POST OFFICE NOTICES.

Mails at the Ashburton Post Office close ns 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 Kakaia at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Ashburton South, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Kangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine at 10.30 a.m. daily. For Ashton, Waterton, and Longbeach at 2.45 p.m. daily. For G recastreet, Ashburton Forks, Mount Somers, and Ashburton Gorge on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10,30 a.m. For Temuka, Timaru and South at to. 30 a. in. and 3 p.lll. daily.

MAIL NOTICES.

The Alhambra will take the Northern, West Coast, and Australian mails on Friday. Mails close at Chiislchurch at 1.50 p.lll. on that day.

The next outward San Francisco mail will close at Christchurch on Friday, the 29th.

SHIPPING.

PORT OF LYTTELTON.

ARRIVED,

March 20, steamer Taranaki, 209, Kennedy, from Pprt Chalmers.

SaILEU March 20, steamer Taranaki, 299, Kennedy, for Northern Ports.

Auckland, March 20.—Taiaroa sailed to day.

Wellington, March 20. —Ilawea arrived from Lyttelton. I’ort Chalmers, March 10—Taupoarrived.

The Evening Echo. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1878.

The Good Templar Hall Company is rapidly Increasing in numbers. • Only a few of the 200 shares now remain to be taken up, and on Saturday the tenders sent in to the Directors for the erection of the building will be con sidered. Wc hear that four have been re ceived, and doubtless the work will be com menced at once when the contractor has been selected. The site of the hall is to he on No. 71 section, Moore street, beyond the railway line.

The Ashburton Young Men’s Mutual Im provement Association, started in the beginning of last winter, gives every promise of a success ful session during the incoming winter. The Club numbers over 20 members, and a large increase is counted on when once the session has fairly commenced. The first meeting, we learn, takes place next Wednesday, when an inaugural address anil be delivered by the Rev. W. B. Marten, on the subject of “ Mutual Improvement.” Societies of this class are an undoubted good in a community, and we com mend the Ashburton Society to the citizens as an institution deserving their good countenance. It will be found useful to many young men who in a town like our own find no means of ■spending their evenings beyond what is afforded by the streets in fine weather and the occasional visit of a travelling show company ; and they would do well to enrol themselves in a Society which promises not only improvement but entertainment of a healthy and rational kind. The rule of the Primitive Methodist Church in regard to the location of its clergymen calls away from amongst us one whose ministrations and society will he missed by a large number of Christian people. The Rev. Mr. Sharp, to whom we refer, and who has made himself felt in his sphere, preached what we may call his farewell sermon on Sunday last, and is to re sume pastoral duties at Timaru about the sixth ■of next month. Tn the ordinary course of Methodist custom his place will be filled by another clergyman whose time has expired in his present district, and the congregation here will in future, therefore, enjoy the pastorship of the Rev. B. J. Westbrooke, from Auckland, whose labors will commence next month. It is gratifying to be able to state that at the last finance meeting or Committee the Ashbur ton Circuit was reported to be in a most satisfactory condition as regards funds. Cooper and Bailey will give twelve per' forniances of their great show at Christchurch, two every day of their six days’ season in that city.

Sir George Grey left Lyttelton yesterday at one o’clock in the Hinetnoa for Akaroa. He was met on his arrival in Lyttelton by the Mayor, and visited the Orphanage and Borough School, and at his request a half-holiday was granted to the school children. He was cheered both on his arrival and departure. The Para Para Iron and Coal Company, over the starting of which the Nelson people went into ecstasies, has succumbed, and the plant, &c., of what they expected was going to make their quiet city the Barrow-on-Furness of New Zealand, is now to be disposed of to the highest bidder. Once more the hopes of the quiet citizens of the Hollow are dashed to the ground.

The writ is issued for the election of a member for Timaru in the House of Represen tatives in the place of Mr. Stafford. Mr. Turnbull will probably be returned unopposed. The calendar at the April sittings of the Supreme Court at Christchurch and Timaru will be the. heaviest tried for some time.

The Oamaru Mail points out that the railway guards are underpaid, having to work twelve hours per day for £9 4s. per month.

Considerable interest has been excited in Southern Italy by the disentombment of another Pompeii, about 140 miles north north west of Brindisi. It is believed to be the ancient city of Sipuntum. On Monday several of the friends of Mr. W. Birnie, Kaiapoi Island, met to wish him good bye on his leaving for Scotland. His trip to the home country is said to be for the purpose of importing to Canterbury fresh strains of blood in Clydesdale horses, for which the farm of Mr. James Walls, on whose account he is acting, is so noted. Court Fees.—Judge Weston, at Hokitika, a few days ago, commented strongly on the High Court fees. He characterised them as enormous, and intimated that he would make it his business to write to the Minister of Justice on the subject. Courts of law were not sup posed to bring in revenue. Poor men were also kept out of Court in consequence of the heavy costs. A Wellington correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald says :— On dit, the Colony will get ,£50,000 in the shape of succession duties from the late W. B. Rhodes’ property. Who can say that wealth contributes nothing to the revenue ? Miss Rhodes will have ,£25,000 per annum, Mrs Rhodes ,£4OOO. The writer of “ Gisborne Gossip ” in a Napier paper makes the following extraordi nary statement : — On dit, that one of Captain Read’s last acts, when in Auckland, was to relieve Mr Robert Graham from Sir George Grey’s grip, which was growing unpleasantly tight of late, by a welcome loan of £<)oco to be secured on the Ellerslie estate. — Argus. In Napier there lives a lapidary who is al most entirely supported by the Natives. They find greenstone, and take it to him to cut and polish, and manufacture ir.to Native orna ments. So large is his trade, that he lias to employ steam to do the work. Fenced all Round.—Says “zEgles” : Leather-legs is one of the fine old type of cattle-owners, the cardinal point in whose squatting faith is a free range over his neigh bours’ runs and no questions asked. Back blocks invited him the other day to join him in fencing the dividing boundary. L. at once looked serious. “ Well, you know,” said he, “ Boyd wants me to fence, and Jenkins, and now you 1 Why, the end of it will be, I’ll be fenced all round, and hang it, man, I’ll have nothing left but my own run. ”

Not tn the Piece.—An indifferent actor was playing in “Othello” at the Dunedin theatre under Mr Hoskins’ management. When he came to the passage, “O, that men should put an enemy, in their mouths to steal away their brains,” a stentorian voice roared from the gallery, “ All right, old man, drink away, you’re safe !” - The internal fittings of a new steamer, now being built on the Clyde for the Cunard Com pany, are to be made in Japan by native workmen.

A Good-going Clock.—The error in “ Big Ben,” it is said, does not exceed one second in eighty-three day. The dial is twenty-two feet in diameter, the area 400 square feet.— Land and 11'ater.

The Hon. W. Fox delivered a lecture re cently on personal recollections of Egypt and the Holy Land, at New Plymouth.

At Blenheim a man named William Robinson has had to pay ,£5 6s. 6d. at the Police Court for selling spirituous liquors to a Maori.

In the Wanganui district the census enume rators often had the doors slammed in their faces, people taking them for rate collectors.

Shocking Accident. A man named Walter Wright met with a terrible accident at llampden (Otago) a few days ago. He was driving a reaper, when the horses took fright and ran away, Wright falling in front of the machine, and being cut about the legs in a fearful manner.

The project of buying the fee-simple of Jeru salem by the Hebrews in this country lias been seriously agitated (says a writer in Truth). The town might be purchased dirt-cheap at present of the Turks for ready money, but with the exception of Sir Moses Montcfiore, I doubt whether many Hebrews, of like rank and posi tion, will invest their money in this scheme, as they no doubt can use it more profitably in this country. Lam ring Down a Community.—Some short time ago, says the Wanganui Chronicle, by the sale of the Mangaporau black of land, a portion of the up-river natives were placed in possession of hard cash to the tune of a couple of thousand pounds. The result is that ever since the Maori element has presented a perfect saturnalia. In the course of a whole week, out of some two or three hundred inhabitants, there were hardly as many units to be found sober within the length and breadth of the settlement. We are informed 'on the authority of a gentleman who is in a position to know well of the facts of which he speaks, that, almost without exception, in every native settle ment up tne Wanganui river the sale of intoxicating liquors by the natives is an estab lished feature of trade. On the occasion of the late dainking bout of which we have been speaking at Iruharama, a European settler who visited the village in the expectation of the settlement of some long outstanding accounts, now that the Maoris are flush of funds, received very scant courtesy, especially from the dis pensers of liquor, who had evidently laid themselves out to have the greater part of the purchase money transferred to their pockets.

TEMUKA.

[from our own correspondent.]

Temuka has, during the past week, been having what might be termed quite a lively time. First on the roll and of most local interest being the public meeting held on Wednesday in the Volunteer Hall, at which various resolutions were passed embodying the wish of the district that Sir George Grey should be requested to place Milford Lagoon on the list of harbor sites to be inspected and reported on by Sir John Coode. The meeting of itself might be regarded as one of the most orderly that has taken place for some time, and the resolutions were so unanimous as to leave no doubt regard ing the feeling entertained by the dis trict regarding the matter. On Friday, the Premier, Sir George Grey, visited Temuka, and on his arrival by special train from Timaru, was heartily welcomed by a large number of persons, who lustily cheered him on his stepping on the platform. Our local protective force (the T.R.V.) acted as a guard of honor, and Mr. B. Thompson, as “ coachie ” to the visi tors. The address delivered to Sir George principally referred to the Mil ford Haven scheme, and in reply the Premier stated that everything possible should he done for its advancement, and promised that Sir John Coode should, on his arrival, inspect the lagoon. Sir George Grey having walked through the principal streets of the town, and having inspected the plans of the proposed harbor scheme, pre pared by Mr. T. M. Hardy Johnstone, took his departure for Ashburton at about one o’clock.

After Sir George Grey’s departure, several gentlemen, at the invitation of the Harbour Committee, visited the lagoon, where an excellent spread had been prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Tombs. The enjoyment of the day was, I hear, slightly marred by a mistake in the locality in which the tent was pitched, and by which those present were obliged to walk about two miles further than anticipated, and this along a shingly beach. They, however, had an excellent opportunity for admiring the lagoon, and also the rural scenery visible in the background, and on their arrival at the tent might be said to have fairly “walked into” the viands pre pared, the party eventually returning in excellent spirits. Our local lodge of Oddfellows M.U. have decided to build a hall in which they may hold their meetings, &c., and tenders are now invited for its erection. This will doubtless be a great acquisi tion to the town, as the need of such a building is greatly felt by the various friendly societies in the district. Rumor has it that we are shortly to have a masonic lodge inaugurated in Temuka, hut for this I cannot vouch. Bv-the-bye, a rather amusing report of Sir George Grey’s visit to Temuka appeared in a local newspaper the day following. In it it was stated that “on Sir George’s arrival the band struck up the National Anthem.” Now, I should rather like to know to what country that reporter owes his nationalty. Is it Germany ? If so, I for my part failed to interpret the “National Anthem” produced by the two small men and a hoy who discoursed this melody referred to as anything resembling “ The Watch on the Rhine,” and am just as certain it could not, under any circumstances, be regarded as an English air.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Timaru, March 19. [Before B. Woolcombe, Esq., R.M.] Embezzlement. Samuel Armilage was brought up on remand charged with embezzling various sums of money belonging to his employer, Geo. Green,' a butcher at Timaru. The evidence of two witnesses were taken, which, in addition to that taken yesterday, showed that the prisoner had evidently been carrying on a systematic swindle. He was committed for trial at the next crimi nal sessions of the Supreme Court, Timaru, Bail was allowed, himself in and two sureties of each. Vagrancy. John 'Wallace, on the above charge, was dismissed. Civil Cases. Lutterv. Maeg'.egor, —Claimgsqd. Judgment by default;-. Perry v. Macdonald. —Claim £s. 3s iod. Judgment by default.

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

[Per Press Agency.]

LATEST FROM EUROPE.

[By Submarine Cable.]

London, March 14,

A victualling shed erection, Wool wich, collapsed, burying one hundred and seventy workmen. There were numerous dangerous injuries. There were no deaths.

The San Francisco mail has been de-

livered,

A Cape 4y 2 per cent loan of a mil lion has been subscribed threefold, at an average of 99j4- Bank minimum unchanged. The reserve better. Consols are weak and

irregular, 95^. Colonial securities are unchanged.

Wool is more languid in tone. Combing continues firm; middle and lower sorts are weak. Five thousand hales have been withdrawn, mostly Capes. Since the opening of the wool sales, 115,200 hales have been offered. The market is firm.

Wheat is drooping, owing to expected large arrivals. Tallow is flat; Adelaide wheat, 59s to 61s ; flour, 41s to 435.

Undated

A disastrous fire has occurred at Dunvillc's Distillery, Belfast, with a loss of fifty thousand pounds. 'There is great distress at Shumla, where there are a large number of

fugitives.

(Special to the Argus.) March 19,

At the Colonial Institute, Sir Julius Vogel read a paper on “ New Zealand and the South Seas : their relation to the Empire.” Principal speakers—• Fergusson, 'Powers, Casey.

In a faction riot at Toronto, 150

people were injured,

March 20.

Sir Stafford Northcote, in replying to a question in the House of Commons, said that if an agreement was attained respecting what England requires, COl.- gress may meet about the end of March.

The Russians wish to embark home wards at Bojukdere. The Porte ob-

AUSTRALIAN.

Melbourne, Thursday.

In the Assembly, Mr. Berry said there was every reason to believe the Council would pass „the Payment of Members Bill. If it did, Government would pass through a fresh Appropri ation Bill and prorogue.

Sailed —Tararua and Albion for New Zealand.

Maize, oats, and potatoes are de-

clining.

The Assam mails arrived last night by the Albany. She has a heavy pas senger list.

Sydney, Wednesday.

Part of the cargo of the Chimborazo was brought to Sydney by the Woniora. It has been suggested to build extra bulkheads, so as to get the steamer to Port Jackson. The City of Sydney was admitted to pratique on Saturday.

The Colonist leaves to-morrow with the New Guinea expedition.

There has been a very lively scene in an auctioneer’s room at the Thames. The site of the Golden Arrow battery at Taurua was being sold when some persons present declared that the whole thing was a swindle. Then arose a row. “Downright falsehood,” “liar,” “rogue,” “swindler,” “you are bribed with were the ejaculations interchanged. Then the auc tioneer persisted and knocked down the site for £6. Finally the atmosphere became thick with malediction, and the crowd adjourned to “liquor up.” They need a little refining up the Thames way.

THE EVENING ECHO, THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1878.