THE Evening Star. PUBLISHEDD DAILY AT FOUR O'OLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2549, 8 March 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHEDD DAILY AT FOUR O'OLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1877.

The sudden rise, of the shares Jn the Moanatairi mine has, if it has done no further good, at any rate caused some excitement at the Thames, and one which there are some grounds for hoping will not be of an evanescent character. The Bank of New Zealand corner instead of being, as of late, deserted by all but two ov three in the evening, had a crowd last night collected around it, each one eagerly discussing the latest items of news connected with the mine. Various were the reports spread, and as various the surmises made as to whether the shares would keep on rising or turn out after a short time to be-of no real worth. Enquiries, of course, were frequently made not only in the business part of the town* but elsewhere, and there seemed to be a general desire to invest at the figures. at which the sharesleffc off atthe close of business hours, which may.be fairly quoted at 72s 6d. Early this morning it was known that 77s 6d could be got for a share worth a few days ago about 12s or 14s, and the rise continued until at. noon today as much as' £5 per share had been given, though the average price was about £4 15s. To-day we are enabled to give our readers, quotations, the Stock Exchange members" having met for the first time for many months to compare notes and furnish quotations. • -

The Registrar ■ General !s report on the vital statistics of the principal boroughs of the colony for the month of January gives the following figures i=r- . ;

It will be noticed that the estimated population of this Borough has been altered from'what it previously stood at, some 8439 souls,and probably thepresentnumber is_ nearer the mark. Formerly the district was made to appear exceptionally healthy, nearly a.lways being lowest in the. death rate. Even now, when the population is set down.at little more than half of the former estimate, the Thames show, the .smallest proportion of deaths to the thousand of population, maintaining its reputation as a healthy district. Auckland gives the highest average of deaths for the. month, and Wellington stands next. Of the total number of deaths (147) 92 were males and 55 females; 82 were infants under five years of age, and 65 were of the age of five years and over. Ten deaths resulted from violence, and 69 from zymotic diseases. "

To those who remember that Life Assurance Societies are little more.than a hundred years old, and then consider hot only the many and great societies at present established in Great Britain, but the immense amount of money which passes through their hands, and then remember, also, that it is during this century that the chief growth of these societies has been made, their present position must, indeed, seem'marvellous. It is stated on competent authority that in Great. Britain the total amount assured must be nearly four hundred millions sterling, the annual premiums on which are between ten and eleven millions,, and the realised assets not less than one hundred and ten millions. In face of these enormous figures, we learn from a speech made by Professor Smith, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, that that society, notwithstanding its infancy when compared to the age of many of those in the old country, shows up well. Professor Smith delivered the speech to which we have referred at the laying of the foundation stone of the new buildings of that society in Sydney on January 23rd of this year, and there stated that though only 28 years in existence their society ranked fourth in regard to the business done, even when compared to the older societies of Great Britain, and in spite of the scanty support which was at one time accorded to it. The speech of Dr Smith is interesting both from what he states regarding the society of which he is chairman and for his general remarks on the principles of Life Assurance. Regarding the first of these, he quotes figures which show that the rise of the Australian Mutual has been indeed surprising. For the-first two years not 100 policies were issued; at the present lime it does more business than that in a week,

while the policies in force now number 27,000. assuring no less a sum than eleven millions sterling. In tlie first year of its existence the income of the society was but £268, for the- year 1876 it was £470,000 with an accumulated fund of £1,970,000. Besides this enormous in-, crease, enormous even if no calls had been .made on the resources of the-society, Dr Smith states that during 25 years £700,000 were paid away to the representatives of 1156 dead men. The advantages of assurance in a mutual society are dilated on by Dr Smith, who, in speaking on this point, tells a story of an old lady who, v in August 1850, being then 65 years of age, came to purchase an annuity. She had £300 to pay, and thinking that she was " not long for this world," as the directors expressed, they granted her an annuity of £45. From that day to this the old lady has regularly applied on each quarter day for the sum of £11 5s due to her, and has received in all somewhere about £1100.

Borough. Estimated Population. Total Births; Total Deaths. :Pr6pprtion of DeSthsto 1000 of population. Auckland .: Thames .... Wellington.. Nelson Chris tchurch Dunedln..*.. Hokitika .; 12,024 4,466 16,130 5,554 12,815 23,365 2,905 48 21 82 .19 53 107 ' 0 I ,34 3 43 10 , 27 . 26 i 4 ' ■<• 2-83 ■ /" -67 - 2-C7 .. 1-80 211 . i-n : i-38 . - T0ta1.... 339 147