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Evening Star, Issue 2865, 25 April 1872, Page 2

City Police Court.—At this Court this morning Jas. Murray was lined 5? for drunkenness. The M ayor was on the Bench. Political. —The announcement that Mr Donaldson, of Macraes, was to contest the Waikouaiti election, turns out to be a canard. The Herald admits that it was hoaxed in the matter.

Prize Firing. —We understand that that Ladies’ Prizes, promised to those of the Otago Representatives who should he among the hive highest aggregate scorers in the late Colonial prize-tiring will be presented at the Ball to-morrow evening. Football. Should the weather prove favorable, the football match arranged to come off between the High School twenty and the Dunedin Football Club will he played on Saturday, to commence at 2.30, on the South Dunedin Recreation Ground,

Religious.—By a letter received last mail from the Bishop of Dunedin, intelligence has been received that the Rev. T. Jackson wid sail from England about the mouth of July. He has been appointed to the Clutha district, and is very highly spoken of. Railway Construction —The Hon. F. D. Bell, in addressing his constituents at Invercai'gill the other day, said that Messrs Brogden could now commence the Mataura railway ; and if they declined to undertake it, the Government would at once place the contract open for public competition. Princess Theatre. —“ Othello ” was repeated to a fair house last evening ; Mr Tavares’s aet’ug being thoroughly appreciated. lie was thrice called before the cur tain, and at the end of the third act a similar compliment was paid to Mr O’Brien, Tonight Miss Surtees takes a benefit, when the comedy of “The Two Roses” will be produced. Professor Haselmayer. —This gentleman, whose skill in sleigut-of hand is so highly spoken of wherever it has been witnessed, arrived this morning by the Alhambra, and will give his opening performance on Saturday evening. Be sneaks highly of the reception he hns met with in the Colony, and seems pleased with what he has seen of it.

Runawav. — A horse drawing one of the express waggons belonging to the Telegraph line bolted in Liverpool street this aiternoon; and the horse in turning into Bond street came to grief, breaking its foreleg in such a manne as to require that i* shot be immediately shot, which was done. The animal was worth about L 25.

Legal.—The District Court at Tokomairiro wss opened with the usual formalities on the PJth inst. The principal business was to exchange compliments. Mr Taylor as the sole representative of the bar present, complimenting his Honor, and Judge Ward ink urn complimenting Mr Taylor, In the evening His Honor and a few friends were entertained at a dinner by Mr Taylor.

Immigration.—The General Government have made arrangements for a ship-load of immigrants from the Shetland and Orkney Islands, for settlement on Stewart’s Island. It is intended to erect barracks on the Township Reserve at Port William, which will be immediately proceeded with. These settlers will be entitled to free grants of land under the Settlements Act, a privilege not confined to them, but open to our own population, if they choose to comply with the conditions.

Sheep Return. —From the Chief Inspector’s letter to the Provincial Treasurer, under date the llth inst., we learn that there were in the united Province 3,111,439 sheep on September 30th last. In Otago proper there were 2,431,023 sheep above six months 01d—1,777,782 being returned as depastured on runs, 136,054 on goldfields, and 25,099 on Hundreds. All are returned free from scab, and the Inspector certifies from actual observation that they have been so for the past year.

Supreme Court. The case of M ‘Lean v. Macandrow and others, was proceeded with to-day. Mr Barton concluded his argument, and Mr Haggitt followed on the same side, contending first that the proclamation cancelling 17,300 acres was perfectly legal, and consequently that if that proclamation was legal, then the Executive Government might deal according to their own discretion with the lands so cancelled without any reference to the rnnholder, in accordance with the provisions of the Goldfields Act, 1800 ; and he submitted that the injunction was therefore wrongly granted in the first instance, and must be dismissed on the present motion. An Expensive Lark.—One Samuel T. Kerr appeared in the Mayor’s Court this morning and pleaded guilty to a ch; irgc of b eaking lamps in St. Andrew sheet. f ln evidence it appeared that the defendant and a friend being on pleasure bent last evening, entered into a controversy as to the efficiency of the police, the result was that Kerr off! red to put to the test the well known saying that a “man in blue” was never to be found when warned. A bet of LI was made as to flic result. Kerr, without any more ado, took up some stones and shied them at a

lamp which hung over an excavation in the street, and succeeded in demolishing the panes. Unfortunately, however, for these “ rollicking rams,” Constable Cottar happened to he in the immediate neighborhood ; and to his astonishment the wagerer found himself in durance vile. This morning he paid -10s and costs for his amusement. Mayor’s Court. The number of cases tried in the Mayor’s Court between 31st December, 1870, and 31st December, IS7I, was 1912. The following is a classidcation of the offences charged, with a statement of the results :—Assaults 68 : Convictions 3f, dismissals 22. settled out of Court 12. Breaches of the Destitute Persons Relief Ordinance : Cases 8, convictions 6. dismissal I, settled out of Court 1. Breaches of the Licencing Act : Cases 1, con victions 8, dismissals 3. Offences against the Merchants’ Shipping Act : Cases 9, convictions 6, dismissals 3. Breach of the Slaughter-house Ordinance : Case 1, conviction 1 Drunkenness : Cases 719, convictions 706, dismissals 13. Polonies ; Cases 124, committals 13, summary convie tions 65, dismissals 41, withdrawals 5. Indictable misdemeanours : Cases 3, convio tions 1, withdrawals 2. Sureties of the peace ; Cases 2, convictions 2. Vagrancy ; Cases 193„ convictions 160, dismissals 20, settled out of Court 13. Other cases 774, convictions 638, dismissals 125, settled out of Court 11. The Waggon Dispute.— Quite recently the two morning papers at Auckland have been engaged in a regular hamraer-aud-tongs squabble upon waggon?. The Herald began the strife by coming out one morning with a furious onslaught upon the (Government because Messrs Brogden and Sons had called for tenders in Dunedin for a number of ballast waggons to he delivered at Auckland. The Herald, of coarse, indulged in its usual exaggerated style ; and according to the language it employed, the Government, or Messrs Brogden, or both, had been guilty of some fearful abuse. Although the strongest advocate of free trade, the Herald in this instance however failed to appreciate the argument that if waggons could be supplied more cheaply from Dunedin than by the local makers it was the truest economy to procure them from the cheapest aouvse, and regarded the whole business as a wanton insult to the trade reputation of Auckland. The Cross took the question up in direction opposition to the views of the Herald, and defended the action complained of on the ground that the manufacturing powers of Auckland were not equal to ;aii largo or urgent demand. And so the

duel of words went on d iy after day, and so it would no doubt continue but for the amusing and rather important fact that neither Messrs Brogden nor the Government had ever called for tenders for waggons in Dunedin ! The whole of the fuss had been caused by one of those canards for winch that extremely reliable journal, the Ecenimj Post , is distinguished.

Municipal Subsidies. Mr Fish’s prop 'sal for a conference of conn' ry mayors to consider the advisability of petitioning the Provincial Council to endow or permanently subsidise municipalities, meets with favour fi’om the municipal councils interested ; but is not so regarded by a section of the country press. The Dunstan Times gives the latest utterance on the subject. It considers mu* nicipal institutions, as at preseut’conducted, too costly and cumbersome, and points to the absurdity of Cromwell, Clyde, and Alexandra, towns’ips within a sho:t distance of each other, being separate boroughs. “ If the Province is to be divided into shires,” remarks our contemporary, “and a country system inaugurated, there is every chance of ous being able to dispense with up-country Municipal blessings entirely ; and, considering such a change imminent, it is unwise to seek further endowments for our municipal life until we know where the change in our form of Government is going to be. In addition to the foregoing objection, s' e may state our dislike to s.ek any relief or aid from the Provincial Government at all ; and were we, for a moment,'-to induce’a belief in the rain Is of our readers that such aid would be given, wc should only state what we believe to be most improbable, as to the wants ami wishes of up-country districts, the Pro viucialouned has always turned when possible, a deaf ear. We want nothing more to do with the Provincial system than help to bury it speedily and safely, even if we get something equally bad in its place. It is highly probable were Mr Fish’s proposition entertained by the Provincial Council, it would not be sanctioned by the powers above. But, at all events, if such endowments are necessary, and the various municipalities are to be maintained, we prefer to wait for such endowment from the Assembly than to hope for or receive ought from our Provincial Council.” The Prize Firing -The Otago Volunteers are not alone in their condemnation of Col. Harrington’s conduct. Our telegrams to-day convey a brief indication of the feelings of the Auckland ; while the Post lias a word or two on the subject. Thus writes that journal, “ Enquiries lead us to believe that this dissatisfaction is as well grounded and generally felt as it is certainly openly expressed. His conduct is described as having been arbitrary and offensive in every possible way, and his manner was such as to destroy all confidence in his impartiality. So strongly do many of the re-

presenfatives feel on the subject, that they have declared that they will not, if qualified attend next year's Colonial rifle meeting if Colonel Haringtou is in command. His whole aim throughout the meeting seemed to be to curry favor with Resident Ministers and other great po] lc, and he cared not how he treated the representatives or the officers of Jiis staff, so long as he could use them as a means towards this eud. At the presentation of prizes cheers were heartily given for almost every one connected with the meeting, but a civilian standing by had to repair the intentional omission of Colonel Harington’s name by calling for three cheers for him. These were given, but a considerable number of the men refused to take part in them, and they were, therefore, of the most feeble description. When the northern representatives were leaving Lyttelton, Colonels Harington and Packe saw them off, and as the steamer left the wharf three ringing cheers were given by the men for Colon 1 Packe, but no notice was taken of Colonel Harington. If the Government really has the good of the volunteers at heart, it will be found necessary, we imagine, to make some alteration in regard to the office of inspector.” City Council. —With the exception of the waterworks negociations, the discussion upon which is reported in another column, there was little business done at 1

last night’s meeting of the Council. A claim of L 5 for fire brigade expenses at the late fire led to the expression of a general opinion that these expenses were cropping uptoo fast, and that they should be borne by insurance companies ■when they held risks on the burnt buildings, or by the owners, when uninsured. A. memorial from the City butchers complaining against meat being hawked in town, gave rise to a short discussion, but to no result, as the Mayor and some other Councillors wore of opinion that it was a matter in which the Council could not interfere.— The sub-committee, to whom the question of controlling licensed boatmen plying for hire in Dunedin hay, reported that they could not take any action at present. This recommendation did not please Messrs Livington and Barnes, and especially the latter, who remarked that if some of the Councillors had the misfortune to lose any relatives by a boat accident, they would quickly find that the Council had power to move in the matter. He instanced London and Liverpool as ports where regulations existed preventing waterman lending out boats for sailing purposes unless accompanied by a competent person in charge ; and his argument was successful in remitting the matter back to the committee for inquiry. The p onosition of the Public Works Committee to lease a portion of the Southern market reserve for seven years at a rental of L2OO per annum was lost by the casting vote of the Mayor, who, however, expressed himself in favour of the motion. The principal opposition came from Mr Cargill who objected to leading any reserve. Mr Barnes, on the other hand, thought it would be well if the Council leased as many as it could. Mr Cargill tendered his resignation, as he was about to go to Europe. The resignation was received, and a cordial vote of thanks awarded the retiring Councillor for his valuable services.

The ninety-ninth monthly meeting of the Permanent Building Society of Otago will be held at the office of the Society, Temple ( hambers, to-morrow (Friday) evening, at 7.30.