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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4225, 5 October 1874, Page 2

The outward English mail via San Francisco, conveyed by the Mikado, was delivered in London within forty-three days from its departure from Auckland. The Hon. Mr. "Vogel and Mr. Russell have reached Sydney. Telegrams from Melbourne, however, say nothing as to what they have done or are doing. Mrs. "Vogel and family, we understand, proceed by the Otago on her next trip to Melbourne, to join Mr. Vogel there.

A notice appears in another column from the Board of Education, reminding the public of the provisions of the Education Amendment Act, 1874, which came into operation on the Ist of September last. Section 7 provides that the father, or, if the father is dead, the mother, or the guardian, or acting-guardian of every child attending any school established by the Board is required to pay a sum of five shillings quarterly for every such child—no father, or mother, or guardian, however, to be required to pay for more than three children. The fee may be remitted in cases where it can be shown that the responsible person is unable to pay it ; but the Board desire it to be known that the fees are now legally payable. Captain Edwin's last forecast was correct, and for the past two or three days Wellington has enjoyed delicious weather—all the more pleasant after the long-continued spell of rain and wind which afflicted the City. The air has been balmy, the wind calm, and the water of the harbor smooth. The boating clubs have taken advantage of the favorable change, and several crews have been out in the'harbor for a stretch daily. Eor their sake, and that of the boatmen, we take the liberty of suggesting that steps should be taken without delay to remove the piece of wreck that lay so long on Pipitea Point, and was blown some two hundred yards seaward in one of the late hard north-west galas. It lies right in the way of boats pulling or sailing round the point, and should be cleared out of the road.

"Confusion worse confounded," seemed to prevail at the sitting of the Vice-Admiralty fcart on Saturday, for everyone seemed in the -uari'c xj to the mode of procedure. Our legal men are evidently "all at sea" in Admiralty practice, drifting helplessly about, almost hopejess of escaping the shoals that encompass ' them, and nearly despairing of reaching a safe haven. This is scarcely to be wondered at, for it is very doubtful if they have ever had the slightest experience in this particular hue of practice; indeed it may be questioned whether any legal practitioner in New Zealand vras ever concerned in an Admiralty case in Great Britain. The present complicated state of the Vice-Admiralty Court practice raises the difficulties, and the Strathnaver salvage case bids fair to become noted for its length and many puraling complications, although his Honor and the counsel engaged all appear most anxious to carry the proceedings through with as little delay and as few difficulties as possible. Cobb's coach returned to town on Saturday, after the longest trip since the line was opened. Through a landslip on the Paikakariki, the eleven passengers of the coach had to return to Pahautanui on Monday. On Tuesday the coach was unable to cross the Waikanae River; but did so successfully on Wednesday, and got as far as the Otaki River, which the passengers were ferried across, and transferred to another coach, by which they proceeded as far as the j Waikawa River. This they could not cross, and had to return to Otaki. On Thursday the coacli was successfully brought to the banks of the Manawatu, and the passengers got across with much difficulty, the coach stopping on this side. The various districts on the coast, we may add, have suffered severely through the late storms. In the Otaki the flood was higher than any for the last fourteen years, and a number of sheep were drowned. The Maoris in the Ohau district had all their crops swept away, while the river completely changed its course, carrying away the bell-post. Manawatu has been very heavily flooded, sheep and cattle being drowned in large numbers, and several settlers were compelled to leave their homes. The tramway was five feet under water, communication with Palmerston being entirely stopped. No coach had arrived at Foxton from Wanganui up to 8 p.m. on Thursday, but it was reported as being on its way via Lower Rangitikei, after failing to reach Foxton via Palmerston. The beach telegraph line has been much damaged, and parties are busily employed repairing it. A great number of travellers, bound in various directions, were " stuck up " in Foxton, but all had hopes of getting away on Friday last. The late telegrams of Melbourne news recorded the death, in child-bed, of Mrs. Hallam (Miss Hattie Shepparde), and with an expression of sympathy and sorrow which the wires are rarely called upon to transmit. In both we join—sympathy with the young husband in his loss, and sorrow for the dead. Mrs. Hallam began her professional life very early, for her first appearance was made in •Melbourne some sixteen or seventeen years or more ago. Then she was a very beautiful girl, with most tender and •winning ways, and immediately became a favorite. In 1861 she was a leading attraction in Lady Don's company, at the Haymarket Theatre, in Melbourne, when Sir William Don and Lady Don achieved so much success. With Lady Don Miss Shepparde was an especial favorite, and from her she learned not a little in the profession. Miss Shepparde afterwards visited some parts of New Zealand with Mrs. Robert Heir (now Mrs. Darrell), and afterwards went to nearly all the other Australasian Colonies professionally. Por two or three seasons, up to the present, she was a leading member of the Theatre Royal Company, Melbourne, dividing the honors fairly with Miss Eleanor Carey, in those attractive novelties by the late Mr. Robertson and Mr. Gilbert " School," "Caste," "Pygmalion and Galatea," "The Palace of Truth," and "The Wicked World," which proved so agreeable to the public of Melbourne, and so great a draw to the Theatre Royal. Ten months ago Miss Shepparde became the 'wife of Mr. Hallam (the tenor of the English Opera Company), whom she accompanied hither, and whom she left at Auckland to proceed to Melbourne for her confinement. Miss Shepparde was constitutionally delicate. Her untimely fate will be mourned by everyone to whom she was known, whether professionally or privately ; and she had made attached friends everywhere by her modest, unobtrusive demeanor, and her genuine talents as an actress. It is proposed in Melbourne, we see, to place a stone of memorial over her grave, and we have no doubt the intention will be worthily carried through. The weather on Monday last having prevented numbers who had purchased tickets for the soiree at the Odd Fellows' Hall from attending, the promoters have determined to give another, which will take place this evening, when tickets not used last Monday will be available. The entertainment, consisting of glees, songs, recitations, &c, commences at 8 p.m., and the dancing at 10 p.m. The inhabitants of the Wairarapa have a treat in store, in the exhibition of Backelder's fine panorama from "Paradise Lost." It will be exhibited under Mr. Eastwood's management at the Hutt on Friday next, Greytown on Saturday, Masterton on Monday and Tuesday, Carterton on Wednesday, Fentherston on Thursday, the Upper Hutt on Friday, 16th instant, and the Lower Hutt on Saturday, the 17th instant. The panorama will afterwards be exhibited for a short season at the Odd Fellows' Hall.

The Native population of Waikanae has greatly decreased of late years. Ten years ago it numbered about a thousand. Some have gone to Taranaki, and other Northern settlements ; but many have died, and the whole Native population now doesp not exceed one hundred—men, women, and children. It is reported from Wanganui that a few mornings ago a fire occurred in one of the group of buildings on the hill behind the Rutland Stockade, and assistance" not being immediately at hand, it was almost burned to the ground. The house was occupied by a man named Olliver, who for many years has been almost blind. Olliver was boiling some tar, when the pot overturned into the -fire, the result being that the house was soon in a blaze, and the unfortunate man was severely burnt. A portion of the little property which was in the house was saved by a number of persons who were attracted to the spot by the smoke. Olliver was removed to the hospital. The case of Thompson v. E. Ike, for a breach of the Toll Gate Act, relative to the payment of tolls for mail coaches, was opened at the Resident Magistrates's Court on Saturday, and then adjourned for a week. Mr. Holloway has returned to Auckland from his visit to the northern portions of the Province. ■ ■■:■

The regulations of the Board of Education of Otago have been published in a supplement to the Gazette of that Province.

A number of starlings were lately sent from Nelson to Southland. Five died on the voyage, but the remainder arrived at Invercargill in a healthy state, and were at once liberated.

The Index has now been issued from the Government Printing Office, and thus the Hansard for the session 1874 of the General Assembly is completed. We observe from the Southern papers that on his last trip from Melbourne Captain McLean, of the Otago, brought over ten pairs of magpies, which he liberated on land he owns on the Lower Harbor.

The Wairarapa Standard reports that a farewell dinner was given one evening lately at Marton to Mr. Hey wood, the .drill instructor of the Rangitikei Militia and Volunteers. His services were spoken of in the warmest terms. It is somewhat singular that in so fertile a country as New Zealand potatoes should have risen to "famine prices," and that it should have been necessary to send to Victoria and Tasmania for supplies. Yet so it is, and in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, as well as in Wellington, at present, the dinner-table is indebted for the one indispensable vegetable—■ the potato—to one or other of the two Colonies named. Warrnambool, Circular Head, and Hobart Town have all been called upon for supplies for this Colony—and it is well that that they were, able to furnish them.

The acclimatised rooks at Auckland seem to have lost none of the knowingness and impudence for which they are famous in the old country. An Auckland contemporary says that in the neighborhood of South Queen Street they are to be seen daily at the dinner hour, waiting on the workmen employed on the new buildings, and almost taking the fragments from their hands. On several occasions lately, it is added, some of the black brethren invaded the butcher's shop in the locality, and were not easily ejected.) A Taranaki contemporary states that Major Villiers Le -Marchant Butler of the. 65th Kegiment, has died in England suddenly. He was wounded in the New Zealand war, and was widely known and respected as an officer of great' gallantry, and a gentleman of most kindly and genial disposition. He was found dead in his bedroom at his lodgings, Regent's Park, in a pool of blood, and at the inquest it transpired that the breaking of a blood-vessel was the cause of death.

The Waikanae correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle -writes :- —" The Hon. Wi Parata and Tamihana Te Rauparaha are energetic in the improvement of their estates, the former having lately built and furnished a handsome residence in the settlement known as ' the town.' Both go in extensively for wool growing, but the culture of crops on anything like a large scale is by them considered too laborious, and also too uncertain."

A correspondent of the WangantU Chronicle writing from Opotiki, on the 14th ultimo, remarks :—"A most remarkable waterspout occurred here the other day. It commenced in the river near the bar, and travelled up the stream with great velocity, causing a fearful commotion in the water at its base, where it boiled and seethed and shot out in jets of spray and mist. The spiral jet, apparently of the thickness of a man's body, rose in a slanting direction, and united with a black cloud overhead. It followed the main branch of the Waioeka River, and in its course came upon a flock of ducks, and carried one of them to a great height and with extraordinary rapidity, whence it came tumbling down in a very foggy state—a very ' duck in thunder.' The waterspout turned off at the head of the river, and burst on the flat without doing any damage." Some years ago a number of carp were placed in Lake Taupo. Nothing was afterwards seen of them till the other day, when large numbers of them were observed in a swamp communicating with the lake on its western side. They seem to have increased greatly, and firmly established themselves in their new home. The Maoris have also observed "pakeha fish"—supposed to be trout —in the Waihou or Thames River. These are supposed to be the descendants of some placed in a branch of the Thames some years ago. The death is reported of another old Maori warrior of celebrity, at Waikanae. The correspondent of the Wancjanui Chronicle says : " The principal topic has been the death of the late chief of the Otarawas, old Erwini Tetupe, a famous warrior in his day, and a staunch friend to the Europeans.- The tangi, after the funeral, was attended by nearly a hundred of his relations from Otaki, but the weather prevented the arrival of many chiefs and old colonists residing at a distance, who had been invited to be present at the funeral. The tattooing on the body was alone worth seeing, it having been asserted that no living chief can boast of the same artistic and high caste decorations."

The death of a young man, a late immigrant, by drowning in the Opawa River, near Blenheim, was reported a few daya ago by telegraph. The following particulars are from the Marlborough Press : ■■ "Dr. Home has had in his employ, for the last eight weeks, two young men, brothers, who were among the batch of immigrants who arrived here some two months since. One of the men was milking a heifer, and it having got away, his brother, who was on horseback at the time, rode after it towards the bank of the river, over which the horse went and immediately disappeared with its rider. Both horse and rider must have been drowned at once, as they were never seea again, nor has either of the bodies been recovered. Deceased was a youth of about nineteen years of age,, and is highly spoken of as being of excellent conduct and behavior. We have been unable to ascertain his name." AUCKLAND. The locally-owned whaler, the Albion, has been heard of from Porioifua, one of the Pacific Islands, where she had put in, with 160 barrels of oil on board. The Auckland ketch Pearl was at Samoa, with three tons of shell on board. She was returning to Auckland, having abandoned the shelling business. Auckland has had another narrow escape from a serious fire. A night watchman, walking in the vicinity of Chancery Street, a few nights ago, saw the reflection of a light through the window of a house formerly known as the Mechanic's House of Call Hotel. He hastened to the place and roused the inmates, who were all sound asleep. On going upstairs they found one of the upper rooms on fire. In the room lay a drunken man fast asleep. It would appear that he had left the candle unextinguished when he turned into bed, standing upon a washhand basin Btand, which stood close against the wood-lined wall. The candle had been knocked over, the towel and woodwork of the basin stand had become ignited ; and these had communicated the fire to the wood lining of the wall. When first seen the basin stand was in a blaze, and a hole about eight inches in diameter burned in the lining of the wall, and the flames running fiercely up towards the roof. They were soon extinguished. It is believed that had the fire been unobserved for ten or fifteen minutes longer, the drunken inmate of the room in which it occurred would not have left it alive, even if the house had been saved from total destruction. Of the salmon trout ova taken from Hobart Town to A ickland by Captain Macarthur, of the barque Bella Mary, only one per cent, was lost. Eight hundred reached port in a condition to be at once turned out into the streams. They have since been distributed over the Province.

The Bay of Plenty Times of the 23rd ultimo saya : —A meeting of Natives —Hauhaus and friendlies—was held at Kaimai last week re the proposed Tauranga and Cambridge Eoad by that line of route. Although some opposition was evinced to the scheme, it is not expected to be serious or lasting. The ship City of Auckland has now on board the ironwork of a bridge to be erected over the "Waikato at Ngaruawhia. The various girders, knees, slabs, bolts, and other parts weigh no less than 133 tons 17 ewt. They come consigned to the Minister of Public Works.

Telegrams have been sent to England authorising the calling of tenders for the £IOO,OOO loau at (5 per cent, for the construction of work necessary to supply Auckland with water. A special meeting of the City Council will be held to consider the matter. The terms proposed are :—Debentures to be £IOO each. Interest payable in New Zealand or elsewhere. Principal payable at the Corporation offices. Repayable :—£25,000 in 25 years ; £25,000 in 30 years ; £25,000 in 40 years; £2s,oooinsoyears. The amount of special rate purposed should be made for securing the payment of the above loan is one shilling in the £ on all rateable property in the city. It is not often timber is shipped from England to Auckland, but amongst the cargo of the City of Auckland are fifty-eight pieces of sawn ash. It is somewhat remarkable that New Zealand does not possess any indigenous timber which possesses the elastic properties of the ash. Nearly all our boat-oars, shafts, coach-building material, and other articles for which wood having such properties is needed are imported ready made from America and Australia. The slabs are from twenty to forty feet in length, and five inches thick, and should prove a valuable consignment. . The vaccination of Maoris in the Opotiki disti-ict is proceeding. The correspondent of the Bay of Plenty Times says : —"The coyness of some of the young women when called upon to bare their arm was very amusing, and reminded those who had classical memories, of certain lines in Horace, showing that human nature is the same still as it was in the days of the Mantuan bard."

HAWKE'S BAY. Railways are being pushed forward rapidly in this Province. There are upwards of sixty miles now under contract, to be completed within the next two years. They will tap the large and valuable forests of the Seventy-Mile Bush. MARLBOROUGH. The plant for a steam flax-mill, 'belonging to the bankrupt estate of Messrs. Dakin and Stace, was sold by auction at the Kaikouras on Wednesday last, and realised £450. NELSON. "Willie Hogg" is a well-known local celebrity. Like his namesake, the author of " When the Kye comes Hame," he is a poet, and has contributed to the local press from time to time some superior verses. It appears that now, however, borne down by age, he is unable to work, and in want of aid. The Colonist says:—"Willie" has been, favorably known to the public and press of this Province for many years past. It is now sought to raise a sum that will provide something for his personal needs, and pay for publishing a volume of his best poetical pieces, "legendary, descriptive, domestic, local, and miscellaneous," calculated to form a work of about 500 pages. Mr. Thomas Mackay, C.E., has been appointed by the General Government to conduct all matters and proceedings for the acquisition of land for purposes of the Weitporfc and Mount Rochfort railway. CANTERBURY. Charles Crawford, master of the ship Cathcart, has been committed for trial by the Magistrates of Christchurch on a charge_ of feloniously wounding a seaman named Christian Funk, and another named William Rouse, by shooting them while on the voyage out, in what appeared to be a drunken row in the forecastle, cargo having been broached and spirits obtained. The ship carried immigrants. The captain reserved his defence. Mr. J. Peele, whose pictures we noticed some short time back as worthy of commendation, says the Press, has just completed another series of three bits of West Coast scenery, the gem of which is a view on the Hokitika River, having the snowy mountains in the distance, | with foliage and water in the foreground. The details of this picture are excellently worked out, and it is worth careful attention. The I others are two bush scenes and Lake McKerrow, with the last rays of the setting sun just glittering on it—a very pretty picture. At the last meeting of the Council of the Acclimatisation Society complaint was made that the Domain Board were doing all in their power to prevent the breeding of pheasants there by employing men to cut down the shrubbery in the park. This surely was a short-sighted proceeding. The report of the curator stated that the young salmon had grown in a very disproportionate manner, some being ten and some only three inches in length. Sixty-two young perch had been liberated in the Upper Avon. They averaged three inches in length. About three thousand seven hundred trout had been hatched out. It was I agreed to sell the young trout at £5 per one hundred, to place the Society in funds to build artificial-cages for the young salmon. Rooks were stated to be building in Riccarton bush. A new phase of speculation on the art union principle is about to take place in a drawing for a six-roomed house, worth £3OO, and well suited for a young couple commencing a career of wedded joy. The cottage is beautifully situated, but the locality is not mentioned. Two hundred members, at 30s. each, are required to fill the list. OTAGO. "The hydra-headed case of Macassey v. Bell is again before the Supreme Court," says the Times. " This time it assumed the shape of an argument of the rale nisi, which was obtained some weeks ago, calling upon Mr. James Macassey to show cause why he should not answer certain matters complained of, &c, the said matters being the publication of a letter and telegrams in this journal in July last. An answering affidavit by Mr. E. T. Collinson, which had been filed on behalf of Mr. Macassey, was denounced in strong terms by Mr. James Smith, who described it as scandalous, scurrilous, and a gross breach of good taste. His Honor also characterised the matter contained in the affidavit as irrelevant and impertinent. The offending affidavit contained a -portion of the newspaper report of the trial of Macassey v. Bell, an extract from one of Mr. G. E. Barton's letters to Mr. James Smith in the memorable correspondence which took place between those gentlemen after the trial, and a complete copy of the telegram sent by Mr. D. M. Luckie to the Southern Cross, purporting to be a report of Judge Ward's examination before the WardChapman Committee. On the whole the proceedings were remarkably lively for a sitting in banco."

A droll excuse for becoming intoxicated was made by a man who, together with his wife, was charged at the Resident Magistrate's Court with drunkenness. Both were immigrants, living at the Barracks, and he said the Immigration Agent was so tardy in atteuding to the wants of his family that it made him wild, "and the hould woman an' he liquored up."

The North Otago Times, Oamaru, is to be issued tri-weekly from the 6th October next, instead of bi-weekly as at present. A fire occasioned by water, remarks the Times, is not an every-day occurrence. Messrs. Pindlay and Co.'s timber yard and mill had another narrow escape from being burned down late on Saturday night. It seems that extensive brickwork alterations are being made in connection with the mill, and the workmen doing the work very carelessly left three bags of lime leaning up against the wall of the building in Cumberland Street. The rain which fell on that night fell from the roof of the building on to the lime, which soon ignited the bags till they blazed up against the iron wall of the building. The fire had even proceeded so far as to ignite the sawdust under the building. Fortunately a man going by at the time raised the alarm, and with the aid of * few buckets of water from the Auld Scotland Hotel opposite, the flames were quickly subdued. Had it escaped notice for a very short time longer, a serious conflagration might have been the result. With the narrow escape from fire experienced lately in the case of Messrs'. Butterworth's premises in High Street from the same cause, it should be a lesson to those who have to do with lime to see that it is put out of the way of doing harm.

A " duffer" claim on Jones's Creek, Wakatip, was purchased by some Chinamen some eighteen months back. A few days ago the same Celestials cleared out for the land of their fathers carrying amongst them the sum of £IBOO, realised from the claim.