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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2602, 10 May 1877, Page 2

In a cablegram which appeared in last night's paper " Giurgovo" was by a Y printer's error made to read " Giurgooo."

The Georgia Minstrels,, it will be noticed, have decided to prolong their stay till Saturday, on which day they will give a ruatine for the benefit of ladies and children, and at reduced prices to suit the times.

We understand that the Licensed Victuallers Society of the Thames has petitioned the Government.for a reduction of the publicans' license fee. The petition wps t,ent away a week ago, we believe.

The Thames County Council will told their adjourned meeting,to-morrow at ten o'clock, when several reports of an interesting character will be submitted and considered.

We learn from Captain Best, Harbor Master, that the anemometer registered 710 miles as the wind velocity for the 24 hours from half-past eight yesterday morning until the same time to-day. This giv.es a rate of nearly 30 miles an hour.

A Geraldinjs business firm advertises thus inthe Timaru Times:—"We shall be happy to meet all our friends whose accounts are over three months standing at the next sitting of the X..M. Court at Geraldine. !N .B.—-Luncheon provided for those who settle out of Court."

We are.sorry to learn that the Enterprise with the Thames portion of" the English mail on board did not reach Auckland in. time for our mails to be placed on board the outgoing steamer.

The "Westport Times assigns a peculiar reason, for the rise in the price of wheat. It says:—The fact.. that the Wanganui river is finding its way to the sea by a; new channel would not- at first.sight appear to have any connection with the raising of the price of wheat in that district. Yet it has. The Wanganui Harbor Board are trying to dam up that channel with wheat bags filled witii sand and have bought up all the bags in the district. Hence . the settlers can't find bags in which to bring their grain to market.. Scarcity and a rise has followed. . ;

The following telegram appeared in the Grey River Argus :—Ahaura, April Sd.-rrAt the Besident Magistrate's Court today, David Girdwood was fined £100 for selling by auction in the Provincial District ot Nelson, he not being a licensed ■auctioneer in that district." It has become necessary under the new County system (says the Westport Times) that auctioneers . should take out separate licenses for selling in Boroughs and in Counties. In the case mentioned above the fine will probably be remitted, but it will affect many auctioneers whose business is not confined, strictly to Borough or County boundaries.

The following are the opinions of the Hon. Mr Gisborne upon the education question.:—" Is a subject of great interest to all who are or may become, parents. (Laughter.) I hold that the State should not give religious teaching, as it would thus tend to establish a State Church, which I hope will be ever impracticable iv this Colony; as religious conflict would result instead of peace and goodwill. I approve of the system followed in Nelson and" which has been adopted in the Westland Education Act. If taxpayers wish to establish a school under their own management, the State assists on condition that a certain standard of education is secured ; and that no religious teaching shall be given except before or after school hours, and then only to those children whose parents had given their au|jio,rity. My enquiries as to the workingrof this system were satisfactorily answered, and^'l {believe it to be a wise and salutary 6iie."Vr

Judge HarvW has (says a West Coast contemporary) given a decision in one matter whichjhas caused sensation among water-race owners. He said-that upon notice served upon any race-holder that "he required " two t>luice-heads of water to flow in the natural channel, the applicant was entitled to go (in the event of refusal) and turn the water down by removing any obstruction. The Warden previously held that the/matter should come before him for adjudication, and order. - ■"■ [ " • / *

A \raiTEE:in the Wellington Argus, commenting upon the absurd mania for giving " testimonials, 1' says lie knows of a person in the capital connected* with the Government service, who went to a friend of his to borrow £50 in order that he might make a present of a diamond bracelet to Mdlle. De Murska when she was there. This young gentleman, who was getting £175 a year, offered his wages as security, while at the sa:ne time he was unable to pay more than 5s a week on account of a tailor's bill, for which judgment had been given in the R.M. Court. He'didn't get the money, and she didn't get the bracelet.

The game of chess with living chessmen, which was a favorite amusement in the Middle Ages, has, according to the Pioneer, been revived by Lord Lytton, who, when recently at Mooltan, tried the experiment with Colonel Millet. The chess board consisted of a carpet of alternate red and white calicoe squares, a yard wide, plaeedbii the ground, and the pieces were men and boys dressed in appropriate red and white costumes, who stood. on the squares, and moved at the word of command. Lord Lytton, it is said, won an easy victory. He did not, however, follow the example of Morocco, who when playing with living chessmen, used to. cut off" the heads of the captured pieces.

1 In a speech at the luncheon given to his Excellency the Governor at Invercargill, Commodore Hoskins, replying to the toast of " The Army and Navy," thus referred to the possibility ef the colony's being

exposed to an attack by a foreign power t —" As regards the danger to this colony' from a hostile attack, he considered it small. The work at the outbreak of a war between two great nations was so concentrated, that no large detachments, could-be spared, to attack the colonies. The 'danger waa rather from: a small ex-j peditionary fordo or from privateers. In case of war being declared, our commerce; could be "carried almost entirely in fast steamers. As for fighting on land, the danger was a remote one, though he agreed that the young men of the colony should be prepared for. that. A little military training was au admirable thing for them, as it taught them something of discipline, and also how to carry themselves well."

Wille Gill, ah actor, writes to tlie Australasian bemoaning his folly in leaving Australia. He s=ays of America . —" The whole boast, and its very tall talking, is in a miserable state of poverty. Those who are *j do ' big 'things in this ' big' country must have a ' big' speciality which nobody else has. It does not matter whether the bigness consists in a sensational drama, a set of revival sermons, a spotted educated pig, a life risking trapeze act, an unusual development of leg, a third arm, or the ability to swallow an ounce of arsenic without injury. So long as it is something exceptional, however hideous, repulsive, or inartistic, it will pay. If you were to see—which I hope for your peace of mind you will not —some of. the most successful of the stars here, and listen to the drivel .of the pieces upon which they travel,- and,: by means.ofrwhich they make money, you would lose faith in your belief in the. progress of the dramatic art.' Dramatic writers here do not embarrass themselves with such small considerations as unity, consistency, probability, original character, pointed dialogue, or harmony of construction. They introduce some-, bits of realisar—-sucb. as shoeing a horse upon the stage, hanging a man by the neck, bringing on a live snake with which the principal character struggles, dressing some of the females with the scantiest regard possible to drapery, aud so on."