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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2991, 16 September 1878, Page 2

The attendance at drill of the members of the newly enrolled JSo. 2 Scottish, keeps as good as ever, and some of the recruita, as well as others who have previously served as volunteers, are rapidly acquiring the steadiness and proficiency which marks the well drilled soldier or volunteer. The results are so encouraging that the formation of a third company is entertained, and it may not bo long before this is actively entered upon, the sanction of the Government to such a proceeding being morally certain.

Some time ajjo the Thames Volunteers whose claims to land scrip would be invalidated by the passing of the Volunteer Lands Act sent a petition to the Government pointing oat the injustice of depriving men of their scrip, many of whom had become volunteers in the expectation of getfing the same at the exniry of five years. Yesterday one of the petitioners, Mr James Smith, received a letter from the Premier under date July 31st, stating he would have much pleasure in presenting it. As nothing has yet been heard of its presentation to the House, the petitioners,' we believe, intend to institute enquiries as to the cause of the delay; ' , - ' •

" E.D." wbites concerning the late Borough election, but we-expunge that portion reflecting on some of the defeated candidates. On the rejection of Mr Renshaw he says :—" Just a word or two ire Kenshaw : the electors have lost the services of one who served them as faithfully as they may ever be. I quite agree, with 'An Elector/ The Council can do with some fresh blood, but at the same time can ill-afford to lose so old and respected a public servant. Of those who are newly elected to the Council, not the least serviceable one will be, Mr Speight— an educated politician—and one who should have been there long ago. The ' Aristocrat' should make a pretty good Council* lor, but the obstacle will be, I'm afraid, that only rarely will he make his appear* ance at the Council's meetings."

Thi funeral of George Hurley, the victim of the accident at the Volunteer Hall, took place yesterday. The remains were followed to the grave by a large number of the friends of deceased and the members of the gymnastic Club to which the deceased belonged. Several of the lads acted as chief mourners, and carried the coffin from the hearse to the cemetery. ,

We have been requested by a resident of Sealey street to call the attention of the Inspector of Nuisances, the Police, or the Borough sexton who does the last office for deceased dogs and other four-footed animals, that there is a dead goat in the gutter of Sealey street which has for some days past been a nuisance to the neighbourhood, and is now becoming so offensive that windows and doors hare to be kept closed to prerent the foul exhalations from the putrid carcase invading the houses of people residing in the neighborhood; This is a nuisance that surely does not require the authority of a by-law or the interference of the Works Committee to secure its reremoval. , „-. .:_. ,;,>. , ..' '-^ .., : ,.V j; . At the R.M. Court this morning ifwo persons charged with; drunkenness were dealt with in the usual manner. A butcher, for a breach of Borough By-laws, was fined 40s, and costs. William Smith, a half-caste, was charged with stealing two blankets, one looking-glass, and one towel, of the value of 10s, the property of William Kolton. Defendant pleaded guilty, and was .sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labor. ; ',

The all-comers' competition at the Brown street rifle gallery during the evenings of last week resulted in the prize—a splendid landscape of Rhine scenery —beings won by Private George <White, of the No. 2 Scottish Company, who scored 27 out of the possible 30 in six shots. Another picture is again offered by the speculative gallery proprietor as an all-comers' prize for the current week. .

A ,NUMBBii of the members of the Union Cricket Club met at Tararu on Saturday for their first practice. A scratch match was played, and several of the players put very respectable scores together.

The alleged incapacity of one of the gentlemen elected to represent the Middle Ward in. the Borough Council at the polling on Thursday last is likely, we hear, to be the ȟbject of inquiry at the instance of Mr Benshaw at the first meeting of the Borough Council taking place after the return of the Mayor. The matter has been much canvassed since the result of the poll was made known, and it was expected that the candidate polling the next highest number of votes would have claimed to be declared elected, but rumour has it that he is in the same fix as his more successful opponent, and cannot therefore with any show of success move in the matter. We shall not at present offer any opinion on the merits of this case, for if all that is hinted at be true there has been perpetrated some dirty work that will involve serious consequences to the perpetrators. Enough has been already said to warrant" an inquiry, and if it should turn out as some people assert it will, then has one gentleman to whom the burgesses gave

their rotes and returned as a Councillor been scurvily "treated.. That there is something in the rumors, we have proof, bilt what amount of blame for carelessness or worse may attach to some persons in office remains to be proved or disproved, which an inquiry should do promptly.

A telegram was received from the Mayor this morning stating that he had an appointment with Ministers to-day, and that he would probably leave in; the Hawea on Wednesday next.

We noticed in Mr Healy's shop, Mary street, on Saturday last, an unusual display of cauliflower—the finest show of this vegetable we ever remember to have seen here or anywhere else. We were informed they were grown at Parawai.

These are whisperings to-day, says the correspondent of the Herald* about dissolution, and some members of both sides of the House are somewhat excited thereby. Not that, I believe, the Government are favorable to such a consummation, but, of course, if obstructive opposition is offered to the Government measures, and this is threatened, there seems some probability of this result, notwithstanding the distaste with which it is viewed, especially by new members.

The Post has the following notice, which has not until now obtained publicity :~" It is whispered that His Excellency the Governor and the Colonial magnates who occupied the special train from Lyttelton to Christchurch on the occasion of the opening of the Christ, church and Dunedin railway had a narrow if nofe a hair-breadth escape of summary annihilation in Lyttelton tunnel, through which there is only a single line of ra'ls. It appears from the statement made to' us by certain passengers who were in one of the ordinary trains from Christchurch to Lyttelton on that occasion, that the train last mentioned left Heath cote station, which is just at the Christchurch end of the tunnel, and entered the tunnel an its way to Lyttelton. Suddenly the train was signalled to stop and back out of the tunnel, which it did, going into a siding at the Heathcote station. This was hardly accomplished, and the train only just off the main line, when the " special," containing his Excellency the Governor,' emerged from the tunnel, and passed the station at full speed. Had the ordinary train been a minute late in getting back, a disastrous collision must have occurred. The explanation given is that a telegram announcing the departure of the special : rom Lyttelton did not reacli Heathcote

until just after the " ordinary " bad started. Hence both trains entered the tunnel at opposite ends simultaneously. The escape certainly was a very narrow one. •■ ■.. . ■ • ■•.•■•-. / ■ .. >, ,\

Gue old friend Mr J. L. Hall, after an unprecedentedly successful run with "Our Girls "in Melbourne, is'now playing the same piece at the Theatre Royal* Sydney, noticing which the critic of the The Mail says :■ —Of Mr Hall's Captain Gingah we hardly know how to say enough. In the narrative given above we have, scarcely mentioned him, for his existence is not actually essential to the story,; but he is the, life and soul of the piece nevertheless. Points and situations are made for him from beginning to end, not one of which does Mr Hall miss, and, what is more pleasing still, nothing is exaggerated. There are few actors who could resist the opportunities for gag which the part offers, but Mr Hall gives us a delineation that is wonderfully lifelike and real—-having per* haps by this time worked up all available " gag " into the text, as Mr Southern did in the character of Lord Dundreary. Every line uttered, every gesture made, is a complete study; add there is such an evenness of character pieserved throughout. In the passage of wit with Fanshawe, the quarrel with Tipkins, the love scene with Mrs Gunn, and all the hundred-arid-one racy episodes which are entrusted to him, nothing palls, nothing is carriedto, excess, that intoxicated walk off the stage, in the second act is a sight to see J It does not take four seconds in execution, but it is a masterly piece of simulation. Mr Hall has made Captain Gingah his own; and if in the portrayal of other characters he displays the same ability as he does in this,' we have no hesita-on in saying that we have at the Theatre Royal at the present time a remarkably clever actor.

The critics of olden days (says Figaro): were far more prudish than we are new.; In an old number of the Examiner, dated June 5, 1808, the Viola of Mrs Jordan '<■ was wildly slaughtered by the critic; and it most be borne in mind that the critic in question was none other than Leigh Hunt. He said: "What pleasure or what information Mrs Jordan intended to give us by her dress in Viola, I know not, but with all my respect for the talent, of this actress, I was completely disgusted at her appearance, and in this feeling I am sure I was accompanied by every rational person in the nouse. She appeared in thin white breeches and stockings that fitted her like her own skin, and just over her waist hung a Test, s^ill thinner, of most transparent black lade. I shall not be exact in my description lest I should appear to be writing upon anatomy; but if ever woman was in* genious enough to be effectively though not actually naked, such a woman was Mrs Jordan on Tuesday. Every decorous female in the house must have felt wretched. The display was as absurd as it was immoral. Viola, though she put on male attire, was a most virtuous girl; helpless love induced her to adopt the dress, and she followed the object of her affection as his page, yet she was so modest and diffident that 'she. never told her love.' Now, a female who would thus scrupulously conceal her mind would certainly make no violent display of her person; and) therefore^ Viola should have been really disguised, and not undressed as a woman under pretence of being , dressed as a man." If poor old Leigh Hunt coy Id .only have seen a modern burleßquo or a French operabouffe! .... I '

On the night of Monday, July Bth, 2058 Volunteers of all ranks slept in the camps at Wimbledon, an. increase of 474 oyer \he number of the corresponding night of last year. As a rule the N.R.A. Camp was singularly quiet, though there was tome noise after hours in one or two tents, and one individual behaved in a very discreditable manner, and was. re* quested to leave the camp, as he will; no doubt, be requested to leave the Service. The regimental camps, as usual, were maintained in perfect order and quiet^ Mbs Besant has been allowed to [ appeal from the judgment di the Muter of the Bolls. In her comment on the judgment she says :—•" Of one thing Sir G. Jessell and his Christian friends may be sure, that neither persecution nor penalty will prevent me from teaching both Atheism and Malthusianism to all who will listen to me, and since Christians are so bigoted as to take the child from the mother because of a difference of creed, I will strain every nerve to convert the men and women around me, and more especially the young, to a creed more worthy of humanity."

The American Legislature has prohibited the employment of girls as barmaids. The hotelkeepers are not, however, to be outdone, and they now post young ladies in front of the bars, calling them "conversationists." Their only duty is to walk up to male customers with a bright smile and copious flow of small talk, pour out their tea and coffee, or sit down tor a few minutes beside them, and chatter on the topics of the hour.

As for the social aspect of the nineteenth annual Wimbledon meeting, there is not much to be said. Every year, says a London contemporary, some well-known faces disappear, but there are still enough old competitors who look forward to the Wimbledon fortnight as the pleasantest holiday of the year, and as the rendezvous of many of their old cronies, and the tent on the Common as the best' Sanatorium. With one unhappy exception, and that quite unconnected with the shooting, there has been no mischance of any importance, and, also with one exception, there has been no misconduct on the part of the two thousand Volunteers under canvas. The result of the order, that no man shall shoot for all-comers' prizes who wears any mixture of plain clothes and uniform, has had a very happy effect; and we have little doubt that this order and the good example shown as to dress and etiquette by the men in regimental camps, will ere long shame the Volunteers of the old free and easy school into better behaviour. „.,...