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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2269, 15 August 1870, Page 2

Earthquake.—A slight shock of earthquake was felt at Clyde at about two o’clock on Thursday last. Judicial. —The settlers at West Taieri have requested Mr Howorth, M.H.R., to endeavor to have a Resident Magistrate’s Court held there as formerly. Deputation. A deputation consisting of Major Bathgate and Captain and Adjutant Atkinson, waited upon his Honor the Deputy Superintendent, to request the aid of prison labor in excavating stone for the construction of the proposed volunteer drill shed. His Honor promised to bring the matteivunder notice of the Executive. Gaol Return.—The following 'is the state of H.M. Gaol, Dunedin, for the week ending the i 3th August 1870 :—Awaiting trial, men. 0 women; under remand, 1 °inaii, 0 women ; penal » servitude, 03 men, 0 women ; hard labor, 34 men, 18 women; in default of hail, 2 men, 0. women; debtors, 5 men ; —total, 141 men IS women. Received during the week, G mon,> 1 women; discharged, 6 men, 2 women.

Princess Theatre. The performances of Friday evening were repeated on Saturday evening, for the benefit of the Benevolent Institution ; but we regret to say that the attendance was by no means commensurate with the efforts of the pro-, moters of the entertainment. ' With the exception of the last Scene of “ Lucretia,” in which a slight contretemps occurred, which was sufficiently ludicrous.to prevent the audience, from realising properly the excellence of the acting, the performances went off well. The gross proceeds were a little over Ll7 ; so that the Benevolent Institution will receive a donation of between Lo and LG. The Taieri Fasting Girl—The Taieri correspondent of the Bruce Standard, writing on the 10th instant, says : —“ With a view of knowing more about the Alanngatua trance case, I visited the young lady, Miss Itoss, to-day, in company with Dr. M ‘Brearty. Wc found her calm,, talking sensibly, and her strength much improved. She is now taking a little food occasionally, tier manner of conversation is quite changed from what it was previous to her illness. In her lucid intervals she prays and sings psalms and hymns with great fervour and expression, and her utterance is quite distinct. Dr M‘Brearty considers the case highly favorable in the meantime. Sudden Deaths.—At noon, yesterday, the police received information that a man named Henry Lawrence, in the employ of Mr Davis, butcher, George street, had been found dead in his bed. An inquest was to have been held at r 5 p.m. to-day.— ’ The City Coroner (Mr Hocken) held an inquiry this afternoon at the Bay View Hotel, Maitland street, touching the death of a child, aged three and a half mouths, the mother of which is a woman named Annie Henderson. For some time past she has co-habited with a man named William Hildreth, and on Saturday they quarrelled, the latter leaving the house for a time. When he returned in tin evening, lie found the mother in bed asleep, and the child dead in her arms. The evidence went to show that the child had been well treated, and the ju y returned a verdict to the effect that it had been accidentally overlain. Masonic Hall. On Saturday evening there was a completely new programme, which included many tricks quite novel to a Dunedin audience. Those which excited the most admiration were the wonderful peacock, which possesses the power of speech, and is able to eat and drink ; the mysterious medicines, to wit, immense pills, which jump from one vessel, in which they arc deposited, to another, in an inconceivably odd wiiy ; and Lucifer’s punch howl, from which Air Heller obtain- an apparently unlimited supply of the “real Ala okay.” Nor were the tricks of the desiccated canary birds and the silver rings less appreciated. Tim second portion of the entertainment comprised a fantasia on airs from “ II Trovatore” and “ Auld Robin Cray,” played on the orgue melodique, both pieces being ad mirably performed. There was an additional musical attraction in the shape of a band of marionettes, whose musical performances and drolleries brought the entertainment to ,a fitting close. There was a good attendance. Mining Notes. — From the Duvstau Times we learn that the weather in that district is everything that can he desired by all classes of 'he community, and the public spirit is somewhat recovered from the depression under which it has been laboring for some time past. The roads are materially improved, and traffic is not so difficult or dangerous. The news from the various mining localities are encouraging ; in fact a season of prosperity is apparently dawning. At Bendigo Reefs, the weather .being mild, the crushing mills are pounding away right merrily, and to all accounts with extraordinary results ; an average of four ounces to the ton is reported as being obtained from a large crushing at the Cromwell battery. The Aurora is looking better than ever, a reef five feet wide, thickly impregnated with gold, having been struck in the main tunnel ; the stone appears to be a continuous lode. In the Nevis and Bannockburn districts, the miners are busily employed, and from appearances remuneratively. The dredgers on the Molyueux are fit length released from their compulsory huotivity, and with but few exceptions are hard at work ; in some parts of the river the current is too strong to allow of much heavy headway being made, but a few more days fine weather will remove that difficulty. At the Half Aide Beach, Alexandra, Alichael Kett and party have a strong gang of men employed ; in about a week they anticipate reaching the golden vein. This party has combatted the difficulties that has beset them most zealously, and it is to he hoped the river will continue at so low a level as to enable them to obtain sufficient gold to repay tlpnn for their outlay. The Hit and Alias Claim, Freiml)man’s Point, is likewise being worked by a large ip oh of men ; this party also expect striking gold in> fey days.—The tributors of the Canada Reef had their first

washing-up on Saturday gold was found to be tlj&TCsuit} jjjgfo^lSsr^ .ever, it -fans, the stoned c^h^was stifle oufsiderstuff. , \- 'A; »£•%. • ItftBOVEMBNT' Society. —The -.first Ordinary meeting of the

Dunedin Youths’ Mutual Improvement Society was held on Thursday evening last, August 11, in St. Paul’s Sunday School, South Dunedin ; the President of the Society, Mr in the chair. After some formal business, the President delivered an original address, in which he pointed out that the object of the Society was individual study and reciprocal communication of its results. That as religion and politics were excluded from consideration, attention should he given to other subjects calculated to enable the members to fulfil their social duties. In conducting their debates, all nnkindness of feeling or manner should be avoided. As

the members were young, the errors in grammar, spelling, a r d pronunciation of words, so difficult to correct in adults when habitual, might easily he avoided ; especially as in, the present day the press, libraries, cheap hooks,': and associations for improvement were available. Not a day should pass without some addition to previously acquired knowledge, and what was acquired should be written down. Reading aloud in company with, one able to correct error in style or pronunciation, should be practised daily, and the memory strengthened by reciting the compositions of the beat authors. Success was only to be attained by constant practice. Only by learning to think accurately could men be useful to society. It was to the labors of sound thinkers that the world owed its civilisation. There was not a youth in Dunedin but might attain to a high intellectual position Most of Great Britain’s eminent men had risen “from the ranks” by their own efforts and by usefully employing their leisure hours ; and .nothing really valuable or noble was achieved without pains and labor. But to he successful, it was necessary first to, clxpos.e the right path—to have some.: good . object in view. That chosen it should -be persevered in, and the Society then met together'for the first time would prove an advantage to each member, and to Dunedin and its neighborhood. -The thanks of the Society were voted to The President for his address, and it was arranged that there should he a debate on it at the next meeting. Readings and recitations were then given very fairly by several of the members, at tile close of which the meeting adjourned. A summoned meeting of the Pioneer Lodge, A.1.0.0.F., will bo held at the Oriental Hotel, to-morrow evening, at eight o’clock. The members of the Dunedin Mutual Improvement Society will meet in the hall below the Athenaeum to morrow (Tuesday) evening, at 8 o'clock. Business : Readings and recitations.