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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4858, 17 October 1876, Page 2

Weunderstand (hat a number of the members of the City Council paid a visit to the waterworks on Saturday afternoon last, with a view of ascertaining the feasibility of erecting a temporary basin in the Karori stream to collect, the water, as a reserve, to supply the p esent reservoir during the heat of the summer. To a majority of the members present it appeared quite practicable that a temporary basin could be erected to collect the water, and that,' too, at a comparatively small cost; «p that, if no fanciful objection is raised to the S'cheme, the citizens may rest assured of a, plentiful supply of pure water during the ensuing summer. The cost to effect this desirable object would only be some £300; and it is to be hoped, therefore, that no difficulty will arise in respect of procuring the necessary funds for carrying out the work. . Some little amusement was caused last night in the Legislative Council owing to the reprinted copies' of the Counties Bill differing slightly from those first issued. The Hon. Mr. Stokes, on moving an amendment on clause 60, ' disqualifying county chairmen from sitting in cither branch of the Legislature, said that thej side-note stating that a chairman was not to be a member of Parliament had evidently 'been, retained for his convenience, notwithstanding’that the restriction had been withdrawn in another place. The Hon. Captain Fraser complained that his copy jumped from page 13 to 32, and he couldn t find the place. At a meeting of the Yogel Testimonial Committee held, last night,—the Mayor in the chair,—arrangements generally were made for the presentation of an address along with the testimonial, on Wednesday next, at half-past twelve o’clock, in the Theatre Royal, for the use of which thanks were accorded to Messrs. Bates and Howard, the lessees. The dresscircle has been reserved by ticket for ladies and their friends ; the stage for subscribers; and the stalls and pit will be open to the general public. The Artillery band will be in attendance on tbo occasion. A sub-committee was appointed to arrange and perfect the details for the Wednesday meeting. The Hen. Colonel Whitmore has evidently but a poor opinion of the class whom he looks forward to as probable county chairmen; for in speaking last night in favor of the Hon. Mr. Stokes’ amendment on clause 60 of the Counties Bill, disqualifying chairmen from sitting in either branch of the Legislature, he saia that the county system would give rise to a class of professional politicians, whom he compared to the members of the lower legislatures of the United States, stigmatising them as the most contemptible class in the Union. They must keep these men out of their lobbies, in order that the public purse might not be plundered. Who would bo a county chairman after this ? The amendment was carried by a majority of 10. Later in the evening the Hon. Mr. Campbell suggested that in up-country districts the chairman should also act as county clerk, and clause 72 was so amended that both offices might be held by the »use person. i At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday the business was as follows : —Rudolph Larsen was convicted of having been on the night : previous incapably drunk, and was fined fis. and costs, the usual alternative being allowed. John Ferguson, brought m> on remand, charged with stealing from a dwelling, was further remanded; and two summons cases, to which Messrs. Scott and Wiltshire were the parties, were struck out, in consequence of their being no appearance of either .party, A passage of arms occurred between two hop. gentlemen in the Legislative Council yesterday, in which the language used might, had it been used elsewhere, have been described as ■“ calculated to provoke a breach of the peace.” One hon. member persisted in repeatedly interrupting another on points of order, whereupon the interrupted gentleman said, by way of a peroration, that he trusted the hon. member would listen to remarks which apparently displeased him with the “ fortitude of a Christian, if not with the courtesy of a gentleman.” The Council appeared shocked, and So, indeed,, did the speaker himself, for. he immediately sat down. The hon. member printed at started to his feet and said, quickly—“ Sir, I move that these words be taken down but they weren’t. Afterwards the same gentleman, when he got a chance to speak, retorted in kind, saying that no gentluman would make, nor Imd any gentleman ever, made, such remarks as the non. member did Shortly after, when his feelings had cooled down, the first party to the small quarrel took advantage of the opportunity afforded him by * formal motion, and said that his .remarks had been‘drawn forth by irritation afe being interrupted, and so the matter ended.

The annual meeting of the Wellington Caledonian' Society wifi be held this evening In the New f Zealander Hotel. A full attendance la requeatcd.

Two other cases of scarlet fever have, we regret to state, been discovered in the Wellington College, but it that they are of a mild form. One of the victims is a son of Mr. Cripps, of Whareama, one of Mr. Kenneth Wilson’s children being the other. The patients have been isolated, and the remainder of the boarders sent away; in fact, every precaution has been taken to prevent the spread of ,the disease. Elsewhere it is notified where the classes are to meet.

The police received, the following information by telegraph yesterday ; —“ A young man named B. H. Harvey was found dead last night on the road, six miles from Featherston. It is supposed that the deceased fell from his horse.” The telegram also stated that an inquest was to be held yesterday afternoon, but the police here had received no notice up to eight o’clock of an inquest having been held.

A rather serious “ bolt ” occurred on Lamb ton-quay last evening at about six o’clock. A cab was proceeding along Willia-street, and on arriving at the corner formed by the junction of that street with Lambton-quay, the horse suddenly took a notion to run away, which he did, bolting at a furious pace up the quay, the driver vainly endeavoring to stop him. There were three passengers inside the cab, and they were naturally very much alarmed. The horse took a turn on the footpath when opposite the building in course of erection for Mr. Charles Moody, but the cab escaped being overturned, strangely enough. The horse then devoted himself to the road for a very short time; but turned his attention to the footpath again, and collided with a verandah post, the result being that one of the windows of the cab were smashed, one shaft was broken, and the driver was thrown from his seat and dragged along the ground for a short distance, he having pluckily ■ retained his hold of the reins. Constable MoWilliam happened to be on the spot at the time, or rather he was just behind the cab, and seeing what had occurred, acted with a promptitude and courage that did him infinite credit. He succeeded in obtaining a hold of the reins at the horse’s head and in pulling him round so as to prevent further progress in a straight line. Unfortunately for him, however, a man who was passing at the time, and possessed erroneous ideas on the most effective means of stopping a runaway horse, took from a bundle of wood he was carrying a good sized piece and threw it at the horse, or attempted to do so; but his eye was evidently as crooked as his judgment, and the piece of wood struck Constable McWilliam on the leg, cutting his leg and the covering thereof. The latter succeeded in stopping the horse however, and strange to say the driver was not hurt in the slightest, the only damage done being that to the cab before-mentioned, j There was a very good attendance at the j Theatre Eoyal last evening, when the “Colleen Bawn” was played very successfully, the cast being well chosen, every member of the company engaged in the representation being letter perfect in his or her part, and careful attention was paid to the business. Mrs. Bates played the part of Anne Chute, and acted admirably, as Mrs. Bates always does, and the audience were not slow to mark their appreciation of the highly artistic manner in which this lady performed the task allotted to her. The part of Eily O'Connor was entrusted to Miss Adelaide Stoneham, who achieved a signal success. Indeed, Miss Stoneham’s impersonation of the character would compare moat favorably with that of ladies whose experience is much • larger, and who profess to rank very much higher in the profession. As a rule, ladies who play this part, though they may be admirable actresses, do not possess a just appreciation of the importance of the Irish brogue, or have not succeeded in acquiring proficiency in that direction, the result being that their acting is not nearly so effective as it should be. This is not the case with Miss Stoneham. She has acquired a rich brogue, and in every respect is pleasing and attractive. Miss Morgan played Mrs. Cregan ; Sheelah, Mrs. A. Stoneham/ Mr. Metcalfe represented Hardress Cregan, playing carefully and well Mr. Deering appeared as Myles Na Coppaleen admirably ; Mr. Hesford as Danny 1 Mantt was very good, and Mr. Sam Howard’s Father Tom was excellent. The other parts were played with care, and generally speaking, as before stated, the piece was represented in really good style, and certainly met with appreciation, the audienee being most liberal in their applause.

Our columns recently contained a telegram mentioning the occurrence of a disagreeable fracas at Melbourne. In the Daily Telegraph of the 6th inst are the following particulars of the affair :—“The committee of the Melbourne Club'have had the unpleasant duty imposed upon them of inquiring into an assault committed by one member on another in the breakfast room on Wednesday morning. On the previous evening a dispute took place at the dinner table between two members, who both hold Government' positions, one of them as head of an important department, while the other is an ex-military gentleman well known in society. The discussion was commenced in a spirit of banter, but one thing led to another, and at last the member who was subsequently assaulted so far lost his temper as to apply an offensive epithet to the other. The" objectionable nature of his remark was pointed out, and he at once apologised,' and afterwards the apology was repeated. It was considered that the matter was at an end, but the next morning the aggrieved officer went to the club, and, without any warning, struck the gentleman who had given the offence several blows with a riding-whip. One stroke inflicted a serious injury on the right eye, cutting the lid through, and another inflicted a wound extending from the right cheek round the chin, and the injuries have necessitated the absence of the sufferer from his duties, and are likely to do so for some days to come. The assault was reported to the com-

mittee o£ the club, and an inquiry was instituted, bnt it was not concluded yesterday. With reference to the matter a number of exaggerated rumors have got into circulation, including one that a dispute arose out of a disagreement during a game of cards, and bearing the construction that an imputation of unfair play was at the bottom of the mischief. This rumor, however, is without any foundation, and we are authorised to say that cards or oard-playing had nothing whatever to do with the dispute which led to the assault.” Some few months ago we mentioned that a Mr. Broomhall, of Surrey, England, was about visiting New Zealand for the purpose of taking up land in New Zealand. He has at- : rived by the last mail, and in reference to him the Hawke's Bay Herald has the following ; Amongst the passengers for New Zealand by the mail steamer Australia is Mr. J. Broomhall, a magistrate of the Ooimty of Surrey, England, and a director of the Temperance Life Assurance office, which numbers 82,000 policy-holders, and has an accumulated capital of £2,000,000. Mr. Broomhall has come out to the colony for the purpose of endeavoring to form a settlement on temperance principles. The Hon, W. Fox (who has always had the welfare of the colony at heart, and has Spoken of it, in his numerous public addresses on the temperance question during his present visit to England, as the best of aU the British colonies for a thrifty and industrious people, and especially adapted for those who have a little capital to start with) has taken an active interest In this matter, and has proposed to the leading men of the temperance body in England that they should endeavor to form a settlement in NeW Zealand on temperance principles, instancing the prosperity of the provinces of Otago and Canterbury, both of which were founded on special class interests. The Whitworth Brothers, of Manchester, the well-known members of Parliament, and leaders of the temperance movement, who are also , employers of 15,000 men, have been interested by. Mr. Fox in the enterprise, as well as other equally wealthy gentlemen; and we feel sure that if only a comparatively small percentage of steady industrious f men, with a moderate capital, are only/ {induced to emigrate, they will cot only find the colony all that Mr. Fox has represented it to be, but also get a good return for .their labor and capital. Mr. Broomhall, who facetiously informed us that he has come out to New Zea-

land for the purpose of completing his education by a voyage round the world, has been detained in California by a number of banking gentlemen, who represented to, him that numbers of people were constantly leaving New Zealand for California, and great, efforts were made to induce him to purchase a large tract of land mortgaged to the late banking firm of Temple and Workman. Our cute Yankee friends appear to have made no little impression on Mr. Broomhall, as he showed us a contract for the sale of 100,000 acres of land, with most elaborate plains, attested before the British Consul of San Francisco, and which simply awaits confirmation or otherwise in the event of Mr. Broomhall not being able to obtain a suitable block in this colony. It is a manifest absurdity to place the lands of California in comparison with those of New Zealand, and we hope, in the interest of the colony, that no effort on the part of the authorities will be spared to prove to Mr. Broomhall the natural advantages we possess in good prolific land, well watered, which would be admirably adapted for the required object.