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Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 243, 26 September 1872, Page 5

Commercial.

In breadstuffi the market during this week has been quieter. Good brands in Hour continue to have a steady trade sale, and the price remains firm at Ll3 to Ll3 10s. For second-class flonr the enquiry is very limited — small quantities are quitted at LlO 10s. Bran is scarce at L 4. Pollard in pood sale, L 4 10s Oatmeal has become slightly firmer. Tne quotation is still at LI I 10s, but sales are not forced at this rate, Probobly an advance will be made in the price soon. ' Wheat has been offering more freely. Holders are asking 5s 4d to 5s 6d. Buyers are tot inclined to operate, and transactions have consequently been light. The market value of prime milling is 53 2d to Is 3d. Fowl wheat is very scarce. In oats more business has been done. Prime milling sorts are firm at 2s to 2s 2d, and feeding at 2s. Malting barley is enquired for at 63, and inferior at 4? 6d. Potatoes quiet, L 6 10s ; hay, L3 loa ; straw, L 2; chaff, L 3 10s. A. Mercer reports for the week ending September 21 :— Retail prices only. . Fresh butter in and lib prints, best quality, Is 4d to Is 5d per 1b ; second quality, Is 4d ; fresh butter in Inmps, Is 2d ; powdered and salt bntter. best quality. Is 2d ; second, JOd to lid. Fresh butter is a shade easier in prce this week, the market continues well supplied, and a further fall in price may be looked forward to A good enquiry exists for new season salt butter, which is very scarce and worth from Is to Is Id per lb for good samples. Cheese is in good request ; good samples are scarce however, and worth 8d to 9d per lb ; second quality, 6d per lb. Side and rolled baaon is fetching 9d to JOd per lb. F.gzs are plentiful, and in. great request at Is per dor. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. have sold, on account of the widow of thelate Mr John Nimmo, the following valuable Clydesdale prize draught stock to Mr E. Menlove : —Entire horse Crown Prince, 22 months old, by Emperor, out of dam Jane, imported, L3OO. The prize mare Marchioness, 5 years old', by Mnrquis, dam T illy, imported ; also bay filly, 2 years old, by Glasgow Geordie, ont of Lilly, for the sum of L 300: The above hones were stabled in town last nkht prier to their departure for Mr Menlove's farm. Windsor Park, Oamaru. Considerable interest WAsmanifetted at the stable, and competent judges affirm that this is undeniably the best stock in the Province — tbe Crown Prince for his age being pronounced the most promising Clydesdale colt we have among us. At the Provincial Yards to-day, nine heavy draught mares and geldings were disposed of on behalf of Mr P. Ryan. The bidding was languid, and the prices fetched ranged from L24 10s to L 47 10s.

" No cows, no cream," was the way am intelligent compositor set up the words "No croH, no crown." The Chinese picture of ambition is a mandarin trying -to catch a comet by putting salt upon its taiL , A Connecticut farmer has named a rooster Robinson, because he crew so. The dead are never iIL Consequently all diseases may.be classified as affections of the liver. An imaginative Irishman oas- improved upon Oasian — " I returned to.the hall of my fathers by night and I found them in ruins — I cried aloud, 'My fathers,* where are they V and the echo resounded, ' Is that yon Patrick M*Clathero ?'"

Railway OoNSTßufcTiol£-^The foE" lowing appears on the Order Paper of the House of Representatives :— Mr Bathgate to move— That it be' an instruction' to the Government, in the promotion of the railway scheme, to adopt such measures as may be necessary to secure that the plant and rolling stock be made by workmen in the Colony ; and, with that view, to proceed immediately with the erection of two central workshops— one at Dunedin and one at Auckland— fitted with the most approved tools and machinery. — Amongst the last batch of Parliamentary papers laid before the House is a letter from T. E. Harrison, C.E., on the subject of broad and narrow gauges for railways in Victoria. In this Fetter the opinion is strongly laid down by Mr Harrison that the difference in price between a sft 3in and a 3ft Gin gauge should not exceed L3OO per mile. The Cost of Litigation. — Under the heading judicial fees and fives, we find that there w«s collected last year the fcuin of L 28,5 19. Ihe principal part of this sum accumulates from court fees, the fines representing a comparatively small amount. Roughly epeaking, therefore, besides paying their share in the shape of taxes towards judicial salaries, &c, the Colonists of New Zealand pay 2s 2d per head per annum for litigation. This would seem to point, to the conclusion tbat we are a rather litigious kind of people ; and when the large number of petty civil cases which are brought before the Courts are taken into account, this conclusion is further strengthened. Meteorological. — The following, from a Parliamentary paper, shows the' rainfall in the several towns' of %he Colony throughout the past year :—ln: — In Napier, 106 days and 35in. ; in OhristchuTch, 120 days and 27in. ; in Southland, 144 days and 39in. ; in Dunedin, 149 days and 22ia ; at the Bealey (Canterbury), 167 days and lOfiin. ; in Wellington, -183 days and 64in. ; at Mongonui, 185 days and 57in. ;. in Auckland, 194 days and 47in. ; at Hokitika, 196 days and 122hx ; and at Taranaki, 207 days and 72in. Greymouthis said to have averaged about the same number of wet days with the fame inches of water as at Hokitika, being by far the largest quantity on the list. Suspected Incendarism at Clyde. «- On Sunday, Bth inst., about 2 o'clock a.m., the residents of Clyde were awoke from their slumbers by the ominous cry of fire, mingled with the screams of the women living in the locality. In an incredibly short space of time some thirty men were on the scene of the conflagration, a detached wood and iron ' building, situate nearly in the

centre of Suriderland street, between Dr Thomson's residence and Mr Joss's saddlery. A plentiful supply of water running immediately in front and on one side of the building, with the aid of buckets, was soon brought to bear on the flan es, and" quickly, enbdned them ; but, however, not before the place was completely gutted and every article of furniture reduced to a heap of ashes. It being an exceedingly calm night, from the first it was seen that the adjoining buildings were in no danger, so those' who were nut on the first alarm quietly struggled with the devouring element, and quickly gained a mastery of it. As the matter is to be investigated to-d y (Friday) before E. H. Carew, Esq., Coroner, and a jury of twelve, also as there is a man in custody on suspicion of setting the place on fire, we shall here refrain from further comment. — Times:

Dredging Beds op Gold-bearing Rivers. — The following is the account given, by the Dunstdn Times of Mr Nuttall's reception at Clyde :— " On Friday exening, the 6th inst.,,at Eames's Dnnstan Hotel, Mr Nuttall, ' the proprietor of the pystem to w»rk the bed of tneMolyneux by means of submarine boats was interviewed by a number of gentlemen, including many who are interested in dredging for gold. Drawings of the boat were laid on the table, and the whole system, was minutely explained. Mr Nuttalt proposed that a company should be formed' to build a boat, equal interest to be held by' the projectors as by the company, and if the invention is -successful, to construct an unlimited number. He said when in Dunedin he had been m^st favorably met. and an offer had been made him' to test the invention, but he would rather have some up-country shareholders than that the whole affair should be in the hands of the people of Dunedin. No arrangement was come: to, those present expressing themselves desirous, before moving in the matter, to see what the Dunedin capitalists intended doing." , We trust the matter will not be allowed to fall through. How to Work an, Auction Salt*. — The following story recently- appeared in the Wangar-ui Herald :— A very amusinp auction sale lately occurred over the disposal of an unfortunate man's furniture. The auctioneer ■ was selling up for rent, and the nan's friends - attended to buy it - in, and thought they - would get it cheap if they kept everyone else from bidding! The day arrived, and i the posse was there. No. 1 Fays to the auctioneer — "You're -a nice fellow {.selling a man up ; perhaps you'll <be sold up some day yourself " Auctioneer : "Don't tell me what 1 know to my- cost ; .1 have: been sold up before, and may be again." Item, a' bedstead, one bid and gone for 15s, with some- worthless thing,.' thrown 1 in for luck; such' as sheets, niattrasses, and : bedding. Chest of drawers, value £6v • Bid a pound/ and a stranger is on the point of r giving a second, when friend No. : 2 says, J( " We'rebuying this for the missus ; you would Jiot' rob the missus !" All the outsiders who at- 1 tempted to bid were cursed and intimidateduntil they had to desist.; Everything was bought in at mob prices. "You're a pretty fellow," says' friend No. 3 to a little pld man who had stepped in to pick . up a bargain, "to bid against a man- who has. spent ten' thousand in .the place 1" As he had lost tea thousand pounds, it was thought rightiand square .that-. his landlord should lose ten ■ thousand, .pounds i more. < A conscientious little Jew wondered how the auctioneer could- ' render the account. •< A piano was sacrificed. Over it the sentiment was touching in the,extreme. • ' Deprive. . a . man , of his piano— l monstrous'!" - The instrument .gave a screech -when it was knocked down at one tenth its valneV One obdurate Stranger would bid, when friend-No. 1 4 ' insisted wijth irresistible ' vehemence he should:come out and ;',have a' ' liquor." He -went,' and was seen no^more. ■• The swindle concluded in a general fhout. - Flax Rbra.— "We (Lyiteltmi.Twies) have inspected a piece of rope made tot Canterbury Ji*Xi which has undergone a test of ; more tb*n<prdinary severity, and yet is as . ioundin f ttft]fibre as f se day it was manufactured. ' jiJhepiece ..wap ,cut from tne. topv tail halj£ari!i.iOk JS!d Duck, and" is 3k „.-. inches ,i£ i^rcumlerence." The rope was pro- \ r cqred£pns^ej»r# L &iles and'Cb, last' year, * and a portion of it "was at once put into use „, foif running-gear. The^y&s^w^iithojne to ' ; England^ came out ici Auckland,' went thence' to Newcastle, NW Sotitb Wales, and finally „ returned to f Jjyttelton, the rope' remainMg in' use' the whole time, ' and not even yet being , ; discarded.. The captain of the; Vessel states ". that,. on going round Cape" Horn, the.^ope ■was so superior to Manilla, that when coptecL ' ■with ice he had poly to shake it and' it became perfectly pliable,, whilst the Manilla- .' would have been as stiff as a rod* He. was. , highly pleased with his experience of the , rope in every possible respect, ajttd state* ' ' tliat he greatly pref en it to Manilla. ■

Tublic • Opinion- -in Auckland.— The Auckland' correspondent of the Daily Times, whose auti-Fox-cum-Vo^el procKvities are well known, still persists in telegraphing intelligence as to the state of public opinion m that Province, which is absolutely false. The local correspondent of the Lyttelton Times, evidently a good authority, and one whose veracity has never yet been^ impugned, writes : — "The change of Ministry occupies everyone's attention, 1 think to the exclusion of almost every other subject. The general belief seems to be that we are .launched upon a sea of troubles, of which many of us may not live to witness the end. There is no confidence in the Government as at present constituted. Everyone is asking here, "What does it all meau, and to what are we drifting ?" There is a strong reaction 'et in in favor of the late Ministry, especially since it became clearly evident that all those charges of waste and maladministration are moonshine, got up with sinister motives." To-morrow we shall be prepared to ghow by th<? two leadiog papers in Auckland that public opinion there does not favor Mr Staf-

Exhibition of Flax Machinery. The letters to the various Governments of the Colony, asking for monetary aid in carrying out the proposed exhibition of flax machinery have elicited favorable replies from the Canterbury and Otago officials — LSO being promised for each Province, and had it not been for the change in the Colonial Ministry, there is good reason to believe that a favorable answer would have been received before now from that quarter also. Ihe time has not yet been long enough for replies to come to hand from the Northern Provinces. — Ly Helton Times.

A Stupid Act, — This morning the police received information that a man named Charles Humphrey, said to be a son of the late Alderman Humphrey, of London, and a recent arrival here, had grievously wounded himself. - On proceeding to the Australasian Hotel, in Maclaggau street, where Humphrey has been staying, Constab'e Anderson found him bleeding from a severe wound in the left arm, which appears to have been inflicted by Humphrey with a penknife while in a state of intoxication. He and the landlord had some quarrel over monetary matter*, the upshot of which was that Humphrey took to drinking heavily, and injured himself as stated above while in one of his drunken tits. He was removed to the Hospital.— Star, 17tb.

The Telegraph. — This department continues to show signs of increasing success. In the June quarter just ended, the cash telegrams forwarded were 115,042, being an increase of 22,092 over those sent in the corresponding quarter of 1871 ; while the cash receipts were £7849 14s 9d, or an increase of £1330 78 3d over the corresponding quarter of last year.

Meteorological. — The meteorological observations for the Colony for June show severe weather throughout the Colony, with much enow, hail, and rain, and unusually severe frosts and snow showers in the South. Nelson seems to have been distinguished that month by the greatest rainfall on record, while Southland experienced the lowest temperature known there for fourteen years ; and as a general sample of the weather the following note is not a very cheerful reading : — " Four days of thunder, five of snow, four of hail, five of fog."

The Agent-General. — Private letters from England say that Dr Feather^ton has arranged for a large ship, with Germans and Scandinavians, to follow the Hydaspes for Otago, and for the Bebington, 900 tons, to leave for Wellington on July 28, with 210 adults, including 150 of Messrs Brogden's people and 26 single femiles. The Lady Jocelyn is laid on for Canterbury, owing to the accident to the Zealandia. Dr Featherston is devoting his attention to procuring and sending out salmon. ova to Obago at the close of the present yeir.

Fire. — A fire broke out last evening, between seven and eight o'clock, on the farm of Mr John Low, near Spring Bank, TaierL A stack of straw was discovered on fie, and but for prompt energy used in checking communication with the surrounding stacks of corn,' combined with the favorable direction of the wind, the whole, buildings included, would have inevitably been ■ destroyed^ No clue to the origin of the fire is known. It is apprehended to be the work of an incendiary. — Star, 21st.

Otago Kifle Association. — The annual meeting of the Otago Rifle Association was held at Wain's Hotel, on Friday, the 20th — Lieut. Muir in the chair. The Hon Secretary's report was adopted, as also the Treasurer's balance-sheet, which showed a balance on hand of L 9 18s lOd. Lieut. - Colonel Cargill was re-elected President, and Mr W. J. M. Larnach elected VicePresident for the' ensuing year. ' Gunner Ogilviewas elected Treasurer, in place of Capt. Macfarland, resigned. After discussion, it was resolved 'that a paid Secretary and collector be appointed. Owing to the difficulty experienced in obtaining a-quorum to attend the meetings of the Council, it was resolved that the Council of the Association, should consist of one representative from each co-npany. alang with the following gentlemen: — Lieut. Muir, Ensign Pell, Ensign M'Kenzie, P.O. Clayton, and Sergt. Cowie. A vote of thanks to the late Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, and the usual vote to the chair, terminated theproceedings.