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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4169, 31 July 1874, Page 4

We publish to-day a summary of the news of the month of July, for transmission to England and America, by the Ban Francisco and Suez mail steamers, both of which sail from Wellington this afternoon. The summary may also be sent via Suez, by the Albion, which is expected to sail to-morrow. It will be found on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th pages. The pressure of business ,in the Telegraph Department has been lately so great that some delay in the transmission of messages has necessarily occurred, and the severe weather prevailing has further interfered with the speedy or regular transmission of. messages. So. much has this been the case that several of our Southern contemporaries have been loud in their complaints as to the transmission of Press news, and the Lyttdton Times has adopted the plan, of publishing under the heading ‘‘Telegraphiana," the horn - of handing in, and the hour of delivery, of each message received at that office. The intervals are certainly long, but during the present session of I’arliament very large use is being made of the telegraph wires. Mr. Bradshaw occupied some considerable time in the House yesterday in impressing upon it, and the Government especially, the necessity of the latter introducing a measure at an early period of next session to regulate the hours of labor of young persons of both sexes engaged in factories, which were now becoming numerous in New Zealand, and for seeming to thorn the advantages of an elementary education. Ho recited the history of the Factory Acts in England in support of his motion. The House seemed to approve the philanthropic motives of the hon. member, for which also he received credit from Mr. Richardson, who spoke for the Government. The Minister, hojvevef, could not promise to bring in any large measure on the subject ; but thought a short measure, baaed on the Factories Acts, satisfactory to hon., members, might be brought in next session, and the Ministry would give the matter their serious attention. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court, yesterday, one of the crew of the barque Record was charged, on the complaint of Captain Jenkins, with refusing duty. Ho was ordered to bo sent on board the vessel. One unimportant civil case was also disposed of. The Provisional Committee of the Butchering Society met last evening at the Central Hotel Mr. Arthur Hayward was elected chairman. The Committee had the rules, as required by the Act of 1867, passed seriatim, and they wore ordered to be registered forthwith,: The Secretary reported that the number of subscriptions for shares had reached 1237. The committee will meet on Monday next at the same place, at 8 p.m., 'and will be glad to see and to receive suggestions from any member who can make it convenient to attend.

The Bill to incorporate the Colonial Bank of New Zealand was read a third time and passed in the House of Representatives yesterday. The notice of motion given by the member for Grey Valley, for leave to introduce a Bill to constitute a harbor board at the Port of Greymouth, was withdrawn yesterday by Mr. White, in the absence of Mr. Harrison. It is stated in the Dunedin papers that Mr. Downes, who has for several years held the office of Postmaster and Telegraphist at Port Chalmers, is about to leave for some time to act as mail agent in the San Francisco mail boats. Some very valuable horses were on board the steamship Otago on her last trip from Melbourne, including two belonging to the Hon. D. McLean. They suffered considerably during the passage, and we notice that one Clydesdale entire, which had been purchased for £BOO by Messrs. John Mclntosh and John Paterson, of Invercargill, has died since being landed. It was apparent from the small attendance in the House‘yesterday, that the necessity of preparing their letters for the outgoing mails, and the absence of any disturbing element from the Order Paper of the day, had combined to attract members elsewhere. At no time was there more than a bare House. The public seemed to share the feeling, for the galleries were all but empty. The following tenders were received at the Public Works Office, Wellington, for the Racecourse and Southbridge Railway. Platelaying Contract : Accepted : W. White, jun., Christchurch, £9,449 14s. sd. Declined : J. Rennie, Christchurch, £12,834. The R.M.S. Cyphrenes sailed from Lyttelton for -this port yesterday afternoon, _at two o'clock. As the sea was calm, with a light and favorable wind, she will make a fast run, and may be expected to reach the harbor soon after daylight. The mail is announced to close at two o’clock, p.m., and the Cyphrenes will therefore take her departure early in the afternoon. The Tararua, now in port, to take out the New Zealand mail, via Suez, null also start early in the afternoon. The two mails, therefore, will have a fair start, and the public will, of course, be curious to learn how the vessels which will carry the respective mails behave at sea, and the precise difference in the time at which the mails reach St. Martin’s-le-Grand. The s.s. Albion left Port Chalmers at half-past two o’clock, p.m., for Lyttelton, and may be looked for here at an early hour tomorrow. She will resume her voyage to Melbourne, via Nelson and the West Coast, in the afternoon, taking, probably, a supplementary mail for Suez from Wellington, as well as the West Coast ports. It will be a close race between them, and it is doubtful which will reach Melbourne first. Both vessels are likely to clear the New Zealand coast on Tuesday. The distance is greater from Hokitika than from the Bluff, and both vessels are very fast. Captain Underwood will probably be able on this occasion to make one of the fastest, if not the fastest, round voyage ever made in the Melbourne and New Zealand trade. Fortunately, the weather last .night proved propitious, and there was an excellent house at the Theatre Royal to witness the repetition of “Grif” ; the great number of juveniles present, at the invitation of Miss Rosa Towers, free of charge for admission, giving ample proof of full appreciation of the popular little actress’s kindness. The piece ran particularly smoothly, and was well applauded, the children evidently being highly delighted with the clever acting of then- pretty hostess, who as usual won golden opinions. The scene of the .waterfall by moonlight is one of Mr. Kemp’s happiest efforts, and his ability in producing it has been very properly recognised by the applause of the audience each evening. He is not less successful in his contribution to the acting, for the part he takes, though slight, is played to perfection. The “ converting” scene between Mr. Towers and Mr. Hydes was again, by their clever by-play, made most humorous. This evening, the play will be repeated, and should be seen by all who have not already done so.

In the columns of several of our Southern contemporaries, the State Forests Bill is reviewed elaborately, and with strong expressions of approval of its scheme. The Otago Daily Times sums up its review by describing it as “ a scheme which taken in its entirety, we unhesitatingly pronounce to be one of the finest efforts of Mr. Vogel’s genius.” It was against the New Zealand Steam Shipping Co., not the New Zealand Shipping Co., as reported by telegraph, that a verdict for £250 -was recently given in the Supreme Court, Canterbury, at the suit of Mr. Buckeridge. The plaintiff claimed £350 damages for loss of an entire, which was killed, as was alleged, by the negligence of defendants’ servants while being shipped per s.s. Taranaki. In concluding some comments regarding the Governor’s despatch relative to the release of Sullivan, the Otago Daily Times says;—“We are of opinion that the Government acted wisely in releasing Sullivan. Whetherthe course taken by the authorities after he left Dunedin Gaol was the most prudent that could have been adopted, is at this time of day hardly worth arguing about. The case was undoubtedly a delicate one to deal with, and we must rest satisfied that the Government saw no better way of settling the matter that shipping him to England.” It was gratifying to see a large attendance at' the Odd Fellows’ Hall last night, when Bachelder’s Colossean Pantasoope of a tour through America was exhibited. The entertainment was for the benefit of Mr. H. Eastwood, Mr. Bachelder’s agent, who has had a rather painful reminiscence to carry away with him of his visit to the Colony. It is unnecessary to speak of the excellence of the Pantascope, which is. well-known and appreciated. The young folks, too, thought the WoodenHeaded Accrobat as amusing as ever. Mr Bachelder is en route for South Africa, sailing by the s.s. Atrato from Lyttelton. The detention of that ship for a few days, fortunately, ■will enable the Pantascope to be again exhibited this evening. On Saturday there will be a matinee in the afternoon, which will, no doubt, bo well patronised, and another entertainment in the evening. A Gazette published yesterday notifies that the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Grey town, and the schoolroom, Carterton, are places where vaccination is to be performed on Mondays and Saturdays respectively ; that the resignation of Mr. Rowland Davis of his appointment as Inspector of weights and measures in Westland, has been accepted; that Mr. W. P. Street has been appointed Clerk of the Dunedin District Court; that Captain J. M. Collins, of the Manawatu Rangers, has resigned his commission; that the services of the Hokitika Rifle Volunteer Cadet Corps have been accepted; that the Wanganui Cavalry and Veteran Rifles, aud the Manawatu Rangers have been disbanded; and that from and after the Ist September a fixed white light ■will bo shown on the south side of the entrance to Manukau Harbor. One peculiar announcement—evidently a mistake—is that Henry Isaacs has been elected Mayor of Westland!

Mr. George Bromley, vocalist, who has lately been giving entertainments in Ipswich, Queensland, has found leisure to write a letter to the Orel / River Argus, giving, for the information of the mining community, a graphic description of the Bufferings of the .diggers who had returned from the Palmer Hirer. He writes : : —“ If anyone were to see what is occurring in this country, and behold what I did with my own’ eyes last Tuesday, the , 16th instant, they could not possibly but bo disgusted, not only , with the people who govern tins country, but also with the Colony itself. A steamer belonging to the A.S.H. Company, named the Leichardt, arrived in Brisbane from-Cooktown last Tuesday, with about 000 diggers, &0,, and unfortunately about seventy of them who were unable to pay their passage, determined, it appears, that once on board the vessel at Cooktown, ‘ or wherever they had a chance of embarking,’ to face anything rather than stay at the risk of their lives. When they arrived a number of these men were taken to the lock-up and sentenced to fourteen days ; and I assure you the poor fellows were more fit (and- ought to have been placed in a comfortable bed and received proper nourishment) to be in the hospital, to keep them from dying from the dreadful disease to which they had been subjected, in oonse-

quence of the climate they had been to and thebad food they had been obliged to consume. Their appearance I cannot possibly describe. Emaciated faces, glassy eyes, and their constitutions racked ; and as they were walking through the streets young men appeared to be old and fit for nothing. The description that I had from some of the diggers was really appalling in the extreme ; the manner and means which they had to resort to, to obtain gold, the kind of food they had to put up with, and the enormous expense they were put to to get it. I have been told by gentlemen on whom I can place the greatest reliance that fine men are walking about on the Palmer stricken with this fever, and they look more like lunatics than half the people who are in the lunatic asylums. At any rate I don’twant to witness another sight like that of last Tuesday.” Mr Gerald S. Harper, of Christchurch, New Zealand, has been elected a member of the. Royal College of Surgeons of England. A Bill is now passing through the Imperial Parliament on the subject of “ Colonial and other Clergy.” It provides that, —“ Except as hereinafter mentioned, no person shall be capable of officiating as priest or deacon in any church or chapel in England without written, permission from the Archbishop of the Province in which he proposes to officiate, unless he shall have been ordained to be such priest or deacon, as the case may be, by the Bishop of a Diocese in the English Church.” Clergymen ordained by Colonial Bishops will therefore have no standing in the English Church, no right to occupy an English pulpit. They may occasionally do so as a favor, by permission of the Archbishop of the Province and the Bishop of the Diocese, but they are liable to a penalty of £SO if they officiate in any church in England in contravention of the Act. now about to be passed. The miners of the Colony are distributed as follows—as shown by an appendix to the annual report on the Goldfields :—Otago, 7222 ; Westland, 4424 ; Nelson, 4229 ; Auckland,. 2182 ; and Marlborough, 85. The European miners number 14,039 ; and the Chinese 4103. Sixty-five steam-engines are employed in winding and crushing at quartz mines. They have an aggregate of 1979 horse-power ; while only two engines are at work in alluvial mines. WESTLAND. A man in the employ of Messrs. Rae and Sewell, Greymouth, claims £2OO damages from the Borough Council, for injuries received through the imperfect state of repair of some steps leading to the wharf. On dit two of the largest property-holders on Richmond Quay threaten to bring actions for damages against the Borough Council, for injury to and depreciation in the value of their properties indirectly, caused by the action of the Council in the matter of renting certain portions of the wharf. , During a gale in Greymouth, one night lately,, two of Messrs. Gilmer’s coaches were driven against each other, and so much damaged that a day’s delay was necessary to effect repairs. NELSON. In the Grey Valley, a few days since, snow fell, and remained on the ground the whole day in the Ahaura and on the neighboring flats, while the hills in the vicinity of Moonlight are white with their wintry mantles. Ice two inches thick, the result of one night’s frost, was taken from a small lagoon in the neighborhood of Cobden, this being a remarkable thing for the sea level of the coast. In the Reefton district the fall was unusually heavy, and on a lower level than had been previously known. The works in connection with theHochstetter and Nelson Creek Water-race are progressing satisfactorily. With the exception of some short reaches of fluming, and an inconsiderable • length of tunnelling yet to be done, the first section, or between four and five miles of the race, is now completed as far as the contractors have to do with it Work has been commenced on the second section, opposite Hatter’s terrace, and as the Spring advances, the number of men engaged will be largely increased. Grave apprehensions are entertained respecting the safety of a man named Francis Kirk, a late arrival from Auckland, who was proceeding overland from Nelson to Anatoii, where he had some relatione. Kirk formerly belonged to the Aimed Constabulary, and we understand left Nelson two months ago, but has not since bean heard of, nor has he reached his destination. The Alpine Quartz Mining Company (Registered) property, comprising three leases of about forty-eight acres at the Lyell, together with battery, water rights, shoot, poaddock, &c., has been sold by auction. The whole brought £2150. Mr. Saxton,is the purchaser. A man named John Enright died from exposure to cold on the night of July 18, on the Brighton Road, near McDonald’s accommodation house. One or two persons saw him sitting in the road, and tried to get him to go to McDon- ’ aid’s, but deceased, who had been drinking, refused, and was found lying dead on the road next day. It is stated that a recent survey of the Break o’ Day and Maruia mines, at the Lyell, shows that the latter has encroached very considerably on the first-named company’s ground. The amount required to make good the damage is variously stated at from £BOO to £2OOO. - It appears that Mr. Robert Levien and Mr Joseph Harley were the joint purchasers of the plant of the Perseverance Company. What they bought for £796 originally cost £3,000.