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Evening Star, Issue 3119, 17 February 1873, Page 2

The railway works in Auckland appear to ipjpgressing favorably. The Parnell tunnel on tlm Auckland and Waikato line was completed at the end. of last month; it is 1,200 ft long. If the wiling stock be in readiness, trains will be running 'between Auckland and Newmarket (a suburb of »esitjr) in two months’ time. •

The lowering of the levels of the footbaths in Princes street south, near to the The work is mw feeing proceeded with, and when cpfnpleted, will have less .risk of accident', moving from ope aide pf the street to ,the other. The appdaraucp \ nprtion of the town will, at the tenie; •time, tbe improved thereby. "

Notwithstanding %e ypcpnfc additions to the Southland population by b?WBJ a kion, the local papers complain that pensionable | difficulty has been experienced by agriculfcurists iu obtaining tUo ’labor for harvesting operations. A settler at Wintoa, who was in Invercargill the other day (or purpose of securing hands, was offering l>2 i per week with rations, but met with very little success in engaging men.

■jCtie of Taranaki iron sand, unsnveited, .appear likely to be commenced at no distant date- Tfte fftvold says : “ We learn that Mr Farr has obtained from the Provincial authorities permission -to u*-U|»o the iron sand from the beatfb, Mr Farr wfl ttnde*»fc»ud, has seven hundred yards of the «* M Block to work f nrn, ml that he wi" hy *m* ? f caßh&ii(m, rpake the sand sdM. »»J» » that state, .elicit away to other parts o. world.

The great number of stone .cy.brick buildings that have been erected during the past few months, together with the many fine structures now in course of erection in and about Dunedin, indicate the growing prosperity of the city. Yet, notwithstanding this increase of house accommodation, empty houses qt ahnost every description are scarce. New arrives exptyfjlence considerable difficulty id securing or ttV/;n more pretentious buildings, while rents have considerably increased. All this shows that the population is not only increasing, but that capitf*!^ B have confidence in the future of Dunedin.

The petroleum springs at the Sugar Loaves, Taranalcil lire again likely to attract attention. Tne' 'hief Postmaster of the Province— Mr Von Rotter—who has been very active in his desire to .utilise its dormant resources, recently forwarded a small quantity of the oil to Sir Redmond Barry, who had it submitted for chemical examination at the Molbourne laboratory; and has forwarded the following as the result of the analysis

“The sample gave 72 per cent, of a good illuminating oil, with a specific gravity of 0'917. The residue, after distillation, closely resembled aspbalte, for all the uses of which it is suitable. Owing to the smallness of the sample, the percentage of oil and specific gravity can only be taken as approximate. The distillation of a larger quantity might give slightly different results. Should this petroleum occur in quantity, it would bo of great commercial value.— Cosmo Newbkry, Analyst.” The sample from which the analysis was made was obtained at Soft below the surface of the earth by the Peti’oleum Companies.

Telegrams from Auckland to the applications for shares in the new National Bank, state that over 40,000 applications have been received in the Colony, beside which many applications are expected from Australia. Over 8000 were applied for in Dunedin. A private telegram, received in town to-day, says “New Bank a great success” Mr Barnes, the general manager, and the bank’s staff arrived at Lyttelton yesterday by the Cissy. At a murder trial in Memphis, wherein an attempt to establish insanity was made on the part of the defence, DrJ. K. Allen was called as an expert, and testified thus briefly and rationally :—“I have been a practising physician tor nearly thirty yea s. I have !iiad some experience in cases of insanity, having been for nearly ten years medical superintendent of the Kentucky Lunatic Asylum, and during that time had over 2,000 crazy people under my charge. I have heard the bypothe. i-.-al case read by Mr Phelan [ am here as an expert, and before answering the question would like to say that the more I studied the question of insanity the' less I understood it; and if you ask me where it begins and where it ends, neither I nor any physician in the world could tell you ; in fact, on occasions like this, lawyers make fools of themselves in trying to make asses of doctors.” The frankest professional testimony ever given in court. The Herald , in alluding to the resources

of the Province of Auckland, says : ‘ Coal, iron, lime, flax, gum, aud last, though not least, quicksilver abound in the northern sections of the Province of Auckland, and these, combined with its valuable timber, unrivalled water system, and semi-tropical climate, render it, under judicious and energetic administration, one of the most desirable places for settlement in the Colony. The bays and rivers abound with fish, and a coast fishery has been successfully established in the neighborhood of Wangarei. A great error has been committed in endeavoring to settle a purely agricultural population in circumstances so unfavorable to agriculture as exist in the North. What is wanted is a class of men who can utilise the great natural resources of the northern districts, leaving the open lands of the Seutb to produce the corn which the North might require. Jn addition to all this, we have, both North and South, well-defined auriferous deposits. The Thames aud Coromandel goldfields are too well known now to require any special mention ; and we are happy to find that these are about to be extended by purchase. We may, therefore, expect considerable speculation in gold-mining during the current year; aud should the Hon. Mr M'Lean succeed in opeuing Tnhua to gold prospectors, a very extensive “rush to this Province may be anticipated, r>ut these things are signs to our rulers that population is wanted. We require millions, where we number only hundreds of thousands. Instead of a population of 3 0,00 at the utmost, New Zealand should have a population of three millions. Less than that will not suffice to develop its great natural resources ; aud we contend that under a proper system very considerable progress might be made within the next four or five years towards attaining that result. There is room for three millions of people, four times told, and to spare. At present every industry is paralysed for want of labor ; and the amount employers are compolled to pay in this Province to save their hay and crops is simply prohibitory of further enterprise. What might yield a profit

with labour at reasonable rates turns out an actual loss to the agriculturist. The Provincial Council will not probably meet before May next, and the Wakailp Mail, in noticing the fact, remarks ihe present Government are determined, with all the money they can get in, to satisfy the votes of the Council as placed on the estimates. All the goldfields votes will be satisfied We believe that, at least, such is the intention of the present Government. There will he ample moans for that. How the Keid party like all this is best shown by their organa, the fir lice Herald and the Eeho. ' They appear'to' bo vfery savage. For the first* time, Mr Macahdrcw has been brought' 1 into' official intercourse •yvith th e miners, ana not without material advantage to Joth..’’ Our cor■temporary, in an article headed ihe ijt|ier aide of the question,” deals the Brace li.eraH some very hard! blows for its unmerited and persistent abuse of Mr Bastings. The Herald having .ventured to affirm that, ‘‘had the Prpvincial Council been called together, there is little in that direclion land have b,een selected for the wise and laudable purpose# of under the deferred system of payments, so unanimously approver! of by tm ' iro.vincial Council. The Mall asks, Why, then, did not the Reid Ministry act? The present Executive are at iuapeka, Naaeby, Cromwell, and other places, open-

ing out land for either sale or selection, and proclaiming commonages. They are rapidly earning the gratitude of the miners, an those anxious to secure a permanent home in the proving. The Reid- Bradshaw Ministry promised and dentin professions, and that’s all. The present whoever their motive may he-"-'* squatting ministry,. as our contemporary has styled it iu a pre-i vious issue—is, at any rate, vigorously at work in carrying out even that which it has not promi cd. it is feeling the pulse of the ascertaining its requirements; aiid. ‘in tile mafcl'bf' capplying a well-knoWn want. ''Whb sold"the Island block by auction,'so that 'the settlers ; had not> ghost of a chance to get an «c e of, it 2 V 4 Reid-Governmeut ?. Lovers,of the |e,national of the Jack ShepPFd T’-W evening Jast. at tb,o Prmoess an; opportunity (4 ffrg&tymg their .taste jn .that rJspect. Tim Srw» fl f Knaves Acre” was % hrsj; pece tW%ed. The plot is exceedingly wiW SW unptey.csj;ing. A gentleman dies ffffd ft’-S property falls to a nephew named Eawafd Grant'ey (Mr Tnglis), who had spent the early part of his Jjfe in a merchant’s office. He Rosalia (Mrs VfojW # daughter of an independent geftth?wa Q xfF hurst (Mr Musgravej and her,. But immediately afte* tjjp pprrmge a 'Sharper and companion of tpjey.es

aimeara' Vtt vh° . l * T, 1 appeals • , , p*>w<?BSiou of a will (irautloy that * 4 a erli£vri dg Ifld (H) for made by Ins uncle, an.. the4 e byery of it. With him ap|.. « ( known known as JackHaun (Mr Collier). A is arran g ed between the three at Knaves j a noted resort of thieves in London) for the purpose of receiving the money and delivering up the will. After Grantloy’s departure to this. meeting, Rosalie his wife, while asleep, dreams a dream (represented by tableaux at the baokof the stage) in which she sees her: husband in the hguds of the swell mob,, and on awaking resolves upon seek-: ing him. Meanwhile her father and one Peter Pattypan, an eccentric confectioner starts in pursuit of him. Mie disguises herself in male attire, and ultimately finds herself in the neighborhood of the house in which her husband and the thieves are. She gains admission; is discovered ; plays tho part of a highwayman, i and obtains uossessiojj of' Jack Haim’s: weapons. With these she gains possession■■ of the nviU| and save* hef husband frqra

being murdered. One of the mob is poisoned by accidentally partaking of a draught prepared for the pastrycook, and the curtain falls on the death scene of Jack Raun. The pit and stalls were well filled, and throughout the performance the audience were most demonstrative in their expressions of appreciation. At the conclusion Messrs Musgrave, Collier, .Douglas, Hill, Inglis, and Mrs Hill were called before the curtain. Their acting throughout was excellent, but particularly that of Mrs Hill, who succeeded admirably in portraying the extent to which a loving, faithful, truthful woman will go to save her husband from threatened danger. Tho farces of “ The two Buzzards’’and “The Captain Kot-a-Miss,” concluded the entertainment. To-morrow evening Mr Musgrave will take a benefit. The programme is attractive, hnt independent of that Mr Musgrave has claims on the play-going public which ought to secure him a bumper house. He has done his utmost to amuse, and has succeeded in helping to while away many a pleasant hour. We therefore hope that his admirers will award him a deserving testimonial of their appreciation.