Taranaki.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 235, 16 May 1861, Page 3

Taranaki.

[From ti e Herald, 4th May.]

To the Editor of the Taranaki Herald. Sir,— Allow me through the men urn of your columns to inquire of your numerous if any of them can informMt:e why the conditions of peace granted to //a .pro,a an. I the Ngatiawa tribe are not yet eoihpi ed with. No arms have yet been returned, nor any of the-liorses or cattle, but for the return of the latter sLand'6Z'j er head is being demanded. Instead of carrying'oiit the conditions, 7/aPHrona and bis ‘ amicable ’ (?) son- Hpropaj er.t (who, just hi f-re the war, was convicted of cattle stealing),, have been about town continually getting drunk at the public houses and. ■ Isewbere. I am, &<\ W, Iy. Hulice. New Plymouth, 3rd May. ISyL •

7'aranaki not ruined.- —The - iritelligenctj-. we have had to give -.during-.flie. last, (ew months lias .naturally caused not a few to look, •with despair at New in. general,- and the province of Taranaki in particular. ‘ Taranaki is ruined, its glory lias, .departed,’ has, been the wash .assert ion . of -gome poor mortals,. \yho have littje faith in Divine Providence, and loss iii the mdomiiabie character of the British rape; 'Taranaki; vuine4\? , No, certainly not. - Now that the /Am.ie Government has backed, the-.conduct of..Gove.ynorj.Bro>v-u4,,a»J sent out reiuffi.vcements, peace and prosperity will soon, be restored to Taranaki—one 'of. the richest, provinces of a ricli. colony, " . In a former inipi-fession ■ of this journal, wb devoted a special article to adescription ot the d'avatiaki iron-sad L' ; thVn. - this samlc

lias been manufactured by Messrs.- Moseley, of Ne\V street, Coveut garden, into steel goods. i:tiil cutlery of every description. The steel produced from the Taranaki ore has stood the severest tests; for instance-, a three-eighth bar of cast steel, on being a vice and twisted, did not break until four complete turns were made in a six-inch length. The fracture was close grained, and preserved a high polish. The same bar, heated to redness, and suddenly cooled by plunging it into cold water, became so hard and brittle that it was without difficulty broken with the hand or powdered with a hammer, and the broken pieces scratched glass like flint. The knives, band' saws, hatchets, iii short all the manufactured goods, are of the very best quality. To give an instance, the handsaws admit of being bent, until they are made to assume the form of a circle, without contracting any permanent set, and the hatchets, ground-with a thin edge for 'hewing timber, are capable of cutting through an inch copper rod- without sustaining any injury.

- The credit of the practical application of this Taranaki ore tt> useful purposes, is due to Oapt. A/orshead, who has been fortunate in securing a lease of the deposit from the Colonial G overmen*, in three separate grants, for a term of twenty-three years. We understand that a company is now in tie- cour:e of forma tion, and that the managers Messrs. Martin, Soblechero, and Co., are actively engaged in completing arrangements for smelting works on a large scale in the colony. An efficient staff, with ali the necessary appliances, will leave England about the middle of next month to commence active operations in the Colony. /t is said that the conversion of the sand or ore into ingots will not exceed £2 per ton, including all expenses, so that the finest cast steel guii thus be produced at a very moderate price indeed. . .Thus, while Colonel Gold and General Pratt have been taking empty pas in the neigh bourhood of Taranaki, Capt. Morshead lias been making arrangements for turning the sand of the district into ploughshares, pruning hooks, and all. manner of peaceful as well as warlike implements. We heartily wish him success in his noble enterprise. 'lbis iron sand alone may be made to yield a revenue more than sufficient to repay for the outlay of two wars similar to that which we hope is. now ended. Taranaki, therefore, is not ruined. There are brighter prospects in store for this province than it has ever .known in the past.. "We also learn that Captain Morshead, the lessee of the iron sand at Taranaki, is about to* embark for New Zealand.— -New. Zealand Examiner, Feb. 14. ! , VICTORIA. The Port Phillip Farmers’ Society’s annual Agricultural Show was held on 28th March. The following are the weights of the grain that gained prizes. Adelaide wheat which gained the first prize, 68| lb per bushel; Mr. Paterson’s wheat. No. IW, obtained second prize, and wheat 68§ib; Mr. Dewar’s- third prize wheat weighed 681bMr. W. Thom- : on’s lot, No. 6,weighed 681 b; Mr. A. Paterson’s lot, No. 9, weighed 67 one-half lb;. Messrs. Euchanan’s, No. 4, weighed 66 onehalf lb; and Messrs. Rutledge’s lot, No. 11, 65 one-half lb. The first prize Tartarian oats weighed 43 one-half lb and the second prize, 45 one-half lib per bushel ; while the prize potatoe oats weighed 50 one half lb. The first prize malting barley weighed 58 one-half lb; and the second, 56-,one-balf lb to the bushel. 7’lie first prize Cape barley weighed 51 lb; and the second, 50 onc-haLflb to the bushel.

There was a particularly’excellent lot oi potato oats exhibited, which weighed 50 onehalf ib per bushel,, ’nearly equal to some descriptions of wheat. The samples pf wheat which gained the first and second prizes were both of the same variety—-white Tuscan. Mr. Paterson’s wheat was grown from the •South Australian wheat which gained the second prize, two years ago, at the same show. A ' change of' opinion seems to have, since last year, taken place in reference h> wheat; for the variety wire!) Ims hitherto been placed first now occupies the third place. The wheat which gained the third prize, and several other lots, is a small 1 grained, plump, and thin-skinned sort, whilst the tuscan is large grained and rather incline 1 to u coarse appearance. It appears that the luscan variety possess some important merits not-.noticeable in the grain. Mr. Paterson says,, that the straw is strong and coarse, arid that therefore the caterpillars do not like-it, that it ‘is- not liable to lodge,” and that as it is exceedingly hard to thresh, it does not shake out readily with the wind. The third prize whei’t, it will be observed, weighed only half a pound per bushel less than the other two; but an important question is> which of the two sorts produces the greatest number of bushels petacre.

A review of the Victorian volunteers took place at Werribee, where a force of 2000 men was encamped. About 12,000 spectators were present, including his Excellency the Governor and his suite, .the Chief Justice, Membeis of both branches of the Legislature, ynd Colonel Pitt and life staff, Ac. The sham fight excited great interest, and went off very creditably. Thereafter the captains of all the companies.were complimented by hfe Excellency on the daily increasing efficiency of the volunteer forces. The Federal Standard criticises the appearance of the various corps with great severity, declaring that the review was got up m.trely to, show off the. fine uniforms of the companies, some of whom were prevented from being present in consequence of not having received the new uniforms ordered for the occasion. - The Melbourne ca-

valry it especially finds fault . with, as, although .well mounted and equipped, net at all up to their drill, and describes a charge which they made as disgraceful, there being no more order than on a hunting field or a racecourse. At a sale of pure Spanish merinos,<at Melbourne, from Mr. Rich’s Mount Edeii flofck, Auckland, one ram was sold for 901, arid a ewe lamb for 80/; and twenty lambs, by Spanish rams out of. Saxon ewes, at from 281 to 44/each. ' The committee appointed to consider the defences of the colony, have given in a report of which the* following is the substance s The amount required to complete the defences in extenso, beyond that already paid, would be 205,9781 16s 4d ; that requisite for the reduced scheme would be 124,518/ 16s 4d ; in addition to which the arms necessary for a body of local troops 5000 strong would come to 31,700/. The recommendation of Captain Scratchley is to expend the sum of 36,000/ on works during this -year-—if,however, from tile necessity of making' reductions in the general expenditure of the colony during this ypar, a larger sum than 10,000/ cannot reas nably he spared—-with the guns already ordered, three batteries at /filliamstown and three at /Sandridge might be completed for that sum, and the battery at ShortlandV Bluff advanced, mount ng together twenty-five guns, all well placed, ami if the armament necessary for the reduced extent of fortification alluded to were in the colony, further expenditure might be postponed, and the charge for the corps of Sappers and Miners proportionately reduced.

Thi to has been a discussion in the Legislative Assembly, as to the payment of the services of the Victoria by the iVew Zealand Government. It was understood that the extraordinary expence caused by sending her over here should be paid by New Zealand ; but no understanding has been.come to as to what ware to.be considered extraordinary expences. Some members—among whom was Mr. Verdon, the treasurer—seemed to think that New Zealand should be charged with all expences white the Victoria remained in our waters. It is proposed tr employ her in surveying the coast of Victoria. IRELAND The Lord Xieutenant of Ireland (Lord Carlisle), in the course of a speech at the inaugural banquet of the Lord A/iryor of Dublin, on 7th Feb., stated that the Government had neither the intention nor the wish to abolish the Viceroyalty, and that so far as his personal influence would go, he should labour to prevent the accomplishment of such a measure. Destituion is very great in Limerick. In February there was an apprehension that food riots would fake place, and the police were obliged to patrol the city in batches to keep things quiet.. The Tablet says that the first instalment of the Tiipal military medals for the soldiers of the Battalion of St. Patrick engaged in the late campaign has been consigned by Monsignor de A/erode,, the .Minister of Arms of Ilis Holiness, to Mr. Jbhft Pope Hennessy, M-P., for distribution. Of these medals, some have been distrib t-d by. Mr. Henmssy to'the soldiers of St. Patrick’s Battalion actually resident in London. ’ A number of others have been forwarded to gentlemen in the districts where members of the brigade are located.

An Actress with Five Husbands. —An extraordinary case of bigamy lias just been developed in .Dublin. Kate Collins, a ballet dancer, who has for some time been bewitching the residents in the Irish capital, suddenly vanished, her object being to escape from the clutches of the Jaw;, the. gentle Kitty being charged with marrying, no. less than five husbands, eacli of whom had been remitting her a weekly sum for her support. The discovery was made by the unexpected meeting of three of the duped Benedicts at her residence. Riband Conspiracy. —The Londonderry Guardian says :■ —“ Information of the most impoifcant character lias just been received by the authorities, which show's the alarming exont to which Ribandism prevails in some disti icl s of the*country,, and the sanguinary schemes of that d aboiical conspiracy. We are unwilling to divulge the particulars of what has come to our knowledge on this subject, lest our doing so should tend to defeat the ends of justice ; but all will soon be brought to light, and it will demonstrate the existence of a state of social disorganisation and depravity in certain localities in Ireland that would disgrace a people sunk in the grossest barbarism.”