A RELIC OF THE PAST.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2102, 18 November 1880, Page 2

A RELIC OF THE PAST.

(“ Wanganui Chronicle.”) Chance has thrown in our way a copy of “ The Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist,” published on the Bth of April, 1843. It is a rather primitive looking affair, and bears the imprint of William Warre Barrow, who announces that he edits, prints, und publishes his newspaper at his general printing office, Shortland crescent. But though primitive and old-fashioned—lß43 being rather far back in the world’s history—the editor appears to have done the best with the materials at his disposal. If there was nothing to startle there was plenty to interest his readers, and perhaps our readers of the year 1880. It is only the other day that the British gained a great victory in Afghanistan, as a sot off against former defeat and uncertainty. In New Zealand in ’43 they were talking of very similar occurrences, the battle field being the same then as now. Our namesake quotes from yet another “ Chronicle,” a Home paper—an article published in England in November, 1842. Let us disentomb a portion of this ancient editorial. It says : “Ghuznee has fallen, after a pitched battle, won by General Nott under its walls; while General Pollock, who was opposed hy Akhbar Khan himself in his advance upon Cabul, fought him, and beat him, with a very inferior force, before he hoisted the British standard anew upon the Bala Hissar, or citadel of the capital of Afghanistan, from whence it would never have been torn down but for the miserable incapacity of our then commanders, and the feuds which opened our camp to the treachery of an unscrupulous foe.” In his next paragraph the editor—that is of the Home paper —alludes to the termination of the Chinese war, the cession of Hong Kong, and the opening of four Chinese ports to ships under the British flag. We suppose the Auckland man was giving his readers the benefit of the latest intelligence, and yet Ghuznee opened its gates to General Nott on the 7th September, 1843, and General Pollock, after thrashing Akhbar Khan, entered Cabul on the 16th September of the same year ; whilst the article in the Home paper was published on November 37th. 1842, and was copied into the “ Auckland Chronicle ” on April Bth, 1843. (They manage things differently in 1880. General Huberts beat Ayoub Khan on the 2nd of September, and within forty-eight hours the victory was known all over the civilised world. In the shipping column of the Auckland” Chronicle” wo notice the arrival from London and Plymouth of the ship Westminster, 610 tons, Mitcbie, master, and in another part of the paper the editor apologises for not having published a supplement on the occasion, an extravagance which it appears he had promised to be guilty of. He excuses his default by saying that “ every preparation, at considerable expense, was made for so doing; but the additional intelligence brought by the Westminster was not of public interest.” This is all very well, but the public ought not to have been trifled with, and should have had the dish served up, and been left to judge for themselves of the quality. However, it is too late to make a fuss about it now, when the editor and a goodly number of his readers have taken their departure for the happy hunting grounds, and the ship which brought the promised news has long since been broken up. They had a good sized comet in Auckland in those days, or they had had a month before, [and were talking about it still. It appeared after sunset on March 2nd, in the constellation Pieces, about lOdeg. above the western horizon. On the 24th the nucleus had become invisible, and by the end of the month the nebula had become “ the shadow of a shade.” This copy of the “Auckland Chronicle” has a “communicated” article more than three columns long about comets in general, but saying very little about the one which had just appeared. That article, if it served no other purpose, must have been a good help to the editor in filling his space, for original news and exchanges were not so plentiful then as now. Still he had some other New Zealand journals to cull from, and made several of them contribute to the entertainment of bis readers. There are extracts from the “ Nelson Examiner,” the “Colonist” (published then in Wellington), the “Wellington Spectator,” and the “New Plymouth Spectator.” One of the paragraphs in the last-named paper says—“ The road to Wanganui, for horsemen and cattle, will be completed during the month, fine coal and limestone have been discovered at Mokau, forty miles north of the Sugar Loaf Islands. The river will admit vessels of 150 tons burden,” The same paper states that out of thirty births which had occurred in New Plymouth, “ within these few months,” no fewer than twenty-eight were females. It may be observed that this did not happen long enough ago to account for the largo number of old women who flourish at the present day in Taranaki. There are slight indications in this newspaper, that in 1843 Auckland was rather jealous of the increasing importance of Wellington, or of “ our friends at Port Nicholson,” as the editor calls them. Those friends are said to be making active preparations to collect flax for exportation, and the Wellington Corporation is declared to be still showing signs of life. But the city fathers are taken to task for having sent a memorial to the Government “ requesting that a mounted police force of six men be appointed for the protection of persons and property in the Borough of Wellington.” The editor asks sarcastically—Are our Wellington friends already tired of self government ?—and then volunteers the information that the Town Council have the power to appoint the constables; the fact being, we suppose, that the expense had deterred that body from raising the small cavalry contingent which appeared necessary for the public safety. Then the editor falls foul of the Wellington Justices for not having prepared a jury panel according to law, he says—“lt is doubtful whether the Chief Justice ha not gone on a bootless errand for want of a jury at Wellington,” and “It is probable that the only legally constituted jury in the colony is our own at Auckland.” It is suggested that to remedy some of the evils of the southern settlements being so far from the seat of Government, the Government, the New Zealand Company, and the colonists, should at once unite their efforts to establish a steamer, to run from place to place along the coast. There were apparently very few advertisers in Auckland in 1843, unless their announcements were left out of the issue before us to make room for more important matter. One tradesman gives an imposing list of garments for sale at his store—coats, trousers, shirts, and all the rest of it—an ordinary looking advertisement of “ slops,” but at the foot of it is the rather startling nota iene —“A great part of the above clothing are gentlemen’s left off in the best possible condition, fashion, quality, and make.” There is an advertisement headed “ The Farkhurst Seedlings,’ ’ which is a proposed petition to the Queen, asking that Sir James Graham may be required to transport back to England ninety-two juvenile convicts who had been sent into the settlement by the Home and Colonial Secretaries, and are described as a “ pestilence of a moat grievous kind,” These same seedlings are mentioned again under the head of “ Police,” and certainly appear to have been both troublesome and dangerous characters. One case is mentioned in which four of them are suspected of having committed a burglary, and stolen money, cheques, and bills, valued at more than £2OO. We wonder whether any of these ninety-two young ruffians reformed, and are now grey-headed, respectable old buffers patiently waiting the time when they must turn up their toes and join the majority, or whether they all went down to Hades, much to their own discomfort and the satisfaction of the Auckland people. By this old newspaper we learn that on the Bth April, 1843, there were no cigars and no tobacco in bond in Auckland, and only eighty-one gallons of whisky. The quantities of other spirits and of wine were also very small. A very full list of wholesale prices is supplied, which shows that flour ranged from £2l to £23 per ton ; sugar from £25 to £2B, The settlement seems to have nearly run out of tobacco, and the only cigars named are Manilla cheroots, at £3 per 1000. Irish salt butter is quoted at Is 8d a pound, and fresh butter at 4s. It is said to be selling now in Wellington at 4d, but wo have known it up to 5s and 6s a pound on some of the goldfields in the other island. Altogether the “ Auckland Chronicle” was, in 1843, an extremely creditable production, and a worthy forerunner of the excellent “ dailies” which are now issued in the Northern city.