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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4173, 5 August 1874, Page 2

The San. Francisco mail steamer Cyphrenes, which made" a good run of twenty-two hours to the Spit (Napier), reached Auckland at ten o'clock yesterday morning, and sailed at 4.30 p.m. The loss of time at the start she will probably make up in the run to Fiji. It is stated that Mr. Macfarlane, of Auck. land, has arrived in Wellington, for the purpose of disputing the election of Mr. Von der Heyde for the Waitemata district, on the ground that the latter, though he had taken the oath as a British -subject in another Colony had not been naturalised here. •The heavy gales of the last few days now appear to be over. By sunset last night the wind had. almost died away, an occasional squall of no great violence, but accompanied by sleet, having passed over the harbor in the course of' the afternoon. About noon the steamer Manawatu was able to steam alongside the ship Conflict, at the outer anchorage, and bring the immigrants ashore. We have already indicated the result of an interview between the Nelson members of the House of Representatives and the Minister for Public Works. Previous to these members waiting upon Mr. Richardson, they had had an interview with the Premier, and the result of that interview is imported to the Nelson papers by Mr. Luclrie and Mr. Richmond, members of the deputation. The following is a copy of the telegram to the Colonist: —" The interview with the Premier was of considerable length, and the subjects impressed on his attention. He pointed out that it was necessary to have a survey before fixing the railway route beyond Fox Hill. He showed us a plan with a red line diverging from Fox Hill, round by the way of Tarndale, and over heights »f great altitudes, as the country is known in Nelson. The great cost—£Sooo a mile—for the Buller route made it objectionable, but he hoped on the country being resurveyed that a route would be discovered which would render the construction of the line less costly. He considered the line connecting Nelson with the West Coast one of the necessary works of the Colony. Mr. Vogel declined to increase the grant of £SOOO extra allowance to £IO,OOO, and as to the advance of the £50,000, he said that he (Mr. Vogel) had understood from Mr. O'Conor that that sum would satisfy them; The proposal of the Waterworks Loan Bill was not well received by the Premier, who said it was a project for .giving the Province a sum of several thousands from the City Corporation without applying it to reduce the debt, and without any appropriation of such money, which did not appear in the estimated revenue of the Province." It may be remarked as a curious coincidence that the steamers Albion and Tararua are reported as having arrived at G-reymouth and the Bluff yesterday at precisely the same hour and minute—ten minutes past eight o'clock a.m. The Albion was again reported as off Hokitika at an hour in the afternoon which would correspond very nearly with the time of the sailing of.the Tararua from the chief port of Southland. The steamers would, in all probability, put on steam for Melbourne about the same hour. Both steamers are very fast and in fine condition, and it will be interesting to note the time of their arrival at Port Phillip Heads, for a friendly race must ensue. The run from Hokitika is longer than that from the Bluff, and the Albion, therefore, is handicapped with a distance of seventy-five miles—the difference in the length of the courses the vessels will respectively travel. The following is an approximate list of the immigrants who arrived 'by the Conflict : Married couples without children—--6 laborers, 2 fitters, 2 carpenters, 1 painter, 2 railway waggon builders, 2 farm laborers; married couples with children—l 7 laborers, 6 farm laborers, 5 painters, 1 engine driver, 2 blacksmiths, 3 gardeners, 3 shepherds, 1 plumber, 4 bricklayers, 1 platelayer, 1 tailor, 2 bootmakers, 9 carpenters, 2 railway waggon builders, 1 tool grinder; single men—2s laborers, 4 painters, 1 miller, 4 carpenters, 1 gas fitter, 1 ploughman, 2 bootmakers, 2 tailors, 1 signalman, 4 bricklayers, 1 sailmaker, 10 lads, 1 telegraph constructor, 1 hammerman, 1 carman, 3 blacksmiths, 6 farm laborers, 1 plumber, 1 gardener, 1 brassworker, 1 plasterer, 3 stonemasons, 2 railway waggon builders ; single women—2s general servants, 1 nurse, 9 housemaids, 1 laundress, 4 cooks, 0 young girls, 1 nursemaid, 1 dressmaker. Mr. Henry Berg, boatbuilder of this town, has just completed, and yesterday launched, a very handsome pleasure yacht of 18 tons, builder's measurement, to the order of a private company. The dimensions of the craft are : Depth of hold, 7 feet 6 inches ; length of keel, 36 feet; length over all, 41 feet 2 inches; breadth of beam, 10 feet 9 inches. The construction of the hull of this compact and handsome little vessel has taken fourteen weeks, and in about another fortnight Mr. Berg expects to finish the spars, &c. The yacht is named the Xarifa, and she is at present anchored off Pilcher's old wharf. The ballast she will require will be about 11 tons, which will be put in shortly. As a specimen of workmanship the Xarifa reflects great credit on her builder, and will no doubt prove a credit to Wellington as well as an ornament to its harbor, and as a sailer great things are expected of her, as she will carry a large spread of canvas. Captain H. Bouman, inspector and chief surveyor for Germanic Lloyd's, is now in Auckland for the purpose of completing arrangements for the classifying of vessels by that society. It is mentioned by the Auckland papers that Mr. D. Gouk had obtained the contract for raising the p.s. Patersou, sunk in the Waitara river; but the latest news from Npw Plymouth is that the vessel is now a hopeless wreck, the hull having broken in two during the gale and fresh of Monday,

The wires were still down on the Northern line of telegraph yesterday. Prom several quarters newa comes of two comets having been lately visible. A new and large telegraph office—much needed—is to be erected at Greymouth. Some more specimens of quartz from Mokihinui, of extraordinary richness, have been brought to Westport. Some very fine specimens of quartz have .been brought to Picton from Turner's mine. "The stone is impregnated with gold. Fifty-six Califomian quail were shipped from Nelson to Blenheim by the steamer Wallace, but only twenty-one arrived alive. Leave of absence was given yesterday to MrWebster for the remainder of the session, by reason of urgent private business. Westport is still dependent upon Greymouth for its supply of coal. The local steamer Ino recently brought up a cargo. The furniture and saloon effects of the p.s. Faterson were sold for £lB7. The plated goods brought £IIS. Diphtheria, chiefly confined to children, is prevalent at the Thames. One fatal case has occurred. A handsome testimonial has been given to the Rev. Father Belliard, on his leaving Greymouth for Christchurch. At Lawrence, Otago, cabbage-tree leaves are being converted into brooms by a colored American. They are superior to the imported article. The Picton and Blenheim railway, says the Press, is being pushed actively on. In a few days the engine will be at work ballasting the line from the Wairau to Blenheim. Numbers of the immigrants who proceeded to Blenheim have already been engaged. They were received with three cheers as they arrived in town in waggons. Freestone suitable for building purposes ha 3 been found within a short distance of Auckland. Dr. Hector describes it as a very valuable stone. A fish of a new genus has been caught on the coast of Otago by Capt. Liddle. It reBemble3 somewhat the cod that are found on the coast, and will in all probability prove a valuable addition to our edible fishes. The saloon passengers by the ship Miltiades celebrated their arrival, and their appreciation of Captain Perrett and his officers, by giving them a dinner at the Amy and Navy Hotel, Auckland. The business at the Kesident Magistrate's Court yesterday was unimportant. A charge against William Tustin, for cruelty to animals, was dismissed. In the civil business the following cases were disposed of, with verdicts for amount sought and costs : —Liverton v. Cutten, £l3 9s. 2d.; Henderson v. Wheeler, £1; Same v. Bruge, £2 14s. Mr. Geisow, the District Engineer, is said by the Grey River Argus to bo doing what he can to put a stop to the truck system, which has lately been so openly earned on in connection with the public works on the West Coast. With regard to the Westport Railway contract, he has given public notice that contractors will. be strictly held to the clause prohibiting the system. The announcements of Miss Rosa Towers' benefit and the intention of His Excellency the Governor to be present at the Theatre Royal last night combined in attracting by far the largest attendance that has yet congregated in Wellington to witness the clever acting of the talented little lenefipiare. His Excellency and party, accompanied by some of the officers of H.M.S. Blanche, were present, and remained till the close of the performance. The dres3 circle was moderately well filled, and probably would have been crowded but for the counter attraction of the Bazaar ; the other portions of the house were closely packed. The piece chosen was " A Waif of lie Streets," one which affords an excellent opportunity for displaying the peculiar combination of comedy and pathos with which Mis 3 Rosa Towers is, to a remarkable extent, gifted. The piece ran capitally, and was performed with much spirit;, the little favorite constantly securing marks of approval from the audience, and in the song, "Nobody's Child," she fairly brought down the house. Mr. Towers' adaptability to low comedy was shown in a marked manner by his amusing impersonation of "Props." Miss Jessie Raymond frequently secured the attention of the audience by her well rendered emotional passages, in wliich she was well supported by Mr. Burford. Mr. Egerton. was suffering from a severe cold, but hLs make-up in the character of Colonel Hopkins was a great improvement on the dress in which he previously played the part, except that he seems to forget a colonel of the army does not generally . wear the stripes denoting a sergeant's rank on his arms ; and again, it i 3 hard to understand why, after appearing aa am. elderly man with grey hair, whiskers, and moustache, he should come out in the last act a 3 a young man with dark hair and moustache the metamorphosis is not accounted for in the play. It is a remarkable fact that frequently when there is a full house at the Theatre Royal, some disturbance takes place in the pit, whether it is the fault of the doorkeepers or police it is hard to say—perhaps both. Last night a mob of half drunken men were drinking from a bottle, and creating such a disturbance in this part of the house that it was impossible to hear what was being said on the stage, and the performance was for a moment interrupted. A man was removed, but the nuisance scarcely abated. Those who go to the stalls are generally supposed to attend for the sake of the performance, which they are expected to have intellect enough to appreciate ; unfortunately there are numerous exceptions, of which instances occurred last night, when conversations were carried on during the play in quite loud and objectionable tones, and many made themselves conspicuous by serving only as an annoyance to the majority. In noticing the death of Mr. J. W. Vanes, who was lately engaged on the reporting staff of this paper, the Sydney Herald says : —"This gentleman was for a Bhort time connected with the Maitland Ensign, and subsequently obtained appointments in Sydney, first as English master at the Sydney Grammar School, and then as reporter on the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr. Vanes was a young gentleman of varied attainments, of high education, an excellent reporter, and a genial companion and staunch friend to those of his fellows who had taken the trouble to penetrate beneath his apparent reserve."