News of the Week.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 41, 8 February 1884, Page 11

News of the Week.

Fbidat.

The Otago Land Board yesterday commenced the re-hearing of the cases of alleged dummvism at the Silver Peak. The inqairy was rather lively, and was adjourned until next Thursday. Mr. J. R. Mcßeth has forwarded to the Auckland Herald copies of letters from Tawhiao and Rewi to the Native Minister. He adds : — " With reference to the statements made by thejaewspapeis, I may say that I went to the Waikato at the request of Rewi, who wrote to me on the subject, and that if any • agents for speculators ' are concerned in the present Native agitation lam not aware of it. Native affairs are getting into a much more serious state than it is believed. At Whatiwhatihoe, I learned that Tawhiao and some of the leading chiefs had exerted their authority to prevent the shooting of the surveyors at Kawhia, and, indeed, that the chiefs had met in council on the subject. Viewing the matter in an European light, and setting aside the question of justice or injustice to the Maoris, it is clear to me that the policy of the Government is a mistaken one. The Native Minister will never succeed in opening the King Country by obtaining the signatures of a few Maoris who are not. owner 3of the land so long as the great body of tne Maori race is opposed to him. The only way to settle the Native difficulty is to accept the terms offered by Tawhiao and Kewi, as Maori representatives, in their letter to the Aborigines Protection Society. If that were done I believe that the difficulty would be settled without co3t at once and forever ; but as long as the Government persists in its present unjust, unreasoning, and costly course, those who sympathise with the Maoris will persist in an endeavour to bring the whole Native question before the British Parliament, with the object of ascertaining whether the power of dealing with the Native race as vested in the Colonial Government by Great Britain is, or is not, subject to the Treaty of Waitangi." Rewi sends the following telegram to the Herald :— " What I said to Tawbiao is correct, that I feared both the Queen and the Government. Nevertheless, I will continue to be loyal to the Queen." Baker Pasha, with a force of 4,000 troops is about to commence operations against the Arab rebels, and will land at Trinkitat with a view of relieving the beseiged garrison at Tokar. Twenty thousand Arabs are preparing to oppose his advance. Admiral Courbet, Commander-in-chief of the French operations in Tonquin, reports that the town of Bacninh is too strong to attack In consequence of the repeated threatening of the rebels under El Mahdi, the Egyptian Government are preparing to despatch a strong body of tro >ps up the river Nile. The Cromwell Argns gives the following item : — The new leader recently discovered in the Cromwell Co.'s mine at Bendigo continues to give promise of permanence and good gold-bearing quality. The leader varies much in bulk, but co far a-? work has gone it has proved continuous, and the* mine manager has the best hopes of it. In a week or two no doubt will remain as to the value of the discovery, and it is sincerely to be hoped it will be to the benefit of shareholders and the district generally. — The news of the discovery of a good reef of quartz highly auriferous is confirmed at Queens own. It has been obtained or discovered by the tiibutors of that company once known as the Nugget and Cornish, then as the Mount Aurum, and within the last few weeks purchased by the Gallant Tipperary Co. The stone contains heavy gold as well as fine. Fine -gold was always present in thejstone, but hat-ful yellow mundic adorned the stone too much and sickened quicksilver. The Mount Aurnm Company sold out lock, stock, and barrel to the newly -formed Gallant Tipperary Company — a Dunedin directory.- Had the local shareholders not been so anxious to realise, what a chance of a stroke of good luck awaited them. John Herbert Mason, aged eleven years, son of Mr. Mason, hairdressfr, was drowned at Shelley Beach, Auckland, on Wednesday. He had gone into the water to save a hat belonging to another boy which had blown off. The West Coast coach has been upset in the Otira Gorge and two horses drowned. The passengers were rescued with difficulty. The mails were saturated, but are safe. On Tuesday night the son of Major Patton, of Hope, Nelson, found a respectably dressed man lying in an unfrequented road. The man being in«ensible he was taken home by Patton and put to bed. restoratives being administered. The man recovered somewhat, but not sufficiently to speak, and next morning Major Patton discovered that the man bad a vny bad wound on the side of the head, which had bpen dressed with plaister. The injured man now lies at the hospital in a critical condition. His skull appears to be fractured. The man is believed to have arrived from either Wellington or Wanganui, but there is nothing to identify him.

Saturday.

Owing to the number of murders and outrages recently committed by Socialists, the ordinary law has been suspended in Vienna and suburbs and martial law been proclaimed. Much alarm prevails at the disturbed state of affars. The Imperial Parliament meets on Tuesday next, the sth inst. The Opposition whip has already announced the intention of the party to move an amendment on the Address-in-Reply to the Queen's Speech, and condemning the policy j>ursued by the Government in Egypt. News has been received that the garrison at Sinkat is now without food, and owing to the number of Arabs surrounding the town relief is imp 83iole. Recent discoveries of auriferous quartz in the Wilberforce district have given an impetus to prospecting. Two parties Jeft Christchurch lately, but were compelled to return through the unfavorable weather and the flooded state of the Rakaia, which in the upper portion is impassable, The beach diggings near Southbridge have fallen into oblivion, as they wero not found profitable,

In the course of a debate in the Sydney Legislative Assembly the other night, an angry altercation took place between the Hon. Robert Wisdom and Mr. Buchanan. Subsequently both went into the Speaker's retiring room, and while there Mr. Wisdom struck Mr. Buchanan and both rolled on the floor. The Hous* broke up in confusion, and the galleries were cleared. Oa the retu nof members an excited d -.bate ensned, and Mr. Wisdom was ordjred to attend the House on Tuesday next, on a charge of breach of piivileg-e. Mr. Murray Smith, Agent-Generai for Victoria, and Mr. Thomas Archer, late Ag-nt- General for Queensland, have been created Companions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Mr. -Frederick Whitaker, ex-Premier of New Zealand, and iSir George Wi^ram Allen Knight, of New South Wales, have been made Knights < Commander of that honourable order. Salvatore Lezza, accused of arson at Christchurch, was discharged after the evidence of the prosecution had been taken, without being called upon for his defence. A party of gentlemen arrived at Cambridge overland from Napier on Thursday night, having driven in a coach over the entire route via Taupo and Rotorua. They drove over the new road through the bush. The ; r coach was the first to pa«s over the new road. A Russian envoy has left for Honolulu in order to present a diamond decoration to King Kalakaua of the Sandwich Island*. A party of about fifty Natives arrived at Pukearuhe on Thursday morning from the Waikato on their way to Parihaka. Captain Messenger ordered them to return or they would be arrested, and after some parleying the Natives gooi-humouredly consented to return quietly to their own homes. It has baen arranged that Mr. Bradlaagh shall appear at the bar of the House on the 11th February and make a further appeal for admission to Parliament.

Monday.

At the inquest on the body of John Herbert Mason, aged eleven, drowned at Shelly Beach, Ponsonby, it came cut in evidence that ths lad had gone in twice to get his comrade's hat. The first time he failed, and the boys taunting him that he could not swim he went in for the hat again and got drowned. A younger brother had previously tried to recover the hat and failed. In order to ascertain if sheep frozen before being cold, or with the kidneys in. are more liable to become tainted on avoyage than sheep treated ia the usual way, a sheep was cent on December 11th hot from the batcher's hands to the freezing chamber at Belfast, and on December 21st another also hot and with the kidney in, was frozen. B jth were taken out of the freezing chamber on January 30th and cut up on February Ist. Neither shows the least taint or sign of decomposition in any part, being perfectly sweet throughout. A slight shock of earthquake was felt at Christchurch yesterday afternoon. About 7 o'clock on Saturday evening, Thomas Ballantyne, when driving home to his farm in Ilman road, Riccarton, was thrown from his waggonette through the horse bolting. The accident happened near his nouse, and was seen by bystanders, who picked him up insensible. Dr. Nedwill was at once sent for, and on arrival pronounced that probably death would be instantaneous, as- the neck appeared to be broken by the fall. When the news reached town it produced much regret. The statement that has been published to the effect that Messrs. Jay and Haynes, contractors for Danevirk railway works, had levanted, is incorrect. Continued interest (says the Dunstan Times') is being taken in the mining operations at the Old Man Sange, fresh claims still being applied for, and as work in earnest has been started in several of the claims by sinking and driving, we shall soon learn if the dear '' Old Man " deserves at the hands of the miners the attention that is being bestowed on him. A hurricane of a most severe character has been experienced at Bowen, a seaport town about 725 miles north of Brisbane. The wind blew tor some hours with terrific force, and caused immense destruction, every building in the town baing more or less damaged, and mauy being blown down. Hundreds of people have been rendered hotnele-s. Both the bank buildings have been razed to the ground, and all the hotels have been so damaged as to be unfit for occupation. The jetty has been blown away, and the steamer Fiado, which was lying alongside, has been driven aground. So far as is known no loss of life has been caused. A general meeting of the New Zealand Tobacco Growing and Manufacturing Company was held at Auckland on Saturday. It was reported that about one-half of the total shares of the company had been applied for and alloted. It was resolved to start manufacturing operations at once. Mr. Volbracht, the working manager, was instructed to get his cigar-makers together and commence manufacturing upon a few tons of leaf left over from last year's growth. The reports received from farmers now engaged in growing leaf are most favourable. A great number of Wellington Maoris, including several prominent chiefs, have recently joined the Blue Ribbon Army. Newa has been received that Baker Pasha, after landing at Trinketat, made a reconnaisance in force and had a skirmish with the enemy. The latter fled southwards. Baker's cavalry pursued the rebels for several miles, killing hundreds of t'icni. Colonel Gordon has passed the Korosko and entered the desert, en route to Khartoum. Several arrests have been untie at Vienna of |. vsoris implicated in the recent outrages, aud the i j xplusion from ue city of many others concerned in the Socia'ist agitation has beuu ordered. It has been r.poneil that Tuomas and Son. stock-biokers, who have become defaulters f r tte amount of £800,000, have defrauded the London Chaitered Bank of Australia to the extent of £120,000 by wholesale appropria Lions of securities belonging to the bank's customers. The authorities of the batik, however, state that their loss by the frauds does not exceed £90,000, which is more than covered by the reserve fund invested in consols, and kept quite distinct from the bank's paid-up capital of £1,000,000,

Mongooses are being sent to the interior of New South Wales for the destruction of rabbits. Fifty-two were received for the Darling district by the last mail. The New Prince Imperial Company, Thames, cleaned up on Saturday morning. The return was 3818oz. gold, the highest return the company have yet obtained. The quantity crushed was 627 loads general dirt and 16cwt. specimens. The South Australian Government are despatching a survey party to Melville and Bathurst Islands, north of Port Darwin. In 1824 a military post was established at Melville, but was abandoned on account of trouble with the natives. The island is swarming with buffaloes, the descendants of those left by the soldiers. Le Temps says that the only effect of the recidivist scb -^*3& will be to swell the ranks of ruffianism in the Pacific by the bauishment thither of those whom it has been proved impossible to reform.

Tuesday.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Tf maru, yesterday, Elizabeth Archer, a married woman, suffering from religious mania, was committed to the asylum. The unfortunate creature had been a regular attendant of the Salvation Army meetings, and her insanity was of a most violent character — suicidal and homicidal. A boy nine years of age, named Thomas Berge, of Mungaroa, has been, , drowned in the Hutc River. He was crossing the ford to fetch cattle when the current swept him away. Te Kooti, with a large number of followers, has passed through Cambridge en route for the King Country. He did not make a bait at Cambridge. The Native Minister has received a telegram from Kawhia stating that Tawhaio has decided on visiting Kawhia, and also that he would probably take a trip to England shortly. The Spanish claims to Soolof, Caroline Islands, will probably be recognised by England if Spain abandons its claims in Borneo. It has transpired that the Imperial Government has decided to apply to Parliament for a sum of £2,000,000 to be devoted to defences at) Borne and abroad. The deaths are announced of Wendell Phillips, the well-known American orator, aged 73, and of M. Eugene Eouber, formerly President of the French Senate, aged 70. News is to hand from Sinkat, where the garrison is without provisions, to the effect that foraging parties which were sent out to obtain supplies were cut to pieces by the Arabs. Prince Napoleon has authorised a renewal of the agitation in favour of the Buonaparte cause. Paris is placarded with appeals on behalf of the starving population.

Wednesday.

The Imperial Parliament was opened yesterday by Royal Commission. The Parnellites intend to introduce twelve Bills, dealing principally with reforms in Ireland. The amendment by the Hon. R. Bourke on the Reply to the Address insists upon the necessity of England definitely recognising her obligation to Egypt, and it also alludes to the danger of an uncertain policy. The speech from the throne was to the following effect : — The negotiations which have taken place with the French Government in relation to recent events in Madagascar have tended to confirm the cordial relations existing between France and Eagland. The unforeseen calamity which has overtaken the Egyptian |forces engaged in the pacification of the Soudan have caused a suspension of the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt. Colonel Gordon has proceeded to the Soudan, empowered to report upon the situation there, and to give effect to the Khedive's resolution to %vithdraw his forces from the interior of the Soudan country. Negotiations for the settlement of difficulties in the Transvaal are still in progress, and nothing has yet occurred tending to discourage a belief that they will result happily. Bills will be introduced for an extension of the franchise, for the better local government of the city of London, for ensuring the security of life and property at sea, for the repression of corrupt practices at municipal elections, for closing puolic houses in Ireland on Sundays, and a Bill to provide for the better dealing with business relating to Scotland in Parliament. A hope will also be expressed that time may permit of the passing of a Bill for the extension of local government, including the principle of local option in regard to the liquor traffic. At a meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society the president stated that, at the request of the Premier, three Indian mongooses, which had been presented to him by the New South Wales Government, had been received into the gardens, and were being kept for him there, the climate of Auckland being especially suited to them. As soon as sufficient stock had been obtained from them it was intended to experiment with them in the South Island as rabbit exterminators. Mr. Bryce has stopped the Government pension allowed Rewi, in consequence of his recent action re surveys. Rswi is believed to have been animated by jealousy of the importance attached to Wahanui, and also to be influenced by favourable feelings towards Tawhaio. It is expected that the Wanganui chief Topia and Jlenere Tomuana will accompany Tawhaio to England. Some £4,000 has been collected by the Natives towards the cost of Tawhaio's projected mission to England, for which arrangements are nearly completed. TheKingites deny that M'Beth instigated or is concerned with the mission. Rewi, it is stated, has replied to the Native Minister concerning the stoppage of his pension, that he does not care, as he never solicited it. Tawhaio, Rewi, and Te Wheoro has invited Sir George Grey to come up and see them to talk over matters. Among other things they want to know whether a pension can be stopped apart from personal misconduct and a reference to Parliament, ihe pension is £200 per annum. The Parangahau Natives have resolved not to put any more lands through the Court. The somew hat unusual step of placing baliffs in a State school took place at Hokitika on Monday — the children being locked out. The Government, however, have since settled the claim made against the Board by Messrs. Arnott and Seabrooke, contractors.

* IThubsday.

The Tuapeha Times Coal Creak correspondent" writes :— " There is not much sharebroking being done in the reefs on the Old Man Range so far as I can learn, although I heard of one parcel of scrip naving changed bands in White's reef at a small premium. Ground sluicing seems to be the favourite and least expensive method of extracting the gold from these reefs, which are mostly comp > a ed of mullock, or soft slate with bands, and, iv some places, blacks of quartz rich with gold. I think the sooner a battery is erected by a company which has the courage to do so the better, for all the auriferous quartz is either stacked or washed away down the gullies, and it is only the loose gold that is being saved. A battery worked by water-power would crash a large quantity of quartz and mul' -ck, and the reef would then receive a fair trial. In a short time the caps of the reefs will be washed away, and then batteries must be resorted to." Intelligence is to hand from Sonakim reporting that Baker Pasha made an advance for the purpose of relieving the garrison at Tascar, but was attacked near the latter place by a strong force of Arab rebels. An engagement took place, which resulted in the defeat of the Egyptian troops, with the loss of 2000 men, four Krupp guns, and a (iatling gun. Baker Pasha is now returning to Souakim with the remainder of his force, finding further advance impossible. Further details show that the Egyptian troops, of which his force largely consisted, proved utterly untrustworthy, and when called upon to advance against the enemy, refused to fight, and fled ignominiously. The European and Turkish detachments stood their ground, but were overpowered and outnumbered, and were cut to pieces. Much alarm was felt at Souakim at the success of the followers of El Mahdi, and a force of marines was landed from the British war-vessels lying off the town in order to prevent a panio occurring among the inhabitants. The defeat has rendered the relief of the beleaguered garrison at Sinkar and Tokar hopeless. Orders have been issued for the detention uniil further notice of the troopships now on their way to India. It is not, however, known whether Government have decided to land any troops on the west coast of the Red Sea, or to undertake the defence of Sjuakim against the rebels. In the House of Commons on Tuesday aftarnoon the amendment proposed by Mr. Bourke to the Address-in-reply, condemning the Egyptian policy of the Government, was under consideration, but failed to meet with much support, and was rejected by a substantial majority prior to the dinner-hour adjournment. The Address was voted by the House of Lords without much discussion. The Lake County Press says : — Mr. James Evans has brought down from the Phoenix mine, Skippers, a trifle over 650z. of melted gold, as the result of a crushing of 54 tons of quartz, taken out of the drive along the reef by the contractors in the Promise I Land low level. This must be considered an excellent return. There are 70ft. of backs available in this level.