MISCELLANEOUS.

Mfssrs. Reed and ?>iott, of the Hrniiinf Star, icccntly dctci mined to employ iunales in their ostibliihment. The Tjpogi.tphu.il Society of Auckland .110 opposed to the 111llOV.ltlDll. Th > Scholarships Committee of tin Board of Education have awarded Bcholarbhips to the following sncc >=sful candidates, who obtained tlio Biibjo ncd marks :— Skuon, l^i a. -.ai school, 43(! mark>i, (tho higher obr iuable being 610) ; Ivhodf, Pokouo Hill, 435; Bcivan, Otara, 42S ; Arneil, City East, 424. The a\ he.it ciop, 111 the neighbourhood of Auckland, is likely to turn out well this .season. Only a small portion of the eiop has as yet been thrashed, but as far as at pi escnt

known, it is belies eel tlio jielcl will 1>e about stvcn bushels pei iiuc above the aveinge for amnnbu ot yeais past. This will be good im \\ -, to the f'ariueis, although the pi ice obtaiiiul lor the -wheat m.iy be somewhat lowu tliantli.it which has been paid dining the last few years. On January 27, at the Lome sticet Hall, 3*1 is. liichaids, on belialt of the sisteis at the Thames., piescnted to the I Ton. S. D. Hastings, P.U.W (i.T , a book of feins, to be given t«> Mrs. Hasting, on his ictuin to Ameiua The handsome gilt -was appio]>i lately acknowledged An abstiact of the balance sheet of the Auckland Sa\ ings Hank to the 31st Deeunbcr, lias ficeu published. On that date theio wore open accounts, the depo-itow hawng £77,.".74 lGs 4d at their ciodit. A sum of £2,713 1C>> lid Mat, . dded i- intoie->l during the j ear. Our obituary notice eontuiu an iniiinatioii of the death of one a long resident in Auckland, Mr. John Anderson Gillillan, in tho fifty-foiufcli year pf his age. Mi. Giliillan had for'some years suffered from delicate health, but more especially dmmg the past four months. Mr. Gilfillan was some years ago a member of the House of hepmsentatn e<?, and was afterward -j a member of the Upper J hmse He w.is also a member of the Vu>\ incial < 'ounul, and for some time lilled tlie oflieeof Piovinci.il Seuetaiy. The funeral of Mr. Gdidlan, took place on Wednesday, Fcbiuaiy 3. A procession of nearly a hundred mourners followed, hesides seven carriages. Immediately after the coflin walked the relatives of the deceased, and next to them his Honor the •Superintendent, P. Dignan, Esq., G. M. O'liorke, Esq., and other members of the Executive and Provincial Councils, with many leading citizens. The two Maori carvers who have been so long engaged at the Christchurdi Museum, in the construction of a Maori house, have returned to their home in Waiapu ; and the building is now being fitted up with show cases for ornaments. The building is pro nounced one of the best specimens of Maori ai Juncture in existence. lhai.uia Houkamau, an aged and cclebraehief of Ngatiporou, died at Wharekahika (I lick's Hay), on the 3id of January, 1875. This chief held a very high position among the tubes on the East Coast. He was, and had been for some thirty-five years, a firm supporter of Christianity among the tubes, and a valuable ally of the Government. His death w as totally unexpected, as he was in the enjoyment of robust health up to the tune of his death. Our Alexandra correspondent, waiting on January 25th, says :— Teao, T.iwlnao's sister, better known to Europeans as the Pnnccss Sophia, died at the Kuiti on Tlnnsday last. There was a great cxpendituie of gunpowder on her demise. The liring could be distinctly heai d at a distance of 1G miles. The nati\ cs are assembling in large numbers to attend the tangi and funeral., Sophia Mas the eldest ot Potatau's survning childien, and a wiimaii of great in1luen.ee amongst thoKmgites. Her last husband is the well-known Xgatitiata chief, Ahipene Kaihau, of Waiuku, who joined the Kingites some two yi us Miice. Sophia was apparently about (ifl yeais of age, and was, for her age, a ieiiurknbly strong looking woman. She took l old when on a visit to Kopua, some four months since, and has been ailing e\er since. A sperm whale 43 feet long was w ashed ashoie the other day at Cobden. It was estimated to be woith £200. Mr. David Edwaid M 'Donald, haibour engineer, of Auckland, New Zealand, has just been elected an Associate of the Institute of CimI Engmecis. It is satisfactoiy to leom that another discovery of manganese has been made on Waiheke island, this tune at Awawaroa, on Mi. (ieoige Giahain's land, and who is likely to turn it to good account. We aie sony to notice m our obituaiy columns the death of one of our oldest missionaries, namely, the Eev. Charles Baker, who has for the last 4S years laboured as a missionary on behalf of tho Church Mission in New Zealand. He commenced his labors at the Bay of Islands, in the year 1827, wheie he continued for some years. He afterwards removed to the East Coast, and laboured amongst the natives thcie. Latterly lie was at Tauranga, and m the district of Auckland. Ho has been entu ely confined to bud for the greater paifc of the last six years fiompaialysis, and he died on Febiuaiy 0, at the lipe age of 71. Pehimana Te Talma, a noted chief of Ngarauru died at Waitotaia, on the 14th of January, 1875. Of late ycais he Mas a staunch supporter of the Government ; and a few days before his death he sent for the natives from every district in the neighbourhood to bid them farewell, and Ins last ad- \ ice to them was to h\ e in peace w ith the Europeans. The Waha Mcum says : — "We hear that the disease called ' measles ' is prevalent in the Bay of Islands district, and that many of the Ngapnhi people have been eai l ied off by it. 1 1 is a contagious disease, characterised by red spots on the skin, and accompanied by much fever. Persons affected with this d scase should not be sufleied to take cold drinks, and should be kept out of cold draughts of air, and abo\ e all they should be withheld from plunging into cold Mater — a piactiee so common among the Mdons when suffei ing from feverish diseases. This but dnves the disease into the system, and the lesult is generally death. The Maons have been lepeatedly warned against this fatal practice ; but w hen the body is in a high state of fever they will peisist in plunging into some cold stream of watci, and they die, desti oyed by their own act Tliefuncial <!t the late Major Jbbetson, funnel ly Assistant Commissary General, took place on Wednesday, Feb. 10, from his late residence, Chapel-street. The obsequies were conducted privately, and not, as was anticipated, with masonic and military honours. There were about fifty mourners, and the burial took place in the Church of England cemetery; the funeral services being conducted by the Jvcvs. T5. S. Hassard and C. M. Nelson. The inhabitants of lluatangata East in\ited their neighbours and friends to a picnic and dinner on the last day of tho old >eai, Mhich was accordingly held on that day, in the big bam recently erected by Mr. Joseph Worsnop, winch has m the upper storey a level stretch ot 8(>fl by ]<;ft. After partaking of a most substantial dinner, the guests dispei sul through tho ample paddocks of Mr. Woi snop, and proceeded to amuse themselves m ith \anous niral sports until tea was announced, after which the older and more sedate poi lion of the assembly returned home. We ai o called on to record the departure from our midst of another of oui oldest colonists, M r. William Hay, of Woodstock, Papakuia, a man mcII known and much lespeeted by a large circle of attached friends both m town and counti y. The immediate cause of diath Mas the result of an accident by which his leg was ciushed, and afterMaids neglected, and by Mhich his system m as so shaken as ultimately to cause death, lie had, however, attained the ripe age of 70 yeais Mi. Hay was amongst the lust mIio came to this pio-\incc, and paiticip ited in the stiug«>lcs of the eaily colonists. 1 te took an acti\ c and leading interest, not only in agncultnial niatteis, but in L\uiytliing that tended to promote the Moltaie of the diotuct He was foremost in promoting the establishment of schools, and woiking out the piesent load boaid system His house was ever open, by night as by day; and many a wayworn tiaveller has fouud peace and rest and refreshment there. It was not an unusual tiling to lind 20 or 30 friends in one night partaking of his hospitality. e understand that Colonel Balneavis, Mieiiff, has leccived instructions fiom tho Government to have the execution of Nu tone (Newton), who was sentenced to di ith for breaking the neck of the Maoii L,nl Hemietta, at Orakci, carried out dining the piesent Week, and that Feb. 19 has been tixud as the day for the execution. The in at meeting of the Colonial Bank Avas held at Dunedin on January 27. The tlnee months' operations showed a balance of i' 1,401. The reports were adopted.

(Summary continued on paijes 2 anil 3.J