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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2566, 28 March 1877, Page 2

We notice by advertisment that .the artillery crews of the Naval Brigade will compete for the Government District Prize of £9 to-morrow afternoon at 4 o'clock, and that the company also assemble in the evening for Commanding Officer's inspection. . :

A kesident, noticing that an excursion had been got up for the Easter Holidays, was heard complaining that,no excursions were got up .to'the Thames, but on all occasions facilities were afforded for taking people away. He would like to see an excursion organised i» Auckland to allow people on opportunity of coming down to see the riches of the Moanatairi mine, and, to kill two birds with one stone, take advantage of their presence to charge^hem a small admission, the proceeds to go to the funds of the DiggersHotel. Perhaps some one on these hints can elaborate the thing and give it definite and practical shape. .

Two large blocks of specimen stone from the Moanatairi mine were on exhibition at the;Bank;of:New Zealand to-day, and attracted a goodly number of visitors. The band of gold in the stone is quite six inches wide, and in some portions^of -the vein looks like solid metal. It is said that the best specimens from the Caledonian run were not equal to those from the Moanatairi. We believe they will be sent to AuckJaud to. gladden the eyes of the city shareholders. > •

The ground of the Ural Goldinining Company was sold by auction to-day, by Mr Kdwin Binney, for the sum of guineas. This same piece of ground was once the cause of one of the toughest suits ever known in the Warden's Court here,, a. case remarkable for the, hard swearing it occasioned.. .

Thebb was the usual ''buz" at the .Corner last night from seven till nearly ten o'clock, but Moanatairis did not re- j cover the price at which the market opened in the morning. It was stated i that the depression was caused by some ■ large holder placing four hundred shares ; on the market, arid various surmises were indulged in as to the. meaning of such a ; move. S6me asserted that it was done ito bear the market, others that it was a ■ case of Hobson's choice—a necessity forced upon a firm that was in difficulties. During the evening several other rumors to account for the flooding of the market were current. The four hundred shares became eight hundred, and later still it was even said that a thousand had been, placed between Auckland and the Thames. How much of truth there was in the different stories we cannot say, but in- spite of the increasing riches of the mine, the action above alluded to had an influence upon the market, and shares did not spring, as had been expected in the morning. To-day a better feeling has pervaded the market and the public.

* At the It.MV Court to-day one womah, pleaded guilty .to a charge of drunkenness and was punished in. the usual manner. Capt. Fraser, R.M7, oedupied the bencfc

Owing to a misunderstanding with the charterers 6F the, steamer To Aroha for Faster Monday, it lias been decided to run the Te Aroha up the Piako,River op Good Friday, Return tickets, ss. ;'i

The directors of the Moanatairi Goldmining Company have adopted the following resolution :—" That until an adequate i reserve fund is acquired a sum of not less than £1000 for every £1 dividend 1 declared be «et apart and invested as a reserve fund." The wisdom of this course will, we believe, be generally. &p~ -flayed. In times past it h^s ieen frequent^ noticed that, dividend paying mines have~"by a'simple process become call-making, and mainly through the mistake of paying away every pound as fast as made. By the adoption of the above resolution the Moauatairi directors will avoid a rapid depreciation of their property when the present rich 1 run may have been worked out.

The theatrical critic of the New Zealand Times writes:—ln connection with theatrical matters I,have a little incident to mention. It r.-lates to the Mirror of England, or, I should more correctly say, the gentlemen travelling with it. It was the intention of Mr Kennedy, the agent and lecturer, to proceed to Wairarapa on Saturdaymorning, and he made due preparations on Friday night to have a cab at his hotel at 7 o'clock, to meet the morning train. Morning came, but with it at the appointed hour no cab. However, a low^wheeled. fish cart came along, and a brilliant idea at once seized upon Mr Kennedy. He would go in that fish cart," he and the pianist with their" luggage. . The fisherman, a greasy but gen-tlemanly-foreigner, protested that he could not—he must sell his fish. ' Fish be---salted,' said he'of the 'Mirror,' who in fancy no doubt saw the train departing and the ' Mirror' left behind. In went the luggage, and the two gentlemen after it, much to the astonishment of the fisherman, and off they started at a pace of four miles an hour. Presently the engaged cab made its appearance, whereupon Mr Kennedy rose up on the fishcart, - and wav«d it" majestically back. And after all this trouble, they arrived just in time to see the train glide away from the station. It is not on record whether Mr Kennedy swore at the fisherman or anathematised his barbed steed ; but had he done either, I should feel inclined to excuse him, and agree with Mr Weller, " That the feelins' - must hare went."

The feat of crossing the English Channel in a canoe has been accomplished by Lieutenant Colville, of the Grenadier Guards, who started from Dover at three o'clock in the morning and paddled into the harbor of Calais at half-past nine, doing about thirty miles zigzag across the Charfnel in sis hours and a-half. • Waeiike preparations are being, it would seem, extended to India. Every native regiment'in India-(says the Singapore Times) is at once to be armed with the SnideY rifle, there being sixteen regimenis still armed with muzzle loaders. All making of blank cartridges is to be stopped at Dumdum, and nothing but ball cartridge is to be manufactured until further notice.

A cieculae just issued by the National Rifle Association gives some important changes in the system of targets to be hereafter used at the Wimbledon meeting. The bulls-eyes are to be reduced in size' at all ranges, and we are to lose the " centre' as a term of marking. The word to be used in its place will be " magpie," because the disc to be used for marking this score on the target will be "pied"—black and white.

The Canterbury Bail ways are very busy in the conveyance of grain, which is coming to hand with perplexing rapidity. The Lyttelton Times states that ere long the lines will hare to be worked night and day, and it is doubtful if the grain can be moved away even then as fast as could be desired., tTp giV,e • SKJtng^idei'r^of the iinountjoligraiuitiraf^' 0$)$0&. stated {that la|t #eek oiws trains a|pivedliifGhristqhurcl*; with sixty-five: fjfuck ltfkdsfof £rara{;^while on?aiioiih'er^l^easioidtpo leas; than ninety-two truck loads of. grain werebrought in from ■ a single station (Longbeach) in one day.•- As the trucks would, on thejverage, hol^ .sepnty, jiigkjij^cpntainiiig'over four bushels each, v ihe ninetytwo loads might fairly be saidjto.make in all 26,000 bushels of grain/ Vf *" ■ ,

It is ■■s'tatVd**ih"''*thV'''liiv^rpoof''A^tiion | that a young man, wrote gto Mr Gladstone asking him to furnish a list of books, the best calculated in his opinion to supply a knowledge of history bearing ' on political questions of the present time, and he received the following reply:— " Sir,-rAmong the books you might read with advantage are ' Green's Popular History of England,' ' Hallam's Constitutional History of England,' • Guizot's History pfjtlie:GreM!Mebelli6n,j; tSir E. May's" Parliamentary History of England.' These works are generally Tree from the spirit of partisanship. But let me observe that no one can effectually study history for present purposes without examining into the accounts orjother countries and of ancient times.—Yojir faithful servant, W. E. Gladstone."

W. Finlay, one of the earliest established Watch and Clock Makers on the Thames, WISHES IT KNOWN lie hasl again commenced •business in Williamson street, in connection with the Manufacturing Jewellery Business of his brother, Mr James Finlay, and is prepared to undertake all branches of the Watch and Clock-making" business. Repairs executed with promptness. Charges moderate.—[ApvT.]