The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1899, 3 February 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1875.

It hai been decided to Have the ball to the lt«pre»entative Volunteers on next Monday •veising, in the Academy of Music. A large dumber of ladies'invitations hare been issued, wbich ia many instances bare been accepted, and gentlemen's tickets may be had frem members of the committee. We believe it is probable that the Camp -will b» struck on Saturday, and the^ representatives -will come into town for the remainder of their stay. It is also expected that the Government steamer Luna Trill come down and take away the wujhern representatives on Tuesday morning, ifterthe:ballihas;concluded,.,an arrangement which will give them come time in Auckland, and enable them to proceed south in the Wellington, which leaves the Manakau on Thursday morning, 11th instant.

The steamer Golden Crown appears to 'have answered wiell the purpose she was purchased for, and has been tbe direct means of improving rapidlythe value of Sorrento lands. The Ocean 1 Amphitheatre Company purchased (say» the Melbourne correspondent of the Ballarat Miner) af; sbout £10 per acre. To-day at Knipij's^aiictura rbora>, which were •rowdfd, the ssme land* nalised an average \6t £22 10» per half acre—a princely method, .^ will be said, of coining money.

Thk Colbc Herald, discoura'rg on " the beautiful Australian flimate," recently said : —On Friday ast at two pm. tbo thermo toettr at. Colac stood at orer IPO in the shade, and'on Saturd y morning tha low-lying lands were quit* white with hoar froit. T"US dull times do not teem to affect the

? #nterpriFe of sf me people in our town. Only ;»«hprfr tinea ago we noticed the lnrge alterations »nd imrrovcinents effte'ed by the dra£|»fw. N^w we have, to notice f• esh evidences >f faith, in t^e future in nnbther direction. llrwrt He»in Brothers, Owen street, hare eoir.plfUd^tlje alteratrons to thtir premißes, which are most complete and convenient. Theirold eßtttbliibed grocery ard ironmongery tnsin^iß « cow carried on under one rooi^ and in one fihop, we miglit say, for the arrangements are such that on occasion a li gle pereqn could command the whole interior bo far as it is oren to the public. TTbe» business people make thefe alterations it is a tipn of a progresiihg <rade, therefore, *J?dwin Bros, way be congratulated on the lut'cegs which has induced them to enlarge their premises. ;

; ; Thb following is from the Bullarat correspondent of the Melbourne Argus:-—" There is • certain class of minors in nearly erery mining district who hang together Uke bunches of grapes, and who generally, by this cohesion, manage to carry everything their own way. Their clanishness i» strong, and 1 heir sole object too often seems to be to get their own friends into leading positions-—such as directors pt managers: in which, if successful, they carry on their games of favoritism; and when once they male a lodgment, they begin « career of dishonesty ■which it is difficult to detect, or to check. Some people, he laid, thought them very geod men for the way in which they paraded their piety, but he had watched them closely, and his opinion was they were only religious when frightened. I've worked, he said, with hundreds of them, and I never could believe in their religion as sincere; going up and down a shaft they sing hymns, but when they reach the top or bottom safely, profane songs or biasphunous language take the place of hymns; if they wtre busy stealing gold I believe they would sing hymns, but let them get clear off •with it, and good-bye to their hymns again." - Wb have received the January number of the Australasian Sketcher from Mr J. H. - Jeffeisoa. The front page illustration is from a scene at the pantomine in Melbourne, "The March of Amazocs," and gives a capital idea ©f the scene, although it is of little value beyond. A moonlight concert in the Botanical Gardens, and a Sunday trip on the Golden Crown are the full page illustrations of the inside, and the remainder of the engravings ar« of the usual character. In executioH the present number oi the Skttcher is equal to former ones, but the subjects are scarcely so well chosen as some we hare seen, and are less generally interesting.

At a recent fortnightly meeting of the Greymouth- Borough Council, " a letter from Mr Or. King, manager, Bank of New South Wales, was read, acknowledging receipt of Council's debentures and stating that the rat© of interest on the Council's overdraft would, now be 11 per cent." We should think the overdraft must be very heavy, or the security doubtful.

The Rev. T. Buddie will deliver a lecture on " Courtship and Marriage " at the Wealejan Church, Grahatnatown, this evening, at half-past seven o'clock. Mr W. Siras will occupy the chair. A collection will bo made at the close of the lecture in aid of the Circuit funds.

It may bo stated for the information o* those interested, that Monday next is the last flay upon which the Clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court can receive applications for temporary transfers and renewals of licen sea to be entertained on the Quarterly Lioeniing Day in March next, according to the provisions of the new Licensing Act.

We hare _ received another .letter from "G. T. Morrison" concerning the Church Parade on Sunday. It is of the tv quoque style, and a fuir idea of the letter may be gatherered from the following :— "P.S— For neither the N avals or the Thames Scottish marched to Grey-street to ineetthp Representatives for all meet (sic) at Butt's Corner;— (3r T.M." Will one of the Navals or Thame* Sco'tish inform Mr Morrison that they did m*rch to Grey street—that the Scottish Band played along Pollen street, and that Butt's Corner is formed by the junction of Polfenstreet and Grey-street. When Mr Morrison has been convinced we expect he wil apologise.

A London correspondent of tho Argus writes:—"Tho money cleared by successful authorship is always an interesting subject. The most that has been made by any book of the like size during the lifetime of its author is £14,000, which has been made by, a lady Her Majesty the Queen is stated upon good authority to have netted that susi for, her; Journal in the Highlands, and she gave (it should be added) every farthing of it away in charity." ;

On the arrival of the Daylesfori coach at Malmsbury, on Saturday last (says theKyneton Observer), two vagrants were brought down for transmission to the Castleinaine Gaol. The pair were evidently a nrarried couple, but considerable difficulty was experienced in deciding which w»» the husband and which the wife. Both wore flowing beards and moustaches, and although the woman was dressed in semi-female attire, the fashion was co extremely grotesque that the costume could have belonged to either sex. The constable in charge informed us that the prisoners were of Swiss nationality, unacquainted with the English language, and that they had been living ne»r Daylesford in a state of great destitution. The man was handcuffed, buc that precaution was not considered* necessary in the case of his partner. She appeared to bo about; 45 years of age, very yellow and wrinkled, her beard, turning to grey. That the poor creature was imbecile; appeared evident, her face being quite expressionless.

We understand that a proteßt has been lodged with Colonel Lyon, the officer in charge of the Colonial Prize Firing, against Lieut. Skinner, the winner of the Champion Belt, the alleged reason being that he had tampfred with his sights. We see no provision in the rules for protests, but No. 5 of tvo General Bules siys.* — "Tho senior officer on the ground may direct the examination of the arms used by competitors at any time before, during, or after the firing; and should any arm be found to hive been tampered with, the sights or locks in any way altered after having been issued from >tore, or the pull of trigger to be below the minimum, the competi or using such,arm wiil be disqualified, and his,score disallowed." It will be seen that in any case of tampering the senior officer ha§ no : diecretion—the penalty, di qualification, must follow con viotidn. We should be extremely sorry to hear that a pro eat could bo maintained against the Champion. -■

A ohabgb laid by the Inspector of Miners' R'ghts against Mr J. H. Salmon, for mining v, i hout being the holder of he nee ssary right, was heard in the Warden's Court today. Mr Salmon conducted bis own case. To ep»akin »ulgar parlance, Mr Salmon " was not to be had " on this occasion, and the case was dismissed on the g'ound that the alleged goldmining was nothing more nor less than a little friendly assistance which the accused hai rendered to one of his employees in the pure and unsophisdeated philanthropy of his big heart. It was elicited that on the occasion in question, Mr Salmon remarked to the carter that the day was warm, and proceeded thereupon to throw in some stuff also. This was not'by any means a cooling occupation, it might be supposed ; but how peaceful the reflection that you have fut outoce little hand to help a poorer brother over the thorny path of life.

Oub contemporary takes up the cudgels on behalf of Mr. Hemu?, the telegraph operator at Farawai, and if he had confined himself to expressing: satisfaction'at the "courtesy and ability of the officer " in charge of the Parawai station wo should liaye said nothing ia reply. But we. hare been accused of untruthfulness, which we deny. An eye-witness of the occurrence which has giren rise to thia —which occurrence was treated in a jocular strain by our reporter—states most distinctly that Mr Hemus received a message for transmission outside Ms office. If, ia so doing, he kept within the strict letter of liis instructions, he will be acquitted of the charge of partiality. This will no doubt bo elicited at the inquiry which must be instituted. We have no personal acquaintance with Mr Hemus, and for the reputation of the telegraph department we should be pleased to learn that the persons who wera spectators of the little " do," as ifc was called, were laboring under an optical delusion at the time. Meantime we are content to leave the matter to the ordinary course.