The Evening Star. DUNEDIN, FRIDAY, JAN 19, 1866.

Evening Star, Volume III, Issue 844, 19 January 1866, Page 2

The Evening Star. DUNEDIN, FRIDAY, JAN 19, 1866.

The provincial journalist is . at the present moment much in the position of the bondmen who were ordered s.to make “ bricks without stra v.” Nothing politically or locally interesting is occurring, anl we need hardly add 1 the mail is not in.” Under these circumstances “ scissors and paste ” have more to do with the •composition of a newspaper than most people are aware of. It is, however, not always easy to find desirable extract matter ; and until “ something turns up,” we must wait patiently. The extremely sultry weather which w:e have experienced in Dunedin during the past two days was brought to a close-by a heavy shower of rain at about eleven o’clock this morning, when the aneroid barometer, which had been standing at 29.80, suddenly fell to 29.00, and the thermometer from 75 to 60. At three o’clock, the atmosphere was sufficiently relieved to permit the former instrument to rise to 29.65, the latter falling again to 57The rumour of a large ship having been seen off the Heads this morning is correct. It has pr ived to be the Faria, from Glasgow, with cargo and passengers. She is consigned to Messrs Morison, Law, and Co. The mails dispatched to the United Kingdom and to the Australian colonies yesterday, per Albion, consisted of 44 boxes, 7 bags, and 6 packets, containing 10,490 letters, and 29,919 newspapers. The ‘ ‘ Sea of Ice ” has been repeated every evening during the week with increased success, and it is announced to be played to-niglit for the last time but one. So much pains and expense have been gone to in producing this attraction, and the result has been so great, that the public should not omit to make some return by patronising the enterprise of the management. The Directors of the Caledonian Society will meet at the Committee rooms this (Friday) evening at eight o’clock, ‘ ‘ to choose the trustees in whom the property of the Society is to be invested. Also, to consider the propriety of carrying out the original plan of the grand stand.” The and fancy fair to be held at Vauxhall to-morrow will, if the weather clears up, no doubt attract a great many visitors. There will be a concert, at which Mrs Mumford and Miss Bell have consented to assist, and the steamers will run to and from the Gardens at reduced fares. The “inimitable”- Barlow was advertised to make his appearance at Tokomairiro in Capstick s new hall last evening. Ah advertisement in another column notifies that the Dunedin District Schools will re-open on the 22nd instant. Miss Grace Egekton’s (Mrs George Case) ■entertainment continues to prove very attractive, and last evening was attended by a very select and numerous audience, who were evidently delighted with the protean performances of that lady. The first part of the “ Drawing Room Floor” we have before noticed, and we are glad to be able to comment upon the second portion of the entertainment in equally favorable terms. In it, Mr G-. Case appears as the husband of Miss Grace Egerton, certainly not a, difficult task, and expresses his anxiety to visit France for the purpose of picking up odd characters for an entertainment. This step is objected to by Mrs Case, who considers it an unnecessary sacrifice of comfort to quit England for such a purpose. Accordingly, she impersonates three or four characters, and ends by convincing her husband that she is capable of producing an entertainment that will satisfy the public. Molly Brown, “a stage struck servant,” was very cleverly presented, and John Brettles,. “the boots,” who never gets any sleep, and is always, naturally.,enough,.

yawning, was alsp a good bit of k acting.. , Mr, Case enlivens the intervals between Mrs Case’s - exits and re-appearances with some t beautiful music ; one air, “Ye Banks and Braes,” played, by him upon the concertina, being loudly applauded. His solo, “The Carnival de Venise,” upon the violin, displayed considerable skill in execution, and the grotesque passages were well marked. We had almost omitted to refer to three very clever tricks which Mrs Case, in the disguise of the “Wizard of the East,” performs. They were cleverly executed, and superior to anything in the shape of conjuring yet seen in Dunedin. We observe that the entertainment will be given for the last time this evening, and that another, entitled “ Latest intelligence from abroad and at home,” will be produced to-mor-row night. The “Army and Navy Gazette” says : “Our late remarks upon the assumption of military rank by Militia and Volunteer officers have, as we expected, not given complete satisfaction to some of our friends of those two honorable and auxilliary forces. We cannot help it though we may regret it. As we have said, it is not a question of right ; it is a question of taste, based upon the conventional habits of Englishmen. As such, we must maintain that it is the extreme of bad taste for any man to describe himself as a colonel or captain, as the case may be, save one whose peculiar calling it is to command a company or troop. As we have said, the Volunteer colonelcy or captaincy is but an incident in his life, and he should no more express it on his cards than should a respectable barrister, belonging to the lower ranks of the “Devil’s Own,” write “ Private Jones ” upon his cards. The question is not to be decided by rule and right of the Volunteers under an Act of Parliment. It is a question of taste, and we repeat it is the extreme of bad taste for a barrister, merchant, or butcher, or boniface to call himself captain, when the captaincy is not his main occupation, but an accident in his life.”

The Nelson Colonist is responsible -for the following : —“ It is whispered in political circles in Wellington that Mr Stafford has advised the Governor to lead the Colonial force at Wanganui in an endeavour to compel the delivery or effect the capture of the murderers of Mr Broughton and others whom the rebels have killed in cold blood. Such is the intention, according to the information received from wellinformed quarters ; but we believe no authoritative statement has been made on the subject.”