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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1197, 14 December 1871, Page 2

The s.s. Keera, this afternoon, was the bearer of the TTawke's Bay portion of the English Mail via San Francisco. We must hold over extracts.

His Honor. J. D. Ox mend. Esq , was a passenger by tjie Keera from Wellington to-day. Mk W f H, Webb, of "New York, was a passenger by the Nevada on her last trip to. Auckland. The Defence Office has decided upon the next colonial prize firing taking place in Canterbury; the whole of the competitors, except the cadets, who will lire on their own ground, firing for the various events over a range to be selected in or near Christen uroh. The Canterbury Press says: —"We believe that during the past few days Colonel Facke has been engaged in inspecting a range near Cashmere, on the estate of Major J. 0. Wilson, C. 8., and it is more than probable that this will be kcale of the colonial prize firing. There is certainly ample room for a really excellent range, which a very little expense will render available not only for the contest, but also for ohe use of the Volunteers generally. As regards the coming contest we trust to our Canterbury men to make an effort to retrieve their lost laurels. We have got the men; of that there is no question, but we trust to see steady and continuous practice on all hands, so thai they may qualify themselves to compete with the representatives of other provinces." A correspondent writes to inform the Wellington Independent that, on the afternoon of the 10th inst., he and another gentleman heard the song of the skylark whilst crossing Watt's Peninsula, between Evans' JBay and Lyall's Bay. He continues : "We turned toward the diiection whence the bird's notes came, but a hawk hovering in the air at a slight elevation before its caused the lark to cease singing, so we lost the' chance of seeing the soaring warbler, and resumed our walk, disbut at the same time grateful to those who liaye introduced the skylark to our fields. Among the sports at the annual fete qf the Wellington Foresters, to eome off on Boxing Day, we observe a "Half-mile race for Volunteers in uniform."

The Philharmonic Society lately formed in Nelson already numbers upwards of,eighty members. It is reported, on creditable ant/bc-rity, chat a bare whs shot in Green Island Bush—Hio animal having been mistaken for a rabbit. " How it came to the district £here is no .means of ascertaining.

At Wellington on the 11th inst., a number of gentlemen gave a farewell dinner to Mr Hussick, late chief engineer of the s.s. Wellington, previous to his departure for England. All present wished him a pleasant voyage, and expressed a hope that his absence would be brief.

Doctors are in demand in the settlements to the north of Auckland.

•The lotal number of births registered in £>unedin, during the month of Nov., was 86, and of "Teaths 26, .the excess of births over deaths thus being 60, or at the rate of 230-76 per cent. The number of marriages registered during the same period was 23. For the corresponding month of 1870 the figures are, Births, 84; deaths, 16 ; marriages, 17.

At Adelaide a large public meeting passed resolutions in favor of compulsory education wituoub the Bible. The Zavistowski Sisters are said to be very much dissatisfied with the financial result of their visit to Melbourne. In connection with the wreck of the Ahuriri, the Waikouaiti Herald, of the 3.oth ult., has the following:—Up to last night upwards of 60 bags of flour, two or three chests of tea, the ship's boat and three sculls, and a number of cheeses and other articles, have drifted ashore. At Moerahi we hear a bpx containing plate and other valuables was washed ashore; also two boxes between the Bay and Pleasant River were picked up, the one belonging to Mr Holly and the other to Mr Clarke, of the American Excelsior Minstrels. No bales of wool have been found, but the shore is strewn with detached pieces, and two or three empty bags have been picked up. On Monday two boats from Waikouaiti visited the spot where the ill fated vessel struck, and we are informed that she can be seen very distinctly -so distinctly, in fact, that her name can be easily read—in about eight feet of water, and that she lies partly on her side, with her masts still attached to her, but- quite empty, every vestige of cargo and woodwork, being gone. The police ha/e been indefatigable in their exertions to re cover the shipwrecked property, and the coast was carefully watched from Waikouaiti to Shag Point, but it is doubtful whether much more will be recovered. It is probable, however from the position in which the vessel has sunk, that a large portion of the hull and other gear may be lifted. Under the heading, "The Drunkard,-' we find the following in a recent issue of the Wellington Independent:—The full meaning of this detestable phrase was presented to the public of Wellington yesterday. The figure which exposed itself in open day to the gaze of passers-by was that of a female, who, intoxicated by the accursed fumes of alcohol, staggered along Willis-street We should not, perhaps, have specially noted the incident but for a deplorable circumstance, which caused our first feelings of loathing and abhorrence to melt before the humane impulses. On the arm of its mother, apparently a bard working married woman, was a sweet looking, cherub faced little babe, about nine months old, which though in imminent danger of being thrown to the ground by the feeble hold and unsteady gait of its parent, ga\'e expression to its merry prattle in its infantile and tender notes of joy, unconscious that its mqther was possessed by a fiend that had destroyed t]\c feelings of love and affection implanted by nature in all Gods creatures.' Happily such a spectacle is of rare occurrence in Wellington, and we hope in future the police will take steps, should such a case come under their notice, to bring to justice any publican' who plies a female with drink 10 such an extent as was the case in the present instance. The woman of whose ease we have just been speaking was seem to emerge, in her overpowered condition, from one of the hotels in the ouy."