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Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4216, 6 July 1882, Page 2

Inspectob Thomson is in bad luck juat now. Scarcely does be recover from one accident, before another befnla him Tester day as lie was letting down the window of hia bedroom it fell upon hia hand injuring two of the fingers very severely. Thb hearing of the charges preferred by ex-Detective Farrell against Ser^t O'Grady was commenced before Inspector Thomson this morning. Mb John Letdon has just returned from a trip up country. He is satisfied with everything except the roads, which are in a dreadful state. If ppace were available we could give nn account in Jack's best style, of v the dangers that travellers run, whicb would act ass deterrent to others risking their lives. For the horse to almost disappear altogether in the mud is so common an occurrence as to beI come quite monotonous and uninteresting. At ) Waihi he found'the batteries hard at work. The Martha mill is not workiog satisfactorily. Both the Waihi and Young Colonial are mi)king a fair show on the plates, and Chose interested are confident that the yield will be remunerative. At Waitekauri also the mines are doing well, and Clem Cornea expects soon to be down wiih » good return. AtOwharoa they are doing still better. There the' Smile of Fortune is doing famously, as are the tributers and those in the Radical. 'I'he Mayor receive 1 a letter from Mr R. Hobbs, M.H.R, yesterday, to the effect that he would be only too glad to give the ThamesWaikato railway his support, and he would help all he could in the matter. Wb would remind oar readers that the Service of Song, " Ministry of Flowers" will be given this evening at the Presbyterian Church on behalf of the Sunday School Fnion and the Primitive Methodist Churoh. THE first of Professor Denton's series of lectures on geology was delivered last night, the subject being " The fiery beginning of our planet." The Hall was crowded, and the lecturer was listened to attentively throughout his discourse. Mr Dent on handled his subject in a masterly manner; his oratory was powerful, and his words eloquent. The lecture was as fluent, vivid, complete, and successful an effort at word-painting as has been our lot to listen to. One of the grandest, if not the grandest, subjects the human mind could undertake to fathom was invested wirh surpassing interest, and rendered so easy of comprehension that a child might not only readily understand it, but eagerly listen to it. The audience was spell-bound, The Professor's accent is decidedly American, and his style of delivery partakes possibly more of the tone of the cleric than the platform orator. But we do not mean to insinuate that he is orthodox j from reports of his speeches we judge that he holds advanced riews. We have not space to give,even an outline of the lecture. He showed that metamorphic rocks, including those in which we are getting gold, were formed by the action of water, and these have lines in them showing the layers of deposit. Granite was the bed rock below these 5 it had no lines, having once been molten. The bottom rock boing thus, it leads to the inference that the globe was once molten. A* one time there was no water, and the earth was a fiery fluid. The experience of miners proveJ that as they descend, the he.it, incre*aed one degree in 50 feet. He did not think the crust of the eurth was anywhere thicker than 100 miles, and in places in New Zealand it probably wai not 20. The crust bears the same relation to the earth that the shell does to an egg. The lecturer then explained, iv glowing and picturesque language, the theories respecting volcanoes, earthquakes, geysers, &c, and told in graphic speeuh the story of the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii, the great earthquake of L sbon, and described Vesuvius, Etna, and other great natural wonders. He believed the interior of the earth consisted of molten metal. Although generally calm, Blorms sometimes took place the c, a partial vacum occurred, and the air rushed in. Earthquakes were caused by the molten metal convened to vapor trying to get vent. The lectUjTo was illustrated with views exhibited by means of the oxy hydrogen light. The lecture for this evening is, " The World before Ijtfe." A meeting of the shareholders in the New .Columbia licensed holding, which includes the old Papakura, Dumbarton Castle, and Nil Desperandum mines, Punga Plat, was held at Mr Horsbrugh's office yesterday. The prospects of the enterprise were discussed, and a feeling prevailed that remunerative gold ehouU soon be obtained. Mr John Bowler was appointed manager, and authorised to commence mining operations forthwith, £200 being on hand for the purpose. At the Supreme Court yesterday in. Auckland, Frederick Bennett (late of th« Thames) made »n application for an order of discharge. The report of the trustee stated that the debtor had been proprietor during a period of eight years of the Tararu Gardens at the Thames, that they had turne i out unprofitably, and that consequently he lost his money over them. His Honor eaid that, as there j were no assets in the case, and as the creditors had not recommended the discharge, he .coneiiered that it should be laid down as a rule that in su';h cases the order should be refused. He would, therefore, follow that course. The Kamo Coal Company, says yesterday's Star, is fast developing what promises a short lime hence to be a m>st important and extensive industry. The Union Company's steamer Te Anau goes to Whangarei this evening, , with Mr Johnson of the s.s. Argyle as pilot. She is expected to take in 700 tons of coal, while the Rotomahana will receive an additional 700 tons from the same mi es about 10 days hence. It is also almost definitely settled that H.M.S. Nelson will coal at Wbangarei. Several trials have been [ made on board that vessel with Newcastle, j Russet 1, and Whangarei coal, and w* understand the latter is considered the most suit? able. The man-of»war will require about 900 tons, which could easily be supplied from the mines within (he two days which it ia intended by the Commodore to devote to coaling. Two men named Chamberlain and Ryan were brought before the Court at Christchurch yesterday for assaulting one of the Exhibition attendants, named Anderson. Last night they met him in the street, and one of them knocked him down. Anderson informed a constable; but, as he would npt arrpst the prisoners, not havfng seen the assault, he followed them himself, ane} then they set upon: him and severely maltreated him. His cries brought out Detective Neill from bii house, and Ryan thereupon turned bis attention to the new comer, and after striking him on the fßce both men got off. Neill, however, recognised them, and they were in-rested. Ryan got » month, and Chamberlain, who was imprisoned not long ago for the lame sort of thing, got two months.

Tub ship City of Perth hits been • sold private.y fur six. thousand pounds to Mr John Mill, of Port Chalmers.