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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4369, 22 March 1875, Page 2

Yesterday being Palm Sunday services appropriate to the occasion were preached in the Episcopalian churches, and morning prayers will be said in the churches during the coming week (Passion Week). ’ AVe understand there is a probability that the Rev. Charles Clark will return through" Wellington on his way to Melbourne, and that he may again be heard here, both on the platform and in the pulpit. Notwithstanding the absence of satisfactory news from the Ohinemuri rush, there were thirty-five diggers en route to the .Thames by the steamer Phcebe, which arrived from the South yesterday. They all embarked at Port Chalmers.

A very beautiful meteor was observed last night, about 11 o’clock, traversing the sky from west to east. It was visible for a considerable time, and notwithstanding the very bright moonlight, left a luminous track in the sky. The Uev. Charles Clark was to preach last evening in the largest hall that could be secured for him in Dunedin, in aid of the funds of the Benevolent Institution. The arrangements were in charge of a committee of local gentlemen. We observe that amongst tho cargo per Dallam Tower is a steam crane for the port of Grey mouth. It weighs about forty-one tons. We also notice that the same ship has a largo quantity of rails and rail joints for Foxton.

Victoria, it would appear, has its earthquakes as well as New Zealand. On the morning of Monday, the Bth instant, a pretty severe shock was felt at Maryborough, St. Arnaud, Avoca, Ballarat, and Inglewood. These townships represent a district fully a hundred and fifty miles in length, but of comparatively small breadth, and the shock would seem to have followed the line of the auriferous reefs.

. Among tho passengers by the a.s. Taranaki, which is expected to reach Wellington at an early hour in the morning, is Miss Christian, who is well known in Australia as a most accomplished vocalist, and who has established jjhigh reputation during her short residence in Auckland. Miss Christian is on her way to Dunedin, to begin a aeries of engagements in New Zealand, and in tho course of which she will probably visit Wellington.

A sailor named Benjamiu Jordan, belonging to the schooner Nightingale, has been drowned in the Upper Harbor of Dunedin, having been thrown overboard by a shift of the boom in a sudden squall. , His mates were unable to render him assistance, and after swimming for a short distance he sank.

The repairs to the three-masted schooner Melaine, by the Wellington Patent Slip Company, are progressing favorably. The vessel has received new lining from stem to stern, and the newly-laid kauri decks were caulked on Friday last. New bulwarks, top sides, and rails are being, fitted, and the construction of her cabin and fore-cabin will most likely bo commenced during the present week.

An accident that occasioned some excitement at the time occurred on board the coal hulk Cincinnati at Port Chalmers, as she lay alongside the s.s. Tararua, coaling the latter. A little boy, named Scott, aged about eleven years, the son of the keeper of the hulk, happened to fall overboard between the two vessels, and as there was some sea running, ho stood in imminent jeopardy of being crushed; and observing the mishap, his father jumped over after him, and was placed in the same peril. The alarm was raised, and the crew of the Tararua and others rushed to the rescue, and by the help of poles and oars, kept the two vessels asunder, whilst others hauled the father and son aboard—neither of them any the worse for the misadventure.

The remains of the late Mrs. Euphemia Johnston, mother of his Honor Mr. Justice Johnston, wore conveyed to their last resting place on Saturday afternoon, the cortege being met on its way from Wadcstown by a considerable number of friends of the family and accompanied to the cemetery, where the last solemn rites wore performed.

Mr. and Sirs. Hoskins are expected to appear in Dunedin in a few’days. Tiie Canterbury Press of the 20th inst. reporta that Mr. Montgomery and another member of the Provincial Executive of that province will shortly resign their seats. The Otago Guardian of the 18th instant, states that the reports lately telegraphed as to the iUness’of "Mr. "VVjilsou Gray have been exaggerated. He is now again in good health. A brown trout, the produce of spawn imported from England, has been caught in the liver Plenty, in Tasmania, weighing not less than eleven and a half pounds. From the fact of oats being forwarded from Napier by coach to Porangahau, says the Hawke's Bay Daily Telegraph, we should infer that the settlers at the southern end of the province are not much given to agricultural industry. Mr. Paiuford is reported by the Dunedin Press as recovering from his late severe illness. He has had to undergo an operation, but it is not supposed that it will interfere with his professional appearances, A tradesman in Kattray-street, Dunedin, the other day, was trying some new gas burners, when the flame caught the gas from the pipe, the shop was set on fire, and damage to the extent of £lO was done before the fire was extinguished.

The Dunedin contribution to the last outward San Francisco mail was 3134 letters and 3666 newspapers. There were received in Dunedin by the inward mail from London, via San Francisco, 6139 letters and 19,200 newspapers ; and by the Inward Suez mail from Loudon, 1811 letters and 1920 newspapers. The Hibernicon Company (Baker’s), that lately performed here, were very successful in Christchurch, and we notice, have been extraordinarily so in Dunedin. On the last night on which they appeared there—Saturday, the 13th—the Temperance Hall was crowded to overflowing. After a short visit to Invercargill they will return to Dunedin.

The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times telegraphed to that journal on the 16th instant :—“ The Government training schooner beat up the harbor to-day, worked by a crew of juvenile outcasts, who showed great aptitude and skill in the practical working of the vessel. The majority of the boys express a decided liking for the calling, and look clean and contented. There are only nineteen aboard, while there is accommodation for sixty.” At a meeting of the stewards of the Dunedin Jockey Club races, a letter was received from the Tapauui Jockey Club, stating that the horse Color-Sergeant and Thomas Monaghan, the rider of the said horse, had been for ever disqualified from running or riding on the Tapanui course, Monaghan, in the Selling Hack Race at the last Taparui meeting, having wilfully pulled the said horse. The Dunedin Jockey Club resolved that the horse Color-Sergeant and the rider be disqualified from running or riding on the Dunedin course during the pleasure of the club.

Our Arrow contemporary, says the Dunedin Star, has commenced a curious and decidedly original style of reporting : —lt heads its report of a case of drunkenness with the quotation, “ Stop, stop, poor drunkard,” and its report of another case in which the plaintiff sued for a washing-bill, with the suggestive words, “Soap suds.” And, heading a case of sheep trespass with the phrase, “ More wool,” the Observer reporteth : —“ Oh, George Atkins, why didn’t you look after your grown-up sheep, instead of having the ranging gentleman down on you to sue you for allowing 400 of your sheep to eat up the grass on the Crown Range, at Bracken’s Gully, without a license ?” It is gratifying to know (says Augur in the Australasian) that Mi-. Samuel Gardiner has determined to form a small but select breeding stud, and having secured Sunbeam and XmrHne, he will, I believe, very shortly procure a first-class stallion to mate with them. Lurline is acknowledged to be the grandest mare that ever trod an Australian racecourse, and coming from imported blood on both sides, her value as a brood mare can hardly be estimated. A cheaper animal was never sold in Victoria.

It appears that a tolerably successful effort is now being made at tho Melbourne gaol, says the correspondent of the Bendigo Advertiser, to make a class of prisoners, who, up to a recent period, always passed their term of confinement in idleness, contribute something towards their support. This is done byempoying men and youths sentenced to'imprisonment without hard labor in making up canvas bags and cornsacks from materials supplied by the different jute manrfaoturers in the neighborhood of this city. Some of the female prisoners are also set to work at this new prison industry, and I learn that upwards of 500 dozen well made sacks are turned out every week.

The Tasmanian Tribune, of the 2nd instant, writes :—“ Sullivan, the murderer, is now said to be one of the pirates who seized tho Lady Franklin on her way to Norfolk Island, in 1873. His photograph has been recognised by a person who was a passenger on board the Lady Franklin at the time. We do not place any reliance on this statement. All the men engaged in the seizure of the Lady Franklin are well known. Sullivan was certainly not one of them. There will, therefore, be no justifiable reasons for solving the difficulty between Victoria and New Zealand, as suggested, by relegating the murderer to this colony.” We have inspected, at Mr. White’s pottery works (says the Bruce Herald), a really beautiful work of art appertaining to his trade, executed by Mr. Samuel Bedson, artist in clay, who has been lately working for Mr. White, and who served his apprenticeship in Staffordshire, and who has been in the trade twenty-eight years, in Russia, Sweden, and the home country, and who came to New , Zealand by engagement from Mr. White. The work consists of two medallions, executed in clay, representing—the larger one, a nature-like group of flowers, comprising the rose, China aster (double), lily of the valley, forget-me-not, fuaohia, cowslips, moss roses, crab blossoms, and the flower of a New Zealand climbing plant; and the smaller one, comprising similar flowers, with slight alterations. Among the passengers from the South yesterday, per the Phoebe, was Mr. De Lace, tho agent in advance of Mr. and Mrs. George Case, who will probably arrive here on Thursday, by the Ladybird, and make their first appearance in the Odd Fellows’ Hall, on Saturday next, the 27th instant. It is now nine years since Mr. and Mrs. Case paid us a visit (and we need scarcely say that the lady, when she wore the orange blossoms, was Miss Bgerton), and since then they appear to have lost none of their popularity. They have much new “business,” and especially threepieoes that have been well received wherever they have been produced—“ Too Warm to be Pleasant “The Man in Possession and “Latest Intelligence.” We have no doubt Mr. and Mrs. Case will be warmly welcomed here, for their talent is unquestionable, By the hist mail via Suez, his Honor the Superintendent of Otago received some correspondence relative to the shipment of the salmon ova on board the Timaru, for The Bluff direct. From the letters received, it appears that Messrs. Henderson and Co. stipulated that for i carrying the ova to The Bluff they should be guaranteed 300 immigrants. Owing to the season of tho year, and to the panic caused by tho loss of the Cospatrick, it was impossible to got so many, and the result was that there were 114 emigrants short of the number guaranteed. For this number short, Messrs. Henderson and Co. were entitled to charge half-fare, which would amount to £826 10s. Dr. Featherston was of opinion that this charge must be made against the Provincial Government on account of the salmon ova, and not bo debited to the General Government on account of emigration. After this, Mr. Galbraith voluntarily offered to write off a sum of £3OO of this amount, as a subscription by his company towards the expense of procuring and sending the salmon to the province. The Timaru did not make a very favorable start, being delayed by heavy gales, and she will not therefore arrive as early as was expected.

The Wellington .Patent, Slip Company is now building to the order of Messrs. Levin and Co., agents for Messrs. Clifford and Wells, proprietors of the Plaxbonrne sheep station, a large and substantial surf boat, measuring six tons. Her timbers are of Tasmanian hard wood and birch, and the planking will be heart of kauri. She appears to be a good model of her class, and of great strength. Her owners will doubtless find her of great service in conveying the station’s large yield of wool from the shore to the steamers, which at Flaxbourne, are compelled to lie some distance from the land. At a meeting of the committee of the Wellington Rifle Association, held on Thursday evening, Captain Crowe in the chair, it was resolved that the fourth meeting under the auspices of the association be held on Easter Monday, 29th instant, at the Kaiwarra range, when the Licensed Victuallers Challenge Cup and other prizes will be competed for at ranges of 400, 500, and 600 yards ; five shots at each range ; any position ; targets 6x6, centre four feet, bull’s eye two feet ; no trial sliot allowed ; entrance fee, 2s. fid. The cup must be won twice in succession by the same person before it becomes bis property. Firing will begin at ten o’clock sharp, ammunition and refreshments being provided on the ground. Ties will be decided by the rules laid down for the General Government prize firing of 1875. Captain Denis Wright, well known in this city, was brought a prisoner from Napier, by the Rangitira, which arrived last evening. He has been remanded from Napier to Wellington, on a charge brought against him by Mr. E. H. Hunt, of obtaining money under false pretences. The Hawke's Bay Herald, of Saturday last, remarks ; “Denis Wright, formerly a' captain in the army, and lately residing in Napier, was arrested yesterday on a warrant, and brought before the Resident Magistrate on a charge of obtaining money under false pretences. The warrant was taken but against him by Ebeuezer Hunt, in Wellington, and the accused will be forwarded there by the Rangatira to-day, to answer the charge. The merits of the ease have not transpired, and it may be that they will be insufficient to sustain a criminal charge, and the matter may resolve itself into a question of debt. Says the Napier Daily Telegraph ;—Are compositors responsible beings—are they accountable for the errors they make in “setting up ? ” When writing our theatrical notice on Saturday, we wrote plainly enough when “her lover became cognisant of the extent o£ the clay there was in the idol he had worshipped, ” one of our talented members of the Typographical Society altered the words we have italicised to “ the idiot he had horsewhipped.” This kind of thing constantly occurs. Yesterday, says the Otago Daily Times of the 18th instant, Messrs. Blair and Conyers performed the smartest trip on record between Dunedin and the Clutha Ferry and back. The party left Dunedin by the 7.40 train in the morning for Green Island, and from there took a buggy to Mossgiel station, and proceeded by train from the latter place to the Reliance bridge, East Taieri. A conveyance then took the party to Waihola, where they joined the train again, and arrived at the Clutha Ferry after a smart run of twenty-seven and a half miles, over a good permanent way. The same route was taken on the return journey, .with the exception that, owing to Mr. Blair being delayed examining one of the bridges, the three o’clock train from Green Island was. missed, and the party came on to town in a buggy. The time occupied from start to finish was eight hours and twenty minutes, including all stoppages, which would have been reduced by fully one hour-had the train been caught at Green Island. An important sale of. land at Martou Is announced by Mr. George Sevan to take place on the 30th instant. The instructions proceed from the original founder of the settlement, the progress of which proves the judgment with which the site was selected. The exceptional character of the sale justifies us in calling attention to it most prominently. The Wanganui Evening Herald,' which is an authority on the subject, says : —“ We are assured that the sale is a honafidc one, or, in other terms, that the property will be sold without reserve. This is one of the largest sales of town sections which any private holder has placed in the market, in this province at least, and the surrounding circumstances call for more than a mere passing notice. The number of sections is ninety-two ; they are situated an or near the centre of the township, in streets which will soon become important thoroughfares. The road which will shortly connect Marton and Feilding—the money for the bridge spanning the Rangitikei River having already been provided —leads into the centre of the sections. The seven dwellinghouses are comfortable and neatly-constructed residences, in the main street, and nearly opposite the htarton-Feilding Road. They are well-finished, with well-stocked gardens. The rapid progress which Marton is making gives to the sites a prospective value which can easily be appreciated by the most casual visitor. Of the great future before Marton, there cannot be a shadow of doubt in the mind of any person who has ever seen the surrounding district. The farms are of moderate size, owned by prosperous and industrious settlers, and the land is being brought into a comparatively high state of cultivation. In fact, Marton is but in its infancy, and will become at no distant date an inland town of great importance—the agricultural centre of the magnificent districts by which it is surrounded. The changes and progress noticeable within a few montlhs indicate the present rate of progress ; and, remarkable as this has been, it would have been still more so if the supply of building timber had kept pace with the demand. We are sure we have not in the least overdrawn the picture ; rather the contrary. It is from the great expansion of the town, consequent on the rapid progress of the pastoral and agricultural industries, that we point to the importance of the forthcoming sale.”