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New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4288, 11 August 1875, Page 2

Oar ordinary telegrams and several loca' lvpnrts and items will be found in the supplement to this day's issue.

MesBTB. B. Tonks and Co. yesterday sold | by auction,'* quantity of Fijian tobacco Owing to iHie very heavy tariff charge—23 6d per lb.—*he price realised iu bond was only 4Jd per lb. It appears that the dnty upon manufactured and unmanufactured tobacco are exactly the same—23 6d per lb. There is, therefore, no encouragement to import the leaf into this province for the purpose of manufacture. In Victoria the duty on the unmanufactured tobacco is Is per lb., on manufactured 2s. Only a few months a"o a gentleman arrived in Auckland from America, leaving with him Beveral tons of leaf with which ho purposed starting a cigar manufactory here, but finding the duty so exorbitant he transhipped it under bond to Melbourne, where now he has settled down in the cigar manufacturing business. The injustice of the impost ouly requires demonstrating to the Government in order to have it reduced to a reasonable figure. If this is not done the export tobacco trade from Fiji will radiate to Melbourne and Sydney, a divergence of commerce which Mr. Vogel's Polynesian scheme certainly never contemplated.

The adjourned annual meeting of members of the Auckland Regatta Club was held last evening at Mr. It. Grattan's Thames Hotel, —Mr. Malcolm Xieeol occupied the chair. There were fifteen persons present. The business consisted of the election of officers for the current year, the result of which was as follows :—Patron, his Excellency the Governor; vice-patron, bis Honor the Superintendent ; president, the chairman of the Harbour Board ; vice-presidents, Thomas Henderson and Atkin, Esqs.; committee, Messrs. K. Grattan, J. Casey, J. AYaymouth, T. Kiccol, Xearing, Marshall, J. B. Graham, G. Von der Heyde, C. Daere, Dixon, G. W. Binney, D. Oxley, C. Stone, King, and T. Henderson. Mr. Dacro was re-elected Treasurer, Messrs. Waymouth and Marshall were elected auditors. This was all the business

A presentation was made to Mr. -Alexander Stuart Russell, in the Lodge Ara, 345, 1.C., on Monday evening last. The present consisted of a valuable gold watch and a marble time-piece. Mr. Russell has been a member of the lodge for a number of years, and has tilled some of its most important offices. He is now about to leave Auckland ; and the present and the complimentary remarks which accompanied it shew that lie has gained the respect and esteem of the members of his lodge. At the close of the lodge Mr. Russell ■was invited to a supper, at which a number of speeches were made and toasts drank. A very pleasant evening was spent.

As the Telegraph Department of New South Wales says the Sydney Morning Herald, has lately imported and brought into use Sir Charles Wheatstone's automatic instruments, it will be no doubt interesting to the public to draw attention to a letter from Mr. Culley (Engineer-in-chief of the British Government Telegraphs) to the editor of the American Journal of the Telegraph for April, 1, 1574, in which he states that 11,000 words were sent by Wheatstone's automatic instrument, between Birmingham and Manchester, a distance of a little more than 100 miles in 3 hours; and that 11,500 words were sent by another kind of instrument from Washington to New York (America) a distance of about 270 miles in much less time, but not ready for delivery under 4h hours. Now it was noticed by Mr. Winter of the British Government Telegraph Service, from the starting of the automatic instruments in this colony a greater speed could be obtained on the wires here than in England ; and by quoting that 6GOO words were sent the other day from Albury to Sydney, a distance of nearly 400 miles in one hour, satisfactorily proves that the carrying capacity of the lines in this colony are nearly double that of the Hues in Europe, although the automatic circuits in Australia are very much longer.

An accident occurred on the Auckland and Mercer Railway on Monday evening, but was, fortunately, unattended with any serious consequences. It appears that a m —.» ■...» n( u dLubWJ o<* i»> Visher and Co.'s siding, at their slaughter-house, Ellerslie, but the strong N.E. wind blowing afterwards, drove the vau down on to the main line, where the end of it was run into by the down tniiu from Mercer. The collision caused the van to be knocked over the embankment, but no damage was done to the engine or carriages of the passenger train.

We regret to learn that Mr. Proucle, of Raznrliack, has lost one of his valuable imported thorough-bred shorthorns. The animal was from the very best stock in England aii'l was worth at least £150. She expired in calving. The loss of such stock is more than a private misfortune, and is certainly a pity that the laudable efforts of such gentlemen as Mr. Proude to improve the breed of our cattle should be met by such bad luck.

By the English mail Mr. Lyons, who still acts" as agent in Melbourne for Chevalier Blondin, received a letter informing him that the great " high-air'" man and his family were all well. The Chevalier's epistle also told that he had vainly tried London for anything worth presenting in Melbourne, but that he expected to be much more successful in Par"iß, and that he would leave for Melbourne on the 20th August, expecting to arrive here with attractive novelties towards the end of October. After a brief season here he intended starting for Sydney, thence to New Zealand, and next to San Francisco, where he proposed finally settling down. Mr. Wells, the great pyrotechnist of the Crystal Palace, will be with him during his next performances in Melbourne.

The Attorney-General of Victoria has granted the application of Mr. Robert Ureathead, for letters patent for a process of salting meat, the essential feature in which consists in heating the salt prior to using, and then applying it, whilst hot, to the meat to be preserved. This is said to impart a delicious flavour to the meat, besides enabling it the better to resist atmospheric influences.

M. De La Bastie's " elastic glass" is continuing to excite much attention on the Continent. Visitors to the inventor ot this wonderful invention can hardly believe their eyes when a servant having brought in on a glass salver, a decanter, two glasses, a sugarbasin, the host takes up the last of these objects, and throwß it on the ground, then drops one glass, then another, and, lastly, the trav ; they feel sure that these objects are smashed, but the servant picks them up, one after the other, and they are found to be uninjured and intact. The secret of this wonderful change in theuature of this proverbially brittle substance has been arrived at by the inventor after many years of research and experiment- There can l>e no doubt of its reality or of the success it is destined to command in the market. There were only three cases at the Police Court yesterday. Two of them were charges of drunkenness which were dealt with as usual, by fine or imprisonment, andthe other was a charge of iusulting lang which was dismissed in consequence of'no corroboratire evidence being called. Messrs. E. Issacs and J. Chadwick, were the presiding Justices. The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Harbour Board took place yesterday.—Mr. Boylan, in the absence of Captain Daldy, in the chair. The proceedings -were for the greater part formal, and possessed no features of public interest. The race-horse Papapa, belonging to Mr. James Watt, wa< shipped yesterday by Mr. George Cutts, the trainer, on board the steamer Southern Cross, for conveyance to Napier, where he is intended to stand for the season. -a ®Another symptom of progress—a tube-post —is to be laid down between Paris and Versailles, so that the evening journals will no longer have to depend on-pigeons for special despatches. The Pakuranga hounds meet to-day at the Presbyterian Church, Ho wick, and on Saturday at Mr. McLaughlin's flax-mill, each day at 11 o'clock.

.. The' Daily Telegraph (Melbourne), of a recent date, has the following:—"Responsibility for disease was the title of an interesting address delirered at the Polytechnic Hall, by Dr. Patrick Smith, in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association- The hon. James Balfour occupied the chair. The lecturer, in his opening remarks, said his discourse, might have been styled ' diseases for which we are responsible.' He contrasted the scrupulous care which insisted that all the operations of science must be put in force to save the life of a pauper, though his life was of no value to society, and had long been a burden to himself, with the reckless neglect of the most well-known precautions for saving life and preserving health. He then went on to explain that zymotic diseases, if they could not bo entirely stamped out, could, by isolation and strict quarantine regulations, be made innocuous. The lecturer gave a sketch of the extreme sanitary precautions now taken in England to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, lie then gave a brief estimate of the enormous cost entailed by the presence of such diseases. In 1573 there were 3100 deaths in this colony from zymotic diseases. To every case ending fatally there were ten that only resulted in protracted illness, so that in 1874 there were 31,000 cases of sickness from contagious diseases, in addition to 3106 deaths, and the direct money loss occasioned by this source of sickness was no small consideration. The lecturer then, after admitting all that had been said against the abuse of intoxicating liquors, urged that almost as much evil resulted from the intemperate and excessive use of food, and concluded by endorsing the recommendation made in England and in this colony, that the regular and systematic attention of medical men should be engaged to give advice on diet and general sanitary measures, with the view of preventing disease. This course would be far preferable to the other alternative—that of seeking the advice of medical men after disease had established itself and assumed serious symptoms."

The blowing open of the Cashmere Gate, | which, as performed in open daylight, in the j face of the enemy, was deemed one of the * grandest exploits of this perilous attack. I The explosion party, under Lieutenants j Home and Salkeld, was composed of Ser- ! geants Smith and Carmichael, with Corporal j Burgess, of the Koyal Sappers ami Miners ; I Bugler Hawthorne, of H.M. 52nd Foot; and j twenty-four native sappers, covered by the i fire of our 60th Rifles. The whole rushed j double-quick towards the gate, over which j the enemy's muskets were volleying, bearing j with them the powder-bags. They fouud i the drawbridge across the ditch had been destroyed, but passing across by a precarions I and improvised footway of planks, they proceeded to lodge their powder-bags against the gate, through the open wicket of which the enemy tired straight at them. Sergeant Carmichael, while laying the powder, was killed, and the native havildar wounded. The powder having been laid, the advance party slipped into the ditch to allow the tiring party under Lieutenant Salkeld to perform its duty. While endeavouring to tire the chaige, he was shot through an arm and leg. He sank, but handed the match to Corporal Burgess, who fell mortally wounded, but just as the devoted fellow had fired the trains ; others of the party were falling, when the mighty gate was blounto fragments, and Lieutenant Home ordered Bugler Hawthorne, of the 52nd, to sound the advance to his regiment. Led by Colonel Campbell, the Oxford Light Infantry—then, as their records show, mustering only 2-40 bayonets— advanced with a cheer, and secured the barrier, though the bugle had to sound three times ere the call wa3 heard amid the awful din around. But that third bugle-sound won the brave boy the Victoria Cross ! — Grant's " British Battles by Land and Sea."

The reason why the Princess of Wales does not visit India is given in the following paragraph :—"I have said in one of my letters (writes the special correspondent in London of the Times of India) that it is a pity the Prijces3 of "Wales is not going to India with the Prince, and T tKlnt «, especially as 1 have since heard that she is most anxious to go—in fact, as it wa3 expressed to me, would give anything to go. But I fear there is no chance of it. It is thought, that as the native princes seclude their wives, that it would not he proper for his J?oval Highness to take his, as she could not well appear at any public ceremonies. There is some sense in this of course, but then I do not see the necessity for taking part iu public ceremonies; and as the princes know that the sovereign to whom they owe allegiance is a woman, they must know, or at least thry ought to know if they don't, that, as a woman she differs in every sense from an ordinary Jit'juir. or Ram-:. I think it a thousand pities that the Indian people are to be deprived of the pleasure and the satisfaction of seeing their future Queen, especially when their future Queen is a princess of whom we English are so proud, and whom we all admire as much for her beauty, grace, and elegance as we love and respect her for her virtue and goodness.

Xo man is admitted to the London Metro politan Police who stands less than five feet seven inches without shoes or stockings, and it is rather amusing to sit by and quietly watch, as one after another they come up to the standard. One is conscious of a good couple of inches to spare, and stalks up with a dignified self complacency ; the next evidently has his doubts about it, and comes forward with a face full of anxious concern. He stretches up his eyebrows, purses his under lip, sticks out his thumbs with painful rigidity, and finally endeavours to make a little use of his toes. This won't do, however. "Turn up your toes," is the stern mandate, and down he drop?, and perhaps a quarter of an inch below regulation height. If with the toes turned up there seems to be a doubt about the heels being fairly on the ground, a slip of paper is put underneath, and lightly pulled. The raising of the heels will of course liberate the paper.

The p.s. Hauraki was the bearer yes terday evening of two boxes of gold, weigh in g 1793 ozs., from the Thames, for the Bank of Xew Zealand.

Mr. R. Arthur will hold a sale of bacon, hams, lard, ic., ex Flirt, from Lyttelton, and apples, jams, onions, &c., ex Freetrader, from Hobart Town, at the mart, at 11 a.m. to day ; also a handsome piano, by Bord, at uooa. The same gentleman will also sell, at the residence of Mr. Full, Wellesley-street, at 2 p.m., household furniture and eaVets, ic. To morrow evening Baker's Hibernicon will give its last " show" at the City HalL A prize of a silver cup will be presented to the best amateur singer, comic or sentimental, competing on Thursday evening, the winner to be decided by the audience. The annual soiree of St. James's Presbyterian Church, Wellington-street, will i>e held this eveuing. The meeting will be addressed by several clergymen and others. Shares in the Coliban 'Sold M:ni:._; Coirpany, on which the ca'ds have not been paid, are advertised for forfeiture. A meeting of trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank will be held a: three o'clock to morrow afternoon. Tenders are required by the Inspector of Surveys for the construction o: section "J. Waugaroa and Mangonui roads. Mr. R. Arthur will sell by auction, tomorrow, a portion of the late Mr. Joiiu Williamson's library. Tenders are required for the completion of Beresford-street Congregational Church.