Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4317, 21 January 1875, Page 2

Our attention hag been called to an apparent error in our article on the distribution and control o£ immigrants, so far as this province is concerned. In that article, we disclaimed all responsibility on the part of the Provincial Government. In saying this, we should have explained that the provincial authorities, while being nominally responsible, in reality incur no responsibility whatever. They submit everything to the heads of the Immigration department, without whose approval, first had and obtained, no expense whatever is incurred. Nominally, therefore, the Provincial Government of Wellington is responsible for the distribution and control of immigrants; practically, however, the responsibility rests with the Minister for Immigration. But there is not ranch in the point either way. Our object was ■imply t > show that the work had been well and economically done in Wellington. It is satisfactory, however, to be able to point to one important branch of administration in the, details of which the General Government and the Provincial Executive of Wellington are cordially agreed. The adjourned meeting of the Education Board was held yesterday morning at eleven o’clock. There were present Messrs. Brandon (chairman), Toomath, Bunny, Pharazyn, and Hutchison. Before the business for which the meeting was called came on, Mr. Toomath laid on the table a return, kindly furnished by Mr. ,V. 11. E. Brown, of the Census department. It showed that in the province there were 7526. children whose age enabled them to attend school ; but Mr. Toomath stated less than half that number, viz., 3147, were represented on the Education Board’s books. The Secretary was instructed to thank Mr. Brown for the return. Mr, Toomath’s adjourned' resolutions —that the offices of Inspector and Secretary be performed by one and the same person—were' brought on for discussion, but the mover thought it was a matter which ought to be discussed in the absence of the Inspector, the Secretary, and the representative of the Press. The Board was of the same opinion, and all the gentlemen named accordingly retired. The clearness of the water at the breastwork yesterday disclosed an unsatisfactory state of things. Frqjn close to the wharf, and till near Mills’ foundry is reached, the bottom is thickly strewed with large and small boulders, which have evidently been dropped from time to time by the ballast heats whilst discharging road metal for the City Board. It has been the custom of late for many of the timber-laden craft to discharge their cargoes at the breastwork, thus easing the wharf of a large amount of traffic. But yesterday Captain Scott, of the Elizabeth, which had arrived from Havelock with a cargo of timber, declined to endanger the bottom of his vessel by discharging her in such a dangerous berth, and a day was lost in consequence. At low tide —and especially at springs—a vessel with a flat floor is liable to considerable damage to her bottom by resting on these boulders, which are, in many "cases, large enough’ to start a couple of planks. Mention of the matter should be sufficient to ensure the removal •of the evil. It is stated that the General Government have offered to Major Palmer, of the transit of Venus observation party, and that he has accepted an appointment to examine and report upon the state of the surveys throughout the colony, with a view to assist the Government in the introduction of a general system of survey. Owing to a sitting, though a short one, ef the Admiralty Court yesterday, the Resident Magistrate—having to act as Marshall of that Court—was unable to transact the usual Court business at the Hutt yesterday. Six cases set down for hearing were therefore adjourned till Wednesday next. Hannah Mendoza, a dissipated-looking woman, was sentenced at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning to three mouth’s imprisonment for vagrancy. A German, named David Werner, who arrived in the colony by the ship Reichstag, from Hamburg, was brought up on suspicion of being of unsound mind, and ordered to be sent to the Lunatic Asylum. • The “ Octoroon” was repeated last night to a capital house. The play, as has been already remarked in these columns, is one of the best productions under the present management, and is one which gives great scope for the display of Mrs. and Mr. Bates’s abilities. The scenery is specially deserving of notice. The cane brake, the steamer Magnolia, the plantations, and other scenes necessary to the successful presentation of the piece, are all in Mr. Massey’s best style, ; ml. deserving of the favorable comments they elicited. The play for this evening will be “ East Lynne.” At the meeting of the Education Board, yesterday, the reporters were excluded during the discussion upon Mr. Toomath’s motion for tlxe amalgamation of the two offices of Inspector and Secretary. The motion was carried by three to two, the members who voted for the motion being Messrs. Toomath, Pharazyn, and Hutchison, those against it being Messrs. Brandon and Bunny. Consequent upon this decision it was determined to give the Secretary and Inspector six months’ notice that at the end of that time their services would not be required. It is understood that Mr. Toomath was not prompted by any feeling of opposition or complaint against the present officers of the Board, his argument in favor of the motion being that the Board cannot, with the moans at its disposal, maintain the salaries paid to the Inspector and Secretary. An American paper writes as to Mr. Ward Beecher as follows :—“ Mr. Beecher has several times within the past five or six years made written and verbal statements to the officers of different life insurance companies, that he was in physically sound condition, and free from any ailment, excepting touches of hay fever. In view of the above assertions on Beecher’s part, there is considerable surprise expressed at his statement in his defence that he has since 1870 suffered from symptoms of apoplexy and paralysis. An officer of a life insurance company has written a letter for publication in one of the daily papers, in which he calls attention to these startling discrepancies in Beecher’s statement, and inquires how a man who tells such falsehoods can be believed under any circumstances.” The shock of an earthquake was felt at Wanganui on the evening of t{Je 15th instant. The vibration lasted for several momenta.

A meeting of the City Council committee will be held to-day at four o’clock. . The banks will observe to-morrow (Anniversary Day) as a close holiday. A small screw steamer, the Pearl, has commenced to run between Shorthand and Ohinemuri, and it is stated that miners are already out prospecting all over the country. A sash and door factory is about to be commenced in Masterton. The wants of the district as regards these articles are rapidly increasing. The racehorse Papapa has returned to New Zealand after his fruitless visit to Victoria. He was a passenger by the Hero to Auckland, on her last voyage from Sydney. Friday next being a general holiday, and Monday the beginning of the vacation, his Honor Mr. Justice Johnston will sit in Chambers and in Banco on Saturday. Mr. Hartwright, late of tbe Audit Office, who has been for some time away on leave of absence, has received an appointment in the Agent-General’s office in London. His Honor Mr, Justice Johnston yesterday, intimated that he-would probably give judg-' raent in the important case, Odgers v. Borlase, early next mouth. The Banco proceedings in the case are reported elsewhere. Captain Symons, of Onehunga, has been appointed Resident Magistrate for the district of Kaipara, in room of Judge Bogan, who has other engagements. Captain Symons is well acquainted with the Maori language, and has had a long experience among the Natives. The Easby, which sailed yesterday for Sydney, took fifteen saloon and twenty steerage passengers. Considerable difficulty was met with in discharging the coals she brought for this port, the appliances on board the hulk not being suitable for such a large vessel as the Easby. This will be avoided next trip. A meeting of the dinner committee in connection with Anniversary Day took place last night, when the list of toasts and other details were arranged. A very excellent band has been engaged. The tickets, we understand, are going off well, and everything promises that the affair will be a great success., They are sadly given to sweeps on races at Greymouth. The last they had was one of no less than £ISOO, on the late race at Sydney for Tatteraall’s Club Cup, the news as to the results of which were brought by the C)meo. The lucky holder of The Arrow (the -winning horse) is said to be a resident of Westport ■, of the second horse, a dressmaker in Charleston ; and of the third, a digger at Half-Ounce. The Melbourne Herald learns that Signor Orlandini, the splendid baritone of the Agatha States troupe, is reported to have gone mad in San Francisco. The death of his wife Madame States, to whom he had teen married after a divorce from her former husband, W.lliam States, who had drank himself into insanity, is stated to be the cause. Employers now find it necessary, says a South Australian contemporary, to bait their hooks ingeniously. If the fish won’t rise to a fly of one color, they try another. But after threshing the water for weeks the basket often remains .empty. Here is a bright hackle that should land something good :—“ Wanted, a general servant at the Hotel, Port Adelaide. The last two left through marriage.” The new steamer Egmont, built at Dunedin for owners in Wanganui, has arrived at the latter port, and has made a successful excursion trip up and down the river, with a party of merchants, tradesmen, and other citizens on board. The Egmont steams nine miles an hour easily, and is expected to attain a higher rate of speed when her engines have been for some time in work. One of the passengers on board the Cospatrick, Frederick King, was brother, says the Waikato Times , of Mr. Alfred King, a reporter on the staff of the Auckland Star, Mr. King left London to come to New Zealand by the Northfleet, which was run down in the Channel. He was one of the saved on that occasion, and took passage by tbe Cospatrick, apparently to meet the fate he bo narrowly escaped when on board the Northfleet. A family of the name of White, whose destination was Graham stown, were supposed to be on board, and their fate was much lamented by their relatives there. Their names appeared in the first published lists of the passengers on board ; but the Agent-General’s corrected list shows that they must have proceeded by some other vessel. Among those who narrowly escaped were the Rev. Mr. Neil, a Presbyterian clergyman from the North of Ireland, now in Auckland, and his family. He had made application for passage in the Cospatrick, and the Convener of the Colonial Committee of the Irish Px’esbyterian Church had written out to the Church here that Mr. Neil was coming by the Cospatrick, and for his arrival by that vessel the ministers here were awaiting. It appears, however, that a berth was not available on the Cospatrick, and Mr. Neil, being refused, took passage in the Glenlora, by which vessel they arrived safely.