THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3158, 2 April 1879, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1879.

Mb Mackay is again at the front, as may be gathered from our telegraphic items: talking yesterday to Titokowaru, and now on his way to see Te Whiti. He seems in his element when native troubles abound, and has usually been very successful in his negotiations with our discontented native friends. We believe the Government have shown wisdom in sending Mr Mackay, whose great tact in the arrangement of native difficulties is too well known to require comment, and we trust that his mission will produce results satisfactory to both races. Perhaps Mr Mackay'a only fnnlt in connection with JfeflTfl -matters is his reckless daring, which has more than once nearly cost him his life. We trust his experiences in the Waikato will have taught him more caution.

||We are informed by the Telegraph Department that all the wires south of Tauranga are down.

Xlt is stated that a firm of brewers in Auckland intend purchasing several hotels upon the Thames, in order to make an opening for the sale of their beer and porter. This may be.considered a kind of retaliation upon our local manufacturers, who, it is well known have established a good market in Auckland for Thames beers.

At the meeting of the Volunteer officers held last evening, a telegram was read from the Government stating that in all probability the Hinemoa would be in Auckland waters during Easter, when there would be no difficulty In the Volunteers obtaining the use of her. After some discussion the meeting was adjourned till Friday.

A weiteh in the Bruce Herald says :— The buildings of the National Bank of New Zealand, Milton, are being whitewashed. The process is being watched with painful interest by a number of local gentlemen who-have been subjected to a similar treatment by the bank.

A aiKETiNa of Ilio coinmitteo of G.V. Firo Brigade, who bad tho management of tho lato benefit performance for the Kaitantfata Eelief Fund, is called by the hon. treasurer of tho brigade for this evening at 7 o'clock, in order to balance up accounts.

The Borough aspbalters hare completed the asphalting of the block between Marystreet and the Karalra Bridge, and now there is a good footpath from the latter point to Willoughby street, which will be much appreciated during the winter. Gentlemen from the South, who hare inspected our asphalt footpaths, pronounce them lo be superior to any they have seen in Southern cities.

' The Hon. Treasurer of the Grahamstown Volunteer Fire Brigade has received from the New Zealand Insurance Company a special donation of £2 10s in recognition of the services of the Brigade at the late fire in Owen street. Also donations of 10s 6d from Mr Jeffrey, and 5s from Mrs Fletcher to the funds of the Brigade.

Elopements are managed on a large scale in California. A book-canvasser was arrested recently for running away with a farmer's wife and a family of five—two boys, a girl of four summers, and a pair of twins seven months old. The disturber of domestic peace had not utterly despoiled her delightful husband. Five were taken, but two were left to work on the old man's farm.

The Emperors of Russia and of Germany, says " Atlas," seem to have been put rather out of spirits by the late regicidal attempts. Both of them speak pf the short time they have still to live, the latter particularly dwelling upon it. According to the official paper, his words were as follows ; —" We have arrived at an era which endeavors to overthrow princes, in the fallacious hope of arriving at a better state of things. As far as concerns me, I can, according to all human probability, expect to live but a short time longer, I commend my life to Providence ; and the criminal tendencies of the age will not prevent me from accomplishing my duties as a Sovereign, as I have always heretofore done.

A notable Arctic discovery has just been made by the Swedish traveller ]Vordenskjold ; do !ess a one than the solution of the great problem of the North-East Passage, which has vexed voyagers and geographers for centuries. This traveller has long been convinced that it was possible to pass the mouths of the Obi and Yenesei, and to communicate with Behring's Straits, and a short while back fitted out an expedition to determine the question. In spite of dense fogs and dangerous coasts, large icebergs and frozen seas, the little steamer forced its way ©nwards, and in the middle of last August saw, reached, and doubled Cape Tscheljuskin, the northernmost point of the old world, never before passed by any other navigator. That Nordenskjold will reach Behring's Straits is now a matter of certainty, and in all probability we shall soon receive a telegram from him from some port on the Pacific Coast. Apart from the glory of the discovery, and the valuable scientific results of the dredging and trawling incessantly carried on, there is now open to the rich countries of the East" a direct market with European Russia, and .Archangel will become a port of vast importance. The results which will, flow from this momentous voyage can hardly be over-estimated. From another quarter of the Arctic seas news tomes that there is almost a certainty of the remains and relics of Sir John Franklyn being found at last. And tbus in this eventful year the two great problems of Arctic voyaging bid fair to be finally solved.

Some sensational items are in store for newspaper paragraphists if Mr Varley is a true prophet. He is credited with having recently said in the course of a lecturj he delivered at Wellington:— 11 Twenty years at furthest would see the first of the three Judgments. Then all Christians would be snatched up bodily into Heaven. The mother and daughter would be sleeping together—the one would be taken and the other left; two men would be working together in the fields—one would be taken and the other left. Did he actually mean in sober earnest that this v. ouid be the case, and that all the Christians would be taken bodily out of the world, leaving no trace behind? Yes, he meant that; and the newspapers would be taken up for some time to come with the extraordinary and mysterious disappearance of a large number of persons. They would be gone 'as a thief in the night.' " —Exchange.

The great American actor, Edwin Booth, has been asked by the editor of a New York religious paper to give his opinion, in print, of the modern theatre. Mr Booth excuses himself on the score of want of literary ability, but he says:— " My knowledge of the modern drama is so meagre that I never permit my wife or daughter to witness a play without previously ascertaining its character. This is the method I pursue; I can suggest no other, unless it might be by means of a ' dramatic censor,' whoso taste or judgment might,'however, be frequently at fault. If the management of theatres could be denied to speculators and placed in the hands of actors who value their reputation and respect their calling, the stage would at least afford healthy recreation, if not, indeed, a wholesome stimulus to the exercise of Bfcble sentiments. But while the theatre is permitted to be a mere shop for gain—open lo every huckster of immoral gimcracks—there is no other way to discriminate between the pure and base than through the experience of others." This sort of thing will commend itself to English husbands. Henceforward British wives will do well to take Mr Edwin Booth's advice, and before they go to see a modern comedy, send their husbands to see whether it is decent or not.

A Mabseilles Almanac predicts for this year the death of Bismarck, Gortschakoff and Beaconsfield.

Euskin sayg :—Cheerfulness is just as natural to the heart of a man in strong health as colour, to his cheek; and wherever there is habitual gloom, there must be either bad air, unwholesome food, improperly severe labour, or erring habits of life.

" Wheee haye you been this week ? " we were once asked by Mr Spurgeon. " We have been looking over the wonderful ' Orphan Houses' of Mr Miiller" was the reply. " Ah," said Spurgeon, "Muller has wonderful faith, which I have not. I must have works as well as faith. When I pray to God for any thing I don't wait for it to come ; I set right to work and try to get it." And this is according to tho gospel. Believe and work.

Sic William Gull, a high authority, in his instructive paper strongly maintains that wine or alcohol are of no advantage in intellectual work.

The estimated population of England on June 30th last was 24,852,397 ; Scotland, 3,593,929; Ireland, 5,432,640. Total, 33,881,966.

The London Mining Journal points out that, aside from its other advantages, the success of the electric light would solve a most important problem affecting the lives of many persons now working in mines. " There appears to be no reason," says the Journal, " why electricity should not be made applicable for mining instead of lamps, and this would effect what our mining engineers and foremost chemists have long been looking for. It would give the men a light such as they have never dreamt of, enabling them to get a much larger quantity of coal in a given time than it is possible for them to bring down by the light of the lamp, which barely suffices to make the blackness of the working places visible. It would also benefit both masters and men, and greater safety would be ensured, for explosions would be all but impossible, whilst the miners would be better able to guard against falls of roof and coal."