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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2491, 9 February 1871, Page 2

Libel.— -The case of Driver v. Dick comes on to-morrow morning, before Mr Fulton, 11. M. New Justices. —Messrs VV, J. M. Larnach and A. W, Morris, Dunedin, 11. Findlay, Alexandra, and W. H. Roberts, Tapanui, have been appointed J.F’s,

Di ST I LLEUY. — M rM‘ M u rdo M ‘Lean, says the Watkonnili Herald , purposes eommenciug a distillery in the Palmerston district.

The Mount Ida Election.--There are now seven candidates for this seat. Ihe latest additions are Messrs J. Brcmnur, and J. W. Murdoch,

Liberality.—Mr L. G. Colo, of Christchurch, before leaving for America, by the Airedale on her last trip, forward'al to Mr C. C. Bowen. R.M., LSO, in aid of the poor of Christchurch. Accident. —An accident occurred this morning at Port Chalmers to a boy named iSaniucl Penny, wbo, in endeav <*i ing to ca ! ch a pigeon, fell from the roof of his father’s house, and broke both bones of his left wrist.

The Mails.—A correspondent writes complaining of the great delay which occurs in sorting inter-provincial mails ; and states that to-day it took the clerks close upon two hours to sort a couple of hundred letters. Perhaps the Chief Postmaster can supply a reason for the delay ; we cannot.

Missing Child. —A young girl about 12 years old, the grand daughter of Mr W. Ken ward, of Goodwood, was absent from liei home for two nights last week, having wandered and lost herself in the Goodwood bush. On the third morning of her absence she was found near the edge of the bush, apparently suffering very little from her long fast, and unconcerned at her critical position, Fox the Explorer.—lu the Wakatip district, a memorial is in course of signature to the Provincial Council, praying that a reward, either in the shape of a sum of money, or of a grant of land, may be given and made over to Mr Pox, the well-known explorer, for discovery and making known the Wakatip gold-licld. His claim on the ground of making the held known, is a good one, Lilt ho is not the discoverer of it.

Distribution of Prizes. —The General Government district prizes to the successful Volunteers wore distributed in the University Hall this afternoon by the Lord Bishop of Auckland. Several la-lies wore present. The Bishop made a few remarks, in v.hich he sta'cd that, although a man of peace, be f“it pleasure in -!...t:ioiui .g *>uo prizes : for, from the experience he hod had in India, ho felt convinced that every citizen should have a knowledge <>f the use of as the best, guarantee for the preservation ot peace was to be p 1 epared for war. Considering the weather, v c were surprised to see so largo a muster. JOvory corps in the city were represented, and the Port Chalmers NavaBrigade mustered strongly. Journalistic. —A new weekly paper, to ho called The. Freeman, is about to he started at Greymouth. It is more particularly intended for Irish colonists.—The Vcio Zealand Wedenjan is the title of a new monthly publication, with which is incorporated the Chrhtian Observer. The rta ons for believing tint there is in New Zealand a field of Christian usefulness for such a periodical are very clearly and sensibly sot forth by the editor, the llev. A. 11. Fitchctt, in a “ few first words,” from which we extract the following:—“ According to statistics supplied to the Conference now in session, the W- slcyan Church in New Zealand enumerates about 3,000 members and over 17,000 attendants upon public worship. These are distributed through 28 circuits, which lie scattered along both coasts from Hokiang.a to Invercargill, a distance of some 700 miles.” Mr J. 11. Cunningham, George street, has been appointed agent for this journal in Dunedin. Fires in Auckland. —The A lickloud Music Hall was destroyed by lire on the 27th. The progress of the fire was to rapid that it was impassible to save anything. The Hall was built about three years ago, at a cost of something hire LI 50!), and we understand that the New Zealand Insurance Company has a risk of LI 100 upon the building. The hall was detached from all other buildings, and seemed an unlikely place to catch fire. The kerosene store was burnt the following night. Several circumstances have come to the knowledge of Messrs Archard and Brown, the proprietors of the store, which leave no room to doubt that the fire was the work of some sneaking incendiary. The store contained 1024 cases, or 9632 gallons ; which, at 3s Gd per gallon, makes a moneyless of LI6SS 12s. The store in which it was placed was built at a cost of LISOO ; and neither the building nor any of the contents were covered by insurance. Rewards have been offered for the apprehension of the incendiaries. The City Board offers a reward of LSOO.

Harvest. The crops in Nelson will, it is said, ho light as a rule this season The crops in Marlborough are reported to be very satisfactory. A correspondent of the I ValhotiaHi Ifmdd writes as follows Harvest is fast approaching in the Southern districts ; already several patches of selfsown oats have succumbed to the scythe or reaper, being much earlier than that last season. The Tokomairirn plain at the present time looks remarkably well from any of the surrounding heights. In the immediate district from which I write, both green croj) and cereals look very well, of course not what the Shag Valley farmers would call good, but what they would a fair crop. The crops on the Inch or Island, where the sod 'is akin to that of Shag Valley, being alluvial deposit, arc very strong, and present a line Healthy appearance at a distance. 1 am told that a piece of land abutting on the river above Kaitangata, being a portion of the Gask estate, about four acres in extent, yielded about 75 tons of potatoes. The Bitter Pile. —Gall and wormwood, figuratively speaking, have been swallowed to a great extent by certain sections of the press and the public. It was said Mr Vogel’s policy would be laughed at in Victoria; but it was not. Thou it was to receive the cold shoulder in England; whereas it has been received with approval. Then the Commissioners had reported that the million loan was a final loan, ami was granted under that condition. Dr Featherston, one of the Commissioners, sa\ s that the understanding was quite the other way, and that, moreover, a loan could easily be effected. So, driven from that point, the old question of North and South is revived. Sensational and false telegrams about alleged Maori massacres are dragged in to aid political jobbery ; that an unrighteous end may he gained a commotion is falsely reported amongst the Native papulation. Then the San Francisco Mail Sendee has been again a bitter pill, Instead of Australia laughing at New Zealand efforts, they highly applaud them. Wc said as much at the first blush

of the contract as flashed by the wires, this internal personal party strife, that lias to use such unwholesome means and false assertions to bolster a cause, is disgraceful te the colony.— Wahatlp Mall. Provincial Revenue. —The Provincial (rurerniii.i'i)/ Gazelle of yesterday contains an abstract of the revenue for the quarter ending December 31. The total receipts amounted L 131,039 13s lid, and toe expenditure to L9G,BG7 15s ‘2d. It must not, however, be imagined that there is such a balance in hand ar the diHeron re between those two sums would indicate, as at the close of September the bal nice was against the Ircasury to the amount of L‘27,!l'2S lls od. the singular feature in the statement tins month is, that the adverse balance does not appear in the statement. Prom the following summary it will be seen that the large amount of revenue received during the quarter includes the year’s assessment on stock. The sa c of Crown lands shows trilling improvement. The amounts received trom various sources were as follow ;—General Govcmment, L 20.942 4? 4d ; Capitation allowance, L 14,474 Is 1U1; G ddfields Revenue, L 5.734 IGs lid; Gold Export Duty, LG,413 7s 3d ; Crown Lands, sale of, LI I, lot) 17s 9d ; Assessment on Stock, L59,G51 ‘2s Gd ; sundries, including Dog and Gnat Taxes, L‘2,113 15s K)d; Licenses, L 9.477 19s ; Repayments, L 633 8s Gd ; Education, LOGO Os 9d ; Gaol, L4O Gs lid; various small sums, LG94 18s 5d ; Tolls on roads, L2,95l 11s 7d. The disbursements were—Superintendent and Executive, LI, 124 10s 4d ; Provincial Council, L 1,557 5s ; under the supervision of the Provincial Treasurer, L 65,585 3s 9d ; in the Department of Land and Works, 1/28,300 IGs Id.

The Bombardment of Parts.—By the arrival of the Tararua, wc have received a copy of Grevillo’s original lato telegram of Dec. 27, which dispels the doubt about the point from which the bombardment of Paris had begun. We find that the Saxon army, which forms the eastern side of the force by which Paris is invested, had commenced to bombard Fort dc Posny. This fort forms one of the circle of external defences of Paris It is one of the forts which lie the fur.he.vt from the /’nce'ii! ', from which it isdistait nearly three miles. It is situate near Mon to iii. and stands about midway between Fort do Noisy and Fort de Nogcnt Quoting from an article in an F.nglish paper descriptive of the fortification of Paris, we find the eastern deforces on which the first attack is made described as follows ;—“ I'urther off to the cast and to the south, still on the outer side of ’.ho s"'nc line o r hiU ; , and almost in a line parallel to the railway to rdn.house, the works of the fo tilicati ns, which arc united by a paved road, are continued at about equal distances—the forts of Noisy {3.500 paces), Posny (3,200 paces), and Nogcnt (3,800 paces). There ends the line of hills which begins near Belleville, and descends by a steep incline towards the Marne. Between the above named forts arc placed at short intervals the redoubts of Noisy, Montreuil, Boissiere, and Fontenay. The Marne, which is here 100 paces in breadth, forms a natural defence, fortified also by an entrenchment of 2,800 ft. in length, consisting of a, parapet and ditches covering the Isthmus of Saint Maur, where a bridge crosses the Marne. The two extremities of the entrenchment are flanked by the redoubts of Faisanderie and Gravelle. 3 hese the railway of Vincennes and Lavarenne passes. All these works enclose in a semicircle the castle of Viceuncs, in which is the principal arsenal of Paris on the edge of the great field for manoeuvring aitillery close to the Marne. On the other bank of this river, in the triangle formed by the union of the Seine and the Marne near Alfort, on the right side of the Lyons Rdlway, is the fort of Charenton, which cl-.-ses the first line of defence. What adds to its strength is that the ennin'e enclosed by the fortifications answers admirably for an entrenched camp in which 200,001) men may he placed.” Badgering an Irish Voter.— “You’re a Homan Catholic'/” “Am I?” saul the fellow, “Arc you not?” demanded the agent. “ Yon say'l am,” was the answer/ “ Come, sir, answer—what’s your religion?” “The true religion.” “What religion is that ? ” “My religion. ” “A ml what’s your religion ?” “My mother’s reli gion.” ' “ And what was your mother’s religion?” “She tuk whisky in her tay.” “Come, now, I’ll find you out, cunning as you are,” said the agent, piqued into an encounter of wit with this fellow, whose battling of every question pleased the crowd. “Yon bless yourself, don’t you?” When I’m done with yon 1 think I might.” “ What place of worship do you go to ? ” “The most couvayiiant.” “But of what persuasion are you?” “My persuasion is that you won’t find it out.” “ What is your belief ?” My belief is that you’re puzzled.” “Do yon confess ? ’ “ Not to you.” “ Come ! now I have yon. "Who would you send for if you were like to die ?” “ Doctor Growlin.” “ Not for the priest ?” “ I must first get a messenger.” “Confound your quibbling !—tell me then, what your opinions arc—your conscientious opinions, 1 mean.” “They are the same as my landlord’s.” “And what are your landlord’s opinions?” “ Faix ! his opinion is that 1 won’t; pay him the last half-year’s rint, and I am of the same opinion myself.” A roar of laughter followed this answer, and dumbfoimdered the agent for a time; but, angered at the successful {[nibbling of the sturdy and wily fellow before him, be at last declared, with much severity of manner, that lie must have a direct reply. “ I insist, sir, on your answering at once. Are you a Homan Catholic ?” “ I am,” said the fellow. “ And could you not say so at once?” repeated the officer. “You never axed me,” returned the other. “ I did,” said the officer. “ Indeed you didn’t. You said I was a great many things ; but yon never axed me. Yon wor drivin’ eras words and cruked questions at me, and 1 gev answers to match them ; for sure I thowt it was manners to cut out my bchavor on your own patthern. ”