NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2493, 27 April 1871, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The quarterly meeting of the Kaiapoi Fire Brigade took place on Monday evening last. The business transacted was siniply of a routine character. An official trial of the Thomson Eoad Steamer will be made this morning at eight ! o'clock from Mr Anderson's foundry, "with the trucks recently made, attached. The Conference of the Sunday School Union takes place this evening at S. Paul's Presbyteriau Church, Lichfield street. The KevA. F. Douglas will occupy the chair. We remind those interested in athletics that the meeting for the establishment of a gymnasium in Christchurch will take place this evening at White's Hotel at eight o'clock, when it is hoped there will be a good muster. The next of a series of Winter Readings ! will take place in the Colonists' Hall, Lyttelton, to-morrow evening. The programme will consist of songs, readings, and recitatations, and we have do doubt that it will be an attractive one. From a telegram received last evening by the agents of the s.s. Phoebe, we learn that she has been engaged on mail service, and will therefore leave Lyttelton this day for Northern ports, instead of Saturday, as previously advertised. The telegram, we may say, contains no information as to what the mail service is upon which the Phoebe is to be dispatched. The usual monthly inspection of the beadquarters corps of volunteers, by the officer commanding the district. Lintenant-Colonel Packe, took place last evening at the Drillshed, when there was a good muster. At the close of the inspection the battalion, headed by the band, marched out, and on returning to the Drillshed the men were dismissed. We are glad to notice that .the subscription lists in aid of the funds for getting up a day's racing on the Queen's Birthday are rapidly filling up, and that there is every probability of a capital day's sport being arranged. A meeting of the stewards will

be held at Tr.ttersall's on Saturday next, im" mediately after the C.J.C. meeting, which takes place at two o'clock on that day. " Jessie Brown" was performed at the Theatre Royal last evening. The piece with its sensational incidents went very well throughout, and Mrs Steele as the heroine was very effective. The comedietta of " Perfection," in which Miss Forde sang very nicely, concluded the entertainment. This evening <; Leah" will be produced, and on Friday Mrs Steele will take a complimentary and farewell benefit, when we hope Christchurch play-goers will evince their appreciation of this talented lady by -giving her a bumper house. The Ohristchureh Battery of Artillery marched out to Sun nvside Asylum on Tuesday evening, by invitation of Mr SeagerMajor Wilson, with his usual courtesy, had acceded to the request of Captain Bird that the Cavalry Band should play the Artillery out on the march ; but after waiting some time after the appointed time, au apology was received from the bandmaster for the absence of the band. Several visitors from Christchurch had gone out to the Asylum, and it was intended that the inmates should have had a treat by hearing the fine baud of the corps; but owing to the reason stated above, they were disappointed. Much dissatisfaction was expressed at the discourtesy of the band in not having given timely notice of their inability to attend, so that other arrangements might have been made. However, the men marched out, and were received by Mr Seager with his usual hospitality. Several songs were sung by members of the Battery ; and after spending a short time at the Asylum, the men returned to town. An accident, winch might have terminated fatally, occurred yesterday afternoon at the Railway Station to the constable ou duty there.- It appears that just as the 2.30 p.m. train for Lyttelton was leaving the platform Constable Conway received a letter for the guard of the train, and he ran along the platform to deliver it. Unfortunately, when at the far end of the platform, towards the engine sheds, he did not observe that he had arrived at the termination of the platform aud overbalanced himself, falling between the train and the platform. Most providentially, however, he did not fall directly under the train, or he would have been instautly killed ; and the pointsman, seeing his danger, dragged him away, not, however, before he had received some injuries. He was immediately conveyed to the Hospital, and, on enquiry, we learned that these comprised the little finger and the side of the hand smashed, probably by one of the wheels of the passing carriage, and also one of his toes ; and he has also sustained some injuries in the head from the fall, but we understand that beyond the amputation of the finger no serious results are anticipated. Altogether the escape must be regarded as almost miraculous, as, had he fallen a few inches nearer to the passing train, nothing would have saved him from instant death. On making enquiries last evening we were informed that there was no immediate danger, although the medical gentlemen of the hospital were somewhat apprehensive of the injuries to the head, Constable Conway having been in delicate health for some time past. The Temperance Bazaar at the Music Hall, was open throughout the day yesterday. The hall was fitted up very tastefully with a number of stalls, comprising a post-office and fortune-teller's tent. During the day the number of visitors was rather limited, but in the evening a goodly throng collected, and business was brisk. The stalls were presided over as follows: —No. 1, the Misses Caygill. and the Misses Hyde ; No. 2, Mr E. Ford (cooperage) ; No. 3, the Misses Rowley ; No. 4, the Misses Beunetts, and the Misses Clephaue ; No. 5 (refreshment), Mr E. Bennetts, assisted by Mrs Bourn and Mrs Dethier: Post-office, Miss Caygill; Fortune-telling tent, Miss Bennetts, and Miss Clephane. Mr and the Misses Rowley also had a wheel of fortune where the lucky visitor for an infinitesimal expenditure became the possessor of several articles, useful and ornamental. In the gallery a somewhat novel feature in bazaars was displayed—a stall of joints of meat of suitable sizes, contributed by Mr McKeever of the City Butchery. Mr Ford's stall was another novelty, there being displayed tubs, churns, pails, and other articles of woodware. Of course the various ladies holding stalls, assisted by a numerous corps of assistants, were indefatigable in their efforts to dispose of their wares, and were most successful. The fortune-telling tent was during the evening the centre of attraction, and judging from the smiling faces of the visitors, the sybil must have held out hopes of a most brilliant future. The refreshment stall, under able superintendence, was also largely patronised ; and altogether the bazaar was a success. During the evening the trial of Sir John Barleycorn was performed, the various officials connected with the Court being attired in orthodox costume, and the crier having the true Milesian brogue. The bazaar will be open this day, and tonight the farce of " The Man with the Carpet Bag," and other entertainments will be given • In reference to our statement on Tuesday that quartz containing gold had been found at the Malvern hills, Mr John Winterbine has allowed us to copy the following reply received by him to an application which he made to the Superintendent on the subject : —"Provincial Secretary's Office, Christchurcli, Canterbury, April 25. 1871. Mr John Winterbine, Plank's Britannia Hotel Sic, —In repiy to your letter of yesterday's date, in which you request his Honor the Superintendent to make a certain reserve under The Canterbury Temporary Mining Reserves Act, 1809, I am directed to inform you that his Honor has made the reserve, the ! description of which accompanied your letter and that a proclamation to that effect will appear shortly. The reservation will not continue in force beyond the end of the next session of the Provincial Council, unless application is then made for its renewal. No regulations have yet been issued under which prospecting licenses can be granted ; should, however, a paying goldfield be developed on the reserve, your rights under the Act will be duly recognised.—l have, &c, Walter Kexnaway, Provincial Secretary." The specimens of gold-bearing quartz, on the alleged finding of which the application has been granted, are, by the kind permission of Mr D. Davis, open to inspection at his office, High street. We understand that an endeavor is about to be made to raise a subscription for enabling the discovere.

thoroughly to test the numerous quartz reefs within the reserve.—his own available means being exhausted by a course of prospecting between the Hurunui and Burkes Pass, which has extended over two years. The boundaries of the temporary reserve will, of course, appear in the promised proclamation. An engineer in the employ of the Turkish Government has planned a railway tunnel. made in sections, to be submerged thirty-four feet below the surface of the water, and moored to the bottom by chain cables. He proposes to sink it across the Bosphorus. and thus connect Europe and Asia by railway. The European J/nil says:—''There appears now some probability of Mr Monsell, the new Postmaster-General, being induced to revise the rates of newspapers, postage. kc. to Australia ; at all events, strong representations arc again to be made to him on the subject by influential parties, to which he has promised* patient and careful consideration." The West Coast Times reports a sad accident at Maori Point. Greenstone, on Saturday last, resulting in the instantaneous death of a miner named George Taylor, and in the fracture of the leg of his mate. Alexander Stewart, who was brought down to Hokitika and conveyed to the Hospital, where, on examination, it was deemed necessary to amputate the limb at the thigh. Ur Garland performed the operation. Mr Walter Montgomery has written a lonp letter to the Era in praise of the colonies, being a reply to an article that appeared in the columns of that paper headed " Arrived in Australia," and bearing on the experience of Charles Mathews in Victoria. Mr Montgomery concludes his communication by the observation—" Australia is the only home for the legitimate drama, and I say this after a large American and English experience."' The following advertisement, amusingly characteristic of a social phase of West Australian life, appears in the Fremantle Herald —" Complimentary Ball and Supper—Henry Beard has much pleasure in informing his supporters and friends that he will give a complimentary ball and supper at his boarding-house, in Bunbury, on Thursday, (ith April, 1871, being the day of the expiration of the sentence received at York in the j year 18G4. Henry Beard proposes to give this entertainment as a slight acknowledgment of the kindness and support he has received since his commencement in business at Bunbury." A long correspondence has been published between Sir Spencer Robinson, late Controller of the Navy, and Mr Gladstone, which appears to amount to this. Mr Childers resolved to omit Sir Spencer's name from the Admiralty patent for some unknown cause, possibly incompatibility, possibly, as Sir Spencer implies, because he held the Coutroller responsible for the loss of the Captain. On the 14th December accordingly, Mr Childers asked his subordinate to resign, and Sir Spencer either did or did not accede. Mr Childers says he did, Sir Spencer says he did not, and the point is one on which both may be conceivably in the right, each interlocutor attributing too much meaning to the other's words. Mr Childers made a memorandum of the resignation, and Mr Gladstone, in his absence, insisted upon its being carried out. Sir Spencer thinks this unfair, unless Government state their reason for the withdrawal of their confidence, which Mr Gladstone declines to do, as it "would only revive the whole of a painful discussion, the conclusion of which is foregone." On the face of the correspondence, Sir Spencer Robinson has been dismissed without being informed of the reason for his dismissal ; but of course this is not the whole case, and until Mr Childers returns it is impossible for the public to form an opinion on the transaction. There are no data. Mr Vogel's mail contracts, says the JYelson Examiner, are perplexing. First, there was the contract with Mr Neilsou, repudiated by that gentleman's principal, Mr Webb ; then there was contract No. 2, made with Messrs Webb and Halliday, and duly signed and certified in San Francisco ; and now we have contract No. 3, made with the same gentleman in New York, in which the branch line to Australia is abandoned, and the service is to be simply a New Zealand one, but with no abatement of subsidy. The Congress has refused to vote the liberal subsidy to our mail service, which Mr Webb and his agents, and the San Francisco papers, have declared so persistently would readily be given ; it was necessary to give a sop of some kind to Mr Webb, particularly when it was found that he would have to depend on New Zealand alone for passengers and freight for his magnificent steamers—which for the work they will have to perform, will be as well adapted as would a four-horse wagon to do the work of a butcher's cart. Mr Hall's line of steamers from Auckland to connect with the direct Australian line at Fiji, gives New Zealand the chance of au English mail service, via America, at a much less cost than Mr Yogel would provide us with. Mr Webb will be no less glad than the colony to terminate this third contract, as its maintenance would be a serious loss to both parties. The pioneer steamer, the Nebraska was to leave San Francisco for New Zealand on the Bth of April, and should reach Auckland on the 3rd of May, but we cannot believe New Zealand will see the vessel a second time. A corrrespondent of the Auckland Herald writes as follows : —Fancy sending down the Rosario to catch Slaves in the South Pacific. A greyhound to hunt down fleas. But it is exactly the British Government. Anxious to do what is right, but blundering headlong into everything without consideration, or even commoa sense. How Captain Challis expected to get hold of the slavers I really don't know ; he went a queer way about it. Went in a straightforward English Jack Tar sort of a fashion, and I suppose expected to find long-heeled schooners with tremendous rifled guns and dare devil crews flying the black flag. I'll warrant the Itosario would have been all there in such a case. But the South Sea slavers are not that kind of ruffian. I consider them infinitely worse. I can find something to admire in your bold, reckless, fighting, piratical, old-fashioned slaver, but I can have no feeling but contempt for your miserable little sneaking cutter or schooner of thirty, forty, or fifty tons that goes down under the cloak of humbug and robs, steals, and prigs when safe opportunity offers, and runs away yelling, from the daylight of truth. I heard of one of these slaving captains (s/c) the other day. He is ah Auckland man, and he sails an Auckland vessel. He had seized a man belonging ,to a certain island in the New Hebrides, and had him under hatches, The wind fell light, and the vessel was becalmed two or three miles off shore. The wife of this native swam off to the vessel in order to try and get her husband back. Foreseeing trouble if she boarded, the captain deliberately shot her alongside in the water with bis revolver. I assure you they are very nice people to know, these captains, and they make money too. but I have a foolish faucy that money so earned would leave a red mark on one's fingers. In an article on flax-dressing, the Daily Times says :—So far as our observation and enquiry in this matter have gone, we have only met with one sample of dressed 1 fibre in which the gum could not be detected by the microscope. This sample was dressed by a process invented by Mr Luke Nattrass. "of Nelson, and kept secret by the inventor. On placing first a beautiful specimen of Maori-dressed flax, and then a sample of that dressed by Mr Nattrass's process, under the microscope, the superiority of the latter was at once apparent; for whereas in the former small flakes of gum could be seen, in the latter not the slightest trace of its presence could be detected. We take from the Nelson Colonist, of 18th March, 1864, the following particulars regarding Mr Nattrass's process;—"We

have before us three-,quarters of an ounce of fibre, the produce of one small! leaf of New Zealand tlax, which we saw cleaned of its outside husk aud reduced to a fibrous condition by mechanical agency in not more than two minntes by Mr Xattrass His plan is to boil the flax [leaf] for a certain number of hours in a liquid the chemi- , cal composition of which is a secret. The leaf is then taken from the boiler and subjected to a combined pressure and friction by passing through a pair of rollers in different directions. This process clears the leaf entirely of all the green husky outside. The j fibre thus cleaned has only to be washed in ; water and dried, and the process is complete. ' The water in which it is washed deposits a green substauee, which it is believed could be applied to some useful purpose, cither as pig- ! ment or otherwise. The mechanical part of ! the work is, as we have said, very quickly performed, even with incomplete and experimental machinery employed. The process is infinitely superior to, and more expeditious than that to which the real flax of commerce is treated in Europe, where steeping is followed by drying, scutching, and other laborious manipulations, extending over I many days. By the chemical appliances of | Mr Xattrass, the whole proceeding necessary j to render the article fit for being packed for shipment, need not occupy more than twelve hours. Cut in the morning, the phormittm tenax may be boiled in the solution, pressed j and rolled, washed and dried, before sunset of the day. , "Why Mr Nattrass lias not turned his discovery to any commercial use, we are not in a position to say : but that his process turns out a sample of fibre entirely free from gum, beautifully white, and more silky in feel than any other samples we have seen, we are prepared to testify. The London correspondent of the Argus gives the following summary of Mr Card well's New Army Bill:—The great feature of his scheme is the abolition of the system of purchase, to which radical alteration the Dukcof Cambridge has at length become a convert. Commissioners will be appointed to purchase the commissions of retiring officers at their regulation aud over-regulation value—a change involving an estimated expenditure of about £8,000,000, which will be spread over a series of years. Commissions in future will be granted in three several ways—to those who have obtained them by competitive examination, to those who have served as subalterns in the militia for two years, and to deserving non-commissioned officers. Promotion up to the rank of captain will be regulated by seniority, but above that grade by selection through the com-mauder-in-chief, subject to strict regulations and the approval of the Secretary at War. All commissions iire to emanate from the Crown, the privileges of lords-lieutenants of couuties, as regards militia, being withdrawn. The whole of the land forces are to be regarded as branches of the same | organisation, and the volunteers as well as militia of each district, will be under the general command of a colonel of the staff. To increase the efficiency of the volunteers a sum of £iO,OOO additional will be paid to the officers, and they will be brought, when out with the regulars, under the stricter discipline of the Mutiny Act. The Bill contains a provision for compulsory service in case of great emergency; but otherwise it is not proposed to resort to it, either with or without substitutes. These changes have yet to be discussed, but meanwhile there is an increase in the estimates this year of £2,8<iG,700. The total armed force within the kingdom is reckoned at 300,000 men, exclusive of 170,000 volunteers. The regulars at home are numbered at 108,000 ; the militia, with longer drill, will be raised to ■ 130,000. The artillery will also be strengthened from 180 to 330 guns. These figures will show that the nation is alive to its risks. We ; have, in addition, the navy as our first and ' strongest line of defence. The increase in the estimates for this branch of the service is but £385,826. The commander-in-chief will, under the new system, still be a per- ' manent official, though responsible to the Secretary of War, and working under the . same roof with him. The Duke of Cambridge has been severely criticised, and the , Government has been blamed, as yielding ; too much to court influences in continuing [ him in his office to carry out the new regu- , lations. Mr Trcvelyan gave expression to , this feeling in a resolution proposing to alter l the present tenure of the command "in such > a manner as to enable the Secretary for War to avail himself freely of the best adminis- ; trative talent and the most recent military . experience ,-" but Mr Cardwell maintained [ that the office was a proper and necessary exception from the five years' rule which ' generally applied to staff appointments, and * on a division the motion was lost by a large ; majority. At a public dinner the other day, His Royal Highness rather astonished the [ public by speaking of himself as "an ad- ! vanced army reformer." The Spectator makes the following remarks '■ regarding the experience of Mr V. Smith, a • Unitarian minister from the Committee of ' Revision :—The Bishops have struck the ' heaviest blow at the National Church which it has received for many a long year,—with- ■ out knowing it ; but three righteons men ■ have been found, the Bishops of St David's and Exeter and the Dean of Wcstmister (perhaps four, though the Bishop of Peter- ; borough's speech, as reported in the Cfnar- '■ flian, is not very explicit and far from strong), to show that ecclestical dignity does not uproot common honesty and common sense. "S. Winton," emulating the S. Oxon of former days, finding that the appointment of a Unitarian on the Committee of Revision had given offence outside, suddenly proposed by a coup d'etat to break faith with the Committee of Revision, and with the bodies it represented, and carry the following resolution, intended to have the effect of expelling the Unitarian divine, Mr Vance Smith, from the Eevisers. Dr Wilberforce moved—"That in the judgment of this House it is not expedient that any person who denies the Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ should be invited to assist in the revision of the Scriptures, and that it is the judgment further of this House that any such one now in either compauy should cease to act therewith." This resolution the Bishop of Winchester, supported by a great display of his usual unctuous and Pharisaic eloquence, distinguishing between " sanctified " and " unsauctified " learning, and explaining that fellowship between such as he and such as Mr Vance Smith on a question of Biblical scholarship is quite unfitting. We are disposed to agree with him. The Bishop seems entirely incompetent to discern what strict intellectual veracity in relation to such a duty as the revision of the Bible really means. His resolution was carried by ten votes against four! The Bishop of St. David's, in a speech which increases our honor for him to reverence, has consequently resigned his distinguished place amongst the Old Testament Revisers. In the Lower House of Convocation, Dean Stanley made a most eloquent and telling exposure of the cowardice and bad faith of this ecclesiastical coup d'etat. He could never believe, he said, that the House of Convocation would " turn on itself with the plaintiff noise of an antiquated weathercock." He spoke of what was proposed as a " distinct breach of faith, and to describe that as a course adopted " in the Saviour's honor" was to treat the Saviour's name as that of a " heathen deity." He i reminded the. House that it was not every one who said to our Lord, •• Lord ! Lord ! " who should " enter into the kingdom of heaven," but "he who doeth the will of my Father ;"' and he had no words to express his indignation at the doctrine that a direct breach of faith was done in honor of the Word of Truth. Poor Dγ Jelf had actually begun the discussion by saying that he attributed the wonderful change indicated by the resolution of the Upper House " to the direct influence of the Holy Spirit," and thought it a subject for thankfulness and joy. There is something truly piteous in such moral confusion, as that —a mind struck with awe as at a clearly supernatural influence when a sudden wave of cowardice an 3 bad faith sweeps over the Episcopacy, : ,

The London correspondent of the Ah* decn Free lW*s supplies the fol Apropos of letters to Paris. I \y M ™:/~~ mc a copy of one of the letters n is a piece of thin paper, an inch and Vhi f i oug, and one inch wide. Photographed n» it is the whole of the front pa™' of Z Times, containing six columns ofTulvertiVn ments addressed to various persons in P-iriT iheTimvs has lately been in the rcceiS nearly £1000 a-day for advertising tins character. .Many persous have won dered what use they were, and how J they could possibly be seen l, v an l ! one in Paris. The plan has been to"photo graph the page on paper of the dimensions I have just stated, roll up the photo-ran], place it in a quill, tie the quill to one of the : feathers in the tail of a carrier pigeon and so start it for Pane. On its arrival thore the postal authorities placed the photograph in a powerful magic lantern, and threw a highly magnified copy on a large screen a staff of clerks theu transcribed the various messages, and sent, them to the addresses indicated in the advertisements. Fancy'the carrier pigeon, the magic lantern, nnd photography becoming the great postal aids between the two largest cities of Europe. What is a milliard? That is a question which has has been rife on the lips of every one since the leading morning paper came out with its exaggerated statement of the claims of the King of Prussia against France. Everybody has heard of a billion and a trillion, but what is a milliard I Well, a milliard is just a thousand million francs. Divide that by twentyfive, aud pretty closely aproximate to its equivalent in English sovereigns. What amount of pecuniary compensation Count Bismarck will really demand is hardly likely to be known just yet. Bismark is not the man to publish his intentions too early, or confide them to any " iuterviewer " who may ask him to explain himself. A curious explanation of the Pondicherry difficulty has been offered by the Belgians. You are aware that the cession of Pondicherry has been stated to be one of the conditions of peace. Where is Pondicherry I On the Coromandel coast of India, a geographical school-boy would reply. Then the question might be asked, of what use would Pondicherry be to Prussia. The answer is—None at all, "simply as Pondicherry. But the Island of Heligoland, which we own at present, would be of great use to the Emperor William. We are not disposed to sell it, and Prussia has at present nothing to give in exchange but let her get Pondicherry, and then she will swop with us for Heligoland, that is the theory oC the Belgians. A curious bit of news comes to mc by the way of Berlin. In that city there is a wide-spread belief that the goddess of Fashion is to take up her abode there, and quit for ever her former home in Paris. Accordingly, there has been a meeting-of eighty hat manufacturers to decide, in solemn conclave, what shall be the form and character of the hat to be worn by the world next season. If they succeed in devising anything better than what we wear at present, and which the Americans term a stovepipe, we shall have reason to be thankful. We already have Berlin hosiery, why not Berlin hats? "A Master Mariner," writing in a Sydney paper, thus refers to the communication which existed in ancient times between difitant islands of the Pacific :—" It is an unquestionable fact, that between the Ladrono Islands and Tahiti, and from both these points to Hawaii, there did centuries ago exist a communication by canoes, and a recognised relationship, which is evidenced by the prevalence of certain peculiar customs, the perpetuating of identical traditions and family names—as likewise (probably) by theerection of landmarks, or memorial edifices, at certain points of their route. This is most noticeable in the low islands to the northeast and east of Samoa, where there occurs an unmistakeablc meeting of the races of the south-east and north-west, and a language analogous to both, and yet almost identical with that of Hawaii. Their traditions also (which bear internal evidence of their own truthfulness), confirm beyond a doubt this conclusion—that these barbarians did frequently, aud without fear, sail from island to island, apparently from motives of mere curiosity, over at least two-thirds of the breadth of the great Pacific Ocean. The query arises, To what cause are we then to attribute the discontinuance of maritime adventure among them 1 It would be difficult, I have no doubt, to find a satisfactory solution of the question; but one fact is very significant—that they seem (from their traditions) to have, from unexplained causes, abandoned in a great measure this traffic upon the seas about 300 years ago, or simultaneously with the appearance of the ' great canoea " without outriggers ' (i. c., European vessels) ; and that from somewhere about that date their barbarism became yet' move barbarous, cannibalism and human sacrifice in many groups more prevalent, and that the practice of murdering strangers took the place of ancient hospitality. Herein are mysteries." The New Zealand Herald has the following remaaks on New Zealand v. Tasmanian timber:—We have frequently had occasion to call attention to the difference existing in~ the qualities of the New Zealand and Tasmanian timber. At one time a great deal of the latter was used in the construction of public and other works ; and for some time it was thought that nothing could beat the bluegum of Van Oieman's Land, the importation of which was continued at a great expense, on account, of course, of its alleged superiority. When the Queen street wharf was built, the majority of the piles used were of this wood, while some of the New Zealand totara piles were also used. It was found in the course of a few years that the Tasmanian timber was completely worm-eaten , and rotten, while the New Zealand timber remained almost as hard as when first put down. Most of the bad piles were, therefore, taken up and Now Zealand wood substituted. The very same thing happenedwith the upper planking of the wharf, which' was partly composed of New Zealand wood and partly of Tasmanian. As in the other case, the Tasmanian was very soon thoroughly worn out, and at the present time the planking of the wharf consists wholly of native wood. When the farthest T was added to the wharf, some years after the construction of the old wharf, and before the respective qualities of the wood were rightly known and appreciated, a portion of the piles were of indigenous wood ; a portion of them were the Tasmanian blue-gum. These latter were all sheathed with copper, with the exception of the lower ends, which were driven into the mud. The copper reached to within a foot or so of the river bed when the pile was driven home. This foot of uncoppered wood in every pile is now utterly destroyed by the ravages of the minnte worm which infests this harbor, and it is found necessary, if the firmness of the outer T is to be maintained, to remove the piles and substitute others in their stead. We may stato that the totara piles driven down alongside the others at the same time arc in no way destroyed, thus affording proof —if any further proof were really wanted—of the vastly superior quality of the New Zealaud over the Tasmanian timber. We do trust that the public are now fully convinced upon this point, and that there will be no more of this expensive and almost useless (for harbor pui-poses) wood imported into this country, when such a vastly superior article is to be found at our own doors. A Daily Kcics correspondent, writing from Bordeaux, says—On 13th February, when the formality of naming the Bureaux had been gone through, General Garibaldi advanced towards the Tribune, and M. Esquires deputy for Marseilles, exclaimed in a loud voice " Garibaldi asked to speak some time ago—hear him." A tumultuous scene ensued. Vehement cries of "Hear Garibaldi" were met by others equally energetic of " No Garibaldi," "No Italian." Let him hold hie tongue." The public in the Tribunes took part with Garabaldi. and several National Guards said i; It is infamous—these men are sold." One man with a long black beardj

roared ont from an upper box, *• You rural majority listen iofehe voice of the towns." In the midst of the confusion the President p.m. on bis hat and gave orders to clear the pilleries of strangers. There wns no occasion to obey the order, as Garibaldi gave up the attempt to speak, and members and strangers all went out together. As Garibaldi left the house the National Guard presented arms'to him. M. Thiers, quite in a rape, went up to the officer in command and said, " Why do you do that V " Because," said the officer, without a moment's hesitation, "he is General Garibaldi—he is a deputy, he has come to fight for France, and he is the only general who has taken a Prussian flag." M. Thiers made no reply, and I should think must be sorry that he asked the question. As he got into his carriage, accompanied by General Borbone and two aides-de-camp, Garibaldi had quite an ovation. He rose, and I saw, standing upright, that legendary figure with which pictures have made all the world familiar. He had a grey cloak over his red shirt, and wore a loose brown felt hat, of the kind called a " wide-a-wake." He said a few words only, to the effect that he had come to France to fight for the Republic—that he should have been happy to serve Republican France in any war, but that his mission was now over, and he should start that night for his home, Caprera. A correspondent writing from Neuchatel on February 4, thus describes the misery and suffering which Bourbaki's army suffered on its retreat into Switerland :—" Our usually quiet town of Neuchatel has completely changed its aspect since the entire rout and final surrender of the army of Bourbaki. At twelve o'clock on Monday, January 30, the first telegram from Pontarlier was received, announcing the fact that a body of 500 French troops had crossed the frontier, and would arrive within an hour at Neuchatel. The International Society immediately made a public appeal to the inhabitants for aid, requesting that the townspeople would, without delay, repair to the station with soup, coffee, bread, or whatever other eatables they could procure on such a short notice. Neuchatel nobly responded to the call, and on the arrival of the train there was not only enough for every- one of the poor famished soldiers, but sufficient left for as many more. Women from the poorest class might be seen hastening to the station with the soup and potatoes they had prepared for their own families, and great was the gratitude expressed by the French as they threw themselves like hungry wolves upon whatever came first to hand. After the first few mouthfuls had appeased their cravings, cries might be beard on all sides of ' Vive Iα Siiisse! ' ' Vive Newh&tel! On ne rums aurait pas mteux fraites clu-z funis' Almost all were in rags, and entirely without stockings. Here and there was a man without his hat, or a Zouave who had a Prussian helmet instead of his red fez. Boots and shoes had been lost in the snow, and were a rarity ; a few who had still some spirit left in them had supplied their place by wooden sabots of their own manufacture. The men complained of their officers as having betrayed them, and the officers threw the blame onthemen,who, they said, were undisciplined and would not stand fire, and mutual distrust and recrimination were the order of the day. They said they had wandered up and down along the frontier line of mountains, knowiug neither their own position nor that of the enemy, but hemmed in closer and closer by the retreating troops of their own army, as well as by the advancing Prussians, with whom they had occasional skirmishing. Not having dared to light a fire, and their ration biscuit being entirely at an end, they had eaten nothing but raw potatoes they had found in the deserted villages, and drunk nothing but snow-water, till starvation and want had forced them to surrender to the Swiss troops at Pontarlier, whence they had been at once sent on by rail to Neuchatel, As there were some cases of smallpox and typhus they were not allowed to leave the station, but were sent on two hours later to Geneva, there to await orders from Berne as to their future destination. The same evening a similar scene might be witnessed, only, as it was too late to send them on that night, a shelter had to be provided. It was decided to turn one of the churches into a temporary hospital, and thither they were all escorted and installed for the night. Those who were severely wounded were kept, while all who were well enough to be moved were sent off by a morning , train, as advices had been received that we were only at the beginning of the tragedy. On January 31, three companies of 1000 men each came in, in the same miserable condition. On arriving, cries were heard for ' Lint, lint, for God's sake, some lint,' as the agony arising from half-frozen wounds exceeded the pangs of hunger. Then came the armistice, and yesterday and to-day trains are running every half-hour with'SOO or 1000 men each. Already 20,000 have passed through, each alighting for a few hours to rest, to be well fed, and supplied with fresh shirts as far as possible. The latest official accounts speak of 60,000 French having laid down their arms. 450 guns being in the Val de Travers, with munitions and mitrailleuses, unable to be brought on till to-day, as there are not horses enough."