The Evening Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4254, 14 October 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1876.

The Palmerston race meeting will this year extend over two days, and the meeting has been fixed for January 2 and 3

There was. no change of programme at the Princess's Theatre last evening, "Valjean: Saint or Sinner " proving sufficiently attractive all through the week. This powerful drama will be played for the fifth time to-night.

We were shown yesterday evening a telegram from an old Dunedin business man, now at the Kumara diggings, to a friend in town. It .was as follows £-" Overdone ; gloomy faces, Cash scarce; little gold. Preventfriend i from coming." The "Mirror of the world " was well patronued last evening at the Temperance Hall, the principal portion of the entertainment comprising a ramble round London. Ihis evening some particularly interesting views in and about the metropolis will be shown.

a « e WS on Ev °fotion held by the Rev. A - \ *"ohett, of the Wesleyan Trinity Uiurcn, are not palatable to the Young Mens Christian Association, which, at its meeting last night, blackballed the rev. gentleman by a large majority.

At the Ayrshire Association's meeting last mght a proposal to hold the annual pic-nic at Mosgiel on St. Andrew's Day evoked considerable discussion, but ultimately a motion to defer further consideration of the matter until the quarterly meeting in November was agreed to.

The following, unique advertisement is taken from the Wellington "Argus':— " Challenge. - Jimmy Linley, of Willis street, challenges Mr Rees, M.H.R., to talk 1,000 hours, at any pace he likes, and .for any amount he likes to take. A match can be made on application to the above." A Wellington telegram in the 'North Otago Times' says :—" A great many members have stolen away without beat ot drum, their names not appearing even on the passenger list. It is expected that next week will end the session; so the Opposition say, unless the Upper House is intractable." The report of the Government Insurance Department has been published. During the year 1,986 proposals were received; of that number 501 were declined or not concluded ; those accepted and taken up representing L 504,509. Forty-one claims/amounting to L 21.550, were paid during the year. The Department now receives premiums on 6,400 policies, of the value of L 2,303,662. The following immigrant vessels were despatched for New Zealand during July : The for Wellington, with 290 souls; the Orari, for Auckland, with 27? souls; the Inverness, for Hawke'sßay, with 190 souls; the Timaru, for Otago, with 345 souls ; and the Howrah, for Nelson, Marlborough, Westland, and Wellington, with 299 souls; being a total for the month of 1,402 souls.

At this morning's sitting of the City Police Court, before Messrs Mercer and H. S. Fish, J.P's., William Charles Feltham, for drunkenness, were fined 5s each, or twenty-fourJhours'*.imprisonment. Joseph Sturgess was discharged with a caution. Bridget Kane,. against whom there were sixty-eight previous convictions, was fined 40s, or fourteen days'; and for being an habitual drunkard was sent to gaol for three months.

The committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club met last evening at the Empire Hotel, when programmes for the usual spring race meeting on November 30 and December 1, and for the annual meeting in March, were submitted and approved. The stakes are, for both meetings, on the Club's usual liberal scale, and the added money for the Dunedin Cup has been increased to 500 sovs. Full particulars will appear in future advertisements.

It has been decided to confer the name of the Vulcan on the new dredge. The arrangements connected with the. launch are now completed. The christening will be performed by the wife of the Mayor; and after the ceremony the guests of the Harbor Board will be conveyed from Pelicbet Bay ia the Peninsula to Rattray street wharf, and landed there, it being intended that the toast and speech-making shall be made in one of the sheds on the wharf.

< he Palmerston Cricket Club have received a challenge from an eleven of the D.C.C. It was agreed to accept the challenge and play the match betw< en the 9th and 16th November "on condition that the Palmerston Club has the option of rejecting any names of the Dunedin Club (when subodtted), if they desire to do so." The Invercargill Club at their annual meeting considered, a letter from the hon. secretary of the Dunedin Club, asking if the Invercargill Club t could play two matches this season, one at Dunedin, and one at Invercargill, and what days would be most convenient. It was agreed that New Year's Day should be named as the day on which the match at Dunedin should be played, that being the only time available for the Invercargill Club for that match this season. Respecting the match in Inveicargill it was resolved that the Dunedin Club should be requested to name some day towards the end of the sea son, say about the middle of March or a little later.

A singular proposition was made by a Chinaman, named Ah Wong, before his trial at the District Court, Hokitika, was concluded, the other day. Fearing that the jury might bring in a verdict of guilty, and that he might be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, he proposed to his counsel to fulfil any term imposed by the Court by substituting a number of his countrymen. To put it in Ah Wong's own words, he said, w Suppose I get two years, can I divide the 'time between myself and twenty or thirty other Chinamen who would do a few weeks each?" He felt quite satisfied when informed by his counsel that no such arrangement would be .entertained by the Court. His counsel managed to do better for him than that, as he soon saw him at liberty, to the joy of his willing countrymen, who were disposed to applaud when the welcome words were announced of " Not guilty." The better part of yesterday and the whole of this forenoon up till 1 p.m. has been occnpied at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Port Chalmers, in hearing a charge of assault and disobedience of orders preferred by Captain Hill, of the barque Anazi, against Henry Ford, a seaman of that vessel; while the seaman, on his part, brings a counter charge of assault against the captain. From the evidence it seems that a dispute arose on' the night of Septembev 21 about the steering of the ship, the captain stating Ford was not keeping his course, and the man saying he was. Thereupon a scuffle took place between the parties, who, according to both their • statements, grappled each other and fell on the deck. After this it seems Ford would not take his wheel, stating that he was afraid of his life. The evidence for the captain showed that, although the man did not go to the wheel again, exoept to leeward, that he was kept constantly at work, sometimes for sixteen and sometimes for twenty hcurs daily. At 1 p.m. to-day Ford bad just concluded his statement, and further proceedings were stayed till Moaday.

A meeting of the IC.G.T. Anniversary Demonstration Convention will be held on Tuesday evening, at 8 o'clock. '

The annual meeting of the Albion Crioket Club will be held at Hutcheson's Prince Alfred Hotel, on Monday evening, at eight o'clock. We have been requested to draw attention to the property sale of five sections in York p.ace on Monday by Vl'Landress, Hepburn, and Co. The'property is most centrally situated, and should command good prices:

At the Queen s Theatre this evening Mr J. E. Taylor and Lillie (" Queen of Skaters") will give their opening entertainment. The programme is t of a very varied nature, and those who remember Mr Tayler when previously in Dunedin, will know that something worth seeing may be anticipated. The •admission to the stalls will be 2s, not 2s 6d as previously advertised.