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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4153, 13 July 1874, Page 2

Tho Civil Sittings of the Supreme Court begin this morning at ten o'clock. The proceedings have an additional interest in the fact that His Honor Mr. Justice Johnston will probably pass sentence in the McDonald case.

It was with considerable pleasure that signals were observed on Saturday, hoisted on Mount Victoria, indicating that a ship was approaching. The hope was expressed that the stranger might be the Waikato, and so it proved. Pilot Holmes boarded the ship when she was about ten miles from the harbor, and, finding all well on board, brought her up directly to the anchorage. Some speculation was occasioned, however, by the fact that the ship exhibited the police flag, and on the police boat going out to the ship it was found that two of the passengers, single men, had been detected broaching cargo. They were brought ashore in custody. The passengers as a whole, however, are reported to be rather above than below the average. Amongst them are forty-five single girls. Captain Hodder, who is in command of the Waikato, is no stranger to the port, having been in Wellington so long ago as 1841, when he was second officer of the immigrant barque Phoebe. The Waikato has six hundred tons of railway iron on board for Auckland.

We supplement our report of the last meeting .of the City Council by the following memoranda of motions which were not then recorded:—Councillor Dransfield, in accordance with notice given at the previous meeting, moved the following resolution, —" That the resolution of the 15th of June last, in the matter of Mr. Worth's lease of section 70 reclaimed land be rescinded, and that the solicitor be instructed to take such steps as may be necessary to vest the 1 foot 7 inches of land referred to in. the solicitor's letter, in Mr. Toxward, and that Mr. Worth's lease be amended to 28 feet 5 inches frontage to Brandon Street, as originally intended." The motion was carried. The City Surveyor read a letter addressed in accordance with instructions to the Superintendent, containing specifications in the matter of plans, levels, &c, for drainage. The Superintendent replied, stating that the cost would be £2,000, and asking the Corporation to pay a sum of £1,550 towards this. . Councillor Dransfield moved that the Mayor be authorised to agree to the payment of .€I,OOO towards the work, saying at the same time that it was not much the Government now-a-days did to assist the Corporation, and in this work they ought to deal liberally ; the Council agreed to the proposal made by Councillor Dransfield. During the meeting, Councillor Dransfield gave notice that he would move next sitting day, "That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable that the whole of the streets within the City that are not foi-med should be formed, and that the whole of the streets should be permanently constructed, and that to enable this to be done recourse should bs had to the powers given in clause 239 —Loans and Special Bates." At the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Saturday, J. H. Boss and William Bouse were | prosecuted by Thomas Barton for maliciously injuring a gate. Mr. Moorhouse appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Allan for the defendants. The parties all live at Taifca, Upper Hutt, and the actual cause of the action is a disputed road. It appeared from the evidence given that Barton has a section of land in the locality referred to, and at his .boundary fence of it he had erected a gate through which the defendants had been in the habit of passing. On the fourth instant, however, they asked Barton's wife for the key of the gate, and on being informed that complainant had it away with him, they broke the lock of the gate, which comprised the damage complained of, and passed through. Besides damaging the gate, the counsel for the informant argued, the defendants were trespassing, whilst Mr. Allan, for the latter, contended that a road which Barton stated terminated at his fence, actually passed through some distance into the section, 80 that defendants were legally entitled to enter upon the land, and complainant had no right to obstruct a public thoroughfare by having a locked gate. This defence was in a measure supported by the evidence of a witness named Clarke, a former member of the j local Road Board, who stated that some years ago that body had laid out a road which continued for a chain or more into Barton's paddock. He admitted that, although laid out, no money had since been expended on the road, so that it had virtually been abandoned. The Magistrate said that the case was one of disputed title, and that no evidence had been tendered in the shape of a Government plan or survey of the allotment to show where the disputed road actually did terminate. In any case, his Court had no jurisdiction. It was a matter for the Supreme Court to decide upon. No costs were allowed.

On Saturday two performances were given by the Smith Combination Troupe, at the Theatre Royal. In the afternoon there was a very large attendance ; but in the evening it was not quite so good. On both occasions the performances were highly successful. Those of " Little England," with his father, Mr. De Castro, on the flying trapeze, were clever almost beyond belief. There will be two more performances only by this troupe in this City. To-night, the De Castro Family will receive a benefit, and the citizens will be very ungrateful indeed to real talent ■if they do not muster strongly to mark their appreciation of the talents of this most deserving family. A young gymnast—only three years of age—will make his appearance on this occasion. Tomorrow night will positively be the last of the company's stay in Wellington. The performances on that evening will be under the patronage of His Honor the Superintendent. At a meeting of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade to be held this evening, to comply with a request from the Dunedin Fire Brigade in favor of a petition to Parliament, the following will be laid before the members of the Brigade : "To the officers and members" of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade. Gentlemen, I beg leave to tender you my resignation as Superintendent, and as member, of the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade. In doing so, I thank you as members generally for your kind and cordial support given me during the past nine years I have held office in your brigade, more especially for the past seven years I have had the honor of being your commander ; trusting during that time I may have treated every member who has served under me with the respect due to them as gentlemen, as men, and as brother firemen banded together for one common cause—the voluntary protection of their fellow citizens against the ravages of fire. lam induced to take this step through the apathy displayed by the insurance agents of this City in the late distribution of plant, and through the absence of what is due in common courtesy from one institution to another—a reply to a communication sent by you to them some months ago. I trust at your next meeting you will be good enough to appoint my successor, as I will no longer hold command of a body of men that I know is not equipped for what is expected of them. —I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your obedient servant, A. Whiteford, Superintendent."

The Kennedy Family, we learn, made the journey overland from Napier to Wauganui. They have been performing there with great success, and will give their last performance in that town this evening. They are expected to arrive in Wellington on Wednesday, and will give the first of three farewell performance? in the Odd Fellows' Hall.on Thursday eveningnext. We are requested to mention that Mr. Kennedy very much regrets that he will be unable to visit the Wairarapa district. From Port Chalmers the Family will proceed to England, and afterwards, for a last tour, to the United States.

The v Butcnian, a paper, devoted to the advocacy of the interests of the Western Isles of Scotland, contains an interesting account of the marriage of Mr. Charles Dalrymple, M.P. for the County of Bute. Mr. Dalrymple, it may be mentioned, is the second son of the late Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson, and brother of Sir James Fergusson, the present Governor of New Zealand ; the bride being Alice Mary, second daughter of Sir Edward and Lady Hunter Blair. After the marriage, which was solemnised in St. Paul's Church, Edinburgh, on the 7th April, the company adjourned to the Douglas Hotel, where was proposed, amongst other toasts, that of "Sir James Fergusson and the family of the bridegroom." The happy couple spent the honeymoon at Hawick, the seat of Sir Walter Elliot, and the week seems to have

been one of festivity and rejoicing at Kothesay. The children of the Industrial School were entertained at tea and supper given by the hon. member, who was in turn honored by a Masonic banquet, at which the toast of Brother Dalrymple's health was enthusiastically responded to and called forth " Kothesay St. John's fire." The passengers by the Waikato, who are reported to have arrived in excellent condition, will be landed to-day and placed in the immigration barracks, which are in a state of thorough preparedness for their reception. A ship supposed to be working up to the Heads, sighted in the Strait a few days ago, was blown off by an unfavorable shift in the wind, since which time she has not_put in an appearance. She will probably turn out to be the Weymouth, now due. Two passengers by the Waikato named Albert Blake and George Bromley were yesterday placed under arrest by Captain Hodder, charged with broaching cargo during the voyage from England. The delinquents will make their appearance at the City Court this morning.

A musical and literary entertainment was given at the Masonic Hall, Lower Hutt, on Thursday evening, in aid of St. Paul's Church building fund. The Bev. Thomas Eancourt; presided, and the hall was well filled. A number of ladies and gentlemen took part in avaried and attractive programme, and the.entertainment was altogether a very successful one.

A short time ago a man named Elliot was. killed between Launceston and Hobarton by an accident to the coach on which he was a passenger. There was opposition on the road at the time, and the rival coaches were racing when the accident occurred. The widow brought an action for damages against the coach proprietor, and the jury found in her favor, awarding her £SOO. A calculation of a simple kind has beea made to show the value to the United States of the immigration that country has received in the mere matter of money brought in by the new arrivals. It is estimated that from 1783 to 1873 there were 8,779,174 aliens landed in the United States. They brought about §6B per head. Placing it at only §SO, we have £444,000,000 as the result. Referring to what he considers to be. the failure of the Challenger to obtain satisfactory soundings for a deep-sea cable between Sydney and Cape Farewell, a correspondent of the Otai/o Daily Times writes :—" I would suggest that soundings be taken from Preservation Inlet'(West Coast of Otago) to Tasmania. If the soundings on this route should prove satisfactory, a saving of fifty to a hundred thousand pounds might be effected, as this line would be much shorter. I trust the Southern members will' urge the importance of this during the session, otherwise we may expect the : route from Sydney to Wellington to be preferred by the General Government at what- : ever risk and cost; even though the Southern Provinces have to bear about three-fourths of the burden." .

A curious action for libel, writes the Daylesford correspondent of the Castlemaine Representative, was tried a few days ago, before Judge Bunny. "Dr. Baird sued Mr. Izett, the town clerk, for £IOO damages, for having characterised him as a ' bounding medical kangaroo.' His Honor, in non-suiting the plaintiff, ridieuled the notion ef the words being in any respect libellous—the doctor, in fact, might have appropriated them in a complimentary sense. Had the parties been in England, and Izett called the doctor a ' British Lion,' or in Calcutta, and the name chosen was ' Royal Bengal tiger,' there could be no possible damage to his income or to his reputation, and the doctor could take the term as synonymous with 'redoubtable' or 'indomitable.' Here the kangaroo was the national animal, and to be likened to it was rather a compliment than otherwise. Nonsuit with costs; costs to be taxed."

We find the following in the Home News of the 15th of May :—"The Messrs. Garrard, of Haymarket, are just on the point of shipping for Wellington, New Zealand, a service of plate designed and manufactured to the order of certain residents in Dunedin, for presentation to Mr. Julius Vogel. The service consists of a massive centrepiece and six stands. The centrepiece bears a suitable inscription, testifying to the great worth and ability of Mr. Vogel, and to the estimation in which he is held by the donors. The design is of the renaissance of Queen AmyS, so that New Zealand will be in possession of the only purely English style of plate ornamentation. The setis exceedingly handsome." "A Lenient Foreman" is the title given to the following paragraph, which appears in the Canterbury Press: —"During the proceedings of the. Supreme Court, the foreman of the Grand Juryasked His Honor's advice in a case of what he called ' find and keep' larceny. It appeared that the prisoner had found a purse containing money, and had converted it to his own use. The Judge remarked that unfortunately the principles of people in the Colony were rather lax in this matter, whereupon the foreman asked whether or not consideration should not be shown to persons brought up under so lax a state of morals ; but the Judge could not see it in the same light, and suggested that it would be as well if the Grand Jury found a time bill, and left it to a petty jury to decide the question of guilt or innocence of the prisoner."

Fiji news, at second hand, but interesting, frequently comes from the Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times. In his last letter he makes the following reference to a probable change in the industries of the islands : —" Sugar is of course still the absorbing theme. Excellent samples have been produced in considerable quantities, and Capt. Bairicb, a well-known settler, is about to take some of them to Sydney to form a large company there. Messrs. Maitland and Elphinstone, of Otago, have also received their sugar machinery, which is to be put upon their fine estate at Taviuni. The days of cotton are gone. Wherever the land is rich enough for sugar, the capital for the machinery can be obtained. Every one is waiting for annexation, and confidently relying on its speedy accomplishment. In the meantime, prospectors from Victoria and New South Wales are everywhere through the group, and everywhere expressing the highest opinion of its resources and prospects, of which, indeed, under a stable Government, there cannot be a moment's doubt."

Mr. Beauchamp Tower, C.E., who has recently accepted the appointment of Constimctor in the newly-established department for the manufacture of torpedoes at Sir W. Annstrong's works at Elswiek, has only lately returned to England from a cruise in the South Seas, where he had collected a store of interesting facts relating to many of the less-knowu islands in the New Hebrides, Banks' Islands, &c, more especially relating to the Queensland labor traffic and the Fijian slave trade. These notes are shortly to be published. Mr. Tower is better known to the public as the inventor of "Tower's Speed Indicator," and as the assistant of Sir W. Thomson in his deep-sea soundings off Gibralter, when shells were obtained at a depth of 2,700 fathoms. He has also been associated with Mr. W. Froude in his experiments on the rolling of vessels, which have led to important results in the English dockyards. AUCKLAND. Some Natives of the Raglan district have lately purchased the cutter Dawn. Reporting the circumstances, the local correspondent of the Waikato Times says :—This vessel has changed hands, the purchaser being Mr. Andrew Barton, on behalf of certain Raglan and Waipu Natives, who have bought her in conjunction with their subscription store, which it is their intention shortly to register under the Joint Stock Companies Act. Since they have commenced here they have received a fair share of patronage, and, now that they possess this vessel, they will be in a position to compete with their European traders for the droves of pigs which are brought here for sale during these months. The present master is to remain in* command; he will be the only European in her, the remainder of the, crew will be Natives ; her next trip from Ouehunga will bo made under the new owners. This is a step in the right direction, aad 4 merits the sup>

port of the settlers. Mr. Mita Karaka Ngatipare, of the Ngatitahinga tribe is the * manager and agent here. This chief was formerly in the Government Survey Office ; he is a licensed surveyor. This morning the cutter was crowded by the Native owners and their relatives, whom she conveyed up the harbor to Waituna Heads for a pleasure trip, returning in the evening. In its report of the recent fire at Olson's sauce store, the Southern Cross says -.—The loss entailed by this fire is considerably in excess of the insurance policy. The entire ■winter stock was in the store at the time, amounting to a sum of fully £2OOO. In addition to the loss of actual stock by this fire, Mr. Olson will suffer a very severe blow to his business. It will be observed that he is placed in a different position to that of a merchant who can replenish his stock. Fully six months must elapse before any more sauce can be manufactured, as the fruit will require that time to ripen. The stock and premises were insiu-ed in the New Zealand office for £2OOO, and the stock for £IOOO in the Royal. It is to be hoped that all of the immigrants who have lately arrived in Auckland are not to be ranked with one who, on the night of her arrival, found herself in the police cells. She was charged with having let " the maut o'ercome the meal"—in other words, she was "tight ;" in still plainer terms, she was. drunk. The IVew Zealand Herald says that when brought into the guard-room she " drew a short dirty black pipe from her pocket, and lighting the same, with perfect sang froid asked the constable 'what he was going to charge her with.' In fact the whole conduct of the \ woman showed that she was perfectly familiar '"• with the scene before her."

We are sorry (says the Thames AdveHicer) Uhat something like a break-down has occurred with regard to the coalfield at the opposite side of the" Firth of Thames. This land was acquired by Messrs. Preece and Graham, who, with the assistance of some Auckland gentlemen, took steps to have a company formed in London to work the ground, and to construct a railway from the coalfield to deep water on the Firth of Thames. Long ago it wa3 thought that the whole affair had been arranged, but it seems that the directors of the company in London got the idea that the Auckland directors or promoters had taken some advantage of them, or were seeking to do so by the terms of the agreement. Thi3 break-down is very much to be regretted. As already reported, two of the immigrant vessels which were expected from England arrived last week, bringing an increase to the population of the Province of 628 souls in the aggregate. The vessels are the James Wishart, barque, from London, and Queen of Nations, ship, from Liverpool. They are described by the /Southern Cross as-both fine specimens of their class, and have made very fair passages considering the light weather which is reported by both of them as prevailing throughout the greater part of the time. There were only 12 deaths altogether among the passengers in both vessels, and out of that number 10 were infants. A company is in the course of formation for the purpose of manufacturing the sidphur obtainable on White Island. Mr. Charles O'Neill, M.H.K., proceeded lately to Sydney, where he has been engaged in making- arrangements with other gentlemen with a view of starting a company for this purpose. The Southern Cross states that they propose making Ohiwa the site of operations, and doubtless the necessary plant for this purpose will shortly arrive for transmission there. The atmosphere on the Island is of such a description as to preclude the possibility of conducting operations there, and the sulphur will therefore be shipped in boats to Ohiwa, a distance of some 35 miles. TARANAKI. We understand that Mr. Whatton has been appointed to the management of the property and furnace of the Taranaki Iron and Steel Company, Mr. Kelly's political duties taking him to Wellington. The barracks are now in a state of readiness for the reception of the immigrants for this Province by the ship Waikato. In a description of the building, the Herald says : —" It is situated on the top of Marsland Hill, and was formerly occupied by the troops. The edifice is constructed of corrugated iron, and surrounded by a strong flanking palisading. The building stands on a piece of ground "seventythree feet by one hundred and thirty-five feet, and is divided into six large rooms and two small ones; there being besides several sheds and smaller rooms attached. The single men's ward is on the south-east corner of the building, and faces the barrack gates. It is fiftythree feet six inches by twenty-four feet three inches, and it is fitted up for the accommodation of thirty-nine men. Communicating with this apartment is the Barrack-master's room ; this i 3 eighteen feet six inches by eleven feet six inches. Next comes the room for the married couples with children, and is capable of accommodating twelve families. The next apartment to it will be the general mess-room for married people ; but in it has been fitted up seven compartments for couples who are without children. The adjoining room is for single girls, in which is accommodation for twentyfive persons. The whole of the rooms are well ventilated, and are lighted by skylights. The cook-house, which i 3 commodious, has been fitted up with colonial ovens and six large boilers." OTAGO. Several visitors from the other Provinces have been recently travelling through the Southland district on the look-out for land for oonafide agricultural settlement As a rule, the Times believes, they are well satisfied with the country and would be glad to take up farms, but find it impossible to do so at present in consequence of the unsettled state of the land regulations. The remains of the late Captain'Howell arrived from Sydney, via Melbourne, on Sunday, and were interred in the Riverton cemetery on Tuesday. The funeral, as reported by the local paper, was attended by a large number of the inhabitants of the Western District, where the deceased gentleman was a resident from the earliest period of its settlement, and had gained the respect of all who came in contact with him. WESTLAND. The sum voted last session of the Provincial Council for payment or expenses of members, was £750, and this session £3OO more has been voted, making a total of £IOSO. Oat of this amount £293 lis. was paid to members for the last session, leaving £756 9s. to be divided among twelve gentlemen— ■ excluding the three Hokitika representatives—or £63 os. 9<L each.

The sudden departure by the Dispatch, of a tradesman who has been a long time in business in Hokitika, and the subsequent rapid clearance of his stock and its conveyance to an auction room, caused some little stir in that town one day lately, chiefly among the missing one's creditors. The 's.s. Otago not having been tendered at Greymouth, as was expected, a hasty meeting of the creditors was called, and a bailiff sent to Greymouth with a warrant to bring the gentleman who left so hurriedly back to his sorrowing friends. Whether the bailiff was successful or not was unknown when these circumstances were recorded.