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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2595, 2 May 1877, Page 2

. The tenders for County works at Hikutaia were opened at the Council Ghambers yesterday afternoon. Messrs Cashell and Alley were the successful tenderers for the Hikutaia road, and the following are the prices they tendered at per chain :—Out-flow drains, 10s 6d ; clearing and fasciuing, £5 ss, The contract for the Onetai road was let to Mr Gallagher, the prices he tendered at being —out-flow drains, 12s per chain ; clearing and faseining, £2 16s per chain. There were a number of tenderers for each of these works.

To-day Mr Carruthers, Eugineer-in-Chief, accompanied by Messrs JBrodie, Bagnall, Thorburn and Aitken, paid a visit of inspection to the lower section of the Thames Water Race, that is, from the top of Bichmond street' to the WaioKaraka reservoir.

We notice that Mr Allen, for a long time providore of the steamers trading to Ohinemuri, has opened a chop and luncheon room in connection with the Shortland Hotel, where luncheon or supper can be had in first-class style at reasonable prices. Mr Allen is well known as a caterer, having, before he undertook the providering of th 6' river steamers, been for three years cook at the Pacific Hotel.

The famous Georgia Minstrels are coming. The real sable artists who are to enlighten us as to real plantation life will shortly " dig down" for a short season at the Theatre Royal, commencing on Monday evening, May 7. The immense success which has attended the performances of the Georgia Minstrels in Auckland speaks.volumes for their enters tainment, and lovers of genuine amusement here will be glad that they are not, like some other shows, going to leave the North without paying the Thames a visit. -

The first stone of the new dock in Auckland was laid on Monday in presence of the Engineer, Mr Enington, the contractors, and a number of citizens. No formal ceremony attended the work, that being reserved for the completion of the dock.

At the Kesident Magistrate's Court this morning ihe only case for hearing was the one adjourned from yesterday—a case of drunkenness. Defendant failed to appear in time, and his bail was forfeited. J. Kilgour and H. C. Lawlor, Esqs., J's.P., were on the Bench.

The Waiotahi Creek, which was such a source of annoyance to residents on the flat in-times of : flood, has been so. completely boxed up of late that it is not likely to do much harm in the future. The culvert across the road has been completed a long time, arid lately the water way has been carried along over the old creek bed right down to the beach road, where it again enters a culvert and crosses the road. The job has been carried out entirely under the instructions of, and from the plans prepared by Mr Thomas Rawdon, and he deserves some credit for the job, aa, it is said by practical men to be an excellent one. .

Theee are in the dog kennel of the police station, at Grahamstown, two sheep dogs which were placed there last night, being found by a constable on duty without collars. The dogs are young, apparently about 11 months old, and' goodlooking. One black, with white marks, and the other black, with a yellow tan. They will be destroyed to-morrow night unless released by the usual payment, which will be a pity, as they are certainly worth more than the sum it would cost to release them.' !

The adjourned meeting of the members of the Thames Harbor Board will be held at the Borough Council Chamber this evening at half past seven o'clock, to decide whether the Board shall* take over the foreshore and assume the control and management of the Harbor. As this is a most important matter, it is to be hoped that every member of the Board will make a point of being present. We have already -urged. this matter upon members : we Have nothing new to add ; but we believo that if the. matter is gone into fairly and fully, there will be a majority' of. members in favor of taking .over the responsibility. .': ...

A concert was given last evening at the Tararu schoolroom for the purpose of raising funds for the purchase of a harmonium. There was a very large attendance, and from the applause which followed the singing o: each piece, tbe efforts of those ladies and gentlemen.who had given their services for the occasion appeared to be appreciated, encores being the rule instead of the exception. A dance, to which the greater. part of the audienoe stayed, wound up the proceedings. -. ' . •

By inadvertence no mention was made in yesterday's Star of the closing of the Bazaar in aid of the Baptist Minister's Residence Fund,' which was closed on Monday night after being open for three days or parts of days. There was a good attendance on the closing evening, a large number of children being attracted by the magic lantern and other amusements provided. The goods not sold at the stalls in the ordinary manner were submitted to auction by Mr Binney, and a final clearance made. The total sum realised from the bazaar was about £130, which .falls short of the ameunt required, but the effort made has been creditable to the Baptists and their friends, and the result is no doubt gratifying to them. '

The fish exhibited by Mr Targett at the Thames and Auckland, which jumped on board the To Aroha on Easter Monday excursion to the Miranda, has been found to be no unknown marine monster, but a species of shark known as the Fox-Shark (Alopecias Vulpes) or Thresher, an inhabitant of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and occasionally seen on the British coasts, but seldom seen in the Southern Ocean, we believe.- A well-known authority, describing the fox-shark, says: — " The snout is short and conical; the spout holes are very small; the mouth is not so large as that of the white shark, nor the teeth so formidable ; but the foxshark is extremely bold arid voracious, readily attacking grampuses or dolphins much larger than itself. Its iiost remarkable peculiarity is the great elongation of the upper lobe of the (ailfin, which is nearly equal in length to the whole body, and into which the vertebral column extends. Of this it makes use as a weapon, striking with great force. It is said to be not uncommon for a whole herd of dolphins to ? take flight at the first splash of the tail of a fox-shark. From the use which it makes of its tail it has acquired the name of Thresher.. It attains a length, tail included, of 13 feet. The body is spindleshaped." The fishwas: identified by Mr Cheeseraan, secretary to the Auckland Institute. ' ,J. The following intelligible t3legraphic item appears in the Auckland Star of Monday, from its Grahamstown correspondent:—" The Haiiraki infant pumping weights are 18Olbs and measure 6feet 7inehes round." Here is another item whict appears in the same paper, calculated to mystify rather than inform readers :—•" The Advertiser states that the gold returns for the month of April, are. 1177 ozs. from 4084 tons. Of this yield, 6880 ozs. are-from Mbanatairi, and 1049 ozs. from Queen of May."

A miikman in Christchurch has been caught adulterating his milk with slops from a gutter, for which he is to be prosecuted. He might have had the decency to use clean water, or else practised his nefarious tricks where there was ho danger of being found out. The magistrate ought to make it a caution to this and all other cheating milk vendors. It is bad enough to have to pay for water when buying milk, but dirty water from a gutter is going a little too far for human forbearance.

The Wellington correspondent of tte Herald says : —lc is asserted that correspondence has been passing between some of the friends of the Government in your city, to induce them to call Mr Dargaville to the Legislative Council. Whether the honour will be conferred on Mr Dargaville is uncertain, but after his able assistance to the Governor in the celebrated communication to " Dear Maling " re the bombardment of Auckland, one would reasonably conclude that he has some ground for expecting sonic honour to be conferred on him. Seriously speaking, the Government should nominate a member lo the Upper House, to represent Auckland's numerous goldfields interests.

A numbeb of boys in New Plymouth (Taranaki), have been charged with putting cayenne pepper in the eyes of two other boys and " rubbing it in." They were fined in small amounts, with the alternative of imprisonment. A taste of the cat or a cowhide on the bare backs of these mischievous urchins would have been a more proper punishment, and one. calculated to meet the merits of the case and act as a deterrent.

The latest Yankee notion is that said to have been introduced at one of the New York drapery establishments. When a lady enters the " store" an attendant hastens up, and asks if she. wishes to " buy "orto " shop.' If the former, she is conducted at once to the counter where the article she requires is retailed. If the latter, on the payment, of a certain sum she obtains a ticket, at the sight of which the shopmen in the different departments allow her to turn over all the goods in stock,: She can then, if she wishes, depart without majdng a purchase.;. , \

.Fotje publicans were recently fined 10s each and costs, in the Kesident Magistrate's Court,-Hokitika, for not providing accommodation for fa" Miss Parfell, who v:as taken from the Eumara to Hokitika in the last stage t^f; consumption. The young woman was, after being refused accommodation at the so r .called hotels, taken to the Police Station, thence to the Hospital, where she died in the. course of a few hours, her death being accelerated by the journey from the Kuniara in an express waggon and the delay that ensued before the driver -of the express could get any one to take the dying woman in. ' The! circumstances are not creditable to the hotelkeepers .of Hokitika.

It is alleged- (says the? Grey River. Argus) that the mcjmber for Port Ghalmers, Mr W. H. Eeynolds, has intimatedhis intention of bringing in a resolution in the House' of\Representatives next session for the purpose of reducing the horiora-. rium of members to £100 per session.; What a panic there will be amongst the carpet-baggers;.

The New Zealand Herald, we notice, takes the same view of the paragraph from the Timaru Herald, regarding instructions to Colonial Governors in case of England going to war, as we did— namely,l that it is improbable and absurd. The Herald concludes a short article as follows •.—-♦' First of all the time 'has not come when such an announcement would be made, for if it were made it would clearly imply that England was about to take an active part in a European war, and until the moment arrives fordoing so, it is not likely she would make an intimation of this kind and permit it tO; be published prematurely." ;