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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4412, 11 May 1875, Page 2

We regret to learn by latest advices from London that Mr. Vogel was suffering from severe illness. He proposes leaving England as soon as the doctors will permit him to travel.

The Court of Appeal opened yesterday, but as there were only two Judges present—Mr. Justice Johnston and Mr. Justice Gillies—no business was taken. The sitting, however, was by no means a barren one, for his Honor Mr. Justice Johnston, upon whom devolved the duty of preparing the -decision of the Court in the important case, Borton v. Howe, delivered the judgment which will be found elsewhere. The other cases on the list are Vennell v. Brandon, Strachan v. Lyon, Henty and others v. Holt, Paterson v. the Mandeville and Rangiora Road Board, Mallaghan. v. Werrham, Percy v. Young, Hawke v. Frethey; Bridge v. Foreman, Regina v. Wame (Crown case reserved), and re J. Smithies, a petition to permit Mr. Smithies to resume the practice of his profession as a barrister. His Honor the Chief Justice was among the passengers by the s.s. Taranaki, from the South, which arrived shortly before eight o'clock last night. Captain Mundle on the way up had a very trying time of it, from the thickness of the fog. It was particularly heavy in Lyttelton Harbor, which was entered with great difficulty. Again, in nearing Wellington Harbor nothing could be seen, and the Taranaki was not observed until she was close to the wharf. Captain Mundle only made the trip down and up at the request of the New Zealand Shipping Company, and with the consent of the City Council, to relieve Captain Lloyd, who was threatened with serious illness when the Taranaki was about to start southwards. He deserves great credit for bringing the ship up to time under the circumstances.

• The March mail via Suez reached The Bluff early yesterday afternoon by the Tararua, on this occasion being delivered only on the contract date. The Tararua, however, seems to have had a long passage of nearly seven days, on the run down having experienced her usual fortune of heavy head winds. The intelligence telegraphed from The Bluff is given in another column. It is limited in amount as well as in importance. It will bo highly gratifying to every colonist of New Zealand, however, to learn that Mr, Vogel having arranged for the construction of a submarine cable to connect Now Zealand with Australia, the days of our isolation from the world are numbered.

Inspector Atchison was a passenger by the p.s. Manawatu which arrived from Wanganui yesterday forenoon. As expected, he brought with him five prisoners—William Lamont Warne, sentenced to three years' penal servitude for forgery; David Stuart Lyell, six years' penal servitude for embezzlement; John. Ireland, ordered for four years to penal servitude for forgery ; William Robinson, tried in October, 1873, for a criminal assault on a woman ; and John Woods, recently committed for trial for cattle stealing, who will be tried in Wellington. An enquiry was held yesterday by the Chief Collector of Customs, touching the death of Joseph Kitchen, who was drowned at sea on the 28th ultimo, by being washed overboard from the brigantine Mary Bannatyne, on her voyage from Melbourne to this port. Particulars of the untimely fate of this unfortunate seaman have already appeared in our shipping columns.

A very fine conger eel was caught by one of tho fishermen at the wharf yesterday afternoon. It measured 4ft. Oin. in length, and 16in. in circumference at the thickest part. Its weight was not tested ; but it was in splendid condition, and a valuable prize.

Yesterday being the last day for the reeeipt of applications for publicans' licenses, the clerk of the Eesident Magistrate's Court, was kept tolerably busy. Altogether fifty-six applications were sent in, and upon these the Licensing Bench will adjudicate at the annual licensing meeting to be held on the Ist June. Only one application for a wholesale license was sent in, but as the Licensing Acts of 1873 and 1874 give directly opposite instructions in regard to the receipt of applications for wholesale licenses,'the clerk is absolved from any responsibility in the matter. For instance, Section 12 of the Act of 1873 says that applications for wholesale licenses shall be lodged with the Clerk of the Court in the same manner as is provided for the application for and granting of publicans' licenses, while on the other hand, Section 10 of the Act of 1874 says that the Provincial Treasurer, or any person appointed by him, may at any time issue a wholesale license, which renders it unnecessary that applicants for wholesale licenses should go before the Licensing Bench at all. The point is not of much consequence, but it shows how careful our law-makers have been to make the Act complete ! Another sudden death has taken place in Wellington. The deceased, Mrs. Atkins, was the wife of a respectable citizen residing in Austin-street, Te Aro Flat, who expired suddenly at her residence, either on Friday night or early on Saturday morning (the deceased's husband being absent at the time, engaged in his professional duties). An inquest was held at the Albion Hotel yesterday, before Br. Johnston and a respectable jury, who, after hearing the evidence of Dr. Doyle and Mr. Atkins, returned a verdict of death from natural causes.

The examination for scholarships took place yesterday morning. The first paper comprised selections from the first four books of Virgil and Cicero. The hours of attendance were from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The candidates who presented themselves for examination were Messrs. Brown, Brandon, Barton, Webb, and Butts. As regards tlie examination paper, there is not much to dilate upon. The first translation was evidently from the third book, and commenced with the well-known line, Hue übi dclatus Cunaum accessiris urlem, and consisted of about eighteen lines. In this subject there was nothing which the merest schoolboy would stumble on. Not so the English into Latin, which was no less than a letter of Burke's to Dr. Franklin, in which there was immense scope for the display of a finished classical scholar-. The questions in this paper which followed were of a different character, not in any way bringing out the niceties of the Latin language. They were mere book questions, The second paper was devoted to Cicero, and again followed by similar questions, which not in any case affected the student's knowledge of the idioms of the language upon which he was examined, his information as to battles and weights, or areas being more questioned To-morrow will be devoted to the Greek language, the field of knowledge in this branch of the classics being limited to Sophocles, Edipus Rex. Wednesday will be devoted to mathematics.