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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4611, 31 December 1875, Page 2

In order to afford those concerned in bringing out the New Zealand Times a full holiday at Now Year’s time, there will be no publication of this journal to-morrow. The election for the Country District takes place to-day. The poll opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. On enquiry at the hospital last evening, we learned that Paul and Leedle were insensible, and many unfavorable symptoms were present. The new Mayor took his seat at the Council board for the first time yesterday. The official declaration of the poll for the Hutt election takes place on Tuesday at noon, at the Hutt. An-inquiry into the cause of the late fire in Aplin’s premises will be held in Brown’s Criterion Hotel, Lambton-quay, this afternoon. ’ It is not true that the woman Agnes Newson, tried at the R.M. Court yesterday, had lost her money whilst drunk. On being searched, the sum of £7 ss. fid. was fouud in her pocket. Mr. J. Smith, auctioneer, it may be noticed, intends making a determined effort to revive the Hutt market day. If any man can revive what was once quite a'standard institution, Mr. Smith is that man. ■ Despite the frightfully wet weather last night, some twenty ladies and gentlemen attended the Choral Society’s first rehearsal for their next concert. This is evidence that the members contemplate sustaining their past reputation, and, with finer .weather, no doubt attendances equal to those at previous rehearsals may be expected. Mr. Crawford requests us to state that he intended no discourtesy whatever to Mr. John Kush in the very harmless remark which he made use of at the Hutt nomination. All that he intended to convey was that the proceedings, being somewhat tame and quiet, would have been rendered more lively, as on previous occasions, had Mr. Kush been present. The annual examination of scholars attending the Wesleyan day school, Dixon-street, was hold yesterday, being conducted by the Kevs. Messrs. Morley and Richardson, assisted by Mr. Stephenson, schoolmaster. The examination passed off very satisfactorily. The distribution of prizes will take place some time in January, in all probability towards the latter end of that month. The Caledonian sports will take place tomorrow, on the Basin Reserve ground. A capital programme of sports has been prepared, as will be seen by the advertisement in which the same appears. There are in all twenty-five events, and the entries for handicaps far exceeded expectations. It was thought that fifty or sixty entries would be made where seventy-one names were entered. Should the weather prove favorable, these sports cannot fail of proving a complete success. The Theatre Royal was well attended last night, the bad weather notwithstanding, and the audience were highly appreciative. Miss Morgan was loudly encored for a song, and Miss Raymond received a demonstrative call for a dance. A matinee will be held this afternoon, and we have been requested to state in regard to this performance that it will not commence until half-past two o’clock (it is advertised to commence at two sharp), in order to suit the convenience of residents at the Hutt. There will no doubt be a large atteudance of families.

There are not yet many crews out for the different events at the forthcoming regatta ; indeed, if our men do not bestir themselves they may expect to see the host prizes borne away from Wellington. The Wellington Club will be represented in the Champiou fouroared outrigger race by J. It. Brown (stroke), Woods, Walker, and Moore. The Star Club seems demoralised this season ; no crew is yet selected. Crows are expected from Nelson, the Thames, Kaiapoi, Christchurch, Napier, and,possibly one from Otago. The Maoris have a most objectionable way of providing themselves with food, and those residing in Te Aro pah are not an exception to the general rule. Frequently complaints have been made recently about the abominable stench from that quarter, and arising from the fish which the Maoris hang out to dry there till it stinks. It has become a great nuisance to those residing in the neighborhood—the existence of such a vile smell, so powerful in degree, must ho exceedingly unwholesome, to say nothing of its being very offensive ; and it is to be regretted that these Maoris do not conduct .their, fish drying (and consequent smell-making) operations in a spot more secluded. The diffusion of a villainous stench such as that spoken of may not breed disease, but there are less probable things. The old Grammar School, which has obtained celebrity as being the rock over which the denominationalists and secularists of Wellington have had their first tumble lias, during the past few weeks, been put into thorough repair. The outside' has heea repainted, inside revarnished, and sundry carpenters’ work done, so that it is now clean, comfortable, and complete. Difficulty of access has hitherto been one of the drawbacks, but to remedy this a new road is being constructed, and when this is finished, which will be before the holidays have terminated, the school will be comparatively easy of approach, either from' Thorndon or Te Aro side. The school will be a most valuable addition to the properties of the Board, and under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Young (late of Kaitoka), wo have no doubt its success, from an educational point of view, will bo marked. It may be stated that the work of renovation has been carried out under the superintendence and direction of Mr. C. J. Toxward. Mr. Willbrandt -has desired us to point out that Mr. Knigge, who acted as interpreter when the man Smat was brought up on Tuesday, is not sufficiently acquainted with the particular dialect Smat speaks to be able to make prisoner understand what goes on in court. Without discussing Mr. Knigge’s merits, wo may state that he merely did duty in the absence from the province of Mr. Lahmanu, who has hitherto generally acted, and that at subsequent proceedings Mr. Dahmann will interpret. America is the paradise of protection, and Rhode Island is the seat of some of the most important of the highly protected cotton and woollen factories of that country. What is the condition of that State, as described in a leading article in the New York Herald—which is not a free-trade paper—of the 14th September ?—“ There aro rumors of an impending strike and a general crash in Rhode Island. In no State in the Union are the relations of capital and labor so intimately interwoven, or so dependent on each other. Politically speaking, the mill-owners have a power equal to that of the barons of the Middle Ages, and their operatives are their vassals, compelled to do thoiv bidding on all occasions. Each town is a satrapy, owned by a Goddard, a Sprague, a Lippett, or a Howard. They control not only their mills, hut the machinery of the State Government and the banks and other monied institutions. Under such chiefs the working-men faro badly. Fully oao-half of the operatives in the factories are disfranchised. They are overworked, underpaid, and underfed. Discontent is the natural outgrowth of a system where everything is made to subservo the purposes of a few political magnates.” And yet numbers of the misguided working men of this colony accept the guidance and leadership of politicians who are aiming at the establishment in Victoria of a system which has borne such evil fruit in America ! Are there no lessons to ho learned from contemporary events elsewhere ?

A ball is announced to take place at the Odd Fellows’ Hall this evening. The class firing, to have come off yesterday at PolhiU Gully, was postponed till tins morning in consequence of the heavy ram. To-night being the last night of the old year, special services will be held at many of the .churches. “A discovery has lately been made on an island in the Mississippi,” says the I all Malt GazcttCy li which shows that the aborigines ot America were not wholly unacquainted with mechanical surgery, but occasionally woie wooden logs when deprived of their natural limbs. In a subterranean cave hewn out of a huge solid rock, which * had undoubtedly been made thousands of years ago,’ was found, among several other remarkable articles, a skull as brown as a polished walnut, perfect in every respect, and of extraordinary size ; also an almost complete skeleton with a wooden leg. The fastenings of the artificial limb consisted of petrified leather and bionze buckles. The original leg appears to have been removed half-way between the hip and knee. This discovery is regarded as extremely interesting, as not only proving that timber extremities were fashionable in early ages, but that a knowledge of bronzewas among the learning of the aborigines. It is, however, rather painful to reflect that the state of society thousands of years ago had not even the redeeming point of being natural, but was artificial, as at present, and that in honoring the bones of our forefathers we have often unconsciously been merely honoring tbeir wooden stumps. The Univers states that the Pope’s household consists ot 537 persons, the chief of whom are Cardinal Antonelli, the major-domo, the master of the chamber, the grand almoner, the secretary, the steward, the governor, General Kauzler, and five chamberlains. There are twenty persons employed in the secretary s office, fifteen in the administration of the palace, and eight in the secret printing house. The Pope has one groom of the chamber and six body servants. ■ The apostolic chamber is composed of a president, twenty-three couriers, three servants, and three orderlies. Cardinal Antonelli and General Kanzler have a suite of forty-eight persons, while the Swiss Guard and the Pontifical gendarmerie number 200. The following anecdote is related by a French journal in reference to the present Emperor of Germany, when simply King of Prussia, and when he was travelling incognito in Hungary in 1864. In the vicinity of Treplitz the King encountered a Judge, leisurely taking his walks abroad, smoking at the same time a clay pipe. “ Who are you, my man ?” “Judge in the District Court,” answered the magistrate, not a little surprised. “Are you satisfied with your position?” “Certainly.” “ Then I congratulate you.” The King was moving away, when the Judge asked him, “And you, my man, who are you?” The sovereign, not a little surprised, replied, “ I am the King of Prussia.” The Judge, not at all astonished, next demanded, “ Are you satisfied with your condition?” “Certainly,” responded the King. “ Then I congratulate you,” added the Judge, with the most impassable air, and saluting the King, continued his promenade and his smoke. The Horae correspondent of the Timaru Herald says that, at St. Leonards, a Catholic priest has inveigled the son of a Church of England clergyman into the Church of Rome. There has been much stir about it, and the Catholic pleads his excuse that all those who are not iu the fold of his own Church will have to suffer for all eternity. The Protestant clergyman, on the other hand, retorts that, come what may, no man ought to teach a child treachery and disobedience to parents. A second Catholic priest writes from St. Leonards to repudiate the sentiments of his brother. The world looks on in awe and disgust, and so the matter stands.

According to a correspondent of the Daily Telegraph., the “capillary artists” of Paris have their training school, and at the close of the barber year—which is at present—an examination takes place, in presence of the public, to test, the proficiency of the pupils, by witnessing them at work. That just now held was well attended, because educational reform, even with the hairdressers, has for some time divided them. Extrudes were ranged round the rooms, the judges and inspectors, followed by the public, passing in review the competitors, all of whom started at a common moment, and were provided with subjects guaranteed to have locks like A.bsolora’s. The hair is first of all let down, and then brushed out ; afterwards, aspirants for the blue ribbon commence to execute their ingenuity to produce the most elegant coffura suited to everyday use, for a ball, or for a bride. It is curious to see the foundations of the structure cunningly laid, and then to watch with what marvellous, Jonah-gourd rapidity the edifice rises until the crowning of the structure be effected. What strikes the profane is how beautiful a female is when her hair is artistically made up, and how slovenly she looks when it is down. Some of these aerial structures were ISiu. high, having no other supports hut ordinary pins, the operator’s mouth serving as a pin-cushion. The competitors later escort their subjects on their arms round the room. Tliis time both are in full evening dress. So quickly is the change effected that one is on the eve of concluding to he in a circus. Diplomas are given to the winners, along with a money prize, and a real original operator is certain to find employment on the spot, as master coiffures are eager to pickup something new. Their lady clients are ever demanding a change, and do not see why the hair ought not to vary as much in the stylo of dressing as bonnets. Three journals are devoted to the interests of the trade, which has a fund to relievo its distressed members, and a home for such as are worn out by age. Judge of the affairs of a first-class hairdresser ; Not long ago, one was robbed by his book-keeper, in the course of four months, of 15,000 f., without his detecting the fraud. The Vegetarian Society is one of those amiable bodies which, like the Auti-tobacco Association, it is impossible not to respect; and no one can peruse the speeches made at the annual meeting of the society, held at Manchester on the 13th of October (says the Pall Mall Gazette), without the conviction that vegetarians are a most amiable and harmless class. There is a tone of innocence in the remarks of the speakers most refreshing even to the eaters of meat. Professor Newman, having “ noticed a tendency in children uow-a-days to he cruel to the lower animals,” drew the inference, “ that our constant slaughter of animals for food produced a feeling of cruelty among ourselves and our children.” Mr. Molesworth, “ though young as a vegetarian, was a strongly convinced one, and hoped to remain so all his life.” Mr. Ward called attention to the fact, “that people who eat flesh laid themselves open to rheumatism ; hut no vegetarian would be afflicted with that painful complaint.” Mr. Wagstaff “ was sorry to say that some of their friends seemed to think that fishes were vegetables.” The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman ; but no definite scheme was suggested for at once checking the carnivorous propensities of mankind. Perhaps any argument in favor of vegetables and against moat as an article of diet should he addressed to the pocket rather than to the reason.