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Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3199, 21 May 1879, Page 2

The Rowena will leave the Thames on Friday evening at 6.30, and Auckland on Sunday at 12.30 night, so that all persons wishing to spend their holiday in Auckland can do so, and get back to business on Monday morning. Ratepayers in various parts of the Borough are complaining of the bad state of the footpaths where crossed by the tram lines in ...connection with the .Railway Reclamation contracts. Though the Borough Council do not wish to hamper the contractors in any way, in the interest of, the burgesses,they have to see that the property of the Borough is not injured, . arid we hear that notice has been served on the contractors to keep the footpath crossings in a good state of repair. ' Messes O'Brien and party have made a start at filling in on the Reclamation wprksj: No. 2 contract, but have not yet commenced to run the locomotive. Since they commenced .. operations, notwithstanding the great inconvenience they haVe been put to through' the scarcity of rails, the cpntractors,r-have done a great deal of '^ work. ' A line of tramway has been laid down Pahau street from the hill to! the foreshore; a tramway-bridge put across, the Karaka creek, and ; an engine shed has been erected on the line. Mr Judd has ; the : contract of manufacturing a considerable portion of the iron work of the rolling stock, and is making good, progress. A few days more will see the work fairly under weigh. ; Saturday, the 24th inst.,,being the legal holiday, will be kept by the banks and public office's, and .though rather an inconvenient day for tradespeople, arrangements will no doubt be made to close the places of business in the early part of the day. The Volunteer review will take place between ten and one o'clock. 'We understand the officers of the Thames Scottish battalion will entertain the non-commissioned officers and members, to luncheon on Saturday, the 24th, at 1,30 p.m.,: in honor of. Her Majesty's .Birthday. .:■.: ;:■ :.• ':■/( .' ':v "■ -; 'The variou3,Vqlunteer and Cadet Corps are requested to parade on' Saturday forenoon in f'horibr'6f Her Majesty's, Birthday. The column will" leave the Pacific Hotel corner for Tararu at 10 sharp, and return at one o'clock. ! ', ," . Several members of the Hauraki Engineers ; who •■■ have tried their new carbines at the Rifle Range are much pleased with their shooting capabilities. - At the R.M. Court this morning, the only business on the charge sheet was a case of assault, which however as neither party appeared was struck out. H. C. Lawlor and Wm. McCullough, Eaqs., J's.P., occupied the bench. We learn that Volunteer D. R. Gellion, of No. 2 Scottish, has presented his company with a handsome silver cup as a prize for rifle shooting. The competition is: only open to members of the company who have never won a prize before. A good deal of interest is being already taken in the match, and one enthusiastic broker is open to take odds that the cup will grape the Brokers Association table, as one of the members, a corporal in the corps, and a good shot is sure to win it. The cup, however, is a very handsome one, and we have no doubt, the contest for it at the rifle range will be keen and interesting, more' especially as a large number of ladies are likely to be present on the range during the firing. The day is not yet finally settled. The Star, speaking of the late meeting at Kopua, says the fruits of the late' meeting and of the paaence and consummate skill displayed by the Premier and the Native Minister, are apparent when we contrast the present position with that of the King party when Sir George; Grey began his. negotiations with them, two, years ago., Then] they stood entirely aloof. 'Now they have broken down the barrier, between themselves, and the colony, and the most influential chiefs and sections are resolved that they will no longer lead the. life: of: isolation and reversion to barbarism that was then before'them. The enormous expense to which/tliey.have gone in preparing for the late meeting' will cause them to feel still more during the coming winter the miseries, of the course which the more fanatical among them bad marked out, and will dispose them to accept more willingly the liberal terms which Ministers will be quite justified in offering. The prospect is cheering, and it will be at their peril if any of our own people are so ill-advised or so traitorous as to throw, by secret intrigue and for mere personal considerations, any impediment in the way of an issue which both sides should so earnestly desire. 1 -jZEGiEs "■ -says:—The American barkeeper easily understood what Leontes meant in the " Winter's Tale when he said "I have drunk and seen the spider." There is now an Australian version. Dr L., of Balranald, is an industrious naturalist, and is always collecting entomologi-' cal specimens. He arrived the other day at;'Braganza Station with a pickle-bottle full of beetles, grasshoppers, &b.; upon, which he had poured a little whiskey as a preservative. After dinner he produced for inspection his bottle of specimens, Going out to the stables to prepare for departure, he left his bottle on the table; Just then a visitor came in, for whom lunch was laid. On the doctor's returning to the room, he found the visitor with a pickle fork and a wry face, wondering why they "put whisky in the chutney." ,v " A telegram from Botorua says a large new geyser, known as Akomotu, has broken out near Ohinemutu' township, where none has existed for many years within miles of the spot. Large volumes of mud and stones are ejected to a height of thirty feet and upwards. The ground vibrates for a hundred feet round the mouth, which widens daily. The natives are greatly excited, believing it to be the angry stamping of a great chief who dwells below, and are dreading all sorts of results. One old woman living near regards it as an indication of her approaching death, and will probably die. A smart shook of earthquake was felt on Monday. , An official account has been published of His Excellency the High Commissioner's interview with Mr Joubert, the delegate of the public meeting of Transvaal people lately held at Wonderfontein. Mr'Joubert assured Sir Bartle Frere that the people would be satisfied with nothing less than their independence. Sir Bartle Frere gave him no, hope of that concession, but asserted the intentiou of the Government to allow the people the

largest possible amount of independence. Mr Joubert expressed his belief that Sir Bartle Frero by a personal visit might be able persuade tho people to adopt his view. The interview appears to have been wholly of a friendly' character ; but Sir Bartle Frere wished Mr Joubert to impress upon the people of Transvaal the very serious consequences which will ensue if they stand aside in the present war with the Zulus which was undertaken iv great part on their account. It is said that the Transvaal Boers as a body will give no assistance in the war, although individually some have already done good service.—Cape Argus. The Australasian says:—As might have been expected from the great success, pecuniary and otherwise, that attended the first venture of sending an Australian Eleven to Great Britain, the note of preparation is already being sounded, and. a second Australian Eleven i« to go home ! to play, a- series of matches in the old ! country during the season of 1880. This time New South Wales is taking the lead, the promoter being Mr Driver, of Sydney, whose name has been for some years associated with the promotion of sport there. As a. pure speculation, with the object of; making money,, there can; be no doubt* whatever that a second Australian Eleven would do very well. That, however, is a •part of the affair we are not called to discuss at any length, though vre may remark that if Lord Harris's team could draw cash from Australian pockets to the tune of over £6000, a second Australian Eleven should do remarkably well in Great Britain. We presume it will this time be a simple question with those who compose the eleven, How much money can I make out it ? The pleasure of a trip home, with the opportunity of seeing the old country, will, of course, be a great attraction, but still the £s: d. is to the players the greatest consideration, though we understand that Mr Driver does not go into the affair from any motives of that kind, but, desiring to take a trip home, prefers to be accompanied by the eleven, and with that end in viewj proposes to take the speculation into his own hands, .finding the necessary capital if required. At any rate, we think it may very safely be assumed that, as a money speculation alone; a second Australian Eleven would be a great success, and it further appears to us that it may reasonably be 'taken for granted that for some time to come periodical visits of Australian cricketers to the old country would prove remunerative. ■'"'. :; .",-.,.'. ■'. ..-....,•■ The following is a copy of a prayer issued, by the Bishop of Natal for use during ; the continuance of the Zulu war :—" O Eternal Lord God, through whose inscrutable providence it has come to pass that the terrible scourge of war is laid by our hands upon a neighbouring people, rwe humbly commend to Thy mercy all those whose office it is to rule at this time, and all who shall be called to take part in the conflict. Thou knowest, Heavenly Father, what lessons we Christians need to be taught, though it be by suffering even unto death, as well as the ignorant heathens with whom we fight. We pray that in our different stations we may lay. to heart Thy Divine Teaching, and do our duty, in all things as in Thy sight. O Thou, who art alone just and right, a. God of truth, and without iniquity, watch over, we beseech Thee, all near and dear to us, and all our fellowmen, whether white or black, engaged in this deadly struggle. In Thy wisdom, we pray thee, Merciful Father/ overrule Thou all events for good; and in Thine own time, restore to us, and to those whose land we have invaded, the blessings of peace, for Thy Name's sake declared to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.—Amen/ In a; billiard match recently played in America between Schaeffer and Slosson, for the American Championship at the three-ball game, Slosson made the splendid break of 464, and;stood 559 to Schaeffer's 19. The latter then put together 283 in a break, and Slosson replying with 14 only, Schaeffer took up the cue, and by beautiful nursing made 298 cannons, thus winning the game by 29 points. As there are no pockets on. the French tables, and only one point is scored for each cannon, billiardists can fprm some idea, of the grand play that must have taken place between the above professors. „ JEgles says the wife of a gentleman in Adelaide some time ago undertook a journey to England, and returned rather sooner than she-was expected. As ?h'ewas rather of a satirical temperament, his ri friends turned the tables on him after the happy: re-union' by showering upon him visiting cards, "with kind inquiries." He is not nearly so grateful as he ought to be for their kindly solicitude on his behalf. ; Sir Bryan O'Loghleh is a gentleman who cannot take a hint. Or, rather he cannot accept an intimation that his company is not wanted till he finds himself absolutely kicked out of the house. So far as concerns the House of Commons, Sir Bryan has been kicked out very emphatically. <■ His desperate hold on his seat for Clare does not avail him. By a majority of 180 votes ■ against 11 the House of Commons has decided to unseat him, and it seems, that it was only diffierence of opinion about" constitutional technicalities" • which prevented the .House from being unanimous on the subject. 1 As to the merits of the shameless treatment which had been practised on the too trusting electors of Clare there could have been no difference of opinion on any side. Of course this was from, the first a foregone conclusion. Now thai the decision has been given, one of Sir Bryan's little games is effectually stopped. The possibility of the pleasing combination of the agent-generalship with a seat in Parliament has vanished into thin air. Our gifted Acting Chief Secretary has no longer a seat in the House of Commons in his pocket, and that being so, not even a Berry Government would dare to. insult the Imperial Government and the Sovereign by sending home as the representative of Victoria the author of the famous " deportation " speech. On the whole, we fear that the market value of Sir Bryan O'Loghlen as a saleable article has ,been somewhat, reduced by the decision of the House of Commons.-— Australasian. : -■■■ r ;The brethren of the mystic tie are not appreciated in Ballarat, if the statements of the correspondent of the Australasian can be accepted. He writes that at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the officiating priest desired that no member of the Catholic. Church should attend the Masonic Ball to bo given, next month. This enunciation was given from the altar at,' I am informed, two of the services, morning and forenoon, and it is supposed that it was repeated at the evening service. What the Masonic brethren can have done to deserve this reflection it is difficult to say. The ball is to be given in aid of the three local chari-

ties, in all of which there are numerous members of the Koman Catholic Church. The Masonic ..body makes no distinction at any time in regard to creeds in dispensing their charity, and for benevolence, morality, and virtue the Masonic body will compare most favourably with any religious sect known in this world. The 'ancients firmly believed in a place of future punishment. When we remember that their method of conversation was to constantly remark, " What, ho! my Balbur," and " Thou sayest truly, my Sallust," we at once perceive that they must have bored one another to that extent that nothing less than a belief in Tartarus could have given them any comfort. It was held by all classic scientific persons and theologians that Tartarus was situated in the centre of the earth, and that rapid transit thereto was obtained by the way of volcanoes. Of course, with the progress of science, we have discarded this crude notion. We look upon the volcano as a steam safety valve, and feel perfectly certain that it has never been and never will be exposed to the risk of being choked up with the souls of Western Democratic statesmen. And yet there are certain stories which the scientific persons cannot very well explain. Many years ago an Italian vessel was sailing near Stromboli, when, from its deck, a particularly bad priest i was seen sailing through the air in charge of a determined looking demon. The pair made straight for the mouth of Stromboli, and disappeared down the (crater, the bad priest loudly protesting that he preferred to go home. The asi tonished spectators simultaneously consulted their watches and noticed the hour. On arriving in port they hastened to buy the fourth edition of the afternoon paper and, looking at the list of deaths, saw that the priest had died precisely at the time when they saw him navigating the air on his way to Stromboii. Now, on the supposition that the ancients were right in their opinion that Stromboli is one of the gateways of Tartarus, this story is by no means incredible; but, if the ancients were Wrong, it is quite inexplicable. The Scientific Person will take a short way out of the difficulty by denying that the crew of the vessel saw what they professed to have seen, and will maintain that it is easier to suppose that they were all drunk than to suppose that the soul of a bad priest was seen to descend into the crater. This, however, will not be satisfactory to thinking men, and jf they refuse to believe the story, they will prefer the more .charitable/theory that tbei/jvessel^ its crew, and all the .resj; of the tale, were invented by a paragrapliist of the'period. —New York limes. ". . ..,,,...