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Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2683, 22 September 1871, Page 2

Legal.— Sir William F. W. Stawell Chief Justice of Victoria, who is about to pr ceed to England on leave of absence, paid the Supremo Court a visit to-day, and was accomodated with a scat on the bench dining the short time he stayed. Football. A. match between a twenty-two chosen from those who played in the University v. High School match, and twenty-two cricketers, will take place to-morrow on the Southern Recreation Ground. As both sides are very strong, a good game may be anticipated. The Permissive Bill. —The petition of the inhabitants of Dunedin to the Assembly in favor of a Permissive Bill being passed contain 2026 signatures. There are two petitions to each branch of the Legislature —that of the men is signed by 1250, and that of the women by -776, while the entire length of signatures is If)2 feet. Mr M‘Glashan, M.H.R., who proceeded to Wellington to-day, has charge of the petitions and will present those intended tjO he presented to the Lower Rouse. Engineering. — Referring to the applications for the office of engineer in the County of Westland, and the reading of the same in the County Council, the Went Count Times says One of the applications occasioned considerable merriment, even the con stable being too much overpowered to command silence. The gentleman applying, whose habitat is Nelson, probably deeming that we on the West Coast are such utter barbarians that we only required something sufficiently outrageous to gull us, actually founded his claims to the office upon his having projected a bridge from Dover to Calais, but which he said had unfortunately not been carried out! It is needless to say he did not get a vote. The Picture Mania. — The Advertiser says that because Sir Charles Clifford has his portrait painted for presentation to the House of Representatives, most of our public men are going in for real bona fide pointing Sir David Mimro wantshisportraitdonc in oil, to he hung on one side of Sir Charles Clifford’s. Mr Dillon Bell is in doubt whether to have his done at once, to put on 'the other side, or wait until he is knighted. At any rate there is no limner obtainable to sketch and color the portraits of these illustrious individuals. The demand is great, the supply nil, The City Council of Auckland has passed a resolution to advertise for painting the portraits of the first Mayor and Councillors of that borough, and of course Wellington will not be eclipsed by Auckland. Mr Quin, of the empire city, has a notice drafted to impose a special rate for having the portraits of our Mayor and his Councillors painted. Taranaki Steel Sand.—A gentleman who has just come to New Zealand by the.Halcyoue, paid a visit on the 28th ult. to Mount Cook Barracks, where the experimental operations under Mr Smith, the Government Armourer, are going on. Coming direct from Sheffield, with ten years’ experience ns a manager of a large steel company there, his opinion is specially valuable. When he says that he was delighted and surprised at what he saw, we are nob using adequate language to express his state of mind. Examining the ingot of s'eel which we described the other day, he pronounced it to be superior to the best English steel. He undertakes to sell 100,000 tons of it in England at an advance upon the price now ruling there, viz , LOO a ton. It is, in his opinion, fit for the finest kinds of cutlery. He examined the furnace and sand, and on learning the simple process by which in two operations the same result is attained as in fourteen operations at Home, he could not find words strong enough to express his surprise and pleasure. The experiment of Mr Smith is, in his eyes, convincing evidence that New Zealand has in the hitherto “ useless sand ” a mine of wealth greater than in all her goldfields. Cricket. —The annual meeting of the Albion Club was held last evening at the Prince Alfred Hotel, It appeared from the report and balance-sheet fop the past season that the income of the Club was L 32 2s Od, and the expenditure L3l 4s 6d. Tire total sum received from members for entrance fees and subscriptions amounted to only LlO 17s, not half of what was due, almost every member being in arrears. Had not the auditors’ recommendation of getting honorary members to join been carried, the Club Mould no doubt, hke other clubs, have commenced the present season in debt. By the proceeds of the late concert, and fluids in (baud, the Club commence* theeomirg season wjtb acash balance in hand of nearly LlO, There wa*

also a sum of LI 2 Ca arrears of members considered good, which wi'h the winter subscription, made an amount due to the club of LI6 10 ; and this it was expected will be paid by the members as soon as possible. The number of playing members on the books considered good was 23, and honorary members 5, and it was hoped the number would bo increased during the ensuing season. There had been a considerable falling off of members attending practice during the last season, and in the number of matches. The club had played six matches with other clubs, winning three and losing two, the remaining one being drawn. The report conclude I by recommending that endeavors be made to have more matches played during the coming season than during the last. The following were elected officebearers for the ensuing year:—President, Mr H. C. Brewer ; Vice-President, Mr P. Kirk; Treasurer, Mr T. Hutchinson; and .Secretary, Mr F. Wells. A committee of management, and a match comnrttee were appointed, and after passing a number of votes of thanks the proceedings terminated. Otago’s Representatives.—A contributor of passing notes to the Hawke's Bay Herald, gives the following description cf two of Otago’s representatives : —There is a Mr Shephe d from Otago, better known as the “G.ntle Smiier,” who is fast becoming 1 one of the celebrities of the House, Let your readers imagine the figure of a gigantic youth surmounted by a face of the Victor Emanuel type, and they will have an approximate idea of Mr Shepherd’s appearance The occasions on which he gets up to enlighten the House are very numerous indeed; and I regret to say his observations are not uniformly characterised by an adequate degree of respect for the shade of Lindley Murray. The other day, for instance, he observed that it was something tcr.ible to think of, that J. P, ’s should be allowed to administer the Vires and properti/ of Her Majedfs subjects. This singular remark was uttered in a vehement and impassioned tone accoinpan ed by a blow of the hon. member’s clenched fist on the desk. It faibd, however, to elicit anything but a very faint titter. At first the House did not care about listening to Mr Shepherd at all. It let itself be counted out twice during his maiden orations. However, unless lam mu ;h mistaken, it is beginning to recognise that there is a substratum of common sense and even of shrewdness in the man, and it has now and then adopted his suggestions. In ieference to the Justices’ Protection Act, he got an important amendment carried, which took away from the Bill its unjust and onesided character, and in the framing of the amendment lie was able to correct one of the cleverest lawyers in the House, Mr Gillies, and to show him that his version of the clause as amended would be useless for the purpose aimed jat. Another very singular individual is the member for Glutha, Mr Thomson. He is the direct opposite of the “ Gentle Smiier,” and might not inaptly he mined the “shrill complainor.” He is a thin, spare man, with a countenance of a cadaverous hue, and his voice is a drawling and tremulous treble, such as is heard in Fifesh re. Your readers can imagine, therefore, that when Mr Tin mson made the an- , nouncemont. as he did a day or two ago, “ I am a Scotchman,” the fact did not create a high degree of surprise. We notice that the Colored Opera Troupe which has been re-organised will give a performance at the Princess Theatre, on Monday and Tuesday evening next. The Total Abstainers’ Union give their usual weekly concert, to-morrow ('Saturday) evening, in the hall beneath the Congregational Church.