Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 654, 28 June 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

'„ Barnard's Repository. — These premises have been taken by Mt Bird, formerly of the Provincial Hotel, Dunedin, and Mr Joseph Bennett, auctioneer, Christchurch, and we understand that they will enter into possession to-morrow. '.' Legal. — This morning, in Chambers, his Honor said he had great pleasure in admitting Mr John Levett Hobden as a barrister and solicitor, and Mr Henry Augustus Bamford as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. " The Custom-house. — We beg to remind . those who have business to transact at the Custom-house that it has been removed to the new premises in Wilson's Buildings. ; Financial Statement. — It is understood that the Colonial Treasurer will make his -financial statement this evening, when the Government scheme for dealing with the new loan will be disclosed. y Thbatre Royal. — There was a numerous ■attendance atthe Theatre last evening. The programme comprised " The Stranger," and . the " Swiss Cottage." To night, « Lady I Audley's Secret" will be presented, and there will doubtless be a good house. /Z Oddfbllowship. — -The half-yearly meeting of members of the Loyal Benevolent .Lodge, North Canterbury District, 10.0. F., 'M.U.,was held in their lodge-room, Criterion Hotel, Gloucester street, last evening. ' Brother T. B: Thompkins was elected N.G., . Brother Innis, V.G. ; and Brother J. Baylee, P.G. was re-elected Permanent Secretary. Pr Prins was appointed Medical Oflicer of .the Lodge. •U Westland Weather.— The following is the Hokitika paper of June 24 : — Throughout the whole of yesterday there : * was such a tremendous downpour of rain as ] ' to . put a stop almost to business. The vessels at the wharf had to keep closed hatches, 'and altogether it was one of the most ; -wretched days we have experienced on the ' coast. Five years ago such weather prevailed, but then no streets were made, and it ia a question if even at that time such a heavy rainfall occurred. It did not, as was anticipated, cause any flood, which may be ( '. accounted for by the very excellent channel enabling the surface or storm water easy egress seaward. Ltttelton 80-.iocgh Council. — The Council met at the usual hour on Monday. ; Present: His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Allwright, Bunker, Stout, and Cummins. , The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The amount received during the week was stated to be £1 13s. The correspondence was read, but calls for no remarks. Hu Worship said the appeals/ against the assessment had been heard that, day. The Resident Magistrate had given ' his opinion that, according to the Municipal Corporations Act, property should be valued for assessment at the rental. The appeal of Messrs Peacock was not allowed on a technical point. Accounts amounting to -622 14s Id were passed, and the Council adjourned. ?BtWEBT Coast Mail. — The Hokitika paper, Juue 23, has the following: — " The Christ- * church coach met with an accident last evening, whilst coming on to town. Mr Stobie informs us that all went well both up and down the road, until the arrival on the other side of the dangerous Three Mile Creek, where he found the water too high to allow him to ford the creek at the usual crossing place. Being advised by some persons living in the neighbourhood, he essayed to cross at the upper ford, but owing to the recent floods, such a quantity of mud and debris had accumulated there that the coach became deeply imbedZded. There being a number of willing persons about, the horses, after much difficulty, were extricated, and Mr Stobie succeeded in securing the mails, and bringing them safely to towa. »»*rhe same paper of June 24 notes the safe arrival of the coach at Hokitika on Thursday." The return coach, due on Saturday, arrived at Christchurch between four and five o'clock last evening. Blch Stone a Core for American Bligiit.— The following is from the Australasian of the 4th inst. A corresp indent, who, forwards it, states that he tried the experiment iast year with substantial success : — Look over apple trees affected with blight, and by all means endeavour to eradicate the pest. Duriug the past season we had several opportunities of inspecting trees that had for years been all but killed, but by attention and perseverance are now quite healthy, and well furnished with clean, fruitful buds. The application was simply a solution of blue stone poured on the roots early in the spring, just before the ascent of the sap. The blue stone was dissolved in the proportion of oue pound to 50 gallons of water, in a large cask, and about five gallons ; /applied to the bared roots of each tree, 7 according to size ; of cou se large "trees will Z rehire double the quantity. The soil must be filled in again imme liately. This operation, if performed annua ly, will, in two or >: three years, completely eradicate the American blight, and render the apple trees fruitful and health^/^VThZeji the trees' are finally , pruned, any specks seen "on the branches -, should be touched with the same solution. '■ '■ . ■>.■?.-.,..•.•..: -* Z, ■ .;

"Thb Bbidobs abd Faßßiss Act, 1868." — A Provincial Gcwe.f« issued yesterday notifies that the above Act came into force in the province of Canterbury on June 22, and that the powers therein vested in the Governor have been delegated to his Honor the Superintendent. Benefit. — A concert for the benefit of Mr and Mrs Hilton, vocalists, formerly attached to the company of Lancashire Bellringers, was announced for last night at the Canterbury Music Hall, but although a highly sensational programme had been issued, the attendance was so limited as to cause the proceedings to be closed at nine o'clock. Sanitabt Statistics. — A Minnesota paper has introduced a new feature — a report from two prominent physicians of its town of the condition of their patients, their names, diseases, &c. All are reported to be " improving," " convalescing," " convalescent," " gaining," " doing well," or " getting better." A Thoroughbred GENTLEMAN.-^The following is Josh Billings' definition : — A b;>btail coat, a pennie papur koller, a white kotton weskitt, yaller trowsers without eny cloth into the legs, shiny lether boots, a pair of yaller gloves, and inside of 'em all a thing got up in imitation of a man, but, as the kounterfeiters say, poorly executed, and not calculated to deseve. Mustash indispensabul, and branes onnecessary. Fine specimens on exhibition. American Journalism. — American newspaper statistics give no less than 5244 as the total number of journals, of which 542 are daily, 4425 weekly, and 27 monthly. New York publishes the largest number — namely, 675, of which 77 are dailies; and Arizona, the smallest number— namely, two. Pennsylvania stands next to tbe Empire State, and prints 495 papers, of which 49 are dailies. Illinois has 415; Ohio, 377; Indiana, 269; Missouri, 240; lowa, 228; and Massachusetts only 219. Among the Californian daily papers is an illustrated one, the engravings of which are produced from zinc blocks acted upon with acid. Protection. — The following letter has been published in the Adelaide Observer: — " I see in your paper that eggs is very scarce, and the same day as the Coorong took off 23 casks— it's that as makes them dear — aud a lot of flour at the same time. If I waa the Governor that should be put a stop to; every time as them two steamers goes there's a lot of eggs goes, so that a po t man can't get hold of none. The more grub there is in a colony the better it is for them as is in it, so none of it ought for to be sent away. And the same with wool. I would not let none go away, nor copper, and that's the way for to start cloth-works. If they was not allowed to sell it the moths would get into it, and then they'd be glad to spin it into cloth for a poor man to get a suit cheap and some flannel petticoats for his wife, which is better nor cotton, and not so likely to catoh fire. And if the copper ore was put a stop to sending it . to England, that would soon get plenty, so as we should have all our things made of copper aud last for ever, as everybody knows the difference in a copper kettle and a iron kettle, and they might make bridges and rails instead of sending away all the money to England for iron, as isn't as good and won't last so long ; and if I was the Governor, I would make this colony prosperous, and free for everybody, and I wouldn't let nothing be sent away, nor nothing fetched from anywhere else, but just keep ourselves /to ourselves." \ / The Darien Can ax. — Public attention in 'America is now drawn to the Darien Canal surveying expedition, which the country hopes will result in securing an inter-oceanic transit that will maintain a successful rivalry to the Suez Canal. The expedition arrived at Aspinwall in February, and on the 21st of that month, preparations having been completed, the naval surveying party began operations. The design was to survey the most desirable route from the Atlantic coast to the head waters of a stream that was known to flow into the Pacific. The surveyors, with forty natives, began operations at Caledonia Bay, a point 180 miles east of Aspinwall, and cut a road through the woods from the coast to tbe head waters, or what were supposed to be the head waters, of the stream. They returned to the coast, and on M*rch li, when the last mail left Caledonia Bay, were preparing to cut another road in a different direction to the same stream. The natives showed no hostility, were frightened at first, but afterwards assisted the explorers in every way. Some of the surveyors were at first poisoned in the face by the mansanello sap, but all had recovered. The party are said; to be sanguine of discovering an easy canal route across the isthmus, and are preparing a topographical map of the country back to the base of the mountains. The surface, is heavily timbered, and abounds in snakes, but no wild animals were seen. A Hindoo Farmer's Wife. — The following is from " The Englishman In India " :— The women manage everything, and the men hardly ever venture to disobey their orders. It is they who buy and sell, and lend and borrow ; and, though the man comes to the cutcherry to have his rent settled, he always' receives his instructions before leaving home. If he giveß up any point to them, however trifling, he is sure to incur her resentment. She orders him to. stay at home next day, and sallies forth herself in great indignation, denouncing the whole tribe of revenue servants. On her arrival at the cutcherry ahe goes on for near an hour with a very animated speech, which she had probably begun several hours before, at the time "of leaving her own house ; the substance of it is that they are a set of rascals for imposing on her poor simple husband, she usu illy concludes with, a string of interrogations : "Do you think I can plough land without bullocks? that. l can make gold? or that I can raise it.. by selling this oloth?" She points, as she says this, to the dirty rag with which she is half covered, ..which* she has pat on for

the occasion, and which no man would choose to touch with the end of a stick. If she gets what she asks she . goes away in a good humour ; but if not, she delivers another philippic, not in a small female voice, but in that of a boatswain, for by long practice she is louder and hoarser than a man. AS the cutcherry people only laugh at her, she carries her eloquence where she knows she can make it be attended to. She returns to her unfortunate husband, and probably does not confine herself to entirely logical arguments. She is, perhaps, too full of cares and anxieties to sleep that night, and if any person passes her house about daybreak or a little before it, he will certainly find her busy spinning* cotton. If I have not seen, I have at least often heard the women spinning early in the morning, when it was so dark that I could scarcely follow the road . A Knotty Question. — " When is a man drunk " is one of those questions to which a great many replies have been made, yet none perfectly and comprehensibly. The correspondent of an Aberdeen paper puts the question relatively to a chimney-sweep whom he saw pitched out of a public-house into the kennel, where the man of soot lay contentedly unconscious. Acting upon impulse, he presumed to interrupt the Biesta, when all the thanks he got was a growling "You b blowed I faur's my bonnet ?" At first sight, the correspondent puts it, this man was unmistakeably drunk ; but who shall say he was so, when his old bonnet could not be missing without his instituting an inquiry after it ? Honolulu. — A correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, who was a passenger by the Wonga Wonga on her first trip, contributes the following : — The city of Honolulu is a very bustling place, much business takes place there, particularly at certain seasons, when the harbour is thronged with whaling ships, put in to refit ; all produce from the neighbouring islands is resbipped here to San Francisco. Soon this island will be in more direct communication with Australia, and commercial enterprise will extend. Ships taking coals from Newcastle, for the line of steamers, will return loaded with sugar, coffee, rice, and cocoanut oil. " Puiu " will receive a ready market in Sydney. It is of a fibrous, silky material, which grows out of the top of the trunk of a tree-fern, is collected at certain periods, and sent to America, where it is used to stuff mattresses with. There is a Legislative Assembly, which makes laws, subject to the approval of the King and Cabinet. At the meetings of the latter the King presides, taking part in its deliberations. There are courts of law, judges, AttorneyGeneral, and numerous lawyers, native as well as foreign. The city is very healthy, the heat never extreme. Situated on the limit of the northern tropics, it has the advantage of the north-east trade winds (blowing the greater part of the year), oonveying a delightful cool air from t.e mountains at the back. In winter it is not cold; no fires are needed, and the houses are built without chimneys. There is no nervous anxiety about the state of the atmosphere, it is always fine — a luxury to breathe soft air. This equal temperature would be beneficial to invalids seeking change of climate, as those suffering from affections of the lungs, heart, &c, and rheumatism. The Kanakas are, it is stated, f tst diminishing, but intoxication cannot be the cause of tbis. A heavy penalty is inflicted on those supplying them with liquor, and, there are only a few licensed houses in the The diseases from which they die are due rather to those introduced by the habits of foreigners. Smallpox has committed great ravages, also diptheria. The dress of the native women is very scant, a long loose gown of calico (any colour), from the shoulder to the feet, not gathered in at the waist. The men, except when working on plantations, wear; the ordinary foreign costumes, and the -change from what is called the '" malo," to the more heavy costume, must injure the constitutions, and cause many deaths. I noticed many who appeared to be of a strumous habit, and hsd glandular swellings about the neck. Syphilis is very common, and carries off many. The native food is very simple; it is made from a root called '< kaloon taro," grown under water; it is dried and made into meal, mixed with water to a paste, called " poi," eaten by the fingers. It is eaten with fish, and is highly nutritious and healthy. There are no hotels in the city, bnt many houses of accommodation. Horses and vehicles can be hired by the day or hour. There are many very pretty drives, and the roads are good. Through a most beautiful valley (" Nunanii") you pass, from the city and ascend the slopes of the mountain ranges, and descend the.other sides to sugar and rice plantations, obtaining a magnificent view of the sea on the other side of the island. Along the beach there is a good road of about three miles to extensive cocoa-nut plantations (" Waikiki"). The King has a summer residence there, and there are many pretty villas facing the sandy sea beach. The Central Pacific Railway.— A Sun Francisco correspondent of the Soutliern Cross writes as follows : — -The journey overland by tbe Central Pacific and Union Pacific liailroads to Omaha, and thence by way of the various routes conneoting with New if ork and the East generally, is short and pleasant. American railroad travelling iB to all foreigners a most agreeable novelty, avoiding as it does so much of the tedium, inconvenience, and general annoyance incident to it in other countries. As an instance of this fact, look at the system of travelling in vogue between San Francisco and New York. The distance is three thousand two hundred miles; up the a tee p grades aad along the edges of tbe precipices of the Sierra Nevada mountains, through what was once known as the Great Salt Lake Desert; by the capital of the Mormons and the empire of Brigham Young; and down the defiles and rapid descents of the Rocky Mountains out on to the . vast plains and broad expanse of the -eastern half of ; . the North American Continent.

Time, six days and a-half, sometimes less; and all this, you will say, in. a dirty, rattling, bumping, jumping American railroad carriage, or car, as they call them, sitting bolt upright on a rectangular seat for a whole mortal week, with tobacco spitting Yankees, cocking their heels into the air all around you, and 'guessing who you " air." Not by any means. In no part of the globe is there more luxurious travelling to be found than over those 3200 miles to New York. You get into what is called a Pullman Palace Hotel train, at Oakland, just across the bay from Han Francisco, into a loug car furnished with luxurious sofas, arm-chairs, tables, desks, and a piano, hung with curtains; the floor covered with rich Brussels carpets, and an air of elegance and comfort about it all, that strikes the uninitiated traveller with amazement. You go from it into another, stepping out of one door into that of the next car, as all American cars are made, and you will find yourself in a dining-room furnished quite as sumptuously as the last, with neatly-laid tables, seating four persons at each, all along eaoh . side, and at the end a neat but commodiou* • kitchen, with a firstolass cook, and a splendid huder. Into i still another car, and you are in the Silver Palace sleeping car. On each side of it are. ranged two tiers of neat bads, or sleeping-places, which in the day-time form seats and fold up, and where one can sleep with perfect ease and comfort. Thus you find that you are in a first-olasß hotel upon wheels, and nothing is wanting to your, comfort until you are set down in New York. A voyage under such circumstances as these is not monotonous. You sit in your arm-chair, or at your well-supplied dinner table, and look out at the ever-changing and magnificent scenery, ahd the novelties and strange features of the picture that hurrie3 past, and railroad travelling with its horrors and ennui is forgotten The fare to New York is 112 dollars in gold, or £22 lOs, in which latter form you will better appreciate its amount. The 2nd class f<tre is 90 dollars, or £18 ; and the 3rd, or emigrant train fare, is 65 dollars, or £13. In the first-class, or by the Pullman cars, the extras amount usually to about 40 dollars, or a little over ordinary hotel rates.