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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4306, 8 January 1875, Page 2

Extreme pressure on our space compels us to withhold a variety of items of local news, to enable us to give due prominence to the speech of the Minister of Justice in ICaiapoi, and of Mr. Walter Johnston in Manawatu. The address of Mr. Walter Johnston to the electors of Manawatu —spoken at Eoxton on Saturday last— will be found in another column. The necessity for an increase in the wharf accommodation of the port has never been more apparent than during the present week. On Wednesday afternoon, the steamer Otago was compelled to cruise in the harbor for two hours, no berth being available for her till the Easby had taken her departure. Again, yesterday afternoon„no berth was vacant for the steamer Taranaki, which arrived from the South. In order to land her passengers with as little delay as possible, she was brought alongside a coal hulk, which was lying outside the English barque Jung Erau. The passengers, a number of whom were ladies, before they reached the wharf, had thus to descend from the steamer’s side on to the deck of a dirty coal hulk, scramble as best they could over the bulwarks of the hulk and the barque, and then gain the wharf by a single gangway. On Wednesday afternoon a fall of the barometer set in at all places between Auckland and Timaru, but further south the glass had moved up a little. The weather on the western coasts of both islands was cloudy and gloomy, with the winds mostly between south-west and north-west; finer weather was however experienced on the eastern side of the colony, but there was considerable difference in the directions of the winds observed. The following appointments have been gazetted:—William James Jobaon to be inspector of machinery for the Auckland district; Henry Augustus Levestam to be inspector of machinery for the Wellington, Taranaki, and Marlborough districts; George Oroll to he inspector of machinery for the Canterbury and Westland districts; and Thomas Cairns Burt to be inspector of machinery for the Otago district. These appointments to date from the Ist instant. f The Board of Education held a meeting yesterday, for the purpose of making arrangements for filling up vacancies in various schools in the province. The appointments led to considerable discussion, and ultimately it was left to the Inspector to use his own discretion as to filling up the vacancies in accordance with the scheme he had laid before the Board. , Eriends of Mr. J. Cannon, of the New Zealand Steam Shipping Company, ;to the number of about forty, entertained him at dinner at the Panama Hotel last evening. After the usual toasts had been duly honored, Mr. Logan (chairman) called upon the company, in a few well-chosen remarks, to drink to the he ath of « Our Guest.” He also had a most pleasant duty to perform, that of presenting to Mr. Cannon, as a slight token of the estimation in which ho was held by all who had come into business contact with'him, a gold watch and chain. He was sure Wellington could ill afford to lose so valuable a citizen. Mr. Cannon briefly, but earnestly, thanked the company for the honor they had done him, and expressed his sense of tho kindness evinced towards him. The watch, which is a handsome gold English lever, bears tho following inscription::—“ Presented to J. C. Cannon, Esq,, by a few friends prior to his departure from Wellington. January 7th, 1875.” The evening was spent most agreeably. Mr. Cannon, who till recently held the appointment of accountant to the New Zealand Steam Shipping Company, proceeds South to-day in the steamer Wellington, having been promoted to the post of company’s agent at Dunedin. We have pleasure in stating that after all tho expenses in connection with the late school treat of Hopper-street School (of which Mrs. S. Wilkinson is mistress) were discharged, it was found that there was a balance of thirty shillings in hand. This sum Mrs. Wilkinson has desired us to take charge of, for the benefit of an immigrant na'med Tait, who was unfortunately injured in a very severe manner at the now works in connection with Mr. Curtis’s school, as lately reported. Wo may add that as tho case is a deserving one, we shall with pleasure—as Mrs. Wilkinson desires—use her donation as tho nucleus of any fund tho charit-ably-disposed may desire to make for tho benefit of tho injured stranger.

. The Gazette, of yesterday contains a list of persons who have passed their examination for the Civil Service. The team chosen to represent the Star Club) in the cricket match to be played against the Victoria Club on Saturday, is the following ; Mason, Mace, Turner, Lockett, Webb, Salmon, J. A., Edmunds, Inman, Bussell, Bishop, and Water's. Emergency, McDonald. In the course of December the estates of eleven persons who died intestate were placed in charge of the Public Trustee., Eour of the ' eleven were drowned, and two died on board ship. Two of them left sums set down as under £7OO. It is intimated in the Gazette that inquiries have been made through the Eight Honorable the Secretary of State for the. Colonies, respecting a person named Jean Duvalowaky, a native, of Teplitz, in the district of Zips, in Hungary, who left that town with his wife and four young children in April last, with the intention of proceeding to America, but wrote from London on the 7th of April to his relatives, to inform them that he had altered his destination to New Zealand, and has not been heard of since. Captain Wheeler, of the s.s. Taranaki, who is now making his last voyage in the service of the New Zealand Steam Shipping Company as commander of the s.s. Taranaki, is, no doubt, one of the moat popular commanders on the coast of New Zealand. He has been many years known in and out of Wellington, and we therefore are not surprised to learn that nearly all the merchants and a great number of the residents have determined to show their appreciation of him on his departure from the colony for England. With this view, a subscription was started, and although only a few hours were allowed, everyone who was asked, with scarcely an exception, contributed. It was intended that all that could be collected should have been presented to Captain Wheeler ou the arrival of the Taranaki yesterday, but her late coming into port prevented this being done, and we are informed that it is now proposed that the formal presentation shall be made this morning at 11 o’clock at the Empire Hotel, when, no doubt, as many of the subscribers and Captain Wheeler's friends will bo present as can make it convenient to assist in this mark of respect to an old and esteemed friend. Captain Wheeler leaves Wellington in the Taranaki, for Nelson, this day, at one o’clock, and on his arrival there resigns command of the Taranaki, and ceases his connection with the New Zealand Steam Shipping Company. Last week, at the Kaiwarra and Johnsonville schools, handsomely bound books were given as prizes by the Misses Stevens to all the scholars, according to the number of marks obtained during the past half-year. A treat was also given to the Johnsonville' children in the shape of a picnic, on which occasion Mi - . B. Koeves’ large waggon, containing about fifty children, was decorated with evergreens, flowers, and flags. The waggon was draw by three horses, with postillions riding on the - two leaders dressed in blue with scarlet sashes and caps. The picnic was attended by a large number of parents and friends, and the whole party proceeded round Porirua Bay to one of Mr. Wall’s properties, the use 1 of which had been kindly granted for the occasion, and where a very happy day was spent, all seeming to enjoy themselves most heartily. Ou the return home three hearty cheers were given for Mr. Beeves, for his kindness in preparing the waggon for the children, and cheers were also given to Miss Ellen Stevens, not only for the excellent treat which she had afforded, but also as an acknowledgment on the part of the parents for the progress the children are' making. On Tuesday last, the children of the Kaiwarra school were invited to a picnic by Miss Elizabeth Stevens, which was held near Wilkinson’s gardens, and at which a very large number of parents and friends were present. The whole party spent a .very enjoyable day, and returned home in the evening with singing and cheering.