Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5496, 7 November 1878, Page 2

In consequence of tho continued illness of his Honor Mr, Justice Richmond, and tho absence of the Chief Justice at Wanganui, tho sittings in banco to have boon held 'yesterday were necessarily postponed. His Honor Mr, Justice Gillies and a common jury were occupied yesterday 1 iu tho trial of the case Taylor v. Sim, iu which father and daughter woro defendant and plaintiff rospoc. lively. Tho jury returned a verdict for tiio plaintiff for £SOO, witli interest, IVe do not weary of giving assistance to the Government in tho matter of official advertise* incuts, Wo have in view in doing so tho inteo rests of our subscribers and readers, who havo us good a right, tts forming a tojyrably largsectioirof tho people, to that hind pf tion about projected public works, as that section of the people who road only tho subsidised journals or tho Ministers’ own paper. In another place there will he found some official advertisements inserted on nur usual terms—“ gratis." A woman named Kate Hawes attempted to commit suicide by jumping oil the Breastwork about twelve o’clock last night. Constable Willoughby hoard tho splash, jumped into tho water, rescued the woman, and took hor to the police station, fjorgeapt Price, who was in charge, procured the attendance of Hr. Hiver, who administered the necessary romo. dies, and tho woman appeared likely to corao round. A lady from Barrett’s Hotel rendered material assistance to tho police in giving tho necessary assistance to tho unfortunate woman. The question of the water supply of the city has occupied the attention. o£ Mr* idjo city engineer, lately. Mr, Clark, upon his recent visit to Wellington, decided that tho ifarori and Wainui-o-mata streams wore the beet euitoij for supplying Wellington with tho quantity of purs water that she was likely to require, W.o Ufldorsjiatpl %it the plans for this work have now been prepared by Mr. Baird, and will bo forwarded t 6 Mr. plarlc by tho outgoing mail on Saturday, after receiving; the approval of tho Waterworks Committee pf the City Council. : The K&rori stream alone h) calculated to more than double tho present supply, aw. l would probably moot all our roijuiremonts’fpr many years to come. /

His Honor the Chiefs Justice is expected to return to Wellington: to-morrow. His Honor Mr.nJustice Gillies will sit in banco at eleven o’clock this morning. There was no. business done at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, as Mr. Mansford.il.M., attended the Hutt Court. We are glad to hear that his Honor Mr. Justice Richmond is recovering his health, and that he will bo able to resume his judicial duties in the course of a few days. •It is stated that tho removal of Inspector Atchison to Nelson and Inspector Brougham to Wellington is tho prelude to a thorough change-out sytem throughout the colony, ; The barque Malay was sold yesterday by Mr. George Thomas for the sum. of £1450. The purchaser is Mr. J. F. 11. Wright, and the barque is intended for the coal trade. Messrs. Monaghan and Lancaster will address -the electors of Karori-Makara, in connection with the forthcoming county election, at Karori Hall to-night at seven o’clock. The Central Fire Brigade, held, their, ordinary hose and reel practice last night. There was a large attendance of [members, and the practice was very satisfactory. Tho Kelly and Leon minstrels were again favored with a capital house last night at the Theatre Royal. The same programme, was gone through with great success, the audience being evidently delighted with the entertainment. Writing upon the flood question, the Olnlha Times says :—lt is only too plainly evident that most of the houses here will not stand another flood. The foundations in most cases are not worth speaking about, and in more than one instance , but very little strength would be required to knock various structures over. The dress-circle tickets for the cricketers’ concert are going off rapidly, and those who wish to secure seats are advised to do so without delay, as a brilliant and crowded house is certain. The hon. the Premier, the Colonial Treasurer,’ and the president and vice-presidents of the association have signified their intention to be present. * A general meeting of tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society will probably bo held soon, at which arrangements will be proposed for carrying on tho work of acclimatisation for the ensuing year. The society is in a tolerably good position so far as funds are concerned. The salmon, trout, and other fish liberated last season are reported to be doing well, some very fine fellows having been seen in different localities. We regret exceedingly to hear that, Mr. Tesohemaker, the hon. member for Geraldine, has been seriously indisposed for several days past.' Mr. Tesohemaker was on board the steamer about to start for Lyttelton, when he became so seriously unwell that ho returned to his sessional apartments in Hill-street, where he has since been under medical treatment. His many friends in Wellington and tho South will be glad to learn that Mr. Tesohemaker has passed through tho most serious stages of his illness, and that hopes are entertained of his being able to proceed home in a week or so. A correspondent at Carlton, in Melbourne, gives a caution to those who are in the habit of drinking from water-taps. He states that a large centipede came through the tap of his bathroom water supply pipe lately. The other day a lady in this city mentioned to ua that a large eirthworm had come through the tap that supplies her house with water. We may therefore echo the caution given above. A fresh supply of sugar and blankets may soon have to be forwarded up to the Wairarapa, judgiog by the following extract from the report of the meeting of the, Masterton Highway Board published in the Masterton paper of the 4th ;—“Several native owners of land in the Tauern Block attended, aud stated that they had stopped the contractor for bush falling on the Masterton and Gladstone road, and also the survey party, who were laying off a line through their property to Mr. Robinson’s, and were resolved that these lines should not be proceeded with.” Wo learn, says a Southern paper, that the Government despatched an order to New York by tho last ’Frisco mail for three drawing-room oars.. They aro to be lined with plush velvet, and fitted with all the latest appointments. Their construction will be on tho doublo-bogie principle, tho carriages altered in the colony to work on that principle having been found admirably adapted for our light railroads. The carriages will contain accommodation for 25 to 40 passengers. ■lt is intended to employ them on the through trip from Christchurch to Invercargill, and they will be useful as patterns for the construction of similar carriages in the colony^ An instance is given by the N. Z. Herald of the cost sometimes entailed in importing small parcels from London to Now Zealand otherwise than through a systematic agency. A short time ago the bandmaster of the Hibernian band sent an order to a Loudon firm for music to the amount of £1 18s. This was duly forwarded in a small parcel about the size of a yearly volume of the Leisure Hour or Sunday at Hme. Instead, however, of being sent direct to New Zealand, it was sent first to Melbourne, thence to the Bluff, and thence on to 'Auckland. The charges for transit amounted to £2 odd, or considerable more than the original cost of tho music. Had he intrusted tho order to one of our principal booksellers, the music would have been delivered in due course at a very small advance upon the published price. Most people have to learn by experience. Wo have received a first copy of tho IFairarapa Daily, in which the editor sots forth his programme in a modest and sensible manner. As the financial prospects of tho undertaking have been very much questioned, wa will allow the paper to speak for itself upon this score. The leading article says : “ Wo do not believe in papers that do not pay. They may for a season dazzle their readers with their brilliance, and overwhelm them with an unlimited quantity of reading matter, but tho time comes when they have to carry less sail, and often to furl their canvas altogether. We much prefer to begin in a more modest manner ; to give our readers as much nows ns we can afford to , offer them ; to give tho public advertising facilities at moderate prices, aud from time to time to make such improvements in the T Vairarapa Daily as can bo made safely and judiciously.” The first number makes no attempt to appear as anything more than a fairly well-filled sheet of local nows, and as such it has our beat wishes for its future.

Wo wonder whether the gag meters in Wellington are as untrustworthy ns those of Melbourne have lately proved to be. A report recently presented to the City Council of Melbourne by the examiner of gas meters gave the following results ; —Out of 170 dry and 21 wot motors he had tested, 39 dry and 17 wot had boon found defective. This tends to throw suspicious on both descriptions of motors, and seeing that more than a fourth of tho whole number of meters examined proved inaccurate, gas consumers in other cities will probably moyo for ap examiner of motors to bo ap> pointed, It never rains but it pours in matters theatrical ns well ns anything else, All parts of Wow Zealand are at tho present time overdone with professionals, and only a month or two ago most places of amusement wore closed up. Wellington is going to have no loss than two dramatic companies playing at tho same time. Mr. Hoskins and Ids company will commence their season at tho Imperial Opora House on tho 21ith inst,; and Mr. .1. 1\ Hydes will open with his company at tho Theatre lloyal on tho same night. Wellington will bo an exception to all other cities in tho colony if it can support' two dramatic companies running in opposition to each other. Wo dare say a good many Wellington people havp litflp idea pf tho groat syorks which are going on on tho West Coast in the way of affording facilities for mining and for traffic over some of tho most rough and difficult country in the world. I’or instance, it may bo mentioned that a Parliamentary paper recently issued refers to a tramway which in its course moots with tho Toromakau llivor and gorge of somothiug like BCoft. across. To got' passengers across this a cage apparatus had beoii resorted to. A counle of wire ropes have boon stretched across,'fastened at each end of the gorge to a strong derrick. There is a stationary steam engine at one side of'the gorge, and this supplies the power for workin" these wire ropes so that a cajjo full of passengers or of produce, as tho case may be, is hauled from the one side to the other. Of course, owing to tho width of tho span, there is a considerable declension in the middle, and travelling across in this band-basket fashion may bo dangerous, but so far there have been ijuj An oxphango says The Cromwell diggings are loolcjng up. A recent yield from the (Quartz Mining Company there was 293 ounces of gold from 230 tons of stouo. 'TJiis wjll gladden the hearts of the shareholders.

Wellington railways seem likely to -bear.' comparison with those of their neighbors.’’, We| learn from a West Coast paper that the Wan ’ ganui-Manawatu railway now stands fourth on: the list as regards revenue for period specified. The total receipts to date since the line was. opened now represent £6046, and the total working expenditure for the same time £4458, so that it will bo seen that the line is paying handsomely. The percentage of expenditure to receipts is 73-75, showing a most satisfactory improvement. The receipts per mile of railway represent £304, and the expenditure £224, a further most convincing proof of the reproductive results of the section referred to. We notice that in an article on coffee' taverns the Melbourne Argus makes a long quotation from the Marquis of Normanby’s speech at the opening of the Wellington Working Men’s Club. The paper referred to agrees with the sentiments expressed by his Excellency, and commends them highly. :--?In a recent issue we noticed the specimens of marble brought from Caswell Sound. The Westland Times has the following passage in a leader on the subject:—“Thespecimens which we have seen are of two kinds—ono' a pure white, as white as snow, which we were enabled to compare side by side with a piece of tho Carrara marble from which the , bust of Hr, Featherstou has been carved. Ours is but a lay opinion ; but the Caswell Sound marble is in all respects by appearance as close grained as purely white, and as beautiful as the marble which has won for itself renown all the world over. And this opinion is confirmed by the assertion of Mr. Munro, who, being an expert, is entitled to speak as ex cathedra.' He informs us that the bloek of white marble which ho has worked has taken as fine a polish as any marble in the world. The second specimen, which is described as ‘ dove marble,’is of a bluish tint, beautifully veined, and a block of it is at the present time under the hands of Mr. Munro, who will have great pleasure in showing results to anyone interested in the . matter.”