LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVII, Issue 3382, 30 December 1871, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

* pIn a Gazette issued yesterday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives notifies the receipt of a letter from W. H. Ej'es, Esq , containing his resignation of his seat in Parliament. Intending tenderers for the wharf and bonded store are notified that the lease of the two will be put up to auction on Wednesday next, but the conditions of sale cannot be seen until the Tuesday, when they will be open for inspection at the City Council chambers. This certainly seems a ridiculously short time to allow the intending tenderers to inspect the conditions, and is not at all the most correct method of ensuring that competition which it is desirable there should be. It having come to the knowledge of fcho Government that certain infringements of the Stamp Act have taken place, the following notice has been issued : — " There being reason to suppose that persons are in the habit of giving and accepting unstamped receipts as acquittances for moneys paid by cheque, under the belief that the stamp borne by the chequo exonerates the receipt from liability to stamp duty, the public are cautioned against the adoption of this practice. Such receipts are inadmissible as evidence of the payment of money until properly stamped ; and every person singing or causing the signatuvo of any such receipt is liable to a penalty often pounds for each offence." Acting upon the recommendations of Mr Walker, the directors of the Never Despair Company have determined upon sending about sixty tons of stuff from their claim to be crushed at the Thames. Although the process is an expensive one, looked at as a precautionary measure no better step could have been taken, because such a trial will place the question beyond a controvertible position as to whether the stone is payable, and, if so, in what quantity. In the possession of such a knowledge, if favorable, the directors rany at once enter upon the purchase of the necessary machinery for the working of the mine. This course has the merit of business procedure about it, and will in the end be the means of preventing the expenditure of capital in a fruitless manner. The half-yearly meeting of the Baker's Hill Mining Company, called for eight o'clock last evening at Donecker's Hotel, fell through, in consequenco of the number necessary to make a quorum not attending the meeting. After waiting an hour in the hope that a few scouts would be able to secure some absent members to complete the twenty-two, the business was formally adjourned, and a fresh meeting ordered for that day week. During the delay an arrangement was made, in accorddauce with which Mr Walker will be requested to examine and report upon the claims in the neighborhood of Baker's Hill, and ifc is expected that he will start to-day. The show of stock, which took place in the Stockade, Masterton, on Thursday last, was well attended. Some twenty pens for cattle, and about the same quantity for sheep and pigs had boon erected ; but as they were not covered, and as the weather was very hot, the poor cattle did not appear to enjoy the fun of being stared at under such circumstances. There were some very fine cattle on view, and also some very superior long woolled sheep. A number of pigs were exhibited, two of which were of a remarkable size, belonging, we believe, to Mr W. H. Donald. .There were a considerable number of horses, including two fine draught mares, one belonging to Mr Cockburn, and the other to Mr Yule ; but the competition was by no means keen in any of the classes, owing to the inconvenient site chosen for the exhibition. A splendid luncheon had been provided by Mrs Tone, under the direction of the stewards, which was laid out in the Stockade; but there were no flags flying, nor was there any music to enliven the proceedings. His Excellency Sir G. F. Bowen, Lady Bowen, and suite arrived about half-past two o'clock. At three, luncheon commenced, at which some hundred guests sat down. After the cloth was removed tho usual loyal toasts were given and responded to in the heartiest possible manner. Speeches were made by the Governor, the Superintendent, the Hon Mr Waterhouse, President of the Association, by Mr Vice-President J. V. Smith, Mr Bunny, and others, and everything passed off in the most agreeable manner possible. His Excellency and suite arrived at Masterton on the proceeding evening, having been escorted from Carterfcon by a detachment of the Wairarapa Cavalry under the command of Captain Donald ; and they will remain in the Wairarapa until after tho rapes, which will conic off on the Mania course on Monday and Tuesday next. We hope to be able to give a more detailed account of the proceedings in our Wednesday's issue.

Articles of agreement between the Government and Mr John Martin for a fourweekly steam postal service between Picton and Manakau are just published in the General Government Gazette. The contract dates from the 14th of October, 1871, to the 13th of April, 1872, the payment for the complete trip both ways to be £300.

A soiree dansanfce will take plaoo in the Odd Fellows' Hall, on Monday evening, tickets for which may be obtained in the various bookseller's shops.

The shareholders of the new issue in the Never Despair Company are notified that a call of 2s 6d per share is due, and payable on or before the 15th January next. In observance of a very necessary form Mr Marriott, the registrar of dogs, announces tbafc the badge for 1872 will be ready for delivery on the Ist January. In accordance with the result of a meeting held yesterday afternoon, the directors of the Never Despair Company invite tenders for the putting in of a drive of 200 feefc, and the placing of fifty or sixty tons of the stuff at the place of shipment. Indubitably tha last of Dr Cair's entertainments in Wellington will be given in the Odd Fellows' Hall this evening. Experiments in air the branches of the science, by a knowledge of which the human character may be defined in individual cases as well as in those of the curative or mesmeric order, will be given. At the conclusion of these Dr Carr will deliver a lecture, entitled " The Masquer.ade of Fashion," followed by delineations of character. The high reputation of the lecturer and the diversified character ! of the programme should be successful in drawing a crowded house. The Phoebe will make an excursion trip to Picton on New Year's Day, leaving the Queen's Wharf at seven o'clock in the morning, and starting on the return trip at 5 o'clock in the evening. The fare is sufficiently low to ensure a full trip. Mr N. Valentine occupied his new premises, Railway Hotel, Hutfc, on Saturday last. The house is situated at the corner of the two roads leading to the new bridge. The building, when complete, will bo one of the most commodious and convenient in Wellington. Private apartments have been set apart for families and visitors to the district. The hotel is situated in a most commanding position, having an extensive panoramic view of the valley, the harbor, and Wellington. We wish our enterprising friend every success in his new enterprise, and have no doubt his many friends will rally round " old Nat," and give him a helping hand. The " Otago Daily Times" strongly complains of the delay in the publication of the last number of Hansard. We I may inform our contemporary that the delay complained of is due chiefly to the neglect of hon members in not having corrected their MS report before leaving Wellington. In some cases members in the hurry of departure took the uncorrected reports of their speeches with them, and did not forward them to the chief reporter for some time. Ifc was impossible to print simply those speeches which had been corrected, because in most cases they referred to the remarks of other members who had not furnished the chief reporter with their corrected reports, and without them would have appeared stupid and irrelevant. We take the following from the " Otago Daily Times" : — lt will be of interest to lovers of the rod to learn that the trout in New Zealand does nob rise to the natural fly as it does at home. This is accounted for by the fact that the ground food in our streams is very abnndant, and also that there are numerous sboals of small fish upon which ifc is known the trout feeds. There is no doubt also that this abundance of food sufficiently accounts for the immense size to which the trout attains in this country. We mentioned last week that several trout had been observed recently in Shag River, which were estimated to weigh about four or five pounds ; and we have since learned that trout as large have been Been in other streams in Otago where these fish wore liberated by the Acclimatisation Society. We have heard also that, a short time ago, a trout weighing about l|lb, which must havo been a year younger than the Shag Hiver fish, was found dead in the upper part of the Water Works Company's Reservoir. The salmon trout, however — ! some of which were lately turned adrift from the ponds at Palmerston — seem to follow instinctively the habits of their progenitors, as they have been noticed not only rising but leaping at the fly. As in Tasmania angling for brown troufc was opened to the public about sis years after the introduction of the fish, it may reasonably be presumed, after the great success on the part of our society in acclimatising the trout, that the rod may be used in I Otago in the course of two or three years. However disappointed anglers may feel that there is no prospect of their being able to take a " rise" out of these noble fish, it will be some consolation to know that they will be able to fill a basket with a " spin." A considerable number of applications have recently been received by the Government from persons in Auckland | desirous of bringing out their friends at home under the immigration scheme.. We learn from the "Edinburgh Weekly Review" that the Rev Mr Cameron, of the Second TJ. P. Church, Newburg, has been appointed to Otago in connection with the Presbyterian Church. " Extended billiards" is the latest sensation at Murfcon. The " Wauganui Chronicle" of the 27th says that the landlord of Howe's Hotel, at Marton, is fitting up a billiard table 28 feefc by 22 feet. Tin's will of course necessitate an extended knowledge on the part of those who delight to play marbles with a stick. The unwarrantable if not impudent liberties taken by some and the destruction caused by the thoughtless acts of others of those forming the picnic parties who periodically visit the Domain reserve has had the effect of putting an end to the use of the ground for such a purpose in future, the Board of Governors having issued a notification to that effect. Whether the Board has power legnlly to enforce its mandatory intentions is in a matter of the bind a subsidiary consideration, for ifc cannot bo supposed that the labors of the conservators of the Domain as well as those of the Acclimatisation Society are to be wantonly sacrificed to I the indulgence of the empty-headed pranks of the larrikins and snobs who visit the grounds in the pursuance of no sensible object, for wo believe it is in reality the representatives of the supercilious and and the rowdy classos who make the havoc for which the sensible and the respectable will have to suffer. There certainly are the objections to the holding of picnics in the grounds that the juveniles of the party are never or seldom restricted to reasonable limits, and there is always left behind in beautiful disorder the indigestible fragments of a carnivorous repast — ham bones, remanenfc of giblets, the tibia of lamb, &c. — artioles which in no way tend to heighten the admiration of the beauties of " spring's enamelled floor." This is one kind of nuisance ; another class is that of which an incident of a few days ago cannot fail to convey a fair idea of the aggravating occurrences complained of. The gardener, ever watchful, planted his eye on several young gentlemen., of whose conduct he entertained somedoubts, and after a little delay in settling down, they finally did so in the midst of a nursery bed of choice rhododendrons, two of which were trampled level with the ground,

' and their form completely destroyed. It is high time Bach proceedings were put a stop to. Speaking of the adventuring expedition to New Guinea, the " Sydney Morning Herald" says :— This project, wbich Mr Keith Collins initiated here many months agis now in affair way of producing practiresults. Recent visitors to Papua having confirmed the statements that gold is to be found there, has attracted the attention of some of the mining population, and a meeting of persons interested in the matter was held last evening at Punch's Hotel. Their object was to make arrangements for a party well equipped and armed to leave immediately for Redscar Bay and prospect its vicinity. For tliis purpose a committee of seventeen was appointed to arrange all details connected with the expedition.- It was decided to accept eighty men, each of whom is to pay £10, for which theyjwill be provided with a free passage there — and back if necessary — together with provisions for three months. In order to make the affair bona fide it was resolved that each applicant for membership should pay a deposit of£l. Murray's Circus has been performing to good houses at Grey town and proceeded to Masterton yesterday.