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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5105, 3 August 1877, Page 2

; In the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon Mr. Stout gave notice of Ms intention to move that ■ the 1 Governor of the cblony should he elected by the people. 'Among the Bills introduced to the House of Representatives yesterday was a pet of Sir George Grey’s, providing for triennial Parliaments. The motion for the second reading of the Bill is calculated to elicit considerable discussion. • ‘ | The improvements to the large corner building in which the late firm of Edmondson and Sfljars carried bn business for a time, M/e now almost completed, and from what can now he seen of,.the internal fittings, the New Zealand Insurance Company, [who purchased the building, will have offices as handsome as they are cOmmodiqua The, alterations and fittings have been done by Mr.’Baird, contractor, and tHe . decorations by Mr. George Pound. , In reference,to the latter portion of the work, we maynotice! the illuminated lettering bn the large J wipdpw at the. main entrance, to the buildipg. It is a' magnificent; piece of work, infinite credit on rthe artist, Mr., Pound. . , .. . , | The bazaar in, aid of the fund for re-building St,Peter’s. Church continues: to,be attractive. Yesterday, especially towards the evening, the hkffiwas quite , filled, and a good business appeared: tb be,,doing at,the stalls, where the ladies were kept busily: at; work, and at the aft, i unions; over which the Yen. Archdeacon Stock .presided. The excellent band of .the City. Rifles, under the leadership, of Mr. Barber, added not a little to the numerous attractions- of the evening. - The sum of £153 ls.-3d. was taken in cash 'yesterday.; ;■ ‘Thebazaar will be re-opened to-day from noon uhtil 5 p.m., and again from 7to 10 p.m. We may mention that ah art union is being got up of which the- prize will he the handsome and fine-toned pianoforte presented by Mr. AndrewYoung, 'and' all who are desirous of becoming subscribers' should do so as soon as possible, as the lisVis being rapidly filled up. We expect to see a large attendance to-day. ■ ■ 1 :

| The ball given by the Hon. George McLean, M.IJ.R., - last night, at the - Provincial Hall, went off with great eclat. About 200 persons were present, amongst whom-were many of the members of the Upper and Lower Houses, and leading private citizens of Wellington and country visitors, with the ladies of several families, combining to make (this one of the most successful social gatherings that has ever taken place here. The supper was supplied by Mr. P. Laing, aud it is almost unnecessary to add that it was in his usual excellent style, and iyas duly appreciated., Dancing, commenced about nine o’clock, and was kept up with great spirit until an early hour this morning. The hall- was-very-tastefully decorated and bril-liantly-lighted, presenting, when filled with well dressed and happy looking guests, as gay and animated a scene ,as could be well imagined. : ' : J - .

- i On Monday evening last a public meeting of the ratepayers in Ho. 2’ ward, Pahautauui District;'was'held at the ’Pahautanui Hotel, to consider the advisability of erecting a bridge ht the lower , ford on the Small Farm road. Mr. Fred. Bradey was elected to the chair. Mr. E. Smith (the councillor for the ward) addressed the meeting at some length. He said lie considered it most desirable to have a bridge over this river, as it occasionally happened that after heavy rains . the ford was impassable ;, and as it was on the main road leading from Pahautan'ui ,to the Hutt, the public generally would benefit by a bridge being erected there. He stated that there was, £IOO available for this purpose; and in order that the work might be, proceeded with at once, he was willing to advance another £IOO out of his own pocket as.!a loan for six months, without interest. Several of the ratepayers were of opinion that it would be better to expend the money in widening the road ; and a good deal of discussion ensued on both, sides of the question. Ultimately Mr. Goldfinch proposed, and Mr. Stewart • seconded, a resolution that it was desirable, to, have a,bridge erected at the lower. ford. Mr. Blighty proposed, and Mr. Galloway seconded an amendment, that in the opinion of the meeting it was more desirable to expend the money in widening the road. Upon a division being called for, seven voted for the amendment, and sixteen for the original proposition, ; .which was carried accordingly. A vote of tbanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. j ; : .

{ An accident of a painful character happened to Mr. Myers on Wednesday evening. That gentleman was going to. his home : on the Terrace; and while in the act of climbing up that "slippery hillside which npw ; has to be traversed by persons proceeding to the Terrace by the,.right-of-way where Plimmer’s , steps used. fid. be, he slipped, and fell several feet, aprainingboth of his ancles, and grazing his head against the. wall of the ‘house situated at the foot of the hill. Mr. Myers, who is advanced in years, was so much exhausted from the shock and suffered so much from pain in his ancles; that he could not rise, and had to remain where he fell, until observed by three ipm who, happened to be passing shortly afterwards, who - very kindly assisted him up the hill, and escorted him to his lodgings, Willow Bank House. Mr. Myers'has not been able to leave the house since the unfortunate occurrence above related, and cannot pass from one room to another without assistance. We are glad/to see, that the work of erecting new steps of a substantial character is being proceeded with as fast as possible; but at the same time it is to be regretted that 1 the” work Was not taken up at an earlier ditto, as it would have prevented a good deal of public inconvenience, i Owing to counter attractions, the attendance at St. George’s Hall last evening was less numerous- than on any evening since the inauguration of the popular promenade concerts. A very attractive performance nevertheless was spiritedly performed.” It is ’desired to mention especially the vocal efforts of Miss Navaro, who sang several times during the evening ; her rendering of the ballad “Kathleen Mavourneen,” ' for instance,' gave great pleasure, the soft and sympathetic character of her voice finding full expression in the song. MisaXydia Howarde also contributed largely to )he entertainment; and Messrs. Cary and Hunter’-sang/ during' the evening, the several performances of each being received with applause. , i A young man named William Saunderson, a Waiter at Barrett’s Hotel; was arrested yesterday and lodged in the lockup 911 the charge of stealing wiring apparel belonging to the landlord, Mr Light... He. will, bo -brought before the Keaideilt Magistrate’s Court this morning;

The News Letter o£ yesterday states that a new Wesleyan Church is about to be built at Masterton, at a cost of There will be a meeting of the City Council this afternoon in the Provincial Hall, ; at the usual hour. The usual monthly meeting of the Wellington Building Society will be held this evening at 7 o’clock. M ' Mr. Tom Margetts notifies in our advertising columns that he is the lessee and manager of the new Princess Theatre,'Tory-street, which is about to, open. A' shooting match between the officers and privates of the Wellington City Eifles has been arranged, to come off on Saturday next at Pplhill Gully, when a number of prizes will be given to the successful competitors. A meeting'of ■ the creditors of John S. Strange, of the Upper Hutt, bushman, was convened for noen yesterday, at the Supreme Court buildings; but no creditors attended, and no business was done.' . : A call on the New Zealand Copper Mining Company (Auckland) of sixpence per share has been made, payable on the Bth inst. We learn from the Herald of -the 30th ■ ult. that the company intends to commence operations immediately. ■ •' ■' l • Notice is given in our advertising columns that three balls will be held during the present Parliamentary session in the Provincial Hall, on August 13, September 3, and September 24 respectively. The third annual meeting of the Permanent Equitable Building and Investment Society takes place at 8 o’clock this evening in the Polytechnic Hall, when the report and balance sheet will be presented. : The fourth annual meeting of the New Zealand Shipping. Company is announced to .be held at the head office, Christchurch, on the 17th inst. at noon, for the purpose of receiving the directors’ report and balance-sheet, and electing three directors and two auditors. At a meeting of the Wairarapa Small Farms Association, held on Saturday, a deputation was appointed to wait upon the Mayor, and request him to call a public meeting to consider the question of waste lands administration, with'a view to meiuorialiring the Assembly on the-subject. -The' Municipal Conference met yesterday morning at 10 o’clock, at the new Government buildings; and got through a considerable amount of business, as will be seen by our report of the proceedings which appears in another portion- of- our columns. .The Conference will reassemble 1 this morning at the same hour and place. i A somewhat singular accident occurred to , Mr. Dunnett, one of the members of the Pakuranga Hunt Club (Auckland). He was riding his horse Pointsman at the hack of the Harp of Erin Hotel, when the animal got under a clothes line, which caught Mr. Dunnett by the throat and pulled him quite out of his saddle, the horse going clean from under him. No serious results followed. Two other gentlemen, Mr. J. M. Clark and Mr. H. Whitaker, were thrown on the same day, but escaped unhurt. ...

■ A very remarkable instance of the way in which delay may occur in the transmission of letters was brought to light recently. It happened in this way. resident in this ojty received a newspaper from England,, and as he cut the string which fastened the paper at either end a letter - fell out, and from the address and postmarks it appeared that the letter should have gone from one part of Derbyshire to another;, so that the person to whom it was addressed would not receive it until about four months, at least from the date on which it was posted. Under ordinary circumstances, of course, the time occupied in the passage of the letter would not have been niore than a day.,. When that letter reaches its destination the contents thereof should be rather stale, . (

’ At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before. H. S. Wardell, Esq., R.M.. James Macauley, charged with drunkenness, was fined 65., with the customary alternative in case of - non-payment.- A man named Rossa, charged - with using threatening language towards his wife, who complained of very brutal treatment on his part towards her, was ordered to enter into his own recognizance of £2O and find two sureties of £lO each to keep the peace and be of good behavior for the next six months.. The required sureties not being forthcoming the defendant was sent to gaol. Michael Laffiu, whose name is very familiar to our readers, was charged with vagrancy. Mr. Cook, tailor, of Lambton-quay, deposed to lending prisoner half-a-crown, believing his story that he was a carpenter in the employ of the Corporation, • temporarily hard up for a few shillings. The money had not been repaid. Corroborative testimony was adduced, and accused was sentenced to one month’s hard labor. Hewasnextchargedwith stealing sundry Crimean shirts, the property of Messrs. Paul and Co,, of Lambton-quay. Mary Eisher stated that prisoner took lodgings at her house, and had in his bedroom a parcel which, as she had her suspicions of him, she thought might contain stolen goods. ; On examination the shirts now produced were found in it. A salesman from Messrs. Paul and Co.’s proved that the shirts-were the property of his employers, and had been stolen from a stand near the door of their shop! Prisoner, who made no defence, was sentenced to six months’ hard labor for this offence., .

The members pf the Wellington Club will be pleased to learn that the telegram despatched from Wellington requesting W. H. Levin, Esq., to purchase two of Burroughes and Watts’ best quality billiard tables, was received by Mr. Levin in London on the sth June, and that gentleman immediately proceeded to execute the order, and the tables and furniture for the room will be shipped by the Schiehallion, to. sail for Wellington about the end of June. ' It is therefore probable that the articles will reach the colony by the time the new Club House is ready for occupation. ! As might have been expected, the re-appear-ance of those talented artists Miss Florence Colville ■ (Mrs. ; Hoskins) and Mr. Steele attracted to the Theatre Koyal last evening a large and fashionable audience, “ Leah the the Forsaken " being the piece with which the new season,- as it may be termed, ’was ■ commenced. Perhaps the choice of that drama for the opening night was scarcely the best that could have been made ; but the performance itself, was a suocess, the leading characters being sustained by Miss Colville and Mr. J. B. Steele thoroughly well. We have frequently seen Miss 1 Colville in the part of Leah, the Jewish maiden, and do not regard ;it as ,one in which that lady may be seen at her best; lighter parts suit her better, but her acting in almost any character cannot fail to, be, pleasing, to say nothing of the personal attractions Miss Colville is known to possess. Mr. Steele is so well known in Wellington that it would be almost superfluous to say that his representation of the character of Kudolph was a success. Whatever Mr. Steele does he does well. The caste, so far as the other parts in the piece were concerned, was well arranged, Mr. and Miss Stoneham, Misses-Nye and Lawrence took part in the performance, which, as said before, was very successful, and called forth frequent plaudits from the audience. •The'usual monthly meeting of the Young Men’s Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Society was held last evening, in the Dixon-street schoolroom. The recitations “ The Dream of Eugene Aram” and “Horatius” were rendered in good style, after which a wellwritten critique on “Alexander Fope” was read-by one of the members. Several other readings were' given in very good style, and a very pleasant evening was spent by all present.

Mr. NVJ., Isaacs’s sale of ironmongery, groceries, and wines'and spirits should bo well attended to-day, as we are informed every lino to bo offered is for positive unreserved sale. The list comprises the most marketable, goods wo have seen advertised for a considerable time, and wo would recommend both wholesale and retail dealers not to miss so good an opportunity. , , • Mr.* W.- Flnnlmore notifies that ho has received Instructions to submit to public competition at an early date a very valuable block of land, being a portion of the estate of the late Mr. J. Gibson, situated ih Manners-street, and extending from tbe "Wesleyan Church towards WUUs-street.