JAN. 23.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 127

New Zealand Industrial Exhibition, 1885.

PRIZE ESSAYS.

Wellington, 29th December, 1884.

ONE gold medal and twenty guineas, one silver medal and ten guineas, and one bronze medal and five guineas will be awarded for essays on the present condition and future prospects of the industrial resources of New Zealand, and the best means for fostering their development.

In judging of the merits of the essays preference will be given to those which are of a practical character, rather than to mere abstract or theoretical disquisitions. The essays must be sent in to the Secretary of the Exhibition, signed with a motto and accompanied by a sealed envelope containing the author's name and address, on or before the 1st day of December, 1885. This late date is fixed to enable the essayists, if they desire to do so, to utilize the information which the Exhibition itself will supply.

The essays will be submitted to a Board of three persons, to be hereafter appointed, on whose decision respecting the merits of the essays the above prizes will be awarded; provided the essays reach a sufficiently-deserving standard of excellence.

JULIUS VOGEL.

Offer of Free Pardon to an Accomplice.

Department of Justice,

Wellington, 21st January, 1885.

WHEREAS on or about the 10th day of January instant the premises of the New Zealand Timber Company, situated in the City of Auckland, were set on fire:

This is to notify that His Excellency the Governor will grant a free pardon to any person implicated in the said act, not being the principal offender, who will give such information as will lead to the apprehension and conviction of any one or more of the other offenders.

Jos. A. TOLE.

Report of Court of Inquiry into Wreck of "Star of the South" confirmed.

Marine Department,

Wellington, 19th January, 1885.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to confirm the following report of the Court of Inquiry into the wreck of the steamer "Star of the South," by which the Board of Trade Certificate of Competency, No. 15192, held by the master, Charles Hodge, is suspended for twelve months.

W. J. M. LARNACH.

THE "Star of the South" was lost on the 22nd December instant, when entering the Grey. River, by being dashed against the stone protective works on the left bank of the river, after crossing the bar and getting inside the entrance, by which means she became a total wreck.

The evidence shows that there was at the time a strong fresh in the river, and that the harbour signal signifying "Bar dangerous" was exhibited. Notwithstanding this signal, the master of the vessel, Captain Hodge, resolved to take the bar.

This attempt was persisted in notwithstanding that the signal was altered by lowering one of the three balls, leaving two others in position, which constituted the signal "Put to sea;" and that, when the master's intention still to persist in attempting an entrance became manifest, four flags, signifying, according to the commercial code of signals, "No chance," were immediately hoisted. The natural consequence of this attempt took place, and the vessel became a wreck, as before stated, upon the stone bank.

The only justification offered for the attempt to enter the river in the circumstances mentioned is that the signal was supposed to refer to the sea on the bar only, of which the master could judge for himself, and that the circumstances of a flood in the river ought to have been specially signalled. But the Court is of opinion that the circumstance of a flood in the river at the Port of Greymouth ought not to have been absent from the mind of the master when the danger signal was shown, and it was also possible to ascertain the fact for himself by proper observation.

It was also said that it is not unusual for masters of vessels to enter bar harbours, in spite of the danger signal, upon their own responsibility. There is no doubt that this has not unfrequently been done, but in such cases the master chooses to take the risk, and cannot divest himself of the responsibility by the plea that the same thing has been done by others.

The rashness and recklessness of the master in the present case are aggravated by the fact that, in addition to the danger signal, two other signals were successively hoisted, one directing him to "Put to sea," and the other signifying "No chance." The master's statement that he did not know the meaning of these signals scarcely improves his case, at all events with regard to the former, for it is not easy to say which is the least excusable, on the part of the master entering such a river as the Grey, ignorance of the signal meaning "Put to sea," or recklessness in ignoring it; and, if there was more excuse for failing at the moment to know the meaning of the four flags, they ought at all events to have served as a warning not to come on.

The Court, therefore, is of opinion that this wreck has been caused solely by the culpable rashness of the master, Captain Charles Hodge, in persisting in the attempt to enter the Grey River in reckless disregard of the harbour signals, and it is adjudged that his certificate be suspended for a period of twelve months, and that he pay the costs of this inquiry.

Given under my hand this twenty-seventh day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four, at Greymouth, New Zealand.

JOSEPH GILES,

Resident Magistrate.

We concur in the above report.

SAMUEL RICHARD SAVORY,

JOHN CONNOR,

Nautical Assessors.

Notice under "The Native Land Laws Amendment Act, 1883."

WHEREAS the estate and interest of Hami Wheraro, aboriginal native of New Zealand; in the land described in the Schedule hereto, is vested in Pera Wheraro, as trustee under the provisions of "The Maori Real Estate Management Act, 1867," and the several amendments thereof, subject to certain restrictions on the alienation of such land, and application has been made for the removal of such restrictions:

It is hereby notified that it is intended, immediately after the expiration of sixty days from the publication of this notice in the Gazette and in the Kahiti, to remove the said restrictions on the alienation of the said land in respect of the interest aforesaid, in order that the said land may be leased by the said trustee for a term of fourteen years from the 1st July, 1884.

Dated at Wellington, this 24th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

J. BALLANCE,

Minister for Native Affairs.

SCHEDULE.

ALL that piece or parcel of land situate at Te Aute, in the Provincial District of Hawke's Bay, containing by admeasurement 423 acres, more or less, and called or known by the name of Waikareao.

Notice under "The Native Land Laws Amendment Act, 1883."

WHEREAS the estate and interest of Hoani Meke and Kingita Ngahoro, aboriginal natives of New Zealand, in the land described in the Schedule hereto, is vested in Anaru Kune, as Trustee under the provisions of "The Maori Real Estate Management Act, 1867," and the several amendments thereof, subject to certain restrictions on the alienation of such land, and application has been made for the removal of such restrictions:

It is hereby notified that it is intended, immediately after the expiration of sixty days from the publication of this notice in the Gazette and in the Kahiti, to remove the said restrictions on the alienation of the said land in respect of the interests aforesaid, in order that the said lands may be leased by the said Trustee for a term of twenty-one years from the twelfth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

Dated at Wellington, this twenty-second day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

J. BALLANCE,

Minister for Native Affairs.

SCHEDULE.

ALL that piece or parcel of land in the Provincial District of Hawke's Bay, containing by admeasurement 26,300 acres, more or less, being called or known by the name of the Purahotangihia Block, on the plan deposited in the Survey Office at Napier. Bounded on the North and North-east by the Maungaharuru Block, the Waikoau Stream, and the Arapawanui and Tongoio Blocks; on the South by Morris Block, and the Petane and the Pakuratahi Blocks; and on the West by the Waiohinganga or Esk River: excepting and