Local Intelligence.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1802, 9 December 1862, Page 3

Local Intelligence.

Lancashire Relief Fund —We hare raucb pleasure in stating that the committee were able to decide yesterday on sending home £700 by the current mail. This amount does uol represent the entire collections in town, bu< only the subscriptions received from such portions as have been canvassed during the past four days— a part having yet to be visited.

When the amounts now being collected' in the Country Districts, together with that which > Wanganui has already in hand, are received, the total will be a very creditable sum, and give » cheering evidence of our sympathy with those whose patient suffering makes us all tbe more proud to recognise them as countrymen. We understand that the amount above stated, £700, has been lodged in the New Zealand Bank. The various Banks here have offered to _ remit the amount without the usual cnarges. Shakesperian Reading.— There , is to be . another last night at the Athenanim this evening, wheu the Judge will read King Richard f Supreme Court Buildings.-— A corres--1 pondent learned in house building, informs us , that the mortar employed in the foundations of this building is rotteo, has no cohesion, or in 1 plain English won't stick, so that the bricks > can be pulled out with the greatest ease. If true this is a very serious matter and calls for instant attention. New Zealand Flax.-— From the Nelson Examiner we take tbe following paragraph :— We have been favored with the sight of a letter from Birmingham, in which is stated the following : — " The samples of flax you have sent, I have taken to the principal manufacturers of this town, most of whom speak of it as a superior article. Mr Withers, rope-maker of Farmstreet says ♦it is worth twenty- four shillings a cwt,, though he did not think it so strong as Italian hemp.* I send you the following from Messrs. Evans, Adiard, & Co., of Cheltenham : — 'The sample of flax you have now sent is worth twenty shillings per cwt at Cheltenham for our manufacturing.' " A Political Gossip.— The Wellington correspondent of the Otago Colonist, is evidently inspired, or has penetrated the mysteries of clairvoyance, if we are to judge by the astonishing statements which occasionally appear in his letters. "The Governor's policy," says this clever gentleman, " is to bear all, to hope all, to believe all with regard; to the Maoties, and nothing will be done with the troops this sum* mer." One would think, from this, that our gossiping friend was in constant communication with his Excellency, and exercised an important influence over the" destinies of the colony ; but if that be so, how is it that he hides his light under a bushel by holding an obscure position here ? This however is not all, for not only is he the exclusive exponent of the Governor's views, but he is also, it appears, perfectly aufait to tbe editorial management of the Wellington Journals, and oracularly announces <( that recent articles in tbe lndepen* dent, however true to fact, have apparently been admitted by mistake." We were not aware of this before, and thank the gentleman for the information, which at least possesses the charm of novelty, but we would be glad to learn on what grounds it rests, or if it be solely the fruit of his prolific imagination. Seriously speaking, " own correspondents" are sometimes a perfect nuisance to the community in which they reside. In the " peeping Tom " and "sneaking Jerry" fashion, they pick up waifs and strays of intelligence, usually incorrect, which dressed up into a plausible story, are eagerly swallowed, by credulous people, and in many cases do infinite harm.) So long as this is confined to petty affairs, it does not matter much, but when, as in the present case, an attempt is made to deal with subjects of a higher class, the bearings of which are beyond the mental calibre of the scribe ; tbe chronicler of small beer assumes tbe dignity of the political observer, with a result which need not be anticipated. We would strongly advise our friend, for his own sake, in his future gossipping letters, to leave this journal alone. Forgeky. — The Otago Daily Times has the following* An extraordinary case of forgery is reported on the Bank of New Zealand, for upwards of three huudred pounds. Some mouths ago, a settler named Firman, residing at Tokomairiro, deposited £400 in the Bunk. On his road back with his wife, he fell in with a man named Harry, who had just come from Victoria. Harry was engaged as a labourer by Ferman. Tbe latter having occasion to draw a cheque, got Harry to fill in the body, and signed it himself. Hairy then remarked that by a wellconcocted scheme, a forged chepue might be passed, and the Bank made to pay twice over. Shortly afterwards, Harry left Ferunan's employment, and a few days after this is alleged to have taken place, a man appeared in the Back of New Zealand, Dunedin, and asked a clerk what balance there was to Fer man's account. On this being told him, he desired a clerk to fill in the body of a cheque for the amount, and signed Fermaa's name to it, spelling it with an "i" instead of an "c." This is the forged document ; by some strange mistake the Bank cashed it. It was not till some months afterwards that Ferman, on investigating 1 his account, denied the validity of the payment. There are other circumstances connected with the affair, which we cannot well publish. Suffice it that, though the above is the alleged account of the transaction,* the bank we believe, considers tbe circumstances referred to sufficient to justify it in resisting the repayment of the money.