against the settlement of the plains. Hiroki is engaged hoeing potatoes, and carries a loaded gun with him. His wife has not died of grief, but is living with another man. Mr T. Kelly, the member for New Plymouth, and Mr H. We3ton, proprietor of the Taranaki Herald, have been charged by the Harbor Engineer with conspiracy to oust him from his appointment. A committee of the Harbor Board are investigating the charges. Tho matter has caused some excitement here. Wellington, Jan. 3. Mackie, who was arrested a short time ago for embezzling £1300 from the Bank of New Zealand at the Upper Hutt, was brought up before theß. M. to-day. Mr. Izard, Crown Prosecutor, and the Bank's solicitors, Mr Buckley, prosecuted. The prisoner was defended by Mr Torwood, ex-Chief Justice if Fiji. The case was gone into at great length. Prisoner was committed on both charges of forgery and larceny. He reserved his defence, bail being allowed, himself m £500 and two securities m £250 each. The Government estimate the proceeds f-om the 3ale of the reclaimed land at £500,000, with which they purpose constructing the West Coast railway hue (Nonh Idand). The establishment of a High School for girls m Wellington is being agitated. The wh"le of the female immigrants by the Hermione obtaine 1 situations at good wages almost immediately. It is suggested that tha F^rnglen immigrants for Nelson should be sent over here, where there is a great demand for them. As soon as the Glenelg comes off the slip she will attempt the towing off the Hyderabad, and will be assisted by the Hinemoa. Young, the coach contractor, ran his first regular mail c >ach between New Plymouth and Hawera to-day, by the mountain road. A despatch from the Secretary of State, received by the Governor, contains a memo, stating chat the attention of all Governors should be called to the provisions of " The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878," under which, except m the case of countries specially exempted by the Privy Council m whole or m part from the operation of the Act, all animals landed from abroad m any part of the United Kingdom will, after the lit of January next, be slaughtered

at the port of debavkatii >n. The Loraa t Her Majesty's Privy Council will require from any country applying for exemption — (1) A statement of the law which. j regulates* the importation of animals into j that country ; (2) Of the methods adopted ! to prevent thu spreading of any contagious disease when it exists there ; (3) A periodical report on the general sani-t-uy condition of their animals. It is 1 alsr) desirable th;it their Lordship? should i lie furnished, before the ]st of November | next, with such information on the points I ab"ve referred to, as Her Majesty's reprei sentatives m foreign countries, which exI port animals to the Unite 1 Kingdom, may be able to obtain through the British Consulate. It is understood that Mr E. Stafford, formerly a member of the firm of Messrs Moorhouse and Stafford, and now assistant law officer of the Crown, will join the firm of Messrs Hart and Buckley, well known solicitors here, and that Mr Hart purposes retiring from the profession, and probably Mr H. Fitzgerald will join the new firm. Mr G. E. Barton, M. H.R., it is understood, will shortly remove to Auckland to commence practice thero.The Customs revenue returns for the December quarter are of course not yet | completed. The total receipts for the j four principal ports, which represent fully three-fourths of the whole of tha colony, areas follows, viz :— Dunpdin, £84.263; Lyttelton, £56.249 ; Auckland, £53,746 ; Wellington, £48,165. This brings the totals for the year for these ports to the following figures as against the total of the year 1877, viz : — Dunedin, 1878 £371,876, 1877 £352,223; increase, £19,653; Lyttelton, £240,263 and £200,857 ; increase, £39,506 ; Auckland, £224,987 and £196,232; increase, £28,705; Wellington, £201,100 and £176,939 ; increase, £24,161 ; totals £1.038,326 and £926,251 ; increase, £112,085. __ __ Christchtjbch, Jan. 3. Another case of indecent exposure was heard this morning, when the prisoner, Francis McLou-hlan, was fined 40s. The light sentence was m consequence of his 1 being m a state of intoxication at the time of the offence. The Globe to-night annnuncecs its intent ion of publishing the names of vendors of 1 rotten fruit, of which a large quautity ' has lately been on sale m the city. The first sitting of the newly established District Court will be held on the 20th inst. The through traffic with Dunedin will be resumed to-morrow. The large t American engines will not cross the Rant gitiita Bridge, but the small shunting i engine, Kiwi, will be employed for that , purpose, the American engines changing - trains at this place. Two new piers have i been built at a cost of several hundred - pounds. The railway authorities consider the damage done to the bridge during the i last year through floods coat the country several thousand pounds. > Mr Bills, from Australia, leaves Lyltel- ; ton for England on the 9th, to select a shipment of birds for the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. At a largely attended meeting of the railway employees to-night, theCommittee brought up a report recommending the ■ annual pic-nic to be held on the racecourse. It will take place the first week m February. i The Acclimatisation Society only have i about 1000 trout left. 500 of these will be set free m the Ashbnrton tributaries on Monday. 5000 have been placed m . the Avon during the season. Seventeen carriages will come through from the South to-day. They are inten- . ded for the Christchurch section of the railway. A man named Joseph Hall was arrested i this morning for stealing a valuable re- ; triever dog. ; An experiment is to be made by the Water Supply Committee with a view of testing the practicability of supplying the > city from the Waimakariri. The experi- > meat is expected to cost £200. Dunedin, Jan. 3. t The Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland will meet on the 14th inst. The question as to the disposal of Church 1 funds for the purpose of endowing a new f chair m the Ota^o University, will probably give rise to a sharp discussion. , Two Presbyterian ministers and a Home Missionary are expected to arrive from Scotland shortly, t The Inspector-General's classification of Otawo toache r s has produced general disi satisfaction. It is said that very few of 1 them intend to abide by his decision. It is understood that they will hold a, ', meeting to take joint action m the matter. The result of the first crushing m the • Wetherstones Company's claim, though > not such as to fulfil the expectation of > speculators, is, however, by no means > discouraging. The yield represents , £266 m money, and if the working ex- > penses, including interest on the ; capital invested, amounts to £230, or £240, the margin left will yield a ' fair dividend on the capital actually laid ■ out, which scarcely exceeds £2000. It > may be assumed, for the purpose of a " rough calculation, that the Company • have actually worked for thirty days, 1 employing twelve men daily at 10s each > per day, and paying for their waterpower at the rate of £1 per day. The future yields may reasonably be ex- > pecked to be better as the managers and men get better accustomed to the i work. The deposit has been tested so far as to show clearly that it will take i centuries to exhaust it. What is at pre- , sent required is capital, and the individual shareholders are, generally speak- > ing, unable to spare the funds for erecting machinery. F. Goodfellow, the Australian short distance runner, has severed his engage--1 ment with Shepard, owins. to the latter's strange proceedings at last Saturday's sports. ■ Shepard returned to Melbourne yesterday by the Albion, but Goodfellovr intends continuing his projected tour through this colony. Mr J. C. Morris, secretary to the Dunedin and Peninsula Steam Tramway Car Company' has written to the Ocean Beach Railway asking on what terms (if willing) they will sell their interest m their property, the railway works have been valued by Messrs Blair and Higginson at £17,000 to which has to be added £2000 for preliminary expenses. At a meeting of the Ocpan Beach Company it was decided to offer this line at cost price, viz., £19,000 with 8 or 10 per cent interest, added. Mr R. H. Leary was to-day elected for High Ward, without opposition. In Chambers, this morning, Mr Smith obtained a rule nisi to show cause why the Judge's order m Cayford v. Carruthers — the breach of promise case — should not be rescinded. The rule will be argued next week. The railway to Invercargill will be opened on the 14th or 15th inst. During last year 102 children were admitted into the Industrial School. There were only two cases of bankruptcy m Dunedin during the past week. The vexed question of the railway site is now virtually settled, and th» only

point m dispute is the line of extension ''f Cumberland street to Anderson's B-'j'. Thero were about sixty candidates for scholarship.? off-red by the E'Jucati'm Bo :rd. Six junior and six senior will be awarded. In addition to those who were arre.Ve-1 for disturbing the peace on Nnw Year's Eve, several otherß who were identified, have been summoned, and will be dealt with m the Police Court to-morrow morning. On New Year's Day, 5004 tickets »vere issued at the Dunedin railway station.