Local Intelligence.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1794, 20 November 1862, Page 3

Local Intelligence.

The English Mail. — Tho September mail from England is due at any hour. There is a report of its transit from Melbourne to Otagu being delayed from want of a steamer ; but as there aie invariably reports of this kind we need not trouble ourselves unnecessarily. The mail is expected to reach Melbourne earlier than usual.

Lancashire Relief Fund. — On Tuesday evening last, according to announcement, a Miscellaneous Entertainment was given at the Odd Fellows' Hal), in aid of the above Fund,

under the patronage of his Honor the Superintendent ; and we were much gratified to observe the deep interest taken in the success of the I movement, by the attendance of such a numerous audience. Theenterlainment consisted of vocal and instrumental music, interspersed / with readings. In consequence of the absence of Mr. Gough, who had attended the several rehearsals, and presided at the piano, it was feared that the public would have been much disappointed ; but owing to the kindness of Mrs. Wilson, who was not made aware of the< f.ict until half an hour before the commencement of the concert, having conseuted to play, this difficulty was overcome. We do not consider gratuitous performances atentertainments got up for such laudable objects are fair subjects for criticism. The programme was well selected, and carefully arranged. The several pieces performed by the Amateur Band were executed in a highly efficient and masterly style, and evinced considerable proficiency since we last had an opportunity of listening to it. The quartettes, by the ladies and gentlemen of the Choral Society, were most ably rendered and rapturously applauded by the delighted audience. The gom of the evening, however, was the quartette of the " Young May Moon," in which the admirable voice of Miss Widdop, was heard to very great advantage, and we need hardly say, elicited a hearty encore. Mr. Standwell's readings were highly appreciated. His selections were made with good taste, were effectively rendered, and applauded to the echo. Mr. Marriott, always ready to render assistance in a good cause, sang " Good Rhine Wine," so well, as to elicit a hearty- encore. The " Light of other Days," and " You'll Remember Me," were beautifully rendered by Mr. Cnrrie. Mr. Kershaw's song ofthe " Red Cross Banner," was loudly applanded, and Mr. Maginuity's nigger songs, from the grotesque manner in which they were sung, elicited screams of laughter. At the close of the entertainment, Mr. McKenzie, on behalf of the Committee of Odd Fellows, tendered their best thanks to the gentlenieu of the Amateur Band, the ladies and gentlemen of the Choral Society, and the other gentlemeu who had contributed to the entertainment, for their hearty co-operation ; and also to his Honor the Superintendent, and the ladies and gentlemen who had honored it with their presence. The Band then struck up Good save the Queen, and the company separated . about 11 o'clock. We understand that the results of the concert are highly satisfactory, and that there will be a goodly sum to go towards the Lancashire Relief Fund. The Mam.vo hough Case. — The Judge did not give his judgment on Saturday on the question relating to the right of the two members for Upper Wairau to hold their seats in the Provincial Council. His Honor preferred first healing the whole of the arguments on the rule nisi obtained by Mr. Eyes requiring Capt. Baillie to shew cause why he should not be restrained from exercisiog the powers of Superintendent. Presbytery of Wellington. — This Court of the Presbyterian Church in this Province met in the Presbyterian Church, Willis-street on the 10th and 11th days of the present month, and was constituted iv the usual manner with prayer. The ministers present were, the Rev. David Hogg of Wanganui, Moderator; Rev. John Moir of Wellington, Clerk ; Rev. James Duncan of Mauawatu. and Lower Rangitikei, and the Rev. J. AUsworth of Turakina and Wester Raugitikei. The only elder who attended was Air. James Mitchell of Wellington, though it is tojbe hoped that the day will come when eveu country elders will be induced to attend meetings of Presbytery. The Presbytery expressed sympathy with the Hutt congregation who have been without a minister now for twelve months ; and passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Woodward, for his kind and generous labours among the Hutt people during the past nine months. There is now, however, reason to hope that a Presbyterian minister will soon be found for the Hutt, who will visit the Wairarapa a'so occasionally. The " Basis of Union " agreed to at the Conference of Dunedin, November 21, 1861, came before the Presbytery, together with the returns from the Kirk sessions and congregations concerning said " Basis." All these returns were found unanimously in favor of " the Basis ;" and the Prcsbytory unanimously concurred in recommending said "Basis" to the adoption of the convocation about to meet at Auckland as suitable to the Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand. The Presbytery also appointed the Rev. David Hogg and the Rev. James Duncan their Commissioners to the Convocation about to meet at Auckland, wishing them to repair iv due time thereto, and attend the meetings of said convocation ; to give in the deliverance of the Presbytery on the " Basis of Union," and thereafter with the commissioners from other Presbyteries to constitute the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand,— to attend the several diets thereof, — and consult, vote and determine in all matters that shall come before the said General Assembly to the glory of God and for the good of the Church according to the Word of God, and the subordinate standards of the Church, as enumerated and qualified in the " Basis of Union*" and that at nexc meeting of Presbytery they report or certify they have fulfilled this appointment. Reports were given in respecting the state of matters in the several congregations of the Presbytery, which were all of a cheering and hopeful character. A new church has been built in lower Rangitikei, which will soon be opened for Divine Service. Special reference was made to the Mataura district near Wangauui, iv which nearly all the settlers beloug to the Presbyterian Church, and where, it is hoped the people, aided by the Home Mission Fund, will soon be able to support a minister of their own faith among themselves, and constantly to enjoy his labours. The subject of Marriage Fees was also considered by the Presbytery ; and it was resolved to charge the same sum, as the law appoints to be charged by the Registrar, when parties are married by him— unless in cases where the circumstances of the parties disabled them to pay the usual sum. Various oiher matters being dispjsed of, the Presbytery adjourned till after the return of their commissioners from the General Assembly. — Dangerous Kerosene. — A southern cotemporary calls attention to the following extract from the Melbourne Journal of Commerce of 30th ult., and considering the lamentable consequences that may ensue to the consumers of inferior kerosiae, we caution buyers in this " distant market " to be on their guard—" The stock of what is considered first-class kerosine is light ; but the market is inundated with low qualities, which iguite at 65 degrees, and which the importers find difficult of sale at almost any price, the chief outlet for auch being iv small lots for distant markets, where the different qualities are not so well known." The Waikato River • Steamer. — As we always like to do a good turn for an old ac^ quaintance, we mention with pleasure that Messrs. W. n»d G. White, shipbuilders of Williarastown, have just turned out a first rate bandy little steamer for the Otago river trade. The 'Otago Daily Times says:— -"Advices have been received by the City of Hobart, of the trial trip in Hobsou's Bay, of the now steamer Golden Age, intended for the harbor trade here. Everything went off satisfactorily both in point of working of the machinery and the speed of the vessel. Captain Ferguson, the harbor master was on board, and kept time. She was found to attain a speed of eighteen (?)

knots against the tide, under easy steam, the wind blowing rather heavy at the time. The engines worked well in every way, and any amount of steam can be got to work them. All on board were highly pleased with tho performance of the vessel, her beautiful model and her ample accommodation for passengers." Mr. William White of the above firm (one of the celebrated family of that name, shipbuilders of Cowes, Isle of Wight) was, some years since, in the habit of making trips to Wellington, and was very desirous of settling here, but could not see a remunerative opening. It has occurred to us that as the Goldeu Age only draws twenty two inches, with machinery, coals, &c, on board, whether the services of Messrs" White might not be of use in providing the steamer required by the General Government for the navigation of the Waikato river. We learn that the steamer Avon, a very useful little iron boat sent out to Canterbury iv pieces, and put together in Lyltelton, is about being purchased for Waikato if tho local company will sell her, which they do not want to do, as the loss of the Avon will materially interfere with the opening up of Saltwater Creek. H.M.S. Harrier is now at Canterbury with a view to test her capabilities. If the Avon is not purchased, we presume that there will be no difficulty in the General Government getting a steamer where the Golden Age came from ; and if she is, the promoters ofthe opening of Saltwater Creek can get their wants supplied there also, with very little delay.

The Panama Route.— The fortnightly Suez steam proposition which is now finding so much favor in Australia, will, we fear, entirely put Panama's " nose out of joint " for the present. It is satisfactory to know that, while New Zealand must depend on herself for the establishment of communication with England via Panama, the probability of her being able to do it single handed, daily increases. At a late meeting ofthe Otago Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Reynolds said, that he had received a letter from Lima by the last English mail, which led him to believe that by the in-coming mail he should receive a definite offer from the house who first proposed the service, as willing to enter into a contract for a monthly mail service. The offer of Mr. Ward to contribute £30,000 a year, if Otago will do the rest, was thus repotted on at the same meeting — " Upon consideration of Mr. Ward's minute, tho Executivo resolved that Ofcago desired tho cooperation of the Gonoral Government, and not to koep it out of any arrangements made. Tho following basos wore therefore suggested : — I. Otago to pay not more than £25,000 ; Port Chalmers to be the terminus ; and Otago to have tho benefit of any payments from Australian colonies. — 2. On these conditions, the General .Govornmont to take up and conclude tho arrangements now under consideration by tho Otago Government. — 3. If tho General Government decline present compliance with these proposals, two months aa asked to be allowed for submitting tho matter to the Provincial Council, and, if tho Council approves, a further period of 12 months to en-iblo tho Provincial Government to carry out tho arrangements. — 4. That tho .=630,000 be paid over for this service, if the Otago Government can conclude the necessary arrangaments." No answer to the above had been received by the Chamber from Mr. Ward.

The Proposed Fortnightly Suez Mail. — The Peninsular and Oriental Company have offered to run a fortnightly mail from England to Australia for £60,000 a year extra ; they at present receive about £135,000. A monthly service necessitates a great loss of time by the boats having to wait at the termini; only one or at most two more boats would be required to do it fortnightly. This proposition is received very favorably in Melbourne and Sydney. " There are (says tho S. M. Herald), many powerful considerations favouring an affirmative conclusion. In no way could tho service be done so cheaply. Tha Panama route, as our abortive negotiations have taught us, would cost from £85,000 to £100,000 a year; and the Torres Straits route, though it might cost somewhat less than that, as it could be made to dovetail in with the other service, would cost certainly more thau 60,000. Even for tho Cape of Good Hope route, the subsidy asked by those who have recently proposed to work that line is in excess of £60,000. There is no route by which the mails could more quickly. The other routes have great recommendations, and they would multiply the variety of our communications ; but none of them can profess to achieve with regularity a quicker mail delivery." The fortnightly route would be of great benefit to New Zealand ; and as it is the only route in which the Australian Colonies would combine, we fully expect that the proposition will shortly be accepted. As the course of post between England and New Zealand would be reduced by a fortnight, it would be a great boon to us.

H. M. S. Fawn. — Captain Cator, of the Fawn, bore the character while in New Zealand of being au overstrict disciplinarian. The Hobart Town Advertiser tells us,—" On the afternoon of the 6th October, one of the crew who had been misbehaving 1 himself by pilfering on board the vessel, was brought on shore, aud a board with the word " thief" in large letters placed on his back. Thus decorated, he was marched to the watch-house.

Clark's Hydraulic Graving Docks. — We have been favored with the loan of the Illustrated catalogue of the Exhibition, for the purpose of calling attention to the description therein given of Clark's Graving Docks, as erected at tho Victoria Docks on the Thames. We readily do so, and express our obligation for tho information conveyed. On a matter of such importance as the best kind of slip or machinery for repairing vessels, we feel but too happy to place the fullest information in our power before those of our readers who take interest therein. The following description will be found in the Catalogue, under head "Class X, S.W. Court, No. 2255."— "The model represents a plan for docking vessels, patented by Mr. Edwin Clark, and carried out on a large scale at the works of the Thames Graving Dock Company, where it may be seen in daily use. Tho system is entirely novel and differs from au ordinary graving dock in that, iustead of the vessel being floated into a pit, and the water pumped out or allowed to run out with the tide, the vessel is raised bodily out of the water, cradled upon a shallow pontoon, on which it is afterwards floated away to any place convenient for its repair. The apparatus for these enormous lifts consists of a series of hydraulic presses contained in and supporced by cast iron columns sunk into the ground in two parallel rows, the space between being sufficient for the vessel to pass through. From the cross-head of each ram, the ends of a pair of girders are suspended ; these girders pass across the dock, and form a platform on which the vessel and pontoon are floated. The pumping power is a small steam engine placed near the presses, the communication between it and the presses being through wrought iron pipes. The engine does not pump direct into the hydraulic cylinders, but into au intermediate valve chest, by which the raising power is regulated, and the uniform rise of the whole ship and poutoon secured. The pontoons are large shallow vessels, constiucted of wrought iron framing and sholl, and are divided into several watertight compaitments, iv each of which is a valve ; they are made of various sizes corresponding with the weight of the vessels they are intended to carry, The seven pontoons now iv use vary from 160 to 320 feet in length, draw from 3 feet to 6$ feet when loaded, and carry vessels of from 500 to 3000 tons. The hydraulic rams will safely raise A a dead] weight

of 6000 tons, but can be adapted to lift any weigh t. The peculiarities of this system, are the raising the vessel to the level of the workshops and repairing yards, and keeping it high and diy there in full light, exposed to the drying influences ofthe air; while from the vessel being carried above the pontoon, its bottom is more accessible. The blocking or shoring the vessel, under this system, is most effectually and rapidly performed, the operation beiDg simply the drawing in of blocks fitted to the i side of the vessel, which blocks are carried on the wrought iron transverse girders. The pontoon, being highly elastic longitudinally, accommodates its shape to the keel of the ship whatever be its form ; thus insuring a perfect bearing throughout. Each pontoon in itself forms a complete graving dock, aud one hydraulic lift is sufficient for a great number of pontoons. The cost of a graving dock completejis, therefore, little more than the cost of the pontoon, which, for all ordinary vessels varies from £600 to £10,000 ; and the rapidity of operation is so great, that at six vessels can be docked and set afloat iv an ordinary working day. The Thames Graving Dock Company, during the three years of their practical working, have most successfully docked upwards of 400 vessels, weighing 220,000 tons."

! Ye Men of '54. — It will be remembered that | in August last, during the sitting- of the Assembly, the members who were in the Session of 1854 — the first Session that was held — dined together at Bellamy's. There were, including one or two (like Mr. Revans) not now in the House, no less thau nineteen persons assembled ; which, considering that iv 1854 the House consisted only of thirty-seven members, may be considered a very large number, after a lapse of eight years in a colony like this. One of the toasts was " Mackay's umbrella," in allusion to the memorable escapade in which Mr. Mackay and Mr. Sewell figured when the Assembly was unexpectedly prorogued. A song composed for the occasion was received with great relish, and we tried very hard at the time t<) get the author to favor us with a copy, but his modesty prevented him. We see by a J late Southern Cross, that the song has, however, found its way into print, and we gladly copy it. Ye Men of '54. Who fears to speak of'oi? who chuckles at the name ? When youngsters mock the men of yore, who joins i tho laugh for shame ? Ile'a half a fool or just from school, who scorns his ciders thus ; But true men, like you men, will^fili your glass with us. They roao in darlc mis-governed days, when nothing could withstand Tho old official wily ways, bedevilling all tho land. Alag ! that might should conquer right ! but wo pensioned them away, And truo man, liko you men, are in their shoes to-day. We'll drink the memory of tho wise, the fools, the great, the small; Some dine to-night 'neath other skies, and soino can't dine at all ; And some are gone ; but still livo on, a remnant of tho band Of true men, liko you men, the fathers of the land. Some in romoto Provincial halls may mako or break the laws ; Umbrellas wave, when freedom calls, and combat in her cause ! But we have not their fame forgot, upon our chamber floor, Tho old boys, the bold boys, tho men of '54. Somo in tho Council's crimson courts boguilo tho slow paced timo, With lordly games, and stately sports, and friskinoss sublimo ; But ours the talo how bench and rail wera leaped in days of yore, But tho true men, liko you men, who fought in '54. But oyos arc dulr that onco woro bright, and hearts more slowly beat ; Seijeants-at-Arma are grown polite, and Governors discreet ; Umbrellas may have met decay, no gallery rail bo seen, But true men, like you men, will keep their memory green.