ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume III, Issue 228, 15 March 1843, Page 2

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

COLONIAL POST-OFFICE SYSTEM. [From the Colonial Gazette.'] The Post-office of Great Britain has recently received many improvements: and the' Colonies have not been' neglected, so far as the rates of payment are concerned ; but in respect of management, some of them have grievous complaints to make, especially the most distant, the Australian Colonies, . and New. Zealand. They have no Cunard's line to send their letters as fast as steam can 'carry them : and the want of rapid transit is made -worse by local mismanagement, insolence, incompetency, and bad regulation*. In Port Phillip we have seen a

complaint that newspapers wereall shot into a room promiscuously, to reach their; owners how they might. The Morning Advertiser his done service by exposing" one sweeping cause of irregularlities. "A very serious evil, that is daily becoming of a more crying nature, requires the immedi ate attention of Government, and which cannot be better aroused than throughthe medium of the Press. It has. for some time p,-ist been stated, that letters, depatched. to the Australian colonies too frequently never, reach their dest! naton at all, and that if they are delivered it i only after considerable delay. We are enable! from personal experience to affirm, in part th* truthof this assertion j and we need scarcely enter into details to prove the immense iniurv disappointment, and inconvenience, which re suit from the non-delivery of letters.: -' Even the cosily mode of transmitting duplicate communications does not secure parties here • and any one writing hence must, be prepared not alone for -the lapse of time that necessarily results in any correspondence with such distant colonies, but also ior the vexatious anxiety attending a probable miscarriage of his letters The causes of the evils complained of, are set forth m the following extract of a letter from New Zealand, just received by an ajrencv firm in the city. The writer observes— " The Post-office department is so bad in the colony the letters go about for months, and then it is a very great chance if they reach their true destination, for there exists a stupid Colonial law in the Australian settlements, viz. that any captain of a vessel charged with a mail bae unless he delivers the said mail bag within twenty minutes after his dropping anchor is liable to a penalty of £50 each letter; of course in a new colony, mail-bags are obliged to be » e nt by any opportunity— thu^ letters for Auckland via Sydney ; the bag arrives in Sydney; there is no vessel up for Auckland, but one for the Bay of Islands ; being the first opportunity, the bag is shipped, and when arrived at the Bay, is there put in charge of a party who is Postmaster, and whose daughters open all the newspapers, and sometimes amuse themselves with the letters. Then comes the first opportunity for Auckland— a small coasterthe bag of letters is put on board, frequently when both master and mate, at point of sailing are quite oblivious; and the bag is stowed in a locker ; the craft arrives at Auckland ; and it is not until both master and mate are frequently questioned that they begin to have some idea there is such a thing as a bag from the Postoffice on board. What is the natural result? the Post-master threatens the penalty if a bag is found j the mate puts a six pound shot into the letter-bag, and overboard go letters from dearest ties, friends, and connexions far distant all in one swoop." * "The "agents who have received this letter state to us that numerous instances have come under their notice of letters and newspapers sent to and from this country to the Australian Colonies never having reached their destinations ; and also that several cases having come before them of the neglect and mismanagement of the Colonial Postmasters, they are induced to lay before the public the above extract hoping that it will arouse the attention of the Post Office authorities to remedy so great an evil." Transactions of the Geological Society of Hookham-cum-Snjvey. — There is not a more interesting science than geology, which, as our readers are aware, treats principally of mud and minerals. The association at Hook-ham-cum-Snivey has been very active during the summer, and may be said to have been up to his knees in dirt and filth, gravel and gypsum, coal, clay, and conglomerate, for a very considerable period. It having been determined to open a sewer where the old Hook-ham-road meets with the ancient Roman footpath at Snivey, the junction of which gives name to the modern town, the Geological Association passed a strong resolution, in which it was asserted, that the opportunity had at length arrived for solving the great doubt that had long perplexed the minds of the inhabitants as to whether the soil in the neighbourhood was crustaceous or carboniferous. The crustaceous party had been long triumphing in the fact, that a mouldy piece of bread had been found at two feet below the surface, when digging for the foundation of a swing erected in a garden in the neighbourhood: but the carboniferous enthusiasts had been thrown into exstacies, by the sexton having come upon a regular strata of undoubted cinders, in clearing out a piece of ground at the back of the parson's residence. Some evil disposed person had the malice to say that the spot had been formerly the site of a subsequently-filled-up dust»hole ; but the crustaceom party, depending a 9 they did upon a single piece of bread — all crumb too — how ever genuine, could not be said to have so much to go upon, as the carboniferous section, with their heap of cinders, the latter being large in quantity, though of doubtful authority. However, the opening of the sewer was looked forward to with intense interest, as being calculated to decide the great" question, and all the principal geologists were on the spot several hours before operations commenced, for the purpose of inspecting the surface of the ground before it was disturbed by the spade and pickaxe of the labourer. It was found that the earth consisted bf an outer coat of dust, amongst which were several stones, varying in size, with here and there a bone picked exceedingly clean, and evidently belonging to a sheep, all of which facts gave promise of most gratifying results to the true lover of geology. At length the labourer came in sight, and was greeted with loud cheers from the crustaceous party, which were ironically echoed by the disbiples of the carboniferous school, and a most significant "hear, hear," proceeded from an active partisan of the latter class, when the first stroke of the pickaxe proclaimed the commencement of an operation upon which so much was known to depend for the interests of geology. The work had proceeded for sometime amid breath", less interest, interrupted only by sneers, cheers, jeers, and cries of 'Oh, oh, or "No, no 1" ■As the throwing up of a shovelful of earth excited the hopes of one party, or- the fears of the other', when a hard substance, was struck upon, which caused a thrilling sensation among tba

bystanders; '-The pressure of the geologists/ all eager to inspect the 'object that had created so much cariosity, could hardly be restrained, and the president was thrown, .with great violence, into the hole that had been dug, from which he was pulled with extraordinary strength of body, and presence of<. mind, by the honorary .treasurer. The hard substance was found to consist of a piece of iron, of which it , appeared a vein, or rather An artery, ran both backwards and forwards frpm the spot where it was first discovered.; .The confusion was at its height, for it was supposed a mine .had been discovered, and .a long, altercation ensued; theitown clerk claiming it in the name of .the lord of the manor, > while tpe beadle, with a confused, idea about mines being lqyal property, leaped into the hole,' and, .in the Queen's name, took possession of everything. A desperate struggle ensued, in which several geologists were laid straight upon the **ra<a,. and were converted into secondary deposits on. the surface .Qf. the earth; when the kmjt-lighter, coming by,, recognised the., hard iron, substance as. the large main of the Gas-light Company. . It became therefore necessary to relinquish any further investigation on the spot originally chosen, and the matter was postponed to another day, so that the . great crustaceous and carboniferous question remains exactly where it did, to the great injury of the harmony and good feeling that has never yet prevailed, though it is hoped itsome time or other may prevail among the inhabitants. But through public investigation of geological truth is for a time at a stand-still, we are glad to be able ,to record the following remarkable instance of' private enterprise :— A very active member of the association —the indefatigable Mr. Grubem-up — determined to leave no stone unturned for the purpose of making observations, went out, attended by a single assistant, and made a desperate attempt to turn the mile-stone in the Kensington-road, in the hope of finding some, geological facts at the bottom of it. After several hours' labour before day-break, to avoid interruption from the police, he succeeded in introducing the point of a pickaxe beneath the base of the stone, and, eventually he had the satisfaction of removing it from its position, .when he made the following geological observations :— He found a primary deposit of dark soil, and, on putting his spectacles to his eyes, he distinctly detected a common worm in a state of high salubrity. This clearly proved to him that there must formerly have been a direct communication between Hookham-cum-Snivey and the town of Kensignton, for the worm found beneath the mile-stone exactly resembled one now in the Hookham-cum-Snivey Museum, and which is known as the vermis communis, or earthworm, and which always excited considerable interest among the various visitors. Mr. Grub-em-up, encouraged by this highly satisfactory result, proceeded to scratch up with his thumbnail a portion of the soil, and his geological enterprise was speedily rewarded by a fossil of the most interesting character. Upon close inspection it proved to be a highly crystallised rat's-tail, from which the geologist inferred that there Were rats on the Kensington-road at a j much earlier^ period than milestones. The Income Tax, and why it is necessary, i — The Income Tax papers ate delivered, and the happy recipients are puzzling themselves how to fill up the blanks in the schedules so as to avoid penalties, treble duties, and prosecutions for perjury. This will be a troublesome matter, as not one person in a thousand can understand the complicated and obscure forms laid before their eyes. The ultimate paying of the assessment will be another agreeable process. Of the necessity for this and other taxes the people of England may form some opinion by a glance at any page of the Estimates— take, as a sample of the whole, a few of the minor charges passed on Friday sennight. Small things show the system as well as larger ones. No one need wonder at the imposition of the Income Tax who finds a system of Government in operation under which occurs such abuses as the following, among countless other of larger amount : — £96 for paying the expences of a visit by the Bishop of Exeter to the Scilly Islands! [the said prelate receiving some £6000 a-year from the see of Exeter!] "£6B for an entertainment to the Duchess of Kent " [the said Duchess receiving annually from the public purse no less a sum than £30,000!] u£soou £soo for bringing Sir^ George Arthur to England from Canada" — [where. he had enjoyed the lucrative office of Governor.] "£422 for robes and collars for Knights of the Garter, and Bath !'* " £235 for a coasting excursion on the Lakes by the late Lord Sydenham !"— [the said Lord drawing £7000 a-year from the taxes of this country.] "£B7 10s. for entertaining a Crown Prince of Bavaria near Athens !" "£983 for an outfit for Lord Chancellor Campbell to Ireland ! ! !— [in theever-memorabk "Campbell job." Can any one read these items, specimens of the working of an aristocratic government, and be surprised at' the "enormous taxation of the country and the dreadful distress consequent upon it? • Let no one' who approve of this system, find fault with the Income or any other tax.— Di&palch. Worth Knowing.— A chimney on fire, in London : was a day or two since effectually put out in the following easy and expeditious manner :—ln: — In the first place, ' a large pitcherful, of water was thrown into the grate, which, of course, generated a considerable quantity of steam. A sheet was then fastened in front of the fire place, in such a manner as to prevent a current of air from ascending the .chimney,, and in less than five minutes all signs of flame or fire in the chimney had entirely ceased. Making the Dumb Speak.— A fellow of the name of Welsh, who for two or three years has maintained- himself by hawking round the country with pamphlets, and by occasional pilferings from the houses at which he made his calls, was brought up at the Gorbals Policeoffice on Thursday' morning, charged with being drunk and disorderly. When brought to the office, even while affected by "potations deep," Welsh did not forget his assumed character, but remained stupidly dumb to all signs and interrogations. Brown, the officer, who knew the fellow to be an impostor, who had in a similar way excited the sympathy of the authorities, in other towns "and got off from the punishment -due -to bis pefccadiUoei, did not

forget to inform the" bench of ' Welsh's, capabilities in the matter of speech, and the 1 Court sentenced the prisoner to 30 days in Bridewell. The effect of the announcement of. his sentence i was miraculous — Welsh, to the no small 'surprise of the Court, lifted up his voice and spoke wonderfully well considering his infirmity,' protesting in 'no measured 'terms against the severity of his sentence. — G'.asyow Chronicle. Voyage Extraordinary. — A very singular circumstance, which occurred a week or two ago at Cuddalore, is described in a letter now before us, and is not'undeserving of permanent record. A boat, with three Burmese on board, was a short time since, blown in upon the coast at a distance of about ten miles from Cuddalore. These men stated,, that they had been out on a fishing excurtion on their own coast, when a typhoon suddenly came on in the night and broke the straw rope by which their boat was made fast, when they were immediately blown put to sea. They had; they said', only rice for three days on board, and for the remaining seventeen days, they had nothing more than rain' water to subsist upon. The boat in which this extraordinary voyage was performed was 46 feet long, made of a single tree, and it is surmised that there were originally many more individuals who perished from hunger, or may even have been sacrificed to the necessities of their companions. This, however, is mere conjecture. Of the three men who reached our shores, one died shortly after, and a second within a few days ; the only survivor, is, however, in good health and excellent condition, not appearing to have suffered at all by the unprecedented- hardships he has undergone. The distance this boat was drifted .must have been at least 1000 to 1200 miles, probably, indeed, much further. — India paper. The priestess of that far-famed temple of Hymen, the Sark Toll-bar, in her evidence on a trial for bigamy lately at Cockermouth, stated that thirteen hundred couples had been married there within the last six years. This, however, is exclusive of the number married by the "bishop" of Gretna Hall, which is one of the principal places of refuge for persecuted lovers. — Carlisle Journal A fine old Farmer of the Olden Time. — During the late harvest Mr. W. Pusey, who completed his 102 nd year in May last, worked in the parish of Pitminster, near Taunton, as a reaper, in company with four nephews, from two o'clock in the afternoon until seven in the evening, and repeated his labours on the following day. He also joined in the festivities of harvest home, sung a song there, and afterwards waked home in company with his wife, aged 80, to his residence. A large company assembled to witness the rare powers of the patriarch. Extraordinary Scene at the Havre Theatre. — On Sunday evening there was a crowded house to witness the performance of the opera called La Dame Blanche. In one of the scenes the stage had to be left vacant for a moment ortwo. On perceiving this, an Irish gentleman who was behind the scenes in a state of intoxication, coolly walked on to the stage. He was attired in a gaudy plaid shooting jacket, with huge leather gaiters, &c, and carried a great thick stick. The audience was, for a moment, literally astounded at the intrusion , but anon rose a perfect storm of yells and hisses. The Irish gentleman, therefore, stood still, looked fiercely at the audience, and flourished his stick. Some of the audience, thinking fun might be got out of him, gave him a round of applause, whilst others stormed more than before. At length there was a pause, and, will you believe it?' the gentleman began singing one of his national melodies, something about " Oh ! Teddy's the boy for bewitching 'em. "Whoop! hullabaloo! hullabaloo!" And as he sang he whooped,, and yelled, and danced, and flourished his thick stick right gloriously. Was there ever such an exhibition ? The people roared again with laughter, and our friend the Irishman appeared perfectly happy. But alas for Paddy! the stage manager called for the assistance of the Gendarmes, a party of whom rushed on the stage to apprehend the Irishman ; but he resisted, and many of the audience took his part. Some English sailors who were present called out " Go it, Pat — go it, Paddy," and Paddy did go it, for he did considerable damage to the heads of his opponents with his terrible shillelagh. At length, however, he was overpowered and lodged in the station-house; and so ended one of the most extraordinary scenes ever witnessed in a theatre. — Dublin paper. j Sanguinary Affray at Mantua. — The • The Courier de Lyon, of the 13th instant, announces a serious disturbance to have broken out at Mantua between the Jews and the Christians. The Austrian Government were oblidged to interfere by force ; but the people tore up the pavement, and attacked the soldiers with stones, who fired on the multitude, killed 50 persons, and wounded many. The disturbance still continued, and no Jew dared make his appearance in the streets. The vote this year, for the convict establishments in Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, is £265,000, The Secretary at War Sir Henry Hardinge has determined to establish Savings Banks throughout the army. Colonial Influence of the Income Tax. — One result of the Income Tax will' cause Sir Robert Peel to be regarded in a special manner, as the benefactor of the Colonies. The English papers announce that the attention of capitalists is turned to the Australian Colonies, which the high rate of interest points out- in an especial manner as a good investment of capital, now that the Income Tax has lessened their profits at home, and difficulties and bad faith of the American States have rendered them ineligible. This would seem a favourable opportunity to realize Captain Fenton's proposal of a Land Bank. • • '