Page 2 Advertisements Column 3

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3563, 12 October 1880, Page 2

The amount sacure.l by mortgage in the Colony during the nine months ending Maivh last was £2,1)07,317. The total amoant of mortgages to that date was £11.512,132, made up a3 follows -.—Auckland, £.50(5,503 ; Otago, £2,359,013 ; Canterbury, £5,095,532 ; Welliugton, £1,513,702 ; Nolsou, £212,117 ; Southland, £544,081 ; Hawke's Bay, £988,057: Westland, £120,975 ; Marlborough, £83,224. There w.is only a moderate attendance at the Oddfellows' Hall last evening oa the occasion of Miss Pritchard's benefit. Tlie piece produce.! was the draim entitled Plot aivl Passion, and as it is full of intrigue, in high life, the piece i.s vestc I with a considerable amount of interest. Messrs. J. C. A-lanis aud Ainslie were both well up in their charasters, although the cast of Mr. A lams as the Abbe was an unfortunate one, the character not being at all congenial to him. Mr. Herman's delineation of the Secretary was a remarkably good piece of acting, his conception of the character being unequivocal. Miss Pritchard played her cUaracter very carefully. During the evening Mr. Scott and M. Reust played a charming duet — a French waltz —which was well received. Major C. Brown, Native Commissioner on the West Coast, is one of the victims of retrenchment. "He retires," says the Auckland Star, "into private life after a long and distintiuguished career in the Native Department. In one way or another he has been intimately connected with native matters in Taranaki for about a generation. He has watched the native administration in all its ever-varying phases, from the gentle theocratic sway of the missionaries, the Imperial supremacy policy of Governor Gore Brown, the flour-and-sngar policy of the McLean rcjinw, the " tokoha" of Mr. Sheehan, and the evangelical persuasiveness of Mr. Bryce, tempered by tho warlike spirit of Major Atkinson." What the Star says is quite correct, for Major Brown knows the whole arcauc of the business, he having been all the time behind the scenes. Hi.s eventful and chequered cireer in the native office is now drawing to a close, but it is very questionable if the Ministry in getting rid of an officer who was '• the right man in the right place," will bring to a successful conclusion the native difficult}', or "Honest John" win a "medal" for his native policy. The Botanical Gardens Board received yesterday from the Government a parcel of seeds of the wil I vine of California (oitis Galiforniaa), which was sent by Mr. R. J. Crieghtou, of San Francisco, for propagation in New Zealand. A printed paper containing extracts from Mr. Creighton's letter, and from a pamphlet by Mr. Charles A. Wetmore, of San Francisco, was also received, affording valuable information with reference to the manner in which the vines are to be cultivated, and their peculiar qualities. From these extracts we learn that the vine is valuable from the fact that it is phylloxera-proof. It is found growing in California in the midst of vineyards which have been destroyed by that pest, but wholly uninjured, aud experiments have shown conclusively that the vitis caVfornica is too robust for the parasite to fasten upon. The crowning virtue of this vine is its value for making claret wines. It produces tannin and tartrate of potash, has no striking aroma, is sufficiently neutral, and has no disagreeable taste whatever. Available sites for residences are beginning to get very scarce in New Plymouth, therefore persons who are desirous of securing a home of their own should not lose the opportunity now offering, bitt should purchase one of the seventeen sections on the South Ro id, which will be disposed of by auction oa WEDNESDAY, November 3.— Advt.