Social and Domestic.

Southland Times, Issue 1105, 6 August 1869, Page 5

Social and Domestic.

We are requested to state that the Amateur Dramatic Club, on further consideration, have found that their first performance, involving a greater outlay than will be necessary in the future, will have to be devoted to the Club funds, at it is more than possible that no surplus would exist for benevolent purposes. It is their intention, however, that pc formances should be subsequently given for local charities. The Popular Entertainments Committee have succeeded in placing before their weekly sup* porters a novel feature in the class of readings. As this evening the usually well selected programme includes a concerted reading taken from Dickens celebrated " breach of promise " trial scene " Bardell v. Pickwick " in which some seven or eight gentlemen take a part. There are two troublesome nuisances which seem inseparable from all colonial towns, and which appear to become worse the more they are attempted to be put down — bad boys and dogs. Invercargill cannot be said to enjoy an immunity from either of those plagues, a« both swarm, and both are seemingly irrepressible. Nearly every night crowds of ladß congregate about the principal shop windows in Dee-street, I and from dark till far on in the night — near twelve often — they reign supreme. They may think their rough rioting, play, and their ! rude jostling of passers-by, fun, but proI bably most sane persons would apply a very diferent name to it. ; Not only do they rush about furiously — many of them well grown lads and young men — heedless of whom they tread upon or knock over, but the public ears are also continually assailed by language neither choice nor mildly expressed. If they must have some place in which to give full vent to tbe bursting coarsenes ol their manners, by all means let them be ex eluded from the most public part of the town, and betake themsehes to the cricket ground, the agricultural show yards, or the esplanade, so that the public footpaths may be available for their Legitimate purposes. With regard to the twin pest, dogs, it has of late become intolerable, swarms of curs meet one at

every corner, and usurp <!he streets by day, as the youths do' by night. Inhere ifr one great) consolation with regard to the dogs, however; and* that is that periodically they are " abated " and' fortunately we are just on the' eve o* one of the annual campaigns against them. Whether the " varmint " know that the hours of a lot of them are numbered, may be quest i>ned, but that they are making the best of their few remainng day* cannot be disputed. Uncollared — unowned pro* bably — specimens of nearly every varieiy of the species are to be seen everywhere about town. The fine warm weather seems to hate aroused them from semi-dormant slumbers in haunts unknown, and they have come forth in myriads to bask in the sunshine on the gratings; They seem to be perpetually asleep on all the choice spots, except when they join in hunting a passing equestrian. It is to be hoped x,hat with the advent of August may come a rigorous administration of the scatute in this case made and provided. From a report of Immigration and Emigration, at the port of Dnnedin, we learn that the total excess of emigrants over immigrants during the quarter ending 30th June, was 24. A crop of beetroot, weighing 36 tons to the acre, has been grown on a farm on Inch Olutha. During his late passage from Auckland to I Wellington His Excellency the G-overnor spent a ' short time at Napier. The inhabitants of that town, however, appear not to have treated him with any great ceremony, as His Excellency on taking his departure commented on the scanty attention which had been bestowed upon him by them. On arriving at Wellington, however, still worse awaited him, as, with the exception of a solitary policeman, no one saluted him on landing. Some tables (says the 'Daily Times') regarding the proposed steam mail services and their probable annual cost, have been recently issued by the Q-overnment. From these tables, it appears that, the annual cost of the present arrangement would be L 21.700. By the arrangement proposed by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce — viz., one intercolonial service from Melbourne to Hokitika via the Bluff and Welling' ton, and vice versa; one intercolonial service between Sydney and Auckland ; one interprovin cial service ; and a Napier service, the annual cost would be L 25,800. By a third plan, of one intercolonial service from Melbourne to the Bluff, via Hokitika and Wellington, and vice versa ; one in-ter-provincial service between the Manukau and Wellington ; and a Napier service, the annual cost would be £15,350. The time occupied in fie transmission of a letter from Southampton to Port Chalmers by each route would be 64, 61, and 66 days respectively. Another table shows the date of arrival at the different ports oi New Zealand of a mail from Southampton, via Melbourne and Hokitika (as at present), via Singapore and Auckland,(and via San Francisco and Auckland. In the first of these routes a blunder of six days is committed, all through. For instance, a meil leaving Southampton on June 12th, and reaching Port Chalmers on August 15th, is estimated to occupy 58 days in transit, instead of 64 days, as can be seen at once by the veriest tyro in arithmetic. The time occupied by the Singapote and Auckland route to Port Chalmers is set down at 75 days ; and by the San Francisco and Aucland route at 47 daja. These latter calculations are based, the one on the P. and O company's time table, and the tables prepared for the Melbourne conference ; and the othet " on the best information which can be procured, r The animal amount which would be paid per annum in gratuities, supposing the mails for and, from England, &c, were conveyed between New Zealand and Australia by unsubsidised steamers is estimated st £3638 la 4d. In conclusion, we may point out that the time occupied by the present arrangement between Melbourne and Port Chalmers is put down at 10 days, the fact being that the passage between the two port" — with one exception, when the time was 11 days — has never occupied less than 12 days. A Fruit Soiree was held in the Presbyterian Church on Wednesday evening, 28th uwt.,"for the purpose of presenting to Messrs M'Kellar and Erskine, in the name of the congregation, as a token of the value of services rendered in leading the Church Psalmsody, 3 vols. eicb. of, Henry's Commentary on the Bible. The Rev. A. ff. Stobo, presided. The chairman, in a few introductory remarks, reviewed the Psalmsody of the Church from the time he commenced his labors in Invercargill up to the present, and said that he had great pleasure in executing the business of the evening iv presenting to the above gentlemen, in the name of the congregation, the volumes before him. Messrs M'Kellar and Erskine replied in suitable terms, and took occasion to thank the ladies of the choir for their kind assistance in making the leadership of the church so agreeable a duty. Thos. Watson, Esq., made a few remarks, and strongly urged all those who could to avail themselves of t&e opportunity for improvement afforded by the weekly music class. Mr JVlair also strongly urged upon the congregation the necessity of good psalmody in public worship, and suggested several very important improvements which could be made in that matter. During the course of the evening the choir sang a few appropriate anthems, which greatly added to the enjoyment of the meeting. The fruit was served up in first-rate style by Mr N. Johnson, of Deestreet. The attendance was very numerous, considering the short notice at which the affair was got up, and showed that the congregation took a lively interest in the sinking, and fully appreciate the labors of their leaders. The culture of tobacco is said to have been successfully attempted in Taranaki, where it is expected to become one of the leading products of the province. The * Wellington Independent' says : — " We regret to hear a rumor to the effect that Sir David Monro is likely to resign his office of Speaker of the House of Representatives. During his occupancy of the chair he has deservedly gained the respect of tbe House by his dignified conduct and intimate acquaintance with Parliamentary procedure. Very rarely indeed does any ruling of his fail to give satisfaction to the House. We are sorry to learn of his intended resignation on the ground of the loss which the House will sustain by his retirement from a position which he is eminently qualified to fill, and we, are still more sorry to learn that ill-health is tbe cause assigned. The proposed conference between representatives of the Governments of the various Australian Colonies, is stated by the ' Wellington Independent' to have been postponed to October, in consequence of the representatives of New Zealand being unable to attend on the date originally fixed, owing to their attendance being required in the Assembly. The conference Will be held in Sydney. The Hokitika 'Evening Star* of 17th intt. says : — ' At the meeting of the County Council, yesterday, something very like a scene took place between the Chairman and Mr Bees. The latter gentleman was illustrating his remarks by supposing Mr Lahman to be tendering an offer to a young lady, the consideration of which she desired to postpone for six months, when the Chairman ruled him out of order. An angry discussion ensued as to tbe power of the Chairman, who then referred Mr °Rees to a recent de ■ bate in the House of Commons, with the view of shewing that the Speaker claimed the right of calling members to order' without his attention being called to the point by any other member. Mr Kees, however, seized upon the reference for the purpose of shewing that it was not the practice to call members to order lightly, and wholly ignored the object with which the reference was made. The power of the Chairman of the County Council to role members out of order, is already very plainly defined by the standing j orders, but Mr Bees intends, we perceive by a notice of motion be has given, to endeavour to have that power restricted. It is reported that Titofco Warn with a large band of followers, to the number of 700, has jta»' tioned himself at Mokau,

The ' Mount Alexander Mail ' has the- following ?— " That Prince Alfred was profuse fti his- , presents in N«w Zealand we have already been i made aware- % but perhaps the most characteristic gift of all is that which tho ' Auckland News' describes s—"lt5 — "It will be remembered that the- little boy Leopold danced the jocky hornpipe at the Theatre in the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. The Princewas co pleased with the performance of this clever little child, that when the dance was over he Went behind the scenes, and presented him with a tfoverign, asking him to wear it round his neck in memory of his visit to- Auckland." The ' Melbourne Daily Telegraph ' of the 19th inst., says : — " Mr Gf. S. Hough gave a second and concluding lecture on " Protoplasm" at the Anthropological Museum on Saturday night. The gallery was again filled by almost appreciative audience. The lecturer dwelt upon the a priori probability that, on the hypothesis of there being One Divine Author of Nature, and looking o the unity and simplicity of plan observable throughout the universe, there would be only one fundamental substance, one unit of structure for plants and animals, out of which and upon which the whole vast variety of form? would be constructed. Nature always worked with the simplest and fewest materials. Pursuing the same kind of argument, the lecturer next enquired at what point, granting that the protoplasmatic substance exhibited vital phemonena at all, the line was to. be drawn. The brain was a material organ, capable of being tired by mental action, so that often rest was necessary to it before it was fit to work again. In other words, molecular changes, worked by thought and emotion, and upon which these in turn depended, took place in the brain. This was the head and front of the offending of the Huxleian doctrine, yet it was strictly true, and might be held as true by the most devout believer in revelation. In conclusion, the lecturer announced his belief, though with some hesitation, that there was a spiritual side to all nature, which was in fact, the externization of spirit, the thought of God made visible, that matter was a shadowpointing directly to an Eternal, Omniscient Being, and that the gradual discovery of its beautiful phenomena and their laws was nothing but the removal of the veil which hid from the creature the face of his Creator. The lecture was warmly applauded throughout. The ' MaryborougfcChronicle' stafoß that an accident happened to the Carandinis, at a place twenty-two miles from Maryborough. The Coach, was going at the rate of about ten miles an hour on a smooth road, when it came in contact with a tree. Miss Kosina Carandini, who was riding outside for the benefit of the fresh air, was thrown among the'horses, but marvellously escaped with only a few bruises. Miss Fanny Carandini was thrown forward against one of the bars that support the roof of the coach, and had her cheek badly cut. An Australian contemporary says:— Governors are not as Princes are. A question having been raised in one of the country papers, as to who would have to bear the expense of the numerous journeys the Governor of New South Wales is making, our contemporary " has been informed " that His Excellency defrays this expense out of his own purse, and no sum, as had been assumed by the country paper, will be put on the estimates for such purposes. Telegrams are frequently so constructed as to be difficult to understand, but the following is about the worst we have ever seen. It is from a recent ' Oamaru Times,' which says concerning it: We give the following specimen of an intelligible telegram received a few days ago by a gentleman in town. It is to us, as to him, quire incomprehensible, and is as follows :— " Chatham islands sighted off timaru Bound for Oamaru as breakwater. Please reply."