SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON. ARRIVED. May 18—Rotorua, s.s., from North, b AIDED. May 18—Rotorua, s.s., for .South. May 18—Star of the South, s.s., for Noith. The ketch XXX, which sailed from Lyttel ton on Wednesday, carried away her foremost at Akaroa Meads by the deck. The steam launch Pioneer communicated with her at mid night on Thursday, and found all well, the vessel riding at anchor.

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.tn., daily. For Kakaia at 10.20 a.in., and 4 p.m. daily. For Chcrtsey at 10.20 a.m. daily.

UNCLAIM HD LETTERS. The following letters are advertised at the Post Office, as having been received from places beyond the Colony, during the month of February, and remaining unclaimed on the Ist May, 1878 : Gooch, George C. Gray, George Ilayward. \Vm. Inkster, Win. Judldns, Lucas

Letters originating in New Zealand are not now advertised, but are sent to the Dead Letter Office, after having lain for two cle r months.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

ASHBURTON RETAIL PRICES, PROVISION, &c., LIST.

Sydney, May 17. Case brandy, firm, unchanged; qnar. ;rs, 9s firm ; kerosene and rice, unchanged ; New Zealand wheat, 5- 3,1 to 5s 911 ; New Zealand oats, 4s ; raven and cable tobacco, 1- 'Cd to is6Cd: sugar, unchanged; candles, 9*l.

Adelaide, May 17. Wheat, 5s gd ; flour, /,12 10s to ,£l3.

The Evening Echo. SATURDAY’, MAY 18, 1878.

The Rev. G. Barclay, of Geraldine, will preach to morrow morning and evening in the Presbyterian Church.

Wc would call the attention of our readers, and those interested in the temperance movement, to a sermon to morrow evening by the Rev. Mr. West brooke, in the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Subject: “ A Successful Total Abstinence Society, 24 Centuries Ago.” The gale of yesterday was even fiercer than the one of Sunday last. It succeeded in lifting part of the corru gated iron roof of the engine shed at the railway station, scattering large flakes of it over several of the Cameron-street sections, and carrying the dehris nearly half a mile in some cases. Two chim neys in town were blown over, several fences levelled, and not a few outhouses turned over. After the civil business in the R. M. Court this morning, James Welsh was fined 1 os. for beingdrunk and disorderly, with the alternative of 24 hours’ impri sonment. James Nolan and John Cle ments were each sentenced to a month’s imprisonment with hard labor for en deavoring to procure food and drink at Eagle’s boarding-house and at the Somerset Hotel, by means of a value less document which they presented as a pound note. Edward Broadbelt, cook and waiter at Eagle’s, proved the case against Clements, and Antonio Nugent, barman at the Somerset, gave evidence against Nolan. Antonio had mentioned the matter to Constable Maroney, who was instrumental in bring ing the prisoners to justice. We do not remember ever having seen the business in the R. M. Court carried through with the despatch of this morning. There was a race be tween the dealing out of justice and the starting time of the 10-50 train south, which was to carry His Worship to Timuka. Both won. The business being “ wired in” to with anything but a Government stroke.

The work in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday was very heavy. His Wor ship sat till five o’clock, engaged in the rehearmg of the now famous case of Farnham v. Homer, in which all the old ground was again traversed, and ended

in the previous decisions being sus tained. A cross action is pending in Oamaru between the same parties, and the evidence of Mr. and Mrs. Farnham was this morning sworn to for forward ing to the Court there. The case of Stalker v. Friedlander was finished last

night at five o’clock, after which the Coin. rose. The following is a summary of the case, in which Mr. Johnston was counsel for plain tiff, and Mr. Branson for defendant. Plaintiff’s evidence was, that in Feb ruary, 1877, M‘Lachlan asked him to thrash some wheat, saying that defen dant would pay for it; that he (plaintiff) knowing that defendant had a lien over M‘Lachlan’s wheat, agreed to do the threshing; that after he had thrashed

about 600 bushels, defendant came up on the land and verbally agreed to pay plaintiff for the thrashing if he (plaintiff) would also thrash the wheat of a man named Fraser; that plaintiff, having finished thrashing M‘Lachlan’s wheat, but before starting at Fraser’s wheat, saw defendant, who refused to pay for the thrashing of M'Lachlan’s wheat; and that he (plaintiff) refused to thrash Frasei’s wheat unless he got a wtitten guarantee from defendant to pay for that thrashing ; that defendant gave the

required guarantee, and that plaintiff thrashed Frasei’s wheat, and got paid for doing so by defendant. The written guarantee was not produced. Plaintiff admitted that he sent nn account to M‘Lachlan for the thrashing, and that he had not sent in a similar account to

defendant until long afterwards, but denied having ever applied to Mr. M‘Lachlan for payment. MT/ichlan. on the contrary, swore that plaintiff had applied to him for payment of the thrashing account. Mi. Branson, for the defendant, drew the attention of the Court to the manifest discrepancies in

plaintiff’s evidence, and to the fact that plaintiff had been contradicted by Mr. M‘Lachlan in a material point, and, as a nonsuit point, contended that the verbal agreement sworn to by the plain tiff, upon which the present action was brought, had collapsed by the refusal of both parties to act under it, and that, therefore, no action could be upon it; that the thrashing of Fra set’s wheat had been performed under a distinct written contract, which had been completely executed bv both parties. His Worship, however, although commenting on the discrepancies in plaintiff’s evidence, and alleging his inability to reconcile the conflicting testimony of plaintiff and M‘Lachlan, upheld his former decision, giving judgment for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed with costs. Notice of appeal was given. The Hon. Major Atkinson addresesd his constituents at Okawa on Thursday night, and received a unanimous vote of confidence. On the same evening, Mr. Reid, M.H.R. for Taieri, addressed his constituents, when a motion was passed expressing regret at his resigna tion, and urging him to reconsider Iv.s intention.

THE CHEVIOT ELECTION.

RETURN OF MR SAUNDERS

Early this morning we published in an extra the total votes recorded in favor of the candidates standing for the Cheviot seat, in which contest, we arc glad to say, our neighbor Alfred Saun ders, Esq., tops the poll with a respect able majority. It is a sign of the times indeed when an advanced Liberal like Mr Saunders can walk right into a stronghold of squatocracy and wrest from it a seat apparently carried hitherto in the pockets of influential landowners. We congratulate Mr Saunders on his return, which, considering the small ness of the constituency, is a victory of a most pronounced character. Details of the voting are given below : Voting Places. Saunders. Ingles. Glemnark ... ... 16 16 Waiau 17 5 Kaikoura 59. 43 Saunders 2 5 Totals ... 94 69 Majority for Mr Saunders.... 25.

CHISPA'S LETTER.

“ I am not yet so bald that you can see my brains. ” —Longfei.i.ow. I am a trooper, as you know, and my country’s call is more potent than yours. Last week I laid down my pen and took up the sword. Your friend “ Tele phone ” filled my/vacant place in your columns, while I filled one in the columns of cavalry. He fought the

errors of water schemes, etc., while I engaged in warfare on the bloodless plains of Ashburton, and “ charged with all the chivalry ” of Canterbury at

the battle of —Hay T. Smith’s paddock. The old cavalry drill of my youth has gone into history, departed with the front locks of my early years, but I find I know as much of the new exercise as

my comrades whose locks are yet rich and luxuriant, and can wield my sword with as much danger to my brethren in arms as they can, so that when we run equal risks the honor is equal. On they came last Friday—“ lrom the

plough, from the forge, from the field, from the mine” —“ 100 strong.” At the first call of battle they rallied to the “ field” (kindly lent by Hay T. Smith, Esq.), and as the weather was cold, and no foe more dangerous than rheumatism likely to attack the gallant national defenders of our Southern Britain, the camp was pitched in the Commercial

Hotel, where one of the best organised commissariat departments that ever ca tered lor a troop was managed by Quartermaster Quill. Long may he reign. His return of “ dead men ” will be something enormous, and on the day when “to your homes,said the leader of Ashburton’s host,” and every man

went back to the bosom of his family, turning from the sword to the ploughshare, it was plain to be seen that “ well corned ” was a characteristic of more than horses. Before the final farewell, we had a dance : There was a sound of devilry by night,

And young Ashburton gathered then In beauty and in cavalry, and bright

The kerosene shone o’er the red coat men.

Two hundred feet danced merrily; and when The Brass Band raised its Tcrpsichorean yell, Strong boots came down on boards that creaked again,

And ail went merry as a bullock's bell, Till midnight strikes the instrumental knell. 1 fid ye not hear it ? No ! ’Twas but the wind— No unfamiliar sound in our be-bouhlered street — On with the dance ! let joy he unconfined : l>’o sleep till morn when at a dance you meet To waltz away the hours with regimental feet. But stop ! the brazen sound is heard no more, Nor “cornet, horn, nor B-llat clarionet !” Without the “ notes ” you’ll gel not one note

more, So “ go and find a fiddler ” is the clam’rous roar !

Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And buckling belts, and evident distress At leaving partners that an hour ago Knew not this chance to air their loveliness. And there were sudden meetings such as press The pluck that’s in young hearts up to their eyes, And words repeated, with an awful stress Upon the adjective preceding “ eyes,” That showed a storm was just about to vise. And there was mounting in hot haste the stair— The sounding bugle, and the clattering sword, While pouring forward an impetuous pair Went headlong down —1 won’t say where. But, stilled the beat of the alarming drum, Slept the tir’d soldiers, while the morning star Shoneo’ei the citizens—(the brass band dumb) — Who plucky bribed the fiddlers to come—to come.

I have now hung the trumpet in the hall, sheathed the warlike sword, and stalled the still more warlike steed, and am myself again. Some of my towns men have retired from this campaign with stripes—stripes of rank, you know, not the other. Bravo our townsmen. “ On, Stanley, on ! ”

I overheard a conversation this week. Two faces (very la miliar to the old lady who is presumed to lit) the embodiment of justice, and presides with her band aged eyes and single scale in the police court) came very near to each other, and from the lips of one came these words—“ I would shout, Tom ; but I haven’t a hap'porth and no credit.” To whom the other —“So would I, hut I’m slumped, and the old skunk won't trust me for so much as would wet a postage stamp.” lias this state of affairs any th 'rig to do with the diminution of the “ drunk ” list ? Long may the financial tide ebb low if it has.

When I was a boy I read and enjoyed Fennimore Cooper. Now and again, dreams of his glorious tales rise up be fore me, and carry me back to the days when with me

“ A boy’s will was the wind’s will, And the thoughts of youth were long, long thoughts.” The Red Rover was a great book with me, and I treasure the scenes of his career in my memory. One evening this week I had called up the red lan tron and the malign smile of the woman upon it, and was in a happy dream as I sauntered down East-street. Suddenly the pesky thing seemed to rise up before me in reality, and I had such a spasm that I held on to the verandah post. What was it ? Only old Weston playing off his Yankee tricks. He has stuck up a red lantern at his door to frighten the life out of folks, and the letters on it are nearly as troublesome as the Rover’s malign smile :

CIGAR Q. C. E. DIVAN.

Mrs. C. and I took those letters to pieces, and put them together. She read thusly “ Q-unrrelsome C-haracters E-jected.” I read “ Q-uestionable C-ompany Excluded.” My neighbor, who has a fondness for conundrums, reads “ Q-ueer C-on undrums Expoun ded.” But the whole thing has been now satisfactorily explained to me, and only means— “ Quiet, Comfort, Eco nomy.” The party flies the stars and stripes, and has gone into a “newline.” If he also flies the Yankee motto C.O.D. he will find it the death of speculation and the life of honest business.

We are to become a Borough, and have a real live Mayor. I understand there are five likely candidates already— as great a rush on the office as there is for dwelling houses in Ashburton, and shops in the upper East Street block. I may as well tell you that four of these have no more chance than you against the first on the list, who is

Chispa.

THE WHITE ELEPHANT.

By an Ashburton Story-Teller A great many versions have been given of the origin of the story of the White Elephant, but none of them cor rectly rendered. This is how it was : Two brothers, very fond of each other, left college together, one of them became a clergyman, the other joined the army and was in due time with his regiment in India. The two brothers had been separated thirty years, when the clergyman received a letter from his brother saying that he had sent him the most valuable present he could find in India, but did not say what it was. The name of the ship was given, and as soon as the notice of her arrival was announced, the Rev. Frederick

posted down to London (20 miles or so), and boarded the Indiaman, all anxiety to see the value of the present he was to receive. His attention was drawn, as soon as he got on board, to a large framework erected on the main hatch, containing an immense white elephant; but he never for one moment supposed his brother had sent him this, so was contented with admiring the huge animal, until the second officer of the ship spoke to him, and remarked how docile the elephant was. By chance his name as the consignee was mentioned, and the rev. gentleman for a moment stood aghast. “ My dear sir, that’s me ! ’ he at last broke out in a cry almost of agony, “ My brother’s gone rank, staring mad !” “ Where am I to keep that monster?” “Valuable present, is'it?” Half-an-hour of excla mations, some of them not strictly clerical, somewhat relieved the gentle man’s mind, and he was able to con verse pretty rationally about the removal of his prize from the ship. The keeper was consulted, and at last it was de cided to take the elephant home and locate him in the coach-house for a time until he could be sold. This was accordingly done, and everything seemed tolerably satisfactory. The morning after the elephant had arrived, however, told a different tale. It was October, the fruit was ripe, and the cottage lay among gardens. The ele phant, so long at sea, could not resist

THE EVENING ECHO. SATURDAY, MAY 1 3, 1878,



s. s. Butter, inferior to best, 11? lb o 8 to I o Eggs, 1? dozen 2 6 to o o Bacon, piime smoked, |j? lb 0 10 to 0 0 Hams in clodi, U? lb I o to o o Cheese, prime ipiality, ),? lb o 8 to o IO Flour in bags, |? loolb • 5 o to o 0 Oatmeal, li? ioolb 26 o to 0 o



"CMVK SHILLING PACKETS of COP- J- PERS to be had at the “ Echo ” office.