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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4432, 3 June 1875, Page 2

The telegrams in another column regarding the passengers by the Mikado, will remove all cause of anxiety as to their having been on board the Schiller. It is now definitely ascertained, as it was on good grounds concluded some time since, that they could not have been on board the ill-fated vessel. But it does seem curious to us that diming all the time that has elapsed since the wreck of the Schiller no effort was made to authoritatively inform the colonists that the passengers were safe, or the reverse. Mr. Vogel sent a telegram regarding the safety of the mails, but no one, not even the AgentGeneral, sent definite information about the passengers; and yet it would have been easy to have obtained and sent such information. By a telegram to New York it could have been ascertained beyond a doubt whether any of the Mikado’s passengers were on board the German vessel, and then a telegram to Australia would have placed the matter at rest in the colonies. The Government does not seem to grudge money for telegrams concerning other affairs of more interest to themselves perhaps. Anyway, even if the Government did not take steps in this matter, it seems surprising that the agents who send news to the Press did not do so.

The second change of Government in Otago, which we notice elsewhere, may have the effect of quieting the very awkward question of evading the Gold Duty Act, by the new Government refusing to recommend an appropriation that would be “ in fraud” of that Act, as Mr. Stout points out. It is to be hoped that this will be the outcome of the matter. We may say, however, notwithstanding what the Government has been “advised,” that in addition to the adverse opinion by Mr. Stout, one of the most competent and experienced lawyers in New Zealand has also expressed the opinion that an injunction would lie against the Provincial Treasurer, restraining him from making payments for the purpose contemplated, under any Appropriation Ordinance by the Provincial Council ; and further, that it would be competent for any member of the community to apply,for an injunction. In short, he holds that the Judge would not hesitate a moment in granting an injunction. It is a mistake to suppose that the provincial legislatures have the power to divert the revenue out of its legitimate channels. We trust, however, that the subject may not be revised in Otago.

The nomination o£ a member to fill the seat in the Provincial Council, vice Mr. Borlase, deceased, takes place to-day at noon, in front of the Supreme Court-house. As yet, Mr. Gillon is the only candidate in the field, and as the electors of the city have reached a state of political inanity from which they are not likely to be aroused by any sudden or startling development of public affairs, he is likely to be elected unopposed. Workmen were busily engaged yesterday erecting the hustings, and in the event of a contest, the election will take place on Tuesday next. From some cause which has not yet reached the explanatory stage, the election for Thomdon Ward has fallen through. It was not for want of timely notification on the part of the Town Clerk, for the burgesses were warned, by advertisement in all the newspapers, that nomination papers would have to be sent in before i o’clock on Wednesday ; and a similar reminder appeared in our, local columns on Monday morning. The Hon. Mr. Pharazyn was presumed to be the only candidate, and his supporters had taken the trouble to get his nomination paper numerously signed, yet it was not forthcoming yesterday, and after waiting till five minutes after the legal hour, Mr. Ramie, the returning officer for the ward, proceeded to the Town Clerk’s office, and announced the candidates’ list to be a blank. The Town Clerk also had received no nomination paper, and what was to be the next step out of the difficulty nobody seemed to know. A case somewhat similar happened some time ago, but the partisans of one candidate held out hard and fast that the returning officer was absent from his post, and the nomination paper was received next day. Mr. Rainie, however, took particular pains to be on the right side yesterday, so that no such ruse is likely to succeed this time. Possibly Mr. Pharazyn’s supporters were under the impression that today was nomination day, as the advertisement, though clear in its terms required careful looking into ; or, on the other hand, as suggested by a presumed oppositionist, they may have thrown him over. At all events the result is the same, as the usual notification for specified number of days will have to be iven. The Post is in error in stating that Sir James Fergusson has joined tho directory of* the National Bank. Ho has joined the London Board of the Bank of New Zealand, and this fact was announced by telegram, as well as mentioned by the chairman at the late halfyearly meeting in Auckland. It seems that there is every possibility of Mr. Seager soon finding the spacious accommodation of Mount View Asylum fully taken advantage of. Constable Fleming yesterday arrived in Wellington in charge of Captain McGrath and wife from Wanganui, both of whom, we are informed, are at present unhappily insane.

The body of the man Baldwin, drowned at the Pukuratahi on Friday last, was found yesterday. An inquest was to be held to-day. The tenders for the erection of the new Provincial Hospital cannot be opened until the next meeting of the hospital trustees, which will not take place tilt after :the ;return of Mr. Bunny from Nelson. One drunkard was dealt with at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Mr. J. H. Wallace being the presiding justice. There was no other business, civil or criminal, down for transaction. The Wanganui Chronicle regrets to hear that scab has broken out in one of the finest flocks in the district. Vigorous measures are being adopted, in order if possible to check the inroads of this most infectious and troublesome disease. A healthy spirit of activity having been aroused amongst the musical amateurs of the city, a farewell concert is to be given to Mr. Uainford next Monday evening. Numerous promises of support have been received from alj sections of the musical world, whose united efforts should produce a good concert, and a satisfactory pecuniary result. The programme for the concert will appear to-morrow. A painting of the new bridge over the Manawatu Gorge, which was exhibited in a window of Messrs. Lyon and Blair’s stationery establishment yesterday, attracted considerable attention. The picture was, we believe, executed by Mr. Brady, a resident of the Pahautanui district, and pourtrays a choice romantic bit of scenery, but as a work of art its effect is marred by incorrect coloring, for instance, purple grass and shrubbery does not quite harmonise with taste. The lodge-gate which used formerly to stand at the Molesworth-street entrance to the Government House grounds was removed yesterday. In its place there is to be erected a compact and elegant building, containing two rooms, one a guardroom, and the other a bedroom. The design of the proposed building will afford a great improvement to the general appearance of Government House. Messrs. Secular and Archibald are the builders. The taut and serviceable little Stormbird, after being dismembered and thoroughly renovated, is once more a whole ship. Yesterday her boiler was tested, the operation being attended with a slight commotion, on account of the safety valve being blown off. The hissing steam created a tremendous noise, and attracted a large crowd of persons, who were under the impression that something unpleasant had happened, but the engineers in attendance speedily put things to rights, and the curiosity of the onlookers gradually faded away. The case of the Corporation v. Jeffs, brought to test the validity of the water rate, will come on again for hearing to-morrow morning at the Resident Magistrate’s Court. The case is one which excites a great deal of interest, though there can be little doubt but that the Corporation will come off victorious. The water rate has raised the recalcitrant ire of a tolerably large number of ratepayers, who would rejoice to see it upset by any means. It is needless to mention, therefore, that the cause of Mr. J effs has many sympathisers. At the meeting yesterday of the committee of the Wellington and Hutt Building Society, the secretary reported a large accession to the share list, and that the monthly income then amounted to £226 2s. 6d. It was resolved to double the entrance fee forthwith, and a further increase will be made shortly. Fifteen shares were realised, and it was decided to hold a special committee meeting to consider the terms in which debentures shall be issued, and other matters. It is a commercial tenet that style is everything in business. Instances to show that our city men act up to the principle in the matter of stylish premises are numerically overwhelming—too numerous, in brief, to be referred to at this particular moment, though we can boast of possessing some of the finest buildings to be found in the colony. After the manner'of all great cities, having improved our street architecture, we are establishing a superior order of things in the matter of office accommodation, an excellent specimen of which is to be found in the new Temple Chambers, formerly the temporary offices of the National Bank. In the hands of Mr. T. Turnbull, who himself occupies a suite of apartments in the building, the interior of the old bank has been made to appear resplendent in handsome fittings and other etceteras. The Permanent Building Society, under the presidency of Mr. T._ K. Macdonald, has come out into the daylight and taken up its quarters under the roof of Temple Chambers, which bids fair to become a leading business haunt. Various are the opinions expressed in regard to the new five-ton crane, which yesterday was subjected to the promised official test. Visitors to the wharf may have observed that the crane is ranged longitudinally with the wharf itself, from which position the “ neck ” was swung in all directions, and divers weights attached, in the presence of skilled witnesses, until four tons was reached, when the apprehensions of the engineer were raised by symptoms of straining. There was a visible deflection in the centre of the bed, but a careful examination revealed no positive injury, and the weights were piled up again to five tons. With this weight the depression in the centre was still more decided, and the wooden supports along each aide, which convey the idea of illimitable strength, gave indications of their maximum capacity having been reached. To ascertain what margin might be depended on, the engineer put on more weight, the final test being 5 tons 2 cwt Iqr. 181 b. The crane did just manage to lift this weight from the middle of the wharf, hut the wheels on the opposite side were off the ground, which showed that it would be unsafe to proceed further. The crane has thus performed all its makers guaranteed it to do, with a little to spare ; still, it is unsuited to the purpose for which it was intended, on account of the difficulty of moving it. Last night a young gentleman who helps the publisher of the New Zealand Times attended service at St. Peter's Church, in Willis-street. There is really nothing very remarkable about this fact, although some might think there was. The remarkable part has to come. The young gent’eman fell asleep, which he accounts for by saying that he had passed the day in a whirl of delirious excitement, caused by having perpetually to answer people who asked him whether Vogel was ever coming back, and who thought that because he was on a newspaper he ought to know. Following on this, he said the service was so soothing that it lulled him to sleep. No' one woke him, but every one went out and left him looked up in the dark after service' was over. He slept until eleven o’clock, and then, waking with a start, really imagined for a time that he had got to that awful place where editors and printers go to. His frenzied cries whilst laboring under this delusion' and anticipating the horrors that were to come, caused people in the street to fancy that the Town Council had got into the church by mistake and were holding a meeting. Consequently, for some time no one cared to interfere, but at last some one bolder than the rest took the trouble to ascertain what wai really the case, and the young gentleman w»s liberated. Many improvements in domestic architecture, and consequently in domestic comfort, are visible in the interior arrangements of a house recently put up to the order of Mr. Carruthers, Public Works Department, by Mr. E. Smith, the builder. To begin with, the fireplace in the drawingroom, instead of the ordinary grate is a compact stove fitted up with a flue extending throughout the length of the entire chimney. The result of this simple arrangement is the impossibility of any smoke being driven back into the room, and also the greater immunity from risk of fire. The ventilators, too, are those known as Dr. Arnet’s. They are fitted up so that any impure air which may arise in the apartment is carried away botween the partitions, and thus quite separated from the occupied part of the house. The chief feature in the whole establishment, both as regards its' importance and also its gOod arrangement, is the system of laying hot water on to . every part of the house. This portion of the works has been entrusted to Mr. Ballinger, Hunter-street. Few people

will believe that an ordinary kitchen- range and fire can be made to force water up to the topmost stories of a large house, and also be the means of wanning rooms without the aid of fires, but such' is nevertheless the case in the present instance. The dining-room is heated by two large hot-water pipes, running round the wainscoat, the water for which is supplied from the small range in the kitchen. The property that hot water possesses of being lighter than cold effects this. The doors are all fitted with self-acting hinges, and the fittings taken as a whole are highly creditable to the architect, whoever he be, and also to Messrs. Ballinger and Smith. The following singular incident is related by the Taranaki Budget :—“ The taking of Waireka pa, on the 28th March, 1860, will be well recollected by ‘ old identities,’ and especially by volunteers, who received their baptism of fire on that occasion, under Captain Oracroft. It was the first engagement in which the volunteers took part. Amongst the severely wounded, was Mr. If. G. Bawson, chemist, who, if he had acted in the orthodox fashion, would have quietly quitted life under such a limb shattering as that he received. However, with good attendance, a good constitution, and a genial climate, he lived on, and has ever since been content to hobble along with one leg shorter than the other. New-comers are soon told ‘ why that limp,’ by such as but too well recollect the occurrence.. A bullet passed through the upper portion of the thigh bone, severing it completely in two, as well as shattering it lengthwise, as far down as the kneecap. The extent of the injury could never be properly ascertained. But life was spared, and the limb made sound enough to hobble along on. About twelve months ago, a slightly painful sensation was experienced at the kneejoint by Mr. Kawsou. About four months ago, horseback exercise had to be foregone, on account of soreness of the knee. On Sunday last, after several poulticings, a small piece of bone was observed protruding above the flesh. Each morning showed a further projection and widening of the base of the protruding bone, till last evening it stood out a full inch, and on being gently pulled it came out of the flesh. The bone is a jagged piece, about two inches long and three-eights of an inch thick at the widest part. It appears to have been most singular that a piece of bone should have been imbedded in the flesh for fifteen years, and then have worked its way out of the flesh. The bone has probably travelled the whole length of the thigh. However, the cause of pain is removed, and friends of Mr. Bawson will be glad to hear of so singular an occurrence, and hope that it will leave him freer to move about than has lately been the case.” The railway officials notify that season tickets can now be procured for one, three, six, or twelve months, for any station on the line, and at a considerable reduction on what the ordinary fares would amount to. This concession will go far to remove a prevalent < cause of complaint amongst travellers on the line.