Political gossip just now is at an exceedingly low ebb, and the correspondents of provincial newspapers must feel themselves compelled to draw largely on their imaginations in order to convince their employers that they arc at all events on the qiti vive. The latest rum->r afloat is to ; the effect that Mr. Curtis contemplates bringing forward the subject of reforming the Upper House, but iu what precise form has not transpired, except tint the lion, member will in all probability give notice at to-day’s sitting that ho will ask for leave to bring in a Bill. It is said that at to-day's sitting of the Legislative Council the Hon. Colonel Brett will inquire whether it is the intention of the Government to establish an institution for the deaf and dumb in this colony. The chairman of the County Council of Wairarapa Last has addressed a circular to the chairman of the County Conference in Wellington, calling attention to the unsatisfactory maimer in which the roads through Grown lauds *are laid off under the present system. It is pointed out that the surveyor has no instructions to seek out and grade the easiest line, and consequently sacrifices all tho most essential qualities of a good road so long as the one quality of straightness is preserved, probably on account of this saving trouble and* thj work of looking oil a map. It is proposed that competent engineers should bo employed to mark out the road lines before the land surveyors cimmenco their work of laying out the land in sections. • It is also suggested that pending the appointment by tho Government of such engineers, tho district or county engineer should be consulted by tho surveyor, and should firstapprovcofauy line of road to be adopted. A copy of a report entering more fully into the mvttevis appended to the circular, and tho delegates from tho several counties are requested to give their cooperation and assistance in carrying out the object iu view. At Mr. J. H. Wallace’s land sale yesterday there was a large attendance. The freehold in Willis street adjoining tho Empire Hotel was sold to Mr. .T. S. M. Thompson for £BOIO, being at tho*rate of £l3l per foot. Lot 2in .Kent-terrace was purchased by Mr. W. Layton at £lO per foot, and lot 4 iu Sussexsquare by Mr. G. Georgousou at £7 per foot. The other properties advertised wore withdrawn.
Many years ago it was in contemplation to erect a monument to Mr. Molesworth, one of the early colonists of Now .Zealand,.ami an iron obelisk was sent from England, wllidi it was first of all intended to erect at Pencarrow Head as a beacon, and afterwards a site at Beacon Hill, near Mr. J. 0. Crawford’s present residence, was suggested. Other eligible sites were also talked-of,- but nothing was. done, and the monument, which had been stored at a merchant’s warehouse, was disposed of. It has been lying at the northern cud of Eeatherston-street for some- time,,and*yesterday the men at work on the reclamation ground were about-to remove it, ; or perhapsbury it, as a convenient way of getting rid of it, when Mr. Baird, tho ,City Surveyor, had his attention called to it, and had an interview with the Gpvernment on the but they mid the monument did not belong to them. Who it does belong to, avid what is to b© done with it, has not, so far as we know, transpired. . Pencarrow, whore it was originally proposed to erect it as a beacon, was so named after an estate in Cornwall, England, belonging to the Molesworth family, whose name is intimately associated with the New Zealand Company and the early history of the colony. .The Mr. Molesworth to whoso memory it was proposed to erect tho monument was at onetime tho holder of laud in Manners-street and at Wanganui, which was not in hia time considered of any groat value, and was sold at a small priced bub which has since become of greatly increased value, especially that in Manners-street, known latterly as the Gibson Estate, which is at‘present" J eati-. mated to be worth about £50,000, and is said to have been sold by Mr. Molesworth for leas than £IOO. ■ ■ The monthly meeting of the' Wellington Eire Brigade*waa held last night, when several now members wore elected, and a vote of thanks was accorded to, Mr. Gillespie for a donation of books to ’the library. '
A consignment of young salmon has lately been placed in the Turakina River. A person with'S master mariner’s certificate is advertised for to make one of an exploring party to start shortly lor New Guinea. Members of County Councils attending the Conference are requested to meet in the library of the Provincial Council Buildings at halfpast ten o’clock this morning. Tenders are invited up to the 2nd September for the erection of buildings, plant, &0., and also for laying the mains and service pipes of the Wanganui Gas Company’s works.
A meeting of persons holding property abutting on the Te Aro foreshore was held yesterday afternoon in the office of the Chamber of Commerce. A report of the. proceedings will be found in another column.
An artillery manual is now being printed at the Government Printing Office, for instruction in the use of the new guns now on their way from England for the harbor defences of New Zealand.
At vespers, on Sunday evening last, the Eight llev. Bishop Redwood announced that it was his intention to give a series of three lectures on the subject of education, commencing on Sunday evening. With a view to improving the acoustic properties of the House of Representatives, wires are being placed at right angles over the heads of hon. members, the fastenings being made at the front floor level of the galleries. Formerly the wires were considerably nearer the ceiling. A meeting of the parishioners of St, Peter’s parish was held last evening at the schoolroom, Ghuznee-street, for the purpose of nominating three laymen to represent the parish in the Synod. The three retiring synodsmen, Messrs. C. Rous Marten, R. Hunter, and G. Didibury, were unanimously re-elected. The Board of Education met yesterday. It will be seen from the report that a majority of the members present resolved to go on with the Doherty case, and the rule obtained-by the Board in the case will, we presume, come on for argument in the Supreme Court at an early date. A cross rule, it will be remembered, has also been obtained by Mr. Doherty. Last evening's concert at the Athenreum proved, as these popular entertainments always do, most successful. There was a large attendance, and the programme, to the chief items of. which we called attention in our issue of yesterday, were gone through to the entire satisfaction of the audience, who testified their approval of the several pieces by repeated applause. The “ Demon Wizard" gave his first performance at the Theatre Royal last night, but judging from the temper of the audience Signor Duvalli did not create a very favorable impression. His tricks were of the ordinary legerdemain kind, but were done in a very loose way. The curtain dropped i-ather nbrubtly, amidst numerous hoots from the audience. The performance concluded with the burlesque of “ Aladdin,” In a few days more tenders will be invited for the erection of two class-rooms in' connection’with the new Catholic schools in Dixonstreet. The erection of these rooms will be commenced in about a fortnight (should a satisfactory tender be received), and as soon as they are finished the old building will bo pulled down, and the whole design will then be proceeded with. The two class-rooms, which will be first put in hand, will accommodate about -200 people altogether. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday Albert; Wiltshire was brought up on remand, charged with being illegally in possession of a “ swag,” the property of a sailor who had deposited it in the bar of the Pier Hotel, from which it was missed, and was’subsequently traced to Wiltshire’s possession. The accused said he had taken the “swag” in mistake, and’ it appeared that he brought a swag into town from the Hutt on Friday morning, as he had previously stated. The Resident Magistrate discharged the- man, with a caution to him to be careful not to take too much to drink in future.
A man named William Naylor Arnold was brought up before Mr. Mansford, R.M., at the Police Court yesterday afternoon, and remanded on the application of Inspector Atcheson for a week, on the charge of firing a shot with a pistol into Mr. Wall’s bedroom at Porirua the previous evening. The accused, it appeared, had formerly been in Mr. Wall’s service, and had become attached to that gentleman’s niece, bub his advances had nob been favorably received. He was subsequently discharged from Mr. Wall’s service, and it is stated had been heard to say he would shoot the girl. After leaving Mr. Wall’s he went to Wanganui, where ho is reported to have purchased a pistol. On Sunday night a shot was fired through the window of Mr. Wall’s bedroom, but fortunately no one was injured. Mr. Wall then gave information to Constable Ryan, who arrested the prisoner, and found upon him a -Colt’s six-shooter, five of the chambers being loaded, and the sixth apparently having been recently fired. It is expected that some further particulars will be elicited in the course of the week. The accused is a man about 25 years of age, and has not been long in the colony. On Saturday evening next a “Complimentary Teitimouial Benefit” will be tendered to Mr. R. W. Cary, The following ladies and gentlemen have kindly volunteered their services on the occasion, and'the affair promises to be a very successful one indeed :—Madame Mollcr, Miss Hewitt, Miss Randall, Miss Donaldson, Miss Moller, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Slade, Mr Hollister, Mr. Maginity, Mr. Widdup, Mr. Raymond, Mr. Ishenvood, Mr. Ramsey, and Bijou Minstrels (comprising thirteen performers), Mr. Margetts appearing for the first time in black face.
At a meeting of tho. Wanganui Education Board on the Ist instant some discussion took place with regard to a site required for schoolhous§ and other buildings at Otaki, and it was proposed by Mr. Dalrymple, and seconded by Mr. Sanson—That tho chairman communicate with tho Bishop of Wellington, and ask him to place a building site at Otaki at the disposal of this Board for school purposes. A mooting, of St. Paul’s parishioners was held in tho Diocesan Library last night, for the purpose of electing three lay members to represent , tho parish at the Diocesan Synod, which sits in two months time. Tho-following’ gentlemen were re-elected : Messrs. H. D. Clark, 0. P, Powles,-and W. 11. Quick. After Signor Duvalli’a performance at the Theatre Royal last evening the Star Company appeared in Byron’s burlesque of “ Aladdin,” which ; formed the second and certainly the best part of the evening’s entertainment. During the week tho Star Company have presented to the public the following burlesques:— “ Fra Diavolo,” “WilUkiml and hya Dinah,” and ‘‘Aladdin,” and several very pleasing dramas and farces. One of the best testimonies to the merits of the company.ia that they have drawn good houses here. Tho company loaves for Napier to-day. Amongst its members are the following artists:—Miss Jennie Nye, Miss Bessie Vivian, and Miss Kato Vernon, Mr. John Howe, one of tho best players of “old men” in the colony; Mr. R. Reade, Mr. J. Hooper, whoso forte ia juvenile character ; Mr. Cnllimoro, pianist; Mr. E. Huntly ia scenic artist, and Mr. D. Clinton, who is well known in Napier, is stage manager. Tho company stay in Napier twelve nights, commencing on Friday next.] The’Waverley correfqiondentof tho Chronicle, writing to that journal under date August Ist, thus refers to tho recent violent storm ;—A thunderstorm of terrific violence, accompanied with fearful squalls of wind, ra J n, and hailstones of -unusual size, and lightning of dazzling brilliancy, broke over this township on Tuesday night, and rngecl with, unabated fury.till the following ■ morning. So excessive was its violence that fears were entertained that some buildings might have suffered ; but no damage of any -consequence has 1 been reported except that which has- been clone ,to St. Andrew’s Church,. which, indeed, is serious - enough, * It has sustained injuries which will take a good, deal of labor 'and expense to repair. The windows on the weather aide were more or loss smashed iu, and the glass carried all over the interior. Tho rain and hail having free access, have done not a little injury to books, &c., and tho wind being freely admitted burst in the windows, on the Ice side. There seems* also to have been such a pressure brought to bear on tho building itself as to have bodily shifted it at tho foundation adjoining the tower, thereby causing a very prominent bulge on . the one side, with a corresponding hollow on the other. The seats for the entire length of the 'building on the aides are all bat from the walls to which they were kfixed, aud some part of the flooring was raised. Fears wore entertained that the spire might be damaged, but X can see nothing the matter with it in any way, . A meeting of the com-, mittoo of management was hastily summoned together yesterday afternoon, and I understand they agreed to send ,for some practical gentleman to come and suggest the best means for repairing the damage. , '
The Napier Telegraph says that the people at Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, are highly pleased with' the action of Mr. F. Sutton, M.H.R., in his endeavors to get the Legislature to do something to improve the harbor at that place. - _ Mr. Copeland's new sawmill near Halcombe will soon be in working order. The site is on the Stanway-road, within an easy distance of the railway, and is surrounded by a tract of splendid timber. The engine, a portable one, by Ruston and Proctor, has reached Halcombe, and is fitted with all the latest improvements. We ’(Advocate) are glad to notice each of these fresh developments of local enterprise. We (Telegraph) understand that a deputation waited upon Mr. Ormond recently, oud pointed out to him the high tariff for carrying firewood on the railway line, and in consequence persons dealing in firewood could not use the railway for obtaining their supplies, but ; have to rely on obtaining it from outside districts. Mr. Ormond promised to do his utmost to have the cause of complaint rectified after his arrival in Wellington. When dry weather sets in, which we suppose it will do again (says the Rangitikei Advocate) some precaution will have to be taken to prevent destruction of crops and fences through the sp arks from the engine funnels on the railway. On last Saturday night, damp as was the ground, some grass growing on the edge of one of the side-cuttings was ignited by a cinder from the engine and was instantaneously in flames. Last summer, a farmer on No. 2 Line had a quantity of fencing destroyed through the same agency, and the gap caused allowed flocks of sheep to mix, with undesirable results. Indeed, it is impossible to estimate the amount of damage of various kinds which might arise from this cause, especially when so much land adjoining the railway will be under crop as will be the case this harvest. The Wanganui Chronicle of the 2nd instant says that Mr. Oowern, who lately bought the 100,000 acres of laud from the natives in Patea District, has been promised 1000 acres of j land on the Waimate Plains by the Government to forego his claim upon the larger area. It is also whispered that another party lays claim to being the real purchaser, merely using Mr. Governs name, as he could not purchase in his own, owing to the rules affecting licensed interpreters. Our Patea correspondent informs us that it is generaly understood that there are a number of others laying claim to the good things supposed to be sticking to the transaction in question. As it is not certain that the, whole of the signatures requisite to complete the purchase above alluded to have been obtained, we hope the Government will exercise a wise discretion before making any grant of • such magnitude as that stated as being made to Mr. Cowern. The present Government, who went into office with a pious horror of all jobbery, and most especially that of an agrarian nature, must look to their laurels, or people will begin to think King Stork no better than King Log. We (Napier Daily Telegraph, Ist inst.) have to record to-day the demise of one who, with the exception of the Rev. Father Forest, was the oldest Catholic missionary priest in New Zealand, namely, the Rev. John Anthony Joseph Seou, The rev. gentleman was a native of Lyons, France, and arrived in this colony in 1838, and.as a missionary and priest won the respect and esteem of.all with whom he came in contact. He was for many years stationed at the Hutt and Wellington. He has been incapacitated through illness for the past,nine years, and breathed his last yesterday at the Mission Station, Meanee, at the advanced age of 78 years. His funeral will take place on Saturday next, after the requiem mass is concluded.
The town of Eeilding (says the Manawata Times of August 3rd) was perfectly alive yesterday with. Maoris of both sexes, who had evidently donued their holiday attire. The occasion was nothing mo|*c nor less than the holding of the inquest upon the body of the unfortunate man George Smith, found in a whare near Awalmri, As two of the natives had been summoned as witnesses, it was thought the correct thing to make a tribal demonstration, and early in the day carriages bearing the older portion of the gentler sex commenced to arrive, while the younger were escorted by cavaliers'on horseback. Although the proceedings, no doubt, were not quite clear to them, they evinced a morbidcuriosifcy worthy of apakeha. With regard to the manSmifch, wo learned that he was a shipmate from England with Constable Price, of with whom he arrived in the colony about five years since. His wife died in the Wellington Hospital, and Mr. Reed, the governor of the gaol, having taken his daughter into service, deceased had been leading a wandering life ever since.
Mr. George Tliomas will soli by auction at 2.30 this afternoon the brig Jane. This vessel, which was built at UobartOn, is 100 tons register, and has been newly sheathed and coppered at considerable expense. Mr. R. J. Duncan will submit to public competition at his auction mart, at 2 o’clock this afternoon, four superior pianos, and also a quantity of condemned surplus stores by order of the Government.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5416, 6 August 1878, Page 2
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3,146Untitled New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5416, 6 August 1878, Page 2
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