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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 925, 24 January 1871, Page 2

In the St. Vincent Witness, Sept. 22, 1870, we find the following item:—" The following ' bottle mark' was picked up at the little island of Myerau on the 17th inst. Myerau is about 25 miles to the southward of Jamaica—'Barque Jennie Ellingwood, at sea 67 days from Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, bound for LondonCargo, wool. All well. Lat. Odeg. 17min. N., long. 29deg. 20min. W. Charles Marshall, Master. W. T. Guinness and Wm. 8,. D. Fergusson, Passengers. Best love to Miss A. E. Caulton, Napier, and Miss G. Williams, Willisstreet, Wellington, New Zealand. April 6th, 1870.'" "With regard tp the mail line via San Francisco, the Brisbane Courier observes : —" Every one of us must wish success to the scheme for establishing a second regular line of communication with Europe. The mail service via Suez has of late been performed in a manner that leaves little to be desired in the way of its improvement ; nevertheless, an additional line which would render us independent of it, and which, along with it, would in effect give us fortnightly mails to and from Europe, would be an immense advantage. Of course it would be doubly pleasant if, as seems possible, we could secure the twofold accommodation at the cost of a single one, — if New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand would join in the proposed San Francisco line, leaving the Suez line to be maintained by Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia, and each set of colonies making use of the other's provision ; but even though this could not be eifected, and the P. and O. Company should prove awkward to deal with —as companies often do—and insist on carrying all the Australian mails or none, or insist at all events upon the payment of our share of the subsidy, there are few of us who would not consent to the securing of a regular monthly service of steamers for mail and passengers via San Francisco, at the cost of an additional .£IO,OOO a year." The following 'account of a hurricane experienced by the mail steamer Neva, on the 29th August last, about 360 miles N.E. of Sombrero, is taken from the log book of the ship, and gives another instance of the truth of the theory of the Law of Storms. On Sunday, the 28th, the horizon here was calm, but we were informed on the following day by the proprietor of Castle Grant, J. G. Simmons, Esq., that the barometer had fallen considerably : —" 28th August — R.M.S. Neva—37o miles N.E. Sombrero —Barometer fell 1300 lowest range 29-72. Stopped the engines; hove-to N.E.; after 32 hours wound E.S.E., continued the course; no casualty." Capt. Bevis' course was N.W., but from his knowledge of the Law of Storms—instead of running on with a falling barometer — he prudently lays his vessel to, in an opposite direction N.E. and allows the hurricane —at least the centre of it—to pass by and arrives at St. Thomas " no casualty." The French mail steamer also on her voyage to St. Thomas fell in with the hurricane 160 miles N.E. of Sombrero. Either from ignorance or disregard of the law, her Captain pursues a diametrically opposite course—instead of laying to, he runs on with a favouring but deceitful gale. He discovers his error just in time to prevent his running into the centre of the vortex, which would have involved the total loss of the ship and all on board. He saves his ship but arrives at St. Thomas with the loss of all his boats, his fires extinguished, five feet of water in the hold, and one passenger dead from sheer fright. —St. Vincent Witness.