Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 790, 5 December 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

Theatre Rotal. — Friday's programme was repeated to a fair house on Saturday night. A fresh bill will be presented this evening. Immigration. — From papers received by the Suez mail we learn that the next immi grant vessel after the Zealandia would probably be the Charlotte Gladstone, with about 2 iO. It was expected that she would sail in October. The Agent is sending out only farm labourers and female servants. General Government Grants to Road Boards. — In the New Zealand Gazette of Nov. 18 it is notified that Otago receives £14,000 out of the £50,000 voted by the General Assembly. Otago has proposed a scheme for the division of the sum granted to it, which scheme has been amended and approved by the Governor. Volunteers. — In the New Zealand Gazette of Nov. 18, it is notified that Edward Giraud has been appointed Lieutenant in the Lyttelton Artillery; Charlie Albert Rich, Honorary Lieutenant in the Lyttelton Artillery Cadets; Alexander Urquhart, Second lieutenant in the Canterbury Engineers; and George Renner, Ensign in the Temuka Rifle 3. The resignation of the commission held by Honorary Lieutenant W . M. Stewart, in the High School Cadet Corps, is accepted. Inquest.— An inquiry touching the death of W. Bailey, which we have already reported, was held at the Hospital, on Saturday, before T. W. Maude, Esq., Mr Allan, Papanui Road, was chosen foreman of the jury, and evidence identical with that published on Saturday was given. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased committed suicide whilst labouring under temporary insanity. Ltttelton Land, Building, and Investment Society. — The usual monthly meeting for the receipt of subscriptions and sale of shares took place in the Colonists' Hall on Saturday evening. At the Committee meeting Mr Carroll, on behalf of himself and other subscribers, stated that he wished another meeting to be held to discuss the balance sheet just printed. The Committee

agreed to the request, and Friday evening, ] December 23, was named for the night of meeting. Wesleyan Church District Meeting. — The session commenced at 10 am. on Saturday, and continued until half-past 2 p.m. The greater part of the sitting was occupied in preliminary arrangements for the financial meeting on Tuesday. The case of the can didates for the ministry was resumed, and a manuscript sermon from each was read to the meeting. By a unanimous vote, both were recommended to the Conference, to be received on probation for the Wesleyan ministry. Mr W. B. Marten has been labouring, in the capacity of home missionary, in the Teviot district, Otago, where he has gained the respect and affection of the people. Mr Guilbert has been similarly engaged at Balclutha, also in the Otago province, and with an equal amount of success. Ltttelton Regatta. — The Committee met on Friday evening to receive the draft programme of the sub-committee. There was a good attendance, Mr P. Cunningham occupied the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been confirmed, the Treasurer reported that £117 had been subscribed as far as he could say, but several other amounts were promised. The programme was submitted and discussed. It was resolved that a swimming match should take place in the afternoon, the course being from the Railway Jetty to the Screw Pile Jetty and back. It was resolved to have a sailijg&ace for vessels trading in and out of thefts, under 50 tons register. The course was ifcfxt discussed, and decided upon, lt was resolved to advertise the draft programme, and to fix the amount of prizes at the next meeting of the committee. The committee have, we believe, resolved jto make the Gig Race course a straight one ; the boats to start from Rapaki, and win at the buoy off the screw-pile jetty. New Zealand Rope. — A Wellington contemporary says : — We have been shown a coil of rope, by Captain Croucher, of the cutter Glimpse, which he has recently received from Messrs Williams and Co., ship chandlers, Auckland. " It is 3£ inch rope, laid up in the usual way, with a little black oil dressing on the yarns, and was manufactured in Auckland of the phormium tenax. It is being used on b ard the Glimpse for peak halyards, is a very superior sample of rope, and works admirably. Some time since Captain Croucher bought a coil of rope in Wellington, purporting to be Manila ; but which," on inspection, proved to he made three fourths of New Zealand flax and Indian jute. For this article he had to pay at the rate of £84 per ton ; but it was found to work so badly, having swollen so much that it would not run through the blocks, that it had to be changed. Captain Croucher states that the New Zealand rope is in every particular superior to the so-called Manila. The price of the Auckland rope is £60 per ton. New Zealand Seed Wheat. — A correspondent writing to an Adelaide paper respecting some wheat imported from New Zealand by Mr John Darling, says : — " I purchased seed for about tbree and a half acres. I sowed it on May 16. The land was sufficiently moist, and worked splendidly. Two days afterwards, on Wednesday, the 18th, it rained steadily the whole of the day. In a few days the plants were up and looking splendidly ; but to my surprise they began to creep along the surface of the ground, and to this day some of it is not more than six inches above ground. The land referred to was fed off last year, but not ploughed for want of rain. I anticipate not more than one ton per acre from the said wheat. Now, if I had sown our own wheat I have not a shadow of a doubt, with this splendid season, but that I should have two and a half tons per acre Figures will show my loss. The average price of wheaten hay for the last five years, would be not less than £4 per ton. That, at two and a half tons per acre, is £10 per acre — viz., loss on three and a half acres will be £6 per acre — total, £21. There is a number of other farmers in this neighbourhood who will be losers through sowing the New Zealand creeping wheat." The Editor says, in a foot note, that it is possible the wheat may be deficient in straw and yield well in grain. New Gaol.— The Provincial Government invite tenders'for the erection of new gaol accommodation on the permanent site at Addington. The works intended to be carried out at present are only for the accommodation of female prisoners, and form but a portion of the complete work. The plans have been framed by Mr Mountfort, the architect, so as to provide extensive permanent premises, and the buildings will be erected as occasion may require, or as the Provincial funds will permit. The design is for a twostoreyed building in the form of a cross, a corridor running down the centre, with the cells on either side, and an observatory so formed, where the two lines of buildings in tersect each other, that a sentry on duty in it can at a glance command a view of all the cell doors opening on to any section of the corridor that he may desire. Extensive yard accommodation is provided, and also in such a manner that the sentry in the observatory, by walking to windows at the end of very short corridors, can command a view of any portion of the enclosed ground. This great advantage is secured in a very easy manner. A high boundary wall will be erected from each arm of the cross to its base, thus giving a large enclosure on each side of the body of the cross, which i 3 again subdivided by a wall starting from the intersecting angle of the building — close to the observatory— and running diagonally across to the opposite wall. This arrangement secures four separate yards, into each of which the cells in the various sections of the cross open direct, whilst like the eel' doors they are easily placed under constant surveillance, and only two sentries are required—one on the first floor of the observatory, and one on the second. In com-

pleteness of surveillance, the economy of labour in Bentry work, and the general arrangement of communication between the yards and cells, the design is thus most satisfactory and deserving of high commendation. The extent of ground covered by the buildings and yards will be about 320 feet by 225 feet, and the whole cost will be upwards of £15,000, but in the portion that is now to be erected, concrete blocks will be used by way of experiment, and should this answer, the total cost will be diminished by nearly one third. The work now to be carried out will cost from £1000 to £1500, and will afford accommodation for forty prisoners. When the full design is complete the gaol will have about one hundred cells, together with extensive official and other accommodation. Whales ok the C>ast. — The following is from a Wellington contemporary :— Last week a sperm whale was cast on the coast between Flaxbourne and Kikerangi, and was found by the manager, Mr Lovegrove. It turned out some four tuns of oil, besides a quantity of head matter. From the reports we have had from several ship masters, it would appear that whales are frequenting our coasts in large numbers. This may ba accounted for, by their being a smaller number of steamers plying on our coasts, or that they have come in search of food, large quantities of which have been observed off shore. Captain Croucher reports whales to be very numerous on the East Coast of the North Island. On the llth inst., when off Flat Point, a singular occurrence took place, which he entered in his log book. Two whales were observed, either asleep or feeding quietly on the surface of the water, and although the vessel was bearing down upon them, they took no notice, and the cutter had to be. put about to prevent running into them. The crew shouted lustily for about five minutes, when the whales showed flukes and sounded. One of them was longer than the Glimpse (60 feet) and was covered wiih barnacles. Of late years the whaling interest has been entirely neglected ; would it not be advisable, now that whales have returned to our shores in such large numbers, to make provision for their capture, either by shore parties, or off shore by small vessels? The English Commissioners. — The "Anglo Australian " in the European Mail, says : — The New Zealand Commissioners are both in town just now, Dr Featherston having returned from his Norway trip some time since. During his tour he made a thorough examination of the narrow gauge railways now constructing in that country, under the direction of Me=srs Sir Charles Fox and Sons, aud personally arranged with agents at Christiania, Gothenburgh, and Copenhagen for forwarding from each of these three districts about twenty pioneer families to New Zealand, who will proceed to Wellington in the ship Celaeno on Oct. 10. lhe object of sending out these families is that when themselves settled they may report to their fellow-countrymen, and so divert to New Zealand a portion of the large and valuable emigration now being carried on to America. I hear that in Denmark the Doctor met with his old friend, Bishop Monrad, who visited New Zealand a few years ago, and that the Bishop is desirous of assisting the movement as much as he possibly can, being joined in that desire by his son, who has for some years been settled in the Wellington province, and is now on a short visit home. Mr Bell has also been making notes on light railways, the subject being one of paramount interest to New Zealand now tbat the Assembly has resolved to appropriate a couple of millions towards facilitating communication by rail between all the chief towns of the colony. Recently Mr Bell proceeded to Festiniog in North Wales, to inspect the very remarkable line in the slate quarries of that district. I understand that both he and Mr Knowles, who accompanied him, were, after a close inspection, thoroughly satisfied that the railway problem in New Zealand is solved ; the adaptation of the Festiniog system to the hill country in the colony being merely a question of mechanics. This is also the conclusion to which Dr Featherston arrived after his inspection. in Norway, and their reports will no doubt be a matter of the greatest interest to their fellow-colonists. To make these reports complete, Mr 81l will, before finally leaving, visit the Mont Cenis Railway, and the New Zealand Government will then be able to shape the plan of railway communication, the rough hewing of which, as, the latest advices tell us, has heen received with so much satisfaction by the colonists of all parties. In a few days both the Commissioners will have left London, Mr Bell, en route to Italy, to join the next Australian steamer at Suez, and Dr Featherston to the north, keeping the same destination in view. Leaving on Nov ember 13, they will, no mishap intervening, reach the colony by the end of the year. They have had a hard task to cope with, and although they failed to [ secure the retention of Imperial troops in the colony, that failure, as matters have fortunately turned out, cannot be a source of very great regret; while, on the contrary, the colonists have saved the £50,000 a year which that retention would probably have cost. Their obtaining the Imperial guarantee to a million loan was at the time a surprise alike to political and. city circles, and the ability, tact, ahd firmness with which they concluded the negotiations were admitted on all hands. "1 he breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war snapped most ruthlessly several very valuable undertakings which they had brought to the eve of accomplishment—a thoroughly efficient line of steamers from California to New Zealand, and the Nelson and Cobden R lilway being among them. The commissioners will return to New Zealand with the well-founded esteem of all with whom they have come in contact. The politician has recognised in ihem minds capable of taking a larger view than colonists are generally supposed to do; while men of business have found in them a knowledge and aptitude which at once inspired confidence. I sincerely hope that when tbey

reach the colony they will receive from thtir fellow-settlers a cordial — nay, an enthusiastic — welcome.