THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JULY 1, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2925, 1 July 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JULY 1, 1878.

We fear we were a little premature in crediting the Board of Education with a determination to carry out tho -long promised > and long delayed enlargement of the Waiotahi Creek School and playground. According to the Herald's report of the proceedings at the last meeting of the Board with reference to this matter, "it was agreed that plans should be prepared with a view to calling for tenders as soon as funds are available." After all the promises that have been made, there is a vagueness. about this decision which could scarcely have been expected even from the Auckland Education Board, some members of which, we fear, must know very little of the re. quirementd of a district like the Thamc.v The teachers and children of the Wa:<-•• tahi Creek School will have to go on for an indefinite period in the old style. Of course, during the winter months they will not feel cramming 200 children into a room-not really fit to accommodate 100 so much as they would during a warmer season, especially as the building is un* lined, with no fireplace or stove; but if parents should prefer keeping their children at home to cramming them into such | a small barn as tbe present building is, we should not be surprised. The education of the children will be retarded, and the teacher in charge will suffer when tbe average attendance has to be computed ; but these considerations are mere nothings to the members of the Board of Education. In regard to the new building for what is known as the Thames School, the Board seem, to be equally indifferent. A large sum of money has been paid for the site and filling up the same, but it appears that the erection of this school also depends upon funds being in band. In the meantime the most central school .in the district is absolutely dnfit for habitation. During the bad weather of the last week or so, we believe the school has had to be closed some days at the mid-day adjournment, While on other occasions the building has been, surrounded by water, and rendered literally unapproachable. The requirements of these two schools were much more pressing than some which have been attended to. With regard to the proposed new buildiDg for the Kauaeranga Girls' School—the estimate for which is £1200, and the attendance 350 children— the Beard also decided that the erection of the proposed school should bo taken into considerr.tiori.whjn funds are avail able. Instead, therefore, of three very necessary works in the way of providing additional school accommodation at the Thames being proceeded with at once, they must wait for want of funds—be put off until Parliament has met and Toted money. In a year from this, perhaps, we may see them commenced, if the Board do not again forget their promises, and discover when too late that our requirements have to wait for another period, " until funds are available."

In to day's issue we publish from The Pall Mall Gazette the first portion of a long and interesting article on " Socialism in Germany," which will be found interesting for several reasons, chief amongst which may be notfd the recent attempts to assassinate the Emperor of Germany, which are believed Ao : have originated fwthcthe^ocialists:" :•

The represesfatfß«M^^ local bodies present at the Conference, on the subject of the Thames Valley, RaJss&£_ Bill held in the City Council Chambers kst week speak very highly of the conduct of Mayor of Auckland. Wot only did he afford the use of the Council Chamber/for the conference, but he also placed, at the disposal of delegates " the Mayor's room," in which gentlemen wearied with debate could refresh the inner man, and confer in an informal manner over a biscuit and wine or any other weakness.

, On bit that at the completion of this Lands Court our native friends will be richer by some £30,000 or £40,000. The advisability of Shortland hotel - keepers enlarging their tills so as to meet the contingent expenditure has been suggested. ? "VS^e ars glad to see ihe -Borough asphalters at work making an asphalt footpath in Owen street, from Neal's butcher's shop to the Abraham street corner. It will be a great boon to foot passengers, as this portion of the side-walk has been in a rather bad condition.

We hare heard from well informed quarters that the Natires hare ran through the most of their money. This may be true as far as the greater number of them are concerned, but there are a good few who have their pockets well lined yet. Two or three instances which have come under our notice must suffice to prove~ this. One old chief, with about fifty members of his tribe, drank and paid for in the space of three or four hoursno less than thirty bottles of brandy, besides soda, lemonade, <fee, for making " S and B," "greased lightning.cocktails," and similar mixtures. Another native "knocked down" a cheque for some thirty and odd pounds in less than two days, did not Beem the least impecunious afterwards, and was heard to remark he had " plenty more." : : Another instance and we are done: A ragged old waihina "called on aTpejaon to whom she.owed 18s,

The conference of delegates from local bodies that assembled in .Auckland last week to consider the Thames Valley Kailway Bill voted the sum of £30 to Mr F. C. Dean, Town Clerk, Thames, for his services in drafting tho Bill.

It is stated that Mr McMinn, a candidate for the representation of Waipa in room of Mr A. Cox, resigned—for "which seat Mr F. A. Whitalier is aleo a candidate—has received an assurance from the Cabinet that the Government will do what ihey can to further his return.

We have received a departmental notice from *he general manager of the New Zealand telegraphs with reference to reduction in the tariff for delayed telegrams to sixpence for the first ten words, and for every additional word. Senders are asked to give as full an address as posiblc, acd under the heading " iastr actions " in the form to write the word "decayed." In addition to the telegraph rates postage will be charged—ld if the delivery is within the.postal district of any town, or 2d if outsidS the postal district. Delayed telegrams will be sent on the day of their receipt and posted the same evening.

The thunder storm which broke over the Thames about half-past five on Saturday evening was most severe while it lasted. The first flash of lightning was very vivid, and was immediately followed by a double ci^sh of thunder which seemed to shake the. earth. This was followed by two or three other vivid lightning flashes and peals of thunder, but less severe than the first. From our telegrams it would seem that it was not of a local character, some places in the neighborhood of Cook's Straits having suffered.

In an article on the new loan the Lyttelton Times says :—" Opinions may be divided, as to the benefits to be derived by inscription of the colonial stock by the Bark of England. Two things, however, are certain.- The new loan is now on the same footing in the money market as consols, and large trust funds will be avai]able for investment in it. These are results that cannot but be extremely advantageous to the colony.' 1

The usual drill of the Thames Scottish Volunteers took place on Saturday evening at seven o'clock, and although the night was wet and stormy there were over ore hundred men of all ranks present. Lieut. Johnston acted as Instructor to No. 1 and divided it off into two comanies, with guides and markers, one under Captain Murray and the other under Lieutenant Dey. He then put them through several battilion movements, such as wheeling and forming into line, breaking into column from the right and left, changing order of line and column, forming square on the leading company,, and similiar manoeuvres; the whole of which were performed with much steadiness. The guides and markers appeared well up in their duties'—a most important item in the success of battalion drill. No. 2 Company was under charge of Captain Macdonald and Instructor Schoaeld in the upper hall, and were put through balance step, extension ;mouo'is, slow marching, &c. The men seemed to be well in hand, paying strict attention to the the commands. Although a considerable proportion of No. 2 are drilled men, they all prefer working up again for a few weeks from the beginning a.i an encouragement to the.young hands who have never been drilled before, and to enable them all to work better 'together. This is the true spirit of volunteering, especially in working up a now company, and if the same spirit of comradeship is continued the success of the No. 2 Scottish is assured, x At the close of drill several new members were proposed in both companies. It was also announced that as soon as No. 2 had received their new rifles and rifle exercise drill, a number of handsome prizes would be competed for by both companies—the prizes to be separated before competition. Each company has also a champion belt to be fired for at the same time.

The vessel we reported as being off Tararu on Saturday aiter/opn proved to be the King Oscar, 241 tons, Black master, with 251 .tons of coal for the Thames Gas Company. The King Oscar left Newcastle on the 19th June, and encountered some rough weather on the voyage. Captain Best, harbor master, started in his boat for the King Oscar on Saturday afternoon, but owing to adverse wind ana squally weather he had to return. Yesterday, the weather being finer, be started again and found the King Oscar abreast of Waiomo, whence he brought her to an anchorage. Her cargo will require to be lightered, as she is drawing 13 feet 6 inches water aft, and 12 feet forward. The King Oscar is a Swedish built batrque, but is owned in Melbourne. The Harbor Master has favored us with tfoj Newcastle Daily Pilot of the 18th "vHiISiA .received by the King Oscar. . The " n^l^PlpaT^ggresSKJn" 11 mlTcofc.land has called forth a rather remarkable document from the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in that country. It is a protest against the appointment by the Holy Father of Papal prelates to Scotch sees on the plea that the ground is already occupied and satisfactorily filled by the only representatives of Catholic episcopacy which-have any claim to recognition, the Bishop of Moray, the Bishop of ;St. Andrew's, and others, who, it is saidj hold their present places by right of their succession to the prelates of the' Primitive Church. The protest makes, of course, no mention of the fact that the Protestant bishops have as little legal status in Scotland as the Papal bishops can. have. When the Episcopal Church was introduced into Scotland, the Presbyterians protested against it in the same way that the signataries of this document do against the establishment of the Roman prelacy, and at the present day the Episcopal Church in Scotland is neither more nor less of a dissenting., body than the Eoman Catholics. The Scotch Episcopalians are a purely voluntary sect., So are the Scotch Catholics, and they; each of them might be expected to advocate the law of mutual toleration.—Home News. The Statist, in an article on Russian credit, points out that Russian stocks have fallen 25 per cent, since the beginning of the late war, and would probably fall 25 per cent, more in the event, of a war with England, but concludes ''fhat while a further heavy fall in Russian stocks is inevitable in a war with. England, and Russian credit must fall to a very < low point in a long war, yetihere. is little reason^ during a, shorty%ar to apprehend failure in the y :p&}lznen.t of'the foreign debt interest ,6r ajjuy other overwhelming embarrassmenJi to^^^gsian finance. The war, agutfH'ill jj^^^nrobably be short, h^^^^Bs^^^^^Lju -disposed to [first clear advag^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

sia may gain some early successes which would be more fatal to her financially than the worst defeats ; but short of such accidents, there seems no reason why Russian credit should not again be maintained duriig a war with England.

' R A. Whitakek, Esq., M.H.R., late Attorney-General, is at present on a visit to the Thames, and to-morrow evening, he will make his fi^st official visit, as R.W.P.G.M., 3.0., for the North Jsland to the Lodge Sir Walter Scott, of which lodge he is a member by affiliation. A banquet will be held to eeiei. :alo the event.

We found the following in onr letft-r----box this morning :—" Why is sarsapariHa root ;like a well known chemist here ? — v Because it's a Plant that cures Payne." \ A iettbb froiii Bordeaux tepor/.^^-e^J a terrible tragedy, has just oceujS'd «<i Plaisance (Gers.) A. man noin^d Corvtade, who was oace a soidi>? "ten medals of good service, reeent4y'"*irad a dispute with his landlord oa the subject of repairs; and the Judge de Paix, before whom the case was brought, visited the spot in order to obtain a better insight into the matter. He was accompanied by his clerk and a bailiff. The examination over, the magistrate condemned Courtade to pay the sum claimed. The defendant then burst into a violent'passion, and cried out, " Is that the way in which you deal out justice P " and, drawing a revolver, he fir?d at the owner of the property and his wife, both of whom fell to the ground, and afterwards discharged the weapon c.'c the. judge and clerk, the latter of whom he killed with a second shot. The murderer finished his work by blowing out his own brains.

The journals of Bolonga state that a youn^ man named Monari, a smith, and a clever gymnast, performed a few days back the fxirord^nary feat of descending the Asinelli tower, outside, by the lightning conductor. This Was done for a small wager. He occupied about twenty minutes in the task, as he slopped about ererj thirty feet to swing and perform acts of brarado. When he reached the bottom two police officers requested him to accompany thsm to the station; he was, however, liberated immediately on giving his came aid address.

Examples of rapid printing are thus given regarding the Walter press :—" For some time past, reports the Athenseutn, the seven Walter presses used by the Daily News have produced each morning the surprising number of 1500 perfect copies per minute, making in all 90.0 CD per hour. An eighth press is being consructcd at the office of the Times for the Daily News. When this is erected, in the course of six weeks, our contemporary wijl be able to print nearly 100,000 copies pe** hour. These, it must be known, are not only printed on both sides, but cut and folded as well." , -

The Allgemeine Zeitung, which is the journal of the highest political and literary standing among the daily press of Gernrny, and which upholds the anti-Eussian view in the firmest manner, gives large extracts irorn the remarkable article on " Eussian Aggression and the Duty of Europe," which has appeared in the April number of the Wesfninster Eeview. The German journal regards that essay as ore of the most striking utterances during the present Eastern complication, and declares its outspoken advocacy of a policy of English action to be "truly an event." A noteworthy quotation from a continental author of the advanced Liberal school, which the article in the Westminster' Eeview alludes to, is, to the^ follow; g effect: —" I predict that five years'afier the conquest of Constantinople (by Eiissia) India is lost for England."

Some experiments have been made at Brussels in breaking :n horses by means of an electric -bridle. The apparatus, called the Engslrom bridle, after its inventor, consists simply in a couple of reins, along which runs eleclric wires. At the end of the-reins a small electric battery is attached, which is entirely in the power of the experimenter. By pressing on a little knob the electric current acts on the corners of the horse's mouth, and afier a few consecutive oi 1 intermitting shocks the animal becomes perfectly docile. A very intractable mare was broken in after one experiment with the bridle. The inventor asserts that runaway horses can immediately be brought to a stands ill by me^ns of this apparatus.

Ladies, a.'..oqntiuun:.ice of jour esteemed patronage is respectfully solicited. Since I introduced Sewing Machines on the Thames seven years ago, I have bad the pleasure of adding to the comfort of an immenße number of homes, and shall still do my best to maintain my reputation for selling the best Machines I can obtain at the Lowest Prices. A large supply just received.— J. GttlGa, Pollen street.—[Advt.J __U—-*""