STEAM POSTAL SERVICE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume VII, Issue 320, 18 September 1858, Page 3

STEAM POSTAL SERVICE.

Mr Cole, of the Firm of Pearson & Co., has arrived in Auckland for the purpose of making preliminary arrangements. The Lord Ashley, with 100 passengers, was daily expected there. The Lord Worsley, a faster steamer, was to leave five days after the Lord Ashley for Otago and Wellington and has probably, ere this, reached the first named port. The contractors propose to carry on the service under the title of the New Zealand Royal Mail Steam Company. The vessels included in the contract are the Prince Alfred, 800 tons register, 200 horse power, having accommodation for 60 first class passengers ; the Lord Ashley and Lord Worsley, each 500 tons register, and 100 horse power, with accommodation for 30 first class passengers ; and the Airedale, 400 tons register and 90 horse power, with accommodation for 20 first class passengers. The Prince Alfred will perform the monthly service between Sydney and Nelson, and after delivering the Wellington, Canterbury and Otago mpils will proceed on to New Plymouth and, weather permitting, land the mails, and thence to Manukau, land and receive the Auckland mails, and then via New Plymouth and Nelson return to Sydney. The smaller vessels will meantime have collected the Otago, Canterbury, and Wellington mails and be ready to tranship them at Nelson into the Prince Alfred. The Prince Alfred, we fear, will prove too large for the Manukau, and too costly to be continued with advantage in the service. The Southern Cross suggests that she might maintain a direct communication between Auckland and Sydney, and that one of the 500 ton steamers could run between Nelson and Wellington and Melbourne, the other vessels and the White Swan keeping up the inter-provincial com • munication. The proposed arrangement between the Wellington and Melbourne Governments will render this suggestion impracticable, so that we may now hope that New Plymouth will not be excluded from the benefit of steam communication.