NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 98, 13 March 1875, Page 4

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Avillioin Government organ, the 'Lyttelton Times* indulges in the following comments upon the statement that Captain Fairchild is about to proceed to the Home country to superintend the biulding of two new steamers for fhe Colonial Government of New Zealand : — " It appears from this that the New Zealand fleet is to "be enlarged, and so placed on a footing more commensurate with the large ideas that prevail in certain quarters as to the extension of the colonial commerce. These are about as vast as they can well be, now, when the Luna forms the fleet. What will they "become when the maritime force is trebled ? This is a useful and interesting inquiry into a very vast subject. Perhaps the South Sea scheii a will be extended to Java and Borneo. Who knows whether i , "ay not even to be made to embrace China and Japan ? If these projects produce no practical result in the shape of a great

empire, they will at least furnish blue books, which will be fasci" nating reading." We are glad to loam that new life is to be infused into the H.A. C.B.S. of Wellington. A city such as Wellington should be able at least to lay the foundation of a strong and enduring society. What we would recconimend to those who take an interest in the society in Wellington is, not to be in too great a hurry to create a lodge with a numerous membership, but rather to be content with a limited number of good and sterling men, who will foster the society in such a manner as to make it permanently successful. We have received a long letter from a correspondent at Waikato in reference to serious abuses of patronage and other matters in connection with the police force there. We hope our correspondent is in error, and think that charges of such a character should be first made to the proper authorities, when doubtless redress might be obtained. Tiiebe Avere fifty six applications for the office of Inspector of Public Schools in the Province of Westland, which was gained by Mr. John Curnow, of Auckland. j The Auckland farmers are reported to be " well pleased with their crops this harvest." Of potatoes there is a rich harvest ; one party hopes (says the 'Herald,) to realise as much as £2000 from one field of them at the Taniaki. The Catholic Bishop of Wellington, Dr. Eedwood, visited the Paki Paki native settlement recently, and was received at the railway station by a large assemblage of natives, who loudly cheered his Lordship on alighting from the platform. Dr. Eedwood then proceened to the pa, and baptized several native infants. Before leaving ho delivered an address, which was interpreted by the Eev. Father Eeignier, in which he stated that the religious wants of the Maoris of his diocese had hitherto been neglected, a circumstance which the Mother Church deplored, but which had been unavoidable through the arduous duties and large district over which the Eev. Father Eeignier had charge. His Lordship trusted that ere long better provision for the spiritual wants of the native race of this j)rovince would be made, and while he complimented the Eev. Father Eeignier on the untiring zeal which he had displayed in the cause of religion and education of both races, it was impossible for any one man, however zealous in the cause, to discharge the arduous duties of a large and scattered district. A sumptuous repast, in European style, had been provided by tbe Maoris. for his Lordship and suite, and on his departure he was accompanied to the railway station by a large number of natives, who lustily cheered him as the train started for Napier — ' Daily Telegraph.' At eleven o'clock Mass, last Sunday in St. Joseph's Church, the Vicar G-eneral said that, as St. Patrick's Day (17th March) occurred this year in Passion Week, he hoped the Catholics of the diocese would see the propriety of deferring any public festivities until Easter time. He also recommended the members of the congregation generally to follow the excellent example of the members of the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, who had resolved to honor the anniversary of Ireland's patron Saint in anticipation by going to Holy Communion in a body on Sunday morning next. As preparations are being made throughout the Province by Irish Catholics for the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, by means of sports &c, it is to be hoped that tho Eev. Father Coleman's suggestion will be borne in mind ; in fact, we have no donbb it will be generally carried out, and we are glad to see that, not only have the members of the H.A.C.B. Society in Dunedin resolved to postpone their annual celebration until Easter week, but that the same course has already been followed by the residents of some of the up-country districts. News of another serious shipping disaster has been received by the Tararua, from Melbourne. The well-kown steamer Gothenburg, which for many years traded between Melbourne and New Zealand ports, was wrecked on Flinders 1 -land, on February 25th, during a cyclone, which she encountered on the passage between the ports of Adelaide and Melbourne. Two boats, containing passengers, were picked up near Port Denison by the steamer Leichardt. Three other boats, with 90 passengers aboard, are still adrift ; and it is to be hoped the surmise will prove correct — that these missing boats have reached Cleveland Bay. Sir George Grist's election to the Superintendency of Aucklandniay nowberegardedas certain, Mr Dargaville having announced his intention to resign. A deputation from Auckland waited upon I Sir George at Kawau during the early "part of the week, and presented a requisition containing 500 influential signatures. In the course of an interview with the deputation, Sir Georo-e said : " The whole question of Constitutional reform was now opened up, and many larger points than the abolition question would be raised! He doubted very much whether, in colonies possessing responsible I Government, the office of resident Governor was either useful or necessary, He believed it would be infinitely better if each Colony had the power of electing one of their foremost citizens to reside in London as Secretary of State for the Colony, with the privilege of advising Her Majesty on all questions affecting the Colony. In that Avay an avenue to great political discretions would be opened to Colonial statesmen, the Home authorities would be far more correctly advised on Colonial questions, and thus connection with the mother country would be made permanent and secure. He had always put forth this view, and was nmch pleased to see it had been favorably entertained by Colonial Institutes at Home, only one member opposing it. There were also many other large questions to be considered, and he thought if we were to have a change it ought to be well considered, so that the new order of things in the Colony should be capable of lasting for a long time. No plan of Constitutional reform could be complete which did not grapple with the question of the constitution of the Upper House. The system of nomination now in force was indefensible, and must be changed if we were to have a good and satisfactory

system of government." After the publication of Sir George Grey's address, Mr. Dargaville annoiuiced that in consequence of the new and favorable light thrown on Sir George's views, and the fact that they coincided closely with his own, he had decided to withdraw from the candidature for the Superintendency. Despite the great expectations formed at the opening of the Ohinemuri goldfields in the Auckland province, and notwithstanding the sensational telegrams with which the papers have been flooded during the past few weeks, j.t now seems to be generally confessed that up to the present the "great goldfield has turned out "a duffer." We have been carefully informed of every vague rumour concerning good prospects and Jthe 'discovery of gold, but no tangible results have yet been obtained. Many of the goldseekers who immediately visited the country when first opened, are now devoting their attention to kauri gum digging, which it is said proves much more profitable than gold-digging in the much puffed Ohinemuri country. Mr. Mackay, who secured great popularity through his successful efforts in opening the new goldfield, is once more on bad terms with the General Government. He has resigned his official position in connection with the management of the goldfield in consequence, he states, of the Government not carrying out his recommendations. The General Government does not seem to be gaining much popularity among the diggers by its management of the field. A telegram from London has been received by the General Government, stating that the New Zealand 4£ per cent, loan of ■£4,000,000 has been negotiated through Messrs. Rothschild. An address to the Hon. W. Fox, signed by all the members of the House of Representatives who voted with him after the noconfidence debate against the Ministry of Mr. Stafford in 1873, was presented to the hon. gentleman on Thursday by as many of the members of the House as were in "Wellington. The ' Daily Times' of Wednesday published the following :— "We yesterday published a telegram with reference to the supposed discovery of a new lead near Hokitika. The following private telegram, received in town yesterday, has been placed at our disposal :: — • An important rush has set in to ground near Hau Hau, which is commanded by the Kanieri water-race. The prospectors bottomed on seven feet of washdirt, giving a result of a pennyweight of gold to seven dishf uls of dirt, and they believe it to be a new lead. The ground is now pegged out for a distance of over two miles, and if it proves to be a new lead, will support a large population.' " The funeral of the late Mrs. Macandrew, the wife of his Hone* the Superintendent of Otago, took place on the afternoon of Thursday, the 4th inst. The funeral was attended by a large number i£ fliends and leading citizens of Dunedin, and all places of business in. the city were closed during the afternoon. The second half-yearly meeting of the Standard Insurance Company was held in Dunedin on Monday last. The balance-sheet showed net available profits to the amount of ,£2,927 15s. lid., •which was allowed to remain to the credit of account in the meantime, as the Directors were of opinion that no dividend should be declared at present. It will be seen from our mail telegrams that the honor of Knighthood has been conferred by Her Majesty upon the Hon. Major Richardson, Speaker of the Legislative Council. The much discussed question of the appointments to the vacant seats on the Judicial Bench of the Colony, has at last been settled, the appointments of the Attorney-General Prendergast to the Chief Justiceship, and Messrs. T. B. Gillies and Joshua Strange Williams, to puisne Judgeships, having been gazetted. Mr. Justice Williams will take charge of the Otago Judicial District ; but the next sessions of the Supreme Court in Dunedin will be opened "by the Chief Justice. A teahfux accident occurred on Monday last, in the Deborah Bay Tunnel, which forms a section of the Dunedin and Moeraki Railway. The following is the report given by the ' Otago Daily Times': — "It appears that two men, named William Stevens and John M'Grath, were working in the centre section of the tunnel at the south side of the hill. They had charged a hole with powder and were tampering it, when, by accident, the fuse slipped into the hole altogether, and before its disappearance was observed, the men had tampered over it. This necessitated d- awing the charge, or, in other words, emptying the hole again. "Jumping" the charge out was proceeded with, and the hole was kept full of water according to the rules of the work. One of the Btanding orders of the contractors, however, is, that no charge shall be drilled out in the event of a missfire, but another hole bored alongside of it instead. In the present case, however, there was only one inch of tamping on th« powdiT, and so it was thought that the operation might be risked. The result, however, was lamentable; for notwithstanding that the hole was kept full of water, the powder ignited, an explosion followed, and the two men were hurled backwards and received fearful injuries. Mr. M'Kenzie immediately procured a conveyance from Port Chalmers to remove the men in — this being after dark, for the accident happened at about half past seven in the evening. By ten o'clock the unfortunate fellows reached the Port, and were attended upon at the Port Chalmers Hotel by Drs. O'Donoghue and Gregg. An examination followed, and it was ascertained that M'Grath wa3 fearfully wounded, the drill, or jumper, having been driven into his chest and penetrated the left lung. His left hand was blown off, and his body and limbs wounded in various places. Steveus escaped with less injury, although it is feared he will lose his left hand, it is so badly shattered, and his face is also much scorched and swollen." The men were removed to the Dunedin hospital, and later accounts state that Stevens's left hand was successfully amputated, and he is now progressing satisfactorily, but M'Grath lies in a very critical - condition.

Mr William Stbwabd, the representative of Waitaki in the General Assembly, has been elected a member of the Otago Provincial Council for Oamaru country. At a meeting of the Otago Acclimatisation Society held on Tuesday last, it was resolved that the Superintendent should be requested to proclaim the months of June aud July an open season for shooting cock pheasants within that portion of the Province which lies between the Waitaki and Catlin's River, and ton miles back from the coast. The license to kill pheasants during the season, as provided by the Actj will be fifty shillings.