OUR LETTER HOME.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2092, 4 September 1867, Page 5 (Supplement)

OUR LETTER HOME.

The past month has favoured us with a . very respectable".imitation of an Old World winter, bur city .and its environs having been nigh.drowned out, our streets rendered reservoirs 6f. ;, miid,;'and our roads worked into pitfalls'and -sloughs, only comparable in danger to.the.piles;bf stones heaped on them ostensibly for repairs, but practically for 'sileiicihgnli clamors by the destruction of those.unfortunates who were obliged to travel by ■higlit.:.without.a supply of light and extra .eautjon. The inland districts suffered severely •from the.heavyfftllsof snow. At Porter's Pass, oil the Westl Coast road, 12 miles of road had to be : , cut;.;.to, : . allow the passnge of I tliij: nioils: We read of wire fences, 'the latest improvement in our sheep farming, Mptohiiig drifting mobs of sheep and causing, them to be smothered by hunThose who had lambs were soon relieved of tlie.ir charge. I am informed on .good authority that the losses cannot be set . down at less-thau a quarter of a million head—ii ioss.f.jiat will: tell severely on our next year's' rc'turn'sv. The railway bridge just ■completed across, the Selwyn has proved umquiil to carry away the flood that rolled down the inconsiderable stream usually'occupying the rivei* bed, and as the embankment dammed up the waters for some'two miieSj it was necessary to settle the matter by'cutting an opening on this side of the. bridge. 'This operation entails of cour.Be..aiiother bridge; and, as bridge building is not altogether the most desirable investment of' what .'advances our Government .may obtain from the Banks, it is to be hoped we. shall not .want any more bridges, at all. events : . oyer river No. I—especially when it is considered in up-country phrase, " tli'G 'Seijv'ya is nothing." For all these disasters.we reap, that little modicum of consolation derived from the misfortunes of our ■neighbours.; Wellington, to credit accounts, lias, been Visited by tempestuous wiuda creating a devastation far more furious in its effects oil property, and things than our own visitation, though perhaps not quite so expensive..

..' To turn to a more genial subject, I have at last to .chronicle the inauguration of the Gbdley Staiue, and Christchurch may boast in its ■piibjitfahd-most untidy place, a work : of arlworthy bfany city, even the most refinedCathedraiSqnare is an open space, in plan a ;Greek;crosscut basely defined by inconsidcrble .or mean weather-board buildings or fences, .having, on the southern side the classical but.low outline of the New Zealand Sank, and another; stone building in tolerable pointed style,. The space in the centre was planned to contain-the Cathedral; but a succeeding order of things determined that the traffic should not be content with following the .acute angles of the roadway round the proposed site—but should be taken through, If taken straight through, either, of the halves would be insufficient to contain .Mr.Gilbert Scott's design for the church—so Colombo street was laid out in thb segment of a.circle in order to avoid the building■ and we.have in effect a reproduction of those well, .known streets in London—St. (Paul's; clmrch Yard. On one side of the street, .facing the, east and surrounded by some, untidy ./gum .trees, maimed poplars and stunted firs—a* wonderful vegetation for the dust arid rubbish heaps in which they grow—stands: Mr .Woblner's fine work—contemplating as it .were across the road the concrete foundations of "the Cathedral, surrounded by their thabby,pitting fence—once made approximately .dedent by a coat of whitewashnow abandoned to ■■■ bill-stickers. Such is the site of our jGodley statue, and it is no small tribute to. -the.sculptor's genius, that from whatever point; of,view the figure be seen it stands in a dignity of its own and such as appertains:only to a work of true art. Christchurch is hot without works creditable to any. architect,. .but this piece of sculpture : air : bf;;refihement and grace which ■once seen.isqfelt as invaluable among our public;wprks^-The likeness is undeniably :and coufd not have been better ...were ; it the result of never so maiiy sittings. The,pedestal is,l believe, somewhat larger than that_ intended by the artist—and for ray part I;am inclined 'to regret any modification of ;:th«:: original'design, The composition seems naturally to / acquire a light pedestal, and: altlio' .the oho on which it stands may hardly.be called heavy, it is easy to see on careful 'consideration that a slighter substructure 'would be more agreeable to the . eye., In the one case it is statue and pedestal, as it should he, in the other it is pedestal and statue,.and a\wrongful diversion from the principal ' The.meetings of our unemployed have been appeased by-the Government giving piecework to labourers, a proposition to also give work to mechanic! having been not unwisely deelined by our „ Executive j as, were relief ■extended beyond labourers, it would be diffl:cuit to decide what calling in these hard times should"be denied commissions at the public Expense.:- ;,'.X. : ;' : : ; ":. ~: Mr.Moorhouse being in the House of Reprjssritatives at Wellington, Mr Stewart, already Prbyincial Secretnry, Treasurer, and Secretary for Public v;Works, has been appointed Deputy-Superintendent—a combination of offices IbatT" respectfully suggest to Mr : J6iiri\ Parry a« a tolerable groundwork for one of his excellent entertainments. ■The rejection of the Local Government Bill hasraised a tempest in our Provincial family, and Timoru joins with Wcstland in angry'.',clamour for separation. The movement in : .Westland it duturbed in its momentum by a. division'-of opinion as to vrhut should be the aith;of separation, some being

for a Westland province, others declaring for union with Nelson, Folks on this side, boing tolerably well convinced of the impossibility of ever satisfying our youngest an 1 most spoilt child, appear well content to allow it, if it so pleases, to seek its own fortunes. With Timaru it is not so, and whatever indifference may appear to exist, there is no doubt alio will not be parted witli willingly. ()urj)«oi , )iii«i»ffii«,i'or flux as we call it (which it is not) promises at lust to lie utilised. One /lax mill lias been started, and others are in progress of erection, the machinery being in course of construction at Mr Anderson's foundry. It will he not a little singular lo see, what has hitherto been taken off our land a« rubbish, take its place among tlie crops of our farmers, A company is also organized for the export of cereals and other agricultural products. There is considerable discussion on the propriety of cither establishing scholarships to the Home Universities, or else founding a New Zealand University, and there is a good deal said on both sides,

The Supremo Court commenced its sitting on the 2nd, and presented the usual number of unwilling Grand Jurors loth to leave business for amateur criticisms oa magistrates convictions. This was tho first sitting of the Court iii Canterbury without tlie well known face of the late Hegistrar, Mr C. A. Calvert whose unwearying courtesy, assiduity, and technical ability in the discharge of bis office, will long cause him to be remembered. It is rumoured that the General Government propose to offer Mr Calvert a pension in con sideration of bis long service, and few here would dispute its being very well bestowed.