The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1875.

Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1687, 15 July 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1875.

For tho cause that lacks assistance, Jor the wanß that needs resistaac* ?sr the fmture In the dJßtanc«, Ami tb« sood that we can do.

The villanies that have been perpetrated by the L»nd Ring in Hawke's Bay call for some altered legislation for dealing with disputes between black and white. It is generally believed that no impartial jury of white men could be empannelled in that province to determine a suit in which the claims of natives and of white settlers are concerned. It is a stain on the honor of our common humanity that it ia so, and it is the duty of honest men all over these islands to demand that something shoul^ be done to purge the stain. And here the question presents itself, why should not litigation between Maoris and Europeans be submitted to mixed jurie3 ? We admit that the great bulk of the native population consists of people wholly unfit for considering legal disputes, or giving judgment based on principles of justice. But the same can be said, with very little qualification, of a very large number of those enrolled on common juries ; and on grounds of intelligence and rectitude we do not hesitate to say that from the more enlightened of our sable fellow countrymen there could be selected a jury list that would guarantee aB just and intelligent verdicts, as are usually seen proceeding from the jury room. And what can appear more unjust and more unsatisfactory to the native population, and indeed to any impartial mind, than that suits between members of two races should be invariably left to juries selected from, one race and that the dominant one. In Hawke's Bay of course the thing has become a patent scandal, for it is known that so exended are the ramifications of the party

known as the Land Ring, that any juror who would express an opinion capable of being tortured into sympathy with Maori grievances would be marked and ruined, just as Mr. Judge Rochefort was marked and removed from the bench, because he had a conscience that revolted from the scoundrelism of the dominant party. But we speak not alone of that hotbed of iniquity. But in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, anywhere, how unfair does it appear for such disputes between members of different races to be decided by a jury selected from one alone. In all cases in which a member of an alien race is placed on trial, our national sense of justice compels us to give him the benefit of a mixed jury, and for s litigation between

Englishmen and Welshmen was determined by juries consisting of twelve from each of the two nationalities. Now when peace has taken the place of hostility between the races of New Zealand, and when it is desirable to do everything to ouliivata their mutual confidence, the continuance of this palpable injustice must have an ill effect, which will not be mollified by the disgraceful proceedings that have now made Hawke's Bay Province notorious. Two years ago a Maori jury bill was among the anticipated results of the th-.n approaching session of Assembly, but the influence which controls Maori legislators was quietly used, and the idea was hushed. Of course it is quite easy to work the orjele so that the natives will noi; insist on any such measure of justice. But surely our own sense of fair play, and our sense of what is due to the character of Anglo-Saxon colonization in its relations to the dispossessed race, should impel us to remove such a blob on those relations; and if the revelations of the grcg-cum-mortgage swindles of the Hawkes Bay bushrangei'3 have the effect of awaking tho honest public to a sense of what is right, it may be after all that those robberies will serve a beneficent purpose. Whether the result may tend in the direction of a mixed jury system, a simpler and readier form for removing trials to purer and more wholsosome atmoaphere, or the constitution of some new and impartial tribunal for the trial of suits between the races, it is to be hoped that the door will be for ever closed agaiutt the repetition of transactions which have given wealth to those Shepherd Kings of the East Coast, and givea baggary and degradation as the heritage of their children to the original owners of the county.

It is foitunate that tbe final ratification of the postal contract rests wif.h the Assembly, for surely it will not perpetuate the abiurdity of the coastal service of New Zealand bung performed by the trans-Pacific ocean steamers. That peculiar feature was the outcome of interprovinoial jealousies and was at one time a political necessity. The interprovincial jealousies are as lively as ever, but they do not appear to seek manifestation in this particular way. In this we have an illustration of how time brings common sense, and our Southern fellow colonists, who saw in the touching of the boata at the Northern port alone, the bogie of Auckland ascendancy, have learned by experience that the cure is wors<3 than the disease. For tho big att-amers foiling down the coast with empty holds and tenantlcsa cabin?, liavcjharl the effect of disarranging traffic, injuring the leguitnite coasting trade, and confertiug no counter* vailing benefits in return. It 13 v/01l that experience has been the teacher, and after Wellington shall have exhausted the inevitable gas respecting its right to be the centre of the universe, and the pivot on which New Zealand turns, we may fairly anticipate, if the coastal clause is lopped off that [we shall hear no more interprovincial grumbling respecting the service during its ei^hfc years' continuance. "With two such companies as those now engaged with magnificent Bteamers in doing the coastal livd c of the ialcnds, it is idle to say that any room exists for the introduction of the American steamers, which could be filled to tha advantage of the commerce of tha colony ; and only the somewhat sentimental feeling of desire to be on the main trunk line of' tho groat route could prompt any Southern port to cl din the visits of tbe mail steamers. The coasting trade done by the American boats under the former contract was an irregularity only allowed in virtue of the peculiar circums'.ances and was a favour that would not have been granted to foreign bottoms on the coasts of the United States. Now neither the exigencies of politics nor of trado demand that the big steamers should go rolling down our stormy coasts. And it is devoutly to be hoped that, seeing the change that Ins been wrought in Southern feeling on the subject, the Assembly will make short work of thi* feature of the proposed contract.

A gentleman who has gone to the trouble and expense of making the following scientific experiment deserves indulgent consideration at the hands of any public company. Where we have so many people wasting pages of foolscap in theorising, we cannot sufficiently commend the practical and incontrovertible argument supplied in this burning of the one ninth part of a sperm candle. We feel confident that in face of such an appeal the directors of the Ferry Company are warranted, and will be indemnified by shareholders for investing in a pound of sperms : To the Editor of the Evening Star : Sir, — Yesterday (Wednesday, 14th instant), at 5"30 p.m., twelve persons, including myself, were seated in the fore-cabin of one of the Company's boats—in utter darkness, as usual. We thought of trying an experiment to find the approximate expense of supplying a light from the town wharf to Flagstaff Wharf, North Shore. Immediately on starting, we lighted one inch of a sperm candle (6 to the H>, each 9 inches long), being one-fifty-fourth of a R>, at 1/ per lb retail, which burned brightly in the open air and draught, until we reached the Flagstaff Wharf. As it is well known, light can be supplied at a cheaper rate with kerosene than with sperm candles, surely it would not seriously injure the large (?) dividends of the Company to grant the necessary accommodation at something less than Jd. per trip when dark, should the experiment with our inch of candle sufficiently enlighten the manager, so that his benign rays may be abundantly diffused into the compartment referred to, it will not have been burned in vain.—l am, etc., A Daily Traveller.

The JBatavia Sea and Fire Insurance Company has established an agency in Auckland, and Mr. H. W. Heath, Bank Buildings, Wyndham street, has been appointed local agent. The company offers special advantages for marine risks, having agencies at which premiums may be received and losses paid in all parts of the world. An announcement relating to the Atickland branch appears in another column.

Dover ia to be made a fortified harbour of importance. The Duke of Cambridge has given evidence in favour of the scheme before a select committee, has stated that in case of a European war it would be of the greatest importance, and has, in fact, quoted the opinion of the Duke of Wellington to show that he is right in his judgment. In reply to Sir George Balfour, His Royal Highness has further pointed out that, with a good pier at Dover, troop 3 intended for service abroad could be brought from all parts of the country by rail alongside ships, and embarked within an hour of their arrival. After this testimony little doubt need be entertained respecting the Dover harbour scheme.

Ii; affords us much pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of £1 from Dr. Kenderdine in aid i of the funds now being collected for the r widow ot the) late Mr. Patrick Sweeny, t We shall be very happy to receive and trans- i mit auy furth< airioun"s which may be t placed in our hinds for tire purpose, by those t whe feel sympathy with bereavement and ] distress. < Mr. Thomas Baker has called to say he is <" not dig Thomas Baker fined yesterday for < assaulting Constable Moore, and moreover ; he cannot conceive what Thomas Baker : could so far have forgotton himself as to fall out with a man in blue. The Bail of Plenty Times, ever alive to the interests oi! the districts it represents, draws attention to the fearful sta:e of the roads, especially in the Rotorua district, which are described as seas of mud, or cut up into sharp ridges and yawning gulfs— graves of delspidated vehicles, the buried hopes of road engineers, and the public works vote of the last and coming Parliament. Our contemporary hopes that £20,000 will be votsd by the next Parliament to metal the road from Taurauga to the Lakes. A party of gentleman comprising Mr G. Yon der Seyde, Mr W. Swanson, and other members of the General Assembly took a trip down to Kohimarama this afternoon in one of the new Government steam launches for the purpose of inspecting the training school there. A match between the Parnell and Ponsinby Football Clubs will take place on Saturday next in the Domain. The uniforms ordered for tha Parnell Club have arrived from Melbourne, and members are requested to apply for them without delay to the ccietary. The Melbourne Aryns which seems to be taking the lead in the direction of la'atudinarianism, if not of re; thought, has some very severe strictures on the lUv. A. M Henderson, who attracted such large congregations at the Choral Hail. The opening hentences of the article on Mr Henderson arc as follow :—" The Rev. Anketeil M. Henderson is once more happy—that is to say, as happy as a wicked and unappreciativc age will permit him to be. lo will be remembered that not long ago he " burst " up," to use a favourite expression of the land reformers, a young men's debating society which existed in connexion with his church. These sinful youths venture:! to hold views slightly at vaiiance with their reverend pastor and president, and, what was worse still, to expre-s them. Then, when Mr Henderson demanded that a victim should be sacrificed in order to pacify his righteous indication, and that securities should be given againat the recurrence of similar outrages in the future, , th* y truculently refused to gratify him in either particular." The Magistrate at the Prahan Police Court, Melbourne, has decided that when a boy i 3 apprenticed the parent's responsibility was in a preat measure transferred to the inasstor. The master miiit be allowed a certain amount of liberty to punish his apprentices, so long as the punishment is not unduly severe. He therefore dismissed two charges of assault brought against the overseer of Sargood's factory, although the evidence showed that for neglecting work the overseer had tied one of the boys f.o a post, and as a punishment for the ofFjnco took down his trousers and flogged him uith a lea; her strap split into thongs, inflicting half-a-dozen lashes. Defendant then left the room for a few minutts, and on returning asked the boy how he liked ih, adding several other stripes. A similar punishment was iu/licted by defendant on Champion for ' a like neglect of work. Tho following persons are requested to call for the two amounts now lying unclaimed at this office, Mrs Cassidy, £1 10s ; Mrs Holtham, £3 os. We hear from the General Government Age^t that the Luna left for Manukau yesterday at 1 p.m., to take members of Assembly to Wellington. Tho gold produce from th.9 Queen of Beauty mine for the past fifrren months rta'ized the grand total of £56,862, out of which £23,085 were paid in dividends. This extraordinarily rich return comes like a memory of tho golden days of the past. The circumstances which led to the invention of tho swinging Bessemer saloon, which has recently received a successful trial, were somewhat singular. The Ji]mperor of the French proposed to confer on Mr Bessemer the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, f and ho went over to Pans to receive this , reward. But the British Minister at; the ' | Imperial Court intimated to the Government \ I of the Emperor that it would be coni trary to the etiquette of the British . Court for this decoration to be worn by a British subject. It may be supposed that a man of such vigorous intellectual powers would not lay to heait such a disi appointment as tin's. But whether vexation had any part in it or not, tha fact is that Mr Bes-emer on returning to England across the Channel was attacked with such violent sea ! sickness that for twenty-four hours his life ■ was despaired of. But this painful experience- • aroused him to a new invention. He deter: . mined to devise some means of preventing sea j sickness, and after a series of studies and ; experiments, he produced the Bessemer i steamboat saloon. 1 The Dushesne conspiracy against Bis" 1 marck's life, which formed the subject of the ' disagreement between Germany and Belgium, 1 anel about which so much has been heard ancl so little is understood, may be explained in a few words. More than a year ago : Dnchesne, a working engineer in the Belgian town of Lieges, addressed several letters to • the Archbishop of Paris, offering to assassinate Bismarck for the good of his : soul and a consideration. The Archbishop 1 loyally handed these interesting epistles to 1 the French Government, who with praise- • worthy expedition communicated the contents to the intended victim. A diplomatic correspondence having arisen in consequence : between the German and Belgian Governments, the latter regretted their inability to prosecute the wouid-be assassin, the mere expression of an intention not being a penal act ; under the Belgian law. The negotiations re- ' ferred likewise to the conduct of certain Belgian bishops, who encouraged the German 1 Catholic bishops to rebel against the law of the land. Fork-grinding is said by an English medical authority to be more fatal to human life than- any othes industrial pursuit in Great Britain. The fine particles of stone and metal which arise in clouds from the grindstones on which the work is done enter the lungs, causing consumption and wasting away of the body. The average longevity of fork-grinders is found not to exceed 30 years. A novel case has recently been reported to tho police at Lucknow. A Mahommedan woman is said to have bsen seized with sudden spasms of an epileptic nature which stopped her breathing, and which her relatives took for a sudden dissolution. In due course she was placed in her winding-sheet and carried to her last resting-place. The Moulvie being in attendance, the ceremonial of burial was about to proceed, when the woman, who \i as only in a trance, sprang to her feet and made off, scattering the bewildered and astonished crowd in all directions. Just then another corpse was seen winding its way thither, and as the newly-dug grave had not been used, it wag offered for the new tenant; but on hearing the story of the woman, the relatives of the deceased were so scared (he having been a notorious bad character in life), that they indignantly refused to deposit his remains there for fear of similar results. Her grave is thus preserved to mark the supernatural result ! This is told by the Lucknow correspondent of the Daily News.

To the Editor: Sir,—l was much surprised, on reading in y- ur I•' evamu» s a report of the meeting of the Ci y U'Uici ~ a that a petition was p.snid trow >c t residents of Collingwood sireer, eoiupU n "*-' « that Campbell's cows and horses rie-f ;<<y; «» -: their paths in travelling to and fro fioai tt v paddock. 1 beg confidently to state that; our cattle are carefully driven to the paddock, and that the badness of the road was not caused by the COW 3 and horses as alleged, and I think is very hard that our cattle should be continually under the surveillance of the police, an.l the far-reaoh.m« eye of Inspector G-oldle, which smacks of persecution.—Yours, &c, J. A. Campbell. It is at all times a pleading duty ro record enterprise oi the part of our fellow colonists, we would now do so with reference to the establishment of an oil-skia manufactory at (;nehunga soss.-e two years ago. Mr G. Vau?e began to experiment on the best method of making these valuable water-proof goods, bis perseverance and knowledge of the required material, and of the way to use them has resulted in a most complete success, after undergoing every fipeci.es of tri^l the oil skin garments art) found to possess the necessary elements of any good article, viz., superiority of material and work. The demand for them increased to such an extent that Mr Vause found it necessary to build a new factory, which is seen by any one walking from the Onehunga Station towards Mr EUrdiogfcon's hotol. The same being a compact three-storied building well adapted for the purpose, and a credit to Onehunga. On the ground fl or is the storehouse ; on the second and third floor are scores of pants, coils, &■.; , in different starts of preparation. Altogether eight hands are employed in various parts of the manufacturing and finishing, so ihas Mr. Vause may be icgire'ed as a public benefactor, inasmuch as he retains in the jjlace an amount of wages money which would otherwise be lost to the community, and be paid away far the imported article. Mr. Wiiiso refers to his stopping the importation of these goods &s being an advantage to the mercantile world, or rather to the insurance portion of it, contending that oilskins paoke I close together are very liable to spontaneous combustion, and ho is of opinion that the many fires at sea, otherwise unaccountable, may be traced to this source. Three young men were brought up before the Resident Magistrate's Court, Onehunga, yesterday, by Constable Greene, charged with using the Manc.e c Bridge on Sunday evening, June 27, as a race course, and galloping horaea thereon, to the danger of anyont'd life who might chance to have boon thereon. Mr Keetley appeared for the accused, whose names were John Rae, Hugh Kko, and Joseph Moody. The case was proved against two of them, and a fine imposed of 40^ each and coats. At the meeting of gentlemen for promoting the subscription in aid of the family of the lato Patrick Swe&ney, held last night, eight of the subscription lists wera returned, shewing £12 93 (5 1 collected. This was paid in to the treasurer, and the meeting was adjourned for a week for the other lists to come in, and it is hoped that the amount will be largely added to. A singular correspondence has passed between the local secretaries of the Acclimatisation Society at Hoiorua and a gentiemsn at; Taupo, who proposed to seed a supply of carp from Taupo (introduced there some years ago by Captain Morrison, of the A.C) to be placed in ihs ancient lake of Rotoma. In reply to this excellent proposal, the Rotorua secretary rf-plied :—"Sir, —After due consideration, we have determined not to have anything to do wi^h your fish." The Ohinemntu correspondent of the Hay of Plenty Times, who records the following, jocularly remarks: —''The reason assigned (but omitted mysteriously from the Becie tary's letter) fur declining the Taupo carp, it is understood, was their alleged coarseness and dangerous superfluity of bane, which it WPS surmised might too violently expediate the doom of our native allies should this acclimatisation project be developed in tbis populous centre of Maoridom." Mr Barnett, the well-known poi-k butcher, of Queen-street, has opened a branch c tt!>lishincnb in Parnel], just opposite the Catholicc Church, in the promises lately occupied by Mr Pike, grocer. The new shop forms quite a feature in this quieb suburb, and of an evening the cheerful *:low from its windows lights up the street in a very pleasant in inner. The tasty edibles, in the shapa of pork pies, polonies, &c, which are there displayed, aro sufficient to make anyone's mouth water. Such a shop was much wanted, and we anticipate that Mr Barnett will not repent hi 3 new venture. An important decision ba3 recently been given by a fuli Court of Judges in Melbourne. A grocer named James Caspar Morris was convicted at the Criminal Sessions in April last of disposing of uoods he had bought on credit otherwise than in the way of trade, and with intent t> defraud. The evidence shewed that he bad bought kerosene oil on credit, and that thonly after he had so purchased it he had told it by auction for a much less pries than he bad paid for ir, so as to put him in funds. His firm shortly afterwards became insolvent, and Morris, in the course of his examination in the Insolvent Court, desciibed the process he had resorted to as financing. Mr Justice Molesworth, who had tried the case, reserved for the full Court the question whether the insolvent cou^d be found guilty of the offence with which he was charged. The case was argued, and the Court held that there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury to sustain the conviction. The Improvement Commissioner ease occupied the District Court until five o'clock yesterday, when Mr. J. B. Russell applied for a nonsuit on the ground that the exemption of the drill-shed and site set forth in the act included the adjoining buildings. Mr. Lusk replied and the case was adjourned for a fortnight on that point, Mr. Russell intimating that if it were decided against him he would raise the question of the jurisdiction of the Court. A meeting of the Loyal Albert L O.L will be held in the lodge-room, Wellesley-street, to-morrow evening, at half-past 7 o'clock. A singular combat took place at Inglewood between akangaroo and a dog. The long-tailed one was observed in a paddock belonging to Mr. James Bloan on the banks of Bulabul Creek ; and on a dog being set after him the kangaroo turned, and seizing the latter in his fore-paws hopped off into the creek, and there tried to drown him ; but not relishing this kind of treatment, the dog freed himself from thekind embrace of his tormentor, and getting on to the back of the latter, held his head under water in such a persistent manner as to effectually quieten him. The dog then swam ashore, and the dead body of the kangaroo floated down the stream.

They have the same system of raking the mud into heaps in Dunedin as prevails here, and the Otago Daily Times explains the way the evil was remedied thusly :— " Last evening, a gentleman, who had been over his shoe tops three times in these mud heaps, determined that instead of writing to the papers he would get a Town Councillor to accompany him through a carefully collected heap of mud, and thus enable the city representative to fy""*l * practically on the matter at the next meeting of the Council- He was not long in finding his man, and, suggesting a drink, the two crossed at the University corner, for the Empire Hotel. The councillor was on the left, and with a little judicious steering on the part of his friend, he was landed centrally in a heap of well assorted slush. That Councillor swore, he used adjectives, he said somebody would hear something about our dirty streets next meeting. He was last sp^u vvith. an order paper taking off the thick of the mud, before spoiling a doormat. Example is better than precept."

Gentlemen interested in the holding of a' a Dog and Poultry Show are invited to meet a:, ib-i Hotel, at half-past two o'clock to-tn«rr w afternoon. The last show was an uiq.iiliuo.l fii-tes and Mr Greenwood has hven v ge I ;o make it an annual even 4", jhesd eiTows it c :• gieat benefit by offering encourajtmifci.t o 1-r. c ois of poultry and inducing "a healthy jv.tiry. Wo hope the attendance to-uioirow vvi 1 '•<: good. In addition to all other orders in force^ on the rifle range, and in order to guard against all possibility of serious accident when engaged afc rifle practice, officers and non-com-missioned officers in charge of firing squads are held responsible that no Volunteer shall load his rifle or carbine until be has taken up the position in front of his equad from which he intends to fire, any inattention to thi3 ■ necessary order must be reported os soon as possible to the officer commanding the district. The <ovn is infested just now with loaning vagabonds, who go about asking for money, and, if a chance offers, pick up any small articles Ijing about. One of these men yesterday opened the door of Mr Ewinsjton's residence, situated on the cliff, lower Ch'pelstreet, and walked boldly in. When he got as far a3 the dining room door, he was met by Mrs Ewington, whom he asked for money. Although naturally alarmed, Mrs Ewington ordered the rascal out, and he skulked away. Very lately an impostor went the rounds of the suburbs, puticuiariy Ponsouby, and after ascertaining something of the frieads and connections of residents, proceeded to represent himself as personally acquainted with them, concluding by asking fur a small loan. Ttns gentleman was pretty successful, but in one of his applications he was asked to wait a few minutes, a constable being sent for in tbe meanwhile. However, after a lapse of several minutes he began to wake lothe conBciousness that nil was not right and cleat ed otf. But the police were on his track, and upon discovering that the friendly although impecunious gentleman wa3 an old acquaintance, he was brought up at the Police Court and sent to gaol for six months.