TELEGRAMS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 550, 23 February 1870, Page 2

TELEGRAMS.

Port Chalmers. — Feb. 23, 7 a.m., Beautiful Star from Timaru. Nelson.— Feb. 23, 12.30 p.m., Storm Bird from Picton ; 11 a.m., Murray for West Coast. Wellington. — Feb. 23, 2 a.m., Wanganui from Wanganui ; 7.20 a.m., Phcobe for Nelson. A telegram, published in our issue of Saturday announced that " the American Mail Company" had hired the steamers Wonga Wonga, City of Adelaide, and City of Melbourne to carry the mails to San Francisco, via Honolulu. That this is the service contracted for by the Postmaster-General and Mr Hall, and that the company referred to is the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, will be seen from the following paragraph from the Argus: — We learn that three of the finest steamers belonging to the Australasian Steam Navigation Company — the City of Melbourne, City of Adelaide and Wonga Wonga — have been engaged by the American Company, which now runs steamships of the largest class between San Francisco and China and Japan, to run between Sydney and Honolulu, connecting at the last named port with the American vessels. This service will commence next month (March), after which the Melbourne and Sydney trade, and the King George's Sound mail service, will be left to the smaller vessels of the company. This new service is likely to lead to considerable changes in the arrangements of the company, as the vessels to be engaged in the Pacific trade will be sailed by officers in the employment of the American company, who lure the vessels. It is certainly open to doubt whether the trade will pay, but no doubt our American cousins, who are concerned in the speculation, .have reckoned it up from all points of view. An influential meeting of shipmasters was held on Saturday at Port Chalmers in the Harbour Office, and was presided over by Mr D. Rolfe, the Mayor. The object of the meeting was stated by the chairman to be to consider the necessity of having a Government Shipping Office established at Port Chalmers. Several letters were read from shipmasters who were unable to attend, in which the writers stated their willingness to co-operate in the movement. After the subject had been fully deliberated, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: — fl). Proposed by Captain Stuart, ship Otago, and seconded by Captain Wilson, ship Warrior Queen—" A memorial having gone up to the Provincial Government of Otago from the shipmasters in this port in the beginning of last year, praying that aseainen's shipping office might be established at Port Chalmers, and finding on our return that such facilities have not been accorded to us, it is resolved that this meeting is of opinion that the present system of shipping seamen at Dunedin should be abolished, as it gives encouragement to a highly objectionable medium between the shipmasters and the Custom House shipping officer, which entails both on the master and the sailors a heavy expense and vexatious delay." (2). Proposed by Captain Currie, ship rity of Dunedin, and seconded by Captain Duncan, "That this meeting is of opinion that the interests of the shipping visiting this port imperatively demand that a Government shipping offlce should be established at Port Chalmers." Proposed by Captain Cumming, and seconded by Captain Thomson. "That the chairman of this meeting be requested to forward a copy of the resolutions pansed at this meeting to His Honor the Superintendent of Otago, humbly soliciting that lie may favourably consider such resolutions, and be pleased to take such steps as will give effect to the same."— Otago Daily Times, Feb. 21.