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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4239, 21 October 1874, Page 2

The following letter has been addressed from Melbourne, under date the 7th instant, by the Premier to the Lyttelton Times : —“ I observe in your paper, as well as in some other of the papers published in New Zealand, strictures upon my approaching visit to England. A very large number of persons in New Zealand will, I am glad to think, receive without question any personal assurance I give them. I shall feel indebted to you if you will allow me, through your columns, to give to them the assurance that I am proceeding to England, because I entirely believe that by doing so I can best serve the colony. I may be permitted to observe that there can be little of personal pleasure in the very short visit I am making. I shall be back before the commencement of the next session. It will, I presume, be conceded that the Government are best able to judge of the necessities of the case. Not only are the cable negotiations of the largest moment to New Zealand, but it is imperatively requisite that I should confer with the AgentGeneral upon the subject of immigration and upon other subjects.” The public of Wellington are likely to have the English mail via Suez (London, via Southampton, 24th August, via Brindisi 4th October) delivered here with unprecedented despatch—thanks to the speed of the vessels employed, and the admirable arrangements of the P. and 0. Company, and of Messrs. McMeckau, Blackwood, and Co. The Pera, it will be seen from the telegram in another column, arrived in Melbourne not less than six days before time, and as the Albion has gained almost two days on, the run from Melbourne, the Invercargill portion of the mail has reached that port nearly eight days before it was due. The Albion took the Otago and Canterbury mails, and the Tararua, coming down to take the up Suez mail, carried the Westland, Nelson, and North Island mails. The Tararua sailed three hours before the Albion, it appears, and thus a second race took place between the two vessels, and the Albion, having seventy-live miles less to travel, has been reported from the Bluff before the Tararua has been heard of from Hokitika. The latter will put in an appearance in good time, no doubt. Presuming she reaches Hokitika to-day, Westland will receive the mail thirteen days before date, and will be able to reply per Albion, by the outwax-d Suez mail steamer from Melbourne—an advantage they never enjoyed before. For this arrangement the Westlanders will have to thank Mi - . Vogel and Messrs. McMeckau, Blackwood, and Co., for the promptness of the Premier and the readiness of the contractoi-s. The Albion, it will be seen, made the trip from Melbourne in four days eight hours—a run which has not been exceeded. The Albion is expected here on Friday or Saturday, and will sail again on Sunday morning at daylight by the West Coast; the Tararua may be looked for on Friday, if not on Thursday evening. She will sail at the usual hour on Sunday with the outward mail, by way of Foveaux Strait. Both vessels will reach Melbourne in time to enable visitors from New Zealand to be onFlemiugtou course when the Cup, the great Victorian race of the year is run.

There was a good demand at the Immigration Barracks yesterday for the immigrants by the Cartvale who were for hire, and for the single women especially. All of them, excepting eight or ten, were engaged—general servants at wages from 10s. to 125., and nurse girls at from (is. to Bs. Unless those who remain are taken up in the course of the day, they will be sent up the country. A hundred of the male immigrants were sent to Wanganui by the Stormbird, and three families, consisting of eleven members in all, were forwarded to the same place by the Mauawatu yesterday. The remainder will be forwarded to Palmerston, Foxton, and localities in the Wairarapa, as soon as conveyances can be obtained for them.

We may call the attention of those of our readers who are interested in life assurance to the report of the fifth quinquennial investigation of the affairs of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, which appears in a supplement to the Times of to-day. The report is extracted from the Sydney Morning Herald of the Ist instant. The meeting was held at Sydney on the 30th September, and the chairman, Professor Smith, gave a lucid aud interesting account of the state aud prospects of this wonderfully prosperous society. The fact that the directors have set apart a sum of £235,185 as a surplus remaining for distribution among the policy holders, out of the profits made during the past five years, speaks volumes in favor of the stability and rapid progress of the society. The speech of the chairman will well repay perusal. The Wellington Acclimatisation Society are doing good work in the liberation of small birds and game. The former are valuable aids to the farmer, as well as delightful to hear, as they whistle high up in the air, as the skylark does, or low in the bushes as the finches sing. The last lot liberated, on the arrival of the Wellington on Monday, consisted of six pairs of skylarks, eleven pairs of chaffinches, a few minas, and twenty brace of Californian quail. Over five hundred birds have thus been liberated by the society within the last three months. It is hoped that sportsmen and others who may see strange birds about null ilot molest the interesting “ little strangers.” Some excitement was occasioned yesterday by the signalman at Mount Victoria hoisting at early dawn the signal of a ship in eight, and then reporting her as The Douglas, which is daily expected, with a large number of immigrants on board. The pilot was out in his boat, and the Luna got up steam, as the wind was from the north-west, and went out to tow the vessel in. The Luna, however, found only the pilot and his crew, who had not been able to find tiie ship, and the steamer returned to the harbor. The ship had disappeared. The mystery, however, is explainable, though it is somewhat strange that the signals should have been read to mean The Douglas. They were doubtless those of the ship Eskdale, Captain Tlinn (formerly of the William Tapscott), bound from Newcastle to San Francisco. A few weeks ago Captain Elinn wrote to Captain Mclntyre, stating that he was bound from New South Wales to California, and as he proposed to follow Maury’s sailing directions they would take him through Cook Strait. He said it was probable he would be able to make his number ashe passed the harbor, and he requested his friend the American Consul to accept the signal as “good-bye.” In all probability the signalman saw the Eskdale, which he did not expect, and hence his mistake. We draw the attention of our readers to the advertisements in another column, by Messrs. Lyon and Blair, of new English aud American publications just received by them. These works are of the highest class, although published at a comparatively inexpensive rate. The American works are chiefly of a scientific or practical character ; the English books run over a more varied field, embracing an excellent selection from the latest and best works of fiction, travel, biography, &c., as well as practical subjects. The manifest of the Mikado, on her late trip from San Francisco, had only one entry for Wellington—two cases for Messrs. Lyon and Blair. These contained the works now referred to. The energy of this young firm in the management of their old-established business is very creditable to them. The weekly meeting of the Young Men’s Literary Association was held last evening, in the usual meeting-room, when the question was, whether it was politic that provincialism in the North Island ought to be abolished ? The discussion was animated, and the votes 19 to 8 in favor of the retention of the institutions now in danger. The settlers at Maxwelltown have agreed to erect a Town Hall, and a committee of three residents —Messrs. Homer, Handley, and Hair—have been appointed to see the resolutions adopted at a public meeting earned out. It was proposed that the building should be a church, but a town hall, that might be let for public purposes, was preferred. The Hon. C. J. Fharazyn has given a liberal donation to the building fund.

The annual show of the Wanganui Agricultural and Pastoral Association is to be held on Thursday, the 29th instant. To-morrow is the last day for making entries. “Lottie,” the well-known female trapezist, is now performing with her brother Prank at, San Francisco, where she has occasioned extraordinary excitement, and become a general favorite.

We are glad to learn that the Foxtou and Palmerston tramway is dry land once more, and that it is found not to have sustained much or any injury from its submersion during the late floods.

The cricketers of Taranaki are endeavouring to arrange for matches, in the course of the coming season, with the players of Nelson, Auckland, and Wanganui. Wiry not include Wellington ? H.M.S. Blanche reached port this morning at an early hour, after her trip round the South Island. She commenced at once to coal, and will sail again early for Sydney. She will be succeeded in Port Nicholson, we understand, by H.M.S. Barracouta. A young half-caste boy, ten years of age, named John Ah Tong, was accidentally drowned in the harbor yesterday forenoon. It is supposed that he had fallen into the water from one of the wharves unnoticed when fishing, and drowned. His body was found floating towards the shore afterwards, but life was extinct.

At the twelfth annual meeting of the Australian Alliance Insurance Company, held in Melbourne, a few days ago, a dividend of ten per cent, on the capital of the company, as now enlarged, was paid, with a bonus of three shillings per share. The surplus on the transactions for the year ending 31st August last was £25,356. The additional bonuses declared have mounted to £9029.

Owing to the fresh in the Manawatu river having very considerably damaged the bank on the Foxton side, it is impossible, says the Wanganui Evening Herald, to land anything from the punt, and the coach has in consequence been compelled to remain on the other side for the last three trips. It is to be hoped that the Provincial Government will attend to this without delay, as travellers are put to a great deal of inconvenience by it. It was mentioned a few days ago that Eory O’More, a well-known Victorian steeplechase horse, had been purchased by Mr. Ward, of this colony. The price given for bun, we see, was £3OO, and at that sum he was regarded in Victoria as a cheap horse. At two miles he is said to be better than Maid of Avenel, which has been very successful lately, and good judges say that “ pace and distance are all one to him.” Eory O’More is good as a fiat racer as well as over hurdles.

A sitting of the Supreme Court in banco, was held yesterday before His. Honor Mr. Justice Johnston. In Roy v. Lyon a decree was made that the taxed costs of both plaintiff and defendant should be paid out of the estate. In Steele v. Hutchison, a rule nisi was applied for by Mr. Hutchison, for the defendant in the action, to nonsuit the plaintiff, or cause a verdict to be entered for the defendant on the ground—of which a note was made on the trial—that plaintiff, being only one of a company, could not recover individual damages in the absence of any inuendo showing that he was not one of exceptions alluded to in the libel complained of. His Honor remarked that those exceptions were not made as regarded the performances as a whole, but only in reference to the histrionic abilities of the members of the company in particular instances. Mr. Hutchison then argued that plaintiff being disclosed as one of three partners, should have sued for a tort against the partnership. He quoted cases in point. His Honor thought the cases quoted bore strongly in favor of the other side. The libel reflected on the whole company, therefore each partner, being dependent for Ids profits on the company’s returns, suffered individually by the libel. It also was stated in the declaration that plaintiff had suffered personally, both in pecuniary loss and in pain of body and mind. It would be impossible to award a lump sum as damages to the three partners, which should adequately compensate the injury to their individual interests. Mr. Hutchison next argued that the Judge had misdirected the jury. He held that the plaintiff should either have been non-suited, or the jury directed to find for defendant unless express malice had been shown. He referred to a number of cases to support this view. His Honor thought the cases quoted might have been urged with much greater effect on the other side. He could not see the slightest ground for disturbing the verdict. The jury had decided the matter of fact as to the character of the criticism. It was for the Judge to direct the jury whether or not the occasion was a privileged one, and he had directed them that it was so. It was for the jury to say whether an improper use had been made of that occasion, and they thought it had, and so did he. There was not the slightest ground for granting the application, and he should, therefore, refuse the rule. There are many in this city, says the Times, who will learn with regret that Mr. Patrick Murray, formerly accountant in the Commercial Bank, Dunedin, was, not long since, accidentally drowned when crossing the Passiac River, New Jersey, United States.

INTERPROVINCIAL. AUCKLAND. We regret to learn, says the Herald, that quite a third of the young cattle in this province have died during the year. One farmer at Maugarei lost over a hundred, and another whose name has been mentioned to us has lost thirteen head, the whole of his young cattle. A disease something like, if not influenza, we are informed has been very prevalent among them, and has proved fatal in many cases. Feed has been very scarce during the winter, and the spring season is proving a very unfavorable one. The murderer Charles Dyer has been visited by the visiting justices of the gaol; he has also been visited by Dr. Cowie, Bishop of Auckland. Although his demeanor has been undemonstrative since his conviction, he has expressed a desire that Dr. Cowie should visit him again. He has not made any reference to the circumstances out of which the tragical occurrence arose, and for which he had to answer at his trial. Dr. Cowie has promised to visit him and afford him the consolations of religion. Dyer being a member of the Church of England. A case which would certainly seem to show that the selection of emigrants in England for New Zealand has been loosely conducted is reported by the New Zealand Herald of the 15th instant, which says :—“Three young men were placed in the dock at the Police Court yesterday charged with having committed a series of eight petty larcenies. A plea of guilty upon each charge was recorded against them. They offered no defence whatever, and only said in extenuation that they were strangers in the country, had no friends, and would leave the place upon the first opportunity that offered. The whole of the prisoners were immigrants, per ship Kooparell, and had, so the police stated, banded together for the purpose of pilfering, and that they had not made any secret of their intention. The prisoners appeared to be rather surprised that they should be sentenced for each offence, and that none of the sentences, with one exception, were to run concurrently. The aggregate of the sentences passed upon them was twelve months’ imprisonment, but as one-third time is allowed for good conduct, they will probably only suffer eight months’ incarceration. The whole of the articles, the value of which amounted to £7 95., were stolen on the sth and 6th of the present mouth, so that the prisoners gave promise of carrying out their intention to pilfer in a very extensive manner, and it is well their career has been cut short by the vigilance of the police.” TARANAKI. Numerous attempts to commit robbery, some of them successful, have lately been reported to the police at New Plymouth. A whirlwind passed over New Plymouth during the late severe weather, doing some damage.

OTAGO. The lad Travers, belonging to the American barque Oneca, attended at the Port Chalmers Court on Saturday, and made a statement to Mr. Hansford, E.M., regarding his treatment on board the barque. Mr. Hansford sent him to the Dunedin Hospital with a letter to the Provincial Surgeon, asking that gentleman to report upon the lad’s condition, so that the matter may be laid before the American Consul. We learn from the Mount Ida Chronicle that a block of 1000 acres, containing some very nice volcanic land, has been selected for survey under the agricultural-lease system. The block lies between the new Macrae’s road and the Marebum, the river Taieri being the lower boundary. If (says 'our contemporary) the Government give sufficient—or, indeed, any—publicity as to the whereabouts of the land open on agricultural-lease blocks, such as at Blaokstone Hill at the present time, the system would be taken much greater advantage of in thinly populated districts than it is at the present tune. Another block on the deferred payment system is promised on the Hyde side of the river next year. The Lawrence Town Council have decided to raise the sum of £3OOO, in £IOO debentures,, to be expended, with £IOOO they have in hand, as follows : —Town Hall, £ISOO ; weighbridge, £l6O ; waterworks, £3OO ; sewage, £340 ; debentures already owing, £I2OO ; public works, £4OO ; and interest account, £3OO. The Council have also voted £25 towards the Fire Brigade. A large goods shed and store has just been commenced by Mr. E. Bauchop, carpenter and builder, at Port Chalmers, for the New Zealand Mercantile, Loan, and Shipping Company. Its position is to be between Beach Street and the new pier, on the ground now being reclaimed in front of Messrs. Easton and McGregor’s iron works. It will be 200 ft. long and 45ft. wide, with walls 21ft. high. The work, which will cost about £3OOO, is expected to be finished and ready for use during the: present wool season. Its position will render it one of the most convenient and useful buildings in the place. WESTLAND. The tug Dispatch made a trip on Tuesday night, says the West Coast Times of the Bth instant, that she was by no means prepared for. She left Hokitika on the morning’s tide, for the Grey, but could not get in there on arrival. After anchoring, the gale increased to such an extent that she was obliged to slip and run for Westport. It is at all times gratifying, says the West Coast Times, to be able to record the appreciation of a public servant, by the class of the community best able to properly assess the value of his services. A pleasing proof of this fact is found in a testimonial, presented by the leading commercial men of the town to Mr. Eowland Davis, who for many years has most efficiently discharged the duties of Inspector of Weights and Measures in Westland. He is now sacrificed on the altar of provincial economy, and his duties are to be discharged by the police. The following is the address : —“ To Eowland Davis, Esq. (late Inspector of Weights and Measures), Province of Westland. —Sir, —As the link which has bound you to Westland for the last eight years is about to be severed, we, the undersigned residents of Hokitika, express our very sincere regret thatWestland should lose one of her best public servants. Out of the well-selected number of gentlemen Canterbury sent to the Coast to administer the various functions of its Government, none have acquitted themselves with more efficiency, stricter impartiality, or a greater regard for the public welfare than yourself. No diggings store in the province, however isolated or inaccessible it might be, was exempt from your periodical visits of inspection. While you were unceasingly vigilant as regarded the duties pertaining to your department, you ever exhibited the true characteristics of a gentleman. As a private member of the community, you commanded the esteem of those who knew your unassuming,., honest, and philanthropic disposition. Many can bear testimony that no tale of suffering or misery brought under your notice ever met with a cold response. We assure you, sir, wherever your future lot may be cast, you will carry with you the well wishes and sympathies of the people of Westland.” To this address are appended the signatures of all the chief business men of the town, headed by that of his Worship the Mayor and Provincial Treasurer. Such testimony to his career cannot but be a source of genuine honest pride to Mr. Davis, and is in itself a condemnation of the penny wise and pound foolish ecouony that has led to his retirement from the service. Mr. Davis, during his residence on the Coast, has earned the hearty respect of all who have known him.

MARLBOROUGH. “ Serious complaints reach us from time to time,” says the Express, “of the diffiulties experienced by persons in crossing the Waihopai River when the water is up, and the flagrant wrong committed in not maintaining the accommodation house, as contracted for by Sir D. Monro with the Government. The latest comes from the driver of the Wairau Valley mail-cart, Mr. Ockley. On Friday, last week, he reached Blenheim with no little trouble, and on Saturday started on his return. On arriving at the river, he got over two ridges by the help of a spade carried with him, but after cutting the bank down, the horses, remembering how they had been washed down previously, refused to proceed through the deep water. Mr. Ockley took out one horse, and sending on the mail, went for assistance a distance of about twelve miles, and was unable get any. In the meantime the trap, loaded with goods, and a female, remained in the water for five hours. At night it became necessary to leave the cart to its fate, and the lady had to get to her journey’s end on horseback, but without a side-saddle. It was not till i p.m. on the following day that Mr. Ockley got home until the cart, and he complains very justly of the breach of agreement which placed him in.the helpless position we have described. We can only say for consolation that Sir D. Monro’s lease will expire shortly, when the matter will be remedied, without a doubt.” The bees have begun to swarm, early as the season is. The first was observed on the 2nd inst., at Mrs. W. Robinson’s, Spring Creek.