Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 3429, 17 February 1874, Page 2

The sum of LOO was collected in Tokomaiviro i i three weeks on behalf of the Dayspring: Mission Fund by the children .attending the Presbyterian Sunday School there. The accident which happened last week at Ayling’s contract, Horseshoe Bend, to a, man named Lawrenson, has terminated fatally. Lawrenson died in the Tuapeka Hospital bn Thursday night. The Tokomairiro and Tuapeka railway works are being pushed on with great vigor. At the Manuka Greek tunnel the work of boring- is carried on night and day, but the rock is very hard and consequently progress is slow. The contractors have sentf or one of the patent Burleigh drills. Last evening a child three years old, one of the infant passengers by the Mongol, died of scarlet fever on Quarantine Island. There is now only one case of fever, the remaining sickness being rheumatic fever, bronchitis, and diarrhoea. None of them are considered dangerous. An alarm of fire was raised this afternoon. A spark from the chimney at Black and Thomson’s, Manor place, had been blown on the roof of the house adjoining, occupied by Mr George Reany, which it ignited, but the prompt detection of the presence of fire prevented any mischief being done. The Brigade mustered quickly. We learn that the immigrants by the Mongol were considered very healthy and suitable when they left their own homes; but that when in the Immigration Barracks at Plymouth waiting for embarkation, syptoms of disease appeared in two families, both of which were left behind. Those who left England were pronounced healthy prior to going on board. The ballasting of the railway line from the Taieri southwards is being rapidly proceeded with, and sleepers and rails placed in convenient positions here and there along the line for boin~ speedily placed in situ. The ‘ Bruce Herald’ understands that similar preparations arc being made at the Olutha end of the line, and that should the Saddle Hill Tunnel and Taieri Bridge works not delay the opening of the line, the whole of the works can be completed in six months. The danger of harvestmen being allowed to use matches while at woik was demonstrated at Brucetown* near Tokomairiro, yesterday. On Mr France’s farm one of the workmen having lighted his pipe in one of the paddocks on the farm, threw away the match without extinguishing it; the stubble was immediately in flames, and but for the timely assistance of some neighbors, the consequences must have proved serious. As it was, several stocks of wheat were consumed, while Mr France had Ilia clothes burned and his face scorched. The Variety Troupe gave their final entertainment at the Princess’s last evening to a very fair attendance. The trapeze performances, the singing of Miss Watson, and Mr Baber s dancing, were accorded a liberal amount of applause. Mr Braham sang a very vulgar and on some persons in the pit showing then- disapproval or it, he used some very inappropriate remarks, which the audience however properly resented, and he had to retire amidst the hisses of the majority of those preAn addition to the programme was made in the shape of some pedestal dancing by Mr Shipp. On Wednesday last, Mr Vincent Pvke, Mr ii and Mr J. C. ‘Brora, M.ri.ivß., waited upon hia Honor tho Superintoudent to ascertain the progress made with regard to the establishment of an Assay Office in Dunedin, in connection with the Melbourne Mint. The Superintendent (according to the ‘ Tuapeka Times’) said that nothing fresh had been done in the matter ; but he had received a letter from Hr Vogel, in answer to inquiries made, which was to tho effect that he had not yet received a reply from the Victorian Government, but that tho object the deputation had m view would be warmly supported by his Government. It appears that Sullivan’s release is owing to the representation that some sort of promise was held out to him when he turned Queen’s evidence against Burgess and the other Maungatapu murderers, that he would ultimately regain his liberty, Sullivan has for months past petitioned the Government for the fulfilment of that promise, the advisability of now giving effect to which, the Superintendent of

Nelson, we believe, recently brought under the notice of the proper authorities. On the Governor s late visit to Dunedin he granted a pardon to Sullivan, on condition that he left the Colony. The latter, it will be seen from telegrams,'is still in Auckland; and Sergeant Watson, in whose charge he was conveyed there, keeps a kind of watchful interest over mm. The saloon passengers are still on board the Mongol, but it is expected they will be admitted to pratique this evening. At the meeting'of tlie Board of Health yesterday,.it was decided to rescind the minute that the cargo should be fumigated previous to being landed. The doctors report yesterday to the Health Officers was to the effect that there are at present iu the Hospital on the island, two cases of scarlet fever, two of thermatic fever, three of diarrhoea, one of debility, and one of abscess. The rest of the immigrants appear to be perfectly free from infection. Since writing the above there has been one more death—a child named Jackson.

Ihe sale by auction of -1,080 acres of land on Captain M'Kenzie’s run, which was to have been held on Friday next, has been postponed till March 2. The Tuapeka paper hopes it has been done to give the Government time to dcvre some better method of disposing of the iro it valuable land in the Province than was adopted last week in the sale of 1,067 acres on the same run. The selling of these lands to capitalists at a price which gives but a momentary assistance to the Province, and deprives the honafidc settler of a chance of making for himself a home in the country, can only be characterised as suicidal in the extreme. We shall be very glad to learn that the Government have withdrawn the land from sale by auction, and decided on opening it upon the defered payment principle. A man named Drain has been arrested at Tuapeka on a charge of criminally assaulting a little girl, eight years of age, on the Waitahuna read. He was brought before Mr Carew, R.M., on Monday, and remanded for a week, to enable the police to procure further evidence. It appears that as the child (Margaret halconer by name) was returning home from the Waitahuna Government school, and while proceeding along the road towards her father’s house, she was overtaken by Drain, who took her up in his arms and carried her to a gravel pit, where he attempted the offence. The girl however, struggled for some time, and at length gob away from him, went home, and informed her mother of what had occurred. Information was given to the police at Waitaluma, but they were unable to find anv trace of Drain, as he had left the district. Sergeant I arrell was then despatched from Tuapeka to Waitahuna to make inquiries, and having done so started in pursuit of his man at about II p.m. on the 11th inst. He arrived at the Otakia hotel, there being informed by the landlord that Drain had slept at the hotel that night and loft by the back door as the Sergeant entered the yard. As it was supposed that he had gone to work on the railway works, half an hour afterwards Farrell had him in custody. It will be remembered that, some time ago, a lady resident in Auckland, afflicted with camethes scrihendi, indulged in under the signature of “Polly Plum,” wrote to the London limes’ a letter full of arrant nonsense about this Colony, her object being to deter intending emigrants. Tho publication of this mischievous production evoked an admirable reply from a Miss H. H. Herbert, a Napier lady, then residing in London. We now notice from our Napier files that Miss Herbert has returned to the Colony in the ship Queen of the North, bringing with her a large number of wellselected immigrants. Miss Herbert has, since her ai rival, written to the ‘ Herald ’ complaining of the want of house accommodation. She says : “ Having been the means of inducing so many people to leave their homes in the old country, I naturally feel most anxious that they should do well in the new land to which they have migrated. I own that work is plentiful, and that the wages in many instances arc higher than I anticipated, but it is useless to earn high wages when a man cannot find a house iu which to place lus family. If his wages cannot buy him comfort, the money is of little banefit. One of tho questions asked me by some of the present immigrants was—- ‘ What kind of houses shall we live in ? lam told we shall have to put up mud huts?’ I laughed at the suggestion, and assured the speaker that houses could be hired in the townships ; that they were built of wood, and though some were not as comfortable as others, they would certainly be well housed in New Zealand. Those who were here two years will know that I spoke the truth as to the state of Hawke’s Bay when I left it; but those who have only known me for about three months will have a sadly low opinion of my veracity, I bring these people to Napier, and find there is positively not a single house to be hired ! I Icnow that numbers have been built, and that the town has grown enormously; but the houses are no sooner erected than three families rush in to inhabit what contains only accommodation for one, and it seems as if the supply would never be equal to the demand. I feel this deeply, because, however guiltless of wilfully misleading them, I am nevertheless guilty of bringing them into this difficulty.” oho urges the establishment of a Cottage Building Society, which would be content with a moderate rent, such as would pay a fair rate of interest for the capital employed, while leaving its tenants a chance of living in comfort.

Judge Chapman was right last night when he said the Dunedin public never tired of hearing good music or of giving substantial support to a good object. The concert in aid of the* building fund of the new Episcopal Church at Anderson’s Bay is an instance in point. On the whole the music was very good ; the attendance could not have been larger, as the building was more than comfortably filled long before the concert commenced. We cannot go through the very long programme that was put forward piece by piece, but content ourselves with noticing the chief features of it. Of course the duet by M. Fleury and Mr A, J. Tpwsey was excellent, and what might be expected from two such thorough musicians, “ The beating of ray own heart” was nicely sung, but the aria from 1 Donizetti’s Ugo conta de Parjgi,” by a lady whose performances in public, though not numerous, have made her a deserved favorite, was the gem of the first part of the concert, and was encored. Misses Webb and Jago were both heard to advantage in the second part, and each received an one arc, the first mentioned substituting the ever-welcoxne “ Bide a wee,” and Miss Jago ‘‘l cannot bear to say farewell,” for “They brought home the warrior dead.” The only fault was the singer’s slight nervousness in the earlier part, and her curtailment of the songs. The gentlemen soloistM'Were not numerous, but they performed their parts well. There were two German songs—the latter of which was so well rendered as to receive an encore. The duet from the “Lilly of Killarney,” pleased greatly, as it never fails to do ; and one of the gentlemen later in the evening gave “ Di Provenza ” capitally. In lieu of the quartette in the second part, “Come where the cowslip bloometb,” impromptu, a lady well known in musical circles in Christchurch, very kindly gave an instrumental selection from “ Lurliue,” which was played with great taste and brilliancy. Several unaccompanied pieces were nicely rendered by eight male voices, anct the concert concluded with the National Anthem, prior to which Judge Chapman appeared ou the platform, and m a few well chosen remarks, thanked the audience for their patronage, and observed that the auditor’s pleasure had been greatly increased by the excellent management, which had studied punctuality throughout the concept. As gll tho money on account of tickets sold has not been collected, we cannot say what the proceeds of the concert will be. There is every reason to believe, however, that it will realise the fullest expectations of the promoters, and the amount will be announced in a few days. We omitted to mention that the piano was kindly and liberally lent by Messrs J3egg and Anderson. It is one of Kirkraan’s grands—a very fiue-tonod powerful instrument. It will be seen by advertisement in another part of tho paper that the Early Closing Association are endeavoring to shorten the hours of in retail business establishments. We have always been of opinion that so far as buying and soiling are concerned, the whole of our daily transactions might be conducted in fewer hours, with advantage to distributors and consumfers, if long-continued habits could be changed. ( The difficulty is to introduce better

arrangements. In order to tins employers must agree as well as employed, for unless this is the case one man keeping his shop open, and supported by the public, will render the best intentions of all the rest inoperative. This evening Dr Bakewell will lecture in the Masonic Hall on “ Social life and politics in the West Indies.” The syllabus promises a most entertaining and instructive lecture. Dr Bakewell has had-ample opportunity of observation, and is a graphic writer, we have no doubt therefore that two hours spent in the Masonic H-ill this evening will prove most interesting and enjoyable.