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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5263, 5 February 1878, Page 2

There was a sitting of the Supreme Court yesterday, when the defendant iu the case of Peters v. Joseph applied for an adjournment of tile case, which was agreed to on' plaintiff consenting. The Court then adjourned until Monday. ■ , ;

The usual monthly meeting of the _ Wellington Fire Brigade was held last evening in the station, Manners-street. After the ordinary; business' of the ’ meeting had been trans •: acted, the company sat down to an excellent spread. Mr. ilnieny, of the Royal Oak Hotel, was the caterer. The dinner was in connection, with; the presentation of silver medals to Captain Wilson and Captain- Hutchens,-in recognition of 'the valuable services ‘ they had rendered during their long connection with the brigade... Mr... Simpson, of the New Zealand Insurance Company, presided, and was supported on his left by Superintendent Whiteford. ! The Chairman, in a few well-chosen remarks, presented a medal to Captain Wilson and ’another to Captain Hutchens. Both gentlemen returned thanks in suitable terms. The medals, which were engraved with an appropriate inscription, were presented on behalf bf the members and bon. members of the Wellington Fire Brigade. . Teaching was resumed at the Wellington College yesterday for the Erst time after the Christmas holidays. We are pleased to hear that i there is a' considerable increase'in the number of pupils, which is no doubt atfcributable'to.the large success, which attended the labors of the masters of the College during the past year, as shown by the reports of the gentleman who undertook the duty of examining the boys at the College prior to the Christmas vacation. . . ' . ;

1 The IT.S. Minstrels last'night- again had a, crowded house, when another entirely new programme was gone through, to the evident delight of the audience, who testified their approval as each successive 1 item was sung. A duet,!“The moon hath raised her lamp,” from the opera “.The Lily of"KillafneyiTTiy Messrs. Brahma and Araery, which "was decidedly the gem 'of the evening, was rendered in a most artistic monneri A descriptive scena, by Mr. Campbell, was rendered by that gentleman beautifully,'better than weaver heard him,; ho being in splendid voice. Mr. Bra ham’s song,! “ Molly Aithore,” was 1 sung in’a most effective manner. Mr. Hudson’s novelty, “ The She Giraffe,” was more than funny. The whole time ho was in sight the audience were fairly convulsed with laughter, but the laughing attained its climax when he fell and'dfew himself off the stage. The sketches, “ Slocum’s and “ Life in the Country,” were also productive : of side-splitting laughter. Ihe popularity, of the Minstrels, instead of decreasing, 1 increases nightly. , ... The Princess Theatre was crowded, last, evening to witness the .performance of the French play. “ The Duke’s Motto, or I .am Here 1 ,” Mr. W. C. Dillon the treble characters ’of Lagardere, Henriqucz, and Bsopi well maintaining the great reputation he brought with him from the other colonies, his quick change’ from the dashing Lagardere to the old hunchback Bmp being' almost marvellous. i Miss Edith Pendents Blanche de Nevera was all that could be desired. Mr. Clinton as the Duke de Gouzague was extremely good, while the~other performers were>U'wall up in their;parts. Miss ‘Kate Vernon as Tonio, an apprentice, made a very'pretty boy indeed; and Miss Daley .as Flora acted with tier usual grace. The scenery and eff tots were.excellent; in Fact, when the. small amount' of time' occupied in-producing this play is taken into consideration, it may fairly be said, that the performance was highly.successful. “ The-Duke s Motto” . will be repeated; this evening, and all lovers,qf'.the legitimate,drama willdo well not to miss the opportunity of witnessing this first-class .production. , The Theatre Boyal was reopened last evening, jvhen Mr. John Howe was tendered a benefit by his fellow-professionals., The attentUhce was not so large as _ this unassuming artist) deserved,, but 1 the’ capital, -programme submitted was carried through in its entirety, “Miriam’s Crime" formed the first part; and this Was followed 1 hy a musical which Mr. R.. W. Cary sang a descriptive scena entitled ” Wrecked ami Saved, for which lie was vociferously' encored. An operatic burlesque entitled ” 111-treated II Trovatoro” conclnded the entertainment.

The Metropolitan Hotel has changed hand-. Mr. J. J. Beatty, late of Fox ton and Wuoi.lahra Lodge, Boulcott-street, being the nen occupant. We notice by advertisernent that the New ■Zealand Steam .shipping Company wdl run steamers to and from the Hutt races at hourly intervals and at moderate rates; Kecent accounts show that the Victorians are sending a wine trophy to' the Paris Exhibition, accompanying which will be a miner, a stock-rider, a black fellow, and a gin, all done in a most artistic style in wax. The panorama of the Russo-TurkisU wav, which opens in St. George's Hall on Th .rsday evening next, is likely to p'rove’ a great sue cess. The mechanical battle ' scene which is introduced is of a superior character We shall have more to say of this pan Tama after to-morrow, when it will be completed. The committee of the Terrace School are ad vertialng for a large room for school purposes in the neighborhood of the present site. The Board pro]3ose enlarging the building forthwith, but meanwhile the school is so crowded that the committee have thought it desirable to remove the infant class to a separate building. Early offers are requested. We learn from a Victorian exchange tha' the educational services of Sir Redmond Barry, Judge of the Victorian Supreme Court, have been recognised by the French Government. There is a decoration called the Palm m connection with the department of Public Instruction, aud the Miuister has conferred this upon Sir Redmond Barry, with the honorary rank of Officer of Public Instruction. During the last three or four days (says the Southland Times) the diver, Mr. Sherwcll, has made three or four examinations of the Midchannel aud Black-buoy Rooks, the ouly two obstructions in Bluff Harbor, on one of which occasions he was 40 minutes under water. He is now, under the direction of Captain Thomson, sinking a shaft in the debris of the jVtid-chauael, Rook, so that it may be completely shattered by Mr.,Gorman’s next blast. 1 There is new nearly a level surface on this rook, and 3ft. additional depth of water has been gained. The Black Buoy Rook is found to extend over a considerable space, apparently of some acres, and is almost flat, except at two places, where pinnacles of rock rise. By blasting these the depth of water on the rock would be increased over the whole area from 13ft, to 15£t.. but Captain Thomson is doubtful whether it would be worth while to expeud much money in explosion here, as the iutercoloaial steamers draw about 16ft. at low water spring tides. If it were possible to deepen a little more here, steamers could take a direct course up to the wharf, instead of traversing two sides of a triangle. The sinking of the floating baths in the Murray at Bohuca is thus described by the Riverine Herald :—About half-past 6 o’clock on Sunday morning, several gentlemen, regular attendants at the baths, were enjoying their morning’s ahlutionary exercises,.in the course of which they swam out as far as the pontoon bridge. Returning, one of them (Mr. Crabb, of Hare-street) had succeeded in reachling the inside of the framework, when he suddenly felt something hard touch his neck. Thinking the circumstance rather strange, he looked up, and, to his astonishment, found the whole structure sinking, and pressing him down. With a desperate effort he swung himself clear and swimming out of the bath, raised, the alarm. It ‘was known that Mrs. Godegast (the owner of the baths) and her children resided on the baths, and were in their private rooms. The first duty was of course to save them, but the difficulty was how to do it, as the gentleman, being in pur is naturalihus, realised the delicacy of his position. However, it had to be done, and that quickly, as by the time the alarm was given the baths had sunk some ,7ft. or Bft., and the water was within 3ft. or 4ft. of the roofs of the rooms. By an effort clothes were obtained by one and another, aud at length the lady aiffi her girls were rescued, much to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. A rush was then made by the bathers to secure if possible-their clothes from the dressing-rooms, but in this they, only partially .succeeded. The best was.made, of the circumstances and of the:early,hour—-few being about at the time—to reach : their respective homes with as little ostentation as possible. It has been ascertained that the immediate cause of the accident was the opening of the seams on the northern end through the heat of the sun, added to which the structure was insufficiently caulked, and could not withstand the influx of water. AVe! are requested to draw attention to an advertisement in our columns of the removal of Mr. W. C. Chatfteld, architect, from his late offices in X’anama-street to new offices in Mr. Alcorn's building, Lambton-quay.