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Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2640, 3 August 1871, Page 2

" Inquest.—An inquest was yesterday afternoon ' held by the Coroner at Dcuch s Hotel, on the body of Mr John Aitehcson, who died on board of the Alhambra, on the passage from Melbourne, on the olst uj.t A verdict of “ Died from natural causes” was returned. Lawyer’s Fees.—That rich orchard for lawyers—Major Croker’s estate —is at last part yielding more employment for the gentlemen of the long robe. It has now been happily wound up, but it exhibits an excellent samp/e of lawyers’ fees, It appears that the proceeds realised wove. Ln97, aud the legal expenses Laid, leaving the handsome sum of LS-i to be divided among the creditors Happy individuals I Punctuating Acts of Parliament. —A. sliort time ago Air J asticc .Johnston, from bis scat on the Bench expressed his disapproval of the practice adopted in tins Colony of omitting the pause marks from Acts of Parliament, and in looking over our Melbourne lileswe findthatasyuouymousopinion has been expressed by Sir .Redmond Barry in the Melbourne Supreme Court during the trial of a case in which the whole matter at issue hung upon a qti stionof punctuation, or want of it. Theatrical. — Mr C. Green, brother of Miss Dolly Green, who is a passenger by the Rangitoto this afternoon, has gone to Melbourne and Sydney to secure a new company for the Princess Thea f rc here. Amongst the company engaged are 'many young and talented artistes who are on their way to America. As no time will bo lost they may bo expected the latter part of next month. We understand that Miss Dolly Green will appear in Dunedin shortly in her entertainment ‘ ‘ The Seven Ages of Woman. ” The Thames. —From a perusal- of Mr D. J. O’Keefe’s circular, we find the yield of gold for the month to ho highly satisfactory, amounting in the aggregate to 40,000 ozs from 8000 tons of stone, or an average of 5 ozs to the ton. The yield marks New Zealand as pre-eminently ahead of any quartz mining goldlicld in the Southern Hemisphere, We also find that the population for the Thames proper is estimated at 8000, and to supply the adult portion of this number, 88 hotels, complying with the very strict clause of the recently passed Permissive Bill, have been licensed, paying to the local revenue L.Y720, the buildings being valued at about L 30.000 sterling. All other branches for the sale and supply of merchandise are reported to be well represented. Statistical. The Xew Zealand Gay He of the 27th nit., contains a return of tile Customs revenue for the quarter ending June 30. From it we learn that the revenue of Auckland was L 41,178 ; of Taranaki, L 1,428 ; of Wellington, LI 5’.021 ; of Napier, L 0,843 •, of Marlborough, LI, 762 ; of Nelson awl the West Coast (the returns from Greymonth not being divided), L33.53S -, of Canterbury, L' 24,072 ; of Otago and Southland, L 57.234 ; total LI 53,070. I be total customs revenue for the financial year ending June 30 was L732,70G. The Colonial Treasurer iu his financial statement last year, estimated the Customs revenue at LBIO,OOO. The revenue has therefore fallen below (he estimate by the sum of L 77,244. Personal. —We are glad to learn that steps are being taken by the parishioners of St. Joseph’s for the. purpose of presenting their late pastor, the Rev. 1). Moreau, prior to Ins departure from, here, which has been postponed for a few days, with a substantial token of the esteem in which he is held by them. A similar movement is in progress among the members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society, of which body the rev. gentleman was president. We have received a couple of letters suggesting that the proposed movement should not bo confined to Roman Catholics, the writers stating their opinion that the rev. gentleman is held-in such high estimation by members of other denominations that they would only Ijc too glad to be afforded an opportunity of showing their appreciation of his labors here. We have no doubt that the suggestion will meet with consideration in the prope quarter. The North. —We cull the following items from our files to hand by the Rangitoto Ropata, we learn, is still out in pursuit of Te Kooti, in spite of the snow and the scarcity of provisions. Some of the cake made of b>no berries, on which he and his men are at present subsisting, has been shown to tiie Iluwhds Ban Herald. It certainly seems a very uninviting kind of provender. It is not unlike, in appearance, the blade rye bread in common use on the Continent. —The friends of Mr J. O. Ham ley, who was for so many years in charge of the. Ordnance Store Department in New Zealand, will be very .glad to learn that his name appears in the army list for June as an assistant controller, with the rank of licut.-colonel, and that he has been promoted to the charge of the gun wharf at

Chatham. Mr Hamjey has been appointed a C. B. for his/Sorviees m New Zealartd. —We observe that the Presbytefy of Wellington have unanimously adopted a petition to the Assembly in favor of a Per-' missive Bill.-—Some excitement has been caused in Westport by a report brought by some cattle dealers to the effect that valuable gold discoveries had been made in the river Mangles, tributary of the Buller. No less than sixteen ounces of coarse gold was said to have been obtained from a single dishful of dirt taken from the river bed.—The Syno.l uf Canterbury, at a recent meeting, adopted the following resolution That inasmuch as it is understood that the Provincial Council of Canterbury have in contemplation an education measure for the Province of Canterbury, this Synod earnestly expresses its hope that any such measure may include recognition and aid of denominational schools wherever they may be found to satisfy Government requirements with respect to numbers, discipline, and secular instruction.” The Scott Centenary.—-Iu view of the preparations which are being made to celebrate the centenary of Sir Walter Scott, it’might not be too late to notice the exam ■ pie in which the citizens of Valladid, celebrated in May last, the 155 th anniversary of Cervantes, the greatest'romance-writer Spain has produced. The ceremonial was promoted and directed by Senor Llorenete, a distinguished composer of the old Castilian capital, in which the greater part of Don Quixote was written, and in which Columbus died. Rossini’s grand moss was celebrated in the magnificent church of San Esteban, and selections were executed from the choicest works of some of the greatest musicians. A celebrated orator delivered an essay on the life and works of the hero of Lopanto, in the presence of the military and civil authorities of the city, and of a large concourse of- people drawn from far andlnear to do homage to the memory of the man who enriched the.literature of his own country and of civilized mankind with aw-rk which the best of-all nations concur in acknowledgeing to be the matchless. We commend the example to the centenary committee. Postrl Service. —From Melbourne exchange files we learn that, by the Suez homeward mail leaving that port on July IG, a communication was to be forwarded by the Victorian Government to the Agent-General in England, asking him to obtain ivutlnw information relative to the Gape mail route, and also to ascertain whether the Imperial Government would be inclined to grant any subsidy in support of a postal service by such a line of st .-amors. The Chief Secretary had received a telegram from tV.e Governor of South Australia notifying that at the ond of two years that colony will cease to contribute to the P. and 0. Company’s service, ft is therefore considered not improbable that at the expiration of that period the whole burden of that line will fall on Victoria. The Governin'nt of Victoria has received propositions for two services via San Francisco, one from the colony of New Zealand and the other from a’private firm. Mr Parkts’ mission to Queensland on behalf of Mr Hezekiah Hall’s Pacific line has failed. That colony declines to make any contribuon, on the ground that Queensland ought to be the first port of arrival and the last of departure for the steamers. Ourselves compared with YicToni.v Some of our contemporaries—notably the Independant —have of late been instituting comparisons between the progress of this Colony and some of the older of the Australian Colonics. The result of these comparisons is in everyway creditable to the Colony. For example, it is noticed that whilst the increase in the population of New South Wales during the last ten years had only been 140.000, the increase in the population of New Zealand had been about 17,000. There is another feature in our social position which likewise presents itself in a gratifying aspect when compared with a parallel feature in a still wealthier and more populous colony than New South Wales—viz., Victoria: that is, the amount of the deposits in the savings banks of cacl). We find, says the Southern Cross, from the statistical returns for 1870, that there was received in deposits in the savings banks of Victoria the sum of L242,1!)2 3s fid, while the deposits made in savings banks of New Zealand during the same period amounted to L2G4 328 os 7d, or actually L22,13G 2s Id more than the deposits for the year in the “ golden Colony.” When it is remembered that the population of Victoria is in round numbers three times that of New Zealand, this result rau-i be regarded as extraordinary. At the close of the ye n’ the amount to the credit of depositors in the savings bank of Victoria was L 279.550 4s 4d, and the amount to the credit of depositors in the New Zealand savings banks was L 205.371 Is 7d—that is to say, the savings of the year, as shown by these returns, are represented by 7s 5.; cl, while the savings in New Zealand are represented by LI Is 7.jd per head of the population, or upwards of three times the amount.” “England, Home, and Beauty.”— Some little time since an account of the appearance and prospects of Tookoy’s claim at the Thames was published in Victoria and New Zealand, professing to be written by a wholly disinterested paity and quite in a disinterested way. The account was written in such a glowingly poetic style and with such abnormal and ecstatic enthusiasm that it reminded some of the cognoscenti about Ballarat, who are ever on the ready to take advantage of anything good, or of the auctionmorn stratagem of providing red herrings and beer. From this they began to smell a rat, and on pressing the manager of Tookey’s claim, Ballarat, who lias a considerable interest in tbc New f Zealand claim of the same name, he confessed to being the author of the dcscrip ion of his New Zealand property. The thing was done with such impudence and adroitness that we give our readers a specimen of the letter which this extremely modest man, in his unofficial capacity, addressed to himself in his official capacity of manager of the mine. He says :— Fancy, if you can, having your attention drawn toa small aperture on one side of a main drive, accompanied hy the announcement that from it LI 72,000 sterling-was taken in a few days, and after advancing a few feet to find the run going out on the other side, where a somewhat similar amount of blocking had been done, with a return of L 218,000 sterling for a fortnight. If you can fancy' this and believe it true, you may realise, as I did, an indescribable feeling of delight bounding from the innermost recess of your heart, and heaving through your bosom, then bursting with emotion at the conviction that in Tookey’s you may yet redeem the toil of years, and luxuriate m alliuence after having

passed but little beyond the meridian of life./ Long before this mine is worked out prcsfftt j appearances amply justify least of its shareholders possess a golden crown. I then introduce myself to the Caledonian mine! * :I Itap defy the most careful, prejudchd, or the, least animated nature to investigate the workings of this claim without feeling impressed by something grand, glorious, and sublime. ‘ It is yielding its treasure With a lavishness that knows no limit, and creates in the beholder a fire that pervades and virifies his whole being ; the solidity of the mass of gold causes it to appear gigantic, cumbrous, and appalling, rather than harmonious and beautiful. It is a Colossus in treasure ; and in this Cyclopc-an workshop imagination conceives the possibility of the gnome’s presence, who, in calm and silent majesty, radiant with smiles, and standing erect, with her right arm pointing towards Tookoy’s, &c.” He concludes by emphatically, but ungrammatically, assuring his “personal friends and associates that ‘ England, home, and beauty,’ is looming in the distance, and that the corporation will undoubtedly possess a nvne of untold wealth 'and unparalleled splendour.” After all this, the only question is, how much “ A Shareholder” will take for his Tookeys ?

We would x’emiiid our readers that the concert in aid of the funds of the Jewish Philantrophic Society takes place at the Masonic Hall this evening. It does nob require much to be said in favor of an institution, the utility of which is conceded on all sides. Thp Society, through the liberality of its members and the public of Dunedin, has been enabled in the past to relievo the wants of the poor Jews in the City ; and the present appeal is made to place it in possession of funds with which to continue the good object. We feel sure that the appeal will bo liberally responded to. .