Untitled

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2973, 26 August 1878, Page 2

Membebs of the H.A.C.B.S. are reminded of their usual fortnightly meeting this evening at half past seven o'clock.

' The Marionettes. announce that they will give two extra performances, to-night and to-morrow, when a great double bill will be given, including " Little Bed Riding Hood " and " The Babes in the "Wood." The latter is very elaborately mounted.

The inscription engraved on the gold whistle presented to Mr J.E. Macdonald, on Friday night, by the Shortland Fire Brigade, was not quite correctly given in Saturday's issue. It should have been "S.V.F.B. to Supt. J. E. Macdonald." We believe the reason representatives of the Press were not invited",to be present was that it was not known for certain Mr Macdonald would be able to be present. Our representative heard of the presentation while .it was going, on, end so was able to put in an appearance. . „..

On Saturday afternoon the £3000 balance of purchase money in the Te Arpha Block was divided amongst the chiefs of the Ngatirahiri,' and to-day it was sub-divided amongst the individual members of the tribes.

The Native.Lauds Court adjourned to-day without doing any, business at the request of the Natives in consequence of a death. '. ■

An all-comers' match at Mr Barlow's gallery for a meerschaum pipe and case, which took place on Saturday night, was numerously attended and well contested. A Scottish No. 2 Volunteer won the prize by 26 points but of a possible 30. ;Upwards of a dozen other competitors made good scores of 25 points each. This weekly match creates some, little stir in these comparatively dull times, and both civilians and volunteers patronise the rifle gallery t , !

At the Roman Catholic church yesterday morning, Mr M. Alexander, basso of the Marionette troupe, sang a " Benedictus "in splendid style. At the evening service a number of the members of the troupe assisted in the vocal portion of the vesper service, and at the close Mr Alexander sang a beautiful " O Salutaris Hostia," written especially for him by Professor Hughes, organist of 8. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. 'Mr Alexander was accompanied, besides by the harmonium, by the cornet and violin played by members of the troupe.

In one of the saneta at Wool wick Arsenal a rocket is now being produced which, instead of a line to rescue the ship-wrecked mariner, carries a charge of nitro glycerine in its head, and is capable, by simple contrivances, which greatly increase its accuracy and power of flight, of accomplishing,all that a shell can do, at a hundredth part of the expense and with a hundred times the effect. These rockets require no complicated firing machinery. They can be showered on to bodies of men,

intojbatteries, forts, and towns, with the rapidity of a breech-loader—in fact more rapidly. .Within halfan-hour's time a bombardment with these missiles would shatter the strongest fortress; and lay a whole town in ruins.

The No. 1 Company of the Thames Scottish fired for' prizes on Saturday in two squads. The following are the prize winners and their scores:—Corbett, 65 ; Price, 64; Downie, 61; Stewart, 57; Heron, 55 ; Brownlow, 54. The ranges were 2GO, 400, SCO and 600 yards; five shots at each.

The liberal attendance at the Academy of Music during the past week must have been very satisfactory to the proprietor of the Royal Marionettes, considering tbe bad times and the bed weather. Thej were greeted nightly with a goodly array of goodly people. The proprietors have .gathered together probably the best show of the kind in the Colony. On Saturday afternoon they gave a performance, when the house was filled to overflowing with children who were amused very much with what they saw. It is an entertainment singularly free from vulgarity, and at the same time bright and fresh with, humor and song. The scenery is beautiful, and is worked with such ease that the changes are instantaneous. It will be seen that the company remain to play for two more nights, when double bills will.be given.

A meeting of the Colombo Accident Belief Fund Committee was held at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel on Saturday night. , Present—'Mr Allom in the chair; Mr Kowe, Treasurer; Mr Pulleine, hpn., secretary, Mr Mason, Mr Reddish. Mr Pulleine reported that the approximate amount of the net proceeds of the benefit., given by Mr Sothenr in aid of the fund, coming to the committee was about • £18 — details to be furnished at next meeting. Mr Pulleine reported further subscriptions. . Total disbursements to the amount of £17 Os 8d were authorised. The offer of a benefit performance was postponed for consideration at next meeting. At the request of the committee Mr Mason undertDok to make a report for. next meeting as to the c'rcumatances of each family and- specify age and sex of each of the children. ■ The meeting then adjourned till Saturday next...... ... .-■.•■ ;... .- .;.. ..■■....

; It is matter for regret that numbers of the trees planted in the streets last year have been destroyed. Vagrant goats have been a great deal to blame in this matter, mischievous boys have broken down some, and careless drivers in trying to drive too closely round corners have in several instances broken the trees at the corners of the streets. The season is now coming on when the trees would be most appreciated; for their pretty foliage and kindly shelter, and we should like to see the vacant spots again filled up ; also, a sharper look out kept upon stray goats and the larrikins of the place.

A swell Maori went into a restraurant to day to have " a square meal." He was twice helped to soup, and the meat supplied to him seemed to suit his taste, so much that he expressed a desire for more. His wish was complied with, and a second plate of meat and vegetables soon disappeared, to be followed by pudding twice consecutively. He found by this time he had got to the bottom of the bill of fare, and either from a sense of shame, or a feeling that'he was pretty well crowded, lie refrained v from beginning again at the top. However, there happened to be a loaf within this swell Maori's reach, and from this he cut a full thick round. Helping himself liberally to sugar, our brown friend ate this bonne bouche with as much gusto as he had supped his soup, and rose from the table with a prolonged "ah!" The proprietor charged the Maori eighteenpence for his feed, the usual price being one shilling, and the Maor; went away. A few minutes after* wards, however, he returned, and asked, " How muchee the kai ? " " Eighteenpence" was the reply. " Too many " was the answer of the Maori as he dissap-pc-rei with the dissatisfied air of a man who had been taken in; whereas in reality he had eaten a meal at less than cost price, with no allowance for the cooking.

A toukg Australian at one of the English Universities, a first-class cricketer, was lately asked to play in a match at a particular date. He was just about acceding with pleasure to the request, when he inquired against whom the match was, to be played, and was informed the Australian Eleven. He promptly declined, on the ground that he would not play' against his countrymen. How patriotic!

Db Wallis has discovered a taste in the Premier for the selection of fat men as colleagues, and the other night he made a happy hit at "the broad-bottomed. Ministry" which brought down the House.

MEBSBB Tinto and Co., of London, will send you a case, "tin lined/ containing " English oil paintings," says iEgJes, " by first-class artistes," of assorted sizes, and "in best frames. The works of art comprise landscape, marine, forest, forest sheep, and Highland subjects, and they are by masters whose names .are, given—such as Staunton, Lesley, Knell. These benevolent picture-dealers will sell you, free on board in London, a case containing eighteen of -these gems for the modest price of £21 12s 6d. A gentleman of artistic tastes and knowledge, just returned to Melbourne from London, tells me'how these works of art are produced. In a large room are perhaps 50 canvases on easles. Artist No. 1 lays in the ground-work, passing rapidly from canvas to canvas; No. 2 similarly sketches the subjects; No. 3 does foregrounds; Nos. 4, 5, and 6 respectively insert water, skies, and trees. The work is mechanical, and soulless, the operators having, however, a sufficient practical dexterity to produce what can by courtesy be called a picture. How they are paid may be estimated by Messrs Tihto's prices, inclusive of gili frames !" . '

42gi.es in the Australasian writes :— Amongst the many brilliant and eloquent things that have been, and that will be, said in recognition of England's re-asser-tion of herself in Europe under the leadership of Lord Beacongfield, I question whether anything will be found happier than a few sentences spoken by Cardinal Manning at the Newspaper Press Fund dinner, the chair being occupied by the Marquis of Salisbury :—*' He spoke," said the cardinal, " merely as an Englishman, and therefore as a member of the great European commonwealth, of which England was a leading part. It had been truly said that the prestige of England, had been lately raised to its ancient, dignity. (Cheers.) He could confirm that statement, and he did so with the greater pleasure because, when, some years ago, he was daily in f?To?.!iar conversation with diplomatists ©f

other countries he was painfully reminded that the foreign policy of England was like that of Holland—the cultivation of tulips. Since a certain (date, which the noble Marquis in the chair probably knew better than anyone else who was present, there had been a revived sense throughout Europe that England was not only an island but an empire. A newspaper of great moral and political force in France had in one single expression given utterance to the fact, by affirming that at the voice which proceeded from England, Europe again awoke to consciousness of itself. (Cheers.)- He said this without regard to Conservative or Liberal, but merely as an Englishman who desired to see the comity and the commonwealth of nations once more restored to peace, but to peace with the only guarantees that could restore or preserve it, viz., international law and international right. What had given to England its great glory among the nations was the Parliament; which, springing from the council of the Eiag, had, through an unbroken tradition of a thousand years, developed itself into the greatest and grandest Legislature in the world, and which had also shaken from its spreading branches Legislative acorns of the old English oak that had reproduced themselves in the Dominion of Canada, in Australia, and in the United States."— Now, not only are these, in themselves, brave words, but they possess, I think, a higher interest and a broader significance from their having been spoken by a chief in the hierarchy of Home. ' • \ ■! h If there is any truth in the popular im» pression that the; "beer drinking Briton will never be beat," an account which has just been issued by the Statistical Department of the Custom House is of peculiar interest. This paper gives the number of barrels of beer exported from the United Kingdom, the declared value, and the place to which they were exported, from the Ist of October. 1876, to the Ist of October, 1877. It appears from the report that Kussia took from us 2475 bar* rels of , beer; whereas Wallachia and Moldavia only took one. European Turkey, however, is put down at 569 barrels, and Asiatic Turkey at 206 barrels.: One I barrel only was, sent to the Austrian territories; , 31,128 barrels went to the British possessions in South Africa; Germany had 7564 barrels; Prance-, 11,166 barrels ; Italy, 210 barrels. British India consumed a large amount of beer from the mother country, the continental territories taking 132,924 barrels; the Straits Settlements, 7226 barrels; and Ceylon, 8831 barrels. The Australian colonies were also large importers, West Australia taking 6331 barrels; South Australia, 9215 barrels; Victoria, 30*210 barrels; New South Wales, 36*528 bar-, rels; Queensland, 16,647 barrels; Tasmania, 772 barrels, and New Zealand; 9270 barrels, of a declared value! "of £49,083. The United States are down in the account, for 17,526 barrels..] These and other foreign and colonial customers were supplied during the twelve-month with a total of 472,342 barrels of British beer, at a declared value of £1,918,886.