Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5368, 11 June 1878, Page 2

The Port Darwin line is again interrupted north of Powell’s Greek. A New Zealand Gazette extraordinary, issued yesterday, further prorogues Parliament from the 15th instant until the Ist July next. The appointments of District Judges for Christchurch and Napier have not yet been made by the Government.

In another column will bo found two documents of great interest in connection with tho To Aro foreshore question. The directors of the Wellington Gas Company, at a meeting held 'yesterday, requested the recently elected chairman, Mr. Krull, to write a letter to the City Council to the effect that the Board declined to endorse in any way tho action of Mr. Pharazyn ; that they did not approve of it, and would request the Council to carry out the agreement that had been entered Into with the company respecting the intended reclamation, &0., at Te Aro. Wo publish elsewhere a full report of what transpired in the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday with reference to the cases set down for hearing for breaches of the city by-laws. The informations in their present shape were withdrawn, Mr. Travers, the city solicitor, adopting the alternative course of proceeding under the Constabulary Force Ordinance. One information was laid against Mr. Taylor, builder, under this Ordinance, and others have been laid under the Municipal Corporations Act. That laid under the Constabulary Force Ordinance has been made an indictable offence ; and the Municipal Corporations Act provides, in cases of street obstruction, for the infliction of a fine, not exceeding £2O, and the payment of any expenses to which the Corporation may bo put in removing the obstruction. Mr. Travers’ reasons for acting as ho has done in this matter* Will be found reported in another column. The cases.will bo proceeded with on Thursday next, and the result will no doubt be looked forward to with considerable interest.

At the request of German residents in Wellington, Mr. E. A. Krull, Consul for Germany, will write to the Emperor William a letter expressing sympathy with him in relation to the recent attempt to assassinate him, and a hope that his complete recovery may be rapid. The Public Works Committee of the City Council transacted some important business at their meeting yesterday. A number of reports were brought up and considered. Directions were given to the City Engineer to take steps for improving the footpaths and roads. The engineer reported that he would now be able to lay Caithness flagging the whole distance from McDowell’s corner to the corner of Bowen-street, all the residents having agreed to contribute their proportion of the expense, and he hoped to have this work completed within a mouth. The Engineer was directed to communicate with the Government with the view of having the flagging laid down from Bowen-street along Lambton-quay and up Molesworth-street as far as the entrance to the Parliament Buildings. This portion of the footpath is next the Government House and Parliament grounds. Instructions were given to have a number of new lamps erected in various localities in the city. The Engineer was also instructed to have that portion of the wharf extension works near Grey-street pushed on rapidly, in order that they might be completed before the meeting of Parliament. The same officer was requested to obtain estimates for kerbing and metalling several streets, and to prepare a schedule of all streets still unmade, showing the probable cost of forming them, The length of unformed streets had been stated by the Clerk to be 13 miles. The Usual accounts were brought up, in order to be laid before the City Council at the next meeting. It has been resolved to hold a public meeting iu the church of St. Mary of the Angels, Barloott street, on Sunday evening next, to take steps for raising the funds necessary for the erection of a new girl’s school in Te Are, to be under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy. At a preliminary meeting recently held in the vestry, a subscription was opened, and liberal contributions were given by all present. It is hoped that numerous names will soon be added to the list, and that in a short time the money required may be obtained. The present building, which has been so long and patiently used by the Sisters, is now quite inadequate to the wants of the district. At the beginning of the month a cheque for £2O and some odd shillings was missed from the room of Mr. O. C. N. Barron at the Parliamentary Buildings. It was subsequently ascertained that the cheque had been cashed at the bank. Information was given to the police, and yesterday two lads named William and John Duffy were taken into custody. The police traced the cheque to Mr. Alcorn’s, the draper, where the younger lad, aged about eleven years, had cashed it; and from information received by the police it appears that the cheque was taken off Mr. Barron’s table by the elder brother (who is an apprentice at the Government Printing Office), and by him given to the younger lad to get cashed. The desire for something in the shape of a novelty in the choice of a place of worship led me to express a few days since a wish to be present at the morning service at the Wellington Gaol. Having procured au order from one of the most obliging of visiting justices, I presented myself on Sunday morning at the gaol, where I was most courteously received by the head gaoler, Mr. Read, and the visiting chaplain. Expecting that the service would be of the plainest and most uninviting character', I was agreeably surprised to find that the ritual of the Church was not only strictly observed, but also that the accompaniments in the way of music and singing were not neglected. Prayers were said by the Rev. C. D. De Castro, who also preached, the lessons being read by Mr. Read. The hymns of the day, from hymna A. and M., were sung to the accompaniment of an organ (ably played by the Rev. T. Porritt), a rarity, I think, in our New Zealand gaols. The congregation consisted of about forty male prisoners and eight females, and the warders, &c., and as regards hearty responses and singing the congregations of many of our Anglican Churches might take a very valuable lesson. The corridor at the main entrance of the building, now the only place available for service, is somewhat small and ill-fitted for use as a church, and as extensive alterations and improvements are being made to the gaol, a suggestion to the authorities of the great boon the erection of a chapel would prove would not I think be out of place, as there can be no doubt that the worshippers in such a place would have a much more devout and fitter feeling of the solemnity of the services they attended, were they able, say once a week, to visit a place utterly distinct from the scenes of their daily toil and punishment, and might perhaps for the time be forgetful of their condition as prisoners. Nothing works upon a man's feelings more than old associations, and the thoughts of early Sundays spent at church, perhaps many thousand miles from here, might possibly be the means of awakening thoughts and resolutions for a better future. Last session something was said about the ereotiou o£ such a chapel at the Wellington Gaol, and it is to be hoped that the Ministers, in preparing the estimates of expenditure for the coming year, will not neglect a work which, at a trifling expense, may be productive of much good, and can do no possible harm.— Communicated.

We direct the special attention of our readers to the advertisements of valuable properties in Te Aro and Thorndon, to be sold by T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co., at their exchange land mart, on Monday next. Some of the features of the sale are unique, and as it especially appeals to the working classes, we would recommend all who have any desire to invest to go and inspect the properties. Messrs. T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co. adopt au admirable plan of pegging out the lauds put iu their hands for sale with flags and banners, so that no one can possibly go astray in what they submit, and looking at the low upset prices, the land should offer special attraction to investors, as well as to the industrial classes.

A well-attended meeting of the residents of the Te Aro School District was held last night in the Te Aro Sohoolhouse, for the purpose of electing a sonool committee. The following gentlemen were elected :—The Yen. Archdeacon Stock (chairman), Messrs. W. Seed, E.: Gardner, Chas. Godber, F. H. Eraser, L. H. B. Wilson, and Jansen. It was arranged to report the election to the Education Board, for the purpose of appointing a day for the first meeting of the committee. The San Francisco journals received by the last mail inform us that the old BeecherTilton scandal, which has obtained a worldwide celebrity, but was supposed to have been finally set at rest, has been again revived. Mrs. Tilton has made another confession, declaring her former protestations of innocence false, and declaring the original story of her adultery with the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher true. A letter to this effect has been addressed by her to Mr. Ira B. Wheeler, of Brooklyn, a relative of hers. Prior to this, according to the New York correspondent of the San Francisco Bulletin, Mrs. Tilton had made a confession of her guilt to a Mrs. Field and four other ladies, as well as to certain members of the Plymouth Church. Mr. Beecher emphatically denies that any improper conduct ever took place between Mrs. Tilton and himself. The publication of Mrs. Tilton’s letter has apparently caused considerable interest and excitement amongst the lovers of scandal generally, who usually comprise . a considerable section of any community. The theory which Mr. Beecher and his friends propound is that Mrs. Tilton is a woman of weak mind, and is acting under the influence of her husband, and that her latest statement has been instigated by a desire tor a reunion with her husband, and was the price she paid for accomplishing the same. Mi - . Beecher says he intends to continue his course just the same, notwithstanding the renewal of the scandal. When the council of 1876 was called, several interviews were arranged between her and eminent gentlemen both of the clergy and of the law. In every case sho satisfied them of her absolute innocence. Mrs. Tilton, on being interviewed lately, says the Bulletin’s correspondent, only said, “ It’s all right, sir.” Sho has become a plump, pleasant little woman. She has been earning not more than thirty dollars per month by dress-making ; but Tilton, under pretence of supporting the children, has given her a generous allowance. What will be the next move on the board it is difficult to predict, but probably the next San Francisco news mil furnish some additional leaves of the biographies of the parties concerned, with comments thereon from the supporters of either side, both of whom appear to have warm partisans. At the Assessment Court held recently at Popakura (Hawke’s Bay), the valuator, Mr. Take, appointed by the judge, in default of any appointment by the road board, altogether missed out the Ohikakarowa property, Messrs. W. and O. Hislop’s, and part of the Motco property, the Bank of fortupate owners, (says the Ilci'uld) will thus escape road and county rates altogether for this year.

Hia Honor Judge Richmond was a passenger by the steamer Wellington for Nelson. To-day (Whit Tuesday) will be observed as. a holiday at the Supreme Court. John Smith was again remanded yesterday until Monday next, for the burglary at Miss Greenwood’s residence on the Terrace.

The Hutt County Council will meet at one o’clock this afternoon, for the transaction of general business. The handicap match was continued last night at the club room, when four more games were added to those already played. A lunatic escaped from the Asylum yesterday morning, but was recaptured in the evening near Tvaiwarn by one of the wardsmeo of the Asylum who was in search of him. He was taken back to the Asylum. The inward San Francisco mail, which arrived on Saturday, consisted of 2945 letters, 695 books, and 9189 newspapers from London ; and 250 letters, 127 books, and SSO newspapers from America.

An umbrella-maker named J. Lothaby was taken into custody yesterday, on a charge of assault and using obscene and abusive language at a house on Louisville-terrace on last Friday afternoon, and will be brought before Mr. Crawford, R.M., this morning. Frank Smith, the absconding Melbourne accountant, will be brought before Mr. Crawford, R.M., to-morrow morning (Wednesday), and will probably be remanded to Melbourne, on the charge of misappropriating the sum of £lO2.

Another of the small antiquated buildings on Lambton-quay, a reminiscence of tha olden times, has to be removed. It was well-known as Lucas’s, the old confectioner’s shop. We note that it is to be sold at auction to-day by Mr. A. A. Barnett.

By the last inward Home mail the death is announced of one of the oldest clergymen in England, the Rev. Benjamin Symons, D.D., of Wadham College, Oxford, in the ninetythird year of ins age. The deceased gentleman was warden of his college from 1831 to 1871, when he resigned. A robbery of jewels valued at £4OOO, says a Home paper, was committed at the mansion of Mr. Vallentiue Cunningham, of Walton Heath, Surrey, one Sunday evening, Mrs. Cunningham’s dressing-room having been entered by the thief or thieves through the window while the family were at dinner. Many of the jewels are said to be much prized as rare family relics. The Home News of the 25th April states : The Peruvian Government is said to have received a telegram from the Peruvian Consul in Valparaiso, announcing that Don Nicolas de Pierola and his brother Emilio took passage on February 14, and embarked for Europe in the Straits steamer Potosi. The news of the shootingof General JoseWraria Medina in Honduras is confirmed.

A melancholy boat accident occurred recently at Macquarrie Harbor, Tasmania. The following particulars are taken from telegrams to the Australasian. The first message says: —The particulars of a boat accident at Maoquarrie Harbor are very harrowing. It appears that the boat upset under sail, and the crew clung to the bottom for two days before the first poor fellow succumbed. Edward Richardson then followed, and then the third went. Lloyd, the only survivor, drifted ashore on the boat, after four days’ exposure without food or water. He contrived to walk about thirteen miles, when he fell down insensible, and in this condition he was found by a hunter. Richardson was examining the Gordon River at the time of the accident. A subsequent message announces that Mr. R. Richardson has, together with three companions—Macanliif, Ashmore, and Donnelly—been drowned by the upsetting of a boat in Macquarie Harbor.