AUCKLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2219, 15 June 1865, Page 5

AUCKLAND.

By the s.a. Airedale, wliich arrived yesterday we are in receipt of our usual filed up to the 9th inst. LATEST NEWS FROM: THE EAST COAST. The Herald of the 51,h inst., says :— " 13y tho arrival of the schooner Eose Ann, Captain Jones, yesterday morning, we have later new3 from the East Coast. Tho Rose Ann, on her passage up, called at Awimui, Hick's Bay, Waihou Bay, Tuparoa Bay, and many other ports. On Siindiiy lu?t she sailed from Awanui, near Te Knka. .Kphraini the* native implicated in t^c murder of the Rev. Mr Volkner, avus still there, in the same house as where Tiwai and the two : sailors found him on the visit of H.M. S.S. Eclipse. On this occasion, it will be remembered he succeeded in making his escape, after being twice seized by the sailors. The natives there have endoaved to persuade Ephraim to leave that part, fearing another another attempt might be made to capture him, but he has expressed his determination to remain, let the consequences be j what- they may. Patara (Butler) and his party, numbering between thirty and forty natives, who were at AYaihou Bay, when the Eclipse was down, have since left, their destination being Kawakawa. The report previously given with reference to the engagement between the men of the Eclipse and the natives at Opotiki, and which it is stated that the Chief Hekara Kiki had been killed, and a half-casto named Pihipihi was missing, is confirmed. The natives have since searched in every direction for the body of the missing man, but without success, and it is supposed that after getting wounded, he crept away amongst the fern and died. Pihipihi was the native who fired at at and wounded the marine of the Eclipse. Tho natives also state that in addition to these casualties, five men were wounded, some of them very severely. In a private letter received from Poverty Bay last w;ck we received news of Morgan, the friendly chief, having hoisted the Queen's Flag there, and Mr GHover a passenger by the "Rose Ann, from Poverty Bay, informs us that there is every chanco. of there being a fight between the natives there, unless Morgan takes the flag down. The rebel natiues have no objection to Morgan having the flag in his possession, but say they will not allow it to be hoisted. AVhen Mr GHover left, the flag was still floating opposite Mr Reid's dwelling. TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION AT TAURAN&A. The Neio Zealand Herald, of Juno 7, says : — The Jane arrived at the mouth of the harbor yesterday evening, from Tauraugu. A terrible conflagration broke out about seven o'clock on the evening of the 2(sth ult. The fire was first observed in the hut of Dr O'Connell, and spread rapidly from hut to hut, until nothing within tho redoubt was loft standing but the houso of Major Kii'by, of theGSLh, and tho magazine. "Every exertion was made to got the fire under, but in vain, for there was no water on the spot, the nearest supply being al, some quarter of a mile's distance, and the huts occupied by the men and families of the Ist. AVuikalo regiment were built of raupo, while the Holdiei'3 occupied tents. When the fire was first discovered, and it was seen that id endeavors could arrest its progress, a rush was made to the magazine, and a large quantify of ammunition was parsed out and over the walls, but so rapid w;ls the spread of the flumes thai vei\y little properly was saved out of the whuros, not even the arms, and every now and then as the loaded rifles in the burning huts became heal cd they exploded, adding considerably to the danger of tin* scene. The loss is estimated at some £2000, and, we regret to say, that by far the largest portion of it will fall upon fhe men and families of tho Ist AVaikato Rogimont stationod at Maketu. Some of these unfortunate people have lost everything they possessed. .'st the present time boll) regulars and AVaikato Militia- and domiciled in spare tents belonging to the Commissariat. AVe republish the remainder of the extract, in order to show the animus of the "New Zealand Herald," a journal which has gainoJ. a most unenviable notoriety for inveracity. AYe need hardly say, that we do not endorse their views. AVhilo alluding to the sufferings of Lho AVuikalo Militia, we cannot too strongly condemn the conduct, of the AVcld Ministry in their utter neglect of their duty towards tho men of this regiment. Month after month arc they kept wailing for their country allotments, because a pusillanimous Government, ready enough to carry an uncalled for campaign inlo the Wellington Province, dare not assume possession of land already ceded to the Crown. Te Puna is a possession of the Crown and yet the Government which seeks to employ the General and the army in making rebels ill the Province of Wellington in order that there may be land to confiscate, hesitates in taking the rightful occupation of lund justly forfeited, and already ceded. Neither can the.;e unfortunate settlers be settled upon their town allotments, for there the Church Mission stops in and refuses to part with the only available site for a township except at an extortionate price — nor is the Government wholly blameless here. Tho To Papa block might be confiscated the same us rebel land, being required for military settlement, and compensation be fixed and allowed in the way provided by tho Act, but the influence of the Bishop's party is allowed to prevent the Government from taking this clear course of duty, and men of the Ist AVaikato Regiment, their wives and little ones, aro sacrificed on the one hand to the imbecility of a selfish Government, on the other to the extortionate usury of wolves in sheep's clothing. But we would ask why, independently of all this, proper huts have not been provided for those men and their families, when such an accident as that which occurred on the night of tho 2Gth would not have happened ? Nothing but tents have boon afforded to them by the Government;, for in the cases where, they possessed raupo whares they were built at the expense of the men themselves, at a cost of £15 each. AVe should bear in mind, too, that while these men, with their wives and families to house, were left thus unprovided for, the Weld Ministry wore purchasing villa residences for the Minister .sat Wellington, building lodger; and gardeners' houses, and squandering tho public money in a variety of ways in and around the " Empire City." "DISAFFECTION* OF THE MAKETU CAMP. Wo also learn from the same source (had the supposed friendly natives at Taroweru. had joined tho King party and had commemorated their now adhesion by plundering tho houses of Dr Uooppr and Air Miir, tho. Rohidont Magistrate of that (li.-itrict. -Both gentlemen have come on to Makotu for safety. Those natives have also built a strongljpa on the lako at Tarawcra. Those natives wore considered by Mr Fox, only a few months since, to bo one of the most, loyal. There is at present but one European resident inthoßotorun district, the Krv Mr Spencer. AVo also hear thai MnMair wii-h about five and thirty of tho Makotu . natives, had started inland, with tho intention ot capiuring JuToopi. This, however, they arc scarcely likely to oIIW'L, as, from what we know Kercopa is ahead far on his road to AVangunui 1 At Tauranga all w.is quiet, but it was boldU ' affirmed by lho natives that tho occupation of tin L Te Puna Block by the Government would be fchi signal for a frosh struggle. 1 THE MURDERER OF MK33RS COOPER Ai*D HAJIIiTN i The Southern '^ross of the inst says : — , Hori Taka, who was apprehended by Mr Mackay at St. George's Bay, on the in formation of Wircmi " Te Oka, for being concerned in tho murders o t j Mr Cooper, Mr Hamlin, and two children at th ' I Wairoa at the beginning of tho war. will b i j brought up at the Police-court to-morrow. It i .' said that tho inquiries which licvyq been made j;

thia ease since the apprehension of Taka tend to show that the charge of murder cannot be sustained against him, or anything more serious than the fact that he belonged to the tribe some of whose members were guilty. A good deal of information concerning the affair has, however, been elicited during the investigation, which may turn out of service. The demeanor of Hori Taka since his apprehension has been quiet and docile, and he expresses himself confident of being released when the matter has been inquired into. ARRIVAL OF Tire GOVERNOR. The simic paper of the Bth inst says : — H.M. s.s. Eclipse, Captain Fmnauble, arrived from tho Kawa.u lust evening, at half-past seven o'clock. The Eclipse left Auckland at 530 yesterday morning, and arrived at the Kawau at B'3o. His Excellency the Governor and Major Atkinson, Defence Minister, embarked in the afternoon, and the vessel sailed for Auckland at four o'clock. OBITUARZ NOTICE. The SonUiem Cross of the 6th inst contains the following obituary notice. It says : — The comrades of Ensign John Whitfield, of ~No 1 Company Forest Rangers announce to his friends in the province of Auckland that, on the 13th of May, he was mortally wounded whilst charging gallantly a Maori encampment on the Patea river, and that at half-past eleven on the following night ho died in the Patoa hospital. From the time of the arrival of John Whitfield in thia country to the time of his death, his conduet as an intrepid and enterprising soldier, as an honorable man, of high principle, and as a kind and true-hearted comrade, will ever be remembered, while his loss will be deplored. EXTRAORDIXARY DISASTER IN (bUEEN-STREET. — TALL OF MR SIBBIN'S NEW BUILDING. The Herald of the 28th, says : — " A very serious disaster, though fortunately unattended by loss or injury to life, occurred at noon, on Saturday last, at tho extensive premises in course of erection, for Mr George Sibbin, auctioneer, and intended for a theatre and auction rooms. Tho site of the building, as most of our readers arc aware, is on the allotment fronting Mr A. Buckland'^ sale-yards — the Haymurket ; and tho erection was commenced about the middle of January last. Mr Wrigley was the architect, Mr Kaye the contractor for the scoria work in the foundation, and Mr Goodall for the timber work. Some months ago a description of the style of the building was published, but for the information of our readers we may repeat the leading particulars. According to the plans, the building was to be in the Italian stylo, two storeys high, the ground storey being intended for a storeroom and auction mart, and the upper storey for ii theatre, aomewhat in the style of the Brunswick Hall. The front was to bo embellished with three large scgmental windows, twelve feet high, with arched cornices. The roof was to be light, and slated, and if the design had been carried out, the building would have had a rather imposing effect. The inside measurement of the ground lloor was to be eighty feet by forty-two feet ; and tho auction-room, which was to constitute the centre portion, wa<- to have measured ; forty-five feet by forty-two f<\ I At each corner, , fronting Queen-street, there .rus to have been 1 ahops — one eight ecu feet by t • feet, and the other eighteen feet by thirteen fee: ud between them | a large iron gate leading hit . the passage from j-Q.ueen-streot to (he auction • >oni. A reserved passage at the "side would le.-.i to small private offices at the rear of the auction-room, and also communicate by a staircase with tho dressingrooms of the theatre. The upper lloor or theatre was to be approached by two flights of stairs leading from the front passage, and giving access to the gallery and pit. The stage was to have measured forty-two feet broad by twenty-three feet deep ; stalls forty -two feet by thirty-four feet, and the pit forty-two feet by twenty-thrco feet, and a gallery forty-two feet by twenty-three feet, was to bo raised over the pit and supported by iron pillars. The work was oontinui d. for some time under Mr Goodall's contract; but early in April he became embarrassed in his affairs in and left Auckland. The contract was afterwards taken up by-JVlcssrs Holland, for the brickwork, and Tink for the timber work. For some days past, the outer walls have been completed and tho roof in an advanced state. On Saturday morning about eighteen workmen, plasterers and joiners, were as usual, at work in the building in different places, and several men were on the ground iloor. Mr Holland and a workman were in the upper storey, and six or seven carpenters were on tho roof. Suddenly, and from an unexplained cause the wall of the building fronting Queon-strecb cracked and fell with a loud rumbling noise, carrying away tho entire scaffolding, and a portion of the wall on the Bouth side. The roof' of tho adjacent shop of Mr W. AVisoman saddler, was crushed in and tho whole premises were completely destroyed. The woodwork of the roof of Mr Sibbin's building very fortunately remained intact, being supported by the side walls, and the workmen who were on it were thus enabled to effect their escape. It appears that the crack was first discovered by one of the bricklayers' laborers whilst filling his hod from the lime-heap in front of the building, and observing the walls to bo shaking, he at once called out to the men on the roof to come down, and run into Mr Wiseman's shop to warn tho inmates of their danger. As may be imagined, a very speedy exit was made from the premises — the laborers upon tho ground floor escaping by the front door just before tho wall came down with a thundering crash, and the remainder of the workmen getting away by the rear of the building. The people in Mr Wiseman's shop had fortunately left it before the building was crushed by tho fall of a portion of the south wall ; but one of the workmen who was in tho second storey had a very narrow escape. In fact, how so many people escaped without tho slightest injury is miraculous. The scaffolding, beams, and the whole of the other woodwork in the inside of the building also fell in, and the inside walls, running on each side of the centre passage-way, were much broken by them. The unusual noise occasioned by the fall of the building, and the clouds of dust which were raised caused a very large crowd of persons to assemble in front of tho building, and Mr Commissioner Naughton immediately took measures to prevent accident by the erection of a hoarding in front of the building. At his instance also Mr Wrigley, Mr AVrigg, and one or two other gentlemen consulted as to the measures to be adopted. During tho afternoon workmen were employed in clearing away tho ■ rubbish, and in passing out tho saddlery goods from the debris of Mr Wiseman's shop. A pole was fixed from tho ground to tho roof, to support it in front. It is stated that tho front wall is to be built up again, and that the framework of the 1 roof, which has slipped forward, will then be ; raised by screw-jacks. The side walls will re- ' quire to be partially rebuilt, but the back wall is ' apparently uninjured."