FIJI NEWS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 313, 3 November 1888, Page 6

FIJI NEWS.

Tins month has been one of full activity our canefields, but the mill output has been but small, comparatively speaking. The i Pukaki cleared on 29th ultimo, with some l,4ootons of sugar, produce of Rewa, Navua, Druba, Penang, and Mango mills. From Lancala Buy the Fiona has loaded some 640 tons of the produce of the Nausori mills for Auckland ; and for the aame destination the Union S.S. Company'seteamer Arawata took some 500 tons of Rewa and Navua produce. The U.S.S. Company's Pukaki has landed over 1,400 tons coal, brought from Greymouth, New Zealand. The Arawata had about 450 tons for Navua and Druba mills ; and the C.S.R. Company's s.s. Fiona has discharged into punts, at Lancala Bay a full cargo for the Nausori mills. The Alpha "tea plantation, 340 acres, together with an adjoining block, 286 acres of virgin bush land, and the Gila cotton and cocoanut plantation, forming the estate of the late Hon. Jame& E. Mason, wa3 pufc up to auction on the 6th instant, and knocked down to a single bid at the upsefc price, £6,186, made by tb« mortgagees, ihe New Zealand Loan and Mortgage Company, the purchasers of the dbove, are about changing their Selia Leve sugar plantation into a tea estate. The cultivation ot cane i& not to be j wholly abandoned, but the manager's eneri gies are to be chiefly devoted to tea j cultine. Extensive clearing contracts I have already been entered into, and operations will be pushed forward vigorously until not less than 300 acres are fully planted out. The Company having a large nur&ery ot young plants to draw fiom on the Alpha e&tate, expect to have a considerable acreage to pick fiom early in 1890. A few days later a valuable life ended in the person of Father Bochethetz, one of the Marisfc Mis&ion, who had completed 38 years of work in the South Seas, 24 of which had been spent in this group. Prior to coming to Fiji the deceased father was employed in mission work among the New "Hebrides, Wallis, and Samoan Islands. The Marist Mission ha& been strengthened b\ the arrival of two more priests and four Sisters of Mercy, whote special vocation is supposed to be teaching. Schools for Europeans and native boys and girla have been opened, and a considerable attendance of pupils of all cia-bes hap already been secured. It I ha& been decided to make Suva headj quarters, Bi&hop Tidal having purchasad the grounds anc l house formerly occupied by Mr A. Duncan, late manager for the Fiji Trading Company, and now agent of the Union Steam&hip Company of New Zealand. The purchase-money has been variously stated at from £1,200 to £1,800. The Bishop is now away on a pastoral tour in the Windward Isle 3, and on his return it is s-aid that tenders for the erection of a cathedral will be called. A serious fire broke out in Suva early in the morning of 2nd instant, which resulted m the complete destruction of the entire block of shop« extending along Victoria Parade, from the premises of the Bank of New Zealand to Sturt's Club Hotel, both in which buildings, — two of the largest of Suva — being built of wood mateiial, were for a con>iderable time in great danger. Sturt's hotel, a structure of some considerable architectural pretensions, was at one time actually on fire, but the plentiful supply of water obtainable from the lately completed Government waterworks was effective in checking the conflagration at the south end of the street, and on the other side a powerful hose belonging to the Bank of New Zealand, promptly brought into full play, kept the fire within bounds of the block where it first commenced. Some eight or ten retail drapery or grocery shops have been utterly consumed, and with but small salvage of goods or furniture from the buildings. Insurances, principally with the Hanseatic office, reach the sum of £1,600. Some of the residents have apparently full belief in a prosperous future before the town of Suva. £1,000 was given a few days since for l-\ acre of foreshore, which will take at least £500 to £600 to fill up for building sites. Another salo made a fortnight ago was a block of 437 aci-es of unclared .scrub and timber lands in the vicinity of the town, which fetched a price aggregating about £3 12s 6d per acre.