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Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3188, 8 May 1879, Page 2

i A soieee will; be ; held, to morrow evening in the Congregational Church in aid of the building i'und. A fipod programme of music is: prepared forithe occasion, and addresses will be delivered by the Rev; Mr Robertson and several Thames gentlemen;

, We are glad to learn that the mail just arrived has brought another fine selection of new; music for the brass band pF the Thames Scottish battalion. The members of the band are notified to attend, practice this evening in St. George's Hall at seven o'clockssharp, i : :r ;i:

In consequence of the frequency of the crime of arson in the South, the Government have taken the very commendable course of offering dBSOO reward, ,to be paid to any person who shall first give such information to the Police as will lead to tjie, arrest of any person or persons concerned in wilfully .setting fire to premises in" New Z'ealahd.-MStan Y'i ■■■'.■ ■'.-.- - fc

Ax the Ei.M. Court 1 to-day, one pers6n was fined 20s and costs for being drunk and disorderly yesterday. Col. Fraser occupied the Bench.

A good example is being set by certain land owners it Puviri, who intend giving the Government 10 acres of land for railway purposes, and also all the land through which the line* runs', freeofcos-fc. We trust the same liberal spirit may be shown by land owners in Shortland, and that the amount of compensation required will not have the effect, because of its amount, to prevent the line being proceeded further with. Col. Fraser has been requested by his Worship the Mayor to act as valuer, and has consented to do so, for all portions required within the limits of Me municipality; and has, we believe, already en tered upon his not very pleasant task. If land owners ask exorbitant amounts it will without doubt stop further progress with the line of railway, and so will give an opportunity for the opponents of the line to show-the narrow selfish views held by the residents of the place that may be expected to derive the greatest benefit from such an undertaking.

Thebe was,a demand for Alburnia and Howe's Caledonian Tribute stock to-day. There did not appear to be any definite information about the Alburnia,rise, but it is currently rumored it is in consequence of the discovery of a patch of specimens in the lode. The reef in Kqwe'H Caledonian Tribute has a- tery healthy appearance, and yesterday a parcel of! good specimens was obtained.

We hear that the sureties , of! Mr Orme, !who: wag committed' for' perjury some clays ago, have declined to take any further responsibility, and at' their request he has been taken charge of by the police. I

... A SPEOIAI. meeting, of the Harbor Board was held last night for the purpose of receiving the report Of the committee appointed re the granting for a term of years of sites for shipbuilding to Messrs A. and G. Price .and Mr Stone. The report after some' slight amendments was adopted/ The allotments proposed to be .taken up'are situated on the Tararu side of the'Burke 1 Street wharf and we may shortly expect to see the shipbuilding industry being carried on.with unwpnteid vigor in our midst, Mr Stone having already an order for tt vessel. \

, s t . ,A* toitng man, evidently a new. arriral, was\drunk : and>disorderly.yesteriday, arid wheritaken charge of by the police was so violent that he had to be hand-cuffed. -We have received :Mr« Maeon's, catalogue of brnamentaPand flowerirfg shrubs" and fruit trees, &c,,Jby the hands of Mr Fricker, who is Mr Mason's local agent.

Thk good people of Routen;are; talking about an amusing case of attempted murder, which is to be tried by the tribunal in a few dayi. It appears that at the end of last summer a young married lady, of good Norman society, while at the seaside, was insulted by a young man, whose assiduities she had repelled. She said nothing to her husband, .but determined to take her revenge herself. 1 Being a good swimmer, she waited one morning, till the young man took his bath, when; she swam up to him and gave him such a ducking:that he was within an ace of drowning. The, young man has now.; brought a charge of attempt to murder against the lady, but the court will no doubt decide that he only got what he deserved..... ■■ ... • „-.■ .■.-,,>?•.•") }:p,\rf" \{'

The telephone atid the phonograph are threatened with eclipse by a new apparatus, which, if [report speaks truly,, promises/to> be of cohsidierabje utility.,, It is.called the ■telectrpscope, and has been■. submittbci by its jnventor, M.Senjecflj to* the Oomte 'dv Mornel and M= H.^D^Af r who are,said to have, .reported, favorably ' as; to its merits. It is intended to produce telegraphically the pictures imprinted'oof:n f: the reflector of a distant camera'obscura. The apparatus depends upon the sensitive-, ness of silenium to, shades of ligbt, and the.effects of electricutents. Should,M. Senlecq succeed in perfecting the invention we shall have an instrument that will enable us to view distant scenes ; just as the telephone enables us to hear sounds beyond the reach of our unassisted ears.

'■ the present TOinmeir/,' writes Nature, " discoveriei of a v^ry interest-, ing series of fossil forests were made by William H. Holmes; of the Hayden, (U.S.) Geological Society. The fact of theoe-: currence of abundant fossil wood; and in*; fsome places of fossil trunk* in situ, had been nptedi by former visilorsin the Yel- ; ; lowstpne-park,* but; nttthing"lhad been^ learned of the. manner in which the forests! had,. been preserved, neither,,had their great extent been ;suWpected. It is found that an extensive series of forests has been buried in the sedimentary formations bfs the volcanic, tertiary, especially" in tlje, region drained by the East Fork of the Yellowstone. From the bottom to the top of the highest clifF rows of xipr jght trunksmay be seqn, -weathered out and ranged., along the^ ridges like .the' columns of a temple. Throughout a long period of subsidence a constant alternation of land and sea seema to have been kept= up by the irregular deposition of frag-; mentary Tolcanic products,-.-so that numberless forests grew and sank, one after another; beneath the; sea. Fully ;4000ft. of the tree-bearing strata now cap some of the highest ranks; 1 of the Rocky Mouhtains, and cote'r an area of upwards 0f 10,000 square mile.s" J Thb'silibifi^d''trunks are in many^c^ses from 2Qft. to 30ft. high .and fairly ■ rival'the, giant^ trees, of California." V';. '...-.' .". .;, !'•■'•',!.'.: ',',.■'.,','-:",.j r;"., \

Smoking among juveniles'is on the increase not only, iiuvthd; Colonies' but in England \%here it is attracting some attention, and suggestions hare been made 1 that the Legislature ■ should interfeftf in the matter. TbJe Hon. Johnßright'writes/ on the subjecti-^—" Ido hot thinka law to suppress juvenile tobacco smoking; would receive support in the House of Commons. We have rather too many lawi already, and I prefer to leave such evils to parental supervision, and to public opinion, and the effects of a better education among the working classes."