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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2995, 20 September 1878, Page 2

Thb Triennial Parliaments Bill has been rejected by the House. The arguments in favor of the Bill were that it would be a corrective' against the alleged difficulty of obtaining a dissolution, and that.with the rapid strides made by the colony, to secure proper representation of constituencies parliaments should be elected more often than at present. Against these pleas it was urged that triennial parliaments would entail needless expense on poor members by compelling them to go before their constituents and contest elections more often than was required, thereby- discouraging good men from Undertaking the work of a representative. Neither side appeared to be very warmly advocated. The principle of the bill, the Premier long ago expressed himself favorable to, but the bill was introduced by Dr Wallis.. Had it been made a Government bill perhaps it would have met with a different fete, as it was supported by four members of the Ministry, and of the 18 appearing in the division list in favor of the bill, besides the Ministers eight Auckland members voted for it. Some hon. members, we fear, opposed the bill for the same reason that they keep their opposition to Ministers within due boupds ; they are doubtful of the result of an appeal to the constituencies, which would follow the passing of the Triennial Parliaments Bill, or a dissolution, very closely.

The new* helmets for the Thames Scottish Volunteers, No, 1 company, arrived here last night, and were opened to-day by Mr Muir, the company's tailor, in splendid condition. The helmets are very handsome, and will greatly enhance the appearance of the company. They are of a black felt, and in front is a handsome metal badge, surmounted with a crown and surrounded by the words " Thames Scottish Volunteers." A chain chin strap and a spike complete the metal adornments. The difference between the helmets of the officers and men is that the mountings of the former, are silver,

and the latter bronze. The exhibition of several of these handsome head-dresses in Mr Muir's window and at Mr Lawless' to-day attracted a good deal of attention.

We hear that the Star Magnet Variety Troupe, of which young Hurley was a member, intend giving a performance shortly for the purpose of raising money to erect a headstone and fence round his grave.

Lovebs of the noble game of billiards would do well to pay a visit to Mr J. C. Williams' new billiard room adjoining the Provincial Hotel. Mr Williams has just imported, direct from the makers, one of Thurston and Co.'s (of London) best bil* Hard tables, with all appliances, at a cost of £175, The table is the first of Thurston's ever brought here, and there are but a few in the colony. The cues are all beautifully inlaid, and amongst the etceteras is a handsome and novel marking frame, with apparata for marking every kind of game played on, the table. This importation will make Mr Williams' room one of the completest and best in the province. ,

Mr Leonabd Stone, of Wellington, Clerk of the Legislative Council, has applied for a " patent for an invention for performing sums in addition of all kinds." • . , ,

It is stated that Mr R. J. Creighton has been offered, and has accepted, the editorial charge of the New Zealand Herald, and will bid adieu to San Frandisco for the purpose of entering his old sphere in Auckland. '

Commodobe J. C. Wilson, who has been appointed to succeed Commodore Hoskins on the Australian station, is an officer of the Royal, Navy who has seen some service;. but he is noted more particularly for his having been connected, in a considerable degree, with the naval training of boys. He has the reputation' of being a good officer, and, under Admiral Sir James Hope, .was present at the taking of the Feiho Forts, China, about the year 1857, Before that time, however, he was commander on board H.M.'s. Bombay, which was burnt off Monte Video in 1864. His latest ship has been H.M.s/ Thunderer, on board of which, in July, 1877, he.narrowly escaped losing his life when one of the ship's boiler's exploded, and about forty men were kilhd. Before being in the Thunderer he served in the Impregnable. Thrto years is the time for which a Commodore on this station is appointed, and this period, it is understood, will elapse between the date of Commodore Hoskins's appointment and that of Commodore Wilson's arrival here. With regard, to the movements of the men-of-war now' on. the Australian station, it is expected that the Sappho and the Nymphe will return home first, but the.Sappho will probably pay a visit to New Guinea.— Sydney Morning Herald, September 10. The special of the Herald at Welling- j ton wires the following under date Wednesday night:—Last night, after Mr Sheehan had delivered his Native Statement, a numerous end pleasant party assembled for supper in one of the upper rooms of the Assembly buildings. Tt was a party given by the Hon. Jo tin > Martin, and at which something like forty : persons, including four Cabinet Ministers,' were present by special, invitation., There were also present a few strangers, including amongst them some Auckland visitors. Dr. Kilgour (the Mayor of Thames), Mr Brodie (the County chairman), Mr James Russell, and, need I add, the writer of these lines. It was, as may be supposed, a very excellent and pleasant gathering, lasting about an hour and a-half, and altogether was as.enjoyable a ~ reunion as might be wished. Mr Fyke's jokes flowed as freely as did the choice claret, and Mr Rees' keen tongue was active in: good natured chaff. There were some choice speeches and much good humor. , Everyone was as decorous as could be' desired. An entertainment of this kind should not be mentioned here properly, as, although given within. the Assembly precinct.., the banquet' was, properly speaking,-a private one, but it has been made public by threats on the part of the Hon. Mr Reynolds, that tall stickler for trivial, formalities, who declares he will raise the question of privilege regarding this gathering. 'He is now said to be engaged searching for precedents, and then, when he has found them, he will loftily condemn these jovial gatherings ; just as if he were above cakes and ale bimrelf J I suppose this sort of narrative may by courtesy be ternred special correspondence, but the fact of such gossip being tele^rupbrd at all shows the poverty of the times in news, and my own avoidance of that inventive genius, of which I perceive such manifold evidence elsewhere.

From a private letter, dated September 9th, from a gentleman in Sydney to ia Thames resident, we extract the follow-; ing, which may be of interest to our readers :— " Edwards, the champion walker of New Zealand, started on a walking match in the Guildhall on Friday night at nine o'clock. He intended doing 110 miles in 24 hours, but failed, as by nine o'clock 1 i Saturday night he had only completed 102 miles and two laps. The performance, however, gave jnuch satisfaction to the visitors, who came in great numbers to see your New Zealand Lion, and at the finish they subscribed liberally to reward him for his pluck. He has challenged any man in Australia to a 24t or 48 hours' match.— Next Saturday is the day fixed for the grand sculling match between Messenger, of Melbourne, and Laycock, of Sydney. The latter is the favorite.—l went to the Kandwick Baces, and amongst other things I watched a man—one of the black leg fraternity — doing the half-crcwn trick, viz., putting three *or four half-, crowns in a purse and selling purse and contents for half-a crown. The buyer, however, generally found that the conteats were only three pennies. Thinking I saw through the dodge, and taking particular totice of his movements, I gave him half-a-crown, and took the purse quickly from his hand. On opening it I found it contained one half-crown', and four pence. I again tried my luck, but this time the purse only contained three pence.—Your Thames Volunteers could lick out of shape anything in that line I have ever seen here, either in drill or shooting. Get up a shooting team acd come over and thrash us. We want some of the cheek caused by out cricketing victories taken out of us.—l meet Thames people here daily, and most of them are doing very well."

Mb R. Bbough Smith's recently-pub-lished work on the aborigines of Austratralia, furnishes the following legend of a deluge:~" A long time ago, when the father belonging to you and me was alive, there was a very great flood; all the country, was under water, and all the blackfellows were drowned except a man and two or three women, who took refuge in a mud island near Fort Albert; The water was all round them. The pelican, sailing about in his bark canoe, saw these , poor people, and west round to help, them. One of the women was so beautiful that h' fell in love with her. When ■he wanted to get into tbe canoe he said, 'Not now, next time'; so that ferrying the others one by one to the main-' laud, she was left to the last. She became frightened, and being .a cunning woman, she wrapped a log of wood up in her possum rug, and laid it by the, fire to look • J ike her. When the pelican came back he said, ' Come on now.' Receiving no reply he became angry, and going to the supposed woman lying by the fire, he gave her a kick, when he at once found out the trick that had been played upon him. Then he was very angry, and began to paint himself white tojook out and fight with the,blackfellows. When he Was half painted another pelican wjtae by, and not knowing what sach a queVr black-and-white thing was, struck the first pelican with his beak and killed him. Before that, pelicans were all black ; but now they are black-and-white, and'that is' the reason.'' , The Spectator, in a recant review of 'Robert Raikes, Journalist and Philanthropist, by .Alfred Gregory has the following:— '* We notice, as *a curious instance of changed manners, that towards the close of the last century it was the custom at Manchester for the chief magistrate of the town, attendedby the church-warden and police officers, to go out of the church while the first lesson Wat being read, and to compel all persons found,in the streets ,to, come into the church or'pay a fee, which in the case of persons of Ihe lower class was fixed at one shilling, aud for those of higher rank a halr'-a-crown; ■ •