THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DALY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 17, 1880.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3553, 17 May 1880, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DALY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MAY 17, 1880.

Good TWEE

A meeting of the Water Supply Comnvittee, called for this afternoon, lapsed for want of a quorum.

The Council of the Law Society in Dunedin passed a resolution of condolence with Mr Macassey's family, and another expressing regret that the Government had called on Mr Smith, District Land Eegistrar, to retire upon a superannuation allowance, and asking the Government to re consider the matter and allow Mr Smith to resume duties which he filU to general satisfaction.

A half-caste Maori has been arrested at Waipawa, on a warrant issued by the Kesident Magistrate, for the larceny of a bottle of brandy. As Justices of the Peace cannot deal with cases of larceny against natives, the prisoner has necessarily been remanded to Napier. What with the cost of his removal and keep, witnesses' expenses, &c, this bottle of brandy, which, at the outside, is not worth more than five shillings, will cost the colony as many pounds. The Civil Service Commissioners can make a vote of this case.

Whangarei is going ahead rapidly. The' Advocate says that there is not an unoccupied house within ten miles of the township, and in many a number of families are domiciled. Carpenters and painters are fully occupied at present, and likely to be for some time to come. A Building Society started in Whangarei now would be as successful as the Wellington Societies, which in three years paid dividends equal to the paid up capital.

The Immigration system, which has been in force in New Zealand since the inauguration of Sir Julius Vogel's great scheme for sending the Colony ahead, has temporarily at least come to an end. Telegraphic instructions were received from Wellington a few days ago that the Dnnedin immigration office was to receive no more nominations for free or assisted immigrants. No doubt the Government is of opinion that the glowing descriptions which have been given of New Zealand by Judge Batbgate, and Messrs G. M. Reed and "Captain" Barry is quite sufficient to cause the tide of immigration to flow continuously .to . these shores, and therefore those basking in the sunshine of Colonial prosperity need no longer be called upon to pay the passages of others who intend to share it with them.

Thet have a happy and agreeable way of doing things in Marlborough. The creditors in the estate of John Bagg, a bankrupt (says the Express) met at the Court-house yesterday. The proceedings were exceedingly brief. One gentleman proposed that the bankrupt be discharged,

another Bccoudcd it, the chairman declared the resolution carried, aniline debtor invited the entire meeting, creditors, trustee! legal adviser, and reporters, to adjourn to a neighbouring place of refreshment! The whitewashing process must be pretty pleasant where creditors are so accommodating. " •..•;■

Cuhious comments by a judge, even in the presence of the prisoner, though extremely rare, are not unprecedented. Mr Justice Maule once addressed a phenomenon of innocence in a smock-frock in the following words : " Prisoner at, the bar, your council thinks you innocent; the council for the prosecution thinks you innocent; I think you innocent. But a jury of your own countrymen, in the exercise of such common sense as they possess, which does not seem to be much, have found you 'guilty': and it remains that I should pass upon you the sentence of the law. That sentence is that you be kept in imprisonment for one day ; and as that day was yesterday, you may go about your business." Tue unfortunate rustic, rather scared, went about his business, but thought law was an uncommonly puzzling thing. % '

A new and very expeditious way of solving a native difficulty is reported from Manawatu. It appears that some strangers came to the Oroua River, over which they wished to cross, but found their passage barred by the Maoris, who prevented them from doing so. Some altercation ensued, but as the natives would not give way, the travellers determined to force their passage, and for that purpose freely used their stockwhips, the result being that they accomplished their end. The Manawatu Times highly approves the remedy, and adds that if the habit of dealing satisfaction out to the natives, when such occurrences take place, were more common, there would be a considerable falling off in that obstructiveness now so rampant with the Maoris.

An instance of how dividends are sonaetimea paid in insolvent estates is thus given by the North Otago Time?.—" A firm in Oamaru proved in an insolvent estate some time ago, and after waiting patiently, at last received the long, expected dividend, which dividend amounted to the handsoae sum of Is, A one shilling duty stamp had to be affixed to the proof of debt, and as the trustees were located in a town outside Oamaru, a twopenny stamp was required to carry the necessary form to its destination. And in return for all this trouble the grim joke was perpetrated of remitting a cheque for the amount. To be able to turn this into coin of the realm another shilling was required, and two pence more to cany the receipt."

Thb " political ploughmen " who were arrested last year on the Wai mate Plains, and removed to Dunedin for safe-keeping, have since been employed in bard labour. We learn, however, that the question,,of the legality of so employing them will be raised in the coming session of Parliament, and that steps are now being taken by a committee of natives for the: ventilation of the question.

Kumob has it that a New Zealand Review is shortly to be issued in Wellington, the contributors to which are to be " leading statesmen and literary men," resident, it may be "presumed, in the " Empire City." A queer fist the " leading statesmen" are likely to make of magazine articles, if their official corres* pondence is any criterion of style. As to tbe "literary men," the correspondence columns of certain Southern papers indicate that quantity of matter is not likely: to be deficient, whatever may be the quality. Fiction will possibly be their line, the "statesmen" undertaking the more solid pabulum.

The Tablet has struck a veritable patch in spotting the manifest of the missionary ship John Williams, which vessel has recently cleared out at Sydney for the South Sea Islands. The following purports to be a copy of tbis interesting document:—" 1 case wine, 1 case port, 2 cases ale and stout, 1 case schnapps;ss cases wine, 65 cases stout, 25 cases claret, 25 cases whiskey, 65 cases beer." Are all these goxl liquors for the sustenance in their arduous labors of the missionaries and their families, or intended to promote the cause of evangelical truth by tickling the palates of the misguided heathen ? Can it be that grog-selling and catechising are carried on as cognate and congenial pursuits? An explanation of what we may call the manifest fact of the character of the missionary ship's last cargo would be desirable at the next " tea meeting." .. ' * Camilla. tJrso's best violin, on which she performed at her concert on Thursday night, is specially remarked fur the beauty and purity of its tone. It is a fine specimen of Joseph Guarnerius, the date of its making being 1737. Madame Urso purchased it in London in 1871* and paid 500 guineas for it, and since has refused 5000 dollars, the offer of an American collector of stringed instruments.

An old discharged soldier of the 40th Regiment, named Joseph Antony Fox, died suddenly the of her day in Sydney. He was sitting by a fire smoking, when his pipe fell from his lips, and exclaiming " Oh ! my God, Crissy," he fell back and died. He w«« sixty-two years of age, and leaves a family of four.

Thb ancient Egyptians did not uae Tobacco, and mark, the ancient Egyptians are all dead. Excelsior Cigarettes juafc imported direct from W. S Kimball and Co. Vanily Fair, O|d Judge, and Richmond G-ems Cigarettes, all superior to 3s Tea. Uesfc brands of Tobacco. Smoking-Eoom unequalled in the Colouy.— LAWM3S aud Co, Tobacconists, &o.

People may speak ill of Lord Beaconsfield's policy (says the Journal dcs Debats,)—it has its faults, but has also its good qualities. Lord Beaconsh'eld, by his energetic attitude, by his language, ati once brilliant and ardent, has reinvigorated the English hearts which the purely economical policy of his predecessor bad softened.' England is again accustomed to the thought that s'ae aus a part to play in the world, and cannot disinterest herself in what happens on the Continent. They reckon what Lord BcdConsfieJd's policy ha 3 cost in pounds ste/ling, but was not this policy of moral elevation inevitable after the enervating policy of Mr Gladstone? How can one calculate, since all the consequences hare not yet been produced, what has been or will be the cost to England ot the suppression of the c'auso in the Treaty of Paris which closed the Black Sea to the Russian ships of war, a suppression which Mi 1 Gladstone should modestly and silently have recorded in 1871 ? England has found out what coets dearest of all is to effect a re-entry^ into Europe after the defection of leaving it, and the time always comes when re-entries f.re

necessary. This is why the Government | of Lord Beaconsfield, in spite of its faults of detail, will leave a lasting remembrance \in the English heart.

The unrivalled success of 0. MoLwaa'S Smoking-rooms are quite apparent through the crowded state of his rooms nightly, enjoying and amusing ibemsolvHS at Draughts, Dominoes, Cribbage, etc. The energy and perseverance of C. McL. in securing good brands of Tobacco and Cigars for the district ia meeting with its just reward. N.B.— Gteat variety of Meerclmum, Briar, and Cherry wood Pipes —0. MoLivjSß, Tobacco-* nisfr.

The difference betwean a G-ent and a Q-entle-man:—The Gent turna up vrhub he has for a nose and sajs, Oil, Ah. The Gentleman walks into McQ-owan's and eaje, Mac give me a pound of \ oav Tea, and send for orders tvery week.