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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5541, 31 December 1878, Page 2

As most people are aware the major portion of the work connected with tho publication of a newspaper has to bo clone the day prior to publication; therefore, in order to givo the employes of tho New Zealand Times full benefit of the New Year's Cay holiday, this journal will not be issued on Thursday, 2nd January.

There are whispers abroad that the Colonial Treasurer is beginning t> find out the utter impracticability of his land tax scheme, and that there is great trouble in the Land Tax Commissioners' room in the big buildings on the beach. From various parts of tho colony oomo reports of the great difficulty of getting men who can assea9 land at its natural value, irrespective of improvements, and the almost utter ignorance of the valuers, when appointed, to know where to begin. Then there are great obstacles in the way of getting information in regard to land, and tho County Council rolls ore found to bo of very little real assistance. The expenses, too, are excecdiug all computation, and leave little hope that the Treasurer's estimate of £90,000 will bo realised this year. Poor Mr. Ballaoco ! It is a protty piece of business altogether.

The Hon. the Minister for Public Works has issued imperative instructions that all free passes on tho railways are to ceaso from and after tho Ist January, except to members of tho Legislature and officers of tho Railway and Public Works Department travelling on public service.

Tho Tararua, having taken up'the ruuuiug of the Arawata, will carry the outward English mail to Auckland this month.

Tha Hon. Mr. Macandrew arrived in Wellington yesterday. , ,;,' The Resident Magistrate's Court will not be removed to the Provincial Buildings unlil the second week in January. -■,„.,. Two men, Richard Irvine and H. A. Cummings, were yesterday afternoon arrested on a charge of having broached cargo on board the Hormoino.

Mr. George Hunter's, farm, near Wellington, ■ consisting of 5800 acres, wi«J>-purchased yosterday, with all improvements," but not including stock, by Messrs Jacob Joseph, Philip Moeller, and Andrew Young, for £60,000. The Postal Department has accepted tho contract of Mr. It. Taylor for the wharf and railway service in this city. He will also clear the pillars in various parts of the city, and transport mails to and from the chief office and the Te Aro office. The consideration is £285 per annum. A watch night service wilt be held in the large hall at the Athememn, under the außpices of the Young Men's Christian Association, to-night, at 11 o'clock. Ther,e will be various speakers, and the Evangelistic choir have kindly promised to attend. The service will last one hour.

As there are so many complaints with regard to the want of protection round tho works in upper Willi3-etreet, it may be mentioned that the contractor was from the first directed by the Corporation to put up all necessary safeguards, aucl in answer to inquiries from the Town Clerk he states that he has endeavored to keep up ropes, scaffolding, ftc, but that people continually break them down. It may also be stated that though the Corporation have by advertised notice warned the public that the street is closed tojtraffic, people will persist in taking down the ropes and driving through. The following is the calendar for the criminal sittings of the Circuit Court : —Kate Dawes, attempted suicide ; Sarah Hannah Jacobs, attempted suicide ; Charles Schmidt, stealing from a dwelling-house ; William Watson, alias Sutton, stealing from a dwelling-house; James Murphy, indecent assault; Philip John Murtagh, assault, inflicting grievous bodily harm ; Edward Henry McElwaine, arson; George Webb, alias George Smith, forgery. Several of the accused are on bail. The number of committals will probably be brought up to a dozen before the Court sits, on January 6. A service of song was given in the Kaiwarra schoolroom last evening, by the children attending the Sunday aud day schools, under the leadership of Storey and Mr. Evans, to whom great praise is due fori their unflagging zeal in training the children. The chair was occupied by Mr. Harvey, who spoke in very complimentary terms of the children's Binging.

One of the most attractive events put forth for pleasure-seekers on New-Year's Day is the excursion of the Union Company's s.s. Wellington to Picton, which will be made to dovetail into the Pioton Regatta. In addition to the regatta, however, there are to bo games aud sports at Tna Marina, a village on the Wairau Plains, celebrated for the wellremembered massacre. A special train will run from Picton to Tua Marina immediately on the arrival of the Wellington.

Two inebriates at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday were fined 20s. each, with the usual alternative of 48 hours' imprisonment. Two seamen belonging to the ship Hermione were charged with stealing a quantity of champagne, valued at £l. The prisoners, on the application of Mr. Brandon, were remanded until Thursday. Arthur Sweet was charged with forging a cheque for £3 10s. Prisoner was remanded until Friday. This was all the business, and the Court adjourned. Messrs Wallace and Ward, J.P.'s were on the Bench

The determination of the Postmaster-Gene-ral to place tho Te Aro Post Office at Mount Cook seems unreasonably to excite a good deal of opposition. If there is to be a second post office, it is not desirable to put it iu within a stone's throw of the chief office. The department has in view the accommodation of the people around Newtown and the other outskirts of the city in that direction, aud it is proposed not only to have a post office, but a letter-carrier attached to it, so that people of the district may have pretty nearly equal postal facilities with the city dwellers, and the arrangement ought to give satisfaction. It may be added that mails will close just before the departure of all intercolonial and interprovincial steamers as at the chief offiae, and there will also bo a receiving and distributing telegraph office. '*■ ■.•■■■ An inquest was yesterday held on the body of Mrs. McGirr, at the Metropolitan Hotel. The evidance of the husband and the;s»n of deceased was taken, to the effect that for some time past Bhe had been subject to temporary weakasss of mind, and that at such times she gave way to drink. A little before Uhristnia3 she had been drinking, and on the 27th inst. she was missed when the father and son went home to tea, and then found her in an outhouse, quite dead, from appearances, she must) when discovered, have been dead some hour 3. Dr. Keating stated that he had made a post nwrfenTexamination, and he described minutely the condition of the various organs, which in his opinion was only reconcilable with a long course of intemperance. Death, he believed, had been caused by effusion of serum on the brain. A verdict to that effect was returned by the jury. We have received notice of the publication of a work entitled " The History of Technology," by, Mr. C. A. Curtis, of the To Aro school. The book is written in German and will bo published in Dresden. The general object of the work may be said to be to place clearly before the reader the enormous strides that have been made in material progress and the wonderful amount of aid that is rendered to us by science in our daily life. A comparison between the condition of trado and industry in the present day and that of a century ago gives most astounding results. 'ln the preface to this work we notice that the first workable telegraph is attributed to Ganz and Weber, of Gottingen. This invention is asoribed to several other parties, and the dates given by both Frenoh and English authorities who claim the prioritj of discovory, are so nearly approximate that it is scarcely fair to claim tho full credit of the invention for any one country, when several men in different parts of Europe, who had been laboring at tho same thing, and bad well-nigh perfected it simultaneously. The whole work has a very scientific tone, and treats of mechanics, statics, and dynamics, and goes into the history of the progress that has been made in these sciences. We trust that the labors of Mr. Curtis may be duly rewarded, and , that his scientific countrymen* may weloorae the result of his laborious researches with enthusiasm.

On Thursday next, the mails between Wellington and Taranaki will for the first time be taken via the Mountain-road and luglewood, and after that date the mails to and fro will be taken along that route throe times a week. By this routo some fifty miles will bo saved, and four or five hours' additional time will be given for the reception of correspondence at each end of the line. Messrs. Hastwel', Macara aud Co. have given notice that their coaches will in future leave Masterton for Palmerston and Napior thrice weokly, instead of only twice as heretofore. This arrangement will enable passengers from Wellington to reach Napier in two dayß instead of threo. The coaches are advertised to leave Palmerston aud Kopua on Monday, Wcdnoaday, and Friday at an hour as yet unfixed. At the Masterton end the coaches leave on the same days of the week, starting at 3 p.m., aud will reach Eketahuna on the evening of the same day. The travelling public will no doubt be glad to hear of this great gain in time on this journey, and with the increased facilities offered we may confidently expect that an increase of traffic will Bbortly follow. It is to be hoped that the service may prove remunerative to the proprietors. Anniversary day will be celebrated in Wellington on the 22nd proximo by the usual regatta. A meeting of gentlemen who will take an active part in furthering the okject have been requested to meet at the tier Hotel on Thursday, the 2nd January, at 8 p.m. Mr. Ellaby, the well-known secretary to the Anniversary Committee, whose efforts have been so conspicuous during tho past two years, is doing his best to make the celebration » complete success, and we hope that our fellowtownsmen will support him heartily, j Yestereay evening (says the Dunedin Star of December 27) two boys named Hyder and Wills narrowly escaped boing drowned in Carey Bay. It appears they had boon playing on a small raft for some time, when, owing to the strong wind, thoy got adrift iu the bay and both fell overboard. Their dangerous position was seen from tho shore, and a bout put off to their assistance. There being no oars iu tho boat it was some time bofore they were rescued, and tho boy Hydor waß just sinking for the third time. He was taken to the Crescent Hotel and attended: toby D/» Drysdale,

Communication between Batavia and Singapore is interrupted. An occasional correspondentof the Wairarapa Daily, at Maariceville, says that a bush lire broke out in that district a day or two t ago, and destroyed two cottages. The fire has since been suppressed. The proposed cricket match between the Wellington C.C. and a combined eleven from tho Wairarapa district, which was intended to take pls.co at Greytown on New Year's Day, has been postponed. It is now settled that the country team will arrive in Wellington in about a month and play on the Basin Reserve. , With reference to the contemplated triweekly mail service to Gladstone, it is stated | that the estimated cost for the first year is £75, of which amcunt one-half will be provided by the Government aud the other by the settlers.

The Anti-Chinese immigration movement is proceeding apace, and the sub-committee appointed to collect subscriptions for the relief of the seamen on strike are by no means idle. It is proposed to start a shilling subscription, and probably the sub-committee when it meets will discuss the point. The Hawhe's Bay Herald says:—" For some days past the grass about Te Aute, along the line of rail, has been in a state of conflagration, and it is rumored that the fire was occasioned by sparks from the locomotive passing on the line. Yesterday the fire assumed more serious proportions, and has destroyed crops belonging to the Hon, H. R. Russell and Mr. Purvis Russell, and even threatened the township of Waipukurau. Mr. H. R. Russell estimates his loss up till last evening at £SOO, and has telegraphed to the Government at Wellington that he holds them liable for that amount. He has also communicated with the insurance companies, warning them of the serious danger to the ' risks' they have in the neighborhood of Waipukurau."

The public will hall with satisfaction a recent addition to the cheap and good luncheon accommodation afforded in Wellington. Mr. Monk, of the Post Office Hotel, has recontly very considerably increased the accommodation of his house, and those who have vlilted his establishment cay that ho provides the best shilling's worth In its way in the city. The Post Office Hotel contains twenty bedrooms, and visitors cau bo accommodated at any hour with tepid, hot, or cold baths. The dining-room is excellently ventilated, and the billiard-room contains two of Alcock's best tables—one a high-class and very superior table, with regard to which connoisseurs have expressed a very favorable opinion.