ISLAND NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10480, 28 June 1897, Page 5

ISLAND NEWS.

SAMOA. [from our own correspondents.] Apia, Juno 10. The natives are all quiet, no balk of any war, but the taxes are still unpaid as formerly. Mr. B. T. Moors, one our leading merchants, left per Taviuni for Auckland on a trip. He is the owner of Sophia Island, and also of the barque Neptune, both of which he intends to try and sell in New Zealand.

Mr. Thomas P. Murray, formerly of Auckland, in the employ of the late Mr. Ehrenfried at the Albert Brewery, died last month after an attack of typhoid fever. At the time of his death he held the position of Government Gaoler and Marshal of the Supreme Court. He leaves a young widow to whom he had been married exactly three months on the day of his death. We have now the honour of having a resident Bishop in Samoa in the person of His Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Broyer Since 1375 His Lordship has been in Samoa for years past occupying the position of head hereof the French Roman Catholic Mission. That his promotion was well deserved is needless to say. For the past year he has been travelling, and has just returned from Rome ( where he was appointed Bishop of Samoa. On his arrival here, at a welcome concert in his honour, all denominations were present, and the chair was occupied by the Consul-General of the United States. During his stay in France the Bishop managed to collect sufficient funds to build the towers of the Apia Cathedral, and soon we will have externally completed the most imposing edifice in the South Seas. It is feared that Mr. T. R. A. Taylor, who in years past was a well-known boatbuilder in Auckland, and afterwards in Wellington, has come to an untimely end. The last heard of him was that he had set out from the island of Savaii for Apia on the 23rd May, and up to date he has not been seen. He was accompanied only by one boy, and they had a small boat. The supposition is, that caught by the bad weather they were upset and drowned. Wellington yachtsmen will the crack yacht Thetis as one of the finest specimens of Taylor's work. tf.M.s. Lizard, De Urespigny, arrived here last week from Fiji. She stays in Apia until after the Diamond Jubilee celebration, and then takes Mr. T. B. CusackSmith, British Consul, on his annual trip to the Union Group, which trip will take a weok or ton days. His Majesty King Malietoa, with the Government, paid an official visit to H.M.s. Lizard on the 10th instant, and were most kindly received. Unfortunately, when I leaving the vessel, while the salute was being fired, some of the boats were too near, so that the occupants suffered from the shots, one being rather badly injured and four others sustaining slight injuries. They were at once attended to by the surgeon of the Lizard, and no serious results are anticipated. Herr Raffel, the new Municipal President of Samoa, arrived on the 10th instant from America, accompanied by his sister. There was no official reception of Dr. Raffel, although all the Consuls were present on his arrival. .Next day, President Raffel attended at the Supreme Court, where he took the oath of office and was welcomed by Chief Justice Chambers and the Consuls. It is currently rumoured that Mrs. R. L. Stevenson and family will shortly leave Samoa with no intention of returning. Businoss is dull. Little copra is being made in comparison with former years, and all are feeluig the pinch of the financial situation. __ TONGA. Tonga, June 18. The session of tho Tongan Parliament, which was opened shortly before the last steamer sailed for your port, still continues. It has acted as a kind of mental stimulus on the community generally, for although there are no authorised reports of the proceedings thoro are plenty to give us an idea of what is going on within the House, and we get an amount of recreation from our political speculations, and the consequent rest we have from thinking over the more material matters of trade and commerce. _ There - - have-been ho further changes in the Cabinet, but wo hear that n good deal of acrimonious discussion has gone on ovorthe Premier, who is nob popular with a certain section of his countrymen. It is a very unprofitable subject for discussion, for no matter what objections there may be to Josateki, the present head of the Cabinet, there is nobody to tako his place, and he is consequently likely to continue at the post. The sitting of Parliament has had hardly any effect on the trade of the place, which is not the usual thing, for the traders always look to this triennial period to bring in something more than ordinary. However, we recognise that through poverty the senators are unable to give us a hand this time. Trade continues very quiet, but the natives are beginning in a small way the drying of copra, and we may now consider that we have passed tho turning-point, although it may be months before business resumes its long-lost aspect of briskness. A meeting of the British subjects was held recently to consider how best we can join in the'universal rejoicing over the Diamond Jubilee of our Queen. It has been decided to hold a ball on the 22nd, and to raise funds to add a European ward or a wing to the new hospital which is about to bo erected by the Government. It is pleasant to report thab the subscriptions have been coming in very satisfactorily. The competition for copra has eased somewhat, but one of the exporting firms keeps up the price, apparently in the hope that it will induce the natives to make the copra wanted. The quotation to-day is equivalent to £9 2? fid or £3 5s per ton f.o.b. for good dry copra. ' June 21. Yesterday we began the Jubilee rejoicings with a thanksgiving service. It was held at the Consulate, and was largely attended. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Mr. Horsfall, and he was assisted on this occasion of rejoicing by the Rev. Mr. Watkin, of the Tongan Church, and the Rev. Mr. Moulton, of the Wesleyan Church. To-day the Government have proclaimed a three-days' holiday in honour of the occasion, which is very civil on their part.