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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1128, 9 March 1872, Page 2

The schooner Lady Don, bound for Lyttelton, was towed out by the steamer Dispatch last evening. The steamer Charles Edward is duo hero to-day, from Nelson and Westport. The schooner Sarah and Mary, from Melbourne, was towed into Hokitika on Thursday. The ss Gothenburg returns to Melbourne, via Southern ports, from Wellington. The ss Claud Hamilton was to leave Melbourne for the West Coast on the sth or 6th mat An Auckland contemporary says that tho ss Hero, which arrived at Auckland from Sydney on Friday, Ist inst., brings intelligence that Mr Webb has entered into engagements with the Australian Steam Navigation Company to the effect that their boats shall connect at Auckland with the American steamers, which, by the terms of the contract, are to run down the New Zealand coast. The first steamer under this arrangement is the City of Melbourne, which was to leave Sydney for Auckland on the 16th inst., bringing mails and passengers for the Nevada. The City of Melbourne will wait at Auckland for the Nebraska, and sail with mails and passengers for the Australian Colonies six honrs after the arrival of the boat from Honolulu. The London Times of the 12th December says :— " There is a great scarcity of seamen on the Tyne, and large steamers and sailing vessels have some difficulty in making up their hands. The rapid development of steam tonnage has been the occasion of a considerable demand for seamen, and wages from the Tyne are L 3 15s per month. Firemen are better paid than seamen, and many of the latter are turning firemen. There will be great difficulty in rearing seamen in the •V future, as steamer? take few, if any, boys for apprentices, and sailing ships seem to be Mr Jacobson, C.E., is engaged in making a survey at the month, of the Opihi river, Canterbury, with the view of discovering the practibility or not of forming a harbor or landing _place there. A series of interesting experiments with a phosphoric light, under tho direction of the Commissioners of Northern Lights, was lately conducted from their steamer Pharos in the Firth of Forth. The light, if brought into use, would supersede the ordinary blue light now universally used as danger and other signals in the naval and mercantile services: The phosphorated substances is contained in a tin lamp, holding about half a pint, and before bfeing used, a hollftw tube at th&top and bottom of the lamp is opened. The lamp is then suspended by an ordinary piece of wood, which is thrown into the sea. A bright light immediately flashes up; and continues to burn very brilliantly for upwards of threequarters of an hour. The light was also exhibited fiom the masthead of the Pharos, by placing the lamp in a small oan containing water, constructed for tho purpose. It is expected that the light will be very serviceable for indicating the position of a life-buoy at night While the experiments were being maae, the Pharos was going at full speed. From the time the lamp and life-buoy were thrown overboard, the engines of the steamer stopped and reversed, and a boat lowered, to the time whn the buoy and light were picked up, only three minutes elapsed.