OUR METROPOLITAN EPISTLE. No. 1.

Dunstan Times, Issue 238, 16 November 1866, Page 3

OUR METROPOLITAN EPISTLE. No. 1.

| The grand event of this week, aye of this rion+Ji, J might even say of this year, is the j oumiug of the Provinci 1 Parliament, in the ;N< w Hall; I aav, Ihe grand event, in as much as Hiis sission burly, promises to eclipse all its pre- ('• aessors, in respect to its. ‘stormy character.’ His_Honor, at noon, on the Cth hist., opened the business of the country with a speech without an equal for its character. I refer not, indeed, to its grammatical elegancies, albeit to a Colonial ■ Cobbett, it might afford very rare and rich ma- ’ terials for cynical criticism. This I pass over. ■ But its sfcccessive paragraphs breathed a tone of angry and petulant discontent—unreasonable dissatisfaction at the late, proceedings at Wellington. It savored very much, as every honorable member interpreted it, save the two or three pseudo-patriots and mocjc-idols. of the Dunedin ‘dwinish’ demonstration, U the ‘ad ' eaptandum vnlgus’ bunkum. On thp Bth lost., the member for Waikouaiti, Mr Orboli, moved the reply to the speech which, on account of its platitudes and generalisations, was aptly stigmatised as a ‘future’ hustings address. Its discussion occupied the whole day and night till a very late hour, when it was adopted by the House, after the embodiment of a saving clause, exonerating the Council from all participation with the sentiments—the peculiar sentiments of the Government, and the three mock patriots and the mis-inforraed demos. A division was called, and the Government was defeated by a majority of three. Mr Dillcn Bell thrashed Reynolds with stinging scorpions, and proved to the satisfaction of every man but the ‘ trio’ that the enmniob of Otago, after all, were the idols of the Dunedin Mob! Mr Haughton made a capital and argumentative speech. Mesers. E. B. Cargill, J. Cargill, Brodie, and Captain MTvenzie, carried fire and sword into the ranks of the Otago Governmentpatriots. Mr J. G. S._ Grant, in the course of a most sarcastic oration, covcredlhe mock patriots with the Nemesis shirt of burning rage, ridicule, and ironv. , The Government being defeated, and the Hofise being adjourned till the 12th, wo shall see -whether the Moss Cabinet will retain their seats on the Treasury-benches, or go, like Judas of old, and hang themselves. Little was done on the Cth beyond a few preliminaries—a House Committee was appointed. The balance-sheet for the year ending Ist Oct., 18C5, to Ist October, ISCO, was laid on the table, and to the amazement of all, LBS.OOO voted last session for very needful works in the country had been unexpended. The old TownBoards of Oamaru and Port Chalmers have been formally repealed. A Printing-Committee has been appointed. Mr J. G. S. Grant asked Mr Moss whether the defalcations of a late Superintendent had been paid, and tn evasive answer had been received—an answer which led many parties that knew no better, to imagine that all was now fair and square. But on the Bth the decisive negative to the question, viz. Whether the item of LlOl2 14s sd, set down as defalcations in page 2(17 of Provincial Gazette, vol. IV, has been refunded to the Treasury '! When the member for Dunedin had simply read his question, lie told the Treasurer, that ho only wanted a Quaker-like answer—yae or nay ; and the emphatic nay was thus nolens volens extracted. No wonder that the control of Provincial auditors has been transferred from the Provincial to the General Government. His Honor sang a doleful ditty over this assumed infraction of j Provincial rights, but the council did not sym- | pathise with his querulous moans, nor with the j disappointment of his advisers. I Mr J. G. S. Grant has carried the following I resolution- that all members daily and regularly attending to their duties in this House shall be entitled to claim the honorarium of LI per diem, throughout the course of this session, if any, or all of them feel thus inclined. Last, session he | tried to abolish payment of members, but could j rot succeed. Now, very properly, I.e wishes I that all members shall hen -eforth be put on a footing of equality in this respect. Donald I Reid, one of the Taieri boor i, has given notice of motion to rescind the vote ; and as Mr J, G. is. | Grant is almost the only member who, last ses- | sion did not get the honorarium, is it probable that the greedy ai d < omis'eut (?) farmer (who draws his pay, by the way) will succeed in his most uiijas'-, ungenerous and inconsistent course of action. Right above the Speaker, projecting from the gable of the Hall, there is a reporters’ gallery. It rare nblcs a gibbet rather than a gallery for the press—which now, as if in derision, literally overshadows the House. However, if I mistake not the temper of the House, no garbled abstracts of its proceedings shall, this session, bo tolerated on any condition whatsoever. The press therefore will do well to adopt the wisdom of “the serpent,” if not the innocence of the dove, and fairly report the business of the Session ; eke most certainly, as 1 hear, it will have to take up its bed and walk out of the Parliament Hall. On the Oth there was a general holiday, and people took excursions to the Heads, Van-ball, and sundry other places. Wo had sham \ ;u----tcor reviews. The c,--cuing was spent at he theatres andothcr placesof amusement. I fdw ,nc two theatres (for the Royal and Princess are now open) will suffer very much from the counter attractions of the Political Theatre. 8o much for this week. I shall, on every successive evolution of the plot, ami unravelling of the web, keep your numerous readers fully posted up in every valuable piece of information. No • Blunting.’—The ‘ Northern Argus (Queensland), supplies die following ; “ We are rep-iced toll' aide to announce that a Society having for its object tno total suppression and extinction of drunkenness in Northern Queensland, and the s.ving of money in these perilous times, lias been organised in Ivockhampton. 'I he fundamental principle of the Society is •* no shout ng”

Kvpry man must pav for his own liquor, Yorkshire fashion. Wo highly approve of the principle* and we think it is a far more practical means of curing this, our “ social evil, ” than the ascetic and impossible agenadvocaled by tietotnl societies, “in vino vehtas ” and this idea has sprung, not from a water bottle or teetotal cucumber, but from a bubbling champagne glass, from the [phosphorescent brain, “pace ” M ‘ Loan, of a,moderate worshipper at the shrine of the jolly god. In the party of five or six the call by number one entails a soc ; nl necessity on all the rest to repeat the dose. Now this “ repeta’ur haustus ’’plan produces two bad effects. It causes an unnecessary and extravagant waste of money and almo.-t certain intoxication of every member of the shouting circ’e. Wo would recommend a modification of the funhatnentnl principle to the extent of not making it penal for one friend to ask another, and “ vice versa, ” to imbibe. The teetotalers have now a grand opportunity of securing the “missing link ” they have been so lout, looking for between themselves and the repr.ibato sons of Bacchus, Their principles cannot be carrieb out in their entiiety in this climate with safety to health. A compromise is possible, and if they on'y hrsccnd from iheir Utopian p'a'foi m and take bumanitv as they find it a great deal r f good miy he done ar d tl e cause of p 'o noted

Ays IkvuJSterable Coat.—We have no sooner come to know the efficiency of breech-loaders than tin'inventor steps iii to I neutralise them. The pame of j>uns v. armor, which lias been played so kvig on a grand scale, must henceforth be transferred to the case of smaller arms. We write thus, on the authority of a report furnished by ' Le Nord,'' of a remarkable test, to which the invention of alight coat impenetrable, to musketcry ,flre,. has been subjected, the inventor bqiyg M.' I'harles Bernard, with whose invention rumor has for a few weeks been busy. According to 'Le Nord,' the trial took place two days ago, at the Belgian 'I ir National, in the presence of M. Dailly, president of the competition, and of a great number of marksmen. The experiment was made with a cavalry carbine, charged with three grammes and a-half of powder, and the conical ordinance ball for that arm. The carbine, after having been tested and regulated, was placed upon a stand pointed at a level of the breast. M. Bernard placed himself at the distance of a hundred 'metres,' commenced by taking off his coat, and showed that between his breast and his . ' capote,' there was absolutely nothing but his shirt and his waistcoat. Lie then put on ,his ' capote,' which is a flowing garment falling on the ground, and covered his head with a steel casque, The shot was then fired. Ihe public were greatly moved when they appeared to see;M. Bernard stagger and fall. Happi'ly he had only made a false step in stooping to pick up the ball, which had s ruck him a little below the'waist and to the left side. The ball deadening against the stuff, had fallen afr'his foot, and he came running towards us to show it. At a short distance he threw the ball to the marksinan, crying to them not to 'approach. Not yet having taken out'a patent, M. Bernard absolutely refused to let the garment be examined by which he obtained so marvellous a result. The ball was only slightly beaten out of shape, and tore on its point the impress of the stuff. Ihe inventor offered to renew the experiment; but, in presence of the result obtained, those present declared a new experiment unnecessary. The coat is said to weigh very little, so that there can be no objection to it on the score of its burdensomeness. Are infantry henceforth to be useless against each other, t unless they are armed with heavier weapons, 1 which will certainly be a novelty to introduce after all the desire of military men to have the lightest possible weapon] But there will be no help for it, if it is possible, by in creasing the weight and power of the infantry soldier's weapon, to make the necessary defensive armor, even with the advantages of the present invention, too heavy.—' Globe.' There always seems to be a mysterious influence in the sea—itself a mystery, cpverinc three-fourths of the surface of the globe, anil hiding the earth and its inhabitants from the gaze of the " bords of the creation." How little do we know compared with the unknown, of three-fourths of the world that is buried in the sea ! "We tried," says Sir James Boss, " but did not obtain soundings with 4,000 fathoms of line, or 24000 feet, upwards of five miles." And this in the " deep, deep sea." From the bottom of this vast expanse the plummit brings to the surface evidence of the past exist-ence of myriads of minute organism. f The ocean," writes Lieutenant Maury, " especially within and near the tropics, swarms with life. The remains of its myriads of moving things are conveyed by currents, and scattered and lodged, in the course of time, all over its bottom. This process, continued for ages, has covered the depths of the ocean as with a mantle, consisting of organisms as delicate as the mackled frost, and as light as the undrifted snow-flake on the mountain," And that those fragile and delicate objects repose at peace in their ocean bed, is now past a doubt. "My investigations," writes Professor Bailey, "show that the bottom is so free from currents and abrading agents that a rope of sand, if once laid there, would be stout enough to withstand the pulling of all the forces that are at play upon the bottom of the sea."