CALIFORNIA ITEMS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 12, 15 April 1871, Page 3

CALIFORNIA ITEMS.

The San Francisco correspondent of the " Age" furnishes the following items :

The Hon. Julius Vogel, of New Zealand, left here yesterday for Washington, with the intention of laying before Congress the importance of subsidizing an American line of steamers to Australasia. If any means could move that power this session, the honorable gentleman has adopted the right ones, but he must steer clear of any other lines, even if they are professed in connection with his own. It would have been gratifying to have announced by this mail the certainty cf a subsidy being granted by the United States Government for carrying the mails between this port and New Zealand, in response to the liberal appropriation by the New Zealand authorities. So many claims are now before Congress and subsidies, and so many of them are merely jobs, that our steamship claims pay the penalty of being in bad company. The same fate possibly attaches to the P.M.S.S. line to ChiDa. Two narrow gauge railroad lines are going to beconstructed : one from Grass Valley to a point on the Central Pacific R.R,"and another from San Francisco to San Mateo. The former connects one of the most important of our mining districts with the Great Trunk line, and the latter is a more direct line than the one existing to the country residences of our most wealthy citizens. The cost of construction, including rolling stock, will not exceed ten thousand dollars a mile. The Great Southern Pacific R. Pc. Bill is being rapidly pushed through both Houses, and California expects much from the opening up of very rich mineral districts along portions of this line in iVrizona and New Mexico. . The silver and lead smelting works in

our city are running night and day, and the 'ore arriving from the mines in Humboldt district is more than sufficient to keep them fully employed, in addition to the demand for home service; We are now shipping bar lead and shot to New York. More attention is going to ba given this year to the cultivation of semi-tropi-cal fruits in California. According to returns, we have 39,076 orange trees, 6690 lemon, 27,834 olive, 11,102 fig, besides smaller plantations of guava, limes! dates, and bananas. The num. her of grape vines is nearly five millions.. A very clever invention has lately been: ? patented here for the purpose of working sewing-machines hy machinery. A 'strong spiral spring on an upright shaft is wound up, and. communicating tfrttfsfrnple clockwork, perform all the work that is now done by the foot.. A break regulates the speed and stops the machine instanter. It is very simple, and-avoids the injurious action necessary 'to work the trerl die. variety of silk-worm has just arrived from- the East Indies. The cocoori is very large, and the worm feeds on other than mulberry leaves atone, tasked and fancy balls, roller skating, and skating carnival, are the rage just liowi.hot to mention some gay weddings, all flurrying to be over ere Lent begins, for; .our people are fashionably severe, and mortify themselves with all propriety .The great railroad companies have mao;e a good move. Emigrant tickets are ;npw sold for fifty dollars currency from Omaha to San Francisco ; twentyseven,dollars to the TJnion ; and twentythree to the Central Pacific This reduction is made in order to induce immigration from the Western and Central, States, so that even a man can come and look at our country, and if not'satisfied return without any great oiftlay. Our merchants are subscribing largely for the relief of suffering France. More than eight thousand dollars were subscribed in two days, and not one quar-ter;-of the merchants have yet been visited by the committee for the purpose.