MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2654, 24 March 1869, Page 3

MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

CHRISTCHURCH. ; Tuesday, March 23. (Before C. C. Bowen, Esq., R.M.) Drunkenness.—Thomas Wilson, on bail, admitted lmving been drunk and disorderly, and using obscene language in a public thoroughfare yesterday. He expressed regret j for his conduct, and not having been charged with any similar offence for upwards of two years, his Worship said he would accept his promise of nmendment; and, with a view to giving him one more chance, he would be discharged. Civil Cases. Judgment for full amount and costs was given in the following cases:—Ward and Heeves v. P. Bull, £3 19s 9d; same v. R. Orton, £7l9s 3d ; J. Osborne, v. D. Gray, £4 14s 6d ; John King v. Thomas Creasy, £l2 8s; Lane Bros v. Joseph Batchelor, £3 15s j Superintendent v. Thomas Burnett, £lB ; E. George v. Farrock, £1 ss. KAIAPOI. (Before G. L. Mellish, Esq., R.M., and C. Dudley, Esq.) Cattle Trespass.—John Higgins was charged with being the owner of one cow wandering at large, and was fined ss.—W. H, E. Pinching, charged with being the owner of one horse, was also fined ss; W. Macdonald, for a calf, was fined ss; Emma Davis, for one cow, fined ss; Thos. Bates, for three cows, fined 5s per head; W, A. Crooke, for two horses, fined 5s per head; costs in all cases. Obstructing a Tuoroughfare.-G. P. Day, for tethering a horse in a public thoroughfare, was fined Ss. Transfer of Licence.—A transfer of the licence of the Plough Inn, Rangiora, from Macliin to B. Bulmer, was granted. Permission was granted to John Lee to sell refreshments at a ball to take place in the Drill-shed, Oxford. civil cases, Belcher and Kairweather v. Neil M'PiiEE.-Claim £l9 lis 6d. Judgment by default. W. A. C.'iookb v. Thomas Pearson.— Claim £llos on an 10 U. Judgment by default. Same v. D. Stackwood.—Claim £lO on an 10 U given in payment for a horse. Judgment for plaintiff. THE SUEZ CANAL. «. The French Government has published in the Nonileur the following letter from Suez, of the 28th of November ■.— " Lord Mayo, the new Governor of British India, and Lord Napier, who are at this moment visiting the works of the Isthmus of Suez Canal, were present at an interesting sight. TheLevrette, a vessel of the French Navy, on its way to the naval station at Mayotte passed before them through the Isthmus. This is the first ship of war which has used the maritime passage, and our patriotism was gratified at seeing that it bore the French flag. "The greatest activity continues to reisn in the workyards of the Isthmus, Between the 15th October and the 15th November, 2,000,000 cubic metres of earth were removed. That result exceeded the provisions of the contractors, who did not count ou an excavation of more than two millions. There are present more than 17,000 labourers employed. Independently of the work effected by barrows in the small Bitter Lakes and at Serapeum, and by means of waggons and a railway at Chalouf, the contractors use sixty dredging machines, which are never at rest, day or night, Thus, of ,75,000,000 cubic metres of earth which have to be carried away to form the canal, 20,000,000 only remain to be removed. This is less than ten months' labour. " The questions which concern the working of this immense medium of communication between Europe and the extreme East are now matters of extreme urgency, In the month of October the principal agents of the company arrived in Paris, and took part in the labours of a commission composed of the most competent authorities iu maritime affairs, and dutinguished members of the corps of Roads and Bridges, Mines, and Naval Constructions. The data of the problem submitted to them for solution were of a complex nature. The question was, 'to render the passage through the Canal as rapid and as easy as possible for all vessels, regard being had to the preservation of the works executed, and iu the most economical conditions for the company, in order to reserve to the shareholders the largest share of profits.' That programme necessitated the examination of a series of special questions: to determine the maximum speed compatible ■with the preservation of the banks; the method of towage and pilotage; the influence of the tides in the Red Sea on the working; the creation of "wharf s; the light and buoying of the Canal; and, lastly, the measurement of the vessels. "The engineers of the company had returned to • gypt with the necessary instructions for studying on the spot the solutions recommended by the technical committee: Although some of these propositions may have been made public, I think it will not be without its use to pass them in review, at the same time making the observations they may suggest to me. It appears to be now definitively admitted, in the first place, that steamers may pass through from one sea to the other, without aid, at the rate of 10 kilometers -five-eighths of a mile—each per hour. That rapidity is sufficient, as vessels propelled by steam do not require a speed of more than seven kilometers to be easily steered. Sailing ships of more than 50 tons will be towed ai their own cost, at the rate of six or seven kilometers per hour. Those of a smaller size may from the breadth of the canal and the slope of the banks sail through without impeding the passage of the larger vessels. There will likewise be,every 10or meters, basins for facilitating the passage of ships and preventing the channel from being blocked up. Those of upwards of 50 tons will also be bound to employ a pilot, whose experience in the condition of navigation, and knowledge of signals by day and night, will offer a complete security. The canal, landing places, and lakes will be lighted by a system now under consideration. As to the mode of towing, nothing is yet decided on. Experiments are about to he made, but there is a probability that, in order to utilise the numerous steamers which will return to the company after the works of construction, recourse will be had for a certain time to the ordinary method. " A delicate question is the mode of measurement to be chosen by the Company for levying the tolls. According to the Act of Concession, it is authorised to charge a sum of 10 francs per ton. At first sight the collection of that toll does not seem to present any difficulty, and to require only, for the vessels of countries which have not adopted the decimal system, the conversion of the tonnage according to the ship's papers. Unfortunately, all nations do not adopt the same system of measurement. The result of those divergencies is, that a vessel would be estimated at 300 tons in France, njt 250 in England, and at 150 only in America. It would, therefore, be favouring certain flags to the detriment of others, to trust to the indication of the ship's papers, In view of the approaching opening of the Suez Canal, maritime commerce is interested in a practical result being given to the international negotiations which have been going on for several years past for the unification of the different methods of gauging. If in the month of October a definite solution has not been arrived at, the duty will devolve on the company of organising, on its own account, a really equitable mode of levying the tolls. " Among the obligations which the direct communication between the two seas imposes on the trade of all countries is the transformation of sailing vessels into steamers. Independently of the advantage these latter have of effecting the passage in sixteen hours, while the former will require twentythree or twenty-four, the navigation of, the Red Sea will be incontestably easier. As is besides shown by a recent work in "Merchant Shipping with respect to the cutting

through of the Isthmus of Suez," France has entered boldly on the course of renewing her naval plant. She will not bethe last ,to profit by the new markets which will be opened by the Suez Canal to her commercial activity."