SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON. ARRIVED. May 16—Taranaki, s.s., from South. Sailed. May 16—Taranaki, s.s., for North. The barque Mendoza anivcd at Timavu, from Auckland, yesterday. She had fearful weather on the ]>assage down. The brigantine Camille, from New York, arrived at Port Chalmers yesterday after a passage of 119 days. She met with a series of terrific gales from the S. W. to N.N. right across the Southern Ocean. She brings 430 tous of cargo, two-thirds for Dunedin, and the rest for the bluff.

POST OFFICE NOTICES.

Mails at the Ashburton Post Office clos as follows :

For Christchurch and North at 10.20 a. in., 4 p.m., and 7.30 p.in., daily. For Raka'a at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Chertsey at 10.20 a.m. daily.

For Ashburton South, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine at 10.30 a.m. daily.

UNCLAIMED LETTERS

The following letters arc advertised at the Post Office, as having been received from places beyond t'ie Colony, during the month of February, and remaining unclaimed 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, (Sic., LIST.

The Evening Echo. THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1878.

An undated telegram received to-day from Cape Town says the Kaffir rising Is extending. The following weights have been struck for the Ashburton County Han dicap in the forthcoming steeplechase meeting on the 29th :

A. Le Grand Campbell, Esq., Judge of the Ashburton District Assessment Court, sat to-day for the purpose of hearing objections in re the assessment roll. A number of parties rated for properties denied ownership, and the objections were allowed, the rates being placed against the proper owners. Two or three objections were taken to the amount of assessment, but no ap pearances were put in by the parties objecting, and the valuations were sus tained.

Mr. D. M‘Guinnesa, returning home from the cavalry training yesterday, left the train at Chertsey to drive to Rakaia with Messrs. O’Callaghan and Wash bourne. The buggy was capsized on their arrival at Rakaia, and all three ejected. Mr. M‘Gainess was unfortu nate enough to have his leg broken by the accident, but the others were only slightly bruised. Dr. Doyle attended to the hurts of Mr. M'Guiness after he had been conveyed home. Constable Devine died suddenly yes terday at Lyttelton from the bursting of a blood vessel.

Yesterday afternoon a handkerchief bearing the name “ A. Bowling,” a straw hat, soaked in water, a pair of gloves, and odds in notes and silver, were found on the banks cf the Avon at Christchurch, and are pre sumed to have belonged to a Miss- Bowling, lately a governess in the

family of Mr. Hardy Johnston. The young lady had been in a desponding state of mind for some time in conse quence of the drovving of one brother with the Avalanche and another in the North Island. The police are dragging the river for the supposed suicide. On Friday, as some of Mr. John Smith’s employes were sinking a well at Captain Dalton’s residence at Koromiko, they found indications of coal. It ap pears that up to 65 feet of driving the pipe went with a little difficulty, taking about 113 blows to the inch, but at the depth named, it began to go very easy, till it got as low as 9 to the inch. After the five feet sinking, thinking there must be something wrong with the pipe, the men pul the rods down, and found all was right. On withdrawing them, it was found that they were coated for some two feet with a paste composed of fire clay and coal. As no coal was used anywhere in the district, the conclusion arrived at was that the pipes had been sunk on a coal seam, and Captain Dal ton has called for tenders for sinking a shaft, in order to place the matter be yond doubt. Should the surmise prove correct, the value to the district cannot be overestimated. In our opinion it would be greater than a goldfield.— Marlborough Express. A cow shedding her hide is not seen every day, and we suppose many per sons will declare that such a phenomenon never has been seen. We are assured, however, by two gentlemen who have recently been travelling the country as land classifiers, that at Keilambere they were taken to see a cow which was shedding her hide in large flakes, and the new skin or hide was growing upon places. The cow was supposed to be recovering from a fever, and was in good condition, both grass and water being abundant.— Bacchus Maish Ex press.

The following method is practised among the best butter-makers of Eng land for hardening or rendering butter firm and solid during the hot weather: Carbonate of soda and alum are used for the purpose, made into a powder. For aolbs. of butter one teaspoonful of powdered alum are mingled together at the time of churning, and put into the cream. The effect of the powder is to make the butter become firm and solid, and to give it a clean sweet flavour. It does not enter into the butter, but its action is upon the cream, and it passes, off with the buttermilk. The ingredients of the powder should should not be mingled together until required to be used, or at the time the cream is in the churn ready for churning.

ENGLAND’S PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

The London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, writing on the subject of the preparations for war in England, says :—“ Everything is being done on the most complete and com prehensive scale. In the various na tional dockyards every vessel capable of being finished within the next six months is being actively pushed for ward towards completion ; gunboats and torpedo vessels are being con structed, not only at Chatham, Ports mouth, and elsewhere, but also in numerous private yards ; and plans are under consideration for arming the larger vessels of our mercantile marine, such as those belonging to the Cunard Company. At Woolwich, the works in connection with the arsenal present an impressive sight. Night and day thous ands of stalwart workmen are busily engaged in preparing the terrible en gines of destruction. The quantity of war material already accumulated is enormous, yet the labour of production never ceases. Every contingency is being provided for. We have not only thousands of baggage wagons, hospital tents and huts, siege appliances, electric telegraphs and the like ; but we are also collecting the materials for a rail way twenty miles in length, to facilitate the despatch of troops and materials to the front at any spot wherever it may be necessary our troops should make a landing. Nor is this all. Every effort is being made to increase the efficiency of our military forces, and although it has been the fashion of late to dispar age our military strength, it would be seen to be far more considerable than

is generally supposed. The whole of the Militia regiments in the United Kingdom are to be armed with the Martini-Henri rifle, and it is asserted that at the expiration of the annual period of drill, the various regiments will receive notice to prepare for enter ing upon garrison duty in conjunction with the different Volunteer corps. It is 'also notified that the fact of Volunteers offering themselves not only for garrison duty at home, but even abroad, is occupying much at tention. In 0119 Middlesex regi ment, a large number of men have signed a paper, expressing their willing ness to go wherever the Government may wish, and during the past fortnight the opinion has gained ground that the various forts and barracks will be en trusted to the charge of the Volunteers and Militia, should it be found neces sary to send the regular troops to the East. A Volunteer ambulance depart ment has also been established, and a fresh number of Volunteer field batteries are being organised. It is asserted, upon apparently good authority, that we can despatch 30,000 men to the East in less than a week’s notice, to be followed by the like number about a fortnight afterwards, and that within a period of three months we should have under arms no less than 300,000 men, in cluding the reserves. But it is calculated that we might obtain at least one million native soldiers from India. Whether this prove to be the case or not, there is abundant evidence that the martial spirit is strong within the English breast. Instead of the possi bilities of war acting as a deterrent upon recruitii g for the regular army, or upon joining the various Volunteer corps, it has been all the other way. There are few Volunteer companies below their nominal strength, and the vacancies are daily becoming filled up, although it is generally "understood that in the event of war the reserve forces will have to undertake garrison duty. It is the same with our naval Volunteers. In fact, the grim earnestness of all who have to handle the rifle or the cutlass is fearfully impressive. There are no noisy manifestations, no yelling of patriotic songs, no braggart displays of Dutch courage. Every man appears to recognise the gravity of the situation, and the heavy responsibility imposed upon them. A large number of torpe does have been prepared for the pro tection of the estuary of the Thames and Medway, and can be laid down at short notice. In fact, the entrances to the Thames are being made as impreg nable as the approaches to Cronstadt.

CAT LORE.

The wilful destruction of a cat in Egypt is looked upon as a very serious offence even now ; but in the good old days (for cats) at Bubastis the offense, even supposing it to have been acci dental, was punished with prompt severity. The unfortunate offender, as in the case of a Roman soldier whose story is told by Diodorus, was taken prisoner, tried, condemned, and sen tenced—to death. Puss had fine times of it in those early years of superstition and animal worship ; but, unfortunately for her, other people formed very differ notions concerning her character and occupations generally ; for in the Mid dle Ages cats got the reputation of being the only animals that ill-famed old women could induce to live in their houses ; consequently they naturally be came associated with witchcraft and all that was diabolical and uncanny by the credulous people of those times. In the isle of Thanet a carving still exists on one of the misereres of the church which represents an ugly old woman sitting in a chair and holding a distaff in her hand, while two cats sit close .0 her, one of them, indeed, in the chair itself, looking as if it wished to spring on to her shoulder. It seems, however, that old women did not monopolize the cats even in those days, for it is known that in the thirteenth century one of the rules of the English convents was that the nuns should keep no other ‘ beast” but a cat; hence we may infer that cats were looked upon more favorably by the religious orders than by the people generally.

The cat has been connected with many curious superstitions in various parts of the world. In some localities,

for instance, it is believed that witches in the shape of cats are in the habit of roaming .about the roofs of the houses during the month of February; hence they are promptly shot. In Germany, also, a similar notion prevails respecting black cats, in consequence of which they are never allowed to go near the cradles of young children, though it is not easy to understand why the young should be more exposed to danger from these sup posititious witches than those more ad vanced in years. But numerous instances might be given of the incredible non sense that has been believed, and is believed still in some places, about the diabolical attributes of the cat, especially a black one. In Sicily, where the cat is looked upon as sacred to St. Martha, there is a superstition that anyone who wilfully or accidentally kills a cat will be punished by the serious retribution of seven years’ unhappiness. So if any credit is to be attached to this, the life of puss in Sicily must be as secure from harm as in the palmy days of Egyptian cat worship. In Hungary there is a curious superstition that before a cat can become a good mouser it must be stolen. The familiar nursery story of “ Whittington and his Cat,” as well as the favorite children’s fable of “ Puss in Boots,” can be traced some hundreds of years back.

TELEGRAPHIC.

[By Submarine Cable.]

LATEST FROM EUROPE.

The Eastern Situation.

London, May 13,

' Lord Hartington submits a formal motion condemning the Government for the unconstitutional employment of Indian troops without the sanction of Parliament.

The Underwriters’ Association report the arrival in London on May 6th of the Elizabeth Graham from Dunedin, and the Hokianga and Pacific Slope from Hokianga.

The lock-out in Lancashire is ex tending, with no immediate prospect of settlement.

Undated,

Viscount Sandon joins the Cabinet. Prince Bismarck is reported to have urged on Count Schouvaloff, during his last visit, the necessity of peace, not only for Russia itself but for all Europe. Admiral D'Orsay, commander of the Pacific station, has arrived at Panama, in the Shah, to watch the movements of suspected vessels. Negotiations between the Vatican and England to establish diplomatic relations have been suspended, from a failure to agree upon the basis. Serious rioting has occurred at Dar wen, in Lancashire, and blood has been shed in an encounter with the police. The military have been summoned. Paris, May n. The British Ambassador has assured the French Government that England will do nothing in the matter of the Suez Canal without the accord of France.

Berlin, May n. The Russian Ambassador at London visited Prince Bismarck and then pro ceeded to St. Petersburg. Athens, May 11. After desperate fighting in Thessaly and FEpirus, an armistice has been ar ranged with the insurgents. St. Petersburg, May 13. The Russian official Gazette appeals to the people for the formation of a volunteer fleet. The Grand Duke Alexander has opened a subscription list for the purpose.

AUSTRALIAN.

(Special to the Globe) Sydney, May 15. The Torres Straits mail has arrived at Cooktown, having on board a party of Chinese for New Zealand. She brings news to the effect that in a cyclone eight thousand Chinese were killed and drowned. The crew of the Alexandra barely escaped. The Suez mail has arrived at Albany. Passenger for Lyttelton: Captain Oswell. Sailed—Garonne.

THE EVENING ECHO, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1878.



Butter, inferior to best, ’j?lb s. o d. S to s. I d. 2 Eggs, li>' dozen 2 6 to 0 O Bacon, prime smoked, V? lb o 10 to 0 O Hams in c>otb \# lb i 0 to 0 O Cheese, prime quality, If? lb o 8 to 0 O Flour in bags If? ioolb IS 0 to 0 O Oatmeal, If? ioolb 26 0 to 0 O



W. Compton’s b.g. Lone Hand st. 12 It) 7 J. J. Dawson's b.g. Ivanhoe ... 12 o A. Devcry’s c.g. To Ivooti 11 2 W. Compton’s c.g. Faitgh-a-Ballagh... 11 O E. Saunders’ b.g. The 'take ... II O P. Husband’s b.g. The Raven IO 2 C. E. Foots’ g.g. Billy Buttons IO 9



Five shilling packets of cop pers to be had at the “ Echo ” office.