ANGLO COLONIAL NOTES. (BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S" CORRESPONDENT.) (Via San Francisco.) London, Oct. 9.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 77, 22 November 1884, Page 6

ANGLO COLONIAL NOTES. (BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S" CORRESPONDENT.) (Via San Francisco.) London, Oct. 9.

Our London correspondent, writing via San Francisco on October 9, says : — ' 'Happening to be in the neighbourhood of Mecklenburgh Square the other day, I paid a call on G. A. Sala, Mho is very busy just at present writing up lectures and short stories for his coming antipodean tour. The veteran journali&t tells me he has arranged to leave London by the second P. and 0. steamer in January , and will probably make his first appearance before a colonial audience at Adelaide, S.A. Sala's course of lectures bears the title, " Life as I Have Seen It," and will be divided into four evenings: — Ist, "Pageants, From the Coronation of the Queen to the Czar's Assassination ;" 2nd, " Polities, Statesmen, and Revolutions ;'' 3rd, "Litei'ature and Art;" 4th, "Society.'' For small towns where he can only stop one night, the lecturer has prepared an amusing " olla podrida,' 1 comprising a choice selection of his inimitable " good stories " and after-dinner anecdotes. As the route will of course be settled for him by his managers, Messrs Allison and Rignold, G. A. S. cannot definitely name the date of his probable arrival in New Zealand. I fear, however, it ma) r be during your winter time. I sincerely hope not, for bad -weather would interfere with his seeing the Southern Sounds, Hot Lakes, terraces, <&c, and so deprive the colony of having its wonderland done justice to by a practined hand in the columns of the übiquitous and inevitable "Daily Telegraph." Talking of visitors to the Australasian wonderland reminds me that it i^ becoming quite a common thing for newly-mar-ried couples to take a run out to your part of the world by way of wedding tour. Of course, one dosen't always find them out, but now ami again some ea^e pu>p«« uj; publicly. Par exempli', Mr and Mis. William Robert Bagley. who were mariicd with great eclat at L>ddington, Wilt*, the other day, leave by an eaily steamer to *pend the winter at the antipodes The bride if the daughter ol the Rev. H. Munn, Prebendary and Rector of L\<idington, and a great beauty. Your lady leaders may be interested to know that her travelling diess was of bron/e green cashmere and .silk, bonnet to match with a pale-\ tsllow aigiette.

The Mignonette Disaster. Mr Thompson, of the Thames Yacht Agency, who i-old the unfortunate Mignonette to Mr Want, of Sydney, has, through "Land and Water," been soliciting aim* for the cannibalistic survivoi's. A& I told you in a recent letter, several Anglocolonial gentlemen long ago interested themselves in the ease, and are ready te send Dudley and his men out of the countiy as soon as they recover their freedom. The action of Mr Thompson was consequently unnecessary, and not in very good taste. Possibly, however, he found it necessary te do something for the men in order to relieve his o\\ n mind. You know it ha 5*5 * beer hinted in more than one qu&rter that Ihe Mignonette was too old a boat to make the long voyage to Sydney in safety.

A Confiding Colonist. The danger of entering into too aidenl friends-hips with strangeis on boaui s-hif was practically illustrated at Bow-stieet Police Court on Tuesday, -when William Claike, described as a contractor and timbei merchant from Australia, but in reality a very well known character on the Uppei Thames, New Zealand, prosecuted John Word, William Don, and George Richards for easing him of sums of money to the amount of £240. The case striking me a« a peculiar one, I made inquiries, and ascertained the following particulars :— Clarke and Word came home together by the same vessel, and on the passage grew (as Clarke says) "very chummy." James Word is a Melbourne turfite and blackleg, well-know n under various aliases to the colonial police, Clarke guessed him to be a ".sharp," but thought his guidance and advice on English racecourses might be valuable. The paii went to various meetings together, and in due course fell across Don and Richards, The latter is an ex-New Zealand bookmakei who bolted Home three or four years age after the Dunedin Cup. He changed his name, and has since earned a precarious livelihood as a weLeher, a confidence-trick confederate, and small swindler. Word represented Don and Richards as prosperous and very lucky backers, with special sources of information, and suggested that Dor should work his and Clarkes joint commissions. Don did so to such a tune that Clarke soon lost £240. When the lattei suspected ho was being swindled, he said nothing to the " sharps," but quietly consulted the police, who arrested the trio red-handed with £3,000 in B.'ink of Engraving nttes upon them. The latter are largely used by racecourse swindlers, who, in the scuffle and hurry of a "rush," occasionally manage to plant a "flash" liver or tenner on a bookmaker. They are useful, too, as bait for " flats. J: Pur ej'pmple> when Clarke saw Word handing £30 or £40 in notes to Don to invest on a hor-o on his behalf, he no longer hesitated to trust the latter with £5. Last Monday Word, Don, and Kichards were again brought up at Bow street, and after further examination were all three committed for trial. The paper on New Zealand trout originally read before the Otago Institute has been printed in " Land and Water," and is attracting some little attention, as it contains much inture-ting information respecting river fisheries in general. The "Globe," after summarisin. very briefly the substance of the article, observes — " Many examples are given which serve to show that colonists will soon have to be as sharp upon poachers and upon injurious factories as we are beginning to be in England, if the same bad results as occurred here are to be avoided," An interesting letter from Mr R. B. Booth, of Cambridge, Waikato, describing life and laboui in that appaiently highly favoured locality, appeared in the "Skegness Herald" of the 3rd instant. Accoiding to AJr Booth, faiming, even in the most fertile part of New Zealand, is trying work, times too often being bad and trade slack.

The Frozen Meat Trade. Shaw, Savill's chartered steamer Coptic arrived at Gravesond on September 27, after a long passage of 50 days. She left L ttelton on the Bth of August, reaching Kio on tho 27th Septetnbei. The Coptic brings the largest cargo of frozen mutton ever landed in England, having on board no less than 23,000 c/ircases. The meat is in fine condition, and the first 50 carcasos brought into Smithtield realised G,Jd per lb. This high price unfoitunately ivas not maintained, bufc the meat is selling at an average of s|d. Ihe following table, compiled from official returns by the " British Ausiralasian," shows the rapid growth of the

rozen meat trade with Australia and Now Zealand during the last threo years. The shipments this year, up to the end of August last, havo far surpassed anything before attained, being 251 per cent, over the corresponding period of ISB3, and 611 per cent, in excess of the first eight months of 18S2. The arrivals during last month have been the largest yet recordod :—

I soo from the " Yorkshire Post" that last week the Borough Inspector of Keighley seized and destroyed six carcases, several quartors, and 71 othor pieces of New Zealand mutton, which was unfit for use. This sort of thing does an immense amount of harm to tho trade, as its prevents small retail butchers selling the moat on account of the risk thoy think they run of its turning bad. Nelson Bros, are now advertising in the London papers that they will forwaid to any address in England a New Zealand sheep for 4Gs Sd. They reckon each carcase to be fioni 70 to SOlbs weight, and charge at the rate of 7d per lb, undertaking to return any money which may be overpaid if the sheep is less than SOlbs weight. This is really a first-rate idea, and will do a great deal of good in popularising tho fro/on mutton. You will be glad to hear that the price of frozen mutton has now become firmly fixed at 6\d, sometimes even rising to (Hd for exceptionally line carcases. The Coptic's moat has ail been cleared out of the ship in tirst-rate order, and the butchers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Tongariro, which l* expeoteel at Uraveser.d to-morrow. The cheese which arrived in the Doric la^-t month is s-till unsold. The consignees rind that it cannot compote •with the now American cheese, w Inch is now coming into London in enormous, quantities. Tho New Zealand cheese if> therefore beitiLr carefully kept in the \\arehou.»es until the "glut ' hi\< \)a«cd over The maiket for pie^erved beof is very bad now, and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency have determined not to sell any of the evcellent shipment per Doiic until the pi ices harden con-iderably.

Challenge from the Oamaru Volunteers. The " Volunteer Service Gazette" of October 4 contained the following letter, adche-s-ed to Ml-si\s Hob^on and Sons, fiom Major Sumpter, the oilicer commanding Oamaru Volunteer District :— " 1 have the honour to enclose herewith a memo, ot particulars of challenge which I shall esteem it a gi eat favour if -you will, on behalf ot the battalion 1 have the honour to command, send to as many companies ot aitillery and ritles as you conveniently can, a> we are very anxious to try our sskill with Home teams ; and as 1 am not acquainted with any of the oflicers, 1 shall esteem it a gieat favoui if you will undertake this duty, andintroducemy name to them, and ask them to kindly correspond w ith me on the bubject, and to at once proceed with the matches, lotting me know lesult, and I will at once send our scores. We .slnll be glad it the team In ing will appoint an umpire outside ofiheii company to represent us." I think that in all probability Major Sumptur's challenge will be ic>ponded to by many English Volunteer^ Our lillemen and aitillenmen aie veiy fond of colonial matches, and a team of Volunteer artillery has just returned from Canada, wheie they had competed with the local batteries. At Wnnbltton Meeting eveiy year theic i.s a competition between Great Britain and the colonies for the Rajah of Kolapore's cup. Canada, India, Jersey, and Guernsey usually compete with the Britishers for this trophy, and I am sure nothing would give our Volunteers greater pleasure than to see a team of New Zealanders shooting at Wimbledon next year. Personal and General, Mr Anthony F. Froude denies, through the columns of the "Athenamm," that he has any immediate intention of visiting Australia and New Zealand. "The Sanatorium of the Southern Ocean" is the title of a well-written descriptive article about the Plot Lake district of New Zealand in the "Cornhill Magazine " for October. The author's name has not transpired. Intending exhibitors residing in NewZealand who require space either at the Inventions Exhibition next summer or the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in ISSG should apply at once by letter to the Secretary at South Kensington. The Hcaltheries close on the 30th inst. The Ocean Steam Yachting Company purpose sending tho Ceylon a cruise to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Pacific Isles next year. Six Frederick A. Weld, K.C.M.G., is to be banquetted at Willis Rooms one evening this week. Mr James Dew-hurst, who has been playing ' ' Holy Clement, " in " Claudian, " through tho English provinces, intends (after the run of " Hamlet' 1 at the Princesses), to take Messrs Wills and Merivale's famous drama on a tour ot the colonies. Mr Leonard Boyne will, if possible, be engaged for the title iolf. Mr Blackburne, the English Chess Champion, leaves England on a tour of the Au-tialian colonies early this month. Mr Blackburne, who has suffered from bad health lately, attended the meeting of the City of London Chess Club on Monday evening, in order to bid his brother members "goodbye." Mr Adamson proposed the departing champion's health, and the Club wi-hed him " bon voyage and a safe return." "An Agnostic's Progress from the Known to the Unknown," by an Australian journalist, is announced for publication by Griffith and Farran. At Kempton Park Races on Friday, October 3rd, Mr VV. A. Long, the popular Australian sportsman, scored his first great success this year by winning the Champion Nursery Handicap of £925 for two-year-olds with Dame Agnes, a nice looking filly by Hermit, out of Belle Agnes, that beat Ballerina, Marmot a and a field of 13. Dame Agnes was ridden by Webb, and started first favourite at 5 to 1. Your old friend Jem Mace was one of the spectators at Epsom prize fight last week, and narrowly escaped being run-in by the police. The principals and 12 spectators were caught, and will very probably be imprisoned. " The niceties of football," says the "Sporting Times," "have never been thoroughly mastered outside New Zealand, where the Maoris bring their untutored in telligence to bear upon the gentle game. A match at a place known by the euphonious nameof Onehunga wasentirely won through the prowess of a Maori named Dawson. who bit the Lalf-baek on the other side in the cheek, and when he was collared on the line, struggled in with a fragment of the goalkeeper's fingers between his teeth. A real football player, that Dawson." I have been trying to ascertain the whereabouts and doings of Captain Colbeck > who

came Home recently (as I understood) on some special mission. At his relatives' oilice in the city they pay ho has been on a trip to Franco, but seem to know nothing more. On the Ist Octobor, John Earle Rayon, barrister-at-la\v, eldest son of the Rev. John Raven, of Worthing and Christchurch, New Zealand, was married to Alice, third daughter of the late Edward Comber, of Myddieton Hall, Warrington. Among tho oflicors of the East Surrey Regiment (formerly the 70th), recently arrived in Cairo, is Paymaster Sir R. S. Riddell, Baronet, who served w ith distinction throughout the New Zealand War. A new Anglo-Australian drama entitled "The Sunny South" is in rehearsal for early production tit the Grand Theatro, Islington. Mr George Darrell will apjjear in the principal part. Last week's "Christian World" contained a letter from John H. White, who is a small grocer and passonger agent in Grimsby, calling attention to the advantages offered to intonding settlers in New Zealand by Mr Vesey Stewart, and offering to book passages and give every information. Mr J. H. Newman, of Nelson, writes to the " Christian World " bemoaning the lack that English colonists feel ot the " social and sacred advantages " of the Old Country. " Children," ho says, " here are mostly baptised in the house or at the Registrar's oilice, and when a person dies, perhaps tho only notice we have is tho undertaker'^ announcement that the funeral will take placo at such a cemetery on tho following day." The houses are too small to take in frionds, and some of the good old English indoor games are sadly lacking. There io very little getting about. It is impossible, for instance, to go to and fro morning and evening between Nelson and a township eight miles distant, because there is no evening train more than tuice a •week, and no return tickets are issued except once a w oek. To meet this want of indoor games, Mr Nowtnan suggests that some enterprising English firm should send out bag.itolleboards, Ac, which ho thinks would command a veiy ready sale. " A this " writes apropos of a paragraph which appeared in the "World" a fortnight ago touching upon an outrage on Melbourne "society": — "I am assured that the wife of tho artillery lieutenant thetein mentioned had a comparatively small share in the matter. She was not, it seems, on the committee of the ball, and had no intention of going to it, being at the time in mourning, and out of health. Her offence seems to havebecn in permitting her maid to go, when a ticket had been given her (the maid) by a lady on tho Committee, who had said the ball would be 'mixed.' The ' wife of the artillery lieutenant ' visited the principal people in Melbourne when she heard offence had boon given, and explained her share in the matter, and neither she nor her husband has suffered any loss of kindness or hospitality in consequence of the incident." Mr David Smyth, of Invercargill, who came homo in the Ruapehu last May, intends to return in the Kaikoura. Mr Smyth has been travelling in Scotland, looking up old friends and relations and his stay among his "native healths" has considerably improved his health, MrSmxth it> at present in London, but he will shortly go do-un to Plymouth and spend a feu weeks there before he joins the Kaikoura and returns to Invercargill. The Agent-General has received instruc tions from the colony to forward all the nominated emigrants who have been waiting at once. Consequently about SOO adults will be <-ent to New Zealand during the next three months. The first instalment — about 2.")o— will probably leave in the Aiawa on the .">th November. The index to the third part of the \New Zealand Handbook" has just been placed in ' tho printer's hands. It will be another month, I am told, before the volume is issued. Mr William Allbones, who took out the last lot of stoats and weasels to New Zealand, is busy collecting another batch of 200. He has already got together about SU, and hopes to have the entire lot ready in a month or so.

Shipping and Passenger Notes. The Orient liner Lusitania, which left London on October 1, took the following passengers for Auckland :— Mr and Mrs G. K. Townsend, Mr Cranwell and son, Messrs Y. Briddo and Gibson. The following passengers booked per Kaikoura from London on October 23 for Auckland :— Messrs H. Parkinson, A. Palason, Miss E. Astley, Mr and Mrs Higainson, and family, Mr and Mrs Austin. The P. and 0. hteamer Ganges, from London to-day,takes the following passengers for New Zealand :— Miss Spearey, Miss Henry, Messrs R. A. Bollard, J. E. Muller, and Handyside.

January . . February . . March April JUuy .luno July August . . September 1 October November December 1000. CWtS. 7 11,860 2,lfi± 7151 3,6(52 8,227 11 17G (5,846 0 139 lit 079 12,310 12,763 loot. CWtM. 15 172 29,094 8.758 20,109 24,6('2 25.951 44,695) 23,112 58,55(3 Total 101,711