BY TELEGRAPH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4208, 15 September 1874, Page 2

BY TELEGRAPH.

ONEHUNGA. September 14.— Arrived, C a.m. : p.s. Luna, from Wellington. Owing to the boisterous nature of the weather during yesterday forenoon very little was done in shipping matters. The departures of the steamers Bancatira, for Napier, Mnnawatu, for IV anganni. and Napier, for Foxton, were all postponed until to-day. The first named boat will sail at noon, and the paddlcBteamer at 6 p.m. , , - The ship J. A. Thomson commenced discharging cargo yesterday. „ . . , The scliooner Hannah Barrett has now finished discharging, and has hauled alongside the breastwork on the reclaimed land, where she will load for Fiaxbourne. , . _ The Luna arrived at Onehunga at 0 a.m. yesonly arrivals yesterday in this port were the schooner Canterbury, from Havelock, witn a load ox timber, and the cutter Dido, from Lyttelton. Ihe latter is bound for Blenheim, but was obliged to put in for shelter. The schooner Mary King, which lately came to this port from Adelaide, arrived on Sunday from Oamaru. , . J , Telegrams from the Heads stated that_ it was blowing very hard with a heavy sea outside yesterday. Towards evening, however, the weather moderated. . , , . . ~ The owners of the Stormbird received telegraphic intelligence yesterday stating that their steamer was unable to leave Wanganui owing to the heavy sea on th ft was stated last evening that Mr. E. Pearce had made another excellent addition to his fast increasing fleet of handsome crafts, by the purchase of the threemasted American schooner Marion, which lately arrived here with a cargo of Yankee notions from New York. The price is stated in some quarters tobe £3250, whilst in others it is given at £SOOO. The former, however, is the most probable, as £x>ooo would be about £l4 a ton, which is very near the cost of a new vessel, and the Marion, although not an old craft, is not new. Shifting Facilities at Newcastle.— W ithm the last few days an agitation that had prevailed for some considerable time previously, at Newcastle, the centre of our coal trade, has reached its culminating point. Since the heavy increase in the price of English coal attention has been drawn far and wide to the cheapness and excellence of the Colonial article, and numerous first-class vessels of large tonnage call at Newcastle foe cargoes of coal in the course of what is termed the round voyage. The machinery of the port having been designed for the accommodation of a different kind of trade, has been overtasked, and there have been delays in consequence. The inhabitants are now pressing urgently for an amendment of the port regulations and the establishment of a Harbor Trust to secure their enforcement. Meanwhile the Government, in whose hands the whole business now rests, is busily engaged in providing more fully for the accommodation of the trade. Additional steam-cranes are in course of construction, and a new and powerful steam-dredge, built for the purpose, is expected to be at work before long in improving the harbor, One thing may now be taken for granted: the coal trade of the Colony has assumed a position of commanding importance ; and no effort is likely to be spared either by capitalists or by the Government to provide effectually for its maintenance and extension.— Sydney Herald.