SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

Lyttelton, March 20. Arrived Hawea, ss., from Dunedin. Penguin, s.s. from Auckland, via Last Coast.

The Ashburton Herald AND Borough and County Advertiser (With which is incorporated the “Evening Echo”). FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1880.

Open Meeting. —The Star of the East Lodge of Good Templars give a free en tertainment to-night in the Templar Hall, to which all are invited. The Grain Season. —For the week end ing Friday, March I°, 90,682 bags of grain have been carried on the Christchurch line and branches.

The Carandinis. The Carandinis, perhaps the most deservedly popular company travelling, are to give two con certs in Ashburton next week, beginning on Monday. Their present tour through the colony has been one of great success, as indeed every iour tliey have made has been, and as their merit deserves they should be.

The Governor, and the Turf.— At the Napier Jockey Club dinner on Friday, his Excellency, in responding to the toast of his health, said nothing in New Zea land pleased him more than to see the good old English sports and pastimes pro duced here and flourishing as on their native soil. These national outdoor games constituted an important feature in the formation of a sound and vigorous national character. As they all knew, he was himself fond of horse racing, and, properly carried out, it was one of the most legitimate amusements in which men could indulge. It was a means not only of improving the breed of racehorses, but of affording amusement which not only men, but “ their sisters, their cousins, and their aunts ” could appreciate. It was this participation in the fine old Eng lish sport which prevented the turf de generating into an institution for betting and gambling.

Ashore and Afloat —For several weeks a company of local amateurs have been bestowing most painstaking study upon rehearsals of the interesting drama, “ Ashore and Afloat,” with a view to its production to an Ashburton audience, and the preliminary announcement of its per formance has appeared. We do not know that the exact date has been fixed, but assuredly will be within the next ten days. The cast of characters, which we have been shown, includes the names of some old friends, whose faces have long been familiar on the Ashburton boards, and some, whose patronymics are strangers to us, but we are assured the rehearsals have been eminently satisfactory, and pro phecies of the success of the piece are made with great enthusiasm by those who have had the privilege of being present at the “ drill.” The company are fortunate in the possession of able management, both from a business point of view and from a theatrical standpoint, and if suc cess cannot be commanded it is certainly deserved. But the company’s greatest strength will undoubtedly lie in its scenery. Mr. Charles Bourke, who has on more than one occasion exhibited con siderable talent in scene painting, has been devoting all his spare time to the production of the needful scenery, and his labors have been very successful. They have been very extensive indeed, as may be gathered from the fact that 500 yards of canvas have been absorbed, in the the delineation of no less than 17 distinct representations. From what we can learn no expense and no labor have been spared by the company, both individually and

collectively in the preparation of u Ashor and Afloat,” and it only wants the hearty patronage of the townspeople on the night of its performance to make the event a great one. The Methven Line. —As an indica tion of the future of the Rakaia and Alford Forest Railway, we may state that at the present time every station is blocked up with grain, stacked under tarpaulins, and it is estimated that at the rate grain is being delivered at present, at least 40 trucks per day will be necessary for a couple of months yet to compete with, the delivery. As no station buildings or goods sheds are as yet erected, the farmers are compelled to adopt the very disagreeable alternative of leaving their sacks to the flimsy protection of a tar paulin ; and the railway authorities do not seem to be able to .afford more than about a dozen trucks per day. Meantime a heavy S.W. gale would certainly play havoc with the wheat already awaiting shipment.

Templar Hall Company. -The ad journed annual meeting of the share holders of this company was held on Thursday evening last in the Temlar Hall. There was a very good attendance of shareholders. Mr. Cl. H. fit. Hill was voted to the chair. After reading the notice calling the meeting, and the minutes of the last meeting, the Chair man said the first business would be to adopt the balance-sheet. The balance sheet for the year ending 1879, -was then read and unanimously adopted. The fol lowing were elected directors for the ensuing year : —Messrs. James Gudsell, G. W. Andrews, G. H. St. Hill, Thomas Scott, J. Mac Lean Dunn, B. C. Smith, and Thomas Smith. Messrs. Boyle and Weeks were appointed auditors for the. company. Mr. Sando moved, and Mr. Smith seconded—“ That it be a recom mendation to the newly elected directors to encourage as much as possible those tenants of the Hall who are likely to become permanent.” This was carried. The Chairman said the next business was to get the opinion of the shareholders present, on a certain matter, which the late chairman of the company (Mr. Sando) had not as yet explained satis factorily—viz., certain sums due to the company on arrears of shares. After a very animated debate, which lasted a con siderable time, it was resolved that the matter be referred to the new directors, to be decided upon at their next meeting, and for them to take immediate action in the matter. The meeting then adjourned sine die.

A Turkish prince, who is at present staying in London, had himself relieved, during a ramble the other day, of a pocket-book centaining L 1,200.

An Old Order. —The Benedictine Order is making preparations for cele brating during the present year the 1400th anniversary of the birth of their founder.

A New Overland Route to the West Coast. —The “ Grey River Argus” says : —“ On Friday morning last Mr. George Walker and Mr. Wilson, surveyor, left Lake Guyon, Canterbury, and arrived in Reefton in the evening of the same day. They travelled via Cannibal Gorge to Maruia, and thence down the valley of the Inangahua. Mr. William Gardner, engineer to the Inangahua County, formed one of the party, and he says, in connection with the trip :— ‘ The distance between Reefton and Lake Guyonjis about 57 miles, and the time taken to travel it by Messrs. Wilson, Walker, and myself was 18 hours. At present there is about six miles of country to pass through, which is totally unfit for horse traffic, and until this portion of the route has had something done to it, I would not re commend any person to attempt the journey to Christchurch on horseback. As to the practicability of the route, there is not the slightest doubt, but until more work has been done in the vicinity of the Spencer Ranges. I would not recom mend anyone to make the journey that way.’ Mr. Gardner further informs us (Inangahua Tiroes) that the level country of Canterbury is reached from Reefton under a distance of 50 miles, and thence to Amberley no difficulty stands in the way of traffic. The ascending grade from Reefton to the Cannibal Gorge is almost imperceptible, but the passage of the gorge is in itself somewhat difficult, being rock-bound and precipitous for a distance of between three and four miles. ”

Holloway’s Pills. —Mind and body are so closely entertwined that for the former to be vigorous the latter must be healthful. The first step towards the maintenance of health is to secure perfect digestion, which is readily obtained by this noted medicine, the most com petent effectually to restrain every adverse Influence which can mar, impair, or vexatiously modify this all-important process.. The student, merchant, man of pleasure, and humblest labourer may each in turn derive vigour, ease, and strength from occasional doses, or a longer course of Holloway’s purifying Pills. However waveri g the mind, or unstrung the nerves this fine medicine will track the derangement to its sourse, where it will over throw it and established order and purity in its lace — Advt.

Holloway's Pills. —These Pills are more efficacious in strengthening a debilitated con stitution than any other medicine in the world. Persons of a nervous habit of body, and all who are suffering from weak digestive organs, or whose health has become deranged by bilious affection, disordered stomach, or liver complaints, should lose no time in giving these admirable Pills a fair trial. Coughs, colds, asthma, or shortness of breath are also within the range of the sanative powers of this very remarkable medicine. The cures effected by these Pills are not superficial or temporary, but complete any permanent. They are as mild as they are efficacious, and may be given with confidence to delicate females and young chil dren. Their action on the liver, stomach, and bowels is immediate, beneficial, and lasting, restoring order and health in every case.— Advt

Holloway’s Pills.— Let the Sick take heed.—The stomach is the commissariat of the physical system. It furnishes the material sus tenance of every organ. If disordered, the whole body languishes ; but however severely it may lie affected, its tone and vigor may always he restored by a course of these irresis tible Pills ; biliousness, indigestion, liver com plaints, and other disorders of the stomach can easily be cured by the use of Holloway’s Pills. Thousands attest this assertion, and no sufferer who has ever tiicd them will deny their su preme efficacy. In every case of stomach dis ease, from the mildest case of dispepsia to the disorder of both liver and stomach, from the nausea of the free liver to the vomiting accom panying ulcerated stomachs, these Pills imme diately relieve, and by perseverance effectually cure.—Advt.

TELEGRAPHIC.

TO-DAY’S CABLEGRAMS.

LATEST FROM EUROPE (Renter's Telegrams.)\ S The Home Markets. London , March 18. Three per cent, consols, New Zealand securities unchanged. The total reserve of notes and bullion in the Bank of England is L17,718,25G. The wheat and tallow markets are un changed. The Nihilist Hartmann.

The Nihilist Hartmann, who was de ported by the French Government to England, when his extradition was de manded by the Russian Government, has publicly confessed he was the principal author of the attempt made last year at Moscow on the life of the Czar. Hart mann is shortly going to America. A Rising at Smyrna. Constantinople, March 18.

A popular rising of a somewhat serious character having taken place at Smyrna, the various foreign Consuls have sum moned war vessels from their respective countries as a precautionary measure.

AUSTRALIAN.

(Reuter's.) The Knowsley Hall. Melbourne, March 20. It is understood that Victoria has de cided not to join New Zealand in a search for the survivors of the Knowsley Hall supposed to be wrecked on the Crozets. Sailed. Sailed—the Rotorua, yesterday, for New Zealand. Sunday Opening of the^Museum. Sydney, March 20. A crowded meeting of the members of the School of Arts was held last night, at which it was decided, by a small majority, to rescind the resolution in favor of open ing on Sundays, passed at the meeting on Ist inst. The Bushranger Wells. Brisbane, March 20. The law points have been decided against the bushranger Wells, and he will be hanged.

TO-DAY’S TELEGRAMS.

I NT E R PROVINCIAL.

Dunedin, March 20. Death of an old Settler. Mr. Daniel Haggart, an early settler at CJutha, died suddenly, aged 80. More Burglary in Dunedin. The premises of Wong Tape, Chinese merchant, Stafford street, were broken into last night and Ll5O in notes and gold stolen. The stangest part of the affair isf that fifty sovereigns and four pieces o. gold in the same chest were not abstracted The Dewar Murder. The inquest concludes on Tuesday, the only witnesses being Inspector Mallard and Dr. Brown. From evidence it ap pears that the prisoner Butler—who had been under police surveillance since bis discharge from gaol on Feb. 16 —was seen by Detective Bain on the Saturday pre vious to the murder. On a former occa sion he said to Detective Bain after asking for work—“ I want to do well for myself this time, and would like to get work, because if I break loose again I will be one of the most desperate tigers ever let loose in a community.” Bain got him some manual work at Ravensbourne. He had previously asked to be introduced to some of the newspaper editors, as he was desir ous of writing some articles for them. Gold. A cake of 443 ounces, from 400 tons of stone, was sent down from the Tipperary claim to-day. • More Unemployed for the Plains Road making. Wellington, March 20. Government have sent a memo to the Secretary of the Benevolent Institution, authorising him to engage 30 men to be immediately forwarded to Murimotu Plains for the purpose of road-making.

i.The Timaru Sheep Riot- Timaru, March 20. The sheep riot cases terminated to-day by the Bench declaring they should never have been brought before the Court, and without calling for the defence, simply binding McLeish in LSO and two sureties of L 25, and Bull, the chief cudgelist, in L2O and two sureties of LlO, to keep the peace.

LAST NIGHT’S CABLEGRAMS.

AUSTRALIAN.

{Renter's.) The Australian Cricketers. Melbourne, March 19. The Australian cricketers sailed to-day for England in the Garonne. Colonial Defence Commission. The Hon. F. F.. Sargood, M.L.C., who is visiting England, will represent Victoria on the Colonial Defence Commission, and will further act as a member of tlie Board of the Agent-General to further the in terests of Victoria in London. The New Zealand Railway Commis sion. It is stated here that the New Zealand Railway Commission is desirous of secur ing the services of Mr. Higginbotham, the former Engineer-in-Chief of the Victorian Railways. It is further stated that Mr. Higginbotham has been communicated with by the New Zealand Government. The Land Tax. The new Government contemplate mak ing important, reductions in the expenses connected with the collecting of the Land Tax. Commercial. Sydney, March 19. Hennessy’s brandy, bulk quarters, 11s. 3d. to 11s. 6d. ; kerosene, diamond, Is. 3d. per gallon, Devoe’s Is. 9kl. per gallon. Rice, Patna, Ll 9 per ton ; New Zealand oats 2s. to 2s. 4d. per 40 lbs. ; maize, Is. Gd. to 2s. 3d. per GO lbs. ; candles, D. R. J.”s, 7d. to7-|d. per lb. Adelaide, March 19. Adelaide wheat, 4s. 7d. per bushel; Adelaide flour, country, LlO ss, to LlO 7s, Gd. ; market dull. Freights 525. 6d, to 555.

CHISPA’S LETTER.

“I am not yet so bald that you can see my brains. ” —Longfellow.

For its size Ashburton makes as much noise in the world as any township in the colony. To he convinced of this you have o fly to compare its local newspapers for a twelvemonth with a twelvemonth’s issue of any other sheets in any other town or city iu the colony. You will see Christ church, and Dunedin, and Wellington, and Auckland, issuing column after column of selections from the Old Country, while in comparison with the local columns of Ashburton their “local” news are scarce. But here the newspaper men ■ can always scare up something to interest from between the built-on sections of our town ship. A friend of mine, who keeps his eyes open to this sort of thing, only yes terday ran over a list of “ exciteables” that had transpired recently. “ You killed a man “dead drunk” on the railway line at Chertsey not long ago, and you took it as a matter of course. The coro ner lectured the larrikins who had been helping the poor outcast into eternity by the drink they gave him, and the editors gushed over the heinousness of larrikin ism generally, and the thing was all over. If that incident had lain handy to some of the scribes in some towns I know it would have lasted them a month. Just before that death you had the sudden and strange death of two infants ; then you get wild boys trying to fill the newspapers with several columns >of the" horrible in an attempt to throw the Methven train off the line, and become the executioners of no end of; railway*big bugs. Then a host of minor items float before our eyes. Ju vfact there is so much to excite and interest that an ordinary runaway is not worth noting. Then your Borough Council is for fun what your pumps are to your township—a never-failing source of supply. Your R.M. Court, with the little hitches of its machinery, that only those behind thejscenes can observe, is quite a study the love that exists between the members of its bar 1 only hear their language, and cannot analyse their hearts —is something more intense than i

“That stern joy that warriors feel In foemen worthy of their steel.”

And so my friend went on piling up the catalogue, like an auctioneer making an inventory. I need not chronicle all he said, but I did laugh consumedly when he rehearsed a scene that took place on the night that closed St. Patrick’s Day. Ido not know if this scene had anything to do with that one out of which the two lean-to hunters came to grief before his Worship, but it certainly did arise out of a similar hunt. The usual mistake had been made that men make who have allowed whisky to obfusticate.them, and the house they laid seige to was the home of a valued citizen. Jt was the hour when churchyards yawn, when the only music heard in a peaceful home is the deep dia pason that arises from the jliuman organ with the nasal stop on. Suddenly the rowdy-dow upon the door crashed in like a discordant fugue upon the sweet snoring of the inmates, and in a moment the abode of peace was a terrible tumult. I will not attempt to describe the scene inside the dwelling. It is bad grace to enter unin vited, even i a imagination, the home of a true Englishman, but what takes place outside is common property. When the wailing cry of the inmates rose upon the air, and the sound of terror rose upon the stillness of the night, an army of two valiant men rose from their peaceful beds, and ran to the rescue. One—a canny Scot—forgot his nationality in the intensity of the moment, and ran to the rescue, even more scantily clad than are the men of his native bills, for he was less even the kilo of his fathers. As he seized one of the lawless trespassers by the collar and shook bis quivering soul into a jelly, and he was conscious of the irregular approach of another hero, and for a time he believed that his valor bad outrun his discretion, and that in the unsafe armour he then wsre it might be difficult for his hands to keep his head from harm, let alone the other tender and unclad parts of his person. But, nerving himself for the struggle, in the classic language of •Rhoderic Dhu, and the baited editor of the “ Ashburton War Trump,” he said, “ Come one, come e&, this rock shall fly Floruits firm base as soon as I.”

His heart thus strung to deeds of valor that might have saved a nation if need be, he was somewhat disappointed when, the sudden flash of a pistol having illumi nated the air for a second, he was able to recognise the smiling features of a war like" public man who had rallied, thus fully armed and equipped, to rescue of his neighbor’s household. Who will say, after this there is nothing to excite in Ashburton? But Ashburton causes ex citement outside its own boundaries, as the following advertisement I clip from a Wanganui paper proves. Doubt less my readers will recognise one name at least mentioned in the announce ment :—“ In the estate of W. T. Styles, a debtor. —An advertisement, signed by Mr. A. Oswald Aitken, has lately appeared in the papers, stating that a dividend in the above estate would be payable at my office tc-day. Mr. Aitken, upon his return from Nelson last month, asked me if I would pay a dividend for him upon his handing me the money and papers, as he wished to get to Nelson again. I have received neither money nor papers, and I cannot tell where Mr. Aitken is, so that 1 connot pay the dividend for him.- —J. J. CitAWFortn. March 10, 1880.”

I see that your reporter has been put ting his foot' in it with the butchering fraternity. It is very humiliating for any dog, dead or alive, to be reckoned as being more valuable than a physically, intellec tually, and morally better man than the dog or his owner. Still I don’t think Dick Lancaster would have been so grieved at having to doii crape for one of his men as he was for the loss of the sheep dog. A new clerk can be picked up at any time, but a'bow-wow of such transcendent abilities as the deceased roasted one is only born once in a cen tury. So far as the physical qualities of George Jos. are concerned, he is, without doubt, a very well built man of his inches, and can tal;e his own part in a set-to with any man, but when it comes to tackling a stout virago, whose tongue is of inordi nate length and asperity, why Ihen I think George would turn tail. He hopes your reporter will have the grace to apolo gise. I can only say, from what I know about your reporter, that he has no grace abo# him.

This is how the “Mail” describes a scene in Court in connection with the lean-to case :—Mr. Branson appeared to defend them yesterday in the R.M. Court. His contention was not that the men were quiet or sober but that the person who gave them into custody had rendered him self liable to actions for false imprison ment. The Magistrate pronounced this to be most disgraceful and disgusting. ” Whether it was Mr. Branson’s or Mr. Barrett’s conduct was most disgraceful and disgusting I don’t know, as the para graph is foggy, but I should think that either of them has an action for slander against the Magistrate, and one for libel against the “Mail.” Chispa.

The Queen’s Name.

At a dinner in London, the convei'sa tion lapsed, as it sometimes will lapse with the best of hosts, into questions hardly distinguishable from conundrums. A cele brated historian v T as present, and I put a question to him which I know has puzzled a great many people at different times : “ What is the surname of the Royal Family?” “Guelph, of course.” That is the usual answer, and it was the his torian’s. I ventured to suggest that, although the Royal Family are Guelphs by descent, her Majesty’s marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg must have the effect which a marriage of a lady has in all other cases, and that the surname of the present house must be the Prince Consort’s. “ But what is the surname of the Prince Consort’s family !” Simple, but staggering. Ho one knew. All

guessed, and all were wiong. I happened to have looked up the subject a few months ago, so I knew that the name was “ Wettin,” Of course, no one had heard it before. Every one smiled at the horrible idea of the Guelphs being reduced to Wettins ! Hie point was referred to Theodore Martin. “You are quite right,” said the graceful biographer of the Prince Consort, “Wettin is the family name of the House of Saxony, to whom tlio dominion of Saxony came in the year 1420. The King of Saxony and the minor Princes of the house are, therefore, all Wettins ; or, in German, Wettiner. ”

Extraordinary Dispute.

His Holiness lately was induced to per mit the sale of thirty-three porcelain plates, most of them broken, which lay in a press in the pontificial villa, at Castel Gandollo, near Albano. A dealer in an tiquities, named Giacomini, employed a person named Sabatucci to go to the Vatican and represent to the Pope that the plates in question were not sufficient to form a collection. They were in danger of further d image, and it would be better to accept for them 22,000 francs. Leo XIII. consented in a weak moment to this proposal, and Cardinal Hina con signed the plates to Giacomini and his partner, who paid 22,000 francs to the Vatican and 3,000 francs to the go between who had managed the affair. The next day Giacomini sold the plates to the Duke della Verdura, a senator of the Kingdom of Italy, and in another day or tno Giacomini offered the Duke 50,000 francs if he would re-sell the plates. Cas tellani, another dealer in antiquities, offered a large sum, and when disap pointed, began to talk of the violation of the statute which forbids the sale of national property. The Italian Govern ment now stepped in and claimed the pro perty as belonging to the State. By the law of Guarantees the Vatican palace and the villa of Castel Gandolfo, with the col lections of art and antiquities therein, are formally declared to be national property and inalienable. Consequently the Pope had no right to sell the plates, and all parties concerned in the transaction were liable to prosecution for stealing public property. The plates were seized by the Questura, and the legal tribunals must de cide to whom they are to be given, for safe custody in some museum. The Pope offers to buy them back, paying all charges, and to preserve them to the Vatican. But this affair has dispelled all doubts concerning the efficiency of the law of guarantees. The Pope has never consented to that law, nor received a penny of the dotation it assigns him. But he feels now that the law cannot be evaded in that part of it which virtually appro priates for the benefit of the Italian King dom the Vatican and pontifical palaces, and the furniture and art treasures therein contained. The plates themselves were once used at the table of the Pontiffs and might bo again used for serving the table of Leo XIII., yet they are the pro perty of the Italian Kingdom, and to King Humbert’s law officers, not to Vatican officials, belongs the right to dis pose of the papal dinner service and define its artistic value. It is admitted by popes and councils that the very vessels of the altar may be sold to provide for the wants of the poor. But the Pope, if poor, can not sell his cracked dishes to replenish his treasury.

Burned to Death on Horseback.

[( A t £7U York Sun.) Adam Roche, a fifteen-year-old son of Frederick Roche, a blacksmith at the Continental shaft in Scranton city, was burned to death on tlie afternoon of Dec. 14, on the road between Scranton and Taylorville. He was employed around the blacksmith shop os an asssistant. Some of the live-stock at tlie mines be came sick, and young Roche was sent to Taylorville to procure some vitrol. He went on horseback. He purchased a bottle containing a pint and started back, bringing two mules along. Half way between Taylorville and the mine the cork came out of the bottle, and the jolt ing caused the vitrol to spatter into his coat pocket. Then it slowly -worked through his pantaloons and went stream ing along his limbs. The first touch of the vitrol caused the lad to shout with pain, and the last contents of the bottle were spilled into his clothing. His cries of agony spurred the horses into a run, and the suffering boy endeavored to throw the bottle from liis pocket. This action burned his hands severely, and he clasped them to his face, which added greatly to his agony. He lost control of his horse, and just at tlie foot of a steep declivity in the road, he was hurled violently into a ditch, where he lay writhing in anguish. He recovered sufficiently to tie tlie mules to a tree. The horse went back to the mines, and the boy’s father and several others set out to find the lad. When he w as.discovered he was dead. The oil had eaten into his limbs, and he presented

a frightful spectacle. His hands were badly blistered, his cheeks burned, and the vitrol had sunk to the bones of his ‘legs. The boy had torn away nearly all of his clothing except what had been saturated with oil. A large wound in his head showed that he had been thrown for ward from the horse. He had crawled to a tree at the hillside, and his appearance showed that he had suffered the greatest agony.

Australian Oranges in England.

(From the European News). Australian oranges ! By the steamship Lusitania a novel importation—a consign ment of oranges and lemons from an estate near Adelaide, South Australia— reached Messrs. Howcroft and Watkins, of 14 Tavistock Row, Convent Garden, In announcing the dispatch of t.ie fruit, the grower, a customer to whom the firm have supplied seeds, stated that he should not have thought of sending oranges such a long distance but for the fact that they were now in season and cheap in Adelaide. The consignment consisted of one case of lemons, one case of large Naples oranges, and eight cases of St. Michael’s oranges. They were packed in very dry, fine, brown sawdust, and those in one case, by way of experiment, were also wrapped in paper. A few of the oranges with paper wrappings showed signs of a minute brown mould in bruised places, those packed free in the sawdust were in perfect con dition. As fine oranges are at present being sold retail in Convent Garden Market at 3d. and 4d. each, it is believed that the venture will yield a fair return to the grower, and the success of the experi ment may lead to the development of a regular trade, which will increase the variety of our autumn fruits.

An Australian Pioneer.

Seventy six years ago last Friday a cer tain ship sailed out out of Port Philip Heads to seek, across Bass’s Straits, some where on the banks of the Derwent, a spot to which might be transferred the penal settlement which she had been sent out to form on our shores. He keel was the third that furrowed our waters. We can be hardly sufficiently thankful that it left no trace. The Ocean was the name of the transport which brought hither this cargo of “ rattlesnakes,” together with some few artisans and settlers. She had been es corted by a Hue of battle ship called the Calcutta, on board which was the official staff of the expedition. But it was war time, and so soon as the captain of the frigate had seen Governor Collins and his “settlement” fairly landed at Port Hepean, he sailed away on his business, and subsequently, after having made a stout fight ©f it with the enemy, was cap tured, and passed a few years more or less agreeably in a French prison. When Cochrane blew the Calcutta into the air with the tricolor flying at her peak, in the Basque Roads affair, no doubt Captain Woodroof partook of an extra glass of grog at the naval mess established at Verdun for he was a true tar of the old school, and, it is satisfactory to know, ended his days in “ Greenwich tier. ” Meantime the settlement on the Tootga vook Sand hills did not go on at all well. Collins sighed for an island all to himself. Governor King, at Sydney—a practised pen and ink man—with the little Lady Nelson for a postman, could at any time “ come senior officer” over him. So he, with many economic twinges, again chartered the Ocean to carry him to Van Dieman’s Land, and on Jan. 30, 1804, de parted from this “uninhabitable” coun try, and finally founded Hobart Town, where he rests, after life’s fitful fever, in the chancel of a church which old Tas manians assert was called St. David’s after him. Among the adventurous settlers who accompanied Governor Col lins to the future scene of his kind-hearted labors was the widow of a naval officer, and her family of four daughters and a son. Her husband, a captain in the navy, had been killed in the expedition to Egypt. There were thousands of such suffering women under the dreadful war cloud in which old England was at this time enveloped. Lord Hobart, the then Secretai’y for the colonies, advised Mrs. Hobbs to emigrate, and so it came about that the little family were among our first colonists who quitted our shores 76 years ago, and the last of whom was on Friday, on the very anniversay, laid in his grave in the St. Kilda cemetery. A life so un pretentious as that of Mr. James Hobbs might claim to avoid public notice, but that in his 88 years he has seen, if not exactly the birth, at any rate the growth of the seven great colonies of Australia. He was born at Saltash, in Cornwall, and at 10 years of age was piff into the ser vice, where, as they say, he was reared “ between two guns.” After his mother and sisters had settled at Hobart Town, he joined his Majesty’s ship Buffalo at Sydney in 1804, and when that ship de parted for England with Governor King in 1806, ho was drafted with the gunner, the boatswain, the carpenter, and nine seamen into the Purpoise, Captain Porteous, of which John Oxley, after wards Surveyor General of New South Wales, was the first lieutenant. The curious reader will find some interesting particulars of the tyrannical conduct of “ Bounty Bligh,” the Governor at Sydney, in the “ Chronicle of Port Philip,” by Mr. H. G. Gurner, which that gentleman gathered from Mr. Hobbs. The stories that might be told are far beyond our present limits. A man who has seen and spoken with Australian Governors by the dozen, who remembers the time when His Excellency, asking a guest to dinner, requested him at the same time to bring his loaf of bread with him, would have many odd tales to tell. Throughout his long life Mr. Hobbs preserved a character of great energy and staunch integrity. For some years he was in the Customs de partment of this colony, when he retired with a pension of L 137 10s. in 1854. He was married to a daughter of Mr. Joseph Hone, the master of the Supreme Court of Hobart Town (brother of the cele brated William Hone), by whom he had a family of 12 children. To them and to his numerous friends it must be a satis faction to know the good name he has left behind, and his death may serve to remind his fellow-colonists that there is now living hut one other person who was present at the famous attempted settle ment iu 1803. The portrait and some further particulars respecting Mr. Hobbs may he found in the curious volume, “ Early Historical Records of Port Phillip,” which was recently published by the Victorian Government. —“Argus, Feb. 2.

Saturday, March 20, 1880.1

THE ASHBURTON HERALD.



New Advertisements. SATURDAY, MARCH 13. ' OPENING NEW STORE, East Street, Near Bullock, & Co’s. JA ME S CLA -R K Begs to inform the Public of Ashbur ton and” Surrounding Districts that he is commencing business as GENERAL STOREKEEPER, FRUIT ERER, BAKER, &c., And trusts by supplying good quality articles at moderate prices, to share public support. Note the Address — JAMES CLARK, PROSPECT BUILDINGS, East Street, Near Bullock & Co’s., Ashburton. 163 c NEWS AND MAGAZINE AGENCY, STATIONERY AND FANCY GOODS DEPOT. RE-OPENING. HM. JONES begs to inform liis # customers and the public generally j that he has re-opened part of the premises lately occupied by A. Weston and K. Sando and Co. for the sale of Newspapers, Magazinse, Stationery, Fancy.goods, Toys, &c. English and Colonial papers, Periodicals, &c., by each mail. Licensed to sell Stamps. Lowest prices—Terms cash. Agent i for “Ashburton Guardian,” “Ashburton Herald,’, “Ashburton Mail,” “Lyttelton Times,” “Canterbury Times,” Daily “Press,” “ Weekly Press,” “Otago Witness,” “Australasian,” “Town and County Journal. ” - Subscribers to “ Canterbury _ Times and “ Weekly Press” can obtain their copies at the 'above Establishment. *l2lc mOWN HALL, ASHBURTON. MONDAY and TUESDAY, March 22, 23. Grand Entertainments by the CAEANDINI Operatic and Ballad Company. SLENDID PROGRAMME— English, Irish, and Scotch Songs ! Scenes from Grand and Comic Operas, Comic Duets, Trios, Instrumental Solos, and Charming Ballads. Admission —First seats, 45.; second, 2s. Commence at 8 o’clock. 175c-603g R. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS. (Christchurch Section.) EASTER HOLIDAYS. ORDINARY Single Fare Tickets issued from any station to any station, ! rom March 25th to March 30th, will be available for return up to and including Harch 31st. FREDK. BACK, General Manager. General Manager’s Office, Christchurch, March 11th, 1880. 209 c "ANTED TO BUY First - class Butter and Eggs, at Clark’s Pro vision Stores. 193 c



A PARTMENTS TO LET, Furnished f\ or Unfurnished. Apply at Office of this paper. 199 c T>OAE,D iND RESIDENCE For g> Two Gentlemen, Bank Clerks or others. Apply Herald Office. 200 c. Respectable board and LODGINGS for single Gentlemen —Apply CjliAßk’s Provision Store, Ash burton. 204 c "YI"rANTED —A Situation, by a first- Y V class COOK—Hotel or Restaurant —Apply, J. 0., Somerset Hotel. 214 c FIVE SHILLINGS REWARD. “1“ OST—Between Railway Station and 1 j Messrs. Robinson Bros. Farm, near Hont’s, a POCKETBOOK, with owner’s name. The above reward will be paid to finder on leaving same at this office. 213 c EOR SALE, Cheap, Dwelling-house of 7 rooms, situated on the East Belt, near the Parsonage—For particulars apply to T. Bullock. TO LET. —Dwelling House, opposite “Mail” office, now in occupation of Mis« Steane as a Private School. Im mediate possession given. T. Bullock. 205 c NEW TAILORING ESTABLISH MENT. CRAIGHEAD & Co., MERCHANT TAILORS, HAVE opened those premises situated in Tancred street adjoining Messrs. Orr and Co’s General Store. A SPLENDID ASSORTMENT OF TWEEDS, FANCY GOODS, &c., &c., JUST ARRIVED. Mr. Craighead’s experience as Head Cutter in connection with First Class Tailoring Establishments in Edinburgh and San Francisco has extended over a period of ten years, and from the immense success which has always attended his •£fo.ts to please, he is prepared to guarantee a perfect fit i i every case. TANCRED STREET, (Next Orr anl Co.’s. CRAIGHEAD & CO. 9821



£2 REWARD. T QST—From Miles, Hassell’s & Co., 1 I Chertsey, on Saturday night, the loth inst., Three HORSES. 1 Heavy Draught Horse, bay, branded C on near shoulder. 1 Small Bay Mare (pony) branded C —— conjoined, and G above on CD near shoulder. 1 Chestnut Trap Horse Apply GEORGE. JAMES, Company’3 Estate, Chertsey. Or E. ROSKRUGE. Chertsey. Anyone detaining them after this date will be prosecuted. 621g-183c X # A BALL TO CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF THE MASONIC HALL. A BALL will be held in the Now Masonic Hall, Tancred street, Ash burton, on FRIDAY, THE 16th APRIb. Applications for Tickets may be made to any member of the COMMITTEE— Bro. R. W. Shearman, P.M., ~ H. Stephenson P.M. ~ E. Saunders „ H. W. Felton ~ Chas. Braddell ~ R. Friedlander ~ F. Guinness, 18° ~ W. H. Gundry, 18* ~ H. C. Jacobson „ S. B. Nelson ~ Thos. Quill ~ Jas. Bradley Treasurer and Secretary Bro. W. H. Zouch. Dancing to commence at 9 o’clock. Tickets (double), 15s. Single gentlemen 10s. 6d. ; Single lady, 7s. (Id. WESLEYAN CHURCH, Cameron street. —Divine Service will be conducted in the above Church To-morrow Morning and Evening by the Rev. W. Keall. 210 c PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCH Wills Street. Divine Service will be conducted in the above Church to morrow Morning and Evening by the Rev. Thomas Sadler of Geraldine, who will preach the Anniversary Sermons of the Sunday School. 211 c m R. HODDER AND COMPANY’S GREAT CLEARING SALE of Drapery, Clothing, Millinery, Boots, &c., at the LIBERAL DISCOUNT of TWO SHILLINGS and SIXPENCE in the POUND, continues until SATURDAY, March 27th. 198 c