THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Returrexi. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3104, 29 January 1879, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Returrexi. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1879.

To-day is the 39th anniversary of the founding of the Colony of New Zealand. The banks and other placei of business here were closed, the day being observed here by the children's annual Sunday School Festival, and at Auckland the annual regatta took place

The annual treat to the children attending the various Sunday Schools here took place to-day. The S. George's Sunday School, to the number of 430, marched from their Schoolroom, Rolleston street, to the Grabamstown terminus of the Grahamstown and Tararu Tramway, and were conveyed in trucks and carriages to Tararu Gardens, where they amused themselves in orthodox manner. The Tararu Road Wesleyan and Tararu Presbyterian (Sunday Schools also passed the day in Tararu Gardens. The following Sunday Schools mustered at the foot of Mary street,'and marched to Parawai:— Grahamstown and Shorthand Wesloyan, Baptist, Primitive Methodist, Presbyterian and Independent. The procession was headed by a drum and fife band, and was gaily ornamented with banners, etc. Several hymns were sung en route. There were close on 1500 children in the procession. The day was passed in the usual juvenile amusements, and all appeared to enjoy themselves heartily.

Quite a number of Thames people left by the Rotomabana last ni«ht to be present at the annual regatta at Auckland to-day. It is very much to be regretted that the non-arrival of the new gig being imported by the Thames Rowing Club has precluded the possibility of some of our local men competing in the rowing matches. However, several craft hailing from this port will compete in the sailing matches.

The Naval gun boat Victoria, with a crew under command of Capt. Wildrnan and Lieut. Lawless, left Grahamstown this morning for a trip to the Miranda side of the Gulf.

The only business at the R.M. Court this morning was the disposal of a case of drunkenness in which the defendant was punished in the usual manner. Mr H. C. Lawlor. J.P., presided.

Wu are glad to learn. from Captain Watson that the new uniforms for No. 2 Scottish hare arrived in Auckland by Hero. There are in all fire cases. Besides the uniforms and helmets there are nevy instruments and other appointments for tho bands, officers' swords, waist and shoulder belts, &c. The shipment may be expected by first steamer from Auckland.

The schooner Advance sailed up the river this morning to load timber at Bagnall Bros', sawmill for Mr J. C. Morgan of Gisborne.

We would remind our readers of the Foresters' anniversary soiree, concert and dance, which takes place this evening at the Academy of Music. Tea will be on the tables at half-past six o'clock. His Worship the Mayor will preside at the concert.

The provisional directors of the Thames Flour Mill Company met last night, and adopted the rules of association. There is every prospect of the company being successfully floated, and we trust the directors will at once set afcout having all the preliminary works commenced. At the present time such an industry would be of great help in the place, and the establishment of industries is a subject that should receive attention iv this community.

A Goveenment Gazette Extraordinary of January 11 further prorogues Parliament to the 14th March. In a Gazette of the 16th inst. appears the notification of payment of money on and entry into of negotiations for the purchase of the following Native lands in the Hauraki District:—Wai hi, Nob. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 blocks. The appointment of Louis Ehrenfried, Esq., of Thames, as Justice of the Peace, is notified. The resignations of Capt. J. E. Macdonald and Sub-Lieut. E. B. Cameron, No. 2 Thames Scottish, are accepted. The first meeting of the Board of Governors of the Thames High School is fixed for February 4th, at the Thames Borough Council Chambers. Louis Adolphus Durrieu is appointed auditor of accounts of School Commissioners and Education Board in Auckland Provincial District. The designation of the Waitoa Post Office is altered to Morrinsville. Tenders are invited for the supplying of ICD,OOO tons of steel rails up to Sept. 30th, 1879, to be manufactured within the colony from New Zealand ore, the Government agreeing to pay one-half the cost of conveyance to the colony by sea of workmen to be engaged in the manufacture. It is a curious fact that iv this Colony there is a great scarcity of school teachers, the supply being perfectly inadequate to the demand. The Auckland Board of Education alone could fill up some 25 vacancies, we believe, at the present moment. This dearth of teachers, how* ever, appears in a great measure to be peculiar to New Zealand, schoolmasters being glad to leave the sister colonies of Victoria and New South Wales to follow their occupation here. The chief cause of this is very apparent when the matter is carefully considered. There is not sufficient inducement held out to men to follow the pedagogio profession. Fully eighty per cent, of those who come up for examination are females, who look upon school teaching in the same light as others do on service—only a make shift till they are rnarricl and settled for life. Thus it is that the staff of teachers is continually changing, and that there is always a demand for teachers. Males are much better adapted by nature for the duties of school teaching than females, and consequently we consider that. it would be advisable to offer the former superior inducements. We may mention that the Telegraph Department some years ago started the employment of young ladies as electricians. It was discovered, however, that as fast as they mastered the business they married and left it, and we believe the practice of taking females into the department has been abandoned. The Herald's report of the last Waste tanas Board meeting has the following :— Thames. —Eugene Hale enquired whether lands at Karaka, Thames, will be opened for settlement. It was agreed that the applicant be informed that the lands in question are not under the control of the Board. The Thames County Council forwarded a copy of a letter from F. A. Pulleine, suggesting that the County, or Borough and County, should offer 'a premium for the best, essay setting forth a scheme of settlement of the lands in the Upper Thames. It was agreed that the Board would be happy to receive any suggestion from the County, but could not bind themselves to adopt any. James McGuire applied to be allowed to take up lands at Te Aroha on the deferred payment system. The application, of course, could not be entertained until the lands were declared open for selection. The following table—extracted from the Registrar General's Report on the vital statistics of the Boroughs of Auckland, Thames, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hokitika and Invercargill for the month of December—gives the population, number of births and deaths, and proportion of deaths to the 1000 of population of each borough:—

By the death in the hunting-field of Major G. J. Whyte Melville, of Melville Mount, St. Andrew's, Fifesnire, English Belles Lettres loses one of its most distinguished representatives. In chronicling the every-day life cf certain Sections of the upper ten thousand at home just as they are, and for a description of the hunting-field and the chase—so life like that the reader almost feels the mad pleasurable excitement of a crosscountry gallop himself—Whyte Melville has rarely, if ever, been equalled. The familiar military looking figure was almost daily to be seen during the London season in the Lady's Mile about six o'clock, and his sudden death now leaves a gap in English society which, in many respects, will be difficult to fill.

One of (be saloon carriages forming the special train from Ballarat on Saturday evening (say? a Melbourne paper of December 23rd) was lighted with gas instead of the ordinary kerosene or oil lamps. Tho light was greatly admired, and it was found .that the smallest print in the Argus could be read without difficulty in any part of the carriage. The gas is carried in two cylinders under the floor of the carriage. It is made from the shale oil, and compressed by a two-horse engine to a pressure of 1001b. to the inch. By an ingenious piece of mechanism the gas is regulated at the burners to a pressure of a column of water three-fourths of an inch, tho lowest pressure in Melbourne being a coluum of an inch high. The advantages in favour of gas are very great. The light is an excellent one, being fully double that of the best; kerosene lamp. All the labour of cleaning is done away v.ith, and there is no loss from breakages. j

Borough. Estimated Population. Total Births. Total Deaths. Proportion of Deaths to 1000 of population. Auckland .. Thames .... Wellington.. Nelson .... Christchurch Dunedin.... Hokitika .. Invercargill.. 13,732 5,425 19.037 6,603 13,402 22,491 3,244 3,761 36 18 113 18 41 72 7 18 29 10 28 7 27 25 1 2 4 2-11 1-84 1-48 1-06 2-01 111 0-07 1-06 Totd.... 323 132 i_____ > . I .. I I ..