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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4587, 2 December 1875, Page 2

; A Oazette extraordinary was issued yesterday, further proroguing Parliament to the 14th December. ; , y • ; We believe , the new Presbyterian Church, Willis-street, will be opened on Sunday week,

Nothing lias been, heard of Mr. Yaralay, who was reported some days ago in the Times as being missing. ■5 The next sittings of the Circuit'Court in Wellington will commence on Wednesday, the 12th January, instead of on the second Monday in January as previously arranged. A couple of boys were missing from their homes last evening, having gone away after a quarrel with their parents; but they have probably found way back home before this morning. Two men, Stent and Death, who have been convicted of highway robbery at Greytown, for which they were sentenced to two months’ imprisonment each, were, brought into town yesterday'by Constable Burns. The only business before the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday on the criminal side was a case of drunkenness, the delinquent being fined. There were two or three civil cases of no importance. During the past month of November, there were 66 births in the' City of Wellington, against 56 for the corresponding period of last year. The deaths were 10 against 11 during November, 1874. There were four still-births during the month just passed. Inadvertently an error was made in yesterday’s issue with regard to the meeting of the City Council, to hear appeals against the assessment, it being stated that the Council would assemble yesterday whereas it should have been this evening. Owing to the sittings of the Court of Appeal, a large quantity of Banco business has accumulated ; but as his Honor the Chief Justice has shortly, to proceed to Napier to hold the usual circuit sittings there on the 15th inst., he will scarcely be able to get through much of it just yet. The following is a return of the patients admitted, discharged, &c., during the month of November, af the Provincial Hospital. Admitted—l 6 males, 5 females ; discharged—ls males, 3 females ; died—2 males ; remaining in hospital—36 males, 9 females. Total ! in hospital, 45. Captain E. Pearce, of the Artillery, has offered a couple of prizes to be competed for by members of the Artillery and the Rifles. The first prize is a handsome carriage clock, and the second'three guineas. Two competitions are to take place—one on Saturday next, and one the . following Saturday—the two highest aggregate' Scores to be the winners, i We .are pleased to learn; that Mr.- Walter Johnston was well - received in the Manawatu district, which he recently visited. Notwithstanding the threatened opposition of Dr. Buller, we believe the electors are pretty unanimous in the opinion that no change in the representation is desirable. Mr. Johnston commands the respect of the House. He is always listened to with attention, and his opinion has weight in debate. . These are points which should go'a long way in influencing a constituency in the choice of its member. Mr. Johnston will shortly return to Manawatu to commence his canvass. :

Last evening there was a good attendance at the Theatre Royal, when a benefit was tendered by the managers to Mr. W. Edwards, the champion walker. After Mr. Davies had concluded hia part of the entertainment, he requested Mr.'Edwards to step forward, and then in a few appropriate, words presented him with fa‘purse of sovereigns. The recipient returned thanks shortly, and the entertainment then proceeded. -- • . ■. , . '■ .1 The horses engaged in the forthcoming races are now beginning to arrive. Mr. O’Brien’s Fishhook, Mr. Redwood's' Guy Fawkes, Korarij and Cocksure, Mr. Delamain’s Pungawerewere, and Mr. Campbell’s Daniel O’llorke and Tattler have arrived, and all of them seem to be more or less in excellent condition. We believe Tambpurini and other horses engaged at the Dunedin races are expected about the end of the week.. , . ,

Last evening: a man named William Ward was arrested on a charge • of having stolen certain articles, the property of hia master, Mr. Bougbtmarin, of Karori. Prisoner is a new arrival, having come out in the St.: Leonards, and robbed his master after he had been in service a few days. He was seen ; coming in from Kaiwarrawarra last night and followed, and his pursuers on seeing Sergeant Monaghan i handed ; the man over to his custody.

It is satisfactory to observe that a decided improvement has taken place in the management of the Wellington Atheiueum since the) new secretary took office. There is an air of - cheerfulness : about' ■ the several departments that is npvel and refreshing, and all the super-, fluoris literature has beeri assorted and arranged' in classes ready for sale so soon as an oppor- j tunity to dispose of them at auction shall' arrive. ;

Monday next will inaugurate a new dra- j matic season at- the Theatre-Royal; under the lesseeship of Messrs. Darrell and Ilillsden. . These j gentlemen start their season with an 1 unusually strong combination and stellar attraction. , -Mr. , Charles Wheatleigh,' the . celebrated Irish character actor, will make his ■ first appearance' in Dion Boucicault’s last sensation drama “ The Shaughfaun.” Our old favorites, Mr. arid Mrs/ George Darrell, by special arrangement, will reappear and take part in the representation. In addition thereto, Miss Emma Rogers and Mr. H. Saville will make their bows before a Wellington audience, The, drama has been in course of production ' under Mr. Darrell’s ' direction for the past three weeks, and Mr, Massey has prepared no less than fifteen new scenes. In face of the extra expense incurred, the lessees announce their intention of returning to the original prices, which, we may remark en passant, are charged at every otherj.theatre in New. Zealand, and with such a combination of talent and novelty, the manageriient of the Royal should secure crowded houses during the run 6f “The Shaugraun.” A tale of. woe is told by a recent arrival by bnri of the iminigrarit shipi A young-lady—-unmarried, but with marriage in her mind’s eye -—was induced to come out to these shores by a letter from orie iri whom her simple maiden heart had reposed the confidence of a virgin love. She came and was prepared to embrace her Thomas, on the Queen's Wharf, or at any other place, not. being particular, and fully expected to realise the -brilliant'-' match' Which Thomas had led her to expect wan in store for her. But, alas for human perfidy, of Thomas there is- none, and to the anxious inquiries of this deluded female there comes no response. Surely such a rascal as this should be blown to death by blue bottles. A cricket-match—■ Government Printing , Office v. New Zealand Times Office —will ! be played on the Albion ground, on Saturday next, should the weather be fine. The following are the teams:—Government : Messrs. ! Johnston, Milstead, Kirk, -Voumans, Conlin, Costall, Geo. Gray, Rogers, H. Clark, P. Gray, : and Dixon. ..New, Zealand Times.: Messrs. Perrier, Parkinson, Times) Ludford, Capper, Dunn, Everitt, Sneesby, Kitching, Eisher, and Currie. Emergency'; Messrs. Keatch and i Chapman. Wickets.will be pitched at 2 p.m, —The first match of the'Lex Chib will ibe played on the Basin Reserve, on i Saturday next, their opponents being an i Artillery Eleven. . The, teams. are : ■Lex Club - : 'Messrs.■ Bell (captain)', Bishop, I Parrington, Campbell, Linklater, Salmon, ‘Travers, Reid, Williamson, Willmer, and Wills, with Mr. Major as scorer. Artillery ; | Sergeants Rrissell, Gill, and Book ; gunners I. ;J. Salmon, Chatfield, Bishop, Bidwill, and ‘Belcher; bandsmen Turner, Bannister, and ■ Evans. M>. Valentine; of tho Prince of ' Wales’ i Hotel; has, we notice, made very extensive | additions to his house, and , put it inside and | out in a thorough state' of repair. The aci commodation is extensive, and everything ; necessary to the conduct of a first-class hotel [has been provided. , The bedrooms are comiqoi dioris arid well fitted up ; as also a suite of private rooms for families, a[-bathroom, and billiardroora.- The Prince of Wales is situated ’in a respectable and quiet neighborhood, and |at an easy distance from the city, which should [make it peculiarly suited for families and visitors generally.

An accident, which might have resulted in serious consequences, happened at the jetty in front of the Government printing offices yesterday, ;A, little child, to judge from appearances about four years of age, was playing on the pier and suddenly fell over. A gentleman who saw the accident gallantly went to the rescue and lauded the child, who appeared little the worse for the ducking. The most beautiful sight in Wellington is to ' be seen at Mr. Wilkinson’s tea gardens, on the beach road, leading to Te Aro Bay. So little seems to have been done for the town in the shape of adornment—a most important consideration—that strangers visiting Wellington depart with a very poor idea of the city outside of its claims to be a commercial centre. The Te Aro gardens, however, though small in comparison with others, and for the size of the place, are notwithstanding almost matchless for beauty, and the general appearance of the beds, plants, and walks evince an amount of careful and efficient gardening much to the credit of Mr. Wilkinson. At the present time of the year most of the choicest plants are in bloom, while all the trees are in leaf, and nature appears at its best. These gardens possess many advantages peculiar to their position with respect to the elements, and the formation of the country. They are well sheltered, and obtain a full share of the sun’s warmth, while the fact of their being (like the Auckland domain) situate on the incline, facilitates drainage, while it has enabled Mr. Wilkinson to provide water power for himself by the construction of a reservoir on the hill side, and from which he obtains a force, of water more than sufficiently powerfully to answer his purpose. All these advantages have been made the most of by the proprietor of the ground, who, in addition to maintaining this beautiful retreat in a most perfect state of order, takes special pride in the development of rare plants, of which he has a choice and varied selection in hothouses. In various parts of the gardens there are pleasant little nooks for rest and shade—delightfully myste-rious-looking . summer-houses, overhung with drowsy creepers that tremble in the scented air.

We have seen at the office of the New Zealand Insurance Company two pieces of stuff resembling slag, which, it appears, is really wool which has been burned, and which was taken from the inside of a bale on board the barque Corinth at Brisbane. During the sth, says the Telegraph, a smell of fire was prevalent on board the ship and around the wharf, and the smell increasing in the evening, one or two of the bales in the hold were tried, and being found considerably heated, were sent ashore again. Next morning, on being opened, they were found to have been overheated and smouldering, and a quantity of Wool in the bales was completely destroyed. About twenty more bales were then sent ashore, ripped open, and found to be very damp ; and in all probability, had it not been discovered in time, the flames would have burst out before the Corinth had been long at sea, when the consequences would have been most serious. It is necessary to state that the combustion occurred in scoured wool. The Sydney Morning Herald, of the 118th, says ; —“There was on view at the Exchange to-day a sample of a black-looking substance closely resembling slag. Had it not been for the label attached no person could have guessed that it was a portion of the burned wool discovered on board the Corinth at Brisbane. If the fire broke out when the ship was any distance at sea we should probably have heard of another missing vessel through the negligence of persons shipping wool in a damp state. Something which occurred here two years ago, when fortunately the discovery was made before the wool went on board the ship, ought to have led to the careful examination of washed and Scoured wools prior to stowage. We now learn that during the past month more than twenty bales had to be removed out of a ship at the Circular-quay, in consequence of being packed damp and heating. This is so serious a matter both to insurers and to the crews and passengers whose lives are jeopardised by the carelessness or cupidity of others, that active measures should be taken to prevent its recurrence.”

The Otago Daily Times says :—“ The following remarks were made by Sir J. L. C. Richardson, the Speaker of the Legislative Council, concerning the constitution of the Upper House, at the Reid banquet the other evening. He said that some misconception . existed with regard to his utterances recently; at Balclutha in reference to the constitution of the House of Parliament. He had ‘a great affection for' it, but the Legislative Council, as now constituted, is not in accordance with the principles of our liberties.’ He referred not to the personnel. He found, in 1866, that the Council passed a bill limiting' their numbers, but it did not become law. ; This bill was also submitted in 1867,1868, and 1869. He wished it to be remembered that the Temporary Appointments Bill was introduced in the Council in 1873 without effect. It had been no novel suggestion, that of altering the constitution of the Legislative Council. He unhesitatingly and clearly declared that Ihe hoped for the alteration of the Council. He was not a democrat, but a progressive constitutionalist. The Provincial Governments had done great and marvellous things. He was an anti-separationist, but he 'is hot now. The rebellion was then, drenching the North Island in blood. He felt that he would have been acting a cowardly part had he withdrawn from the North Island then. But that is oyer now. . The Maori war was a thing of the past, and was never likely to recur. He would now go in for separation. Financial matters could be easily apportioned. The thing of separation can be done. All we require is a man to do it. If the electors were recreant to the cause—if they cast scorn hpon the Opposition for what they have'done —all the evils that would eventually befall them would be only too well deserved. He advised the people of this province never to allow their power of electing their Superintendent or Governor to pass from therm The above remarks were greatly curtailed in our report of the Reid banquet yesterday, owing to the late hour when the train arrived in Dunedin.” The Melbourne Telegraph says“ By the mail Mr. Brough Smyth has received from England copies of articles, published in the Popular Science Review, of Professor, McCoy’s ‘ Second Decade of the Paleontology of Victoria, or Figures and Descriptions of Victorian Organic Remains,’ published in connection with the geological survey of Victoria, under the supervision of the Secretary of Mines. The work is spoken of in the most favorable terms, as being not only of importance to the colony, but also to European and American geologists, enabling them to observe the resemblance or difference of fossils in strata of a presumed similar geological age in the northern hemisphere. As representing also the importance attached to the labors of our Mining Department in other colonies, copies of the Hansard report of the House of Representatives in New Zealand have been received, in ; which mention is made of the Hon. C. O’Neill having laid before his House a copy of Mr. ; Brough Smyth’s' report, as Chief Mining Inspector, on tho ‘ Mines of Victoria,’ which was highly spoken of in the course of the : remarks that were made on its presentation, extracts from the report being read and pubi lishod in the Parliamentary proceedings of that ; colony.”