SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON. ARRIVED. May ll —Taranaki, s.s., from North. May ii—Maori, s.s., from .South. May ii —Malay, barque, from Newcastle. Sailed. May ii—Taranaki, s.s., for South. May ii —Maori, s.s., lor Nelson and West Coast. Port Chalmers, Friday. Arrived—Strathblane, ship, from London, ninety-three days from port to port, and eighty eight days from land to land. She brings twenty-two passengers and 2600 tons cargo. She experienced a fine weather passage through out.

Saturday. Sailed—Albion Company’s ship Oamaru, with 13 passengers, and a cargo of wool, wheat, flour, and preserved meats, valued at £51,075.

POST OFFICE NOTICES.

Mails at the Ashburton Post Office close as follows :

For Christchurch and North at 10.20 a.m., 4 p.m., and 7.30 p.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, and remaining umclaimed on the Ist May, 1878 Gooch, George C. Gray, George Hayward, Wm. Inkster, Wm. Judkins, Lucas

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

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

ASHBURTON RETAIL PRICES. PROVISION, &c., LIST.

Sydney, May 10. There is no change in the price of Hennes sey’s brandy, kerosene, or rice, and quotations for tobacco, sugar, candles, New Zealand oats and wheat, are unaltered. Adelaide, May io. Flour, 15s to 5s ; wheat, 6s. Oamaki:, May 10. Business in grain and breadstufls is limited, millers only purchasing wheat for immediate requirements. Oats are in good demand at 3s to 3s 46 ; prime milling barley, 4s; flour, £ll los to £l2, f.0.b.; oatmeal, ,£18; pearl barley, £3O ; pollard, £s 10s; bran, £3 15s.

CORRECTION.

In our Police Report in yesterday’s issue, by a typographical error the name Bakei appears on the list of “ drunks.” It should be Thomas Barker.

The Evening Echo. SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1878.

We beg to call our readers’ attention to an advertisement in another column, stating that the Rev. Charles Fraser, of Christchurch, will preach in the Pres byterian Church, Ashburton, morning and evening, to-morrow, at the usual hours.

Special evangelistic services will be commenced in the Wesleyan Church, Cameron Street, to-morroiv. These services will be conducted by the Rev. W. B. Marten, and others. During the week, prayer-meetings will be held at 12 noon, open to all, and at 3 p.m. for females only. We regret to find that the fences round the Ashburton cemetery are still unrepaired. It is a pity that this should be the case. Many people have taken great pains in beautifying and keeping neat the graves of their departed friends, which the dilapidated state of the fences renders ineffectual, as cattle are in the habit of straying in, and de stroying the flowers and shrubs. We called attention to this some time since, but nothing has yet been done towards remedying the cause of com plaint.

The question is frequently asked by irate owners of gardens in Ashburton, What are we authorised to do with wandering horses and cattle which nightly break into our gardens ? The usual course of treatment for nomadic animals is to run them into the pound. Ashburton is, at present, without such a luxury, although it is some months since the contract for building one was let, and virtually there is no remedy, except the slender chance one might have of being able to find the owner, and summons him for damages. We would like to know what length of time is required to build such an edifice as a pound. It will be seen from the following that the Cavalry corps have not such easy work as the public may imagine. The reveille sounds at 6.30 ; at 7 a.m., the men go to stables, when the officers inspect the same. Breakfast is at 8.15, and from that time till 10 o’clock the men are preparing for foot parade. To day there was skirmishing drill on foot. On the return from morning parade, the men again attend stables, and have a slight luncheon at 1 o’clock ; immediate lyafter, preparation is made for mounted parade, which takes place each day at 2.30. The corps mess at 6.30; again attend stables at 8 o’clock, and at 10.30 the bugle sounds to retire for the night. As during the training there will be two parades each day, it has been found im possible to play the proposed football match.

A young lady who had lately given an order to her milliner for her bonnet said, “ You are to make it plain, but at the same time smart, as I sit in a con spicuous place in church.” The chaplain of the convict prison at Portland, speaking of the trained thieves who came under his notice, says that he reasoned with a prisoner who was in the hospital of that prison, and besought him to forsake the path of crime, and the man listened respectfully to all that was said, but then stretched out his hand, from which he had lost three fingers, and exclaimed, “ Sir, do you think I can afford to lose the benefits of fifteen years’ apprenticeship.” Crime was his trade, and he accepted punish ment as a time of depression which had to be borne.

ODD GOSSIP.

[By Telephone.]

The outcome of the deliberations of the Ashburton County Council, so far as they have gone as yet, cannot be called a pronounced success. First and foremost, take the Water Supply for the township. Tenders were called for schemes. Five were submitted for ap proval in response, and one accepted, and the bonus paid over. Three films of civil engineers condemned the scheme as totally inadequate for the re quirements of the town at present, to say nothing of its suitability for the fu ture. The Council reply that the scheme may be duplicated, by which I imagine they mean that two 6in. pipes may be put down instead of the one proposed by the successful tenderer. Well, it seems to me that taking into consideration the fact that it is admitted on all sides that 6in. pipes will not be sufficient to supply the town, and that the difference in cost between them and ioin. pipes, would not be so great as the duplication spoken of by the Council, that the complaint made by the unsuc cessful tenderers was a very just one ; and that some further information should be obtained before the Council com mits the township to the chances of an inadequate supply of water. It has only been within the past month or two that frequent telegrams have appeared in the daily papers concerning the deficient water supply in the cities of Wellington and Dunedin ; let us then endeavor to gain wisdom by their errors, and rather go in for an overabundance than a scarcity.

Another peculiar piece of legislation on the part of the Council is their inten tion in future to pay all fines for breaches of the regulations of the Ash burton bridge. In the course of my peregrinations in that direction I have twice met individuals galloping at full speed over the bridge ; on one occasion I met a two horse waggon coming at the rate of fully to miles an hour. Now, any person acting in such a manner

should certainly be fined, and the Coun cil, by their action in this matter, is simply offering a premium for accidents to life and limb.

The fact of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry being here now for their annual encampment naturally raises the ques tion in the minds of the public, “ Are they any good, or are they likely to be in case of war ?”

Should war be declared there will never be much fear of foes landing on our shores. The only probable course of offensive operations would be in the direction of damage to shipping, or of a cruiser sending a demand for the citizens to shell out a certain quantity of ready cash in preference to being shelled out of Christchurch, or any other city the enemy might feel inclined to pounce upon. Con sequently a good artillery force would be of far greater service for defence than any other arm of the Volunteer Service. However, should a landing on the part of the foe take place, then our mounted men would certainly have an opportunity afforded them of testing the quality of their steel.

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.

COLONIAL DEFENDERS.

To the Editor of the Evening Echo.

Sir, — I would suggest the propriety of the Coroner for the District remain ing (if possible) at his residence during the sojourn of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry in this township; as swords, in the hands of unskilled troopers, might lead to fatal results. Yesterday, 1 ob served when the command “ Draw Swords ” was given it was done slowly and irregularly ; but when the order for “Return Swords” followed, it was painful to witness the struggles to ac complish the command. With one young man in particular (of warlike proclivities, but as yet unknown to fame) it seemed very doubtful whether his weapon would find a resting place in himself his horse, or the scabbard— the latter by far the most improbable result; fortunately, he succeeded, but the agony of his countenance under the circumstance will haunt me for some time to come. I shall not in future in dulge in cavalry parades, as I would not like to witness the blood of the “ innocent” shed among us, especially at this particular time, when an enemy may be not far distant from the land of our adoption.—l have, &c.,

Observer,

THE CHILDREN.

To the Editor of the Evening Echo,

Sir, — I would, through the medium of your paper, draw attention to the necessity that at present exists of having a few seats at the entrance of St. Stephen’s Church reserved for the accommodation of those children in the district who attend without their parents, and also of having someone to take charge of them It is a matter which I think requires attention at our hands. Children are often sent away so as not to interfere with their mothers’ whom duties compel to remain at home. The new Education Bill does not allow of the Bible being read in school—does not allow the day’s work to open or close with prayer. We know the Bible to be the most sacred and impressive of all books, the educator of youth, the guide of manhood, and the consoler of age; yet this is the very book we are teaching our little ones to disregard. And when once a week they of their own free will, or otherwise, enter the house of God, no care or provision is made for them ; they are allowed to come in and do just as they please, and go out without having anyone to correct them. Since their parents, godfathers, and godmothers, are in these instances reluctant to attend to the solemn ex hortation given them at the baptism of these infants, I think it is the bounden duty of the Church to pay some atten tion to those whom it has received into its arms, so that each one may exclaim— “ Lord! with what cave hast Thou begirt us round ; Parents first season us. then schoolmasters

Deliver us to laws ; they send us bound

To rules of reason. ” I am, Subscriber,

SHOCKING STATE OF AFFAIRS IN AN HOSPITAL.

(From the Albury Banner, N.S.JV.)

A most extraordinary, and we may add disgraceful expose of neglect of patients and general mismanagement in the Wagga Wagga Hospital, is published in the Express. It appears that a few weeks since a young man named William Capal came to Wagga Wagga with a view to obtain employment on the rail way works. Shortly after his arrival he was attacked by typhoid fever, and ob tained admission to the hospital. A week later his mother came over from Victoria in order to visit him, and from what came under her observation caused her son to be removed from the institu tion to other lodgings, where he subse quently died. Now the reasons which induced Mrs. Capel to remove her son may be summarised as follows :—She says on entering the hospital she found her son in a small room overlooking the backyard. Her attention being at once arrested by a foul odour, she in quired of the wardsman what was the cause of the smell. He replied that he did not know. Some patients, however, informed her that the odour arose from some bedding that had been used by a policeman who had died of typhoid fever. Upon this Mrs. Capel went out into the yard to examine for herself, and, if possible, ascertain the cause of the effluvium, when she soon found on a fence close to the window a mattrass covered with filth, which, as she sup posed, had accumulated during the ill ness of the policeman mentioned. The stench from the mattrass and other articles of bedding being abominable, she asked permission to clean up the place herself, but was forbidden to do so, on the ground that such interference was against the rules. Mrs. Capel then ascertained that medicine ordered by the doctor for her son had never been given to him, and this although the drugs ordered had been prescribed to stop aggravated diarrhoea from which the patient was suffering. Soon after this discovery had been made, the wardsman came into the room and be gan to bully the lad for having made known to the doctor his (the wards man’s) neglect of duty. Mrs. Capel further states that her son told her his bed had never been made whilst he had been in the room—some two or three days—and that the patients generally did not receive the proper attention they required. Charges more serious than these, we need not say, could scarcely be brought against the management of any charita ble institution, and if Mrs. Capel’s statements be correct, we should imagine that the subscribers will insist upon some change in the staff. The culpable in dolence or ignorance of the wardsman, evinced by the fact of his allowing a foul nuisance—a prolific source of in fection—to remain within a few yards of a sick man’s room, is of itself suffi cient to prove him altogether unfit for his position. The neglect to administer the medicine prescribed by the doctor to arrest the progress of an acute and dangerous form of disease, constitutes even a more serious offence; but to our thinking the gravest portion of the charge embodied in Mrs. Capel’s state ment lies in the accusation that he “ bullied ” the unhappy lad for report ing his shortcomings. And this bullying process appears to have been customary on the part of the wardsman towards all the patients. Mrs. Capel says : “ The wardsman did little or nothing, and appeared to employ most of his time while in the building in ‘nagging’ and worrying patients about to do work that he' ought to do himself, and the patients say that they don’t care to say anything, because they are afraid if they did they they would be ill-treated while they remained in the hospital.”

The ancient custom in Japan on the death of an emperor or empress was to surround the grave with a number of their attendants, buried alive up to the neck, their heads forming a ghastly ring round the burial spot. The custom has been abolished many centuries, and little clay images substituted. John Rhodes, of Hounslow, who dresses like a tramp, and denied him self even the necessaries of life, has just died and lelt over to various London charities.

THE EVENING ECHO, SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1878.



s. d. s. d. Butter, inferior to best, Iff lb o 8 to I 0 Eggs, Iff dozen - • 2 6 to 0 0 Bacon, prime smoked, li? lb 0 10 to 0 0 Hams in cloth, ti? lb • 1 0 to 0 0 Cheese, prime quality, fcf lb 0 8 to 0 0 Flour in bags, £f ioolb 15 Oatmeal, Iff ioolb ■ 26 0 to 0 0 0 to 0 0



Five shilling packets of cop. PERS to be had at the “ Echo ’’ office.