NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 90, 16 January 1875, Page 6

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

A meeting of the Catholics of Dunedin was held in St. Joseph's Church on Tuesday for the purpose of presenting Father Ooleman, the respected Vicar-General of the diocese with an address and pnrse of sovereigns on his return from his trip to England. The address was elegantly illuminatedby Mr George, artist, Stafford street, and was much admired for the chasteness of its design. The address was read by Mr Dungan, the Hon. Sec. to the Testimonial Fund, and the purse handed to the rev. gentleman by Miss McKay on behalf of the Catholics of the diocese. His Lordship occupied the chair, the Rev. Father Higgins being, also present at the ceremony. A full account of the proceedings will be found in another column. The frightful calamity on board tlie Cospatrick, resulting in the horrible fate of close upon five hundred souls, has caused a thrill of horror wherever it has been known, and cast a gloom over the entire community. The. bare thought of the awful sufferings and doom of the unhappy people on board of the ill-fated vessel, is calculated to make the heart turn sick, and the hideouß picture of that huddled mass of humanity in the extremity of their hopeless despair rises up in imagination before our eyes, and the shrieks of agonising despair are borne to our ears, and fill our souls with horror. Of course in the present meagre amount of details to hand it is impossible to say how the disaster may have originated. It may have been that a portion of the cargo embraced items of a combustible nature — and from the rapidity with which the flames did their work of destruction, there are grounds for such a supposition — or it may be that the catastrophe has been the result of the carelessness of a passenger. However, to whatever eat s } it may be traced, the fact is apparent on this, as unfortunately it is upcn similar occasions, that the means which are supposed to be a protection to life in cases of emergency were found sadly deficient. The report states that one hour only elapsed from the outburst of the flames, until the ill-fated vessel burnt to the waters edge, and disappeared for ever, and it would appear that during that period no efforts had been made for the victualling of the boats, the one hope from destruction. Thirty out of the hundreds of unhappy passengers succeeded in escaping from the burning vessel, twentyseven of whom afterwards fell victims to the horrors of thirst and starvation, whilst the thiea survivors, who alone were left to tell the tale of woe, were saved by a means, the recital of which causes one to shudder and sicken with disgust. It were useless to dilate upon this sad calamity, which has hurried so many souls into eternity, and brought grief and lamentation to so many hearts. No doubt, the usual official inquiry will be held, and the stereotyped vote of censure passed as an offering to the manes of the devoted victims ; and further precautions will be enforced until such time as a seeming immunity from accident will again lead to their relaxation, when the world will again be horrified with a repetition of some such calamity as that of the Cospatrick. The first half-yearly meeting of the Onehunga Branch, No. 89, of the H.A.C.B.S. was held in St. Mary's Hall, Onehunga, on the 17th ult. for the purpose of electing officers for the next half-year, when the following were elected : — President, Bro. Charles Heenan ; Vice-president, Bro. John McMahar; Secretary, Bro. Charles Lucas ; Treasurer, Bro. Anthony O'Loughlin ; Warden, Bro. John Farrel; Guardian, Bro. Patrick Pur.ciiL. The Secretary, Bro. Lucas, in returning thanks, for the continued confidence reposed in him, stated that although he was unable to congratulate the lodge on any great increase in their numbers, he was happy to say that its members proved by their position on the books, that they were financially and practically good Hibernians. He also referred to the difficulties met with in the formation of the lodge, particularly to the securing of the services of a medical man. The Onehunga lodge numbers thirteen members, exclusive of two honorary members, and when is borne in mind the very limited amount of population, and that the meeting above referred to i 3 but the termination of the first half-year, the efforts of the residents for the establishment of the Hibernian Society are entitled to commendation. We haye to acknowledge from Messrs Clifford and Morris.* Fleet street, the receipt of a number of photographs of that universal favorite, Val Vose, and his valuable aids " Granny Brown " and " Johnny Trotter." The pictures are excellent specimens of art, and are most suitable for insertion in an album, for which purpose, no doubt, they have been printed. The make-up of " Granny " and her friend is so complete, and the execution of the photographs so perfect, as to lead one to the supposition they had been " taken from life." The misconception which is prevalent with regard to the Hibernian Society is somewhat singular. Time after time it has teen stated in these columns and elsewhere that there is nothing of a secret nature in connection with that body, and that not only are its meetings open to representatives of the Press, but that their attendance on such occasions is invited. The Hibernian Association is purely a benefit society, having neither counter-signs passwords, nor secrets, the distinguishing difference between it and others of a kindred nature being the absence of all secrecy, and the obligation that its members should be practical Catholics, acting up to the teachings of the Church. The avidity with which persons have seized upon the supposition that it is a political organisation, and having done so, the persistency with which they cling to such an opinion, is worthy of a better cause ; but we trust that this unequivocal and emphatic denial of such a statement, will have the effect of disabusing .the minds of those who are not wilfully ignorant. The fortnightly meeting of the H.A.B.C.S. Catholic Benefit Society, was held in St. Joseph's Schoolroom, on Monday evening' The Balance Sheet, held over from last week, was submitted, which was of a most satisfactory character. On the motion of Bro. J. J. Connor, seconded by Bro. J. Moylau, it was resolved that £100 of the

Lodge Funds be invested on fixed deposit in the Bank. Several new members were proposed, and it must be very gratifying to the members to find that not an evening passes without augmenting their numbers. During the evening the President, Bro. Burke, presented. Joseph Hcffcrnan, the winner of the Boys' Race ab the late fete, with a capital suit of clothes, the very handsome gift of Bro. J. Moylan. Abstract of receipts and expenditure of St. Joseph's Branch.No. 73, foo quarter ending December 14, 1874 : — To balance last audit sick fund, £93 lls 6d j do do incidental fund, .£39 8s sd ; contributions, £33 15s ; goods, £3 6s ; fines and quarterage, £2 14s ; miscellaneous receipts, £1 4s Gd. Total, .£173 19s sd.— By funeral fund to E. D., £3 lls 6d ; incidental fund do, .£1 8s 7d ; sick pay for quarter, £6 j medical attendance, .£ls 16s 9d j salaries, £5 ; sundries, £2 12s 6d ; balance to sick fund, .£99 6s 6d j do do incidental do, £40 3s 7d. Total, .£173 19s sd. Total amount of money to credit of Branch., J>l63 lls 7d. Number of full benefit members initiated this quarter, 4 ; do now financial, including new, 50 ; do now unfinancial, 4. Total, 58. Benefit, 55 ; honorary, 3. Total, 58. John Cantwei/l, Secretary. Thbotjgh some unexplained reason our Tuapeka exchange did not come to hand ■with its accustomed punctuality, and consequently the following notice of a concert given on St. Stephen's night, which we extract from its columns, may appear somewhat out of date. It says: — A grand concert in aid of the Roman Catholic Church took place in the Assembly Rooms here (Teviot) en the evening of Boxing Day, and the attendance was thelar gest that ever met together on any similar occasion. Great credit is due to Messrs Cormack and Pitchers for the energetic manner in which they went about getting the room ready, and also to Mr Wood (the Roman Catholic Schoolmaster of Lawrence), who, along with Mrs "Wood and a troupe of juveniles, came all the way from Lawrence to be present on the occasion. The youngsters acquitted themselves in a very creditable manner — a little boy (a son of Mr James Harris) more particularly so ; and as for Mr Wood, he is almost a company in himself. Mrs Wood ably presided at the piano - throughout the whole of the evening, with the, exception of a few minutes, when Topsy Clarke sat down and gave a very brilliant display of her musical powers, showing what may be accomplished by a very juvenile performer, who has had skilful tuition. Mrs Wood haxl no easy task, as the room was densely packed and intensely hot. Mrs F. Woodhouse was the only local lady that we are aware of who was called upon to assist, which she most readily consented to do. She was hardly in as good voice as we have heard, her, nevertheless her " Molly Asthore " was loudly applauded. We aie pleased to see that that gifted Irish poet, Mr Denis Florence McCarthy — a poem from whose pen we reproduce this week in our columns — has been appointed Professor of English Literature in the new Catholic University of Kensington. Mr McCarthy is the editor of Calderon's Spanish. Dramas, &c.