CANTERBURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 555, 19 July 1862, Page 3

CANTERBURY.

(frou the daily tijiks corrkspondent.) Ghristchurch, lOtli July, 1862. Our communication -* itk Otapro has been interrupted by the non-arrival of the White Swan, which is supposed to have been taken up by Sir George Grey, who has found his presence necessary in the North, in consequence of this last outbreak amoHg the Maories.

Nothing has taken place in Canterbury likely to be of any particular interest to your readers, since the public meeting held in Lyttelton od the 28th ult., to discuss the question of the Separation of the Northern and Middle Islands. Of that, you have probably heard the details already, and indeed, there was little about it worth notice, except the very little interest the subject appeared to excite hi the minds of the public. The meeting was rather hastily summoned on short notice, and was scantily attended. Two resolutions were csmied. The first, that the Provinces of the Middle Island are subject to great inconvenience and injustice in consequence of the seat of Government being in the North Island, and the different interests of the two islands ; the second, that the Canterbury members of the General Assembly be requested to bring the matter before the House of Representatives, that the question may be discussed, and the views of all parts of the Middle Island ascertained upon it. An amendment on the first resolution, to substitute " Auckland " for the " North Island," • was lost ; and a committee was appointed to carry out the views of the meeting as expressed in the second. No other attempt has been made to obtain an expression of public opiuion upon this question; and on the whole, I think that thought tliere is a geueral feeling of the inconvenience arising from the distance of the seat of Government, and that the interests of the two islands are in some respects incompatible, the people of Canterbury are not prepared for bo decisive a step as a division of the colony ; and that, in the absence of any detailed information as to the objects of the promoters of this movement, they are in dread lest "in flying from the evils they have, they should fall into others that they know not of," ana, therefore, regard with some uneasiness the strenuous efforts made iv this direction by their neighbors in Otago. The weather has been rather severe lately. For a fortnight previously it was so fine that the roads and streets were once more in good travelling- condition, and persons of a sanguine temperament were heard to declare that winter was pretty well over, but these pleasing expectations were rudely destroyed on Saturday, by heavy storms of sleet, which lasted with unabated vigor all Sunday and Monday, while the air was so bitterly cold that the snow froze into hard ice as it fell. Tuesday seemed to give some hopes of a change, the sun shone in a subdued chilly sort of a way, enough to make a partial thaw, but the evening brought renewed bursts «f sleet and rain, which have converted the roads into a state of liquid mud surpassing even their former state of" slush,' 1 and making our former troubles in that line seem trifling in comparison. Fortunately, the people of Christchurch are better provided to encounter the winter than they were some weeks ago, as a quantity of coal and firewood has been brought into the market, and of course, the price of both has fallen considerably from the famine prices that prevailed there. By the way, the projected Coal Company seems to Imve incited the coal merchants into uniting their forces to resist their threatened antagonist, for nn advertisement appeared lately to the effect that after September Ist, the price of coal at the various wharves would be £4 ss. per ton. This is the lowest rate at which I have known coal sold in Canterbury, but it is a fearfully high price to pay notwithstanding, and it is much to be desired that some steps should be taken to supply us with fuel more plenteously, and at a rate better adapted to small incomes. Attention has been strongly directed of late to the coal deposits of the river Grey, and an expedition wa3 talked of to examine that district and its capabilities, but I heard yesterday that this design has been abandoned. I believe there was some dim-

culty about chartering a steamer for the purpose. A public dinner was given • last Thursday, at Lyttelton, to celebrate the opening of the telegraph between that place and Ghristchurch. It was well attended, and went off to the satisfaction of all present. A second dinner is to bo given at Ghristchurch next week, with th« baine object. This double-bar-relled style of rejoicing will come rather hard upon some of the speakers, who probably exhausted their stock of the common places incident to the occasion, and may find it difficult to hit upon anything brilliantly original in thbir second essay ; but I dare say the dinner will be none the less pleasant, if the BpeecUesj should, be a UtUe curtailed, AttotUer dinner

was given on Friday, by Messrs. Taylor and Co., an American firm in Lyttulton, to celebrate the uniriversary of the Independence of America, which also, I hear, went off, (or rather, went down) very successfiilly.

Lyttelton had another narrow escape from fiie, a short time ago. A man named Kelloway hud left a pot full of tar upon the fire, in one of the upper 1 rooms of his house, which by some means got igI nited, but fortunately the alarm was given in time to prevent serious consequences. The town of Lyttelton is built in a cramped situation, at the foot of a range of hills which rise abruptly almo&t from the water's edge, and if a fire once broke out and gained strength, e&pecially if aided by a high wind from the south or nor'-west, it would be impossible to prevent the whole town from being burnt to the ground. Christchurch is hardly in so much danger, as the houses are not crowded so closely one on another, but every town in which all, or nearly all, the buildings are of wood, is exposed to very serious risk of being destroyed by fire. Nothing hardly is talked ot in Christchurch just now but a prize fight which has jubt come oil near Kaiapoi. I was not there, so I cannot edify your readers with a sporting ilebcription of the fight after the manner of Bell's Life, even if you were willing to admit it into your columns The men fought in regular style, in a roped and staked ring, for an kour and a half, in the piesenrc of eight hundred or more spectators, on foot and horseback, including, as I hear, some whose official position in the Province renders it somewhat singular that they should have been found assisting at a breach of the peace. The police of the district did their best to stop the fight, but were completely overpowered by the mob and compelled to retire. A vast number of summonses have been taken out, and the consequent proceedings in the llesident Magistrate's Court are a subject of much speculation, Canterbury ih justly proud of the lead she has taken among the Provinces of New Zealand in erecting the electric telegraph, but can hardly claim it as a mark of superior civilisation that she has also been the first to introduce the prize ring. This, at all events, will not have to be celebrated by a public dinner. It fceems probable that Cluistchurch will soon rejoice in its rows of street lamps, for the Municipal Council have again taken up the subject of lighting the city, which, in a former letter, I mentioned as having been shelved for a season. Their plan now is to begin by placing lights on the bridges across the Avou, the river which runs through the middle of the town, with the view, I suppose, of testing the different materials proposed as the illuminating power, and a-lopting that best adapted for their purpose. Keroseue appears to bo the favorite, but a tradesman in Christchurch has lately discovered some other kind of light which is very powerful and exceedingly cheap. What it is Ido not know, but I suppose it will have its trial among the others. Whatever may be the material used, if the town is effectually lighted it will be a great comfort to the inhabitants, and gain the Council the blessings of all whom business or pleasure induce to traverse the streets after nightfall.

The Commissioners appointed by the Council to investigate the sanitary condition of Christchurch, have presented their report, a somewhat lengthy document, which explains very fully the evils^ at present existing-, and tho host menus for remedying them. The catalogue of evils is no slight one. The Commissioners compla<n of the entire absence of surface drainage ; of the wells, upon which the majority of the inhabitants are dependent for their supply, as at present sunk yielding water of the most impure aud unwholesome character ; of cesspools and their noxious exhalations ; ot the accumulation of animal aud vegetable refuse matter thrown out round the dwellings ; to say nothing of such minor matters as pigsties, ill-kept stables, &c. ; in short they declare that in case cholera should visit the city, every predisposing cause exists to render iU attack of a most fatal character. The remedies proposed are very simple and economical. They recommend the formation of all tha streets with paved side channels at such levels as will receive the rain-water from the adjoining sections, stating, however, that this is merely 'a temporary expedient, and that it no very distant date Underground drainage will become an absolute necessity ; that borings be made to ascertain whether a supply of water could be obtained by means of artesian wells"; the immediate abolition of the system of cess-pools, and the use instead of water-tight boxes, coated inside with coal tar, for the reception of night soil, to be emptied weekly or fortnightly. The nuisance of house slops &c., appears to have puz/.led them considerably, and they can only suggest the use of water-tight receptacles to be also periodically emptied. Finally, they recommend every street, including the town-belt, to be formed and metalled immediately. The Council received the report with a vote of thanks to the Commissioners for their services, and it is now under consideration, with what results I must leave to another occasion.

An attempt is bring made to get up a Pastoral and Agricultural Show on a very large scale, to take place in Christchurch some time in October. A numerous and well selected committee have been appointed to carry out the design, and the prizes oiF'red ha* been arranged so as to suit all classes of exhibitors. If it be as well supported by the public as it deserves to be, I have no doubt that the show will turn out a decided success.