The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3173, 21 April 1879, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1879.

Wb insert the following to call the attention of the local authorities to the question. It will be remembered that the Government gave a'promise that steps should'be taken towards establishing a School of Mines on the Thames, and our Borough and County Councils should urge the fulfilment of the tame. The School of Mines at Ballarat has just issued its annual report, showing that a large amount of valuable work continues to be done in assays and analyses for the general' public as well as in teaching. The interest taken in the institution may be inferred from the facts that a'Government grant of nearly £6000 'was made for the year; that the subscriptions, independent of fees, exceeded £1600; and that nine lads from the public schools had their class fees paid by individuals who saw the good that was being done. As Professor Pearson wrote in the Visitor's Book: "The school appears to do a great deal of useful work, at a" very small cost." The establishment of a similar one in this Colony ought to be urged by every public man who'reflects on the importance of employing all possible agencies to bring its unquestioned mineral treasures to practical account. The Ballarat experiment shown that this can be done at a comparatively small cost. Let us hope that the School of Mines established in connection with the Otago Ttriirersity may be equally successful. .

The gold albert presented to the Thames Rifle Bangers by A. J. Allom, Esq., was competed for at the range on Saturday last by that company. The ranges were 200, 400, and 600 yards, five shots at each. Sergeant Wilson, in the morning squa.d, made 49 points, which was tied by Volunteer McKee. It is singular that not only the totals tied but tho scores at the 500 yards range was equal, so to decide who the winner was the score at the 400 yards had to be taken, and by it Volunteer McCee was adjudged the prize.

A meeting of Lodge Sir Walter Scott will be held tomorrow evening, at which some important business is to be transacted. It is probable that a visit will be paid by the master and officers of Lodge St. Andrew of Auckland.

Thb schooner Josephine* arrived to-day from Lyttelton, making the ran up in six days. Particulars of her cargo appear in our shipping intelligence.

Fbom the volume of Statistics of New Zealand lately received from tho Government Printer, we glean from a table showing the number of electors on each district for the Mouse of Representatives according to the rolls of 1877-8, that the Thames heads the list with a total of 4615, of which 304 are native names. The next constituencies in number of electors are the City of Dunedin with 3491, City of Christchurch 3224, Hokitika 2200, and the City of Wellington 2027.

Mfi^Albbrt Butler's tender for fencing in the Recreation Ground lias been accepted.

On Saturday we copied a parngraph from the Waikato Times referring to some late peaches of Hamilton growth, and which the editor of that paper recently had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of. Mr J. B. Stoney, of Parawai, is anxious to show that the Thames is not behind tho Waikato in the matter of peach growing, and has sent us round some splendid peaches of the kind known as the Solway. We have tasted them, and consider them equal in flavor to fruty ripened early in autumn.

The following table—extracted from the .Registrar General's Eeport on the vital statistics of the Boroughs of Auckland, Thames, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hokitika and Invercargill for the month of March—gives the population, number of births and deaths, and proportion of deaths to the 1000 of population of each borough :—

It is the intention of the Opera Company, at presentfplaying in Auckland, to secure the assistance of amateurs and give a performance for the purpose of raising funds to take the members of the troupe back to Australia. ° Mb McMinn, M.H.R., secured a vote of confidence'from bis Te Awamutu constituents on Saturday, after his address to them upon the course pursued by him during last session. He spoke favorably of the Government measures; , : Foe the number of corps of Volunteers, as per a Government return, the Thameß shows a greater t-verage than any, other district in New Zealand, namely : 80 per corps. Dunedin, with the greatest number of men, only shows 59 per corps, while Auckland shows 67.

With the exception of the City of Wellington, the Thames has more men in its two Fire Brigades than any other place in New Zealand, the nnmbers being Wellington —2 .-brigades, 13 officers, and 80 men; Thames—2brigades, 5 officers, and 55 men. The above is taken from the statistics of New Zealaud.

The various volunteer companies mustered in good strength at the Volunteer Hall, Shortland, yesterday afternoon, for the purpose of following the remains of the late Staff-Sergeant Clery, T.S.V., to the cemetery. The firing party, which was entirely composed of men from the Scottish, took charge of the body, and the mournful procession wended its way towards the Catholic Church, where the coffin having been deposited in one of the aisles, the Rev. Father O'Reilly delivered the impressive burial ser rice of the church. After the interment, and the customary volleys over a soldier's grave had been fired, the men returned to town, and were dismissed at their respective drill sheds. Mr Clery leaves a widow and family of four young children totally unprovided for. .

The following is. the state of the sick in the Thames Hospital for the week ending 19th April:—Statistical Nosology. —Zymotic diseases: remained 3, remaining 3 r Constitutional: admitted I,i discharged 1, remaining 0; Local: remained 5, admitted 2, remaining 7; Developmental: remained 2, remaining 2; Violent: remained 3, admitted 2, remaining 5. Totals: remained 18, admitted 6, discharged 1, remaining 17. 29 outpatients. *

The announcement that Lord Derby has seceded from the Conservative party, is of much interest and importance, although it is not accompanied by any explanation of what 'has caused . the severance. Beyond the immediate political significance of a man of the highest character and ability going over to the Liberal party at the present juncture, the event is of import in that it is a change of aides by the head of a house .that has almost a hereditary claim to the leadership ■ of the Conservative party. Earl Derby was first elected for LynnEegis in place of Lord George Bentinck, who was a Conservative of the Conservatives. Lord Stanley, as he was then, had many points of sympathy with the Liberals, but he always acted with the Conservatives. He was offered the Colo-! nial Office by Lord Palmerston in 185£, but, although ambitious of being'a Minister, he remained true to his party, and declined the offer. He was Secretary of State for India under Lord Derby's second administration, in 1858-9; and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Lord Derby's third administration, 1866. In 1863 he was translated to the House of Lords's by the death of his father, and subsequently he became Foreign Minister in the administration of Earl Beaconsfield. He retired on differing from the head of the Cabinet on the question of calling out the reserves, and since then has taken little active part in politics. Now, however, we presume he will act With the Liberals, arid against the party of which the house of Stanley has been accounted the chief pillar.

The following is worthy attention by our Good Templar friends:—The physicians and temperance men of Chicago (says an English paper) are very much excited over a new remedy discovered by a Dr D'Dnger, which, it is asserted, not only cures intemperance, but leaves the drunkard with au unconquerable aversion to spirituous liquors. The medicine is red Peruvian bark (Cinchona rabra), called by the druggist " quill bark" because it comes from twigs about the size of a quill. A pound of this bark is reduced to powder and soaked in a pint of diluted alcohol. It is then strained and evaporated down to half a pint, so that it is in fact a pound to half a pint. The drunken man is given a teaspoonful of the medicine every three hours, and his tongue is occassionally moistened between the doses during the first and second days. The third day the dose is generally reduced to a half-spoonful, then to quarter-spoonful, and gradually down to fifteen, ten, and five drops. The medicine is continued for a period of from five to fifteen days, and in extreme cases to thirty days; ,seven days is about the average. Dr D'TJnger has cured 2800 cases of the worst forms of intemperance by this treatment. He takes men "debauched by liquor for years—used up, demented, loathsome sots," and in ten days, as a rule, makes sober, respectable men of thorn, with a positive aversion to

iquor in any form. The editor of the Chicago Tribune) who takes a deep interest in the new remedy, gives the following account of one of the cases in which a perfect cure was recently effected :— " One of the first citizens of Chicago, a few years ago, became a common drunkard. He fell into the lowest depths. His wife got a divorce from him. At the last moment, when ready to die, the unhappy man's friends tried this wonderful remedy for four days; his appetite came back, and in a week he gained the use of his tongue, hands, and brain. The color came to his cheeks, and in a fortnight he was a cured man. He has no longing for liquor. He hates the sight of it. This reformed and cured drunkard is now going to be married again to the loving wife who had to leave him a year ago, and who, with his children, is delighted at the blessed change in his condition."

The recent bank failures at home have brought out some curious instances of simplicity .on the part of the public. One of these is from Scotland. An "auld wife," hearing whispers that the Caledonian was shaky, thought she! would be on the safe Bide, went to the bank and presented her cheque for her balance. The cashier cashed it in Caledonian bank notes, which the canny old lady pocketed, and walking across to the National Bank, asked them to exchange these for their own notes, which, haying obtained, she went back again to her own bank, and banding them over to to the teller, said, "There, that's the richt paper. Will you just take care of them for me?" Two days after the Caledonian suspended payment. .

A somewhat singular case was heard at Bunninyong, when an agent for an American firm of booksellers sued a resident of the town named for the £310s, being the price of a family Bible supplied to defendant's wife. The defence set up was that the article, not bsing a necessary either for household use or consumption, the husband was not liable for the debt, he being in no way connected with the purchase of the article sued for. [ The Bench took this view of the case, which was therefore dismissed without costs. Paul, it will be remembered (though it is occasionally forgotten), would not suffer a woman to teach, but this husband will not suffer her to be taught. ■-i '

It has been discovered (says a Home paper) that the electric light has a particular effect on patients suffering from catalepsy and other nervous complaints; the sort of invalids who are specially prized as "mediums" and mesmeric sub* jects. Professor Charrot, of Salpetriere at Paris, after making a series of experiments With the Drummond electric light on a number of hysterical subjects, found that a patient placed before a very bright electric ligbt fell usually after some seconds, occasionally not until after three minutes, but in some cases instantaneously into an anaesthetic condition to which he gives the name of " lethargy." The subject of this treatment stands as if fascinated, perfectly motionless, and with fixed staring eyes. The limbs are stiff, but not so rigid that they cannot be moved, and they preserve .whatever position may be given to them. The patients neither see nor hear. In vain the operator speaks to them or makes signs ; all communications between them and the outer world seems to be at an end. Mef iwhile the features take the expression of the gestures. Give to the patients a menacing or tragic attitude, and the eyebrows, become knitted; close the hands as if in prayer, and the eyes assume a meek and resigned expression. This phenomenon had already been noticed in mesmeric cases, and is known as the " phenomenon of suggestion.";, ■

Most people are apt to cry out, when they hear of a new Exhibition,.that really they hare had enough of this kind ot thing. The Paris Exhibition, in particular, seems to have satisfied the desire of the British public for"world fairs. 1' We are inclined, however, to put in a word for the proposed Colonial Exhibition. This appears to us an excellent idea, and we hope the energetic gentlemen who have taken the scheme in hand will not let themselves be deterred by Might difficulties. Englishmen talk a great deal about " the colonies," but their actual knowledge of them is anything but profound. A good exhibition would enable the most ordinary mind to realise in a new way the splendour of our empire, and commerce could not but benefit by a collection of the varied products of the innumerable lands ruled by the British Grown. There is one special reason for which we should like it; and that is, that it would almbst inevitably lead to the establishment of the much-talked-of Indian and Colonial Museum. The Colonial authorities have shewn their readiness to aid in setting up such an institution; but hitherto no understanding has been arrived at, partly, we believe, because of opposition at South Kensington. A museum of this nature would be i full of interest. __ To boys and girls a walk i through it would be worth any number of lessons in geography, and there can be no doubt that it would gire an impulse to! trade. Colonists are often in possession of materials which are of little use to them, but which, when submitted to specialists at home, are soon found to be capable of unexpected applications. A permanent museum would be certain to suggest to manufacturers new processes, which would benefit equally the old country and its dependencies. Above all, it would be a continual reminder to Englishmen of the obligations, imposed upon them by the great inheritance they have to hand on intact to their successors.— Graphic.

Sats JEgles :—My last employer but one (writes an acceptable and restless correspondent, who displays a pretty taste for variety in his post-marks) used to tell us to obey implicitly and without cavil. He told the groom to grease the buggymeaning, of course, the axles. The groom, who was an old soldier, greased spokes, shafts, hood, splashboard, and the leather side of the cushions; Mr M'Q. was astonished at finding how the dust adhered to his buggy, and his wife even more so at the unsatisfactory condition of his trousers. An examination revealed the cause of the mischief. Summoning Soldier Bill he demanded why ho had done this. Bill drew himself up, saluUd in military fashion, and laconically replied, " Your orders, sir! "

Men of prudence and real ability rarely act on the spur of the moment, and in p.ffairs of d:mculty see in anticipation the dangers and inconveniences which a false step may involve. Outsiders mistake wise hesitation for a revelation of weakness and incapacity; but impudence, trusting to that blind goddess who directs things us often rightly as she does wrongly, rushes into action and assumes the form of decision and capacity. Impudence without

ability is rarely successful, though it may perhaps be questioned whether men have not failed quite as often by possessing ability without boldness. So potent however is impudence in itself that it would not be difficult to point to instances of men who have attained an ample share of worldly success by that simple quality alone.

BoßOtretr. Auckland .. Thames .... Wellington.. Nelson .... Chribtchurch Dunedin Hokivika .. Invercargill.. Eat'-nated Population. , 13,732 5 425 19,037 6,003 13,402 22,491 3,244 3,761 38 17 75.. 23 . 43 71 5 19 Total Births. Total. Deaths. 23 5 " 54 3 ! 19 36 4 7 Proportion of Deaths to 100 of population, 1 62 0-i,d 2-77 ■ 0-44 - 1-34 1-54 1-40 1-73 T0ta1.... I 291 I 151 I