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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5632, 18 April 1879, Page 2

The ceremony of administering- the oaths to his Excellency Sir Hercules .Robinson as Governor of this colony took place on the. verandah in front of Government House at noon yesterday. A guard of honor, composed of thirty men of the Armed Constabulary,, was drawn up in front of the gubernatorial residence. The, members of the Ministry present were the Hon. Sir George Grey, the Hon. Colonel Whitmore, the Hon. Mr. Sheehan, the Hon. Mr. Fisher, the Hon. Mr. Ballanoe, and the Hon. Mr. Maoandrew, the Hon. Mr. Stout being absent at Dunedin through illness. The Commission, signed by Sir Michael Hioks-Beaoh, was read out ; by, Mr. Foster Goring, Clerk of the Executive Council, after which.'the oaths’ were duly administered by his Honor Mr. Justice Richmond. The guard of honor then saluted, the flag on the lawn, was hoisted as a signal that the ceremony was" completed, and a salute of seventeen guns Was then fired by H.M.S. Emerald. Owing no doubt to the unfavorable state of the weather, the attendance of the ■ general public was small. The Hon. Lady Robinson and some members of her family occupied seats on the verandah,; and amongst those present we observed Bishop Hadfield, the Venerable Archdeacon Thorpe, Colonel- Reader, and Mr. Seymour George, M.H.R, The ceremony only lasted a few minutes. The civil, sittings of the Circuit Court will be resumed at ten o'clock this morning, when the case of Travers v. Hadfield will bo-pro-ceeded with -before his Honor Mr. Justice Richmond and a common jury. His Honor Mr. Justice and” a common jury were occupied for some time y'esrterday in the assessment of damages in the case of-Mills vc Hellmers, owner of the brig Star. Mr. Travers appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Bell for the* defendant. The jury brought in a verdict for the plaintiff for £167 6s. Bdi end-costs. ' • • ; ‘- ’ 1 ■ ■ ■■■ - - 11 j\

His Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson leaves for the Bluff to-day in the Hinemoa. The Hon. Mr. Sheehan returned yesterday morning from New Plymouth in thp Hinemoa. A telegraphic station is now open at Pokeno, in the County of Manukau. The criminal business of the Supreme Court was brought to a close yesterday. Out of ninety-five cases called on at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, seventyfive were disposed of. The special jury cases are fixed to commence on Monday next. There are several on the record.

His Worship the Mayor will leave for Napier to-day, and will be absent for a few days from Wellington. We are officially informed that the Rangoon section having been interrupted, traffic for East Chittagong now goes via Madras. Mr. Sam Edwards is making all necessary arrangements for the opening of the Creswiek-cum-Darrell dramatic season at the Imperial Opera House on Monday evening next. In consequence of the District Court sitting to-day, the police business will be held at the police office before two Justices of the Peace, at half-past ten o’clock.

An inquest will be held at the Morgue today at 11 o’clock relative to the death «f the little girl who died on Wednesday from the effects of being run over in Cuba-street. A somewhat barefaced robbery took place in Willis-street last evening. Some person who is still at large stole an Ulster overcoat which was hanging outside of Messrs. Waters and Eambess’s establishment.

At the Supreme Court yesterday Edward Peel was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at hard labor for having stolen a quantity of nails, the property of Messrs. Guthrie and Larnaoh.

A man named Hart was tried at the Supreme Court yesterday on a charge of stealing £6 from a lodger at Barrett's hoard-ing-house, Pipitea Point. After hearing the evidence the jury acquitted the prisoner. A meeting of the School Commissioners for the Wellington Provincial Council was held yesterday morning. ’There were present the Hon. Mr. Gisborne, and Messrs. C. P. Powles and J. G. Holdaworth. The only business done was the consideration of the leasing of several educational reserves.

The District Court sits to-day. The follow-

ng cases are set down for hearing :—T, K. Macdonald and Co. v. George A. Beere, claim £2OO ; Davies v. Wellington Tramway Company, claim £156 ; Barton and another v. Donald and Paacoe, claim £159 ; Black v. Richter, claim £B9 10s. The Hon. Mr. Maoandrew has given an order to Mr. Smith, of Taranaki, to make eight wheels for railway carriages out of the Taranaki iron sand. Four of the wheels are for the Sydney Exhibition, and four are for test purposes on the New Zealand railways. There appears to be a difficulty about obtaining the use of the company’s furnaces and plant, but Mr. Smith asserts that he will be able to perform the work in the small foundry on the Devon line.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the City Council was to have been held at half-past seven o’clock last evening. There were present—His Worship the Mayor, and Councillors Allen, Young, Miller, Moss, and Maginnity. After waiting for half an hour, the meeting lapsed through the want of a quorum. An ad’ournmeut was made until Monday next, the Mayor stating that the meeting would be further adjourned until the following Thursday. ■ The Waste Lands Board met yesterday foreneon. Present—Mr. Commissioner Holdsworth, and Messrs. T. Mason and W. Johnstone. The business was of an unimportant nature. The chairman reported that there had been one sale since the Board met last, which was a section at Bunnythorpe, at £l4. After some transfers had been agreed to, the Board adjourned.

The latest on dit from the Waimate Plains attributes the difficulty which has arisen to the neglect of certain promises said to have been made by Mr. Parris, the late Civil Commissioner. If any such promises were made, they were probably authorised by someone, and'as' Mr. Parris can either corroborate or contradict these promises, there appears to be some hope of the truth in respect to this matter ultimately becoming known.

; It has been the custom of visitors from other places’ in the colony to speak in unfavorable terms of the shops of Wellington, and to compare them with business establishments in their respective cities in disparaging terms. Latterly, however, the case has been to a very great extent reversed, as a patrol of the principal thorough fares will disclose. Large business establishments have increased of late to a very considerable degree. In the ironmongery line of business, one of the most noticeable features in the way of improvement is the opening of the new ironmongery warehouse on Lambtou-quay by our enterprising townsman, Mr. MoOredie. As is well known, Mr. MoCredie became the purchaser some time ago of the premises nearly opposite the Government Buildings known as the old Club. Both internally and externally the place has undergone a complete alteration, and it is now one of the largest and prettiest shops in Wellington to look at. Mr. MoOredie has a great deal of space at his disposal, and consequently he is enabled to display his varied and extensive stock to the best possible advantage. It would occupy too much of our space to describe the various showrooms in detail ; but anyone visiting Mr. McOredie’s establishment will be easily convinced that there are few other places in the same line of business which will compete with it in the colony.

A man named James Marshall, a recent arrival from Christchurch, was found early yesterday morning lying on the footpath in front of the Branch Ho:el. As the man appeared to be in great pain Dr. Diver was sent for, who attended 1 to him. It appears that the man took a bedroom at the Branch Hotel, and retired about midnight. He was slightly under the influence of liquor at the time, and had fallen out of the window. The poor fellow had a very narrow escape’ from being very: seriously injured. A large meeting of members of the newlyformed Naval Brigade was held last night in the committee rpom ' of the Central Fire Bri- - gade. There were one hundred members sworn in, and from the enthusiasm displayed there .is’ every likelihood of the brigade being a great' success. ’The members were sworn in by Mr. O’Neill, who occupied the chair. The following officers were elected :— Captain, Mr. C. J. Johnston";’lst Lieutenant, Mr. John Inglis ; 2nd Lieutenant; Mr. A. D. Bennett (late Ist Lieutenant of the Thames Naval Brigade) ’3rd Lieutenant, Mr. J. W. Leahy ; Secretary and Paymaster, Mr. G. 11. Farley, ; After a" vote of thanks to the chairman, and to Captain Moss for granting the use of the room, the meeting adjourned. , - A soiree took place in the Dixon-street achoolhonae last night to bid farewell to the ; Eev. Mr. Reid, who left for the North by the ; steamer Taiaroa at midnight. Several adi dresses were delivered speaking in the most eulogistic terms of Mr. Reid. A presentation was made to him in the shape of a picture, containing photographs taken by Mr Clark of the members of the Young Men’s Christian Association. After the presentation took place the soiree was held in the adjoining room. Mr. James G-odber, of Cuba-street, was the caterer, and the refreshments he provided gave every satisfaction. The Wairarapa Daily says :—-Two Masterton settlers who have spent the . .Easter holidays on the ranges report having discovered copper ore in an unlimited quantity, but' whether the percentage of copper to the ore makes the discovery of any value remains to be seen. • , . - -

The Melbourne Argus of the 2nd instant says “ A wonderful escape from a violent death occurred yesterday on board the ship Loch Ness. One of the: lads while aloft fell from the royalmast head on to f he house rim deck, and, strange to say, did not seem to have received, any serious injury. As the ship was outward; bound for Newcastle, Captain Forshaw was for leaving the boy behind in case of internal injury, but the latter begged to be taken'ohras he did not wish to leave the ship: There being a surgeon on board the Loch Ness Captain Forshaw acceded to the request, and the Vessel has sailed since.” We extract the following from-the Otage Daily Times ' of the 14th instant“ Another accident attended with loss of life happened at Port Chalmers on Friday night at ten o’clock. THe'victim was a Danish sailor belonging to the schooner Martha Reid, named’Jappa Johansen. He, with two others of his shipmates, -had ’ ’ gone alongside - the barque Frederica and Carolina, and, while attempting to board her, fell overboard and was carried away. His companions, hearing his cries .for help, at once returned to the boat and endeavored tosave him, but without avail." , ; :

The Lyttelton Times has the following with reference to a well-known mounted Volunteer corps:—“At a largely attended special meeting of the C.Y.C., held on Saturday evening at the Britannia Hotel, Captain Strouts stated at length the causes which had necessitated the postponement of the intended six days' training at Rangiora, and the result had been his resignation, with that of Lieutenant Slater and Sub-Lieutenant Brittaa. After a long discussion, during which some rather strong expressions were used, a resolution was carried unanimously to tender their resignation as a corps, at the same time declaring that they would not again serve under the present officer commanding the district.” The Port Denison Times says :—The efforts made by the Rev. Rather McNab to spread the seeds of Christianity among the blacks in this district have not been attended with that success which those interested in the spiritual welfare of their colored brethren could wish, for we learn that no sooner had the rev. gentleman taken his departure from their midst than two blackfellowa rose up in haste and slew two. of their gins. Several complaints have been made to us by townspeople respecting the very daring and impudent manner in which the blacks have of late been conducting themselves. Mr. Muller had on Saturday last. a narrow escape for his life from a black, and we think that a visit paid by a few troopers to the blacks’ camp on the Don, not for the purpose of “dispersing” them, but merely to caution them as to their future good behavior, would have a beneficial effect.

An exchange says :—“A patent has been taken out for a repeating match—that is, a match which can be struck a great many times and yield a light each time. The match consists of two rods of inflammable composition placed side by side in two compartments within a suitable case. In order to strike a light a scraper is moved by hand along a platform across the open ends of the two rods. The scraper removes a certain quantity of its substance from each rod, and, mixing these together, the light is produced. One stick is composed of three parts of chlorate of potash and one part of clay, thoroughly mixed, and formed into a thick pasta by the addition of water, then dried. The other stick is made of three parts of amorphous phosphorus and one part of clay prepared in the same manner.”

From a statistical table recently constructed by M. D. Malaroe, and published in “ Comtes Rendus,” it appears (1) that the decimal metric system of weights and measures is now established legally and obligatorily in eighteen States, comprising a population of 236 - 6 millions of inhabitants (these States are France and colonies, Belgium, Holland and colonies, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Roumania, Greece, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chili, and the Argentine Republic); (2) that it is made legally optional in three States, having a population of 75'6 millions (viz., England, Canada, and the United States) ; (3) that it is admitted in principle, and partially for customs, in five States, with 343 6 million inhabitants (viz., British India, Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Hungary) ; (4) and that, altogether, the system is established obligatorily, or optionally, or in principle, in twenty six States, comprising 655 million inhabitants. Four States have different systems, decimal as to multiples and divisions, but based on another unit than the metre. They comprise 471 million inhabitants, and are Switzerland, Mexico, Japan, and China. To these may he added some mediocre States, with various systems, non-decimal and non-metric. It appears, then, that in 1879 more than half the population of civilised States, comprising 1180 million inhabitants, legally recognise the decimal metric system of weights and measures. A large part of this progress is in these recent years.

Th e Lyttelton Times says ;—“ On Wednesday, April 9, Mr. Job Osborne sent six horses from South Rakaia to bring his threshing machine from Mr. S. Wright’s farm, Wakanui. The horses were placed in a grass paddock in which, unknown to Mr. S. Wright, a load of wheat had been left by a neighbor. Early the following morning the horsemen were alarmed at finding a load of' wheat in the paddock, : ut on examination it was found th..'. >,uly a little wheat had been eaten by the horses, which was not considered enough to do them any injury, and as a precaution they were not allowed any water, but within 24 hours four horses died, three of which were show horses, of : course making the loss more severe.”

: Messrs. Bethune and Co. will hold a large sale of property to-day, at theix auction rooms, at 2 o’clock. Many of the propexties will be sold by order of ihe mortgagee or of the trustee in bankrupt • estates, and there is therefore every likelihood that they will be sold at areasonab e price. The lots to be offered include two freehold allotments In Austin and Eliza-heth-streets a freehold section and two dwellinghouses in Holland street. off Tory-street; several leases of business premises. 100 acres of land at Alfred town, 43 acres at the Hutt, and an allotment with dwelling-house, sold by order of the trustees of several insolvent estates; and two properties at Karori, sold by order of the Registrar of the Supreme Court. In spite of the dulness of trade and the general absence of speculation, there 1s no real want of money, as the subscriptions to the Kaltangata fund and the attendance at the several places of amusement will testify, and whenever there is any prospect of making a bargain, or securing a cheap lot, customers are pretty sure to put in an appearance. In consequence, we anticipate a large attendance at Mr. Jiethune’s sale to-day, and hope the prices realised will prove satisfactory.