Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 835, 30 January 1871, Page 2

Local and General.

♦ T.yttelton Custom House. — Great inconvenience is often felt by those having business to transact at th j Lyttelton Custom Hon.se. from a practice that might surely be ftvoided. On the arrival of all vessels in th harbour, the officer in charge locks the door and goes off to the vessel, so that no business enn he transacted till his return. Theatre Royal. — " Slasher and Crasher " and " Our Village," were repeated to a good hrftisc on Saturday evening. Mr Huntley received fresh encomiums for his capital representation of the wreck scene. I 'amor am a. — Saturday evening's exhibition nt the Dickens' Panorama closed the se^on in Christchurch. There was a larger attendance than usual. The panorama will be exhibited in Kaiapoi this evening and tomorrow. Registration Officers. — The appointment of the following as Reg'stration Officers for the Electoral districts of Canterbury, is uolinediii the New Zetland Gazette of Jan. 50 :— City of Christchurch East and Weat, Heathcote, Avon, and Kaiapoi, Mr W. J. W. Hamilton ; Lyttelton, Dr Donald ; Akaroa, Mr W. H. Pilhet ; Selwyn and Coleridge, Mr E. J. Lee ; Timaru and Gladstone, Mr B. Woollcombe ; A shiey, Mr G. L. Mellish. The San Francisco Mail.— lt will be neen, from the telegraphic summary of news by the Suez mail, publi-hed in another column, that the mail via San Francisco was in future to be despatched thence to New Zc viand ci t!_e )M*h instead of the 10th of each month. Assuming that the regulation came into force with the January mail, it will not be due at Auckland till Feb. 18, according to the average passage made by the boats now employed i i the service. ttX - Canterbury Railways. — The " AngloAustralian " in the European Mail, says : — ° The agent for Canterbury is hastening the despatch of rails for the new railways there, naturally fearing that in view of further European complications freights nny rise very seriously. He has selected a reversible rail, having hesitated between this and a non-reversible one, which would have, of course, cost much less, but would not have been so cheap in th« long run. That chosen by him weighs between 70 and 72 pounds. Voluntbbb Church P vrade.— Yesterday afternoon Col. Packe held a church parade of the head-quarter volunteers. The Lyt telton Artillery and Cadets, and the Heath cote Engineers, though not ordered to attend. vera present, in addition to the city corps bat even then the muster was not what might be termed a strong one. The respective corps assembled in front of the Drill She-' s& three o'clock, aud w*»rp marched thence tSU John's Church, where the Rev. J. OB Koare conducted the service, and preached a »siy effective sermon.

** His Excellenct the Governor. — Sir j George Bowen arrived at WelliDgion from Auckland on Jan. 26, in H.M.S. Virago. After remaining for a few days at Wellington, it is understood that he will proceed in the Clio to the West Coast of the Middle Island, calling at Martin's Bay, Milford t-'ound, and other inlets, and from thence proceeding to the Bluff and Dunedin. The interior of Otago and Canterbury, including the Lake country, will also be visited, as will as Hokitika and Westland. The tour is expected to occupy two months, and from Canterbury Sir George will return to Wellington, it being expected that the new Government House will be furnish d in April or May next, at which time Lady Bowen and her family will arrive. Telegraph Extension. — A Sydney contemporary says that the progress of the telegraph line to the Gulf of Carpentaria is being watched in that colony with great interest, as there is little doubt New South Wales will receive European telegraphic news by that line ere long. A telegram in a Brisbane piper dated Cardwell, January 6, states that the telegraph line has been completed as far as Cashmere, the first station on the line to the Gulf cf Carpentaria, and distant 50 miles from Carpentaria. Mr M'Millan makes the line, according to the rpute just defined, to be 130 miles to the Etheridge, and 174 to Western Creek. The route is an excellent one. In view of the increasing interest attaching to the completion of telegraphic communication with England, we may point to a paragraph in the Suez mail telegrams, which states that the new submarine cable was successfully work ing between Penang, Singapore, and Batavia. The length from Penang to Madras was to be opened in a few days after the mail left Galle. Consequently, long before this period Batavia has been brought into telegraphic connexion with Europe, and the end of the line has been advanced many hundreds of miles nearer Australia. Acclimatisation. —The Home News received by the Suez mail contains the following: — The Warrior Queen sailed from London for Otago on Nov. 2-*, nnd among her passengers was a capital collection of birds shipped to the Acclimatisation Society of Otago. The birds - all of them in capital health and condition include 61 goldfinches. 60 skylarks, 10 woodlarks, si) yellow-ham-mers, 4 reed sparrows, the same number of scarlet buntings, 7<> chaffinches, 3 bramble finches, 60 redpoles, 50 twites, 150 hedgesparrows, 96 blackbirds, 60 thrushes, 1 night ingale, 150 partridges, and eight brace of grouse. In addition to this small game, there were nine red deer, the gift of Earl Dalbousie, making — together with those shipped by the City of Dunedin — 17 head, the gift of his lordship. The birds were all caught in the neighbourhood of Brighton, by Mr Bills, formerly a resident in that town, and who accompanies the birds on their passage. In order to make this an comfortable and safe as possible, Messrs Shaw, Saville, and Co , have given the whole of the deck-house for their accommodation. When it is remembered that the house is constructed to hold twenty-two paying passengers, the money value of the gift can be understood. Besides the birds for the "ociety Mr B lis has also in charge, on account of Mr Broadfo t, a recently returned colonist, ten quails, a dozen thrushes, the same number of siskins, bullfinches and linnets. Several fancy ducks, presented by the Zoological Society of London, and a score of siskins ta •en out by Mr Bills on his own account, form part of this happy family. This notice would be incomplete without a special reference to the services rendered gratuitously by Mr John Ewan, of "-argood and Co , and with so much zeal aid judgment He is indefatigable, n t only in collecting the birds, but in providing for their safety and proper keeing on board. He allows no birds to be sent on board until they have been thoroughly " hardened up," and that are in perfect health. He attends to the placing of every cage, and is indeed unceasing in his attention to them up to the time of their departure. It is to be hoped he will be rewarded by often listening to their songs in the beau' if ul island home to which we wish them a quick and pleasant passage. Heathcote Regatta. — A meeting of the Heathcote Regatta Committee was held on Saturday last at 2.30 p.m., at the boat hous? of the < anterbury Rowing Club. The Kaiapoi Club was the on'y one not represented. Present — J. G. Glassford and R. P. Crosbie, U.R.C; D. Reese and S. P. Andrews, A. H.C; H. N. N lder, L.T.C.; A. Cuff, L.8.C.; J. W. Davis, H.R.C.; J. H. Her.Json and R D. Thomas, CR. '. Mr J. H. Herdson was elected chairman. Mr J. Day, of Sumner, and Messrs W. Packard and J. A. Morgan, of Lyttelton, were elected members of committee. The secretary (Mr R. D. Thomas) reported that he hai written to the Ljttelton Regatta Committee, as instructed at the last meeting, and produced a copy of his letter, requesting them to allow the fouroared race intended to have been pulled in Lyttelton to be rowed on the Heatiicote, end offering on behalf of the Christchurch clubs to withdraw the claims they had made for their entrance money. He hlso read their reply declining to accede to the request or to return the money. The members of the Lyttelton Regatta Committee residing in Christchurch (several of whom were present) stated that no notice of the meeting at which this reply had been decided on had been sent to them, and that it had not been advertised until the evening of the day on which it was held, when it was too late for them to attend. Under these circumstances Mr Cuff proposed, and Mr Davis seconded, a motion that the Lyttelton Regatta Committee be asked to reconsider their decision. The moti >n was carried ; Mr Nalder alone dissenting, on the ground that the matter bad been ■lefinitely settled at the last meeting. The attention of the meeting was called to the fact that, three years since, two races — one four-oared and one boys' race — had been carried forward from. the Heathcote to the

Lyttelton Regatta, in consequence of the water at the Heathcote having proved too rough for racing gigs on the day appointed. It was decided not to discuss the conduct of the Lyttelton Regatta Committee until a reply should have been received to the application to be made in pursuance of Mr Cuff's motion. Mr Maxwell having, since the last meeting, expressed a desire to change the cup offered by him for a more valuable one, on the condition that it should be a challenge cup, to be won twice by the same club before becoming their property, it was decided to carry out his wishes ; the cup, value £18 10s, to be rowed for during the afternoon of Saturday, the 18th February, on the Heathcote. A programme of the proposed races was drawn out, and the secretary was instructed to advertise the same. The whole of the members of the committee were empowered to collect subscriptions with a view of getting up as many races as practicable, amongst others a four-oared race, if the Lyttelton Regatta Committee Bhould. adhere to their former resolutions. Bishop Viard. — In our Auckland telegrams a few days ago, it was stated that Bishop Viard htd been arrested as a spy by the Prussians. We have since been informed that his Lordship was arrested, as stated, but was liberated after a brief detention. Bishop Viard is now on his way back again to Wellington, accompanied by seven sisters of charity, most of whom will take up their residence at the Convent, Barbadoes street. A Wellington contemporary is glad to able to contradict the report concerning the arrest of Bishop Viard, whilst travelling on the Continent. The very first mail delivered in Wellington brought to the Catholic clergy - a letter dated from London the 23rd of November, in which his Lordship said that both he and the Very Rev. Father O'Reilly had taken their passage on board the sailing vessel England, and tha they were to sail positively at the end of November. Colonial Wines in London. — Australian wines (says the Home News) occupied a place in our first columns of " Colonial Topics," written just twelve months ago. Tnen we told of the opening of an establishment for the sd- of wines, the produce of the Auldana Vineyards, near Adelaide. In connection with the perpetual change of things, the surroundings of the Australian wine trade in London have also somewhat changed. The old cellars in Walbrook are just as we describ d them, save that the stocks are increased, and the dimly-lit cavern in which the tastings took place is no longer devoted to that purpose. Now every corner and cranny of the old cellars are crammed with bottles. Two hundred and fifty thousand bottles of wine made around Adelaide are now lying snugly packed within care-fully-built bins in the quaint old cellars of Walbrook. As when we first wrote on the subject, the centre of the cellars is devoted to the storing of butts and pipes, the contents of which are ripening and being made ready for the after process of bottling. Aus ralian wines, as far as the public is concerned, have removed to brighter quarters. One of the brightest of the modern offices of Fenchurch street is now devoted to the sale of them. The. cellars here vie in extent with those in Walbrook ; and here the selling stock is kept. A trifle, in the shape of 150,000 bottles and 50 pipes is kept on hand, in order to meet the ordinary consumption of the trade. Messrs Leigh and Apps Smith, the proprietors, report favourably of the progress of the trade, and have the satisfaction of retaining every purchaser as a customer. The care they expend over the business deserves to command success, and to their mode of dealing the South Australians owe the success that has attended the introduction of Adelaide wine into Loudon.