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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5285, 4 March 1878, Page 2

Persons qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives,lint whose names do not appear on the electoral roll, will do wf 11 to remember that they must register during the present month in order to have their names on the next roil. ■ Although there is ;not manhood suffrage here at present, yet the franchise is within the reach of almost every adult male in the country. Every lodger occupying a separate room, for which he pays £lO a year, can register, and there must be a considerable number who 1 come i under this category. Every man possessing the necessary qualification who has not yet had his > name placed on the electoral roll should do so immediately. There: seems much probability of a dis-olution of -Parliament'taking p'ace withinthe next twelve months, and in such an event as many as possible ■ should record their votes. All who do not register this month will have >to wait another year before they can have their names registere -. -'.''

1 At about three o’clock yesterday morning the firebells sounded their notes of warning, ■and although . that was an hour when almost jeverybody was in bed, it took only a very few i minutes for a very large number of people to dissemble, in the streets enquiring the' where■abouta of the conflagration. The brigades, with j their accustomed promptitude, lost no time in !getting their engines ready and proceeding to , • the scene of action, being directed by the flames, ;which came from the"vicinity of the Botanical •Gardens., On arriving on the spot it was discovered that a mass of fern and ti-tree was on : fire, but that .no serious results to life or property was, to, be i apprehended. The fire was quickly ’extinguished without any appreciable | damage being done. ' ihe night Was a very | windy One,; aud if a fire had broken out in one .of .the thickly built parts of the down at the ;s.une time the cousequences might have been ■ more serious. !| i ... ■

i The funeral of the late Mr. Thomas Eraser was very largely attended on Saturday. ■ ;The lire brigades were largely represented, and a (Volunteer band accompanied the procession. There were two* incidents in . connection with the funeral which attracted the attention of the .spectators.. One was that of starting a pair of horses belonging to one of the fire brigades which would not move slowly, but tried to rush off at a rapid pace, as to a fire, and as it ■was found very diffiqult to hold them in, fresh horses wore substituted. The second incident was that of a person who 1; was following the remains of the deceased falling down in a fit, and it was feared for a few moments that he ; was dead, but assistance was procured, and ho soon revived. •

The outward San Francisco mail, despatched bn Saturday by the Rotorua, consisted of 4053 letters, 270 book parcels, and 3044 newspapers for London; and ,311 letters, 8 book parcels, and 245 newspapers for America. A friendly match of cricket was played on Saturday morning between the Union and College Cricket Clubs, which was won by the latter by one innings and seven wickets.

The two' ’men, Buckridge and Neil, supbe implicated in : a system of horsestealing, to which allusion was made,, in our last,'issue, have been arrested, aud will, be brought up at the Police Court this morning. We notice in our..obituary of to-day the name of Mr. George Curtis, of Tinakori-road, a very old settler, and one who was much respected. Mr. Curtis arrived in Wellington in the ship London, Captain Shuttleworth, in 1840, aud leaves a numerous family of children and grandchildren to mourn his loss. The only case on the cause list in the R.M. 'Court on Saturday was that of Bradley and Harrison v. Bohan, in which the plaintiffs claimed the sum of £27 10s. for erecting a workshop for the defendant. , The evidence had been gone into on the previous day ; the 'case being merely reserved for judgment,; which was given for the reduced sum of £S 25., the defence that the work had been badly executed having been therefore sustained. “ Chilperic ” was repeated on Saturday night to a house filled in every part, aud was most favorably received, encores being numerous, while the laughter of the audience was most hearty. “ Chilperic ”is decidedly the success of the season so far, and will stand : repetition. To-night another new opera is to be presented to ns for the first and only time “La Belle Poulet ” (Poulet , and Roulette), a comic opera brimming over with fun and drole situations. There are no less than twenty-six in the caste, Miss Soldene taking the title role. Mr. Wallace is afforded a grand opportunity of displaying his inimitable humor as a raw-boned Scotchman, his impersonation of which is highly spoken of by the Southern Press. We are requested to state that the company's engagement positively terminates on Saturday, as the members leave by the Arawata on Sunday for Adelaide, there to fulfil an engagement in opening the new theatre. On Friday night Hiss Soldene will take a benefit. , - , :,;

“ The Australian Handbook for 1873,” published by Messrs., Gordon and Gotch, is one of .the best productions of its' kind that we have ever seen, and it is evident that neither labor nor expense has been spared on this, the ninth edition of the work.’ It contains a mass of information useful to every colonist, and may be regarded as a most full and accurate record of Anglo-Australian matters. Soma excellent maps are appended to this edition. ■As a' hook of reference it will be found all that can be looked - for, being' ■ very lucidly compiled. Copies may be obtained from the agent, Mr.’ Ai - mit, at the N. Z. Tlmes office. • ‘

, Messrs. T. K. Macdonald and Co. will hold, to-day one of the largest' and most important land sales that has ever) taken place - here., Full particulars will be found in our advertising columns. Amongst the many valuable properties will’d). will he brought to the hammer the following are especially worthy of notice —Building sites and small farm sections most' advantageously'situated, near .the Kaitoke station on , the Wellington and Mastefton railway; town acres No-. 333 and 334, fronting on Brougham and Austin streets, together with ,a. Jii- 't-class residence and out-, buildings erected thereon, commanding a magnificent view of the city and harbor, and having a right-of-way through both acre's; a' valuable dwellingihousa a'nd Mod on'the terrace near Mr. Justice Richmond’s residence. The long list enumerating these and other lots for sale to-day is well worthy of the atteution of large aiid small capitalists, as 'such' ,opportunities as this of acquiring desirable freeholds in town or country are every day becoming scarcer. A large attendance and spirited bidding may be confidently anticipated on this occasion?The Beaumont Variety Troupe will appear this ,evening at the .OddFelloivla,Hall. I • An excellent programme has, been..prepared. Miss Beaumont some yeavs .agoswas well known to the Wellington public, and her old friends will no doubt take the opportunity of giving her a cordial welcome on , her re appearance; The i Wellington Independent .(1867) thus speaks of I this; lady’s part of. the performance, given at that time: “ Miss Beamont as usual charmed '• her audience ! with her sweet singing ; the rendering of ‘Sweet Spirit hear my Prayer’ being exquisite,: while iu. the broadly comic style: of ; singing she was as usual very successful. ‘ The Long and Short of it,’, and •* The Female New , Chum’ were capitally rendered and received an encore.” We expect to see a full house at the Hall to-night, when Miss ;Beaumont will appear with Professor Parker, the champion Swordsman, in their clever patchwork entertainment. Mr. Fred. Bent will appear for the first time in New Zealand in new songs aud comicalities. Miss Violet Rose returns from : West Coast after a very successful season, and : the Brothers Bernax-d after a tour in the South appear in sensational double trapeze acts. We may mention that Ben Allah, the ventriloquist and magician, who has had such a successful season here already, will play at the Upper Hutt on Tuesday, after which he will proceed through the Wairarapa, giviug performances at each of the towns there- —at Greytown on the 7th, Mastevton on the Bth and 9th, Carterton on the 11th, and Featherston on the 12th. Judging from the success the professor has a'ready achieved, he will no doubt draw good houses and make a'successful tom - .

A meeting of the Wellington School Teachei's’ Association was held on Saturday, , Mr. Mowbray in the chair, when it was’ resolved to accept' Ooxxnt de Zaba'a offer to ; deliver, a lecture to members of the association ;on Saturday next at the Tlxorndon school. A resolution was also carried affirming the desirability of establishing a vxnitoi'm system of classification throughout the colony, and the standing committee was instructed to take steps to bring the matter under, the notice of the Minister of Education. 1 ...

Yet another; candidate for the .Wairarapa. The Wellington correspondent of the: Hawke's .Bay Herald states! that Mr. Thompson, the -well-known publican of Masterton, and formerly of the Prince of Wales Hotel of this citv, will come forward as a, candidate. The correspondent does not tell us whether Mr. Thompson will support the Ministry or not.. The same writer says that “at the recent election Mr. Barton received the support of many publicans, on assurance, it is said, that he will draft a Local Option Bill which shall be strongly in their favor.” This information will be new both to Mr. Barton and tlie licensed victuallers. There are smart men of Belial in this com- : rnunity, writes, a correspondent of the Geelong .Advertiser. A thick by, which creditors are wont to obtain an unfair advantage over their debtors came under my notice lately, and de- , serves exposure and reprobation. The ordinary process of law having been exhausted, a certain ; creditor hired a dummy to proceed to a shipping office and take a passage for another , colony in the name of his debtor. Thereupon he proceeded to his man of law and represented that his debtor was about to evade payment by quitting the colony, and suggested that the passenger list of the intercolonial steamers should be searched. This was accordingly done, the name duly found, and upon an affidavit thus justified, the unfortunate debtor, who had never entertained the idea of leaving for an instant, was arrested on a warrant of cn. sa. This scandalous sharp practice is, I believe, cf frequent occurrence. Referring to the slug-like animal that annually denudes our fruit trees of leaves, a farmer informs the Wairarapa Register that the theory : of flies depositing the eggs which produce (them on trees is h mistake. He says that They always begin at one end of .his orchard, gradually spreading all over it. This led him to believe that they travel, and ha tarred the stems of some of the trees in order to ascertain whether his theory was correct. The result was that the leaves of the trees in jquestion remained untouched. He is, howiever, of opinion that the insect does not injure the tree.

The result of Sir J. Hooker’s recent investigation of the flora of the middle latitudes of America, is to show that the vegetation resolves itself into three meridional floras, incomparably more diverse than tho-e presented by any similar meridians in the old world, being, in fact, so far as the trees, shrubs, and many genera of herbaceous plants are concerned, absolutely distinat.

Mr. Mundy’s exhibition of .New. Zealand, scenery at the Athenseum will not be re-opened until next week, taring to the hvinaber of counter attractions elsewhere. Weliave iu a former issue drawn attention to the excellence of these views, and have no doubt that their merits will ultimately secure that share of patronage which tiiey undoubtedly deserve. The lights and shades of Mr. G. E. Barton's character are thus, portrayed by a Wellington correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald : “ Mr. Barton is a member of the Club ; a jovial, pleasant man in company ; plays dance ; music on the piano at evening parties, and at dinners and dances is always as merry as a igrig. He tells lots of good Irish stories, and is 'always brimming with Irish vivacity. He is about fifty-live years of age; a small .man with iron-grey hair and beard, but active and full of spirits. . On the other hand, he is a imost irascible, hot-headed, tempestuous old gentleman. In. Melbourne he was always i quarrelling with someone, and as he had no professional ' income, was obliged to visit Dunedin. There he was incessantly quarrelling with the Judges and ■ and was known as a most cantankerous person. He quarrelled fearfully, too, with Macassey, “ Darkie” Smith, and other lawyers. In short, his whole life has been one unceasing strife. He is always fancying that he is being snubbed and sat upon by ; someone, and in consequence is always boiling over with rago,”

The Dunedin Times contains the following “As illustrative of an ‘ undeveloped resource’, in New Zealand we have had opportunities of mak.ng a comparative teat of a tin of preserved peaches from Auckland, rwarded to a citizen of Dunedin, and by him submitted, to our examination. And we have at the same ’time’had by us for comparison a tin of American preserved peaches,. th 3 gorgeous label on which is sufficient to whet the appetite before - ever the contents are even seen. No hiug , could be more striking than the contrast in the contents. There was a sharpness and acridity iu the American product, and an almost total, absence of flavor. At least, tisted after the preserved peach from Auckland, it was utterly insipid ; while, for mellowness and lusc ous, flvvor the New Zealand fruit is delicious in the extreme. How, or by.whom it was ' preserved we know not, so that nobody profits by out expression of opinion. But this we do say, that with such a product 1 ' possible, so incomparably superior! to the imported article, it’is. a disgrace to New Zealand that such a foreign 'importation is necessary.” - •' • ',

Mr. "Eustace ' Fannin,. says the Uawlcc's Bay //em£c2,-has sold his run at Mohaka,- 9500 acres in extent, 600 acres of which are freehold, with 1400 sheep, to Mr. Milne, of Moeangiangi, and h*s bought Mr. Milne’s run, 3200 acres in extent, all freehold, with 3000 sheep. As the transaction partakes of the nature of a barber, the. price cannot be stated with.exactness. The, value at which Mr. Fannin’s late ran has changed may be stated-at £3500; that at which Mr. Milne’s has been disposed of, £6000.. , , .