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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4354, 4 March 1875, Page 2

Actual operations in the construction of the new General Government Buildings on the reclaimed land, Thomdon,quay, are to be. commenced to-day. The piles upon which the massive superstructure will stand are upon the ground, : large quantities of timber. are .being stacked, and active measures are being; taken to complete a portion of the building which will be required for use in November next. Under ordinary circumstances a; sketch of the building would have been supplied in these columns, but the magnitude of the- structure; the intricacy of the plans, and their labyrinth of details, preclude the'possibility of supplying a description which would convey an adequate idea of , its appearance, and extent, or do justice to Mr. Clayton’s plans. These .plans (twenty in number) :far surpass any previous architectural effort in - this colony,: lodked at simply from the draughtsman’s point of view. As a matter.of fact: the. set would "form an excellent study for the architectural Student, yet they,.show -very clearly,- even, to .the lay observer, that when completed the New Zealand Government Buildings will compare with any in the colonies for perfection and compactness of arrangement. The extent of ground covered ;by the’block will he about 310 ft. by 130 ft.; three storeys above the basement giving; a fine elevation, each flat or floor being of considerable height.’ The main 'building will provider accommodation ; for dCdstoms, Telegraph, Stamp, - and - other "departments, Ministers’ offices; Cabinet Council room, and a host of other offices which cannot be enumerated, but the wings will be occupied exclusively by the Treasury department in the north and ithe Public -'Works department' in the south. The north wing is to. be .- ready for occupation by the end of next November, and: the contract is to be hastened on (with such expedition-that the-whole work-will be completed in ; May, 1876,' thus occupying a period of fifteen months. In correction, of a former statement, it may be mentioned that the total amount of the contract is £24,685.

It appears that the. announcement made at the conclusion of .the Rev. Charles Clark’s lecture bn Tuesday night, that: the. steamer Wellington would not leave for , Lyttelton before Sunday, was an error. One consequence is, that Mr.. Clark will be unable to appear.at the Hutt, on Saturday, so that Friday, night’s lecture, in the Odd Fellows’ Itall, will be his last appearance in ( this province. The repetition of the first lecture on “Charles Dickens,” which-was originally delivered at St. Andrew’s Church, will form a fitting termination to the most- successful series of lectures ever given in Wellington. "What is so often a dry entertainment Mr. Clark makes highly amusing. On the sheet posted at the Telegraph Office, purporting to announce the arrival and departure of steamers of interest to people of this city, the steamer Stormbird was yesterday marked as having left Wanganui for Wellington on the previous afternoon. This was an error, the steamer having but just arrived there from this port. The agents of the vessel during the morning called the attention of the telegraphists to the misstatement, with a request that they would correct it, but either through neglect or oversight no attention was paid to the matter. Latterly this sheet has by degrees become so unreliable that at the present time it is almost worthless.

The programme of the Pahautanui race meeting, to take place at Pahautanui on the 17th instant, appears in another column. 1 Tho events enumerated should ensure a good day’s racing, particularly as tho Porirua and Pahautanui people have united, to give eclat to tho annual meeting, which is to, he held alternately at the two places named. , , ;

The Gazette of yesterday intimates that his Excellency the' Governor has been pleased to, appoint Albert AUom, Esq., to be Receiver of Gold Revenue on the Ohinemuri Goldfields.

The fortnightly meeting of the City Council will be held this afternoon. Erom various causes, several Councillors must of necessity be absent from the meeting, but as there is no business of importance to be brought forward it would, perhaps, be as well to postpone the meeting until the return of the Mayor. Telegrams from Wanganui have been received by, the owners of the steamer Stormbird (Messrs. Turnbull and Co.) informing them that their handy steamer, after entering the Wanganui River on Tuesday afternoon last, had ran on to a sandbank a short distance from the mouth of the river. It was not likely that she would sustain any injury, and Captain Doile expected to berth his vessel at the Wanganui wharf last night ' The Garrick Club have acted very wisely in deciding to devote the profits of their next performance to supplementing the fund in aid of the widow of the late Mr. H. Grimstone. It was originally intended to play in aid of the Cospatrick Relief Eund, but the management of the Club have seen that a more immediate and pressing need exists ; and, as it is, the original idea is not negatived, but only postponed. A play, old but famous, by Douglas Jerrold, called “The Rent Day,” has been in rehearsal for some time. Mr. Howard has kindly consented to arrange the piece. John Eagan, on suspicion of being a lunatic, was brought before the Resident Magistrate yesterday morning, and remanded for medical examination. Mrs. Mary Bedford was charged with drunkenness and vagrancy, the police stating that she had but, recently arrived from the West Coast, by way of Nelson. Immediately after lauding from the steamer she had found her way to the Te Aro pa, where she was arrested on the above charges. As no conviction had been recorded against her by the Wellington police since 1872, his Worship dismissed the charge : of vagrancy and fined her 20s. and costs for being drunk. She will prefer a charge of wife desertion against her husband, on Eriday next. This concluded the business before the Court.

There is no prospect of the Thoradon sea baths being available during the present season. Owing to the. delay in procuring the desired timber, their construction could ; not be commenced till within a few weeks ago, when the work of putting down the piles was started. Op to the present time, all the piles have been driven. Those on which the buildings will be erected are of to.tara, sheathed with copper; but the ordinary piles are of jarrah, unsheathed. The .pile heads have.been sawn, off, the capping timbers'fixed, and several lengths of waleing , adjusted. The paling laths, which are of ' jarrah, are 4in. by 2in., and will be driven by mauls into the sand, besides being fastened to the waleing and capping timbers by spikes. Mr. A. Cutler, who has the pile-driving work in hand, will have completed his contract > within a fortnight. It is probable, however, that the construction of the buildings will not be commenced before the ensuing spring. The baths, when completed, will be spacious, being 205 ft. long by IXOft. broad. The Wairarapa '‘Standard has the following : —-“We. have to, record a narrow, escape from drowning in’ the Ruamahunga, on Saturday evening, near Otaraia. . It appears that Mr. ; Robert O’Connor, of the Audit Office, Wellington, a son-in-law of Mr. John Martin, had been paying a visit to Otaraia, where lie arrived safely on Saturday from Pihautea. He induced the manager of the station to show him round the property, and :it .was on returning from this tour of inspection that the accident, which fortunately was not, fatal, occurred. Having been detained later than was expected, it was dark when they reached the ford, which at that place" is very narrow, and missing it by a little way, they found themselves in deep water, the horses swimming immediately. Mr. Gillies • (the manager), stuck manfully to his horses, which took him out safely on the opposite side, but Mr. o’Connox ,, s • horse, being probably checked by its rider, turned over and unseated.him. ' Securely fastening his hat, and feeling that his ’watch (a very valuable one) was safe, he immediately struck out for the bank, which his horse was fast gaining, but the current proving too strong for him, he was washed down the stream, and after a severe struggle reached the same bank from which he had entered, thoroughly exhausted. Mr. Gillies immediately' caught the horse, and having secured the services of a Maori, recrossed the river and rescued Mr. O’Connor from his perilous position.” A few philanthropic gentlemen are interesting, themselves-on; behalf of the widow of the late Mr. Harry Grimstone, who last week died suddenly, - leaving a wife and children in straitened circumstances. Subscription lists have been left at the newspaper offices, and others are in the hands of kindly persons. The deceased was well-known. in the city, having been the son of one of the earliest colonists.. As ;an earnest and energetic member of the local fire brigades poor Harry Grimstone will long be remembered, and it was during the performance of those selfimposed duties that he sustained internal injuries which have led to his early decease. A preliminary meeting’of' German residents in this city was held in Mr. Curtis’s schoolroom last eveningj for the’purpose of forming themselves into a congregation and building a place of worship. ’ .There was not such 1 a good attendance as was expected, although it was Announced that there l were sixty heads of families who had expressed their intention to support a minister, if one could be induced to reside in the city. The meeting was adjourned, but it was stated that'Divine service would be again conducted on Sunday next by the Rev. Mr. Honorfe. It is expected that a definite arrangement will be arrived at early next week,

Mr. I). Hall, city missionary, thankfully acknowledges the receipt .of the following; contributions, in aid of the funds, for February : -—Mrs.,M.,•. 1.0si:• Unknownt Friend, £5; Mr. j;*S', 55.; J., ss. ; Mrs. T. K., 55.; Mrs. F., 55.; S., 2s. Cd.;,Mr. A.'M., 55.;: A. and J.,‘6a.; W. S., 5a.; Mrs. Justice J., cGX ; E. P., £2 25.; J. E. S., £lls.; Avalanche, 55.; Mrs. IC., £1 Is. Total, £l2 16s. 6d. Mr. Eugene Beda, .we observe, will give an entertainment in the Odd Fellows’ Hall, on Saturday evening next.-- He will be assisted by talent new to Wellington. He has perfected himself tin a variety of'new business, and as a thoroughly self-reliant and able performer in his peculiar, line of business, he deserves, in a very high degree, the support of the public, .r ;*t.; . ■.