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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5171, 18 October 1877, Page 2

The public meeting convened oy the Mayor to consider what steps shall be taken in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund, will be held at eight o’clock this evening in the Provincial Council Chamber. , His Excellency the Governor will preside on the occasion. Dr. Lemon informs us that telegraph communication with Port Darwin has been interrupted at Alice Springs since the 15th inst. There is a strong feeling in this city that the sentence of Mr. Mackay to seven days’ imprisonment, without the option of a fine, was a harsh aud arbitrary proceeding; and -a petition was drawn up last evening, which has already been numerously signed, praying hia Excellency the Governor to release Mr. Mackay from further custody. We hear that the Rev. Charles Clark, who sails for Napier on Saturday, telegraphed yesterday to the mayor of that town, expressing his willingness to preach on Sunday evening in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund. A meeting of the committee recently appointed by property-holders of Kilbirnie was held last evening," at which Mr. Beere, snr veyor, was present. That gentleman had been instructed to lay out a linn of road from the city to the now township. Me reports that he has surveyed a practicable route, with a gradient in no place exceeding one in ten, aud that the road will be a little under a mile. The cost of forming and metalling a road tea feet wide he estimates at £4OO. The committee resolved to carry out the work if permission be obtained from the City Council to make the road through the Town Belt. It was decided to petition the City Council, and if that body granted the request of the committee, to proceed with the. work immediately. The road will be a decided advantage to the people of the city, as well as to the owners of property at. Kilbirnie, arid we are sure the City Corincil will grant every facility to those who undertake its construction without cost to the Corporation. At St. George’s Hall last evening there was a full house. “ Black-Eyed Susan” was given, with even greater effect than on the previous evening, Miss Howarde, Miss Nye, Mr. Keeley, and Mr. Metcalfe coming in for a large share of applause. Amongst the prizes was a silver watch. To-night tho burlesque will be repeated, aud other novelties are announced.

The time - gun which is to be erected on Mount Victoria arrived here yesterday by the Stella from Ouehunga. We understand that his Honor Mr. Justice Richmond wdl proceed to Wanganui in a day or two, in order to hold the circuit sitting of the Supreme Court in that place. A meeting of the Wellington Trust, Loan, and Investment Company will be held on the 26th inst., tor the purpose of confirming the resolutions passed on the 25th ult. The Wanganui Chronicle of the 12th says—- “ It was rumored in town yesterday that scab has made its appearance in two different flocks on No. 2 line.” Mr. H. Roberts, the “ champion hand-stroke billiard player,” may be expected in Wellington on Friday next, when a series of matches will be arranged, of which further particulars will be given by advertisement. A meeting of creditors in the estate of 15. Tolley was to have been held at the Supreme Court buildings yesterday. The assets are set down as nil, and the liabilities at £127. There not being a sufficient attendance to constitute a quorum the meeting was adjourned until to-day. The beautiful drama of “The Two Orphans” was produced last night at the Theatre Royal to a fair house, and the merits of the piece and the manner in which it was performed de-, served even more liberal patronage. The leading characters of Louise, the blind girl, and Pierre, the cripple, were allotted to Miss Willis and Mr. I. F. Keogh respectively, who played the parts most creditably, and were well supported by the rest of the company. To-night a double bill—“ Rory O’More” and “ The Two Orphans”—will be performed. Last night the Odd Fellows’ Hall was again crowded to excess, and many had to be turned away from the doors. It is certainly to be regretted that Mr. Clark has been unable to secure a much larger room, as there cannot bo a doubt that he would easily fill it. The subject chosen yesterday was “ The Tower of London, Fortress, Palace, and Prison, the moat ancient and the moat poetic pile in Europe,” a theme well worthy of the lecturer, and by him most ably handled. Amongst the more interesting' features were Clarence’s Dream, from Shakspere’s “Richard III.,” the accounts of the deaths of Sir Thomas More and Lady Jane Grey, and the grand peroration on “ Our Modern Liberties,” concluding with some stanzas from Tennyson’s “ Golden Year,” the recital of which brought down the house. This evening Mr. Clark will give a lecture which, by many of his numerous admirers, is considered the best and most finished of his productions—“ Thackeray the Snobographer”—in which is presented a series of curious and varied pictures of life and manners, as drawn by the master hand of the great satirist. The artful Becky Sharp, the fascinating Florizel, and other distinguished members of the great Snob family, will be brought before the audience, and we notice that towards the close of the lecture Mr. Clark will introduce the most beautiful and pathetic of all deathbed scenes, that of the closing moments of Colonel Newcome.

The Wanganui Chronicle states that the late Mr. Charles Smith, who lost his life on the Rimutaka on the 28th September last, had some time previously signed a proposal for an assurance of £SOO. Through the negligence of a friend, who delayed sending in the usual report, the proposal at the time of Mr. Smith’s death was incomplete, and his widow by this is left without the provision which she had reason to believe had been made for her. Wo have been requested to call attention to the alteration in the date of Messrs. J. H. Bethune and Co.’s public sale of the villa residence on Wellingtonterrace, which has been unavoidably postponed until ■Wednesday, 24th October, at noon.