THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CIOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JUNE 25, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2640, 25 June 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CIOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JUNE 25, 1877.

The '• Lay of the Bell" will be given at the Academy of Music to-morrow night, the proceeds being devoted to augmenting Tie sum now being raised to reduce the debt on St. George's Church. There will be a dance after the Concert.

At the R.M. Court morning two men were cbarged with hav'ng Leen drunk and disorderly, one 0:1 the 2Drd inst. in PbUen street, the other on the 24th, in Grey sireet, Thames. Both offenders pleaded guilty, and each one was fined 10s or 24 hours' imprisonment. Captain Fraser presided.

There was a Church Parade of > No. 2 Hauraki Rifles and Naval Brigade yesterday, the attendance of both companies being very good. The drum and fife bands were present and played the companies to and from Church.

The Thames Scottish Volunteers competed on Saturday for prizes at Kauaeranga range. The weather was very un- > ettled—strong wind with occasional rain. The distances were 2C9 and 300 yards, 8-inch bull's-eye, ten shots each. Some good shooting was made. The following are prize winners :—Kendall, 62 ; Eeid, 62; McLean, 62; Weir, 61; Corbett, 59 ; Downie, 58 ; Clark, 58.

At St. George's Church yesterday attention was called by the incumbent to the fact that in a porch of the Church were two petitions open^ for signatures. These petitions were (I)'against legalising sale of spirits on Sunday, and (2) in favor of The Local Option Bill. A good ma!iy Denies were added to the petitions yesterday, and judging by the zeal shown by those who have charge of them, the petitions when presented to Parliament will have some weight, as far as the number of signatures to any document can have, with honorable member in considering what will no doubt form subjects of debate during next session of Parliament.

An accident occurred on Saturday night resulting seriously to Mr" Shardlow, living in Campbell street. Mr Thomson, cabi-net-maker, who is about to" remove from his o.d place of business next to Mr Shardlow's residence, has lately relinquished a section of ground he held from Mr Robert Graham immediately in front of Mr Shardlow's house, end the latter had agreed to take the section, doubtless to prevent anyone else from stepping in and shutting out the view by means of a high fence and stacks of timber. Mr Thomson had removed a portion of the fencing, but had left standing the back fence, close to Shardlow's door, and the latter, anxious to assert the r-ght of the man in possession, went to knock this part of the fence down. How he did it, we have not learned, but some portion of the fence fell on him, and injured him severely., In fact, on examination it was found that he had sustained a compound fracture of the leg. It will perhaps be remembered that there was a feud between Thomson and Shardlow over a poisoned dog, and a Court case; which feud has never been amicably settled ; if it had been probably Mr Shardlow would not have been in such a hurry to knock down the fence, and he would "not have broken his leg. : The Taranaki Herald of June 16 says that during the week Mr L. A. Hamerton shot a pure white cock pheasant in the neighborhood of Waitara. The Intelligent Vagrant denies having been left a fortune of £500,000. He only wishes it were so. The New Zealand Times has had a telegraph wire laid into the editor's room. The following letter on Thomas Walker, the trance medium's antecedents appeared in the Otagd"Guai'dian :—Sir.-r-In promiscuously looking over a volume of the Medium and Daybreak, published in London, for the year 1875, kindly lent by a friend, I observe therein recorded, on 2nd April of the same year, that the " Walker Spirit Medium," now amongst us, did, at 16 years of age, give his first public lecture "as a medium " at the Assembly Rooms, Liverpool, presumably under the control of Mungo Park. The lecture was entitled " The Chuvch of Rome and the Church of Christ: a Contrast." It is fully reported, arid, to my mind, is a perfect masterpiece of logic. Mr E. Foster, of Preston, England, subscribes to the truth of this. Again, I find in another paper of the same name, dated 15th December, 1876, that a Mr Joseph Swift, 45, Scholes Btrest, Wigr.n, England, writes a long report about seances held at the house of the " Walker family" (who appear to be all mediumistic), and further testifies that Thomas Walker (the one here) was born 6th

February, 1858, so that last February he was nineteeh yews of age. Persons desirous of ascertaining the truth of these extracts can do so privately through you. They, however, present a marked contrast to the relative statements that appeared in tho Auckland Star, and my only object lias been to publish them through jour columns in the interests of—Fair Plat.

- The London correspondent of the Christchurch Press writes :—" Mr Broomhall has recently returned from New Zealand, where, as you doubtless know, he has satisfactorily concluded the purchase of 50,000 acres of land for a temperance settlement. The promoters of the scheme have, I am told, every reason to be satisfied with the arrangements made, and the undertaking promises well. Mr Broonihall is about to deliver a series of lectures descriptive of the country, and his experience in it, which I Have no doubt will be largely attended, and be peculiarly interesting to those intending to emigrate."

Says the Hawke's Bay Herald:—The Seventy-Mile Bush natives, we understand, intend shortly putting in the marke , in the s ape :f i'avms and-town sections, a bloe'w of land IO,OCD acres in ex ent,lyi'!g oe-" ween TakapauandKopua. '.i ,xc land ac;jo' s the railway line in course J construction. It is level aid suitable :'br agriculture. A large proportion of it is siiill fo"estela<l. Tow isbj.ps will be laid out at each end, and the sections will no doubt commard high prices. Mr Locke and Mr 6heehaa both made speeches on the subject during the recent visit to Takapau, commending the project to the natives. Mr Locke reminded them that, seven years ago, when the negotiations for the purchase of the Bush were first started, he had pointed oub to them the fact that the increased value which the whole Bush would obtain by the sale of a portion of it to the Government would render such a project feasible. The intention is to sell and lease alternate blocks and sections. The Government, owic^ to the discretion they possess in regard to the fixing of the sittings of courts, &c, can do much either to obstruct or facilitate the sale of- native lands. We trust that on the present occasion they will spare no effort to facilitate.

Me H. A. Severn has been lecturing in Napier lately, where he appears to hare met with great success, as evidenced by* the following extract from the Hawke's Bay Herald :—At l the close of the scientific part of his lecture he (Mr Severn) took occasion to address a few words to his .audience. He had wondered, he said, at the large assemblages which gathered to hear him in Napier. He had not had such audiences in any of the other- New Zealand towns that he had visited, and he had visited them nearly all. He would urge the Napier people warmly not to let their pursuit of scientific knowledge drop or wane. They had a philosophical institute; lejfc them support it, and endeavor to turn it to account for the forwarding of this object; and if any other lecturer like himself should come here, he trusted they would give him as hearty a welcome, and come to his lectures in similarly large numbers as they had done to his. In reference the Artillery corps, which, he observed, existed here, there was no reason why they should not learn torpedo work, and they might shortly be able to give a scientific entertrinment in that hall.

" John Wiikins, F.R.C.5.," in answer to the question "Is skating injurious to ladies P " replies as follows in the columns of the Otago Guardian:—l have no hesitation in saying, after several years' observation, that the effect of skating is not only not injurious to ladies, but is conducive to their improvement in many ways. I can well remember several instances of ladies whose health had long been very indifferent, where after a few months' skating two or three times a week their geieral health and strength became quite satisfactory Dr Avel'ng, of London, has also watched the effect of stating upon himself as well as on omen, aid believes this exercise to be : ot only compatible with the health of women, but such as to be best fitted for their peculiar organization. The motion is easy and flowing—no sudden exertion is required, and, except in case of accident, the body is not subject to rough jolting or concussion.

The theatrical critic of the New Zealand Sun says:—Johnny Hall and his Burlesque Company have b~en playing to a good business at Timaru and Oamaru, and Johnny has certainly shown his good sense in not coming into opposition with the Georgias during their fivst week's engagement at the Royal. He will, however, re-open on Monday evening next, when we shall have the pleasure of welcoming Mrs Hall on her re-appe,ranee, and Miss Lizzie Morgan on her first appearance, in Christchurch. I regret to hear that Miss Bessie Vivian las been severely burnt while in the performance of her professional duties. A. member of the company sends me the following account of the affair:—'„' A sad accident occurred last Thursday night to Miss Eessie Vivian, at Waimate. She was changing her dresi after having played the part of Veaus in Paris, when her long flaxen wig 1 caught fire in the room where she , - was with six other girls. Her screams were awful. When I rushed in her head was all on fire. Mrs Keeley poured a bucket of water over her and so put the fire out, but not before she was very much burn :d about the shoulders, neck, arms and hands. She has since been very ill through the great shock she received on the occasion. We are doing a fine business, and shall be in town again in a few days."

Admibal Rous, whose death is reported in our calograms to-day, was the second son of the late Earl of Sfcradbroke. According to " Men of the Time," he was born Jan. 25, 1795, enters d the navy in 1808, served as a midshiptran in the Flushing expedition, and received a medal for his bravery in boat actions P"d land expeditions, in the Bacchante, under Sir W. Hoste. Having sailed in various vessel, he was made Cap! din in 1823, was appointed to the Rainbow in 18?5, and served on the Indian and New Hol'and stations till 1829, when he went on halfpay. In 1835 he was placed in command of the Pique, which vessel he brought home fiom Quebec after she had s'ruck on a reef of rocks on the Labrador co.,st, in the straits of Belle Isle, aa unparalleled feat of seamanship. Soon after this he completed his sea time, tad retired from the service. He was returned one of the members for Westminster in the Conservative interest in Juh*, 1841, but was defeated in Feb., ] 846, in which year tfce late Sir Robert Peel appointed him a Lord of t'ae Admiralty. He first took pwfc in racing L. 1821, was elected a

Steward of the Jockey Club in 1838, and in 1840 received the sole control of the Duke of Bedford's horses. Admiral Rous is the author of " Horse Taming made easy," and of " Laws and Practice of Horse Bacing," termed " The Blackstone of the Turf." A magnificent testimonial was presented to him at a banquet in 1866.