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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5095, 23 July 1877, Page 2

On dit that the July number of “ The Nineteenth Century” will probably contain an article by Sir Julius Vogel on “ Confederation.” The civil sittings of the .Supreme Court will be resumed this morning at ten o'clock, when the case of Harrison v. Palmer, which was before the Court on Friday, will be proceeded with. This is the last cause on the list for the present sittings. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Saturday the business was as follows : —Phillip Henry Saddler, brought up on suspicion of lunacy, was remanded for medical examination ; George La Kiche, seaman on hoard the ship Ocean Chief, was brought up on remand, on charges of insubordination and assault upon the mate. The charge of insubordination was, in the opinion of the Bench, clearly proved, and a sentence of two weeks’ imprisonment was inflicted on the prisoner. As to the second charge, there could be no doubt, said the Mayor, who, with Mr. Cruickshaiak, J.P., was on the bench, that the defendant had committed the assault complained of; but the provocation had been great, and the case was therefore dismissed.

A Mr. Walker, announced as the trancemedium, spoke in St. George’s Hall last night. Mr. Baker, well known in connection with the “ Hibernicon,” has taken the Phcenix Hotel at Wanganui. The yield of gold from the Thames for the month of June amounted to 27760z5., and from Coromandel 5590z5.

The Invercargill municipality have received advice of the floating of their £IS,OOO loan in London at £95 per cent.

The Odd Fellows’ Hall was opened on Saturday evening by Mr. Clifford, with hi* “ Mirror of the World,” and the attendance was very fair. As will be seen by advertisement, the season will not extend over a week.

Signor Morley, well known as the principal tenor of the Simonseu Opera Company during their New Zealand tour, is now in Dunedin, and will give one or two concerts there before proceeding to America.

A farming correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald informs that journal that the amount of wheat that will be put in in Hawke’s Bay this year will be about ten times that put in last year.

The public meeting advertised by his Worship the Mayor to he held in the Polytechnic Hall to-night, re Te Aro reclamation, is not unlikely, we learn, to be productive of considerable discussion.

The local paper reports that the late fine weather has enabled farmers in the Bangitikei district to finish their ploughing and get in their wheat, of which an unusually large breadth will be sown this season.

The correspondent of the Pall Mall Budget says that Hobart Pasha, when in Constant tinople, is one of the most trusted and frequently consulted advisers of the present Sultan.

At a special meeting of the Waste Lands Board at Bunediu on the 17th inst., a memorial from the Teviot settlers, asking for 5000 acres of Run 199 (leased by Messrs. Cargill and Anderson) to be thrown open for settlement, was considered. The Board refused to grant the application, <c in view of legislation regarding the laud laws of Otago probably taking place during the present session of Parliament.”

There was a fair though not 'a crowded audience at the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening, when “ Macbeth” was placed upon the stage and ably performed, Mr. Morton Tavares sustaining the leading character of Macbeth. To-night the sensational drama “ Not Guilty," in which Mr. and Mrs. Tavares will appear in dual parts, will be played for the first time, when we expect to see a full house.

There was a large attendance at the promenade concert—the ninth of the series—at St. George’s Hall on Saturday evening, and the entertainment passed off most succesfully, the singing of Mr. R. W. Carey, who possesses a fine baritone voice, being added to the usual attractions. A number of man-of-wars men were present during the evening, and took an active part in the skating, in which they acquitted themselves with various success. We understand that an interesting case will come before the Supreme Court at its next civil sittings in Wellington, when the Government will appear as plaintiff and a well-known ship chandler of Custom House-quay as defendant. The damages are laid at £ISOO, the value of a cargo of iron taken out of the brig Kate Monaghan at the Manawatu. One of the local insurance offices is we hear considerably interested in the result of the action. A man of “ thorough ” has turned up in the person of a French chemist, who has designed a scheme of land torpedoes by which a whole army can be “ polished off ” at one fell blast. The Peace Society would do well to cultivate the chemist’s acquaintance. The Pall Mall Gazette, says he proposes to the Sultan to experiment upon the Russians on their march on Roumania.

The Melbourne correspondent of the Warrnamhool Gtiardian writes:—“Everyone has been to see and is talking about Dr. Beaney’s new diamond chain, which is a more gorgeous piece of jewellery than the medico’s last venture, which latter cost something like £I3OO. The doctor, it is rumored, will appear to-night at Government House hall in all the glory of £7OOO worth of diamonds. The new chain is a £3OOO article; and I believe all these expensive baubles are separate and distinct, and not, like pantomime soldiers, merely fresh combinations.”

Something like a gun, Coming Events says, has been invented by Sub-Constables Kevnan and Patcheils, of Waterford, and will (so we are informed) shortly be brought over to the War Office for inspection. It consists of 40 chambers of regular rifle size, enclosed in a single cylinder. The chambers can be simultaneously charged with cartridge, fired, and cleaned out noth such rapidity that the weapon fires 800 rounds per minute. The inventors calculate that if 10,000 men were armed with 1666 of these guns, they would fire 1,332,800 shots per minute ; whilst if 100,000 men were armed with the Martini-Henry rifle they could not fire more than 1,200,000 per minute. In other words, 10,000 men armed with 1666 of the “ Irresistible Guns,” as they are called, would be equivalent to 100,000 men each provided with the ordinary British rifle. The gun is built on wheels, and is cased with bul-let-proof steel ; and in case of retreat the men could still fire about 800 shots per minute. Preparations are being made by order of the Canadian Government to erect a battery at McCauley’s Point for the defence of the harbor of Yictoria, British Columbia. This is usually considered the most important harbor of any belonging to Great Britain in the North Pacific, and in the event of England being involved in war, her retaining this harbor in her possession would be of immense value to her.