WELLINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 536, 8 March 1862, Page 7

WELLINGTON.

(From our own Correspondent.) Wellington, 2tslh Feb., 1302.

We were sodly disappointed when the " Airedale " came in on Monday, to find that tho English mail is so Late in reaching Australia. Having a 'signal riving, vim iiiiinitiite.l mule .sure she had brought; us Ifmie news, and io wa-> only when tho learned iv such nutters e\|)l.iim;d that '2907 meant, " Mail not arrived," that they became undecjived. The '• Wonira" e;uno int.vooi- three hour.; afterwards, having lefb your port on the '22.'id. % her we were again disappointed, and gave the mail up for this month as hopeless, which feeling tho " Lord Ashley," from b/dnay yesterday nioniiiiL', fully eonfir.ivjd.

Ili.s Honor the Superintendent preside 1 over a crowded public meeting on Monday night, called by himself and a few gentlemen who had formed themselves into a eoiumittoe, pro te.ni, fin- taking stops to welcome the Governor. The object of the mc'ting wits to get the sanction and co-operafciou of tiie public. Ewrythiim vent oil' harmoniously. I think there w?.s a dosire on die part of a few to quarrel with the terms of tha address proposed to be rea 1 on his landing, had it been safe to do so. H the weather only prove lino, the demonstrations on the stu of March will be most enthusiastic, mid during tho whole week's stay opportunicico of friendly interc mrae between Governor aud people have bjen devised. I neol not trouble you with minute details, you w ill find them in the papers if they interest you ; but I may say that what with salutes, triumphal arches, coaches and six, addresses, levees, balls, dinners, conversaziones, driving piles, and what not, Wellington bills fair to commence Lent in a very unorthodox manner. Tho address agreed to is as follows :—: — "To His Excblu:.\'cy Govkrnoh Sir George

GnuY, K.0.1i. &c, &c

" May it please youu Exjiaiinxcv,— Although we have already, in an a idre^J presented at Auckland, expressed our ."ratification at your Excellency's re. appointment to the tioveriiinent* of this colony— have declared our confidence hi" your ability to grapple with and overcome tho sarious ditlicultie.s iv which you find it involve 1. and have assured you of our earnest desire to all'ord you a hearty co-opt ration and snppoit in executing the high nnd onerous mission entrusted to you by the Imperial (lovernment; still, appreci itin^ the carne.stne.ssj with which you have applied yourself to Uie work — lecojnising, us wo do, the fcucce-is that has already attended your eu'ort-; to revive the confidence of the natives in her .Majesty's (ro\onn.ient, and to restore peace and prosperity to the whole colony ; and, further, rcmeiubsr,ini( the warm interest, which during your previous /administration you overtook in the advancement of (liis Province, and the many and importantbeneiits you conferred upon us— we cannot refrain from availing ourselves of tho oppottunity afforded by your arrival amount v.: to bid you a hearty welcome," and to renew the expressions of oar personal esteem and iespect, and of our fervent wishes for the success of the policy you have inaugurated, and for your health aud Jiappine&s.— J. E. FfiATiinwroN, Superintendent, Uhairin.au of the public meeting." On Monday afternoon therj was a special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in reference to the newly proposed steam arrangement? of Mr Ward. There was some strong speaking, which resulted in the adoption of th: resolution below. "That thts Chamber having fully considered the proposed Steam Postal changes between New Zealand and 'he Australian colonies, as explained to the members by Ihe Po;tin:istsr-General, the lion. Gwbie Ward, on the 15th inst... beg to express their belief that the operation of the proposed alterations will confer 110 benefit on this Port or Province ; but even ns compared with the present system would inflict Greater injustice upon Wellington : That this Ohnmber feels it will be its duty to oppose by every legitimate menus in its power the proposed new plan, or any nltcration the Mulency of -which would be to sacrifice so palpably the commerce and interests of this Province with New South Wales. Aud. further, thiit if any alteration is to be made in the m.iil service, before the next meeting of tho Genera! A«.sembly, the members of the Wollintrton Chamber 01 Commerce would prefer the plan proposed hy a Select Committee of the House of Representatives in the session of 18G1."

All the speakers roeoirnised tho necessity of a change, and of a radical one too, but they could not, injustice to the interests of themselves "and the community, sec Wellington deprived of whatever advantages may accrue from bein<r on the trunk line without making a struggle. This is the main, I might almost say the only objection, but it is hoped that " pressure from without" may induce the arrangements to be so modified as not to cut olf all direct communication with Australia. The increased Jnter-Provincial communication is of course fully asBentrd to. A farther meeting was held yesterday, mninly in consequence of some explanations made to some of the members by the lion. Mr Reader Wood, who crossed Mr Ward from the south in the " Airedale." Either Mr "Ward hns)hecn misunderstood, or Mr Wood is not thoroughly aware of tho proposed arrangements. However, to cut. a long btory short, nddltional resolutions were passed iv the key pitched the day previously.

A court martial has recently been held on n soldier confined for- mutinous conduct. He is one of those who so thoroughly detest a soldier's life as to prefer tho alternative of a gaol. Ho appealed to Auckland for trial, but General CamCron directed it to bo held bore immediately. Beinjr determined, however, to go to Auckland he added to his previous offonee that of "shying" a bottle at the Major's head ; but lam not versed sufficiently in military etiquette to know whether an assault on the officer coimnnnduur in one district, renders it necessary to hold a court martial by officers out of it. The result of the first trial fa not known.

A few months since the use of the atockade, erected during the Tnrahaki troubles at the Upper Butt, wns granted for church and school purpose^; now the wwev Hutt stouKftde Jtaa been applied for fto use. of

the common school there, aud will no doubt be granted. This is literally turning swords iuto ploughshares.

Tno want of Hotel accommodation and of some suitable place for gossiping when the Assembly meets, has c.iuicd a pliiu lo bo -*et on foot for starring a Club. A ian;-(! and handsome hotel wnicli has long noun empty an.t U to be sold shortly by order of the Supreme Court, Vill do well for tha purpose. I hear the proposal for a club has met with much success, and no doubt tho premise; above mentioned will be secured. The want of a club is mush felt now, arid will be still more m ik the time for the Assembly to meet approaches.

Mr. Coutfes Crawlord's party h.is returned to Wanjraiuii. After being prevented from pursuing their journey up the Wauganui they WPiit up the Uaugitiki iuto tlio Tnupo country, and from thence struck the head of the Wauganui." The geological result is not very encouraging-. The coul is 11 tertiary and no indication of ui-.-ta's were seen, although it must be bourne in mind that the copper country which Mr. Crawford was to explore was in the direction from which they were prevented going- by the Wanganui llivor natives.

La«r week the liist dray load of Totata piles for the Deep Water wharf dime into town, consisting of fi\e '&1 foet ieiiffths. They come from Grey Town in the Wairanipa about -J'2 miles olf. All the shorter pilc3 are to come horn thence, and will have to b. 1 carted over f lie Ithnutaku (1100 feet) and Muuaarva (700 feet) hills. Tho road over the former hill is eleven miles, with a gradient in some parts of I in -JO, am! in none greater than lin 11. That over tiie latter is six miles, with a iirailiunt of not more in any place than 1 in Hi. There are only two unbridged rivers to cro-r., for bridging one of which— the Pakuratalii — tenders have been put out lately, but temporarily withdrawn on account of the uaturu of the giouiuf, which consists of only two feet of clay on solid rock, thus preventing pile driving. It is much to be reuretted that nearly the whole of the summer has been allowed to slip by without a large number of the piles having been brought in, as these rivers—ordinarily only thi-eo feet, aud even loss — rise sometimes to nine feet in a few hours during the winter mouths, and soinfitiiiius impud-j dray communication for days. The wharf requires about 400 piles, aud ought to b) fiuioh.'d by JXvembor next, but there appears little probability of its being done to date. However, as the principal contractor — who i.s a Scotchman of twenty years' experience as a builder — says it will bo finished m good time, I have no right to gainsay him.

Messrs. SnfclitF' and Ramiay, of Willis-street, wheelwrights, are b'liiding some dobbins for use 011 your roads. They are similar to those Used iv filling in the reclaimed fro 11 the s>;a, ami for all but scraiirhf forward work would, to uiy fan;/, bo much improved by having the tltirJ, or hind wheel, moveable instead of lix.'d.

The Choral Society gave a concert on Thursday lasi. These conjerts are generally very good, but the pre-iG-.i!, one was somewhat below par. owing to the platform arnuigeuieuts having bvu altered on the previous evciin^r, which dUooncorted | some of the peribnuers. Tuere w,\s a good ni'istei" of singers, I<> male and 19 female, besides a band of about Ik A capital organ has borjn recently erected, which is a ,-Trcas addition, and as there 1-; al.-;o one of 15r mi's irra-i I pianofortes, the itutfvr.vl for good music is not waiting, c-ipoiblly when 1 tell you that ona of the hopiMfids bn~> a voice which would make her fortune at homo, where they would forbid her publicly singing until after a \var or two's training Subscribers only can obtain tie'eots, and being under tho especial patronage of the Judge who, having a tolerable share of mv iif.al ability, personally su])ji*intends much of the details, it I, one of the must sskct and fasliionablc entertainments we havts. I should, perliaps, think it worth while to i ftll you that the organ allu.lofl to, rvid the one a^ St. I'etcr's Church, were built hero and how, but T know the horror Scotch people have of " whis-.lin^ pipes, " and you are &till regai-ded as a Scotch eo'Uinuiutv'.

llemi has been committed to take his trial for the attemptel inunler oi' his brother, Riwai, at tha Supreme Court Sittings, on Ist March.

A native named Ilimona PiU (Simon Peter) was committed yesterday to take hi ■* trial for .in artempt to kill one Joe. a Kanacker, living at Powuia. They had returned from putting some one across to Inana last FrHev, when .a dispute ai\)«e. Simon EM on the ground w hen Joe struck him. In almost self-defence, as it s^ems to me, Simon hit him on the head >"ith a tomahawk. The blow neaily proved fatal, and next day the Maories of the neighborhood brought the culprit to the police-office in town. A-iother native <we occurred last week. Mr. C. It. Bid well, a runliolder in the Waiarapa, has long been troubled by hordes and cattle tie»pa»sins; on his run : and at this season of th" year, when the dry weather renders feed short, ithecmic? very anno;, iug. He cwht thirty horsoj, one of which v.asa mule, ;n Paddy would say, and tent them to the pound at Feaihpr3lon. Some belonged to Europeans, and the remainder to nathes. Six of the native horse 3 were paid for by the o.v-ior and liberated, but during the d;iy other native? came to the pound with tho intention of shootiiu; all that were on it, for which purpose they had brought a few guns. One of ihe Europeans looking on, advise 1 then to open the pound-gate and let them out rather tlmu shoot them, which they did by knocking oil" the gate-head. The natives declare that this is only the act of the individuals concerned, and h not sanctioned by them. Mr. Wardell, li.M., has, or is going to issue summonses, but his Court le'ng only just over, docs not sit until about th 20th of next month.

A part of the bill of indictment we have asrainst Otasro, is the inconvenience we are put tc> frequently, by tho flitting to the diggings of some individuals who are the sole representatives of their trade here. Thus we have lost two out of our thres ruiffiiur.% and as the one who is left does not '' draw the line," even at coal-heavers, many of our citizens are sadly put to it.

Mr. M'Lean has been trying to settle the Maori reserves and land disputes in the Wairarapa. lie has paid away .-£2,000. but many disputes are still unsettled. He goj-» to Wauganui immediately, on the •same errand. When all are finished, Mr. M'Lean intends to proceed to the Old Country ou leave of absence.

Towards 11 o'clock on Tuesday night, the 18th instant, the fire bells turned out the population and engines. The fire proved to be on board the " Arabella," in the fairway, waiting for a wind to proceed to Napier. The Custom House officer first discovered it, seeing a volume of smoke from the after portion of the vessel where some sails and bedding, on freight, were stowed. Buats put oil' from the shore, and about 1 o'clock the fire was completely extinguished. An old bouilli tin containing canvass saturated with turpentine, &c, was found, which led the jury, at at the inquest next day, to conclude that the fire was originated wilfully. Captain Pinches has, in compliance w ith the jury's suggestion, offered a reward of £^0 for the upprehunsion of the incendiary.

Snrppiso Arrivals. — Feb. 18, schooner "Bertha," Chrk, from Tahiti, via Otago. 20, bark. " Fanny Fisher," Smith. 21. " Flying Fish," Celletn. 23, brig. " Fanny ii Garriques,"' Woodcock. 24, steamers, " Airedale," Kennedy, and " Wonga," Rennio : all from Ofcago.

Departures. — Feb. 19, ship, " Albermarlo," Merritt, Valparaiso; 21, lurk, "Frowning Beauty," Marr, Sydney ; 24. schooner, " Bortha," Clark, Sydney; 26", bark, " Fanny Fisher," Smith, Otago. The " Frowning Beauty had 040 bales of wool, and a few hides. Wool is shipped to Sydney because of the scarcity of direct shipping. The "Fanny Fisher " has 1,000 sheep for sale, or depasture on the shipper's run at Ota<jo, and is only jiut under weigh, " The " Tyra " is almost raady for sea, with stock, as is also the " Flying Fish," with general cargo, both for Otago. The " Yarrow" and "Fanny & Garriques" are loading, and also for your Port. Our markets have boen dull sinco my last report, and the arrival _ yesterday of the '"Lord Ashley," without the English mail, and bringing, consequently, no contradiction of the telegraphic report of the state of England's relation with America, has not tended to enliven us.

Wool still continues depressed. Tho grain districts of tho West Coast have suffered from damp warm weather to such a degree, that in some places the standing grain is sprouting. This to a small extent tends to harden the market, and an advance of 3d per bushel for wheat (which isjustbofrinninjr to come in) has been obtained. The demand for timber still continues, though the news from your port of the arrivals from Tasmania, and the prices at which timber may Iv bought there, prevents any rise with utf The want of suitable craft (such as the " Juno"' or perhaps of a slightly smaller scale) has been much felt. Several additional cargoes might, within the past three montlis, have been obtained from live timber districts, but the craft frequenting them are too small to carry mmmerntive quantities. At one of them there is now 30,000 or 40,000 feet awaiting a purchaser at 10s to 12s per hundred. Cattle are still migrating- South (however unwillingly), but working bullocks are held for an ndvanee, the reports we- hear of the probable wretched state of your roiuh during the ensuing winter, convincing our graziers that you must have them at any price, if communication with the digiriiitrs (present and to come) is to be kept open. We apprehend thr.t no small number of the splendid draught horses imported by your speculators will find theip way here before $ie coming winter of your less genial climate is over.

"We are glad to observe that the friends of the late Miss Loftus will not allow her memory to slumber under the imputation cast upon it, by the blind ignorance or prejudice of the Coroner's jury. Tho following is from the Sydney Heruld: <— " The proceedings at the inquest upon the body of this lady have, on the application of the Bishop of Sydney, boen brought by eertiorari before the Chief Justice, with a view to the reversal of the verdict of feh~de~.se which tiie Coroner's jury recorded. His Honor has referred the matter to the Supreme Court, and the rule has been enlarged until the first day of next term." A meeting of the master Bakers of this Town was held at, tho Provincial Hotel on Saturday evening, when it, was resolved that in future the price of tUo 41b. loaf should, be IQd., until farther JWICQ,