THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1852, 8 September 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, 1874.

A report comes from Wellington that Mr Vogel is to go home to negotiate the loan of four millions, authorised last session, and that during his absence Sir Donald McLean is to be Acting Premier. This course, it is said,, has been resolved m since Mr Stafford declined to accept office, "We think this version very likely to be pretty near the truth. It is, of importance for Mr Vogel to make good terms in regard to the money to be borrowed, and .bis presencein Londonmay also be of service to the colony in. connection with immigration, and the supply of material for the public works. If, by the time the next session meets, Mr Vogel can point to a successful finaucial transaction with the loan, and to the completion of an arrangement for connecting New Zealand with the rest of the world by an electric cable, he will be as strong as ever, and to abolish the provinces will be very easy work for him. He will be able also, when the session terminates, to go to the country with the prestige of success still apon him.

Eesidents at the Thames must be greatly disappointed that nothing has been done as yet to improve the harbour accommodation at this' place. Some months ago, strong representations were made to the provincial authorities on the subject, and a promise was given that the General Government would be communicated with, so that an examination might be made by a competent authority, and the best plan of proceeding indicated. That promise seems to have been entirely forgotten, for the session has passed away without, so far as we have seen, a word on the subject either from the Superintendent, Provincial Secretary, or member for the Thames, wjiile the General Government has been induced to undertake the examination and improvement of such harbours as the Grey. We need say nothing as to the necessity for something being done. That is quite patent,, and universally admitted. The whole industry of the place is paralysed by the scarcity of fuel, and this it seems, is not so much by reason of the want of coal, as by the want of accommodation for the vessels bringing it. It will be seen from our telegrams that certain gentlemen interested in the Thames have had an interview with the Superintendent on the subject, and that his Honor has promised to extend the goods wharf pending the settlement of a complete scheme of harbour formation here. This is right enough, if immediate work be started, bub the difficulty with the Provincial authorities has generally boeu to get them to take action. They will talk and promise, but they will not act. Why should this proposed extension not have been set about months ago, and have been finished by this time 1 The curious working of the Native Lac's Court waa illustrated yesterday at Shoife* —Muurnu

land. A succession order was asked for by the sister of one of the grantees of the Eomata North block at Ohinemuri. This was the block, it will bo remembered, about which a dispute was raised a few months ago owing to the purchase, or partial purchase, by Mr H. 0. Young. In order, we presume, to present the completion of any sale, several of the Ohinemuri Hauhaus opposed the granting of tlio succession order, and the Court was prevented from doing a merely routine act, by a threat that these Hauhaus would make a disturbance. The Act gives the Court the power to refuse to proceed in any case where disturbance may bo apprehended- as a consequence, and apparently the Government rather like the Courts to take such a course. This suits exactly thoso natives who are opposed to selling land to Europeans, but it operates most injuriously against the settlement of the country, and' ;it is grossly unjust to those natives who are willing to sell, and whose interosts the law should guard quite as paternally as the desires of those who wish to prevent others from selling their lands. It is not necessary that natives who use the threat should have any interest in the land. Any Maori may prevent any other Maori from getting a title to his land by merely threatening to kick up a row. Mr Wilkinson put the question how would the Court act if the party who were prevented from completing their title threatened disturbance if the - Court yielded to the other party, and it is a question, we should think, which it would be difficult to answer.

i The state of the road to the cemetery was discussed at the meeting of the Borough Council last evening, and it was decided to make another application to the Superintendent for the £500 voted at last session of the Council to put it in repair. The road is certainly in a condition disgraceful to the community and to the province. The Provincial Executive deal with this as they do with the recreation ground and other matters—sums are put upon the estimates, but difficulties are made, and they are never expended. The of the cemetery is a bad one, but unless a new cemetery is to be procured, the road to the present one must, for the sake of decency, be improved.

The natives have, it appears, forbidden the ; carrying out of the road between Cambridge and Taupo, and have stopped the survey. A meeting is to be held on the subject, at which it is to be hoped the difficulty will be got over. The negotiations for leave to make the road were carried out by Mr Mackay, and according ; to the telegram that gentleman is blamed for not having obtained the consent of the rightful :owners.

; An examination of the Eureka School took place yesterday, when Mr Porter, one of the members of the Waiotahi School Committee, distributed prizes, as follows Kate Truscott, igeneral improvement,.,lst prize; John M. Dixon, recitation, Ist prize; James Carter, writing, Ist prize; Alexander Truscott, reading; Eliza Moyle, writing, 2nd prize; Mary Lang, good conduct; Charles White, drawing. Junior Classes — 1 nnie Carter, general improvement; Annie Jones, reading; Susan May, good conduct; Samuel Christie, general improvement;' George White, writing; William Moyle, recitation; May Moss, general improvement.

The open lodge meeting of the Hope of Tararu Lodge wa3 held last night in their usual : place of meeting. W.L.D. Bro A, Porter presided. Addresses were given by Bros French and Speight from the. Pioneer Lodge. The :proceedings, which were of a varied and entertaining character, were taken part in by several members of the lodge, assisted by visiting members. The lodge was closed at half-past nine o'clock by the singing of the National Anthem.

A meeting of the committee of the Miners' Accident Relief Fund was held last night at the Governor Bowen Hotel. There were present, Captain Richards (in the chair), Messrs Lowe, Day, and Donnelly. There was one application for relief, which was entertained. The usual routine business was transacted, after which the meeting adjourned.

Two cases brought under the Dangerous :Goods Act came before the Police Court yesterday, The Act declares that kerosene, or material of a similar character, must stand a test of 110 degrees of heat without flashing, but the kerosene tested, belonging to Mr Short, of Mary-street, and Mr Onyon, flashed at a less heat. The cases wefe adjourned till Saturday next •

The following is the state of the Thames Goldfield Hospital for the week ending Sept, 5 Remained from last week, 21; admitted, 5; discharged 1; died, 0; remaining, 25. The diseases are as follows Fever, 1; fracture, 5; spinal injury 1; ornychia, 1; injury by explosion, 1; debility, 2; wounds and injuries, 5; eczema,!; uterine complaint, 1; orchitis, 1; asthma, 1; abscess, 1; lumbago, 1; menarrhagia, 1; tonsilifo, 1; - bronchitis, 1 Remaining—Males, 17; females, 7j total, 25, Out-patients, 27.

The Auckland papers publish an opinion from the Attorney-bteneral to the effect that Mr Von der Heyde is in all respects a qualified candidate. It was reported that an objection would be made that, being an alien, he ought not to have been put upon the roll.

In reference to an objection which has been made against Mr Macnab, as a candidate for one of the seats at the Borough Council, we are requested by tbat gentleman to state that lie ceased to have any business connection with Mr Ehrenfried in last June.

It ia proposed that tho Auckland branch of the National Bank of New Zealand shall shortly be removed to more commodious premises than the building at present occupied as the bank affords. The extensive building known 1 as the National Mart, situated at the junction of Queen and Wyndham streets, and occupied by Messrs S. and J, R, Vaile, is to be constituted the new banking premises, The plans and specifications for tho alterations necessary to render it suitable for the purpose for which it is intended, have been prepared by Mr R. Reals, the well-known architect, and have received the approval of the directors and manager of the bank, and have by them been adopted, and tenders for the work are solicited.

A meeting o£ the Auckland Journeymen Bakers' Association was held on Saturday evening at the British Hotel. The report stated that the master bakers had granted an increase of five shillings in the weeks' wages'to their workmen, and a cricket club had been formed, which was now in a very healthy state The entrance money to the Association had now been altered from one to live shillings, and a sick fund is established, each working member is to contribute towards it one shilling per week. The anniversary ball will take place on the 9th instant. During the year ten new members had joined the Association, but several had been obliged to leave, owing to their receiving situations ia places distant from Auckland. The sick fund was well supported. A statement of the affairs of the association was then read, showing that the expenditure during the last three months had been only 4s 7d, whilst the receipts for the same period amounted to £8 12a lOd. There was a balance in the bank of £58 7s lid. The amount in hand belonging to the sick fund was £2 Bs. The report then went on to state that a deputation bad waited on the employers in reference to a holiday being granted to the employees on the 10th of September. All agreed to the request with the exception of three. It was understood that a deputation would wait upon tho three master bakers who had refused the request, in order to induce thorn to alter their determination.

The delegate of the English Agricultural Union, Mr Holloway, was a passenger from Taranaki to Onehunga on Saturday by the s.s. ' Ladybird' The Southern Cross says" An instance of the appreciation which the people of Auckland h:tve for works ef art. is exemplified by the rapidity with which the tickets for Mr Calder's fine picture of the Kauwaeranga Gorge have been taken up. No fewer than 50 tickets at £1, having been purchased in two or three days.

The Harapipi correspondent of• the Waikato Times writes:—"The Government hive at last done justice to the men of Von Temsky's corps, by paying them the money due for the purchaso of timber.''

On Saturday the Mayor of Auckland and some of the owners of property in Bacon's> alley held a conference for the purpose of devising means of improving the sauitary condition of that centre of - dirt and disease. The understanding come-to is -likely to eventuate in good, and the sooner the buildings are pu'led down the better it will ba for the public health of the city.

The Wellington Tribune states that it is a remarkable fact that on the night of the debate on.Mr Vogel's Licensing. Act Amendment Bill, there were more drinks sold at Bellamy's than on any Mother night of the session.- The receipts were £9 higher than they had been previously—a practical protest, we presume, by certain members against the views propounded to the House by the eloquent and earnest advocate of total abstinence.

Information was given to the police in Auckland on Sunday night that a woman named Elizabeth Macfarlane had died suddenly in a building known as "Noah's Ark," in Baker-: street. Sergeant Sanderson at once visited the place, and learned that the deceased, who was addicted to intemperance, had been complaining for two or three days, and that about 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon she hath been brought to the house iu a very drunken state, : when it was observed that she was very ill, Dra Hooper arid Dawaon were sent for, but were unable to attend, and the unfortunate woman expired about 5 o'clock. . ;

On Saturday a large number of persons visited the poultry, fancy bird, and dog show in the Market-house,' Auckland, / and the various exhibits were sources of great attraction. A few sales were made of poultry at the prices quoted in the catalogue. Amongst these were—A coop of coloured Dorkings, be. longing to James Wallace, to Mr H. H. Lusk, •price £3 33. The next coop, belonging to R.' Bent, to Mr S. C, Greenwood, price '£2 ss; a ipen of dark Brahnns, belonging to James McNair, to Mr W. Young, price £2; a pen of grey Rouen ducks, belonging to R. and E, McLean, to Dr Wright,. price £3 8s; two :turkeysi of James -.Wallace's, to.Mr.E, Perkins, 15s; and a pair of canaries", £k 4s, The first prize for spaniels wa3 awarded Mr.. ;Chermside's Blenheim dog Trip, while Mr S,' - ' ! K. Hughes, jun., Blenheim dog Prince received. ; 2nd prize. This latter dog is a pure bred Blenheim spaniel, and was brought out from England by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh in the ' Galatea,' and is the father of the dog to whom the Ist prize was awarded; / Again 1 ! a first prize was awarded to Mr Quint's slut Mimia, and Mr" Lawford's 'Queen the Second had to be contented with 2nd prize, To a careful observer there' can be :no doubt which is the, best dog, the points of Queen the, Second are perfect to a degree, , indeed she has 1 already taken no less than eleven prizes in England. We understand that her owner has expressed himself willing, if • Mr,' Quint is agroeable, to have both' dogs sent home and exhibited in some of the English shows, in order to see which receives the most prizes. A dwarf dog, from its diminutive and extraordinary appearance, was the theme .of much wonder. This little creature is evidently a freak of' nature,-for half: of it resembles a dog and the .other ; half a rabbit. The dog was priced £1, and purchased the first day by Mr F. Eyre, who refused, an offer of £5 immediately after,. On Saturday the dbg was ticketed at £15.;' Itis'certainly.a curiosity. There was a very fair show of greyhounds. Mr T. Morrin's dtfg Beacon took the first prize. '

According to the Siam Weekly Advertiser there resides on the island of Borneo a race of wild creatures who, when' perfectly ereot (a very unusual occurrence),' measure some four feet in height. These"' people "erect no habitation, form no families, hardly associate' at all together, sleep in the trees, and ; some-' times in caves, and feed on' snakes; ants' eggs, and even on each other. They cannot be. in- ; duced to do any labour, and appear uotame- ; able. They are frequently shot down as they jump from tree to tree, like,stunted gorillas.': When captured alive, one finds with surprise that their jabbering sounds are like articulate, language, and that a human face.is turned up, to the captors—these sadly low specimens of humanity being in reality men and women.

A melancholy and fatal accident occurred at the No. 1 shaft of the Prince.-of Wales Com* pany, Cobblers. It appears that two men were engaged in a drive in the lower level of the quartz workings, From this drive they had cut out a chamber for-the purpose of putting up a rise to meet in the winze on a higher level, and the drive had been carried about' 20ft, beyond this chamber. Shortly after the change of shift at 4 o'clock, two men, one of whom ia; named John .Jones, went past the chamber, and • on to the face of the drive to work* .while the deceased William Sims, and Thomas Hartley ; proceeded to construct the rise from the: chamber. They neither appeared to havehad the slightest apprehension of danger, for Sims was stan ling coolly surveying the roof with his. pipe in his mouth, and Hartley wasclose by' Mm as if ready to advise or to be. consulted, when a great loose mass of Milestone rock -not' earth—came suddenly down upon' them, killing both men—Sims, it is supposed, instantaneously, but Hartley was heard to cry once to Jones. Jone3 immediately-ran out over the-fallen mass, of roek, and got aid to' extricate th'e.meh, but only to recover their corpses. Both men have worked in the mine-for several years, and were known as sober, skilled, and cautious miners; Hartley leaves a.widow and seven'children; and. Sims leaves a widow and four children. When Sims's body was found, the pipe wa3 still in his mouth, showing the awful suddenness of his death, An inquest was held on the bodies, when the jury returned a verdict of accidental death through too much of the foot wall being taken away. The jury were of opinion that in) all future accidents the evidence of the inspector of mines should be obtained before the verdict was given. —AustrdaAMß■ •' • s »