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Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3062, 7 December 1878, Page 2

A teiegbah was received from Mr R. J. O'Sullivan, Inspector of Schools, asking that the,children's examination for the Committee's prize in arithmetic be postponed till Wednesday next, as being detained from Auckland he had been unable to prepare the arithmetical questions. .

The annual examination of the pupils attending the common schools, for what are known as " The Committees' Prizes," commenced at the Kauaeranga Boys' School to-day. There are nearly 50 competitors. The paper to-day was on history. . >

A lectuee will be delivered in' the Baptist Church on Monday evening by Mr G. Newell Philipps, on "Doctor Samuel Johnson and his con temporaries'." The lecture will be given in connection with the Thames Young Men's Christian Association.

On Tuesday evening an alfresco entertainment Will be given at Tararu Gardens in <the shape of an open air soiree and concert in connection with the Tararu Wesleyan Sunday School. This soiree will be quite a novelty, and certainly a very pleasant one if.the evening'is fine, as it is in every way preferable to being shut up in a close room for several hours streaming with perspiration. The gates will be opened at two o'clock in the afternoon, and tea will be served from sto 7 o'clock. The choirs of the two Wesleyan Churches will assist in the musical portion of the entertainment. We expect to see this unique entertainment largely patronised. . /

The ' delegates appointed by the Borough and County Councils to take steps to induce the Government to purchase the freehold of the goldfield, was held at the Council Chambers yesterday afternoon. Present: Messrs Ehrenfried (in the chair) Brodie, BrWn, Speight and McGowan. After some"conversation on the matter, Messrs Brodie, Speight, and McGowan were appointed a sub-commit-tee to prepare data for a report to be submitted 'to the general committee. The committee will then make representation on the matter to the Government.

At the Government range yesterday the superb medal of the Cadet Blue Jackets was competed for. -The ranges were 200 and 300 yards, five shots at each range. Cadet Moore was the successful competitor, with a score of 23 points, Cadet Watson and P.O. Pick being second and third, with ,the moderate score of 19 and 17 respectively. , Some of the ammu-" nition Was not very good,, or perhaps Cadet Moore's,score would have, been larger than it was, ho only firing seven shots. In the evening a meeting was held at the Volunteer Hall. Captain Bennett, after referring to. the present state of the company, intimated that he might be called away from them shortly, and advised them to select a substitute worthy of the position. Sub-Lieutenant Vernon's resignation was presented to the meeting, and w,as accepted with regret, as this officer has been always assiduous in endeavouring to forward the interests of the company. . At' the termination of the meeting Captain Bennett said Cadet Moore deserves credit for his good shooting, having won the raedal twice in succession on two previous occasions. , It was decided to have something engraved on the medal to the effect that it had'been won three times by Cadet Moore out of four competitions. Mr J. D. R. Gibbons was proposed aud seconded as secretary and paymaster, and will .be elected at next meeting. •

The quarterly ,'competition for the Thames District Belt eventuated to-day. There were 60 competitors, 21 from the Thames Scottish, and 17 from the Naval Brigade. The ranges were 200, 400, 500, and 600 yards, five shots at each range. The following were the principal scores of the morning squad :—Seaman Cameron, TNB, 63; Vol. McLeod, TS-V, 62 ; Seaman Johns, TiSB, 61; Seaman Hori Matine, TJSTB, 60; Sergt. Clarke, HE, 55; Lieut. Gavin, T.NB, 58 ; Seaman Armstrong, TNB, 58; P.O. Gordon, TNB, 56; Seaman Lukey, TNB, 59.

Theee is at present in circulation a lithograph cartoon re the Beer Duty. All the members of the Grey Ministry are represented standing up to the neck in a large foaming tankard ot' beer, while Johnny Ballance, attired la showman, is triumphantly pointing to the tankard emblematic of the Ministerial policy. The faces of the Ministers are very well drawn, those of the Premier and Mr Sheehan being especially recognisable.

The latest grievance of the Thames publicans is the matter of the " Tairua crossed orders." It appears that the Union Sash and Door Company, when paying off any'of their men,, are in the habit of giring them orders for what is due to them, crossed, and only payable in Auckland. The bushmen, therefore, spend most of their hard-earned cash in Auckland, add, though they hare to pass through the Thames on their Way thither, they spend but little here, though not infrequently they stick up considerable amounts at various hotels, promising to settle up when returning from their spree. This, however, they are not always able to do, as they generally get pretty well boiled down in Auckland. Several of our local hotel keepers have decided to cash crossed orders here, and go to the trouble of realising on them in.Auckland themselves. „/ ,

The Bay of Plenty Times says -.—Some Maori diggers from the Thames, who were on board the Taranaki at the time of the disaster, «ay,that if a Native had been at the wheel or on the look-out the accident would never have happened. One of them declares he whispered to the man on the look-out, ten minutes before the ship struck, that there was land ahead.

Thebe is to be a procession in Auckland to-morrow of Father Henneberry's converts to total abstinence, with medals* scarves and other insignia. It is said that 4000 people have, signified their intention to take the pledge.

- The Waikato Times,, in a leading article, says it has been determined to commence the Thames-Waikato Railway from Waikato'end, but does not say who has come to that determination.

The Herald, says Sir George Grey is expected to arrive in Auckland early next week. Whether he will deliver an address in Auckland will, very much depend upon the public. After a short stay in Auckland he will proceed to the Thames, where he is announced to address his constituents at an early date.

A good story comes from the vicinity of Taupo, Hot Springs, says the Auckland Star. The In spec tor-General of Schools, who happened to be in the vicinity a few weeks ago, invited a number of ladies to the native' school, in order to prove to them how these institutions were gradually civilising our dusky brethren. The school is under the management of a master who is a European. The ladies accepted the invitation, and the Inspector led the way.. On entering the establishment imagine the Inspector's astonishment on seeing the school-master had taken to the native customs of the district, and was dressed with a red blanket hanging from his loins downwards, without boots, • and a dirty flannel, 'open in the front, doing duty as shirt. Astounded at what he beheld, the Inspector beat a hasty retreat, and begged his female friends to postpone their visit to the inside of the school.for a few minutes; he then'interviewed the schoolmaster, who, to make himself presentable, put on an old coat, and thus attired received his visitors, who did not stop longer in the school than was necessary..

The Wellington Post has the following: —" Last Sunday (arid here, in the nomenclature, is the very source of the subject, it is ' Sunday,' not ' the Sabbath') the Key. Mr Reid, of the Wesleyan Chapel, Manners street, referred to what he termed the disgraceful disregard- of the Pabbajth which was displayed in Wellingtobj where railway trains run-on that day, where tramway cars passed along the streets, where mail steamers left the harbour, and where printers were compelled to work on the 'Sabbath-day ; ' in order to enable the proprietors to produce the Monday morning papers. So wroth was the reverend gentleman on this latter topic, that he. vigorously declared that ho person should read such prints; and that every Monday morning when the paper was delivered at the house of any rightminded person, such person should on the instant waft it' behind the fire/"

A noble action on the part of Sir Peter Coats, the eminent Paisley manufacturer, must not pass unrecorded. A relative of his was a partner in the . firm of Stevenson and Coats, grain millers; Glasgow, which failed last January for £100,000. The estate realised only enotfgh to pay the creditors 10s 4d in the £, whereupon Sir Peter came forward and paid the balance, together with 5 per cent, interest. A man like this deserves to be rich.

Above all things (says Professor Huxley, let my imaginary pupil have preserved freshness and vigor of, youth in his mind as well as the body. The educational abomination of desolation of the present day is the stimulation of young people to work at high pressure by incessant competitive examinations.' . Some wise man (who probably was not .air. early, riser) has said of early risers in general that they are conceited all the forenoon and stupid all the afternoon. Now, whether this is true of all the early risers in the world I cannot say, but in many instances all youthful freshness has been washed out of them by precocious mental debauchery—by book gluttony and lesson bibbing. Their faculties are worn out by the strain upon their callow brains, and .they are demoralised by worthless childish triumphs before the real work of life begins. I have no compassion for the sloth, but youth has more need for intellectual rest than age; and the cheerfulness, the tenacity of purpose, the power of work which make many a successful man what he ig must be placed to the credit, not of his hours of industry^ but to that of his hours of idleness in boyhood. Even the hardest worker of us all, if he has to deal with anything above mere details, will dp well, now and again, to let his brain lie fallow for a space. The next'crop of thought will certainly be aIF the fuller in* the ear, and the weeds fewer.

A correspondent of a contemporary writing from London says-—There has been considerable talk about a case of marriage- with deceased husband's brother which took place -two-and-twenty years ago. The union resulted in nine children, with a tenth in prospect. A week pr two ago, the father of these children took it. into his head to desert their mother, who had been his wife for two-and-twenty ! years, to marry another woman. The Jaw I

was on this fellow's side. All -the forsaken mother could do, was to sue him for the maintenance of her illegitimate children, which she did, and got 5s a week feach for those under thirteen! Will our law makers wait for more such cases?/

I wondee (says Atlas in the World), whether the secret history of the Berlin Congress will ever be written. If so, the springs which brought it about will be found to have .been not of political, but of personal origin. N »Th<v story will reveal how, at Lord Beaconsfield'j instigation, the Queen wrote a private letter to tl>e Emperor William, pointing out, in pathetic language, the misery which a war would entail, not less on the great European reigning families than on their subjects. How, moved by this appeal, the Kaiser stirred to action his great, and previously supine, Minister", whose notorious view of the Eastern Question was that it was not worth the sound limbi of one Pomeranian soldier. How, also, the Imperial veteran wrote to his nephew of Russia,'and to his nephew's son's wife; and so, finally, how the matter was got into diplomatic tram.

A coNTBiBTJTOEtothe Melbourne Leader say» :—" I left the racecourse immediately after the great race on Tuesday, and leftFlinders street by a 5 30 train. At one of the intermediate stations we met a return holiday train from Brighton laden with young folk who had been enjoying themselves ' far from the maddening crowd's ignoble strife' In some of the carriages they were singing temperance songs let to popular airs, and in othen Sunday school hymns ; tut when our train pulled up alongside theirs a hundred heads Were put out of the windows, and ■ a hundred eager .voices shouted out,' Who won the Cup ?' From which it appears that keeping away from-the Saltwater Eiver did not destroy all interest in the exciting events that took place there."

The special correspondent of the Melbourne Argus says :—" It is understood that the Paris Exhibition has been a financial failure.. According to the calculations made by the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, an average daily attendance of 77,000 persons, paying each If., was required to produce the sum of 14 millions of francs (£560,000) set down as the probable .receipts. Up to the present time, the average daily attendance has failed to exceed 60,000 persons; and however productive the month of September and October,"described as the best months for visitors, may be, there will be a deficit of from £80,000 to £100,000 as far as the budget of receipts is concerned. The expenses incurred in organising and building the exhibition, and .the excess of cost in constructing the palace and' grounds on the Trocadero may be put down at £1,812,000. The building materials on the Champ de Mars have been included in the budget of receipts as Worth £280,000, and even should they fetch as much as expected, and everything go on as well as possible, there must be a total deficit 'of at least 13,000,000f. (£520.000); Per. contra, the Exhibition has been a great success at far as France is concerned.',' ■ . :

Questions concerning tobacco.—What clinical evidence is there of the good or/ bad effects of tobacco smoking ? ' There is a general opinion that smoking is harmful for adolescents; less harmful—-or as some think, useful as well as agreeable— to adults. Is there anything positively known oh the subject, apart from mere loose guessing? Considering the mast of loose assertion, and vague speculation which has been floating about so long, we are singularly devoid of crisp quotable evidence on the subject. Can any of the nine thousand,'medical practitioners who weekly read these columns, produce, from their reading or their experience, well', defined evidence of any sort as tp the effects of tobacco smoking on average healthy individuals at different periods of development ? We -have heard- of ■ the smoker's tongue, of tobacco amaurosis, and of the smoker's dyspepsia. How far is smoking a source of evil, and to whom P The question is, it appears, entering into the, phase of legislation in Germany— What are* the facts P-— British Medical Journal. ;