Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 25 April 1881, Page 2

F. W. Martin, E-»q.» Resident Engineer of the We t Coast, left here yeeterday, to inspect the progress of work on the NelsonRrefton road. Since tlie arrival of Mr Inspector Emerson on Friday last, unremitting exertions have been made to obtain a further clue to the perpetrator of the Larry's Creek murder. The whole of the available police have been out in the bush in different directions searching for some trail of the murderer in the vicinity of Bell's hou9e, but up to the time we write nothing ia known as to tbe result of the search. Various rumors are afloat as to the proceedings of the suspected man both before and subsequent to the tragedy, but it would be manifestly unfair both to the accused and the police to give them publicity. It is very important at the present juncture that the minds of the jury should not be fettered with outside statements either for or against «he accused. The case is now in the hands of the police, and as well for tho inerests of justice as for the security of the prisoner, it is a grave error for any news* paper to seek to supplement the sworn evidence by statements, which cunndt be otherwise than apocryphal. Two will-known Reefton names turn up in the list of entries for the Marton (Wanganui) pcdestriim sports. In tho utile race there (£5), J. y-tughnn is p-aeed at scratch, »r.d E. Webber follows wilh 10 yards starh Vaughan is og;iin nt scratch in the halfainile race, giving Webber and F. Woods, 5 yards each. In the 'J-iO;. da r.ce, G. Marshall is at.

scratch, ond Webber receives 5 yards, and Vaughan 10 jsrds. In the 120yd 3 event, Webber receives fr yards. The prizes are, however, small, ip comparison with those ollered on tlie y> est Const. The following appears as an advertisement 1 in a recent issue of the Hokitika Star, and as Messrs Cullen and Co. are well-known over tho West Coast, we make no excuse for extending its publicity : — "Public-Police— Messsrs D. .Cullen and Co., Hokitika.— Dear £irs,-^We are in receipt of your favour of the 16th instant, enclosing your acceptance at 3 months for £33 8* being amount of balance j due by you to our firm. It is so rare to find persons voluntarily coming forward to pay debts duo for which they have already had a discharge, that we have pleasure in paying you the compliment of saying we have, in all our experience, had only one similar case, and he was a countryman of your own — Again thanking you, we remain, yours truly, James Sebyiob & Co , Collins-Street West, Melbourne , March 28, 1881."—" Messrs D. Cullen and Co., finding that an impression is abroad that they only paid 2s in tbe £, wish to state they paid all merchants in Melbourne and New Zealand 20s in the £, and have not taken advantage of the deed of compromise. Tlie above letter being a receipt from the last of all of those who signed the deed of compromise, we take the liberty of publishing." We learn that Mrs M'Gahey has petitioned the Government for assistance to enable her to leave Beefton. Ever since the fatal occurrence al Larry's Creek, she has been living at the police camp, not being able or being disinclined to obtain accommo* daiion elsewhere. The Government sinecure exterminators (Messrs Seed and Batkin) reached Beefton on Friday evening last, and on the following day conducted an examination into tbe working of the civil department)?,. We cannot help thinking, however, that the Commissioners will be clever if they are able to scrape any more " dripping " oft" the official bread up here. If, however, the Commissioners could be induced to urge upon the Government the great necessity that exists for the appointment of a separate Warden and Resident Magistrate for th e Inangahua, their coming would not be altogether a " bootless inquisition.'.' The Westport people can't understand how it is that local tradespeople can afiord to supply their hospital at a rate so muoh below that charged to ordinary " good mark " customers. At the recent tender* ing for supplies, offers were sent in upon the following scale :— 4lb. loaf, 5Jd ; meat, 4|d per lb, " all round " j tea, 2s 3d per lb ; sugar, 5d per lb ; butter, 9d per lb ; candles, lOd per lb ; salad oil, 10|d per bottle j jams, 7£d per tin, and so on for all other article?. These figures show a reduction of nearly 40 per cent " all round " upon the ordinary prices charged. For this stafre of things various remedies are suggested, one correspondent of the Westport Times suggests that all the "good marks" should form an t. association and call tenders for supplies, while another favours a co-operative store. We' are afraid that tendering for hospital supplies in Westport is something like the tendering for printing and advertising for 'he County Council in Beefton' The rival printers got at first into very vulgar fractions, but the time came when fractions became altogether inadequate for this purpose, and recourse was had to the atomic theory, thelast tender being the " two millionth part of a penny per inch " for advertising. But this frightened the Council ; they could find nothing in the " Counties' Act" justifying them in the recognition of copper molecules as a legal tender, and in all solemnity referred the momentous question to the then County Solioitor, who, after mature deliberation, Bound information, and strict confirraaMon, duly advised the body that the tender was quite legal, and it was accepted, But we ehould like to see some* body come along with an advertisement about a lost cow, and try and pin us to that scale!— There would be one of the quickest one-act tragedies performed that the world ever heard of. The adjourned inquest upon the body of the murdered man John Bell, will be resumed in ihe Court-House this morning at 10 o'clock. On Friday last, Mr Montgomerie prepared a plan of Bell's bouse and sura roundings, which will be produced at the inquiry to-day. Saturday last being St. George's Day, the banks were closed. In all other communities the public are duly notified by advertisement of the closing of the banks, but for some reason or other that conrse is not regularly followed in Beefton. It so happened that St. George's Day is a proclaimed holiday under " Tbe Banker's Holiday Act," but people do not as a rule carry the recollection of fuch matters, and hence inconvenience may sometimes arise. A curious coincidence in connection with the two men, who within the last few days have met with an untimely and violent end, may be noted as singu-ar. It appears that the sister of the late John Bell, is married to a brother qf John Harris, who was killed on the raoe-conree on Monday last. Mr John Bell, a Glasgow citizon, died recently, leaving a most valuable collection of paintings and works of art, of a total value of £200,000. It is said to have been wellknown that he intended leaving these treasures to the Glasgow Corporation, and it was anticapated th* Titiens and the Guidoes the Claude?, the Kembrandls, and the Kubens would in due course of time be handed over to the public art gallerv. Unfortunately, it was discovered ihat Mr Bell's will was written in poncil and bore no signature. As a consequence the Town Clerk hns been reluc'antly ' compelled' 'to advise the Corporation tlnit they have no claim whatever to the pictures, »nd therefore the treasures vviK b.* jui up for sale by un.-tiou

fi>r the benefit of the heirs. This is not the 6: sfc lime tho ambition of a man's -life has been frustrated by a legvl ' hitch.' The Taranaki Herald says it has had brought to its office two census papers issued in 1867, containing nnmes, ages, and all other information respecting two families in New Plymouth, signed by householders in the regular way. The party who brought them says the papers were wrapped about a parcel of nails which he purchased at a Stratford store, nnd ho saw twenty to thirty similar papers being used as waste paper. Tbe Herald considers it a disgraceful breach of faith on the part of the Government to allow thpse papers to be sold, especially as it states on them " that they are to be used for statistical purposes only, and persons making use of them for any other purposes are liable to a heavy penalty." The Normanby Star says there has been some talk of a settlers bee on the Plains to wage war against tbe pigs, but uo definite date has been arranged- Twenty settlers with a score of dogs, could account for a large number of pigs, and sweep a thousand acres or more clear of pigs in a day. On Tuesday last a lad of about sixteen, the son of Mr Hastie of Waimate, whilst hunting on the Plains had his arm badly ripped up by a wild P»gWe clip the following from the Bangitikei Advocate :— The • Liberals " have been keeping up a continuous howl about the sale of the Patetere Block to a company at What they assert to be an enormous sacrifice in the matter of price. Sir G. Grey is about to stump the country, and it is said that one of his trump cards will be the Patetere 'swindle.' With a view to silencing the slanders of their politicol opponents when the session comes on, the Government a short time Bince Bent a thoroughly competent officerj to examine the* Patetere Blosk and prepare a full report as to its value. This gentleman's report is now ready, and its production at the proper time will rather startle the Knight of Kawau and his followers. We cannot now give details, but suffice it to say that the report in question convincingly proves that in selling the Patetere Block at the price obtained, the Government made one of the best bargains ever secured in New Zealand. The Timaru Herald is responsible for the following :—" An extraordinary and daring attempt at robbery took place on board the steamer Te Anau on her trip from Lyttelton to Port Chalmers on the evening of March 29. Captain Carey reports haying reoeived on board his vessel at Lvttelton five boxes of silver coin, valued at £ljfOQ. which he placed in the safe situated in the passage between the saloon and the ladies cabin. Previous to sailing, the safe was observed to be perfectly secure, but at eight o'clock in the evening . when tbe vessel was some considerable dis - tance on her voyage Mr Birch, the purser, drew attention of the captain to the state of .the safe, which bore evidence of having been effectively tampered with. On examination, it was discovered that the two brass rivets which fastened the' door on to the.hinges had_ actually been punched through into tbe safe so that there were "only two remaining rivets which held tbe door on to the lock, and which bad it not been for the timely detection of the purser, would no doubt have also been driven in and the safe lifted out bo lily. The boxes of silver then might easily have been removed. No noise seems to have been heard either by tbe passengers or crew, and up to the present no clue has been obtained that is likely to result in the arrest of the perpetrator. It is strange the coin was not placed in the first instance iu the strong room, if there is suoh a place on the vessel. Taking thia case into consideration with the robbery some time back, of a box of gold from the same Company's steamer Tararua. it is apparent there are people who travel about in these boats in search of boxes of the precious metal. That being so it would be well to have the safes bo placed that they would not be easy of access." Dr. Simms recently lectured in Wellington on walking, handshaking,*"chin, wrinkles, &o. His lectures are arousing great interest in the science of physiognomy. the lecture, the dootor said a long quiok step bespeaks energy. He never knew a man with a slow step, especially 'if the feet drag.'who could make money, and they generally work for otherr, lacking the force of character to set themselves going. Several auditors walked . and the lecturer hit off their strong points of oharecter, as evinced in their gait Regular pendulation of the hands denotes a systematised mind. People in a hurry never keep order, as it takes tune to arrange things, and those in a hurry "never fiad spare moments in which to put things to rights. At the close of this very interesting lecture, two ladies ascended the platform, and their characters were graphically depicted. Ono resembled her father and sister and the other her father, which each acknowledged as true. The next lecture will be on cheeks, skin, temples neck, shoulders, and forehead. It may be not generally known that one of the best varieties of the tobacco plant has been successfully grown iu the Public Gardens for the last ten years. This variety is the Shiraz, or Persian]'tabacco, which is acknowledged to be one of tbe finest flavoured sports in the world. It hns also been grown in a private garden in Christchurch with Beven greater success. This tobacn co has been proved to grow perfectly hardy in Canterbury, but as is the case with all varieties of tho ' weed,' it requires a tolerably good soil to enable it to come to perfection.— Christchurch Star. Alec Keene, the pugilist is dead. He is tbe only member of the bruising fraternity who has ever died worth much. He is reported to have amassed £10,000, not by prize-fighting entirely, but by supplying hot meals to the public at race«meetings, a role he assumed after retiring from the fistic arena. "His real name was not Keene, but Fmdlay, 1 y whicli it seems he was ashamed of bis ' calling even in his fighting davs. Mr J. T. Klein, of Hokitika, who is making

a tour of New Zealand contributes the following to the Hokitika Star;— Of old West Coasters, I have met a great many, and as nsual they have been very pleased to see me. Mr Anning has kept a chemist's shop in George street since he left, and is well satisfied with the change he has made, at least so far as business is concerned. Mr Liston his old neighbor in Hokitika was not satisfied until he seeured the Robert Burns Hotel just opposite Mr Anning. Just as if one swallow made a summer, or one customer secured prosperity. The Robert Burns Hotel has a yard fenced in with a high wall and wire netting on the top, for the purpose of playing the game of racket, which giveß the boys great amusement. I ha*e also met Mr Bastings, the shoemaker, who lives a little out of to am, and tells me that it would have been betier for him by far had he never left Dunedin for Westland. His position would have been better by far;wh'le the other Mr Bastings, who had an hotel at the Montezuma, has an hotel opposite Mr O'Driscol's and Hungerford's timber yard. Of course Hungerford, from the West Coast is going to settle down here, and is now building himself a nice cottage. O'Driscol, hotelkeeper of Hokitika, is also here, and keeps the Supreme Court Hotel. Charley O'Donnell (former Inspector) is staying with him, and is on the look out to get into business. Mr Conavan has been travelling for a Brewery j while Mr Cumming, of Ross is bringing out a newspaper called the Freemason. Mr Sale, formely Goldfields Com-, missioner, is also here, and was very much pleased to see me. lam sure, however much the prejudice was against the 6*d Canterbury men on the Coa6t, those that hail from the Plains, and have for any length of time been on the West Coast, have a stronger affection for their friends on the Coast than they ever had for any other part of the World, unless it was on another gold field. Dr Maunsel is also here, and he has a very large practice, and making both a name and money fast. The Press gives the following information with regard to dog licenses in England : — They sre on all dogs 7s 6d. There are certain exemptions — A shepherd is exempt for one or two dogs used solely in tending sheep or cattle upon his farm ; and sheep farmers are exempt for dogs not exceeding six in proportion to the number of sheep kept and fed upon enclosed land. In each of these cases a declaration must be made, and a certificate of exemption obtained from the supervisor. A farmer and his shepherd cannot both claim exemptions for dogs kept in tending the same stock, and if either use their dogs in taking rabbits or game they are disentitled to the exemption. Butchers and drovers who merely occupy land for their trade are not entitled to claim ex* eruption. A friendly society of a novel character has recently been started in Napier. The chief difference between it and kindred societies is that instead of making a weekly allowance to a sick member he will be sent to tbe Hospital, and a sum equivalent to all allowance and the fee ordinarily paid to a doctor will be given to the funds of the institution. It is argued that the members will thus receive better treatment than is possible in the majority of homes, while the Hospital wi)l be benefited.