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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4341, 17 February 1875, Page 2

The Wellington contribution to the English 'Ynn.ll -via San Erancijsco,; which was, despatched to' Auckland yesterday by the steamer, .Taranaki, comprised 4,030 , letters,.. 2970 newspapers, and ‘ 73 book parcels— ’ in all- amounting to 7679 packets. ; The mail despatched last month by the same' route consisted of 3893 letters and 2790 .newspapers, a total of 6683 packets, thus showing an increase in , favorof the. mail • just ties-, patched of 996 letters and newspapers. A considerable number of the friends of Mr - . John Martin and Mr. Seed assembled on the wharf, and on bbard the'steamer Taranaki, yesterday afternoon, to bid farewell to those gentlemen, who are proceeding to England via San Erancisoo. Many good wishes were expressed, and as the steamer left the wharf three cheers were called for, and given, with, great heartiness. ' : ,' : Regarding the transhipment of goods coastwise, the following notice .was posted in the Custdiri'House 1 yesterday “The Hon. the 1 Commissioner of Customs, under the X33rd section of the Customs Regulation Act, 1858, has ordered jhpt on and after the. Ist proximo; whenever goods are transhipped coastwise into .vessels without looked; or . sealed r hatches, the officers of Customs are to make such examination as may be necessary to ascertain tire particulars for duty on all goods subject to fixed rates “of duty,; -and, in the case of ad,valorem goods, and of packages reported as * contents unknown,’ such an examination as may be necessary for the purpose, of establishing a claim for the duty in the event of non-delivery of the gocds at the port of destination. The account of examination to be endorsed on the landing, waiters: warrant: and; searcher's ;copy of entry, and copied' on the shipping bill, to be attached to the clearance of vessel taking the ■cargo.” , .Masters' of- small craft which discharge-or load alongside the breastwork complain of the absence' of mooring piles of ring's to which to' attach their vessels. At the present time great ingenuity hari-to be exeroisedbefore a ' craft can be secured. Heretofore, when the large water-pipes for the - West Coast were .waiting transhipment, little difficulty was experienced in securing ; a vessel,’ but sinbe these 'weighty pieces of metal have disappeared stacks of railway iron and other 1 material have been called into service. And another matter worth attention and remedy is the large iron boltheads which protrude all along the face of the breastwork. These,- to vessels a little more •Wall-sided than usual, threaten damage, and below the water-line, too. 1 Arow of light piles driven along the breastwork would serve the double purpose of mooring piles arid fenders.' | It is seldom that a steamer from Wellington for a coasting' port has taken away a more singularly assorted,list of passengers than the Rangatira yesterday for Napier. The ship was full to overflowing—to begin with, —and her list included the Right Rev. the Roman Catholic Bishop of Wellington (Dr. Redwood;, and several gentlemen of the priesthood; but also the Rev. C- Clark and, Mr. R. S. Smythe ; and Mr. and Mrs. Bates, and the members of their dramatic company. The day was very favorable for a smart passage, the water in the harbor being as smooth as a mill-pond, with scarcely a breath of wind to create a ripple; and we have' no doubt that Cape Palliser was safely rounded before the wind began, towards midnight, to whisper of rough weather once more. '

! Mr. Toomath, in response to the request of a ; number of ratepayers of Thorndon, has consented to stand for the vacancy created by the retirement of Councillor Burrett. Mr. Toomath has made a stipulation as to a certain amount of support being ensured, to indicate to him the desire of the ratepayers, but there 1 is little doubt that he will oppose Mr. Cleland. ; Travelling to Wanganui by coach lately would not appear to be so pleasant a recreation as it sometimes is. The' coach which left Wellington on Monday morning, as well appointed as usual, was unable to proceed farther than Otald, in consequence of the effects of the heavy rain on that river. It was necessary to leave the coach on the south bank, and to ferry the passengers across by canoe. A coach was found bn the other side, but when the Waikawa was reached there was nothing for it but to swim the river. At the Ohau, the travellers were again stuck up, and were compelled to wait for the tide to enable them to swim it. This took place at half-past three o’clock this morning, and the passengers did not reach Toxton till seven o’clock a.m. At nine the returu pasaengers started, and reached Wellington safely at fifteen minutes past nine o’clock last night. A meeting of the Begatta Committee was held at the Pier Hotel last night, for the purpose of settling up the affairs of the committee in connection with Anniversary Day. The accounts presented were examined and passed. The funds in hand were found to be sufficient to discharge all the liabilities, and the secretary was instructed to discharge that'pleasing duty. The meeting, altogether, was a very satisfactory one. The choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral are about to give a concert for the purpose of raising funds to provide additions to the Sunday-school library. Mr. Mowbray, it need scarcely be mentioned, has the superintendence of the concert, and in such hands it must prove a success. ■ At the practice held last evening in the Sydney-street school-house, an excellent programme was rehearsed, and every promise given of a most enjoyable evening’s entertainment. Professor Bruce, phrenologist and mesmerist, was not welcomed by a large auditory at the Odd Fellows’ Hall last evening. The :firat part of the entertainment was devoted to phrenology, on which he lectured with great volubility and considerable humor. After a deal of solicitation, several of the audience consented to have their “bumps” examined, and the Professor delineated their several peculiarities, as known to the audience, with considerable accuracy. He afterwards placed a few of the audience uuder mesmeric influence, the subjects appearing to be, thoroughly .under his control. The lecture was both amusing and. instructive, and a couple of hours could be less profitably spent than by attending one of Professor Bruce’s seances. ■ A meeting of the Board of Education will take place this forenoon, at eleven o'clock. Clement W. Govett, Esq., who was lately admitted to the bar of the colony, was a passenger by the Wellington on Sunday, and intends to reside and practise in Wellington. In the month of January the. extent of, land sold in the province of Wellington was 3956 acres, and ; the amount of, cash received was £4360, with £3O in scrip to-be added,., ' The sheep inspector’s report, published in the Provincial Gazette of Monday, states that at the end of December last there were 183,187 sheep in the district of the Wairarapa, . The assessment upon them amounted to £3Bl 12s. 9Jd. A large proportion, of the. sheep are described as scabby—a number which in Victoria would be considered appalling. / I; f'K-.

“A little girl two ..and a-half years of : age, 'named Ellen Lawrence,- daughter of .Mr. Win., Lawrence, of they Maogqroa Sa,w-milk/ v was ■•found drowned inltheMungaroa River yesterday afternoon. When the body wal recovered lift! was not quite .extinct, but she died in a short time afterwards,'before medical assistance could be procured. An inquest mil doubtless .be, held tq-da.yj - -,when,.tb.e particulars of the.ead event .will beteljcited; I: j!'f( ’■; , ,The Wairarapa people have a treat in store. Mr. R- S. Smythe, the agent of tfie Rev. Mr. ■ Clark,- has arranged so that Mi - . Clark will be' enabled -'to’ lecture at Greytown On” the' '3rd': of ..nesimtouth, aud‘at'Masterton on the 4th,and 6tb;jr g It "wiU 'be 7'observed 'ffom~ivj'teTegrain,, in another ,columri that ' another; - of the, New Zealand horses in Victoria. has been successful, Calumny having won the Grand' Stand Handicap at the Geelong Races in a , very easy manner. ; - j “In New Zealand,” says :the ,Nm York Herald, “ they ‘.want, a. man to fill a public office, the' salary of which is ISOOdols. in gold, and they have to advertise for him.” The motal we.'suppose; is that under - the same circumstances there, would be no need to advertise for such a man in New York !' Has Yon Araira beaten Bismarck? asks a New York contemporary. ' Hr Europe,' the diplomatic gossips say he has. It was a struggle' to suppress ; letters which Bismarck apprehended the Emperor might'See/land the story is that . Von Arnim has managed to deliver the letters to the Emperor. The temperance men are strong enough to have given their candidate for Governor eleven thousand votes, Temperance, .remarks, a New York contemporary, is becoming a power ill politics., ' Two years ago the vote was less than two, hundred. : , When the elections, become close, as in the past, ,cold .water will: play as important a part in polities as the third term. E strange item of news is given by a lateNew- York Herald. It reads ;—“Twenty barrels entered as ‘ salt meat’ and ‘ Australian beef’ were seized at Portsmouth, England, on October 23, and in each barrel was found the corpse of a full-grown negro. They reached England from the United States and were intended for dissection in London ; but who sent them and ■ where 1 did the sender get them ?” If this is the sort of “ Australian beef” that occasionally finds its way to England, there is no wonder'why l it should not be altogether popular. ■ Ope luuidred and ten' years after heydeath, says - the. New/ York, fferald, -liixne. the Marquise de Pompadour has helped to build a church on Montmartre,. in Paris, ; and this is how it happens Abbe de Menneval, now a priest, was formerly in the diplomatic service. One day, at Yienrie,’ he bought in a curiosity shop a beautiful miniature • of no one' knew, who; for fifteen francs. . He put it;iu his baggage and forgot .it, and,, in his. travels, the frame got broken, so when he took it out lie read on the back “Portrait of Mrtie. de Pompadour; given to: M.. Kaunitz.” Mme. de Rothschild gave him.lOOOf. for it, and this he gives to the church. ~ ! A correspondent of . the S. M. Herald, residing at Noumea, New. Caledonia, in aletter dated the 11th January, states that the population has been • thrown 'into consternation by tlie arrival of an official order expelling some qf .the civil inhabitants, and- recalling numerous officials.. “ Mr. Pueoh (of the firm of Rataboul arid Puech) was one of the persons to be exjielled from the colony. Messrs. Rataboul and Puech are amongst the principal' merchants and importers: of Noumea, receiving., every two months a cargo from Bordeaux, and owuiug' tho schooner Noumea, regularly running between Sydney and Noumea. The same fate was found to be awarded to Mr. S.;Sohn, timber merchant and saw-mill proprietor (well known in the Australiari colqnies.) . The other parties to be' ‘expelled’ are Mr. Blaise, a grocer ; Mr. Gassan, formerly storekeeper at the Ducos Peninsula, and Mr. Dussert, a publican. The. telegraphic despatch which imperatively directed the recall of numerous officials, and the expulsion of the above-named citizens, also sent an order to close the Masonic Lodge of Noumea-, named ‘ L’Union Caledouienne,’ with a distinct prohibition against opening any similar ‘ establishment ’ in the colony or its dependencies. Neither motive nor explanation is given for the above detailed acts, and every one is at a loss to find the key to the enigma, considering that all the gentlemen thus dealt with are highly respected and esteemed by the whole population. Two months’ grace are given to each party marked out for expulsion, to allow them to arrange their affairs. Several of them intend, it is understood, to proceed to Paris to seek redress.”