NEW ZEALAND.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2670, 27 October 1882, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND.

(PUB PHBB3 ASSOCIATION.J AUCKLAND, October 26,

The master and crew of the ketoh Pearl arrived from Raratonga this morning. Ten day* ago the provisions ran out, and since then the daily faro comprised one biscuit and a supply of oranges. A slaughterman has been lost in the bush near Dargaville. The remainder of the. Auckland and Thames representatives who are to compete at the Rifle Association meeting at Dunedin left by the Arawata. Captain Nation of the Victoria Company, having obtained leave of absence from the Board of Education, proceeds with them. The competitors who left to-day are—Sergeant Taylor and Corporal Rose of the Victoria Company, Sergeant Hay and Sergeant James No. 3 Company, besides ten members of the Thame* Naval Brigade, and Volunteer Weir of the Thames Rangers. The b: dy of a man about forty years of age was found in the harbor. His name is unknown. The Native Minister leaves for Alexandra to-morrow by a special train, to meet Tawbiao, WELLINGTON, October 26.

It is expected that the particulars in connection with the proposed land sales by the Government will be published this week. In consequence of a large portion of Otago lands not falling into the hands of the Government until next Match, the sales in that district will, of course, be delayed; but it is understood that the surveys are completed. It is expected that a meeting of various Volunteer corps in the diatriot will bo held shortly, to discuss the new Volunteer regulations.

GREY MOUTH, October 26,

Ten thousand shares in the Equitable Insurance Association have been applied for in Greymouth. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court to-day, three neglected children, named Taylor, were ordered to be sent to the Industrial School, Oavecsham.

TIMARU, October 26. The total takings at the gate on the second day of the Agricultural Show amounted to £212, representing over 4000 persons. DUNEDIN, October 26. The Hon. Mr Dick is likely to visit Southland in a few days.

The recent wet and boisterous weather has done a good deal of damage in the interior to lambing, and also to the grain and fruit crops, &o. It is stated that the lambing will not give 10 per cent, on some stations in the high country. The Port Chalmers bronch of the Australasian Institution of Marine Engineers has purchased from the Municipal Council a section of ground for the purpose of erecting thereon a monument to the memory of the engineers who lost their lives in the Tararna, also to the memory of David Binfcoul, second engineer of the Wakatipu, who was accidentally killed in the engine-room at sea. The monument will be unveiled to-morrow

afternoon, in the presence of members of the institute and friends of the deceased.

The residence of Mr Sandford, editor of the local paper, was burned down at Arrowtown this morning. His furniture was insured in Liverpool and Globe for £250. His family of six children were saved with difficulty. At the Harbor Board to-day a letter was read which had been sent to the Minister of Marine, drawing the attention of the Minister to a wreck chart attached to a report of the department, in which four casualties are marked opposite Otago Heads. Of these one was a fire, doing small damage to a cargo; another was one steamer running into another at the pier; a third of collision in the channel; a fourth, a vessel touching on the bar in the north channel. The Board complain that such records are certainly not wreck casualties. Resolutions were also passed on the motion of Mr Fish, M.H.E., urging that the Government should hand over full control of the wharves at Port Ghalmers to the Board.

[EBOM THE “ FBBBS.”] WELLINGTON, October 26. I see that my telegram of the 23rd relative to the railway returns has been incorrectly transmitted, and contains an important numerical error. The following is the correction : —The receipts on the Hnrunui-Bluff section (845 miles) for the first twenty-four (24) weeks of the current financial year, with a material increase of actual traffic, are at the annual rate of £3 16s per mile less than for corresponding period of the previous year, while the working expenses on tho same section are £4O 5s per mile larger than for the corresponding period of last year, not £4, as inaccurately transmitted. The difference is rather material, being a thousand per cent. There is great grumbling hero at the high fee charged for telephone exchange, £l7 10« Eer annum, and I understand the department as under consideration the possibility of introducing, without losstotheoolony,certain modifications at the expiration of the current year. I believe I am correct in stating that no reductions will ba made this year, but 1 think it very likely some changes will be effected next year, either in the direction of lower charges or in the way of according extended facilities, snob ee keeping open at night and allowing the

| use of wires at all hoars, which it is thought • weald be great convenience for doctors, and for those who would like their premises in constant communication with Are brigade stations, police offices, &o. The difficulty in the way of charging a Smaller stttn annually is thatif aby subscriber should' be unable or unwilling to oontinue after the first year, the c department would be at, considerable loss; S owing to the expense of fitting up the iustrumeuts, wires, poles, &c., as well as l the cost of the latter, which to a large extent'wouldbe so much money thrown away. However I fancy there will he ah attempt to’maet the wishes of the pubKo in the" matter. With reference to the direct steam service, I may, say that ifc seetoa to be pretty well understood that there is almost certain to be a brisk competition for the contract. I hear, on what appears to be very good authority, that in addition to the expected tendere from the Union Steamship Company and from the New Zealand Shipping Company and Shaw Savill, tenders will probably be received from Messrs Sloan and Company, from the Mesiagerie Maritimes, also from the firm who are carrying on the Torres Strait service, and from several other ship owners, The A gent-General will fix terms and conditions, only cabling to the Government if it should appear necessary to vary widely the general instructions sent to him. The choice of the New Zealand ports is to be left entirely to the contractor, who is only limited to the four chief ports, and may call only at one each time (be it Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, or Port Chalmers), or may visit all four both ways ah every trip. This concession is looked on in some quarters as of a rather dubious prudence. Sir Dillon Bell is to have the tenders in hy the end of December or the beginning of January, if possible, as it is intended to strain every nerve to gat the lino started by the time named, vis., April next.