Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5433, 26 August 1878, Page 2

' Tho WolUnuton Artillery and Cadets will parado for monthly impaction at half-pant 7 o’clock to-morrow (Tuesday) evening..

We understand that it has been agreed to that the House shall be adjourned at 3.30 p.m. on next Wednesday week, in order to give those hon. members who intend to take part in the opening of the Christchurch to Dunedin railway an extra day in the South. The Hiuemoa will therefore leave the wharf shortly after 6 p.m. on September 4, and about forty members of both Houses of Parliament have signified their intention of proceeding on the trip. The Ministry will be represented by the Hon. Mr. Fisher and the Hon. Mr. Stout, the former gentleman being identified with Canterbury, and the latter with Otago. Mr. Henry Thomson, the Mayor of Christchurch (who returns to that city by this afternoon’s steamer), has been in Wellington since Friday last on public business. His invitation to hon. members to attend a banquet in L the City of the Plains has been accepted. The banquet will take place in the Provincial Council Chamber on the evening of Thursday, September 5, and it is expected that there will be about 200 guests present. It is intended to do the thing on a first-rate scale, and Mr. J,-W. Morton, the well-known caterer of Christchurch, has been given carte blanche to provide the best of everything for the occasion The party will leave Christchurch for Dunedin early next morning, and the through journey by rail to Dunedin is to occupy ten hours. In the Southern capital there will also be a banquet on a grand scale. Leaving Dunedin early on Monday morning, the party will reach Lyttelton in the afternoon, and the Hinemna will bring them back to Wellington in time for the re-opening of the House on Tuesday. The ceremony of opening the line, or rather the connecting link at Palmerston, will be performed by his Excellency the Governor, who will proceed to Lyttelton in H.M.S. Nymphe. It is understood that his Excellency and suite will be accompanied by the Hon. Colonel Whitmore, Colonial Secretary ; and it is not improbable that the Union Company will run one of their fine fleet of steamers to Lyttelton for the accommodation of the general public. The Hoskins-Colville company had another good house on Satnrdvy evening, downstairs being crowded, and not many seats being vacant in the circles. Most theatre-goers have seen both Miss Colville and Mr. Hoskins in “ Woodcock’s Little Game,” which was the first piece. It is a comedy which shows to advantage the powers of both gentleman and lady, who were ably seconded by Misses Andrews and Daley and Mr. Graham. “ Turko the Terrible ” is a burlesque abounding in broad humor, and all the actors engaged threw themselves into the action with mi abandon which carried the audience with them, and kept everyone laughing right through. The local “ patter ” introduced into one of the songs was excessively amusing. The tramway, the water schemes, and other matters furnished palpable hits,_ but the climax was reached when the audience was informed that the Ministry were about to proceed South to witness the opening of the railway, and would pay their own expenses—yes, “ when pigs do fly.” This brought down the house with a roar. The dancing of Mr. Wilkinson in the burlesque was very good indeed, and so also was that of the ladies. Altogether the performance of Saturday night was most enjoyable. To-night “ Woodcock’s Little Game" will be repeated, and will be followed by “111-treated 111 Trovatore.” No one who can help it should miss this, probably the last chance, of seeing Mr. Hoskins in a character which he has made his own, and in which his quiet, gentlemanly humor shows so well.

A number of copper penny pieces are being ciiculated in the city washed or in some ingenious manner with a silvery looking coating, and any person might very- innocently take them for a two-shilling piece. Last week a little girl not more than seven years of age entered an hotel iu the town and asked the person behind the bar for “ change for a florin,” tendering at the same time one of these coins. The request was declined, and the profaned coin retained. It is probable that the child had been told by someone older than herself to try and pass it.

The large profits which publicans are said to have been making on the sale of colonial beer have been somewhat curtailed lately. Tile imposition bj the present Government of an excise duty on this popular beverage has caused the brewers to raise the price of the article to their customers, and now we hear the hatchers are going to raise the price of meat which the publicans pay, thinking the present rate too little, so that there seems to be rather a dead-set made at “John Barleycorn, licensed victualler,” just now. The next tiling we may hear is that the baker will ra se the price of Mine Host’s broad, and in return the price of yeast may be augmented. We may be perfectly sure, however, that in the long run the consumer will bo the man who will have to suffer. The Wellington Artillery Cadets fired off the third of their competition matches for tile cup, under command of Sub - Lieutenant Taylor, on Saturday afternoou, at their butts in Pothill Gully. The conditions were 100, 200, and 300 yards ; five shots at each range ; any position ; Ix 6 target. Shooting was commenced at 2 o’clock under very favorable circumstances, as there was scarcely any wind. The scores were as follows :

By reference to onr telegrams it will be seen that a smart shock of earthquake was felt at several places in the South between 2 and 3 on Saturday afternoon. The cricketers’ concert committee announce their third grand concert on Thursday next, and are to be congratulated on the distinguished patronage they have secured, and the excellent programme they are enabled to issue. The first part will be filled by a band of talented Christy Minstrels, all accomplished musicians, who will make their first appearance on this occasion, and whose performance will be a great treat. The second will consist of songs, glees, and ballads by our best amateurs, and the feature of the evening will be a reading by Mr. Hoskins, who has kindly consented to come and help the cricketers. In view of the crowded house, arrangements have .been made to reserve and number 200 chairs, for which early application at the Athenamra Bazaar is advised,' as seats are already being rapidly taken. The following telegram respecting a fire having occurred at Horokiwi was received by the inspector of police on Saturday ; —“ Last night about seven o’clock, the five-roomed house of Joseph L. Simms, at Horokiwi, was burned. There was no one in at the time, and everything was destroyed. The house was insured in the New Zealand office for £SO. The origin of the fire is unknown.” As a great many permanent residents here and visitors from other parts of the country now in Wellington would like to ho present at the opening of the railway from ' fiiristohuroh to Dunedin, an interesting and important event in the history of the colony, it would be well it the shipping companies could put on a boat, or possibly more than one, to run from here’ to Lyttelton and back at suitable times. There is a report that one boat, irrespective of the Government one, which is sure to be crowded, will be laid on for the trip ;'but there arc many intending excursionists, who would like to be assured that there will be plenty of acoomodadation. It the present fine weather continues, the intended holiday will in all probability bo a very enjoyable one. ; Wo,are pleased to learn that stops are being taken to give Mr. Hoskins a farewell benefit, prior to his departure from Wellington, on a scale something approaching that which the Christchurch people gave this veteran actor a week or two ago. Mr. Hoskins has well earned from the theatre-loving people of New Zealand such a mark of esteem. He is in the highest sense of the term a “ legitimate ” actor —one who has been trained in the very beat schools, where ho has associated with the foremost ladies and gentlemen of his profession, and since his connection with the drama in New Zealand ho has endeavored to elevate the sta"e to its proper position. As.au actor he has had no rival on the New Zealand stage, and as a manager ho has sacrificed personal ambition to an endeavor to elevate the tone of public taste for theatrical amusements. It is such managers as these that deserve encouragement, and it is but a fitting compliment we, as a community, pay to Mr. Hoskins, that, each centre in Now Zealand should contribute something handsome in re-cognition-of snob sterling abilities; as ho is possessed of, if only to encourage others to tread in the same path. A committee, including a number of loading citizens and members of both Homes of Parliament, is being formed for the purpose of carrying out this object in 0 manner befitting the occasion. :. At the -several Anglican Churches'yesterday there were special thanksgiving services for the preservation of peace. Each; of the churches was largely attended both’in the morning aad evening. •

There will be a meeting of the Board of Education on Wednesday next. A general meeting of the Wellington Licensed Victuallers’ Association is announced to be held on Wednesday next at 3 p.m., at the Star Hotel, when business of importance to the trade will be discussed. A scratch match at football was played on the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoon. Sides were chosen by Messrs. Davy and Blackloolc. The game was a closely contested one, no goals were obtained by either side. On Saturday evening the steward of the Abeona tell into the water, and would, iu all probability, have been drowned had not the master and mate of the Medea come to the rescue and pulled him on to the wharf when he was apparently nearly suffocated. The adjourned yearly meeting of the Working Men’s Club will be held this evening at 8 o’clock, for the purpose of receiving the report and balance-sheet, the election of officers, and to make alterations in the rules, and for the transaction of general business. The Right Reverend Bishop Redwood delivered a lecture at St. Mary's Cathedral last evening on the subject of the relation of the Church to science. He argued that the Catholic Church was not antagonistic to science. There was a very large and attentive congregation on the occasion. The new steamer for the Patea trade, which is in course of construction by Mr. E. W. Mills, is being pushed forward with all speed. The greater quantity of the ribs are already iu their places. By the end of the present week a considerable change will he noticeable in the vessel’s progress towards completion. A young man named Michael O'Sullivan, nineteen years of age, attempted to commit suicide in Melbourne on the night of the 3rd i: stant by throwing himself into the Yarra, whilst suffering from delirium tremens. Some persons iu a boat near the spot heard the splash iu the water, and succeeded iu rescuing the man from his perilous position. O’Sullivan was handed over to Constable Martin, who lodged him in the city watchhouse. The European Mail of July 5 gives the following account of “An old Australian colonist in trouble,” and of the kind and merciful way in which Mr. Flowers, the Bow-street magistrate, dealt with the case ;—“ At Bow-street, on Juno 23, Richard Field, aged 78, was examined before Mr. Flowers on the charge of stealing “Dick's Shilling Shakspere” from a bookstall in the Strand. The prisoner stated that he only took up the book to show it to Mr. Lane, who lived two doors off, and who had published his work of “Travels,” with the view of asking him if he had a copy of the work. A gentleman of the name of Budge said that, having seen a report of the case in the papers, he came forward to say what he knew of the prisoner, with whom he had been acquainted fifty years, since they were fellow apprentices at Grediton, iu Devon. They came to London together, and the prisoner had every prospect of doing well iu the leather trade, but he went to Australia, got married there, published a book of his travels, and ruined himself. When he was in difficulties witness gave him a cheque for £32 to start him again, but he had a paralytic fit in the streets while on his way to attend the thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales, and his head had been affected ever since. There was no helping him. Ho went into lodgings with his wife, paid no rent, and when threatened with expulsion in consequence he set fire to the furniture. He had been married twice, but both wives were dead. He never heard of n third, although prisoner said ho was married last week. The secretary of a charitable society connected with the leather trade said that they paid him a pension of £25 per annum for some years, it was discontinued when he went to Australia, and although lie applied for the renewal on his return it was not granted. He was for some time in a lunatic asylum, from which, however, bo escaped. Mr. Flowers observed that probably the desertion of the leather business oj authorship had caused the downfall of the pri inner, and he was not the only man who had been ruined by printing hooks which no one cared to read or buy. When the prisoner was charged with stealing a pot of preserves on a former occasion, he did not like to commit a man so aged to prison, and ho did not care to do so now. The prisoner was then discharged and sent to the workhouse.

The Statist observes that to suggest even the possibility of danger to the Bank of England seems all absurdity. But no system is stronger than its weakest essential pait. The Bank of England, after all, is not isolated, but it is the head and representative of a great banking system which is defective in many ways and from the effects of whose deficiencies even the Bank of England itself must suffer. The Bank of England, by a tacit arrangement, keeps the cash reserve not merely of the Loudon banks, but of the banks of the United Kingdom, as well as of foreign banks to some extent. The solvency of the whole system depends upon it. The point where the Bank of England fails is in the maintenance of a cash reserve. The reserve is, in fact, so small that one cannot think of the possibility of a “coraer" by some enterprising capitalists without a shudder. One or two millionaires, or even one only, wanting to give an interest to life, and to add to his millions as well, could easily make a great coup. They have' only to realise ten millions of securities, which not only a Rothschild, but one or two more could easily do, and the market is at their mercy. In a moment money would be tight, the reserve in tile bank would sink rapidly below ten millions, and the fear of a catastrophe would be general. Probably nothing more need be done, apprehension and panic doing the rest ; but, in point of fact, such a capitalist would be able to shut the doors of' the Banking Department, unless some desperate measure, like the suspension of the Bank Act, or a sudden borrowing of a few millions from the Bank of France, were resorted to. In any case the fall in securities would probably be such that the account would probably be covered, and a re-purchase of what had been sold gradually could bo made at a cheap rate. Some day or other we may have Jay Goulds among us who have the skil and daring and resources necessary for the operation, and its possibility should not bo pooh-poohed. The Bank of England should never be so weak as to give a chance to unscrupulous operations of the sort described.

A sculling match (says the Australasian of the 10th August) took place on the 15th May last at Toronto, between Edward Hanlan, of that city, and Eredk. Plaisted, of New York, for lOOOdol. aside. Thu former, it will bo remembered, claims to bo champion of America, and is the same sculler that some time since accepted Trickett’s challenge, which appeared in Belts Life in London , but which was repudiated by. the Sydney man as spurious. The report of the race states that as Haulan was unsteady at starting, the New Yorker, who is very quick from the scratch, got away with a lead, rowing 33 a minute, which he held for?a quarter of a mile ; “ the Canadian’s steady, powerful sweep of 28 to the minute, pulled through clean and Lard from catch to finish, began to tell.” When a quarter of the distance had been rowed Hanlan began to gain gradually, never varying his stroke, and evidently pulling with considerable reserve power. At the end of the first mile the Toronto man had placed a gap of nearly three lengths between the boats, and had little trouble in keeping at that respectful distance from his opponent to the end of the race, “ achieving one of the easiest conquests that ever elated an oarsman." Ho received a great o ration on returning to his quarters riaisted was much admired for the plucky way in which he pulled a hopeless stern race, and was presented with a cheque for 50d01., and the winner was afterwards presented 'with a gold medal in recognition of his prowess. The Dally Herald contains the peculiar announcement that Mr. Frank S. Bowerman, having received from his Excellency the Governor a free pardon, deems it a duty he owes the public, his relatives, and himself to give a public explanation of the lamentable circumstances which drove him to commit the cruel assault on A. W. Manning, Esq., Under Colonial Secretary, on November 2d, 1868. Mr. Bowerman will not attempt to justify the assault in any way, for he deeply deplores and laments it as an act wholly and absolutely unjustifiable. . Nevertheless, there were circumstances immediately connected with the catastrophe which the public are not aware of, and it will be his object to place all these incidents fairly and impartially before the audience he has the honor to address, at the School of Arts (Dolby.) For the privilege of listening to Mr. Bowerman’s explanation the public will be charged 2s. for a front seat, or for a back seat, Is. This suggests a new field of operations for gentlemen who “ have a story to tell.” . The authorities of the city of Pesth have almost accomplished tho task of obtaining an unlimited supply of boiling water, which is to be available for public and private use. The heated fluid is obtained from a deep artesian well, from which, when completed, the water will ietus in a mighty fountain to tho height

of nearly 50ffc. The deepest artesian well in the world has hitherto been that at Paris, which has a depth of 1794 ft. The Fesbh well, however, has already attained a depth of 3120 ft., and will, when completed, more than double the depth of its Paris rival. The water now issuing from the bowels of the earth, three* fifths of a mile below the surface, has a temperature of Ifildeg. Fahrenheit, and the work will be prosecuted until a warmth of 178 deg. is attained. The meaning and value of these figures will be better understood when it is remembered that the temperature of a hot bath is about 98deg., while that of boiling water is 212 deg. The daily supply is already 175,000 gallons, and this quantity will be materially increased by reaching the greater depth. The work has been progressing at the rate of 50ft, per month, and improvements which have now beeu made in the mechanical appliances render possible a still more rapid rate of working. The Pesth well will undoubtedly rank amongst the greatest wonders of the world, and it will be observed that it illustrates in a marked manner the intensity of the heat in the earth’s centre. Messrs, T. K. Macdonald and Co.'s usual fortnightly sale of town and country properties will take place to-day.

100 yds. 200 yds. 300 yds. Tl. Sub-Lieut. Taylor .. 34313 •43344 24144 — 53 Corporal Mitchell .. 31344 33243 30442 — 40 Gunner Gamble .. 43443 22444 02033 — 42 Bombardier Crown 42344 44043 30032 — 40 Gunner Archer .. 24343 32342 32020 — 37 ,, Mudgo .. 31333 30234 00322 -- 35 „ Howe .. .. 42244 32343 02020 — 34