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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5224, 19 December 1877, Page 2

Mr. Hutchison retires from the office of Mayor to-day, and will be succeeded by Mr. Dransfleld. During the two years of Mr. Hutchison’s Mayoralty he has devoted almost the whole of his time to the duties of the office, which he has discharged most efficiently and to the satisfaction of the great body of the ratepayers. Mr. Hutchison will carry with him on his retirement, which will probably be only for a time, the best wishes of his colleagues and of the citizens. Some very useful works have been initiated and others carried out in the borough during the period referred to, and at a future time, should Mr. Hutchison seek reelection, he is sure to receive the support of a large number of the ratepayers. It is not easy to find a gentleman so well qualified for such a position who has so much time to attend to public duties, especially in a towu like this, where tho great majority of suitable candidates are engaged in business avocations which leave them but little leisure at their disposal. It will be a long time before Wellington finds a better Mayor than Mr. Hutchison.

One of the latest rumors respecting the reconstruction of the Ministry, according to the correspondent of the Southland Times, is, that tho Hon. Mr. Waterhouse will take the place of the Hon. Colonel Whitmore as the representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. If this be truo, the Government will certainly be a gainer. It is no secret that the leadership of the Hod. Colonel Whitmore was not very successful during the latter part of the session, and there is no doubt that the Hon. Mr. Waterhouse, as the representative of the Government, would be highly acceptable to a large majority of the Legislative Councillors.

At the request of the proprietors of several morning journals in the colony, the Telegraph authorities have consented that on and after the Ist of January next Press telegrams will be received at the Telegraph offices in the chief towns up to ten o’clock at night, instead of eight as at present. This will be a considerable boon to the public as well as the Press, as everything of importance which transpires in any part of the colony on any particular day will be made known to the people of the various centres of population early the following morning. A meeting of tho Caledonian Society was held at the New Zealander Hotel last evening. Present—Messrs. G. Crawford, T. McKenzie, A. Young, E. W. Mills, J. H. Bethune, A. J. McTavish, G. S. Sellars, Jaa. Reid, J. Martin, J. Lockie, Captain Mclntyre; George Crawford, Esq., in the chair. It was decided to sell the privileges for the forthcoming meeting on Thursday, the 27th inst., by Mr. J. H. Bethune. Messrs. Young, Pollock, Lockie, and Sellars were appointed handicappers, and Messrs. J, H. Pollock and A. Young starters. Various other minor matters of business being settled, the meeting adjourned at 10 o’clock.

As a train of ballast trucks was proceeding along the line on the reclaimed land, one or two of the trucks got off the metals. The train was going at a moderate speed at the time, and the engineer succeeded in pulling up almost immediately. No one was hurt, and very little damage done.

The Chamber of Commerce will meet this afternoon at 3 o’clock.

A meeting of the Board of College Governors is to be held this morning at the Board of Education office. A meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Thursday next, at a quarter-past eleven o’clock.

There will be a meeting of the Wellington Building Society at Mr. White’s office, Panama-street, at 7 o’clock this evening. The annual jneeting of the City Council will be held at noon to-day, for the purpose of installing the Mayor-elect, and the transaction of other business.

We received a telegram yesterday from the Press Agency relative to the fire at Messrs. Guthrie and Larnach’s, at Dunedin, in which the damage was stated at £IO,OOO. This should have been £IOOO. There was no criminal business transacted at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning. Judgment was given in the following civil cases :—Cleland v. Saville, £1 Is.; Donahue and Parr v. W. Johnson, £7 7s. fid.; Haggerty v. Easwell, £2 ; Lowater v. Evans, £l4 19s. fid.

A meeting of householders and parents of children attending the school was held at the Te Aro school-house, Ghuznee-street, yesterday, for the purpose of electing a local committee. The following five were eleeted : Venerable Archdeacon Stock, Rev. Mr. De Castro, Mr. George Didsbury, Mr. Rous Marten, Mr. W. F. Cheeseman.

Whilst the men were at work on the tramway in Willis-street last evening, one of the servied water-pipes burst, or was accidentally broken through, and quite a fountain of water was thrown up, which continued playing for some time. Tliis unmistakeably shows that there was an abundant water supply in this part of the town yesterday evening.

A man fell from the steamer yesterday afternoon into the hiirbor/'ancK wrfi dd probably have been drowned (as we are informed he could not swim) had it not been for the prompt assistance rendered to him by those on board, who threw a rope to him, which he managed to get hold of, and was quickly'hauled on board, not much the worse for his ducking. It will be seen by reference to our report of yesterday’s Licensing Court that Mr. James Brown obtained a license for the Queen’s Hotel on Lambtou-quay. This is a new house, built on the site of the old Army and Navy Hotel, and has been completed in the very best style, and furnished with all the requirements of a first-class hotel. The house contains in all about thirty rooms. Ample provision has been made for escape in case of fire, and the wants of the public have been evidently thoroughly well catered for. Mr. Brown is well known in the trade, and is sure to receive a liberal share of custom. 1

The Italian Opera Company seems likely to have a very successful season here. The subscription-lists, which were opened yesterday, were exceedingly well patronised, and this must he gratifying to the agent of the company, and is an earnest of the success which may be expected. The terms of subscription have been fixed at six guineas for 21 tickets, available for any night, and transferable. The ordinary admission will be—dress circle, 7s. fid.; stalls, Is.; pit, 25.; which, considering the high reputation of the company, is exceedingly reasonable. As the time is limited for the sale of season tickets—and those purchasieg them obtain the right of selection of seats- the intending purchasers will do well to make early application. His Excellency the Governor has signified his intention of being present on the opening night of the season, the 31st instant. The Rev. Charles Clark will signalise his return to Wellington for the Christmas and New Year holidays by the production of his popular lecture-entertainment, “ Christmas in Old England—its Customs and its Carols.” In Melbourne, for several seasons before he went to America, Mr. Clark annually delivered his lecture either in the Theatre Royal or in the Town Hall; but in his tours the lecture is not often delivered, as the carols introduced into the lecture have to be sung by a choir, and considerable practice is necessary. This difficulty has been got over by Mr. John Edwards, who on more than one occasion has superintended the musical arrangements of the lecture, and under whose conductorship the carols have been in rehearsal for some weeks. “ Christmas in Old England ” will be presented in the Odd Eellows’ Hall on Christmas Eve, and in the Theatre Royal on Christmas Night. Full particulars will doubtless be duly advertised when Mr. Clark arrives from Nelson. His tour on the West Coast, which lasted over a month, was highly successful. There was a good house at the Theatre Royal last evening, when Mr. Walton took his benefit, appearing as Jean in ‘ The Ragpicker of Paris,” which part was very ably sustained by him ; and he was well supported by the stock company. The evening’s entertainment concluded with “ U'Callaghan on his Last Legs,” Mr. Walton playing the leading character, which is certainly one of his best impersonations, and is of itself sufficient to stamp him as an “actor” in the true sense of the term. This evening the “Shaughraun” will be performed positively for the last time. Mr. Cary, tire enterprising manager of St. George’s Hall, has determined to close the Hall to-morrow till Monday next, owing to the extensive preparations now going on for the grand < hristmas pantomime. We have inspected the transformation scenery, &c., which is really gorgeous. Mr. Cary is sparing no expense to make this one of best pantomimes ever produced in Wellington. The services of Miss Edith Pender have been secured, whose particular forte is burlesque. Mr. Hydes has also been engaged, and he is known to the Wellington public to be inimitable in pantomime. With Mbs Jennie Nye, Miss Stoneham, and the other members of the company, it promises to be something like a Christmas pantomime, and a treat is in store tor the children.

There was a fair attendance at St. George’s Hall last night, when the “ Lady of Lyons" was repeated, and again passed off without a single hitch. Mr. Dillon’s acting as Claude Melnotte was, we think, one of his beat representations. Mr. Dillon will take a benefit this evening, when he will appear in “ Spadra the Satirist,” under the patronage of his Worship the Mayor and other influential citizens. His rendering of this character being really good, we expect to see a bumper house.

A vocal anti dramatic entertainment was given last evening at the Odd Fellows’ Hall, by the members of Mr. Charlton’s singingclass, assisted by the members of the Albert Club. There was a good attendance, and an excellent evening's amusement was afforded. The programme comprised a number of songs, duets, &c,, followed by the comedy of “ The Honeymoon,” which was very well played, the characters of the Duke Aranza and Juliana being especially worthy of notice. Of the 13,885,003 acres of land alienated, or in process of alienation from the Crown in Victoria, 7,105,511 acres, comprising the very pick of the colony, are held by persons in blocks of from 1 to 1,000 acres, and 5,283,319 of these consist of farms ranging from 60 to 500 acres in extent, the number of holders being 27,817, while the total number of landowners is 13,057, out of an adult male population of 201,481 ; so that upwards of one man in every five has a stake in the country. At a recent meeting of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars at Christchurch, the following resolution was carried :—That the thanks of the Grand Lodge be accorded to Bro. the Hon. W. Fox, Mr. Robert Stout, the Hon. Mr. Stafford, and Mr. E. Wakefield, and other representatives, for the very able and determined stand they took at the last meeting of the House of Representatives in support of the Local Option Bill, and further that the Grand Lodge pledges itself to support these gentlemen in any way and every manner that is in their power towards the securing of such measures as will tend to give the people the right to deal with the liquor traffic. Resolved— That a copy of this resolution be forwarded by the G.W. Secretary to each member of the House of Representatives who voted for the Bill at its second reading.

The steamer Taupe will make an excursion to Picton on Christmas Day, returning the same evening.

The N.Z.S.S. Company will run steamers ou Boxing Day to and from Wellington and Lowry Bay every hour, commencing at 8.30 p.m., from the Queen’s wharf. A quarterly communication of the District Grand Lodge of Freemasons for the North Island of New Zealand will be held at the Masonic Hall, Wellington, on Thursday next. All officers and ex officio members residing in Wellington are expected to attend, unless prevented by reasonable cause. The business before the lodge will be the nomination of a successor to the late District Grand Master, and general business. Mr. Armitagereceived a letteryesterday from Mr. Salmon, on behalf of the Town, challenging the Civil Service to play a match at cricket on Saturday next. A meeting of members of the Civil Service was held in the afternoon; Mr. Fitz Gerald, Commissioner of Audit, in the chair. It was resolved that the challenge should be accepted, and the following gentlemen were appointed a committee to select the team and make the necessary arrangements : —Messrs. Armitage, W. Grey, Herwood, Kennedy, and Knapp. The Civil Service team will be chosen from the following:—Messrs. Willis, Glasson, Edmunds, Armitage, Kennedy, Horwood, Knapp, Bussell, Lynch, Werry, Grey, Duncan, Hickson, McDermott, Shepherd, and Godden. These gentlemen are requested to meet on the ground for practice every evening this week on the Wellington Club’s practice ground, the use of which has been kindly granted for the purpose. It was mooted at the meeting that it would be desirable to form a Civil Service Cricket Club, and the idea seemed to be favorab y received. Further steps will no doubt shortly be taken to carry out the object in view. We would remind our readers that the selection of the extension of the township of Kiwitea commences this morning at Messrs. T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co.’s exchange land office. We know of no better Christmas box to either old or young than the present of a section in so rising a township, and we have no doubt that the opportunity will be largely availed of by the industrious and prudent in the community. We understand that plans and schedules are distributed gratis to all comers.

The Melbourne correspondent of the Queenslander, December Ist, says : —lt is rumored that Sir Redmond Barry, who has been so long away holiday-making in Europe, does not intend to return to the bench, but to take bis retiring allowance. I think this is probable, and I know that the three Judges who are now doing the work of five are terribly overworked, so that we shall probably have one or two additional judicial appointments made shortly.

The Daily News (Sept. 17) reports : —The Creedmoor rifle match between representatives of England and America has ended in a decisive victory for the latter. The excellence of the shooting was very great. Out of a possible (or impossible) total of 3600, obtainable by 720 distinct shots, the American gained 3334, or an average of nearly four and two-thirds for each possible five per shot. Our own team went very near this the first day, but fell off the second. Still, they averaged four and a-lialf out of the five, and this, be it remembered, at long ranges only. It would show a want of magnanimity to attempt to explain away the victory. No doubt the transport of a team to a long distance has its difficulties, and, the difference of climate not merely has an effect upon the men, but in such a matter as longrange rifle-shooting directly affects the condi: tion of the contest. But we shall be quite content to admit that our men have been beaten because they were not the best men ; and only such explanations need be sought as if attended to may make them the best. The contest was, we believe, to some extent one between breech and muzzle-loader ; but this can be decided as well at Wimbledon as at Creedmoor. The Americans, however, are said to be much ahead of us in their arrangements for team-firing, allowing much less latitude than we do to individual crotchets aud caprices. Certainly the difference between the highest and lowest totals of the English marksmen is considerable.

An ingenious invention has recently been designed by Messrs. Brunton and Trier, of Battersea Foundry, London, for dressing granite and other hard descriptions of stone for building and other purposes. The machine, which is specially adapted for dressing hard varieties of stone, such as Craigleigh, Greenmoor, and Yorkshire stones generally, has been thoroughly tested, and pronounced to be a decided improvement upon the ordinary means of dressing stone by hand labor. The peculiarity of the invention consists in the construction of the cutters and their mode of action, the rate of dressing being very rapid. No sparks are emitted during the revolution of the cutters over the stone, and a feature of the machine is that the arrises and corners of the stone are operated upon very finely, thereby avoiding the chipping of the edges. Two samples of stone dressed by this machine—one of granite and the other of Yorkshire stonehave been received by the Mayor of Melbourne from London.

In a graphic account of the attack on Plevna, on the 12th September, the special correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph describes how in one portion of the engagement the Russians came so close to the Turkish position that the officers were, able to fire their revolvers into the Turkish entrenchments. The writer goes on to say “ Young Dr. Ryan, a brave young Irishman here, has since dressed several revolver wounds received during this struggle ; indeed, he nearly got shot himself while courageously doing his duty as a surgeon in the Turkish service amongst the trenches.” It will interest colonial readers to know that the “brave young Irishman ” thus honorably spoken of is a native of Victoria, and a son of Sir. Charles Ryan, of Ryan and Hammond. He was a medical student at the Melbourne University, but took his degree at Edinburgh. He has been attached to the Turkish army ever since the commencement of hostilities. The Solicitors’ Journal learns that matters are rather looking up in the legal world of Utah, and that the lawyers of that State are congratulating themselves on their good fortune in living at the period in the history of the world when the will of the late Mr. Brigham Young came into operation. It appears that in addition to numerous questions arising out of what the American journals cautiously describe as “ the peculiar relationship existing between the deeedent and the women and their offspring who are called his wives and children,” there is a prospect of a lively and lengthened litigation upon the question whether the late prophet was beneficially entitled to a large part of the real estate of which he died possessed. It is alleged that this was acquired by him in his capacity of head of the Mormon Church, and was subject to a trust for that Church ; but the devisees of the deceased prophet repudiate any such trust, and claim to hold the End beneficially. Pending the ripening of these controversies attention appears to be somewhat unnecessarily directed to the consideration of the difficult question of who is Mr. Brigham Young’s heir-at-law.

It is to be regretted, says the Army and Navy Gazette, that so much variation should exist between the different punishments awarded in different orderly rooms. This is one of the weakest points in our military administration, and yet is of the greatest importance, as it direotlv affects the maintenance of good-con-duct badges, and hence, indirectly, pensions. It is at the option of a commanding officer whether men shall be tried by court-martial or not, in the case of many offences. The opinions of commanding officers naturally vary, and hence in some regiments a man may be tried for what in another regiment would entail only 168 hours’ cells and twenty-one days’ confinement to barracks. Hence the numbers of courts-martials in different corps canbe accepted as no solid criterion of the amount of crime in the various regiments. The return which would prove the disciplinary state of a regiment would be a return of all the offences committed which are punishable by court-martial.

Concerning the financial position of Tasmania, the Hohart Town Mercury of the 291 h ultimo says : —“ Our import, export, and revenue returns continue to show most satisfactory results. For the nine months ending 30th September last the value of our imports was £881,383, against £/56,060 for the corresponding period of 18/6. The values of our exports tor the same periods were respectively £1,003,3u3 and £B6/,308, a very gratifying increase. The increase on the nine months on Customs was in round numbers £9OOO, and on all branches of revenue £23,000. The amount of deposits in our banks exceeds £1,700,000 or £2,000,000 including the sums in the savings banks.” °

AVe have been requested to draw attention to Messrs. J. 11. Bethune and Co.’s pu lie sale of surplus ship’s stores and new season's teas, cement, oils, &c. to be held at their rooms, corner of Featherston and Brandon streets, this day, at 2 o’clock. Mr. Sidey will sell at the Arcade Buildings, at noon to-day, a large and varied assortment of confectionary, lollies, chocolate, eggs, and other dainties suitable for Christmas festivities.