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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4827, 11 September 1876, Page 2

It is stated that several members of the Opposition in theHouseof Representatives have expressed themselves as favorable to passing an;'Act to/indemnify the"/ Ministry in case there should be' anything in the objections raised to their constitution. But this indemnity, they say, should not prevent Ministers appealing to their constituencies.

; The English mail was due at Auckland yesterday, but up to the time_ of our going to press nothing was heard of it. The City of Sydney, which is on her maiden trip to this coloDy, and is ft sister ship to the City of New York and City of San Francisco, brings the mail. .' ; .'.': r ' ...''■ -

Sir George Grey, it is said, purposes serving writs upon each member of the Government to recover the disqualification penalties alleged to have been incurred, but no action has yet been taken by Sir George Grey. It is probable that ■ the Government, to clear away all doubt, will introduce a special Bill for the purpose. :;

The officers of the three volunteer corps met on Saturday evening and discussed the question of accommodation, or rather the want of accommodation, in this city, for drill and parade purposes. As they will not have the , use of Captain Pearce's building after the end I of December, there was a unanimous expression of opinion that any action to be taken ■ must be at once. , After Captain Pearce had stated the,result of his interviews with the Defence Minister, a deputation was appointedto wait upon him again and state the necessities of the case. - A committee was appointed to inquire; as to a suitable site for a drillshed, and .the probable coat of its erection, and report to the deputation. A resolution, thanking Capt. Pearce for his liberality hi granting the corps the use of his building for so many years,,was. carried unanimously. A detailed report of the proceedings appears in another column. • At the Theatre Royal on Saturday night " Flowers-of : the Forest" and ";Toodles>" were produced by_the Bates Dramatic Company to a good house. The entertainment was unquestionably a success, the audierice giving ample evidence that they were perfectly satisfied. : Mrs. Bates acted with her usual spirit and telling effect, and Mr. Bates as the Wolf was as successful as Mr. Bates always is, and received • continual applause. But it was in the farce of "Tpodles" that Mr. Bates excelled on Saturday; He has played the part before, and those who had seen him in it know how remarkably funny he is. The other members of the company played well. '■ The business at the Resident Magistrate's' Court on Saturday (before J. C. Crawford, Esq., R.M.), was as follows :—Samuel White, charged with being drunk and assaulting his wife, was : fined for the assault 40s. and costs, or in default to be imprisoned for' seven days, and-he was also bound over to keep the peace. A Mrs.-Weaver was also bound over to keep the peace for assaulting a Mr. F. J. Johns, the trouble having arisen out of some Civil Court business in whioh Mr. Johns and Mr. Weaver had been opposed to one another. The husband of the last defendant then appeared as defendant in ah assault case, theTcomplainant being Henry Silk, and,,was fined 20s. and costs. There was yet another assault case, this time James McCaffierty being the offender, and the victim an express driver. He was fined 20s. .costs. Jane Ashbridge was sent to gaol f«r- three months ' for vagrancy, and a man 'named Thomas Williams,' charged with a similar offence; against the law, was remanded till to-day for further evidence. . .'i Adeputation, "consistingof his Worship the Mayor, Messrs. G-. Anderson, J. Curtis, W. G-. Nicholas, P. J. : Pagan, and J.'MoNab, waited uponiMr. ;Hunter, M.H.R., on Saturday afternoon, to urge on behalf of the ratepayers of the city some alteration in the Municipal Corporations Act which i should give to the residents,in private streets some control over the expenditure of .the rates which they in common with householders in public thoroughfares had to, contribute. Prior to the deputation introducing 'their business, it was explained that Mr. Pearce, M.H.R., was unable to be present, but' would 6onfer with Mr. Hun,ter ■ on-. the >r'subject on the wishes of .'the ratepayers ,being . made known. The Mayor pointed but' that the grievance of which the residents in' private streets complained was this, that while they paid full rate's, they could hot : claim a share in the expenditure of the money until the streets had neen formed, ,-The Bill now before Parliament would place the residents in private streets in a less favorable position than they. occupied under the l ' old Act,' which had been amended so as.'to igive the : Corporation power to form private streets, making the residents contribute the cost; arid then taking them over as public streets and ..maintaining them in the ordinary way. .This,.being the case, the present had been considered a favorable opportunity to disclose what was considered an imperfection in the! Bill,'entailing hardship oh a certain section of the community, and to ask the city .members to have the Bill so. altered in committee as 'to meet the views expressed: Mr., Anderson pointed out a particular case of hardship to in May-street. '• Mr. Hunter, thought the provisions of the new Act Would meet the case, as the Corporation would have entire ' control over streets, whether private or public, "providing the width was not less than 40'feet. He pointed out that the utmost he could do would bo to bring the subject under the notice of the Minister in charge of the Bill, and probably a provision such as had been desired would be inserted should the Corporation- raise no objection. While he sympathised with the deputation, having himself a good deal of property fronting private streets, he pointed out that there were public streets in the outlying districts the residents of which had paid'full rates for fifteen years, and had not had a single penny spent on them. ', The Mayor said that the Corporation would in all probability expend in the formation of private streets some Cf the money expected to be received from the proposed Harbor Board, and on his suggestion it was agreed to request Mr. Hunter to have a proviso inserted in the 177th ' clause of the hew Act to this effect, that its operation should include all private streets which have been laid off arid formed not less than two years. To this suggestion Mr. Hunter assented/and' the deputation then withdrew. A large number of people visited Kaiwarra on Saturday to see Mr. Wiltshire and the Twomile Handicap, which proved a great success. No doubt the counter atraction of the man-o'-war being; thrown open to tho public kept a good number away who would otherwise have patronised the pedestrian. The result of the Two-mile Handicap was as follows: —Moran, jun.,, 1 (time, 19min. 20Jsec); Wetherell, 2 ; W. Moran, 3. Young , Moran walked in splendid style ; but owing to the smallness of the course the time was necessarily slow. Mr. Wiltshire then appeared, and was greeted with rounds of applause. He started his 337th mile, walking in his usual game manner, covering the ,mile in llrain. 37sec. We are informed that his attendants have somo difficulty in rousing him after each rest. Owing to tho success of the previous Saturday afternoon handicaps, and by the desire of several of our amateurs, the handicap for Saturday next will be 160 yards. The ground will be so managed as -to allow the race to be run on a straight course, thus giving;each one a fair chance. We are requested to state that entries close with Mr. Edwards on Thursday evening, the handicaps appearing in Friday's paper. The usual quarterly meeting of the Wellington Typographical Society was held on Saturday evening in the sideroom of the Odd Fellows' Hall. There were botween 50 and 60 members present, the President of the Association, Mr. Monaghan, occupying the chair. The general reports, financial reports, and auditors' report were presented, and adopted by the meeting. From these it appeared that the society is in a very flourishing condition ; 105 members are on the rolls, and the balance to credit at the bank is upwards of £l5O. Certain alterations were made in the rules, and the meeting then adjourned.

The House of Representatives meet I this •vening at 7.30. • >,,

Mr. Moeller will, address a, meeting of the Te Aro electors; on Tuesday evening at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Tory-street. X i A meeting, of the Lan^'ilnvestment Company of Wellington'will be held this evening at eight o'clock in Mr. Wallace's auctionroom. ' ■ ' ■.,..---- ...-=,--..■ -: -•

A clean certificate has been granted by the Sheep Inspector to Messrs. • Mitchell and Hirschberg, of Tu Tu, for 290 sheep branded H. T.

During the month of July 264 acres of land were selected or applied for in the province of Wellington 1 , the receipts at the Land Office being £407 16s. in cash and £3O in scrip.

The excursion trips by the s.s. Moa on Saturday afternoon to HiM.S. Nymphe were well patronised. Although the weather was rather boisterous, the little steamer carried her passengers comfortable and dry.

The exact extent of the alterations made in the 38th clause of the Rating Bill by the Legislative Council on Friday was misunderstood. The sub-sections erased were the 2nd and 4th. : An advertisement in another column states that the third term of the Wellington College for this year will commence on Monday, the 25th inst., for new boys ; and for old boys, on Tuesday, the 26th. The matriculation examination for the University of New Zealand will be held on Monday, the 11th December.

A Provincial Government Gazette was issued on Saturday. Nob. 6 and 7 Wards of the Palmerston Highway District having failed to elect Wardens, the Deputy-Superintendent has appointed Mr. James Mitchell and Mr. Henry Palmerston wardens for the wards respectively. A public pound has been proclaimed at Feilding, Mr. Thomas Price, constable, being appointed keeper. • ■'

Mr. Woolcock is toask the .Government if it be their intention, in the next session of Parliament, to introduce a. Goldfields Bill, having for its object the adjusting of goldfields' charges, and the placing of goldminers and the goldmining industry on the same footing, as regards taxation, as other persons and industries in the colony. ,; The following tenders have been accepted by the Provincial Government :—Paraekutu road—Formation" of T. 31 chains"~6f road, R. Marshall, £2 19s. 6d. ; erecting 20 chains of fencing, Thomas Palgreen at £1 14s. 6d;per chain. Maungapakeha road—Formation of 97 chains of road, and construction of bridges, F. Reid, £790. The highest tender for this work was £1493.

The Wellington correspondent of the ZyHelton Times, telegraphing to that journal on Friday night last, says of Sir Julias Vogel: " He has not been in the House the last two days, but was with great difficulty kept from coming down to reply to the attacks made on him on Tuesday night." It is quite unnecessary to state that Sir Julius Vogel never had the slightest intention of acting in so undignified a manner as to reply to attacks best answered by contemptuous silence. A concert took place at Tawa Flat on Wednesday, the 6th met., being considered the wind-up of the evening entertainments there for the season. It was decidedly the most successful of the series, owing no doubt in a great measure to the presence amongst the performers of two Wellington ladies wellknown to musical circles. The entertainment was opened by a song from the company, " Old Potomac Shore," after which " Within a Mile of, Edinbro' town," sung by one of the Wellington .ladies, gave" the faces of the audience quite a happy look. Then followed "Thy Voice is Near," "Her Bright ;Smile Haunts me Still," " Molly Darling," &c, all well received. "Oh, Nanny, wilt thou gang wi me," by another of the Wellington ladies, was vociferously encored. Then followed a duet by the two city ladies, which was quite a treat to the Tawa Flat people. The song, "I've Come Home to Die, Mother," particularly well rendered by a young lady who certainly did not look like dying, was deservedly applauded. The lady who presided at the harmonium deserves considerable credit. The singing was interspersed with recitations from the boys attending the school, one of which, " Love of Country," was remarkably well given for one so young. The proceeds will be devoted to the benefit of the school.

We have had the pleasure of viewing the clay model of the proposed bust of the late Dr. Featherston., Messrs. Luigi.del "Vescovo and Tominati Sani, who lately arrived in the Fritz Reuter, are the artists, engaged on the 'work, and a visit to their studio will well repay the trouble of the journey. The model is executed in common clay taken from behind the Immigration Barracks, and is a most. faithful picture of the deceased, in fact a gentleman who during the past year had. the pleasure of personally interviewing Dr. Featharstbn on several occasions, characterised it as " lifelike." The bust is mounted on a pedestal, and stands about, three feet four inches in height. At the foot of the pedestal there are four figures representing medicine, history, agriculture, and politics, each figure being Burrounded by appropriate . symbols. The sculptors -, propose to execute their work in Carrara marble—a most superior stone obtained near Parma, in Italy — and hope to have it completed in about six months. They expect a consignment of marble at the end of the present month, and as soon as it arrives will commence work. Had it not been for their present commission it was the intention of both gentlemen engaged on the work to have returned to Italy, and we can only hope that having made a beginning, sufficient inducement will be offered to keep them in this colony. The work even in its present state sliowb that it is the production of genuine artists; and although high art is rather at a discount in a new country, still the time has arrived with us when encouragement should be given to those arts which, such as painting and sculpture, elevate and refine the tastes of the people. A number of gentlemen, Ministers, and friends of the deceased have visited the studio, and all have expressed satisfaction "with the work. ! It is the desire of both gentlemen that all those interested in the proposed memorial should call and view the work at any convenient hour. The Siiclc quotes from a report on the transportation to New Caledonia, recently presented to the Senate by the Minister of Marine, the following facts : —"The number of convicts sent in 1874 to the colony by the Alceste and Loire was 238. Three other ships, starting later in the year, carried over 236 convicts. The colony continues in excellent sanitary condition. The mortality haß fallen by a half since 1873, when it was 2'B per cent. In 1874 it was l - 5 per cent. The allowance of food to a convict is the same as that of a sailor, and therefore the 'miserable calumnies' which have been spread on this subject are reduced to nothing. A convict must work for his living, the State only providing for him when he is absolutely unable to find employment, to do which a year is allowed him. When this time is passed the Administration may reduce, though not suppress, the ration to the proportions formerly allowed in the galleys. Only 51 convicts' families, consisting of 105 persons, expatriated themselves in the course of the year 1874. Two hundred and ninety-nine of the convicts have been the objects of measures of clemency, and 71 were commuted or pardoned. The number of convicts in the colony on the Ist of January last was 3575. Of these 1 was 15 years of age, 11 were 16 years, 59 were 17 years, 64 were 18 years, 104 were 19 years, 136 were 20 years, 91 were 21 years, 112 were 22 years, &c. There are 2 women of 20 years, and 1 of 21." "The Socie'te' do I'lndustrie Mine'rale recently held a congress at Douai. Their purpose in meeting there," Pullio Opinion states, " was to examine the coal-beds of the department of the Nord. There were 300 members present—managers and engineers from various parts of France and from abroad, chiefly from Belgium. Mr. Gruner, in the course of a long speech on the production and consumption of coal, dwelt at length on the probable exhaustion of English mines. In England, he said, the production of a man por annum was 300 tons. In Prussia and France, in the more

favored districts, it was 200 tons, while "in -Belgium and in the Nord, where the beds were poor, the production seldom exceeded 1,50 tons. In England, in 1872 J 400,000 ;men were engaged in producing 120,000,Q00 tons. It has been calculated that- if. the production continued to increase at the rate of the last forty or fifty years, it would reach 4,000,000,000 tons in the years 1950, so that the mines would be exhausted before the end of the next century. He pointed out that to produce these 4,000,000,000 tons, even at the rate of 300 tons per man, 13,000,000 workmen would be employed, and if their families were added at the rate of 5 to 1, the total population engaged in England would be in 1950 65,000,000. Such figures showed the absurdity of the theory. He would estimate the maximum production In England for all times at 250,000,000, which would assume 1,000,000 miners, or 5,000,000 of the population, engaged. In France the maximum would be much less, scarcely more than 80,000,000 tons. In Belgium the maximum was nearly reached at 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 tons. Though the continental production was small, he would expect the English mines, even at the high maximum sf production he assumed with 250,000,000 tons, to last for eight centuries to come."-

" The general drift of opinion on the Eastern conflict as expressed in the German newspapers seems," says the Quardian of July 5, " at present to be in the sense of the following extract from the Wescv Zeitung:—' Germany is not likely to draw her sword for an empire which Lord Palmeraton said was a corpse he would not fight for again. The interest of Germany demands, however, that the Slavonic movement shall not result in the aggrandisement of any of the Great Powers, and that any independent States that may be formed on the Balkan Peninsula shall not be degraded to the position of Austrian or Russian vassals.'"

The New Orleans Republican writes :—One of the most remarkable human beings ever seen in this country, or perhaps in any other, has arrived in this city, and is stopping at the St. Charles Hotel, with her parents, direct from Mexico, and unknown to the American public. The child, Lucia Zarate, was born at Vera Cruz, and is said to be 12 years old. She is 20 inches high, and is said to weigh' scarcely more than five pounds. Imagine a French doll laughing and talking to you, and some idea of her appearance can be had. Standing on a parlor floor her head reaches to about the seat of an ordinary chair, and yet her limbs and body are in all respects well proportioned. Mrs. Belknap could get no more than one toe of her foot into the Mexican girl's shoe. Her head, about as big. as a man's fist, is wellshaped, and covered with soft, brown hair. The only thing out of line with her size is her nose ; that was evidently made for a larger girl,but it will do. She has bright black eyes, and is intelligent, conversing with a little voice in the language of her parents. She runs and plays about the room as if she enjoys her little' life, and salutes and bids adieu to her guests with evident propriety. In the way of a joke she offered to carry a fat reporter on her back, {and stooping over asked him to' climb up on her shoulders. The little midget will astonish any one who sees her, because she is so tiny and so human. Standing by the side of Tom Thumb she would reach his elbow, and the General would look like an overgrown and bloated aristocrat. The Lilliputitian is to be taken to the Centennial Exhibition, and stops [here a few days to consult dolls' dressmakers about fashionable wardrobes for herself. .•■■'..'-'''■ . ■ :

Corrado is progressing favorably. Oil Saturday he was .able to leave his bed and walk a little, and in all probability it will not be long ere he is able to leave, the hospital—a cured man. . 7

We have been requested to draw, attention to the Bale by .Mr. J H. Wallace of fancy goods and oil paintings at the store of Messrs. Kroll and Co. this day, at 2 o'clock. To-morrow, by order of the Supreme Court, 1 Mr. G. H. Vennell will sell the Greenwood station (ISI2 acres) and 640 acres adjoining, in the Eangitumau block.