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Wellington Independent, Volume XXIX, Issue 4063, 26 March 1874, Page 2

It was understood yesterday that some arrangements were made for the running of an experimental passengertrain on the Hutt railway during the afternoon, but it appears that the event was postponed for a few days. It is probab!e that before the end of the week arrangements will be made for inaugurating the commencement of traffic on the line. Messrs Collie and Co., the contractors for driving the tunnel in the Rimutaka on the line of railway, have cleared and formed a dray track from the main road on the Featherston side of the range to the month of the tunnel, a distance of about four miles, and the piercing of the hill has been commenced. The tunnel will be 15ft by 10ft, with an arched top, and its length will be 630 yds. The time allowed for the completion of the work is two and a half years. At this end the works are not so far advanced, but huts for the workmen have been erected and preparations made for a start. At* interesting meeting took place on Tuesday evening last in the Primitive Methodist Church, Webb street, in connection with the removal of the Rev W. J. Dean from the Wellington station to Invercargill. Mr 0. H. Ridding took the chair, and addressed the meeting at considerable length, speaking briefly of the success that had attended Mr Dean's ministerial labors. He then called upon Mr J. Edge, who said that the members and friends of the Webb street Church could not allow their minister to depart from them without giving him a small token of their esteem, and on that occasion it was his duty on their behalf to ask Mr Dean's acceptance of " a little purse of gold/ as a mark of their esteem, and also an address worked on cardboard by one of the lady members. An address was then delivered by Mr Hancox, after •whirth the meeting closed with the best wishes for the welfare of Mr Dean and his family. It was reported by telegram a few days ago that a seam of coal had been discovered on the shore of Shakespeare Bay, in the Province of Marlborongh. The discovery was made on the ridge between Cemetery Valley and Shakespeare Bay, in the neighborhood of Picton, by men who were digging holes for the reception of telegraph.' poles. ■ Samples forwarded to Picton have been pronounced of good quality, especially for gas-making purposes, being very bituminous. The coal burns brightly in the fire. The discovery is interesting, and may be important. There was a very large attendance at Gourlay's Royal Exhibition yesterday, and at all hours during which the doors were open people kept coming and going. Big Ben continues to be wondered at and admired, and the smaller specimens of the same species are also regarded with interest. The mummy is an important item in the show, and is a real curiosity. The numerous figures in the waxworks department are accepted by most as capital representations of the people whose names they bear*, and not a few deserve to be spoken of as decidedly good. There is plenty of variety, for there are kings, queens, princes, King John signing the . Magna Charta, which would appear to have been written by an engrossing clerk, who forgot to fill in the dates ; Garibaldi, Spurgeon, and several bushrangers and murderers. The exhibition is well worth seeing, and a visit is quite a treat to young folks. The funeral of Mr George Styles, who was a member of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade, took place yesterday afternoon. The members of the various fire brigades mustered in force to follow to the grave the remains of their late comrade. The procession was headed by their band. The coffin, covered with a flag, and, surmounted by the helmet of the | deceased, was borne on an engine drawn by two horses, four firemen in full uniform bearing the corners of the pall, and the COPps following two deep behind. While passing along the beach the band played the Dead March and other dirges, and numbers of people followed the procession to the burial ground at Thorndon. It is pleasing to see such sympathy and feeling existing among the brigades, as the willing muster in uniform at the funeral testifies. Dealers in cattle from Wellington have lately made their way into the Wangaehu Valley, in the north-western part of the Province, where they are said to have been buying cattle largely. A hope is • expressed in Wanganui that a large trade in. cattle may be the consequencelbetween that port and Wellington.

! Mr Winstanley, ibiE IhyeEcargill,' na» \ been appointed Chiejf-Pdstmaster at Blenheim, in the room of Mr'Bagge, resigned. . ■ | : y< : ; ; "'"'" V*Mr J. Booth, of the Native Land Pui^iyp chase Department, has arrived in Wanganui to assist Major Edwards in completing the Maori census, The contract for the first seven milea and eighteen chains of the Bowen and Okarlto road has been taken by Messrs James and Thomas Moye, of Westland, at £1975 13s. • • . Information was received . yesterday that a man named John Cameron had been killed at Bull's, Rangitikei, on Tuesday, by a tree falling on him. Particulars of the accident have not been received. An inquest was to have been held yesterday. Harris, the ex-champion foot-racer of Victoria, has been defeated at Blenheim by a local amateur in a race of .a hundred ' yards, in which Harris gave his opponent a start of six yards, and lost by fully that distance. Harris has not been in training lately, which may account for his apparently easy defeat. An effort is to be made by the Provin-. cial authorities of Taranaki, with the aid: of the Provincial Council, to induce the Government to create Oarlyle a port of entry for the Patea district, which now imports goods which pay duty at' the rate of £800 per month. A man named Spiers, who carried on the business of a storekeeper in Westlaud, but who had also been in the employment of the Government as postmaster, manager of savings banks, and stamp distributor, has been tried in the Supreme Court, at Hokitika, for embezzling three specified sums of public money, amounting in all to about £100. He had used the money temporarily in his own business, which failed, chiefly in consequence of the attention he gave to the affairs of the Government, to the neglect of his own. It 'was stated that his salary from the Government amounted only to sixteen shillings per week ! ' . From the Wanganui " Evening Herald", we take the following : — "The sitting of the Compensation Court commenced on Wednesday morning. The first casfe down for hearing was one in which certain Natives of the Ngarauru tribe claimed a block of land on the Waitotara River, which had been- reserved for them by the Governr ment out of the confiscated land. Thia case occupied the Court the whole morning. It terminated in the defeat of the claimants, as it was satisfactorily proved that the reserve had been subsequently sold to the Government through the agency of Mr Worgan. The claim of Maka and Rio, of the Ngarauru tribe, was next brought on. Maka has been, dead for some three years past, but ha left four children, who were represented in Court by Paramina, and also by the widow of the deceased. .The sister of Rio appeared in the interest of his children, and on a division of the land being made by his Honor the Judge on the map, the adjudication was agreed to* by all parties." As an illustration of the curious nature of some Native claims to land, the " Wanganui Herald" gives the following, which occurred on Wednesday morning : — A Maori preferred a claim on behalf of a person who he said was dead. The Judge asked liim what age was the deceased. The Native replied that if .he were alive now he would be 18. The Judge explained that he wanted to know what age he was when he died. The claimant said the deceased was no age, as he was dead when he was born. The Court was felicitous, and with a shrug of the shoulders passed on to the next case* The half-yearly session of the Pariaka Native Parliament opened on Tuesday, the 16th inst. About 400 Natives were in attendance. "The proceeeings," says the 'Taranaki Herald,' "were opened at 8 o'clock, when Te Whiti made a most sensible address, which was devoid of that usual prophetic lore so customary in his speeches. Everything appeared to go on satisfactorily unt^l Hemi Parai introduced the question of extension of the telegraph wire across the Pariaka district. This was violently opposed by Ngatairakaunui,. who denounced it in strong language. There is a strong section of Natives whoare anxious to see the telegraph carried through the district." Salmon stories appear to be rife at present, remarks the " Otago Daily Times." A few days ago a beautiful silvery nah,. unknown on these coasts, was displayed at Waikouaiti by a fisherman, who believed he had captured a veritable salmon. The stranger, however, which was a fine fish of 3£lb to 41b weight, turned out to be a large species of mullet, which ia known in Tasmania as the salmon. We hope the specimen, or some other of the species, will be forwarded to Captain Hutton, so that he can describe it in his next edition of "The Fishes of New Zealand." The Provincial Council of Taranaki, now in session, appears to be considerablytroubled with the question of the publicland. The subject has been discussed at some length, and the latest Taranaki journals to hand give the following resolution as having been laid on the table by Mr Standish : — " That it ip not desirable for the Province to take over the administration of the recently acquired blocks of forest land, unless the General Government be prepared at the same, time tohand over the whole' of the lands in this Province when acquired and ready for sale or settlement, whether the same be obtained by purchase from the Natives or confiscation ; and also a reasonable proportion of confiscated lands already disposed of, after deduction of expenses of survey and sale." The representatives who sit in the Provincial Council of Taranaki are to be paid . for their services on the following scale : — Members from the Patea district, Wb per day j Amata, Grey, and Bell districts,, reaching more than ten miles from New Plymouth, 12s 6d per day ; and those within ten miles, 10s per day. Coach fare is also to be allowed to the Patea members. On the other hand, members as liable to a fine of 20s per day for everyday they may be absent while the Council is in session. The cost to the Province" will be £40 or £50 per week. An eagle and a native cat were recently caught in New South Wales under rather extraordinary circumstances. The " Western Examiner" describes the incident a* follows :— " On a day early in March, as Mr John Bruce, of Loombah, and a matt, named Frazer were riding through Loombah run, they were astonished to see a large bird fluttering along the ground,. . apparently unable to fly, and which appeared, upon close inspection, to be an enormous eagle. Mr Bruce, thinking the bird was wounded, dismounted from, his . . horse and succeeded in catching it. Upon turning it over to ascertain what was the matter with it, he was surprised to see a . large native cat buried beneath, its wing. He seized the cat by the tail, and, quiciciyu striking it upon the ground, terminated^ : . : its existence, after which he despatched.?^ 1 the eagle, which was the largest bi^rdiof^ : :^( the kind ever seen in the districtv' y's^*;

eagle is of the golden species, and measures from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other seven feet, and its body is three feet long. It is judged to be 4" \ a young bird, from the fact of its bill •dßhbeing soft and smooth. The cat is also very large, measuring two feet two inches from the point of its nose to the end of the tail. It is supposed they were engaged in combat, as the cat was pierced all over with holes, as if the eagle had been striking it with its beak ; and, when taken from under the wing of the bird, had its mouth full of feathers. This is supposed to be the cause of the inability of the bird to fly." It is rather an untoward thing to find a live snake in a post-bag, but this seems to have been a late experience in Sydney. The " Evening News" of that city says : — "A parcel lately came to Sydney through the post from one of the towns in the country, and for some reason it was found necessary to open it. Inside was discovered a glass jar containing a large snake alive, addressed to the curator of the Syduey Museum. The reptile was considered to be of some rare species, but as the jar might easily have been broken, and the snake, after escaping, have bitten somebody, and perhaps have inflicted a fatal injury, and, moreover, as it is a punishable offence to send any dangerous article through the post, the sender is about to be prosecuted."