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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2109, 8 February 1870, Page 2

Thatcher’s Concerts.—Thn new Masonic Hall was crowded again last cveuiurr. Wc notice by advertisement in to-day’s issue that Mr .Small takes a benefit to-mor-row (Wednesday) evening, when we hope to see a large house. Magisterial. — ln the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day, the only ease was a family quarrel, which, after a light, ended in Douglas charging ouo Tweed with assault. The matter came before A. G. Strode, Esq., KM., and was dismissed. St. George’s Hall.— There was a full house last evening, when Miss Kosina Caraudini took a benefit. The programme included a good many pieces that have been previously given, but which wore as well received as ever. The overture from “Fra Diavolo ” was brilliantly played by the Misses Fannie and Kosina, and deservedly applauded. The gem of the concert was undoubtedly' the vocal valse, “ II Bacio,” which was admirably snug by the heneficinre. Miss Fannie was very successful in the “ Lady o’ the Lea,” and “ Somebody’s Darling.” The company give a concert at Port Chalmers this evening.

Fire Brigade.— The usual monthly meeting of the Dunedin. Volunteer hire Brigade was held hist evening at their engine station, Captain Wain occupying the chair. After the minutes had been read by the Secretary and confirmed, the following gentlemen were ballutted for as working members, and were unanimously elected : —Messrs E. Levi, J. Bvaithwaite, and T. Maeauley. The Fire Brigade now musters the full complement of members, as allowed by the agreement between the Brigade and Corporation—namely, thirty—and are fully equipped and in perfect readiness for any occasion requiring their services. A letter was read by the Secretary from the City Council, to the effect that the Post Office boll was being made available for use as a filebell, since receipt of which Captain Wain had informed the members that it was completed, and that on Wednesday evening of next week, that being practice night, the bell would ho properly tested. He hoped to see a good muster ou that occasion. A further lot of books had been purchased, and added to the library. _ He was glad to see such an improvement in the attendance of members at the meetings, and hoped it would continue so. The meeting then adjourned. Poor Otago.—“Somebody” has been writing from Melbourne to the London Standard about New Zealand, which country he makes the theme of a column and a-half, which purports to bo written in Melbourne on the I2th Oct. “Somebody’s” ideas are so rich that they must he quoted. This is his opinion of Otago, for instance—“ Overburdened with taxation for the war, the colonists have been maintaining a desperate struggle for existence. Otago has long been bankrupt—thoroughly bankrupt. Property will not sell, the people cannot hear the charges laid upon them, and arc ready for any unhappy resolution which offers, however faintly, a hope of relief.” The Age wisely thinks that “the Melbourne correspondent of the Standard had better keep away from Otago, or ho will certainly he mobbed,” and observes—“No doubt the settlers there object to the war tax, but as to their being bankrupt through it, a hundred years of such a war would not bankrupt them. They are a healthy, vigorous, prosperous young people, who rather like taxation than otherwise. Bankrupt! faugh ! the idea is preposterous. But this is not the end of ‘ Our own correspondent’s ’ writing. He continues thus—‘ When I last wrote all eyes were turned towards the United States, which fortunately are so distant that they are not likely to notice the supplicating looks of the New Zealanders. In many parts of the island there is a large Irish population, not very well affected towards Great Britain. But the spirit of disaffection is not confined to this class ; nor, if I may judge from report, most powerful amongst them. It is general, but most prevalent amongst those who have lost most and have most to lose ; and it affects the distant Froviuccs perhaps more strongly than those adjacent to the seat of war. ’ ”

New Zealand Affaius.—We have been permitted to glance at a letter from a gentleman engaged on one of the leading papers of Great Britain. Inferring to the affairs of this Colony, the writer says - “ I have no doubt the Colonists of New Zealand do feel that they have been hardly dealt with, and their ease is certainly a bad one ; but whether the Home Government is much to blame in the matter is another question, on which I expect you and I—the one being in the Colony, and the other in England —arc not likely to agree. Did you not in New Zealand assert, a year or two ago, that you could do without English troops ? and did not your Government take the management of the Natives into their own hands ? If so, 1 do not sec how you can expect the Home Government to help you out of difficulties which you undertook to deal with yourselves. Then again, is there perfect harmony between the North and South Islands ? _ Does the South show a strong disposition to aid the North in defending the people against the Natives as they might do ? I think 1 have heard rumors of the South talking of separation from the North, to avoid the burden of being saddled with part of the expense of the Native wars. If this be so, can you wonder that England, who has burdens enough already in all conscience, should also object to increase her liabilities for people who arc so far off, and who will not help each other ? It may seem hard, too (and indeed it is hard), that people should be driven from land which they have bought and paid for ; but you must remember that the very same thing might happen to a person in England. If a person bought land from another, who, it turned out, had no right to sell it, the buyer w'ould lose his land and his money too. I believe, in the first instance, the Maoris alleged that they had not been paid for some land, and that this was the origin of the first w’ar. Then, again, it must be remembered that the colonization of New' Zealand w-as a private speculation, carried out against flic wishes of the Government by the now extinct New Zealand Company, and that the rights of the natives to the land had been expressly recognised by England by a treaty. You may say, what is all that to us, the Colonists of the present day ? We don’t know anything about those proceedings; why should we suffer for them ? But do people never suffer in other ways for the faults of

others—especially fortho faults of those who have gone before them ? Governments must act on definite principles, and cannot always do exact!}' as the private inclinations of the members of the Government would dispose them to do ; and tha English Government has to study not only the interests of New Zealand, hut the interests of the whole Empire. However, I think there is a good deal of sympathy in England for the C olonists in New Zealand, and perhaps a point may be stretched in their case ; but 1 am sure the way to secure sympathy and aid is not to talk about offering to unite with America, or any other nation. John Bull will at once put up his back at that, and either ‘Go, if you like,’ or ‘Go, if you dare.’ ’ Cricket.— Our cricketing friends will read the following account of doings at home with pleasure ; —The cricketing statistics of the past season arc beginning to make their appearance, and the most noteworthy fact connected with them is the increasing efficiency of the hatting. Big scores seem to prevail in a remarkable way. Above 200 names might bo cited with scores of from 1 to 200 runs to them ; Mr Grace, as usual, takes precedence as the most accomplished of our batsmen, and no less than nine times has obtained scores of 100 and upwards, his two best scores being 180 and 172, his average in these nine scores being 132, and the total 1,188. Twice he was not out. Jupp figures five times for a total of 638 runs, and an average of 131V3, and three times not out; Mr Thornton in three matches has an avera ,r c o£ 100 ; Mr I. D. Walker, four times, once not out, average 124 ; Mr 11. Haft in three not outs, 106, and so on. Many of the averages, too, amongst less distinguished players stand high, often above 20, 30, 40, and up to 50 and over. In fact, the batting gets so good that the matches are often prolonged beyond anything ever dreamt of by our forefathers, three clays not sufficing always to bring them to a conclusion, and many' important matches thereby being compelled to be drawn. This becomes a serious matter, and how it is to be met seems a very difficult thing to decide. It has often been mooted, either that some change should he made in the implements of warfare or their use, so as to cope more successfully with the hitrh pitch of perfection which the science of defence lias arrived at. But everybody is afraid of damaging the good old game by untried innovations, and we still struggle on with the game, which is manifestly out of joint, possibly by reason that howling and fielding are lessassiduously practised than hatting, for it is notorious that the great bulk of the clubs are rather deficient in these points than in hatting. Nottinghamshire shows the best team of recruits for future service, the other counties not showing very much iu the production of raw material.

The Auckland Goldfields. —In a West Coast paper; two correspondents express their views with regard to the future of the Auckland Goldfields. One says The Coast is far better for the hard-up miner than this place. The wages are low—from 30s to L2 per week—and it is not everyone that can get a job. On the other hand, a man with capital—say, from LIOO upwards—with proper care, and looking before he leaps, may do well. This will be a great country for gold yet, but it will take time to develop its resources. Another writes : I like Auckland very much. The combination of a floating diggings pojmlation wiih the viceregal and military grandees of the settled population gives quite a metropolitan liveliness to the place, and the semi-tropical temperature is most pleasant when modified by the light sea breezes which prevail here. It is, however, a poor place for moneymaking, and I do not think I shall remain loug, as the Thames Goldfield has seen its best days. An Amusing Scene.—An Auckland paper tells the following story:—“Of late some of the ladies of the North Shore—■ local Lurlincs —have formed themselves into a select swimming and floating society. They fear not sharks for the bath-house is fenced in. Nowit came to pass that strange ladies flocked one day to the North Shorefound ,their way, with all the ’cuteness of elders of old, into the bath ; used their unsuspecting sisters’ soap and towels, brushed their hair with the select ladies’ brushes, and used their combs with impunity. Upon this the young ladies took sweet counsel together, and determined to drive the intruders from the once rpiiet and sacred retreat, lint how to accomplish this was the question. The strange iadies were great at swimming and diving, and were awkward ones to tackle in the water. Still, they were not amphibious, and if condemned to keep in the water more than a certain time, would certainly suffer from influenza—perhaps rheumatism. The select ladies locked their tormentors in the bath, and left them there for an hour ! One of the strangers fainted. It so happened that the husbands of the strange ladies heard of their imprisonment. Shortly afterwards a number of indignant lords of the creation, armed with axes, and picks, and shovels, and tomahawks, wont to the hath and pulled down the front of it. There was an awful splash. Fair heads went down and fair heels came up, as the strange ladies dived simultaneously. They finally reached land in safety. The husbands of the select ladies at once complained to the police authorities of the destruction of the bath. A constable, dressed in full uniform, was despatched to the scene of the controversy, with the promise that if he could pour oil on the troubled waters he should be invested with the order of the bath.”

Flax. —Dr Irvine, of Nelson, writes as follows to a local journal on the export of Now Zealand flax :—ln a footnote to a long letter on the subject of Government aid to local industries, which you published on September ISth, I adverted to the “regulative ” action of Government as occasionally called for and successful, when its direct participation in industrial operations could not he justified, and if put forth would fail. A circumstance has soon turned up to illustrate the place of Government in connection with this idea. The profits on the exportation of our native flax are curtailed, and human life is endangered at sea by much of the article being shipped in a damp state, leading to heating and sometimes to combustion. The reluctance of shipowners to take llax on board and the high rate of insurance demanded operate unjustly, but under present arrangements unavoidably, on the careful and conscientious manufacturer equally with the reckless one, and prejudice the commercial interests of the Colony as a whole. A partial remedy for this evil may, it is true, be found (and in course of time it will be resorted to), in the retention of the llax fibre amongst ourselves, to be worked up into cordage, paper,

and other fabrics, for which we are at present dependent on foreign supply ; but such manufactures do not yet exist, while the evil does ; and even when in full operation, they cannot be expected to consume anything like the enormous quantity of fibre which New Zealand can and will furnish. It is therefore as an export of a half-manu-factured article that the flax must continue to be regarded. Would there be any diliiculty or any objection to stablishing Government inspection at the various ports to bo paid for by a small foe per bale ? The trilling expense would probably prevent grave disasters, and would soon be recouped to the shippers of the product by the reduction in insurance on certified flax which would certainly ensue. It would also meet the requirements of the buyer at home, who docs not care to buy water as well as flax. If the plan worked well, it would in time be extended to wool, the shipment of which in a clamp condition has more than once been the cause of fires at sea. An experiment has recently been tried by Messrs Miles and Co, (says the Lyttelton Times), Avith the view of ascertaining whether New Zealand flax is subject to spontaneous combustion. About five weeks ago a quantity of flax was thoroughly saturated with water and then done up into a bale. The bale having been sewn up in coarse sacking, well tarred on the inside, was packed in a wooden case, and placed in Mr John Anderson’s engine room, so as to bo subjected to the heat of the fires. Yesterday, the bale was opened in the presence of several gentlemen, among whom were the agents of the principal Insurance companies. The flax was found to have 'dried considerably. The middle of the bale was decidedly warm, but there was no appearance of scorching, or extreme heat. In some places the fibre had commenced to rot from the action of the water. The result must be considered satisfactory, as it is certain that either wool or hay would have shown signs of fire under similar treatment.