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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5138, 11 September 1877, Page 2

A meeting of the Wellington Temperance Society was held last evening, when the petition praying the Licensing Bench not to grant any more new licenses was. brought in by the canvassers who had gone round the town to obtain signatures. 12716 names of adult residents in Wellington are appended to it, and a few more are yet to be, added. The petition will be presented to the Licexsing Commissioners to-day by the following deputation ; The yen, Archdeacon Stock, the Revs. Patersou, Ogg, Reid, Mr. Holclsworth, and others. The matriculation examination for the University of New Zealand will be held on the 17th December next. Intending, candidates are requested, by advertisement, to send in their names, with the fee of a guinea each, to - Mr. C. O.; graham,/ Secretary of the;; Wellington College, hot later than the 31st October. ■ -

We are informed that the steamer Lord Ashley, which was insured in the New Zealand Insurance Company for £7000,' was re-insured for £6500, and the New Zealand Company’s loss, therefore, willlnot exceed £SOO. At the ; Theatre: Royal last evening there was a fair attendance, . considering the unfavorable ’state ol the weather, and the performance appeared to give satisfaction to the audience. - • Mr. J. M..Cleland will address the electors of Thoyndon Ward this evening, at 8 at Mr. Hatch’s Karori Hotel, Tinakori-road, and to-morrow, at the same hour, at Mr. Brady’s Thistle Hotel, Mulgrave-street, Officers and brethren of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity, are informed that the new lodge-room will be formally opened by the district officers on Thursday next. ; The programme of a grand concert, to be given in aid of the Karori parsonage fund, appears in our advertising columns, and is of itself sufficiently-attractive to draw a large house. A great number of tickets have already been disposed of. During the division last night on the previous question, intercepting Mr. Rees motion relative to the appointment of a committee to inquire into the Hawke’s Bay land transactions, Mr. Williams was looked up by mistake in the Opposition lobby. Notwithstanding the inclement weather there was a good house at St. George s Hall last night. Miss Lizzie Morgan made her reappearance, and was warmly received. The other portions of the programme were most creditably performed, and received well-merited applause. To-night an entire change is announced. Mr. Button, M.H.R., delivered an interesting and instructive lecture yesterday evening atthe Woodward-street Congregational Church, on “ Oxygen,” illustrated by experiments. There was a very good attendance, notwithstanding the unfavorable state of the weather, and the audience appeared highly pleased with both the matter of the lecture and the manner in which it was handled. It is announced that the third term of the present year at the Wellington College will commence on the 24th iust. An examination will be held in December for the scholarships given to the primary schools within the education district. There will also be a competition amongst the pupils attending the College for the Turnbull scholarship of the value of £25, and two prizes of £ls and £lO each, in addition tP the ordinary College prizes. .We draw pur readers’ attention to a meeting of the members and persons interested in the formation of the Wellington Reform Club and Working Men’s Institute, which will be held this evening at 8 p.m. in the side-room, Odd Fellows' Hall. The Hon. W. Fox will take the chair. This club is similar to the Working Men’s Club lately formed, with the exception that all intoxicating beverages are excluded from the premises. As the object is a good one, we hope there will be a large attendance. At the Resident Magistrate's, Court yesterday, before H. S. Wardell, Eaq., R.M., Edward Elax was charged with being drunk and disorderly on Saturday night, and also with assaulting his wife. It appeared that the accused, who by his own statement had been a teetotaller for several months, had gone to the theatre somewhat the worse for liquor, and on being remonstrated with, had struck his wife and also the constable who arrested him. He was fined £2 for the assault on the wife, and £1 for assaulting the constable. The penalty was subsequently reduced to £l, ou the intercession of a friend, who said the accused was a respectable hard-working man, with a family to support.—Mrs! Flax, the wife of the abovenamed defendant, was next charged with being drunk and disorderly. It appeared that when her husband was arrested, she followed him to the .lock-up, and created a disurbance there. She denied beilig drunk, but admitted that she was very much excited by what had ■ taken place. She called two witnesses to.prove that she was quite sober a short time before the occurrence. Under the circumstances, the Bench dismissed the case.—William Jones, also charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the same affair, did not appear, and the amount of his bail (£1) was ordered to be forfeited.—Mary Finable, an elderly woman living at Karori, well-known in town as a vendor of .milk, was charged with having been drunk on Saturday night. As she had been locked up since that time she was discharged with a caution. Louis Entiers, charged with being drunk the previous day, was fined 205., with the alternative of forty-eight hours’ imprisonment in ease of nonpayment.—Ah elderly man named John Freeman was charged with having a dog in his possession supposed to have been stolen. The accused, who said he had purchased the dog for 45., was remanded~for a week far the production of further evidence. —Alexander Wilson, charged with feloniously entering the premises of Mr. Burt, at the Upper Hutt, aud stealing therefrom sundry articles of the value of £9, was remanded until Friday next. It will be remembered that a short time ago an agent of the Bank of New South Wales at Kumara, named Hogg, gave himself into the custody of the police as the perpetrator of a robbery of his employers’ gold and notes to a considerable amount. The West Coast Times says that Mr. Hogg was in the enjoyment of the munificent salary of £l5O per annum ; a liberal increase on the part of the institution having recently raised his annual allowance to that amount. The two officers, says our contemporary, in full charge of the agency on a new aud extensive goldfield were earning between them considerably less than an ordinary carpenter or blacksmith in the same neighborhood. Giving small pay to persons in responsible situations is bad policy, and has been the cause of many crimes. At the, same time the bank would no doubt say that they could get plenty of men able and willing to fill such a position as Mr. Hogg filled on the same terms and to find security; therefore there was no reason why they should pay more than the market price of the article. It is very clear that the “ clerk class ” is a little too numerous in the colony. If there were fewer competing for these situations wages would naturally rise. Referring to a‘ statement regarding the fertility of a block of land near Masterton, to be sold on the deferred-payment principle on Thursday, the 20th instant, a correspondent writes as follows to the Wairarapa News :—“ I am in a position to afford still further proof of the value of the land for agricultural purposes. The Maoris, by whom the surrounding country was originally owned selected that particular portion of their lands to reside upon. One season they put in a considerable patch of wheat crop, which gave the enormous return of 60 bushels to the acre. This statement has been fully corroborated by independent .testimony, besides which the ground itself affords a variety of other evidence of its intrinsic value for cultivation. The block includes a strip of one of the most valuable totara bushes, in the country. The bush is perfectly accessible to the main road, and is situated not more than-five miles from Mas.terton.”