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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4377, 31 March 1875, Page 2

Alertness in the end makes up for negligence in the beginning. So the people of the city seem to think in the matter of electoral registration. During the first two of the prescribed three months not more than 100 claims were lodged with the clerk of the Resident Magistrate’s Court. Contrasted with this, the fact stands out prominently that 100 claims were lodged yesterday, the total number of new claims for the city being about 500. At a meeting of the parishioners of St. Paul’s held last evening, at the Diocesan Library, the proposal of the vestry to borrow a sum of £ISOO, for the purpose of enlarging the church and purchasing a new organ, was discussed. The proposed enlargement embraced the construction of a new aisle on the south side of the church, but the suggestion had been abandoned as tending to destroy the original design. The recommendation of the vestry, therefore,resol ved itself into a proposal to borrow £I3OO for the ■ purchase of an organ and the erection of a suitable chamber to receive it. The Rev. B. W. Harvey occupied the chair, and having made a statement favorable to the proposal of the vestry, several other speakers followed on the same side. The Hon. C. J. Pharazyn, Dr. Kemp, and Mr. J. E. Smith opposed the scheme ; and finally the following resolution, moved by Colonel Gorton, and seconded by Mr. Tolhurst, was carried by twelve to six :—“ That the parish authorises the vestry to incur an expenditure of a sum not exceeding £I3OO, for the purpose of purchasing a new organ and enlarging the church to receive it, subject to the approval of the Bishop, and of that amount to borrow a sum not exceeding £BSO by loan on debentures of £lO each, bearing interest at the rate of 8 per cent." A report of the proceedings is unavoidably held over. Atameetiug of shareholders in the Wellington Trust and Loan Co., held last evening, at Messrs Bethune and Hunter’s rooms, the following resolutions, passed at a meeting of shareholders, held on 23rd February last, were confirmed—■ Ist. To add, as regulation No, 46u, the following :—“ The directors shall have power to appoint one of their number to be managing director, and to pay to him such salary as they shall think fit.” 2nd. To add the following words to sub-section 1 of clause No. 47 of the regulations ;—“Excepting that of managing director.” » The fine ship Soukar, Captain Adams, has completed her loading, and will haul into the stream to-day, preparatory to sailing for London. She is not a full ship, there being unoccupied, space for about 800 bales of wool. All her cabins, are ■ engaged, and her agents have been compelled to refuse numerous applications for passage by this comfortable and roomy vessel. The following are the names of those who have secured passages ;—Mr., Mrs., and two Misses Burnett, Miss Hare, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Beet, Mrs. Colonel Reader, family, and nurse, Mrs. Hall, Miss White, and Hisses Warburton (2). The vessel will probably get to sea about Thuradaynext. The following are the scores made by the winners at the Wellington Rifle Association meeting, at Kaiwarra, on Monday last. There were three ranges, five shots at each range, and in any position :— :

Ten merino rams, brought from Victoria by the Alhambra on her last trip, were forwarded to Napier by the Rangatira, which sailed last evening. They are the'property of the Hon. Henry Russell. The usual weekly meeting of the Wellington Literary Association was held last night in St. John’s Church. There were a considerable number of members present. Tho evening was chiefly devoted to'recitations, the selections being from Milton, Soutbey, Bulwer, Byron, and others. These meetings are becoming very interesting. Mr. and Mrs. George Case had another excellent house last night, and again gratified their audience in a very marked manner. A large variety of new impersonations were introduced, and we shall not attempt to say which was the best, for they were all artistic and highly entertaining. A night or two more will terminate their short season here, and those who have not yet seen them must oercertainly do so if they do not wish to miss a genuine treat. This evening the performances will he under the patronage of the Marquis and Marchioness of Normanby, who will also be present. It appears to be doubtful as yet what will he the destination of H.M.S. Rosario, which it was understood had become the property of the South Australian Government, to be used as a training ship. A Sydney telegram, pubblished in Adelaide, is to the effect that “ the offer of H.M.S. Rosario not having been accepted by a colonial Government, she is about to leave tho colonies ; but we are officially informed, says the South Australian Chronicle, that as far as the South Australian Government is concerned the matter is still in abeyance, pending the receipt of further despatches from England.” Of late the export of old iron has been' rapidly on the increase, and in consequence of the demand and the high rate paid for that metal in Australia, the owner of the Stormbird’s discarded boiler is having the ponderous hulk broken up so as to facilitate its shipment. Twenty-two tons of old metal were forwarded to Newcastle by Captain Williams on the last trip of the barque Anne Melhuish. About seventy owners of promiscuous dogs (whose claims to existence have not been duly registered) will make their appearance at the Police Court in a day or two. The dog raid will be kept up for tho next few weeks, with Sergeant Ready’s well-known assiduity. So owners of pet animals- had better register promptly. Tho Hospital Trustees having finally decided upon tho detail matters connected with the construction of the new hospital, Mr. Toxward has received instructions to prepare the design. Mills’s foundry was yesterday gaily decorated with flags, in honor of the wedding of Mr. Edward Seager, tho manager of Mr, Mills's extensive works. The San Francisco mail for Westland was despatched from Nelson by tho steamer Charles Edward at half-past two o’clock yesterday aftemoo® , The steamer Phoebe, with the San Francisco mail, is expected to arrive in Wellington about five o’clock this morning. She left Nelson for Picton at 2.30 p.m. yesterday.

An ordinary meeting of the City Council will be held to-moriw (Thursday), at four o’clock p.m. _ Mr. Hemus, of the Auckland telegraph department, has been transmitted to cabletransmitting office at Blenheim. He is well spoken of by the Auckland journals. Mr. Frank Weston, the Wizard Oil Prince, is now travelling in Tasmania. This accounts for our not having received the Sydney Sunday Newsman for some time past. A rara avis in the shape of a pure white robin has. been found on the West Coast. A specimen was recently caught on what is known as Pox’s Track to the Arahura diggings. It is described as perfectly white, even to -its beak aud legs. During the late races on Flemington Course, Melbourne, a well-known jockey, named William Enderson, was seen to thrash most unmercifully the horse he was riding in the Steeplechase because it refused to leap a stiff rail fence. As soon as the race was over, he was called by the stewards into their yard, and fined £5 for cruelty on the spot. A Queensland telegram in a Victorian journal mentions that the diver who recovered the gold from the wreck of the Gothenburg caught a shark, and in its maw was found the knee and other parts of a human body, presumably those of one of the unfortunate passengers. A corpse was found with £2OO in notes upon it, which was, perhaps, that of Durand, the French Consul, who had much money about him, and clung to it until the last. We take the following, which has some local interest, from the Melbourne Leader :—“ The break-up of banking monopoly has not been confined to this colony. In New Zealand it seems that a similar ring existed until recently to that we had in Victoria, the banks combining to impose any terms they pleased upon their customers, Mr, Murdoch, the Inspector of the Bank of New Zealand, very naively tells the story of how a foreign bank, having a branch in Melbourne, broke the agreement in New Zealand, and commenced offering lower rates for discount, and higher rates of interest than the other.local establishments in New Zealand, and how reprisals have been made by the Bank of New Zealand coming here and adopting precisely the same tactics, to the dismay and confusion of the Victorian institutions. The subject is one, not only of interest, but of profit to the public. Neither the Bank of New Zealand nor the Bank of New South Wales, by their recent action, perhaps, considered more than the interests of their shareholders, although in doing this they have directly benefited the public. The free-trade organ, however, rates them soundly for pursuing what it terms an “ idiotic course,” totally oblivious of the fact that it usually lays down as a fundamental commercial principle, that the interests of the public as consumers are to be studied before all private interests. According to the latest light shed by this luminary, it is better that London shareholders should get large dividends than that the local commercial public should obtain money cheaply, and receive a liberal interest for their deposits.” A Hawke’s Bay contemporary has the following :—“By the Rangatira to this port, a man was brought from Nelson to Napier, where he formerly resided, having been sent here by the authorities of the former place as a person having no visible means of support, and, to prevent him becoming a burden on the public of Nelson, they have sent him to Hawke’s Bay. Unless good reason can be shown that the people here should keep him rather than the Nelsonites, he ought, as it seems to us, to be sent back again ; at all events the matter should be fully investigated, in order to see who should rightly be made chargeable with his maintenance.” “ I rather fancy, judging from the style of his surroundings,” writes ” Atticus ” in the Leader, “ that the good people of Fiji will find Sir Arthur Gordon'rather an expensive Governor. An official who commences his regime with appointing two private secretaries and two aides-de-camp is likely to have a tolerably flowing retinue, before he has done. A Governor of the stamp of Sir Donald McLean, who has had experience with simple South Sea Islanders, and not with pomp-loving Asiatics, would have been the proper successor to King Cakobau.”

The Brisbane Telegraph relates “the end of a'romance*”' It says “We understand that Miss Haley, of Bathurst, who so suddenly disappeared from Manly Beach, near Sydney, about the 6th instant, leaving on the sea shore her boots, stockings* and parasol, and who it was feared had been accidentally drowned, but was afterwards discovered residing with her lover in one of the suburbs of Sydney, has been handed over to her friends by Mr. Timmins, of the city detective force, who, from information received, found that she had lately arrived in this colony. Miss Haley has left for Sydney.” The Tahitian barque Chevert, which lately received extensive repairs in Wellington, has been sold in Sydney to Mr. William McLeay, of that city, who is fitting out an expedition, at his own expense, to Papua, with the view of exploring the coast and visiting as much of the interior of New Guinea as possible, for scientific purposes chiefly. The Chevert is a barque of 350 tons, and is to be fitted up with every convenience for her appointed service. She will, it is expected, be ready for sea in May next. The Chevert is to carry a steam launch on deck for the navigation of- livers. A man named John Pepper was lately before the Police Court at Auckland, on a charge of stealing two pairs of trousers, a vest, and a shirt. It appeared that he was in sore need of the articles, for he appeared jn court with an old coat on in lieu of a pair of trousers, his legs thrust through the sleeves, and the fastening ingeniously managed. It appeared that since 1866 he had spent four years and a half in prison, the police having recorded against him ; fifty charges of drunkenness and twenty of'felony.

The farewell benefit of Mr. William Hoskins in Auckland, last night, says the Cross of the 13th f March, must have proved to that gentleman the high estimation in which he is held by all classes in Auckland. The house was literally crammed with an audience which came to do honor to an artist who has done so much to elevate the public taste for the drama in the colonies. Amongst those present were many of / our principal citizens with their families, jand the officers of H.M.S. Dido. The pieces represented were “She stoops to conquer*” and “Nothing to wear,” in both of which leading characters were taken by the Mr. Hoskins had an opportunity, of which he made every use, for showing his aptitude for genteel comedy. His mock modesty on the one hand,, and his impertinent freedom on the other, wore well distinguished and keenly relished by the. audience. In the comedietta of “Nothing to wear,” Mr. Hoskins as Dicky Sharp, and Miss Colville as Betsy Smart, threw all the fun of which they wore capable, into their respective parts. The piece is a most laughable one, and, with their acting, could not fail of amusing the audience. It was mentioned some time ago that a gentleman named Perceval, who had not been particularly fortunate on the West Coast, or in Nelson, and who left “ Sleepy Hollow ” after the last election for the Superiuteudeucy, to try his fortune bn the Press in Melbourne, had been recalled to England to share a large fortune left by the late Earl of Egmout. I# l would appear, however, that there has been a mistake, or there are two Dromios in the happy play, for we find that in ft late number the Port Denison Times (Queensland) mentions the loss of a valued member of its staff under circumstances which leads to the belief that he has obtained less arduous “employment.” Our contemporary says ;—“ Mr. Perceval, a gentleman who has been connected with this paper for over eight years, has left by the steamer en route for England, after a short stay in Sydney. The death of his uncle, the late Karl of Egmont, has rendered his presence necessary at Home, and there is little probability of his return. The people of Bowen, no leas than ourselves, must regret this, ns during his long stay here Mr. Perceval has always worked hard and with great ability for the public good.”

Inquiries are being made by the Captain of H.M.S. Dido for William Henry Houlstbn, some time an assistant surgeon in the navy. Any person who can supply information as_ to his whereabouts will oblige by communicating with the police, as the inquiry is being made through the office of the Colonial Secretary. The Melbourne Argus and the Town Council of that city have had a difference, and it has led to rather a curious scene in the City Council, at one of its late meetings. It is thus alluded to by the Melbourne correspondent of the Bendigo Advertiser The strictures recently made by the Argus upon the City Council were warmly resented by that body at its quarterly meeting. The matter was commenced by Councillor Meares bringing under the notice of the Council what he called a wanton and scandalous attack upon the Council in the Argus newspaper. In the course of his remarks he suggested one course of redress would be for the Council to horsewhip the city editor of the Argus, and after a severe personal attack upon that gentleman, he concluded by moving that the Council pay £lO a week to the city editor of the Argus in order to make him change his tone. The motion was 'ultimately withdrawn, but several members of the Council poured out the vials of their wrath on the offending journal. Upon the conclusion of the discussion, the Mayor, after regretting the course which Mr. Meares had seen fit to take in attacking a gentleman outside the Council, stated that he had written to the Town Clerk requesting him to abstain from writing to the papers in his official capacity without instruction. The Town Clerk was an efficient officer, but he was rather too ready with his pen, and although actuated by the best intentions, he might get the' Council into difficulties.” The directors of the Para Para Iron and Coal Company, Collingwood, Nelson, complain, in their late report to the shareholders, that the company had been refused the loan of rails for the tramway by the General Government, after they had been promised them. Considerable delay had been occasioned in consequence, but a hope was expressed that the necessary material would be obtained in Melbourne, if not in New Zealand, by purchase. Very promising discoveries of coal and iron had been made in the company’s ground, and a good site for the furnaces had been marked off. There is a good deal of preliminary work to be done, apparently, in the repair of the existing tramway, all of the bridges and woodwork of which have been found too rotten to bear a heavy traffic.

400yds. 500yds. 000yds. Tl. Corporal Nairn, Kaiwarra 15 15 11 41 Lieut. Prouse. Wainuiomata 10 11 13 40 Lieut. Scott, Veterans . 16 12 10 38 Vol. Menzies, Kaiwarra . . 18 13 7 38 Vol. Bannister, Veterans . . 17° 14 6 37 Vol, Ballinger, Scottish , 15 14 7 36