The Auckland and Mercer Railway was yesterday opened for traffic, the service being commenced with two trains per dav each way. _ These left Auckland and Mercer respectively at 7.15 a.m. and 4.4 p.m., meeting and parsing each other at Drury. The trains were tolerably Well patronised each way. The time-table was as punctually kept as practicable, the journey being completed in two hours and lifty minute?. Tln.ro is no doubt that with the completion of this line of railway a large agricultural district will be opened up, and it remains now for the country settlers to take advantage of the opportunities ollercd them, ai:d cheap and rapid transit of produce, by the introduction of the " iron horse , ' into the interior. The railway time-table is published in another c.lumn. The fares ;ire us f.-llou-.s between Auckland to Uerc.-r and intermediate, station-.: — From Auckland: -- Utalinhu : First class, --iugl.', 2s :>d ; return, os Od. .Second class, Is lid ; return, 2s 3d.—Papatoitoi : First class, single, :)s ; return, -U Od. .Second class, 2s; return, ,Ss.—Mauurcwa : First class, single, 4s ; return, Os. Second elats, 2s 9d ; return, Is..—l'apakura : First class, single, 5s ; return, 7s Od. Second class,'."J.s (U ; return, ss.—Jluuua : First class, 5s (id ; return, Ss :>d. Second class, 33 'Jd ; return, "is Od. — Drury : First class, 5s Od ; return, Ss Od. Second class, 4s ; retun , , Gs. —Pukekohe : First class, 7s Od ; return, 11s •Jd. Second class, 5s Od ; return, Ss.— Auckland : First class, Ss Cd ; return, 12s Od. Second class, os Od ; return, Ss Od.— Tuiikau : First class, Os ; return, ].'is Cd.— Second class, lis :!d; return, Os :id.— I'oktno : Pirtt cla-s, lOs :,M ; retui n, 15s (id. .Second class, 7s; .return. LOs i',d. —Mercer : First e;.i>s, 11s; return, 10s Od. Second class, 7s Od; return, 11s ."Jd.

The charge against the mate of the American barque Marathon, of having assaulted one of the seamen of the same vessel, came before the Police Court yesterday. -The question i>f jurisdiction was at once raised, :iii<l :»i authority in favour of the defendant was quoted by Mr. liusscll and submitted to the consideration of the Bench. Tlie accused is an Englishman, but lie claims to be tried as though the offence had been committed on American territory, that is, exception is taken to the power of the Court to deal with the case. Mr. liroham submitted that as the offence had been committed with a British port tlie Sydney harbour—the licuch could deal with it." Mr. llcsketh suggested that the case might bo dealt within under the Foreign Offenders' Act, which provides that an investigation can be made into a charge of an olfencc alleged to have been committed in any port of the Australasian colonies, and should there be a. primti&facie case against the accused, he might be sent for trial to the place where the offence na3 committed. His Worship will take into consideration the question of the jurisdiction of the Court, anil deliver judgment upon this point this morning.

It may not be generally known to our readers that considerable interest is centred in the game of chess in this city and it 3 suburbs. We must confess to a feeling of surprise ourselves on being-informed that the district of l'oiisonby alone possesses a club numb.niig 110 member.", which is in regular p;-actii:<\ and lia-i only rcc-ntly challenged Auckland city to a" tournament now "in course of contest. The players in this tournami lit representing I'onsouby are Messrs. .(amis Morton, Andrew Stewart, AVilliam Co! lie, .John Tole, (I. J. J.ikins, and the UcV. Mr. Hive. Their f-ppoTientsaru Messrs. 11. 11. 1.;:,!;, Iln.die, Jleatli-r, Williams, 'I'. 1.. White. ,ii..l Dr. Il.irno. Kα -Ii player is to conte-t three LTaiues, so that the total nuiiib.T played will amount to I(XS. It is pleasing t i lii-.d" tliis very excellent pastime gaining a footing in our horn- •, and it is to be ' desired th.-.rit may spee.lily take the place ; of ir.anv frivolous ones which arc at present indulged in. It has been very truly said of chess tint '"as a wh'>le«ome mental exeivise this noble g.iwie is without a rival, and as au . innocent and amusing means of employing a , 1. i-ure hour in the n-pertoire of home reere- ' atious it stands un>loubtedlv lirst." ;

There nral not be any apprehension in the minds of friends of those passengers who left for Kn-jlaud by the Mikado, regarding their suppos". 1 10-> i'n the Schiller, steamer. Not one of the passengers who left by the-Mikado boiikcl thiir passage through" to Kiiirland, but .-implv took tickets to'.San Francisco. They would then, on arrival make their way across the American Continent, and take iiasfa-e bv the imi't available of the Atlanticsteamers," which leave New York daily for and Liverpool. The .Schiller, whos... loss has just been reported by telegraph, was a steamer plving between Hamburgh ami New York," calling in also at Southampton. She was one of 'those vessels which, during certain months of the year, lind employment in conveying large numbers of emigrants from Germany to America, at low rates of passage. It is very improbablo that any of the saloon passengers who travelled home by the American mail route would select one of these German steamers, which all'oril accommodation only for lowclasses of emigrants at very low tariffs of fares.

A meeting of the creditors of Mr. .1. W. Waller was held in Mr. G. W. Binney's ollice yesterday afternoon. There was a full attendance of creditors. Mr. McCosh Clark took the chair. The report of the investigation held by Mr. Smith on the accounts was read, and ilium this the trustees advised the creditors, to accept Mr. Howard's oiler of .fISOO, and to pay all the wage* due to the men engaged at the mill, and that on these c.mditions'the entire estate should be sold to him. The report was in effect that the books had been badly kept, and that there were almost endless complications in the estate. The offer which has been accepted for the estate will realise, it is calculated, about 5s in the pound. The weekly parade of the Auckland Battery of Artillery was held last evening, and a very large number were present, under the command, of Captain Burns. The various Held movements were very satisfactory, and shewed that the members of this line corps had paid attention to their instructor. The usual royal salute will be tired on Monday morning next, at 9 o'clock, to commemorate Her Majesty's birthday, after which the battery will proceed to the North Shore for shot aud shell practice. The battery and band will assemble in the gun-shed at a quarter before 9 o'clock. The O.'ueral Government have agreed to expend £-21100, out of the sum of 'I'IJO.OOO voted by Parliament for Public Works in the South Island, on the improvement of a portion of the road between Kcefton and Greymonth, in the Nelson province, and when that has been <lune, and the existing contracts arc completed, the entire line from Nelson through the heart of the province to Westport aud Greymouth, in all about -Jl'O miles, will be available for wheeled tratiie at all season?. Miss Grace Egcrton's final programme accompanies this morning's issue of our paper. A reference to the .same -will assure the reader that the programme contains the very best of th.it lady'a selections. It is also announced as a further inducement that a carte cA cisik of the favourite delineator will he presented to the purchaser of every reserve seat and two shillings tickets. The performance will take place on Monday night, at the Choral Hall, and will positively be'the last, as Mr. and Mrs. Case proceed to Sydney in the Mikado. An inquest has been held at the Lunatic Asylum, touching the death of an inmate named Henry Williams, which, occurred on Monday last. The deceased was a labouring man, and had been a patient in the Asylum for about twelve months. Death was proved to have resulted from serous apoplexy, and a veniiet tn that effect Was returned." The cn.jiiiry was conducted, by Dr. Goldsbro', coroner.

There was a fair attendance at the Theatre last evening, when the tragedy of "Jane Shore" was repeated by the previous cast, as follows Shore, Mrs. Geo. Darrell; Alicia, Miss Clara Stephenson; Hastings, Mr. George Darrell: Uloster, Mr. H. Aveling; Dumont, Mr. C. Holloway; Catesby, Mr. Sweeney ; Catcliffe, Mr. H. -Thornton ; Beluiour, Mr. Oily Deering. The performance was successful, and many of the scenes were loudly applauded. Jane Shore is one of Mrs. Darrell's very best performances ; and it needless to say that Miss Stephenson and Mr. Darrell gave excellent renditions of their respective characters, while the other impersonations were also well sustained. For the splendidly-delivered denunciatory speech at the close of the fourth act, in the scene between Hastings and Alicia, Miss Stephenson received a well-merited call before the curtain, and at the fall of the curtain Mr 3. Darrell received a call. The farce of the " Lottery Ticket"' alTorded Mr. Poole scope for the display of his powers, which were taken every advantage of in the character of Wormwood ; Mr. (Illy Deering was entrusted with Capias; Mrs. j<. lies, Mrs. Cors-tt; and Miss Holt, Susan; all of which were excellently performed. To-night, Mrs. Darrell will appear as Camille.

The inaugural meeting of the winter course of lectures under the auspices of the Youn:* Men's Christian Association, will take place this evening, at 7.30, at the City Hall, when tho chair will be taken by his Honor the Superintendent, Sir George Grey, K.C. IJ. Addresses will be delivered by Uis Honor, the Veil. Archdeacon Maunsell (President of the Association), Rev. W. Tinsley, Dr. Ellis, and Mr. F. G. Ewington. An efficient choir, under the conductorship of Mr. Mitchell, will render some choice musical selections during the evening. Tht present course of lectures is a varied and attractive one ; the price of the tickets (to admit two) has been raised to live shillings, in the hope of making some substantial addition to the funds of the institution, bureven at that price it is but three pence per head per lecture, and the inaugural meeting thrown in. The committee have used their best endeavours to deserve success, r.nd it remains with the general public, by a generous patrenage, to ensure it.

There is now some foundation to support the rumour that it is the intention of the General Government to push on the .Marlborough line of railway to connect with the Northern portions of the Nelson and Canterbury lines (says a Marlborough contemporary). A reconaissauce survey has been made, and it is stated that the engineers have reported the discovery of an available tract of country, through which a line can be curried at a moderate expense. The proposed line is expected to connect with Havelock, the itai Valley, and Nelson; from thence southwards, until it forms a connection with the railways in Canterbury. By the time this scheme is carried out, the lines in Otago and Canterbury will be joined, and there will be an unbroken line of comnfuaication from Dunedin to Picton. Some time must necessarily elapse before this can be accomplished, but when it is finished Picton must become the receiving and forwarding depot for the through lines of railways. It is said, also, that the General Government purpose erecting a large wharf at the bottom of tligh-street, for the purpose of facilitating trallic.

" .-Egles," in the A wtralcvtian, writes :— '• My solemn friend, John Smith, the showman [who is not unknown in Auckland], I have noticed lately haunting the precints of the foreign telegraph ollices, ami laboriously examining tiles o£ China and Singapore papers. Seeing mu look inquiringly, ho explained that he had lost the run of his Variety Troupe, performing .it his expense and risk somewhere in thu Indian archipelago, and he ■was trying to lind out where they were ! Kurt' - enuore, in evidence of what shows cost, I read .1 telegram from his London agent, stating lowest terms per ainmm for a room entertainment, as follows :—' W'.-irdropers (•2), i\SUOO. and all expenses paid. 11. Liston (I), t'sooo. J Hival unobtainable.' Isu'c the singing of coinie songs nearly as good a thing to be trained for as to be a chief justice, a bishop, or a colonial governor ? And there are discontented people going about complaining tliev don't know what to do with their bovs :""

It would appear from the statements made by residents at Xgaruawahia that there is an opening there for a medical practitioner and (lispen.-ing chemist. The nearest doctor resides at Hamilton, a distance of twelve miles, and it lias often happened that a settler has been compelled ti> tide that distance with a sick child in his arms on purpose to procure medical treatment. Lately two or three accidents have also occurred in the district, | and the presence of a surgeon would havo j been beneficial to the sndeiers. There is no | doubt that with the opening of the railway to the WaiU:'.to, rapid and cheap communication with Auckland will cause Ngaruawahia to become a rising and prosperous place, and a • iiialitieil niedica! practitioner in selecting this s;>"t as the scene of his labours might j;o farther and fare worse. Mrs. G. Ca-.vood, wife of a well-to-do farmer, near Marton, Wangauui, took an overdose of laudanum recently, having previously locked the door. The husband, on breaking the door open, found her dead in bed. .She was a young woman, and usually very lively, but had lately been in bad health and low-spirited. She wa=j taking laudanum by medical advice. Circumstances point to suicide. She came from Wairarapa, where, she has a large number of relatives in comfortable circumstances. An inquest will be held. SirGeorgeGroy will no doubt bo thankful to some kind friend for laying out his plans for the future. An Auckland telegram in the I.'lll-lt'jii Time* says :—•" Sir George Grey is said to havo arranged a programme with the large Middle Island party. It ia understood they have agreed to the general abolition of I'iovineialism if the land fund of the Middle Island remains local revenue. Large constitutional questions will be raised in the Assembly relative to the suppression of Sir IJcorge Grey's petition to the Home Government regarding the abolition of I'rovineialism."" Fatal results have followed from drinking impure water at Mary villo, near Caversham, A family named Walter, recently arrived in the colony, for domestic purposes have been iu the habit of using water that ilowed down the hillside, near their house. Last week three members of the family were taken suddenly seriously ill- A girl, aged nine years, succumbed on Friday. The father and another daughter are only now recovering. The plans and specifications of the proposed dry-dock in Auckland harbour were sent to London by the Mikado, and it is presumed that they have been lost with the Xew Zealand mail in the wreck of the Schiller. If this is found to be the case, a j delay will be caused, as the object in send- ! ing the plans to England has been to allow English contractors to tender for the work. A notice is posted at the Post-office to the cft'eet that a number of packages of books are detained there for insufficient postage. These are addressed as follow .-—Mrs. J. T. Lowe, Canada, Id ; Charles Adams, Cape of (Jood Hope, id; Henry Solomons, Cape of Good Hope, Id ; Messrs. J. Landsberger and Co., .San Francisco, 4d. At a meeting of the members of the Dunedin Tress Dramatic Club, it was resolved that the next performance to be given it; aid of the library and wardrobe fund should take place iu about a fortnight. Mr. Hoekius and Miss Colvillo have kindly given their services for the occasion. The newly-arrived immigrants by the Dunedin were lauded with their baggage yesterday from the vessel, and conducted to the immigration depot. There will be no difficulty in finding employment for the majority of these people. The Acclimatisation Society of Canterburyproposes to expend a sum of £1000 in obtainin" for the province the ova of a variety of Cafif-ruian fish, and £300 in importing insectivorous birds from England. The Lvnch family of bell-ringers, we obI serve, are now travelling in <jueenslsiid.

Yesterday's Waihato Tjmex, i n a] , solemnity of black bordered columns m n ° the death by drowning in the Sohil!,!, t I? 3 Hon. W. Fox, and writes an immmlZr follows:—"The Hon. Mr. Fox i< i ? M=? These words will cause a pan'- h> of every colonist of New ZeaL-fn.l n , ' l ari wbathia politic.?; the most bin'" \ v^ 1 enemy of Mr. Fox during his 1 0 ..,, ~. ' '"'■'Cf'i feel that an able man has passed j^ 1 * '' honorable cnemv in public life ->•, i ■'l Dn friend in private. We are not ,','r., -? i™? this moment to state the number o f v «? deceased gentleman has been in th"<-pM but it is certainly little less tinr. '.{■•'' During that period he lias jv, r „.',',',. lrt Jeither held an honorable n<-<■;<■;' -. >' ,;ar * Ministry, or that which U ah,."..'; 1 , la N^ 3 honorable—he has been a leadin • .„"... j'!' 1 y . the Opposition. Tho news of hV. ,\ "'I' 01 ' ''- not fail to cast a gloom over t»..-. cclony : his name and his actions aCf-J^T'' to every colonist. l\" e k-,-1 ~■-■,[ ' ,' : ' r although nut personallv ac.iu.ii:it { '■, -'^Ti' , man, that we ' knew liim.'an.i v.\-\ '■■■ I ■ pression we respected him. Hi, •:"';'..A"''',.™' exertions iu the cause of teii"..-r-'' "''"'"■' but have commanded the ri-pVei".'.- ; \\\'™''vl' thinking men, although not";.:vi.,.-."; - " ■«itli him to the end of hi., t •'■•!■ ■.■ '\\-' mourn for the loss of the man -,v"'!..'.". „ , will always appear iu the pro s of i).~ 'j/"' 22 of Xow Zealand as one of its ; ; '.'. ,'"' *\ . able legislators." ' " m,J ' 1 -A. large meeting of miners an.l tri ' t - r> has been held at Xaseby, Ota-,-..., i".,, ti'ie'i t pose of forming a company *!■•■ . ferous character of the main neighbourhood. The propyl V':", £5,000, in five thousand ..ne-pou^'w. 1, > A thousand shares were at once takeii up"' ; There were ei"h' i-n ,>.- i i ' with coats. A i;;i-:.!,r,-r ? .; :i i!u t . l adjourned until ::..• l.";h j, : ,,'."".,'j,, ' ~"'' > ""'^ J : A complimentary will tike i.'i. ■• i at Henderson's MiU, ~f th.'-' ,/ \\s Jolm Mcl.e,»d, wh.> is leavi!!- the iniH ,-\ . Jlc-r .Majesty's IJirtiiday. \>.•<?..; raci:i_'. f, ,'. [ racing, and otht-r spirts, will o.itie ..;f l x iC ' afternoon. , Cajitain JJreton, manager of ti,,.. x, v ,-.i ' TrainingSeho.il, announces that n< ■ e!i ibV . tender having been received fur the sun'plv l of material for clothing, the same v ! , now be received at thu"Cust<.>:n-h.iUv> oa Monday, the 7th June next. ; Mr. "\V. J. Cawkwell has a.lvert : .=cd the i Crown Distillery for sale, the •-■ii.'a-.vincn: ' with the General Government i!<.oe--itiiu-i ', the winding up of the business. ° I The new United Service H'.U-l. roerectei , by Mr. J. Hancock, proprietor, will ho opened , on Wednesday next. The hotel will be found , replete with every comfort. I Attention is called to the fact that the j Hauraki now leaves for the Thames at n ; ue o'clock on Saturday mornings, instead of ton t o'clock. t Tenders are required by the General Government for the erection of a Cii3tom-hoti=3 I at Kaipara.