SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON bAII.ED.

April 17 —Tui, s.s., for Kaikoura and Wel lington. April 17 —Alhambra, s.s., for Northern Ports.

ENGLISH SHIPPING

The New Zealand Shipphig Company lias despatched the following vessels since the date of the last circular of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company February s—Gleiularuel,5 —Gleiularuel, for Otago, with 15 passengers. February 6 Craigmullen, for Wellington. February 21—Duke of Argyle, for Canterbury, with 24 passengers. February 22 —Spirit of the Dawn, for Auckland. Will despatch : March 2—boldon, for Otago. March 11 —Dunclm, for Auckland. March iS—Frith of Forth, for Wellington. March 18— Columbus, for Canterbury. March 25— Rokeby Hall, for Otago. The Merope arrived on February 26th. 011 the 28th of the same month the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company’s circu lar reports the Waitangi as 82 days out.

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., dp'ly. For Clicrtsey at 10.20 a. m. daily. For Rakaia at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Ashburton South, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Rangitatn, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine at 10.30 a.m. daily. For Ashton, Waterton, and Longbeach at 2.45 p.m. daily. 'fhe next outward San Francisco mail will close at Christchurch on Friday, the 26th.

The Evening Echo. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1878.

By an accident on the bridge on Monday evening, a horse belonging to Mr. Aubrey Roscoe, Maronau Station, had its leg broken, and the animal had to be destroyed. It had been the shaft horse of the team, and, stumbling on the wooden roadway, fell and suffered the mishap referred to. The accident happening on the bridge just before the passage of a train, put the man in charge, and tnose who went to render assistance, to considerable trouble in clearing the line of the obstruction, and it was only after great efforts that the disabled horse and dray were removed from the roadway. It is never prudent, says an exchange, for a creditor to send a stamped receipt to a debtor before receiving the actual payment of the sum due. Human nature is weak, or rather at times it is too strong, for honesty to stand much chance of contending against it. Some months ago a certain tradesman in this city made a certain article for a certain gentleman in the country—we abstain from specifying the particulars more minutely—and in course of time sent in his account which was returned for cor rection. On sending it out the second time, the tradesman was confiding enough to forward the bill receipted and stamped. He expected of course to receive a cheque for the amount (some ;£i6) by return of post. He has been expecting that checque ever since. He is expecting it still.

The following rates will be charged for all class E goods temporarily stored in the Glad stone shed, Lyttelton station :—For the first week or part of a week, per ton or fraction, 6d ; for each additional week or part of a week, per ton or faction of a ton, 2d. Goods at owners’ risk, who must also find necessary labor. The honors showered upon the African ex ploits of Mr H. M. Stanley, the energetic special correspondent of the New Yo:k Herald, have induced the proprietor of that paper to meditate on fitting out an Arctic expedition. Government sanction is expected for the expe dition, and United States officers will command the steamer.

The following paragraphs, intended to have been printed separately, were by some blunder so arranged that they read consecutively in a Paris journal : —Dr has been appointed head physician to the Iluspital de la Charite. Orders have been issued by the authorities for the immediate extension of the Cemetery of Mount Parnasse ; the works are being executed with the utmost despatch. A Dr. Fraser, of Liverpool, recently made a very staitling statement that many young ladies empty their bottles of champagne during the evening or morning of a ball. He now says he is willing to acknowledge his error, as he is very impartial to exaggeration. Never theless, says a Home paper, iced champagne is very treacherous, and very probably the feat has been accomplished by gentle ladies who would afterwards be shocked at the bare possi bility being aftei wards mentioned to them.

A poor woman lay very ill in her scantily furnished home in Sheffield. The doctor was sent for and came. lie at once saw that here was a very grave case, and that she had, he thought, very little chance of recovery, even if she could get the nourishments her illness re quired. As he was about to leave, the question was put, “ When shall we send for you again, doctor?” “ Well,” was the reply, as he looked at the poor woman and then at her wretched surroundings, “ l don’t think you need send for me again. She cannot possibly get better; and to save you further trouble "i’ll just write you out a certificate for her burial.” And he did. After the doctor departed, the woman— women always are wilful—rapidly got better. She is now completely recovered, and goes about carrying her certificate with her.

The owner of Wool bag (writes “ ZKgles,” in the Australasian) is famed for his riches, for the extent of purchased land he holds, and for his keenness in discovering stray stock, which quietly finds its way to the pound. He patrols some portion of his run nearly every night in search of trespassers for grass. He was on duty, as usual, lately, when he came upon a lot of cattle. “Ah, my good fellows,” he soliloquised, “ I’ve got you now !” and with the assistance of his man, started the mob for Maul bank, where a pound has been lately established. Delivering them to the pound keeper without waiting for daylight to enable him to count them and take their brands, he told the official to do that, to charge mileage lor driving, and is per head for trespass, and to send the same to the home station, 'l'he poundkeei er followed but also sent a claim for £l6 for poundagejon stock which he held in custody awaiting payment before releasing them. That estimable old gentleman never made quicker time than he did that day, in order to discover that he had in the darkness carefully impounded a lot of his own stock.

ASHBURTON SCHOOL COM MITTEE.

Last night the adjourned meeting of the School Committee was held in the schoolroom. Present Dr. Stewart (chairman), Messrs. Shury, Parkin, Wil liamson, and Winter. CORRESPONDENCE. From the Board of Education, stating its willingness to allow Mr. Ward a retiring allowance of From Mr. J. M. Cambridge, request ing to have the school hours defined. A report by the master was read urging the enforcement of the compul sory clauses of the Act, as many children were absenting themselves from the school, and announcing his intention of placing his resignation in the hands of the Committee, he having received a letter from the Board of Education in reply to his application for a retiring allowance. Fie would resign on the Ist of May.

In re the Education Board’s letter as to the formation ot a new district south o 'the river, it was resolved to instruct the Secretary to inform the Board of the Committee’s objection to the for mation of any district south of the river likely to include ground presently within the district of the Ashburton School. Consideration of the enforcement of the compulsory clauses of the Act was deferred for the present, owing to the inefficiency of accommodation. The Secretary was instructed to ac knowledge the receipt of the letters from the Board of Education.

THE WESLEYAN BAZAAR.

Those of our readers who attended the Wesleyan Bazaar yesterday, will, we imagine, find it difficult to resist the temptation of a second visit to-day. The attendance yesterday was but small, owing to the unfavorable weather, still, we believe, the lady vendors had no reason to be disatisfied with their customers—between and being taken. As yet however no ob servable difference appears in the stalls, which are as crowded with every kind of attraction as at the first. Every arti cle is marked in plain figures, and the prices seem to be very reasonable. Just inside the door Mr. Aitken had fixed his galvanic battery, the mysteries of which auy one could learn on payment of sixpence. Further on, upon the platform was a table loaded with toys of every description, in one corner of which a whirligig was in full operation, at a shilling a turn. We observed one gentleman, in particular, whose arms were quite filled with treasures obtained by this means.

A notice above the door at the reai of the platform drew attention to the “ great attraction ” of the Bazaar, viz., the “ Gallery of Fine Arts,” which was well patronised. We decidedly recom mend our readers to pay a visit to the picture gallery. Some of the views are marvellously interesting, and others highly ludicrous. We were particularly struck with two of the views, “ Ruins of a County Seat” and “Woman’s Rights.” To attempt to describe the many won ders of this gallery, however, would be a hopeless task; our readers must personally inspect them in order to appreciate them fully. The charge for admission is sixpence - Miss Steane, who presided at the piano with her known ability, discoursed sweet music during the evening. The Bazaar opened again to-day at one o’clock. The following ladies presided at the stalls : —Mrs. Marten, Mrs. Adolph Le Breton, Mrs. K. Sando, Mrs. G. A. Andrews, Mrs. John Or., Mrs. H. M. Jones, Mrs. Good, and Miss Steane, Miss Higgins, Miss Taylor, Miss Pass, Miss Andrews, Miss Steel, Miss Causey, Miss Leager.

During to-day pigs, poultry, potatoes, and other produce have been coming in, and these, if not sold in the Bazaar hours, will be. disposed of by auction in the evening, along with whatever may be left unsold on the stalls. Mr. T. Bullock has consented to officiate.

THE EDUCATED HORSE.

Under this title one of our American contemporaries gives some valuable hints from the able pen of Denton Offutt, on the way to teach horses and other animals to obey at word, sign, or signal. He says you may cause any horse to follow you in from one to ten minutes. Arrange to keep his head up from the grass and other objects that he may wish to eat or smell, then having taken him from among the horses and people to the most convenient place, speak to him, rub him over the forehead above the eyt s, and with the hair, and over the neck and face below the eyes, but not on the nose. The manner in going from and to him should be slow

and quiet—reach your hand out slowly, and touch him on the shoulder, hip, or head. If there be nothing to attract his attention more than yourself, you may then say to him, “ Come along ! ” repeating the tone to suit his spirit. If dull, loud; if spirited, low and quiet. 'l'he more constant and regular, the better. Be careful not to walk faster than suits the horse j not to get more than from three to ten feet from him, or you will soon lose his attention, and he will then look to other objects. If there be any bruise or sore on his face, be careful not to touch that, or if there be any place he refuses to let you touch, do not force it, but try if he will be taught to allow you to handle it quietly, by laying your hand on it slowlv and qu etly, and repeat until he is convinced that he will not be hurt. To teach him not to run from you after quieting him, let him stand, and you go from and to him some three times. He also gives full instructions how to teach a horse to he down, how to train him for the saddle, and to stand while you mount him, how to make him used to steam engines, and to break him from shying and dodging, how to deal with kicking horses, and how to use him to a gun.

NEW WAR VESSELS FOR THE ENGLISH NAVY.

Two powerful war vessels will be added to the navy of Great Britain by the acquirement of the ironclad Payki Sherref, now in Millwall Docks, and her sister ship, at present unnamed, and on the stocks at the adjacent building yard of Messrs. Samuda. The latter vessel is far from complete, and has none of her armor fixed; but the Payki Sherref, which the Lords of the Admiralty recognise at present only by the title of “ B 71,” is finished, and furnished ready for sea, and the other ship is proposed to be like her in every respect. Technically speaking, the Payki Sherref is an iron armour-cased corvette, with a raised fighting battery deck amidships. The battery-deck rises from below the water-line to a height of about 18 feet, and mounts four 25-ton guns, 12-inch muzzle load ers, which are already on board, having been provided by Sir William Arm strong when the ship was built for the Turkish Government, more than a year since, and detained as contraband of war. Two of the guns fight on the port, and two on the starboard side, each pair being provided with gun metal racers, giving them such scope for traversing that they can fire direct fore and aft, or combinate upon one spot at 90 yards range. There is ample room to work the guns, the battery-deck being an octagon of about 60 feet, while the guns, which are somewhat short in the

chase, are 16 feet in length. They are rifled with eight grooves and on an in creasing twist. The shot rises through a lift under the muzzle, and is carried along a bar overhead to a position most convenient for loading, the cartridges also coming up from below through the openings on the centre line. The pro jectiles as well as the guns are already on board, consisting of 650 12-inch shot and shell for the big guns, and some 200 for the 9-pounder guns, which will probably be mounted in the bows and astern. The larger projectiles com prise 240 chilled shell on the Palliser principle, 100 chilled shot, 240 common shell, 70 shrapnell, and 170 segment shell. 'The armor-plating consists of a belt of 12-inch iron at the water-line, diminishing above and below to 8 inches, the thickness of iron protecting the battery varying from to ioj4 inches. The main deck, which will be nearly level with the water, is composed of 3-inch plates of armor encased in oak. Upon this main deck is erected a spar or hurricane deck, containing the officers’ cabins and other appoint ments ; but the assumption is that all this deck would be shot away in action, leaving only the armor defended battery and submerged hull as a mark for the enemy. The designer of the ship was Hemit Pasha, of the Turkish navy, and for her length she is remarkably spaci ous. She measures between perpen diculars 245 feet, and has a breadth of nearly 60 feet even at a few feet from the stem and stern. The utmost activ ity still continues in the dockyards. At Chatham five vessels are being pre pared for commission whenever they may be required. In addition to these a huge ironclad is in course of construc tion at the same place. At Portsmouth and Devonport hundreds of artizans have been engaged, and the men are working on the ships which are pre paring for sea.

The Timaru Herald publishes the following extract from a letter written to a friend by the Hon.. Mr. Stafford be fore his departure for England :—As the hour of leaving approaches, I feel much depressed. 'Though only pro posing to be absent for some two years, the fact of resigning my seat seems to me like breaking my connection, both politically and socially, with the land I have so long been bound up with and interested in. There the best years of my life have been passed, all my aspira tions formed, and my children born. In short, there every tie existed which binds a man to a country. I can never again form such ties, and what appears to be a rupture of them, even if but temporary, is a cause of sadness to me.

THE EVENING ECHO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1878.



TO SUBSCRIBERS. COMPLAINTS having been made to us by Subscribers and others of difficulty in procuring copies of the EVENrNG ECHO, \vc beg to inform our readers that we have appointed Mr Harry Staples to the charge of despatch and delivery in town of the EVENING ECHO, and beg to intimate that orders for the paper left at our office, or at Mr. Weston’s Press Agency, or given to Mr. S't'Al't.ES, will be attended to with punctuality. The EVENING ECHO will henceforth be published as early after 4 o’clock as possible, and all Advertisements for the day’s issue are requested to be sent in as early in the day as convenient. Furness and Dixon, Publishers Evening Echo. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Weekly - 6d. Quarterly, in advance, ss. 6d., booked, 6s. 6d. Half-yearly ~ 10s. ~ 13s. Single copy, One Penny.