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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4250, 3 November 1874, Page 2

According to the assessment handed in by the city valuator, the property in the city has increased nearly 50 per cent, since tho valuation of last year. The’ increase is of course accounted for principally by the large number of buildings erected during the past 12 months. The following statement shows the assessment for tho past and present years, and the value of the property in each ward :

Tho assessment of last year brought the Corporation a revenue a little over £IOOO ; this year the income will be £6363. The assessment roll will be open to the inspection of ratepayers in a few days. There were a largo number of applications yesterday for tho unsurveyed Crown Lands in tho Wairarapa and East Coast districts which, for a short time past, have been advertised as to be open for selection on and after Monday, the 2nd inst. A large number of intending selectors attended at the Land Office during the forenoon, and altogether thirty-five applications were lodged, for an aggregate of about 15,000 acres, tho amount paid to tho Receiver of Land Revenue being close on £7,000. The bulk of tho land was taken up at 10s. an aero, and some pastoral country at 7s. 6d. There will probably bo a considerable additional amount of land selected from tho large area thrown open. The many friends of Captain Renaut, of tho ship Glenlora, will be sorry to learn that ho will not pay Wellington a visit during tho coming' wool season, tho Glenlora, of which vessel ho still has command, being laid on for Auckland.

The telegraph was interrupted yesterday between Wellington and the West Coast stations of the Middle Island. The ship Eskdale, commanded by Captain Flinn, sailed from Newcastle for San Francisco on the 17th ultimo. The Right Rev. Dr. Redwood, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Wellington, is expected to arrive here by the s.s. Albion, on her next trip down from Mel bourne with the English mails via Suez. The almost-exhausted stock of potatoes in Wellington received an addition yesterday by the arrival of the Alhambra. Over a thousand hags of Victorian potatoes were landed from her. In the late election for the representation of tho district of Eden in the Provincial Council of Auckland the numbers were ;—May, 150 ; Bees, 82 ; majority for May, 68. We observe that his Honor Judge Harvey, who is to succeed Judge Grey in Otago, returned from Melbourne to the West Coast by the Tararua. The first present of. the King of Fiji to the Queen of England, on the cession of the islands, consisted of five turtles and a new canoe. The King is said to be delighted to have got rid of his Ministers. Among the passengers who went South yesterday by the s.s. Phofbe were Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Bates, the well-known artists, who were on their way from Auckland to Dunedin, under engagement for a season of four weeks to Messrs. Steele and Keogh. Our Manawatu readers will be pleased to learn that the locomotive for the tramway connecting Palmerston with Foxton was landed from the Phoebe yesterday morning. It was constructed by Messrs. Fraser and Tinne, of the Phoenix Foundry, Auckland, and attracted considerable attention on the wharf. We observe from the Melbourne journals that the man Hasler, lately a resident in New Zealand, wh# is charged with the murder of his wife at Richmond, is to be professionally examined as to his sanity before being placed upon his trial for the serious crime attributed to him. The last Victorian loan placed on the Loudon. market has not, after all, been a very great failure. A telegram from London, dated the 17th ultimo, has been published in Melbourne, intimating that a further sum of £375,200 had been taken up at the minimum price. The balance has since been entirely withdrawn from the London market. The telegram with regard to the capture of the notorious Nana Sahib, lately published, was not altogether quite clear. From the Melbourne journals to hand by the Alhambra’s mail we find that he was captured in Gwalior, that lie' was identified by the Maharajah of Scindia, that he is now a prisoner in the palace of that’magnate, and that he has confessed to the resident political agent of England. Business at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday was very dull. John Skeen, who requested lodging on Saturday night from the police, was dismissed with a caution on the charge of vagrancy. Frederick Fisher, a deserter from H.M.S. Blanche, who was captured at Picton, will he kept in custody till instructions have been received from the naval authorities as to how ho is to be disposed of. A charge of cruelty to animals was preferred against George Styles, but the hearing of the case was adjourned for a week. In proof of the extraordinary advance in the value of city property in Wellington it may he mentioned that two sections on tho reclaimed land, opposite Stephenson and Stuart’s store, changed hands on Saturday at £3OO each, being in reality a bonus of £6OO to the original selector. Considering that the land is leasehold property, each section being 85ft. by 35ft., and subject to an annual rental of over £SO, the price is certainly a very long one. Messrs. Thompson, Shannon and Co., who at present occupy stores in Willia-street, were the purchasers.

Mr. Bennett, the popular providore of the N.Z. .S.S, Company, has severed the connection which made him so well known in all the ports on the coast of New Zealand, to take charge of the providoring arrangements of the s.s. Easby, which has been fitted up to carry on the passenger-trade between Wellington, Dunedin, and Sydney. It is understood that tho Easby will become a regular trader between the ports named, Wellington being the last port of call on the up trip. The high price of butchers’ meat has brought into existence a welcome amount of competition. An advertisement elsewhere announces that Messrs. Pollock and Young are about to commence business in the premises lately occupied by Mr. Garment, near the Branch Hotel. In the matter of butchers’ shops the ruling sentiment of the people just now is sure to be “ the more the merrier,” so that Messrs. Pollock and Young are not likely to remain long untried. The non-arrival of the s.s. Rangatira from Napier has prevented the California Minstrels from keeping faith with the public. They were to have appeared at the Odd Fellows’ Hall last night, and as the Rangatira sailed from Napier on Saturday last, there was every reason to anticipate that they would reach Wellington late on Sunday night, or early yesterday. The minstrels, however, are still at sea, and the, opening night has necessarily been postponed till Wednesday. Among the passengers by tho s.s. Alhambra, which arrived from Melbourne via Nelson early yesterday morning, was the Rev. Mr. Standrin, who was accompanied by Mrs. Standrin and family. The rev. pastor belongs to the Primitive Methodist Church, and has been resident for seventeen years in South Australia, and is now, under direction of the English Conference, on his way to Manawatu, where a now district in connection with his congregation has been established. He is to open the mission. Last night ahont eight o’clock there was an extraordinary and very peculiar display of electricity in the eastern sky. The centre of the cloud appeared to ho below the horizon, in the line of Evans’ Bay, and ever and anon there shot up the most intense light, assuming various forma—sometimes that of a hall, and at others of streamers—but without any of the peculiar appearance of the northern lights. When firrt observed it was thought that a white rocket had been sent up by some ship in the offing, but that idea was quickly dispersed by the lights which followed. The wind at the time had died away to a perfect calm. The people of New Zealand are likely soon to have Monsieur Blondiu amongst them. What manner of man he is they pretty well know from the accounts that have come to them from all parts of the world. Everybody, however, does not know what preparations he makes to entertain them —and draw the “bawbees.” His new tent, just completed in Sydney, is thus described :—lt contains 8000 yards of canvas, or 96,000 square feet. There are fifteen miles of sewing giving 3,801,600 stitches. This is by far the largest order ever completed in the sailmaking Hue in the colony, and , has been finished in eleven working days. The price in round numbers was £540. The s.s. Phoeha left the wharf at four o’clock, yesterday, for Lyttelton and the South. She carried away the English Opera Troupe,, and a vast number of friends assembled to see them off. The Alhambra followed about an hour afterwards, having also on hoard a considerable number of passengers for tho Southern ports and Melbourne. Tho wind died away in the course of the evening, and unless a southerly breeze should spring up, it will bo a steaming match right down to Lyttelton. A contemporary is wrong in supposing that the same vessels met on a recent occasion in Blind Bay, and that tho Phceho ran away from her competitor. The ship of Messrs, McMeckan, Blackwood & Co.’s fleet on that occasion was the Albion, and wo donot suppose that there is a single frequenter of the wharf who is innocent enough to think that the Phceho can heat tho crack boat of the Melbourne fleet. The Phceho and. the Alhambra, on a calm night, on a run down tho coast to Lyttelton, will he better matched, and the telegrams this forenoon will bo looked to with interest by shipping people, to see which reached port first.

The business which passes through the Eastern Extension Australasian and China Telegraph Company’s line (overland Australian) grows with the progress o£ time. In the week ending the 9th October 79 messages were sent from and 87 received in the colonies. Of these, Victoria had by far the lion’s share, - having sent away 35 and received 47. New South Wales despatched 26, and received 22. New Zealand only sent 3 and received 2. In the following week (ending October 16) the messages forwarded numbered 66, and those received, 72. Victoria still held the pride of place, having sent away 24, and received 41, New Zealand sent 4, and received 3. We find the following in the Melbourne Daily Telegraph: —The' Hon. Julius Vogel visited the School of Mines, Ballarat, on October 17, and recorded the following in the visiting book :—“ It has given me great pleasure to visit this institution. I was the first pupil under Dr. Percy in the metallurgical department of the (Koyal) School of Mines, Jermyn-street. Knowing, as I do, how nobly that institution has vindicated the hopes of its founders, the immense good it has done in spreading useful knowledge amongst those who otherwise would have blindly followed their various pursuits without understanding the meaning of the details that by mere routine they acquired, and the great wealth it has created in giving to its pupils the means of acquiring wealth in the subsequent pursuit of the occupations of their lives, I feel the greatest pleasure in visiting a young disciple of the parent institution, destined, I hope, like that, to do much good. I hope that other colonies will follow the example set them by Victoria, through the energy of the people of Ballarat.”

1874-6. Te Aro .. £57,800 Lambton 40,979 Thoriulon 28,808 Previous Valuation. .. £38,301 .. 28,703 .. 20,202 Increase. .. £19,C35 12,210 .. 8,184 £127,201 !! £87,320 £39,935