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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5410, 30 July 1878, Page 2

A meeting of Auckland and Taranaki members was held at the Parliamentary Buildings at 11.30 a.m, yesterday, for the purpose of taking into consideration the question of the railway communication between Auckland and Taranaki. Mr. T. Kelly occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance. No business was transacted, however, as it was at once resolved to await the arrival of members who have not yet reached Wellington. The stewards of the Wellington Jockey-Club met last evening at tho Umpire Hotel. Mr. G. Hunter, occupied the chair. A large amonnt of routine business was transacted, and various matters were discussed with reference to tho next meeting. Several sub-committees were appointed to arrange various matters, and the stewards will meet again at an early date to receive the sub-committees’ reports. There was to have been a meeting of the Public Works Committee of the City Council yesterday afternoon, and several members attended, but there not being a sufficient number present to form a quorum no busines was done.

A dividend at the rata of 10 per cent, per annum will be payable at the office of the Wellington Trust and Loan Company, Lambtonquay, on and after Ist August. The first meeting of the Municipal Conference was held yesterday, when there were nine delegates in attendance. Only formal business was transacted, the conference adjourning .until this day at 2.30 p.ra.

Great improvetn cuts, we understand, are about to be made at Auckland. They include tho reclamation of about eleven and a-quarter. acres of land at the lower end of Queen-street, and tho formation of a new street to be called NewQueeu-street, which will infact bo a continuation of old Queen-street. Here is to be tho ■railway station, and of the eleven acres two and a-half acres are to he reserved for frontages. The railway workshops are to be removed to Newmarket. It is said that the work can be completed in twelve mouths. Custom House-street is carried out in a direct line to Parnell.

A playground is a very desirable' it not an absolutely necessary adjunct of a school. The children attending the Terrace school are practically without a playground, but wo are glad to learn that tho matter has not been altogether lost sight of. At a meeting of the Terrace school committee, held last Saturday, the chairman was authorised to ask help from tho residents of tho school district towards filling up the playground. At present the children have no moans of amusement during their play-honr, and ns tho small allowance which the Board grants will not more than meet expenditure for other purposes, the committee think that they maj fairly ask tho public for assistance. !

A supplementary New Zealand" Gazette of Saturday last contains the following notification :—The 2Stb August is appointed the day for holding tho election of members for the Deborah Bay subdivision of the Blueskin Hoad Board, Otago.—Preservations of land arc made for corporation purposes in tho following boroughs :—Arrowtown, Auckland, Balolutha, Cavorshara, Cromwell, South Dunedin, Green Island, Hokitika, Invercargill, Morniugton, Lawrence, Maori Hill (Otago), Milton, Napier, Naseby, North-East Valley, Oaehunga, Palmerston (Otago),' Parnell, Roxburgh, Roslyn, West Harbor, Queenstown, Bangiora, Sydenham, and Tapanui. . Notwithstanding the hail, rain, and wind of last night, the concert nt the Athemeum drew a good house, and the several items in tho varied add attractive programme - sot before the audience received tho hearty applause of all present.

Tho annual meeting and dinner of the Wellington Artillery Volunteers was held last night. The meeting took place in tho Central Fire Brigade Station, and tho dinner nt tho Metropolitan Hotel. A. report of tho proceedings appears in another column.

. There was not a very largo attendance at tho Theatre Royal last evening, hut this may bo accounted for by the unfavorable state of tho weather. Tho performance, however, was gone through to the satisfaction of the audience, who testified their approval by frequent applause..

Wo hear that there is to be a reduction made on the charges for carrying coal on the Auckland and Waikato line. Taupiri coal is to be carried to Auckland at 6s. per ton, and Miranda at Is. 2d. This, it is stated, will enable Waikato coal to be purchased in Auckland at from lls. to 12s. per ton.

In the Pinko District settlement is progresing. The other day (says the New Zealand Herald of the 25th instant) Mr. J. B. WhytOj of Hamilton, who holds a block of 0000 acres in that locality, disposed of nearly, one-third of it to a party of associated settlers, who propose to go up with their families and settle on the block. The system Mr. Whyte has adopted is somewhat similar to that which Mr, Dnrgaville lias so successfully introduced into, the Northern Wairoa, viz,, deferred payments exteudingcover two or three years. This method is mutually beneficial to buyer and seller ; and, in the case of industrious and steady laboring men, gives them a chance of rising in the social scale, which would otherwise be denied them, The men going qn the Piako land bear the reputation of being good representatives of the small settler class.

There will be a meeting of the Board of Education at a quarter past 11 o’clock to-mor-row (Wednesday). A heavy storm of hail and rain, accompanied by much thunder and lightning, took place in Wellington about eight o’clock last evening. The vessel with the tramway passenger carriages on board left Dunedin yesterday for Wellington. In a very short time now we may expect to see the tramway in operation. We are requested to notify to members of the Municipal Conference that they can obtain copies of the order papers on application at tho Town Clerk’s office.

It is reported that Captain Routledge, of Napier, will succeed Major Withers in command of the district. Captain Routledge is one of the senior officers in the New Zealand service, and is in command of tho Napier artillery volunteers, with whom, as well as with the public of Napier, he is very popular. The address which was presented at the beginning of tho month to Mr. Monteith, accompanied by , a gold watch and chain, on hia retirement from the office of Resident Assistant at tho Wellington Hospital, has been tastefully, and beautifully illuminated by Mr. E. Brandon. It will, we understand, be on view daring the week at Mr. Meyer’s, Lamb-ton-quay, and is well worth inspection as a most_skilful work of art. The diaper work, in gold, which is, introduced in the lettering, has a very good effect, and the illumination of the capital letters is particularly striking. The border is in tho style technically known as composition Egyptian, and is in good keeping with the rest of the work. The frame is plain gilt. Tho wording of the address is as follows : —“To Jacob Monteith, Esq.—Dear Sir, —On the occasion of your retirement from the office of Resident Assistant of the Wellington Hospital, a position which you have occupied for a period of ten years, we take the opportunity of expressing ouc warmest appreciation -of your many acts of kindness and your qualities as a skilful dispenser. We beg your acceptance of the accompanying testimonial as a small memento of our regard, and while regretting exceedingly your absence from tho institution with which you have been so long connected, we cannot but heartily congratulate you on the step you have taken. Wishing you every happiness and success in your future career, wo remain, dear sir,” &c. [Hero follow the signatures.] A correspondent writes ; to the Colonies and India :—lf the Colonial Governments would start schools and colleges to which English parents of tho middle class could send their sons to prepare for colonial life, it would be a great desideratum to'many. If land could bo purchased, prepared, and sold oriented to these lads on their leaving the schools, it would be a great boon. I had a family of orphan lads thrown on my hands with a little fortune of £ISOO each, and should have been most thankful could I have known any persons to whom I could have sent them with a chance of their being taught farming, or to prepare them to invest* this sum wisely in agricultural pursuits. Now I have had to put them in city warehouses, where they will probably merely make two ends meet so long as they live. lam sure that some clever practical person could organise a system of emigration that would be an immense relief to the tried middle classes, and be advantageous also to the colonies. It is marvellous that emigration is left so much to chance and to individual effort, and that there is no scheme, no organised plan, no safe method, by which parents can send out their boys to .enter upon colonial life with a fair prospect,

The narrowest railroad in the world is between North Billerica and Bedford, Mass., a distance of 8( miles. The track is 10 inches wide. The engine and cars are proportionate with the width of the track. The passenger cars have an aisle in them and a seat on each side instead of two seats, as in a full-grown car. There are 30 seats in each car. The train runs 12 miles an hour ; one grade on the road is 155 feet per mile. The trains consist of two passenger and two freight oars and an engine. The cars and engines have air breaks and all the modern improvements. Ordinary cars weigh tour times as much as these little coaches. The cost of the road is 2500 dollars per mile, and the running expenses are stated to bo about one-fourth those of ordinary trains. The Thames Advertiser has the following upon the judgment of the Native Lands' Court in the Te Aroha case :—“The Government yesterday acquired a title to 54,000 acres at Te Aroha through the Native Lands Court now sitting, and so closed one of tho most important claims now being urged on behalf of the Government by their agent, Mr. J. W. Preece. We have to congratulate the latter on the issue, notwithstanding the tough fight made by W. H. Taipari, Hon. Hoani Nahe, Ahi Pepene, and other influential natives who opposed the claim of the successful people, the Maratuahu. The Court awarded the opponents, the sub-section of the Ngatirahiri, a reserve of 7500 acres at Omahu, leaving the judgment of the Court in favor of Maratuahu for 46,500 acres. The reserve is subject to an advance of about £2OOO made by Government agents. Those advances will be gone into by the Court. The Ngatirahiri were entitled to a reserve, and the Government would have been prepared to grant them several thousand acres, even if they had not opposed the Court. It is stated that they are very dissatisfied with the decision, and intend to appeal from the judgment of the Court, or to ask for arehearing.

The Whatawhata correspondent ot tire New Zealand Herald of Thursday last says: “ Andrew Barton, of Karakariki, has died suddenly. It seems’ from the roportsconcerning his death that he had been stung during sleep by some poisonous insect, for in the morning a small mark was observable upon his lip. This gradually swelled until the whole head was swollen terribly. On Saturday last ho died, after having been three days ill. The natives attribute his death to witchraft. Andrew Barton will bo generally regretted. He was indeed a native gentleman. For many years ho has occupied a responsible position as Government assessor and mail contractor, and has always been held in groat respect. The Europeans have lost a staunch ally, for Andrew Barton’s loyalty was undoubted.” When it became known that our neighbors in Now South Wales (says the Daily Telegraph) contemplated sending homeTrickett to compote with the champion rower of England, many persons looked upon it as a piece of presurap-. tiou. The result, however, proved that the ability of the champion they sent forth was not over-rated, and he returned covered with laurels. Thera is no doubt the success of Trickett gave the idea of sending to the old world a team of Australian cricketers, although there were plenty who advertised for them an an-ignominious defeat. But so far from this being the case, they have been more successful than their most ardent admirers anticipated, and we have no doubt, like Trickett, they will return laden with laurels. The idea now is to send some of our best racehorses—first to America, to try conclusions with the racehorses of our American cousins, and then to cross over and throw down the gauntlet to the Englishmen. The idea is a bold one, we admit, but a gentleman well known in sporting circles and of considerable turf experience, who has recently returned from a visit to America and England, where he closely studied the merits of the racehorses there, is firmly of opinion that, with a ‘‘bit of luck" as regards the voyage, our horses would uphold the credit of Australia on the turf as satisfactorily as Trickett did on the water. Should the idea bo carried out successfully, it would be the means of drawing attention to the superior class ot animals wo can breed hero, and probably bo the means of opening up a market in England for our horses. Wo are informed that wellbred and well-matched carriage horses are so scarce now in England that from 500 to 1000 guineas is not an uncommon price to pay for a pair.

The Thames Advertiser announces that Dr, Hector will visit the Thames professionally next summer, and publishes the following letter on the subject from Mr. Under-Secretary Cooper :—“ I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 15th ultimo., addressed to Sir George Grey, requesting that Dr. Hector may bo instructed by Government to visit the Thames District, in order that bo may be enabled to report upon the quartz roofs there. Sir George Grey has. referred your Worship’s letter to the Colonial Secretary, by whom I am directed to inform you that the re-survey of the Thames mines will bo the first work of the Geological Survey Department for next season.—l have, &0., G. S. Coomb.”

Holloway’s Ointment and angry or Indolent sores, and all skin diseases, originating in impure or weak blood, or depraved secretions, the joint agency of Holloway’s Pills and Ointment Is perfectly irresistible. It is of little consequence how long those disorders may have lasted, or how sluggish, obstinate, or malignant they may seem ; the dally application of the Ointment to the parts allllctod, and a course of these matchless Pills, will most certainly effect a cure: not temporary or superficial, but complete and permanent. Both the Ointment and Pills are composed of rare balsams, unmixed with mercury, or any other deleterious substances. They ate, accordingly, as mild and safe as they ate powerful and elßoactous,—fADVx.j