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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2632, 15 June 1877, Page 2

Tendees are invited by the Moanatairi Company for putting in the cross cut at the 150 feet level, receivable up till 3 o'clock to-morrow. ■ Members of Ho. 2 Hauraki Rifles are reminded that a general meeting of the company will be held at half-past seven o'clock this evening, at which every member is expected to be present.

Great blame attaches to some one or other of the Borough workmen who left t 1 footpath on the east side of Pollen street in such a state as it was last night,: which was unsafe and highly dangerous.' A new culvert has been laid down from Sealey street during the week, and on Wednesday night there was an attempt at a crossing, but last night the job was apparently finished, and it was decidedly unfinished. No light was left burning to guide unfortunate pedestrians, and the track left by the traffic during the last two or three days led to a couple of planks as a crossing over the drain, but just at the crossing there was a heap of mud into which more than one plunged. We exonerate the Foreman of Works, because we know that he is at present suffering from ill health, but his locum tenens deserves to be hauled over the coals for leaving the footpath in such a disgraceful state.

Mb Howe, proprietor of the Theatre Eoyal and hotel, is making extensive alterations and improvements. The gallery was very much altered in every way for the better some time ago, when the approach was changed from the Williamson street to the Owen street frontage. The stage has lately been laid with a new floor of inch and a-half boards, and the roof has been re-shingled and new gutters made. The work of renovating and decorating is now proceeding, and this portion of the work embraces a thorough overhaul of the scenery, a new drop scene, alteration of the proscenium and repair of the dressing rooms. It is intended to seat the stalls with chairs, similar to the Academy of Music, and to make the scats in the other parts of the house more comfortable. As soon as the interior of the building is completed it is the proprietor's intention to have thd outside furbished up ; and when the whole of (he work is completed the Theatre Royal will be a comfortable place of amusement; while as regards the size of the stage, scenic facilities, dressing accommodation, and other requisites, it will be scarcely inferior to any theatre in the Colony. -To make the interior complete the proprietor ought to transform the gallery in a horse-shoe dress circle. It would then be much more valuable as a place of amusement, as there is always an objection to making the stalls the best part of the house in small colonial theatres. The Messrs Farrell Bros, are carrying out the alterations, and Mr Barlow is doing the decorative porllon of the work.

The following unique notice appears in a Southern contemporary:—" Notice to newspaper stcalers. Jt having come to our knowledge that copies of our journal (after being ck-livered on the premises of our subscribers by our runners) have been stolon therefrom, this is to give notice that any person wishing, to obtain a copy of our issue, and cannot afford to pay lor it, may, on application at this office, get a copy given to them, rather than they should appropriate to their own use those belonging to their neighbors.— E. B——, proprietor."

The Otago Guardian, noticing Mr Thomas Walker's appearance at a private seance in Dunedin, at which he was required to lecture on " the division of the human family," says:—He spoke well, although at times a slight peculiarity was noticeable in his; accent. His gestures were appropriate, his language well chosen, and his style fluent and easy, but here and there his meaning was slightly obscured by the imagery [in which he indulged. On the whole, however, his lecture was a remarkable one, and in it he referred frequently to the theories of Hugh Miller, Darwin, Huxley, and other scientific men, showing an acquaintance with their writings, and using their words in support of his arguments. He accounted - for the division of the human family into so many different races by stating that the circumstances by which the different branches were surrounded had made them different, in the same way that different varieties of the same animal might be produced by selection. He discredited the account of the creation of man given in Genesis, and stated that man had gradually developed from something lower.

The Wakatip Mail, writing on the personnel of the New Zealand House of Representatives says :—Auckland has by far the best debating power in the Assembly so far as talkers or " wind bags " go. The .Rev. Dr Wallis (a Baptist minister) is the latest addition to "the talent." Mr Eees also learnt his verbose eloquence from the palpit when a clergyman on the Ovens, Victoria. Except Messrs Stout, Hodgkinson, Murray and De Latour, the Gtago contingent is deficient in this respect, and as the members named are of the Opposition ranks it has, to a great extent, the possession of the gift of " gab."

Australian Pabliaments do not enjoy a monopoly of discreditable exhibitions. The Toronto Mail gives an account of a scene in the Assembly at Ottawa which will scarcely have had a precedent at the antipodes. Whilst an Opposition, member was talking, a Mr Cheval, on the Ministerial side, raised the lid of his desk and began to play a lively tune on a Jew'sharp, whereupon another occupant of the Government benches (Mr Snider) jumped upon his feet and began to jig with all his might, to the great amusement of some members and the disgust of others. The scene was only brought to a close by Sir John M'Donald, leader of the Opposition, drawing the attention of the Speaker, whereupon Mr Cheval shut his desk, and Mr Snider bolted from the chamber.

In an article on " Agricultural and Pastoral Improvements " the New Zealand Herald says :—We may further men* tion that those experiencd breeders,. Messrs R. and E. Maclean, have entered into partnership with Mr T. Russell and Mr J. Williamson, so that Penrosa Farm, Pa Farm, and other joint properties, will be worked together, and that additional areas will be acquired and brought into cultivation. Considering the resources in capital and skill at the command of the new firm, the nature of the soil owned by them, and the fine climate of the district, we do not see why they should not occupy the premier place in the colony as breeders of sheep and cattle—a position hitherto held by breeders in the South. We believe that the value of the properties and stock taken over by the new firm was assessed at £100,000,» and that a further sum of £50,000 is likely to be expended in prize stock and in permanent improvements upon the different farms. It would be well for the future progress of Auckland if a few more enterprises of a similar character could be organised by some of our leading capitalists.

This is what the World says of lima de Murska :—"As far as recent events go, Congreve,: or as 99 people out of a hundred say, Shakespeare was singularly wrong in his estimate of the power of music on the savage breast. Close upon the Patti scandal comes the news of the unhappy matrimonial arrangements of Madame lima de Murska. This gifted lady's husband, M. Straus Ilia, amused himself during the honeymoon, according to Australian advices, by ruthlessly slaughtering the two small terriers of the songstress, her three canary birds, a parrot, a monkey, and five cats of rare breed, which she had acquired with difficulty, and was maintaining at untold expense. I have the more sympathy for Madame lima 'de Murska, inasmuch as this is the seventh time Bhe has vainly essayed to obtain a suitable partner for life."