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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 68, 13 March 1877, Page 2

Owing to some unexplained reason, the subsidy extended to the owners of the s.s. Akaroa, for a weekly service to Little Akaloa has been withdrawn, the steamer having been performing the service since July last without being subsidized. It is well known that steam communication between Lyttelton and Little Akaloa cannot be kept up without the usual subsidy being forthcoming, as the trade of the district is limited, and not sufficient to justify the boat continuing in the trade. We feel certain that our member, Mr. Montgomery* will make prompt inquiries as to the cause of the subsidy being withdrawn, and endeavour to secure its resuscitation. The service of this boat has proved a great Applications are invited by the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board for the services of an engineer to lay oft' a road to Long Bay. boon to the settlers of Little Akaloa, and its withdrawal would now be attended with serious results. The steamer will continue to run to Little Akaloa every Tuesday instead of Friday, providing the subsidy be forthcoming, commencing on Tuesday, the 20th inst. Mr. Teague, photographer, has resolved to limit his stay in Akaroa to this week, so that all desiring his services,, would do well to pay his studio a visit before the close of the present week. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, Pooley, of the English Eleven, was fined £5 and costs for assault on Donkin. The case against. Pooley and Bramhall, for maliciously destroying Donkin's property, .came off afterwards, the result being that Pooley and Bramhall were committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court at Christchurch, for wilfully destroying personal property of Ralph Donkin. Bail was allowed, each in his own recognizance of £200, and two sureties of £100 each.

The Government steamship Stella steamed up the harbour on Friday afternoon last, and when opposite the jetty, suddenly turned round, and took her leave. What, the object of her visit was, it is hard to conjecture, unless, it was'to'effect the necessary survey for the long-talked of, and much needed light-house, at the heads. We learn that the teacher at the Government School, French 1 Farm, is holidaymaking, and that in consequence of his absence, without leave, the committee intend appointing another gentleman to succeed him. ..... The return match at; cricket, between the Eastern and Western side of the harbour, was played on the the ground of the Peninsula Cricket Club on Saturday last, and resulted in an easy .victory for the East (Akaroa) by 50 runs. Want of space precludes our giving the scores in full, but we. will do so in our next issue. Mr. Newell Phillips gave his lecture entertainment in the Government school, Little River, on Friday, evening. The room was crowded, and the various illustrations were extremely well received. Mr. Phillipsintroduced Blockley's song " FloatAway," and as an encore, a comic song "There's "bound to be a Row.' Te Hiri Mutu, of the Native school, contributed several pieces on the harmonium. A meeting of the Presbyterian Church Manse Committee was held at the Head of the Bay on Saturday last, Present—Messrs J. Gillespie, J. Hay, W. Innes, J. Dalglish, and the.Rev. W. Douglas. Tenders for building manse were opened, and on the motion of Mr. Hay, seconded by Mr. Innes, the tender of Messrs Price and Hancock for £415 was accepted. Messrs Dalglish and W. Bruce were appointed to superintend the building operations, and authorise payment of money at the rate of 75 per cent, for work done, deducting insurance, balance to be refunded when work is completed and taken over.- It was also proposed and agreed to, that the building superintendents be empowered to see to the erection of dividing fence. Meeting closed with the benediction. Mr. Thacker is making good progress with the construction of the Okain's Bay jetty, the whole of the piles being driven. The contractor deserves great praise for the manner in which he has carried out the contract, for both workmanship and timber, with one or two exceptions are excellent. Six feet of water is obtainable at the end of the jetty at low water. The inhabitants ere long expect a steamer to call at least once a week, and to be in readiness for that event, the. Road Board are providing a road to the jetty, the tractor for it being Mr John Moore, who is rapidly pushing the work a-head. The district seems to be in a very thriving state, it having been an exceptionally good season for grass. Tne Pigeon Bay coach was unusually late reaching Akaroa on Friday evening last, it being long after seven. before the driver pulled up at the Post-office. Nu. merous speculations were indulged in as to the cause of its detention, many favouring the belief that some accident had befallen it. All anxiety for its safety was set at rest about half-past seven, when the noise of the wheels was heard in the distance, and on arrival it was ascertained that the s.s. Akaroa was late on the tide arriving in Little Akaloa, where she grounded, and was detained a prisoner til] the tide had released her. The steamer . did not reach Pigeon Bay till half-past five o'clock p.m, so that it will be seen Mr. McFarlane, the driver, made good use of his time. We learn that the owners of thij steamer have wisely set apart a special day for the Little Akaloa service, and therefore passengers embarking from Pigeon Bay or Lyttelton will not in future be carried on to Little Akaloa. This arrangement cannot fail to prove beneficial to the interest of the owners, as we know of many who purposely avoided travelling on Fridays by way of Pigeon Bay in order to escape a protracted passage. We beg to acknowledge the receipt of a neatly-printed pamphlet, issued by the South British Insurance Company, entitled " Useful Hints for Fire Prevention." The pamphlet contains many excellent hints on defective chimneys, the evil consequence of " hurrying up " the fire with kerosene, blowing down the chimney of kerosene lamps, careless storing of matches, the necessity of looking through premises the last thing at night, and other useful advice, which, if followed, may be the means of averting many serious conflagrations. Copies of the pamphlet can be had on application, by any one, free, at the local agency, Messrs Wood Bros. We learn that the Akaroa Good Templars have decided to hold a soiree and entertainment on some evening during Easter week. At a meeting of the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board, held on Saturday last, a resolution was carried, ordering the owner of the frame of a vessel lying above the main road in Duvauchelle's Bay to remove same. The Home News says:—Dr. Featherston's successor is to be Sir Julius Vogel, who is now in England, having arrived from New York in the Russia. Sir Julius has grave defects of manner, but those defects are only superficial. He is a vigorous man, who has the interests of New Zealand at heart, and let it be hoped that no drawing-room prejudices will be allowed to operate against him in town.

Under the heading " Disgrace," the Registrar-General notifies in the Gazette that he has erased from the Medical Register of New Zealand the name of late of Gisborne, Poverty Bay/ registered as a of the Royal Gollege of Surgeons of England, the said Francis Goold having been convicted of felony at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Auckland, on the 22nd of December last. At the Fielding Hotel, Manawatu, Wellington, a cat has brought into the world four kittens, attached to each other as firmly as the Siamese Twins. Two of them came abreast and were bound by the shoulders to each other, and the other two were bound by the middle to the hind quarters of the leading pair. All of them were alive and mewing. At the Motueka relief meeting on Monday evening, the Rev. J. Beckenham mentioned a striking instance of unostentatious liberality as worthy of imitation. A settler, who had purchased property from a Nelson storekeeper, and suffered loss by the Hood, had £60 in cash voluntarily returned to him, as well as the promise of-a year's stores for himself and family. Mr. Beckenhamj from the motives of delicacy, did not respond to the cries of "name," but feeling it only just to the community that such generosity should be credited to the right man, we have made enquiry and find the storekeeper is Mr. Wm. Wilkie, of Bridge street ; and the settler, Mr. John Burrow.— Nelson Colonist Some idea of the growing value of property in Wellington (says a contemporary) may be gathered from the price paid .by Mr. Lichtscheindl for the block adjoining the Empire Hotel, in Willis-street, purchased from Mr. Turnbull. The block has 60ft. frontage to Willis-street, and runs back to the. sea, a depth of 120 ft., and the price was £7000. This is an advance on the price paid a few months ago for the Empire itself, the size of the two blocks being the same. The great unpaid again distinguished themselves for the wisdom and consistency of their judgments on Saturday, when a youth of fourteen summers was sentenced to imprisonment for stealing a peach! There was no proof of the actual theft of the peach, but the little fellow was found getting over a fence enclosing some peach trees and one rolled out of his waistcoat, according to the evidence of the gardener. We have heard of a labourer getting seven days for stealing a turnip at the hand of the great unpaid in an agricultural village in England, but have never heard of a little fellow, who scarcely knew any better, receiving seven days hard labor for a peach f in a country where they grow wild.—

The following amusing untrue letter on the "Wretched condition of New Zealand was published in the North British Daily Mail of December 4 :—" Sir, —I have received from a relative in Dunedin a letter wherein he briefly described the present wretched condition of New Zealand at present, and as his remarks may sei-ve as a warning to intending emigrants to that country, I trust you will allow their insertion in some part of your valuable space. He says—'The country is deluged with people, who, though they are willing to work can get nothing to do, and the Government still keep bringing more. There is a grievous trouble looming in the distance, inasmuch as the unemployed will, ere long, be a source of considerable annoyance to the Government. They are marching about hand after hand, begging work or bread for their children. , The Government have given some stone-breaking and country roads to repair, and for this they get 10s or 12s per week. But when they pay 9s to 13s per week for rent, and from 4s to 6s for coals, there is not much left for food and clothes. Besides the weather is so.miserably wet, that in a fortnight they require to go to the hospital to get ready for' a fresh start at road making. 1 will stake all I possess there is not another country in the world can compete with New Zealand for rheumatism, lumbago, neuralgia, and chilblains ; and if any doctor comes out who can effectually cure these he will make his fortune as easily as say 'Fly Presto.' The price of food is enormous, and for a small box of ointment they charge the extortionable sum of IsIn conclusion I may add that there will be some fine fun when the Government have to pay the interest on the borrowing money and the sinking fund for the capital.'—l am, &c, J.D.H."