The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Ressurexi. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2985, 9 September 1878, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Ressurexi. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1878.

Mb John Letdon, a candidate, for the representation of South Ward in the Borough Council, writes as follows :— "Sib,—ln my published address to the burgesses I hare omitted to mention one point on which I hold decided opinions, viz., the carrying out of public works. I hold that all works* undertaken by the Borough costing over £10 shoald be open to public tender, If this were done I believe it would'result in a much more satisfactory state of things than the system in rogue at present. The burgesses would be better served, and many men amongst the unemployed would occasionally hare a chance of a contract on work that they understand. If elected, I shall advocate the contract system in pub* lie works. Please make this public through the iredium of your news columns.—l am, Ac., John Lbydojst.

At the sitting of the Lands Court today the Koromutua Block of 93 acre?., which was partly heard on Saturday, was divided into two sections, one be'ng awarded to Ngatai and others, and the other to Kepa and others. The Manuka and Pitoona were called on but hare not yet been heard.

* Tpe allcomers' matches at the Brown street gpllery on Saturday night were well attended, two members of the Naval Brigade on each occasion winning a prize. A splendid landscape of Bhine scenery is offered by the proprietor for the highest allcomers' score in any six shots during the evenings of this week. Competition commences with gas light on each evening.

A well attended meeting of those in* teresLed in the formation of a new cricket club was held at the shop of Mr E. McManus, Brown street, on Saturday evening. It was decided to call the club the TJnioa Cricket Club. Mr Joseph Harri on, an old Auckland cricketer, was unanimously elected captain, Mr McManus treasurer, and Mr F. Masters secretary. These gentlemen were empowered to procure the necessary cricketing materials at once, and arrange preliminaries. Practice will be commenced this week. ;

Stephen Massett (Jeemes Pipes of Pipesville) is contributing letters on the colonies to the San Francisco Post.

" The Overland Route " was recently produced in San Francisco under the name ," Singapore to Suez," with poor success according to the criticisms it received. :

Aftee the exercises in light infantry drill of the Hauraki Engineers at Friday night's weekly parade (a notice of which appeared in Saturday's issue), the company were marched' to.Head Quarters and to their seats in the lecture room. It appears that the Haurakis, not content with being designated Engineers, intend to apply themselves under the intelligent instruction of their First Lieutenant to the acquisition of a practical acquaintance with .field engineering. Lieutenant Barlow prefaced his lesson by a few remarks on " the objects and ends to be attained by fortification; the necessity of every .officer, non-commis-sioned officer and'sapper of an engineer corps being thoroughly conversant with the theory and principles of engineering, as well-as the technical terms employed in the formation of military works." He ■aid that. "We (the officers) have not yet been able to secure the latest works on engineering,' but, as unlike the field exercise, which has to submit to

periodical changes, the great principles of military fortification receive but little alteration, I will endeavour in as concise a manner as possible to explain to you What I may term' the . salient features in the sapper's education, as learnt by me under more eminent and distinguished, but I can assure not more willing, instructors than myself." After teaching the men the differentparts of an earthwork parapet, which the * lecturer a illustrated by chalk drawings on a black board, the uses and object of the construction were ably explained, and at the end Mr Barlow, on putting questions to individual members, elicited replies shewing that attention had been paid and benefit gained by this their first lesson in field engineering. Our space forbids our giving the lecture in full, and the technical terms of French derivation might not interest the majority of our readers.

We (Dunedin Morning Advertiser) always had the impression that Mr Bees, M.H.R., was cleverer as a theologian than as a lawyer. Our faith has been severely shaken, however, by a perusal of his speech on the notorious Advertising Question, as it is recorded in the number of Hansard just to hand. In the course of his remarks, Mr Iteea, with infinite wit and good taste, compares the Hon. Mr Fox to a character in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress:"—" One of two giants, who stood by the wayside, and whose name was Giant Pagan: he had all the will to do mischief, but was not able." Of course, this is not the first time that poor Bunyan has suffered violence at the hands of misquoters ; but we certainly expected better things from the well-read Mr Bees. Were it not that our schools are now entirely secular, we'should be tempted to make a remark, at one time very commra, and say that a schoolboy would be flogged for making such a blunder in his quotations. .

" Dbbbick Dodd," a gossiping writer in the S.F. Post, contributes the following :—The proprietor of a certain weekly paper in this city received a mysterious box last Sunday per express. As he had been indulging iv considerable journalistic abuse of Kearney of late, the idea at once occurred to him that the package might bean infernal machine. With cautious hand the fatal box was carried out to the extremity of the yard, and the garden hose turned upon it. For fear the combustible material was not completely saturated, this process was repeated every day until yesterday, when the well soaked inclosure was opened with a chisel strapped to the end of a long pole. The box contained the mildewed remains of a handsome suit of clothes which had been sent him by an admirer at Sacramento. The editor says it is time this man Kearney was hanged, anyway.

A" Home paper has the - following .:—A target which by means of electricity shows instantaneously upon another target set up at the firing station the exact spot where a bullet strikes, and does away with the necessity of employing a marker to signal the result of each shot, has been recently perfected, after years of labour, by a Swiss locksmith. The exact details of the target in its latest form are not yet published, but a description was given a short time ago in a Swiss paper, and also inau Austrian military periodical, of a target on the same principle, which was success* fully tried last yean In this forget the face is divided into a number of concentric rings, and each is divided by two lines drawn across the faces and orossing each other at right angles at the centre. In each of the sub-divisions of the target at the firirg statio-j a small hole is pierced, and when a bullet strikes the distant target a number at once ap : pears in the hole in the corresponding sub-division of the target near the shooter; or should the ball strike upon oae of the lines dividing the face of the target, numbers are shown in boih the adjacent sub-divisions. In the trials made with the target the apparatus worked perfectly during the eight days for which the firing was kept up; the only accident whic!i happened being that once the electric wire was cut by a bullet.

A m/nstbel troupe in: Melbourne recently treated a large audience with indignity, by playing off practical jokes in the shape of a sham gift distribution. Eeferring to this matter The Argus says: -—the act ended with a "distribution of gifts," which those of the audience who, from the advertisements, had expected any tangible results must have been rather disgusted with. The programmes on the seats were numbered, and corresponding numbers haying been placed in a iiat, "Professor Hoodwink" statfd that the person whose programme bore the number first drawn would receive the first prize, "a suite of furniture."• On the number being drawn the holder of the corresponding programme was invited to siep forward, and did so, eyeing already with the glance of a proprietor a handsome suite of furniture displayed on the'stage. Great, however, was his disgust, and enormous the laughter of the audience, when the professor gravely presented him with a toy set of furniture in a small box* There was only one other prize, "a piece of plate," and the professor was careful to explain that although, of course, the previous distribution was a joke, this one would be t bond fide, and a handsome silver dish cover and plate were held up by an assistant. The drawer of the lucky number was a young lady in one of the front seats, [and naturally, after the first hoax, she i was not inclined to come forward, but sent up her programme instead. Mr* Kelly, however, insisted on the winner coming to the platform, and at length the young lady did so, when the silver dish cover having been raised, the lady was presented with a delf plate. It is needless to say she retired in confusion. -There was at first some laughter, but the repetition of'the Joke m the case of a lady, and especially Mr Kelly's insistance on her coming forward, were,, immediately felt to be in the worst possible taste, and the joker was warmly and deservedly hissed.

Judgke Thomas left N.ew Plymouth yesterday by coach for Wanganui. When at Waitara the hotelkeepers there declined to receive him in their houses, and he had to go on. to Inglewood. . The settlers there are very incensed at his interfering with the natives, and fear that the old King movement will be initiated again through Mr Thomas's action. The Taranaki Herald, commenting on Mr Thomas's action says:—We learn from Mr Sheehan's speeches that he has cautioned Mr Thomas against interfering with the natives ; but it appears that this "Judge," in defiance of the wishes, of the Government, has forced himself into the presence of Bewi, and insisted on

discussing the system of land tenure with that chief. But Rewi is too astute not to be able to fathom such mischiefmaking men as this Judge Thomas. He may profess his great anxiety for the welfare of the Maori people his sympathy with the race, and offer hitqself as their champion, Ibufc we mistake EeTTi and other native chiefs if they are to be deceived by the sophistry of such men as this, and should not be surprised to learn that they politely inform the "Indian Judge" that the natives of Neyv Zealand are not quite devoid of judgment, and are able to manage their own affairs without the assistance of Mr Thomas, with a string of letters after his name. We are not sure, but are under the impression, that some law is in existence to prevent men from exciting the native mind by filling it with hopes which must end in disappointment, and, may, perhaps, be the me"ng of causing bloodshed; but if there is not, then the quicker the Assembly pass such a law the better will it be for the welfare of both Maoris and Europeans.—Herald Correspondent.

Betsy Mttstabd is a champion of woman's rights in Edinburgh, and h determined that the legal profession, if she has to go to law, shall not have the oyster and leave her the shell. She bad a case against the Royal Bank, and when the hearing came on in the-Court of .Session ihe pleaded in person. She was dressed in a curious garb, .which is described as "a <cross' between an advocate's gown and judge's robe," and wore a white hat, evidently designed to represent a wig. Betsy delivered a speech of two hours' duration, which is said to have been " hot so racy as usual." On resuming her seat the Court gave judgment against her. She then turned round to the crowded Court, and, with feminine gracefulness of expression, asked if they " had eve; seen a greater swindle in all their born days."