TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2057, 25 July 1867, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

. : liECTORE,--The;RevMr^Reed ; vaii deliver . the f SMpnd .of his; series of lectures on the ;Millerinium; :at-the WesleyahVschooi-rbbnV Lyttelton; to-morrow evening.;.; \ The Uhehploted,—A rumour; - was; current in Lyttelton; yesterday : that the Government'intended to put on the unemployed .to fill up the remaining portion of the pool-on Norwich Quay. /TheiFokd fob Mes GEiNT.-The sum of £l3 14s 3d has been received by Mr Wynn Williams, as the result of the amateur dramatic performance given for the benefit of Mrs Grant, at the Theatre Royal, .a,,, Provincial Investment and Asso-ciation.---The usual monthly meeting of this.Bociety. will.beheld this evening, at the offices. :of. the association, Cojkhaiu-house Cliampers,' for the payment of subscriptions and other moneys for the ensuing month. ••...; .';■ Little Akajwa. —:, Our correspondent; writing on July 22,'says*—The weather has ,|!een changeable, and the winds Tariable. The Julia "Ann, cutter, arrived on July 19, and sailed ori July, 23, for Saltwater Creek, laden withtimber.. On July 22, at sunset, a ketch, name unknown, came into the bay, ;; IRksidext Magistrates'. Court. —iVVe understand: that the Resident .Magistrate at Christchurch, will hold another Court, (or the hearing of civil cases under £2O, every Thursday, at 12 o'clock, as well at on Tuesdays, in consequence of the great increase of civil.business connected,with his Court, c-

V. v 'KcctES[AswcAL.--Arrangements are being made by the inhabitants of the Ashley Bank district, to meet the proposal of the Church Property! Trustees, to raise fundu for the maintenance of a minister in that large and populous district. The Rev, Mr Fendal is to be the officiating minister, and will commence bis duties on Sunday next, by holding divine;service at Ashley Bank school-room, atll o'clock^-.:;; : ,, . ■ y;i^.*(?*pK^-jK

Magisterial.—Yesterday at the Ilcsident Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, Thomas Hill; was .charged with having beendrunjt and incapable.;; It being his first appearance before the Bench, he was dismissed with a caution. Patrick Finnigan was fined 10s for having been drunk and oreating a disturbance in a public thoroughfare. A few cases of debt were disposed of,, but they wera of no public interest.—At the Kalapol Resident Magistrate's Court, on Tuesday, judgment was given in the following civil cases for the plaintiff :-Crooke v. Sinclair, 11 9s; Stanton v. D, Stewart, £4l 2s; Kunston v. Humble (a Maori), 15s; Harvey v, Mellett, £27 4s; Cameron v. Weekes, £73 13s 6d i Ward v. Dobson and Co., £3llos. In the esses ofWatsonr..Macfarlanc, £4O, and Hadley v, Allen, £2 si, the plaintiffs.were 'nim-iiilted.'..-..,,

> ■ Nkw Zkaland Rope.—Messrs, Jenkins, ;Jnrien and Co., the manufacturers of the New Zualand rope, which kas already received some notice in our columns, have sent ui specimens.: of ..their manufacture, which we •hall be glad to shew to any one interested In the;subject.., Whatevor the merits of Uhe rope maybe as comparedwitfT Manilla,the excellence of the workmanship is undoubted; It has been said that the rope manufactured by Messrs. Jenkins, Jones and Co. is no more than a favourable. sample of what has been mado'in.tlie North Island for many years. Wo have a specimen of Mrth Island rope beside us, and we are bound to say that it cannot stand a moment's comparison with the article turned out by Messrs. Jenkins, Jones and Co. The North Island rope looks more like a well-twisted hay band than anything else. "•';..

Accibbht.—A man named Martin wns run oyer by a dray of Mr G. Cone's, on tin S2nd, while ho wai attempting to pull up the horses, which, being rather fresh, hail |ot into a quick paoe in going down a slight declivity near tho river Ashloy. Ho was thrown, find the dray, which wni loaded with timber, pawed oyer hisbodj. Ho was conveyodto Mr Cono's, wlioro modlcnl aid was prooured, Ho Btill lies in n Tcry precarious stato.

CIIRIST'sCoLLROKGIUMMAn SCHOOL.—TIIO | examination for the Junior Somes' Scholnr- . ships took placo on, Tuesday last. Fifteen candidates presented themselves for tho examination, which was conducted by tho Hovs W. C. Harris and Q. Cottorlll. The following is a list of tho candidates who were placed first, second, and third, of tho schools whero tlicy were educated,and the subjects in which they were examined:—

t Woodekd.-No. 9 V 6oJir\NY dlvC-A." rifle match was fired by tho undermentioned men of tho above Company on Tuesday last, for n very handsome meerschaum, pipe, presented by Lieutenant Lezard. The firing commenced at one o'clock, on the new range. The men wore under the command of Captain Hinge, and the scoring was kept by Sergeant-Major Boyle. Hythe position • distances, 200, 300, and 400 yards. Tho following is the score:— yv.

Kaupoi Steeplechases.—A meeting of persons interested in these events was held nt the Kaiapoi Hotel, on Tuesday evening last, when it was decided to alter the date originally fixed for the races to the 12th of August. The programme, a. previously advertised, was agreed upon, and the same course as selected for last year's meeting being again offered by the Messrs Stace, Travis, and Hassall,'was accepted for the coming contest. A list of stewards was also drawn up, but being as yet incomplete, we refrain from publishing the names. A meeting will be held at the Pier Hotel on Friday next, at 8 p.m., to decide upon the price to be charged for entrance to the ground, the amount of money to be added by the stewards for each race, and the weights of the riders. We understand that the number of entries promises to be very large, and to include almost all the horses that ran at Papanui last month. Should the preliminary arrangements be made and carried out with the tact and energy of last year, a good day's Hport may be relied upon.

.South AnsTiULiAN Wheat, in England. Register says i-We ■are ; hear, that th?. cargo of. .wheat shipptdin the Alexandra forjEngland, by Mr -Derwent, has been sold to.arrive at: 70s which: leaves a net price at this end of. something more than.6..per,bushel. This-is,'good news for the farmers fho have; shipped on their own account;: 'anil; iit; shews, that with" the English''market much lower, than it is at presentj'inseasbns.wheilbur'efops areilarge; we' may/export to England': witli a prospect of fair:/proflt. ■: A-'gentlemah: writiiigh;frbm/ Liverpool predicts tbat.wheat will be lobs per quarter before tho year io bat.

('■ TBLKGRAPHIO;..CoMMCNiCAtION WITH Ays-; ; truia.—The following paragraph appears in 1 ' the English papers:—The .Secretary to the Treasury has laid before.the. House of Com-; nions a, : Treasury: Minuted of the lotlr : 6tJanuaryltothe effect that while the board would not consider; itself 'justified in offering a subsidy;or. guarantee to any company : for : . establishing lines of .telegraphic.; communiea- ■ tipn/;they. would be disposed to encourage! compam^g ; willihg:io linerot whichi :the Governmentapprove, ■ by.causing surveys to be made of the'proposed route, arid render-, ing assistance by Her Majesty's vessels iiv layingjthe cables, arid-also by using the good offices; iof ■;; the^GoTerrimeht::. with; \ foreign Governments upon.... whose; territories, it may. ; be requisite to! land. The •Go verririierit stipulate for priority in the/ dispatch of and for the power, inbertaincontingencies, oi "assumingpossession of the:line;upon pay-. merit of proper .compensation; The, lines} which the Government .consider most called: for are/lthese'-Falmouth to. ; Gibraltar, Gibraltar to Malta, Egypt to Aden arid'Kur; raehee.Rangoon to. Singapore,. Singapore ior;. Malacca; via Java, to/Australia, Singapore to : Shanghai, via: /Hong. Kong, Shanghai ■ ia Yokohama;

.;' Emigration; Tb,AMEBioA.-TheMlbwihf letter,- which 1 .we take; from .tlie Oxford Journal, of; April, S&vanab; on January 11, may be interesting; to .'those who think of emigrating .■hericeW the United States :—I am here: a'railway clerk, by the force of ciroumstarices, because I could get nothing else to do, andveryifor-s turiate to get that. There are, to tfiebest.of my knowledge but two tailoring or clothing establishments' (out of, 20 or 30 ; in. this city): but;.what ; are kept; ;by.;Jewa "or ;Gerrhahs/and about the same number, of boot and. shoe stores. No white man could get a place as salesman—'No, ve vant customers moat.' 'ln any other business there are so many wounded ' rebs' out of employment as to. make it almost impossible to get a place j if it were known that there-';: was. a, vacancy here one morning, before night there- would ;be fifty applicants... Savannah before.the war., .'was a pretty oity; the war-Injured it very much--fine houses and;: buildings battered down, Hi streets torn up,'the people crippled iii person and ruined in .pocket,; .Ererytliing -U taxed very heavily throughout• thf United States-; North and South, even, to a box of matches—whioh has a halfpenny stamp affixed to it. Government imposes heavy licenses on almost every trade. Besides this,' the City Council Imposes; taxes ■■:, in: the; way of licenses. Every dray and dray-horse has a badge, every, dog a;badge....A pedlor : libb;Uj j p.iyi twenty-lire dollars a year (as gold ialhls day; £ \::\t worth six and a quarter do larsji any. retail trader fifty dollars, and'wholesale trader" one hundred dollars. ~ You must bear in mind these are local taxes,-and independent of the U.S. taxesi in. addition to all these a man has to pay. 1 por/ccntion his gross sales and 5 per cent, orihii profit* • if this la riot taxation to perfection, I would.liko'to.knowwhiit is?;. Gas is,6doli;and v ascents., per. lodo, dols. a ton., ;Houao n-iit, too, i« oiioraiouaj the house I lire In contains four decent rooms and three in thu attic, It Is a wooden uno, and the rent Is I200..doll»rs a yrur.;. Home of tho stores rent.. f0r1.2,000 and.ls,ooo'dollars, and not: thought but of the way;.'.;■■ In'-' fact everything is very deur hero, how else can It be under such: a system of taxes ? I will give you a lew instances;—Uluclior boots, worth to buy at most U per pair, arc sold at ilro and six dollars, and said to be cheap. Clothing and dry goods are excessively high-about 500 per cent, above the Kngllsh prices being a common thing. You oover by anycliauco see any specie here, all greenbacks and shinplasters; the: consequeueeMs (the 5 cent, shlnplaster being the smallost money In general use) nothing costs or Is charged less than'; 5, cents., for instance, you pay 5. cents for washing a pocket handkerchief (that is about twopence), 15 cents, lor a iMrt, a glass of «le costs not less than 10-'c»nt*:,"-Jn some places 15 cents,, a drink of whisky (sometimoi rank poison) not less than 25 cunts. v lam gotting as wages jElOjhmonth; out of that in-tho first place gous 30b per «celt for boardj--tak- ; - ing other, exponsus into account! caiinbt be; said, o bo making money.

The L*noim Markht )r> mt TJ«te» mnss.-m UnitidStatitEcimomiH of a recent date lays ,-The pressuw of the timet it steadily augaintlig thi nnmbtr of the , unemployed m oil Urgi cities, and espoclally hi New Yoik j n.r joa tha pmtnt a/pert of business afford any reason forhopinjr for anv early improvemint, but rather tho contrary Ihe fact U, our chief cities are beoomiiur over-crowded, the ,upply of hand, exceed n5 ho demand, There m |„ New Y X ■ hoiuiands of young men, able-bodied, intolKJ'" nJ » ««* »V quaked to make ,foTtlumielTM a good position in the world, wo however, aro wasting their time and k oping their energies idle by waiting for chances for clerkships, porters, and other light employment, which afford them scarcoly .aultteientto clothe, them decently and pro-! vine them with wholesome food; Tho periods during which they are out of emplov- | "lent bring temptations to dishonesty arid I Cfinio; nnd not a ferr are lost to society ! through a consequent loss of character. Large numbers of young emlgrunts, too, walk our streets in a half-sturvcd condition, from the same tendency to crowd In the large centres of trade. This state of affairs involves a much greater loss to the country than may bo supposed. An immense amount of muscle is thus constantly kept idle which might otherwise be made available for Increasing our supply of products. Our vast area of virgin soil invites this unemployed force j but still it remains idle. And why? Not, In nine cases out of ten, from an indisposition to work, for, as a rule, men want to make money, and are willing to work in order to do it. This class havo not the means of reaching those remote regions where an early reward is Insured to industry, much less have they the money to invest in an enterprise of their own on arriving there. Is the case then beyond remedy ? Is there no means; by which capitalists can avail themselves of this idle muscle, for the purposes of Western enterprise ? Hare the railroad companies no interest in promoting a migration westward, which would ultimately help to swell their freights ? Is it impossible to organise colonies in the Eastern citlos for the purchase and cultivation of 'Western lands ? A combination of the small means of several individuals could effect much more than if each were to act separately. There is eminent need that the attention of tho young men of our cities should be directed to this matter. They are despondent and starving, while honourable Employment and the road to wealth are open to them. The country is suffering from scarcity, and needs that they should flock to our sources of natural wealth, waiting to weld generosity to their labour. Is there no man of large views, generous sympathies, popular spirit, organising tact and good reputation, who will undertake this matter, and bring it before our crowded population in a shape which will enlist their sympathies and co-operation ?

The Earthquake at Mytelene.—A correspondent of the Boston Transcript states:— You doubtless hare heard some particulars of theJate awful catastrophe at Mytelene, and, just returned from that doomed island; I thought it might be of interest to ■ypur;readers to hear an account that might be; relied upon. There can bo no exaggera;of the scene from my pen, however fanciful. I left here in Mr Peterson's yacht, which: was taking down to the island provisions and money, with some members of the Committee of Aid, which was formed : h'ere.;as;soon as the disaster became known. Well; now to our visit to this earth-tossed island; . All our glasses were turned upon the shore as we neared it, but we could not 'make put the reports we had heard of its destruction, and supposed it Borne exaggeration, but alas! when we had landed we saw ;6uch\a,scene of horror as I had never seen ;before and never wish to witness again. For half ;an; hour we scrambled through the ;ruins..: There was not a single house but was half .demolished or thrown down entirely. .We could look into the gaping rooms, where their.: furniture was strewn on the floortrunks, chairs, &c.,in confusion, and their terrifled : owners had fled in dismay to the mountains, leaving everything to its fate. 'During all our walks only two or three men ■were seen. Th<>y wero excavating a magazine of corn-sifting it from the bricks and. mortar—and were only induced to enter the ; town;, by dire hunger. Besides these there was.not a single soul to be seen. In our passage j: through the streets we were obliged.; to climb over piles of ten or fifteen, feet of rubbish, from the fallen houses'. In one place we saw above the rubbish the ears of a donkey, which, with the ::riderj...had been buried there. In another place;a;child of a few years old was found, afterfire days, still alive, though insensible. ■The mass of human beings lost is still below the fallen fragments, and as no one dare to :.dig : them out, they are all undoubtedly now also entered the catholic churchonce a very fine structure. It was a mass of (ruins.the only thing standing being the great ■door of entrance, aud this was rent in twain. The priest of the church was one of our ■party, and was saved by the earthquake happening at. the moment when he was entering the'door.;. He crossed himself and wished me : togo ; down to the vault, but as I had not his ■faith in his crossing, and looking around at .the.tottering walls, I declined, After scrambling through the town I found myself in the marrno, and there got a boat to go into the : port,;where our yacht was anchored, no one nowdaring to go through the ruins of the .town, assails are continually fall ng. Had the earthquake happened during the night, instead of six o'clock in the evening, as it did, ■nearly tli'a"; whole population of the island, some: 80,000, might have perished—being buried under the ruins of their dwellings (luring their sleep. As it is, it in supposed the..killed ; will number from 4000 to 5000; some time will elapse before this can be accurately ascertained. ■ Trade.—A correspondent of the. Pastoral Timet writes as follows, under the signature of" The Old Fellmonger:"--In asking, you to give publicity to the following remarks in your Pastoral Times, I do so with the:.intention of calling attention of woolgrowers and all interested, directly or indirectly, in: the wool business in Australia. My attention has been called to certain facts which the late March tales have disclosed, viz,, that the supply at present is greater than the demand, that prices have a downward tendency, and that tho May sales will have a larger supply than the trade required, and as a consequence a further decline will have been submitted to. But our woolgrowers have no immediate cause for alarm, 1 have known Botany wools sold in Huddorafleld by the staplers at sjd per lb. What was the reason of suoh a low figure? Why, the condition. It was like some of the wool on the Darling River at the presont time, and should that wool be shipped in its present condition, less than s}d per lb will buy the bulk in England. Tho bousou in whiuh figured the 6j|d wools taught the growor* and consignees a lesson which they have not entirely forgotten. Within twelve months of tills date Australian wools had been advancing in price from tho period of the low Uotany. But the climax hat been renohed, mid reaction lias set in. This present decline is influenced by more causes Hum one, It is not condition alone, hut quantity seems to bo tho more direct cause. If we look nt the increase of our wools annually, wo imed not bo surprised at the present quantity in stuok. I will here quote from Windeler and Bowes circular:-" It will bo found the weight of Australian wool In pounds was—for 1859, 35,000,000 t in 1866, 114,000,000 ( iucretuo per cent, in seven yours, luß. Assumed production in 1873 at the samo rato of increase -Australia, 238,000 ( Q00lbs t of Capo for 1873,72,000,0001b5j River Plate wools for 1873, 571,000,0001b5| making n grlind total 1873 of 871,000,OOOlbB." Now when wo look at that amount of wool sent from only thru districts (though largo in area we must admit), we cannot help wondering what would be the quantity If all tho other wools imported Into England In 1873, with her own production, wero added to the above, it is by looking at tho wool statistic* and the difference between tho supply and demand, and the class of wool in demand, that the growers will become convinoed that quantity ore long will not be the best policy io adopt on a sheep station. If we had been in London at tho last May sales, wo should havo found that nine-tenths of the unsold wools

consisted of bad conditioned and those of an inferior quality. Whan looking oyer the Prices obtained' at the last Mareh sales, we And that cortaln brandi were but very slightly below preceding sales—and why ? Became the owners for a number «f years past hare ken improving tlio quality and condition of their wool and sheep, and the consequence is their wool if) superior to the hulk offered Such woolb always did and always will command the highest prices, and hare tho preference of sale in any market. It will como to this, either the bulk of our wool-growers will hare to improve their method of sheep ■ faraediiiir and woolgcttlng-up, or they will stand but a poor chance of obtaining a paying price at London sales. I have spoken before about the injury clover and Bathunt burn do our woo s; hear what Wendelor and Bowes say on the subject : -< If the Australian growers wish to maintain their pre-cminenco in the iinglisli market, they mußt pay more attention to the exclusion of the burr than they have none of late years.' It is a wonder to me why the wool-growers do not adopt some means to keep down this pest of a weed. If the squatters refuse to do so voluntarily, then the Government ought to pass a Burr Bill ft is a painful fact, if a stoppage be not put to its increase, in a few years we shall not have a fleece of wool free from it. I ara afraid I am taking up too much of your valuable paper, but in conclusion allow me to say if our sheep are likely to become a boiling-down article, wool must become the chief source of profit to the wool-grower. Then it is for Mm lo decide whether ho will breed for the pot or the fleece. For the last ten years the Upo wools have been deteriorating from the burrs bey (the wools) have inconsequence lost hal their value. I have known Cape wools sold for 22d per lb., and I have seen the same quality wools sold for lid per lb in consequence of the damage from the burrs • even Demliquin Town Common is full of these pests—the burrs."

Soribturo Historj. ;„ .31: .28 . V17; •loo:'' ■A-itbmetic '%.'; 42 21 ■ ■■ : .4l-:-100 i .Dictation ,,, ; .40 ■,: ,:28 16 : 60 : . ■ i'"i iEtiglisli Ilistory ,„ 16. ' : '14 10 60^' Geography, ,., ,,, ■10' 10 : '2'2-- , '60. -.-I ■ English Grammar.;, H'l ;■ '2i ■ 18// ■:■ liO ■. I

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