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Evening Star, Issue 3178, 28 April 1873, Page 2

In a private letter received by the mail it is stated that Commodore Stirling has been nominated as a naval aide-de-camp to her Majesty tbe Queen. At Wellington, on the 18th instant, a hospital patient, M‘Ncil, was sentenced to one mouth’s imprisonment for bogging money from people “to buy a stamp for a letter, sir,” and drinking the proceeds. lls 7d was found on him.

The friends of Mr Aspinall will be glad to learn that there are gome hopes of that gentleman’s recovering. Ho has been visited by Sir William Gull, the eminent physician, and after an examination of the case, Sir William Gull gave as his opinion that there was a strong probability of Mr Aspinall in tbe course of time recovering tbe use of his reason.

The weekly meeting of the Roslyn and Kaikorai Literary Institute, was held in the hall on Tuesday evening— Mr J. Gillies, chairman. The attendance was not so large as usual. Mr Spiers read an essay on “Coal,” which was listened to with much attention. At the close, the members were unanimous in testifying to the excellence of the essay. M r Cunningham promised to read a paper to-morrow evening on “Vox Fopuli, Vox Dei.”

The following notifications appear in the last number of the Xcw Zealand Gazelle : The Governor has accepted the services of No, 1 City Guards Company of Cadets; and approves of the appointment of Ensign Sumpter as Captain, and Volunteer HayMackenzie as Bnh-Licutcnant of the Oamaru Riiics. The following appointments in tbe Immigration department have also been approved of :—Mrs Jessie Crawford, matron, Dunedin; Robert Decke, barrackmaster, Dunedin ; John Dougall, quarantine stationkeeper, Dunedin; Mrs Dougall, matron of same.

A meeting of the Jewish Philanthropic Society was held yesterday in the vestry of the Synagogue ; Mr E. .Nathan, President, in the chair. The reports of the Secretary and Treasurer were presented and confirmed. The latter report showed that relief was afforded during the year to all applicants to the extent of L 34 17s. Mr E. Nathan was then proposed as President for the forthcoming year. He declined the honor, and Mr M. Moss was elected. Messrs J. Moss and B. Isaacs were elected hou. Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Messrs E, Nathan, G, Jacobs, and S. Jacobs were appointed the Committee. The sensational drama of “The Peep o’ Day Boys” was presented at the Queen’s Theatre on Saturday evening. Miss Stephenson, in the part of Emily Bury, won upon the sympathies of the audience by her excellent acting ; and Miss Raymond, in the character of Rose, played carefully. Messrs Burford, Hydes, and O’Brien were deservedly applauded for the manner in which they depicted the various parts allotted to them. The farce of “ Bobtail and Wagtail” concluded the performance. This evening it was intended to have played the burlesque of “Ixion,” but owing to the non-arrival of the Taranaki, by which Miss Austead and others engaged to strengthen the company are passengers, its production has been postponed till Tuesday. The “ Poop o Day Boys” will be reproduced this evening.

Every effort has been made by the Choral Society to render the concert of to-morrow evening a complete success. They have fill idled their promise of introducing classic novelties, by producing the Oratorio of “Eli,” of which all lovers of music have heard, but which many in Dunedin have not had an opportunity of hearing. Careful practice lias been given to it, and we have no doubt full justice will be done to the choruses. The second part comprises choice selections, vocal and instrumental : Haydn’s “ Symphony No. 2,” a piano and violin duet by Messrs Fleury and Towsey, with compositions by Balfe, Hatton, Beethoven, and other celebrated musicians. We areglael that the Society have availed themselves largely of professional talent in the orchestra, which, we believe, will this time be very effective.

A correspondent of a Nelson contemporary has made a discovery which he thus describes : —“I wonder if any of your readers are aware that a great mistake was made in keeping last Sunday as Easter Day. It may have been Easter Sunday in England, but it certainly was not so here. The Church of England Prayer Book, which, I suppose, may bo considered an authority on such matters, says : Easter Day is always the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the twenty first day of March ; and if the full moon happens upon a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday after,’ It is true that in London it was full moon at 9.51 on Saturday night, but in Now Zealand this did not happen until 9.50 on Sunday morning, consequently next Sunday will be the veritable Easter Day in this part of the world.”

One little circumstance in connection with the confusion of ideas occasioned by the English mail being anticipated by some weeks by the telegraph is worth relating. It is thus narrated by a correspondent of the Nelson Mail; —“l was talking to a friend the other day in the vicinity of a bookseller’s shop a few hours after the arrival of the Suez mail. In the window was a poster advertising a new monthly journal, and among the items to which was accorded the honor of extra large print, was, “ Funeral of Napoleon.” “By Jove,” exclaimed my friend, who had begun to look upon the death or Louis Napoleon as a of h'story, “is young Napoleon dead?” Forgetting that the mail news of the death of the great French Emperor had only just reached us, he was under the impression that “Napoleon” must mean the Brince Imperial.

The .S' A. lieijistrr thus writes respecting the fatal illness of Mr Koberts : “ Mr Roberts, upon his arrival hereby the steamer Aldinga, on Thursday, 27th March, was so ill as to require immediate medical attention. He went forthwith to apartments at the freemasons’ Tavern, and Dr Phillips, who •vas called in, was in frequent upon the deceased up to the time of his leath. The disease under which Mr Roberts uiifered was inflammation of the kidneys, md it w r as greatly aggravated by the sea voyage from Melbourne, lie was frequently <eized with fainting fits, and it was shortly after one of these that he expired, On Tuea-

day he seemed much better, and the favor able symptoms continued on Wednesday, so that his decease was unexpected, and tin blow to his bereaved wife who retains ii public, as a member of tin same theatrics' company, her maiden name of Miss Polly Leake—was sudden and overwhelming.” The members of the Fowling and Quoiting Club celebrated the close of their first season at the Club hotel, on Saturday evening, and a more enjoyable evening wc seldom remember having spent. The president, Mr CalFiuler, was in the chair, and the vice-presi-dent, Mr Hodgkins, occupied the vicc-chair. After the “beef and greens” had been dime ample justice to, and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts duly honored, the lion, treasurer, Mr Whitelaw. stated the Club’s fin an cialposition to be as follows :—Mem' ers’ subscriptions, L 99 10; (id; punting nil’s, advertisements, etc., Ll3 ss; total, 1.112 Los 6d ; rent of green, LIOO ; debtor balance, LI2 15 Gd. Golf, curling, and other out-door sports were duly honored by being toasted, and wei o responded to by various well known representatives present, and trophies won in well-contested Helds in various out door games in the old country were honorably worn by members present. Mr Geo. Young, the winner of the president’s prize bowls, was present, and had bis badge presented to him and his health drunk. God speed, say we, to this ami kindred out-door sports in this, our happy Cohny. A new and rather ingenious mode of adorning graves is now in common use in America. The tombstones have attached to them photographs of those in whose memory they are erected. The photographs vary in size from the cartc-de-visito upwards ; when the portraits are taken it is mostly on porcelain or marble, and these are then let into the tombstone, covered with glass, or otherwise secured. On each portrait you read the name of the deceased, birthday, date of death, and sometimes epitaphs in prose or verse. This custom—not to call it fashion—has so rapidly gained favor with the people, that some of the family graves present quite a picture gallery. There you see the lovely child gleefully playing in the nursery-room, the middle-aged merchant with steel colored hair sitting at Ids office desk, the maiden in her bridal array, the aved woman in her sedate drab, the warrior on horseback or on foot, or the priest and preacher in canonicals. For the visiting stranger, each of the g aves thus adorned cannot fail to awaken the liveliest interest—in fact, becomes a most impressive and eloquent sermon on the uncertainty of everything that is human. It is stated that porcelain is best capable of withstanding the influence of time and weather. A matter attracting attention in the Wakatip district is the action taken last week at a public meeting at Arrowtown, when Mr Hallenstein was virtually called upon to resign his position as a member for the district. The following is the resolution passed That this meeting has no confidence in Mr Hallenstein as our representative in the Provincial Council and General Assembly.” An amendment was moved, but not carried, and read thus—-“ That Mr Hallenstein be called on by the Arrow electors to give an explanation of the present grievances before this meeting ; and also his intended view's in the next session of the Provincial Council and General Assembly.” A speaker upon these resolutions “thought that if the motion was carried, Mr Inncs should be included in it. Mr Hallenstein was being condemned because he knew too much ; Mr Inncs deserved to be condemned because he knew so little.” The meeting is described as having been called to consider the subject of the proposed bridge over the Kawanui Falls, Prank ton. The Mail protests, upon thefollowing grounds, against the action taken by the meeting, so far as regards that portion of the proceedings relating to the representatives of the district: —lst. That the meeting was not called for the purpo-e of considering whether the action of Messrs Hallenstein and Innes as members for the Lake District was worthy of confidence or not; 2mlly. That the subject matter the meeting was called upon to consider was not one affecting Mr Hallenstein’s position as amemberoftlie General Assembly, which has nothing to do with the question ; 3rdly. That the Arrow is only a portion of the Wakatip District, and its action as affecting the electoral right of the entire community is an unjustified assumption of power and dictation ; 4thly. That its action —assuming that the matter injuriously affected the interests of the whole district—was ill-chosen, ill-timed, and would virtually disfranchise the entire community—the Provincial Council and Assembly being just on the eve of meeting ; and, lastly, it would be striking an unfair blow at representative power, in condemning members behind their backs, without giving them, while they are on the spot, an opportunity to explain matters, or defend their actions.

The attention ot the mendters of the Choral Society is called to a special rehearsal, this evening, at 8 o’clock. At the Queen’s Theatre, on Thursday evening, Miss Urie, the Scottish vocalist, takes a complimentary benefit, tendered to her by the Caledonian Society. Such a programme has been drawn up as cannot fail to draw a full house.

The management of the Queen’s Theatre received the following letter last week : “As the management of the Queen’s Theatre will shortly have the services of Miss Aitken, the great Scotch actress, 1 have hoard several of the patrons of the Theatre express a wish that the management would produce the ever successful diama, ‘Jessie’s Dream ; or, The Belief of Lucknow.’ I can assure them it would turn out a trump card.” In reply they request us to state that Miss Aitken will open in “The Relief of Lucknow. ”

A correspondent sends us the following : The Rev. W. F. Main preached two eloquent and impressive sermons, morning and evening, in the First Church yesterday. We have seldom listened to pulpit eloquence of a higher order than was displayed on the occasion referred to. The Rev, Mr Main has a happy style in enlisting and sustaining the attention of his audience during the short half-hour which he occupies iu the delivery of his sermons, which we wish his reverend brethren would more frequently imitate. To such of our readers who do not care to absent themselves from their usual place of worship on Sunday, an opportunity will present itself ou Wednesday eveuing next, when the same gentleman will deliver a public lecture in the First Church, on “ Inspiration.” If rumor speaks correctly, and, judging by the opinions of the Northern and Sydney press we should say thtvt she is to be implicitly relied ou this time, the public of Dunedin have a rich musical treat in store for them. On Wednesday evening will be commenced, at the Masonic Hall, a series of operatic and ballad concerts, by artistes whose fame have preceded them. In Miss Carrie Emanuel, who is said to possess a soprano voice of great pevver and llexibility, with highly cultivated taste, we have a true Colonial songstress. Born in Australia, her musical education, such as it has been, has been wholly Colonial ; and although it was but recently that she made her debut in Sydney, she appears to have achieved an amount of success which is not often obtained by celebrities who come to the Colonies with reputations only gained after years of hard study and perseverance. Added to a line voice, Miss Emanuel is said to be gifted with the art of interpreting highclass music, which enables her to appear iu operatic parts, which call for the exercise of dramatic power of no mean ability. We have read encomiums of the highest possible character awarded by the Christchurch and Sydney press for her rendering of the beautiful “Casta Diva” from “Norma,” and ot the music of the mad scene of “Lucia de Lammermoor.” The Lyttelton Times speaks of the first as transcending Signora Zenoni’s performance. Mr Alfred Anderson, who is a native of Sydney, has achieved an European reputation as a pianist of high ability, and was appointed in September, 1868, as

pianist; to his Royal Highness the Duke t4 Edinburgh, himself no mean proficient in the joj oua science. Mr Anderson was some years a pupil of Sir William Sterndale Bennett, and also of Ernest Paner, one of the first musicians of the day. His execution is spoken of as being exceedingly brilliant; while he has proved himself to be a thorough musician, alike in the light operatic pieces and the works of the great masters. Mr Anderson is the composer of several pieces of merit, amongst others a fantasia on airs from Otl'enbach’s “ (fraud Duchess,” and an arrangement of themes from Gounod's “ Faust,” which have been favorably received elsewhere. As a concertina player Mr Anderson has alro achieved success, and he plays selections from “ l.uoia di Lammcrmoor ” on that instrument on Wednesday evening Mr Winter, a gentleman possessing a fine tenor voice, will assist Miss Emanuel and Mr Anderson.