CORR V. THE STANDARD MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, N.Z.

Westport Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1966, 13 January 1882, Page 2

CORR V. THE STANDARD MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, N.Z.

The first verdict given in this case took the form of replies to eleven qupstions submitted by the judges. They are as follow : 1. Was ship in a condition to justify abandonment ?—Yes. la. Was ship, assuming her value to be £2500, in a condition to justify abandonment?— Yes. 2. Was ship abandoned?— Yes. 3. Was abandonment accepted? —No. 4. What is the amount of the est! mated cost of all damage done to ship by the perils insured against as at Greymouth wharf after ship got off ? £2053. 5. Has all damage insured against, including also any damage caused by the defendants, been repaired?— No. 6. What amount is now required to repair any damage unrepaired?—£2ooo. 7. What amount has been expended by the plaintiffs in endeavoring to save any of the subject matter iusured ? £330 ss. 8 What amount has been properly expended by the defendants in preparing the Alma to leave Greymouth? —£3oo. In repairing the damage caused by stranding ?—Nil. 9. What amount has been expended by the defendants in repairing the damage from decay not caused by stranding?— Nil. 10. Has the alleged custom of allowing one third new for old iron ships been satisfactorily proved ?—No

Several deputations interviewed the Hon. Mr Rolleston on Wednesday evening in reference to matters of local interest. The Member for the District and County Chairman spoke of the necessity for bridging on the Buller road, and the Minister referred the question to the District Engineer, who was present. A

number of townsmen urged the construction of a sewage drain at the rear of Palmerston street. Mr Rolleston replied that he would recommend the undertaking of the work at Government cost. The Colliery Respite grievance was then brought up, but, after much talk, the Minister stated that his impression was that nothing could be done towards reducing the rents until further evidence in favor thereof had been produced than that already laid before the Parliamentary Committee. In regard to the harbor works, Mr Rolleston said the L2OOO voted was now being expended, and when that was finished no further work could be undertaken until another vote had been made by the House. The Hon. Mr Rolleston went to Charleston yesterday morning, accompanied by Messrs Revell, Munro, P. W. Martin, Bailie, Stitt, and Wm. Smith. Mr Beswick informs us that the letter portion of the Westport English mail will leave Nelson per Charles Edward, this afternoon at 5 o'clock. The fumigators were unable to complete the purification of the newspapers in time to catch the Penguin. The Te Anau will bring the papers via the East Coast, some little delay will therefore take place before they reach Westport. Thomas Lockwood was brought up at the R.M. Court, yesterday, before W. R. Haselden, Esq., J.P., charged with drunkenness, and was fined ss. The audience patronising Bent and Bachelder's Christy Minstrels on Monday evening was very satisfactory to the Company. The performance was as successful as on previous occasions, and the public went home impressed with the conviction that the Troupe are the best that have visited Westport for many years. The company will risk a fourth appearance this evening. To any of the general run of professionals this would mean failure, but in the case of the Christies the opposite should prevail. Reference to the handbills will show that an extra good programme will be presented this evening—"Blue Glass" farce and "Maritana" burlesque being alone worth the money asked for admission. We have not previously particularly noticed the orchestra, consisting of violin, piano, and cornet. Their playing is the very perfection of instrumentation, and those who miss hearing it will be deprived of a treat. To-night will be the last appearance of this gifted company, and we would advise one and all to be present.— Tuesday's Star. With reference to the drowning of the man Walter Moffat in the Matakitaki river, we learn from the Lyell Times that deceased had been mining in the Matakitaki and Upper Buller districts for several years, and was very highly respected. He was a man of superior education, and, we believe, has relatives in Nelson. Constable Keating informs us that Moffatt was advised by Mr Beamsley, butcher, not to cross, but he persisted, and when in the stream he pulled the horse, causing it to swerve, and both rolled over. Deceased tried to regain the saddle, but horse and rider again rolled over, and both were drowned. The body of the horse has. been washed ashore, but there are no traces of that of deceased. Oliver Wakefield, Esq., visited Charleston on Wednesday last. While there he inspected the Argyle dam and part of the race. Mr Wakefield has also been over the Northern Terraces. A correspondent writes :—" Glancing over Mr Hodgson's school report and proceedings of the Central Board, Nelson, I observe no reference is made to the application of the Westport Committee for more teaching power in the Girls' School. Complaints were numerous during the past year in reference to the inability of the present staff paying that attention to the junior classes which parents have a right to expect. As the vacation is nearly over tile Committee should again apply." Mr Tait, photographer, has arrived in Westport, and will open a studio in a few days. School duties will commence at Fraser's Academy on Monday next. Tenders are invited for the erection of a cottage. See advertisement. The final meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Charles John Gear is called for Saturday next. About £220 was netted by a bazaar held at Cromwell in aid of the Presbyterian Church Building Fund. A gang of a dozen men have been engaged during the last few days preparing a trench at the foot of Wallabi and Lyttelton streets, for the reception of stone for the harbor works. We learn from papers that a deputation recently waited on the Hon. Mr Whitaker to urge, the speedy construction of the Thames Waikato Railway. In the course of the interview another question was mooted by Mr Sheehan—no less indeed than the purchase of the Thames goldfield from the native proprietors. He pointed out great hardship to many men who had taken up lands, and who in a few years would be compelled to leave. He wished to know, if he could show Ministers a reasonable programme for its purchase, if the Government would consider it. Mr Whitaker replied that he was entirely in favor of the purchasing of the Thames goldfield, and speaking for himself, he thought it was a matter which ought to be carried out. A teacher in Canterbury has resigned because he had "no confidence in the Board of Inspectors." The following paragraphs are from the Kumara Times :—" An accident which was nearly attended witli fatal consequences, occurred at Hayes Terrace. A tunnel tail-race became choked up, and two men, shareholders in the claim, went up from tho mouth of the tunnel, and proceeded at once to clear away the stones and gravel which formed the obstruction. After working for some time, the water broke through suddenly, and the two men were swept down the tunnel and thrown violently out on the tailings. The one escaped with comparatively little injury, but John Mahoney received many severe bruises, and was brought to the Kumara Hospital."—" The mortal remains of William Thompson, a miner at Larrikins', were conveyed to the Kumara Cemetry, followed by a large number of miners. The deceased had been missing from his home the last few days, and, on search being instituted, his body was found down an old shaft, where ho had evidently fallen. An inquest was held. He was a a single man, and his age about 40." There is a report that Sir William Fox may be called to the Upper House.

The Hon. Mr Rolleston arrived from Lyell on Tuesday evening. He came down on horseback, and not by boat, as expected. He went to the Waimangaroa by train on Wednesday, and visited Charleston yesterday, returning in time to be present at the banquet here in the evening. The visitors came from Foxhill to Hampden, thence to the Cannibal Gorge, via Maruia, and down the route of the proposed East and West Coast Railway to Reefton. The journey was made on horseback, and the fact that the stage from Hampden to Reefton—some forty odd miles, of rather rough travelling, was made in one day, would show that the Hon. Mr Rolleston is no featherbed traveller. It is said (the Reefton Times remarks) that Mr Rolleston was much struck when passing through the Hampden and Upper Buller district, at the fact, of residents thereabouts carrying on the joint work of mining and farming, in many localities the claims and farms being in the same paddock. Mr Rolleston returned to Reefton this morning. The current quarter's issue of the Postal and Telegraph Guide is to hand. The examination of local candidates for the Nelson Provincial Scholarships took place at Mr Z. C. Home's office on Monday and Tuesday, under Mr Home's supervision. Three scholars filled in the papers: Masters James Whyte and Fergus Ferguson Munro, from 'the Westport school, and Master James M'Kay, from Reefton. Mr William Burns, an applicant for a quartz lease at Mokihinui, has returned from a visit to the ground,, bringing some excellent specimens with him. Mr Burns, we understand, is very favorably impressed with the prospects of that part of the country. A great need exists for the construction of tracks, both at Mokihinui and Cascade Creek, and advantage should be taken of the presence of the Minister of Mines to urge the matter. An examination of the auriferous country by an accredited geologist (such as has taken place at Reefton and Greymouth) would also be eminently useful. An undertaking of this character would certainly be within the province of the Government, and Mr Rolleston should be pressed to consider the suggestion. Bent and Bachelder's Minstrels presented a good programme to a poor house on Tuesday night. The Company went north by the Kennedy. The San Francisco mail steamer arrived at Auckland on Tuesday afternoon, a day behind time. She has brought small-pox with her as well as the mails. Our summary of news by the Zealandia is full and interesting. It is stated that the Opera Company known as the " Pirates of Penzance" have broken up at Hokitika. They have enjoyed a fairly successful run on the Coast. It is intended by some of the late members to form a comedy and burlesque troupe, on similar lines to the company which did so well on the Coast 12 months ago. We (Reefton Times) understand that instructions will be issued immediately for the extension of the telegraph wires to Boatman's. Application has, we believe, been made to the Government to have Boatman's connected with the telephone exchange now established in all the chief towns of the Colony. We gather that it is part of the new arrangement to erect a post and telegraph office at Boatman's, and appoint a permanent responsible officer to the post. A striking instance of the truth of the old adage, that one goes from home to learn news, is afforded by a Sydney paper of a recent date which says :—" The sulphur deposits at Rotorua (N.Z.), much resorted to by invalids, have caught fire. The flaming sulphur poured down from the upper terrace like molten lava. The sight is described as ' grand and awful.' Some patients who were lodging at the spot escaped with difficulty with their lives." Oddfellowship must be in a bad way in Naseby. Both the Lodges in that town are going to break up. The local Chronicle says they find that the division of the funds, as defined by the different laws, regulating their societies, is such that, while the sick fund is swelled unduly, the management fund is continually in debt. " This necessitates levies, which are naturally paid with a very bad grace, when members see, as they have done for years, the sick fund grow out of all proportion to its requirements. The Registrar-General is also found to be a great nuisance. He and his myrmidons are insatiable. Indeed some lodge secretaries say that the officer doubles their work (of course doubling at the same time, the clerical expenses of the Lodge) ; that they would sooner do all the other work of the Lodges—take minutes, conduct the correspondence, and keep the accounts—than undertake to fill up the returns required by the Registrar-General. The members of the Order in Naseby intend forming themselves into a kind of Medical Union, based much upon the same lines as Oddfellowship, the principal difference being that the Union would be free from the ridiculous and drastic influence of the Registrar-General, the Friendly Societies Acts, and the regulations of the Grand Lodges." Here is an opinion on the performances of the Chinese Opera Company recently appearing in Sydney. It is extracted from the Federal Australian: —l have fallen down a 90ft. shaft at Forbes, have been blown up out of a Hill-end claim, chased three miles and lifted into the next allotment by a bull, who evidently objected to my wearing a red shirt; swallowed by a Cooktown alligator, eaten alive by a festive gang of Solomon Island picnickers, run over by a Randwick races tramcar, and speared by the Bogan blacks, but I can safely say I never thoroughly enjoyed myself yet until I heard the Chinese Opera Company here on Tuesday last. To describe this musical misery, one would require the North Pole for a pen, the 'Atlantic Ocean for an ink bottle, and paper the size of a dozen worlds like ours to do the subject justice. I earnestly recommend all your readers who have deadly enemies to buy them tickets, and at once cart them along to this place of eternal torture. During the hearing of an arson case at Timaru a question was raised by Mr Stout as to the status of the insurance companies interested, when it appeared that not one had been incorporated in New Zealand and that in consequence they had no legal status in the Colony. The Crown Prosecutor was therefore compelled to abandon the counts alleging an intention to defraud those companies,

The names of the Companies are—The Imperial Fire Insurance Company, the Hanseatie Fire Insurance Company of Hamburg, and the Norwich Union Company. For forty-two days the four surgeons attendant on President Garfield—Bliss, Barnes, Woodward, and Reyburn—charged the Government 4200d015, lOOdols each per day. Dr Agnew's bill for the same number of days for " consultations, operations, and visits," was 32,600d015, and Dr Hamilton, for " visits and consultations," rendered a bill for a similar amount; the medical men's services amounted to 87,000d01s (£17,520). The Kumara Times of the 6th instant says:—" By the mail coach this morning Mr Pearson, Manager of the Kumara branch of the Bank of New South Wales, was a passenger, en route to Sydney, to enjoy a well-earned holiday in the land of his birth, amongst his kindred and the friends of his youth. We wish him a prosperous voyage and safe return." The " own" of the Timaru Herald gives as a Wellington rumor, quantum valeat, that Sir Arthur Kennedy is to succeed Sir A. Gordon as Governor of New Zealand. The Hon. Walter Johnson, PostmasterGeneral, speaking at the banquet given at Wanganui, said he hoped the new Parliament would not be behind its predecessor in efforts to promote the welfare of t J Colony and the settlement of the countiy. With the latter object they would have to ask for further borrowing powers, and the only way to meet the money which would have to be remitted out of the Colony in the shape of interest, was to increase the population, so far as the Legislature could help in the work. It appears that the Jackson's Bay returning offices—Messrs Allen and Nelley—were stuck up between the branches of the Blue river for 13 days, and for that period had to eke out an existence on eels and birds. On Friday (says the Grey River Argu3 of Monday) there were on the wharf about 60 full trucks of coal, besides what there was of coke, which probably had a little to do with facilitating the quick despatch of the Grafton, and thus showing what can be done in a small port such as this. The quantity of coal on the wharf that afternoon could not have been short of 380 tons, enough to clear out any ordinary vessel, though we believe the storage capacity of Greymouth for coal—that is between the port and the mines—cannot be less than 1000 tons, all of which can be deposited on the wharf, ready to be poured into the ships' bottoms, in two or three hours at most. We learn by private letter from Tasmania that the reefing prospects there are by no means as hopsful as could be wished by those who had invested in anticipation of a great "spurt" in the spring of the year. The prophets proved at fault, however, for instead of going up like a rocket, quotations have fallen away to a nominal standard, and for the time being speculation is almost wholly engrossed by the tin mining ventures. Messrs Caples, Butler, Gulline, and other Reeftonites, have therefore given the Tasmanian goldfields best, and are now on their way back to Inangahua.—Reefton Times. We (Reefton Herald) are glad to be enabled to state that the track recently blazed by Mr Garven, County Engineer, up Big River, has been already productive of good result. A party of four men has returned from prospecting in this locality and report having found good quartz gold (alluvial), indicating the presence of valuable reefs in the neighborhood. We would now advocate the formation of a permanent track, as there is reasonable ground to believe that this country is certain to mantain a large population. Mr Willis has been appointed bailiff of the Resident Magistrate's and Warden's Courts at Reefton in the place of Mr John M'Mynn, deceased. Cement mining (says the Inangahua Times) promises to become an important addition to the mining industry of the Inangahua, and bids fair to rival our quartz reefing in magnitude. Some hundreds of acres of cement bearing country have been taken up, and much of it has already been proved to be payable. As this class of mining can be carried on . at little cost, and made immediately reproductive, the possibilities opened up by this new development of the district are incalculable. Mr Joseph Ivess has lodged a petition against the return of Mr Wason, for the Wakanui seat in Parliament. The following are the grounds thereof :—l. Aliens being permitted to vote ; 2. Minors voting ; 3. Refusal of scrutiny by the Returning Officer to Mr J. Ivess ; 4. The acceptance of qualified voters on behalf of the successful candidate; The disallowance of qualified voters on behalf of the petitioner; 6. Irregular compilation of the roll; 7. Refusal of the Returning Officer to admit qualified voters in favor of the petitioner One of the recent heavy floods in the Hokitika river destroyed about eighty feet more of the southern protection work, and it is quite possible a great deal more damage may be done. The Hokitika Harbor Board appear to be perfunctory in one respect. Their engineer should have lieen on the spot some days Surely some remedy for a disastrous waste of money can be provided.—Times. As a new feature in goldmining apparatus, we (Dunedin Herald) have been shown a large copper plate, one of four which are being coated with silver for Homeward Bound Claim. This process for | gold saving is being introduced by Mr A I J. Chapman, the present manager. The ! copper plates, which are highly finished, come from the workshops of Messrs Anderson and Morrison, Moray place. The whole of the plating is being carried out by Mr George Le Lievre at his plating works in Upper Stuart street. This is the largest piece of plating which has been done in the colony. The Ashburton Mail, which recently appeared as a daily, has gone back to the tri-weekly issue. The Kumara Times gives currency to the rumor that an attempt is about to be made to abolish the Kumara Borough and merge it into the County of Westland. The latest novelty at Napier is a ram fair. A novel kind of presentation is about to be made to Sir George Grey, a number of his supporters in Auckland having had a highly ornamental pair of braces worked for him. On the side ribbons is worked

in embossed letters—" In remembrance of a Victory for Liberalism, December 9th, 1881." On the suspenders—" To Sir George Grey, K.C.8., M.H.R. for City East. From Polititical Supporters in Auckland." The connecting plates are of New Zealand silver, set with greenstone, mounted in New Zealand gold." C. Coombs and Son, tanners, of Dunedin, have called a meeting of their creditors. The liabilities are £48,000, partly secured ; assets, £26,000. One William Beer, a compositor in the Gundagai Times office, (N.S.W.) has been writing poetry in that journal. He begins :- *' Ere old Sol graced the azure blue, I climbed The summit of Parnassus'height." All right, William. Get down as quickly as you can, old man, and put in your dis. When that's done, and you've set up old Fluffum's letter on ringbarking and the column ad about the man who cures cancer with parsley sauce, you can do another climb. INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, CHRISTCHURCH. [advertisement. ] Those that wish to be represented at the Intercolonial Exhibition to be held in Christchurch in March next, should inxonn us of their intentions. We have ) been connected with all the Intercolonial Exhibitions held in the Colonies. At the late Adelaide Exhibition we represented CO exhibitors, for which we received 10 gold medals, 4 first and 1 second awards, 3 of which were New Zealand firms (D. Strang and J. T. Martin, Invercargill, and T. Bevan, Wellington.) Our plan is to represent the exhibitors, transact their business, fix the exhibits in their space, attend to the judging of exhibits, and anything necessary while the Exhibition remains open ; at the close re-pack and send their exhibits back, or sell them or duplicates thereof, if required. It is very inconvenient for visitors to come up to the Exhibition and fix their exhibits, which amount to an expense besides the loss of time which they must necessarily expend on them. Then again the exhibitors have a benefit—they have no trouble of getting space, they let us know how much is required and we get it for them, as we have a large amount of space granted to us. We fix up the exhibits on a better space than if they applied themselves. Our terms are moderate. We specially caution the public against giving their goods in charge to so-called Exhibition Agents, who go the rounds of the Exhibitions, and run exhibitors into debt and other difficulties. ALBERT S. MANDERS, & CO., British & Colonial Manufacturers' Agents, Head office, 91 Little Collins-street East, Melbourne ; and at London, St. Paul's Buildings ; Adelaide, 67 King William-street; Perth, W.A., 6 Town Hall.—A permanent branch is now established in Hereford street, Christchurch. All letters addressed io the above firm, Hereford street, will receive prompt attention, and circulars sent on enquiry.