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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5400, 18 July 1878, Page 2

In conformity with our established practice wo reprint gratis in our advertising columns, for the benefit of our readers, a notification from the Public Works Office that tenders are required for about nine miles of permanent way on the Patea-Manawatu line. Por this advertisment the Government pay the journals which give them political support, and withholds from the New Zealand Times. The case of Buckridge v, Warded terminated last night in a verdict for the plaintiff. On the application of Mr. Barton, his Honor certified that it was a proper case to be tried by a special jury. The usual fortnightly sitting of the Resident Magistrate’s Court at the Lower Hutt was held yesterday before T. A. Hansford, Esq. This was the first time on which his Worship sat at the Hutt Court, and as this tribunal did not sit on the previous Court day it was expected that there would bo a considerable amount of "business to be disposed of on this occasion; such, however, did not prove to be the case, the sitting of the Court not occupying more thau a quarter of an hour. Mr. J. Prouse, a settler at the Upper Hutt, was charged with.a breach of the railway by-laws in allowing a bullock belonging to him to stray on to the railway lino. The defendant said he was absent from home at the time of the occurrence. The Resident Magistrate inflicted a fine of ss. and costs.—A case of assault and four or five civil cases for small amounts were settled out of Court, . >

At a meeting of the provisional directors of the West Wanganui Coal Company, held yesterday at Mr,.Wright's office, there wore present—Mr, A. de, B. Brandon (in the chair), Messrs. J. If. E. Wright, I. Flimmer, Jacob Joseph, J. Joseph, jnn., E. W, Mills, W. Hickson, J. H. Wallace, Dr. Grace, and Captain Mclntyre. It was determined not to complete the allotment of shares, ns returns from the brokers in other parts of the colony had not been received. It was agreed that steps should be taken for the immediate registration of the company, and instructions were, given for the preparation of articles of association, to bo submitted at a meeting to be hold on Monday afternoon, when a board of directors, five in number, will bo appointed. Shareholders present agreod-to have tenders invited in the colony for building a steam, collier capable of

carrying three hundred tons of coal, and details will-be settled by the board as soon as the company has been registered. It was stated that so good a demand existed fur the coal that several cargoes could be sold at once. A letter from Captain Moore- advised that he would soon have another cargo at grass, and asked to have a vessel chartered to carry the coal to Wellington. The advisability of purchasing one or more sailing craft, pending the completion of the steamer, was mooted, but no action was taken, the matter being left for the consideration of tho board. There was some discussion as to the consideration the promoters asked for the transfer of .the property, viz., £7OOO in paid-up shares, and it was at first contended by one shareholder that this seemed large, but it was pointed out that the mine had now been proved, and that if the lease, plant, &c., Were placed in the market, at least £4OOO or £SOOO in cash could be obtained for them. ' '

■ There was a very large attendance at the Fine Arts 'and Industrial Exhibition last evening, the various rooms being frequentlycrowded. People continue to send in curiosities, and several additional pictures which have been forwarded will be hung in the picture gallery to-day. The exhibition of dissolving views was very, good last evening,’much of the scenery being of a very grand character, especially representations of parts of the Yosemite Valley, of tho Sierra Nevada Mountains, and of the Sounds in the Southern Island. The comic sketches caused great laughter. To-night there wffi be several novelties, ‘

A meeting of footballers' was held last night at the Star Hotel, for the purpose of picking a representative team, to play against Nelson next Saturday. Mr. H. Pollen was in the chair, and there was a good attendance. The following is the .team selected :—Wellington Club—Messrs, H. Pollen, O. Pollen, Oowie, Davie, and " Galbraith. Athletic Club— Meesrs. Welsh, Berry, W, Berry, J. Campbell, A. Cooper, Burns, Chnrton, Wright, Hickson, and 1 .ockett. Emergency, Mr. Black ; umpire, Mr. Bate. The team leaves here by the steamer Wellington on Friday evening at 6 o’clock.

The Magistrate's Court at the Lower Hutt, which has hitherto been held at the Mechanics’ Institute, will shortly be removed teethe new building lately erected for the purpose, near the railway station. The new building has littleor no pretensions to architectural effect, but. it is conveniently situated, and although not very spacious, is capable of affording sufficient accommodation for some time te come. Mr. Mansford, K.M., and Mr. E. Baker, who were at the Lower Hutt yesterday oa Court, business, paid it a visit of inspection in the afternoon before returning to town. The Marionettes drew a moderately good audience last night, and the applause was as demonstrative as ever. Three more performances, and a matinee for schools, families, and country visitors will bring the season to a close,-after which the troupe will proceed to Auckland.

It is notified in oiir advertising columns that Messrs. Burton Brothers, of Dunedin, are now in Wellington, where they will remain for a few-days, and are prepared to execute all kinds of photographic views. Some specimens of their work, representing lake scenery in Otago and some of the mountain passes on the overland route from' Christchurch to Hokitika, which have been shown to us, appear to be very faithful and striking representations of some of the finest landscapes in New Zealand. A largely-attended meeting of the members of the Church of England was held (says the Manaiealu Times of the 10th inst.) on Saturday at the Corporation Barracks, Feildiug, to receive the annual report of the churchwardens and vestry; Mr. Nicholas, in the absence of Mr. Halcombe, presiding. The accounts and reports having been read, wer.e adopted. The offertories for the year amounted to £99 16s. 6d., and the proceeds of the baz mr to £197 13s. 3d., making a total of £297 12s. 9d. The expenditure was £2l 18s. 10d., leaving a cash balance of £274 I3s. Hd. Tenders for a parsonage had been" received, the sum being £250, and the retiring vestry, urged the necessity of at once taking steps to obtain funds to build a church, to which object Bishop Hadfield would contribute £IOO. They also desired to tender their marked thanks to Mrs. Halcombe, and the ladies of -Feilding and neighborhood, for their efforts towards the success of the bazaar, to the members of the choir, but more especially to the lady who had presided at the harmonium. Mr. Sherwill was elected parish churchwarden; Messrs. Nicholas, Beattie, Young, Macartbur, and Wasford; vestrymen for Feilding ; Dash and Douglas, for Halcombe ; and Mr. Menzie tor Awahuri. The proceedings closed with the usual vote of thanks to the chair.

The annual dinner of the Royal Academy, says the London Spectator of May 11, was held ns usual on Saturday, and Lord Beaconsfield was the principal speaker. After complimenting the English on their imagination, and predicting for their painters a great future, he proceeded to decry Greek and ■ltalian painting. Of Greek painting we know little, he said, but if the success of Zeuxis in deceiving his patron with a painted curtain were a test, he could easily be surpassed by the nearest scene-painter. That is true, but it is probable that the Greeks, whose statues are the despair of sculptors, failed as painters ? As to the Italians, their range, said Lord Beaoonsfield, was extremely limited, they drawing their inspiration from two religions, the Christian and the Pagan—surely of itself some evidence of catholicity. It comes, therefore, to this, that ancient Greek act is doubtful, and mediieval Italian art borniS, aud Englishmen can easily, therefore, surpass both. The speech was especially* appropriate to the Exhibition of this year, in which the English fault of bourgeois commonplaceness is unusually conspicuous, and the audience went away delighted. Lord Beaoonsfield believes in English art as Englishmen believe in happiness —in a future state.

We have heard from well informed quarters (says the Thames Star) that the natives have •run through the most of their money. This may be true as far as the greater number of them are concerned, but there are a good few "who have their pockets well lined yet. Two or three instances which have come under our notice must suffice to provC this. One old chief, with about fifty members. of his tribe, drank and paid for, in the space of three or four hours, no less than thirty bottles of brandy, besides soda, lemonade, &0., for making “S. and B.” and other mixtures. Another native “ knocked down ” a cheque for some thirty and odd pounds in less than two days, did not seem the least impecunious afterwards, and was heard to remark he had “plenty more.” Another instsnee and we are done ; A ragged old waihina called on a person to whom she owed 18s., and producing a cheque for £2O, she said she would pay the debt if she could gel; “shange.” A French inventor, M. Brdgnet, has recently completed a so-called mercury telephone, which is quite a variation on the systems already in use. It is composed of two 'instruments for transmission and reception, connected by means of wires. "Each of these consists of a glass vessel, containing acidulated water and mercury, into which is inserted a capillary tube filled with mercury. One wire connects the mercury in the tubes, and the other that in the vessels. When a person speaks before the transmitter, the vibrations of the air are communicated to the mercury, aud cause variations in the electromotive force, which are .transmitted to the receiver, and there give rise to vibrations of the air appreciable hy the ear. A later simplification of the apparatus consists in using a tube with alternate drops of mercury and acidulated water, forming thus a series of oledtrooapillary elements.

Pope Pius IX. (says a writer in Harper's Bazaar) was very fond of billiards. He had a French table (without pockets) at the Vatican, and, when his health allowed it, used to play two or throe games every evening before going to bed. Ho was not an early riser, and his habits had a great deal of the Italian indolence. He liked sweetmeats, pastry, and playful conversation. Wine he never touched at table, and he took all his meals alone, it being contrary to etiquette for anyone, even a crowned head, to eat with the Supreme Pontiff. Most of the bujls and pastorals issued from the Vatican were ipdited by Cardinal Antonelli or Cardinal Simeoni, both excellent Latin scholars, which Pius IX. was not. He wrote Latin fluently, but not too correctly, and made no pretence of perusing the classics, which he said wearied him. 'Reading, in general, hod few attractions for ' the sprightly conversationalist, and he never employed the services of a secretary, as his predecessor Gregory XIV. did, to entertain him with French novels. On the other baud, he spoke French well, and' occasionally threw an ; eye' over M. ’ Louis Vouillot’s articles in .the Pnivert. ■The 'Pope somehow never liked Napoleon 111., who had rendered him the important service of delaying tlie fall of the temporal power by twenty’ years. The Pope was conspicuously openhanded, and, not content with enriching bis own family, whfth comprised numerous cousins

and nephews, he scattered gold freely among all his courtiers and servants. These lose in him a generous as well as a good master. It : was his habit to write clauses of his will on separate sheets of paper, just as the idea struck him. These sheets, eleven in number, were attached to each other by a silk thread. _ The old gentleman’s will is not contested, as is the custom with us in America,

Tho average’ cost of the prisoners in the various gaols in New South Wales, after deducting the value of the labor produced by them, is £l4 4s.' 4d, per head. The total earnings in 1877 amounted to £11,543. There are at present in Darlinghufst gaol 687 prisoners.