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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 40, 8 February 1864, Page 2

The Theatre Boyal, on Friday night, was crammed with one of the largest audiences we have seen since its opening. The performances were for the benefit of Thatcher, and the fidl house on the occasion must have been very gratifying to him, although it was only a ( justly deserved compliment to his efforts, since Christmas last, to afford amusement to the folks of Invercavgill. A clever and pointed valedictory address was delivered by Thatcher on the occasion — the following night being the last of the engagement of lip and his company at the Royal. For the first time was also brought out a new local farce, written by Thatcher, entitled the " Manager in Difficulties," the gist of the farce being the manager's extrication from his theatrical difficulties by forestalling the exhibition of the Bearded Lady and the infant Esau, by disguising two of his company to represent those phenomena. The manager is undertaken by Thatcher, who is waited on by a " colonial servant gal," (Madame Vitelli) *„ the Bearded Lady is re- J presented by Loekyer,.by the aid of false hirsute additions, and a comic impersonation of the lesser lusus naturce is, appi-opriately enough, undertaken by Small. The little farce is replete with song<», localisms and humorous allusions, and if the laughter of a numerous audience is a proof of the excellence of ; a damatic production, the " Manager in Difficulties " would be a misnomer. ' - The jury lists for the next sittings of the Circuit Court were revised before the Resident Magistrate, andM. N. Chalmers, Esq., J.P., oh Friday. All the objections of persons on the list will he entertained by the Bench on the 15th instant. We observe that the Hon. T. B. Gillies, Postmaster- Q-eneral ? .is, at , present .in Invercargill, his visit, we understand, being in connection with some proposed alterations itfthe postal department here. It will be seefi by advertisement, that appeals against the Town Board assessment will be heard in the Mechanics' Institute, to-day, at Eleven o'clock. j The New. Zealand, Herald of January 25th, has the following : — " We are glad to seo^ that the repeated appealsmade by this journal and others have not fallen, on barren ground, but that a practical effort is about to be made by the citizens of Auckland for carrying out the laudable object of providing a fund for the re--lief of the and children of soldiers' now serving in the Province of Auckland'. The claims which this class lias upon our sympathies were never, greater than tat the present time, and need, we know, no further setting off on out part to render them more convincing to the people of Auckland. The "meeiingfVhich hasb'een called for Wednesday next, in the Chamber of Commerce, and which will be presided over by his Honor the Superintendent, will, we hare reason-to .'believe, be the initiative of an institution creditable to the hearts of the people of this Province and colony, and comprehensive enough to meet the fullest requirements of the case/not merely for the present moment, but for bo long as tliis war shall last."

" ."With reference ,to,l;be fofapofcted -murder of Mr. John Craig, the EngineeVpf tha pteamer Queen, the Otago Times states : — " The iuqucst" ' on the body of John .Craig, late engineer of the Queen, stcamir, will be resumed to-day (Friday) We regret to liearthafc the post mortem examination of the body has fully confirmed the worst fears that the unfortunate man mot his death by foul means. There are extensive fractures of the skull, which were not visible externally, corresponding .with' the scalps 'wounds." It appears that a man named Alfred Cluney, the chief cook of the Queen, had been arrested' on suspicion of the murder, and'was preliminarily examined before the Resident Magistate. On being brought up,' "Detective Farroll staled tliat in consequence of information and inquiries, lie went to (he neighborhood "of We Water of Leith and preferred a charge aguiust him. The prisoner was said to be the man last seen in compauy with the deceased. In consequence of the way in which the prisoner conducted kimself, and the unsatisfactory nature of his explanations, he took the prisoner, into custody on suspicion that he was the murderer of John Craig. Sub-Inspector Morton asked for a remand until the inquest on the body of the deceased, which would be resumed next day, had been concluded. Cluney said : May I speak, sir ? The Magistrate : Most certainly. Cluuey: .On Saturday we were all paid , on" , from the Queen steam boat. Me and my second cook came into town, and about seven in the evening we meets [the two engineers. ,; The r chief' engineer (Craig) taps', me /on ;the shoulder and says " Come and- have a feetl.of oysters." Those were just his wordsV We, weht> hie and them ' and my 'second' cook. Afterwards, we went to a, house in Walker-' street After a while, me and Sam— that's my second cook— r aud the cliief engiuuer, went ou,t ?: but the ,seepn<j. engineer .stopped, .there. Thje; chief , engineer, , said he /woulSj' "g(£ $6 another place that he knew before. We said we woidd not go into any other house that night. The engineer went away frouw .us then ; and as I stand here before you, Sir, and before Grod, I never saw him from 'that moment to this." The prisoner was remanded to Saturday. - [ V The local press o£ Taranaki docs not seem to be very popular,, if : we can .accept the expressions contained in the, following handbjll, which has been circulated theroj ; as anyJndijcation of the public feeling on the .matter. "Free Press for Taranaki! ! •or none ? Fellow--Settlers, — You arc all of you well aware that the parties who have the management of the two public .Newspapers in this.; placei ?have long kept back from the knowledge of Jtlie public generally, a vast amount rof useful information that has been ' sent in to them, and also other matters of much importance, as respects the affairs of this Province, which, if laid before them, would; ;be, considered highly' beneficial. .1 therefore respectfully, suggest to you tlie propriety of taking* tliis question into your serious consideration, and, if possible, effect a change in ; the present system ; and, if this object cannot otherwise be obtained, let us act on the Cornish motto, .; - — ' One and all,' — -and discontinue toisupport in any way either of the papers at. present, circulated in this Province, until they are conducted on more Free, Honorable, and Liberal Principles, and bring out the whole of the Proceedings of the Provincial Council, and inform the Public of ail it is their duty to do. I have the honor to be, FellowSettlers, your most obedient Servant, Tblosias William Shtjxe." ■ From the Dunedin Dally Telegraph, of the 25th inst., we learn that the office of that journal had a very narrow escape from fire on the previous evening. Our contemporary states: — " Yesterday afternoon, at about halfpast five o'clock, the residents>in. the neighbor-, hood of Stafford street wero thrown into a state of considerable alaion by a fire which. ' was discovered to have broken; out , in, .the machine-room of the Daily Telegraph ;,bffice.; The fire alarm at the Bell-tower was quickly rung out, when, in a very short space "of time, , several of the members of the Fire Brigade,' with one of their engines, were speedily on the spot, and rendered prompt and : efficient assistance. .• The engine was not brought, into use, as a large number of buckets, ready iilled with water, were obtained from the entrance .yard of the Provincial Hotel. These were handed along in rapid succession, and to so opportune a circumstance may be attributed the speedy extinction of the lire, not, however, until some damage Lad. bcon sustained in the machine-room. The whole of the sidelights were broken in by those who had pressed forward to render assistance, and the minor adjuncts of a valuable cylinder printing machine were injured before the flames were subdued. Mr. Joseph Mills is specially deserving of notice for the exertions he used in checking the progress of the fire, and had it not been for his timely, assistance it is hard to *ay whether the flames would not have obtained an ascendancy which! would have been difficult to subdue" until much valuable property had been destroyed. " This, casualty, which we are thankful , was not attended with more serious consequences, will cause the present issue to appear denuded of one of its sheets, but we are happy in the, assurance that our readers will readily forgive' any shortcoming, in the circumstance which has unavoidably caused it. It is a coincidence worthy of note, and may serve as a warning to those whose stock and premises remain uninsured — that an insurance had only been effected on the plant of the Daily Telegraph, which was thus seriously menaced, an hour or two before the, fire broke out." s 1 'A correspondent writing from Taranaki on the 27th January states, " One hundred .rank and file of the 57th regiment arrived here on Wednesday from ' Auckland, per steamer Alexandrina,, and a further augmentation is* ' expected daily. The' rebels 'are'Vuustering very strong in our immediate vicinity, and have destroyed an immense number of very valuable cattle witbinJJie past fortnight." , ( , The Otago Daily (Times reports the ;following singular case of suicide: — "A man named John Brown, in r the employ of Mr. 'Barnes", xoad contractor, Kaikora Valley,' was working f with two mates on the road now being'made • in that neighborhood. Oil fehe night of the 4th he woke his mates, telling them that he believed he was- going out 'of his mind, and requested them to go. into town with him in order that he might give himself up, to the police. They came in accordingly, and, during the night, went -to the police station, where Brown repeated his statement and asked to be taken into custody. Tho sergvant in charge could discern nothing whatever in the conduct 'of the man to justify taking him in

"'«hafge, r and', refusing ig 'do'' so, after a^Hiort ■time i\io three went away. ' AbouL* 11 o'clock Brown left his work, and about twelve his mates, on searching, found him hanging by a piece of thin cord ,to a tree in the neighborhood of their tent. They at once cut him down, but life was quite extinct. Information was given to the police, and tho body -was brought into town, where it awaits an inquest at the Kobin j Hood "Hotel. Somo money foimd on liis person, together with money handed over to the police as belonging eo the deceased, amounted to £39 10s., and by apocket-book it appearedthat he had a sum of '£110 deposited in the Bank of Now South Wales for twelve months. In this pocket-book an entry, apparently made just before he destroyed himself, appears as follows : — c lam a native of Xorthallcrton, Yorkshire, 25 years of age, December 6, 18G3, John Brown.' It docs not appear that deceased was subject to insanity, but full particulars will no doubt be disclosed at the inquest." ' The Southern Cross states, that on the 4th of January, a sad accident occurred on board of the schooner Swallow, bound out from Aiickland to the Great. Barrier Island. The I Swallow left Auckland about 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon, and about 12 o'clock was oil' and about midway between Kawaw and the Little Barrier Islands, when a cry of " man overboard " awakened the sleeping passengers, and all rushed on deck. The vessel being quickly hove to, the boat was got over the side, and every exertion marlo to find the lost iiinn ; but, owing to the darkness of the night, he unfortunately could not be found. It appear*, that the man, Joseph Levy by name, had fallen asleep on the deck, be&ide the tiller, in a half drunken state, and about twelve o'clock awoke, saying he was cold, got up on hi s feet, and then quietly fell overboard, but uttered no word while in the water. The man at the.' tiller^immediately, gave>the alarm* j and every, exertion was made, with the above | unfortunate result.;? • •_>/ t : , ■;;