LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3346, 15 November 1871, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Legislative Council. — < The i " Lords" had a heavy and a late sitting yesterday, their time being occupied in the discussion of the Railways Bill. The clauses providing for the branch lines | were all struck out, as well as those relating to the rating for their construction. In the Immigration and Public Works Bill a clause was inserted, providing for a Board of Advice, to consist of the Chief Engineer and Assistant Chief Engineer. The amendraents have yet to be agreed to, but it is highly probable that a speedy compromise will bo effected between the Houses, as the prorogation is arranged to take place at 2 o'clock to-day. The Lower House will meet at noon, and the Upper House at eleven o'clock. Guard of Honoe.—A guard of honor to his Excellency the Governor, on the expected prorogation of Parliament this day, will be formed by the No 1 Company Wellington Rifle Volunteers, the Wellington Veteran Volunteers, and Cadets. The members of the different corps will parade on the reclaimed land at eleven o'clock this forenoon, and at the same time and place the Artillery Volunteers will parade for the purpose of firing the customary salute. Resident 'Magistrate's Covet. - Yesterday, before J. C. Crawford, Esq, R.M-, Henry Holmes was charged with using abusive and threatening language to Mr William White, of the Nelson Ale House. The defendant, who had been discharged from Mr White's Bervice some weeks previously, on account of some alleged asper sions of his character, made threats towards the complainant, and threw a chair at him, smashing a lamp. He was fined 20s and costs. The same defendant was charged with damaging property, the property consisting of a piano, upon which he had played with wilful violence, breaking some of the keys. Mr Flood, as an expert, appraised the damage at from £2 , to £3, and the cost of re-tuning at a guiuea. The Magistrate awarded £2 damages, with the costs of hearing the case. Steeet Watering.— Messrs Lovelock and Co, contractors for the watering of the streets of Wellington, have completed their preparations for the work, and will commence operations today, or on the first occasion 1 on which the streets may require to be watered, so as to subdue the clouds of dust which are generally such a nuisance to pedestrians, and such a source of expense to shopkeepers in the principal thoroughfares. An experimental trial was made yesterday, and it is expected that the arrangements made will prove sufficient to answer all purposes uutil the town possesses a regular water-supply. We notice that, in Christchurch, the City Council have resolved to impose a special rate of lM in the pound in certain districts for "the watering of the streets in speaih'ed parts of that city. The Late Mr Sinclair.— The Inquest.—An inquest was held at Wainuiomata on Monday last, before Dr Wilford and a respectable jury, upon view of the body of Hugh Sinclair, an old and much respected settler of the Valley. Dr Norm had been summoned from town, to make an examination of the body, as there was considerable doubt as to what could have caused the denth of deceased, it being evident that deceased had not fallen from his horse, as was at first sup* posed, from his being found some little distance from the road, lying in a perfectly natural position, without so much as a scratch or bruise about him, or even dirt from tho road upon his clothes, leading those who found him to suppose that, feeling unwell, he had descended from his horse and lain himself down in a sheltered spot for a time, where he had expired. The evidence brought before the jury substantiated this supposition, more especially the medical evidence, and in accordance therewith tho jury brought in a verdict of " Died from congestion of the brain." Deceased had been subject for the last year or two to attacks of giddiness, and seldom went from homo alone. His loss will be severely felt in the Wainuiomata Valley. Mr J. H. Wallace offered yesterday Mr Hickson's stores, Old Custom-house street, bidding up to £350; withdrawn at £400. Sundry miscellaneous articles sold at fair prices.

Entertainment. —At the entertainment given in the Ghuznee-street schoolroom last; evening, for the benefit of St. Peter's Church organ fund, the Yen. Archdeacon Stock presided. The entertainment, which was the last of the aeries, was very numerously attended, the room being thoroughly crowded. Edith Palmebston.— Miss Edith Palmerston is announced to give a farewell entertainment in Wellington on Monday evening, when an entirely new programme is to be presented. Miss Palmerston .is a passenger by the steamship Tararua, and proceeds by that vessel to Melbourne, so that she will only have this one opportunity of appearing before a New Zealand audience. Auction at the Athen.s;um. — The large hall of the Atbenesum has been temporarily converted by Mr Smith, auctioneer, into a show-room for the display of some very beautiful and valuable goods imported by the ship Electra. Tonight this exhibition, as it may be called, will be open to the public, when the hall will be specially lighted, and those who attend will be enlivened by musio, as well as by the exhibition itself, the articles exhibited including some superior pianos. Mr Smith has adopted an ingenious plan in thus bringing a peculiarly valuable stock uuder public notice, and his assistants have displayed considerable taste in its arrangement in the hall in which it is displayed. It will cost nothing to call at the Athenceum beyond the trouble of walking there, and no doubt there will be a numerous attendance this evening, both of sight-seers and those contemplatipg purchases on the following day. Abajiaho Light Hobse.— The pleasing ceremony of presenting to this corps a flag, which had been got up and worked into shape by the ladies of Wanganui and its neighborhood, took place on Saturday week. The presentation was made by Mrs T. F. M'Donogh. Capt. Edward Darnells returned thanks on behalf of the corps, after which a hearty cheer was given for the lady donors. The flag has a deep white border, with blue ground, and the letters A.L.H., with a crown over them, raised in centre. Geography of New Zealand.— Mr G-. Willmer, of Christchurch, has just added one more to the list of elementary treaties on the geography of New Zealand. It is described by the " Lyttelton Times" as compact, simple, and complete, so far as it goes, and as containing a great deal of information in a small compass, at a moderate cost. Clerical.— The Eev W. Cree arrived in Canterbury by the Glenmark, and will occupy some of the ground rendered vacant by the removal or death of three members of the Presbytery during the last twelve months. Ageicultueal. — From Otago files we learn that the crops in the Wakatip district are this year reported to be looking better than ever, and an abundant harvest is anticipated. The great fault is the almost general absence of green fodder crops for cattle. With respect to the state of the crops in the Tokomairiro district the local paper says : — The crops are, in some sheltered districts, looking well and forward ; but in more open places, and where the land is more naturally wet and cold, they are not so promising as could be desired. The early crops are in most cases the best this season. Dkamatic. — The " Hawke's Bay Herald" states that the celebrated actress Miss Adelaide Bowring(Mrs J. B.Steele), with an efficient company, will shortly arrive in Napier, and will give a series of dramatic entertainments. Napiee. — We notice in the manifest of the Saucy Lass, which vessel sailed from Napier for Auckland on Wednesday last, eighty boxes of Napier soap for the Auckland market, from the manufactory of Messrs Neal and Close. Oeange Anniversary.— On Monday evening last the brethren of the Loyal Orange Lodge, Canterbury True Blues, No 5, celebrated their annual gathering at Christchurch, in honor of the memory of William 111., Prince of Orange, by a dinner at the residence of one of the brethren. The lodge was reported as being in a flourishing condition, both in a pecuniary sense and as regards the number of members belonging to it. The Race for the Canterbury Cup. —The following description of this event is given by the "Lyttelton Times" in its report of the races : — After one false start Mr Campbell despatched both Peeress and Knottingley on very even terms, the old horse being the first to show in front, going past the stand slightly in advance of the mare. No alteration of this order of runuing took place until the mile-post was reached, when the mare went up and took the horse's place as leader, keeping it to the half-mile post. Here they again exchanged places, coming down the straight at a great pace, M'Glashan riding the mare all he knew to get to the front ; she, gamely answering every call, drew upon the old horse inside the rails, and just caught his nose as they passed, the judge's chair, who declared it a dead heat. Time : 4rain 27secs. A protest was en- | tered againstKnottingley for having jostled the Peeress, but it was not allowed by the stewards. At the full of the flag for the deciding heat, Peeress at once cut out the running at her best pace, going past the stand several lengths in advance of her opponent, who exerted all his powers to catch her ; up the long reach, they went in the same order, and along the top and round the corner, the mare rather increasing than diminishing the gap between them, eventually winning by several lengths, the fastest run race ever witnessed on the Christchurch course. Time : 4min 13sec. TnE Providence Claim. — At the Thames, recently, an inquiry was held by the Gold fields Secretary to see if there was any truth in a charge brought against Government officials of having improperly furnished information to private parties in reference to the "Providence" case. The charge was made in a vague manner by a correspondent of the Auckland " Herald." The officials themselves took up the matter, and called for an inquiry, which the Government acceded to. The result was that not a single individual came forward with any charge whatever, and the matter terminated with no further light being thrown upon the subject. Statistics of the Auckland Goldfields.—Mr Warwick Weston has furnished the Auckland papers with certain returns relative to the goldfields, the moral of which deserves notice. They contain a statement of every ounce of gold reported as having been yielded from the crushings of every claim at the Thames and Coromandel during the period botween the Ist January and the 30th September of the present year, namely, an aggregate of 285,0200z 18 dwt, They also contain a statement of every ounce of gold purchased by the banks during the same period, namely, 387,1540z 8 dwt, and a comparison of the results i Bin the highest degree instructive. From the returns it appears that no less a quantity 62,1330z Sdwt, have been purchased during the

nine months which havo never been reported as passing- through a battery. But Mr Weston makes an allowance of tailings and small specimens crushed at private batteries, for which no returns may possibly have been made. For suoh yield there is allowed what must be regarded as a liberal margin—via, 30,0000z, in nine months — and still there remain 32,1330z, unaccounted for. The "Herald" asks .—Where has this gold come from P It has been purchased, and has passed through the Banks, but so far as we can find iit has never passed through the batteries. Here we have upwards of 30,0000z of gold over the origin of which there hangs a heavy cloud of mystery. That ifc has been secretly extracted from the quartz is manifest ; but whence came the quartz ? If it came legitimately from the claims it musfc have passed through the batteries and been entered in their returns. If it oame to light in other way we should no longer wonder that so many olaims have beeu unprofitably worked. The Next Governob fob J^ew Zealand. — It would be seen from the telegraphic summary of the Suez m'^il'-tihftfe.-t'OJ^ Bury is named as the next Governor of - New Zealand. The following particular!, from "Men of the Time "•will be of interest: — "Bury (Viscount), the Sight Hon William Coutts Keppel, son of the Earl of Albemarle, born in 1832, and educated at Eton ; entered the Scots. Fusilier Guards in 1849, and was private secretary to Lord John Russell in 18501. He afterwards went to India as aide-de-camp to the late Lord F. Fitz -Clarence, but returned home on sick leave, and retired from the army. In December,. 1854, he was nominated Civil Secretary and Superintendent General of Indian affairs for the province of Canada; entered Parliament in 1857, was appointed Treasurer of the Royal Household on theretum of Lord Palmerston to office in 1859; and first sat for Norwich, as a Liberal. On taking office in .1859, his reelection was declared void. In November,. 1860, he was elected for the Wick district of Burghs, which he ceased to represent at the general election of 1865, when hewas a defeated candidate for Dover. Lord Bury, who is married to a daughter oi Sir Allen N. M'Nab, Bart., is the author of •• The Exodus of the Western Nations/" "A Report on the Condition of the Indians of British America," and other political and historical papers. He has taken an active part in promotiug the volunteer movement, is Lieut-Colonel of the Civil Service Regiment of Volunteers, and was sworn a Privy Councillor in 1859."

The Late Mas Cabgill, Dunedin.— In an obituary notice of the late Mrs Cargill, senr,, the "Otago Daily Times"" gives the following particulars : — Mr3 Cargill was born in London on the 13th August, 1790. Her # father, Lieutenant Yates, was an officer in the Royal Navy,, nephew of Yates, a celebrated actor in his day. She, Miss Yates, was married in Oporto in April, 1811, to Captain Cargill, who then held the rank of Captain in the 74th Regiment. Immediately after their marriage, Captain Cargill went on active duty with his regiment, and Mrs Cargill accompanied the other officers' ladies to Bilbas, in the north of Spain, where her eldest son was born, on the 31st December, 1813. She rejoined her her husband at Bordeaux, after the battleof Toulouse. Captain Cargill fiually retired from the service in 1821, the very poor prospect of promotion after the peace impelling him, in common with many other officers, to retire. Mrs Cargill was the mother of seventeen children, and experienced a somewhat chequered life down to the year 1847, when she embarked with Captain Cargill in tho John Wycliffe, the vessel which conveyed the first band of settlers to Otago. She landed at Dunedin on the 23rd of March, 1840— the birthday of the province. Her career ia the colony is so well known that it is unnecessary to say anything on that point. Of her children, grand-children, and great grand- children, Mrs Cargill leaves 82 living, of whom 47 were born in Otago, She closed a long and chequered life surrounded by those who loved and honored her, and was spared to see the germ of settlement planted by her husband spring up into vigorous growth.

An Interesting Event. — The following is from a Dunedin contemporary : — A marriage of a kind as yet rare in Otago took place yesterday. The parties to the contract were a dashing young Chinaman, engaged in market gardening and selling cabbages and lettuce, and a European, a blooming young damsel of twenty summers, whose beauty, it is presumed, had touched the tender heart that beat beneath an Asiatic skin. It may be stated that yesterday forenoon two carriages dashed up to the Registrar's office. From them, surrounded by an admiring crowd, stepped forth the bridegroom, bridesmaids, and groomsmen. The bride, the bridesmaids, and a European groomsman were dressed in the orthodox wedding costume, and, altogether " elegantly got up." The bridegroom and the two Chinese groomsmen were equally resplendent. They entered the Registrar's office, the crowd forming a guard of honor along the passage leading thereto, and before the Registrar, Mr Street, the knot was tied. The deed being done, they entered the carriages and drove off. Later in the day the house of the happy pair was literally besieged by intrusive youngsters, who, uninvited, came to congratulate them upon the event

The Late Bishop Patteson. — A correspondent of the " Thames Guardian" narrates the following as an incident of the life of Bishop Patteson:— ln 1862 the late much lamented Bishop Patteson. visited Sydney. While there Sir William Manning, QC, formerly Solicitor-General N.S.W., said in my presence that when Bishop Selwyn visited England in 1855 he called on his brother Collegian, Judge Patteson, in Devonshire, and entered into a d etailed account of the degradedcondition of the savages of the South Sea Islands. The judge's son, who was present, listened most attentively to every word uttered by the Bishop, and at the conclusion of the conversation earnestly offered his services for the work of the mission. Both his father and the Bishop strenuously opposed, but he was not to be turned from it. Suddenly he made up his mind, and ultimately an unwilling consent was given by his father. Bishop Selwyn placed before him all the frightf"! perils he would in all likelihood hav-e to encounter, but they only seemed tc> render his deter* mination the greater. iLicame out with Bishop Selwyn on his renJh^Jto New Zealand, and from the time of his advent to the day he mot with an untimely death, we all know with what noble self-denial he performed his self-imposed duties. Singulab Accident,— Mr W. A. Lyon. of Islabank, Jacob's River, met with a singular and serious accident last week while engaged about a thrashing mill at work on his farm. The driving belt of some part of the machinery slipped, and, in its recoil, caught a pitchfork, hurling it with great force towards where Mr Lyon was standing, one of the tinea entering at the back part oi his thigh,

passing through and out in front immediately above the knee cap. It was withdrawn directly afterwards by one of the men about tbe mill, and the sufferer was conveyed with all baste to Riverton. Thence a telegram was despatched to In vercargill for Dr Monckton, who rode over on Saturday night. On arrival he bad the satisfaction to find that the more important blood-vessels had escaped injury — that, in fact, a difference of half an inch had made " all the difference" between the loss of the leg and speedy recovery.