NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 182, 22 September 1876, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

— *+ — The Dunedin newspapers have been sorely exercised in reference to the funeral of a man of the name of Hayes, who was buried here last week. The great point at which they all aimed was to throw blame on the Catholic clergy. With the Dunedin press, such an effort may be regarded as a matter of course. In the opinion of the Dunedin newspapers the Catholic clergy are always wrong. Is it not a singular thing, that these newspapers cannot keep their pefe&' off the priests ? The priests are the least obtrusive gentlemen idjthe community. They mind their business, and live a very :^ured life. So much cannot be said of the newspapers. We Eerily believe that if a Catholic priest happened to sneeze in Princes-street on his way to the Post Office, there would be a hubbub about it in the newspapers. We remember that some time ago, one of them happened to be going to the Post Office to post some letters during the day of an election contest, and that one of the newspapers immediately announced to the public that he was, toy so doing, taking an active part against one of the candidates. But to return to Hayes' case. In reference to this, several statements have been made in the newspapers and in private, which are pure fabrications. For example, it has been stated that the clergy refused to grant a free grave for deceased, this is untrue ; secondly, it has been stated that the clergy refused to bury Hayes, this is also untrue ; thirdly, it has been said that a certain price was asked for a grave, again this is untrue. In fact, there is hardly a word of truth in all that has been said by all the daily papers, and the Good Templar organ. The clergy were under the impression that Hayes was to have been buried in the Catholic cemetery in the usual way, and one of them went at the appointed time to the cemetery to perform the burial service. On his arrival there, he -was surprised to see no preparation made for the funeral, and he ■waited for two hours after the arrival of the friends till the grave was made. The Napier correspondent of the Wellington ' Evening Post ' says: — "Henry Moss, of Hallenstein Bros., Dunedin, has published

a letter in the evening paper, in which he complains of the extra* ordinary railway charges. He asserts he paid £2 3s. 3d. aa freight for nine cases to Waipawa, and on his return, when he booked the same cases to Port Ahuriri, a further distance, he was only -charged £1 16s. _ He also states that one of his parcels was impounded by the station-master at.Waipawa, because he refused to pay a private drayman an extortionate charge for carriage." ' It is expected that the new organ gallery at St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin, will be opened in about three weeks. It is intended to celebrate the opening by a performance of some selections of sacred music. Entrance into the Church on the occasion will be by ticket, as the matter has been undertaken for the purpose of helping to defray the expenses incurred by the alterations being now carried out. Mr. Charles Sykes will preside at the organ, and, as the choir will be under his able direction, there is no doubt but that the performance will be of a high order, and a musical treat of no ordinary kind will be provided. It will be seen from the letter of our Wellington correspondent that three ladies have been professed as members of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy in that town. A circumstance which adds additional inteiest to the professions in question is, that they are the first which have taken place in Wellington for sixteen years. The Victorian Government have sent to England for the services of an experienced engineer officer to bft employed in devising a plan of coastal defence ? It has been discovered that Melbourne lies still at the mercy of any hostile squadron that may happen to arrive in Port Philip j for, notwithstanding the two millions expended on them within the last two years, the volunteers are declared to be quite ineffective, and the Cerberus is spoken of as anything but prepared to repel an attack. All muniments of war in fact are needed, and there is nothing to prevent the Russians from becoming masters of the situation at any time that it may so suit their views, a position which it strikes us it is somewhat humiliating for a city like Melbourne to occupy. But which we regret to say is shared in by Dunedin. We observe that the mission of the Marist Fathers at Spitalfields, London, has been a marked success. A presentation was made a short time since to the Rev. Father Chaurain, Superior of the Mission, who then completed his twenty-fifth year of labor there. The work was begun in poverty and difficulty, a temporary altar for the celebration of the first mass having been formed, if we understand aright, of empty cases, but faith and patience on the part of the good fathers seem to have surmounted every obstacle in. London as well as in New Zealand. We learn that it is to the Marist Order, and not to that of the Christian Brothers, that the brothers belong, who have undertaken the schools in Wellington, and we regret that a contrary statement was accidentally made in our columns. Dunedin is the only town in New Zealand where members of the Christian Brothers' Order are as yet to be found. The Rev. Duncan M'Nab, a Catholic clergyman, has undertaken a mission to the aborigines of Queensland in the neighborhood of Gympie. The Choral Society gave a most successful and enjoyable concert on Friday evening last. Selections were performed from Elijah, Naaman, and the Hymn of Praise. Mr. Towsey conducted with his usual and well-known ability ; and the manner in which the music was rendered reflected much credit on all who took part in it. The Walhalla correspondent of the Gippsland Mercury records the following strange occurrence :—": — " The wife of a miner residing a short distance from the township, who, being considered dead, had been laid out, regained consciousness with a start to find herself being measured for her coffin. She shook her fist at the undertaker, who made a precipitate retreat, all the other occupants of the room being so much alarmed that they followed his example. The lady is now on the high road to recovery." Nell, the sparkling Californian, is still reigning favorite at the Princess Theatre. If her performances do not afford any solid food to the intellect, or serve to give a heavy moral lesson, they still are very pleasing, and avail to divert the minds of her audience for a time from the cares of life, an advantage by no means to be despised. Her banjo playing is exceptionally charming, and may in a manner be said to form the apotheosis of the instrument in question. We observe that Mr. John Dunkerley has changed his residence from Forth-street to the neighborhood of the European Hotel in George-street, where he continues to carry on his business as a hatter, and is prepared to furnish the various articles included in his trade of good and fashionable quality, and at a reasonable scale of charges Mb. W. P. Thornton, late of the Melbourne Hotel, Invercargill, has purchased the Royal Hotel, Dunedin. This large and commodious establishment has been fitted up in first-class style, and will be found capable of satisfying the requirements of the most fastidious and exacting. It occupies a central and convenient situation, and the principles on which it is managed are liberal in the extreme. We learn from the Mount Ida ' Chronicle' that the conveyance of gold and treasure from the mining towns to Dunedin is now performed by the police. The escort started from Naseby on Thursday morning, 14th instant, with a contribution from the district of 11760z5. The route is through Blacks, Clyde, Alexandra, Teviot, and Lawrence, catching the railway at Tokomairiro for Dunedin. The ' Illustrated New Zealand Herald ' for September contains a number of admirable views of the scenery of the Hot Springs country. The Crows Nest, Geyser, Tauranga, and Obinemutu are especially deserving of notice, as is also Artimuri in the Auckland district. The musical world of Otago has lately received a valuable addition in the person of Mr. Charles Russell, who for some time officiated as organist in the Catholic Church of Los Angelos, California. Mr. Russell, besides being a brilliant performer and successful teacher, has made goad his claim to rank as an original and pleasing composer.

The ' Westport Times' says it is reported that the men engaged in opening up the Mount Eangitoto Silver Mine have discovered large deposits of black oxide of silver, as well as galena. This black oxide contains about 80 per cent, of the pure metal, and is similar to that which has made the Nevada mines so marvellously rich. We understand that the Most Rev. the Lord Bishop of Dunedin, acting in the capacity of Administrator of the Diocese of Auckland, has appointed the Rev. Father Fynes Vicar-General of the said diocese.