THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3777, 4 February 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1881.

The Harbpr Board, with that perspicacity and "wisdom that characterise the actions of oar local, bodies, decided before retiring from 'office to give the incoming Board some information in regard to the best place for a habdr. This they did, and in such a manner as to make themselves wholly ridiculous in the eyes of the public. The information afforded was simply the selfish wishes of the several-Councillors. Mr Bagnall being interested in the develops ment.of the part of the Thames in thevicinity of Kopu spoke strongly in favor of Kopu as a harbor. Messrs Brown, and Wilson "went for." Tararu, being interested in that district, while Mr Read, being a Grahamstown man, pooh-poohed both the Tararu and Kopu proposals. Such a remarkable piece of selfishness it has rarely been our lot to hear of, and it is clear that the outgoing Board thought more of themselves than they did of the interest of the Thames at* large. We do not -wish to throw-"mud " at them on their retirement from office, but we think they would, have pursued a wiser course haM" they left the question of a harbor for the consideration of the new Board, instead of individually asserting their claims and interest by proposing such sites as would suit their own interests. Suppose a member happened to live at Tapu, would it not be ridiculous to propose that as a site for the Thames Harbour? Such a proposal would be equally absurd as proposing Kopu. It is clear that the incoming Board will have to consider the question of improving the Grahamstown Wharf, as for many years to come Graharastown will be the centre of population. When there is a township at Kopu as large as Grahamstown then it will be time to think of' making it the place for a hartDur, but until that takes place (proba. bly not until the remote future), it will be quite sufficient if the Harbour Board confine, themselves to improving the Grahamßtown and Shortland Wharfs, instead of prattling nonsense about Kopu\,or' Tararu. We hope the incoming Board will be a little more .(disinterested, and will not propose that "public works should be carried out at the expense of the colony, when the only benefit to accrue would be to the member of the Boaid' making such proposals. The idea of dredging is a simply absurd one. It would be just as useful to endeavor to dig a hole-in the ocean as do so in the mud flats that

environ our shores, because as fast as mud is taken out the sea 'sweeps it all back, and re-deposits it in the same place, the only perceivable result to the Board, being that they've squandered public money in an absurd attempt to increase the depth of water at the end of either wharves. Let us hope the next Board will be capable of better things.

A NtfMBBB of the Thames cricketers purpose holding a practice to-morrow afternoon at Parawai. We are surprised to see that our energetic spirits are not more forward in in cricketing matters. ' Without our men practice .well and steadily up to the time of. the arrival of the Coromandel team, they will hare to pursue vagrant pieces of leather for the amusement of. the visiting team, and will not have the pleasure of handling the willow on bahalf of the Thames. The defeat sustained on Saturday last shows that our men need a large amount of practice before they can-successfully compete with the Coromandel team. Look to it Lawless, most energetic champion of the bat and "ball! Give the cricketers a call and no doubt they will awake from their lazy torpor.

The amount of gold exported from the West Coast ports for the quarter ending December 31, 1880, is as follows:—Greymouth—2O,B26ozs, value £83,305; Hokitika —15,8500z5, value £63,389; Wostport— 4,4720z5, value £17,887. The quantity of gold exported from West Coast ports for the years 1880 and 1879, is as follows:—Greymouth, 1880—71,256©^ value £284,124; 1879-68,6410z8, £274,570; Hokitika, 1880 -~54.,2300z5, value £216,9^)6 $ 1879—54,203 ounces, £216,785. Westport, 1880—16,815 ounceß, value £67,259 j 1879 —18,120oz?, £72,482. •

We notice by »p advertisement in another column that Mr It. R. McG-regor will offer four valuable draught horses for sale to the highest bidder ait his mart at eleven o'olock to-morrowv

The contest for. the honor of upholding the integritj of the Engineers at the forthcoming Nelson competition finished yesterday. The following are the highest scores in. the three competitions: —Corporal -Keller,' 265; Sergeant "0-ill, 262; Sapper Dare, 25£>; Sapper Stackpole, 255 ; Sapper Stone, 263 ; Sergeant Clark, 251; Bandsman Eeardon, 241.

ACCOBDING to the Hawera Star, the purchasers of land on the Elaine do not appear to care much for the idle threats of the Natives, and apparently pay little heed to the hundred and one rumors floating about. Mr Muir, late of Auckland, has built his house, and slept in it on Tuesday night. Mr Bfastie, another purchaser, from Auckland, is building: and he intends taking a lamily of seven children on to his holding. Mr Box hai been living on the Plains for some time near a stream to which he has given the pretty, title of " Rosey Creek." There is alsa a tworoomed cottage at Okaiawa, but we are unable to ascertain the name of the occupant. Mr Yorke, Mr. Raine, and others are busily at work. In less than twelve months, if all goes well, there '■will be' several homesteads in the place co long covered with fern.

BEPEBBiira to the late illegal election for the Hokitika Mayoralty, the Otago Daily Times says:—At Hokitika the election has very properly been declared void, owing to its 'having been proved that a supplementary burgess r,olLwas~made up on the very day of nomination—a , proceeding so absolutely illegal upon the face of it that we are sur prised that it should have been sanctioned by any persons, even members of a Borough Council pressed of ordinary intelligence."

It is rumbred that the Government offered the office of Native Minister t6 ;Mr Ormondi, and he declined.' Mr McLean was next thought of, Mi? Shee^an Vfo'r^eV&xtravagance preventing the Ministry' from inaling an offer.—lnangahua Herald.

A Good atory comes from a State School not 100 mile 3 from To Aro, Wellington. A. teacher enthusiastic in the cause of temperance offered a prize of £1 to. anj boy in the class who could answer the question " What is worse than strong drink P" The youngsters were fairly, puzzled 5 but ©ne-diminiiliive urchin determined to make a shot for the filthy lucre, and answered Weak drink. The horrified master sHH retains his stages.

Thottgh the times are. dreadfully dull as far as news goes, and though journalises in this part of the word have to rack their brains to find the smallest local items to lay before their readers, it is satisfactory to note tne -almost entire absence of crime throughout the Waikato district. The duties of the B.M. are of the lightest, either' in Hamilton or Cambridge. Our solitary constable in charge here, has almost a sinecure. Sometimes a worshipper of Bacchus -has time for repentance in the lock-up, but even that is a rare .event, whilst "Berious crime is utterly unknown, if we accept one sheepstealing case. This is .owing, we presume, to there being plenty of employment at this time for-all who are willing and able to work. The farmers are as busy as bees with their harvest. The larger settlers are executing huge drainage works in various directions, and we doubt if at the present time there is an unemployed man id Cam bridge who is desirous of obtaining work. This is a mast satisfactory state of things, and what is more may be expected to continue, inasmuch as the coming Lands Court will release many large blocks of land that will afford employment to many hundreds more than are in the district now. Altogether, though dull in Incident, there is no part of the colony more steadily or turely advancing *in solid prosperity than the Waikato.— Waikato Ma;"'..

They hare a queer way of "waking " their Native friends in Hawke's Bay, if report be true. 'The Napier correspondent of the Wairoa Guradian in referonce to Tareha's fnnoral, sayg:—" I also folt mean whon I heard Major Boutlcdgo talk to the Muoiis through an interpreter, and tell them that the soldiers they aavr there that day had fought side by side with the " mendlies " in Poverty Bay —especially p 3 a full, intelligent looking Maori who stood behind me'win making a running commentary, in English, all the time he was speaking—its drift boing spepticiein. I felt little when I went to tho refreshment booth, which had been put up for Europeans, and saw the beer go down and the knives and forks work, and littler still when I saw 'mean whites,' not content with eating in tho booth, taking away fowls and ' hunks' of things to eat on the return journey. It didn't give one much faitb in Eineteenth century cmlization."

Ws would commend the following to the notice of amateur vocalists. It servos to show how ridiculous they often make themselves when singing in public.^ * This .is a sample rendering of modern music Wwith. piano accompaniment :—

When the moo-hoon is mi-hild-ly be-heaping O'er the ca-halin and si-hi-lent sc-e-e, Its ra-dy-unce so-hohoft-ly streHheam-miaSj Oh ! ther-hen-oh! ther-hen, : . Ithee-hink •. - Hof. thee-hee; .. • s •'■ * I thee-hink, .'■'':■■■■■. -I thee-hink, , Ithee-hink, I thee-he-herhehehehe-hink hof thee-he-h«-he-he ! —We can assure pur.readers that.the example quoted is by no means exaggerated.

THE6rr<3tH'a-prinb|V'» error, the signature to th% letter & oil? ''issue of yesterday should haTe-been J, ]P. Hcira instead of C Horn.

A COEBespondent in the Auckland Star says that Auckland willljiave to change her olaaßic title of the Oorinth tobf the South for the lesß inviting appellative of the City of the Stink*.

"Humanity" writes indicating an hotel on the western side of the city, at which he"' Bays singing and dancing^pd immoral prac-' tices are carried on behincjU closed shutters, and that " girls ;of scarorfj'sixteen summers' may be seen, sacrificed oniffcb altar of filthy' lucre." .The allegations v«e too serious ta publish on an anonymous statement, but if they are true our correspondent should lay the facts before Mr Superintendent Thomson, and the house ought certainly to lose its license. Our correspondent concludes :— " May a hint that bears some relation to the I above be here permitted for -any member of ' the City Council, viz., why., should not placards be periodically postedln the principal streets of the city,_which will both acquaint and remind Th» swarms of young men found loitering nightfv^oivthMd'rtrevt* tine Free Library and. Heading Boom is ©pen every evening until 10 o'clock, and ja comfortable as well m '.free'?!.' The' 1 backward' position of the building (at {night more especially) would seem to suggeit thd doing of something."—Star, Auckland.

Bepobts from Nelson state that the yield of fruit> ithis 'iyear. is likely to be seriously affected by the great increase of fruit .eating birds, the pgjroquets and blackbirds sirarming about the orchards literally in jny.riads. A gentleman-'who has just' returned from Nelson states that in one particularly fine garden of an acre and a Half, where the yield ha? hitherto been 'exceptionally good, there is not -this year a vestige of fruit of any kind, from;, apples to currants, so clean has been the sweep made by the bird pest.

i A«cobdiß» to an'fOfcaga paper, there .iaj ever-7 probability al. f lp*s*\■■ss „»n the Government. It is said thjkV the Ministry will meet the House, and.tfieu^.'ihraW-Up tbesponge." It looks as if there was some truth in this statement, i'or it is well known that the i Ministry are by do. means a " happy family." Mr Dick is far from Weing contented, and Mr Oliver has already, hinted; that he wishes to throw up his portfolio. Major Atkinson's mission to Canterbury and Otago had reference to it, it is supposed.., It is said that the Ministry are trying to get Mrßiohardson to join the Ministry, but the offer has been " declined with thanW r m '■ '