Untitled

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1230, 24 January 1872, Page 2

The barque Ballarat took her departure for London direct this morning, with 2,997 bales (1,024,084 lhs) wool, and ] case bee's wax, consigned to order, tlie whole cargo being valued at something over .£77,000. We wish Capb. Reynolds and his good ship a prosperous voyage.

Another fortunate escape from what might have proved a destructive lire was experienced in Napier yesterday afternoon. By some unknown means a portion of the fencing opposite Mr. Luff's gate iii Bre water-street had caught fire, and but for prompt attention on the part qi Sergt. Farmer, of the police force, it would undoubtedly have >pread to a gorse hedge in its proximity, in which case several buildings could hardly have escaped. It is supposed that it niMst have been occasioned by the negligence of some smoker who carelessly threw down a burning match amongst the dry grass. Such acts of carelessness are of frequent occurence, and as they are attended with so much danger stringent penalties should be enforced on those detected.

The steamer Star of the South, from Auckland, may now be hour!)'expected to arrive here. We have received No. 1 of Vol. 4 of "The Evangelist," a monthly magazine published in Dunedin, the profits of which are devoted to the Presbyterian Mission Fund Of the new volume the editor says :—"The Evangelist is placed on a new footing this year, so that the whole profits, after paying the printer's bill and necessary expense of publishing, will be devoted to the Mission Fund of the Synod. The pi ice has been considerably reduced, while the size remains as before. At the same rate of circulation which was attained to last yeai* —about 700—the magazine at the reduced price will do no more than pay expenses—that is, provided no loss be incurred through the neglect of subscriber*. Every additional hundred subscribers however will (we expect) yield a profit of about ,£2O in the year. Looking at the vast number of Presbyterians in Otago alone—according to last census—o T7 er 27,000 (not including Southland), surely it would not be an extravagant expectation to look for a circulation during the present year double that of the past. If the office-bearers of the Church generally would use their influence on its behalf, we feel confident that ife would be done. We would respectfully request them to give this matter their consideration.

At a public dinner given at Nelson a few days ago to Mr IT. Redwood, of racing fame, Mr Stafford is reported in the Evening Mail to have spoken as follows : —lt gave him very great pleasure to see so many young New* Zealand colonists growing up and taking an interest in the public matters of the colony. He could see more than one then present whose fathers had been intimate friends of his long before these sons were born. These yo ing men must of necessity feel an interest in the colony which had been their birthplace, and in which their fathers had for many years lived, and some of them died, and it was such young men who were to form the strength of the colony, which he believed would never attain that greatness, for which its geographichal position and magnificent climate so eminently adapted it, until it was governed by New Zealand born and bred colonists. On this head he differed entirely from Judge Richmond, who, in the course of his address to the collegp boys, said that we must, for a long lime to come, look to the mother country or to men partly trained +beie for a considerable portion of the men fioted to exercise amongst us the highest social functions. lie (Mr Stafford) on the contrary, thought • that the day

.could not come too soon when these functions? were exercised by men whose whole interests lay in the colony, who had been bora in it, and from their own experience had obtained an intimate acquaintance with its wants and its capabilities. These were the men he sbould wish to see at the head of affairs, and not men who looked upon New Zealand merely as a place in which to make their pile, and haying done this to desert it.

We see by the Wanganui papers that on the morning of the 16 th inst. a fire Woke out in the store belonging to Messrs Hurly and Cunnabell, destroying nearly the whole of the drapery stock, and a portion of the other stock, and doing great injury to the building. The origin of the tire is uncertain, but it is supposed to have been caused either by a spark from a pipe or candle, or by the explosion of one of the lamps. Mr Hurley, wjih the aid of a few neighbors, succeeded in extinguishing the flames in about an hour. The building alone was insured. The total lows is estimated at ,£I,OOO.

Mr Grant in his History of Newspapers, tells a very good story of the origin of the custom of charging for the insertion of marriage announcements. At first these were published freely as they still are by many of the provincial papers. But in the earl/ days of the Times it was the custom in announcing a marriage to state the amount of the bride's dowry—.£2o,ool) or £30,000, whatever it might happen to be, and in looking through the ladies' column one morning at breakfast, Mr Walter threw out the suggestion that if a man martied all that money he might certainly pay a trifling percentage upon it to the printer for acquainting the world with the fapt. " These marriage fees would form a nice little pocket-money for me, my dear," added Mrs Walter, and as a joke her husband agreed to try the experiment. The charge at first was but a trifle, and the annual amount proba lily not much ; but Mrs Walter, at her death, passed this prescriptive light of hers to her daughter, and when a few years ago the right was repurchased by the present proprietor, it was assessed at £4,000 or £5,000 a year.

Who says Demerara is an unhealthy place 1 The Royal Gazette records the death of a woman aged 108 years, almost rivalling the lady by Pope—

Wlio lived to the age of a hundred and ten. And died of a fall from a cherry-tree then.'

About 130 wool merchants were invited to a meeting at the wool sales room, London, November Ist, to take into consideration the proposition to reconstitute the New South Wales and Yan Piemans Land Commercial Association, under the title of the " Colonial Wool Merchants' Association." Mr Palgety, of the firm of Dalgety, Du Croz & Co., the chairman of the old society, presided. An amended set of rules and regulations were submitted to the meeting and agreed to. The

chairman said the association was formed for the general good and for the good of the colonies in particular, and hoped that the present committee (eighteen tp represent Australia and five the Cape) would look after the trade and carry on the business in a satisfactory way.

The Times of Nov. 2 has a column and a half auicle headed " Inflammability of London" showing that that city might be burned almost as easily as Chicago.

It is reported that M. Charles Lefevre, a French gentleman, has just come into a fortune of over half a million sterling, left him by a cousin whom he never saw in his life. The gentleman in question died in America, whither he had emigrated many years since with the sum of £SOO, which M. Leievre's father lent him when all his other relatives turned their backs upon him.

The Castlemaine (Victoria) Representative lias had some honor done to it recently in London. It is pot often that Australian up-country newspapers are quoted by the London press;, but a few days ago the " largest pap«*r in the world '* Us:led a contents Bill the leading line in which was founded upon a paragraph relative to the Tichhorne case taken and acknowledged from the Castlemaine Representative, It is a

pity that the English l>ress generallydoes not avail itself more largely.of th© local paragraphs of the local journals ipf Australia. Such paragraphs, when they treat, a* they usually do, of the every day life of colonists, are better calculated to attract emigration, of the right sort than a thousand elaborately-worded leaders or carefully got up summaries of pews. One other question arises out of this : Why should the Australian colonies not have a paper of their own in London, in which might be reflected the common life of the com in on people of Australia The journals of the colony would furnish sufficient matter of the news kind, and readers could be found in plenty. In tho Waikouaiti district, according to the local journal, the long continned drought is proving most disastrous to the settlers generally, grass being completely burnt up and withered, and the crops are fast ripening before the ear is half matured. Jn many places the u heat is turning to smut aud'rusb, and the gardens are seriously injured, the. fruit, which promised to be abundant, is becoming dried up. Water is also, getting scaice, and in many parts of the district settleis have to care vyater for domestic purposes.

The Wairarapa correspondent of the Wellington Independent, under date Jan. 13, says i—«• Bush fires have been very prevalent throughout the valley; during the past fortnight; but they have hot at present caused so much damage as was at the time anticipated, Two thousand acres of open land in the. Wharekaka plains were on fire the. other day and threatened, the destruction of a flock of 9000 sheep. They, however, were fortunately extricated after some difficulty.

The Provincial Council of Canterbury has made appropriations for the current year amouning to £20,000 in. excess of the estimated revenue of thjs province,

The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times thus writes in a recent communication :—" Yogei is with a host of steam and contracting grandees. He occupied Government Home with his family, and takes them to Sydney and Melbourne with him. Having no fixed residence, and it being understood proceeding to Wellingtoa from Melbourne caused a rumor in circulation here that Parliament is to meet in March. It is difficult to see. any other ground for the rumor, which is, however, confidently accepted by some. I hear that he (Vogel) has talked of the grand colonization scheme until he seems to have persuaded himself that it will make New Zealand a ? great nation, and himself a foremost figure in her future history. One must make some allowance for the. effects of sudden elevation, but I fancy the coolness of the public on his present visit will convince him that the number of those not quite so confident in the S'lQcess of the scheme is on the increase. The local banking interest will make an enormous haul out of the loan, and are of course in favor of it. The newspapers are also with him, but the independent ones much less warmly so than they were. The bulk of the people, the. taxpayers at large, are decidedly uneasy. The comparative break down in the mail ser.iee which was to consume quantities of Kawakawa coal, fill all the hotels and shops with customeis, get in our wool to the United States free, and enable us to dominate in these seas, has engendered serious doubts as to the result of the grander expenditure and larger interests involved in the Public Works scheme. As to Immigration, that seems to be quite h>t sight of, with the exception of people applying here for the passage of their friends. This is an excellent mode of immigration, but of course limited in comparison with the thousands expected. 1 don't think either that the Brogden affair is relished, al'hough qurcontractqrs have made up their minds that he will be glad to give them sub-contraqts. A 3 to the Stamp tax, it has dona mora than anything else to sap the Government. It came on people by surprise; and all ask, if these things are done be*, fqre the expenditure begins, what wil| it be Then more interest has to be paid, and more (axes are put on by the Prp-: vincial Governments to support the in* [ stitutions depending on them ? Wehb,

lias determined not to send his rossels South again on any terms 5 that, I hear, is settled. It is also said that he complains of having been deceived as to the prospects of the line, and the respective positions of New Zealand and the Australian Colonies. However, much of the future of the mail service must depend on the visit, which he i.- about to pay, witli Vogel, to Australia in the JKTebraska."

Politeness is like an air cushion—ther may be nothing in it, but it ea«*es o>»r jolts wonderfully.