SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON.

ARRIVED. May 22—Taiaroa, s.s., from North,

SAILED. May 22—Taupo, s.s., for South. May 23 —Taiaroa, s.s., for North.

The Albion arrived at Hokitika, from Mel bourne, yesterday.

POST OFFICE NOTICES.

Mails at the Ashburton Post Office close as follows :

For Chriscchurch and North at 10.20 a.m., 4 p.m., and 7.30 p.m., daily. For Rakaia at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Chertsey at 10.20 a.m. daily. For Ashburton South, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine at 10.30 a.m. daily.

UNCLAIMED LETTERS. The following letters are advertised at the Post Office, as having been received from places beyond the Colony, during the month of February, r.nd remaining unclaimed on the Ist May, 1878 : Gooch, George C. Gray, George Hayward, Wm. Inkster, Win. Judkins, Lucas

Letters originating in New Zealand are not now advertised, but arc sent to the Dead Letter Office, after having lain for two clear months.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

ASHBURTON RETAIL PRICES, PROVISION, See., LIST.

The Evening Echo. THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1878.

m With all Mr. Plimsoll’s enthusiasm in his crusade against British ships being sent to sea in an unseaworthy condition, with the better feeling obtaining amongst shipowners in regard to the philan thropist’s reforms, and with the improved and more stringent regulations laid down by the Board of Trade for navigation, vessels, officers, and seamen, the wreck register does not seem to fall off, and the danger to life appears to be just as great, now that most of Mr. Plimsoll’s reforms have been carried out, as when the sailors’ philanthropist commenced his crusade. Marine architects do their best to keep safety in view in their designs, while aiming at speed and carrying power; and shipbuilders of the present day must exercise all the skill of a handicraft that has reached the maximum of superiority in its his tory, to produce, " Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel T hat shall laugh at each disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle.”

Yet with all this handicapping the “ dangers of the sea ” seem to come to the front as of yore, and the “ Sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, And charms the life of Poor Jack,” has as much room for the exercise of his kind offices as when first his fame rolled out in song. At Lloyd’s, information was wanted, in the month of January, of sixteen vessels, which are now reported lost. Those ships were owned in various English ports, two had foreign owners, and one belong to colonial proprietors. 1 he tonnage lost in those vessels amounted to 7300 ; the money value of the craft themselves represented £IIO,OOO, and their cargoes -£90,000 ; while 203 souls have been sacrified in their crews. Half of the vessels were exporting coal, while the remainder were carrying to the shores of the mother country cargoes of rice, sugar, oil, wheat, beans, and mahogany. It is thus seen that there are influences at work in causing the loss of vessels over which the best foresight of commercial men and the best measures devised by philanthropy have no shadow of con trol-even when all these measures are carried out and every precaution taken. For one cannot believe that with the strict regime of the Board of Trade, a majority of those sixteen vetsels failed

to find a haven of safety because of non-compliance with the measures laid down by the authorities. Every craft of the sixteen left port surveyed and pronounced seaworthy and safe, and if they were not so the blame lies with the Government officials.

When Mr. Samuel Plimsoll took up arms in defence of the life and condi tion of the British seaman, he was hooted as a misguided enthusiast who meddled with matters that did not con cern him ; as an enthusiast who allowed his zeal to outrun his discretion; and it was not uncommon to hear interested parties say that he “rode his hobby too high,” and spoiled it accordingly. The “ common Jack ” has to thank Mr. Plimsoll’s “ hobby ” notwithstanding for a greatly improved forecastle, a safer ship, and a right to refuse to go to sea in one he does not believe to be safe. He is also cared for by the Board of I rade, who enforce (or are supposed to enforce) an official inspection and sur vey of every ship before she leaves an English port. To this inspection we are often referred as a defence against preventible mishaps in the case of vessels carrying immigrants for New Zealand. But we give in another column “An Old Emigrant’s” statements about what he saw on board an emigrant ship at Plymouth, and if his story is true, there are perhaps other reasons than the dangers of the Channel why the Agent- General should choose Glasgow as lire port of embarkation for New Zealand Government emigrants, and perhaps the wonder why so many ships leave home and never return to tell their fate will not be so great in view of the facts “An Old Emigrant” adduces.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-morrow being the Queen’s Birth day, a general holiday will be observed in Ashburton. The majority of the places of business will be closed, and there will be no issue of The Evening Echo.

.The anniversary of the Star of the East lodge of Good Templars will be celebrated to-morrow with a tea meet ing, to be followed by a concert. The programme of the evening’s proceedings is before us, and comprises the elements of a very excellent entertainment. The tea meeting will be held early in the evening, the concert opening at eight o’clock, under the presidency of Alfred Saundeis, Esq., who was mainly instru mental in founding the lodge. Addresses will be delivered by Mr. A. Saunders, and the Revs. Marten and Westbruoke, at intervals between songs, glees, trios, quartettes, readings, and recitations. The vocal items have been selected with much care, and comprise some of the gems of English melody and har mony ; and the singers, we are given to understand, have been in well discip lined practice for a lengthened period, so that a treat of no mean order is in store for the patrons of the entertain ment. The vocalists comprise some of the real talent of the town, and the con ductor’s baton will be in the hands of Mr. Horace A. Gates, whose ability as a musician is equalled by that of his sister, who will preside at the piano. The annual general meeting of share holders in the Ashburton Permanent Building and Investment Society was held in the Library Hall last night. Dr. Trevor was chairman, and said he was sorry to see so few of the shareholders present; no doubt the inclemency of the weather prevented many from attend ing. He then read the auditors’ report and balance sheet, which showed the working of the society from its com mencement, to have been very profit able, and congratulated the shareholders on the success of the undertaking. On the motion of Mr. St. Hill, seconded by Mr. Groves, the accounts as read were adopted, and the balance sheet ordered to be printed. The following directors, who retire by rolalion, were unani mously re-elected : Dr. Trevor, Mr. T Bullock, and Mr. Edward Saunders. As an instance of the profitable nature of the business of the society, one share of the first issue, on which at the end of three years the sum of £9 would \vave been paid, is now worth £l2 7s.

“Too many irons in the fire” is a condition of things apt to cause confu sion ; hence the misleading announce ment of this morning in re the San Fran cisco mail. It had done duty well enough for the bogies, but when called upon to appear in the genuine it was a lying paragraph, and led the readers to a belief in one of two things—either that the post office authorities were to nave no holiday, or that the powers t iat be in the “ great enterprise ” were not teetotally ignorant of what causeth the face of man to shine. “The Ashburton portion of the outgoing English mail will close at the Post, office here at 3 o’clock to-morrow afternoon.” The fore going quotation is from this morn ing’s issue ol our tri-wee':ly contemporary. Ihe facts are these : The post office arrangements are that the office here will be closed to-morrow, and Home letters must be posted before half past seven o’clock to-night, an extension of time having taken place since yester day, when the postmaster informed us the mail would close at four o’clock to day. Ihe Australian cricketers have com menced work at Nottingham, the strong hold of cricket in England. A telegram of the 20th instant says that on the first day of the opening match the Austra lians had finished an innings for 63,and the Englishmen had got together 61, with lour wickets to go down; and when the innings finished the score stood at 153. Ihe Australians were doing better in their second innings, having got 46 for three wickets down. The top scores ns yet reported were Selby, for the English side 66, and Garrett, for the Antipodes, 20. The best bowling exhibited in the match was by Horan, who in x 7 overs got 5 wickets with a per contra of 31 runs. The usual crowd attending a great cricket match in England was pre sent, though the weather was wet and the wicket dull. In the House of Commons the Go vernment have risen up against the irrepressible Irishmen, who do their utmost to obstruct business in Parlia ment. “ A motion is pending,” says a telegram of the 22nd instant, “to the effect that a member once warned must keep silence during the current sitting.” 1 his ought to be a useful precedent in Wellington.

r l he Auckland correspondent of the Times telegraphs that rumors are cur rent of some gigantic speculation on loot across the Waikato confiscation boundary. Several names are men tioned in connection with it, and the aiea stated varies from 200,000 to 300,000 acres. The land at present, it is. understood belongs to the Ngatima niopotos, a tribe of whom Rewi is chief. It is whispered that the bargain is almost closed, and that Sir G. Grey’s agreement with the King natives will help to the completion of the specula tion.

A fearful accident occurred lately at Messrs. Godsiff and Newton’s saw mills, Clova Bay, Pelorus Sound, by which a youth named John Henn, aged 17 years, lost his life in a most appalling way. One ot the huge circular saws is driven by a belt from a drum, propelled by a shaft from the main steam engine, and when required to be stopped, is thrown out of gear by slipping the belt off this drum, which is below the level of the floor. Henn was sent to stop the macninery, and instead of carefully slipping off the belt in the proper way, gave it a careless kick. His foot in stantly was caught by the belt, and he was carried round with terrific velocity, striking one of the flooring boards—a stout plank, an inch and a half in thick ness —with such violence as to break it in two places. His fellow workmen rushed at once to the rescue, stopped the machinery as quickly as possible, and extricated the unfortunate youth from its fatal embrace. It is needless to say that life was totally extinct, the corpse being mutilated in a most hor rible manner, in fact, torn and battered out of ail semblance of humanity, while blood, brains, bits of skin and flesh, and fragments of clothing were sprinkled all round. The mangled remnants of what only a minute before was a living, breathing, human being, were gathered reverently together, and being placed in an impromptu coffin, were sent to Picton by one of the coasting vessels for interment.

1 ime is money ; of course it is, or how could you “spend an evening?”

SLIPSHOD MARINE INSPEC TION.

A letter appeared in an English paper of February 2nd from “ An Old Emigrant,” giving an account of what he saw on board an emigrant ship at Plymouth, bound for Sydney, a couple of days previously. His statement shows that the dangers which have resulted in the loss of the Great Queenslander and Cairo are not yet at an end. The ves sel, the name of which the writer does not give, arrived at Plymouth from Lou don in a half surveyed state. There was a large quantity of spirits on board, and these had already been broached by the crew. On the emigration officer at Plymouth boarding the vessel he found some gunpowder in boxes, and some boxes of rockets, on the deck near the cabin door, with two of the officers coolly smoking short pipes there. They did not know the emigration agent, so he caught them in the act. He spoke to them, and they retoited in a very im pudent manner, whereupon “strong measures followed, in which they got the worst.” “An Old Emigrant ” tells even a worse instance than this having recently occurred. A half-inspected ship arrived at Plymouth from London with t!ie magazine under the cabin table. It was not fastened down or in any way secured, and people were sitting round it smoking ! In the face of such facts as these, it is not wonderful that vessels leave Home whose subsequent fate is never clearly ascertained.

TELEGRAPHIC.

LATEST FROM EUROPE.

i he Eastern Situation .

[By Submarine Cable.]

London, May 21. Lord Hartinglon, speaking to his amendment, said the transfer of Indian troops to Europe was unconstitutional without the sanction of Parliament, and that the expeditionary force having started, the cost thereof must be charged on the Imperial Exchequer, whether Parliament approved or not. The Colonial .Secretary said it should not be taken for granted that Govern ment had deemed it any unconstitu tional procedure, since the Act of 1858 authorised the employment of the In dian Army wherever ordered. The Government wished to show they could wield the whole forces of this vast Empire.

Messrs. Laing, Morgan, and Har court opposed the amendment, believ ing that no constitutional principles were violated.

Messrs. Chaplin and Stanhope sup-

ported it. In the House of Lords, Lord Sel bourne, referring to the Indian expedi tionary character of the measure, which violated the provisions of the Mutiny Act.

Lord Cairns denied that the pre rogative of the Crown has been strained.

Earl Granville, criticising the with holding of information of the expe ditionary force from Parliament, said it was as unwise as insisting that every important question should be submitted to baliot.

The Attorney-General gave instances of movements of colonial forces, and justified the Government.

Mr. Gladstone eloquently maintained the privileges of Parliament. The debate was adjourned till the 23rd.

Negotiations between England and Russia are proceeding favorably.

AUSTRALIAN.

Sydney, May 22.

The Land Bill imposes a tax of four pence per head for sheep, and one and eightpence for cattle and horses, esti mated to yield a million annually from the squatters instead of a quarter. Melbourne, May 22. The Ringarooma arrived to-day. The Arawata sailed to day with the Suez mail

THE EVENING ECHO, THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1878



s. Butter, inferior to best, £?lb o cl. 8 to s. I cl. 0 Eggs, dozen - - 2 6 to 0 0 Bacon, prime smoked, li? 11) 0 10 to 0 0 Hams in cloth, If? lb - 1 0 to 0 0 Cheese, prime quality, if? lb 0 8 to 0 10 Flour in bags, ioolb 15 0 to 0 0 Oatmeal, fef ioolb - 26 0 to 0 0



FIVE SHILLING PACKETS of COP PERS to be had at the “ Echo ” office.