The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3746, 24 February 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1875.

The members of the Oamaru Ath°nßeum are sorely exercised at present by a proposal to throw open the reading room on Sundays,

The blast in connection with the deep ‘hiking on Flagstaff Hill, Port Chalmers was fired last night, and it is estimated that 2,000 yards of stuff, which will be used for filling up alongside the new pier, have been removed.

There was again a good attendance at the Circus last night, when the programme of the previous evening, with some novelties added to it, was gone through to the evident satisfaction of the audience. Gilhatn’s riding, Gonzales's tumbling, the performances of the lady riders, and the witticisms of the jester, shared the applau-:o. But very little business in the way of engaging immigrants has been doing at the Immigration Barracks during the last two •lays, though several recent arrivals have been forwarded to the country. Amongst the engagements effected to-day was that of a married couple at L 75 per year and found. Yesterday the Samson took fifty-eight immigrants to Oamaru, and eleven were sent to Riverton, and thirty to Invercargill, Tomorrow forty-five will be forwarded to Palmerston and twenty-two to Tokomairiro. The proj :ct for establishing a woollen mill at the Waikiwi has had to be abandoned on account of a difficulty having arisen in regard to procuring a satisfactory tenure of the proposed site for the mill. The promoters of the undertaking, Messrs M { Donald and Forsyth, feel satisfied that the Government is anxious to give every facility that lies ia its power, but it seems that it will be necessary to pass a special Ordinance of the Provincial LVuacil before the land in question can be dealt with. If a tafe tenure roald have been obtained, the ‘Southland Times’ is assured that in nice month => from this date the mill would have been working.

The inquiry, into the case of infanticide at Tokomairiro. before Mr Warden Carew. lasted irour nine o’clock yesterday mornino 1 tiil eight at night. The evidence of the witnesses was similar to that published by uy in our telegraphic detail of the affair on Monday, and the medical testimony was to the effect tha* the child had been born alive and full arown ; that a wound in the throat had almost severed the wind-pipe, cutting through the carotid artery, and had been the cause of death ; also that Margaret Collins bad recently given birth to a child. A verdict avaa then returned in accordance with this—viz , “ Wilful murder” against Collins, who was committed for trial.

A serious accident happened to a little boy, son of Mr T. Proster, of the Royal Hotel, Camaru, on Sunday morning last. The little fellow, who is about seven years of age, was taking a walk on the Cape, when seeing a lady walking on the breakwater, and fancying she was his mother, he essayed to desend by the nearest way by the man-ropcs at the breakwater quarry. Losing his grasp of hia rope he tried to return, but missed his footing and fell to the bottom, a distance of a least forty feet. He fortunately fell upon some loose earth, had it not been for which circumstance he must have been killed on the spot. As it war, his thigh was fractured.

Tiio Southland Agricultural Society, to strengthen the hands of the Immigration Committee of that district, have passed a resolution recognising with satisfaction the exertions of the Railway and Immigration Committee to obtain direct immigration for the Southland district, and cordially endorsing the statement that the reunion of Southland and Otago was mainly rendered popular in the district by the expectations held oat that direct immigration to the Bluff would be resume;i;aud have appointed a sub-committee to take such further action as may be necessary in the name of t'le association to secure the immediate resumption by the Government of direct immigration to the Bln If, which, in the opinicn of the association, is urgently required for the welfare and progress of the district.

The new concrete cottages built at Hillside by the Provincial Government for the immigrants, are no w completed, and present a very comfortable and' substantial appearance, reflecting great credit on Mr Ross, their architect. Each cotta.e consists of three rooms, one of which is a kitchen and itlingroom combined, furnished with t olouial oven and a lot of tasteful shelving ; the other two being bedrooms, each having a ventilator in the ceiling. The rent at which they are to be let is 10 i per week. The general belongings are well provided with drying ground, ash-pits, water-closets, and tanks. Their management is to be under Mr Hooper, house agent, of Princes street. We are assured that these cottages, as well as those previously built at Kensington, are not only a boon to the immigrants but a source of revenue to the Government.

At the rehearsal of the choir of St, Andrew’s last evening, one of their number —Mr W, S, Moir—was presented with two la idsomely bound volumes, on the occasion of his leaving Dunedin for Invercargill. The precentor (Mr Denovan), in making the presentation, expressed his great gratification at being connected with a ho ly of young people who were devoting their time and intelligence to the improvement of the “service of so.’-g in the sanctuary.” lie regretted that they were to lose one of their number, which would make the first break in the choir since its formation. He then presented Mr Moir, in the name of the choir, with the small but heartfelt evidence of their esteem for him, and als> their united good wishes for his pro. perity in the new sphere in which he was called to icmove. Mr Moir, in thanking them for the unexpected gift, said that he was proud of his connection with them, and his leaving gave him great pain. He would treasure this memento of his association with the choir, and thanked tin in and the precentor for all the kindness he had received.

As to the difficult question of drainage, the Municipality of Stockholm have settled it summarily by having no drainage at all. hi teacl of draining away their refuse, they have adopted the system of converting it into excelknt manure as fast as it is produced The population of the cityis loO.O'iO, and yet so admirably does this system ivo k that the refuse of the town is not permitted to remain for longer than a ftw hours ei e it is car/iod off to be utilised. There are no cos-pools, no accmnuUtion of dfcomnusing matter; but the use of dry closets isenforc ;..l under strict regulations, and an efficient staff of scavengers is maintained, by whom tbs soil is promptly and regularly removed. The public health is maintained under the

ystem, the rate ot mortality in the capital being not more than twenty-six in the thousand. The above system is in course of adoption at Gothenburg also, which town has latterly benefited much by the new sanitary measuro adopted—the rate of mortality, which was ten years ago £7 to 30 per thousand, having dec<eased to 20 to 22 per thousand.

It was only tin extremely unfavorable weather that prevented a full house at the Queen’s Theatre last night. As it was there was more than an average a tendance, and those present were lavish in applause of the performances ot the Girard Brothers, which cousli utes the great attractions, though not the. principal part of the entertainment. Certainly any thing more unique, clever, or novel than them has never been witnessed here ; and we confess ourselves utterly at a loss to adequately describe them. To be apprcciated they must be seen. The Girards are boneless individuals who have the agility and skill of the most finished acrobats, and the marvellous elasticity of limb displayed by the “india-rubber mau,” who was a member of the Carla troupe that visited Dunedin some years ago. During the threequarters of au hour they have possession of the stage tin y perform some extraordinary contortions of the body, and execute a number of fantastic tricks that cannot fail to excite general mirth. And best of all their acts are thoroughly f. ee from offence. Mr Y. Jacobs is a wizird, evidently young to his business, and a ventriloquist, whose powers would have better appreciated if his audiences bad not already seen and heard Y ose. As the Girards’ stay here is positively limited to Saturday night, we advise those who have not yet visited the Queen’s not to neglect the opportunity. The anniversary tea meeting of the Congregat onal t hurch, Port Chalmers, was held last evening, the church being tastefully de orated. Tho tea supplied by tho ladies of iho congregation was done ample justice to by tlnse present, the company inc.uding the Rev, Dr Gregg aud Gaptaiu Peek, of Port Chalmers j and the Rev. Dr V oseby, Messrs B. Short, J. W. Jago, and others, of Dunedin. After tea, and the Benediction being pronounced, the Chairman (the Rev. Mr Maxwell) introduced the various speakers. The Rev. Mr Tsiit, Mr Short, Dr Roseby, Dr Gregg, Rev. Mr Johnstone, Captain Peek, Mr Jago, and the w hole of the speakers spoke in congratulatory term* of the religious movement now on foot in Port Chalmers. The Rev, Mr Johnstone, in the course of hiremarks, referred in touching term» to the death of Mrs Will, of East Taieri. Between the addresses the meeting joined in signing hymns. The whole proceedings were eminently successful, and were brought to a conclusion by a vote ef thanks (moved by Mr Richie and unanimously adopted) to the ladies who prov ded the refreshments, aud to the speakers and visitors. The treasurer’s balance-sheet showed a cash credit from last year of nearly LlO, to which had to be added the church door and monthly sub criptious, L 165 ; quarterly subscriptions, LOs; seat rents, L3B; and proceeds of soi'de, Lls-aud from which was deducted ih« year’s expenditure of L 296 odd, leaving a cash balance of LI2.

It will le recollected that the Provincial Council, on th ■ motion of Mr H, Clark, last sersion voted LIOO as a first and LSO as a second prize to be offered for the most approved drainage plough. Ihi Government, after inviting the advice of the various agricultural societies in the Province, have determined to hold the competition of these drainage machines in the month of August uext in a stiff clayey soil, in a locality to be hereinafter selected, contiguous to Dunedin. The judges will be composed of machinists and agriculturists, and in awarding the prizes the following points are to be kept in view : —lst. To secure a machine which will remove the soil and finish a drain to the depth of at least 42 inches, aud which will leave the drain ready for the pipes with tho least amount of manual labor. 2nd. Or, failing the above, a machine that will remove part of the soil, and loosen the remainder t© a depth of say 3G to 42 inches, so that it could be quickly removed by manual labor. Each machine to be capable of adjustment so as to cut different widths of drains, to suit main, sub-main, and ordinary drains—say 12 inches wide at bottom for main drains, and 2\ or 3 inches for small drains. In determining the merits of the respective machines, the judges will consider the quality of the work done, the price of the machine, and the cost of the drain, as completed in each Cass, aud other things being equal, the preference will be given to the machine which removes the sma’leit quantity of earth compatible with the full attainment of the object desired, and which can he supplied at the lowest coat. Should the judges consider that the machines exhibited do not merit the full amount of the premium, the priz.-s will be awarded only to scch an extent and in such amounts as they may recommend.

The letter of Mr Frances, the eminent pisciculturist, which appears in the ‘Field’ of December 12, in answer to one sent by Mr Howard, of Invercargill, to Mr Buck land, should effectually settle the doubts of who think the large trout found in our streams are not true Home trout. Mr Frances writis " A letter from New Zealand in your last number speaks of the large size attained by the trout there, and the writer is troubled in his mind as to the species of some of them. He says he believes that the trout ova which I sent out to Australia were from the river Wey, and he is pretty correct in saying so. A portion of them wore, and they were the product of parents who themselves weighed 6 or 7lbs. They came from ai pond that often produced trout weighing ten pounds each, and Mr Prances recollects one catch of five that weighing nearly 4'dbs. That the children of such parents should iu turn wax large is not remarkable, but the writer of the letter referred to is very much puzzled by a species, or rather variety, which is much more silvi ry, and more like a bull trout, and he cannot understand its origin. He thinks it may be a Thames trout. In this lie sur-ini-ics wrongly. So far as I know, no Thames trout ova were sent out either by myself or Mr Bucklan 1 , and the Thame trout is rather of the golden or t urp e thue the silvery vaiuty; but in all probability the trout is a Wycombe fish. Now it is a very curious fact that the iisb iu the Wycombe stream are of a brilliant silvery hue, almost like one of the migratory salmonoids iu this re«pcct, the flesh itself being as red or redder than that of a salmon when iu high condition; and I have not the least doubt that the tish which troubles your correspondent com s from this stock If so, J can only say that they have iu N«-w Z a'aud the finest breed of trout which I have met with in Great Britain, wonderfully sound, good in quality, an ! quick iu growth.” To which Mr Howard ad :s :—“I have been informed that trout are occasionally seen in a creek on Mr Boyer’s run at Athul, As the e werj, I believe, only sixteen fish placed in this creek, it proves what can be done if suitable streams are chosen."

A meeting of the residents in the Morningtin district will be held in the Diatr ot H ill. on Friday evening, for the purpose of effeefng certain alterations in regard to tho library. As “ good wine needs no bush,” so the entcrtamui°nt of Mr and Mrs George Case will, without any word of commendation from us, receive tho support of the public, and wo hope to see the Pr incess’s filled this evening by an audience prepared to give them the hearty reception that Dunedin invariably gives to its old favorites.