Events of the Month.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4604, 6 October 1883, Page 4

Events of the Month.

s n --. Parliament was prorogued ©n Sep- ... temberßth. — The trout ova introduced last month ■ is flourishing, and is about to be distributed in'private ponds and safe streams. , —The Hon. F. A. Whitaker, exPremieri and Major Atkinson, Premier, hare been selected as delegates for the 1 colony at, the Annexation Conterence to be held in Sydney next month. ' . — Fifty Crimean veterans celebrated -.. the fall of Sebastopol by a dinner in ■ Auckland on the 10th September. Some 1 \ interesting reminiscences were indulged in. ' — The Auckland Education Board has been making itself supremely ridiculous, - chiefly owing'to the eccentricity of its • Chairman. " Sympathetic accord," the tightness of female attire/ the religious beliefs of its teachers —although t we are under, a. secular system of education —and * a variety of other little oddities seem to have taken up the mind of the <jbody in stead of the work it should attend to- —- The Salvation Army nuisance still , seeuas to "keep" the various officers afloat, &nd makes the many hangers on to it look " happy and comfortable, with little to do." ~ An underground fire broke out on Sept; 16 in old workings under tho Golden Crown spur, near where a Jarge quantity of timber had been stowed away in the stopes years ago. The various drives in the Caledonian, Waiotabi, and Golden Crown soon became filled with smoke and * a gas which issued from the burning wood, making it impossible for men to get near the fire. As soon as possible all the known openings by which air could reach the fire \"were stopped up, and though it is still smouldering, only a portion of the workings of the Golden Crown are now inaccessible, and it is not likely to do any damage. Three men had a narrow escape of being suffocated by the gas. — The Mayor of Wellington has been getting the Council in that city into a " scrape " through amending a notice to a contractor's sureties; the loss likely to arise to the Council is about £8000. Whether the act was intentional or not is j Dot quite clear, but some queer notions : are entertained in the matter. — The Government some time ago for* feifed a barque, the Gazelle, owing to several of those employed on it having been found guilty of smuggling. The owner of it, who resides in New South Wales, and who was .not in any way implicated in the smuggling, is about to test the legality of the seizure and confisca--lOfl Football has been attracting much attention in the colony this season. An Auckland team of payers travelled throughout the colony, playing.the prin~ cipal teams in the leading cities, and returned without defeat. Out of three ieading matches they woo. one and drew

two. Our leading local Club has been very successful during.Vthe season ; they have only lost one match.since the. open., ing—that was with an Auckland team.

— Messrs W. Redmond, M.P., and J. W. Walshe paid a short visit to the Thames ■ previous to their departur3 for Hokitika, where they held their first New Zealand meeting on the 28th September. They were very cordially, received here and down south, and their New Zealand mission is likely to be a very successful one. Mr J. E. Red* uiond, M*.P., has just arrived from New South Wales.

—■ Capt. Haultain, master of a ketch which was stranded at Whangarei, stated that he was knocked overboard when jibing, and after being 3f hours in the water with a heavy: sea on, ha succeeded in reaching the beach.

— A game of chess with living pieces has been publicly played in Auckland in aid of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, and realised a gross return of over £300.

—- Mete Kingi an old native loyal chief and ex M.H.R. died recently, and was accorded a public funeral of a military character, which was very largely attended. The Native Minister, Mr Bryce, was present at it.

— Owing probably to the large quantity of meat exported from the colony, the price of mutton is inclined to advance, more particularly in Otago.

— The Christchurch people are still sanguine about their diamonds, prospecting is bHng carried on. !

— Many Samoan residents are in favor of annexing that country to New Zealand. A petition is likely to be signed to that effect.

— The s.s. Doric arrived in Auckland on the 16th September. She bad measles on board and was quarantined. No deaths occurred from them though. She was 49 days out from Plymouth. — A man in Christchurch was fined £2 for throwing flour at the Salvation Army. — Judge Gillies, who has been experimenting in sorghum culture says regarding that article, that in the light of a sugar producer; the results of his efforts have exceeded his wildest imagination. — A six nights' debate on the question, " Does the Bible teach conditional immortality?" has just been concluded in Auckland. It was taken part in by a theological student and a Materialist. The result was not a very stirrißgone, things remaining generally as they were. — A child named, Chandler fell over a cliff, 100 feet, at Cape Saunders, and the only injury sustained was a broken leg. — A large comet was reported as having been seen on the east coast of the North Island on the 19th Sept., but the report has not been satisfactorily confirmed. ■> — Sunday afternoon open air services are about to be held by the clergymen of the Primitive Methodist, Congregational, and other denominations.

— The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce has resolved to co-operate with other similar institutions for the purpose of securing the adoption of an equitable form of bill of lading.

— Mrs Major Barker of the Salvation Army presented the Dunedin contingent with colors in the name of " Jesus Christ and General Booth." Truly a blasphemous combination.

.—- A " Salvation " Captain, bearing the euphonius title of Smith, has been fined, ten shillings in a Southern-town for causing an "obstruction in the streets and heading a noisy procession whereby the thoroughfare became choked.

A monkey in Auckland has severly bitten two ohiljlren, and the parent of odo of them has recovered £25 damages and coats against the owner.

— The bones of a human being—supposed tobea Maori—have been discovered in the bush- at Karangahake. They are thought to have been lying there about 14 years.

— Money order exchange with Canada has been established in the colony.

— The local Choral Society have Weber's Mass in G in hand now, and purpose shortly to put " The Ancient Mariner" in rehearsal.

— A wrestling match between Robertson (half-caste), the present champion of the colony, and a man named Strong, took place on the 29th September in Dunedin ; Robertson won easily.

, •— A patient in the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, named Gschnell, struck another inmate, named Mills, on the back of the head with a,deck scrubber, and caused fracture of the skull, from which Mills died.

— The boys named Roy, who, in firing at,a train, shot the fireman, Henderson, dead, were tried in Dunedin. One of them was sentenced to two months" imprisonment, and the other was liberated on his father becoming responsible for his good behaviour. • '