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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5008, 12 April 1877, Page 2

The following is the full text of the paragraph by “Atlas” iu the World concerning the visit of the Prince of Wales to tin’s colony and New Zealand, of which an outline has been received by telegraph cable :—“ I understand that the Prince of Wales has fully determined to carry out the project of paying a visit to Australia and New Zealand, which the success and pleasure of his Indian tour first led him to conceive. The subject has not yet formally taken shape ; but I believe that the Prime Minister is cognisant of and approves of the projected visit to the antipodes,” On Saturday the Wellington Club will play a cricket match with a team selected from the men-of-war iu port.

Mr. Darrell is to have a complimentary benefit in Dunedin prior to his departure to Sydney to join Mrs. Darrell.

About 2000 acres of land have been selected near Timaru as an endowment in aid of the borough funds. The skating link is advertised to open this evening. Upwards of a hundred persons have already taken tickets, which augurs well for a successful season.

A man named Charles Fish, charged with obtaining money by means of false pretences, has been arrested at Wanganui, and will arrive here in a few days. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before J. H. Wallace, Esq., J.P., there were two cases of drunkenness, the defendants being dealt with after their deserts. An association, similar to the Wellington Teachers’ Association, but having the grander title of Educational Institute, has been formed in Dunedin.

It has been decided by the Christchurch City Council to asphalte the whole of the footpaths within the city boundaries, and a contract for the work has been accepted. The work is to be completed within three years. The Lydia-Howarde troupe at the Theatre Royal last evening repeated the programme gone through on their opening night so successfully, and gained the approbation of a large audience.

The inward Suez mail, which arrived yesterday by the Eingarooma, consisted of 580 letters, 765 newspapers, and 70 book packets via Brindisi ; and 296 letters, 600 newspapers, and 160 book packets via Southampton. The supplementary English mail via San Francisco, which left by the Hinemoa on Tuesday evening, consisted of 1680 letters, 41 book packets, and 1120 newspapers, which, added to that despatched by the Rotorua on Saturday, makes the total mail equal to 4810 letters, 132 book packets, and 3180 newspapers. We understand that it is intended to fill in the gully leading to the Botanical Gardens, Tinakori-road side, and that tenders will be advertised for by the Korori-Makara Highway Board in a few days. This is a useful work, the necessity of which has been felt for a considerable time, and the Highway Board have therefore taken a step in the right direction.

At the fortnightly meeting of the City Council, to be held to-day, a large amount of business will come on for discussion. Some important correspondence between the General Government and the Mayor, affecting municipal matters, will be laid on the table. The question of the Glenbervie-terrace cutting, Mr. Climie’s drainage report, and other matters of interest will be brought forward. The ordinary weekly meeting of the managing committee of the Wellington Benevolent Institution was held on Tuesday afternoon. Present ; Messrs. J. Woodward (in the chair), Rev. B. W. Harvey, Rev. Father McGuinness, Rev. W. H. West, Rev. A. Reid, Messrs. L. Levy, Richardson, and Holdsworth. The following susberiptions were received: —G. Moore, £5 ; W. Seed, £2. Several cases of distress were considered and relieved. It was mentioned that some misunderstanding had arisen between the Mayor and the Government as to the amount of the subsidy payable by the latter towards charitable aid; but this will not interfere in any way with the usual relief by the institution. We notice that a bazaar in aid of the funds of the Sydney-street Primitive Methodist Church is to be held in the Odd Fellows’ Hall on Tuesday and Wednesday next, 17th and 18th insts. It is some months now since the people of Wellington have had the opportunity of attending one of these sources of amusement and benefit commonly known under the title of “ bazaar.” From the manner in which bazaars as a rule are patronised here, we have no doubt but that the Primitive Methodists of this city will find on Tuesday and Wednesday next that their efforts to secure a sale for their numerous articles—useful, fancy, and ornamental—will be fully appreciated. A telegram was received by a Wellington gentleman, from Greymouth yesterday, stating that George Jackson was prepared to pull our champion Hearn, or find a man in the Grey Valley to do so, for any sum from £SO to £250. The senders of the telegram asked, “ Shall we make a match ?” As this telegram was rather vague, “ finding a man in the Grey Valley” meaning “ a dark horse,” in sporting language, the Wellington gentleman telegraphed promptly to Greymouth that he was prepared to back Hearn for £250 to row Jackson, giving the latter £25 for expenses to come to Wellington and pull the match. A deputation from the Wellington Fire Brigade, consisting of Messrs. Whiteford and Hutchens, waited on the Hon. J. D. Ormond, Minister for Public Works, yesterday morning, with the object of urging upon him the advisability of connecting the new brigade station with the various Government offices by means of telegraph wires. The deputation pointed out that if a fire broke out in any particular Government office, the firemen would know at once exactly where they had to go to if the suggestion now made were acted upon, ami a great deal of property might be saved which would otherwise be destroyed. Mr. Ormond said he agreed with the deputation that it was necessary to have wires laid between the offices and the station, and promised to lay the matter before the Cabinet at as early a date as possible. The following letter was received yesterday by theßingarooma from Capt. JohnMcLean; — “ Melbourne, April 3, 1877.—Messrs. Bishop, I.aing, and Billings.—Dear Sirs, —In acknowledging your favor of the 19th ult., covering bank draft for £l5O, as a token of kindly remembrance from seventy-two subscribers in Wellington, permit me to tender you and the other subscribers to this handsome testimonial my most sincere thanks, which I regret circumstances prevent my expressing in person, my lengthened connection with the people of Wellington having always been to me a source of great gratification, and rest assured that the port and people of Wellington will always be held in kind remembrance by, yours truly, John McLean.”

A meeting of the Wellington Football Club was held last evening at Ames’s Star Hotel; Mr. Hugh Pollen in the chair. Nothing of particular importance marked the business of the evening. Sir Wm. Fitzherbert as president, and Messrs. W. T. L. Travers, and Tims. Buchanan as vice-presidents, were re-elected. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Palliser, Bate, Thompson, Webb, and FitzGerald, together with the treasurer, were appointed. Mr. James offered his resignation as secretary, and Mr. Pollen was elected in his stead. The election of captain was postponed till next meeting.

Arctic exploration is the subject of the following jcu d'esprit iu the New York Times ; “There is only one really feasible plan for reaching the North Pole. A succession of camps should be made from Smith’s Sound northwards at intervals of half a mile from one another. In each of these camps two or three men, provided with a few years’ rations, should be placed, with instructions to keep a lamp constantly burning in the kitchen window as a beacon for belated explorers, and to keep the sidewalk swept as far as the next camp. The explorer who desired to reach the Pole would then have an uninterrupted series of half-mile stations all the way to his place of destination. He could warm his feet at one station, lunch at another, and sleep at a third. Thus, by safe and easy stages, he could reach and discover the Pole, and return to Smith's Sound without difficulty. The Arctic explorer can always travel half a mile in a given direction. Divide the distance from Smith’s Sound to the Pole into half-mile walks, and all the difficulties which are now insuperable would vanish. This is undoubtedly the true way in which Arctic exploration should be conducted, and it is a wonder that no one has hitherto thought of it.” Replies have been receieved from nearly all the colonies favorable to the establishment of a colonial museum. The rpiestion will be brought before Parliament after the Mansion House meeting.

The Imperial Gazette at Berlin has warmly denied that Germany has any colonisation views in the Pacific. In alluding to the list of Administrations which have held office in New South Wales since the advent of responsible government, the Melbourne Argus observes :—“ During the twenty-one years embraced by the reign of these successive Ministries, about 400 Acts of Parliament have been placed upon the Sta-tute-book in that colony, and of these the Sydney Morning Herald asserts that there are not more than four which embody any important principles of public policy, and that the other 396, referring for the most part to mere matters of administration, might have been passed by any set of politicians which happened to have been in power for the time being. In this colony, the present is the seventeenth Government which has held office since the 29th November, 1855, and the average lifetime of a Ministry in Victoria is therefore fifteen mouths only. Now, it is scarcely to be supposed that these incessant changes are demanded by public opinion, while it is certain that they are hostile to the public interests. For what system, method, or coherency can there be in the legislative and administrative policy of a country, when the responsible heads of its public departments have scarcely had time to settle themselves in office, and to make themselves masters of their business, before they are called upon to defend their position against clamorous opponents, who are pertinaciously endeavoring to dislodge them ? Under such circumstances the wonder is, not that the affairs of the community should be badly conducted, but that any sort of progress should be made with them. In fact, this would be altogether impossible were it not for the permanence of the non-political officials who keep the machinery of government in motion, while rival engineers are fighting for its supreme control in the engine-room ; and the great stupid public, which supplies the money for the construction and management of the whole affair, looks on, .and applauds the combatants, wholly unmindful of the fact that the latter are wasting the time and means of their paymasters in these discreditable personal conflicts.”

Tuesday’s Canterbury Press says :—“ A voucher received by the City Council from the Treasury, Wellington, was read at yesterday’s meeting, stating that the sum of £2945 Bs. 6d. —being a subsidy of ten shillings in the £ on £5890 175., general rates for year 1876—had been allocated to the Council. From this sura, however, was deducted £2327 19s. 6d., the ‘ Borough’s contribution towards the maintenance of the hospitals and charitable institutions of the district.’ Whether this latter amount was estimated for six or twelve months was not shown, but the finance committee were sufficiently alarmed, and at their request the document was referred to them for their consideration.”

The Edinburgh correspondent of the Otago Times mentions that the Belfast News Letter, which has a special antipathy to New Zealand, has fallen foul of the colony again, in connection with two letters from Mr. Vesey Stewart, published in its columns. The News Letter rates Mr. Vesey Stewart for having “ impoverished Ulster” by taking away people who were “as much wanted and more wanted in Ulster than they could be anywhere else.” The article proceeds to advise those farmers who may be thinking of going out to the Vesey Stewart settlement to “ ask themselves if they would not be better at home with their capital among friends in a civilised country, than away at the wall of the world’s end (sic), with hordes of savages on their borders.” The News Letter proceeds to state, “on reliable authority, that the country generally is not in a prosperous condition ; ” in support of which it quotes from the Timaru Herald a proposed reduction of shearers’ wages, and from the Napier Daily Telegraph, a complaint by a correspondent, who says he is “ one of the many who will leave on the first chance he can get.” The News-Letter concludes by saying ; —“ There are thousands in the colony of the same notion, and we would advise those who do even reasonably well at home to stay at home.” The writer of such remarks as these evidently stands in need of a little travel to enlarge his ideas. The Argus says:—“ It is admitted that there has been as yet no systematic enforcement of the compulsory clause of the Education Act (Victoria). According to the law, parents who neglect to send their children to school may be prosecuted at the instance either of the Minister of Public Instruction or a board of advice, but hitherto the duty of carrying the enactment into effect has been entrusted entirely to the advisory bodies representing the various districts. The boards of advice have shown themselves unable or unwilling to cope with the difficulty; but departmental measures, it may fairly be hoped, will prove more efficacious. The necessary steps in the matter have already been taken. Henceforth teachers must send in the school rolls —a comparison of which with the school census will furnish a basis upon which to institute prosecutions—to the Education Office, instead of to the boards of advice. Collectors of the census have been at work for some time, and the department will soon be in possession of all the information which it requires. At the close of the present month materials will have been furnished upon which prosecutions may be taken. Section 3of the amending Act passed last session makes amenable to the law all parents or guardians who have not caused to be sent to school the children under their control within the prescribed ages for a period of 30 school days in each quarter of a year. This is an alteration of the provision as it originally stood, which required attendance during 60 days in each half of every year. At the end of each quarter, therefore, the department will call to account all parents who are neglectful 'of their obligations, and the machinery for enforcing the law is being elaborated with so much care, that few may hope to escape. Those who have hitherto disregarded or defied the wishes of Parliament, as expressed in the Education Act, may therefore take warning. Immunity exists for them no longer, and sharp punishment will follow the deliberate infraction of the law. Lame excuses will not avail, for the only grounds upon which attendance at school can be dispensed with are clearly stated in the Act, and the onus of proving that any of the recognised reasons for non-attendance exist lies on the defendant.”

The Sydney Morning Herald says:—“ Papers received via Melbourne inform us that a murder without parallel has been committed at Attunta, New Zealand. A young man named Alexander Scott was engaged to a lady of great beauty, and whose parents were in very good circumstances. For something the father had said to Scott about frequenting a house of doubtful character, the latter discontinued visiting the home of his intended bride, but succeeded in decoying her out at night by means of an occasional letter. After they had thus met for a number of times they decided to wed ; but the girl, liking to have her father’s consent, advised that the event should be delayed. Upon her consulting her father, that gentleman not only gave a deaf ear to the question, but stated that she was never again to see Scott. But she heeded not her father’s words ; and that night she again met Scott. She told him what her parent had said, and while she was bidding him a fond adieu he plunged a knife into her breast. Not content with this, he deliberately cut out her heart, took it home, packed it in a cigar case, and addressed in a letter to ‘ Chas. Cardon, Esq.,’ stating in the box he would find a heart which could never disobey .a parent, and a weapon that knew how to avenge a wrong. The jury found that Alice Cardon was brutally murdered by Alexander Scott. He has since been arrested and committed for trial.” We must beg the Sydney Morning Herald to take it all back. New Zealand was not the scene of the tragedy. A gardener named George Smith, residing at the Water-of-Leith, Dunedin, died on Sunday week under somewhat extraordinary circumstances. It appears that the friends of the late Dr. Hulme, who was buried about three mouths ago, had prepared a vault for the reception of the body, and Smith, with some other workmen, were on Tuesday last employed to lift the coffin. While digging it out they were almost overpowered by the

stench emitted, and a quantity of liquid matter oozing through the seams adhered to their_tools. One of the men accidentally grazed the side of Smith’s leg with the point of his spade, but the bruise scarcely pierced the skin, and appeared so trivial that no attention was paid to it. The same evening Smith, who is a Forester, was at a meeting of his lodge apparently well and happy, and on Wednesday he was working as usual. On Thursday he felt ill and took to his bed. Dr. Brown was called in to see him, and discovered that the unfortunate man was suffering from symptoms of blood-poisoning. Everything that medical science could suggest was done for him without avail, and after enduring the most fearful agonies imaginable, he died on Sunday afternoon. Decomposition set in so rapidly that the side of the body on which the scratch had been inflicted became as black as ink almost before the body was cold, and the deceased had to be coffined immediately. The deceased was a hard-working, industrious man, about forty years of age. He leaves a wife and young family to deplore his death.

We observe that the Argus thinks the remarks of The Times, respecting the Christchurch loan, unreasonable, and speaking of the colony of Victoria adds ; —“ We cannot do better than lay to heart the lesson here taught by The Times —viz., that small loans are a great mistake, for they at once give rise to the question, ‘ Why cannot they raise paltry sums amongst themselves ?’ Not only so, but they create an impression that we are always borrowing, and people think that the frequency necessarily involves a large indebtedness. Hitherto we have avoided this great financial mistake, and it is be hoped that we shall continue to do so.”