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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2576, 10 April 1877, Page 2

.. We .notice that Mr B. C. Fryer has been admitted a member of, the Thames Stock Exchange, and he will in future do business on the usual terms.

; It may, wo (Herald) presume, be accepted as a healthy sign of trade, when we find that enterprise .during the last month has led to the opening of important branches of business in our "City. Mr Jj.Ehren fried, of the PhGenix ; Brewery, has" opened a branch business 1 ' 'in the premises adjoining the Waitemata Hotel, Queen street, where there aro commodious cellars. Mr Phillips is manager of the Auckland branch of Mr Ehrenfried's business.

A coNCBKT is being got up by the Committee of the lioman Catholic Church, in aid of the Boys' School, Walter street, to take place ott Tuesday, the 17th instant. It is oxpcoteH that, with the material at hand in. the Church Choir together with some friendly assistance from Auckland, a very attractive entertainment can be provided. ' •?:

' We would draw attention to the annk versary soiree of the Shortland Weslcyan Church, which .lakes place this evening, in the church, Willoughby street. The social tea commences at half-past six o'clock, after which a publicmeeting will be held, aud several ministers and friends will give addresses, and the choir a num-i ber of musical selections.

; We have to hand the Illustrated New Zealand HeraM for April. ■ 3t contains some very good pictures, including Surf Boats at Timaru, Moonlight Concert at :the= Melbourne {Botanical Gardens,' ?and Polynesian Sketches, besides a wellprepared digest of the month's news for the Colony.

■The mission schooner Southern-Cross left the wharf on Saturday afternoon, and as those who have gone to carry on the mission work, amongst the islands of Melanesia are all "much Obelovcd in Auckland, .not, a few,ladies- and gentlemen braved- the fierce; squalls and the heavy rain on the exposed wharf to see them off. It was proposed that the Southern Cross should call at the Kawau, and remain thesre; during yesterday, and iseveral ladies who went in her intended toremain there.* The ladlea were alt got oh board first, and*-then followed 1" Bishdp Selwyn and the, missionaries., Many, were the. feryent ; farewells spoken, and the .Mission party cannot fail to'feel that their safety and success are matters of intense interest to no inconsiderable-portion of the people of Auckland. The ropes having been cast'off, the auxiliary^ screw was set to work, and the vessel proceeded' dwwn the harbor, Bishop Selwyn being observable on the deck assisting: to hoist the sails. The Southern Cross proceeds to Norfolk Island; the head-quarters of the Mission, and thereafter makes a cruise amongst the .islands of; Melanesia; :.>The>vess;el]is notjexpeoted; to, return to, Auckland till November next,-rHerald. ;

It is stated' in an English journal that a romantic contest: for possession ,iofj the property of an Australian squatter is going on in the Court of Chancery, London. The money yaluetff the property is about £50,000, and the inaa who left this vist wealth-was 1 originally a poor Scotch emigrant from—the Isle of Arran,. who landed in Australia with half-a-crown in his pocket. Having died without a will, his relatives are. squabbling about the right of succession. Thomas Vivers emigrated about fifty-six years ago, and died at Sydney in 1857, leaving 900 acres of grazing land,; valued {at £14,000?, with 30,000 sheep, 20CO head of cattle, many horses, and much generalfarm stock, the whole valued at £50,000. Two nephews had also gone out and; lived with him a few years. One of these nephews, Robert Viversi'was a character, and distinguished himself as a local preacher and magic lantern Exhibitor, and he became editor of the iSydney Punch. Eobert seized the whole property on the death of his uncle; declared himself next of kin, T and even came to London to take an' Oath in Chancery to that effect. Npw.g) sister of the dead squatter, Mrs Rae, comes forward to claim the property, as, next of, kin, and accuses her, nephew of forgery and perjury in setting up his groundless claim. The case promises to occupy Vice-Chancellor Malms sqme .time,, , „...._.;..,

Two men Having been brought before Sir Robert garden, in England,, on the charge of picking pockets, a discussion arose as to the law on the subject. Mr Warner Sleign argued that as the lady in this/case had nothing in her pocket, the pji'soners could:not r' have- -attempted to steal it," and cited;.a. case he had before the Eecorder, where his lordship held such objection to be gppdi but-the alderman remained that the law had been altered since then, and mentioned that he had once convicted a man for putting back into a pocket a handkerchief he had stolen. The prisoners were in the present case severally sentenced to a month's imprisonment. '

A teaphee of 20 years' standing, whoj has had; s6meexperience )ih *.' demonina- i tional schoolsj writes to the Colonial Jour-: nal as follows :—" It is assorted that religious instruction to the young is of great importance. - If the clergy ; thiuk so, why do they hot take the matter in hand themselves? If they can save souls in this; way; why ask others to do the duty for them? In plain English, .they are paid for it, and the'schoolmaster is not. it is a notorious fact that the. teaching power; in Sunday schools is miserably weak. Do ; we ever see the minister there, or do they { instruct the ignorant Sunday school^ teacher ? The excuse that they-have not: time isoiie tnat no one believes. In Victoria the denominational system had full swing for twelve'years, and the evidence, taken before;the Koyal Commission proved^ that although they, might give religious instruction, when they pleased, only two; Prolestant. clergymen in the whole Colony; troubled their heads about' it ;:and even: then the teachers in more than half these; schools gave none. : l

In these days of cant it is pleasant toj meet with" a man who has "the courage of his social position, The soul is refreshed by finding that Mr Thdmas Biirt, M.P., for Mprpeth, describes himself in Bod's 'Parliamentary Companion' as the son of a coal : miner by Hebecca, the daughter of an engine man, and personally as com-i mencing life at an early age by working in a coal-pit. Mr Alexander Macdonald,: of Stafford, is also a working-man member,i but Mr Alexander Macdonald, of Stafford, pretends to be an 1 esquire. ,

A Waipawa correspondent tells a tale 5 to. a contemporary of how four of his fellow townsmen invested their money on the racecourse at roulette, and lost £20 between them. The next day they determined to be wise in their generation, and agreed to stake on different colours ; but they had no better luck, their united losses amounting to £16. They are now convinced that all is vanity except " a shilling in and the winner to shout."

The Princess of Wales' is one ojf.the principal heirs of the late Queen-Dowager Josephine of "Sweden, who left a fortune 0f£1,000,000. , ■'.■;>;:■. r 1

■: A cußious story is told (says the Weilingtoa Argus) by a man recently arrived from Melbourne. Calling upon the head official of a Government, institution, he first made application for relief, and then stated that he arrived here about three weeks ago in the Arawata; that he had been an inmate of the Kew Lunatic Asylum, Victoria, and that two officers of that institution having paced him ou

board the steamer, gave him £2 to provide for his pressing necessities on landing in New Zealand. His name is Michael John O'Connor, and his appearance and manner were strongly corroborative of the statement that he was or had been a lunatic. It may be open to question whether the statements of a person of a deranged intellect; are. to b& relied upon, but these particulars wire circumstantially narrated .;By)v O,?C6nnor, and, it would' be. difficult to" believe that ho invented them, •Under these circumstances it would seem that the Kew Asylum offic:als have been guilty of conduct which should be brought under the" notice of the Victorian' Government at the earliest possible .moment. It is to be hoped that thedGrdvernment willi at pnce institute inquiry. i.ato the, fact. If they should be borne out by proof, the captain of the'.Arawata; :~ has rendered himself liable to a heavy penalty for bringing O'Connor to the Colony. The public of New-Zealpnd will desire to hear more of this case.'''f^,' vf t> ; ?

; A Maoei woman got an unexpected •start this morning which appeared to •seriously affect her temper/ judging by the volubility with which she expressed iher feelings 'after* the occurrence '■; in facj; she appeared to be under the impression .that she had been made the victim of a practical joke, and all Maoris object to "this, althougti thdir sense of humor enables them to enjoy a joke at another-s expense. The manner: of the occurrence was thuswise. In Mr ltobinson> tobacconist's shop is a gas jet always alight, intended ; for eGQnomising matches of the lucifer, pr vesta, type, and the Maori lady being in close proximity thereto deflected the beillike tube whence issues.thefire* .-The.jresuit smokers wiU understajid,;.a : strearn of fire issued, and the Moari dame's bair i went, up in a puff. It w,as a luxuriant crop;r and a little could welp be spared, but it was evidently, not relished by the victim—the manner of its deprivation. The Waitangi Tribune> contains the following under ;the? heading .of ;?,a novel bet"—"Some eleven .years since, Mr George Freeman, while working on the Waimate Station/ had a discUssioff with his employeri MrJVE; Studhplgie—so report goes-ras, tp tjhe,,pro^babUity«f ;) a train running through His district, and the result was that the spirited employe offered to lay a wager of & stick of tobacco (Barrett's twist) that 'a train would run in or through Waimate .before that day fifteen years', whichTthe etfpJoyerCjpokhip. The circumstance, probably, slipped J\£r Studhblfrie's memory; long aifice,' but George proved not so forgetful, fdr'-the day after the> opening oMhe:Waimivte.Branch BaU) way, the.' kiugrof the; whips*'iseeing his former employer driving a.feugg7 thrpugh the town, brought the trap to a standstill, and claimed his stick of tobacco. The loser, on haying .the little affair ; brought to >/^vf Jroind,;immddiai».lyjjj§mpe'd.: 6uj| pf tne. conveyance!.ao4-w^iit^.^tOj'Mjpf.^as- :- coyne'sj whei;e he purchased .tobacco, and presented tte winner with three sticks of weed.'- i It is said that Mr,.Studhblme was amused on being informed -of the bet, and very likely will; often enjoy a laugh at his heavy loss.•■(• 'Mr Freemari purposes, we learn, framing one of the sticks of tobacco." ~

The accident by which Bannerman was jJisajbled when paying the Australian match is thus described in the Argus :— " Suddenly a most lamentable accident happened, for Bannerman, whom the Englishmen could not bowl, and who would not .give them catches, was dis abled, and had to <juit the ground in great pain. A ball from Ulyett, (whoso terrific speed is his great characteristic) hit the unprotected middle finger of the batsman's right hand, and split it to the bone. Bannerman had gloves. on, but from the last joint of the middle finger the indiarubber was gone. Attention was promptly given to the hurt by the medical gentlemen in; the payijiwny and the ciamage found to be serious enough to render it necessary for Bannerman to give up all.play for the.day, 9s well as to leave it doubful whether ;1 lie would be able to do further work in the match."

The Chairman of the Needham Market Petty Sessions (the Key. F. Steward), in the course of some remarks at Needham Market recently, stated that no'one could "be found in Willishara, near Ipswich, to occupy the office of churchwarden> surveyor, or overseer, and one who attended the. petty sessions with the jury lists, was so illiterate that he was obliged to obtain the help of the local postman to fill up the notices. It was also stated that there had been no service in the church, which is very dilapidated, every window being broken, for more than two years.

The Duke of Galliera, an Italian grandee, who a year ago gave £BCD,OOO for the improvement of the port of Genoa, Has died leaving a fortune estimated at 180 millions of francs, or £7,200,000. His widow survives him, but he leaves no child, only an adopted son, whose scruples as to the way in which it was, acquired are said to have induced him to renounce the rich heritage to which he has now become entitled. The Unita Cattolica says the duke's widow has sent £40,000 to the Pope imploring his benediction upon the " suffering soul" of lier late husband. The son : is .earning his living as r a tutoral '■" coach*," at whicl he earns 12S a' day. \

Antjt to crack for linguists is going? the:round of the London clubs, which, as \ you doubtless know (says the London correspondent of the Melbourne Argus),* contain;a good number of professing; French scholars. There is always gome- ] body airing his French in. the smokjngi room, or ostentatiously studying the' Debats: in the reading rOoih instead of; the Times. The following epitaph,, culled, it -is said, from a: Normandy; church-yard this vacation, has.greatly [ exercised their wits:—• ' I

" Pas de lieu

Rhone qbe nous." Most of them have given it up, on. the ground that,, though, they have /Parisian' French at their fingers' ends, they hayei not studied Norman French. If you read! the lines aloud and quickly, however, you; will find they are not French at all, but a: well-known exhortation to independence in the English tongue,

" Paddle your own canoe."