The Evening Star. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1874.

Evening Star, Issue 3692, 22 December 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1874.

The Dunstan race meeting is fixed for the 9th and 10th of February. -'•t Melbourne, on the 9bh inst , Mr George B«ll, son of the proprietor of this paper, was admitted a barrister of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Cremation was resorted to the other clay at Reefton, to get rid of the carcase of a horse that got killed on the Murray Creek tramway. The Hon. W. Fox is a passenger by the Tararua. The hon. gentleman, who is absut to proceed to England, stays in the Province till the 28th inst. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court to-day, before Messrs T. Birch and E. If. Ward, J. P.’s, John Gibbs was fined ss, with the usual alternative, for drunkenness ; Margaret Miller, for using obscene language, was fined 10s and costs. The Athenreum Committee last night decided to send Home LSO hj r new books, and refused to receive Mr-Inmes "mirk's lectures, the ‘Sunday Newsman,’ acd the following works “ Devil,” and/- My Experience, or Footprints of a Presbyterian to Spiritualism and Everlasting Punishment ” At the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Port Chalmers, this morning, before Mr Ma nsford, R M., James Burns was fined ss, or twenty-four hours’, and David Boytun Ids, or twenty-four hours’, for drunkenness; David Campbell, for being absent without hj ave from the ship Auckland, was sentenced to twenty-four hours’ hard labor. “One of the jury ” furnishes the Tuapeka paper with an account of the inquest <>u the bo iy of W, Lannour Sh-arlour, who was drowned in Swift Creek while bathin .-, on the 27ta ult. Deceased was ab>>ut twentyfive years of age. Three persons were wit nesses of the drowning, but could render no assistance, though within a few feet of him. The verdict of the jury was, “ Died from suffocation in the water while in the act of bathing.” Owing, doubtless, to the inclemency of the weather, the meeting convened for last evening of those wdling to act on a committee to colle ;t subscriptions for a suitable tistim>>uial to the Hon. W. Reynolds, in recogid ion of his public services to the City, was attended by only nine pe sous. Subsetiption lists weredrdered to be printed, Mr Fish was ai pointed hon secretary, and the meeting adjourned tid ths evening. The adjourned meeting of the working men’s delegates was held last evening, when Messrs Spiers, Livock. Morris, Wi-hart, Moore, Colville, Her, Peat, Homer, Jones, ami VV, A. Smith (hon. sec ), with power to add to their numoer, wer- ap ointed a com mittee to carry out the resolution if the pn - vious meeting that a Working Men’s < Tub should be formed in Dunedin. Mr Homer’s scheme is to be diseased at the delegates’ next meeting. It was unfortunate for Mr Keogh that there was such a down-pour of rain last night, or we feel sure his benefit would have been better attended than it was. “ Montcalm ’" was announced for representat on, but although we were in the theatre for nearly an hour we were unable to gather the faintest idea of what was going on, so ineffectual were the efforts of the players to make their voices heard above the storm. To night the Press Dramatic Entertainment in aid of the tihepparde memorial fund takes place.

Last year the largest number of marriages in any ©f the New Zealand Provinces took place in Auckland, being 506 ; Otago comes next with soi ; Canterbury. 442; Wellington, 254. The total marriages were 2,276. The principal r-ligiou bodies represented ate—United Church of England and Irel nd, 625 ; tree Church of Scotland, 448 ; omnn t atholic, SOD ; Presby t-rian Church of ( and Bou’.hlaml. 3.U); Wesleyan Methodist, 211. 't here were 211 marriages performed by Registrais, and in twenty-seven instances the happy couple each scored a mark for their signatures ; in eixty-seven instances the bridegroom did so, and in 179 the bride. There were eleven wives between fifteen and sixteen, and one between sixty and sixtyfive. The youngest person married was a girl of fourteen, the oldest two men of seventy. Some bagmen appear to have a decided penchant for practical joking, and one of the class who paid a visit to Riverton recently played upon Ihe local undertaker an old trick, with results which will cause him to live in that functionary’s grateful (?) recollection for a long time. According to the ‘Southland Times,’ this facetious traveller reported to the undertaker that the Town Clerk of the place, who is just recovering from a severe attack of measles, had breathed Ilia last. 'The man who does the box business immediately rushed away, rule in hand to take bis measure. Having reached the house—which was approached in ra her a frantic manner—he was violently assaulted from the rear by two dogs, causing numerous abrasions to his n tner garments, as also the beating of a speedy retreat, to the gn at amusement of the Town Clerk, who happened to be looking out of the window at the moment.

A proposal made by the directors of the Water Company that the Corpo ation should secure the holders of to be issued in payment for the works by giving them a mortgage over the works and plant, was under the consideration of the City Council, sitting in committee, on Friday and evening, and at the second sitting the following resolution was adopted “ That seeing the Corporation >olicitors have ad vised that the Corporation has no power at present to grant a mortgage over the work , ami also seeing that in the opinion of the solicitors, the debenture-holders are at present as well secured as if they had a mortgage, the Council are of opinion that it would be unwise to pass any resolutions havmg the object of giving a mortgage over the works,” Lb is intended to celebrate the handing over pf the waterworks to the City on the let iast. b j a banquet.

In tho las* - ' ' Gazette ’ are published the regulations made under the Insurance and \nnuities Act last sts>ion, by which the Colonial Treasurer is enahed to issue, out of the atandiug to the credit of the. Government insurance account, sums of money as loans to holders of policies. By those regulations it is appointed that the Commissioner may. upon ihe application of any policy holder whose policy shall hj tve been in lorce for three years, advance to hj m by way of loan any sura not exceeding ninetenths of the then surrender value of his policy. There are, however, very proper exceptions made to this rule, and it is that no loan shall be granted upon the security of any policy which may have been issued for the benefit of the wiL- of the person whose life is insured, or of his wife and children, or of his wife and some or one of his children, or of his children only, or s me or one of them. The rate of interest chargeable in respect of any such loan is to be 7 per cent, per annum* Why the Government should demand this high rate when they are only offering from 4 to 44 per cent, le depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank is a financial mystery. Our English files contain one or two items of interest to Press men. First we have to note to note wi hj regret the death of Mr Powell, proprietor of the • Primers' Register,’ the recognised trade journal, and whose office in Loudon was toe resor . of all Co’onial journalists. The ‘Times’ has at last woke up, and now distances ail the London papers combi- ei. by its euterpnse, the latest form of which is the erection of a private-tele-graph wire from Paris o i on lon, connecting *ith Printing-house Square; and in the French capital, to which all the foreign news of the ‘Thunderer’ is transmitted, is kept a highly efficient staff whose duty it is to sift and arrange th news, so that it is at once sect from Paris direct into the composing room at Printingho- se square. T hen the managers of the • Gaily telegraph* have cai sed a consterna tion among their “ men in the gallery” by resolving next session to have reports of tke debates m Parliament more worthy of their paper than the last \ ear’s reports were. At the same time, they do not mean to give much more space to the proceedings. So it has been determined to substitute fur the ordinary shorthand reporters men of a highm class—pi dcis writers, in fact—who are not the mere machines which most shorthand reporters are, but are capable of following the ideas of a speaker and embodying them in a neat paragraph In accordance with t : is resolution, a large number < f reporters have jest received not ce of du-mbsal, but a few shorthand wri*ers will be retained in order 10 report the speeches <i leading debaters. The following uems are from to-day’s ‘Bruce Gerald’;—“The railway bridge over Lovell’s Creek is now finished, and an engine and load ran over it on aturday to test it. Plate-laying 13 rapidly going on at both the Tokomaiiiro and Balclutha en is of the line, and. as tuo working parties are wi hia five aides of cadi other, through com munication should be establLhed jh s-une four weeks.—A serious accident occurred to Mis Currie, at Maungatua Bush township 011 the Ifith instant, who by accident fell in the fire and was severely burnt from the knees to the chin ; the whole of the hair of her head was also burnt. Dr M‘Brearty was speedily in attendance, but death resulted early on the morning of the IS-h. Messaa liro den’s representatives have rec ived information from the authorities that passengers mu-t not be conveyed on the railway without special permission This permission bus, we bciieve, been applied for by the Waih da people for Boximi Day. - The M aibola. Regatta promises to be a success. Among the boats to compete Mr A. Paterson, of Waihola, has one now in course of construction for the Regatta Committee. It is being built of white pine, and is 25ft. 24in. long. 3ft. Sin. in beam, and 12in. deep. Mr M'Kogg of the Taieri village, has a skiff which is iu good repute. Next, we observe at the Reliance Hotel, snugly lushed up under the verandah roof, a cedar built and copper fast; ned gig, 3 !ft. in length, and 3ft. in beam. This is an importation from Melbourne. Thus, if the various boats are quipped according to their merits, some keen competition may be expected. In addition to the races iu the programme of Regatta there are a good skiff race and a swimming match to come off. Mr A. Mollisou has offered to convey boats intended for the regatta from Dunedin as far as the Reliance Hotel, whence they can proceed by water to Waihola.

We do not see why our contemporaries should go ransacking American journals for sensational items ami leave those ot Colonial industry unrecorded. For instance, why overlook this “cutting” incident, which ap. pearedinarecent issue of the ‘ West Coast iime.C:-—One of the most murderous assaults that we have k- own committed for borne time, accompanied with less serious consequences, took place on Thursday. Some time ago a woman named Louisa O’Biieu was tried on charge of setting lire to a public house in Kevell street, kept by a person named 8h ffrey. The reason alleged for the deed was that a man named Caffrey with whom O’Brien had been cohabiting, hj ol left her and gone to atop or lod c at ShaftreyV and it was t > burn out the r cream, th-itij W attempt was made. She was acquitted of the charge, how.-v. r. and has since bee living with Caffry in a Mght-of-way off Hevell street. On Thursday morning a quarrel took place, when she took up an axe and literally chopped her paramour up, inflicting no less than about twenty wounds on the hj. ad, face, body, arms, thighs, and levs Some of the wounds are in most dangerous places, two oq the forehead especially, and had the r-xe been sharp Caffrey would have had a bad time of it The woman, on the other hand, did not come off rcratcbless, lor on being brought up at the Resident Magistrate’s Court her eyes, face, and chin, were blackened and swollen, and she had evidently undergone very rough treatment. Regarding the case, the * Times,’ in its next issue, said : -Caffrey has not been worse, and is out of danger, but as we heard it expressed, ‘ ll6 bas been chopped into so many pieces that he canuot straighten himself out as vet. ’ The more the circumstances connected wb lithe cise are examined, the more sur prising is the fact that life was not lost, and that a case of murder instead of woundiucr ia not now pending. ” ° A passenger by the Cyphrenes on her la t trip from >an Francisco has furnished us wi hj a few particulars of the incidents of the voyage. It appears that the horse-whipping adventure or Carry Kickards arose our. of the ceremony usual on board ships when crossing the line, and came about in this way : A gentleman passenger (a member of one of the troupes which came in the ship) who had never been south of the liquator, made himself sufficiently prominent to get chosen to represent >eptune, and in that character exercised the sea-god’s powers as fully as possible. Those passengers who objected to being put through the shaving process could evade it by paving a shilling but Mrs i ickards enteredintothe fuu ofthethmg and submitted to ihe operation, taking it all in high spirits and giving jNeptune and his followers a handsome douceur When all had been shaved or had paid, somebo ty discovered that the presiding deity himself had never experienced the pleasures which he had been dealing out so liberally, and, though ho resisted strenuously, he was sunAiarily put through by his lobellious subjects. Neptune took it so badly ihat, especial y after a lady had gone through it complacently, he '

was well laughed at. The next morning Mrs I Uickaids found a dress wlith was hanging up in hi r. cibin daubed over wi>h some of ; the wet fl »ur which had be n used at the ; p evious day’s ceremony, and. rightly or j wron ly. s-.c it down to the credit of the bearer of the trident. Therefore, on going on deck she seized the gentleman and laid a whip across his back with all Uer might, he taking it very quietly. Captain Wood tlun inteifered, and taking the whip from hj r hand t dd Mra Rickards tnut as long as she was in the ship under hiscomman ' >uch conduct would not be tolciated, and that she would have to behave bett-r or not be a.lowed to dine at the sdoon table. !be lady was so in tignant at this that f »r the re maind r of the pa--s.>ge .-he took her meals in so itude. on deck. The only other person who objected to being scaped wiih a yard of boop-rnn was a Church of e.niland clerg\ • man, wlio, rather than pay the small f-e -ot very wild and fightable ; but he only suffered more when the crew got him in thi ir hands. The voyage was much enlivened by concerts and performances given by the van ous tioupes. Mr ; avics, the veutriloqu st, being especially appreciated.

Two inquests were held at the ho-pital at non to-day, before Mr T. M Hocken. The tir-t case was that of John Hartley, who, it will be remembered, was serious y hurt (n aturday last while attempting to stop a runaway horse, the dray wh-el having kuo.ked over a -amp post wliivh fell on deceased, breaking his leg in two places au t causing con. ussi n of the brain, f.om which death resulted rather ones ectedly. The oroner exp'ained that, the jury would have tosee whei her any blame was at> chable to lh>dtiver Ihe a vid eco adduced showed that d ceased was a farmer of considerable means at North T.*ien, a single man about twenty-three years of age, and a native <d (r asguw, .Robert Andeison was driving a cirt for Mr Sutherland, grocer, on '•aturday last. At about two n clock, and when opposite Mr Livingston’s stationery shop, the shafts fell right to the ground, wine caused the horse to start off He held the reins for some minutes, till thrown out. When he got up the horse and cart was standing opposite the Custom-huuee, and he did not see the accident happen. ihe backhand of the harness —almost a new one—was broken, the rest complete Witness had been told some months before that the backhand was not strong enough for the work the horse did, Win. Moir, shopman to Mr Jacobs, bearing a nois ; in Princes street on Satur lay afternoon, went outside and saw th* nave of the whe 1 leave the hmip ist wbi hj it bad struck, and saw Hare ley 'all to the ground. His death must have been caused bv his being knocked down by the filling lamppost Hartley was quife sensible, and witness ha 1 him conveyed to the Hospital 'lhobor.-e was stopp <i I y Constable Devine, who, however, had subject'd him-elt to great danger oi doing so. Dr Yates, bou e surg in to t)i6' Hospital, deposed that deceased s insensible from -iioday to eight o’clock oi v'onday morning, when he died. Coni-us-ion of the brain was the cause of (hj ath. \ verdict of “ Death fr< in concussion <f the brain" was returned. The other inquest was on the body of a m n w'ho was found dead in Martin and w atso <’s coalyard by Cons able M'Lauobiin on the previous day, and w. s unknown, exc-pt by the nickname of “ Hed Sandy.” A carrier named Hannah deposed that yesterday de ceased rode in his dray from Messrs Cargill and M‘l ean’s at ires to the yard of Martin and Watson, where witness l to load coal. The men in the yard observed that deceased had ta en a tit, and witness sent for a doctor ; but he oied five minu'es afterwards, never having recovered sensibility. The post mortem examination made by > r Yates showed that death was occisioned by scopof the heart’s act'on caused by congestion of the lungs ; and the Coroner remarked that be hja l , in conjunction with the last witness, made the post mortem examinatio «, and found the lungs of the deceased frightfully unhealthy. The only wonder was that the man bad been able to go abou r - for so long in the way he had. \ verd’et was returned in accordance with the medical testimony. Entries for the Caledonian rames will be closed on Thursday next, at 7 p.m. A meeting of the Council of the Otago Rifle Association will be held in the Drill-shed at 8 o’clock this evening. An adjourned meeting of the gentlemen favorable to the testimonial to Air Reynolds will be held in the Provincial Hotel at 7 o’clock this evening. Air Livingston, stationer, Princes street, has pictures of New Zealand scenery, by Air Watkins, of Akaroa. They comprise some of the most striking landscapes in the Colony. Perhaps the most artistic is that of Lake Coleridge. The pictures are painted in oil, and are carefully drawn. Air Melville, fishmonger, Princes street, receive! l_by the train arriving from Port Chalmers at 1.45 a fine salmon trout in beautiful conditmn, which was taken this morning by a fisherman in his employ. It measures two feet in length., girths one foot live inches, and weighs seven pounds. It is the largest and finest fish ot the kind yet taken. We believe it may be seen at his snop during this evening, \Ve have to acknowledge the receipt of the Votes and Proceedings of the SouthUnd Provincial Council from 1861 to 1868, which have been compiled by the C.crk of the Otago Provincial Council (Mr Sessions) at intervals duving the recess, since the coming into operation of the Otago and Southland Union Act. An appendix of reports and other papers relating to the proceedings of the Southland Council are shortly 8 * ° f preparafcion > and will he published