Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1873, 4 January 1875, Page 2

Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 1875.

The rumour to which we gave publicity a short time ago, with reference to the rifle r.ange selected for the Colonial- Prize Firing beingjrefused by the Native ow.aer, turns out to tie correct. Although Eiwai gave his permission that-- the shooiing place on his land,- he -has revoked that permission, incited thereto, it is said, 'by Te' Moananui, who feels aggrieved over somethings The latter may be blameless; if so, it is only another illustration "of the, 1 dog having a bad name, attached to' it, and gelling unjusfclycondemned. Biwai's permission to have the shooting over his ground was obtained after a delicate negociation, the consideration'being £10, which Biwai will, v'we 'should ' think, refund now he refuses the use of the, range., ■We are glad to l>e able ,to state that another site for the rifle range has been chosen, near the Kauaeranga Creek; and although,not equal in every respect to the one first (ibos'enritrwill be a<yery good range"; so that Biwai'a ungracious refusal v to stick to 'tis-bargain will not have the effect inte,nsed,, namely to prevent the shooting taking, plaice,-in this district. The rew range is, on land belonging to Native s A / " • [We: liave,' since writing the . 'above, been-informed, that Biwai never gavehis consent to the firing taking place over his lajbd,-and that' tjie' consideration of £10 was not'^aid. It is difficult at all times . to get at the exact:truth ..of any matter connected witli the Natives and the Native Department';' so we are only certain of nne fact in connection with ihis matter—that Biwai has refused the use of —arrange -zhich it wasTiinderstooarliacl been" granted for the Colonial Prize Firing, to commence on the 26th of this month.]

The Gorernor lias issued a proclamation under " The' Oyster Fisheries Act Ameadjnent Act, 1874," prohibiting the. taking of oysters in the Province of Auckland during the months of January, February and.March. It provides that any person , who. shall take or catch for,sale, or sell or expose for sale, or buy any rock oysters Tvithin the district of the province of Auckland, during the prescribed time, . ■sriU "be liable to a penalty not exceeding , twenty pounds for anyone offence, to be , recovered, in a summary way .before any ana os more Justice or Justices of the peace. It does'" not appear why the Province of Auckland has been made an exception to the rest of the Colony in this matter, but it is more than likely that the Act has been, brought into operation to put a stop to the wholesale exportation of rock oysters to the South, scarcely a steamer leaving Auckland without a number of bags or kits of these luscious shell-fish on board. The proclamation does not prohibit the "catching, taking and eating ; " so that lovers of the bivalve will have to take their own oysters as well as open them.

flTiiß Eesident Magistrate's Court did ;aot sit to-day, there being no cases to come before it.

Ms &AV.AGffI has completed one four-oared gjj» fear the coming Auckland Kegattai and is engaged in making a pair-oared gig. They are both of ;cedar wood, and the former is as beautiful a ljpafc aB is often seen any part of Ifce world. Her outline is-very £!ne, a«d while being- firmly knit is exceedingly Jjght: so that with such a gig, and the wellknown "Superiority of Thames oaremen, the result of at ieast one race is pretty certain,,

bav.e received f from the -Government Printer New Zealand Gazette Ho. 68, published on ,the S4lh of December. , Also, a statement showing the several sums carried to credit of reserve account to provide for outstanding liabilities chargeable „on the Snas-cial year 1873 74.

Tbe members of the Good Templar Lodges terminated the day's festivities on Saturday with a soiree and dance. It-was found top clarop to properly enjoy the day in the open sir, i>adi recourse wes had to the inside of St. George's Ball, where both sexes of all ages met in the early part; of the evening, and succeeded in passirg the time very pleasantly until tea time, when an attack was made upon a welcome provision. Subsequently a cumber of gentlemen addressed the gathering, Mr W- Speight occupyirg the Chair. Ihe Scottiish Band was in attendance throughout the evening, and performed ipme excellent

music for the dancera, who persevered in tho latter class of amusement till a reasonable hour of tho night preceding Sunday.

The work of extending the goods wharf is being proceeded with rapidly, and is fast approaching It having been de« teraijned to utilise the tee which stood at the end of tho wharf, the piles and planking are being gradually i emored and jised in .extending the, wharf. - There are nbwonly six rows of pilts remaining, and the addition made to tho wharf at this stage is quit© striking.

"It is notified in the New Zealand Gazette of the 24th December, that a transcript of the Bye-Laws of " The Grahamstown Branch, fNo. 85, of the Hibernian Australaßiari Catholic -, Benefit Society," duly certified in the manner i provided by the 14th section of " The Friendly Societies; Act; 18j67i" was, on the i 29fch day of May, 1872, lodged with, the ; Registrar of Fiieadly Societies, registered and : recorded under the pro-visions of the Act abovq quoted. Some, >tim,e,:agp a instituted by this" Sdciety fell ihrougtiy owing to a mistake in the name of the Society as registered, ffAnitrftlianl i;-having ibein^ dut|- ; stitutod for " Australasian." Thit would jip- \ pear to have been rectified in the amended notice now published.

Thb "lunatics," or "blighted excursionists," who were disappointed in ; their trip to tfio Arbha, had better hold their tongues. Tho owners of the Fairy threaten an action for damages for running down tVat 1 fast and favorite steamer, besides which a heavy claim is to be made for.charter. Thentheproprie'or of the saw mill where .the " lunatica"— we beg pardon,; "excursionists"—landed, talks of damages for loss sustained by tho mill being Btopped, owing to the "hands " knocking eff work to eat the prog and drink the grog (pronounced indifferent) left by the Fairy's passengers. Bar law expenses it is calculated that the excursionists may get off by forking out a pony apiece."'

On-the' propriety of applying the lash'to perpetrators of brutal assaults, the London Times of October 24 says :—" It is certainly high time that something effectual should be done. The man who is capable already of committing a brutal assault upon a hel pleas victim, who cat> find a pleasure in kicking or gouging for ifu own sake, and sometimes without even, the semblance of provocationf, such a fellow is s© far degraded that he has. not much to lose by, the further degradation of the cat-b'-liirie-taila. Indeed, if the punishment we desired for him were merely degrading, he would, no doubt, display great courage in undergoing, it j^but it is p&inful too, and that in a very hig^i degree,-akd this is the aspect of it which alone has much terrorfor himV It is mere trifling in such a, case to talk of degradation at all. It is necessary that the ruffians whom the Home Secretary is proposing to take in hand should be taught^ by whateverprobess, that they must find some other method of diverting tbemaeiVes than by -kicking their relatites. Since other means fail us for imparting this valuable iefcs6ni'fe« nxusfc-have reqourse to the old method of retaliation."

We have received the Christmas number of the Australasian, ISketcher, which is by this time pretty familiar to readers bb the best pictorial paper, yet issued , from the cqlonial press. Tbe front page illustration is /erititled " Country Cousins in Melbourne streets," and the artist has put into the pic* Juio_jLfi^^d^-o£^^rafit-ert_ _Amonga± _thfi_ other illustratioHS will be found scenes at the Melbourne theatre?, the B A eeehworth carnival procession of the, Chinese and some fine pieces ofAtistraliata scenery. There are two portraitsr-dne: ? of l His Exotllericy>Frederic>[ jlloysiuiiW|eld> Q-OTernpr ; of'■.Tasmania, formerly Premier of Ifew Zealand; .and the ■"■ the^EeW'Charles 1 Clark^ l popular preacher and lecturer, ; Both, :w© can «afely say, are. excellent portraits, if we may judge from photographs of the gentlemen we have seenv In-addition to the usual excellencies of the Sketcher there are two pictorial supplements, " Springtime," and " Progress of Australian Explorers." ; Both are excellent pictures, worth framiiig,, and w,e might almost venture to say worth a whole year's subscription to the Sketcherv' <- :i

The present season is."peculiar for very changeable weather, quite different to that experienced last'year at the same'timel Yesterday a very heavy shower fell at about four o'clock to the astonishment of many who had confided in the weather (from the appearance of the,morning) so far aa to venture out unaccompanied by any protection against rain: As usual on Sunday a number of people went walking in the direction of. Parawai in order to enjoy the rural scenery in the genial sunshine. Many of them had to enjoy it as best they might, under the auspices of a'stiff north-west wind and a good soaking NewZealand rain. Ladies arrayed in the airy costume adopted in summer time, and gentleman with light silk coats, were compelled to partake of an involuntary' shower bath which did not add to their personal appearance as ladies and gentleman dressed in costumes as above. To any individual who has the advantage of shelter in these circumstances such events as the drenohing to his or her skin of a fellow-matt or woman is a pleasing spectacle —calculated, in fact, to make him feel unalloyed contentment with his own lot;. The joke never strikes "outside passengers." It is curious al«o to observe the different ways in which people are moved by being caught in a good powerful shower. Bashful men, careful of their apparel, always run to the nearest shelter, and invariably look very cross at the persons who are watohing their haety approach in that direction. For oae man to .look at another, when he is. running through the rain, is the cmelest thing he can do next to.laughing at him. Other men take it in quite a different way. Some affect an unconsciousness of .the. passing event, atid, though their garments are sticking to them as tight as bathing-gowns, quite leisurely, put their two hands under their water-laden coat-tails, and take an interest in their toocaps. This is an impressive style of walk. It gives an idea to observers that you are in deep thought. (You are likely thinking whether your other shirt was; washed "last week, so as to change.) Women are never influenced by these weaknessesThey have another weakness, which is the priceless feather that adorns their head-dress. All other considerations ara subservient to this. To secure the preservation of this feather everything else is sacrificed^ The first movement made is to stand in pretty bewilderment. (This is a bull) Then the dres3 is caught up with an utter disregard of the next garment below it, and the end is thrown over the precious feather ; and a

stampede ensues. Such scones, aa the above ■were enacted yesterday, and observed by our peripatetic reporter from under a white cotton umbrella which ho bad provided hirusolf with to keep off the rays of the aim.

Thtj Nelson Colonist publishes the following letter aa genuine, and vouches for i(s authenticity, the writer being of the mature [ago of " eight yoars." It; ia eaid to be written from Christchurch to one of the author's friends of about the eamo age. The names only are suppressed :—" Christchuroh, December 6th, 1874: Dear IT ,—I wrote to you and A T , but as yet have received no replies f»om either of you. You remember, a young lady, or a girl as -some would call her, staying at your place, ■t with red hair, named ——~—. She desired mo I to send her love with fifty kisses to you, but I lold her you weroubout to marryMias— , *he said, 'Nevermind!" I am working at Messrs 'a • it is nothing to do but i write. <i am qu|te disgustpd with thcChrist- : church gir>, and am glad" to say hare escaped : that hot love affair of mine that I wrote to you about; I believe she is to be Mrs , .or somethiog of the sorfc. All I hope is that ] she von'fc ruin him, for ho'll have' to be ] tolerably rich to keep her in clothes, as she' likes showing off her things. On Sunday she j; looks up into the chancel and tries to make ; me laugh, but I say to myself' Not for Jdsbph,' i and look t'other way. Our organ will be the largest in New Zealand J in a week; it 1 is a : perfect moustcr, and the sound it makes, is < beautiful. This is only a very short letter, and is only written to remind you to write i quickly to your affectionate friend, —."

Very grave doubts have arisen ai to the identity of the person recently sTrrestei in India, and who was eaid to be the fugitive Naua Sahib. On tbis subject the London correspondent of tho Australasian says :—Tho news of the capture of Nana Sahib has revived the disagreeable memories of the Indian Mutiny, and led to many speculations as "to tho identity of tho prisoner. I do not believe he ia RTana Sahib at all,-evcn though he should say ao. The real Wana undoubtedly perished ' in the 3STepaul terai, of jung'e fever, some 14 yeara ago, according to the'best evidence, i He was of a physique which it would be impossible to mistake. Disappointment, , thoughts of revenge, and the plsasurei of ' solitude had bl«wn up that victim of the Indian Government like a bladder. Afc the , date of the mutiny he was more corpulent ' than the claimant —sleek-headed, unctuous, | aad rotund. That ho should ever have been J able to pass himself off as a religious mendicant-, and to wander for yoars through the I country undetected, is absolutely incredible. According to all accounts he could be no' more like the' wretched creature whom I Scindia has handed over to us than Sir ' Roger Tichborne was like his counterfeit, 'the I convict Or ton. It will be found, I predict, that tbis is another impostor, either seduced by bhang to that foul revolt, on put up by i Scindia himself for his own end 3.

Ok the question of the annexation of Fiji the Australasian's London correspondent says:—" The Times is the only English jour- • nal which baa disapproved of the annexation :of the Fijis. It is impossible to aay for what reason, except that The Times is opposed to all colonial extension and even retention. Tho government of the islands, it argues, will give us a great deal of trouble and cost a good deal of money. But is government a ioib art that we should be appalled at, every new jtdditiott_tp_ bur reapanaAiUtioß-? We__can_i understand how it is that a journal which recommended us to 'let Canada go,' should i demur to our making a new colony; but the I argument of The Times clearly proves too i much. It proves not only that we should not j annex the Fijis, but that we should dispossess ourselves of 'all our dependencies, and Shut up shop altogether as the colonising and imperial race. In thia matter The Times' certainly does not reflect the public opinion. Nearly everybody is pleased at the decision' which Sir Hercules Bobinson has made—not" because England wants the Fijis, but because , there is no honest way out of the difficulties • which have arisen from the British connexion : with the islands except in annexation."

We are glad to inform our readers that a New Gentlemen's Clothing Establishment has opened in Pollen street, two doors from Mary street, named the Thames Borough Clothing Mart.—Advt.

Gents' clothes cleaned, dyed and pressed. Gtantß* light suits cleaned, 53. N.B.—ln future all goods and orders will only be received at the Thames Dyeing Establishment, Rollcston street, Shortland. ' ■ -