SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF LYTTELTON. ; Li ■. . -'"V L: '' ; arrived. May 20 —Alhambra, s.s., from North. May 20 —Tui, s.s., from North. -• isAt LED. May 20 —Wakatipu, s.s., for North and Sydney. May 20—Alhambra, s.s., for South and Melbourne. } May 20 —1 ui, s.s., for North. We are indebted to the officer in charge of the Marine Department for the following information: —“ Picton, nth May, 1878. — Jackson, of Tory Channel, reports having found a few days ago at Oiffenbech,: Queen Charlotte Sound, part of gangway of a.vessel, about six or eight feet long, bluegum stanchions, apparently kauri pine planking, brass hinges, painted inside, white panels, blue mouldings. I have not heard of any wreck. Probably it may have been washed overboard in bad weather from some sailing vessel. An inquiry was made on Friday last concerning the ketch Margaret, reported missing. Probably she may be in Port Underwood.—(Signed) J. Ai.len, Collector of Customs ."—New Zealand Times.

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., daily. For Rakaia at 10.20 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily. For Chertsey at 10.20 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 February, and remaining unclaimed 011 the Ist May, 1878 : Gooch, George C. Gray, George Hayward, Wlll. 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, &c„ LIST.

The Evening Echo. MONDAY, MAY 20, 1878.

A meeting of the inhabitants of Ash burton has been advertised to take place in the Library Hall to-night, to consider the propriety of taking steps to have the township proclaimed a municipality. Considering the importance of the ques tion, and the necessity existing for an expression of opinion from all interested in the matter, we hope to see a large meeting of the residents. Bad weather seems to have had an injurious influence on the telegraphic system of the country recently. We only received on Sunday morning telegrams which should have reached us in time for Saturday’s issue, and Wellington tele grams inform us that all Southern mes sages are likely to be delayed. We are thus unable to give our usual budget of telegrams of date of issue.

Rangiora has been proclaimed a municipality.

A night watchman on board the ship Himalaya, presently in harbor at Lyttel ton, is supposed to have fallen over board and been drowned. He has been missing since Friday morning.

An act of wanton mischief has been committed in Christchurch. Mr. Isaac Butterfield, sculptor, Cambridge Terrace, has had his yard entered by some evil disposed persons, and several marble tombstones broken. Mr. Butterfield is a heavy loser by this piece of larrikin ism, as the stones all had inscriptions carved upon them. Ross, on the West Coast, will soon be a teetotalistic community. A well known Boniface has adopted a novel test of a man’s inebriety by making him stand on a bottle laid lengthways on the floo*\ If the customer cannot maintain his equilibrium on the bottle then no liquor will be supplied.

A walking match of some interest took place in Christchurch Oddfellows’ Hall, on Saturday afternoon. The pe destrians were men of local note, and were pitted against each other for aside on aSO mile effor. Bowley com menced at 12 o’clock, did 10 miles up to 2.12 ; 15 miles up to 3 9 ; 20 up to 4-7 125 up to 4.57 ; 33 % up to 7 p.m. ; 45 at 9-33 ; So at 10.30, the last mile being done in 10 minutes; his shortest time for any one mile being 9 minutes. Pentecost, his antagonist, walked gamely for a time, but was completely “ baked” at his 40th mile, when he had to be carried out. Intervals occurred for re freshments during the walking.

A Main-street man stood inside the blinds the other day and spent fifteen minutes trying to brush a streak of sun shine off his pants with the clothes brush before he discovered what it was. He was so mad then that he jawed his wife, whipped three of his children, and sulked all the rest of the day.

A SEAMAN’S LETTER.

The following is a letter from a young sailor with the British fleet off Constan tinople, to his friends at home. It is dated Touzla Bay : I write these few lines, hoping you are quite well, as I am at present. I received your paper that you sent me about the British fleet entering the Dardanelles, which I thank you for very much. We have had some exciting times since I last wrote to you. I can tell you : that we was prepared if they had fired on us. We had all our guns loaded, and we was all stripped to the waist so that our clothes should not be in our way. I can’t tell you exactly how I felt, but I felt very anxious, as I dare say we all felt. We had the ad miral on board of us, as his own ship had not arrived from Malta. There was a mistake in that picture you sent, for it was our ship, the Sultan, that fired the salute, but in the picture they have got the Agincourt as firing.' Our cap tain, the Duke of Edinburgh, came round to each of the guns and told us that he knew that we should uphold the glory and honor of our country if re quired. We gave him three cheers as only English bluejackets know how to. I can’t tell you the feeling of disap pointment that ran through all the fleet as the signal was hoisted to return again to Besika Bay to anchor, after going so far up. When you see the picture of us going up the second time I should like you to send me the paper, for we want to see it. I don’t recollect such a cold day in all my life as when going up. I belong to what is called the top riflemen or sharpshooters in a place about halfway up the mast, and exposed to the wind and snow from about half past nine in the morning till three o’clock in the afternoon with my rifle and 150 rounds of ball cartridge and completely wet through. My rifle was about two inches thick with snow, regu lar froze on. I suffered at that time more than I ever did in my life. We are lying in a better place now than Besika Bay, but we are all ready for leaving it at any moment for Constan tinople. We have been in sight of it. We have our guns loaded day and night and keep watch by them. We are doing so now ; in fact, it is my watch from twelve o’clock to-night till four in the morning. I dare say by the time you get this letter we shall be into it head and cars, for we are expecting the telegram ever}- hour. 'Will you tell my sister I am quite well, and that I am in a good fighting ship, so that she need not be anxious about me. I hope she is quite happy ; it would make me feel very bad if she were not. I daresay you have seen H. since he has been home ; he will be very soon sent out here again, as there are seven ships coming out here. Tell him how as he has been out of all the excitement, and that his old ship the Raleigh has been ashore for about a week, but she is all right now. P.S.—The Duchess of Edinburgh is the nicest lady that ever was, and all for the sailors. Before we left Malta there were games, and the sailors were getting rather the worst; then the Duchess said she would never believe British sailois could not beat all the world, so we went at it again— and did’nt we win, and didn’t we cheer the Duchess.

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

An action, in which the main ques tion was whether jQ 1200 a year should be paid to Madame Megret, or to her husband, Monsieur Louis Nicolas Adolphe Megret, was concluded re cently in England. The Vice-Chancellor said this was a most extraordinary case, and was brought forward in an incon venient form. It was the suit of an infant, Mr. T. M. Davis, to carry into execution the trusts of the settlement of his father, dated 1856. There were two funds—one for the separate use of his wife the other not. After the death the whole was to go to the plaintiff, who has also other property of great value. There was no reason for Mr. Davis to bring this action as the funds were quite safe. The real question was between the two defendants, M. and Mdme. Megret, each of whom claimed ,£I2OO a year. The circum stances of the case were most remark able:—The lady was a Jewess, the widow of Mr. Davis, a Jew, by whom she had an only son. They were per sons of considerable wealth. On the 17th April, .1862, Mrs. Davis married Monsieur Megret, a Frenchman resid ing in England, a sculptor by profes sion, who for the purpose of this marriage renounced the Roman Catho lic religion, and became a Jew. He promised his wife to remain in Eng land, and was in all respects an Englishman, so that any claim in re spect of the French law was, in his lordship’s opposition, excluded. He at length, however, induced his wife to go to b ranee,- and there she was confined. Her confinement brought on puerperal mania, a form, however, of madness which Dr. Turke and Dr. Bucknill had said was not likely to result in any other form of madness. In IS7O, at her own request, she was placed in an establish ment at Jvry, near Paris, under the care of Dr. Luvs. Upon the evidence he was of opinion that within one year the lady had recovered and ought to have been discharged, but in France there was no visitor to asylumns, and she remained there from 1870 to 1876. Between that time she wrote entreating to be let out, but her husband neither ans wered her letters nor came to visit her. Her letters were those of a clear-headed business-like woman. Meantime an order had been obtained in this court to P ;i y per annum to M. Megret, on the ground that his wife could not manage her affairs. For four years, therefore, Madame Megret, being sane, fretted in a lunatic asylum, than which one could not conceive anything more horrible. In 1875 her solicitor went to b ranee, saw her there, and on applica tion to the French Court, obtained her release in January, 1876. Madame Megret then came to England, but in August, 1876, she applied fora judicial separation from her husband in Paris. The French practice is first to exhort the couple to live together again, and she was persuaded to live again with Monsieur Megret. He, however, treated her in an extraordinary way, locking her in when he went out, and on the 14th September, 1576, on the pretence of taking her out for a drive, lodged her (though perfectly sane, and though she prayed him on her knees not to do so) in the lunatic asylum at Charenton. The evidence all went to prove that she was perfectly sane, and thus to lodge a sane person in an asylum was a most cruel, wanton, unjustifiable act. Upon appli cation to the French Court, she was once more released, and came to Eng land. The facts being these, upon two grounds his lordship decided that Ma dame Megret was entitled to her whole income of 200 a year—first, because M. Megret had lived upon her, sold her things, deserted her, broken his promise by returning to the Roman Catholic re ligion, and having his children baptised while he never contributed towards their support; secondly, because under the settlement of 1562, made on the second marriage, a clause was inserted settling this income upon Madame Megret to her especial use. The a-year, therefore, must be paid to Madame Megret, together with any arrears that had accrued.

They said to the father of the prize winner at college: “So your son has earned his spurs.” “ Yes,” replied the practical old man, “and now he’s got to earn his boots.”

ONLY.

Only a baby, Kissed and caressed, Gently held to mother’s breast. Only a baby, Toddling alone, Brightening now its happy home. Only a boy, Trudging to school, Governed now by sterner rule. Only a youth, Living in dreams, Full of promise life now seems. Only a man, Battling with life, Shared in now by loving wife. Only a father, Burdened with care, Silver threads in dark brown hair. Only a grey-beard, Toddling again, Growing old and full of pain. Only a mound, O’ergrown with grass, Dreams unrealised—rest at last.

TELEGRAPHIC.

[By Submarine Cable.]

AUSTRALIAN.

Svdney, May 18,

The Governor has received a des patch from the Secretary of State, saying that England has no intention of pro posing to Parliament the annexation of the New Hebrides.

The Governor will prorogue Parlia ment on Tuesday.

Melbourne, May 19. The Cable Conference is concluded. The result includes Colonel Glover’s proposal for the duplication of the Singa pore to Port Darwin cable, and also a second-cable from Penang to Singapore, the subsidy to be ,000 annually, to lie borne rateably by the colonies accord ing to their population.

Press rates are reduced one-fourth, and Government messages one-half. New Zealand and Tasmania get no advantage from the reduction of cable rates.

Nothing was done re the duplication of the land line to Port Darwin. Tas mania and Queensland are dissatisfied with the arrangement.

INTERPROVINCIAL

Wellington, Sunday. Owing to the interruption of the southern lines yesterday, messages lodged in the morning did not arrive at theißdestination until this morning. All southern messages had to be transmitted through Westland.

Lawrence, Sunday, Throughout the whole week, the weather has been unusually severe and boisterous. There was another heavy snow storm last evening, covering the ground to a depth of several inches, and there is no present prospect of its clear ing up.

Great interest still is manifest in test ing the cement at Wetherstone’s Gully. Messrs. Brown and Gascoyne purpose erecting a ten head battery. A Dunedin firm have the contract, and are to have it finished in three months.

Tapanui, Sunday. The snow continues to fall heavily, accompanied with light frost. The coaches have stopped running, and com munication is suspended.

Dunedin, Saturday. The local expenses of Dr. Somer ville’s mission will amount to • -£4l were collected last night towards defraying them. At a meeting of the Committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club last night, the decision of the Auckland Club disquali fying Owen Curran M‘Gee from running any horses for a period of two years, and John M‘Gee, jockey, from riding for a period of twelve months, and the disqualification of the horse Falcon for ever, were confirmed.

The Hon. Matthew Holmes and Mr. John Thomas Wright have accepted seats at the Board of the. Colonial Bank of New Zealand in the room of Mr. Larnach and Mr. Rattray, resigned. In accordance with Dr. Somerville’s suggestion, an attempt will be made on Monday to establish a ladies’ associa tion in Dunedin for charitable purposes.

THE EVENING ECHO, MONDAY, MAY 20, IS7B



Butter, inferior to best, If? lb s. o <t. 8 to s. I d. 0 (if dozen 2 6 to 0 0 Bacon, piimc smoked, $ lb O 10 to 0 0 Hams in clblli, If? lb I 0 to 0 0 Cheese, prime quality, Iff lb 0 S to 0 10 Flour in bigs, If? loolb IS 0 to 0 0 Oatmeal, |i? *ooll> 26 0 to 0 0



T7IVK SHILLING PACKETS of COP -1 PICKS to lie had at the “ Echo ” office.