The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3796, 24 April 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1875.

An Auckland telegram in the ‘ Lytteiten Times’ says that Mr Beckham, R.. M , wd ahorilv retire, and will be nominated to the l-pper House. The mail steamer Macgregor is due at Auckland from San Fraucisco on the 25th inst., but is not exoected to arrive before the 27th, and will leave for Sydney immediately after her arrival at Auckland. The prisoners who were sentenced by Chief Justice Prendergast to confinement in “ Her Majesty’s gaol” will be brought up at the Supreme Court meeting on Monday morning and re-sentenced.

Good Templary prospers well at Naseby. We learn from a correspondent that the Lodge there now numbers ninety members. The lodges at St. Bathans and Bracks tone Hill are also doing well, members being made every meeting night. Steps are being taken for the institution of a lodge at Hamilton. This morning a boy named Morgan, belonging to the whaling barque Splendid, while engaged in carrying some sheets of copper up the steps at the railway pier, slipped and fell through the rail on to the stones below, bat, fortunately, without receiving any other injury than a few bruises. There are now only one common aud two special jury cases to be tried at the Civil sittings of the Supreme Court, the others having be n settled. Leary v. Walker and another, the common jury case, is to be taken this day week. Barrowman v. Stevens aud Macpherson v. Shaw are the remaining special jury cases. The Hon. Major Atkinson, accompanied by Mr Bathgate, visited, this foremen, Messrs Guthrie and Larnach’s establishment, .Messrs Gibbs and Clayton’s factory, Messrs Reid and Gray’s workshop, and Messrs Anderson and Mowat’s mill, all of which strongly impressed the Minister of Immigration with the increasing extent and power of our industrial resources.

Occasionally, even yet, fortunes can be easily made on our goldfields. In the last issue of the * Cromwell A rgus ’ we read ol two instances, the truth of which is vouched for. At the Bannockburn, the shareholders in Halcrow and Chadwick’s claim are credited with L 1,600 per man tor ten months' work; and at Skippers, two men named H ornoastle, uncle and nephew, took up an abandoned terrace, which had been very rich', and in a few weeks they obtained gold to the amount <■£ L2 000 each. «hey are now going to Southland Lo purchase land.

White, the absconding auctioneer of Laun ceston, whose acquaintance Mr Moton Moss, of Melbourne, and other creditor.', have been so long desirous of renewing—privilege for which they are willing t' pa a high price—has turned up in 'an o. H> has now become a share broker and com mission agent, and writes to the 1 Cornwab Chronicle ’ (Launceston), a long Account ol his adventures and the state of matters in Francisco. As there is a reward ol LSOO offered for his apprehension, the force of impudence could scarcely further go. “ The Black Sheep ” was played last night at the Princess’s, and the acting of Miss Howard and Mr -Steele in the principal characters, and of Mr Power, who made prominent the small part of Jem Sivain met with deserved recognition at the hands o the audience. To-night Miss Howard concludes her engagement, and will appear in “Oliver Twist.” On Monday Mr aud Mrs Hoskins make their re-appearance in “ The Jealous Wife” and “The Serious Family.” Mr Rainford’s benefit at the Queen’s last night was well attended in all parts of the house, and the concert went off capitally. Of course, to the benejiciare fell the burden of the programme, and though not wholly recovered from his recent illness, he succeeded in acquitting himself to the thorough satisfac tion of the audience. The gem of the concer was undoubt e dly his rendering of “Tne heart bowed down,” which, with Mr Meare’s cla rionet solo, had to be repeated. The extremely cordial greeting that Mr Rainford received on first appearing assured him that he is as great a favorite as ever with the Ouuedinites. Mrs Kainford, Misses Hesfon: and Webb, and Messrs Towsey, Denovau, and Marsden also took part in the concert.

There will be no meeting of the Guiding Star Lodge 1.0. G.T. on Monday evening. Winners of district prizes are requested by advertisement to attend the Volunteer Office to receive their prize-money. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Commercial Building and Mutual Investment Society will be held on Monday evening, at six o’clock.

A. meeting of Christians of all denominations will be held in Knox Church Class-room on Monday evening, to consider what steps should be taken to carry the Gospel to the Chinese resident in Otago. From Mr Van Hamert wo have received the pamphlet published by him three years ago, entitled “ What a Burgeon may Buffer in Victoria from Trial by Jury,” being a report of the suit at law, Turner v. van Hamert, in the Supreme Court of Victoria, with articles, correspondence, &c., relating to the case.

A. and R Inglia make a very fine display of oleographs in highly gilt frames, which, with a lot of Chinese and Japanese ornaments of considerable value, are to be distributed as bonuses amongst their customers. To the in such works of art, the shop of Messrs Insfhs m Gctrge street is well worthy of a visit.

t n!n °f Hope Juvenile Lodge. tt ■ T*» their regular meeting in Milton Hall lodge-room, on Thursday evening. Several persons were admitted to membership. The Secretary of the Soiree Committee reported ov the inaugural soiree, remarking thst it had done, and would still do good for the lodge in increasing its membership. The nomination ol officers for the next quarter then took place after which the lodge went into harmony, several songs, recitations, and readings being given. Bro. .Neal, PvWiC,T., in responding to a Tote of thanks to the visitors, made a few remarks upon the desirability of the lodge meeting in the Temperance Hall,

THE'HANDBOOK OF NEW ZEALAND.

As our morning contemporary, the ‘Duly Times,’ gave prominence to what proves to be a silly leader commenting on “ The Handbook of New Zealand,” wo delayed acknowledging the receipt of this very useful work until we had had an opportunity of examining it. The design of it is a good one. The introduction is written by the Premier, in which he states that the object, of the compilation is “to give those who may think of making the Colony their home, or the theatre of their business, an idea of New Zealand from a New Zealand poin. of view.” “No one man in New Zealand could faithfully int. rpret the views of the various Provinces, It was therefore determined that the book should consist of a number of papers, some devoted to ‘iho Colony as a whole, but most of them independent accounts of the separate Provinces.” In accordance with this design, the various papers were remitted to men well qualified for the work. Thus the inti oduction is Mr Vogel’s yvoik ; “The history of the Discovery and Early Settlement,” by the Hon. W. Fox; “The Native Race,” by Sir D. M'Lean; “The present form of Government,” by the . Hon. W. Gisborne; i“ I'he Climate, and Mineral and Agricultural ;Resources,” by Dr Hector; “ The Animal, and - Vegetable Productions,” by Mr Travers; besides other papers by Messrs Woodward (Public Trustee), : Brown (Registrar-General), Batkin (Secretary to the Treasury), Seed (Secretary to the Customs), Knowles (Undersecretary for Public Works), and Haughtou (Under Secretary for Immigration), and Cooper (the Undersecretary). We cannot, like our contemporary, by .merely turning over the pages, know whether the matter i>- good or.bad. We take it for granted that, since reliability is the desideratum in a work of the sort, the very names we have quoted guarantee that. So far as the book itself is concerned, we have been fortunate in obtaining a copy printed on good i aper, in good type, and though rather crowded, through the desire to put the matter in small space, that little drawback i-< not of much moment. Hand books are not for drawingroom tables. Then the writer in the ‘Daily Times ’ indulges in art criticism, and condemns the illustrations, because they were such as he had been accustomed to see when a boy. The conclusion is that he is a very young critic, for there are several photographs of scenery—an art only about fourteen or fifteen years old. Some of the wood cuts are beautiful specimens of art, but they are unequal. With regard to the view of Port Chalmers the ‘ Daily Times’ complains about, we grant it is meagre ; but a« it does not profess to pourtray the bay, and could not from the*point of view, we look upon his nonsense as on a par with cur respected con.emporary’s lament that the First Church, from the pinnacle of which the panorama of'Dunedin was taken by Messrs Burton, should be left out. If the critic of the ‘ Daily Times’ will take a lesson in perspective from Mr Hutton, he will in all probability never again venture to parade his ignorance about “recumbent” females. ' When we have had time to examine the work we may return to the subject. Meantime we look upon it as an admirable book of reference.