LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3292, 1 September 1871, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

<* The Education Bill. — Last night the Strangers' and Speaker's galleries were densely crowded. It was evident some- ! thing of umißual interest and importance 1 was expected. After the disposal of the i Gisborne Land Bill, the Premier rose to movo tho second reading of the Educational Bill. Ho was listened to with great attention, and on sitting down, after a speech of one hour and twenty minutes, he was vociferously cheered. During the whole of his speech tho attention of the ! House never flagged for a moment. We shall take an early opportunity of remarking upon it. Meanwhile wo may safely and without fear of contradiction state that this great question was worthily introduced, and that if to Mr Fox has fallen a high honor in being entrusted with the preparation of a colonial education bill, his statesmanlike, comprehensive, and conciliatory speech last night showed that he has worthily sustained it. It was quite evident from the cordial applause given to him that tho House fully recognised the great labor and research and the noble enthusiasm he has brought to bear on this important and difficult question. Tho bill maybe considered now certain to pass with amendments of no vital character. The Choral Society.— This society gave a concert in the Oddfellows' Hall 1 last evening, under the patronage of his Excellency the Governorand Lady Bowen. We have only space to say that it was well i attended, and that the audience had every 1 reason to be most thoroughly satisfied with the performance of every item of a . well selected programme. The Cricket- ground Committee met again yesterday, in furtherance of the • object they have in view, viz., making improvements on the ground. Wo understand that specifications of the work proposed to be done will be ready in a few days. The Press Dramatic Club.— lf this club receive their deserts, their entertainment at the Oddfellows' Hall this evening will be very numerously attended. Sufficient guarantee of the character of the performance was given on Wednesday evening, and, apart from its attractions, the expense and trouble, to which the members of the club have gone deserve some marked appreciation. Resident Magistrate's Court.— The proceedings yesterday morning may be summed up as four cases of keeping pigs, one of vagrancy, one of breaking windows, and one of assault. In the first case of the four the defendant pleaded theoldplea, ' that it was " only a little pig" — a plea re- J peated later in the day "in another place," but the inexorable Magistrate did not seem to think the small size of the ani- ' mal was any mitigation of an offence which was going the whole hog against a positive and salutary police regulation. He inflicted a fine of Is, and 9s costs. In the next case the defendant was charged with having a stye that was a public nuisance. His defence was that he was taken unawares — ho had received no notice. The Magistrate, probably thinking that after the nuisance of a piggery hud impaired the comfort and imperilled the health of a neighborhood, the Sanitary Inspector, by sending notice of his intended visit, would only give the offender time to remove the corpus delicti. He fined him as in the former case. In the next case repeated warnings had been given and disregarded, and a fine of 10s was consequently imposed. One honest delinquent confessed, raadenodefence, and was fined in one shilling and costs. We are glad to see that the Sanitary Inspector has been so successful in these instances. The pressure on our space compels ua to hold over all notice of the other cases. The Reclaimed Land Petition.— Wo j were so anxious to got information about this mysterious document that wo autho rised an offer to be made to its promoter John Pliramer, to print it free of charge in our columns. The offer was made, but not accepted. It was evidently not so : good a way of getting signatures as blank sheets ! Lucus a non lucendo. — A local translation of this phraso is " a ratepayer who pays no rates." Soe the signatures? to the Petition on the Reclaimed Land Bill. The City Council will hold a meet- ■ ing to-day at half-past 3 o'clock. SrKKCHES. — The speeches last night were nil very interesting and able, and wo regret that our space forbids us giving them full justice. Taranaki Ikon Sand. — We were yesterday shown a neat little hammer made by Mr Smith from the steel produced at the late smelting experiment. Tho hammer is one of the many specimens which are to be made from tho Taranaki steel, and for beauty of finish, brilliancy of polish, and closeness of grain, we should think it could not be excelled by any other steel. Of course it must bo remembered that the appliances at Mr Smith's command are, of the |

\ rudest kind. Ifc is only by real hard work and perseverance that be accomplishes such work. We hope to see by this timo next week other finished specimens. Then we trust something will be done to forward this important work. No delay should be allowed, but every exertion made ; for dvery day lost ia money lost, and to no small amount. The Scab Bill. — It has already been stated that a meeting of runholders was to be held in Nelson to consider the bill recently introduced into the Assembly for the purpose of preventing the Bpread of disease among sheep. According to a report in the " Colonist," a very strong feeling was expressed against tho bill, as being quite inapplicable to such a rough and mountainous country as Marlborough, and many parts of Nelson, A memorial was prepared, petitioning against the bill, and praying that the Scab Act lately passed by the Provincial Council of Marlborough may be assented to by his Excellency the Governor, it being believed that such act is more suitable to tho require ments of Nelson and Marlborough, and will tend materially to the eradication of seub in these provinces. The Inangahua REEFs.—Both in the Westport and Greymouth papers further favorable reports of these important reefs are published. Tho Westport paper flays : — The reefs are looking remarkably well, and a magnificent sample of gold weighiug seven ounces, and consisting chiefly of nuggets from Idwt to 3dwt each, was shown to us by a gentleman just returned from Reefton. Tho gold was obtained from alluvial ground inane diately below Kelly's line of reef. The township in increasing in size with wonderiul celerity, and bids fair in a few months to become the largest and most important inland town in the colony. The " Grey River. Argus" also says : — " Tho news from the Lyell reefs is very good ; exceedingly rich stone is reported to have been struck, and dull as no doubt these works will fall on the reader's ears, there is but little fear that the crushings, which are now quite imminent, will once more raise the spirits of. the public in reference to the Nelson reofs." The Champion Pedestrians.— There appears every probability of the champion pedestrians of the Southern Hemishere, Messrs Hewitt and Harris, visiting Greymouth. Negotiations having been entered into with them as to the terras on which they would visit this district, they replied that if £100 were given in public money to be run for, the handicapping to be left to a local committee, and that they should receive the whole of the entrance money, they would visit Greymouth shortly. Several gentlemen took the matter up, and canvassed the town, when promises were received to the extent of £10, and the remainder will be forthcoming. Serious Accident. — A rather serious accident has occurred at tho Arahura, near Hokitika, to Mr Alexander .M'Crae, in the employment of the Hon James Bonar. He was riding on horseback, and, the horse suddenly shying, crushed Mr M'Crae's leg against the wheel of a passing waggon, breaking the leg below the knee. He was immediately taken to Hokitikaand conveyed over to the hospital, and is progressing as favorably as can be expected under the circumstances. After Blondin. — A considerable number of persons assembled at Gibson's Quay, Hokitika, on Saturday week, to witness Edwards, the "Young American," perform the feat of crossing the Hokitika river on the wire rope of Hawkin's punt. The rope was stretched by hanging a heavy weight at the centre, tho descent to which from the Hokitika side was exceedingly steep, anJ though the lad made two endeavors to accomplish the journey down, he gave up the attempt. He then crossed the river in a boat, and returned on the wire, accomplishing the daring performance with daring step, scarcoly at all swerving the pole which he carried. On his reaching the Hokitika side he was greeted with loud plaudits by tho spectators, who had been watching the performance with breathless interest. Edwards seemed, however, to take it very coolly, and immediately set about making a collection for himself, but with what success we are unable to learn. Gas in Auckland.— A correspondent of the " Southern Cross" writes to that paper: — "I observe in the report of the Wellington Gas Company's meeting, in the Wellington Independent of July 21, or about that date, that while the price is 18s per 1000 feet the contract price for tlie city lamps (24) is £200, or about £8 4s each. While gas with our liberal company is 15s per 1000 feet, we are, I learn, paying £10 or £12 each for some 70 lamps !" The Census. — The abstract of the census returns for the United E!ingdoin show that the population on the second day of April last amounted to 31,465,480, in- the following proportions '• — England and Wales, 22,704,109; Ireland, 5,302,759 ; Scotland, 3,358,613. This is an increase on the returns of April, IS6I, for England and Wales, of 2,637,884, being 1,164,144 males and 1,373,740 females. The population in England and Wales is divided into 11,040,403 males and 11,663,705 females.