Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 3286, 1 September 1873, Page 2

The Allahabad, which arrived at the Heads this afternoon, has 276 Government immigrants on board. Nelson papers state that there is something like a fever epidemic in that city atr present, and that several cases have terminated fatally. There was a sitting in bankruptcy this morning, but the business was very trifling. James Gibson and G. W. Geddes and J. S. Willis were adjudged bankrupts, and the Court rose. Mr J. B. Barton, Resident Magistrate and Warden at the Teviot, has sent in his resignation to the Government. The Dunstau paper understands that the Teviot is to be tacked on to the Dunstan district. The sea trout in the ponds of the Southland Acclimatisation Society are showing sicms of spawning, and a demand is now being made for stocking, by private enterprise, some of the distant rivers with trout. The Dunstan Times reports that on Saturday night last or early on Sunday morning, the claim of Mr Michael J£ett, which is situate on the west bank of the Molyneux, about half a mile from Alexandra, was visited by some unprincipled scoundrel or scoundrels, and robbed of a quantity of gold, the proceeds of the previous week’s washing. Mr Kett estimates his loss at about LSO. It was his practice to wash up once a fortnight, and he assumes the thief, whoever he be, was acquainted with this fact. The idea of a deliberative assembly discussing for hours a pure question of grammar appears so thoroughly ridiculous, that one would doubt if such a thing could be. But a perusal of late Cape papers will dispel any such feeling, for it is there reported that when the Legislative Assembly of Capetown were in Committee on the University Bill on May 29, the question was raised whether “an university” or “a university” was grammatically correct; and on a motion for substituting “a university” wherever “an university occurred, a division was called, when there voted—ayes 10, noes 28. It will be remembered that when the Eangitoto was wrecked, it was stated positively that all the mails were saved, it now appears that this was not true. The Melbourne Age, of the 13th inst., says that by advices received at the Melbourne Post Uffice, the bulk of the mails from Melbourne for New Zealand, per Rangitoto, have been recovered from the wreck. The following, however, are missing Mails for Picton, Invercargill, Campbelltown, Wellington. Letters contained in the mail for the last place must have been posted in Melbourne after 11.45 a.m. Mails also are missing from Sandridge for Dunedin and Wellington, and mail from Williamstown for Dunedin. The Mount Ida Chronicle administers to the Witness a well-deserved rebuke for its “ decided breach of the courtesy due to any branch, however unimportant, of the Press,” in inserting in 4 its columns a letter which was intended to bo a reply to something that had appeared in the leading columns of the Chronicle, that journal not having been first requested to publish it. “Such a precedent,” the Chronicle pertinently observes “followed generally, would entirely destroy the power of the Press. A branch of that Press should have been the last to cast the first stone. We should never have dreamt of refusing to insert the letter if it had been offered to us, much as it would have been to be regretted that our small space should be filled with such rubbish.”

Our contemporary the Daily Times has published an account of a marvellous discovery, which we shall he glad to find oor*

r«ct. It is-quite true that an alternative survey has been made, with a view to avoid the heavy tunnelling oh the Northern Trunk Railway, at Deborah Bay; but, as that was only a surface survey, it is gratifying to loam the character of the strata through which the line would pass. We can only suppose that the divining rod or c’airvoyauts have pointed to the existence of coal and tenacious clay for the special information of our contemporary. 111-natured people say if the surveyors “burn this coal in their camps in preference to wood from the' surrounding bush,” they have found specimens of it in some coal yard in Port Chalmers.

The annual session of the R.W. Grand Lodge of the 1.0.0. F. was held on the 22nd, 25th, 27th, and 29th ult., in the Lodge Rooms, Oriental Hotel. After the trans action of a large amount of business, the following brethren wore elected for the ensuing term, viz. M.W. Grand Master, Bro. Michie; R. W. Deputy Grand Master, Bro. Teague; R.W. Grand Warden, Bro. Alexander; R.W. Grand Secretary, Bro. Lenton ; R. W. Grand Treasurer, Bro. Gourley. The M.W. Grand Master then made the following appointments, viz. W. Grand Chaplain, Bro. Wheeler; W. Grand Marshal, Bro. Mercer; W. Grand Conductor, Bro Soares ; W, Grand Guardian, Bro. Clifford; W. Grand Herald, Bro, Shepherd, also appointing as District Deputy Grand Masters the undermentioned brothers:— For Wanganui, Bro. Ballanoe; for Timarn, Bro. Wallis ; for Oamaru, Bro. Bayley ; for Mount Ida, Bro. 1 ondon. After a few remarks from the Grand Master, the Lodge was formally closed.

The arrival in Christchurch of Fox, the pedestrian, is noticed by the Lyttelton Times, which says:—“ His intention was to make terms for three hnrdlc races, one at 120 yards, one at 440 yards, and another at 850 yards ; but as the 880 yards was quite out of Harris’s distance, and was not included in his challenge, he declined the proposal. Further negotiations ensued, and a match was made yesterday for three fiat races on th« following terms:—loo yards, Harris to give two yards’ start ; 150 yards, Harris to give four yards’ start; snd 200 yards, Harri* to give five yards’ start; stakes, LSO a side ; and to come off within four weeks from Saturday next, on the course at the Agricultural Show Grounds, if procurable. Both men will train in Christchurch. The distances for which tha match is made are the same at whi hj Fox beat Drake on level terms The man winning two events out of the three will be declared the winner of the match.

The fortuitous circumstance of a post being in the way to break the fall of some heavy timber prevented what might have been a fatal accident on Saturday. Two lads were w.atcbing from the footpath the hoisting of a beam about to be placed in position on Messrs Thomson, Strang, and Co.’s new building in Princes street, when the taskling gave way, and in its des >ent the beam knocked the lads down. Hyams, the younger boy, was not much hurt; but the other lad had the back part of his head and oae of his sides much bruised, and was taken to the hospital, where he is progressing favorably. “ One who witnessed the acci dent ” calls our attention to the condition of the cornice of a brick building in Great King street, opposite the Caledonian grounds. He says that the brickwork has been thrown out of the perpendicular, is largely cracked, and a gale of wind is likely to bring it down with a run. In its present condition it is a menacing danger to pedestrians, and the pro per authorities should take steps to compel the occupier or owner of the building to effect the necessary repairs. The following extract from the Southland Times may help our readers to understand a little the Otago Lands Bills, now before thr Assembly, and about which we hca r d a good deal of late :—We believe that the Bills introduced into the Assembly as the Otago Land Bill (No. 1), and Otago Land Bill (No. 2), were both intended for the amendment of Southland Land Acts. Bill No. 1 met with so much opposition from parties interested in keeping the price of laud at L 3, that it had to be withdrawn. On this subject a correspondent says “It is evident that by passing the LS resolution the laud reformers have put themselves most effectually under the screw, and will have to be content with what concessions they can get. The Canterburymen are delighted, and protest that the price must remain as it is.” Bill No. 2 provides that the deferred payment system shall be extended to the present Hundreds, and permits of land being sold in blocks of 300 acres at Is 3d per annum for ten years, or 12s 6d altogether, provided that the land has been seven years in the market, which is the case, wo belie /e with all the Southland Hundreds.

The Press seems to be a very Nazareth to a large portion of the clergy. The«e cUem it incapable of sending forth any good, and are struck with astonishment to find their opinion wrong. A short time ago the Melbourne Argus published a heart-stirring leader about the heroism of Marr, who perished in the Kip catastrophe. A Church of England minister read this article from the pulpit, and praised it highly, but expressed great wonderment to discover such a jewel in such a setting. Such genuine nobleness coming from a journalist was to him a matter of real marvel. “A straw best shows bow the wind blows.” This trifling incident (remarks the writer of “ Notions ’’ in the Orey River Argus) affords an exact index of the feeling of a gr at body of clerics concerning newspaper writers. Seeing that the latter are fellow-laborers with them in the cause of human improvement, and that the harvests from the Press-fields are fully as rich as those from the Pulpit, the antipathy is somewhat incomprehensible. What is the origin of it ? Is its father prejudice ? Ii it jealousy ? Is it begotten of anger at the socalled profanity and audacity of the Press auent abuses venerable with the rime of centuries and sanctified by immemorial usage? An extraordinary dead-lock has occurred in that extrordinary political creation—the County of Westland. It has arisen on the question of distributing the amount passed for honorarium. The County Chairman declines to allocate the money, and all tho other business being over, the members who are non-resident in Hokitika do not seem disposed to go to the expense of again travelling thither to decide the question. Night after night were tho lamps of the Council Chamber lighted, the tables set, and did the County Secretary attend till eight o’clock, when he formally adjourned till the usual hour next day. Upon which farcical proceedings the Star comments “ If anything was necessary to prove the necessity for a radical change, the puerile conduct of members in settling this paltry dispute should suffice. Under the circumstances, we would suggest to the Chairman that, instead of protracting the present session indefinitely hy adjournment from night to night, he should adjourn the sitting to night for a fortnight or three weeks, ov till such time as the Province Bill has passed, when the County Council will bo required to meet to fix the electoral boundaries of the new creation. By that time an agreement will probably be come to.” The Wellington correspondent of the North Otago Timas writesßumor says we are to have a reconstruction of the Ministry after the present session, and that Mr John Bathgate at least will be relegated to the seclusion from which; to tho damage of his repu*

talion, the discomfiture of hie friends, and the misfortune of the Colony, he has been temporarily drawn. One thing lam certain, that had 1 ever been misguided enough to go in for politics and position, I should have subsided immediately on the receipt of one of the snubbings which he is constantly receiving from colleagues, friends, and foes. Providence, which provides animals with covering suitable to their normal wants, has endowed him with an epidermis calculated to throw off slights that would penetrate most people to the marrow. Delicate and pointed irony, a broad laugh of derision, and a well-planted blow, each meets at his hands the same reception. He pulls off his spectacles with his thumb and finger, smiles a holy smile, and weakly blows his own trumpet. The reporters of the House bless him for hie peculiarity of speech, suggestive of eating plums, and his '■cotch accent renders reporting him correctly almost an impossibility, and they are constantly representing him as saying the reverse of what he does, and speaking seuse.

The quarterly meeting of the Otago Licensed Victuallers Association will be held to-morrow evening, at 8 o'clock, in the Fire Brigade rooms, i I A meeting of the Standard Property Invest* ment Society, for the purpose of receiving subscriptions, will be held on Wednesday evening, from 6 to 8 o’clock. We have to acknowledge the receipt of the current number of the Evangelist , which ia hardly so readable as usual, though it contains some interesting extract matter, The editorial deals with Apostolic succession. An entertainment, similar to that given by the Rev. A, D, Kininmont and the choir of the First Church on Wednesday, will bo given this (Monday) evening, at the request of many who, in consequence of the severity of the weather, were unable to be present on nesday,We understand Mr Wheeler’s Art Union is progressing rapidly, and that the requisite number of subscribers is likely to be made up. The list of prizes contains-some valuable pictures which have been held for high prices. They are now aranged so that they can be seen at his room at the comer of Stafford street, and will repay inspection. An alteration has been made in the time of the train leaving Port Chalmers in the morning, and Dunedin and Port Chalmers by the last trains in the afternoon, that will prove of great service to the public. The first train will leave the Port at 9 m the morning instead of 9.15, and the last at 6 p.m. The last train from Dunedin leaves at 6.15 p.m. instead of $ o’clock.

The Illustrated New Zealand Herald for August shews considerable improvement in an artistic point of view. There is a finish about the illustrations that shews well beside the best Home productions, and gives to Colonial art a much higher status than most of the pictorial papers of the United States. Although there is an absence of New Zealand scenery, there are many very interesting engravings. The panorama of Queensland, if the term is allowable, gives views of the principal seaports ; “ The Stawell Jumpers ” commemorates an incident in Victoria connected with a min • ing dispute; Capr Jervis Lighthouse, at the entrance to the Backstairs passage, between Kangaroo Island and the South Australian Main, is well executed, and will interest at Home through the introduction of the peculiar vegetation of the South. “ A Sketch on the Frozen River ” is a poetic treatment of the scenery: rocks seem arrested in their descent into the water, and to have bedded themselves in the smooth glaciers. There are many very admirably drawn portraits of eminent men, chief of whom is the late John Stuart Mill. Many who revere the memory of that most gifted man will be glad of the opportunity of obtaining so good a portrait at so small a cost.