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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4235, 16 October 1874, Page 2

His Excellency returned to town yesterday from his cruise on the West Coast. In this second effort to visit the wild and majestic scenery of that part of the Middle Island, Sir James Fergusson was almost baffled once more by the . severity of the weather. As our readers are aware, it was found desirable to send back the yacht Blanche from Nelson, and she made a rough and perilous passage across. Proceeding by' H.M.S. Blanche, the bad weather continued, only one dry day having been experienced. The Blanche visited Milford Sound, where, in Freshwater Basin, she was moored by the stern to a tree. She next

entered 'Anchorage Cove, in George Sound, and afterwards Richard Sound. Whilst there the shock of an earthquake was experienced. The Blanche then (on the 6th instant) proceeded to Dusky Sound, and from thence to Port Chalmers. Sir James Fergusson came , thence by the Taranaki, which experienced the full force of the fierce north-west gale which blew on Wednesday , night and Thursday morning, but made a remarkably good run of twenty-one hours, considering the severity of the weather. Dr. Pollen received His Excellency on landing at the wharf.

It is scarcely necessary to notice the insinuation of an evening contemporary yesterday, that we were specially and improperly favored with an early copy of the Registrar-General’s last report on the vital statistics of the chief towns of'the colony. Suspicion haunts a certain class of minds, and our contemporary is singularly prone to suspicions, and always of the worst sort. The return in question reached this office in ordinary course, and we allude to the matter only in justice to the department. As there was a possibility that His Excellency the Governor might not arrive in time, in consequence of the fierce north-westerly wind that blew all the night of Wednesday, and the rain that fell, the Governors of Wellington College held a meeting yesterday morning, at an early hour, and resolved to postpone the inaugural fete announced for yesterday until Saturday. They took every step possible to acquaint the public with this change of determination, the bellman being sent round, and a person stationed on the Adelaide-road to acquaint visitors with the change. It is to be hoped that on Saturday there will be a very enjoyable holiday for the students of the College, and also for the general public, who should take pride in such a noble institution.

The barque Cordelia, from Liverpool, has arrived at Dunedin after a very long passage of one hundred and thirty-four days. She has on board the castings for a large iron bridge—for the Wellington and Masterton railway, we presume. She was blown out of her course by a heavy south-east gale after passing Tasmania, made a land-fall at Cape Farewell, passed through Cook Strait, and saw the light on Pencarrow at midnight on the 4th instant. Her Wellington cargo was probably stowed under that for Dunedin. She will come on here to discharge it. Some anxiety is felt as to the whereabouts of the steamer Rangatira, which has been so baffled in her late attempts to reach Wellington, by the severe weather experienced at sea. It has already been reported that she was blown back from Cape Palliser to Castle Point, from whence she made a fresh start, and was expected to reach port at an early hour yesterday. She has not, however, come in. The fierce north-west gale of Wednesday night would prevent her doubling Palliser, and it was thought that she might have once more been forced back to Castle Point. Telegrams were sent there by Mr. Ledger, but up to a late hour it had not been ascertained that the Rangatira was there. The Taranaki kept her fires up ready to go in search of her, but it was thought prudent to detain her till daylight, when, if she is not heard of as being safe at Castle Point, the Taranaki will go to look for her. Captain Lloyd, we trust, has had nothing worse than bad weather to contend against. The Supreme Court was occupied during the whole of yesterday in hearing the case Grace v. Diver, which was an action for ejectment. The plaintiff and defendant were examined at great length, and other evidence was given in the case. The addresses of the learned counsel engaged were long, and the summing up of His Honor also took a considerable time. The jury retired shortly after four o’clock, and after being locked up for over four houx-s, were unable to agree upon a verdict, and as there was no probability of their doing so, His Honor discharged them. With a hope of getting through the business in time for those engaged to attend the College inauguration fete, the Court met at half-past 9 a.m., so that if the event had not been postponed through the inclemency of the weather, the learned Judge, counsel, and jurymen would have enjoyed the satisfaction of remaining to help the proceedings to drag their weary length along, xvhilst everyone else would have been enjoying the sports in the new College grounds. A report of the case will be found in another column. To-day is appointed for the healing of a case before a special jury, and if it is completed this evening, to-morrow will most probably finish the business of the sitting, as only otie case will remain for trial, and that is also by special jury. The exceptionally severe weather of the last few days appears to have been experienced all round the Middle Island. From Oamarn the telegraph brings news of the stranding of the Emulous —a schooner to which the same misfortune has occurred four times. The Luna was forced to take shelter in Akaroa on her way from Lyttelton to Port Chalmers; and from Westport we hear that the fine threemasted schooner Alma, from Melbourne for Greymouth,has put in there with serious damage and the loss of two of her crew. The long-con-tinued storms of wind and rain, it would appear, have destroyed the road between Westport and the Lyell, and the diggex-s in that mountain township are approaching a state of famine. Residents of Wellington, we are glad to observe, are overcoming their feax-s of earthquakes and their effects. Although nearly all the many buildings now being ex-ected, or lately put up, have been of wood, and the new public buildings are to be of that material, a commencement has been made with brick, by Messrs. Joseph, jun., and Nathan, who are. now building a large warehouse in Willis Street, nearly opposite the Empire Hotel. The wooden tenement which formerly stood thei'e was lately removed, the foundations for an underground storey or cellars dug, aud now the fouixdation -walls —four bricks thick—are being laid. The building will be four stories in height, all of brick, and fire-proof. The front will be plain, but the premises will be most commodious. The architect is Mr. Toxward, and the building will be nt once an ornament to the stx-eet, and another proof of the growing importance of Wellington as a commercial centre. The example of the firm will probably be followed, aud thus we may hope to see the capital iix time a city of something better than wooden edifices, liable at any moment to a serious and wide-spread conflagration. It is not gexxerally kxxown, we are sure—though it may be to those who are engaged in the shipping tx*ade of thepox't—that the Fatexxt Slip Company not loxxg ago laid down buoys, near the Slip, at which vessels can bo swung for the adjustment of their compasses. These buoys are six in mxmber, and when a vessel has been undergoing repairs and is launched, she can be at once taken to these buoys and swung. The company have put themselves to some expense in the matter, and deserve cx'edit for their public spirit, for the convenience is one which shipping-masters will appreciate. There have for years been swinging buoys in Evans’s Bay, but they were not nearly so convenient as those to which we are now referring.

The quiet district of Wairarapahas been the scene, at Masterton, of a robbery with violence. The Standard reports it thus “ A man, when lying under the effects of liquor at Masterton, the other day of £6O in cash by three men, one grasping him by the throat while the others picked his pocket. The man was known to have a large sura upon him, or his story would not be credited ; while the marks of the fingers which had been pressed upon his neck afforded additional evidence of the truth of his statement. The police have taken the matter in hand, and for that reason fuller particulars of the occurrence are withheld for the present.” We see that Mr. John Smith’s Combination Troupe have been playing lately and with great success at Dunedin, in conjunction with the Loyal Troupe, and Mr. Varten, who will be remembered here from having visited Wellington as one of the Lynch Troupe. Wo see, how--ever, that the troupe were about to break up, their engagement with Mr. Smith being ended, or that some members of the company, at least, are leaving it. Mr, Val Vbse, the ventriloquist, has engaged the Hall, at Dunedin, for a short season about Christmas time, when ho ■will renew his acquaintance with the people of that city, by whom he seems to have boon much appreciated.

The floods are again out in the Wairarapa. The coaches both from and to Masterton were unable to cross the Waiohiue River yesterday, but the mails were got over and forwarded. To-day the question of a Free Publio'Library for Wellington will be settled by the votes of the citizens, under the new Act. Each ratepayer possesses but one vote. The special and general meetings of the City Council which were to have been held yesterday afternoon, were postponed until Monday afternoon, at four o’clock. H.M.S. Blanche may be expected in Port Nicholson in a few days. She will call at Lyttelton on her way up the coast from Port Chalmers. Her stay in New Zealand waters is not likely to be protracted, as she is expected to be recalled to England. The Luna, with the San Francisco mail, reached Port Chalmers early yesterday morning. She sailed from Wellington on Sunday, reached Lyttelton on Monday, took on board mails, and sailed again after a very short stay. She experienced a strong adverse wind and a heavy head sea, and put into Akaroa harbor for shelter.

Mr. George Darrell (the husband of Mrs. Robert Heir - ) is making a reputation for himself in America as an author. He has lately sold a new drama, entitled “Her Face her Fortune,” to an American actress, Miss Bessie Darling, who, in the beginning of last month, was about to start on a dramatic tour through the States to play it. The finding of the name-board of the ship Wemyss Castle at Westport, as reported by telegram, does not point to any catastrophe at sea. The Wemyss Castle made a fast passage from Wellington to Newcastle, and may have lost the waif in question in heavy weather on the run up. She left Newcastle all well, some time ago, on a voyage to China. The trial of Dodd, the second officer of the American barque Oueca, at Dunedin, for the murder of a seaman named Green at sea, has terminated in a verdict of manslaughter. A point has been reserved for the decision of the Appeal Court, as to the jurisdiction of an English court to try the case, the prisoner claiming to be a naturalised subject of the United States.

We observe that the regatta at Lyttelton takes place on the Ist day of January. It will be seen that there will be a sailing race for vessels of any rig (except cutter), under a hundred and fifty tons register, for a prize of £IOO, and a silver cup valued at £2O ; and there will also be a four-oared whaleboat race for a prize of £3O. The particulars will be found in our advertising columns. The coining of new words, says the Otago Daily Times, goes on apace. We have billiard players who are called “ billiardists.” Pedestrians are occasionally playfully alluded to as “ runnists” and “ walkists ; and now an upcountry paper alludes to the local squatters as “sheepists,” and congratulates them upon having got so many sheep from the high ground to the well-sheltered gullies during the late bad weather.

It will not be forgotten by the lovers of operatic music that the benefit of Mr. Hallam, the tenor of the company, takes place this evening, when the favorite opera, “ The Rose of Castile,” will be performed for the last time. Mr. Hallam has contributed so much to the pleasure of the patrons of the opera, and lately has performed under most trying domestic circumstances—as the public are aware—so that we cannot but expect and hope that he will receive a substantial compliment at the hands of the patrons of opera. Mr. Hastwell, of Grey town, recently visited Victoria and Tasmania for the purpose of buying a number of horses of superior type. He embarked nineteen by the Hero for Auckland, but only seventeen were landed, two having been lost in consequence of the rough weather experienced by the steamer. Mr. Hastwell, however, only brought one with him to Greytown, having found a profitable -market in Auckland for the others. The Standard mentions, also, that Mr. Hastwell has brought over a number of buggies, traps, carts, &c., for the rapidly-growing trade of the Wairarapa. A good many of the people of 'Wellington will remember Mr. Lillicrap, formerly a captain in the Bth Regiment of Infantry, and at one time resident here. He nows occupies the position of master of the immigration barracks at Invercargill, and it will not be displeasing to his friends to read a compliment that has been paid to him, and to the Provincial Government of Otago, by one of the immigrants lately in his care in a letter to the Southland Times. The writer says: —“ I came out here in the good ship Tweed, being nominated to this colony by a friend, and I feel it my bounden duty to express myself publicly as to the treatment I have received from the hands of the Government from the time I quitted my native shores of old England. On board the ship the kindness shown by all the officers and the doctor far exceeded my expectations. Everything that could be done for the comfort of the passengers was done in a very able manner. I also desire to thank the Government for the kind and generous treatment they have shown us since we quitted the ship. On arriving at Invercargill we went to the immigration barracks, where we received every kindness from the barrack-master and his lady. I am sorry to say during the short stay I made there I lost one of my children, an infant, aged sixteen months, after a long illness. The kindness shown to me on the occasion by Mr. and Mrs. Lillicrap will not soon be forgotten by myself and ray wife, for had the child been a member of their own family, they could have shown no more respect than they did up to the time of its death. I had no idea of the unpleasant and trying duties of a barrack-master till going there. I consider he deserves the warm sympathy of those above him and the public at large for the able and respectable way he has the establishment conducted.”