NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 55, 16 May 1874, Page 7

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

I The insufficiency of proper house accommodation for our rapidly | increasing population is a want that all must admit, and one that has ! been long and seriously felt. It is with pleasure, then, we notice that I efforts are being made to alleviate tl is evil, and that a company has been organised, having that end in view, the prospectus from which appears in our advertising columns. At the outset it is the intention ot the projectors to provide a number of small houses, suitable for the class of peisons who are continmilU arriving ; and after this pressing want has been in a measure supplied, houses of larger proportions will be undertaken. The houses, when finished will be open for purchase on deferred payment or otherwise; and when purchased on dei'ened payment, the cost of freehold and building will be treated as n loan, to be ie|>aid by weekly or monthly instalments : so that in point of fact the weekly rent, whilst probably not exceeding that already charged, will be part of the purehuse-nioney. We would call the attention of subscribers and others, who may be indebted to us, to .an advertisement notifying that Messrs Wheeler und Mucedo have been eim owi red to receive crdeis aud monus on our account. Those of our subscribers who have not yet forwarded their subscriptions for the \ear just closed, will oblige by doing so at their eirliest convenience. The report on the Police Depaitmenf, furnished by the Commissioner of Police, vvas laid upon the table of the Provincial Council, on the 7th. Mr Weldon reports the force iv a high stare of efficiency, and rect annends an increase ol pay to the officers and men The estimate for the coming year is in excess of the closing one, consequent upon the increase of the staff, and the high piiL.es of articles required for the department. The Commissioni r sujgests that the increase should be ut the rate of 10 per cent on the salaries of officers above the rank of sergeant ; first-class sergeants, tenpence ; seoond-closs sergeant", ninepence ; and constables, eightpence per day. Thb libel case of Maca«sey v. Bell, was brought to a conclusion on Saturday evening, after a hearing of six days. The Jury returned a verdict for the defendant on t le four issues, and declared that the statements of faots ser fortli in the alleged libellous article were true in substunce. The tediou=ness und monotony of tho proceedings were occasionally enlivened by passages at arms between Counsel The Albion, carrying the Englis.li mails, arrived at the Port early on Sunday morning, after an unusually quick run. The news brought was not important, and had been anticipated by the San Francisco mail. Elsewhere we give extracts from our home files. A correspondent at St. Bathans has forwarded us the following intelligence with regaid to miniu.' in that locality : — lhe Blue Duck water race, belonging to Fahy and Co., is now completed. Great praise is due to those men for cutting so excellent a nice through such difficult ground. Its length is about seven mile*, and it is capable of carrying'ten government heads of water. Halley and Co. are making rapid progress with their water-race. They expect to have it completed in three months, if the weather be favorable. Its entire length will be forty miles, with a capability of carrying sixteen heads of water. McEwen is cutting a hend race from Ins dam at Surface Ihh to work a claim at Kildare Hill, which he lately bought for the sum of £660. Messrs Hanrahau and Quinlan, with four others, are commencing to construct a channel in muddy creek. This is a very laborious and tedious eutt-rprise. It is my opinion, and also of m.my who worked claims near the margin of Muddy Creek, that t lie quantity of gold run carelessly into the creek will defray double the expenditure when completed, and will be afterwards the best paying channel in the provim c, owir.c to the narrow', short tail races running into it, which are unfit 'to save flve-Mxths of the fine- gold tint is in the locality. A MOFsTEit Petition from Naseby has been forwarded to Mr DeLiuituui, M.P.C , for present ition to the Provincial Council, asking that the Government will neither alienate nor sell any lands in th« district, until a survey has been mttJe of a railway line from Palinerston to Chile. Troii Wellington we learn that a vote of want of confidence had been pioposed m the Provincial Government, but after a protracted debate, the hostile motion was negatived on Wednesday, by a majority of three votes. By the Claude Hamilton which arrived on tho l.'idi we have Australian dates to the Gt.h instant. The 'Jay of ileibou.-ue has been chartered for the Cahforni in service, owing to tlie unprecedentlv lw'e uuinber of passengers. — The Mongol lias experienced a tornlie hurncuie at Kandavu. Mr Woods, the late Premier of Fiji, is said to have been n passenger on board, though his name does not appear m f he li-t —A Victorian detective had been despatched to Noumea, New Caledonh, to arrest O'Farrell, the defaulting Crown Lands elert, but had been obliged to return without him.— Amongst tho English items of intelli«ence, the met notable is with reference to the Durham strike, of" which we have been informed by the last mail, but which has now assumed such magnitude as to number 25,000 colliers, who hate stopped work in opposition to a reductiou of wages. An order was received on Wednesday, by Mr Caldwell, Governor of the Dunedin Gaol, from His Excellency Sir James Fergusson, for the release of Dr Honeywell, found guilty at the last Criminal Sessions ot manslaughter, and sentenced to six mouths' imprisonment. It may be remembered that prisoner was a medical man at Roxburgh, and wivs,

convicted df causing the death of a woman through malpractice, but prior tof being sentenced stated that had certain madical evidence been called, the charge could not have been sustained. Subsequently a petition was forwarded to the Governor through Judge Chapman setting forth this fact, accompanied by statements from Drs. Hulme' Hocken, and Bakewell, controverting the evidence given at (he trial by medical experts. The petition and statements were favorably entertaind by his Excellency, and Dr Honey well ordered to be discharged «npJ? E ? a T e V Sta j\ CC ° ntraclictßtlie Btatement that Sullivan has ht H L f?u u™i StatC8 ' ° D g °° d au(hnrit; y. the taking of Him on board the Hindostan, ostensibly to send him to Enzland was ft 9 ,""' to P^ People off their guarc as to his real destination, as he was subsequently embarked in the City of Melbourne, for Sydney Sullivan s deportation to Australia is as much to be deprecated as the former attempt to foist him upon the people of California, A COHBBSPondbnt from the Thames send* us the following particulars with regard to Father Nor. is, whose premature decease we chronicled in our last is^ue but one :-Father Norris came to the NaS? 7 fli n '*» f, rev l OUB t0 hh ' 8 ordi » ati »° was located at the .North Shore, near Auckland. lie was ordained in 186fi, and shortly afterwards ordered to proceed to Dunedin and wu stationed at Mount Ida for some time On leaving the latter place be was presented with a testimonial by the peopla, in which they expressed their admiration lL™« <P£htie* as a priest, and their regret at his departure from amongst them. He then came to Auckland, and remained there until Bishop Croke appointed him in June, 1873, to the charge of the parish a. successor to the Rev Father K ward, who was called to a mision in 2™ ?\- a &*? d ,! ama ?V l 0 the P e °P le here during his brief sojourn, by his kindly disposition, bis eloquence, and his indomitable energy in the cause of faith and Christian education. During hU lres? dence among us, principally by his untiring exertions, we had a beautiI;ZS ?**?£• ac a soyß5 oyß BJchool>8 J chool> and man y other thin « 8 remai ° as memorials of the energy of our deeply regretted priest. The news of tin. death caused a pang to the hearts of those who were aequain ted with him, not only of lus own church, but also of many of other denominations. Requicscat in pace. XT. ..Vh 1 * ° f , con8 lj® rable »«• *<** P^ce on Sunday ou the works at Kh J ;T tt2 °2 tt T J Of -T th CaQie down u P° tt roadway, but fortunately was attended with no serious coosequenoes. The chief officer of the steamer Wallace has been fined £10 by the Greymouth Bench for refusing to deliver up goods in transitu by bailiff, under warrant of dutrese. ™ D ' Foub of the sailors arrested on board tho Golden Sea, in the Quarantine Ground Wellington, for mutiny and broaching of L eo have been sentenced to three months' h.Vd labor. Sevfral of The impliCated ' bUt ° Q ttCC ° Unt ° f thdr Iktelliqekcb from Alexandra states that a secret meeting has 1W *3 , T° Dg9t tl r P t Cipal chiefß at Kuiti - None othe sVere allowed to be present, and a number of friendlies, on their way uvtl their relatives were turned back. y P The estate of Mr Adam Oliver, at Smyler's Peak, has been di» posed l of by auction for the sum of £2,333, being £G 101. pei indnding all improvements. Mr Thomas Calcut was the purchaser ' The following letter, addressed to the ' Thames Advertiser • may be read with benefit by the advocates of secular education effects of a purely secular education on our rising genTat'ion was neyermore visibly displayed than on last Sunday cvmS H» « the English cbapel duung divine service. There were from th rtv to forty boys collected, who amased themselves by swelZ; hoothi whistling and rushing up and down the steps of the church, Sg close the doors, and otherwise behaving as no boys with any jKs of Chnsttamty or reverence for the «unda> could possibly haTe done It may be asked where were their parents ? But I " a.£-H I ™t if k were the police, into whose hand? they will undoubTed y ZllolZ later—l am, sip, stronger than ever a denominational^ ■> _ Thb Melbourne 'Leader' sajß:-We are able, as Mr Francis pointed out in his speech at Richmond, to teach the mother couTtry .ome > things, and one of the test lessons we ever set the old lady Tf she has sense to copy ,;, was given at BaUaiat on St. Patrick's Day. The Imhirotestants in orange and blue, and the Catholic* m green, marched together behind the same band and away to the same sports to enjoy themselves at the national festival. The idea of Iridh CuthotlkT P f r r e !} aßt9 co^' b , min S for anything but a mutual S!v«r g M B l emed al TBtT 8t iffi P° S6ibl « those who know what they are at home ; but now that we have shown that the thing can be countrS/u C r eqUWJCe8 ' l h °P e thttt ow fnendsiu theold m ab/uJJf 11 ToW,theT oW , the "^P 1 ?: Home Rule would not appear quite so absurd if all Iruhmen were like those of Ballarat. A Bishop turns Pa.ish Priest. -rt is somethiag unusual to see a ?t«L B r me '^ Pa !-° r S a mlnor P 3rißh in a **^ SSSe? Such a circumstance was noticeable in the parish of St. Columbau Silkry in of SavXT BinCC ' W J e V h ° Bev ' Mgr.Perslu late Sop diatWFatL^W I?*^ - he Pa6toral cha 4 e left vacant by Z death of Father Hai km. Heisto be assisted by the Rer. M Grauth£r