THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2895, 27 May 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1878.

On more than one occasion, at meetings of the Borough Council, applications for work have been received and discussed by Councillors, and in some,instances recommendations have been mrde to the Foreman of Works which, unless that official had a very strong sense of the duties of hia position, could only be interpreted as orders. Some Councillors took what we conceive to be the proper view of the question—that applications of the kind should noi be entertained by the Council, and that the Foreman of Works sheuld not be-intorfered with iv the employment of suitable labor to perform Borough works which it may .be deemedexpedientto have done by day labor. Applications for work have, we learn, become so numerous of la v e, from ratepayers within and without the Borough, that an arrangement has, been devised which should prove to be more satisfactory tLan the plan previously followed, aim also dp away, with any necessity for appeals to the Council. A sheet has been prepared, and is posted in a conspicuous place in the Council Chamber, on which will be entered the names of persons applying for work. From this list of applicants the Forman of Works will select men he he requires them, giving the preference to ratepayers within the Borough according to priority of application. We approve of the plan, which seems a very fair one. -

A meeting, to take into consideration the advisability of separating Ohinemuri Riding from Thames County, was held at Mahoney's Hotel, Paeroa, on Saturday evening. There was a good attendance, and Mr A. J. Thorp, member for Ohinemuri Siding in Thames County Council, was called to the chair. After several gentlemenshad delivered themselves pro. and con., Mr Adam Porter moved, and Mr C. A. Comes seconded, a motion to the effect that the petition, praying the separation of Ohinemuri .Riding, be adopted. Mr Dewar moved, and Mr G-. S. O'Halloran seconded, thatthia meeting has confidence in the Thames County Council, and considers that in the meantime separation is premature. On this being put to the meeting, 27 voted for it, and five for the original motion. The amendment was therefore declared carried.

To day by the steamer Eotomahana Mr Edwin Binney, an old resident and for manyyears a prominent businessman here, left the Thames for Auckland. It is not pleasant to acknowledge the fact, but it seems inevitable that the long continued dull times have driven away from our midst many who can ill be spared, and who will be missed. , Mr Binney will be remembered generally.as an enterprising business man, but amongst a large circle he will be also remembered as a generous host; as one who succeeded in promoting social interc curse in a marked degree, and ever displayed a liberal band in so doing. Mr Binney, we believe, joins his brother in town, and we wish him every success in his new, sphere. '

Seveual residents of the Ohinemnri Biding of the County Council, including Mr H. Alley, Mr J. M. Kobson, and MrE. J. Thorp, interviewed the Hon. the Defence Minister one day last week in reference to the movement for separating the Ohinemuri riding from the Thames County and its erection into a separate county. They were reminded that the Counties Act prescribed the action to be taken to achieve their object. The deputation then brought under Mr Sheehan's notice the necessity for a bridge over the Ohine« muri river at Paeroa, and received an answer to the effect that Mr Sheehan would " make inquiries into the matter, and, if the work should be found to be a necessity, he would recommend that a sum of money be placed on the estimates for the purpose. .

We learn that Dr. R. H. T. Gilbert, who recently announced through our advertising columns that he had com* menced the practice of h?s profession at his residence in Mary street, has made a statutory declaration that heh a Member of the lioyal College of Surgeons of England; that he has lost his diploma and has applied to his college for a duplicate or certificate ; and that he is also on the Imperial Register of Great Britain. Dr. Gilbert has applied to the Registrar to have his name placed on the New Zealand Begister.

At St. Francis' Church, Shortland, yesterday, the Hey. Father O'Keilly of Coromandel, who is a proficient Maori scholar,' preached a sermon in Maori, and in the evening offered up prayers in the Maori language, the responses being chanted by a number of natives present. Many of the Whakatane natives are good Catholics, and about 50 of them regularly attend divine service at the Sbortland Chapole very Sunday and behave in a most exemplary manner.

Thb usual monthly church parade of the Thames Naval Brigade and JN"o. 2 Haurakis took place yesterday, the former going to St. George's Church and the latter to the Independent Church. Owing to the inclemency of the weather the parade of neither of the companies was large.

The Shortland Saw Mill Company's hands and plant started work to-day alter a .pretty long spell, during which the mill and machinery, engine, boilers, &c, hare received a thorough overhaul. The rains of last week caused a fresh which brought down some 400 logs to the booms, and during' Saturday and yesterday a similar number came down! This will find work for ihe plant for some months, and, in view of the season upon us, it is not likely that there will be any scarcity'of material to' work upon for a very long. We believe there is a good demand for kauri timber fo: 1 exportation.

The writer of " London Town Talk," in the Melbourne Argns, cays.—" I am credibly informed that, thanks to the fanaticism of the gallery in a certain house of entertainment (not the House of Commons), the taking of Plevna is now obliged to be effected by Turkish troops. An acquaintance of mine who witnessed this,

and, though no Jiussophile, was not quite able to coiiVince himself that the Times and Daily News had so very much misrepresented matters. iomonstrate:l with tho m-.nagpr of the jj]; ; c3 upon this deviation fVom hiakny. ' Well, sir, wo did our best,' lie said. 'We made the Russians take \i for three nights ; but ' the gods ' wouldn't have it at any price; and it's our business to please the public'"

Thege is on exhibiton in the window of Mr Pulleine, seedsmau, Owen street, a monster ora-jge as large as a child's head.

In the balance sheet of the Dunedin City Couricil, the amounts paid for contracts and day labot' for three months are as follows : Contracts, £6,674 8s 7d, day labor, £1,651 8s 7d.

It is safe to say that no book in the world has been read by so many people as the Bible. Nor has there ever, been a time when it was read by so many people in so many different languages as to-day. The more it is oppos d and denoui ced, the more it multiplies, and the more popular it becomes. At the beginning of the present century- the whole number of Bibles in the world, including all lands arid in r.ll languages, was cot much over 4,()C3,000. .Now the Bible is published in 164 different languages and dialects, at the rate of more than I,CjO,OCD of copies a year, ' that is, as one computes it, more than 19,000 every week, more than 30C0 every day, 300 every hour, and fire every minute of working time. "Bible societies alone have published over -141,000,f.C3 of volumes since 1804; of which the British ai_ 1 Foreign Eible Society, in its seventytwo years, has issued 76,400,000 copies, and the American Bible Society, in its three-score years, 83,125,736 copies. The total issues of these two societies alone have been 109,525,736 volumes of the Word of God." . ■ '

An English paper says that Adelina Patti is having a stirring time of it at .Naples. When she arrived they declined to receive her at the Hotel Royal, so she had to go to the Nobile. She was in high dudgeon, refused to rehearse, and in consequence found an audience at San Carlo as cold as a stone. In less than an hoar she sang the k whole house" into warmth, enthusiasm, frantic delight—it was the " Trauata "—-and next morning the papers made positive excuses. Nay more, the committee of the theatre came to pay her the unusual honor of a visit in state. ■ She refused'to see theai. Expectation was on tiptoe as to her reception next night. It was feared she would be hissed. JNot at all. She sing the "Barbiere " and with the same effect as before, her voice, acting on their premeditated sulkiness like the rising sun on the mist. In the sceiie in which she has to spell the name of Eosina, she kept one high note so long that the unhappy baritone who accompanied her-rand. not a bad one either^-had to stop three times for breath, she mocking him with a look the while. Naples lias now given up all idea of resistance, and has taken up its old position— at her feet. She receives £500 a night, with a right to half of the surplus when the receipts exceed 38C0 dollars. On the night of the" Barbiere " they took £1200 at the doors : she therefore received an extra £100, or a total of about £600 for night's work, not counting her bonus of revenge. - V