INLAND MAIL SERVICES.

Southland Times, Issue 1562, 9 April 1872, Page 3

INLAND MAIL SERVICES.

The Nelson Colonist has compiled from official sources the following statement of the cost of inland mail services during the periods stated : —

The increased expense of mail services in Wellington and Taranaki for 1871, is the charge for the service between Wanganui and New Plymouth. The general charge of £1500 for 1871 is also part of the cost of that service — the whole cost being £3000 a-year. The amount stated as the cost of services in Hawke's Bay for 1871 includes the charge for services from Napier to Taupo and from Taupo to Tauranga, namely, £300 a-year. These services were discontinued on Ist January, 1872. A service was established from Taupo to Cambridge in 1871, to be performed by a native once a week for £150 ayear. In the province of Nelson a service was established between Westport and Reefton once a week, at a cost of £180 a-year on the 13th May, 1871. In other provinces, the mail communication maintained in 1870 was continued in. 1871, and was considerably improved and extended during the latter year. The mail services generally throughout the Colony were greatly improved and extended, and if the cost of the service between Wanganui and New Plymouth, amounting to £3000 per annum, be deducted, it will be seen that these improvements were effected at a considerable reduction in the total expense

• ■~A short ti'me"a2O. we called attention to the fact tbnt Messrs Gk F. Martin & Co. ha 1 imported' some sheep of the Hampshire Down breed from Wangamii. The following paragraph from i Jocril paper shows what this class of sheep isveapable of producing :-^Last week »he Messrs Morgan; of -Manutahi, Patea district, killed a wether two yenrs and four months old, that. when cleaned, weighed 135 lbs, ant an additional ]6.',lbs of .loose fat was taken From the inside Thia sheep was of the Hampshire Down breed, and' bred &% Newtonlees. It had been grazing, about eleven months at Manutahi. This speaks w-11 for- the T>chnes3 of 'he soil in that district, as we'l as for the excellence of the Hampshire Down 'breed. - tn reply <« an enquiry by Mr Or'mond (Minister of Public Works) as to the expediency of the introduction of Chinese labor in the execution of railways and other public woi-ks, the Superintendent of Nelson says : — " With respect to the Fox Hill Railway, for which the ■working survey has now been authorised, I believe there.jwiH be no difficulty in obtaining a full supply ,of labor on the spot, at reasonable rates. Indeed, the settlers of the district have been so impoverished, by the failure of their crops, occasioned by the long drought, together with the low prices obtainable for produce, that a large number of them are looking forward with the utmost anxiety to the opportunity which they hope will: b« afforded to them of getting employment upon this work, to enable them to support their families." In replying to a toast, «vt the banquet eiyen" in Melbourne to Mr- W«bb, of the San Francisco mail service, IVfr Vogei. said : — " It would not be • proper to anticipate the statements which would be made in proper course as to the nature of the arrangements, -but those arrangements would be such a& *o give very great satisfaction to the; coumiercial classes — i.iuy, more, to the producing classes of "Victoria ; at any rate, they ought to gife satiJfiicribn, for they miHt be of very great benefit fo Victoria. Dunne the 10 years ending 1870, rieafrjr one-third of the entire imports of Hfew Ziiaiand had come from Victoria. Very lorue advantage must have been derived by Victoria frdtn the trade, though no help haS been piven td'tfew Zealand in the matter of mail subsriie»; Tie joint service to California would not only increase the trade between the two colonies, but enable them to look beyond each other, for they had the prospect of an immense trade before them wi h the United States and the innumerable islands of the Pacific All classes of producers would benefit -from the trade, but it would be of especial advantage to the wool-pro-ducers, for it -would, bring thein to a new market, »n<*.enuble tliem ta supply the manufacturers in., the States." ; . : ,7 . The Cromvofll Argiit • says :— The return of Mr Halfenstein -by such a large niajoi ity over his active opponent, Mr ."Macassey,' ibr the representation of the takes district in the General Assembly, may 'be 'regarded as a sign of the healthy state of public opinion in that part "of the Province on the question of education, for we -have no" doubt lhat on the- views of the respective' candi lates on this matter- very largely., depended the result.of the election. Backed asy the deft ated candidate .was by the influence of a party holding! views identical with his own, and who exerted themselves greatly on his behalf, and poss<essed~of more than ordinary ability, as. Mr Macas-ey undoubtedly is Mr Hallenstein may congratulate himself all the more on his brilliant victory, and at the healthy state of public opinion evir ced by it. While not wishing to say one word in disparagement of Mr Macassey's fitness for the seat' to which he aspired, we are very decidedly of opinion that the better man of the two has been returned, and congratulate, the Lake district elector? on their choice. At a well-attended meeting of the shareholders in the Old Wakaripu Deep linking Company, held oh Thursday 28th,- in this Clarendon Hotel, it was decided that the scale of voting-should be one vote for every share up to ten, with an additional vote for every five shares held by any one iridiv/idual- beyond that? number, vote by proxy b£mg allowed. The following gentlemen were elected a managing committee, wish power to appoint secretary and ' treasurer :— Messrs W. Wood, David Smyth; W. J. Moffett, Peter M'Ewan, John B'acMoclr, and John Kingeland. Power was given" to the managing committee to lease ground on behalf of the company, to allot or dispose of reserved or unallotted shares, and to do all other acts which they may deem necessary in connection with the management an<3 affairs ofthe company, an instruction being given that the committee should take steps to have the company registered under the Mining Companies Liability Act, when it was considered that that ptep was necessary to protect the individual shareholders. : : ' Our Long Bush correspondent writes .'-^-"The people herej— old and young — are busily engaged in the important work of the harvest, and nothing is to be hear! on every side but the elidk click of the reaping machine. If the crop of cereals is not abundant, that of young Southlanders — the pride and' pil'ar of a new colony — is much more hopeful, no fewer than three havin-; been baptised in thp'schoolroomhere bythe B<v. Thomas Alexanderon Sunday last. The school committee, with 9 praiseworthy liberality, have furnished the teacher with the means of enclosing with a nest substantial fence a part of the reserve for a garden, which, when fin'sned, wuj add further to the beauty of the. locality. To such of your townsmen as are good shots and fond of tiger bunting, I would promise. a good day's sport here, 8B the bush is so infested with wild cats that settlers — in self defence — will be obliged to hm e recourse to the ancient mode of extirpating wolves in Britain, viz., pay a sum for the head of every wild cat destroyed." We should recommend our Long Bush friends to communicate with Mr John Graham, as that gentleman has considerable exp°«*ience in the matter' of disposing of the genus fells. The New Zealand Herald of the 16t& ult. iays : — A gentU-mart who -returned from the Thames last night, an I who has, within the last few days, traversed the country near EKkutaia, across which the line of telegraph is being constructed, informs us that the work is being proceeded with in a most satisfactory manner. There are at present about one hundred and fifty men employed in cutting the line of road, fixing the telegraph wires, posts, &c. They have already cuf a track in the forest twenly-eight miles loug, by two chains wide ; and at the rate at which the work is now being pushed, forward, it will probably be completed in about a month. Our informant speaks in the very highest terms of the country- through which the line is passing, | and states that it cannot fail to become a very populous and prosperous part of the country at no distant date. A slight amount of irritation has been felt at what is conceived to be the unnecessary delay taking place in commencing the Mataura "Railway. We are happy to be jn a position to report that the matter has not been so neglected by the ' Government as some are disposed to think. The telegram received by the Mayor, as chairman of the Bailway Committee, intimating that the engineers had been sent for from Wellington, was generally accepted as evidence that the negotiations with Brogden and Sons would take place in Wellington^ without, as was at one time inV^ tended, Mr Brogden visiting the line. We have further information on the poinrwhich ' leads us to believe that there can be no doubt that such is correct. Acting under instructions from the Government, workmen have sunk shafts down through the two deep cuttings on ihe line, and a detailed schedule of the different sections and strita through which they had to pass was se.m off by wire to Wellington. It will be observed from our telegraphic celuinn that the Messrs Brunton left Dunedih on Saturday, taking all the plans and specifications along with tnein. to that the probability is the negotiation for construction' is now proceeding. We also understand '.'•'"that the Hon7 Pillion Bell has proceeded to Wellington, and it is not at all unlikely that his mission has some connection With the present state of the rai'wa^- project.

In 1870. In 1871. Province or County. Amount. Approximate amount. £ s. d. £ a. d. Auckland 3514 1 3 2969 0 0 Taranaki 230 0 0 630 0 0 I Hawke's Bay 714 0 0 1239 12 6 Wellington 2321 0 0 2751 0 0 Nelson 1519 0 0 1275 0 0 Canterbury 4772 0 0 3910 0 0 Marlborough 594 14 0 729 14 0 Otago 6079 12 2 5120 0 0 Southland 1145 0 0 985 0 0 Westland 2676 0 0 2572 0 0 General Charge ... — 1500 0 0 Total £23,555 7 5 £23,936 18 0