THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2096, 22 September 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1875.

It fell on a day last week that a respectable tradesman of this Borough was summoned to the Eesident Magistrate's Court, and in spite of the great provocation he had received was fined one shilling and costs for that he did set upon, assault, and beat (or in whatever other way caning an impertinent butcher's boy may be spoken of) one Samuel Martin. Now the Magistrate declared that he implicit^ believed every word of Mr Jarvis' story, which went, to show that defendant, after being greatly annoyed by the complainant and others, had carried out his threats and caned one of their number, but yet he was obliged to fine Mr Jarvis for his breach of law inasmuch as he had taken the law into his own hand by striking the boy at all. Naturally a letter appeared in the local press asking what remedy was open to those shopkeepers whoare thus annoyed by idle, noisy boys fixing upon their neighborhood as a place in w-hich to congregate. To that letter, as far as we are aware, no answer has been sent, simply because we suppose, no one has found himself equal to the task of devising a remedy. It is obvious that a man cannot be allowed to take the law in his own hands and go caning boys because they happen to make a noise. The " liberty of the subject " would be even more infringed in this way than it is by the Abolition Bill; and venting one's outraged feelings at the price of a shilling a blow and costs, js apt to be expensive if the luxury is often indulged in. What then is to be done ? It must be remembered that Mr Jarvis's case is far from being an isolated one, nor do we think that the annoyance to which lie was exposed, was at all exaggerated. When their work is done knots of these " larrikins," as they aro termed, assemble together often from literally having nothing to do. They block up the pathway, they use language often profane orobscene to the disgust of the passer-by ; while on those tradesmen whose neighborhood they more particularly affect they may cause actual loss, by preventing customers who do not choose to be made the subject of their remarks coming to their shops for purchases. This is bad enough in week days, but on Saturday evenings and Sundays the nuisance is greater than ever, and is more than ever felt. On Saturday evenings because more shopping is done than on any* other day throughout the week; and on Sundays because, as that day is more particularly appropriate for a day of quiet, these nuisances seem determined (o make themselves more than ever conspicuous. Unless some remedy is devfecd which may stop or abate the nuisance, matters will soon become unbearable. We are now past the vernal equinox, and each day will bring some minutes more of time for these boys to exult in. It his hard always, and very often impossible to single out one culprit from a numbei", and have him convicted by the magistrate ; while if a shopkeeper were to attempt the stereotyped advice in these matters, and " send for the police" he might keep a messenger employed all day on these special errands and yet be none the better for it;. on the contrary, rather the worse, for ifc is quite on the cards that his boy persecutors would regard the matter in no other light than as an excellent piece of fun,.insult the luckless wight who sent for police support in any way their ingenuity might suggest until the official was in sight, and only bolt out of , his reach on his arrival to return again to their pastime immediately his back was turned. We see no remedy ourselves for these things unless the police will take the matter up thoroughly. We do not wish to turn our local force into mere sentries making their rounds at statedintervals. Were they to do this, the result would probably be as useless as ridiculous, and avail nothing. But could not the police, if seriously resolved to try, make a capture of a few of these offenders, in flagrante delicto, without an appeal for aid being made to them at all. And when these captures were effected could not the captives be made an example of by the presiding Magistrate, sufficient to act as a strong ! deterrent to larrikins of. any age and grade? A few examples would amply suffice. Indeed we much question whether one would not be found sufficient; and the boon to the public in general and the storekeepers in particular would be great indeed. But if caught as we wish they may be, we do hope that whoever may be called upon to pass sentence upon them will not negative the good which may result from their capture by any act of mistaken leniency. Looking at one single case it may appear a very slight affair, and the ends of justice may appear to be sufficiently satisfied by a few words of rebuke o? a trifling fine. But looking

at the case as a whole, considering how much time has been spent in bringing the offender to justice, and how often he has transgressed with impunity, and probably will transgress again unless adequately chastised, we hope,'for the.common good that an example will be made of the delinquent which he and others may lona; remember. If he be imprisoned he may but come out worse than he went in, and brag among his companions, 'as is sometimes done! that he does not care for ifc. .. If he be fined, the 'punishment falls on his father or some other than himself, who has to pay for the culprit's disgrace. As to the disgrace itself it is probable he does not care for that, or if he does, only for a day or so, and having once undergone it is rendered more callous for the future. What we would suggest is that, after the manner of the receipt for jugging hare given in the cookery books, the offender should first be caught, and when caught submitted to the process of a good sound whipping. We believe we are right in saying that the magistrates.have the power of ordering this; if they have and do, we venture to predict that it will be found a very efficacious remedy. Boys cowardly enough to render insult gratuitously, and who take delight in what they term " cheeking " a man in his own house, more especially if that man be slow of foot or incapable of catching them, however impervious their heads may be to reason and their minds to proper feeling, would find it a different matter when their backs are experimented on by an able-bodied man wielding the rod of justice, aud, as we said, would discover after a very few of these punishments that their pastime was too dangerous to be pleasant to the body, however agreeable it might be to the mind. Fiat experimentum.

We learn that Messrs John Frater, John H. Salmon, M. Hennelly, D. R, Gellion and S. Turtle, at a meeting to-day formed themselves into an association under the designation of " The Thames Stock Exchange." The first report under the new organization appears in to-day's issue.

Two judgment summons cases were heard by Major Kcddell in the Eesident Magistrate's Court to-day, and orders made. The defendants evinced a disposition to evade the order of the Court, and in one case ihe judgment has remained unsatisfied for about two years. One other case was adjourned in consequence of the enforced absence of the defendaut.

A small button of gold was shown to us to-day, obtained from a trial crushing of stone from the Midas, Tairua, at the Seduction Works of Mr C. F. Quint, Willoughby street. The trial gave at the rate of 1 oz 14 dwts to the ton, and the reef is three feet solid with well-defined walls, find was struck while driving for the Triangle reef.

There has been a further secession from the ranks of the Thames Stock and Share Association. To-day Messrs Turtle and Gellion went over to the enemy, and the obnoxious member who caused the disruption will, it is said, soon be left all alone in his glory—chairman, secretary and member.

It may interest some of our readers to know that a former enterprising tradesman of the Thames is. making his mark in the City of the Plain, and is thus referred to by the Canterbury Press of the 4th inst: — City Jmpbovements. —Mr J. Fleming, Colombo street, has just completed the erection of a number of baths on an improved and elaborate plan, which, in the absence of the longpromised municipal baths, will be welcomed by the Christchurch public. At the side of the entrance to the baths, Mr Fleming has a three horsepower engine (horizontal), with shifting gear, connecting with the hair brushing machinery, set in motion.by touching a knob in the wall. The supply of.water for the baths is very excellently arranged, there being two large tanks, each of 400 gallons, close to the engine, heated by a steam coil for the supply of hot water for the baths, the cold being procured from three tanks in the rear, holding an aggregate quantity of 1000 gallons. From the shop a passage runs the entire length of the new building in which the baths are placed, the doors opening out on to it. There are five baths in all, each being very commodious, and fitted with the latest improvements, including a patent shower bath. Over each is a ventilator, to allow of the steam escaping, so that the dampness, so unpleasant in most baths, is avoided. One very noticeable feature about these baths is the extreme cleanliness and neatness which pervades them. Altogether they are very creditable alike to the city and'the enterprise of Mr Fleming.

A Railway Employes' Benefit Society has been formed in Dunedin, the first-half yearly meeting of the members of which was held recently and attended by 25 persons. The balance sheet showed that there was £112 13s 6d in hand tc the credit of the society. The society is to be registered under the Friendly Societies Act, and it is intended to establish branches in other parts of the colony.

A deputation consisting of ministers of various religious denominations in Dunedin waited upon the Deputy-Super-intendent on the 13th inst., in reference to granting free passes to travel on railways being granted to clergymen when engaged on duty in connection with their respective churches. It was represented to His Honor that the practice prevailed in America and to .some extent in other countries; that Provincial Councillors voted themselves free passages for travelling expenses- when proceeding to or from their duties. The Deputy-Superin-tendent said he would bring the matter before the Executive, but he was not quite clear that he was in favor of thp proposal. He thought if ministers wpre put to large expenses when travelling on duty they should lie better paid, in which some of the deputation concurred. The Deputy-Superintendent promised to put the matter fairly before the Executive, and let the deputation know the result as speedily as possible.

The following is from an English newspaper:—On Monday * irght, the Labour League was holding a meeting at South Fcrrily, in Lincolnshire, which was very largely attended. The representative of the league, Mr White, was allowed a very quiet hearing; but when Mr Burton, a gentleman on a visit from New JZealand, got up,to speak, a farmer named. Pocklington seized him by the collar and dragged him from the chair..- The laborers made a rush at the farmer, but as the delegates knew how the magistrates would act, they prevented them from lynching the stupid intruder. The farmer, fearing the corisequence?, withdrew to a public-house, and the meeting went on quietly. We are glad to say that the vicar of the parish not only took the laborers' part, but soundly rated the farmer for his conduct. Mr Banks, general secretary, has instituted legal proceedings t against the farmer for assault.

The Dunedin correspondent of the Western Star, writing of amusements in that city, says : —" Mr Darrell cannot understand how it is that his talents are not fully appreciated in Dunedin. He says that everywhere else he has played, no adverse criticism has been written on him; but here he #ets dropped on to some tune. He has taken to vindicating himself in the columns of the daily papers —having a letter in the Star, complaining of that paper's continual levelling of critical venom at his head ; and another in the Guardjan.-defending his- rendering of the character of Hamlet. It is doubtless a. good advertisement, but does not interest the public to any great extent. On the whole the critics have the best of it, for Mr Darrell has, since their strictures, considerably modified the objectionable features of his acting."

Good Templabs an*d Total Abstainers of extreme views wijl be able to appreciate the following from the Queenstown correspondence of the Cromwell Argus :— The times are very dull, and press heavily on our business people. It is very difficult to say how many of them will be able to bear up against the pressure such a state of things naturally brings about. The Good Templars have materially damaged hotel investments, and rendered property of this description almost valueless. They have done this in two ways. By stopping drinking themselves, they are gradually creating such a change of public sentiment that nobblerising is no longer popular even wifch those who have not joined, so that tho whole community are now very moderate drinkers.

Some little excitement (says the Post) was caused at a well-know hostelry some distance from Wellington by the arrival, late on Saturday night, of a horseman " bloody with spurring, fiery hot with speed," who professed himself in search of his better half, who, he had reason to believe, had eloped with another individual. The household was wrapped in repose when their slumbers were rudely disturbed by an imperious summons for admission by the new arrival. A few words of explanation with the landlerd showed that the missing pair, passing under the style and title of Mr and Mrs , were really in the house. Then ensued a scene over which we must drop the veil; but as all's well that ends well, we are glad to say that the gay Lothario was summarily ejected, the injured husband was softened by his wife's repentant tears, and the re-united couple returned to town next day, to live happily, we hope, ever after.

A bemakkable instance is quoted in the Calcutta Indian Statesman, illustrative of the early marriages among Hindoos. In a case of theft tried by the magistrate of Hooghly, the witnesses examined were the great grandmother of a child, the grandmother, and the mother, and their respective ages were taken down, as is usual in Mofussil Courts, as follows :—The great grandmother, 40 years ; the grandmother,. 28 ; and tile mother only 15.

A brief lay sermon on "habit":— " I trust everything under God," said Lord Brougham, "to habit, upon which in all ages the lawgiver, as well as the schoolmaster, has mainly placed his reliance. Habit makes everything easy and casts all difficulties upon the deviation from the wonted course. Make sobriety a habit, and intemperance will be hateful; make prudence a habit, and reckless profligacy will be avoided. Give a child the habit of sacredly regarding the truth, of carefully respecting the property of others, of scrupulously abstaining from acts of imprudence which can involve him in distress, and he will just as likely think'of rushing into an element in which he cannot breathe, as of lying, cheating, or stealing."

Speaking of the two M.H.E.'s at the Hutt meeting, William Beecham, writing to the New Zealand Times, says :—" At the Hutt meeting Sir George Grey assured us that our liberty, was endangered by the proposed change in the Constitution. Could any one with English blood in his veins believe such ? The first Napoleon, in his forced retirement, was wont to say that liberty was indigenous to the English, whence it would flow like lava through alltlie nations of Kurope! lam not sure of the phraseology, but it was as poetical as it was candid. He was wiser in his generation than Sir George Grey is in this, and even than he who at the same meeting warned us of • revolution' and 1 bloodshed!' That our ears should have been polluted by such a despicable inference of our weakness and fear is almost beyond realization ! I need not ask what the people of New Zealand will think of it; they will scarcely deem it worthy of a laugh; but what effect will such reading have on the anxious emigrant at home ? coming, too, from such authority. How much will that impolitic allusion detract from the good which ought to attach to the fame of one who ha 3 labored so long and so ardently in New Zealand? devolution and bloodshed have not the tingling ring which even sophistry and sarcasm have. The former pales on the senses' like the cares of age. Senility creeps upon us with its fatal results. I, too, am growing old; but have yet sensibility enough to feel astonishment. I ponder, and ask whence comes this inspiration of revolution and bloodshed ? When I drift into a vision— but I will not desecrate my hearth and arm-chair further."