LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3303, 26 September 1871, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Railway Contracts. — Some further papers relating to Mr Vogel's mission to England" havo beon printed. These include two letters from Messrs Brogden and Sons, the latter of which, dated July 27, states that they cannot definitely announce that Mr A. Brodgen would leave by the nextmail.inconsequeneeof theuncertainty of the close of Parliament. Meantime they suggest that consideration of tho contract should bo deferred until tho arrival of Mr Brogden or one of tho firm, since, as they state, "itis evident from our further enquiries as to terms upon which the issues of the capital for the railways can be made, that a modification of the agreement to render the terms as nearly as possible like those adopted in the case of the Indian railways will be required, in order to make them such as fcho New Zealaud Government and wo would work under." They speak of several points which impose unusual obligations on companies ; and those thoy mean to examine with the promised assistance of Mr Mackrell. They renew their assurance thafc, in carrying out the undertakings, they shall endeavor to do so to the entire satisfaction of the Government. Lecture byDr Hector. — The seventh of the series of Popular Lectures in the Presbyterian Church, Willis street, was delivered last evening by Dr Hector to a crowded and attentive audience, the chair being occupied by the Hon. Major Rich ardson. The subject was " Pre-bistoric New Zealand," and the lecturer, after giving a concise account of man's early remains in Europe, and their relations to the geographical distribution of animals, I shewed thafc the wonderful effect which i man produces in altering tho fauna and flora indicates tho successive periods of the dispersion of the race from original centres. He then"showed that man, iv a state very similar to, if not identical wifch the Maoris, displaced the moas, causing their destruction chiefly by fire, ghat the early Maoris perhaps differed in some respects from the present, but there is no reason to believe they are a distinct race. As a reason for the greator abundance of moa bones in the South Island ifc was suggested that the fires from volcanoes may havo caused their partial extinction even before the arrival of man j whilo in the South, where there are no volcanoes, tho moas continued to be abundant till they were destroyed by the Maoris' fires. Interesting information was given respecting very perfect moa remains that had been obtained of late years, such as the I neck with skin and feathers, and the footprints, which are in the Museum. At the I conclusion of the lecture a vote of thanks was proposed by Archdeacon Stock, which was carried by acclamation. The Rev. I Mr Paterson announced fchafc tho next lecture would bo delivered by Mr JKnowles, on Monday, tbe 2nd proximo. The Rival Steam Lines.— An Auckland contemporary reproduces from the " Hawaiian Gazette," an illustration of American advertising : — The United States, New Zealand, and Australian Steamship Line advertised, tho trip before last that thoir steamer ' Ajax would leave San Francisco on the 19th of June, and would connect with the fast and favorite A 1 paddle-wheel steamer Nevada, at Honolulu, which latter vessel would proceed immediately direct to Auckland.' Tho Nevada, they further affirm, has already proved herself the most speedy, comfortable, best ventilated and reliable steamer that has crossed the Pacific Ocean, and as a particular inducement, they inform

travellers that they should take this line i to avoid "hurricanes, shoals, sunken reefs J and dangerous navigation through fche JFiji Islands." Not to be outdone in the puff direct, or in disparaging inuendos, the agents of Hall's line invite passengers to tako "notice thafc theirs is the only direct through line to Honolulu, Fiji Islands, Auckland, Sydney, and Mcl- j bourne, not liable to detention in Honolulu by steamers nofc making connection," and as a set off against what was said about dangerous navigation through the ITijis, travellers are informed thafc those taking passages in the Wonga Wonga aro subjected to "no danger from worn-out boilers, and side-wheel steamers, unfit to navigate the rough sea of the Southern Pacific with safefcv." Supreme Court in Wanganui. — The " Chronicle" learns thafc the first sittings of the Supreme Courfc there will be held in the beginning of January next, and that the sittings wil) henceforth be held twice a-year. The fitfcingup of the Court House will be commenced in a few weeks. The Lady Bird. — The iron schooner Lady Bird, which had a narrow escape of total wreck a few days ago on Barrett's reef, is now on the slip at JEvans' Bay, Ifc is obvious, from the appearance of many of the plates, that while on the rocks she musfc havo undergone a very severe bumping, such as few iron builfc vessels could have withstood. In fact, nothing bufc the excellence of the iron of which she is constructed could have saved her from destruction. Meteor. — A very brilliant meteor was seen lasfc evening, at about half-past seven o'clock. Ifc passed from east to weat, disappearing from sight behind the JKJarori hills, and is described as almost equal in brilliancy to the meteor which was aeen some months ago, and which was accompanied by an explosion. Murders in the Pacific— ln our shipping column will be found some sad details of the murder of the captains of several sailing craft engaged in what is designated the labor traffic. The list of fatal outrages includes the death, by poisoned arrows, of the masters of the Marion Renny, Maria Douglass, and Swallow. The circumstances have naturally excited much attention in JFiji, where, ifc is stated, the Government purpose to issue a commission forthwith to five gentlemen to inquire into and report upon the outrages, and tho general conduct of those eugaged in the labor trade. The Education Bill.— A most interesting and instructive appendix to the speech of the Hon. the Premier on the subject of the Education Bill has been published in the form of extracts from the report of the Victorian Education Board. These extracts contain concise descriptions of fche systems of education adopted in European countries, in Canada, and in the United States. They are replete with information which must be valuablo fco members, and at this particular timo very interesting to the public ; and, when space permits, we shall reproduce, in summarised shape, some of fcheir contents. New Process for Smelting Iron Sand.— An American paper contains an interesting account of a machine recently invented by Messrs Balch and Nelson, for smelting iron sand. The machine, as described by fche patentees, is called the " Electro Magnetic Iron Separator," and is constructed so as to be capable of separating iron from fche iron sand in a perfectly clean manner. Tlie machine consists of a cylinder containing a large number of magnets. These magnets are worked by a battery, and are so powerful as to convey every particle of iron that is in the sand into a separate receiver. The sand is supplied to the machine by means of " hoppers," which can be constructed to hold forty tons of sand if necessary. The value of the iron ore, from this separation, when pure and smelted is 80 dols (£l6 1 3s) to 100 dols £20 16s) per ton— equal to the Swedish charcoal refined iron. The cost of producing a ton of pure metal is only 25 cents (ls Hd). The machine, though adapted to bo worked by steam, can also be worked by electricity, afc a cost of about 20 dols (M 3s 4d) year. Being self-feeding and regulating, it can work continuously night and day. The magnets used can bo confined to a very limited space. The dimensions of the cylinders o£ the machine (of which only a model was exhibited), was five feet in length and three feet in diameter, and the number of magnets seven hundred and fifty, The machine has been patented in Canada, the United States, and Great Britian. Mr Balch (son of the Rev. Dr Balch), has been exhibiting the machine in New York. Death of the Chief Mahau. — The death of this celebrated chief who stood to the Europeans during the hostilities with the natives during 1860, G'l, ia noticed by the Taranaki papers. This chief was presented by Governor Browne with a silver plate, on which was engraved a record of liis services. He leaves but one son to inherit his estates and chieftainship. Sad Occurrence at Whangarei Heads. — An accident, whereby two men from Parua Bay lost their lives by drown • ing, is thus described by a correspondent of the " Southern Cross" :•— " Three men were in a small boat fishing near the Snake Bank till tho turn of the tide— about 8 p.m. In pulling up the sail for the purposo of roturning homo to Parua Bay, the halliard came out of the mast, and one of the men foolishly climbed up the mast fco pufc ifc in again. His weight was too much for fche little boat, and she instantly went over. One of the men, named Eobinson, managed to get on the bottom of tho boat. He saw ono of his companions, named Captaiu Walker, sink and rise no more ; but the other, his own brother, ho could not tell whafc became of. He was under the impression that he swam away from the boat directly she went over. Tho survivor clung to the boat, shouting loudly fche whole time, for aboufc threo hours, and drifted out towards the entrance of the harbor for about five miles. His shouts were very luckily heard by Mrs Aubrey, who had not then gone to rest. She immediately put up her sons, helped j them to launch the boafc, and in a very ; short ti^e the unhappy man was safely in j their boafc, nearly exhausted, but quite j sensible. Capt. Williams leaves a large I family quito unprovided for. Mr llobinson leaves a widow and ono child — now in Auckland. Permissive Bill. — A very largely attended meeting of the inhabitants of Auckland has been held in the hall of the Mechanics' lustitute, relative to the Permissivo Bill. Tho Mayor presided. Varioua gentleman addressed the meeting, and a series of resolutions was carried, and petition was signed for presentation to tho General Assembly, urging that body to carry into effect the Permissive clause in the licensing laws of tho colony. A Loss— The " Wanganui Chronicle" mentions that Mr Dawson, of No. 2 line, lost a fine Devon bull last week. The animal was imported about two years ago, afc a cost of £250, and is a great loss to his owner.

Hokitika Academy.— After many meetings and discussions, a committee of tho inhabitants of Hokitika have at length succeeded in making arrangements for tho opening of a school for a higher class of education than has hitherto been attainable there. The committee have secured the services of a thoroughly qualified hoad master, whose certificates of competency and testimonials are of the highest order. Mohawking,— Several young gentlemen in Auckland have lately had the attention of the local police directed to them for whafc is, amongst proficients, termed "mohawking." This consists in wrenching off knockers, hauling down fences, aad practising other little vagaries in fche eveninp, for fche amusement of tho perpetrators and the annoyance of the victims. Ifc is said thafc the practical joking in this instance nearly terminated seriously. An iron bar which had been used in removing the knockers was thrown through the windows of a house adjoining tho residence of J. Farmer, Esq., and passed within a short distance of a young lady's hoad, whose apartment the window opened into. A detective was on the watch in the immediate vicinity, complaint having been made to the police that | Government House fence had several times been pulled down. The offenders were therefore taken by surprise, when they found their movements watched and the guilty party detected almost in the acfc of throwing the bar. Nelson Race-Horses foe Canterbury. — By the Phcebe, Mr Redwood shipped a lot of horses for Canterbury, among which wero five intended to compete at the ensuing Metropolitan Meeting, to come off on tho 7th, Bth, and 10th of November. The horses, says the " Nelson Examiner," are Peeress, Lacenfeed, Expectation (a three-year-old colt by Ravensworth, oufc of Coronaria) Benathalath, another three-year-old, son of Symphony, i by Towton ; and Patch, otherwise Young Voltigeur. JPeeress is in capital condition, and there will be, we suppose, a renewal ! of fche struggle between her and Knotting- ! ley for the Cup. Lacenfeed is perfectly ' sound, and she will run therefore, if she keeps right, under different circumstances to what she did at the last Nelson Meeting, Benathalath is well-grown colt, of uncertain temper. The weather has been so unfavorable, thafc little opportunity has been afforded of getting the young horses forward, to learn what they are capable of doing. The Coronaria colt is an elegant little horse, but too small to carry any weight, and if he proves to have pace, can only be made use of in a handicap. Patch has greatly improved, since he ran in Nelson ; he was then only half-broken, and in no condition, not having been off grass a month. The horse has a good turn of speed, and jumps remarkably well, and it musfc be a good horse thafc beats him in the hurdle race for which he is intended. Telegraph to Motueka.— The " Nolson Examiner" understands tbat the Government has stated ifcs willingness to carry tho telegraph to Motueka, as requested by the Nelson Provincial Council, last session. M. Chevalier's Pictures. — The London "Times" devotes a column to a description of the sketches of New Zealand scenery by M. Chevalier, lately exhibited in the Crystal Palace. The review is evidently written by one who is not only competent to appreciate the excellence of M. Chevalier's art, but who is aleo familiar with many of the scenes which are depicted. The sketches are described as representing scenes in all parts of New Zealand, and, among those noticed as illustrating JNew JZealand "town life and civilisation/ are pictures of Wellington and Wanganui. In the course of his notice of these works of arfc, fche reviewer very truly says : — " Pictures such as these do moro to make New Zealand and Now Zealanders known to their oldcountry cousins than all the emigrants' guide-books ever written. Ifc is not only the energetic colonist who deserves well of a colony. The pioneers of art and science who follow the pioneers of the plough do as much to develop its resources, and, though naturalists and j geologists havo long ago explored New Zealaud, M. Chevalier is the first who j has brought us home the form and color of its surface. Those who care to see ! how well a ready and faithful pencil can ] fix the features of a strange and beautiful land should go and see these drawings." The Absconder Stevens. — The Auckland papers contain columns of reports and conjectures as to the defalcations, bigamy, and disappearance of Herbert V. 1 Stevens, who lately levanted wifch a Misa Paul, of fchafc city, leaving a wife and four children behind. Stevens and the lady belcng to respectable families-, and the question afc issue between them seems to be how tar the lady was implicated. Most of the evidence goes to show that she was as much the victim as anyone, and the whole conduct of Stevens appears to have | been of a most aggravated character. From the mixed narrative given it appears that Herbert V. Stevens, who had for some time been dissociated from the firm , of Stevens and Son, paid attentions to | Miss Elizabeth Paul, a young lady of nineteen, and was regularly married to i her, in her father's house, by the Rev Dr Waih's, but in the name of Sydney Pope Stevens, a brother of his own, resident in i Auckland. By Dr Wallis, at his request, a notice of the marriage was inserted in j the papers, as the marriage, not of H. V., j or of S. P., but of P. S. Stevens ; and to the marriage notice wero added the wo; us "Thames and Wangauui papers please copy." By thd time this had beon published he had secured passage?. for himself and his bride, and left in the Nebraska, the tickets being taken out in his brother's name, and he pretending, till the vessel sailed, that it was his brother who had beon married, and that he was merely seeing the happy pair away. The worst feature of tho case is that the absconder deserts an estimable wife and four children, who were residing at Parnell, and numerous creditors, who have also much cause to regret his departure. Meantime the Paul family defend the lady from aspersions upon her, and the Stevens family aek why the Paul family did nofc soe them beforo permitting thoir daughter to marry. The New Zealand Exhibits at San FRANCTSCO.—New Zealand, it appears, not altogether unrepresented at tho San Francisco Exhibition. In the " News of the World" itis said :— ln the room occupied mainly by the splendid mineral collections we noticed that the gilded pyramid which has been for somo days waiting for its base, has jusfc been placed in position. It is a contiibution from the Thames, New Zealand Mechanics' Institute and represents the amounfc of gold taken out, up to date from the Thames goldfields : 475,496 ounces, value £1,524,128, or seven and a half million dollars. The pyramid is large but hardly of a size, one would think, to represent so much yalue, bufc wo have no doubt ifc is "O. K." Its height is nine feet with a base of three feet six inches on each side. Some disappointmant has been felt thafc the Aus-

tralian and New Zealand exhibits are so far extremely scanty although more are expected by the next sfceamer. There are some six and four-pound tins of Australian meats, exhibited by Ross, Dempster, and Co, for the Australian JMeat Company, also some colonial whisky and ,'gin, exhibited by the same firm. There are some casks of Tooth's ale, No 3, from Kent's Brewery, Sydney ; rope from J. S. Macfarlane, Auckland, and a few specimens of flax, oats, and gum. Catholic Cathedral at Auckland. Ifc has been resolved by the Catholics of Auckland to erect a new Cathedral. Afc a recent meeting held to consider the subject, every person present put his name down for a certain sum payable by quarterly instalments, the totai thus subscribed amounting to the very handsome sum of £2,073. Death of George King Hipango.— Home papers received by the last mail noticed the death of this young Maori chief. The " Wanganui Chronicle" says the deceased was the son of the late worthy chief Hoani Wiremu Hipango, more formerly known aaJ^ter Williams, who was killed afc the barefcle x>f Okutahi, and whose monument scuuida on the hill behind the Putiki Pa; ' jStffta^-kfiipango was taken to England by the"^cv. JR. Taylor, and was very fond of descanting on his interview with Queen Victoria, and the Prince Consort. His son, who had been senfc to England to receive his education, died of rapid consumption on the 29th June at the residence of the Rev, Mr Lanfear, formerly missionary on the East Coast of this Island, Lefccombe Regis, near Wantage, the youth not having quite attained his twentieth year. Masonic Celebration at the Thames. —The openiDg of a new lodge under the Scotch constitution, called, in honor of the centenary jusfc passed, the Sir Walter Scott, has been an event of some interest afc the Thames. The formal opening was made under the superintendence of Bro. A. Beveridge, R.W.D.P.G.M. A grand procession, swelled by the attendance of brethren from other lodges, then took place to fche Presbyterian Church, where Divine Service was conducted by the Rey J. Hill, assisted by the Rev V. Lush. The attendance was most numerous, and the procession — numberingsome 200 members of the fraternity— presented a most imposing appearance. It was headed by the band of the Thames volunteers, and accompanied by crowds of spectators — the fine weather and the unusual spectacle attracting all classes of persons. A grand banquet terminated the proceedings in connection with the inauguration of the first Masonic lodge under the Scotch con* stitution at the Thames.