The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1871.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 541, 4 October 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1871.

'* For the cause that lacks assistance, Toy the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance,,: And the good that we can do.'

A most extraordinary rush of timidity or bashfulness appears to come over many people when they take their stand in a witness-box. Great hulking fellows, whoso voices can be heard a mile off when swearing at their bullocks, grow all on a sudden modest and sweetspoken as young maidens when they stand up and face the awful majesty of justice in the Police Court. They whisper their names in a confidential kind of manner to the. clerk, and next day bully the reporters .for having written them down Brown, instead of Jones or Jlobinson. If these people would only consider that their evidence is intended to be heard, and deliver it accordingly ore rotunclo, they would save an infinity of trouble and vexation.

It seems that we are likely to have an alteration in the Municipal by-laws, under which every carter will be compelled to have a chain with which to lock the wheels of his vehicle when at rest. It is really wonderful that any law should be necessary to enforce so obvious and simple a precaution. The records of the Police Court, however,.show that from neglect of this kind have arisen the greater proportion of the accidents which have happened from the running away of terrified horses.

The monthly inspection parade of the Auckland Rifle Brigade will take place to-morrow evening, at the Drill-shed ; and no doubt there will bo a good rauster.

aef-teruay morning us the Mount Albert bus wut- proceeding' down Symonds-street, an accident occurred which might have resulted very seriously. It appears thnfc a butcher-boy had just mounted his horse, and before getting well seated in the saddle, the animal bolted at a furious pace, and ran into the bus, breaking the front of the vehicle, and throwing the boy heavily to the ground close"to the wheels of the vehicle. The lad was severely shaken but fortunately no limbs were broken, or any very serious damage sustained.

Last evening the Trustees of the Grafton Road Board met the. ratepayers for the purpose of hearing objections to the valuations of the respective properties liable; to pay rates. The number of objectors was small considering the extent of the district.. No appreciable alteration was made in the average valuation of property. Some slight change was made in particular properties, in consequence of alteration in the configuration -of the allotments, or improvements undertaken or completed.

'A deputation, consisting of Messrs. George S. Graham and D. Caley, waited upon the Deputy-Superintendent yesterday morning, to request that he would cause a fresh survey to be made as to the best route to be taken by the Waikato railway. They were informed that if they sent in their application in writing it would be forwarded to His Honor the Superintendent, at Wellington.

Mr. Steward, the member for O \maru, has given notice of two motions affecting the newspaper press of the colony. The first is " for leave to introduce a Bill for the better defining of the law of libel as affecting the newspaper press." The second motion is to the effect " That, in the opinion of this House, it is desirable that' the postal charge' upon hews, papers withinjthe colony be reduced to a halfpenny." A motion similar to the latter one, it will be seen by our Melbourne telegrams, has been carried in the Victorian Parliament.

The Wairarapa correspondent of the Independent writes.:—"l-have been courteously shown by Mr. Tully a royal antler, which was found by Mr. Skeet, surveyor, in the new township of Gladstone, now being laid off at Tapurupuru, in this district. The buck was seen by him with the-antler on his head when he entered some scrub, and seeing him again in about an hour aft erwards divested of this. ornamenfal'Sappendage, he made search for it, and ultimately succeeded in finding it close to where he first saw the buck. He describes him as being a large one, as large in fact as a good two year old heifer. The antler is a very fine one. It measures two feet eight inches in length, and the thickest part, is about ten inches in circumference. It weighs six pounds. Though known as buckhorn, it has not the properties .of horn, which are hollow ar.d never shed, but those, chemically and physically, of true bone. The antlers are solid processes from the frontal bone ; they resemble a handsomely forked and crooked branch of a leafless tree ; and must grow more rapidly, as they are' shed annually. " This is the first royal antler which has been found in this province, if not in New Zealand."

On Monday evening last, the fourth Tent of the Independent Order of Recbabites" in this Province was opened at Waipukurau by the Rev. R. Taylor, P. C. R., assisted by several officers and brethren of the Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley Tents. Ten candidates were initiated, and officers elected for the first term s£- The new tent, .was, paiiiedthe "Excelsior]" Brother Taylor addressed the officers and members on their. respective duties, and declared the Excelsior Tent duly opened. — Hawke's Bay Tiihes, Sept, 27.

On the news of the commutation of sentence being communicated to the condemned convict M'Donald, he seemed for some time h&rdlv able to realise the escape from death that he had had ; and it was with some trouble that Mr. Read, the governor of the gaol, was able to convince, him that his life was really spared. Since he ) received j ,his sentence, M'Donafd has exhibited 'the utmost dread of death—to that degree indeed that his reason was feared for. The reaction will, no doubt, affect him equally.— Evening Post.

:The Victorian Standard says that theJDuffy Ministry will henceforth be known as the Teetotal Ministry. The Chief Secretary (Mr. Duffy) is a teetotaler; so is the Treasurer (Mr. Berry) ; Mr. Grant, the Minister of Lands, is a teetotaler; and so is Mr. Walsh (AttorneyGeneral) ; while Mr. Longmoro (Minister of .Railways) is a devout , disciple, pf Rechab,; ( , YMr. ©?Grady' take*r";a* lijttli*! jDQ.Jg^Jr colonjcjl, wine; Mr'. Spensel/- isi about the same, while Mr. M'Lellan, the burly, and much-loved •member for Ararat, is the only one of the team that can take a " nip" of " hard stuff," and he j is very moderate indeed.