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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5134, 6 September 1877, Page 2

Our cablegram received at an early hour this morning,- announces the death of M. Thiers (late President of the French Republic), and who for half a century has held a place in European polities. It may be surely said that' the announcement of his death will cause a sensation all over the civilised world. M. Thiers was eighty years of age. “The great middle party” held a special caucus yesterday. Their organ was duly instructed to state mysteriously that’the caucus would have most important results, and was attended by a majority of members. Except in point of attendance we believe the caucus was an unqualified success. Between members present and undoubted sympathisers fully fifteen votes were accounted for. The only difficulty that occurred was in the selection* of a leader. To accomplish this in a pleasant manner Mr. Bunny proposed, Mr. Gisborne seconded, and it was unanimously resolved that a leader be balloted for. Fourteen ballots were then taken with similar results. Every member voted for himself. The caucus was then adjourned until to-day, when the trifling difficulty that arose yesterday will, it is confidently expected, be disposed of. We are in receipt of another telegram!re Jones. In printing it, we are compelled ! to omit certain adjective and substantive portions, forcible, but not polite. The telegram is as follows :—“ Cambridge, September s.—To the Editor Times, Wellington.—Please put my telegraphic address to Mr. George Jones in your next issue.—‘George Jones, Esq., Wellington.—lf your remarks concerning myself have been correctly reported in the Auckland Herald you' are a before. You are also the most unmitigated in New Zealand. It is not worth while suing you for libel ; you are possibly not worth 'damages. Imprisonment, with hard labor is the, best cure for your, complaint, r-r-Geo. W. Dkumjiond Hay." i The libel case against Mr. George Jones, printer and publisher of the; Oamar vl'Evening Mail, is sot down for hearing at the Resident Magistrate Court" this morning. , Mr. Rees and Mr. Hislop are counsel -for the defendant; and Mr. Izard will appear for the prosecution,

The death of Mr. John Garner, an old settler, who arrived at Wellington in 1840, is reported from Wanganui. Thex-d was a good house Theatre Royal laatjiiight to'see the last performance of Uucle'Tpm’sl Cabin,”• and thej'other attx-ac-tiohs.\ v 'For'tdThight “-The Octoroon” is billed, and with the Vaudeville Troupe should again fill the theatre. ’ - Mr. J.' Nanoarrbw, we'notice, has been apppinted local agent for the Union Insurance ’Company*, iThis gentleman for a longtime practically .conducted the business of the South British Insurance Company, arid did so in a manner that showed his perfect capability for the workf The Union Coriipany have got the right man in the right place. Two men were arrested yesterday afternoon on a charge of larceny. It appears that they entered a confectioner’s shop, and during the absence of the proprietor one of them was seen by an unobserved bystander to put his hand in the till behind tlxe counter. They were both given in charge on attention being drawn to the circumstance, and will be brought up at the Resident Magistrate’s Court this morning. The Fine Arts Exhibition and Art Union attracted a large audience last night to St. George's Hall, The view of the pictures themselves may be said to be worth the money charged for admission. The hall is lighted so as to show everything to advantage. To-night and the two succeeding ones will be the last appearances of the Bose Brothers, and all who desire to see these artists should remember the fact. At the Resident Magistrate Court yesterday, before his Worship the Mayor and C. O’Neill, Esq., J.P., John Gringor and Isaac Carroll were each fined 65., with the alternative of twenty-fours’ hard labor, for drunkenness.—On the civil side, Mr. A. Lindsay, sued Mr. F. Valentine for £4 10s. for boots and shoes sold and delivered. The Court !gave judgment for the amount claimed aud costs. — In the matter of Soffe’s estate v. Taylor, junr., judgment was given for the defendant. The Waha Maori libel case occupied the Supreme Court all day yesterday, but it is no# drawing to A close. Mr. Conolly continued his address to the jury, aud concluded at ten minutes to one o’clock. The Court then adjourned till two, when Mr. Macassy, for the plaintiff, addressed the Court on behalf of his client in a forcible and eloquent speech. Both addresses were of great length. His Honor will sum up this morning, and nothing will remain then to conclude the action but the verdict of the jury. A curious phenomenon has been observed in the vicinity of the Octagon and other parts of Dunedin, says the Guardian. The footpaths for a time were completely covered with small red worms, varying from one to two inches in length. . Some of the residents ascribed the lively appearance of the asphalt to a shower of worms, but the probability seems that the crawling army were induced by the humid condition of the atmosphere to leave their lairs in the adjacent grass-plots. Mi-. W. H, Lewis, of the Hafod, Swansea, has invented a new engine of warfare, which : will be very likely to attract the attention of the War Office as an appliance calculated to place its possessor in an advantageous position over an opponent. It consists of a. cannon so arranged as to discharge a sharp sword-blade crosswise in the direction of the enemy, the knife or cutter being so poised in its career through the air as to cover the whole space in a longitudinal direction described by the blade itself. An 8-inch ball would carry a sword 14 feet in length 600 yards, literally mowing down every human obstacle in its path; A correspondent writes to the Pall Mall Gazette on the subject of newspaper correspondents with the Russian army:—“Besides metal badges to be' worn' on the arm,' they are required ■to have always with them their photographic likeness, which, in token of authenticity, must’bear the stamp of the Russian staff.” According to a Russian newspaper, the first foreign correspondents formally received were M. Ivan de Woesty’n, of the Baris Fiyaro, and Mr. MoGahan, of the Daily News. Other foreign correspondents, however, have since arrived ; and the Standard’s correspondent with the Russian army, who, in a recent letter, described the ceremony of investiture, states; that the badge is six inches long, and that the one he wears is marked “ No. 9.” According to an occasional correspondent.of the Standard, writing from St. Petersburg,: the Official Journal has received, from its correspondent at the Russian headquarters, an account of the instructions issued, in connection with foreign newspaper correspondents, to Russian officers. . They are to be carefully watched, they are to be at liberty to go where they please, but on condition of communicating at the office of the staff every change in their place of abode ; commanders of columns aud all who are likely to be well informed as to the movements of troops are to be on their guard if correspondents should apply to them for news ; and in case of suspicious conduct on the papt of a correspondent, above all, “ if he should show any intention of going over to the enemy,” he is to be at once arrested and taken before the nearest general.