OUR AUCKLAND LETTER.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 327, 27 October 1875, Page 3

OUR AUCKLAND LETTER.

(prom ope own correspond rnt.) Auckland, October 22. Mr William Kirby has been re-arrested for the indecent assault on Mrs Bain, I told you what a commotion was raised by the di*missal of the charge by Cosgrave and Marshall when he was 6-st brought up, and that it wee pro bable representations would be made to Wellington on the subject. A copy of the evidence was sent to the Minister of Justice, and the result is that Kirby was re-taken into custody on Saturday last on a Crown prosecution He was some time Socked up be‘ore he was bailed out, for although his former sureties came forward again, the Clerk of the Court had gone home when the arrest took place, and after the jacketting which the oilier Justices came in for, no unpaid magistrates could

be found to take the responsibility of setting the aoiujtd at liberty. ,\s lust, however, Mr J Sb'ulund dm the “ neecs-nry” and Kirby was rclea-ed. It is 11;e general opinion thathe is a great fool lor not having made himself sea me after his acquittal the oilier day. Several of his friends urged him to (lit. in the Cyphrenes, but he is one of the most obstinate fellows in Auckland, anti besides I expect he did not anticipate that the charge would really be brought a second time. Kirby looked j fearful iu the dock yesterday; always an j unprej ossessing man in personal appearance, 1 bamg short, thickset, and with beetle-browa, I under which his eyes, especially when he is excited, gleam with almost unearthly tierce* ness, be is now rendered more • repulsive* looking tii n ever by extreme pallor of countenance and two great black rings round his eyes, as well as by a res-less nervousness ; which makes him lid get about in an extra- I ordinary manner, Iho evidence was gone through ail over again. Sir Fenton, the K it , expressed a wish during the hearing that the imhrent passages might, as much as j possible, be left out. Mr Brookfield, who | pioseculed on behalf of the Crown, said he whß very sorry, but lie did not see how such a charge was to be nude out without dwelling very fully upon the offensive details. How- ; ever, he cut it as short as possible. Mr Joy did not, offer any evidence for the defence, as the magistrate intimated that ho considered the ease was one fur a jury. Kirby, whom Joy had to be continually calling to order for outbursts in Court, could not be restrained at tin- juncture, and exclaimed that ho did not suppose any magistrate would dare to acquit him after the Government had taken the matter up, so it was no good his saying any* thing, iie stands fully committed, but is admitted to bail in two sureties of £250 each amt his own recognisances of £SOO. Two of our new chums have fallen among thieves during the lasi week, One of them was Mr George Fleming, who came out by the Carisbrook Castle. This gentleman, soon after landing, managed to pick up a publimhouso j acquaintance named Hayes, with whom he became very confidential. One day they wen! out on the “boose” together (Fleming of course paying the piper), when it occurred to both that they were getting very tight ami had better take a (moose; so about three o'clock in the afternoon they adjourned to a public house in Albert street,and after having just one more glass apiece for the good of the house t hey went into one of the bedrooms and laving themselves down went off to sleep. Fleming woke about nine o'clock, and found his friend gone and also his purse and money. The upshot of the matter is that Mr Hayes stands committed to take his trial next sessions, and Mr Fleming is a sadder and a wis'T man. The circumstances of the second case arc very similar. The dupe hero was a Mr John Geary, a passenger by the White Kagle, who was so charmed with the personal accomplishments of Mr James Austin, also a new arrival, Unit he shared the same apartment with him at the Royal Mail Hotel. In this instance it was a gold watch and chain, value £2O, that disappeared simultaneously with the mutual friend, 'iho trinket was found at a pawnbroker’s, where it was “loft” by Austin. This gentleman is now exchanging experiences with Mr Hayes in Mount Eden. The Diocesan Synod was opened by the Bishop on Tuesday, In his Lordship’s opening nddnss, reference was made to the arrival of the Rev. Messrs Crossley and Mulgan with the Kafikati settlers. The former would remain as minister of the settlement, while he had no doubt that Mr Mulgan would be able to offer his services for one of the vacant cures of the diocese, The night before the Synod mot there was the usual religious festival of the Diocesan Choral Association at St Paul's. The service was held in the evening, and the building was crowded. The singing was rendered by upwards of 100 members of the various choirs, but was scarcely so good as was expected. There were about 20 clergymen present. The Rev. Mr Tomlinson, who by-tbo-byo has taken the incumbency of St. Peter’s, One* hunga, on the singular condition that he gets three months’ leave of absence ir. the year when he wants it, preached a good sermon on i church music. I

An American schooner arrived here a few days ago from Dunedin, the Hosannah Rose. Her master is an old whaling captain named Soule, and generally known as Good old Soule. The old hands recognise him as an acquaintance, and I heard the following yarn about him; —When in command of the whaling barque Hadley he was looked upon as one of the most lucky skippers sailing from New Bedford. caroely a voyage did he return from without a full ship, and the consequence was ho acquired great wealth, and had the finest dwelling-house in New Bedford, as well a* any amount of valuable properly. But he had and has still 1 hear a very eccentric wife. This good lady is noted for her reckless building propensities. Having the run of her husband’s money during his absence on his whaling cruises, she has been in the habit of running up houses all over the place, and the captain when be returned home usually found he was the owner of very little spare cash, but of any amount of houses, good, bad, and in* different, scattered about in the most unlikely places, On several occasions many of these houses have been burnt down, and as the good lady never took the precaution of insuring them the skipper always found a large loss resulting from Lis spouse’s speculations. At last it came to be a genera! joke at old Soule’s expense. Whenever lie was met by an acquaintance it was, “Well, Soule, how’s the wife and the shanties ?” The old man was greeted with the same query the other day when he arrived. He e'-ook his head and answered, sorrowfully, “ Oh, she’s at it again, building away like mad, and there’ll be a dozen of ’em burnt down when I get back.” I think the con'inued conflagrations are looked upon as part of the good lady’s mania, Mr George Holdsbip, who is certainly one of our moat disinterested Councilmen, suggested at the last Council meeting that application should be made to have Government House grounds thrown open to the public during the absence of the Governor. There is no earthly reason why the citizens of Auck* ’and should not be allowed to make use of these gardens as a recreation ground where they may promenade or listen to a band on a summer’s evening, but at present it is a ease of dog in the manger, for there are the grounds and the Governor does not use them nor allow anybody else to. One of the other councilmen went further, and said he thought Government House ought to be turned into the Museum till the new building was completed. Three of the lessees of the allotment* oa.

the old Supreme Court site have commenced building already. These are Mr Dorowcl!, the butcher; Mr Waller, tobacconist; and Mr G- : W. 0 wen. Barnett and Levy have their plans for their theatre block ready, and in a few* days the tenders will be in. The various new buildings in Queen street and elsewhere are giving the city quite a renovated appearance. L. I>. Nathan and C . have finished their splendid store in Shortland street, and it is the handsomest private place of business in the city. The style of architecture is both elegant and substantial. All the shops in SominerveU’s new block at the corner of Vulcan Lane are occupied. The fronts are all plate'glass and present a very aristocratic u ppea ran ce. The City Council have issued tenders fir 50 debentures of £IOO each, bearing interest at t> per cent, per annum. Their last atlemj fc to raise a portion of their £50,000 authorised loan on their endowments was very unsuccessful. This £5,000 is to be part of the same loan, and it is to be hoped they will get it on better terms. What deters investors from coming forward I can hardly eeo for the endowments arc undoubtedly good security. Our shipbuilders and shipwrights have been very busy lately. Within the last two montht the New Zealand Steam Shipping Co. have spent £O,OOO in the place over the repair of the 8.8. Wellington. She is just finished and will take her trial trip on Monday. She has received new boilers, and her machinery has been thoroughly overhauled. All her fittings have been renewed, and everyone says that a splendid job has been made of it. It ii expected that she will go quite 12 knots under her altered conditions, 'iho A B.P. Co Imvt just expended £2,000 on their white elephant, as the Llewellyn is called, and given her a big hurricane deck, which makes her more tophoavy than ever. Mr Tom Nicool has just finished his beatiful schooner for Qodefroi and Go ,of Hamburgh and Samoa. Of this mow in my next.