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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5058, 9 June 1877, Page 2

It will be seen by reference to our telegrams that the electors of Kaiapoi are preparing a resolution to the Hon. C. O. Bowen, who is now at Christchurch, asking him to address his constituents before returning toWellingtou.

The Georgia Minstrels appeared for the last time yesterday evening, to a good house. They leave for the South to-day.

The manager of the Brunner Coal Company has received a letter from his Excellency the Governor ordering ten tons a month for the use of Government House. The appointment is gazetted of Mr. Edward Lyndon and Mr. Win. Jordan Johnson as certificated accountants in bankruptcy within the Wellington Judicial District. It is officially notified that Mr. G. W. Williams has been appointed Deputy-Inspector of Surveys (for the purposes of the Native Land Act, 1873) for the provincial district of Wellington. A poor old man named John Johnson was yesterday accommodated with lodgings in the gaol, where he will remain for a month. There was no offence laid to his charge beyond that of being unable to take care of himself, if that can be regarded as an offence. At the Theatre Royal this evening the dramatic company employed by Mr. Howard will re-appear, and a big bill has been prepared for the occasion, to consist of the drama “Dick Turpin” and a farce, “The Farmer's Daughter.” The rainfall at Hokitika, 22*10 inches, is the highest recorded in any mouth since the establishment of the Observatory, except in October, 1867, when it was 22*18 inches. The only other monthly falls that approach these are 20T3 for November, ISOG, and 21‘57 for June, 1870.

Signor Bonacorti, we hear, the author of the mazurka “ Sospiro,” has composed a grand march, which he has dedicated to his Excellency the Marquis of Normauby. The signor intends having this musical production published in Melbourne at an early date, and copies will be forwarded here as soon as possible.

Our report of the case Hooper v, the Reformer Company was accidentally omitted from yesterday’s issue. The report was in type, but was overlooked. The result of the case was a nonsuit, and Mr. Travers gave notice that he should take it to a higher Court.

The football match, postponed from last Saturday, between the Civil Service and Town, will take place on the Basin Reserve this afternoon. The players are the same as were chosen to play in last Saturday’s match. If the weather remains fine, there is no doubt that a very good match may be played, as both teams are equally strong. The latest New Zealand Gazette issued contains particulars of the estates of deceased persons which were placed under the charge of the Public Trustee during the month of May last. There are in all eleven estates, the deaths occurring within the present in all cases but one, which took place in July, 1876. The highest valued personal estate is under £BOO, and the lowest under £l. A woman named Catherine Petford was charged at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday with having on Tuesday last stolen a bottle of porter from the Rainbow Hotel, Kaiwana ; and it also appeared from the evidence that when a man in the bar endeavored to take the bottle from her, she hit him with it on the face. She evidently committed the act under the influence of liquor. The charge of assault was not pressed ; but for the larceny the defendant was sentenced to one months’ imprisonment. We are indebted to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works for the following information: —Theunder-mentionedtenderswere received at the Public Works Office, Wellington, for the Balclutha contract of the Waitaki-Invercargill railway :—Accepted—Proudfoofc and McKay, Dunedin, £IO,OOO. Declined —P. Dey, Dunedin, £10,132 ; J. M. Waltron, Dunedin, £10,398 ; Matheson, Bros., Dunedin, £10,508; A. J. Smyth, Dunedin, £10,770 ; Millar and Murray, Invercargill, £11,030; T. H. Parsons, Timaru, £11,351 ; Henderson and Pergusson, Dunedin, £11,816 ; J. MclCueill, Balclutha, £14,750.

A good "while ago we gave a description of the plans of a theatre then proposed to be erected off Tory-street, Te Aro. That theatre or hall is now erected, and the interior fittings and decorations all but completed. It is a fine building, and, for its size, affords great accommodation, whilst very close attention has been paid to technical details from a theatrical point of view, the stage being well provided with all the necessary “ fixings ” and ample dressingroom accommodation ; and beneath the stage is a large workshop, fitted up with gas, which will prove very useful in different ways. The hall is longer and wider than the Odd Fellows’ Hall; is handsomely decorated inside, wellventilated, and the means of egress are most extensive —a fact which, in view of certain melancholy experiences in connection with theatres, should be a strong recommendation in in its favor. The whole work reflects credit on the architect (Mr. Chatfield), the builder (Mr. Lynch), and Mr. Martin, by whom the decoration of the interior is being performed. It may be mentioned that a stock of scenery is being provided, the artist being Mr, Briggs, who was connected for some time with the theatrical company under the direction of Mr. Sam Howard. The hall will be admirably suited for the performances of itinerant troupes of players and shows, and we have no doubt will be largely patronised as soon as entirely finished, especially as it is situated in the centre of a thickly populated portion of the city.

A fatal accident occurred yesterday morning early to a settler named Johnson, whose body was discovered at a later period lying at the bottom of a gully near Belmont Hill. He was quite dead then. It appears that on Thursday evening he left the Waterloo Hotel in his cart at about six o’clock, and the only explanation of the accident would seem to be that by some means the horse and cart fell over the side of the hill, for they were found at the bottom also. The deceased was formerly a soldier in the 99th Regiment, subsequently exchanging into the Goth, while the latter regiment was in New Zealand. He obtained his discharge in Wellington, and was appointed one of the warders of the "Wellington Gaol under Mr. Read, which office he held until about seven years ago, when he resigned and went to live on a piece of land he had purchased in the neighborhood of Belmont. Since that time he has gained a livelihood hy selling firewood and produce. An inquest will be held to-day at 10 o’clock.

The Wairarapa Nates Letter says :—“The Waioliine has not improved its channel during the recent freshes so far as that part which affects the main road is concerned. A small branch runs in the gravel bed on the Greytown aide of the new bridge, while a body of water also finds its way down the small channel next to Miss Wyett’s. At the bridge matters loot better. The channel under the old culvert on the northern side is fast silting up, and it is expected that the next fresh will close it altogether. The upper side is being added to, and if the anticipations just mentioned are realised, the lower side will also be attended to, thus removing one of the great dangers connected with this bridge. The channel cutting seems to be progressing, and the men are not far from the bridge. On the whole, everything looks very favorable.” A New Zealand Gazette was published on Thursday last. It contains—Proclamations extending the jurisdiction of the R.M. Court, Akaroa, declaring certain lauds to be waste lands of the Crown ; definition of the middle line of railway from Aramoho junction to the town of Wanganui ; additional regulations under the Electric Telegraph Act, 1575 ; issue of Crown grants under the Waiuku Native Grants Act, 187(3 ; reservation of certain laud in the town of Lawrence, provincial district of Otago, under the Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872 notices as to the laying down of roads on lauds granted to natives in Auckland ; notices of petitions regarding the incorporation of certain districts with the boroughs of Eoslyn and Maori Hill; proclamations of various appointments ; notices as to tenders for the New Zealand coastal steam service ; rules of Supreme Court, coming into force on and after Monday, the 2nd July ; and a number of Land Transfer Act and goldfields notices.

The well-known Victorian wicket-keeper Blackham has been presented with a diamond' ring in recognition of his valuable services during the past cricket season in the All-Eng-land matches.

The following gentlemen have been appointed by his Honor the Chief Justice to be Commissioners of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, under the Commissioners of the Supreme Court Act, 1875 : —James Cooper Stewart,Victoria (solicitor, Melbourne); Henry Wrixon, Victoria (solicitor, Sandhurst); Bayses Waite Dickson, Victoria (solicitor, Melbourne); and Henry John Bucklaud, Tasmania (Registrar Supreme Court, Hobarton). The Sydney Morning Herald remarks «Ifc has often been said that to hold office under our Colonial Government is to run the chance of indignities when the annual salary is under discussion. If there is in our service a dignified office it is that of the Agent-General, and it has been impossible to get his salary voted this year without his being sneered' at for writing poetry.” We might make precisely the same remark in respect to the New Zealand Agent-General, but in this case Sir Julius Vogel is attacked—well, because he is Sir Julius Vogel. The Bank of New Zealand in London has changed its locale. “ Anglo-Australian” writes; —lt has left 50, Old Broad-street, and taken up its quarters in the very heart of the city. It is now within sight and hail of the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange, and while it flanks the House, it also fronts the new model street called Queen Victoriastreet, in which latter it is number one in grandeur as well as in numerical position. Some of my readers may have heard of the strong and handsome stone structure erected for the “ National Safe Deposit Company.” It is a huge detached building, several storeys in height, and provided with great vault accommodation. Well, like many others, the company has not been a financial success ; so to make the best of a non-paying business, the company have vacated the ground floor they occupied and descended into the strong and airy vaults below, and thus made room a for the Bank of New Zealand and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency, which together occupy the whole flat on the ground floor, at a rental, I am informed, of £3OOO a yeai*. The bank occupies the east end of the premises next to the Mansion House, while the west, or opposite end, accommodates the Loan and Mercantile Company, and what with costly tesselated floors, parti-colored ceilings, polished mahogany fittings, and engraved glass panels in partitions forming the board, manager’s, and other rooms, the whole presents an amount of style and elegance found in very few London banking establishments. Nor is this all. The various groups of clerks—busy in “ a paradise of pen and ink”—show the large amount of business transactions in these twin institutions, both of which may be considered as of highclass importance, dealing with millions of money, and therefore requiring, I presume, to make a first-class appearance in the centre of the financial part of the richest city in the world.