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Otago Daily Times, Issue 271, 1 November 1862, Page 4

There was au overflow at the Princess' Theatre last evening, on the occasion of the performance in aid of the funds of the Fire Brigade. Erom the private boxes to the back of the pit, every corner was filled, and very many applicants had to be refused admission. This was as it should be ; for when last we heard the state of the funds, they were inadequate to defray the cost of the engine and apparatus ordered from Melbourne, and iii addition, the brigade richly deserves the sympathy of the public, and must be encouraged by its exhibition. The evening dress of a large proportion of the ladies in the private boxes and dress circle last night, and the smart red " jumpers" of the members of the brigade, gave a very lively look to the house. Coleman's comedy of " The Poor Gentleman" was well played, so far as we were able to see and hea'-: Mr George Fawcett w ras Dr. Ollapod ;Mr Hall Sir Robert Bramble ; Mr J. Dunn, Humphrey ; and Mr Sherwin, Frederick Bramble. Miss Emily Wiseman acted with great spirit and cleverrness as the Country Lad, Stephen. The comedy is not a very lively one, but it seemed to give an average of satisfaction. After the comedy, Miss Emma Neville, in the complete uniform of the Brigade, presented herself to sing a new descriptive song, written specially for the occasion by Mr Mulholland, and set to music by Mr George Loder. Some thirty of the members were marshalled on the stage, with Captain Rees, Lieutenant Murphy, Mr Switzer, the treasurer, and Mr Mumford, hon, secretary, in their front. The song has a good deal of point and vigor, and Mr Loder has given it a pretty and spirited air. Miss Neville sang it with great dash ; was enthusiastically encored and freely bouquetted ; and repeated the song with eflect. The applause was again loud and long; and the curtain was once more raised upon the Brigade. Captain Rees advanced and thanked the audience, for their sympathy and support. The Brigade might become of the greatest importance to the inhabitants of the city, and the members would do th6ir utmost to that end ; but they must have the assistance of' the authorities as weU as the sympathy of the public, and they hoped, ere long, through the aid of the Town Board, to have a good tower and beR and a commodious house for the coming engine. " The Nymph df the Lurleyburg" was the after-piece. It went admirably, and sent the; audience merrily home.

A deputation of inhabitants of Lawrence, the newly-surveyed township at the Junction, Tuapeka, waited yesterday upon his honor the Superintendent, to represent the injustice that would be done to them should the land be sold, and they be allowed no valuation for their improvements. They presented a memorial, a copy of wbich we publish, with the report of the proceedings, in another place. The result of the deputation was quite satisfactory to the inhabitants, as it appeared that none of the occupied allotments would as yet be put up for sale, and that, when sold, they would be offered at a set price, to be hereafter fixed by the Waste Land Board.

We observe that a summoned meeting of the ancient order of Foresters, Court, Pride of Dunedin, is to be held at the Shamrock Hotel, on Tuesday evenihgmext.

We regret to notice, the deathof Mr'TM'Cabe,, who -was for some considerable time editor of theSouthern Cross, at Auckland. Mr M'Cabe was much respected,'and his death creates <i breach! in the ranks of New Zealand journalists not easy to be filled.

The second day concert at the Princess Theatre takes place this afternoon, All the artistes who appeared last week will, we believe, again appear; but the abilities of Madame Carandini, Miss Emma Neville, and Mr Sherwin, as vocalists, and of Mr Kohler as a solo instrumentalist, might alone suflice to secure a bumper house. It may be long before we chance to have so clever a body of vocalists in Dunedin again; and we heartily hope that their exertions to entertain the public may secure a full measure ot success.

We have to draw attention to a notice in another column, announcing a public meeting, for the purpose of taking steps for obtaining a commutation of the sentence of death passed on John Fratson, for the murder of Andrew Wilson at the Molyneux. A petition for a *eprieve has, we are informed been got up, which has already been numerously signed.

Notwithstanding the special attraction at the Princess Theatre, last evening the fifth representation of " Our Village," drew a capital audience to the Theatre Royal, the attendance in the circle and side boxes, being especially good. This drama now goes very smoothly and most effectively, and the wreck scene is nightly hailed with the heartiest cheers. The first piece was again the smart comedy, "A Bird in Hand worth Two in the Bush."

The Lyttleton Times says that Mr Hartley, one of the discoverers of the Dunstan gold field, has purchased 500 acres of land in the province of Canterbury. Tha Lyttleton Times chuckles over this fact as being conclusive proof of the superior teinptatious to settlement existing in Canterbury.

We are glad to notice that attention is being directed iu Canterbury to the preparation of the Phormium Tenax. or New Zealand flax. The reports of the specimens of fibre exhibited at the Great Exhibition were conclusive as to its excellence aud general adaptability for manufacturing purposes. The chief difficulty in the way has hithefto been not so much the fact of not being able to produce a marketable fibre, but to produce it in such quantity, and at such a price as to command a ready and profitable sale. Of the flax machine invented in Canterbury, the Lyttelton Times says: "During the past week a machine for this purpose, patented by Mr Ritchie of Norwich quay, has been tried with, we believe, very encouraging results. The machine, which is in the form of a revolving cylinder is fed by the hand with the flax which in this instance was perfectly dry. After being passed twice into the cylinder it is drawn out a wisp of soft and tolerably even fibre, in all cases fit for rope making, much of it in a state for spinning purposes. We understand that at present the machinery which has lately arrived from England is only on its trial, and that some improvements are contemplated before it is to be worked. We heartily wish Mr Ritchie success in his experiment. No man will deserve more of New Zealand than that one who first discovers a simple plan for turning the flax to profitable account.

We have not received from the General Government a complete file of the Acts passed during the late session. Our contemporary, the Lyttleton Times appears to have been more fortunate, for in a late issue it gives abstracts of all the new Acts. We extract from it the following abstract of the " Commencement' of Acts Act," which is an important one, inasmuch as it fixes the time when the several Acts passed during the session shall come into operation :—" The Commencement of Acts Act.—An Act for defining the time when Acts of the General Assembly shall come into operation. This Act repeals Section 3 of the Interpretation Act, 1853, and brings into force every Act of the General Assembly which shall not prescribe the time from which it is intended to take effect, and which shall have been assented to in Her Majesty's name three months after the day on which the Governor's assent is given."

The evidence in Teschemaker and A notker v. M'Lean was completed last evening in the Supreme Court; aud the case will be resumed at ten o'clock on Monday morning. His Honor, Mr Justice Gresson, said he desired to consult the convenience of the jury, and would sit to-day if they wished it; but as the jury were pretty evenly divided, and left the decision to the Judge, his Honor said that his own convenience and that of the professional gentlemen would no doubt be best met by adjourning to Monday, there being Ciiamber business for to-day. On Monday morning, Mr Barton will sum up the case on behalf of the defendant, and Mr Gillies will reply for the plaintiffs. The summing up of the Judge must be a long one; and it is not likely that the jury will retire before two or three o'clock, at the earliest. The case next in order on the list is Butcher v. Chalmers, in which the pi aintift seeks compensation because the defend ant, having sold him some land, was afterwards unable to give title. If is not, however, settled that this case shall be taken next after Teschemaker's ; but an arrangement will no doubt be made on Monday morning, so as to give the greatest possible relief to the waiting special jurors, who have to be in attendance at ten o'clock. Fenwir.k and Another v. Morse and Another, and a cross suit, entered for trial by special juries, have been settled and withdrawn; and a few other cases, we believe have disappeared from the list.

The following is a copy of a letter to the Nel son Examiner from a gentleman on intimate terms with the Maories :—" Is it true, as stated in the Examiner of to-day, that we have only 5,000 troops in New Zealand ? If so, I fear, from information which I have this week received from two Maori chiefs, from Motueka, that, we shall shortly find ourselves in a dilemma. The natives often make me acquainted with their secrets, and they have told me that a grand effort is about to be made, almost immediately, to crush the pakcha ; that the Waikatos are arranging for the concentration of the whole of the natives capable of fighting, and to make one grand and final struggle to drive out the pakeha. Messengers and letters have been sent off, to all parts of the islands, requesting the co-operation and help of all, and to meet at the Waikato at a given time, and that time, they ted me, is very near. They (the natives of Motueka) have received a letter, instead of a messenger, requesting them to be there at the time appointed, but they refuse to go. " No te Quint Matdre," they say ; and they have also hoisted the Queen's flag. Now, supposing tha-t, by this dodge, the Waikatos succeed in getting 10,000 men together, or even-5,000, every man amongst them, in their mode of warfare, is nearly' equal to an Englishman ; and, as siich, can we meet 10,000 natives, with 5,000 English troops ; or can we meet 5,000 ? We might, if the whole of the troops could be concentrated ata given spot ; but Auckland must be protected, Taranaki also, and Wanganui, Wellington, and Hawke's Bay ; and then where is your-force to, resist this contemplated attack ? The natives are shrewd ; they know bur weakness, and intend shortly, it seems, to take advantage of it."

, Canterbury bids fair to be well supplied with \ fuel from its own coal-fields.. The coal from the Kowai mines proves to be excellent, and about five tons a day is now being raised by the few men at-work. The price at the mines is irom 20s, to 30s. per ton, according to quality. ■ -■ ,'

"We much regret to think that the City ...of Hobart has probably again lost the mail. She Twas detained, we are told, at the Bluff three or four days, and did hot leave the harbor until the 22nd or 23rd. If this be the eaTse, her chance of catching th«Q mail steamer was small. We forbear making any remarks until further particulars are known. A Town-hall,to include accommodation for the Post-office, Telegraph Office, and Savings' Bank, is proposed in Lyttleton. It is an encouraging fact for .the breeders of horses, that at the recent agricultural exhibition in Canterbury, Mr J. Mawson sold his two-year-old draught entire " Black Prince," which gained the first prize in class 4, for the sum of £225. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce had a meeting on the 27th ult., to take into consideration a letter addressed by the Chairman of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce to the Provincial Secretary, on the subject of Mr Ward's proposed scheme of Postal communication. After considerable discussion the following resolutions were adopted—" That it is desirable in any arrangements that are made for the postal service, that on each month the steamer from Melbourne should come on to this port. That at the same time arrangements should be made for the transmission of the English mail from Otago to Melbourne in such time as to secure its overtaking the home ward mail. That the foregoing resolutions be embodied in a letter, to the Postmaster General." The WeUington Independent says :—" Advices from Auckland state that the loss of the A.S.N steamer Prince of Wales will not only necessitate the withdnnval of the Rangatira from her presen service, but prevent that Company from tepdering for the new steam service, intended to .be esta blished by Mr Ward from Melbourne via Otago and Cook's Strait to Sydney, and vice versa, Should such be the case, Mr Ward will, on arrival at Sydney, make a contract for twelvemonths for three distinct lines—one from Sydney to Auckland, the second from Sydney to Cook's Strait, and the third from Melbourne to Otago. Two boats will be engaged for the latter line, to carry the outward and homeward mails respectively."