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Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2658, 24 August 1871, Page 2

New Municipality.- Preliminary steps are being taken to form the township of Palmerston into a municipality. Telegraph Extension. —Wo understand that the General Government have ordered the laying of a line of telegraph to Ross, Westland Supreme Court.— The case of Calcutt v. Campbell will conclude to-morrow, in all probability. At 4 p.m. to day Mr Smith was addressing the Court for the defendants, Sumpter and Lemon. Mayor’s Court. — The business Tui-f-acted to-day r. as unimportant. Chnr’e; Wilson and William Wells were each fined 10s for drunkenness ; and Susannah Wells was discharged with a caution, in consideration of her being a new claim. Ruth Gurr was lined 20s ami costs for assault.

Princess Theatre. Club,” and the burlesque of “Kenilworth” will be repeated this evening for the last time ; to-morrow Mr Anthony White will take a benefit, for which occasion a va-y ample bill has 1 een provided. Mr White is a careful and judicious actor, and we sincerely hope that the house will bo well attended. The pieces to be presented are “The streets of London” and “ Poor Pellicody.” The first mentioned piece is a favorite drama, cuu\ is mvfc to confounded, it has been with “ The scamps of London” or “ After Dark.”

Dunedin Mutual Improvement Association. —The ordinary meeting of this Society was hold in the Hall below the Athenaeum last evening. The President, (Mr Thomas Beveridge) occupied the ch.vr. The attendance was considerably above the average.., Mr. Priddle read an essay “On our Amusements,” and an animated discussion ensued, in which the essay was severely criticised by many of the members. The usual vote of thanks having been accorded to the essayist and the chair man, the meeting closed. It was intimated that Mr Pcrrie would read an essay at the next meeting, on “ The present eondi ion of England.” Incendiarism. —We learn from the Bruce Herald that three stacks of oats were burnt early on Mo day morning on tho farm ot Mr James Adam, Bon Accord, under circumstances which point unmistakably to its being (he work of an incendiary. The stacks were estimated to contain 8500 bushels of grain. On the matter being reported to the police a search was instituted, and in the vicinity' of the stacks footprints were found, which corresponded with others obtained at a distance of a quarter of a mile from the scene of the fire. An anonymous letter, received some months ago by r Mr Adam, led him to suspect an o’.d farm servant, wh se boots, it is said, have be n found to correspond marve’lously with the f otpiints observed near the stacks. A coroner’s inquhy has been held, and it has been adjourned in the meantime to allow of the attendance of a witness from Dunedin.

Disappointed Love.' —Early' on the morning of Wednesday, fhe 16th hist., the body of a woman was discovered in the Waihopai river, heteewn the main road and the Oreti railway bridge at Gladstone. The innmrsion had evidently been recent, as rigidity' had not set in when the body' was taken out of the water. There were no mai ks of violence discoverable on the corpse, and the finding of tracks of tha deceased’s foo!steps from leaving the road, for some distance down the bank of the river, and the apparent entrance into the water left no doubt that it w'as a case of suicide. The enquiries set on foot by the police resulted in establishing the indentity of the body as that of a young Irishwoman named Sarah Fena.ehty, who had been for a few days serin the household of Mr Swale, butcher. At the inquest on the following day r , it was proved that deceased had been low' and desponding .it having been disappointed in respect to a matrimonial engagement. A verdict of “temporary insanity” was returned.

The Heligoland Affair. The only information wo can find on this subject is conveyed in the following : —A special despatch to the Xetr York He raid from Berlin, June 2H, which says—Serious complications have arisen between Germany and England, and several despatches arc passing between Bismarck and Granville. The Government observes an impenetrable silence on the subject of the pros, nt difficulty, but I am into med that Bismarck has addressed a note to the German Representatives in London, informing them that the Imperial Government desired to acquire Heligoland, and empowering him to make propositions to the British Government for the purchase of the island. Eail Granville replied in the same manner, saying that England will not part with Heligoland, ami that the British Government could entertain no propositions looking to the cession of that island ; upon which Bismarck again addressed the British Government, through Count Bernstoff, declaring that Hie acquisition of Heligoland was necessary for the protection of the German coast, reciting as an instance the facilities for coaling and immunity from attacks which the, French fleet enjoyed at Heligoland, by which it was enabled to blockade Hamburg and paralyse the commerce of the German coast. He looked upon Heligoland, on account of its close proximity, as German territory, and its possession by any foreign power as a standing menace to Germany. Earl Granville again replied that England was only bound to consider her own interest ; that the wish of the Geiman Power to acquire Heligoland did not constitute her right to it, as the island had never been under G orman rule.

Heutkk. —ln view of the changes in press telegraphy which must result from the laying of the cable to Port Darwin and the completion of the overland line from Adelaide, it must be satisfactory to the press of these colonies lo learn that Mr Renter has long since been mindful of their interests. Mr Collins, the manager of the Eastern Branch of Hunter's orgnuisati n, who has been entrusted with the establishment of

Reuter’s central office at Melbourne, has already prepared the way fop his visit hy issuing circulars to the press of Australia and New Zealand from, Bombay, and. if he is not even now in Australia, will, no doubt come down next mail. It may not be generally known that the A iyus and Syd <>;/ Mornini j Herald , have sent Inane special representatives to Mr Neuter, in the hope of s curing to themselves certain exclusive privileges in press telegrams, of which they were prepared »o pay a v< ry tempting sum, and that their attempt has come to nought, the motto of Neuter’s agenci s being “Serveall, favor none.” Mr Reuter, as we learn frem a circular issued by his agents (Greviilo and Company) at Sydney, expresses bis determination, while offering every facility to the press, both as regards economy and efficiency in telegraphy, to “ vigorously oppose any combination of newspapers,” independently of his agency ; and, with his facilities and complete organisation throughout the world, there can be no question but he must supp'ant all other agencies. Mr Reuter proI oscs to carry on his operations by means of the organisation ahvauy established by his agents in Australia and New Zealand, but no doubt many improvements and modifications will be introduced which his varied and lengthened experience have suggested. In any case the press of New Zealand must be a gainer by its connection with Neuters agents, and more especially when telegraphic communication is established between New Zealand and Australia.

First Church Young Men’s Assso ciation. —A lecture upon “ Chinese systems and religions,” was given by Mr N. A. Law son, to the incnibc:s of the above association last evening. '1 he Rev G. Sutherland occupied the chair, ai d in introducing the leor.nrer said the subject was one of greater interest than ever, inasmuch as they were daily becoming more intimate with that great family of mankind tho Chinese ; and the recent largo arrivals of that race in their own colony should lead them to a study of their manners end customs. The lecturer, who was well received, said China was divided into IS provinces, each province having its own capital, although Pekin was regarded as the capi al of the empire. .Each of the provincial capitals had a population of 1,0(10,000, and tho whole country was covered with numerous villages thickly populled. The. census ot IS 12, gave, the total population as 860,000 000, anil the present was estimated at 400,000,000, marly oneibird of the human race; one of the provinces alone containing a population as large as the greatest of European nation 3. The lecturer th-n referred to tho religious systems of the Chinese, and stated the Confueian system was adopted in all the public schools, and its rules were the standard by winch governmental and all other questions were determined. The religious element was wanting in the teachings of Confucius, and when asked by a disciple about death, he replied, “ Considering how imperfectly they were acquainted with life, how could they know much about, death.” l-fis precepts were thoseof amoral nature, filial piety occupying a most prominent position amongst the Chinese, not only on private but pnbliegronnds as respect for paren’s was supposed to load to respect fir the Emper r, who was looked upon as the “Son of heaven.” He (Confucius) also largely'inculcated the outward propieties of life, and polite ceremonial, formrlitv ami punctiliousness, permeate the social system of tho Chinese nation Confucius was born five and aha'f centuries before he Christian ora, and in many things he diinly r shadowed forth the genius of the Great T< aoher of mankind. One of his preempts was, “ What you would nt do to yourself, do not unto o'liera and his book, with all its defects, was perhaps ouly r eclipsed by the Bible itself. Bu blhism was, however, tlie principal religion of the Chinese, which was introduced from India many centuries ago, an I was now popular in all parts of the in) ire. There was a superstition, also, called Tawism, whiedi might be considered the superstition of the Chinese, and what was known as their kitchen gods were common in every household. These gods consisted principally' of a paper figure placed ov' r the fireplace, and generally burnt once ayiar, when they were supposed to as-end up the chimney to heaven, and report to the gods as to the conduct of the household ; and the great anxiety of the Ch'nese was to induce these gods to make a good report to the management above. Ancestral worship was also another feature of Chinese religion, and a strong desire was evinced on the pa:t of every ( himmian to return to their native land, so that their disembodied spirits after death should not wander in a foreign country. The lecture, of which the above is a mere sketch, was concluded by contrasting the Chinese pantheism ami polytheism with the pure light of revelation, showing that with all the philosophy ami morality of the heathen sages, “the world by' wisdom knew not God.” A vote if thanks to tho lecturer and the chairman closed the meeting. His Worship the Mayor, at the instance of a large number of Citizens, calls a meeting at the Masonic Hall to-morrow (Friday) evening, to consider the new Water Works Bill. The ninety-first monthly meetin" of the Permanent Building Society' of Otago will bo held at the Society’s office, Temple Chambers, Pr nces street, to-morrow (Friday) evening at 7 o’clock. Sale of moneys of the second series of terminating shares at 8 o’clock. The meeting of the Volunteer General Committee is, by' a-lvcrt’sement, further postponed until Tuesday evening next at 8 o’clock. The adjourned meeting of the representatives of the various churches in Dunedin, will be held in Murray’s rooms, Rattray street, to-morrow (Friday) evening, at 7 o’clock. It is dcsir bio that all denominations should be represented.