THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3157, 1 April 1879, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 1879.

The .Cemetery. Committee met yesterday afternoon at the Borough Council Chambers. Present —The Mayor, County Chairman, Messrs Carpenter, Deeble and Hansen (in the chair). The financial position of the Committee was considered, and as nearly £100 were required for the grave pegs ordered and repairs to the road, Mr Carpenter moved that Wilson's paddocks—an endowment for cemetery purposes—the property of the Committee, be mortgaged. His Worship the Mayor strongly opposed such a course, as the revenue from the endowment' would be swallowed up in paying the interest upon the mortgage, and the money obtained was partly to pay for grave pegs- and other purposes not so urgently required. Mr Brodie and Mr Deeble both supported the motion, which was carried against the Mayor and Mr Ilansen. The . fees for grave digging and for burial sections were increased, and until the Committee was in a better position the cemetery care takers were to be employed only one day per week.

TiiEBE was a large muster of the Naval yesterday evening for the usual weekly drill, when fhe officers and men were exercised in sundry battalion movements by the Drill Instructor, SergeantMajor Grant, and acquired themselves most creditably. A'meeting was afterwards held, when a letter from Lieut. Bennett was read tendering his resignation as second Lieutenant, and the following proposition was unanimously carried: — " That the Thames Naval Brigade sincerely regret Lieut. Bennett's resignation, caused by his leaving this district, and elect him a life honorary member of the Brigade., ■ rThey ; alß° desire ;to place on record their appreciation of the untiring services rendered by him during the, seven . years he has served with the Brigade in the several capacities of Secretary, Paymaster, and Lieutenant, and would express their hope that the sword lately presented to him on his appointment as second Lieutenant will remind him in the future of the mutual goodwill which has existed between himself and his comrades in the Brigade. This resolution is, we understand* to be engrossed on. parchment and forwarded to Lieut. Bennett at Wellington.

We have great pleasure in stating that the net returns from the concert in aid of the Kaifangala Belief Fund amounts to £28 7s 6d. Great credit is due to the Grahamstown Vol. Fire Brigade, and especially to Fireman Wright, who from the first took the greatest interest in the matter. The patronage promised by the officers and members of the several corps was faithfully given, and of the Councillors only one, as far as the secretary is at present informed, did not attend, and has since returned the Lickels sent him. This is strange ;. scarcely, to be expected from the same gentlemrn who refused to contribute at a meeting of the Council, stating he preferred to get the editor of a local paper to give him a local for his contribution to another fund, and. is, perhaps, owing to the fact that on this occasion he could not see any prospect of getting an advertisement on the cheap. cause of the {widow and the fatherless we have always known to be well responded- to in this community, and feel a little ashamed that it should be said any person would give cause to the public to question his want of sympathy with so desirable an object. The amount at present to the credit of the fund is not more than £40 —a very small sum from such a large community as tbe Thames.

A meeting of Volunteer Officers will be held this evening for the purpose of making arrangements for the Waikato campaign.

We hear that the Sisters of Mercy will hold a bazaar here shortly.

At the R.M. Court this morning J. B. Steedman was fined Is and costs for permitting a pig to wander at la-ge at Tararu, and a cabman named James Maguire pleaded guilty to neglecting to take up his proper posHion on the cab stand, and was fined Is and costs. Col. Fraser, R.M., occupied the Bench.

The contractors for'railway reclamation No. 1 contract are making 1 good progress with the work. Two lines of tramway are running, and there are good facilities for gfett 4ng the stuff. The contractors purpose deriving a portion of their stuff from the hill near the Prince Imperial.

While fishing off Tararu a few days ago, Mr A. Thompson caught a shark over six feet in length. On opening it, the stomach was found to contain the sole of an old boot and several pebbles.

To-day is the first of April, of which fact doubtless many of our readers were apprised this morning by small boys endeavoring to make April fools of them. The origin of this custom on the Ist; of April is uncertain, though it is known to be very ancient, a proof of which may be gained from the fact that. the Hindoos amuse themselves'in. a similar manner on the 31st of March. Reference books give fully a dozen of the origins of All Fools' Day, all more or less improbable. It is most likely a remnant of'some old heathen festival, established shortly after the year one but long since forgotten:

If it were requited to describe the population of Hawera the term " Commis sion agents " would convey a pretty correct idea of the nature of its inhabitants ; and if anyone desires to know what is the source of attraction, we answer them '• land." The profits realised by purchasers and agents who act for them are at times hardly, credible. . We have the authority of the Chief Surveyor here that recently a gentleman bought some land tor £600 and a few days after sold it for £2,700. Not so bad!

The following from the Herald may be of interest to our local licensed victual' lers :—The two cases of alleged breaches of the Licensing Act preferred at the Police Court on Satu'-day, against H. C. Richmond, possess more than ordinary interest to hotel-keepers,—the first especially, aa it settles what has been apparently a moot question—the right of a publican to dispense liquors through an opening from his bar into adjoining premises. The circumstances of the case are somewhat peculiar. The City Buffet Dining-rooms, kept by Mr T. McEwen, adjoins the Nevada Hotel, and for the convenience,of those who might desire to have beer at their dinners or suppers, a trap window was opened in the partition for the sake of convenience, and to obviate necessity of the waiters in the dining-room having to go out of the one establishment into the other and back again. The police held that this was an evasion of the licensing laws, and laid a charge of selling liquor without a license against the proprietor of;,(he'hotel. The circumstances of the case, and the plans of the building shewing this'- opening, having been laid before the Resident Magistrate, he ruled that there was no actual breach of the law, and dismissed the case. In the second, instance, Mr Richmond was less fortunate. Either late on Saturday night, or a few minutes alter 12 p.m., a bottle of beer was passed through the opening referred to, for the use of two men who had come into the Buffet for supper. This was done in the presence of the Sergeant-Major of Police. The evidence for the prosecution was, that the time was after midnight, but rebutting evidence was produced to prove that it was before twelve. The Magistrate, however, ruled that this was immaterial; that, according to the Licensing Act, publicans holding twelve o'clock licenses were bound to close their houses and cease to transact business in liquor at 11 o'clock on Saturday nights. A fine of £10 and costs was inflicted. A good deal of interest was taken in the proceedings.

The Nelson School Inspector, according to his annual custom, expresses himself very strongly on the subject of "home lessons," as follows :-f"I will stale, once for all, and as definitely as possible, what to my thinking should be the measure of work after school hours. Children under eight or nine years old ought not to do any task at all after leaving the schoolroom. From children between nine and twelve years of age no more home work should be expected than c~n be fairly accomplished within an hour by scholars of average capacity. An hour and a half's work nightly is as much as should be required of scholars between twelve and fifteen. Even in the case of boys intending to take part in the; examinations "for the college scholarships, the preparation for which involves tie severest strain to which pupils in our primary schools are ever subjected, I maintain that the amount ot nightwork I have indicated is sufficient. Whatever may be the immediate result, I believe that in the long run the moderate but continuous effort I recommend will give a better mental training than one to be got from the detestable system of overburdening the unripe brains of children, which is one of the beset ing sins of .the age. The sound mind in a sound body (surely the true aim of all education) will be best attained by those who have not been well sacrificed to the paltry varity of teacher and parents.

In an article on Colonial Governors in the Melbourne Imperial Review, the following remarks occur :—" Sir J. Vogel spoilt his career by taking the AgentGeaeralship. There are rumors of his return to New Zealand, and we think it the right place' for drim. He is only acting a part in those feeble efforts in the way of magazine articles on the empire. Let the Blachfords and the Lowes do the twaddle, while the Beaconsfields and Vogels "act. But the fact is that.. Sir Julius is too fond of luxury. London is his Capua. Wellington was once. While Graham Beiry kept the little grocery shop in Prahran, Sir J. Vogel was the out at-elbows reporter at Inglewood. He missed his ambition of getting a seat in the Victorian Assembly, and went in a huff to New Zealand, or he might have guided the destiny of ,the; Australian continent."