THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2819, 26 February 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1878.

The schedule of exhibits for which prizes will be given at the opening show of the Thames Horticultural Society, to be held in the Academy of Music on Saturday next, appears in our advertising columns. It. is very much to be hoped that there will be a good number of exhibitors, and that the show will be one of the best ever held here. It has been a reproach against this district that a society like that now established could not survive one year of existence, and we hope the present one will'have a long career of prosperity.

The business for disposal at the Quarterly Licensing Meeting for the districts of Thames and Hauraki, to be held on Tuesday next, is limited to five applications for transfer of licenses. Mb James Gbaio sold by auction to day at the Exchange, the Golden Arrow Goldmining Company's machine site, at Tairua, having £10 arrears of rent. Mr Wickham bought the site for £6. Some new stamper shoes and false bottoms were gold at 8s per cwt

The proceedings at Mr Craig's auction to-day of the Golden Arrow machine site were temporarily interrupted, and for a few Beconds something like a scene occurred. After the conditions of sale had been read, the sale itself was denounced as " a piece of sharp practice," and several gentlemen present affirmed that the auctioneer, at the sale of the battery, had distinctly stated the purchasers could have the option of leaving the same on the ground or removing it. This the auctioneer denied. Another gentleman put in his spoke, and was informed by the auctioneer that "he didn't want to call him a liar, but, in plain terms, he was ttiling a deliberate falsehood." The bailiff then made an explanation, which did not seem to afford much satisfaction to some present, and further altercation took place, the sale being designated a swindle. 1 he auctioneer, however,brought them hack to business. He said if there was any swindle in it, it was not on his part. He had the machine site for sale, and would sell it to the highest bidder; with which the business proceeded, Mr Wickhnm purchasing the site, the owners of the battery having, according to the conditions of sale, to remove their plant within sixty days from date.

Last night's Auckland Star says:—" A man named George Pennyfield, who has been in the employ of the Piako Swamp Company, was found near Hamilton in a state of semi-nudity, and was taken into custody as a person of unsound mind." A man of the same name was formerly in business on the Thames, which place he left for the Waikato, where ho had resided prior to his coming to the Thames. A cibcuiab has been issued from the Postmaster General's department, Wellington, stating that in consequence of a reduction from fourpence to twopence having been made in the fee for the registration of letters, &c, in the United Kingdom, a reduction will be made in New Zealand. In future a fee of cightpence instead of tenpence will be charged for the registration in New Zealand of letters, &c, addressed to any British. Colony or Foreign Country and forwarded in transit through the United Kingdom. Notice is given in the Gazette of a ■" call" under the •• Government Officers Guarantee Act, 1870," to make good a defalcation of £393 15s 4d by Thomas W. Longuet of the Postal Department, and £5 16s 7d for the stamp. The rate per cent, on the sum assured required to bo levied is one shilling.

A statement appears in the Advertiser this morning in a paragraph referring to the death of young Reddish which is opposed to the evidence adduced at the inquest. It is this: "A poit-mortem examination was, under the circumstances, unnecessary, as the deceased volunteer was before known to be subject to fits.' 1 j tl * *'U6 evidence of the father of the lad our center 00"""/ WP°?V I M,f ? 0D WB| strong and healu^ »"4 1 f *pn t W. f my own knowledge thavl'" W" h^° n fits; but I heard about two y«T *g£ that ho had one at Ohinemuri." Whicn is right, the father or. our contemporary P As a matter of fact, too, "fainiing fits"! were distinctly referred to in the evidence, and persons suffering from such fits do not usually betoken their approach by sudden jumps,

We notice by a late Now Zonlnnd Gazette thai Lambert WilHim Loveday lms been appointed to bo record clerk and accountant in the office of the Inspector of Lunatic Asylums. Wk arc informed by a passenger per Enterprise last night that she made the trip from Auckland in five horns and twenty minutes, haying left Auckland Wharf at 6.10, and arrived .here at 11.30. The Kotoraahana left a few minutes after the Enterprise, and the tiro raced to Brown's Island, when the Enterprise was overhauled.

The funeral of Alfred Beddish, drowned in the Thames Biver on Sunday last, took place this afternoon. Decased having been a member of the Naval Cadets and a .warrant officer, was honored with a military funeral, the adult and cadet companies turning out in good numbers. The Thames Scottish, Naval Brigade and No. 2 Haurakis, each with its band, paraded in Grahamstown, and proceeded at a quarter past three to join the Thames liifle Bangers, No. 3 Haurakis, and Naval Cadets in Shortland. The funeral procession was a large and imposing one. . Accobding to our usual custom* we copy from the New Zealand Gazette the figures in the Registrar General's report on the vital statistics of the principal boroughs of the colony, showing population, number of births and deaths and rats of mortality daring the month of January, 1877. The Thames does not show bo favorably in the death rate as usual:

The New York Herald says: "The aid of the telephone is being secured in Jersey City in connection with the law courts. A telegraph wire is being laid from the Hudson County Court House to the telegraph office in Montgomery street, and a telephone will be attached to each end, whereby lawyers can communicate with each other rapidly between their offices and the court house."

A cobbespondent of Notes and Queries tells the following aneedota of tho Bishop of Manchester:-—" A class of school girls, sayi the story, highly 'educated on the newest principles, were pouring forth to his lordship a list of Latin words, with the English equivalents, and they came to the word which we elders should call vicissim, ' We-kiss-im,' said the girl; • we-kiss-im —by turns.' ' Oh, do you 1' answered the Bishop; ' then I don't wonder at your adopting the new pronunciation.' " .

Borough. Estimated Population. Total Births. Proportion Total afDaVihsto Deaths. populatioD , Auckland .. Thames .... Wellington.. Nelson .... Cbristchu"ch Duned.'n.... Hokitika .. 12,024 . 4,403 18,30 5,654 12,815 23.3C5 2,105 45 31 SO 24 65 06 16 18 1-36 7 1-57 45 2-'S 11 1-ii 22 1-63 22 -E6 2 -73 L27~" 7. T0ta1.... 3C6 127