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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2558, 19 March 1877, Page 2

A contempobaey relates the^follpwing story:—A bank inspector paid an unusual and unexpected visit,'after office Lours, to a country branch during the very hpt weather of last week. :|| l}he;local manager was surprised, but of course delighted, to see His chiefs The inspector could only anake a brief stay, and declared his intention of going at once' to business. " We will first see such and such a book," he said, naming one of those mysterious records that are always supposed to he kept locked up in the strongest of'safes'. 11 It is here," said the manager, producing it from a shelf in the office. " And now for so and so," continued the inspector naming another book of doom. The manager drew it from an office drawer, and laid it open for inspection. Two or three other books, were asked for and given up, but all were lying scattered about the .office instead of .being, locked up in the Milner. The suspicions, of the inspector were excited. "Mr Manager," said he severely, "I must trouble you for the keys" of your safe. I' want see to what youdo keep in it; it is^ certainly- not what you ought." -The guilty manager handed up his keys, and the safe was found packed with quantities of fresh butter and cream, two or three fowls, a goose, and a sirloin of beef." The country customers will bring me presents

sir," he pleaded, "and I have^really no place to put them'in but this. If the directors would only put me up a safe of my own, I'd never dream of using theirs !"

The yearflß66 was>the year,of the AustrbPrussian jw.arjVa year, of disastrous gales, vAgj^in in ,1871 Chris^^sV, pay fell on a., Monday. . : The .twelveiml^nth following that; day saw England ypijtli cattle plague, in ihe, North, and i: sometgreat, : storms ; ; but c: .as to " battles "we must go back a few months^ in 1871 for the capitulation of Paris arid! ;the conflict with the Gotnraunei.- We have had a Monday Christmas for the third time within a dozen years."•"

It Christmas Day. on Monday be, A great winter that year you'll see, ' . .And full qf \yiuds T?ojh loud and.shrill; „,. : a^B^insumnje^tj^iAlVtQtelt M|^H?=.; • High'windslsnall there be and strong,' '* ' * ! Full of tempe3tsiasting long f ■: .. jWhile .battles jfchey^hall'multiply,, : .,, ; i ;-'Ana'greatplerity'OfbesistsißKall die.'-: - They that be bppi^hat day, L\veen/ '; They shall be strong each one and keen; • ,; He* shall be .found th^sjteal^ih auglit:: *a i \ ~Tho' tliou be sick, thou'diest not. f

'To^DAY }h:ds beeti'dbserved as a^artial holiday, the Banks and Government Offices being closed all day, and some of the -business establishments being also partially closed. The Corner was livelier than usual on such days, and some business"was done in the sharemarket.

We were recently shown by 1 Mr Finlay, jeweller, of-,. Williamson- street, a hand-, some silver-medal in -the form of a Mai- I tese cross, manufactured by him to thd I order of Mr T. B. Hicks, who intends to I present it for competition to the No. 3 Company^ K/R. VY M In our mining column to-day appears the report of the Mine Manager of the Moanatairi Company submitted to the Board of Directors in' Auckland, and for i which we are indebted to the localmanagement, whomever since the new find in the mine.have rendered us every fapility for keeping'the public well posted in the course of events. , ... ;^ 1Air instance^ of jself-abhegation was related,to us" to-day which deserves, to be recorded. A la!d of the;nam^6f'Sinardon/ fell off Shortlarid- Wharf at^higfi water,' when Mr Charles-Kowley, hearing cries, at oncej jumped intc) thejwater and caught the drowning boy v how-; ever,'lTdwley could fib't'swini," and had;it'. ndbibeen for theCtimely arrival and help of Mr Petersen, fisherman, both Eowley and J^JMjS?SM.^?v 5 ■ bee^jchrown_ed; :

We are informed that" a meeting is about to be held at Ohinemuri, of Paeroa ratepayers, to consider the County Assessment, $nd whether it would be* advisable to engage counsel to appeal against the County Assessment as a whole. This matter comes to us. only, as .rumour, so that we cannot 'vouch'for its correctness, nor have we been informed of the ground of complaint on which the Paeroa people base their; grievancei : "■■ V-VB ;

jv ''■'' The Lalhv Rookh, whicH. was to.have ;cbmeddwn:bh 'Saturday night and have conveyed the Thames Cricketers to Coromaudel yesterday, broke down when; a short, distance from Auckland and had to return. Messrs Holmes Brothers put on the Enterprise yesterday, but too late for, | the cricketers, and in order to -prevent' disappointment the agents put on the Te Aroha, which left for Coromandcl with the cricketers and a, 'considerable number of .other passengers yesterday, morning. The Te Aroha returned" last night.

In order to afford holiday makers an opportunity of enjoying to-day's outing the. steamers Enterprise and lluby left for Cororaandel to-day with' about 40 excursionists t'aclv-and the Te Aroha-started on a "fishing e'xeursion to the opposite side of the Gulf, having on board a considerable number'- of passengers. Besides these opportunities, at one period to-day not a waterman's'boat was to be had at the wharf,' they being all engaged by private parties for fishing and other excursions in the Bay.

A meeting has been convened on requisition of the ratepayers by the Chairman pfj, the Waiotahi Highway District Board, to take place to-morrow evening at half-past seven o'clock, in the - school-room,'''to consider the advisability of merging thehighway district in the County.; From'what we can learn of the feeling in the district, there will be little bii no 'opposition to its absorption by the "GJounty, asthe ratepayers can safely trust their iuterests to the County Chairman and the other representative of- the district in the County Council.

- We (Herald) learn-that Mr 1 hompson,, who has so long been well and favorably known in Auckland in connectiotiwith theAustralian Mutual Provident Society, lias been removed to Sydney, where'a much larger and .more, extensive field of operations awaits him. Mr s. M. Eraser, has been appointed local traveiling agent. ,

An exceedingly well-contested race.took ■ place on Saturd ay ; bet wee, ii? tlieoXu 0 ides; and Insides employes tif the Shortland Sawmill Company for £4 a side, the distance; beings from Shortland wharf to Grahamstown whatf and back again. The. Outside crew? v consisted; of Messrs Craney, Hall, Webb, Howard,-and Brown 1 (steersman),and the Inside crew qf Messrs Mac Pike, Christy, Simmonds, Moore, ariel V:. Savage (steersman)/ The crews ;wef.e, staried at 6 p.m., and,.a slashing race ensued, tfee.Outsides 'getting • away with the lead, which they maintained to; the end, finally winning by about j of ,ai length": The Insides stuck tp;their" work| gamely,.and at ho tinie .was,>there;anygreat distance betweehi'tne the winners ;being very seldom/ xile;ar~ of .the losers., *?Both .sieves desire,: 'to thank' the steersmen who acted as such not being o| the crews proper. - . ■■ i iSiNdESthe ■ tPVWielt-i land there have bee,n..mauy comical stories' circulated in the. West Coast papers &d incidents b'fctlie gubernatorial visit. Here is - one, :-^A rather, r;ch incident occurred at the Governor's Ball' at^Westport." It seems that the gentleman who had the general; direction-. ©fjrthe/-reception,. ar<rangements,. thought thiball would be incomplete "without a vmaster of ceremonieH¥fld therefore "ajspoihted; to that Office a youth not unknown to Beefton and Lyell, of the name of " Teddy Clemens.".__On the. vice.-regaL party entering the ball-room and taking up position to qpejxjthe dance, the jtnusic struck up, wlieff tlleVredouDtable "*T4ddy " criedj out "Top. lady and bottpm gent., Sjpjibg in the 1 centre."' This' piece .of direction it seems was npt;,acte|l, uppn^^lla sufficient alacrity,' wnerejjpoji the Indefatigable: fi Teddy,'' who ill iakeniup a position at the elbow df his-Excellency, gave the latter^an -'un'mistakeahleSpy^O ftrward. The Marquis instead of diving ahead into the arms of his lady vis-a-vis, at the command turned round and looked, unutterable things at the diminutive M.C., but '• Teddy " was not to be " put away'" by eyenrthe darkest of^ic&r^al^rpjwis, and' accordingly took! no "notice pf! his v Excellency, but repeated the direction in a much louder tone of voicej^ f)A.t fchis stag!e his "Excellency beckoned to -his aide-de-camp,, an da few mihut.es. later, ".Teddy ■' was quietly yet ign'ominimisly _out of the room. \H'ojvV;th'eVdancinß,jgcjt. oirfwithout "Teddy "history' Joes piii; relate, but -he having 'declined to leave the precifitets^of "the .ball-room until he was paid hjS%fee,: obtained' the amount and prdeee9,e3'lo have a; •'fly^oun^/'- ;

The following characteristic' "anecdote of the late Mr Ireland is told by iEglesi: —" I haU^iinsta^&fc-lifcr Ireland's determination to , win,'his ; cau.se r anyhow, given md i;he oliher dayV^'ile^ad^a bad case, and be kne^jit^po^^ei on the other side (I believe(Mr . J^,P. W,ood) was arguing a la(w''point'/(a!ri3^stated his recollection of a case on all fours with that how before Ju- Honor, but he admitted he couldn't say/where the case was reported, Wthpii|t]S;sie had! been lbokmg for-it' in tJie'Supreme Court library. During the argument Mr Ireland looked from bench to bar with pleasant inipassiyeness. 'Hje won, of course, and then 1 he let it out. " No wonder you couldn't find that case. I was sitting on the book it is in. Cropped on it by chance this morning. Knew it would settle rue if you "got 1 hold of it. So I just kept it out/6fjjour way." The other side argued 'that this' was not quite fair, but Mr Ireland admitted - that that view^'of the matter had never occurred & hiia. ' ' ' "' As, exchange publishes 'the following about a Monday, Christmas :—Christmas Day fell on a Monday last year; It fell on a Monday, also in 1865. and on 'that occasion the following was unearthed from> it was slated, ihe "JTarleian "MBS., No. 2252, foliq-153-4:—