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Thames Star, Issue 1785, 22 September 1874, Page 2

Mn. J. Sheehan, M.H.R., and Mr. J. Cndman, M.P.C., were passengers by the Haurnki this morning, to bo pivaont at tho banquet to tho former gentleman which takes place this evening.

We (Hamilton Spectator) understand thai a new journal, to be.called The Camperdown Chronicle, will shortly be published at Cany perdbwn, and will bo conducted by Mr. James Allen, late of the Argus; [The Mr. James Allen alluded to was at one time editor of the Auckland Evening News and Morning News.] j >. ■. V ;

. Dtjbin& the hearing of the drainage cases this morning, whan Captain [Richards was being examined as to the relative* depth of the Otago and Pumping Association mines, come difficulty was experienced in understanding the plan. The witness got confused, and the combined forensic brains engaged seemed to be no less so, His Worship adjourned the case for five minutes that they might learn the plan.

As tending to show the remarkable aptness that Maoris in the North have for business transactions, says the Otago Daily Timos, a barrister of the Supreme Court related the following anecdote: —" He was drawing up a lea.Be for his Maori client,, and when reading it he came to the words" more or lest," upon which the Native asked, " What is that; more or less?" The lawyer replied in explanation. " Then," eaid the Maoi'ii " strike out the more, and leave in the less! " The racy manner in which the anecdote was told caused some fun in Court.

Thb following is from the Tarrengower Times —" A clever dodge is reported to us of a well-to-do man of Iho world of Maldon, who has successfully carried through a sort of now ' Quieting of Titles Bill.' A diroctor of a certain gold mining company, holding shares to the tune of a cool thousand, permitted himself to get into arrears for threo calls, and then allowed the Bharcs to become forfeited. Tho director then became the purchaser of the same shares at public auction at the price of one call only, thus making a clear profit of the price of two calls for a thousand shares."

Mis 3 -Thackeray writes to the Pall Mall Gazette :—lt has recently come to my knowledge, by the kindness of a friend, that-letters and. manuscripts are being frequently offered for sale as autographs of my father. Some which I have seen are rather clumsy forgeries 5 but they were sufficiently .well executed to impose upon persona already familiar with my father's handwriting. May I therefore beg you to publish this letter, in order, to check a fraud which might incidentally be injurious to my father's memory ? In one case a letter attributed to him had been manufactured by copying a fragment from a magazine article not written by him, and appending his signature; and I should much regret that correspondence so compiled should be attributed to

Thb Cross devotes over a column of yesterday's issue to "city improvements," describing some of the handsome buildings which have been erected on the ground between Wellesleystreet and the new market. Amongst those whose premises are highly spoken of as feeing ornamental to ihe cifcy, are the Messrs. ffirwin (who liave also a branch ah the Thamen) at the corner of Welleßley and Quoen street?, on the site formerly occupied by Mr. Bartlott, photographer. These new .buildings of the Messrs Hemn comprise a very fine corner shop for their own business", and'four shops in Wellealey-street, all of which, the Cross states, have been completed in capital style, with all modern improvements and considerable ornamentation. The contract price was £4,500. ..(.:'..

Thu Golden Crown does not rim to-dny, having been laid up for necessary repairs. Tho quarterly financial meeting of the Loyal Wajkata Lodge will bo held at the Hall, Bichraond-slrcet, this evening at halfpast seven o'clock. The Cross states that Mr. W. I/. Eces is a: candidato for the "seat in the Provincial Council vacant hy the dea<h of Mr. Andrew Beveridge, late Provincial Solicitor, and that it is probable he will bo returned unopposed. The last of tho concerts given by tho St. George's Choir in aid of the church funds will bo held on Friday evening next. As this will ba tho last of the series, a great many are likely to take adrantage of tbe attractions offered by tho concert and dance. Tit" Dunolly Express says a woman last Sunday was going into churck without the thing called a bonnet. The gale had blown it off the hirsute building on her head, and she did not know it till told of her loss at the church door. The Cross states, that the now Governor of New Zealand, the Marquis of Normanby, is a <*eEcendaut of one Phipps, » native of America, who enriched himself in tho reign of William of Orange by wcoTering treasure on tho coast of Florida, and was knighted for hia services. . The bsnquet to Mr. J. Sheehan, M.H.8., will take pkco this evening in the Academy of Music at eight o'clock. Over a hundred persons are expected to be present, provision having been naado to that extent. The tickets have sold readily and a great success may le expected. The drawing fox* Mr. Jefferson's art union of pictures "will positively take place next Monday, by which tiino it is hoped that all tho tickets will be. taken in order that no delay miy occur. Those who have not yet inspected the pictures should take the opportunity of doing ?.o ftt once.

Ukdeb the appropriate heading of "Rapacious and Beckless," the Alts, California calls attention to the alarming fact that at Worcester, in the state of Massachusetts, "the Forth Pond dam, containing twice as much water as the reservoir which caused such destruction to the villages pf Hampshire county, was pronounced unsafe eight ysars ago by a most competent hydraulic engineer. Six years ago a complaint was made to the County Commissioners, who condemned ifc, and ordered it to be removed. It was noC done, there having been too little rid lapo in the proceedings. Another hearing was had, but the dam nevertheless has remained until the present. Thus the lives of thousands are daily, hourly perilled, not alone in Massachusetts, but wherever greed imy fl urish at the risk of human life. Grand juries and courts sometimes should be indicted as well as thieves and ruffians."

FEOM the report of Mr. D. M'Gregor, Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, recently laid on the table of House of Representative?, we take the following paragraph:—" A large proportion of the cases admitted are found to came from the gpldfields. After makic g allowance for the peculiar circumstance's and mode of living of miners in Otago, I think it can be shown that, their needlessly unvaried diet is to blame for the largo number of lunatics from this class. As a rule the lunaHc miner is extremely constipated, the bowels being loaded with hardened faeces. Once this is removed, rapid recovery onsunc. I an of opinion that the chief causo of this state of things is the enormous quantity of strong tea daily consumed, by miners, and the entire absence of milk from the diet. Could nothing bo.done to remody this'by encouragicg miners to settle on the land and adopt a more rational mode of life ? "

Sab AH Smith stands soircnvfully solus: she sees splendid spruces surrounding shaly spots; iho sees Bummer's sun shilling; aUp, smells swoet anvors ; Rwpor songster» ainging' Bilvery straina ecronado Sarah, Still she siighs. Suneet's soft shades sottlo silently; still she stands sadly sighing. Suddenly she started.Sho jsavr aomo strnngor strolling nlonilj southward. "Stop!" sho shouted. "Slop, stranger! Sarah Smith says to I" Stately, sho stood, sternly she shouted. "Stop!" Snmuel Slocum, successful statesman, sritooth* speaker, stnrt.ed, iraw Sarah, reemeJ surprised, suid soliloquizingly, " Wtrange; see t ingly scarce sixtern ; so sweet';' .so simple ; alillfO siugularly suspicion*! She seems atratigely sad." 'Say something sweeter, Sarah." She, stopping, pome si!e:it struggle,. said : "Surely tomostiungor eeeing; sighj. Shall Sarah Srnir.h shun suc^i; scarcejly." So, strolling silently strangerward she sai^lV " Sarah Smith scorns suspicious scaiida)s, sho seeks sympathy; : seclrs she successfully;?" Still shone Bilvbry etreams slantingly south■ward. Samuel Slocum' sat .swee'ly smiling, Sarah Smith seated suspiciously sdonewhere. Sungof.'s ssrono cplecdor 6'uggest.eol supper. Slill she safe. She. so.ught sympathy Rucccsafully; supper seemed nipciiluoufi. Somooix Sundays succeeding she signed tome sketches , tgrali Smith Slocum.

A sinotlab bequost has been mnde to the Bailarat Hospital, which, although not tending to aid its operations in a material manner, may yet bs the means of assisting the surgical staff in their search, after knowledge. At >a meeting of the sub-committee of that institution on Wednesday evening, the will of Mr. William Higgins, duly signed aad attested, was received, wherein ho bequeaths his body after death to the Hospital to be dissected and dealt with as may be most deiirablo in tho causo of science. Owing to the Hospital not having a license to. dissect human bodies, the offtr of Mr. William Higgins of his body after death for scientific purposes has been respectfully doclined by the Hospital committee. Tho license would cost £26, and Dr. Owen does not adviae this expenditure, unless, there are some special features about Mr. Higgins* b^dy which might be of u?e to the medical profession.—Miner.

Thb o33ce r-f Captain Nearing, on the Queen-street wharf, was entered lait Friday night by means of a skeleton key.; The locks of the desks and drawers inside were broken, and their contents left in a state of g-eat confusion. Fortunately no money or other valuables had been placed there that evening, and the thieves were disappointed of their booty. This is the second depredation that lisa been committed on tho wharf within the last month, the office of Messrs Holme* Bros, having been forcibly entered and money stolen a short time since. It is only but a week or two since tho shop of Messrs Fisher and Co., butchers was entered, some money stolen, and drawers, &o, subjected to a thorough ransacking. These frequent occurrences of unlawfully entering lock-fast places in the absence of their owners show that some midnight prowler is at work, and it is thro that the police bestirred themselves and gave an account of the depredator or depredators.—Cross.'

Thb Coromandel News of Saturday contains the following:—"ln consequence of a statement mode by the lecturer for the Auttraliin Mutual Provident Society on Thursday evening, Mr. It. Tait telegraphod to the Commissioner of Annuities at Wellington yesterday morning, and received a reply th» same afternoon. We publish both telegrams :—' Public led to understand that Government will divide profits after Ist July next. Mr. Thompson, lecturer, A. Mutual, asiertsd last night at his lecture that instead of G-oversment dividing profits they were £23,000 short. Would like to correct this in to-morrow's paper. Please reply.' The following is the reply:—'Received your telegram of to-day. Clear profits when ascertained by acturial calculation, after deduction of sufficient reserve similarly ascertained will be distributed among poliov-holders after acturial investigation in 1880 (next but one) and henceforward every five year*. ' Balan^s to credit of department on 30th July last war £67,165 9s Bd. Income for last financial yeas wae £45,734 14s 3d, and excess of receipts over disbursements was £30,303 16s. New business dono Uvt year was tho issue of 1499 policies, and receipts of new annual premiums, £18,223 Is 10d.'"

The .Armidale Express reports tho following occurrence at the Court of Quarter Sessions in that town :—" The Court adjourned for an hour. On reopeniug at 2 p.m., his Honor Judge Meymott s.id he wished to make a. remark. Ho had invited several ladies to a seat on the bench that day, and he had done so because he had considered them worthy of the honor/ He had the pleasure of having known Madame Carandini for 24 years, and her daughters sinco thay were children. He know that they were ladies in every sense of the word. He knew bo lady more entitled to the support of the publio than Madame .Carindini was, for the admirable way in which she had brought up he daughters. Mr. Doekor thought he could, on behalf of every member of the Court, express the great pleasure that had bee:i felt in the Court having been gracd by tho presence of these ladias. His Honor expressed his pleasure in hearing Mr. Docker's remark, and said the ladies were in evory way worthy of ifc." What a pily, says th* JVfelbourno Argu«, the Cnr&ndini family cannot get themselves advertised by ore of tht» Supreme Court Judge■ of this colony." These peripatetic warblers never got; 'boyond a County Chairman or tho Superintendent of a Bocond-olaes Province while in.New Z:aland, so that tho Australians have the .advantage in this direction.

The discovery of bones—exhumed from the onrth'a bowels, has become quite common of lalo, and therefore any little romantic feeling which .might have been caused by the bring* ing to light of ?.n odd skull is lost. But the Thames would appear to ho rich in bony deposite* We have heard that a shorb distance up the Tarnru Creek there is a cave of co»» sidsrable proportions, the entrance to which is barred by a ponderous stone. That is a sufficiently interesting fact in itself, but it appe»rs that this cave was at one timo a depository for human frames — "shuffled off mortal coils," — being full ot ikulls and skeletons. The- gentleman who made this discovery dug down some way into theoe bones, but he did rot find the bottom, and very naturally concluded that the cavern contained an enormous quantity. There is a tradition thafc a great battle took place between tribos of Maories in tha vicinity, and that the site of the Tararu Gardens was the stronghold of the Thames natives ; and it, is furthor supposed that the bodies of the slain warriors were consigned to the cave alludod to. Here is an 'interesting little tale, by which the imaginative mind can be carried back to a time wheu Iho f;ob, of the spoliating pakeha had noS. trodden on these shores, and when the busy sc3ae of ncfiro civil zation which the Thames now presents was a _ wild forest, frequented only by fib accompaniments of the scour, t.hb dujkysftvage**