NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5353, 24 May 1878, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

SUMMARY TOR THE MONTH. APKIL-MAY.

for transmission ly the F.M.S.C, City of New York, from Auckland on the SSth May, to Europe, via San Francisco, ’■- . On Thursday last daily communication was established between 'Wellington and Wanganui. Passengers;loan now* lleave the capital by coach at 0 o’clock in the morning, and reach Foxton in time for the evening train arriving This is a great convenience to the travelling public, and the accelerated delivery of letters and newspapers will be a great boon ,to merchants doing business on the West Coast, and to the settlers generally along the line of route. " The intention of • ‘the Government' to put on a line of steamboats between Porlrua and Fox- ■ ton has .been abandoned, and, indeed, ’ if the ' daily service by coach between Wellington and , Foxton is : carried out satisfactorily, it will bo unnecessary to /have :a ; steam service l between these two places. Steam communication by the ordinary route will bo kept up between Wellington, ■ Foxton, and Wanganui by private companies as heretofore. The settlers along the. West Coast are still very desirous of■ having a lino of railway made from a point on the Hull line, by. way .of Waikanao, to Foxton direct. It has been frequently • urged, with much force, "that this would throw open a large area of good agricultural land, and greatly promote settlement in this fertile part ofriho country. It is to be hoped" that next session the requisite authority will be obtained for. the construction of the work, which’ promises to be a reproductive undertaking. A line oi route was surveyed some time ago by Mr. Beers, who reported that there were few engineering difficulties to encounter, and consequently the cost per mile for the entire distance (about seventy-five miles) would , not be so great as that which is of necessity entailed by the formation of railways through 1 mountains and gorges, which are the characteristic features of a eonsiderable portion of the colony. Considerable advancement has been made lately on the Wellington and Masterton line of railway, which is expected to be opened to Featherston, a distance of about 40 miles from Wellington, in September next. The engineering difficulties in connection with getting past the Kimutaka Range have hitherto retarded the progress of this work, which was commenced several years ago, and is as yet only open to Kaitoko, 30 miles from Wei - lington. ■ When, however, the Wairarapa Valley is reached, the remaining portion of the country through which the railway is to be carried is comparatively easy as far as the Seventy-mile Bush, in which, at a point near Woodville, about three miles from the Manawatn Gorge, a junction will be effected with the railway from Napier, which is already open to iCopua, a distance of C 5 miles from the latter place. - ; 1 By the last inward European mail we received a copy entitled “Remunerative Railways for New Countries, with some Account of the First Railway in China,” by R. C. Racier, C.E. It is profusely illustrated, and contains a mass of valuable technical and general information. The subject is one of ranch interest in New Zealand at the present time. We have to thank Messrs. Ransombs and Rapier, of Loudon and Ipswich, the wellknown manufacturers of railway material, for forwarding the book to us. Two eminent engineers have lately visited Wellington, as well as other parts of the colony,— Sir John Coode and Mr. William Clark ; the former in connection with harbor works, and the latter in reference to drainage and waterworks. Sir John Goode had’ visited nearly all the chief ports and many of the smaller ones, and his report thereon will no doubt, judging from the high reputation he bears as a marine engineer, be of great value and importance to the colony. It is now genarally acknowledged that a more ample supply of water will shortly have to be obtained for this city than that which is drawn from the present source. Several streams.in the neighborhood have been examined, but as yet nothing definite has been decided upon. The Wainqiomata and the Korbkbro Creeks appear to possess most of the necessary requirements. The Hutt River would at first sight, to a non-professional eye, seem to be tho best source of supply, bat when examined by practical men it appears that the supply would have to be taken some forty miles from the city, owing to the impossibility (* getting a suitable fall from a point lowernown the river. As regards the drainage of the town, Mr. Clark approves, in principle, of the scheme suggested by Mr. Climie, but differs from him in detail, and advocates a more extended scheme. Mr. Climie, it will be remembered, was limited to an expenditure of £BO,OOO. The carrying out of Mr. I Clark’s plan ‘in estCehso 'would entail a cost of £145,000, but this need not all be done at one time. It is estimated that’a rate of Kid. in the £ on the property in the city would be sufficient to pay interest and working expenses, and the work would be cheap at the price. With proper drainage, and a full supply of good water, Wellington would be one of the’healthiest and moat desirable places of residence in .he colony, as it is certainly one of tho most flourishing in a commercial point'of view. At presontthe death rate here is higher than it ought to bo were proper . hygienic . arrangements carried out. By reference to the vital statistics for . the month of April,- which aro published in another portion of our columns, it will be seen that although these returns ax - e favorable as compared with those of the previous month, the proportion, of deaths to the 1000 of population was 1*26, A great deal of land, has been thrown into the market here lately, but this has not had the effect of at all lowering tho price, On the contrary, both here and in other parts of the country high rates are ruling for landed property.' , A quantity of land is to be offered for sale, shortly at and near Marton, in which locality there have not been so many of these transactions for some considerable time past as’ in other, parts of. tho country. The neighborhood of Marton is generally looked upon as the pick of the Rangatikei.’District, and eager competition maybe expected on this occasion. The . tramway, which ; has been laid down from . the northern extremity of

the city at Pipitea Point to the southern end in' the ■ Adelaide-read, ' tyili shortly be open for traffic. The work has been completed for some time, and only awaits the arrival from England of the plant, l which is now on the way out, and the first instalment of which is daily expected to arrive by the ship Florence, which left London on the 26th February last. ir.'"'."'"-' The gold returns have been on the decline lately from most parts of the colony ;' but on the.other hand it is satisfactory to know that new ; mines are being opened, .which, promise good returns. Amongst these may bo instanced the Phoenix mine, near ’ Collingwood,' in the provincial, district of Nelson,. which mine was started .and is owned principally by Wellington men. A sample of quartz, stated notdto be “picked specimens, ” but taken; from the general stuff, was recently sent here, and ;on being tested by Dr. Hboiw gave the very satisfactory return of 40zs. lldvvts. 18grs. per ton. Excellent prospects are also reported from the West Wanganui coal mines in the same provincial distriot. ; The now. and very handsome theatre recently erected in .Manner-street, and which now . boats the . name of the Imperial Opera House, was opened on the 20th by an Italian Opera Com-.

pany. The performance wasunder the patronage' and in the presence _of his Excellency the Governor and suite, and the audience could not have numbered less than fifteen hundred persons.',,' Since, the opening night, however, the number present has been considerably less. The Theatre Royal is open, nightly, and, draws fair houses. The Princess Theatre in Tory-street has only been open occasionally of late, and indeed itiis a question whether Wellington can permanently support so many places of . amusement. Ap excellent movement has been started to give "popular concerts periodically at the Athenreura. The majority of the people hero have a taste for good music, and whon this is supplied to them at such a price as practically brings it within the roach of everybody, public patronage will not bo wanting. The success which has hitherto attended the movement is a good augury for the future. The establishment of Turkish baths in Wellington is again on the tapis. This city lias been rather behindhand in this matter when compared .with her Northern and Southern neighbors Auckland and Dunedin, whore they have been started for some time. , It is in contemplation to float a company here, and to commence operations as soon as 000 £5 shares are taken up. The project, it well carried out as to details, is likely to be a remunerative undertaking. A melancholy and fatal accident occurred at the beginning of this month, by which a domestic servant—a girl about 10 years of age—was burnt to death.through tiie bursting of a kerosene lamp. The oil in question was proved to be of a highly, dangerous character, and such as .it was illegal to soil under an Act passed in 1869 ; bat the vendor appears to have sold it as ho got it from the wholesale merchant, believing it to bo a genuine article and one tit for family use. A prosecution was instituted by the police under the Act referred to, but the magistrate, considering that the defendant was not to blame in the matter, dismissed the case. The fact of its having been brought forward, however, will have.probably a good effect. It will, it is to be hoped, make people careful in'the purchase and use of this article, and the proper authorities will, it is presumed, in future take care to test all the petroleum brought into the market, as the law empowers them to do. An inquest was held on the day following the death of the' poor girl referred to, when a verdict of accidental death was returned by the jury. . A fatal accident occurred at the Rlmutaka tunnel on the 2nd instant, by which a mannaraed PatrickMoriart y was killed. He and others were engaged in removing the supports from the arch, when the roof for a length of about 11 feet fell in, knocking down Murphy and a fellowlaborer named Mathiesok. The former was killed on the spot; the latter, although much hurt, was not dangerously injured, and is now in the Hospital in a fair way ofc recovery. It was proved at the inquest that the poor fellows were themselves to blame for what occurred, and a verdict of accidental death was returned, unaccompanied by any rider. The annual meeting of the Wellington Horticultural Society was held on the 3rd instant, at the Odd Fellows’ Hall. The report, which was adopted, pointed out the desirability of the pretty domain of 35 acres at the Lower Hutt, known as “ Ludlam’s gardens,” being acquired for a public recreation ground. The property, which belongs to the representatives of the late Mr. Ludlam, who spent many years and a large sum of money in beautifying the place and making it a delightful pleasure ground, is expected to bo brought into the market in a few months’ time. If no patriotic individuals buy it and dedicate it to the public use, it is in contemplation to form a company for its purchase. As a nursery ground it is probably unrivalled in the colonies, and a large revenue might reasonably be expected from the sale of plants, &c. It will be a great pity if the opportunity is lost of acquiring this freehold as a public estate. Recreation grounds are scarce iri and around Wellington, and the progress of the builder in the immediate neighborhood of the city advances daily. If “Ludlam’s .Gardens” can be preserved to the people of the city they will be substantially benefited. ... On the 4th-instant the wayzgoose ” of the New Zealand Times was held, and was a very successful affair. In the afternoon there were sports at the Hutt, witli which, however, the ; unfavorable disagreeable weather interfered, but this was:made up for in the evening, when between fifty and sixty people—all with one or two exceptions connected with this 'journal—sat down to dinner at the Panama Hotel. > After dinner,. speeches were made, when the future prospects of the paper were spoken of in most , encouraging terms.,, To-day being the anniversary of lies Majesty’s birthday, it will be observed as a holiday, and the usual loyal demonstrations appropriate to the occasion, and which are never forgbtten'in these colonies, will take place. A variety of sports have been arranged to come offiu town and country, of which a list will be found in another portion of our columns.