MISCELLANEOUS. [From September 6 To October 4.]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4402, 4 October 1871, Page 7

MISCELLANEOUS. [From September 6 To October 4.]

iTia with pleasure, that wo have now and 'then bo chronicle the establishment of new local industries, aad it is always more satisfactory when the industry takes the form of utilising the indigenous products of the provinoe, In these cases they prove a double* advantage, to the city : they provide a cer- 1 tain amount of labour (o a largo section of the community, and they enable hs to realise a cash income from that from which there was no outlay, but which- Nature had provided in abundance, The industry referred to on the presont occasion is one especially ad van- I tagoous for these reasons, as the natural pro- j duct utilised is the primeval forests, of which, the market now being , opened will consume nearly l,000,000ffc. annually. It is an industry called Into existence mainly on account .of the establishment of the San Francisco mail service. Honolulu is a | large sugar - produoipg country, 3 and Wtv,' Isaac Railey, who occupies' 1 the premises lately known as the Lion and Lamb Hotol, Chancery-street, ascertained that in Honolulu there existed an annual demand for some 100,000 barrels, each capable of holding ikbput lcwt.,of sugar. Hitherto thi9 want has been supplied from Boston, in the United States; but as the voyage round Cape Horn is a long one, and consequently the i trade 'inusfc be carried on at a considerablo'disadvantage, it occurred to Mr. Railey that the requisite, supply of barrels oould be sent from Auckland, in successful competition with the Bostonians. He accordingly tried the market, and fdund that ib would be to his advantage to secure that trade. By the 'Nevada,' which sailed on September 7, a second consignment of sugar barrels was made, and this time the number sent was 720. Mr. Railey is now getting powerful machinery fitted up for the- purpose, so that the production of the barrels will be as cheap as possible. The energy of Mr. Railey in thus taking steps to extend' Auckland's trade deserves succes3, 'and it should teach other citizens to cast their eyes about them, and sea how many other similar openings foV extending our trade there may exist, but which are at present unheeded. The Chinese passengers by the 'Joshua Bates' marched through town on September 12 their way to Onehunga, where thoy shipped on board the 'Tarauaki' for their original destination — Dunedin. Amongst the papers laid before the General Assembly during the present session is one containing " Abstracts of Certain Principal j Results of a Census of New Zealand, takeii ' on the night of the 27th February, 1871," m which some curious features of our social condition are observed. The first table in that paper shows, as, is well known, that the provinces in the extreme north and south are the most numerously populatod ; Auckland ( containing a total of 62,335 (exclusive of natives), while Otago has but 60,722. The proportion of females to the males in Auckland is greater than in Otago, the numbers being in the former province — Males, 35,502 ; females, 26,833 ; aud in the latter province — Male3, 36,771 ; and females, 23,951. This is a feature favourable to the future prosperity j of Auckland. The disproportion between ' the sexes in the colony is not great, j Out of a total population (exclusive of natives) of 256; 393 there are no fewer than 106,037 females, or about j one female to every 1 "418 males. There are' few colonial communities which can show, the sexes so evenly proportioned. Another peculiarity will be seen in the fact that Auckland possesses a greater number of young and old persons than Otago, -while the ( latter proviace has a greater number of males between the a£jes of 21 and 55 than Auckland. Again, the houses in which the inhabitants live show some peculiar features. There are in all 57, 182 inhabited houses or tents within the colony. Auckland and Otago again como to the front rank amongst all the provinces. Auckland has 12,321 wooden houses inhabited, while of the same class Otago haa 8,669. Of houses built of brick or stone Auckland has 293, and Otago 923. In respect to raupo whares, Auckland is prominent with a total of 598 ■ against 7 in Otago. Buildings constructed of other materials in Auckland number 455, of which 200 ate tents, and in Otag© 4,133, of which 1,033 are tents. Auckland has a total number of 13,667 inhabit sd houses, including tents, while Otago has 13,732. In the whole oolony there are ; 43,951 wooden houses, 1,540 built of brick' or stone, 759 built of Vaupo,' and 8,932 built of other materials, including 2,404 tonts. Taking the colony as a whole this is an' average of, nearly 4,i persons to each, dwelling, whether it be a tent, ov a brick or wooden house. i One of the moat disgraceful casea that'have ever been reported in Auckland was the ' talk of the tpwn on Septttnber 9. A married man, who followed the occupation of ■liarebroker, and -whose -wife — A l*dy of most respectable family— at'present resides with her four little children at Parnell — has/ married and eloped with ' another ' woman. On September 7 it appears ho went through the form of marriage, having, we are informed, obtained the consent of the girl's father, who was at the Thamei, by false representation. In compauy • with' his paramour he left Auckland for , Sun Francisco iu the 'Nevada.' His rascality, however, did not} end with the desertion of his wife and children. After bi» departure it was iound that he had disposed of various parcels of shards entrusted to him, drawn the •money, and decamped with the whole prooeeds. Mr Stovin states his loss at over £200, and we hear there are other sufferers to a laige amount. The Thames Mail says :— " The painful circumstances attending the marriage of Miss .Paul have only been partially re-y.ealed.-to our readers, principally, through the , information afforded to our Auckland contemporaries by . the relatives of' the young man who haa bo outraged society by, his infamous conduct. The parent of the young accompanied by an elder, sister, who are, residing at the Thames, called upon us on September 13,and imparted their version of the story, which is thoroughly reliable; an,d bears the impression of trnthih every' particular. , It appears that Mr; H."V. Stevens had been playing the part bf- a faithful lover for' many months^ and in the presence 1 of the^ menlbera bf the family asserted his 1 affection 'aud'Tionon'rable ihtdntions towards the'gifl. So fat frdra the family 'suspecting that' Mr. H. ' V. Stevens ■was- 'already » married man,' Mr. Pan! Informs us that he had' 'received ' for ' his daughter, during the ahootinfc season/ pre. «ents of pheasants brought by Mr. Stevens, eeniqr, . from^ ;his^ .; $onv, , j< ;The pngsgement of* the' 'two ,/waa "fcnown to thers besides the family of Mr. P»ul 4 »nd the affectionate letters ' penned W his daughter were never kept secret from the fcmOy. Not the slightest rospioion erer

arose in the minds of Mr. ami Mra. Pau of the condition of Mr. Stoveus, and the matter was ' only revealed ' to the family by the newspaper statements. The statement that tbe, bridegroom was intoxicated, or that lie was not interrogated as to the name given in the certificate, is utterly deniel by those who witnessed the ceremony, so that no blame, c^n, attach to Dr. Wallia; 'who 3 performed th'o "marriage. He made the declaration that he was * Sydney Pope Stevens,' the person named in the registrar's certificate, and, there waayiwthing to corivey the faintest impression fro the mind o'f any of the jparfcy £h,a't niatWstJwere not right. Nor was there any concealment of the fact that the pair were ito> depart by the • Nevada,' aa a letter in th* han'dwriting of the young lady to 'her "sister, afc the Thames, writton-on-tho day preceding her marriage, confirmed, the announcement to her friends." On September 17 tvvo children, one seven years of age, and Uie other about a year older, procured two pieces of candles, aouio matches, and ft bundle of old newspapers. Placing the latter against the wooden portion of the side wall of 'the Army and Navy Hotel, the candles were lighted, and the papers set in flame- In, a few seconds there was a considerable blaze, which fortunately was observed by a Mrs. Hacket, who gave an alarm, and the fire* was speedily extinguished, not however until the lower beards of the building had been, considerably scorohed. One' of the children' had fallen and soiled her apron. She had taken it to a water-hole to wash, and had adopted the above method to dry it. Had the flames not been seen by Mrs. Hacket, it is quite within probability that the hotel would liave been, burned to the ground. - * * ! The iThames Advertiser has the following : — " A very great feature in the industry of the Hape creek has been the opennig of a freestone quarry, in which a, large number of men are now employed breaking out stone for the foundation of' the Pumping A ssociation's machinery. The stone is, we learn, of excellent quality, and well adapted for the purposes for which it is to be used." One of those admirable entertainments which have from time to time been givon for the benefit of the unfortunate patients in the Lunatic Asylum took place on Thursday last. There was a moderate attendance of visitors, but only one conveyance had been put on from Auckland, and some ■person^ who would otherwise 'have been present were consequently prevented from attending. Mr. Browne exhibited his admirable magic lantern views, which served to amuse the patients, and he~ was ably assisted by Mr. Graham. A concert by amateurs foUoyed, and the Band^' under the leaderships^ Mr. McComish, was present,, and discoursed excellent music. After the concert a dabce,' in which both visitors and tho more rational of the patients joined, was entered into with much spirit. The entertainment was a very great success.- We were requested to thank all those who assisted afc tho affair, for their kindness in giving up their time and talents for this praiseworthy object. On September 21 tue match arranged between the No. 2 Company H.R. V., and a team of the No. 8 Company Stafford R.V., Eugland, came off at the Parawai butts, Thames ; and, considering the very unsettled state of the wind, the 10 members selected from No. 2 Company H.R.V. made very fair shooting, particularly as this is tho first match of the season. There were seven, shots at each range, the firing being under Wimbledon regulations. The 200 yards range was standing position, with reduced targets, the bull's-eye being only 8in. square. Afc the 500 and GOO yards ranges the.re were threo targets with bulls'eyes 2ft. square. Tho following is the score :— • i s

Oar correspondent at Wairoa, Kaipara, writes : — " I hear complaints of the scarcity and inferiority of the gum on the fields for miles round, and, if the land ie dug, as it has been during the past year, in another twelve months, I imagine, the supply will be very small. Then we must either turn our attention to agriculture, timber, and llax, or clear out to California or Nova Zembla. In my opinion, the presence of gum hero has been a misfortune rather than an advantage, in that it has retarded the progress .of- agriculture, the most certain and permanent^source, if not of wealth, at least of settlement and comfort. — The Rev. F.Gould arrived here on ilia quarterly visit on /Thursday week. On Sunday week, he held divine service at Mr. Wilson's, Te Awamutu, oud on Sunday morning at Whakahara, in the aftsrnoon at Aratapu, and evening service at Te Kopura." Mr. Chapman, the publisher, is preparing a directory for Auckland, to be published as a supplement to the New Zealand Almanac for 1872. The following ">s the return of the value of imports at the chief ports of the colony, for the June quarter of tho present year : — Auckland, £185,346 ; Wellington, i'GG.530 ; Dunedin, £259, GG5 ; Nelson, £22,728 ; Westpirt, £22,451; Greymouth, ±'52,034; Hokitika, £45,579; Lyttclton, £84,241; Whanganui, £9,917. The exports for tho samo period wore :— Auckland, £330,212 ; Wellington, £49,700 ; Dunodin, £308,816 ; Nelson, ' £14,213 ; Weatport, £58,573 ; Greymoutb, £ 82,800 ; Hokiliko, £93,394; Lyttelton, £170,537. Tho third annual report of the Accountant in Bankruptcy shows that the number of adjudged bankrupts for 18G9-70 have been— Aucklaud, 187 ; Canterbury, 123 ; Ntjson, 21 'y. Otago and Southland, 148 ; Wellington and Whanganni, 81 ; Taranaki and Hawke'« Bay, 7; Greymouth, 49; Westport, 20; Westland South, 79 : o£ which 80 were hotelkeepers, 61 storekeepers and grocers, 87 farmers and settlers, GG miners. Tho number of discharges granted lias been 535. and final discharges suspended in 78 cases.

Year. 1863 ... 18G4 ... 1SG5 . . 186G ... 1SG7 ... 18G8 ... 1869 ... 1870 ... 1871 to June 30 Iuteruolouial. £26,000 . 30,000 35,110 . 21,057 11,700 0,000 7,800 2,521 2,757 Inter- m » „, provincial. ... £23,300 ... £49,300 .. 27.32S ... G3.328 ... 33,729 ... 6S.845 ... 29,069 ... 51,344= ... 31,000 ... 42,700 8,400. ... 14,400 ... 10,030 ... 18,450 7,575 ... 10.09G 5,200 .. 7,957

The following were the rafces paid for mail serviced for New Zealand from 18(53 to 1871 :—

zooya*. 5 Private T. Constable 16 Private T. Hoskms . 21 Corporal W.Creightpn 17 Captain Barnett . '.'20 Private J. iSopkins . 19 Private F.H. Pulliene 20 Sergeant J. Small. . 19 Private W. Carpenter 17 Private H. A. Barnett 12 Private Twohoy . , . 12 500yds. COOyds. ' 16 23 18 15 19, w 14 . 17 13 16 13 18 7 15 n 13 12 17 9 12 7 TU. 55 4 50 50 48 45 45 42 33 31