AUCKLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Saturday, July 11.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 338, 14 July 1874, Page 2

AUCKLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Saturday, July 11.

In my last letter I gave brief particulars of a brutal murder that had been committed in a Maori brothel in Upper Queen street, by two seamen named Pascoe and Dobbin. The prisoners were tried at the Criminal Sessions on Wednesday, and sentenced to four and five years imprisonment respectively. The lightness of the sentence has been a matter of much surprise and / comment, and no wonder when the haiTowing details of the murder are remembered. The youth of the prisoners, the eldest being only 24 years of age, may have weighed with His Honer, but nevertheless the anomalies in the sentences awarded, seem out of all character with the nature of the offences, and received a practical illustration in a charge of embezzlement, in which the offender was sentenced to live years hard labour 1 Many of your readers, I believe had occasion to mourn the departure of that unblushing charlatan, Dr llosenthal, oculist and aurist, who became "lost to sight though to memory dear " after he had more skilfully manipulated the pockets of his patients than their senses of perception and sight ; although, to do him justice, he certainly '• opened their eyes" when too late. The last Held of operation of this gentleman was Tasmania, where he again appears to have been eminently successful — in fleecing his victims — thanks to his Auckland credentials, which by-the-bye were published in full in the HobartTown Mercury. This organ, it appears, afforded Dr Rosenthal the same protection he received at the hands of a portion of the Press hero, and has consequently since incurred an amount of odium and loss of prestige, which certainly wero never contracted for in assessing the cost of inserting his quack .advertisements. According to the Lauiiceston Exa?nmer, which is loud and forcible in its denunciations of the scoundrel, .ho has msmaged to levant from Launceston with close upon .£lOOO, and it cites several cases of heartlosbncss equal to those

experienced here, but which failed to obtiin publicity. In these times of dearth of news it is somewliat singular that the Souilurn Cross is the only paper that has chronicled Rosenthal's escapade in Tasmania, notwithstanding that a knowledge of his whereabouts has been a matter of great inquiry and interest to the people of Auckland. An inquest was held on Saturday at the Terminus Hotel, Wynyard Pier, before Dr Philson, and jury, on the body of Eliza Satter&ea. The unfortunate woman had been living with a man named Charles Dyer, at Pakiri, and had met with her death under very painful circumstances. For some time past Dyer, it is alleged, has been jealous of the woman, and has been hi the habit of beating and ill-treating her, and on Thursday last, he is stated to have poured a quantity of kerosene oil upon her head, and set fiVe to hex*. She became at once enveloped in flames, when, alarmed at the result, Dyer threw a sack round her body and submerged her in water. A man named Watson rescued her from the water, and assisted in conveying the poor creature to the hut. Temporary relief was afforded, and she was placed on board the Prince Rupert for conveyance to Auckland. The injuries, however, were so severe that the woman died on the passage. The scalp was entirely denuded of hair, and the upper pai't of the body scorched to a frightful extent. The man Dyer was arrested, and the inquest has been adjourned until Saturday next to afford time to procure witnesses. The City Council has given much dissatisfaction in its action re the appointment of the late Mayor to the post of Town Clerk at a salary of £400 a-year — an increase of .£l5O upon that-paid hisrpredeeeaaor who has accepted the subordinate position of Treasurer. The election of Mayor stands over until next meeting of the Council, when it is proposed to reduce the salary to £150. If, as was alleged, the salary enjoyed by Mr Phillips was not sufficient to enable him to do the honors of the position, I presume it is intended in fixing the piusent nominal sum, that his successors shall be men of independent means. One thing is "very certain, that if the office is not sought after for the dignity it lends it will not be for the emolument. Mr Isaacs, I believe, will be elected to the vacant chair. Lovers of music and the opera have been holding carnival dining the past week. They have had presented in succession " Maritana," " La Sonnambula," "Lily of Killarney," and the comic opera "The Grand Duchess." The company, while numerically strong, is weak in point of ability, and will not in any way compare with Cagli's Italian Opera Company. The latter possessed several voices of more than ordinary range and excellence, while in the present company the voices are very mediocre, with the exception of the prima donna, Miss Alice May, and Mr Rainford, the basso. The operas, notwithstanding, ai'e well sustained, the deficiencies referred to, helping to show up more prominently the vocal abilities of the prima donna, who possesses taste, with a voice of great power and sweetness. She owes no small portion of her success to the dramatic effect which she infuses into her singing. It may be mentioned that the chorus is unusually good, and that the band is of full strength.