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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4593, 9 December 1875, Page 2

t A number of - letters to the editor are in type; and will appear in due course. The stewards of the Wellington Jockey Club met yesterday evening, and determined that it would be .impossible to attempt to think of having any race this day. They have made arrangements for receiving a report on the state of the course, and are to meet this forenoon to consider what would be the best course to pursue under the ciacumstances. Vrom the information already in'their possession they were unanimously of opinion that it would not be possible to resume the races before Monday or Tuesday next, and looking at the condition of the course, as described in a paragraph elsewhere, we are of opinion that the stewards will act wisely in so postponing the races. In the event of the weather taking up and becoming decidedly fine, the stewards will to arrange for a third day's meeting, thus giving two days’ sport next week. Such an arrangement would ■ be very fair towards the purchasers of booths, who otherwise would suffer a loss by their speculations, and the gate and grand stand money received on the extra day ought to enable the Jockey Club to give some good prizes on that occasion. The following telegram has been sent to all the principal papers by the Press Agency : Sir George Grey, in one of liis late speeches, is reported to have said : “ The telegrams that are sent to you are actually filtered out by the Government” “If Sir G. Grey, in making this statement, referred to telegrams sent by the Press Agency, we-wish to say the assertion is utterly untrue and appears to be malicious.” Last night was one of the dirtiest’ever experienced in Wellington ; but the wind and rain were trifling matters compared to the total absence of ■ light. The clouds were densely black, and not a single star was visible. • It was no exaggeration to say that, at midnight, it was impossible to see a hand before one—it would have been impossible to see fifty hands ; and to add to the discomfort i of pedestrians, all the street lamps were out before one o’clock, so that persons going home at that hour of the night had to grope their way as- best they might. l If the prevailing high wind was the cause of these lamps being extinguished,'nothing but regret can be expressed; but if they were put out from motives of .economy there is good cause for complaint. If lamps are only to be used on fine moonlight nights, economy would best be studied by abolishing them altogether, as entailing unnecessary expenditure. A few days siuce_ a paragraph appeared chronicling the performance of a feat in the way of small writing, a gentleman having written the Lord’s Prayer within the space occupied by a threepenny piece. This has been surpassed by Master William Holmes, son of Mr. Holmes, schoolmaster, Te Aro. He has written the Lord’s Prayer in a perfectly legible manner, and with room to spare, in the space of a IJd.-piece, with his initials in the centre. It is certainly a marvel of caligraphy. Mr. T. W. Pilcher writes as follows :—“ A letter signed by Mr. It. W. Williams, owner of the Anne Melhuish, with reference to a local published this morning by you, must be taken by those who know better to be ‘ buiSkum.’ I happened to be on the wharf; when the Stormbird arrived, and I assert that Captain Doile was making, for the outer T, but seeing the warps, altered his course and went to the inner T. Much I daresay to his disgust, but what was he to do! Would Mr. Williams have taken any of his vessels to the windward side of the wharf with the wind blowing as it i did? And I assert that if it had not been 1 for the lines from the Anne Melhuish to the southern ■ end of the: outer T, that the Stormbird and Napier would have landed the passengers -without the risk and great iuconvenience which the lady portion of the excarI sionists were put to. I can bring- several ; nautical men, quite equal to Mr. Williams, to ■ support my statement, that if the lines from ; the Anne Melhuish were not placed to bar the passage of the two above-named vessels, both ■ would have come alongside the outer- T, and landed the . wet, but, I trust, the well-elated .excursionists to their satisfaction.” There was again an excellent attendance at 'the Theatre Boyal last night,, when the i “Shaughrau” was repeated with every satisI faction to the audience. Indeed, it would be ; hard to imagine how any audience could fail to be pleased with this latest production, of Mr. Boucioault’s, when it is added that the chief character is represented by one, so able as Mr. Wheatleigh, and a lady so gifted as Mrs. , Darrell suits herself to make the. piece a success. Of the remaining characters, it may : be said that they were represented according I to the capacities of those encrusted with their ■ enactment. Thus, Mr. Darrell performed his task as a young English officer in a quiet and gentlemanly manner that did him credit. As a good-natured simpleton this gentleman acts naturally, and in such parts therefore invariably achieves a marked [success. Mr. Burforcl, ; as the Irish villain, acted somewhat after the ’ fashion of circus clowns,' hut Mr. Burford is exceedingly popular, and was frequently applauded. Mri Burford’s reputation is based on a firm foundation, because he has filled a higher position in his profession than he now occupies with credit, and therefore the theatre-going public receive his attempts at an Irish' brogue with satisfaction, thougli it may savour somewhat of the Caledonian style. Miss Raymond acted very well, as is her custom, but it cannot be denied that this lady appears to greater I advantage as a dancer of the Highland fling than as a lady of an Irish manor—-perfect re- ; presentation of the latter class of characters re-; ■quires the possession of a qualification not 1 found in every actress. Mr. Howard would Have appeared to greater advantage had he known more of his part. Mr Saville acted naturally and well. Taken generally, howlever, the representation of the Shaughran is jsuch as cannot fail of proving extremely •pleasing, and we prognostigate for the Shaugh■raun a good run, I The weather has made itself severely felt at 'the Hutt. In comparison with the accounts dhat come from that place,, the trifling incidents of boat adventures and other matters I which have occurred in the town of Wellington, sink into utter insignificance. Yesterday the was literally flooded. Sometimes this term is applied to a comparative trifle; but .the Hutt flood is of quite a different character. From the ' bridge to Valentincls Hotel was covered with water, in some places three feet deep, and on the other 'side of the bridge the water was; present to .almost as great an extent, extending to vVhitowood’a Hotel, the proprietor of which vainly endeavored to keep it out by blocking up the 'several entrances to the house. There was also a great body of water on the racecourse, land the booths- were blown to the ground by the severe gale which prevailed on Tuesday night, and - continued yesterday. The river had risen very high, and carried in its course a vast number of logs, some of which, striking ithe bridge, fairly shook that structure, as was experienced by the inmate' of the tollgatehouso. Almost all the racehorses were brought downto Wellington, Flora Macdonald, Firetail, land Glenavy being left behind. It is scarcely probable, under these circumstances, that there will be any racing to-day. A great deal of damage to the crops has been caused by this flood, which, coming -at this time of the year, must he regarded as a great misfortune, i We have been requested to state that in consequence of the unavoidable detention in Nelson,’ the s.s. Taupo will not arrive hero until early to-morrow morning. She will leave for the South at 2 p.m. i Mr. Henry Watt?, of Eastern Arcade, Melbourne, has manufactured a new kind of soap containing the aromatic oil of the eucalyptus. Flagg distinctive of the colony of Tasmania have been, designed by order of the Government.

A sitting of the Supreme Court in banco will be held to-day.. The Hutt Court was adjourned pro forma yesterday. ■ . The ordinary meeting of the City Council will be held at four o’clock this afternoon. Mr. Brandon will .meet his constituents at Tawa Flat this evening. Mr. E. T. Gillon advertises his intention to address the Country District electors at Karori on Friday evening next. We are in receipt of Fraser’s Wellington Almanack, and of Willis’s Wanganui Almanack for 1876. Both are creditable productions. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday the only business consisted in the dismissal of three persons charged with drunkenness. There, were no civil eases for hearing. Hares are multiplying rapidly in Otago. The Bruce Herald records the fact of more than twenty being seen in a paddock ■at one time.. In consequence of the bad weather yesterday the tea and public meeting at Thorndon Wesleyan Church was postponed till next Wednesday evening. The Odd Fellows’ Hall was fairly attended last night. Mr. Davies, it is needless to say, was as amusing as ever, and the other performers were successful in their efforts to please. .Another breach of promise case has been heard at the Melbourne Supreme Court, in which the plaintiff obtained £685 damages out of £SOOO claimed. The Bruce Herald states that five sheep to the acre are being fattened up for market on the paddocks of the Meat Preserving Company at Woodlands, which have been dressed with bone manure obtained from the works—thus ! proving the value of bone dust as a manure. The Maryborough and Diinolly Advertiser is responsible for the truth of the following extraordinary anecdote : —“ Some years ago a Mrs. Bussell, of Cuddy’s Flat, secreted some money in her cow-shed. She wrapped two sovereigns in a five-pound note and enclosed the parcel, in a bottle, which .she then hid away amongst'the-thatch in the shed. There it remained, fop spine time, but one day going into the shed, she found some fragments of a bottle near the place where the money was stowed away, and looking for the “ plant ” it could not be found.' Who stole the money? Suspicion fell pn a.party. in the neighborhood, and this person for these years remained under , a cloud. • The cow , never was thought of, although there she was, all the time chewing the cud of contrition for her larcenous act. ’That she was the thief'was not found out until she .was .dead. This is very frequently the case with mortals as with this cow, who would flave. got a character for honesty, at all events, from those who knew her best. Lately Mr. Smith, butcher, of High-street, bought her, and had her killed a few days since. On dressing her two sovereigns were found very carefully stowed away, in her stomach. They were in a perfect state of preservation and bright, although worn somewhat smooth. ' They were Sydney Mint sovereigns, and bore dates 1860 and 1863. These were recognised by Mrs. Bussell as her “long lost siller,” and the suspicion was at length removed from the party who had borne the load through so many years. It is probable that the cow knocked the bottle from its place, and by it falling on the ground and breaking, the parcel of money fell out. The cow must have licked it up and swallowed it.

“ Specialities,” in the Queenslander, writes : —We often debate, but can never decide, the question “Which ia the hottest place in Queensland ?” We started down Queen-street the other day in company with our friend Tirkbarth (from Cardwell, Rockingham Bay, in ISdeg. south). We asked him if it was not warmish up there at times ? “Oh ! dear, no,” he said ; “ quite cool—every bit as pleasant as this ; couldn’t tell the difference ; in fact, I rather think this place is a little warmer of the two. But,” he added, “if you want real heat, you should just try Rockhampton. Beastly close hole that; never felt anything like it in all my life.” Acting on his information, we bailed up our friend Gasblow, who keeps a store in the famed city of the Fitzroy, and we asked him to tell us all about it. “Warm in Rockhampton!” he ejaculated; “ not a bit of it, sir. You see, the river with us is much wider than yours here, and we have the south-east trades all day long. Now, if you wish for a genuine scorching you ought ;togo to Townsville.” We, as usual, are indefatigable, and were not long in “ interviewing” a live settler from Cleveland Bay, yclept Jim Colfeyskin, who keeps a “ grocery” there, and we felt his pulse about the local caloric in that quarter. “Bless you,” he said, “the finest place ever you lived in ; I never feel hot there. Why the sea breeze would blow you out of your hammock, and there you are, with your cigar, brandy and soda, shirt and trousers, and , wouldn’t call the King your grandfather.” We were so , dazzled by this airy sketch, that we quite forgot to ask Jim how it would feel hauling copper ore and wool bales about on the wharf, on a fine hot sunshiny day in January. 'We next inquired of our fat legal friend, Twentystun, of Maryborough, if it ever felt ’hot there? “Hot!” he said, and he seemed to scorn the very idea, “why, the country belt ween us and the sea is all a dead level, and we have no mountains like you have in Brisbane to shut out the sea breeze.” He evidently pitied our ignorance. Despairing, at last, of finding out a really and confessedly hot place in the colony, we appealed to Tom Ghowcheat, general storekeeper, and commision agent at Cooktown, as to how the thermometer ranged up in those parts. “Well," he said, tapping his chin quite doubtfully, “ its a little ’warmish in the summer, perhaps, but nothing to what you might expect; “its very Wcc what Brisbane is at Christmas time." Our friend Purldive, who has an island somewhere in Torres Strait, drew such a fairy picture of cool i springs, shady groves, and water jars, as quite i disgusted us with Brisbane. We gave it up. |Either: Queensland is a very “ cool ” place, in ! more senses than one, or else, every town on ! the. coast is iuhabitated by a transplanted race of Mark Tapleys, who are resolved to feel ‘“jolly,” no matter what those dull prosaic ! wretches Fahrenheit and Reaumur may have to- say about the matter. The Singapore correspondent of the Brisbane Courier writes on the 16th October :—The production of tea in the colony is going on to an extent that few, even of those who are supposed to know everything about colonial matters, are aware. An English firm, owners of the Alma Estate, in Province Wellesley, have had eighty orlongs of laud bearing tea for the last two or three years. (An “ orling” is about equal to 1J of an acre.) The produce, though the manipulation and curing of the leaf is conducted m a primitive way, fetches from Is. to Is. Bd. per lb. in bond in London. The manager of the estate, Mr. Knaggs, intends to extend the cultivation of the plant, and the newest kind of machinery has been ordered from Home for the due preparation of thb article, and before long we may be able to send you Straits’ tea in exchange for Queensland wines, beef, and mutton. Talking of wines, do your merchants ever send any produce of the Queensland grape here ? I have never, to my knowledge, seen any. There has been Australian wine in the market, blit I fancy it was from Melbourne. It was passable claret, but not of such a quality as would command the market. As to fresh meat, if you could only manage to send it to us fresh, you would do well. A shilling to eighteenpence a pound for elastic beef and iron-clad mutton (goat) is paid befe, and can only be obtained by signature to a “Beef circular” twice a week, and a “ Mutton” ditto when some kind Providence has enabled a butcher to boast of his intention of killing “ a Europe sheep” some time next week. Would it pay a drover your way, or any speculator, to come away by one of the return steamers with a hundred or so of . good fat wethers, and wellpacked fruits, and a few tons of potatoes, and get here in time for Christmas and the New Year? I think it would. At all events, it would pay the expenses of anyone who would like a trip to this earthly Paradise, and the combination of profit and pleasure in the way I suggest. • ■