LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 852, 10 February 1873, Page 4 (Supplement)

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

DtrNEDiN Exports — The exports from Pttnedin during 1872 amounted to £1.770.642, showing nn increase of £375,471 over the exports of I lie previous year. Whaling. — An American whaler cruising off the coast of Southland has within the last lour weeks captured three whnle9, whoso value is variously estimated at from £2500 to £3000. Ikon Sand.— "An exchange says : Some town sections m Taranaki have been sold as high as £12 10s per foot. Tarnnaki is looking up and iron sand is the cause. Land jobbers are buying up allotments and holding for a i rise. The whole talk now is " how much a foot for your lots." Opvwa. Accommodation House Burnt Down. — On the 18lh January, as Mrs McAlister, wife of the proprietor of the above accommodation hoU9O was rendering down some fat over a stovp, portions of the contents of the pot welled over, and caught fire, and unfortunately m her alarm, on seeing the flumes, Mrs McAlister upset the whole concern, the contents of which immediately caught fire and set the place m a blaze. The furniture, floor and walla were quickly m a bright flame, and as there was no help at hand the entire building and all its contents were consumed. Mr McAlister was at work m a paddock some distance from the house, but he arrived too late to bo of any service m saving anything. Tho building was insured m the New Z -aland Insurance Company for £100 and £100 on the furniture m the same company. Native Grasses m Queensland.— It is Btated upon good evidence that the native grasses m Queensland are commencing to die out. The immense plains of rotting feed that, once covered the Darling Downs have, for the last three years, been gradually but surely failing, and giving place to bare barren patches. .Runs that would a few years back carry 100,000 sheep, will now scarcely maintain'half the number, while the poorness of the feed has had nn extraordinary effect upon the increase. In nviny cases it is" said that, the flocks, instead of showing an increase, actually have fallen off. Meat Preserving &c— The New Zealand Herald enys: — 100,000 sheep and 7000 cattle have been'preserved at the New Z 'aland Ment Preserving establishments, Ofago. during the past year ; 19.722 sheep, and 324 cattle were, for the same period, preserved at the Otago Meat. Preserving Company's works at G-reen Island, and estimating the Southland Company's work at. Winton, at 12,000 sheep, gives a total of 191,722 sheep, and 7324 cattle preserved last, season. 2,590,216 sheep were returned by the sheepholders of Otago, on the 301 h Si-pteinber last, and 679,939 m the. Southland district, giving a total of 3,270,155 for the entire, province, or an increase of 117,527 upon last season. Colonial BoNUsre. — The San Francisco correspondent, of the Southern Cross writes as follows: — I see that the Committee on Colonial Industry offer a bonus for the first 100 tons of printing paper produced by machinery. This is a step m the right direction ; but why conßne this advertisement to the colonial newspapers? If they would also advertise it m the leading scientific and mechanical papers of Eng'nnd, Germany, and America, and aho offer grants of land. &o, yon might induce some men of capital m that branch of industry to fhip machinery, and bring workmen with him to settle m New Zealand. _ By that means you would not only help industries, but. immigration at the samp. time. My next and last remark m this letter is about the sleel sand found on the West Coast. Let a very large bonus be offered for the first 100 tons of steel manufactured m the colony, and let the same be advertised m the leading mechanical papers m- England, America, and Germany, and let a few tons of the sand' be pent to agents m each of these countries, 6O that the earid could be seen and samp'es given to parlies who wished to experiment with it. Once able to manufacture steel cheaply m the colony, there wonld be no end to the industrial that would spring from it."

The Vienna Exhibition — The following prizes m the Fine Arts depart incut lmve been awarded: — J". Guul, Clu-ietchurch — Photographs, four frame?, highly commended. 0. Martin, Ohristehureh — Three Photographs, highly commended. M'Cardell, Christchurch — Specimens of illuminating, high!y commended. F. St routs — Maori fortifications, Kipa Island, commended. Dr Hector — Sketch map nf province of Nelson, with drawing 3by Gully, highly commended. — K. P. Sealy — Photographs, New Zealand scenery, fourteen frame by exhibitor, silver medal. — W. T. L. Travers — New Zealand scenery m North Island (Luke Guyon and creek scenes), by exhibitor, bronze medal. — I). L. Mundy— North Island scenery, forty-six photjgniphs, highly commended. —It will be 9een from the above list that Mr E. P. Scaly has secured the only silver medal awarded m the Fine Arts department. Amongst his photographs exhibited are those of Mount Cook and other principal peaks of the Southern Alp?, and views of the Great, Tußmun, Mueller, Hooker, and Godley glaciers. Thia Beries is perfocly unique, as Mr Scaly is the only artist who has ever explored these scenes of wild gr.mdeur, which he did on three separate occasiojia, viz. — the autumns of 1867, 1869, uud 1870. An Opinion of Melbourne. — The Melbourne correspondent of the Duuedin Star says : — " Melbourne is one graud fair. The Yankee element • predominated. There is much life m the open air. Saturday nightthere is a sight well worth looking at, yet it would be wrong to say that all the people are well dressed. But downright rags are the exception ; a largo number are over-dressed. You soe a variety of fashions. The Grecian bend and Alexandria limp may bo seen very often. There are certain ladies — merchants' and professional men's wives and daughters — who regularly walk round Bourke and Collins streets from 3.30 to 5 p.m. This is called " doing the block." (You remember George Price — DarreU's girl of the period personation ?) To see and to bo seen — that is the order of the day amongst a large number m Melbourne. But there is auother large number who live m poor houses, m poor clothes, on poor diet, and who, for this hard fare, work very hard and very hopelessly. I refer to the factory girls aud needlewomen. Poverty must lead to crime. The amount of juvenile crime m Melbourne is awful. Mere boys and girls are quite old m vice, and bad parents as well as vicious children, and aucieut vicious women, who live by debauching children, are responsible for this state of things, for which the authorities, as yet, have provided no remedy. Long before some of this class of Melbourne girls reach the dignity of being larrikenesses they are vicious human beings, and so secretly is their ruin effected, that even sharp Melbourne detectives can merely see effects and give causes, but cannot grapple with them." Nor does he think bett.-r of the climate: " The weather is and has been very warm. It is a perfect satirical untruth to call Victoria " the finest climate m the world," In summer we rise from bed not with a wish to leave bed — not refreshed ; but on the contrary, intolerably weary. We then feel as if we had been thoroughly well pummelled with hot bricks. Elies swarm m millions, bugs crawl upon the walls, snakes crawl through the grass, and when the heat becomes intense both sandy aud swelling attack the eyes, and render work impossible. The hot glare, renders reading oppressive. The torrents of semi-tropical showers merely convert the atmosphere into a vapour bath. The whale being, the mind, the body, the morals lire relaxed j and yet the Argus wou!d have us believe that Victorians are a people of arerage morality. I hope there is no place under the sun where the code of morality is relaxed." This is a lurid picture which we hops is overdrawu. The BenrfiT3 of Eailways. — The San Francisco Herald states: — A trip through the grain-growing districts of this State wi 1 at. once convince the traveller of the invalu'ihle aid rendered by railroads. Neat and flourishing towns that had no existence one year ago have arisen like magic m the midst of almost interminable plains teeming with the staff of life. Valleys and fields that had no inhabitants m 1870, are now the spene of industry, progress, and production. The wheat yield is amazing ;.it is almost beyond belief. Whereever the gaze turns it rests upon wheat. Steamers, sailing craft, barges, are loaded with wheat. Warehouses, wharves, aud all landing places are packed with wheat. All along the railways great stores of wheat are piled m the open air, awaiting transportation, and as quickly us the indefntignblf, puffing loccomotives haul away trainful after trainful the gap is filled by fresh additions. At every station groat magazines have been built, and are building to store away and preserve the prolific gifts of beneficent Providence. We do not know how for these interminable lines of sacked wheat extend, but it is miles and miles. The incitement to all iha wonderful industry, to this piled-up wealth and noble independence, is derived from the facilities which enable the farmer to market his crops and realise substantial benefit from the products of his labor. But for the railroads ail this .could not be. Out on the broad and fertile plains silence would be unbroken, save by the cayote's howl or the panther's roar. But for those invaluable aids the great pasturing lands of California would be void of their woolly occupants, and what are now flourishing vineyards would be little better than waste places. Every railroad is but a substitute for a navigable stieam freighted with traffic and commerce, and the greatest promoter of industrial progress. Every railroad is a pu-'lic benefactor, supplying mankind with the facilities for mntual and rapid intercourse, a free exchange of commodities, and the mpan9 of attaining a higher, a more desirable civilisation. One large landed proprietor m Mercer County, who had not less than 36 000 acres planted m wheat this year, and who has raised enormous crops, assured us that prior to the railroad furnishing assistance, it cost him four dollars a ton to ship his grain to Stockton, from whence it had to be reshipped to Sari Francisco at increased expense ; but now he can land it at Oakland, where it can be placed immediately on board ship at three dollars per ton. He was formerly compelled to employ his men and teams to do much "hauling with loss of time th«t could have been devoted to farming operationg, but the railroad now comes directly within his territory of wheat, and takes it from his doors. Lake Waxatip and its Appreciation by the Gover-VOR. — The Wakatip Mail of the 15th, m reporting the doings of. the Governor m the Lake district, says : — " His Excellency. Lady Bowen and family, accompanied by euite, and. Messrs Hallenstein, Malaghan, and Beetham, made a trip- thia afternoon to Moke Creek Saddle, and thence to the summit of Ben Lomond. On his return, Sir George expressed the highest admiration of the beauties and. grandeur of the scenery. He compares' Ben Lomond to the renowned Eigbi of the Alps, and Lake Wakatip to the beautiful Lake Lucerne, only that he awards' the former the palm, on account, perhaps, of. its greater extent. In fact, his Excellency is delighted with what he has already seen ; . but we have every reason to believe that he will be far more so wben'he views to-morrow- as we sincerely trnst he may be enabled to do— the grand old Earnslaw, 10 000' feet high, calmly reposjng with its back to the 1 sunny north, while expoßed to view on its reverse side is a perpetual glacier enoompatsed by an immenae

basin. Sir George Bowen, who has travelled much, only ratifies the opinions aud feelings expressed by Sir George Grey, Sir William Stawell, and other competent judges who have visited thi3 district, when he hears testimony that scarcely more beautiful or grander scenery is to be witnessed m any part of the known world. He predicts for Lake Wakatip a fame and career similar to those at present enjoyed by the Swiss lakes, I and believes that, ere long, the former will be recognised a3 a resort for pleasure seekers from Melbourne and Sydney, m the same manner as the latter now are for those from London aud Paris." North Queensland. — The New Zealand Herald says : — ''The question of separating the northern part of Queensland from the rest of the colony, to be created an independent colony m the same way that Victoria was divorced from New South Wales, ami at a later period Queensland also herself from the same colony, has been for some time atutated. Keceut telegrams inform us that the Secretary of State for the (Joloui s declines to ruceive any petition on the subject, except through the Governor, Lord Normauhy. This is m accordance with the usual custom on such matters, and does not at all in.ply that the Oolouial Minister is averse to the propose! separation, which is probably destined to take place at no very distant date." Kbvesdb of New South Waxes. — The progress of the whole southern colonies is indicated by an increase of revenue throughout the whole of them. New South Wales was for a long time the exception. At length the Sydney leading journal has it m its power to declare as follows : — For the lust ten years our successive Treasurers luivo had great difficulty m showing ever so small a surplus, and tux after tux lms had to be imposed or increased to bring the revenue up to the standard of expenditure. This year, however, the. Estimates have been far surpassed, and 80 far us can be calculated at present the revenue will be at least £550,000 m excess of that of last year. One effect of this suddeu increase has been to discharge the greater part •if that long out-standing deficiency which for the last ten years has been the bete not)' of successive Treasurers. We can now report that by the end of this year nothing will remain of this troublesome debt, but some Treasury Bills to the amount of £334.600, and which do not fall due till the middle of 1874 f Timaru School. — The satisfactory progress of this school, and the standing it has attained amongst the schools m the province is best exemplified by the quarterly return of schools made by the Inspector to the Board of Education. We have before us the return for the September quarter last year. In that the Timarn school ranks highest m number of scholars on the books, aud m average attendance. We take the returns of the six schools which numerically stand first among the schools of the province : — Timaru, number on books 340, average daily attendance 250 j l.ytteltou. number on book 329, average attendance 230; St Albans (near Ohristchurch), number on books 271, average attendance 172 ; Lower Heathcote, number on hooka 188, average attendance 139 ; Papanui, number on books 178, average attendance 127 : St Michael's and the Wesleyau school, Ohristchurch, each 170 on books, with an average attendance of 120 and 107. The seventh on the list is the Waimate school, with 143 scholars on the books, aud an average attendance of 91. Wood v. Ikon. — A very singular explanation is given by Mr Todd, the head of the telegraph department m South Australia, of the cause of the frequent interruptions ia the overland line. It was thought by the uninitiated that it was due m no small degree to the wooden poles employed having either given way by floods, or ro having been struck and destroyed by lightning. Nothing of the kind, however. It has invariably been on that portion of the line where iron poles are employed that damage bus occurred. The lightning, Mr Todd says, has struck the. insulators, and smashed the iron pillars, and he is now engaged m finding how means mny be adopted to prevent this destruction. This admission will take many persons by surprise who have been expecting that the replacement of wooden posts by iron ones would make the transcontinental telegraph line a work of permanent construction. Silk Culture m Auckland. — An Auckland paper says there is on view at Mr S. Bown's Heading Koom, m Sbortlandstreet, a quantity of raw silk, the produce of a number <if silkworms reared by Mr M. S. Brown. The silk is of the finest quality, and shows that great care and attention have been lavished on the producers. It has been wound off the cocoons by means of a miniature steam engine, and although not so large m quantity as m former years, m consequence of a disease having broken outaomng the squad, it is much better m quality and superior to any found m the colony. Mr Brown has made silk culture, m a small way, his study for six or seven years, and haa sent home the produce of the last five years to be woven. He has already had a pattern of the silk forwarded him m its manufactured state. lie expects that the eggs this season will be so numerous that he will be able to supply them m large quantities, and recommends those who possess mulberry trees to be careful of them, as they are scarce m Auckland. The Cable Question. — An Australian paper makes the following just remarks on what, to the Press of the colonies, will be found a ruinous expense : — " The whole outlay m this direction — by no means a small one — promises to be a dead loss to the Press. Under these circumstances the result must be that many newspapers will release themselves hs soon as possible from their obligations to take the telegrams ; and a large section of the newspaper reading public will have to wait much longer than they should do to be posted up m the current history of the old world. News of deep interest and importance will be received at times, which it is fair to the community generally should be disseminated by the speediest possible means throughout the country ; and then, because the local newspapers h:ive been compelled to relieve themselves of the ruinous expense of the reception of the telegraphic intelligence from India or Europe, they will find that they have brought down upon themselves a most undesirable censure and even obloquy. But what are they to do ? Are their proprietors to be aeked to ruin, or seriously to injure themselveß, m order to keep up the publication of the interesting messages from beyond seas which people are really beginning scarcely to read? There -can be no doubt some newspapers will cease to take the telegrams m consequence of their expensiveness, for on many of them the tax falls too heavily to be borne very long, and every journal that falls off from tho Association will add to the burden of those who remain m it, nnd it is possible that this may grow to be intolerable, and so, except on very important occasions, the submarine cable and overland line through Australia, which have been laid and constructed at bo much cost/will be of no avail to the public. Looking some distance ahead of us into the future, we may ask whether it may not be possible that; the business of the line may fall off to such an extent that it may becomea question whether any necessary repairs to the telegraph will be worth effecting ? Surely the Government'of these colonies should find it worth their while to avert such a contingency as this; and to unite to subsidise the line m a liberal manner."

A Change fob. the Better. — The recent influx of population into Invercargill has caused house room to become somewhat scarce ii that town. Indeed, so pressing is the demand for accommodation for the new comers that it has been found necessary to " organise " a committee to hunt up empty tenements, and the local papers contain advertisements urging the owners ef vacant buildings to disclose the whereabouts of their premises. The A'ews remarks that it iB not such a long time since a very different stats of matters existed here with respect to house property, and the change must be gratifying to owners. , . Flood at Hokitika. — The West Coast Times says :— Hokitika was visited recently with the heaviest gale that has been experienced for some time. Roofs of houses, were blown off, windows were driven m, aud fences were knocked down as if they had been only so many sheets of . paper. Tho rainfall, too, was very heavy, and as a consequence there was a largo flood. For many hours all the lower part of the town waa covered with water several feet, deep, and traffic was conducted under difficulties which, to say the least, were inconvenient to wayfarers. Those whose business compelled them to brave the watery element adopted, generally, the Highland travelling costume, to the extent of divesting themselves' of boots aud stockings, and gathering up" their "breeks" as high as they could be drawn, or else employed conveyances to carry them to their destination. The flood subsided m most parts of the town m the afternoon, but the lowest streets remained under water until late m the evening. Neither the Christchurch nor the iGreymouth coaches started on their journeys, the rivera being impassable. Thb Price of Laboe.— The shoe is novr beginning to pinch, and farmers find that the scarcity of labor this season is affecting their interests most materially, and although there are promises of a high grain market, jet the profits thereby ordinarily accruing to the farmer will be lost to him to go into the pockets of the laborer. Now we have no desire whatever to attempt to hurt m any way the interests of the latter — a fair wage for a fair day's work ia the best of maxims, but when through scarcity of hands the wage given is really so extreme as to be detrimental to the interests of the employer, then to draw attention to the matter becomes our duty. In past seasons labor has been scarce enough m the district at harvest time, and farmers have suffered m consequence of their crops spoiling m the field through undue exposure to weather ; but we have reason to believe that though scarce m past years, labor now is still more scarce, judging from prices which we know have been given by farmers. Work and slave as he will, th« farmer who has to seek for labor to get m his crops is placed unfortunately between two horns of a dilemma — either he is forced to give such a price for cutting, tying, &c, as will eat away all his legitimate profits, or he must leave his crop to rot on the ground. The man who farms his hundreds of acres is placed at a cpnsiderable advantage over his neighbour whoso acreage only is reckoned by two figures, as the reaper or tyer will of course vastly prefer " doing" the big job to the smaller one, and moreover the contract for the former will , be taken at a considerably less figure .than .the latter. But still both the large and small farmer alike have good reason to complain of the .price now ruling for labor m the harvest field. There is but one remedy for this, and one that will not come readily and m a day. Immigration can only cure the evil, and that by direct vessels to Timaru, and not by the infiltration process through Christchurch as now carried on. We fear that our. demand for increased immigration into the district will be viewed as extremely heterodox by the " working man," tending, as he will think, to lower his value m the market, but we would point out what has been proved time after time, that an immigration limited to the wants of a community does not lower wagea below a fair and reasonable limit ; on the contrary, its tendency is more to raise than to lower, as the fact of the presence of labor induces capital to come. m. ' ' ■■■ TIMAKTT PfiESBTTBHIAN SABBATH SOHOOI^— The pic-nic m connection with the above school, which was to have been -held on Jan. 8, but postponed on account of the roughness of the weather, took place on Wednesday last, when the scholars to the number of 120 and their friends — numbering about thirty more — mustered at the church, and soon loaded seven conveyances,' which started shortly after 10 o'clock en route 'for the Levels Station, with flngs flying giving to the procession an appearance of life and gaiety. The weather was all that could be desired, the heat of the sun being tempered by. a pleasant south-west breeze. With the exception of a slight aCcident which delayed one 'of the vehicles for half an hour, the' party arrived safely at the Levels, after an agreeable drive at about 12 o'clock. The whole company then moved to a large ' plot of green grass at the bottom of the garden, where they were met by Mr Donald MoLean, who was received by three hearty cheers. A, tent was soon erected as a depository for the provisions and a tarpaulin rigged up, as a shelter from the sun's rays, after which sandwiches and cake were dnly served out to the whole children, on the completion lof which repast, all were invited by Mr McLean, to go m search of gooseberries, of whioh there were a plentiful supply. Swings .were erected upon the trees, which afforded amusement to young and old, football was kept up with great spirit, and several cricket matches played on the plains outsido by the boys. During the afternoon a number of races were arranged, which were well, con* tested by both boys and girls, who took part m them, the running of the elder girls especially being' somewhat surprising. First and second prizes were awarded for these races, as also for the games which succeeded, viz.hop, step and leap, standing leap, runniriz leap, &o. As usual " Kiss m the Eingj'' was largely resorted to, and caused much merriment. Many spent the day m roaming about with their children through the well sheltered walks, m varions direction's, and partaking of fruit as they had a mind to, 'a cask of water having been obtained from tfle house, which with the several jars of milk already provided made an excellent drink fsr the children. During the afternoon; Mr 'and Mrs McLean kindly sent down a large copper of excellent tea, with a monster plum-padding and sundry cakes, which were done amp|e justice to. At half-past five' the whole party formed into a circle on the green, and sarfe " Homeward Bound," led by Mr Mcc, after which the Superintendent of the Sunday School conveyed to Mr and Mrs MoLeah the hearty thanks of all for their kindness jind liberality, to which Mr McLean suitably re* plied. After some time spent m packing up, ! the tents, swings, boxes, ' &c., were conveyed Ito the gate, preparatory to s start. A hitch I occurred just at starting, by two of the horse's tin the break refusing to budge an Inch, which 1 caused' the passengers to ' dig'embarlc, but after turning the horses rburidMr King returned and all got snugly oti board again. After an agreeable drive home, without the slightest accident, -the party returned through the town, with flags ', flying, r: the boys Binging " Marehiiig 'through Georgia?' and other airs, the church m 'Barnardstreet being reached about' 7 o'clock, where all safely disembarked for their home^, but not before' the remainder of the edibles had been dispensed to them and ftscrambl* for lollies and nuts taken plaw, ' ' . ' '