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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5003, 6 April 1877, Page 2

According to!latest advices, it seems,,that jnq'hew contract ,', has been entered' into fj>r .the conveyance of /Australian arid. New iand mails from Irindon -to America ; but; the .proprietors of thelßiina,u line have profmised to ‘do* all they can in the matter by,despatching steamers as near , the advertised date of the closing of the, mail aspossible.; A.,telegram received from . the Agent-General yesterday stated, that this month’s mail Would leate London ori:, due date,’ Thursday,.sth April,,by an Inmainsteamer. - ! .

. We are requested to call the attention of the witnesses in the cases of Eegina v. Peter Bonnell, .Begiffa 'ViVJohiEAlexander Gordon, aridKegina.v. Thomas HaWkiris, alias James Stevenson, to the; fact that 1 their attendance ’ will ■be required* at 'the:Supreme i Court;; Houses this morning at 10; o’clock' punctually, as: it has been .arranged lhafr the Grand Jury; shall meet 1 to-day instead of to-morrow. ,■! " I

■ ’Erequent' oomplaihtl are 1 made'; against ia certain class of cabmen - Who are 1 iil the hab?t of overcharging- their patrons, and Who’ taUe advantage of the ignorance of persons un'acquainted With the legitimate scale of charges laid doWri by the regulations affecting that class of traffic. This miserable cheating has ■been,brought’ iindfer’ olir'iiotice several - times' .Witbiti the past wkek. f> ’ln sonie; instances cabmen, though aware that ’their’ fares are alivC to‘. the f-proper 'scale' of’ charges,' still, persist iu making thOm p'&y extrri, aM as may! be"easily uhderetoodj persons sometimes prefer to be “<Rm4" ! aß* ; it’ is ! yulga,rly termed, to• wrangling in the public street.' " l i 1

The W;ol'yerene, flag-ship of the Ooriuriodoris of the Australian.statioDi'Commodore Hoskins, ia. hourly expected to arrive.from Sydney. It is rumored that the Commodore is coming here for inquiry into , some, matters connected,with ,’thc Sapphp,,.' i *,’ ■ , ,;To facilitate the despatch of business it was .resolved yesterday, prior to.the>adjonmment of ■the; Supreme;' .GOUrt^-that''the "Grand;! Jmy should tie :callOdi.together *t ten o’block this morning to consider the indictment, against the two Maoris charged’with' forcible’ entry, and a fresh indictment against John Alexander Gori (fon, charged with; forgery, the latter having fallen through yesterday owing to an informality in the wording.

Several letters to the editor are unavoidably held over.

A meeting of the Board of Governors of the Wellington College, called for yesterday, lapsed for want of a quorum.

We have received from the Union Steamship Company copies of their time-table for April.

The next sitting of the Court of Appeal commences on Monday, 14th May next, and the Divorce Court will sit' on the following ■Monday. We have received the Illustrated Net o Zealand Herald, Press News, Church Messenger, Church Chronicle ,' and by the mail various commercial circulars.

We understand that a few friends and supporters of his Worship the Mayor, without making any fuss over the matter, subscribed sufficient to repay him the cost of contesting -the late election for the city of' WeUingi'oll-

The Hon, the Speaker of the House of Representatives officially notifies the resignation by Mr. B. Tonks of the seat for Auckland City West ; and the election of Mr. Travers for Wellington city.

Mr. Roxburgh yesterday received a telegram, from Mr. J. E. Nathan, reporting that the Suez mail steamer, by which Mr. Nathan and family are passengers, had been released from quarantine.

A meeting of Mr. Dixon’s committee was held last evening at the Poresters Arms, Ghuznee-street. Mr. J. Barlow was in the chair, and all necessary arrangements were made.

The polling for Te Aro Ward election comes off to-day. The poll will open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m., and the polling place is Mr. Duff’s large room at the corner of Cuba and Webb streets.

A large and commodious hotel is. being erected at Porirua, on the site of the eld Perry Hotel, which was recently burnt down while Mr. Nelson was the landlord. The hotel is being erected for Mr. McGrath, to whom we wish success.

“ London Assurance” was produced to a fair house at the Theatre Royal last evening, the dress-circle being better attended than the lower portions of the house. Mrs. ScottSiddons appeared in the part ; of Lady Gay Spanker, and. Mr. J. B. Steele as Dazzle. The performance ran very smoothly, and the audience frequently applauded. To-night “ The School for Scandal” will be played. The entertainment provided by the Davenport Troupe was again well patronised last evening, when the remarkable performances of the brothers and Professor Fay evoked a vast amount, of wonder as usual; and Mr.. Davies was, it is needless to say, very amusing, making a number of capital local hits, having reference chiefly to the late election contest; There will be but two more performances by this company. - i! - { ' './•

The reason of Mr. Ormond’s present visit to Canterbury is a desire to confer with the Lyttelton Harbor Board, a question having arisen as to the legal vesting of certain .wharves,: jetties, &c., in the Board. On inquiry,•• doubts had been expressed whether the land on which the works,had been erected,-not.being.vested in the late Superintendent of Canterbury, the vesting would enable the Board to deal satisfactorily with* , the pvarious questions which would .come,before it Under these circumstances he, had r felt,it ,to gay a visit to Christchurch’ in.'order to ; con|er, with the Board on this’and other subjects of interest.

Mr. Dennis ton, a Dunedin lawyer, and Inspector Mallard were the other day having a sparring: match in the Police Court in Dunedinj t when the presiding ‘ magistrate, ■ Mr., Watt, directed both-the inspector and : counsel to sit down, 1 and infonned them—“ I will copmit you both for contempt of Court if you don’t sit down.’’ The Otago Daily Times 'says Mr. Denniston can: take’ care of himself,'but' Commissioner Weldon- should forward to Wjel-' lingtoh a remonstrance) against the manner in which his subordinate was treated. t

• A return of the agricultural statistics’for the--proviridial' Uistiifct W ‘Mayboifdugit p February;; 1877, is published from' th^Regfstrdr ; “officer between the estimated ■ crops of 1876 and 1877 for the provincial district are as follows : , , , . ; !

1876. ; 1877. Bushels. Wheat (bushels) .. 25,716 37,876 Increase, 12,160 Oats (bushels) .. 74,603 45,361 Decrease, 29,242, ■Barley, (bushels) Potatoes (tons) -.. ■ 1,628 2,029- -Incr'se, 401 tons. It has-been calculated that'the above figures for 1877 are in excess of the actual yield bythe undermentioned amounts; oh account of damage done to the crops in' the Picton and Wairau districts; Wheat, 3341 bushels; barley, 28,003 bushels; and potatoes,'472 tons. , The Inspector of Sheep for the, Wairarapa and East Coast District has granted clean certificates to the following flockewners : —G. M. Waterhouse, Huangaroa, Kelly’s Creek, Clapham’s Hill, .Bluff, and—Drummond’s Creek flocks ; dated 15th February, 1877 ; Mitchell and Hirsohberg, Morrison’s: run ; dated 24th February, 1877 ; Alexander Sutherland, Pahaua, 1000 dry sheep ; dated 22nd February, 1877 ; and cancelled the clean'certificate of James Stoodly, Tu Puru Puru, for flock of mixed sheep of 300 ; dated 20th February, 1877.

At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday the business was as follows:—Two persons were, punished .for drunkenness. Thomas G. ;Wiltshire was: charged with having committed a breach of the Constabulary Force Ordinance by shooting ;sea gulls on the beach within the limits of the city. He was fined ss. and costs, 6s. 6d. ; in default of payment to be imprisoned for 48’ hours. William Williams, charged with cargo on board the- ship:Pleione,was sentenced to four ■ weeks'imprisonment, with' bard labor,-and- ordered to' pay £2 10s., ■ There were a number of small oases ; on the civil list, 1 but they were for the most part'settledbut of court or adjourned. i ~ There,was more trouble about documents atthe Supreme Court yesterday. In the case of George Augustus Chandler, charged with; obtaining, goods ‘by false pretences, a certain receipt was wanted .to show that prisoner had signed his name in acknowledgment of having receivedythe;,goods. . - But nobody- seethed, to know anything about it., Therefore Mr.'Baker,the clerk,-of-- the Resident Magistrate’s Court, was called ; and no doubt it would have, beenproved that, the. document was lost, but the: Inspector of ['Police suddenly made his appear-’ ance withithe document in hand. Mr. Baker’s services were therefore not required. —Mr; Bell admitted his responsibility, for which’ His'Bfonpr gave him credit-for being frank, but hoped, that he would not have occasion to be so againin the same'sensel ■ ■- ‘

Thefpllbwingparagtaph from* The Times is '.ahexidiinhtioh and amplification of telegrams received’in'the colony respecting the Albion Shipping Company and Shaw, Savill, and Co. :—“ An- arrangement has been made by the Albion Shipping Company of Glasgow; to take" over* a 1 portion of the fleet of Messrs. Shaw, Savill,..and; ! Co.’s,‘Passenger Line,’ of New Zealand packets, and to work the service • to the ports of the Middle Island of New? Zealand from London in'addition to the service from Clyde to the yarious'ports in that colony. The'capital of ' the Albion '.Shipping Company has been in consequence increased to £1;100,090. The service from London to’ the North.lsland’ of New Zealand will be .continued' by, the Passenger’Line as formerly; The combined flfeet of the two lines number 60 ships, of ah' aggregate ’ tonnage of 61,041 tons register. The boatd’of,,'directors.of the Albion? Shipping Compiny in Glasgow remains as at present cdhstithted ; ‘ Mestrs. 'James Galbraith,' .Walter Savill, .Janies William Temple, and Edward Pembroke' to'be managing directors in London ; Messrs. Shaw,-Savill, and ,Co. being loading brokers there, and Messrs. P. Henderson;and Col in Glasgow!" The Jewish; feast of the Passover came, to a conclusion yesterday. During the progress of the -feast all the forms, ceremonies, and services incidental to'the season- have been ‘rigidly carried 'carried out. ; In this connection it ■ may ( be mentioned that the interior of the synagogue has recently been renovated and’fitted with more comfortable seats, and that a rabbi for Wellington is expected to arrive shortly.

.... Dr. Hodgkinsou, has announced his intention to address his constituents at Riverton on the 16tb inst.

The demand in the Wairarapa for fat cattle for the Southern market is (says the News) at present very great, the supply being far short of the demand. One stock-owner alone in this district, Mr. T. H. Murray, of Te Ore Ore, received an order from one of the first firms in Dunedin for as many fat cattle as he can supply between this and the end of June, at a sum of thirty shillings per hundredweight delivered free on the wharf at Wellington. The highest figure offered by the local consumer varies from 225. 6d. to 255. per hundredweight. A recent Dunedin telegram stated that a bookmaker named Coleman had been warned off the racecourse for the future in consequence of dishonest practices. The dishonest practices which brought him into trouble seem to have consisted in offering long odds against horses not even nominated. The result was that the police were appealed to by some of the plucked pigeons when they discovered the barefaced way in which they had been swindled. Coleman, when remonstrated with, was evceedingly abusive and insolent. A Dunedin paper wants to know what is the matter with the Corporation gas of that city, and states that “ since Professor Fay and the Davenports have been here, the city has been subjected to a succession of dark seances. On Saturday evening, we feel bound to say, the rope-tying tricks could have been per-, formed in any of our fashionable drapery warehouses without the least danger of revealing the agencies. The windows were illuminated with something that was simply an apology for a farthing rushlight, and it was difficult to distinguish the colors of the different articles.”

We believe we are correct in saying nothing has been seen of the transit of Vulcan in any of the colonies,; had it been seen, in every probability the fact would have been telegraphed. Mr. H. C. Russell, Government Astronomer, New South Wales, writing to the Herald , on March 24, says:—“ We have seen nothing; but such negative evidence often leads, to positive results—and it must be borne in mind : that Vulcan may have passed in the night, and been seen by those in the sunlight; or it may be that it has only passed near the sun. The data upon which M. Leverrier had to base his calculations are, however, so meagre that : he would not express himself definitely, saying only there might be a transit on the 22nd March ; but the conviction that there is a Vulcan is gaining ground.” Monday’s Herald says : —“ We understand that it is not the intention of Mr. J. M. Clark, of the firm of Messrs. Clark and Sons, to contest the vacancy which has occurred in the representation of Auckland City'West by the resignation of Mr. Tonks. Owing to his pro-' table departure for England in July, Captain Heale,ifc is understood, will not be a candidate, and although Mr. J. T. Boylan has been asked by several influential , electors to announce himself, 1 he has not consented te do so. Amongst the new names is that of Mr. Coleman Phillips. Mr. Farnall, it is also stated, telegraphed to a gentleman hereon Saturday;asking whether it would be advisable'his coming up to fight another battle for Parliamentary honors.” ! ; We believe Dr. Hector recently received,a letter from a geologist despatched to New Caledonia by the French Government for the purpose of examining and reporting upon the deposits of. nickel and other precious metals on that island,., and that a very favorable .account of,,his. operation*.- was t: given, by that gentleman. The following from ' the New ..Zealand Herald on the'same subject is interesting Private, advices from Noumea, New .Caledonia, state that the nickel silver and copper mines give abundant assurance of future prosperity to that island,,but that great apathy is displayed in the development thereof. Instead eff the Government or authorities rendering'.assistance to those who are the posy lessors of. the mines,,a disposition, is evinced to retard operations. It can only, be conjectured that the French Government. are. unwilling to develop the mineral resources of the country, as, this might be. the;means of attracting; a .large number of those men, to be found in the Australian colonies, who “are eye&dh the qui ■ vive for any 'discovery which pertains to mining. New.. Caledonia isr. nothing more orJesa than a penal settlement of the Republic, and a rush" of men accustomed to liberty, in the widest sense of the word, would prove very unacceptable to the authorities, as their whole attention is apparently required for the Communists who have been deported from la idle France. The mining-property to which we more particularly allude is- . the Bellair mine, onefourth of which was purchased from M. Prasche by the Compagnie Fouciere for the sum of £28,000.” Regarding the death. of Captain Ferries, of the P.M.S.S. mail steamer Zealandia, the Hawaiian Gazette gives the following particulars;—James S. Ferries, the late popular commander of the Pacific Mail Steamship Zealandia, died suddenly at ten minutes past 8 o’clock on the evening of Thursday, the Bth instant, a little mote than two days before reaching Honolulu., He was a native of Morayshire, Scotland, and was the second son of the Rev. Mr. Ferries, late parish minister of Edinkillie. At the time of his decease he was about thirty-seven years of age, but although so young he possessed the fullest confidence of the company in whose service he was. He formerly commanded the steamship Tartar, in Hall’s line, but joined the Zealandia previous to her launch in 1875, and has been in command of her ever; since. ' Soon after arriving in San Francisco, on his last trip over, he took a severe cold, and was confined to the house for several days 'previous to the.sailing of the steamer. His death is supposed to have resulted from heart 1 disease, aggravated-by the cold. The funeral procession formed on the wharf at two o’clock on Sunday afternoon, and proceeded to the English Church, where Bishop Willis read the. burial service, and the body was then followed to the cemetery in Nuuanu Valley by the greater part of. the Zealandia’s passengers, and crew,,s and by large numbers of citizens. Captain Ferries' leaves a wife and three; children, -who-are residing in Forres, Morayshire, - the Dunedin Evening Star, writing of the quarantine cases in Otago, pays a compliment to Wellington quarantine arrangements and Dr. Johnston. The case of the Gloucester points to the necessity, which has been frequently noted by medical officers who have been in charge of patients in quarantine, of *a separate Hospital' for infectious diseases being erected at every quarantine station, so as to admit without delay of complete isolation. At Port Chalmers this might be located upon the opposite side of the island to the present buildings, and the sooner it is done the better." It may be satisfactory to those unacquainted with the locality to state that Somes Island in Wellington Harbor is considerably nearer the main land than our Quarantine Island, and that, although: unfortunately during the last few years many ships have been quarantined there, and . their,.; immigrants . landed, >in -no single instance has a case of disease upon shore been traced to this source, although many virulent forms of small-pox, scarlet, typhus, and typhoid fevers have been treated on the island. The whole arrangements there have been conducted by Dr. Johnston, lately" Provincial Surgeon, whose advice and assistance are always at the disposal of and have frequently proved most valuable to the Government.

: ] Mr. J. H. Wallacewill this day, as,advertised, hold an important sale of properties situated in Constable, Daniel, and Tasman-streets, and including Mr. Lowe’s new store' at the TTpper Hutt. Purchasers of building sites and house property,will do well to attend this sale. ■ '. ' -••• i -strangers paying a visit te-Wellington, and country settlers) arriving in town, are very often-at a'loss to know which is the ,best house or cheapest general drapery establishment to .visit for buying drapery and clothing. J. McDowell-and Co. offer special advantages that can be. met with nowhere else’in the city. They,keep at all times the largest and ; best assorted stockof every classof goods, imported direct from the leading manufacturers of Great Britain and-Xre-land, which, being bought on the most advantageous terms, ’enables them to offer goods of sterling qualities at prices that cannot be improved on by any housa in the trade. .Every article is marked at a fixed price that cannOt be deviated from, for ready money; from which - there ; Is no deviation 1 ; so that inexperienced people are, as well served as the best-judges; the terms being net cash, without rebate or abatement of any kind. A full description of stock can, be obtained from our catalogues and advertisement. Note the address—Opposite the Bank of New Zealand, corner of Lambton-quay and Willis-street, Wellington.—Auyi.