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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5388, 4 July 1878, Page 2

Telegraphic communication on the Port Darwin line is restored.

The Hon. the Postmaster-General arranged yesterday that the s.s. Taranaki should be detained at Auckland until to-day to bring on the San Francisco mail in the event of its arrival.

At II o’clock this morning there will be an interview between members of the Ministry and the Hon. Mr. Burns, Postmaster-General of New South Wales, and Colonel Glover, Managing Director of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company, respecting matters discussed at the Cable Conference recently held in Melbourne.

At ft meeting of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce, held yesterday, it was stated that the City Corporation had arranged to rent the hulk Camille for the purpose, of storing the shipments of kerosene expected to arrive. The chairman was requested to make inquiries as to the establishment of a Sailors’ Home for this port. A letter was received from the Government stating that no alteration could be made in the pilotage and harbor rates until power to do-so had been obtained from the Legislature next session. For the benefit of those resident in the country the Exhibition in connection with the Working Men’s Club will be open on Saturday at ten o'clock in the morning, closing at one o’clock for an hour only. This will enable many to visit this attractive Exhibition who would otherwise be prevented from so doing. We understand the management intend sotting apart one day in order that the inmates of the Lunatic Asylum and charitable institutions may have an opportunity of visiting the club. Mr. Lee, secretary, and inspector of the Wellington Education Board, was engaged during Tuesday and Wednesday in conducting an examination of teachers and candidates in the: Syduey-atreet schoolroom. Sixteen of those who went up for examination wore candidates for a third-class teacher's certificates, and forty-seven were pupil-teachers and candidates who wore examined with a view to their classification. A delay ip commencing the Grey town examination was caused by a mistake made by the man who was sent to the Post Office with the papers, he having missed one mail. His Honor the Chief Justice could not have uttered a truer remark than he made yesterday'during the hearing of a case in which a lad’was indicted for the larceny of a cheque from thi Parliamentary Buildings. His Honor said it was astonishing the readiness with which some shopkeepers cashed cheques and supplied £lO or £2O worth of goods to perfect strangers on their writing a cheque or producing one-; whereas if he himself, or any other person who was well known, went to a shopkeeper and wanted £lO or £2O worth of goods on credit, the. probabilities .were that the shopkeeper would stare aghast and refuse the request. " , 0, Dr. Reed, the lately-appointed house surgeon ,of '.the Wellington Hospital, arrived. by the s.s. -Wellington yesterday,, and entered, upon his duties, ‘ .

There ‘ was no sitting of the Resident Magistrate’s Court at the Hutt yesterday. There are only two cases remaining on the calendar for trial—ono against Salmon, for fraudulent insolvency; and the other against Wm. O'Connor, for felony and misdemeanor. . Some of the settlers at Pahantanni have called a meeting for next Saturday evening, to be held at Hr. Prosser's Club Hotel, to consider the question of the proposed West Coast line of railway.

Twenty-ouo adventurous spirits in Wellington have determined to charter a steamer or sailing vessel for New Guinea, and are willing to receive applications from persons wishing to join the expedition. Further particulars will bo found in our advertising columns. The “Woman in Mauve” was played ot the Imperial Opera House last night, but in consequence of the inclemency ot the weather Mr. Sotheru’a benefit performance will not take place till this evening. To-morrow night “ David Garrick " will be reproduced, under the patronage and in the presence of his Excellency the Governor and the captain and officers of H.M.S. Nymphe. The usual monthly meeting of the Wellington District Highway Board was held at the Lower Hutt at eleven o'clock yesterday morning. Present—Messrs. Mason iin the chair), Taylor, Smith, Speedy, Dick, and Bayless. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A rate of Is. in the £ was struck on all rateable property in the district. It was resolved to call for tenders for the collection of the rates. The usual accounts for the month were p issed. Henry Schmidt, formerly a storeman in the employment of Messrs. J. Nathan and Co., pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of stealing certain goods the property of his employers. His Honor deferred passing sentence. The Charitable Aid Committee of the City Council met yesterday. ‘ It was stated that no reply had been received from the Hospital trustees as to whether they would join in obtaining the passage of a Bill through the Legislature to hand oyer their functions to the City Corporation. It was resolved to communicate with the Benevolent Society on the subject of the distribution of charitable aid. Amongst the ' pictures added to the art gallery of the Working -Men’s Exhibition is an excellent likeness of Sir Julius Vogel, painted iu oil by a young lady who is at present in Dunedin. As a painting it is entitled to high merit, the likeness being very accurate, and the execution shows great artistic ability. The fair artist has very generously presented the portrait to the club. By the same brush there -is a likeness of Robert Burns, the poet, which is remarkably well done; The Rev. J. H. Newth preached his farewell seimon at Pahantanni on Sunday last. It was a very impressive one, and both the minister and his congregation appeared to be much affected by it. Mr. Newth has officiated as clergyman here for the last three years, and during that time he has won the respect and esteem of his parishioners by his zeal and untiring devotion to his professional duties. The settlers regret very much that he is to he removed, although at the same time they rejoice that such removal will he for his benefit and advancement in life. It is understood that the rev. gentleman is appointed to a more lucrative living in Nelson. The first of a series ot amateur concerts under the auspices of the Cricketing Association took place in the Princess Theatre last night. Considering the wretched night there was a very large attendance. Madame Mollor presided at the piano and accompanied the singers. The programme was a varied one, and comprised some very pretty selections. The performance concluded by a farce entitled “ Two Heads are Better than One." The room was then cleared for dancing, and about forty couples thoroughly enj >yed themselves to the music of Miss Rex and Messrs. Minifie and Hoskins. The committee anticipate realising £3O by the concert.

William Duffy, a lad twelve and a-halt years of age, was tried in the Supreme Court yesterday on a charge of stealing a cheque for £2O 16s. Bd. from the Parliamentary Buildings. In summing up, the Chief Justice said that in the case of a prisoner between the age of seven and fourteen years, it was competent for the jury to return a verdict of acquittal, ifthey were not satisfied, from the nature of the evidence, that there was a felonious intent. After a retirement of about three-quarters _of an hour’s duration, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the two last counts, viz., of stealing a piece of paper. The prisoner was ordered to be brought up for sentence on Friday morning. After his removal from the dock, the Chief Justice (addressing Mr. Izard) said ; This is a case in which the Court ought to be informed as to what the general character of this boy has been. If it is shown that he is of vicious habits, some course ought to be_ taken which would, have the effect of eradicating these habits by a period of confinement andteaching. If be is not a boy of vicious habits, I apprehend that a short term of imprisonment would be a sufficient punishment. Mr. Izard : I am not aware that there has been anything against the boy’s character previously, but I shall make inquiries in the meantime. His Honor : If it should turn out to be a proper case for a reformatory, I shall have to make some inquiry as to whether there is any place to send him to. The erection of good and substantial houses iu places where none were erected before is one of the most convincing evidences of the growing prosperity of any community. Tins is especially the case in Wellington, where the demand for houses of a superior description has stimulated owners of building allotments to turn their attention iu this direction, and in all parts of the city and suburbs bouse building has for home time past been going on with considerable activity. In Upper Willis-street, above Wordsworth-street, on rising ground commanding a fine view of the city and harbor, Mr. R. Smith is now erecting two houses three stories high, and containing eleven rooms each. They are now nearly completed, and will be an ornament to the thoroughfare, and very desirable residences for their inhabitants. _ The important matters of drainage and ventilation, so often neglected, have been thoroughly well attended to in this instance, and gas and water are laid on tb all the rooms. Mr. Smith has been his own architect, but the work of building has been ably superintended by Mr. Salmon. One feature of these houses is, we believe, a novelty. The two houses are under one roof, and there is one large brick chimney, into which eight flues are conducted. In each of the bed-rooms there is a fire-place, and it is evident that no expense or trouble has been spared iu the erection of these commodious dwellings. The speculation will no doubt prove a lucrative one, and be followed by other owners of building sites not yet utilised. Hohepa to Piribi, a Poverty Bay Maori, was found guilty on two indictments yesterday—one charging him with stealing certain articles from a dwelling, and the other for horse stealin". Ho was sentenced to twelve calendar months’ imprisonment on each charge, or two years’ in all. :

The Auckland Museum and Institute has received from the National Museum at Paris a series of oasts of ethnological types, “in exchange” for Maori skulls, transmitted to the French capital some time since. They are capitally executed, and exhibit the finest typical peculiarities of the various races of men—the European, the Mongolian, the African, the Negro, the Malay, the Maori, American Indian, and others. They will be a gieat acquisition to the museum, which had no such models before these were received. That gradual extinction of aboriginal races in the presence of modern civilisation, which appears to be a nearly universal rule, finds one exception at the capo of Good Hope. There the native races flourish and increase. Mr. Anthony Trollope, in an interesting lecture before the Society of Arts, attributed this to the fact that Kaffirs, Zulus, and Hottentots were willing to work, and got plenty of it. They are not brought into competition with a great influx of • white labor, as are aborigines of other colonies, and therefore they can hold their own. Mr. Trollope went on to say that ho considered the best method of civilising savage races was to give them plenty of work. “ Ten shillings a-weekpunctually paid,with rations,are tbofinesfoivilisingagentsin the world.” Theplau of establishing schools and institutes had been tried with' the Hottentots, but with no conspicuous stfccess. Under the other system the Kaffirs'were rapidly becoming a civilised and respectable people. They knew the value of wages, and were eager to earn them ; they cultivated large tracts of land industriously, and paid their rents always like honest men. They would be peacably. disposed enough but for their chiefs, who, finding their old privileges slipping out of their hands, encouraged turbulence and unrest. As for the Zulus, Mr. Trollope waxed quite eloquent in their praise. They are docile, obedient, and, affectionate, made excellent, domestic servants, and were first-rate cooks. Possibly the present scarcity of the latter in London may be met by an importation of these useful creatures. , ?

At the Supreme Court, yesterday, Walter James White, convicted on the previous day of indecent a-sault, was sentenced to 12 calendar months’ imprisonment, with hard labor. By reference to our advertising columns it will be seen that the half-term at the high school for young ladies conducted by Mrs. Lawsoii has commenced. The lady principal it will be seen possesses high testimonials and references. On Saturday last, between one and two o’clock in the afternoon, a heavy thunderstorm passed over Pahantanni. The hailstorm was the heaviest ever experienced here, as, in a few minutes, the ground was white with hailstones, some of which were nearly an inch square. The jury returned a verdict of guilty yesterday against Thomas Hogan, for having committed an indecent assault on Eliza Smith, the wife of a laborer living at Greytown, Wainirapa, and the prisoner was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, with hard labor.

Mr. Samuel Perth McNab was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand by his Honor the Chief Justice yesterday morning. Mr. MoNab, who resides at'Blenheim, intends to practise there, 'and as ho is possessed of considerable ability, he will no doubt rise to a good position in the profession. The New-York Times relates the following story about torpedoes ;—“ Iu the first outbreak of the Paraguay-Brazilian wav au enterprising speculator offered his services to the Paraguayan Government for a handsome consideration iu blocking the advance of the Brazilian fleet upon the rivers by means of torpedoes. This done, he instantly sent word to his partner in New York to come down at once and offer his services to Brazil for the removal of the torpedoes, whose whereabout were to be indicated by a specified signal. In this way (says the Times) the one partner continued to plant them and the other to pull them up during the whole of the four years’ war, after which these enterprising Yankees, having earned upwards of 100,000d615, by their united exertions, wound up by selling the still unexploded torpedoes to the Government of Nicaragua.” The average cost of the prisoners iu the various gaols in New Sonth Wales, after deducting the value of the labor produced by them, is £H 4s. 4d. per head. The total earnings iu 1877 amounted to £11,543. There are at present iu Darlinghurst Gaol 687 prisoners. Mr. John Stephen Lynch, one of the Australian team of riflemen, who competed at Philadelphia, died in Sydney last Sunday.