CRICKET IN AUCKLAND.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 284, 10 July 1873, Page 8

CRICKET IN AUCKLAND.

A meeting of the Auckland cricketers was held on the 13th inst., at the Thames Hotel, to discuss the advisability of sending a Provincial team, during the coming season, to compete with the clubs of the other Provinces. There was a large attendance. The following resolutions were carried :— "That it is desirable that Auckland should be represented by a Provincial team at the interprovincial cricket matches in this Colony, and that the cricketers throughout the Province generally should be invited to join in an endeavor to promote this object. That in the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable that steps should be taken to place the game upon a proper footing in the Province of Auckland, and with that object a committee be appointed, with power to add to their number, representatives from the Thames and country districts to fill up vacancies; the committee to consider the advisability of carrying out the foregoing resolution during the next or any future season. 'I hat in the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable, with the view to promoting and encouraging cricket generally, to organise a Crickpters' Association on a liberal basi3, for the benefit of all clubs within the Province, and that the committee just appointed be instructed to consider the best method of carrying this resolution into effect, if practicable." The Mayor said that anything he could do to support the cricketers he would. The Improvement Commissioners would before long have a piece of ground levelled, and placed at the disposal of the cricketers. He hoped that they would prosper in their endeavors to put the game of cricket on a proper basis. Mr J. Sheehan said he had much pleasure in supporting the resolution. He would support the cricketers as much as possible. In the matter of money, he thought that, if they went the proper way to work, they could get plenty of money to send a team South. Mr James Ru3sell opposed the resolution, on the grounds that they were not in a position to send a team to compete with the southern cricketers, and that the resolution was premature. They were commencing at the wrong end first. He thought that they were not in a position to send a team South, or to receive a team from there next season. They had no ground to play a match upon, and that was one ef the first things they ought to consider and endeavor to obtain. He thought that they ought to establish a club, and gave its members plenty of practice. Mr Rice, in .answer to a question, stated that it was not the intention to send a team South next season, unless they were in a position to do so. The Chairman thought that the cricketers ought to obtain the services of a professional cricketer as coach. After some few remarks from other gentlemen, the meeting closed.

A prudent match-making mamma gave the following candid advice to her daughter :—: — 11 Oh, marry the man you love, girl, if he is as rich as Crcesus." On June 11, the Superintendent requested the General Government to telegraph to the Agent-General directing Mr Seaton to communicate with a firm in Glasgow with a view to sending out fifty working shoemakers, an equal number of coal-miners, and a number of journeymen tailors. On the 28th July, a party of men out pic: hunting in the bush near Otepopo, discovered the skeleton of a man. There were boots oa the feet, but no vestige of clothing. It is supposed the remains are those of a man who went out alone, nearly three years ago, pig hunting, and who has never been heard of since. The Independent has a gushing reporter. Witness his description of the citizens' ball to the Governor. " His Excellency, who seemed to be indifferent as to what place in the [quadrille he occupied, set the 'ball in motion by taking the Mayoress as a partner. Looked at from the gallery, the scene was brilliant. Between handsome faces, beautiful dresses, and the light and glitter of the surroundings, the effect was) very fine. On looking at the costly apparel • displayed by so many, it became quite clear to the most ordinary comprehension how tailors and dressmakers were the most unreliable people on earth during the last fortnight, and considering their achievements during that time in the way of setting off the human form divine, one could readily forgive the unveracity they had been guilty of in a thousand instances. Dancing once begun was kept up with unflagging spirit till mid' night, and few exhibited more thorough, enjoyment than his Excellency, whose card must have been carefully filled up at an early hour, and it was seldom he omitted taking part in any dance. Amongst those who had the pleasure of tripping a measure with his Excellency during the evening were Mrs. Richardson and Miss Yogel. In the sideroom several card tables were laid, where & number of those old stagers who have more admiration for a silent and scientific garnet of whist than for the ' poetry of motion*' in. any shape or form, were comfortably seated, and the seats were seldom vacated during the evening. Circular and figure dances followed each other in rapid succession until the programme had been gone through." Another tale of loss of life at sea on the voyage from England to this port, comes to us from the clipper ship The Bruce, which arrivod in port on Saturday from Liverpool. The ship sailed for Melbourne so far back as January 10, but had to put into Charente in consequence of the havoc made on board by the stormy weather she encountered after leaving port. After a prolonged detention, she sailed from Isle dAis on March 8, and shortly afterwards was again exposed to fresh westerly gales. On March 10 the outer jibstay was carried away, and while several of the crew were on the forecastle andi jibboom, going to secure it, the ship gave a sudden and tremendous plunge, and submerged the mate and five of the men. The mate and three of the men were saved by clinging to the head gear, but two of the crew named John Johnson, a foreigner, and W. Knox, a native of Scotland, were swept away and never seen again. The second mate and four of the crew were out in a lifeboat in a very short time, and made what search could be made, for the missing men, but without success. The-, accident. occurred .at 10 p.m.. and the night being dark, tho possibility of saving the poor fellows was very much lessened. Others of the- crew were severely h,urs at the time.— Argus;

thrown open, they will one by one drift into the hands of capitalists, as has the Island Block and other portions of the public estate, to the lasting disgrace of all concerned in the iniquitous sacrifice. No one knows more about these matters than Mr. Bastings and Mr. Brown, and it is their duty to go to work con amove, and to keep the matter going, going, goinsf, until the proposals in his Honor's speech shall have become absolute facts. Mr. Ireland, the member for Mount Benger, is also well-informed regarding the land question, and we look with confidence to him as a warm supporter of a liberal policy. The question of the sale of the Island Block has again cropped up. This time Mr. Gillies draws the attention of the province to it. Our report of Mr. Nicholson's address at the Horseshoe Bend brought forth a letter from Mr. Gillies, in which he characterised Mr. Nicholson's statement as a gross fabrication, and asks who that gentleman's informant can be, Mr. Nicholson not being a member of the Executive. Then "Benger" comes to the rescue, and informs Mr. Gillies that the answer is very simple, seeing Mr. Nicholson, at a meeting in Ormond's Hotel, at Roxburgh, declared that Mr. Macandrew had shown him certain private letters with reference to the sale of the Island Block, %hich had been published in the correspondence laid before the Council by the Government. This charge against his Honor the Superintendent would have passed unnoticed, had not Mr. Gillies, who is always too anxious to drive his Honor into a cornor, brought the matter before the Council. Mr. Macandrew, in reply, which will be found elsewhere, states that he is not aware of any private letter, either from Mr. Gillies or anybody else, in re the sale of the Island Block, and most certainly no such letter had ever been in his possession, or seen by him ; and as to the statement that he had ever exhibited copies of the Executive minutes on that or any other subject, he emphatically contradicts it as being utterly preposterous and .untrue. There is no possibility of misunderstanding this denial of Mr. Macandrew's. Next in order is a letter in our issue of to-day from Mr. Nicholson, in which he gives the direct lie to " Benger's " remarks. He says, "I desire to brand the statement us deliberately untrue — in short, as an utter and bare-faced falsehood." Here we have four gentlemen — two of them holding public positions, and two aping to similar positions — all honorable men, telling each other that they are prevaricators of the truth. There cannot be the slightest doubt in the mind of any person who has carefully watched the proceedings in connection with the Island Block transaction from first to last that somebody was at fault, and it is equally certain that the four honorable gentlemen referred to had something to do with it. Mr. Nicholson promises to give his version of the history of the whole affair in pamphlet form some of these days ; probably he may throw some light upon it, but we think the best thing to do would be to let the subject drop. One fact remains certain amidst all the uncertainty, and cannot now be remedied, viz., the fact that the Island Block, the garden of the Benger district, was sold to a private individual, and such a blow given to the prosperity of the district as it will not recover from for many years.