Untitled

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2737, 24 November 1871, Page 2

Dog Show.—A dog show will bo hell in connection with the Agricultural Show, Auckland, on the 27th inst. Storting. —The amount of money to be run for at the Lake races, as advertised, is L 31 0; at Mt. Ida L 465 ;at the Dunstan L 445 ; and the Tuapeka Jockey Club has just come out with a programme of L 405. The Challenge Rifle Match, The Lyttelton Times says the defeated competitor may well console himself with the reflection that he has made such a close finish with one who must have had every reason to be confident of success before he gave such a challenge. The Battalion Band. —The follow ing is the programme of music to be played by the Battalion Band in the Botanical Gardens to-morrow afternoon : March, opera “Puritani,” Bellini; Quadrilie, “ Rustic Gatherings, ” Lamotte ; Polka, “The Camp,” D‘Albert; Chorus from “ Massaniello,” Auber. Christchurch Regatta.—The date of the regatta has been fixed for Boxingday, and not in January, as at .first announced. The decision was come to at a meeting of the local boating clubs on Tuesday last. If Otago is to send up a team, the men will have to be selected at once, so that they may go into training.

Accident. Mr James Smith, of Greenfield Station, near Tuapeka, met with a serious accident on Tuesday last. It appears that Mr Smith was riding towards the river bank nea* his residence, when the horse stumbled and fell upon his rider, breaking his leg a little above the knee. Mr Smith is said to be prospering favorably under the treatment of Dr Stewart. Caversham. —The Caversham Road Board met in the District School last evening, There were present—Messrs Rutherford I in the chair), Bennett, Brady, and M‘indoe. ccouuts for day labor and cartage, amounting to LIG 3s Gd, were ordered to be paid. I he Clerk was instructed to advertise for tenders for forming and metalling the road from St. Kilda to Forhury. Complimentary - . The Independent concludes an article, the burden of which is to prove the inutility of Ihnsard as follows ; —To read Hansard anyone would suppose that Bryce, Mcrvyn, Shepherd, aud Murray. were leading members, instead of being absolute, and we might say, idiotic nuisances. It is time that such a transparent humbug ceased to exist, aud the colony befooled no longer with so flattering a travesty of Parliamentary proceedings. A Hint to the Rowing Club.—A four oart d skiff, a ly maimed by four young ladies, nc-atly and appropriately attired, was rowed about Aue.klai d on Friday afternoon, previous to the departure of the JSevada. Their excellent rowing attracted the attention of all on the wharf, and drew forth remarks of admiration. Some of our amateur crows would do well to take a lesson from these ladies, aud learn to take a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull all .together.—Mornhnj News. The English Mails, The Suez November mail, with detailed advices up to October G, and telegraphic advices to November 1 or October 31, was due at Melbourne on Thursday. The New Zealand portion of the mail will be brought on by the Rangitoto, advertised to leave Melbourne on November 25 aud due at Hokitika on November 30. The next Sail Francisco m il, with detailed advices to October 19 and telegraphic dates to November 8, is due at Au kiaiul on D> c mber 5 or 0. The Gazette. —The hist number of the New Zealand Gazette contains a pro oamation of the alteration of the sittings of the Supreme Court. The sittings in the Otago district will in future be ou the first Monday in Januar} 1 , April, July, and October, and in the Southland district on the third Monday in May and November.— Messrs H. Driver, of Dunedin, and J. Adall, of Oamaru, have been appointed J.P.’s, and letters of naturalisation have been granted n favor of W. G. Huff, of Queenstown, rmor, and M. Hyams, Invercargill, jewelImportation op Flour.—The briine swordtisb, from Adelaide, witb 150 •>f flour, arrived at Nelson on Thursday 'pst in the nick of time to save the

duty imposed on flour by the new tariff which came into operation next day. The Examiner says :—Part of the cargo of the Swordfish was for Wellington, and on this the duty will have to be paid, although ha t the consignee been a little smart he might have had his portion of the cargo cleared at Nelson, and then entered it coastwise for Wellington.

Inquest. —An inquest was held yesterday at the Provincial Hotel, Port Chalmers, before the Coroner (Dr O’Donoghue), on the body of the seaman, whose name, it appears, was Divers, instead of Dover, as it appeared on the articles of the brigantine mulous A verdict was returned in accordance with the medical testimony, that death resulted from inflammation of the lungs At the cl se of the inquest Captain Paterson was complimented by die jury for Ins humane conduct in puttiu his vessel back, and f r the nraimwortliy exertions he made to obt dn medical assist aoc-t on beha f of the deceased.

Statistics of the Auckland Goldfields. — Mr Warwick Weston has furnished the Auckland papers with certain returns relative to the goldfields, the moral > f which deserves notice. They contain a statement of every ounce of gold reported as having been yielded from the crushiugs of every claim at the Thames and Coromandel during the period between the Ist January and the 30th September of the present year, namely, an aggregate of 285,020 oz. IS dwt. 0 hey also contain a statement of every ounce of gold purchased by the banks during the same period—namely, 387,154: oz. 8 dwt.— and a comparison of the results is in the highest degree instructive. From the returns it appears that no less a quantity than 62,133 oz. 8 dwt. have been purchased during the nine months which have never been reported as passing through a battery. But Mr Weston makes an allowance of tailings and small specimens crushed at private batteries, for which no returns may po-sib y have been made. For such yield there is allowed what must be regarded as a liberal margin-viz 30,000 oz». in nine months—and still there remain 31.133 oz. unaccounted for. The Herald asks: Where has this gold come from ? It has been purchased, and has passed through the Banks, but so far as we can find, it has never passed throu hj the batteries. jllere we have upwards of 30,000 ozs. over the origin of which there hangs a heavy cloud of mystery. That it has been secretely extracted from quartz is manifest; but whence came the quartz? If it came legitimately from the claims it must have passed through the batteries and have been entered in their returns. If it came to light in other ways we should no longer wonder that so many claims have been unprofitably worked. Sabbath Desecration. —About one of the most glaring cases of Sabbath desecration wo have ever met with is thus commented on by the Cromwell Argus : Until Sunday, the 19th of November, in the Year of our Lord 1871, we labored under the impression that horse-racing on the Sabbath was a thing that could not be countenanced, or permitted, in the Province of Otago. We find ourselves mistaken ; and as members of the community we feel humiliated and ashamed that we have to mention this locality as the scene of a deliberate violation of the laws of God and public decency. On the day and date above mentioned certain of the Hite of Cromwell, — including certain “professional” men— repaired to the l.owburn Fat (near Perriam’s) to witness a racing contest between Mr Unas. Uolclough’s b.g Fenian and Mr Werner’s b.g. Sly—s akes, LlO a-side. It was caded a “private match,” hut, in fact, was an event of public notoriety. Many of the “horsey” men in the district were present, and betting was freely indulged in. The redoubtable Williem Jackson Barry rode the Fenian in fine style, while “Sly” was ridden by the owner (Mr Werner). The distance was half a mile, and Fenian won in a canter. We chronicle the event in order to condemn it. Surely one of the six working days of the week might be selected for such an exhibition. No reasonable man will object to a trial of speed between two horses ; but we are sure that many men will decry the selection of Sunday for such contests. We are informed that, after the equine galloping match, a trotting match and a foot-race were added to the programme of in.qnity. Why was not this flagrant violation of the law prohibited by the police ? W here was Sergeant Casscls ? We hear that he was “on the scene,” but was conveniently blind to, or reluctantly absent from, the actual race. These officers of police have, apparently, au undefiuable “love of sport,” and put a peculiar interpretation upon the Statutes. Do they know that the law of England prohibits and renders penal this sort of thing ? In criticising, denouncing, and condemning such proceedings as occurred at the Lowbura on Sunday, we are well aware that we shall incur the displeasure and receive the anathemas of many reckless and self-seeking people. But it is our duty to flagellate trangressors and teach them decency. While on this subje-t, we may remark that the Lowburn is nt singular (or isolated) in this matter. A similar indictment may be preferred against dwellers in the Bannockburn district.