WEEKLY EPITOME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 41, 7 February 1874, Page 6

WEEKLY EPITOME.

"Kissing- Goes by Favottb." — The 'Of ago Daily Timea ' complains that His Honor James Macandrew withholds important official information from it, of public interest, which ho furnishes to those journals which, present his snyings and doings to the publics in the way that pleases him best. ' k Thsre are evidently moro ways of punishing in, obnoxious paper than bleeding it by a libel action.

Justices' justice has become a byeword everywhere. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Dunedin, a few days ago, before two justices, v woman who is a notorious character was charged with having decoyed a girl into a house of ill fame, and afterwards sent her to a house at Port Chalmers, the proprietress of which was in gaol when ehe arrived. The evidence was most conclusive, no defence being offered, and yet, to the surprise of those present, the charge was dismissed, with a caution to the accused. The Justicss not being able to deal summarily with the woman, were reluctant to commit her for trial !

The programme of operations of the Emigration agent for Canterbury is thus sketched out : — " Mr Duncan wiites to say that he proposes to make Glasgow his head-quarters for five months ; paying flying visits into the rural counties and the North of Ireland, " giving lectures on Canterbury as a field for emigration. The remaining seven months pf the year will be devoted to England." Mr. Duncan thus ignores the middle and southern countries of Ireland from which there is a considerable nominated immigration to this colony. Mr Adams will also without doub r take up his quarters in Scotland, and will probabyj get emigrants from ijO part of Ireland, or at all events only from one part of It eland. It should be remembered that the warning of" hard times" and "retrenchment" for some montliß *o come in America, will havo the effect of greatly lessening Irish emigration to the United States. An active agent could by the contrast depict this colonyjall the brighter, and cause to flow to New Zealand that current which would flow to the United States in the ordinary course of things, but there is little likelihood of this being done in so far as Ireland is concerned.

The ' Cromwell Argus ' in a leading article on the Governor's visit up country makes the following remarks :—": — " The next time Sir James Fergusson travels through Otago, which we hope will be at an eaily date, we trust he will do one of two tilings : either travel as the Governor of Hew Zealand, or as plain Sir James Fergusson. To do fhe latter, and to escape any demonstrations ot any kind, it will only be mcessary for him to leave his mounted escort behind in Dunedin, uud to give particular injunctions to his Honor the Superintendent to avoid giving announcements of his movements to Mayors and Councillors, lie "will not be mole&tcd on his journey throughout the province. It is impossible for any mau to enjoy the honour and dignity of being a Governor, and at the same lime the privacy of a piivate gentleman." The ' Wakutip iV ail' also comments in strong terms on the same matter. On the other hand, |it appears from the efiusion of some clever children, or ruthcr some raw literary artist who wrote an address for them, that shaking hands with the Governor has given a tone to the elite of 'lokomairio.

The total revenue of the Customs' department for last year was £905,800 as compared with £813,270 in 1872. The increases on the quaiter were — L'ui.euin, £26,914; Lyttelton, £15,458; Wellington, £7597 ; Auckland, £5347|; Nelson, £3^3G-

■ABttANGEMENis have been made between the General anl Wellington Provincial Governments, whereby ihe latter hereafter will assume charge of all immigiauts after arrival in that Province.

The Chrietchurch Spinning and Weaving Company have decided to commence the manufacture of woollen good-3.

'1 he Good Tempiars in Dunodin have at length made an open effort to have the Licensing Ordinance of ISG2 declared a nullity, aLd repealed by the Licensing Act of 1b73. To test t!.e matter, they, a Jew day* ago, proceeded ogainst a publican who had obtained a transfer under the Ordinance since the Act was in lorce, and the decision given in the cast; by the presiding Justices seems to sustain their objection — viz , that no Lquor trafiic can take place until licenses have been granted under the new Act. It was argued that the Ordinance was intended to be incorporated in the Act, and that therefore the transfer was valid. The Court inflicted a nominal penalty of Is and costs, council lor defendant giving notice of appeal.

The criminal proceedings in the Surat case have beeu concluded, and ex Ci»pt. Johnson has received sentence of two months' imprisonment. Mr Aluitland, iv passing sentence, said : I can come to no other conclusion than (hut you have been guilty of what I must characterise as a very serious oll'ence — that of criminal neglect of your duty as master cf your ship, at the time which should have called forth from any man of common prudence the utmost energy in the direction of taking every possible step to preserve his ship and those who were in it from tiie immediate aud imminent clanger which threatened them, and which 1 need not recapitulate. You showed an entire want of due piecautiou aud a dibn grird of consequences in not taking proper means to seek and ob'.ain assistance from the passing steamtr, which you had it clearly 111 your power to do — an on.isiou on jour part which might have been attended with very fatal results, and by which you, iv my opinion, seriously endangered the lives of those you had on board. The want of due precaution and the recklessness on your part may, I think, be uttnbutod lo the l'uet of your being at the time in a state o'i partial intoxication —a. state which, in my opinion, under the circumstances, aggravates tho oilenee. A Cantekbciiy Volunteer, has made 99 out of a possible 112 in the competition for the choiue ot representatives ut the Colonial P- ze Firing cuntist. The conditions of the eonpetition were seven shots at 200, 4uO, 500, and 600 yards. It ia doabtlul if any shooting with the Eufield riilu equal to this tcore has ever been made in the Auet'-aksian Colonies.

Mv Vogll has appointed a Commission to inquire into late fatal boiler aiudtnt at the Thames, and into the btate of muuhiueiy generally on the gold-fields. Thk Kigln llev, Dr Croke has left Auckland in tho Phoebe, en vov.it for iii gland. Quite v licet of home vessels arrived at various ports in tho colony on the 31st ult., and the Ist and 2nd inst., as will bo seen from the following list:— At Auckland the Laudeidale has arrived; at Wellington, the Ocean Mail aud Gienlora ; at Napier, the Queen of the North ; at Lyttelton, the W. E. Gladstone ; aud ,at Port Chalmers, the Luttei worth, Margaret Galbraith, and Warwick— making eight altogether in the three days.

The last mail from America brought information that the ship Splendid had left New Bedford in the month of November for Port Chalmers, where she will take up- her quarters as a whaler. Tho Splendid is a ship-rigged vessel of SCO tons burden, and is owned by some miners at the Blue Spur, Tuapeka, and some parties at Port Chalmers.

The ship Queen Bee sailed from Napier for London on Saturday* last, with a cargo of wool valued at £68,991. Me. Ktnneeslet, late Commissioner of the Nelson South-west Goldfields, died at Nelson on Saturday from consumption, after a lon * illness.

ACCOBDIN& to advices just received by his Honour the Superintendent, the ship Scimitar has left London for Fort Chalmers with 430 immigrants on board. She sailed in December last. The certificate of incorporation of the Standard Insurance Company was granted on the 27th ult. The Company is now registered under the Joint Stock Companies Act. Branch agents have been appointed in the various Provinces tor some time, and sub-agents are now being appointed for the towns and districts of the different Provinces.

The ship Isles of the South arrived at Lyttelton, on the 2 id ult with 330 immigrants and seven cabin passengers, 88 days out fro*n Plymouth. The deaths reported on the voyage wore two infiuts ua I one adult, aged seventy-nine.

His Excellency Mr Da Cane, Governor of Tasmania, leaves Launceston shortly for the purpose of visiting Victoria and New Zealand.

The ship Ocean Mail ha 3 arrived at Wellington from London, 80 days out, with over 300 immigrants. There was one case of scarlatina on board, aud five deaths amoagst the children had occurred on the vojage from whooping cough. The vessel was quarantined. It is expected the detention will bo very short. At a mee\ing held at Wellington to form a Soamen's Union it was resolved that £2 per month advance- on the present rates be made in the pay of the officers, carpenters, cooks, and stewards. Tlio firemen's wages to be £14 per month ; trimmers, £8 par month ; and foremast hands in sailing coasters, £7 per month. A PHOSPJ2CTUB ha 3 been issued at Wellington of a new daily newspaper, to be called the Tribune, price a penny. The prospectus declares that the question of Immigration and Public Works now resolves ita^lf merely into one of administration. It approves of a firm and conciliatory .Native Government. It disapproves of Provincialism, but will endeavour to make tho best of it while it continues in existence. I The immigration authorities have received a telegram notifying [ the sailing of the Woo Hark iv December for Wellington, with 350 immigrants. Gold lias been c truck in the Caledonian mine, and it is supposed to bo the old lead. loOlbs specimens havo been taken out, and 4001bs of picked stutf. The lode is dipping into Tookev's. The ' Wakntip Mail' says the number of tourists visiting the Lake scenery this ye.ir has been greater than any preceding one. The eneuing two months are generally the most enjoyable of the year in this distuc!, and fuvoiable therefore for tourists. An extraordinary general inciting at. Wellington has been called for the parposo oi winding up the New Zealand Coal Company voluntarily, iiio ciuse is the insufficient support given to i*. The ' Buller News' Company have made arrangements for starting a paper at Obnrlestown. 'liiJG annual meeting of subscribers to the Dunedin Athenaeum was held las>t week, the proceedings being somewhat lively. The report; was of a highly satisfactory character, and along with the balance sheet, was unumunoubly adop ej. The sheet showed that tho balancj to tho credit ot tho luslitutiou at the end of the year was £565 Os 11J. Ot this amount £500 had been since spent in paying off the debentures. After a stormy Jebatc, a. resolution was carried to tlio efloct that tha Institution should bo kept open for four hours on Sunday. Steps will be taken to rover so this decision, by demanding that a poli be taken of the whole of the members of the Inbtilute, 3eciiij» that out of the 800 members, or thereabout, only 174 voted. In compliance with a requisition the Hon. Secretary of tho Institution calls a special meeting of the members, to be hold on Wednesday, the 11th. 111st., to considtr the question of tlio opening of the Athenaeum on Sundays. The new out-full dram, at Chmtchureh, which will co=t £12,0G0, has been formally opened, 'i'ho Mayor aud Mr il. 13. llart, gave a commenior tive banquet. JJx the upsetting of a cutter at the Manukau Bar on the 2nd inst the following persons were drowned : — J- Graham, a imriiedinan and a large land owner m the iiaglun district, near iViko ; Johnstonc, a halfxaste, brother-in-law to Mr H. Uarbant, KM., at Opotiki ; •Kobertaou, un unmarried man, 18 years of ago, who arrived by tho iii.idos'an, and was going to join his undo at K.iglan ; i\ Ghilvun, about 12 3 ears of a^e, and son of Mr Galvm, tho b'iu'ksnnth at Kaglan ; Miss Phillips, aged 4, daughter ot Air J. I'hilhps, farmer at liaglan ; aiul Cupt in Konney, wih leaves a wile and lainily tit Onehunga. The last northern and Southern escorts brought to Dunedin tho following quantities oi goUl : — Quccndtowu, 873 oz. 2 dtvts ; Card.onu, 58-1. oz. 2 dwt3 ; Ar-owtown, 590 oz. 17 dwts; Cromwell, 978 oz. 5 dwts ; Clyde, I^s oz ; Alexandra, 379 oz 1G clvvts; JBlacks, 425 oz. 1 dwt ; St.'Eathans, 450 oz ; Mount Ida, 1142 oz ; Macraos, 91 o&. 14 dwts; Palmci\»ton, 4io/. 4 dwts; imvreiiLV, 616 oz. lfc>d'vt^; Waipori, 108 oz ; Waitahuna, 72 oz. 10 dwts; Tokom^iviro, 215 oz. 9dwts. Total : 0726 oz. 19 tU\ta.

Me Chas Peter Begg, it sua of Mr Adam Ikgg, of Anderson's Bay, and a surveyor in tuo employ of Messrs Council un.l MlOM 10 tie — we/it ou Friday week las!, to t lie oceau beajli iic;ir DmiuJm to bathe, accompanied by his brothers; though a^powerful swimmer, he .\as carried out to sea and was druwued.

Oub Auckland correspondent telegraphing on Wednesday tvoning as to the share market says : — Uusitu-fca done — Xationul liisuiauej, 22s ; Alburnia (New issue), 53 6J ; Caledonian, £12 03 ; Albion (1 issiu), £4 j Royal Oak, lOs G J.

It is believed that W. J. T. Clarke's estate will pny to the Victorian Government about £84,000 as p'obate duty. He leaves tho Victorian property to his eldest son, William, and the New Zealand property to Joseph Clarke. His widow will receive -£300 a year, acd his second poii has been left a comparatively poor man. THe following are London telegrams, under dnte:2oJi and"Slst January: — "The fciimese twins are dead. The 'French Assembly passed the Mayors Bill with a majority of 42. The -French Government declared its policy was to show tho Pontiff a pious respect and filial solicitude whilst maintaining more amicable relations with Italy. The Ultramontane new6poper Universe hiis been suspended for two -months for publishing the pastoru) of the Bishop of Perigeux. This was in consequence of the representation of Prussia." Im-migkants to Otago under the old system, who are in arrear *with respect to passage money, will do veil to take note of an intimation published by the Provincial Secretary. Hokitj-ka intelligence states that tho Kanieii Lake Water Race Company's shares are going off well. The Borough Council are now negotiating with the Coir pany for the supply of water to the town. 'The mining claims are being taken up largely along the line of the race. A SHOET time ngo a chid of a washerwoman ot Auckland was drowned in a tub. Now, a child, three years old, wliose parents live near the Shotover Ferry, has been drowned in a'tub of water. At a meeting of t lie Canterbury Astronomical Society the Committee were rt quested to cotmnunicato with the General Government with a view to giving assistance to the TrtinMt of Venus Commicsion when it arrives in the Colony. The committee also decided to take steps for establishing an observatory. Dfnedin is now within a week of London, when steamers suit. It is proposed to firm a company at Naseby to invest. iv -station property in the Mount Ida district. Mit jAirr.s Gkogan, who was thrown out of a bu«gy at the races at -the Forbury on -December Ist, hud so far recovered as to be able to leave the Dnnediu Hospital a few days ago. lie was insensible for about n forthight after the accident happened to him, and is still partially paralyse^, but able to walk. • Nklson is waking up. lhe Provincial Council 'has paesed a resolution recommending the impo'tation of 150 immigrants j>er month. A COMrANT is in course of formation -to utilise 'the sulphur from the celebrated volcano at White Island. At the annm.l meeting of the Dunedin Water Works Company it was reported that " the proposed purchase of the Company's plant and ■works lias been finally abandoned by the Corporation, and n special report and all the correspondence on this subject is submitted herewith. The Directors "have no cause to regret this result, nor tho position they have all along taken in this matter, bo far as the interests of the shareholders are concerned. The continuing; prosperity of the Company — its biilliaut pio-spects, and the actual price at which the stock is selling in the open market, all demonstrate this." The dividend declared made in all 12 per cent, for the year on the oiigiunl shares, and 10 per cent on the others. MbW.D. Mobbl3OK i* the successful tenderer for tho Waipori Sludge Channel, at £9000. .•Tames Walkek, a seaman, died suddenly a few nights ago in the Port Chalmers lock-up while suffering from delirium tremens. The cause of death was disease of the heart.