SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON. Sailed. April io.—Wakatipu, s.s., for North

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. For Chertsey at 10.20 a.m. daily. For Ralcaia at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. P'or Ashburton South, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine at 10.30 a.m. daily. For Ashton, Waterton, and Longbeach at 2.45 p.m. daily. For Greenstreet, Ashburton Forks, Mount Somers, and Ashburton Gorge on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10,30 a.m. For Temuka, Timaru and South at 10.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily.

The Evening Echo. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1878.

We are informed that the trial scene from “ Pickwick,” which was to be given on Saturday at the Star of the East Lodge, 1.0.G.T., is postponed for a month.

A select quadrille assembly is an nounced to open on Thursday evening next in the Library Hall.

We would call the attention of mem bers of the Young Men’s Mutual Im provement Society to the meeting to be held to-night for election of officers. Dr Somerville, the pre-eminently suc cessful evangelist, is expected to deliver a series of addresses' in Christchurch, where he will arrive from Hokitika this evening. His first public meeting will take place on Sunday. A plot of land, bounded by Wil liams and South Street and by Crown lands, is gazetted as a reserve for a public pound. A. Le G. Campbell, Esq., is appointed Judge of the Assess ment Court for the South Rakaia, Upper Ashburton, Ashburton, and Mount Somers Road districts.

A newly-fledged Borough Councillor at Hamilton having attacked the editor of the Waikato Times , who was present to report the proceedings, and having called upon that gentleman to defend himself the editor good-humoredly sug gested that he must first be arrested by the Sergeant-at-arms and brought before the bar of the Council. The laughter which followed this retort completely “ flabbergasted ” the censorial alderman who, therefore, held his peace. “ What next ? ” may well be the query of bewildered parent or husband when he is called upon to pay bills for fair daughter or wife, and discovers that lilac and cream silks are no longer needed only for the outward array of the dear creatures ; but that articles of ladies’ wear, unmentionable to mascu line ears, are now made of this soft material, and, moreover, that “ the newest thing ” is to be nightdresses made in black Surat silk, trimmed with Valenciennes lace!

A curious dinner was lately given at one of the principal Parisian restaurants. Thirteen covers had been laid; but, to the surprise of the waiters, a single guest made his appearance. The mys tery was afterwards explained. Many years before, thirteen friends (amongst whom were Alfred de Mussett and Theophile Gautier), met at the restau rant in question, and agreed to dine together every year, on the same day and in the same place. The solitary guest present was M. Rubells, a painter of some repute. The Rev. W. B. Betison, writing from Leytonstone Vicarage, states there is now living at Dovercourt, near Har wich, a widow named Anna Webb, 81 or 82 years old, whose father, Sergeant George Ray, of the Veteran Battalion, was stationed at Gibraltar in 1805. She distinctly remembers the Battle of Tra falgar, and has a vivid recollection of seeing the Victory towed into, the har bor of Gibraltar with the body of Nelson on board. She says that no one but the superior officers were al lowed to see the dead admiral, but that her father took her on board the Red wing, which she describes as being “ riddled through and through like a cullender,” and says that the sailors of the fleet were like “ crazy creatures,” so elated were they with victory, and so overwhelmed with sorrow at the death of their beloved Admiral.

ASHBURTON SCHOOL COM MITTEE.

The usual monthly meeting of the School Committee was held in the Schoolroom last night. Present: Dr. Stewart (Chairman), Messrs. A. H. Shury and G. Parkin. Correspondence. From the Secretary to the Board of Education, enclosing three copies of the Education Act; authorising an offer of £ 100 a year for an assistant teacher; informing the Committee that Mr. Cane, architect, would forward plans for the enlargement of the school, and instructing them to call for tenders at once if the plans were approved, also asking for Committee’s objections, if any, to the formation of a new district in South Ashburton, to include in its supervision all the children south of the river; remttting the month’s salaries— of Roderick McKenzie as assistant master. From Mr. C. F. Exall, stating that he had been recommended to the assistant mastership by the Board of Education, at an annual salary of Master’s Report. The master’s report was then read, showing, from last quarterly returns, 293 children on the roll, and an average daily attendance of 236.7 the largest attendance being 265. This average entitled the master to another pupil teacher, a want greatly felt. The contract for the alterations, &c., on the internal arrangements of the school room had been given some three weeks ago to Mr. Bird, and as the work had progressed so slowly, the master de sired the Committee to urge the com pletion of the contract with all speed. Many of the children were absenting themselves from school on the most trivial pretexts, and the bad example was doing much harm. The master recommended the enforcement of the compulsory clauses of the Act. The New Room. Subject to the alteration of the en trance from the end to the centre of the building, the new plans were ap proved, after consideration. The new room will be 50 feet by 21 feet, and will be exactly similar to the one recently erected, to which the new room will be added.

Accounts amounting to 14s. 9d. were- passed for payment, and the Committee adjourned till Tuesday next.

MR. STEPHEN MASSETT AT THE LIBRARY HALL.

Mr. Massett’s fame had preceded him, and we were prepared to hear some thing of a high order at his entertain ment—we were also prepared to see a select, yet a large, audience assembled, such an audience, in fact, as a treat of the kind Mr. Massett gives his patrons would be expected to call together. In both, our expectations were realised: the hall was comfortably filled by those capable of appreciating the elocu tion of a finished reader and reciter, who could, with equal potver, touch the, softest feelings of human nature and tickle the sense of the grotesque and the ridiculous. Mr. Masselt’s pro gramme opened with “The Vagabonds,” and with this poem he bound his audience at once, then he sang his own ballad of “ Sunset.” His recitation of “ The Dame with the Camelias ” kept a rapt attention to its close, after which he sang his own justly celebrated ballad, “My bud in Heaven.” A com poser’s right to render his own music as he himself sees fit is, of course, indis putable, still his deviations from his published score of the sweet little gem did not seem to us to add to its beauties. We should certainly have preferred it as it is sold to the public, but possibly the “run down” piano caused a difficulty in this direction. If a shilling or two will put the Library Hall piano in tune, the money would be well spent indeed. Dicken’s “Death of Poor Joe” was a masterly rendering of the death-scene of the poor outcast, which was brought to the eye with touching vividness. “ Betsy and I are out,” and “How Betsy and I made up,” were given with such vigor and spirit, and with such a full conception of the author’s idea that the audience exhi bited their keen relish of Mr. Massett’s success with these pieces in a hearty round of applause. The first part closed with his much-talked-of imitation of Madame Anna Bishop. The second part, “ Fun and Comicalities,” opened with imitations of several public cele brities, among which he got the Rev. Charles Clark almost to the life. He then gave imitations of the ludicrous facial peculiarities of people he had met at sea, making great fun over the sorry figures they had cut while in the condi tion which made Artemus Ward obey the captain’s injunctions to “heave too” imitations of stutterers, of a Chinaman addressing a meeting in his own language, a Scotchman in his own language, and operatic imitations of bass, tenor, and soprano. Mr. Massett possesses a most peculiar ability in fal setto singing, which stands him in good stead in imitations of the female voice. The entertainment concluded with a recitation of Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade,” after which Mr. Massett thanked the “ most apprecia tive audience he had yet had, out of the thirty-four who had listened to him in New Zealand,” for the kindness they had shown him, and promised to pay Ashburton a visit again on his way back from Invercargill.

MAN KENNELS IN SYDNEY.

The “Vagabond” has been doing the common lodging-houses of the New South Wales metropolis, and strongly urges the need of legislation on the subject. The following extracts from his remarks will probably incline even the most fastidious to agree with him:— I have never been “ on the wallaby,” or slept in a common lodging-house in this country, and I don’t want to try the experiment. But in Melbourne I have visited such places, and found that under the Municipal regulations every thing was generally fairly clean, ventila tion was good, and overcrowding impossible. How different in Sydney ! Here are forty to fifty dens which are a disgrace to civilisation—a positive evib breathing moral and physical pestilence. We inspected seven or eight houses, which hold out signs of “good lodgings” and “ clean beds.” Some of these are

shilling houses, others sixpence, others have mixed prices, ranging from a shil ling on the first floor to sixpence in the garret. No opposition. was made to our entry at any of these. There was a difference in degree, but they were mostly abominable in the overcrowding. In some of the entrance rooms on the ground floor there appeared an attempt at cleanliness and cheerfulness; but go to the back, ascend the dirty stairs, and the result was the same. In five houses, containing six rooms, each about 12ft by 14ft*} there were over 70 people— at least there was accommodation .(?) tor- such, and the inference is that often these, beds .were occupied.. The lodgers were generally stowed away in the four upstair rooms. In some places there were seven or eight beds placed side by side, with not room .to move- between, the occupants having to crawl in from the feet. The beds were all mattresses on stretchers—the least said about the coverings the better. The ventilation in every case, although windows might be propped open, we found to be totally insufficient. To enter these rooms and see the heaps of stifling and stewing humanity was horrible. The atmo sphere choked one with a fearful taste. Each man lay sometimes almost naked, sometimes all clothed, in a feverish rest which could not fit him for work on the morrow. Those who were undressed had their garments beneath their heads for the purpose of safety. The pencil of Gustave Dore would be needed to draw the different forms and positions. Some tossed about restlessly others were evidently drunk those awake hunted for vermin. And considering that these were not paupers or beggars, but in many cases laboring men and sailors, it was horrible, to think that they could not have any better shelter. What diseases are not contracted in such holes ? It was scarcley comforting to hear that one bed had been vacated by a “young man who had gone as cook to the hotel,” or to have stewards of inter - colonial steamers pointed out to you here. Of course there Were degrees in the abominations, but in all the ventilation was most in adequate. It seemed that in every corner where a bed could be placed a man would sleep. In the closets under neath the stairs we always found sleep ing places—these were “private rooms." In outhouses in the yards members of the family or “ the servant” took their rest. In one house, in a hovel at the back, I found a naked man asleep on the stones. The drunken proprietor, who was very profuse in his offers to show us everything, stood before this man, and waved the candle on the ground in front that the light might not fall on him. “ You see, I’ll show you everything,” said he, dropping some grease on a frightened cockroach. In the living rooms there were stretchers which appeared to be turned into beds at night, and I think that in a brisk time twenty to thirty often sleep in these houses. We found in one place two lads—one fast asleep, the other nodding stupidly, waiting till the house was shut up, to take their rest on a stretcher, or where they could. These paid sixpence each for the shelter. . . . I have only given general details of the disgusting enormities of common lodging-house life in Sydney. To faithfully chronicle each phase would not suit the columns of a newspaper. The houses we visited, are, I believe, not the worst. They say that in Sus sex street there is a still lower grade; and in establishments which claim re spectability great overcrowding goes on. In a noted restaurant in Pitt Street there is a room where seven men sleep, the beds being placed on the tables which in the day are used in the dining room. This place is crowded every night, and the weekly income from one room is • forty-nine shillings. It is. a wonder how men will continue to go to such places, but they have no help for it. In Sydney the supply of decent lodgings for the poorer class does not equal the demand.

.* _ THE EVENING ECHO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1878.



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