The Evening Star MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3214, 9 June 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1873.

A private telegram received in town states that a crushing of eighty tons of stone from the John Bull Company, Garrick, yielded one apd a half ounces to the ton. The Canterbury Provincial Council, by twelve votes to eleven, passed a resolution authorising the Government to take steps with a view to establishing a Government printing office at Christchurch.

The Port Chalmers Naval Brigade were inspected by Major Atkinson on Friday night, after which Lieutenant Goldie was unanimously elected Captain; Sub-Lieutenant Tayler, Lieutenant; and P.O, Wilson, Sub-. Lieutenant.

Mr Fairclough is announced to make his first appearance at the Queen’s Theatre this evening. • The piece selected for representation is Lord Lytton’s play of “Richelieu,” Mr Fairclough sustaining the part of the great Cardinal; and, judging by the criticisms we have seen of this gentleman’s performances, an intellectual treat may be anticipated. Mr Lachlan M'Gowan, of the Princess Theatre, we learn, is the adapter of a dramatic version of Wilkie Collins’s celebrate ! novel of “ Man and Wife.” The piece will be of a powerful emotional and sensational character in five acts, and dramatised expressly for production in Dunedin. Mr M'Gowan is likewise engaged in adapting Sir Walter Scott’s “ Kenilworth,” which will be presented in the fopm of $ spectacle.

The instructive entertainment at the Muonic Hall shows no sign of decreasing popularity. On Saturday evening the diorama was as well received as before, the sketches on the Mile being especially applauded. What with the beautifully-exe-cuted views, Mr Perrier’s explanatory lecture, and Mr Milburn’s comic singing, a very happy evening may be spent, and we honestly recommend our readers to visit it, as being well worthy of their patronage. At the City Police Court, this morning, three carters were charged with not complying with the bye-laws, by neglecting to have the tare weight of coal which was in their carts painted thereon. His Worship stated that these were the first cases of the kind, and it was the Council’s determination to impose very heavy fines if the regulation was not complied with. He said very serious mistakes were made in the weight of coals, parties paying a great deal more than they ought to through the negleifc of proper weight— he gould not say whether intentionally or not—jtyt if similar cases came under his notice he would Mfft heavy penalties*

The following telegram from the Imperial Government on the 4 aubject of the Suez Bjail route has been received by the Goverafilf pf Victoria “May 16—Our proposal porary prolongation of mail service not b'6ing unanimously accepted, is withdrawn. We have determined to carry mails to and from Galle, Singapore, and San FranoiSco and this country free of charge. If service is. established by any one or mpre Colonies from Galle, we will pay to each Colony contributing to such service the postage received on outward mail letters conveyed by such route to the Colony so contributing, less transit charges and. inland British postage, provided steamer touch each way at a port in Western Australia. Similar payment will be made in the case of establishment of service from Singapore or from San Francisco, arrangement to continue for five years.”—Kimberley.

A meeting of shareholders in the Petroleum Company at Poverty Bay was lately held at Gisborne, According to the estimate read to the meeting, the cost of working the company would be L 1,900, the monthly wages, &0,, . L 14 2; and, after they had “struck ile,’ f as follows Cost of constructing tramway from Gisborne to Oil Springs, twenty-five miles, at L6OO p6r mile, L 15.000; rolling stock, L 1,500 ; bridges, L 3,000; laying down pipes,, four miles, to fetch oil from top of hill, L 1,550; erecting refinery houses and all necessary plant, L 5.000 ; receiving depot at Gisborne offices, L 1,320; total, L 27,370. The cost of refining and casing the oil and delivering at the ship’s side, ready for shipment, will he 9*d per gallon. The price that could be got for the oil in the New Zealand market would be 2s 4d per gallon ; this would leave a profit to the company of Is 6£d per gallon. Some very unpleasant facts have come to the knowledge of the Victorian Ministry with regard to the prize designs for the new law courts. The gentleman to whom the first prize was awarded is Mr L. Smith. In consequence of some information forwarded to the Minister of Public Works, that gentlemen instituted certain inquiries, which resulted in the discovery that Mr Johnstone, of the department, had furnished Mr L, Smith with a pencil sketch of a plan for the court-houses and had indicated the views of the Commissioner upon the subject. Besides this, he gave other hints to Mr Smith when the plans were being prepared, and, of course, when finished and sent in for competition, he knew whose they were. The Ministry were in some doubt as to whether the plans accepted or those of Messrs Reed and Barnes should be awarded the first prize, but acting principally upon the recommendation of Mr Johnstone, it was given to Mr Smith. Upon these facts becoming known tff the Ministry*'! it was decided that Mr Johnstone could D no longer remain in the public service, and the award will of course be withdrawn. Mr Johnstone was in the receipt of a salary of L 485 per annum. An accident which happened to the Dunedin coach, at Woodlands, on the 31st ult., is reported by the Sguthland Times. The coach arrived, with four inside passengers, gentlemen, at that place about 8 p.m. At the post office the driver got down to light the lamps. It was raining and blowing bard at the time, and the horses started away slowly, but the driver, M‘Donald, ran up to their heads and seized the reins. At that instant, however, a dog rushed up and commenced barking furiously at the horses, startling them and causing them to spring suddenly forward. M‘Donald was knocked down by the pole, which struck him ou the breast, and falling among the horses’ feet, was trodden upon by one of them. He was then dragged some distance by the front axle of the coach, and falling dear of that, the near wheels passed over his body. The coach upset a few yards further on, fortunately without very serious injury to any of the passengers, with the exception of one gentleman, who had his face badly cut. The coach being righted, M ‘Donald was picked up insensible, and taken into a neighboring house, where it was discovered that besides many serious bruises, one rib had been broken. He was, however, able to come to town by the coach next morning, and is now recovering from the effects of his injuries.

As the minds of many sheep-owners in New Zealand are just now specially exercised *n the subject of cross-breeding, the following pertinent remarks, contributed by Mr Charles Gawthorp, of Ridgmount, to the ArmidaU Express, will no doubt prove serviceable to the above-named important section of our community. He says : “ Thinking that an assertion made by Mort and Co., in a circular lately issued by them, relative to cross-bred sheep, may lead some sheep farmers not well versed in such matters astray, it may not be amiss to offer a few remarks thereon. Mort and Co. point out. the desirability of breeding cross-bred sheep as suiting the present state of the wool market, but say that it does not do to breed from the cross-bred ewes. This is a mistake, as some of our best flocks in New England have been bred up in this manner; and for an example in this country, we will take the half-bred Cheviot, cross this animal again with a pure-bred Southdown ram, and I guarantee a sheep will be produced not to be surpassed, either for the butcher or to suit the present market. It is all nonsense about sheep degenerating by being bred from cross bred sheep. Why did not our Leicester flocks degenerate ? I have now been breeding from cross-bred sheep for live years, and every year, by judicious crossing, my sheep are improving ; and the price my wool makes in the English market proves that I produced wool suited to the times; and in this New England climate we must have a hardy animal. This is arrived at by the cross I mention.”

We were pleased to perceive that the programme announced for Saturday evening at the Princesss’ Theatre had the effect of inducing a larger number of persons to attend this place of amusement than had been the ease for the two or three previous nights. The lower parts of the house were well filled, but the dress circle was moderately patronised. The .first piece was the drama of “ Oliver Twist, ” founded on Charles Dickens’s well-known novel of that' name; and, with one or two exceptions, the ideas of the great novelist were faithfully pourtrayed by the various members of the company. Miss Willis must be commended for the natural and. unaffected manner in which she represented "the hero of the piece. This young lady displayed a thorough appreciation of the part allotted to her, and was frequently and deservedly applauded. We may be permitted to point out an obvious incongruity in reference to one particular portion of the adventures of Oliver. When, through the artifices of Nancy, he is again committed to the tender mercies of Fagin and his gang, he is clothed as becomes the prot6g& of the benevolent gentleman who has taken him in hand, but almost simultaneously with his re-capture, his new clothes are taken from him, and his original tattered garments are substituted ; for it is not likely that in the company he was in, he would bo allowed to wear such good clothes, more especially aa he was selected to go on a housebreaking expedition with Bill Sykes and Toby Cracket. On Saturday evening no such metamorphosis took place ; and, although we make these remarks in no fault-finding spirit, it would have been better had this minor detail been attended to. Miss Willis, in response to an nnanimous call, appeared before the curtain, and bowed her acknowledgment?* As Nancy, Miss Anstead played carefully ; while Mrs M‘Gowan, as Mrs Corney, evinced a thorough appreciation of the part she undertook. Mr Rayner, as Bill Sykes, demonstrated his ability as an “all-round” actor, and enacted the villain to perfection, Mr Collier’s Fagin was a treat in itself ; and Mr Musgrave took tfie audience by surprise by the rollicking, deviLmay-care style in which he depicted the unique “ Artful Dodger.” The performance concluded with the burlesque of “ Macbeth,” in which Mr M'Gowan, as Macbeth, completely convulsed those present by the irresistibly comic style of bis action, and the rich Scotch brogue introduced by him into the dialogue, independent of the ludicrous distortions to

which the language of the immortal Bard was subjected at his ruthless hands. His efforts were ably seconded by Mrs M'Gowan, who appeared as Lady Macbeth. The same programme will be repeated this evening, and we can safely recommend those who wish to have a hearty laugh to see the burlesque, as it is decidedly the richest thing in its way we have had the pleasure of witnessing for a long time. •"

The attention of the electors is directed to the various letters having reference to Mr E. B, .Cargill's nomination, which appear in this issue.