MUSIC HALL.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 289, 13 December 1870, Page 2

MUSIC HALL.

A farewell concert was given on Monday last at the above hall, by the friends of GL J. Farrow, Esq, prior to his leaving for England, assisted by the members of the Choral Society rind the band of 11.M.5. G-alatea, wluVh was in attendance by the kind permission of H.R.11. the Duke of Edinburgh. We were exceedingly sorry, and greatly surprised, to see such a very small attendance, not more than about a hundred persons being present, which, considering the manner in which Mr. Farrow has come forward on all occasions where Ilia services have been requested, was but a poor requital. The performance was nevertheless very successful, and was deserving, under any circumstances, of a much larger audience than that which, patronised it. The magnificent hand of the Galatea was in attendance, and during the evening discoursed most excellent music. The opening overture by the band of the Chora) Society was rendered in firs-} class style, and elicited prolong d applause. The best, thing of the first part was the song " I'll follow thee," by Mrs. Mitchell, which was a real treat, the lady being possessod of a beautiful voice, of which she has complete control. She was loudly applauded at its close, and hud to submit to an encore. The ballad " My Pretty Jane," by Mr. Austin, was very nicely sun>r, and also elicited an encore. Tlu duat " Wilt thou begone Love ?" by a lady amateur, was very prettily sung, although one of the ladies appeared to be nervous. I" the second part Mr. Farrow, who was in magnificent voice, sang " The Lighthouse," an i in answer to a unanimous encore, substituted " As we sat by the river," which w-is received with marked favour. " Avid Eobin Gray," by Mrs. Mitchell, " And should avid acquaintance," by Miss Shauaghan, deservedly received considerable applau3e. The whole concert was very successful, and only required a larger audience to have been still more so.

The London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald writes :—I said some rtonths ago that the appearance of half-penny ' B6Ws< papers amongst us had altered our unit of cur. reucy from a penny to a half-penny ; formerly nothing could be bought for a sou—it re . inained in the pocket for days, and was scarcely worth keeping. The Post-office has clinched the same change. On the Ist of this month was issued halfpenny post cards, and newspaper stamps of the ssme value. The former are most useful. The address is written oa the side displaying the stamp, upon the other the brief communication ; the card is then dropped as it is into the nearest collecting box To show the public appreciation of this concession it is enough to say that upon the first day 235,000 were posted in the city alone. One good effect of the new system will be to teach the sparing use of words. Formerly when le.ters cost sixpence or a shilling, tbere was a caeoethes scribendi; when the penny stamps came into use we wore restrained to'a couple of sheets, now we are moved to be .as. laconic as Mr. Pickwick with his " oliops and tomato sauce." Crcsar might have written his veni vidi via on a halfpenny card.

Considerable amusement was created last evening by the Prince's elephant, whioli, under the guidance of a marine, took a stroll through the town, visiting a number of public houses and other places in the course of his rambles, to the intense delight of a large crowd of people. We strongly suspect, from the character of the establishments which he visited, that Mr. Elephant would not be hi favor of the Permissive Bill.

Thomas Snell, of Coromandel, has filed a declaration of his inability to meet his engagemerits with his creditors.

The Caledonian Games will tal;e place at Newmarket on the 2nd and 3rdgof January. The following snake story from the Bendigo Advertiser has at least the advantage of novelty .—As several men were taking their lunch at the summerset; reef, Big Hill, one of them felt something nioviug up the leg of his trousers near his thigh, and at the same instant, to his horror, saw the tail of a black snake sticking out of his trousers leg. He instantly caught hold of the reptile at his thigh, and called for a knife to cut open his trousers, but none of the party had a knife, and one of them had to run to the Perfect Cure Company's shaft, a distance of a quarter of a mile, to get one. He was only a few minutes away, but to the terrified Bnakeholder it was an age, and he declared that he could not have held on much longer. The snake, finding himself in the grasp of despair, wriggled about tremendously, but he could not wriggle himself out, and when the trousers were cut he was dashed to the earth, and speedily dispatched. It measured 2 feet 7 inches in length. /. Gosgrave and Co. beg to inform the public that there is an entire revolution in dress, also in the prices of goods. It is necessary it should be so, as Auckland it not in the flourishing position it wav twelve months ago ; it is like all goldjield cities, suffering under a recovery, the working classes are more numerous and money less plentiful. Therefore, the priceb of drapery and clothing must coma down to suit the times. The population must have clothing suitable for an almost tropical summer. J. Oosgrave and Co. have met the crisis, they have broken down the monopoly of large profits that have reigned here for years past. They are determined the. people shall be clad and that cheaply ; a great chance was offered lately, the stock of a large importer of drapery was in the market, a discount off English cost was given, and J. Cosgrave and Co. became the purchasers, hence our extensive and valuable sale of drapery takes place This Day.—\_Advt.']