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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5260, 1 February 1878, Page 4

. :; TLe> amoluifc of Customs revenue collected, ■at tho, port of, Wellington , during the past mouth of; January (particulars of which will be found in our commercial columns), shows the very largo increase of £6182 ,11s. lid. over the corresponding month of 1877. >, The number of births registered in'Wellington during the month' of January is G 8; and of deaths 45.- > Of the'doaths 40 were of infants under the ago of 18 mouths.' -

There will be a meeting of the Board of Education at half-past 11 o’clock this morning. We hear that a petition is being got np praying his Excellency the Governor to release Mr. G. E. Barton from custody. Dr. Somerville’s labors have resulted in the formation of a Ladies* Christian Association in Auckland. The Odd Fellows’ Hall was again crowded last evening, when a repetition of the previous night’s programme was received with enthusiasm. A new bill is announced for to-night. An extraordinary meeti g of the New Zealand Shipping Company (Limited), will be held at Christchurch, on Tuesday, the 19th instant, to confirm resolutions passed unanimously at a meeting held on the 15th January. The Canterbury crew who are to take part in the Wanganui Regatta took a spin in the harbor early yesterday morning, and another in the afternoon. They appear to be in excellent trim, and pull well together. The s.s. Napier, which arrived in port from Blenheim last evening, brought over Mr. Bolton’s racehorse Lara, which is entered for the Wellington Cup. Another Marlborough racer, named Septimus, is expected over here next week. The season at St, George’s Hall, which has been so successful since (JhrLtmas, terminated last evening, to make room for the panorama of the Husso-Turkish war, which will arrive early next week. Full particulars will be shortly given. A meeting of creditors in the estate of William Collis, of Palmerston North, settler, was to have been held at the Supreme Court buildings yesterday, bub there not being a sufficient number of creditors present to form a quorum, the meeting was adjourned till to-day. Mr. Sybil Egen, engineer, called at our office last night, and said that, having seen by the reports in the newspapers that the attempts to blow, up the Eli Whitney have proved unsuccessful, he begs to say that he will underbike to blow her up for £75, if he is supplied with the necessary materials. A somewhat serious accident occurred in Austin - street yesterday afternoon. Whilst several men were at wo k at the cutting a quantity of earth fell. One man had his leg broken, and another was much cut and bruised. The sufferers were taken to the Hospital, where they were progressing favorably last evening. The .monthly volunteer parade took place last evening, the muster taking place at the Central Fire Brigade Station. The City Rifles, commanded by Lieut. Walden, numbered 43, the band 13, and the cadets were well represented. The City Rifles then adjourned to Mr. Frazer’s room in Mannersstreet, where a meeting was held, and the appointment of Lieut. Walden confirmed. Sergt. Christie was also promoted to be sub-lieu-fcenant.

Messrs. Howard and Walton, who had agreed to play with Miss Ada Ward for a short season, decline to take possession of the Theatre Royal for the term the Public Hall Company are willing to let it, and announce their determination to vindicate their claim to a mouth’s leaseesbip in a Law Court. In the meantime Mr. Richmond Thatcher, Miss Ward's agent, has rented this theatre for nine nights, commencing 7th February, and the season will be carried out as originally intended so far as support goes. Miss Ward opens in her favorite character of Rosalind in “As You Like It,” for the production of which piece great preparations are on foot. Pour unopposed applications for letters patent were lately heard and granted in Victoria. The first was that : of Mr. J. Cosmo hiewbery, of Melbourne, analytical chemist, for treating certain descriptions of ores so as to facilitate the extraction of the metals they contain. The sec»ud was that of Mr. W. Geddes, of Melbourne, engineer, for an invention for compressing grain, chaff, bark, and other fibrous material, to be known as “ the Compressor.” The third was that of Mr. Richard Gray, of Hmerald Hill, cabinet-maker, for an improved olothes-washing machine, in which the clothes are subjected to an elastic pressure between two corrugated surfaces. The last was that of Mr. Thomas Quinlivan, of Cogbill'a Creek, farmer, for certain improvements in and connected with threshing machines, by which the sheaves are carried from the stack and threshed without any manual labor whatever.

Thera was another good house at the Princess Theatre last evening, to witness the drama of “ The Devil in Paris,” in which Mr. Dillon sustained the character of Doctor Moncardo, ably supported by Miss Edith Pender as Julie, the blind girl, who exhibited great histrionic power in her portrayal of a most difficult character, and in many instances brought down the house. Mr. Clinton, Mr. St. Lawrence, Mr. Huntley, and Mr. O'Neill excelled themselves in the various parts allotted to them, and Miss Daley in her part was again all that could be desired. The drama was followed by a musical burletta entitled “ The Loan of a Lover," iu which the songs and incidental music were ably rendered by the members of the company. This evening Mr. W. C. Dillon will appear in his great impersonation of Richelieu, for which lie has received the highest praise from the Australian Press. A crowded house may be expected on this occasion. The orchestra, under the direction of Mr. W. H. Spiller, is a very efficient one, and was loudly applauded for the overture last evening.

Yesterday afternoon the charge of 25lbs. of dynamite placed under the sunken hulk Eli Whitney was successfully exploded, and the result, as far as could be seen, was that the mast was canted over further, while a quantity of the debris rose to the surface. It is believed that the charge exploded yesterday has proved far more destructive to the hulk than the first one, but of course the damage it has done cannot be estimated till the diver goes down to-day. It is expected that three or four more charges of dynamite will remove the obstruction altogether. A New Zealand Gazette of yesterday’s date cantaius a list of “provisional education reserves ” in the Provincial Districts of Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Canterbury, aud Westland. Those in the Wellington District are as follows :—Township of Palmerston, lot 347 containing 3 acres, resei ved as a site for a school; Mauriceville, part of lot 46, containing 108 acres 3 roods 5 porches, reserved for educational purposes.— His Excellency the Governor has delegated certain powers under the Marine Act to the Thames Harbor Board. —Certain lands, a list of which is given, are temporarily reserved from sale in the Provincial District of Canterbury.—A proclamation by Governor Kennedy,, of Queensland, is published, prohibiting the importation of grape vines into that colony on account of the existence of the disease known as Phylloxera Vastotrix being found to exist in Victoria. Messrs. Jonas Woodward, David Lewis, Joseph Godfrey Holdaworth, Daniel Mclntyre, and Thomas McKenzie are appointed trustees for the management of the Wellington Cemetery.—His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint Thomas Purvis Russell, Esq., J.P., of Waipukurau, in the County of Waipawa, to be an Honorary Commissioner at the Paris Exhibition.—His lixcelleuoy the Governor has been pleased to accept the resignation by Gerard George Fitzgerald, Esq., J.P., of all his appointments in the public service as from the 10th December, 1877.—Joseph Giles, Esq., J.P., is appointed Resident Magistrate for the District of Hokitika, a Warden of all Warden’s Courts under the Mines Act, 1877, a Coroner for the colony, and Chairman of the Licensing Courts for the districts of town of Hokitika aud Kanieri. These appointments date from the Ist February. The Napier Daffy Telegraph of the 23rd iust. says:—Hawke’s Bay continues to make such rapid progress that it becomes a subject of consideration as to the necessity-'of adding to our- population by free immigration, as the following startling figures will show. During last year only 133 deaths were chronicled by the Registrar ■ of the Napier District; but opposite to this there were 410 births and 93 marriages.