Wanganui.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume XVII, Issue 1724, 8 February 1862, Page 6

Wanganui.

ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF CIIIIISTCIIUHOII CONGIIEGATIOX.

(From the Wanyanui Chronicle, January 16.)

Tin: eighteenth anniversary of t'l<: opening of Christchurch, "Wanganui, was commenced on Thursday last. Divine service was celebrated at 3 p m., and a very edifying sermon pleached by the Rev. It. Taylor. In the evening up wards of one hundred persons assembled in Mr. Curtis’s store, which was kindly lent for the occasion, and partook of a tea; wbkli, thanks to the exer'ions of the ladies who presided at the several tables, and of the stewards who assisted them, was thoroughly enjoyed bv all present. Tea having been discussed the Rev. C. 11. Nicholls, rose anti said, —lie was very glad to see so many assembled on such an occasion. Tho object of the meeting was threefold, viz—to commemorate the openin" of the Parish Church—to give their Bishop a public welcome—and to afford the members of the Church an opportunity of talking over in a social way what might be wanted to ad vanco the interests of the Church in this place, and generally of encouraging each other in love and good works.

The Bishop of Wellington, who was very warmly received said, — this was the first occasion on which he bad been welcomed in such a manner ; and he felt highly gra ified at seeing so many assembled. He had not been expected to have been called on to address them ; but as it had been announced in the advertisements that he would do so, be would take the opportunity of urging on them the necessity of immediate exertion in erecting a new Church. Churches in this country were perishable things requiring frequent, re-build-ing, and this could not be done without all assisting in the work. In England, thanks to the piety of our ancestors. Churches weie generally to be found ready built for the use of the existing generation ; and where new ones wetc required it mostly happened that some one or two wealthy and liberal minded persons would be found to come forward and give their thousands of pounds to erect temples to God's glory. Such things, however, could only happen in an old and wealthy land. Here each one must contribute bis share towards erecting "a new Church—each must give according to bis means ; and practise self-denial in order that be might have a building wherein he and his family and neighbours might worship Him from whom they received all their temporal and spiritual blessings. They must remember that when a number of persons united in any great work (here would be differences of opinion in matters of detail ; but they must as Christians bear with each other, and give way to each other's feelings for the sake of the common good. United action will smooth over the little roughnesses of our nature; and by cordially joining in such a work good feeling would be promoted. The Rev. It. Taylor said, — this meeting reminded him of the one held nearly nineteen years ago to discuss the building of the present Church. At that time the whole adult population of the settlement could have met in the room where they then were ; and it was only through the members of other religious denominations sinking minor differences and joining with the Churchmen, that these last were enabled to accomplish the erection of the Church which was the first in the Cook's Strait Settlements, prior even to either of those in the Metropolitan City of Wellington. When Sir George Grey first visited Wanganui, it was with the full intention of abandoning it; but the sight of the Church induced him to alter his mind, and to determine if possible to preserve a settlement whose inhabitants had shown themselves so mindful of their religious duties. The present Church was so decayed that any attempt at repair was useless. The building that would be erected in place of the old ono would be an ornament to the town ; and be hoped they would steadily bear in mind that religion was a thing of tiie heart and spirit, and that buildings and ceremonials were but its accessories.

Mr. Field—w-ns not accustomed to address tea or other meetings, As an office-bearer of the Church for the lastsevenyears.be had been requested to say a few words. A remark of the Bishop's had reminded him that the glorious old parish Churches of England—unrivalled in the world—were tho work of people circumstanced much like themselves. They were not the work of an old, denselypeopled, and wealthy community; but were erected by a scanty scattered population, in days when money was of enormous value. If their forefathers could do so much for God’s glory, surely their descendants, though at tho other end of tho world, could do a little. Though they could not hope to raise equally bctiittifiilund durable structures, and must substitute wood for stone, still they might make the most ol the materials at their command. He considered they should erect a building which could contain 300 or -100 persons, and be an ornament to the town and it credit to themselves. About .I’7o had been collected, and subscri| tions to the amount of about 1’ I 50 more promised ; a design for the building had also been approved, lie would suggest the formation of two committees—-the one of gentlemen to see to the erection of the building —the other of ladies to collect funds.

Major Logan of H.M. 05th Regt, said—he was a soldier, and liked to go a-head, and strike the iron while hot. He would gladlv contribute, and felt sure his brother officers would do the same, as well as unite their influence with his in furthering the good work. Lieut.-Colonel Murray, of 1.1. M. 05th Regt., said—he was on the point of leaving the place, nnd would gladly give his mite at once. Mr. 11. I’owell said a new church was wanted, if only to accommodate the increasing congregation, and as a late churchwarden be could state that there were applications for more siltings than the present church could contain. Ho called on all to give liberallv, not what they could afford, but somethin-' more, in order that they might have tho satisfaction of exercising self denial in promoling the good work.

The Bishop stated that if tho congregation could raise £175 he would give ,C2s—if they raised £O5O, he would make it £lOO.

A subscription list was then started, and neatly £lOOO subscribed.

Geological Sukvey.—\Ye mentioned last week that the lion. Mr. Crawford had not been successful in attaining the object of his expodition up tho river. This was principally to explore tho valley of the Tungarakau, a tributary of the Wanganui, which is supposed to have its sou req near that of the Waitara, and joins the Wanganui about forty miles in a straight line from this, and at more’than

double that distance by the W augtmui. I torn the Tungarakau specimens of coal have been brought, which look well, but it is impossible, to say of what quality it may be throughout without seeing the seam ; ami it is said ttiat thete is also copper in the same valley. On Mr. Crawford s reaching Utapit, a pa distant by the river eighty miles from this, he was informed that the Tangarakau valley was tapu to the King, and that lie could not be allowed to proceed further than its mouth. Ihe following day a message w-is receive-1 from Fehi, prohibiting his proceeding further than Utapu: but the natives overruled this interdict, and were quite willing not only to take him to Tangarakau, but up that stream, if be paid a toll of 30s. at its mouth. Mr. Crawlord rea soned with them on the absurdity of this exclusive conduct, showing them that it ho discovered minerals it would be for their own interest chiefly ; but they remained obstinate ; and he, unwilling to set a bad precedent by giving in to their demands, and conscious that tho toll might be repeated in any part of the. stream the natives chose for its exaction, resolved to return. He arrived at Utapu on the 28th, having taken a week to go up from this. ! and came back on the 3 Ist, in two days. The | river consists, for tho most part, of a succession of rapids, with reaches of deep water between; and of course there is both difficulty and delay ,in ascending some of the rapids. The valley of the Wanganui, and those of some of its tributaries, bear marks of disruption by earthquakes, &c., but seem principally caused by the cutting of the streams into the ground—what is called denudation. In the bed of the Wanganui there does not seem to be any gravel brought down from its source, the stones in it having apparently come from the drift through which it has cut its way. They consist chiefly of portions of igneous rook, trap, lava, and basalt, but probably a tenth is crystalline sand stone. These stones are for the most part traversed by quartz veins, but only one boulder was found of the slatcy rock, with iron pyrites through it, which in this country seems to indicate the presence of gold. In the whole course of the river the strata lie quite horizontally, and resemble the section which is visible on various parts of the sea beach to the north ol its mouth. There a bed of sand fifty to sixty feet deep lies on the top, in which are found Moa bones; below is a bed of forest trees mostly lying horizontally ; then comes twenty feet of drift grave], below which is four feet of yellow sandstone, and below that again sixty to seventy feet of blue slate, containing marine fossils, ostraea, pecten, involute, terebratulnta, &c. lhe horizontal position of the strata throughout the whole course of tho river up to Utapu has made it quite impossible to discover what deposits there are beneath. But, it is possible that, owing to this feature of tho country, the coal which is said to crop out at Tangarakau may be accessible by sinking much nearer the sea ; and it would be desirable to ascertain the dip and strike of the stratum, so that if it is not tiked in such a way as to make its existence improbable, it may be sought for in the neighbourhood of Wanganui. For present use. if found only in or near the Tangarakau valley it would be ol no value, as the expense of bringing it down the river would be too great.

'1 he exploring party speak very favorably of the natives' honesty and civility, the latter characteristic becoming more marked the fur ther they went up the river. They were also struck by the populousness of the Wanganui valley, and by the number of canoes in the river, carrying produce and -goods from one place to another. The temperature was high, averaging from 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and they felt none of the high winds which prevailed here during their absence. They found a lemon tree at Ohinemutu with a large quantity of ripe fruit oh it, and maize was growing in all the cultivations. Ploughs and harrows are used, ami cows regularly milked, at all the pas; but the system of cropping is wretched, the land being completely exhausted, and a new plot of ground being 'then cleaved to be dealt with in the same way. We understand that a full detail of Mr. Crawford's observations is likely to appear in the Government Gazette. He started yesterday morning lor the Rangitikei district, and we await with much interest the result of bis exploration in that quarter.

The Census.—The returns have now been completed. \\ e learn that in the town and suburbs there are 278 houses which required schedules to be left in them, which,, allowin" four persons to each house, would make the town population number 1112 souls. This is no doubt a small number to allow per house, but as 40 houses are occupied by the military, who arc not taken with the civilians, and a good many of our residents are absent at the Otago diggings, the estimate will perhaps be found prettv nearly correct. In the country district to the north of the river there are 03 houses, with a population of say 372, which makes the whole European population on the right bank of the river about 1500.

The Wangaehu Bridge —We are glad to learn that the cartage of the piles for the re building of this bridge has at length been begun. Some of the timber intended for the \\ anganui bridge is being taken for this purpose to save tlie time that would be lost in cutting it.

Ihe Harvest.—Reaping has now begun in the district. The crops are complained of as light, especially by those who have used for seed wheat grown in this neighbourhood last year, when probably a good deal of the grain used thi-year for seed was dried up by the January gale before it was ripe. Inn Crops of 186 D-01. —The following returns have been received for this district. I'enced, 2300 acres; laid down in pasture, 1390 acres; 7G acres wheat, yielding 1200 bushels ; 40 acres oats, yielding 730 bushels; 2 acres barley, 40 bushels ; 0| acres potatoes, yielding 33 tons; 10 acres grass cut for send, and producing 145 bushels. All the grain ci ops were much injured by the gale in January, and the potatoes were considerably damaged. Last Year’s Crops in Western Rangitikei. —There are in this district 2.1G7 acres fenced, and 1314 laid down in grass. There were 89 acres of wheat, yielding 1190 bushels ; 42,i acres oats, yielding G 25 bushels ; 3 acres ol bailey, yielding 5G bushels; 5-J acres pota'oes, yielding 15 . tons ; 32 acres under grass mown for seed, yielding 625 bushels. MANAWATU. lhe extinction of the Native Title over the Awahou block is notified in.the .Gazette of 7th January. This block is estimated to contain 25,000 acres. It commences on the coast nt“ Kai Iwi thence ..westward to Qrua. Kaitau".; ,thepce,;to .Q i raaru.,.Pap / aku ,aud ou to the Moutoa road,' along’ the road to

Pukehimui, iin-l mi io Otekurn. mid along tho edge of the Hiatal a swamp, to Pakengabnu, on the Mamiwatn river; t lienee down the Matta watn to its tnniuli on the coast; thence along the coast to Kni Iwi. I here are r'served to lite Natives out of ibis block 2.17 U acres.