SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

rORT OF LYTTELTON. ARRIVED. July 6 —Taiavoa, s.s., from North. SAILED. July 6—Ta'aroa, s.s., for Port Chalmers. Auckland, Friday. Sailed —Australia, for Sydney, at 5 a.m. Port Chalmers, Friday. Arrived—Wakatipu, from Lyttelton, at 3 p. m. ; Gazelle, from Lyttelton, and put back a ain to the Heads. TAURANGA, Friday. —Wanaka, for Poverty Bay, with San Francisco mail for South, at 10 a.m. POST OFFICE NOTICES. Mails at the Ashburton Post Office close a; follows : For Christchurch and North at 10 a.m., 4 p.m., and 7.30 p.m., daily. . For Cliertsey at 10 a.m. daily.. For Rakaia at 10 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Ashton, Waterton, and Longbeach, at v. 15 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 10.15 a.n>. and 3 p.m daily. For Tinwald, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine, at 10.15 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 April, and remaining unclaimed on the Ist July, 1878 : Banks, Williiam Binder, L. C. Cadle, W. C. Cairns, John, care of David Johnston Christie, Samuel Dunne, William Fitzgerald, John (2) Flail, John Harris, Mark Harris, Joseph ' William Leahy Patrick (2) Leggatt, W. L. Orr, Robert Tourgis, A. (2) 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 LIST. "*

Sydney, J 11137 5

Brandy and kerosene arc unchanged ; rice, £24. los; tobacco, sugar, and candles un changed. -r-"TiTe Brisbane arrived with a full cargo of new teas, She brings S2O chests, 7305 half chests, and 6coO boxes tea for the New Zealand mar kets.

The Evening Echo. FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1878.

I The Ashburton County Council held >their usual monthly meeting on Wednes day last, and transacted a large amount ol most important business. Amongst other subjects brought forward, was the question of the distribution of Charitable Aid. In his remarks, Mr. Wright said, that after the present year, he should advocate the distribution of Charitable Aid" by the Councils of the County, ouch a method would doubtless be the best and cheapest, and tend to carry out the intention with which Charitable Aid 'was first instituted, and prevent billet feinting as the officers of the Council would Probably be the distributors.

teh&urton County has every reason to. Congratulate itself on the small amount aid required in such a large tract of Country, there being at present only one "ecipient, who receives ten shillings per week. Such a state of affairs,-speaks volumes for the prosperity and energy iCthe county at large. Another matter i>f vast importance to the town was mentioned by Mr.. Wright, viz., the water supply for the town. Mr. Wright, stated that the Council had not taken any active steps in this, owing to the probability of the town being soon pro claimed a municipality, the Council deeming such a project would be better in the. hands of the corporation. This is doubtless the correct view to take of die subject, supposing the municipality were to be proclaimed at once, but there is no certainty of what time may ntervene before such is the case, and

,ve seriously incline to Mr. Bullock’s Opinion that it would be better for the Council to proceed at once, and when ’fee municipality was .proclaimed, ar he wd? * be

Borough Council. The importance of a water supply for fire prevention alo: e cannot be overestimated. 1 1 hrice, at least, within the past few months, have accidents occurred from kerosene lamps in Ashburton, any one of which, had it nobbeen discovered in time, would have laid a considerable portion of the town in ruins—as without water the brigade can do nothing, therefore .we heartily endorse Mr. Bullock’s opinion, and say that the sooner it is commenced, the better it will be for the town and those who have property in it. ' . We are glad to see that the Council have determined to accept Messrs. Montgomery and Co.’s offer of one of their fine rooms for an office, at any rate for three mon ks. This is a step in the right direction. .An hotel, no matter how respectable it may be is not the place for such a body as a County Council to meet in. The Road Board office is not altogether suitable either, the accommodation not being sufficient for the two public bodies. There is, w r e believe, a reserve laid off for the Council to build on, and in time no doubt a handsome Council chamber and offices will be erected; till then, no more suitable place could be had than one of the offices in Montgomery’s Buildings. A communication \\;as received from the contractor for the new pound, stating that the same would be ready for use in a few days. With* reference to the pound-keeper, the Council have decided to let the' office by tender, which is by far the best method, and will have a greater tendency to put down what is becoming in Ashburton a most intolerable nuisance wandering cattle, as when the pound-keeper knows he has a certain sum of money to pay for the pound he will use greater exer tions to increase his revenue from the charges on impounded animals.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Town Hall.—A Care-taker for the Town Hall is advertised for, and doubtless there will be some com petition for the billet. Ashburton Masonic Hall. Some time ago, the idea was mooted of a Masonic Hall for the use of the brethren in Ashburton,, and it is with pleasure we observe that tenders are called for a substantial erection in either brick or Oamaru stone.

Newspaper Pilfering. The Pending Room has been robbed, by some miserable shark, of several of its papers. Complaints are also made of Christchurch and local papers being lifted from doorsteps, &c., where they have been left by the runners. The pursuit of knowledge under difficulties is a commendable pursuit, but to steal it in the shape of newspapers shows a small soul indeed.

Gift Auction.—The gift auction, for which the ladies of the Presbyterian Church, with their friends, have been preparing for some time back, has been fixed to take place in the new Town Hall on Tuesday, the 16th instant.' Wh learn that the articles for sale are all of a superior quality, and use has been considered in their, contribution and preparation more than ornament. We think we can safely promise the industrious fair ones a good return to the Church funds as the reward of their labour. The hall will have an added attraction in the evening of the sale in the shape of a grand illumination. Inquest, —Before Dr. Trevor and a jury, an inquest was to-day held in the Ashburton Hotel on the body of the infant son of Richard Morgan, laborer, Waterton. The evidence bore that the child had been healthy, 1 but had beeh deprived of its natural suste nance by the illness of its mother, and corn flour had been substituted. It became seriously ill last Wednesday, and on Friday it died. The jury found a verdict that the child died from natural causes, but the Coroner severely animadverted on the absurdity of feed ing newly-born children with unnatural food, like corn flour, in place of milk. Hundreds of children died, he said, from a similar cause. Dr. Stewart gave evidence to the effect that thebody'had to ail appearance died a natural death, and supported the Coroner’s opinion as to the unnatural food being the primary cause of the infant’s death. No medical man had been called in to see the infant because of the distance of the parents’ dwelling from town, but medi cine had been sent for and administered. Noble Musicians. —All the young ladies are now singing Lord Dunmore’s new song. Not only as a composer does he appear, but as a violinist he is one of the few men who ever took up the violin alter one-and-twenty, and mastered it sufficiently to play in all the classical quartets, even under the baton of Costa. His kinsman, the Duke of Athole, is no mean performer on' the bagpipes, but has as yet never performed under Sir' Michael’s beat.—[We should think jjot, j

CHISPA’S LETTER.

” I am not yet so bald that you can see my -brains.” —Longfellow. There is one trial the patriarch of Uz was fortunate enough to escape.- Me never had anything to do with the Ashburton Railway Station. There is another trial of patience he was fortu nate in not having added to his list. He never had to do a daily attendance at the Ashburton Post Office. . The Ashburton Railway attendants are men among a thousand. Did you ever do a journey in a crowded coach, and ob serve how the passengers * t shaken into their places after the first ten miles, and the grumbling gradually ceased? Our railway men are like those passen gers —“ cabin’d, cribb’d, confined ” but they have got so used to their‘un comfortable station that they get along wonderfully well with all the disad vantages of their little shanty. Ido not know if the powers that be have any care for those chaps, but they ought to have some for the ladies who patron ise their line. I am sure Sir George Grey’s gallantry would rise to highest degree of heat did he witness, as often as I do, the quiet agony many ladies have to endure when clumsy “lace-ups,” ranging from B’s to 15’s (more or less), are planted on their trains, and bring their sweet persons up “ all standing.” Job never was a lady, and never wore a train, and never had it trod on in a crush and scrimmage on the Ashburton platform. In these days of chilblains the station at train time is a place to be avoided. I am getting callous now —at least my feet are— to the dangers of that throng, and do not bother a great deal; but when a hob nailed boot comes down on your foot, and the iron pierces to your very sole, it is difficult to stand like “ Patience on a monument smiling at Grief.” It is a wretched station ! The gamins of Ash burton have a keen relish for satire, and they have gone in for it at our Post Office. Call at the window' of that office and you will there find, written in Chapman’s (or somebody else’s) best style, the imperative word, KNOCK. Follow its advice, and waiting for the result you have plenty of time to read such inscriptions as, “ Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you after a long time.” Only an Ashburton larrikin could perpetrate such a criti cism on a public institution. The criti cism may be severe, but it is true ; yet Ido not blame the Postmaster ; he has my entire sympathy. With the over sight of both postal and telegraphic de partments, and the duty devolving upon him of training up young .aspirants to a place on the list of civil servants, he follows a zig-zag course through life, and “cannons” his attendance from the KNOCK window of the P.O. to the unmarked wicket of the Telegraph side. He has my entire sympathy, I say ; but a far better condoler will be an adult assistant sent by. Government to share his cares and troubles.

The pigeon-holes at the Ashburton postal dove-cot are too few. There isn’t one to be had by the County Council. We are going to have a carrier plot a carrier pigeon, but a letter carrier), and possibly his services may induce the wise Councillors to ■“ Rest and be thankful,” and patiently wait the pleasure of a loftier order of rulers than they.

Wending my way to the Court-house on Friday, at an hour when the forensic eloquence of the Ashburton bar is usually flowing in. a telling stream — now scintillating with gems of wit, now gleaming with pearls of law ; at a time when modest Crisp insinuates his pointed arguments into the R.M.’s soul, or keen Branson smites him between the joints of his intellectual armor, or when solid and substantial Johnston rolls a Krupp shot at his head : when the meter of law and justice is halting between two opinions, and a feather down would alter the even balance of the blind lady’s scales; when official voices in Emerald tones shout the cases from the open Court door— all was still ! the door was shut. Gone the crowd of loungers, gone the men of law ! I peeped through the window. The terror of evil-doers and the praise of those who do well smoked the calumet, at peace with all the herd of drunks, and all the world besides, and free from the war of plaintiff and defendant. What was the matter ? It was this. The Road Board have promised to treat with the City Council, and the latter will probably oust the R.M. from his tenancy of the Road Board Office, alias Court-house, alias anything, ajid, as if to favor fh§ transaction, Fortune

las brought a day when once in Ash burton’s history there was scarcely any thing doing before his Worsh p. Long may the time of quiet continue !

.jgi Gas ! It is coming ! I can see an r-8-candie -.power il umination in the prophetic distance. I can see the /(5 shares rise in the market, and find buyers at 50 over. I can see the town, when H.R.H.. the Prince of Wales passes through it, lit up. with bright transparencies. Host Quill will display such an exhibition of the gasfitter’s art as Host Shearman will try to equal and outshine. The Mayor that is to be will nut be outdone, and the mart of the City of the Plains will shed a light that w.ll dazzle the eyes of dwellers on the flats. Farewell ye Belmont sperms; farewell to-explosive Devoe. No more breaking nose-bridges on verandah posts—no more knee-deep mud plunges in the darkness: no more humbug with lanterns—for the wanted light will come. Claud sang of Geothe’s dying words “ More Light,” and the pioneer of Ashburton set about getting it. Wright came from Windermere and told us of it. Ivess went to Timaru and brought us tidings of it. Go on, my brothers, with your grand work, and give us “ More Light ” indeed. Gas is cheap, as I am showing you, but it does not always give light. In your enter prise may you succeed, and in the reflection of your new illuminator (when it comes) may your shadow never grow less. So wishes yours truly - Chispa.

PIANOS.

If we were to write a book upon modern instruments of torture, we should head the first chapter “ Pianos, and the Barbarous and Indiscriminate Use of them.” In the hands of our dear sisters they have become moral thumbscrews, beating the old ones of the Inquisition into fits, which is going a good way, for the old instrument of inhumanity must have been very tight fits, to say the least of it. When we as sume our proper position as sole dicta tor of Queensland, we intend to have a large quarantine ground set apart, and fence it with a : girl-prooffence. Inside this fence aspiring musicians should have our full leave and license to mur der sweet sounds at any hour of the day or night; outside of it should be death for anyone who had not passed a stiff musical examination to touch a note. (They might touch notes after the man ner of an underpaid bank clerk, and incur a lesser punishment, but for the more heinous offence, death.) We will give in to no man in our admiration of a really good pianist: when the ivory is deftly pressed by gentle practised fingers, white as herself, we revel in admiration of performer and performance : our wholesesthetic being is filled and thrilled with pleasure. “It soothes our paper breast, and lulls the fiercest critic into rest.” But when mamma says, “ Play something, Angelina,” and Angelina by coy reluctance compels us to add our soft persuasions to mamma’s, and so bring upon our devoted head the whole of her musical repertoire, played in the jovial one-finger style of the present day • —we weaken, we pass — “ Give us the desert shore, And the fierce tumult Of the tempest’s roar.” Oh, why will people persist in teaching every girl they possess music, whether she has the necessary qualifications for the art or not ? Why, above all, are we haunted evermore by it, owing to modern houses being such admirable conductors of sound. We can escape Angelina and her piano, directly; we are not forced to hang enraptured over her when she is making night beautiful with melody, but indirectly we are at her mercy ; she is the barrel-organ nui sance of Queensland, and there is no peace in the land, excepting pieces of music. Wfth nose “ tiptilted” in scorn, with legs defiantly spread, an editor sat with his hands in his bags, and a jangle of tunes in his head—strum, strum, strum, from the first grey dawn of light,- and strum, strum, strum, through most of a weary night, till underneath their touch the instrument painfully wails, they finish—-.you bet —with a mad duet, and commence in the morning with scales. “O, girls, with sweethearts dear, O, girls who want to be wives, ’tis not pianos you’re wearing out, but tor tured brothers’ lives.”—“Specialities,” in the Queenslander.

A man who was recently hanged in Canada for killing his landlord made a speech' on the scaffold, in which he expressed a hope that this might be a warning to other landlords who per sisted in dunning their poor tenants. i The longest sentence on record was con structed by a Western Judge. He sentenced a man for life, and afterwards slapped two more years to the sentence because the. prisoner jalle4 him

TELEGRAPHIC.

LATEST FROM EUROPE. The Eastern Situation. [By Submarine Cable.] > Constantin ople, J uly 5. General Todleben is preparing for the withdrawal of the Russian army to Ad rianople. London, July 4. The Channel squadron has left for an indefinite period under sealed orders. Congress is engaged in private com mittees. Lord Aylesford commenced to-day a divorce suit against the Countess and Marquis of Blandford. The Queen’s Proctor intervened on the ground of collusion, and produced evidence in support of same. The Countess also makes charges against Lord Aylesford. (Special to the Echo.) July 5- In the cricket match, Australians v. Eighteen of Stockport, the former in their first' innings scored 163. The top score was made by Bailey, 34. In the Stockport first innings there is one out for eighteen, Berlin, July 5. ' The Turks have accepted in principle the Austrian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but demand that a limit be fixed as to duration, and stringent regulations as to the area to be oc cupied. ' . The navigation of the Danube is to be opened to all nations. A difficulty is expected with reference to Batoum.

AUSTRALIAN.

Sydney, July 5. The Queensland revenue for the year was 50,000, being an increase of p£99°°- The South Australian revenue was ;£i,s°o °°°.

INTERPROVINCIAL.

[Per Press Agency.] Auckland, Friday. • Vesey Stewart has chartered the ship Halcione to bring a second batch of Belfast special settlers for Katikati. He has sold out all his properties in. Ire land, realising He brings a printer to start a small paper at ,the settlement. Napier, Friday. Last evening the Rev. de Berdt Hovell, the new incumbent of St. Tohn’s, was inducted in the presence of the Bishop of Waiapa, by the Rev. Samuel Williams, as deputy for Arch deacon Williams. There was a large congregation, and the ceremony was very impressive. Wellington, Friday. -

The Colonial Museum will be opened on Sundays for the first time next Sun day, from two till four o’clock. Mr. Burns, Postmaster - General of New South Wales, and Hon. J. T. Fisher, have made proposals to Col. Glover involving fresh terms with the company as to tariff charges per cable for messages to and from Australia. Probably a reduction in present charges will result. Col. Glover has telegraphed to the Board of Directors of the Eastern Extension Company, at London, for instructions. Colonel Whitmore, Messrs. Fisher and Burns, with Colonel Glover and Dr. Lemon, leave for Nelson and Waka puaka, per Hinemoa, to-morrow, and will return on Monday.. Saturday. Mr. Crawford, R.M., took his seat for the last time on the Bench this morning. The members of the Wel lington Bar presented him with a com plimentary address, and' the members of the local Press also made him a handsome present. Mrs. Crawford pre sented the Clerk of the Court with a handsome chased silver goblet, and Inspector Atcheson with a silver flagon. Mr. Mansford, the new R.M., takes his seat on Monday for the first time. Blenheim, Friday. At a meeting of the D’Urville Island Copper Company last night forty-five shareholders were present. The articles of association were approved, and the following directors appointed:—Messrs. C. Redwood, R. Phillips, H. Owen, J. Redwood, Garling, C. Davis, Joseph Ward. Nelson, Friday. Mr. Richmond Hursthouse, M.H.R., writes to the chairman of the Education Board, asking his opinion regarding the voting powers given under clause 65 of the Education Act. Mr. Hursthouse says : —“I can hardly believe that eighty men, myself included, could let such an provision be made '

Timaru, Friday. Allan and Stumbles obtaining.. the contract for the Breakwater has given general satisfaction here, as they are well known as successful contractors for railways and other large works. Dunedin, Friday. At a meeting held to-day it was re solved to take steps for the construc tion of a railway down the Peninsula side of the harbour.

SOCIETY IN AMERICA.

[Otogo Times Correspondent.) San Francisco, May 13. As I anticipated in my last, the Beecher-Tilton scandal has broken out in a new place. Mrs. Tilton published ■'a card in which she admits her adul tery with Beecher, and Beecher rejoins denying that she was “guilty of the great offence.” As usual, opinion is divided. Beecher’s friends would not convict him although they had ocular demonstration of his guilt, while the vast majority of cleanly-minded people are disgusted. But Beecher profits by Mrs. Tilton’s card. He is on a lectur ing tour, and so greatly has it revived his popularity that several newspapers state that it is a clever advertising trick of his agent, Major Pond, of the Bos ton Lyceum Lecture Bureau, while that gentleman alleges that it is a case of b'lack-mailing. In any case, it is a mud volcano which vitiates the moral atmosphere. Following the renewed Beecher scandal came an infamous charge against a Methodist Episcopal bishop, a man over 70 years, and of unimpeachable repute. The Chicago newspapers published what purported to be letters addressed by him to a young, lady, a ward" of his, who had been recently married, full of sugges tive and licentious matter. Reports of misdoings of ’ a promiscuous character wore likewise published, and the .. de tails wore telegraphed all over the country as the most acceptable kind of news. It turned out that the whole affair w r as a malicious libel, the letters having been fabricated by a discarded •suitor of the lady. Yet the law in this country affords no protection to inno cent persons, and the sole remedy in this, as in other cases, is the bullet. No issue has been had in the Bishop M’Coskry scandal; but public opinion would justify the shooting of- the slan derer, while cherishing the scandal. In truth, such is the morbid condition of American society, that a fresh sensa tion is demanded almost daily. The Plymouth Church scandal contains nothing new. The novelty of “ nest-' hiding ” had passed; but the Michigan bishop’s scandal possessed the salacious piquancy needed to stimulate the sated appetite of the public. For this reason* it is certain to engross public attention, despite its utter untruthfulness, until new sensations in social life supplant it. And, unhappily, these are of frequent occurrence. So vitiated has the public taste become, that men and women de liberately do and say things revolting to morality and religion for the sake of newspaper notoriety. Indeed, not a few of the most serious crimes com mitted in this country may be traced directly to this cause. It lies at the root of the more unamiable traits of American character. It influences po litics, commerce, the bar and bench, and is the power which absolutely rules the pulpit. Everything is got up for display. Shoddy reigns, sincerity has no footing; the press, no doubt, is responsible for,much of this: but then, it must be remembered, that the news papers of a free country reflect the popular taste. They cater for their constituents; and when newspapers serve up daily messes of filth and ob scenity, or’ magnify the doings of 1 crimi nals and rascals, as if they were the acts of heroes and public benefactors, be sure the community is not much above the level of such literature. The American press undoubtedly does much to make crime popular by its method of narration;-but the American juries treat crime with extreme laxity.

It is a well-known fact to all students of his tory, that some of the most important steps in the advancement of a young country have almost as it were been completed unobserved, although at the time of its commencement a great deal of bitter feeling has been exhibited In no case in our own experience has this fact been more apparent than in the successful negotiations now being carried on to their completion with the Maoris in the North Island for the settlement of their land. The late Sir Donald M‘Lean would, doubtless, have, lived to see the fulfil ment of his wishes, but for the acrimony and ill-feeling induced by the two parties in discus sion, yet how quietly now all is lending to a successful issue. Any of our readers will be astonished at the great advance in trade made by Ashburton, on paying a visit to the stores of Messrs. A. O. AitKEN & Co., Havelock street, for nothing but a great advance, inducing, an immense demand, could possibly justify such an outlay as has been necessary to procure so large a stock of goods of all kinds, and for sale at such low figures,—Advt] It is estimated that two thousand million! of pounds of {®bitsc9 gra gnrju&liy consumed >0 he werldi

The Evening Echo,. Saturday July 6, 1878.



d. s. ■d. t BnyttSiy inferior to best, 1? lb ][ 0 to I 0 jfeggs, $ dozen - - 2 6 to 0 0 | Bacon, prime smoked, IP’ lb c> 10 to 0 0 |ttams in cloth, i? lb - .1 0 to 0 0 [tCheese, prime quality, U? lb o 8 to 0 zo ;Flour in bags, IP* ioolb 15 0 to 0 0 lOatmcal, 1? ioolb - 26 0 to 0 0 Lard, lb - - - 0 9 to 0 0