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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2070, 23 August 1875, Page 2

Two detachments of the Navals under the command of the junior lieuteuant, Mr Bennett, were engaged at shell {practice last Satui'day afternoon for the first time for several months, owing to new carriages, &c, being made, which were only finished last week by Mr Mackie, the contractor. The limbers seem to be a little lighter and have a smarter appearance altogether. We also observed that the guns had been polished as bright as a new copper—in fact our reporter hardly recognised them as the pieces formerly in use. The shooting made by No. 1 crew, tinder the command of Petty ■Officer Nightingale was very good, excelling that of-No. 2 crew, mnder P. O. Thomas^ who has invariably carried off the General Government artillery prize. No doubt Nightingale who is an old non. con. in the brigade, intends to make it warm at the next annual competition. We understand that the keel for the new gun boat was laid by Mr Savage, the builder, last week, and the boat is to be finished by the 9th November next. The length of the boat will be 36 feet 9 inches by 9 feet beam, diagonal, and built to carry a 6 lb Armstrong breachloading gun, to pull 8 oars (double bank 16) and rigged out with large English lug and jigger, &c.

At a special meeting of the Auckland Education Board held on Thursday last, amongst other business transacted, the appointment of Miss Murray as pupil teacher at Tapu was authorised —salary £15 per. annum,- from Ist August. The appointment of a pupil teacher at the Waiotahi Creek School was sanctioned, appointment not to be made until approved by the Board. A request was also received for an additional pupil teacher at the Shellback School.

Refebbing to the rage for centenary celebrations, the Melbourne correspondent of the Dunedin Stai* asks:—"Why doesn't somebody get up a millennium fuss about Noah, for instance. He was realty a great man; for didn't he preserve the whole race of us ? "

The Melbourne correspondent of the New Zealand Times writes:—You will be gratified to learn that public attention in Victoria is being directed and fastened on New Zealand affairs to an extent much, in advance of what it has yet been. The extraordinary success which attended the floating of your loan, the conspicuous figure which Sir Julius Vogel cuts in Europe, the decadence of our own internal trade, and the necessity for looking out more favorable marts of commerce, and the constant iteration of the praises of your climate and prosperity, have tended in the one direction—to attract attention to you.

The poor children at the South Metropolitan District Schools at Sutton had thrown to them by persons passing to and from Epsom on the Derby and Oaks days coins amounting to no less than £95, amongst which were sovereigns and a large proportion of silver. The Managers of the Schools hare directed that the money shall be employed in giving the elder children a day at the Crystal Palace, and some suitable entertainment to the younger ones at some other time and place.

The Otago Times' London correspondent writes that a bold and interesting form of Journalistic enterprise is at present occupying the attention of the proprietors of the London Times. This is no less than a project for printing that journal simultaneously, and by one and the same operation in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and probably Newcastle as well. It is proposed to achieve this result by means of electricity, and the mechanical manager of the Times is at present devoting his energies to perfecting an instrument by means of which it is hoped that the difficulties in the way of attaining the realisation of the idea, which is entirely new, its germ having been developed some years ago by Mr Mackay, of the Warrington Guardian, the ingenious inventor of the type-setting machine employed by the Graphic and some other papers. Mr Mackay's scheme, however, | was not nearly so bold or so well de- | veloped as the present one, and it came to [ nothing.

Some of the Australian aborigines are sharp fellows (says the Bockhampton Bulletin), and a little education is alone requisite to put their cerebral machinery in motion. Native-trooper Hogan, of Eockhampton, may be mentioned a3 a specimen. He speaks English well, and can even, it is said, write his own name, with or without a pen, a bit of stick answering the purpose admirably. He is fond of sight-seeing and " gammon ; " and went the other day to the immigration depot, to have a look at the new arrivals. ""What countryman are you?" he asked, addressing one of a group of admirers, which had never seen a black trooper before. "An Irishman," was the reply. " I'm a Dublin man myself," said Hogan, " and begorra! I think you are from Tipperary, from your talk!" The immigrants were taken aback. " Lord save us, Dan!" exclaimed one, "look how the country has changed a countryman of ours." Dan, a little more knowing, asked the trooper if there were many more like him in Ireland. "Not many," replied Hogan, with imperturbable gravity, "the blacks have nearly all died out there ; I'm about one of the last." And he proceeded to put "new chums" up to a wrinkle or two in the line of colonial experience.

It is some time since we were called upon to record anything in the way of "selling off" or "immense reductions " in the clothing department. But we are now reminded that Messrs J. Cos? grave and Co., are calling a sale of drapery and clothing at their establishments in Owen and Albertstreets. The stocks in these establishments embrace £20,000 worth of goods. Cheap drapery and winter clothing will now be the order of the day.—Advt.

The Tribune of the 11th instant says: — The member for Auckland City West takes liberties in debate permitted to no other member. The Speaker seems to have a sort of graduated scale of toleration for offences of this kind. If Mr Luckie ventures to speak of English taxation Ihe Speaker cannot see its relevancy to the question of duty on light wines (wo wonderif heavy wines would help it any), and the hon. member is at once "sat upon;" but Sir George Grey may wander " from grave to gay, from lively to severe"—tho latter predominating—without interruption or rebuke. His reference to the Governor last night was again in very bad taste, and we venture to hope that the undue liberty accorded to the hon. gentleman will not be altogether turned into a license hurtful to the feelings of those (his Excellency included) whose position prevents them entering the political arena and explaining their conduct.

Eakl Russell writes to The Times : — " At a time when much discussion prevails on the subject of ecclesiastical and civil authority, excited in this country by Mr Gladstone's admirable essays and his logical defence of his writings in the pamphlet called ' Vaticanism,' which no author is able to confute, and the same controversy rages in Germany, where the Roman bishops proclaim the nullity of civil authority arid the supremacy of sacerdotal laws over marriage and education, it may. interest some of our priests and bishops to consult the Oath of Homage I»ken by every .'bishop, kneeling, before.ctjhe Queen, when he obtainsfrom the Queen the grant of the temporalities of Ms See. —I am. sir, your obedient servant, Etts3ell. Pembroke Lodge, Kichmond Park, March s.—'Bishop, of—-—. Oath of Homage.—l, -r—, Doctor in Divinity, now elected, confirmed, and consecrated Bishop of —^-, do hereby declare that your Majesty is the only Supreme Governor of this your realms, in spiritual and ecclesiastical things, as Well as,in temporal, and that no foreign prelate or potentate has any jurisdiction within this realm; and I acknowledge that I hold the said Bishopric, as well the spiritualities as the temporalities, thereof, only of your Majesty.. And for the same temporalities I do my homage presently to your Majesty, So help me God. God save Queen Victoria.''