The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5201, 22 November 1877, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1877.

The House of Representatives was not in a calm mood last night. Mr. Sheehan moved the suspension of the standing orders i i order that new business might be taken up after half-past twelve. To carry this it is imperative that two thirds of the House should be present —namely, fifty-nine members. Several gentlemen who ware opposed to the suspension of the standing orders left the Chamber, and the consequence was, that the necessary number not being present, the motion lapsed. Shortly after this Mr. Rowe adverted in sti ong terms to those gentlemen who had walked out, and said their conduct would not he forgotten, Mr. Hunter took this opportunity of drawing the attention of the House to words which had been used by an hon. member to others in the lobby which were contrary to the privileges of Parliament. An attempt had been made to intimidate members by holding out threats. Mr. Hunter warmly deprecated such conduct, and said threats would have no effect upon him. It was interfering with members’ liberty of action within the House, and should be brought under the notice of the Speaker. Mr. O’Rorke, who was acting as Speaker, in the absence of Sir William Fitzherbert, said any member who was opposed to the suspension of the standing orders had a perfect right to leave the House, and it was as reprehensible for an hon. member to threaten another for doing so as to threaten him for the manner in which he voted. Mr. Reynolds made an attack upon the Wellington members for neglecting to attend the House, and accused them of obstructing business, and said if such a course were persisted in, the question of the removal of the scat of Government would again betaken iuto consideration. Mr. G. McLean said Mr. Reynolds was assuming the character of the bully of the House, and Mr. Ormond gave the reason which led him and others to leave the House to defeat the suspension of the standing orders. Gentlemen had absented themselves on the full understanding that certain Bills in which they were interested would not lie reached that night, and it was with the view of preventing those Bills being brought on in their absence that gentlemen left the Chamber. Their object was not to obstruct business in any way. It was perfectly plain that it was owing to the action of the present Government party that the business was in such a backward state. Mr. J. C. Brown was not aware whether or not he was the member referred to as holding out threats. He had certainly made some remarks to gentlemen in the lobby, but he had no intention of intimidating them. Mr. Stout defended his party from obstructing the public business, and was proceeding into the history of the session, when ho was informed by the ActingSpeaker that it was not desirable to enter irito a general discussion, and he sat down. Mr. Donald Reid said a reference to the pages of Hansard would show who had obstructed the public business. Mr. Stout objected to Mr. Reid continuing his remarks, and Mr. O’Rorke decided that the discussion must then close. Mr. Stout and Mr. Rees did not at all relish a reference to Hansard, for is it not demonstrated there in black and white on whose shoulders the onus of obstructing the business of the country lies ? When the adjourned debate upon the question, That, with a view of remedying the inconvenient and unhealthy state of a portion of the Parliament buildings, it is desirable to make the additions and alterations therein as shown on the plans accompanying the report laid upon the table on the 7th November inst,, came on for discussion in the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon, that lover of Wellington, the Hon. Colonial Brett, made a speech somewhat to the following effect:- “ We are surrounded by a pestilential atmosphere, the malaria arising from such a source being very destructive to hea'th ; the municipal body take no interest whatever in the sanitary condition of this city; or, if they do, they take no steps to remedy its defects. All the lodging-houses are su-rounded by pestpools. The illness prevailing amongst hon. members, in some instances of a very serious nature, is well known to everybody. The shadow of death is over these buildings, and it is necessary to ask the Government to do something in the matter, there being a number of obnoxious smells in the vicinity of the buildings, and it not being of any use to appeal to the municipal body.” Shortly afterwards the Hon. Captain Fraser moved the second reading of the Waikouaiti Harbor Bill, which was strongly opposed by the Hon. Mr. Miller and Sir F. D. Bell, both of whom were well acquainted with' the district, but seemed agreed that whatever little produce Waikouaiti had to export could be easily convoyed by rail, and did not necessitate a harbor. The chief reason put forth by the promoter of the Bill for the providing of a harbor in, this spot, was that some day Waikouaiti, with its salubrious at-' mosphere, would become the Brighton of Otago, and the favorite watering-place of that part of the colony. Tills, then, is the place for Colonel Brett. Last night the Colonial Treasurer stated that ho would this day bring down another Imprest Supply Bill

We are informed by Doctor Lemon that the steamer leaves Port Darwin to-day (Thursday), carrying English telegrams. The following horses have been scratched for the Wellington Cup : —Bribery, Puriri, Mata, and Puriki. Clifford’s “ Mirror of the World" drew a moderate house last evening. To-night there will be an entire change in the views exhibited.

The meeting of the Wellington Amateur Athletio Club, postponed from Monday last, will be held to-night at the Pier Hotel, at 8 o’clock. All members are requested to attend.

There will be a meeting of the City Council this evening, at which Mr. Hutchison will, we presume, preside as Mayor, the newly elected Mayor (Mr. Dransfield) not entering upon that office until Wednesday, the 19th December.

The inward Suez mail which arrived by the Ringarooma yesterday morning was two days before contract time. It consisted of 726 letters, 822 newspapers, and 173 books via Brindisi, and 238 letters, 325 newspapers, and 156 books via Southampton. Mr. A. Bruuton, of Dunedin, who is on a visit to Wellington, will conduct a series of divine services, commencing on Sunday, November 25, at the Theatre Royal. Full particulars will be found in our advertising columns.

A cricket match will be played to-day (Thursday) on the Basin Reserve, between the Telegraph and Royal Oak Cricket Clubs, play to begin at 1.30 p.m. The following are the names of the Telegraph team: Aitken, Crowther, Gannaway, Gordon, Henry (captain), Kirker, J., McElwain, Mountier, Sampson, Smith, H., and Sunley ; T. Kirker, emergency.

The burlesque of “Little Don Giovanni,” at St. George’s Hall last night, was one of the greatest successes of the season. It is richly dressed, and the songs and dances introduced make it a complete success. All the ladies and gentlemen of the company were well up in their parts, and played capitally. “ Little Don Giovanni ” should have a long run. The same piece is announced for tonight. Referring to the large sale now going- on at the offices of Messrs. T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co., Temple Chambers, 06 the valuable township of Kiwitea, we are requested to state that, at the request of a number of Canterbury and Wanganui settlers, certain blocks will be reserved for their selection after Saturday next. Those persons,, therefore, who have any desire to secure the most eligible positions, should make immediate application. The deepect mine in Cornwall is Dolcoath, now about 790 yards from the surface. One man has been working in the mine for over forty years. During all that time he has lived five miles distant from the mine, so that he has been walking ten miles each day, in addition to his labor, and a calculation has been made that shows he has, during his forty years’ work, walked 120,000 miles. Last evening “East Lynne” was repeated to a crowded house, and elicited great applause. To-night Signora Majeroni will take her benefit in the great historical drama, “ Marie Antoinette.” Judging from the plot of this play which has been published, it should afford full scope for the undoubted genius of Signora Majeroni. An accident of a very distressing nature happened on board H M.S. Sapphire a few days since (says the Hobarton Mercury), by which one of the midshipmen (Mr. W. E. T. Rivers) lost his life. Deceased was stationed on the maintop whilst the men were being put through their drill, and was pulling hard at the boom tricing-line, which had fouled. It cleared itself suddenly, and, Mr. Rivers was carried away with it, and slipping under the toprail, fell down upon the deck with great force, and expired in twenty minutes. A serious accident occurred on the Huttroad, between Ngahauranga and Kaivvarra, yesterday evening. A man named Richard Gordon, who will be remembered in connection with a recent case in the Supreme Court against Daniel Heggarty, was driving his horse and cart along the road, when in some way his vehicle came into collision with Mr. Mclntosh’s omnibus. He fell out into the road, and the omnibus ran over him. At first it was thought that he must be killed, or at all events seriously injured ; but such fortunately did not prove to be the case. He was conveyed to the hospital in Mr. J. H. Wallace’s carriage, which was passing at tho time, when it was ascertained that although considerably hurt there was no reason to apprehend fatal consequences. So far as we have been able to learn, no blame attaches to the driver of the omnibus. The rowing correspondent of Bell's Bifc in Londmni September tho 27th says:—By the way, I was speaking of the possibility of some sculler being sent to Sydney to beard the great Trickett in his Antipodean home. Would it not be advisable, in the event of our representative p/oving successful, for him to call on the Yankees on his way home, and see whether there is any truth in the statements which are contained in the following paragraph, clipped from the New York Sportsman ; —“ The English spurring press seems to think that either Boyd, Higgins, or Blackman would prove too much for Trickett, the. Australian. We think so, too, and we also think that Courtney or Hanlon are superior to anthin - that paddles on English waters. Anyway, this question-hould bs settled at the earliest possible moment—- ‘ Barkis is willing.' Some foolish people have been going frantic over the fast three and a half miles made by Trickett in his match with Rush, and say that it compares most favorably with Courtney’s 20min. 47fsec. at Saratoga. The wiseacres forget, perhaps, that Trickett rowed on a river, with a good current under him. The race was a straightaway one, we believe, and the day was favorable for fast sculling. On the oilier hand, Courtuey rowed on perfectly dead water, with a nasty cross sea on, and a turn also had to be made in tho journey. Our idea is that we have by tar the bast man. Anyway, we are willing to test the affair to the tune of some thousands of dols.” At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before H. S. Warded, Esq., R.M., Henry Miller was charged with asaulting Patrick McCafferty. Erom the evidence it appeared that the affair was not a very serious one. The complainant stated that as he was going along Willis-strnet he was stopped by the defendant, but declined to hold any communication with him. This was repeated on two subsequent occasions, and Miller apparently getting angry at no response being made to his overtures, pushed MoOafferty aud caused the latter to fall on the pavement, thereby damaging his clothing. The defendant, who said McCafferty fell accidentally and was not pushed down, was fined 20s. and costs, with the alternative of seven days’ hard labor.—A protection order was granted in the case of Thompson v. Thompson.—Judgment was given for defendant in the case of Miiller v. Barnett, which was an action to recover tho aura of £ll, the value of a printer’s block. The plaintiff, one of the owners of a diorama of the Eranco-Prussian war, had his bills printed on the block iu question, which was missed from the Odd . Eellows' Hall, rented at the time from Mr. Barnett, who it was alleged on one side was responsible to plaintiff for its safety, whilst on the other side it was> contended that he was not. Mr. Hutchison and Mr. Ollivier appeared for the respective parties,.and the Court gave judgment for defendant. —The action by the owners of- the steamer Luna against the owners of the schooner Herald, for damages sustained in a collision between the two vessels, which case has been pending for some time, was disposed of by the Court giving judgment for defen’dent; The Resident Magistrate expressed tho opinion that there had been some fault on both sides, and that although primarily the Luna was to blame, there had been contributory negligence on the part of the other vessel.—Brown v. Clayton: This was an action brought in consequence of alleged misrepresentation on the part of defendant relative to the sale of house property in North-street. The plaintiff stated that he bought the property

from defendant for £l3O, of which amount £IOO was to remain on mortgage; but after the bargain was struck, plaintiff discovered that Mr. Gordon Allan had a prior mortgage over the estate, which important fact had been concealed from him. Mr. Barton appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Ollivier for defendant. The case was adjourned until Friday next. Mr. J. H. Wallace will sell at the Hutt Agricultural Show this afternoon horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, &c. • Messrs. J. H. Bethune and Co. will sell by public auction, at 12'noon to-day, at the Wellington Club, two superior billiard tables by Alcock, with fittings complete. ;. "■ We are requested to direct attention to Mr. Duncan's sale by auction, on Friday (to-morrow), on the premises, at the llutt, of that piece of freehold land adjoining the residence of Henry Bunny, Esq., with a seven-roomed house thereon, together with the household furniture, the property of Mr. Manly, who is about leaving the colony for Sydney.