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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5317, 11 April 1878, Page 2

In another column will he found a letter received by the San Francisco, mail from our own correspondent. The letter contains a resume of the war news for the month, and is of a most interesting character. It is stated that Major Heaphy has been appointed Commissioner of Annuities, the salary for which office is £BOO a year—at least that is the amount voted by Parliament. Major Heaphy is a very old colonist, having arrived here in the ship Tory in the year 1839, he having accompanied the preliminary expedition undertaken by the New Zealand Company. Major Heaphy has for several years past been Commissioner of Native Reserves, and previously was a member of the House of Representatives for a Northern constituency. It is needless to say that should the above appointment turn out; to be true there will be no vacancy in the Wairarapa. Alas, poor Bunny !

There are now 106 inmates in the Lunatic Asylum, and the result is that the place is fearfully overcrowded. It is time that additions were made to the building, as the health of the unfortunate inmates must suffer through the crowded state of the rooms. There is also not sufficient space for the proper classification of the inmates ; though Mr. -Whitelaw, the efficient superintendent, does all that lies in his power to alleviate the condition of those placed under his charge.- To add to the drawbacks the institution labors under, there is a scarcity of Tyater, the whole of the establishment being supplied from one well, which is now very low. Some time ago it was urged that the .water from the Corporation reservoir should be laid on to the asylum, but we regret to say no action has been taken in the matter. The water should be laid on without delay, as it is-extremely-necessary that in aibuilding of this nature all appliances should he provided to extinguish fires. It is only a few weeks ago’-that thh ’lunatic asylum near Auckland was burned to Ithegfouad, and a similar calamity here should be carefully guarded against. At present tf a fife in the Lunatic Asylum here there would be virtually no water th extinguish it, for, as we have said before, the only well in connection with the institution is now nearly*fify.'l - ;j 1 > 'A'.l'l I . ........ •,

A full rehearsal by the members of the Choral Society who take! part in; the concert to-night was held last evening at the Odd Fellows’ Hall. The rehearsal was a most sucocssul one, and the pieces selected being of a varied and attractive character, lovers of music may confidently look forward to a treat to-night.

The cutter Margaret Scollay, fitted out for deep-sea fishiug, was sold yesterday at auction by Mr. H. J. Isaacs for the sum,of £77 10s. The third private concert of the fifteenth season of the Wellington Choral Society will be held this evening at the Odd Fellows’ Hall. Tenders are invited until noon on Thursday, the 25th inst., for the purchase of the coal hulk European as she now lies in the harbor. Particulars will be found in our advertising columns.

Meetings of creditors in the estates of Walton Pell, contractor, Thomas George Boon,' wood and coal merchant, and Thomas Archer, laborer, were held yesterday; but there not being a quorum of creditors in any of the three cases, the - meetings were adjourned till to- lay. All patrons of singlestick and boxing will have an opportunity of seeing some excellent sport this evening at the Princess Theatre, where Mr. Borthwiok Keid has announced that a great assault-at-arms will take place, in which a number of local amateurs will take part, and compete for a silver cup. We learn that Mr. Hooper, who met with a gun accident at Karori a few days ago, and who was not expected to live, is now in a fair way of recovery. At first it was thought that all the shot had penetrated the body, but Dr. Bradford has since discovered that it was mostly turned aside by the ribs. Consequently the wound is not so dangerous as at first believed.

Tenders were opened ou Tuesday for the construction of a road from the city to Kilbirnie through the Town Belt. There were fifteen tenders, ranging from £242 to £743. It was decided to accept the tender of Mr Colin McDonald for £319. There were two tenders lower than the one accepted, but as it was deemed that the work could not be carried out for the amounts of the tenders, it was agreed to give the contract to the next lowest tenderer. The road is to be twelve feet wide, and the gradient at the steepest will not be more than 1 in 18. . Mr J. C. Crawford has forwarded a letter to the Committee of the Wellington Benevolent Institution resigning his position as chairman of the society. The foliowing.is a copy of Mr. Crawford’s letter :—“ Museum, April 5, 1878. Gentlemen,-—I enclose a slip from the Evening Post of this date, in which I find it stated that my holding the office of Chairman of the Benevolent Institution is made an excuse for not subscribing to the funds of that society. I proceed at once to cut away the ground of that excuse by resigning the chairmanship. I wish that the reason for my resignation shall be made public, and I trust that the result will be a large addition to the attenuated funds of the institution.^—l have, &c., J. O. Crawford.” At a meeting of the institution on Tuesday it was resolved that Mr. Crawford’s resignation be accepted, and the secretary was requested to forward the following letter to the retiring chairman ;—“ Dear Sir, —Your letter to the committee resigning your office as chairman of the Benevolent Institution, was read at the, meeting yesterday, and it was resolved the resignation be accepted. I was directed, in notifying this, to tender to you the thanks of the committee for your exertions ou behalf of the institution through the long period of years during which you have held the office of chairman. —I am, &e, C. P. Powles, hon. sec.” At the same meeting it was announced that the following subscriptions had been received : T. 0. Williams, £lO ; Mrs T. C. Williams (for Orphanage Fund) £5 ; J. M. Clelaud, £2 2s ; J. Budden, £l. There'was a good attendance at the Theatre Boyal last evening, when “ The Mulatto Brother” was performed for the last time, and very successfully, Mr. Dillon taking the part of the Chevalier de St. George, and Mrs. Walter Hill ■ that ■of the Countess de Presle. The performance concluded with the musical farce entitled “ The Loan of . a Lover,” in which Mr. Sam Poole, Miss Lizzie Morgan, ani other members of the company took part. This evening “ Othello” will be performed, and we expect to see a full house ou the occasion.

The trustees of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Lambton-quay, have sold the church property to the Colonial Bank for the sum of ■£lo,ooo. The froutage is one of the best iu the city, and considering the figures at which property has changed hands lately, the pr oe is by no meftns high. The bank could not have secured a better site iu the whole city. We understand that it is the intention of the trustees of St. Andrew’s to purchase a suitable site at the Thorndou eud of the town whereon to erect a handsome and commodious structure. The position on which the church now stands, although in the very centre of the business portion of the city, is not convenient for church-goers, for the reason that there is really but a small ■ resident population in the vicinity.

At the 11. M. Court yesterday, before Messrs. Pearce audHoldsworth, J.P.’s, Thomas Euridge was fined ss. for drunkenness, and Mary Pimble, charged with a similar offence, was let off with a caution. Respecting the latter case it transpired from the evidence of the police that accused had been drinking heavily, and on going to the New Zealander Hotel the proprietor, seeing the state she was in, refused to serve her with any more liquor. Afterhearingthe evideuceMr.Pearcesaid; “We are very glad to hear that the landlord of the New Zealander refused to give you more drink, for in all such oases the publicaus should refuse to give liquor. It should be a matter for police surveillance, and when a publican serves a drunken person with liquor they should report it at the licensing meeting. The Alexandra correspondent of the Waihato Times writes as follows :—“Heath has been very busy amongst the old native chiefs of late. Weitui Pakukohatu, once the principal chief of the Ngatifhauiopoto, died last week at Hikurangi, where lie was carried by his people at the request of the King. A large number of his tribe from Mokiu, Kuiti, and other places attended the tangi. Weitui was a very old and infirm man, and a short time ago, while warming himself at the fire, fell into it and was somewhat seriously burnt, the shook of which no doubt accelerated his death. Old Hakeha, of Puniu, shortly after the accident went to see his friend, and condole with him in his way, which he did in the following manner : —‘ Weitui, you are a very old man, why are you staying so long on the earth waiting to see the end of the world ? It is quite time you passed away ; you should have done so before, then you wouldn’t have fallen in the fire and got burnt, and so you would have missed the pain you are now suffering. I cannot see what use it is for you to live any longer. 1 Weitui saw the force of his logic, and determined to follow his friend's advice. He was buried with all honors at Hikurangi on March 23.” A Poverty Bay paper of a recent date narrates the circumstances of a narrow escape which Mr. C. D. Berry, of Gisborne, had from an over-dose of chlorodyue. He had been seized with dysentery, and the landlord of the hotel at which he was staying proceeded to administer chlorodyne, but, instead, of giving some 30 drops as he intended, he gave about half a wineglaasful. In his haste he had poured out the dose in the dark. A correspondent of the New Zealand Herald says :—“ Few persons in Auckland seem aware of the existence of hot springs in the Awaroa district of the Lower Waikato ; yet hot springs thete certainly are in that place, and of a very remarkable character] We had an opportunity of visiting them a short time ago, and were struck with the unmistakeablo signs of their medicinal properties, and the facility with which they could be opened up by a little enterprise. The first spring the traveller comes to is a deep pond, about ten or twelve feet in diameter, of bubbling, boiling water, and giving, forth a great quantity of steam in the pond, the water of which is quite clear, and so hot that potatoes may bo boiled in it. Round the pOnd are undoubted evidences of the curative powers of the water, in the shape of several holes like graves communicating with the large pond by a very small channel. These have been dug by the Maoris, and when one of them is afflicted with rheumatism, he sleeps all night in oue of the holes, with his head alone out of the water, resting on a fern pillow on the bank. We are told of one old

Maori chief in the Waikato who became very rheumatic because he would grope for eels in swampy water, and was just on the point of death through his perverseness, when some of the wise women of the tribe recommended the spring. He was carried there, aid by hathiug frequently completely recovered.” The Melbourne papers are not content with the beating the Australian Eleven received at the hands 6f the Christchurch cricketers. The .Daily Telegraph says:—“lf we may judge from the performances of the different English teams which have visited this* colony, the Australian Eleven is superior to the best of them. Only one match has been lo*t throughout the whole intercolonial tour, and that was upon a ground so bumpy that the game was rendered one more of chance than skill.” The Christchurch ground is generally believed to be as good as any in the colonies, and it is rather 'unfair to the Canterbury cricketers that the victory gained by their capital play should be attributed to a cause which really had very little effect on the issue of the game. A telegram from Gooktowu to the Sydney Evening News, states that the natives of New Guinea are assuming a threatening attitude towards Europeans. The natives about Mabon and Sybai are threatening to kill the teachers, and Cornwallis and Sybai teachers and their families have left for Marbraik. Mr. Chester, the police magistiate, who has just returned from a visit, says that it is high time there was a visit from a man-of-war. The unpublished orders of the missionaries and teachers lead the savages to regard the white men with contempt. The natives are eating the heads of those they killed, and are furthermore inciting the friendly tribes to kill the native teachers. A native employed by Pearson and McColl was ordered to go down for shell, when he was seized by an alligator, and had his head crushed. The other natives standing, on the shore attacked the alligator with spades, killing him. Another man, employed at the fishing station, was seized by a shark, and was fearfully injured.