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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2854, 8 April 1878, Page 2

The new County road to Keri Eeri is now in first rate order, and numbers of people enjoy a drive or ride out there on the Sunday afternoons. Mr John Connell, with his four in hand, took out a large number yesterday. The many beautiful spots along the road should make Kcri Eeri a favorite place for picnics next season.

At the first meeting of the new Board of Education held on Friday last, Dr. J. Logan Campbell was elected Chairman.— The Treasurer of the Board sent in his formal resignation. It was ordered that Mr Moss's resignation be accepted, subjeot to his successor's appointment. It was also ordered that advertisements should be inserted in the papers, announcing that the office was vacant; salary, £350 per annum; office to be filled at a meeting of the Board, to be held on Monday, the 15th inst.

A meeting of the gentlemen appointed by the County Council to report on the state of the winding rope supplied to the United Pumping Association from the Auckland Eope Works in October last was held at the office of the Pumping Association this morning. There were present—Messrs John Butt (in the chair), Join Brown, A. Price, G. C. Best and Captain Praser. The evidenco of Mr George Black was taken, and the enquiry was adjourned until some of the members proceed to Auckland, so that they may be in a position to discover whether the faulty state of the rope is due to the stitching.

The election of the Board of Governors of tho, Auckland College and Grammar School resulted as follows : By Members pf the General Assembly—Messrs D. L. Murdoch, G. M. O'Rorfce and Thcophilus Heale. By the Board of Education— His Honor Judge Gillies, Dr. J. L. Campbell, Colonel T. M. Haultain. His Worship the .Mayor of Auckland becomes a member cx-oQicio under the Act.

A cricket match will be played at the Thames on the 20th instant between an eleven of ihe Thames Club and a " belltopper "eleven from Auckland, consisting of the following players :—Messrs Mumford, Lynch, Buckland, Bobinson, E. Whitaker, E. H. Whitaker, A. Whitaker, Henderson, EidingSj Eing, Tattersall.

As will be seen in our advertisement columns the Bank of Australasia intend to close their branch hero on the 16th inst. The cause of this is of course the very small amount of business in the banking line doing hero just now. Deposits on current accounts will be paid by the Union Bank, Grahams town, and fixed deposits and deposit receipts will be paid on presentation of receipt at the Union Bank here or at the Bank of Australasia, Auckland.

At the last meeting of tho Hamilton Borough Council Cr Potior drew attention to tho desirability of the Borough sending a representative to the Assembly. He said the matter should be urged at once before the re-distribution of scats took place in the next session of the Assembly. The population of the Borough exceeded that of several constituencies in the South. He thought the Council and Burgessea should petition the Government for a member. On the basis of population and value of property they were fully entitled to one. ' *

A NEWiiT-ABBivED Yankee " Cousin Jack " is credited with having said rather a good thing at a bazaar held here recently. There was a kind of lottery in the shape of a caite with a gold ring in it, for which tx shilling a slice was charged. The cake wat more than half demolished, but still the ring had not been ob-

tnincd, and tho now arrival abovn referred to wns beard lo say to one of his mates: " Never mind the dommed ring, boys. It's like our leader, a slide coom in and cut it off."

A man named Uhomas J. Cults, who has been behaving himself in an eccentric manner for some time past, was arrested to-day on suspicion of being of unsound mind. ■'

At the Catholic Chapel, Shortland, last evening, Mr H. Bobinson sang in good style a " Tantum Ergo," the music being the sime as used by Mr Amery of the U.S. Minstrels, who rendered that beautiful sacred solo in the same chapel Home months ago. The Wesleyan Bazaar was brought to a close on Saturday night, when the articled remaining unsold were submitted to auction, Mr T. W. Gudgeon officiating as auctioneer. The Academy of Music was opened at four o'clock, and between that hour and seven a good number of articles were disposed of in the usual way by the stall-keepers. At seven o'clock the auction commenced, and there was then such a variety of goods left that Mr Gudgeon was kept busily employed until ten o'clock, many of the articles sold in that way realising excellent prices. There was a large attendance of the public, and some spirited bidding for many of the articles. The final results of the gathering will be found to be very satisfactory. According to a letter from the German Baltic, addressed to the Cologne Gazette, the German shipping is suffering severely from the Euiso-Turkish war. A great number of; vessels, from the German Baltic were till the war engaged in the carrying trade from the [Russian ports of the Black Sea to.England, Holland, and Belgium. This trade has ceased completely. Many other German. vessels were in the carrying trade from Eiga, Bevel, Lobau, and St. Petersburg to England, France, and Belgium. They are now mostly idle, as many English and Butch firms reduce as much as possible their "'relations with the Russian Baltic ports, out of fear of a conflict between England and Russia, and consequently a blockade of the Russian ports, For this reason, also, the business of shipbuilding formerly so considerable is almost completely interrupted iv the German Baltic. A fbiend now in Scotland, says iEgles in the Australasian, after twenty years' Australian residence, is not a little surprised at the stolidness of the Scotch; and gives me this instance:—" The splendid band of the Scots' Guards from London was performing here for several days during the New Year festival., In accordance with what'is, I believe, jtixe usual practice of the Household 'troops! they always commence their performance by playing .' God Save the Queen,' the men standing op with their-bearskins on. We, and perhaps a score, of others, stood up also, and the men.amongst us uncovered; but the rest of the audience—many hundreds—just sat still, and the men who had hais or caps on, kept them on. : Now, the Scotch arc eminently loyal, they are musical, and knew well enough what was being played; but from pure ignorance of the proprieties and courtesies of civilised life they behaved as I have described, end probably wondered 'what time gommerits war standin' oop aboot!'" The dinner given to Mr H. M. Stanley by the Geographical Society of France was a. signal success. The gold medal of the society was presented by the president, Admiral La Eoncidre le rfoury. Mr Stanley, in the course of his address, urged the society to associate the memory of the illustrious explorer and missionary Livingstone with the river he discovered. He said:—VAt presentthe river is nameless. There is no such stream as the Congo or the Zaire. I want it to be associated for ever with the name of him who initiated the conquestof the dismal barbarism of Africa in the basin of the Lualaba. The geographical societies of Italy, of the Khedive, and of Marseilles have consented to my proposition. I, therefore, in the name of the science you profess, for the sake cf the enormous sacrifice he made in its cause, .ask you once more to commemorate that unhappy death on the shores of Lake Bemba, to honor those long and sad years, that final exhaustion of a noble life, by giving to that great artery of commerce in Central Africa the name.of the champion of the dark races he loved so well—' Livingstone.'" ■ A cunious story of snake charming is told by the Ovens Register as having happened on Sunday, the 28th of February, in the house of Mr John Cartnody, farmer, Whorouley, His daughter, a girl about 14 years of age, was in the kitchen with her brother, two years younger than herself, and two other children younger still. The girl was singing, and the boy accompanied her on a sort of impromptu harmonicon, made with an ordinary hair comb covered with tissue paper. The girl happened to look down to the floor, when to her horror she saw a black snake slt. 4in., long coiled round her leg with about 18iu. of the head part resting on the floor between the boy s legs. The boy instantly jumped on the table, and the girl by a spring succeeded in throwing the snake off her leg and landing it in the fireplace. Assistance being got from the next house the. snake was at once despatched. It is believed that the singing of the girl and the sounds produced by the boy on his impromptu instrument had charmed the snake from the boards of the floor, and he had stealthily wound himself round tho hg of the girl, when ho could at his ease listen to the music.