News of the Week.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 268, 21 June 1878, Page 14

News of the Week.

Pebsons interested in the principal mines at Ohinemuri are placed in an unpleasant state of perplexity by the assertion that the land on which they are situated toelongs to Tukukino, who never legally disposed of it. That must be a particularly lively town in the North Island, writing from which a newspaper correspondent can find nothing more stirring to relate than the row kicked up at night in the watch-house by a female who had " again gone on the burst." Such intelligence is a most enchanting example of the chronicling, not of " small beer," but of 'ditch-water. This Orangemen of Auckland, it is said, are preparing to celebrate the 12 th of July in most enthusiastic style. We trust their enthusiasm will assume some other form of manifestation than that exhibited recently by their brethren of Montreal. A notable instance of " the biter bitten " lately occurred in Charleston. A certain, constable climbed on the roof of .the lock-\vp to execute some necessary repairs, but his weight being too heavy, he fell through into the cell, where he was obliged to continue for some time in durance. Land in the Manawatu district is reported to be much in demand. The value of property has increased there wonderf uDy in the last three or four years. The "VVaihou River is being made fit for navigation by Mr. J. C. Firth at his own expense. Dynamite is extensively used in clearing away snags and rocks. It is expected that the result will be a channel in no place less than four feet deep from the head of the navigation to Ohinemuri, which is computed as a distance of some 70 miles. It is reported that a man who was engaged in prospecting in the neighbourhood of the Sounds discovered, instead of the auriferous, reefs he was in search of, a petroleum spring. The precise locality of -the discovery is as yet kept secret. There is no doubt that if lawyers frequently put witnesses to the torture, the case is sometimes reversed. That solicitor of Wanganui could not have felt very calm the other day whom a certain fair dame, under cross-examination, declared to remind her by his redness of the colour of a calf she was asked to describe. The lady further informed the Court, in an elevated tone of voice, that the said solicitor was a story-teller. It has been arranged that Sub-Inspector O'Donnell is to continxie to hold his position on the West Coast. Mr. O'Donnell has been for some fifteen years a member of the Constabulary force, and has been connected with the West Coast, where he is highly esteemed, from its early days. American cotton goods are being extensively imported into Melbourne. They are said to be much cheaper and better in quality than those brought from England. , The copper nune on D'Urville's Island is being energetically .worked. The mine is situated on the eastern side of the island.

Thf Wanaiiga gives some curious particulars relative to names amongst the Maoris. The name given to a Maori child was, and in some instances seems still to be, a record of some injury received or act done by the relatives of the child. The late chief Te Hapuku received his name, which signified the codfish, thus : a little before his birth the corpse of a son of the Hawke's Bay chief, Te Pakiko, was being carried along a road on which were encountered certain strangers, who insultingly asked whether it was a codfish that was being carried. Hence on the birth of the child he received the name alluded to in memory of the insult.

At the Peliohet Bay Jetty, on the 13th inst., a gill and boy were saved from drowning by a gentleman named Connell, of Messrs. Kincaid and McQueen's, Dunedin. The girl had been playing with a clog when she fell into the water, where she was followed pluckily by the boy, a little fellow of ten or eleven years of age, who, however, failed to rescue her, and both of them would probably have been drowned liad it not been for the prompt and praiseworthy aid rendered by the gentleman alluded to.

A petition has been presented to the Taieri County Council by the inhabitants of Outram, begging for the removal of the toll-bar on Buckeye Hill to a position near the West Taieri Church. The Conference of County Councils is to be held at Wellington on July 21st next. Several slips have occured, owing to the wet weather, on the Blueskin section of the railway. That at Deep Creek was the most extensive. At the next Session of Parliament a vote will be asked for to carry out the proposed railway between Canterbury and the West Coast, A It is rumoured that a London Company have purchased 170,000 fLres of land in Southland, for the purpose of sub-dividing and selling it in the form of small farms. In consequence of the floods having shown the necessity of raising the railway line by two feet in addition between Invertiel and the South Molyneux Road, the Toiro section of the Balclutha and Four Mile Creek Railway will not be opened until some time in August next.

A Rich specimen of quartz has been picked up in Mr. Loughnan's paddock at Mount Pisa.

That well-known fortune-telling manual, " Napoleon's Book of Fate," has been translated into Maori. It is believed that the publication will gain considerable influence over the minds of the natives.

The usual weekly meeting of the Dunedin Catholic Young Men's Society was held on Friday evening last, the President occupying the chair. After the ordinary proceedings of the meeting had been disposed of, the remainder of the evening was devoted to social improvement, and we are happy to say with satisfactory results. We regret that we were misinformed in stating that the nomination of officers for the ensuing half-year takes place this evening ; the nomination night is that of the fourth meeting in July.

At a meeting ot the HawkeVßay Philosophical Institute recently, Mr. Colenso drew attention to a bell which he had found in the interior of the North Island in '3G. It seemed to he a ship's bell, and bore an inscription, said to be vciy ancient and in Javanese. This had been copied snd sent to various places for translation, but no one had translated it satisfactorily.

The Napoleon. Hill claim at Ahaura promises well. Sixteen ounces were washed there from two sets, and it was calculated that in the same week the return would be fifty ounces.

The hearing of applications for leases at Longwood has been postponed to the 29th inst, as it is found that the diggings are in the hundreds.

Rewi maintains that his interview with the Governor, Sir George Grey, and Mr. Sheehan, will result in a lasting peace.

A party of Maoris in tbe North Island lately expected a visit from certain of their copatriots, whom they were not anxious to receive. This is how they prepared to welcome them : they lit a fire of wood, and when it had burned low, they spread over the hot embers some sods and above them a mat. There thej r led their guests and bade them sit down, which they unsuspectingly did. They, however, rose up again incontinently.

It is expected that the land revenue received during the financial year will be found to amount to close upon £1,600,000.

Some roots of Shamrock were recently sent out from Ireland to Melbourne. They were dug up from the Hill of Tara, and are said to have reached their destination in sound condition.

A new thing in travelling by railway was witnessed the other day in Taranaki, where the passengers -«vere obliged to alight and push a train in order to help the locomotive up the Waiongona Hill. * Suburban sections, at Gisborne, Poverty Bay, were sold recently iii#:9o per acre. Five years ago these sections were purchased for £5 per acre. Travelling- along the beach in the neighbourhood of Karamea must be somewhat precarious. It appears that, in certain stages o f the tide, it is necessary for persons so engaged to run from rock to rock. A gentleman, who was occupied in this perilous progress, was carried away lately among the breakers, and, although he managed to get back again to the shore, received a very painful battering. A reef has been discovered at Ruakaka, opposite Dieffenbach Point. •• • A company lias been f owned to work the Kanieri quartz reefs. A notice, published in the Wananga by Mr. Rces, and directing natives everywhere to come to him before disposing in any way of their lands, has excited unfavourable comment. The Corporation of Gishorne have decided on sinking the artesian well undertaken by them 50 feet in addition to the 260 feet, already sunk. So far the cost of the work has been £325.

The value of gold obtained during the year by the Moanatairi Company was £57,717.

The gold returns of the Thames, for the week ending June Ist, were 1042 ozs. 10 dwt. 12 gr.

We learn from that source of much that is edifying and instructive, the Dunedin School Committee, that, instead of education, free and secular, being made compulsory in the city alluded to, it is contemplated to make it an act of favour to admit children at all to this doubtful benefit. The attendance at the schools is to be limited so as to prevent over-crowding, and hence a number of would-be pupils will certainly either be relegated to the streets or to private schools. Yet the private schools which afford refuge from idleness, and probable destruction to numerous children, and cloak the embarrassment of the Government, are subjected to fines for their usefulness. If the majority consider this justice, or do not see it is a glaring injustice sufficient to make New Zealand ludicrous and contemptible in the face of the world, all we can say is that the majority rominds us still more strongly than before of a heathen idol, for it has eyes and sees not, and ears and hears not. The squabble of the Committee with the Board still continues, but as both of the august bodies alluded to have appointed a sub-committee, chosen respectively from their members to fight the matter out, it is expected that the row may actually terminate some time between this and doomsday.

A wretched affair has occurred at Milton, where a woman has died in giving birth to a child under most distressing circumstances. The child was born while no one was near to give the least assistance to the poor mother ; but a neighbour, who had "been sent for by'her, came in about an hour afterwards, and found everything in the most deplorable condition. The sick woman had only to cover her a worn counterpane and an old coat, Ten children were huddled together in one bedroom with hardly any bedding to lie on, and there was no food of any kind to be found in the house. One of the children was sent to fetch some brandy, but the publican to whom he applied refused to let him have it, although he said that his mother was dying. In short, a more painful case we have never had the misfortune to hear of. It casts a slur upon colonial life.

The purchasers of the Anne Gambles continue to suffer uneasiness. The present phase of their torment is caused by the discovery that certain light fingers have been busied amongst the cargo.

The following subscriptions to the Cathedral Fund have been received since the list given in, another column was printed: — Miss Bridget Farrell, £2 10s ; Mr. Angus Wilson, £4. In our correspondence column will be found a letter from the Rev. Father Joly, of Sydney, acknowledging the arrival there of the organ presented to the sister in the South Sea Islands by certain friends in Dunedin. and returning thanks for the gift. The Xcw-Zealandcr, the Government organ, attributes the whole responsibility in the affair of costs arising from the Jones libel case to the Hon. Frederick Whitaker. Our contemporary affirms that a majority of the House undertook "a risky transaction," oud laid " the odds of good solid money to nothing." Surely even for the sake of making a point against an enemy this is strange blasphemy to employ in alluding to the popular idol. But if the matter is to be viewed in this light then, we should say, the responsibility lies, not with Mr. Whitaker, but with the majority. It appears, however, that a minority also had something to do with this sacrifice " of gdod solid money to nothing ; " for we cannot suppose that the counsel for the accused conferred with an hon. member — now a minister, and patron if report speak true of the Kern Zealando; over the jury list to the ' prejudice of the accused. If an hon. member advised the defendant's counsel at all it evidently must have been in the defendant's interests, and thus to all appearances an hon. member, now a minister, had something to do in determining the untoward result, of this " risky transaction."

At the meeting of Justices in Dunedin, the other evening, it transpired that Mr. Watt, R.M., has no faith in the discretion of the Press. Mr. Watt was evidently concerned lest intending criminals should lose something of their reverence for the Bench by learning that J.P.s were subject to the weaknesses of ordinary flesh and blood ; that, for instance, they had their little jealousies, and were inclined to consider themselves snubbed when empowered only to deal with. " drunks and disorderlies." Mr. Watt clearly is desirous of obtaining for the magisterial dignity the aid of such mystery as it is possible to maintain ; he is quite right, there have occurred one or two cases lately when • the Bench seemed much in need of every stay that could be afforded it.

It is rumoured that certain circumstances relating to native land transactions at Maketu, in the North Island, are likely to be brought under the notice of Parliament at the approaching session.

Our, contemporary the Daily Times in a gushing leader anent the candidature of Mr. Oliver for Dunedin, speaks sportingly of the candidate as "being " put through a preliminary canter to show his paces." We, however, noticed an ugly buck-jump or two in the course of his trial that renders him anything but a "favourite" with, us, and we should rejoice to see him scratched, or disqualified in some manner.