LOCAL MAILS

West Coast Times, Issue 602, 29 August 1867, Page 3

LOCAL MAILS

CLOSE POB —

Six Mile, Teremakuu, and Greynioufch — daily. Boss — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 5 p.m. Waimea and Stafford Town — Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 5 p.m. Kanieri — Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, at 5 p.m. Hau Hau — Wednesday and Saturday, at 6 p.m. Chesterfield — Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Okarita— Every nllernnte Saturday.

AEBITE FROM — Six Mile, Tevemakau, and Greynioutli — daily. Ross — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 10 a.m. Waimea and Stafford Town — Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 4.30 p.m. Kanieri — Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 4.30 p.m. Hau if au — Monday and Thursday, at 4.30 p.m. Chesterfield — Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Okarita— Every alternate Thursday. A. Stevenson, Postmaster. Post Office, Hokitika. (For remainder of News see 4-th T?age.)

THE PKESS OF THE ANTIPODES. (fbom the hew yoke times, juke 9.) If large, handsome, and well-edited newspapers, crowded with advertisements, , are any indication of advanced and liberal civilisation, and of material pros- • perify, the colonies of Australia and New Zealand cannot be very far behind the m* parent country in these respects. Of > course, the very first thing which, an English or American colony does, after getting fairly settled, ia to publish a newspaper, be it on ever so small a patterfi'. -Even the settlement of New Englanders at Jaffa has a weekly paper though there are not fifty persons to read it, and its entire contents would scarcely fill a single column of the "Times." But the Australian pressis almost metropolitan in importance. The daily papers of Melbourne and Sydney rival those of London and New York in size and appearance, and are not wanting in editorial ability ; and though' the topics generally discussed in their columns possess local interest onlyj yet it is the interest of a country that is rapidly increasing in wealth, population, ana international importance. The principal daily papers of Australia, of which we happen to have files before us, are the Melbourne "Argus," an eightpage paper, as large as the London "Times, well edited, and well printed on good firm paper ; the Melbourne "Age," about the same size and appearance; the Sydney "Morning Herald," eight pages ; the Sydney " Empire," eight pages ; and the " Hobart Town Mercury," also eight pages. Most of these papers are made up on the model of the London " Times"; — the Englishman's grand idea of a newspaper. The amount of reading i matter in the " Argus'' is about equal to that given in the " Times." The transactions of the Colonial Parliament are reported at frightful length, and we sincerely |_nope the Australians found the debates H^ss fatiguing reading than we found Crimes of all sorts, but printhe crime familarly known in colonies as " sticking-up" — which in' English highway robbery — take large amount of space in these ■___BB S > t3ieir "local" department being _____W devoted to the recital of such incidents as thefts, murders, inassaults, and other playful de___^_Hs from the line of strict irorality. not be supposed, however, that editors limit themselves to Khe discussien of Colonial topics. The Europe and America receive a share of their attention ; and if Hptuis Napoleon and Count Bismarck, and Gortschakoff and Lord Derby, only listen to the good advice aawith grave sageness from Mel|Harne, Sydney, and HobaTt Town, they pwottd fi>4 -ieffiKlKe& *elic7Pd of half the burden* o f state. A savage article on Mr Ashley, in the " Hobart Town Mercury '? for March 15, would no doubt be read with jntense enjoyment by President Johnson, and Secretary M'Culloch might be pained to learn that the Sydney "Empire" regards him as a "financial Among the Sydney papers there is an "Australian Punch."- a very good imitation of the London original in appearance, and quite equal to it in smartness, fun, an! wit. The illustrations, though coarsely er graved, are spirited in design, and no doubt are enjoyed vastly by the Australians. "The Australasian" is a very handsome literary paper, published at Melbourne. It is larger than the "Illustrated London News," contains thirty-two well printedpages, filled with interesting original and selected stories, poetry, miscellaneous reading matter, and a well arraagpj fH™ffl»TT n f rgfrninl news. A or better paper of the kind is out of London. _______f m New Zealand, a country which to associate only with tatooed several excellent newspapers published for many years. The "Independent" is considerthan the " Times," and it is H____Hbe a nourishing and paying conthere is the " Otago Wit- _____■' published at Dunedin, a weekly of twenty pages, as large as the York Ledger." The number we the prospectus of a new to be shortly established at the " Otago Free Eress." __^H>w singular it is, by the way, that the H^B old stock of names supplies the press of every country. Even where we might reasonably a little variety in this respect, we I^BTtreated to a " Tunes," a " Herald," a an "Argus," an "Age," and so Rn the list. It would be deBcidedly refreshing to see a new paper ■ starting under a really new name. Is it Lan impossibility ? Why won't Mr Dana _|try the experiment ? The excellence of the Australian newsHkpers is doubtless owing, in part, to the of the colonies and the vast that separates them from the _Hpther country. Thus thrown upon m^ir own resources, they have built up which in appearance, far surpass|those of France and Germany, and are second only to those of London. There are no such papers in the Canadas, bees ,use the Canadians rely more on the press of London and New York f©r news and general reading than on their own. The Australian papers are edited by gentlem|w who have been connected ■mm the London press, and who have emigrated either for their own or their country's good. At any rate, most of them are men of ability, and know how to make readable papers.

On Sunday morning, June stb, says the " Warrington Guardian," the solemnity which usually characterises the services at Cairostreet Chapel was rudely dispelled by an extraordinary apparition, which was suddenly made manifest right above the minister's Jiead. While the congregation were singing the last verse of the first hymn a very wellformed leg came down through the ceiling, and the singing was extingished in laughter. All eyes were at once fixed on the leg, which, I after a vigorous plunge or two, was withdrawn. This wa3 not accomplished till most of the congregation had marked that the foot wore an elastic side-boot and the leg a grey stocking. The minister, who was a stranger, was baptised with dust and plaster, and for some moments betrayed a disposition to leave the pulpit, under the impression that either the ceiling or the owner of the leg was coming down. Matters were, however.explainedbythechapelkeeper, and the service proceeded. After worship was concluded some curiosity was mani- , fested to discover the owner of the leg. The miniflter'Bhouse,itßeetns, adjoinsthe chapel, and ; from the garret a person can walkover the ' ceiling of the latter. During the morning the only person in the house — the stated minister being enjoying a holiday — was a charwoman. This person was charged wjth being the author of the phenomenon, but stoutly denied it ; and aa she also affirmed that no one else Jrad been in the house, we presume it k must be accepted as a spiritual manifestation, ■ffhe fact of the leg wearing an elastic side __kot and grey stocking will, no doubt, open ipifMiife ft new subject for dii.