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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4825, 8 September 1876, Page 2

At a meeting of the Auckland Opposition members yesterday, it was resolved to support Mr. Macandrew's motion respecting the retention of provincialism in Otago ; and further it was agreed, at the instance of Sir George Grey, to promote a Bill which if passed will give to each province the option of rejecting abolition. One of the most peculiar occurrances of the session took place in the House of Representatives last evening. Sir George Grey voted with the Government. The division was on a clause in the Debtors and Creditors Bill, of whi«h the hon. member for the Thames knew nothing, not having been in the House till the division bell rang. . . .

At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday the business was unimportant. A seaman named George Sogarty was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for having while in a state of drunkenness violently assaulted a constable. : Another person was fined for drunkenness, and the only other case on the criminal Bheet was one in which Elizabeth Tolleng was charged with keeping unmuzzled a dangerous dog, but the complainant did not press the charge. There were a number of small civil cases, most of them being settled amicably. "We notice that a special meeting of officers and non-commissioned officers of the city volunteers is called for Saturday evening at Brown's Post-office Hotel, to take into consideration the necessity of a parade ground and drillshed, owing, we presume, to the intimation given by Captain Pearce at the late annual meeting of the Artillery Company, that after the expiration of the present year he would be unable to place his building at the disposal of the volunteers for the purpose of drill. The excursion trips to H.M.S. Nymphe by Messrs. Mclntyre and Co.'s steamer Moa yesterday afternoon were very well patronised. At 4 p.m. there were about 100 visitors on board the man-o'-war, and we need scarcely say that they received every attention from the officers while inspecting the ship. Captain Mclntyre also gave the boys and masters of the High School a free trip in the Moa to the Nymphe. On return of the visitors, they expressed themselves well satisfied with the trip; and we have no doubt that if a somewhat similar excursion is provided to-morrow afternoon, it will be largely patronised. A panorama of the River Thames arrived in Wellington by the Albion, and will be exhibited here shortly, as may be seen by an advertisement in another column. It is spoken of by the Press in the neighboring colonies as being a very superior show, the paintings being characterised by a finish seldom seen in connection with works of tho kind. The Sydney Morning Herald thus alludes to the entertainment :—" Risley's panorama of the River Thames still continues the attraction at the School of Arts. This is unquestionably one of the finest, if not the finest, exhibition of the class that has been produced in the colonies. The views (over 100 in number) were executed by Messrs. Phillips and Telbin, of London, Jloyal Academicians, who took no less than three years in their completion. They are really beautiful ; and considered as works of art, can hardly be surpassed. The course of the ancient river is traced from its source at the Cotswold Hill to the Pool of London ; and each picture is quite a study in itself. To Australians who have not seen the Mother Country, the panorama must be both amusing and instructive ; whilst those who hail from old England can hardly fail to be impressed with the excellent style in which both the rural scenery and the city itself are pourtrayed." The following is a copy of the receipt given by Mr. Smythies, and which forms the basis of the opposition to the Bill introduced into the House of Representatives to give him a new hearing before the Supreme Court :—" I, the undersigned Henry Smythies, do hereby acknowledge that I have this day received from the Honorable the Colonial Treasurer of the colony of New Zealand, the sum of £IOOO sterling, being a sum of money which by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the said colony, passed on the second day of October instant, was voted to be paid to me 'by way of compensation for the loss which he has sustained by the operation of the Law Practitioners Act Amendment Act, 18G6 :' And I do hereby further acknowledge and declare that the said sum is received by me in full discharge and satisfaction of all or any claims or demands which I allege to have or to have had against the said colony or the General Assembly thereof, for or by reason of anything contained in the Law Practitioners Act Amendment Act, 1866, or any Act Amending the same, and which may in any manner have affected or concerned me, directly or indirectly, in respect of the practise of tho profession of a barrister of the Supreme Court or solicitor thereof, or any other funotion, duty, or privilege which as such barrister or solicitor I was or might have been entitled to perform or exercise. Witness my hand this fifth day of November, 1872, Henry Smythies. Witness to signature—W. Boddington, Accountant, Bank of New Zealand, Dunedin."

A curious point has been raised about the United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Institution. This society insures total abstainers at a lower rate of premium than non-abstainers, and with such excellent results that actually the expectation of deaths iB above the realisation. It was, for instance, expected that 723 of the total abstainers would die in five years and £140,000 be paid to the Burvivors, instead of which only 511 persons died and only £97,000 was paid. On the "general" side of the office 1266 deaths were anticipated, and 1330 occurred. Nevertheless, the general side insures more than the total abstinence ; and when the bonus came to be distributed, there was great dissatisfaction that quite half of it went to the temperance section. At the annual meeting this fact was dilated upon with some warmth. But the actuary at once set matters right. He pointed out that the distribution of bonus was a mere matter of arithmetic. It has nothing to do with principles or practices ; and then, turning round to the malcontents, " I cannot help you dying. The fact is, you die faster than those who don't drink, or they do not die so fast as you. They are, therefore, entitled to the larger bonus." The malcontents could not say a word more.

An old powder-house in Portsmouth, N.H., which ia now undergoing repairs, has stored within its walls a quantity of powder belonging to no one know s whom. Cartridges prepared in the war of 1812, on which are written, " This is for tho heart of General Hull," " This is for the heart of General Gates," &c, are lying in the house. These missiles Beeined not to have performed their work of death, but to have slept in the quiet of the powderhouse for over sixty years.

Mr. J. H.; Wallace announces that, he will address the ratepayers of Lambtou ward at his saleroom this evening. Pietro Corrado, who attempted to kill himself the other day, is progressing favorably, and confident hopes are entertained of his recovery. Although very weak, he is able to eat and drink, and improves in strength daily. A large number of people left the town yesterday to witness the football match at the Hutt, great interest being taken in it. It is noticeable that, as these interprovincial contests become more frequent, the general interest in them increases.

An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Wellington Gas Company is called for Monday week, to consider the propriety of confirming the resolution authorising the directors to sell the works to the Corporation. At Dublin Police Court one Saturday, Miss Farrell, of Spireview-lane, Kathgar, summoned Mrs. Grant, of the same lane, for calling her a " has been," which, complainant said, meant she was not of good character. Both parties were in the milk trade. Complainant having proved her case, the defender said—l will tell your " worsop " all the ins and outs of this case. (Laughter.) I have got a cow, and this woman, Miss Farrell, went along the whole of the Kathmines-road telling that the cow was covered with sores and sickness. (Laughter.) I went to her and she told me that she would fork me. Miss Farrell—Oh! bless me, are you on your oath ? Mrs. Grant —And, your worship, she said that Bhe stuck a fork in the cat, and she swore she would stick me like the cat. She shows people the fork, the prongs of which are crooked. (To the complainant)—And when you were selling cans of blood for cans of milk I didn't make a show of you. (Laughter.) That's what she was selling when her cows were dying, your worship. (Laughter,) I was never before the court, nor were any of my seven generations. (Laughter.) Mr. O'Donel— Well, lam surprised at that. Mrs. Grant—l was never here before, and never would have been but for that old villain. Ultimately the case was allowed to stand for a fortnight. A London correspondent of the Glasgow Herald says:—The monster petition against Boyal grants presented to the House of Commons is causing a small storm of a ludicrous sort among the Republicans and Secularists. It was introduced to the world under the auspices of an association called the National Secular Society. It appears that a sum of £Z has been charged for gum to stick the sheets together. Economical Secularists with noses for abuses say that the gum could not have cost more than 155., and offer to stick 15 miles' length of sheets (the petition was over a mile long) for £3. Mr. Bradlaugh gravelyrepliedthat on one evening alone when he was present 12s. worth of gum was used. The war is waging fast and furious. Some citizens explain that enormous and ruinous expenditure by supposing that that the " Executive Council" bought their gum in pennyworths, according to the state of the funds. Their opponents retort that it should have been purchased by the hundredweight. A third party says the Council should have gone in for paste; and in the paste the quarrel meanwhile sticks. The Petersburg (Va.) Index-Appeal mildly observes :—"We suppose there is hardly a man in the United States whose arm is not in the public Treasury up to the elbow who does not regard the present phase of this Government as the vilest and most infamous that ever tho eun looked upon in disgust. It is hardly to be expected that the old officers of the United States Army, whose back pay was Btolen by the present paternal Government, should look upon it in any very fond and grateful spirit." _^____________