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Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 6, 8 January 1891, Page 4

The railway strike in Scotland is as suming serious dimensions. The railway employees who struck at Motherwell, and who had been evicted, created a riot, and the assistance of the police and military had to be invoked. The police charged the rioters, while the military fired'on them with blank cartridges. Shops have been sacked at Blantyre. A disturbance occurred at Coatbridge, Scotland, between a party of strikers and a number of men who have filled their places. The former stormed the latter in a dormitory, and matters became so serious that the assistance of the police had to be obtained. Six of the strikers were arrested, while many others were severely batoned by the police. Mr John Burns has been trying to induce the great English unions to give monetary assistance to tho men out on strike in Scotland, but his efforts for the most parb have not proved successful. The Seamen's and Firemen's Unions were the only bodies that responded bo the call, and between them they have subscribed £8,000. As a probable result of the influence brought to bear at Home, the Lords of the Admiralty have decided to re open the inquiry into the so-called Egeria mutiny, and several witnesses required in connection with the case have been recalled to England. One ot these witnesses, a petty officer of a warship recently in Sydney, left for England on Monday by the iR.M.s. Oruba. This officer ranked as ship's corporal on board the Egeria at the time of the outbreak, and was the ship's corporal sent below for the men when they refused duty. He was also the principal witness ab the court-martial at Sydney, which, it will be remembered, resulted in several of the Egeria's men being sentenced tounusually lengthy terms of imprisonment.

In consequence of the financial condition Of the Thames County Council, the members at their monthly meeting, held last night, evinced a desire to go in for retrenchment. Ib was decided to let the maintenance of the water race, which at present costs £1,400 or £1,500 per annum, by contract, and to give the whole of the employees notice that their services will be dispensed with at the end of the ourrent month. The fine weather which has succeeded the rather unfavourable season experienced during Christmas and the New Year holidays, has been fully taken advantage of during the Dresent week, the various seaside resortsj including St. Helier's Bay, Devonport, Birkenhead, being very liberally patronised, chiefly by school children who are now enjoying their usual vacation. At Shelly Beach, Ponsonby, yesterday afternoon, the beach and water were thronged with picknickers, and a very large number of young people and families appeared to have a very enjoyable outing theieu

Mrs Charrington (Miss Janet Achurch) was more fortunate yesterday afternoon than on the two previous occasions of hei receptions in the matter of weather, and had, in consequence, a large number of visitors. The unaffected, winsome manner of the hostess, and the genial bonhomrnit of Mr Charrington and Mr Herbert Flemming, had the effect of making each visitor foel perfectly at home with their talented entertainers. Several requests were made by guests to Mrs Charrington to _ play "Camille " once more, and she laughingly promised te comply, if possible." Mr Charrington seemed surprised thab so few gentlemen called in person ; possibly, a 9 the reception was announced in the lady s name, they did not consider themselves in* eluded in the general invitation.

The Canterbury Fruit-growers' Association have decided bo carry oub experiments extending over tvrelvemonths, to endeavour to ascertain cheap and efiecbive remedies for the prevention and destruction of apple scale, American blight, and red spider. An orchard of 63 infested trees have been placed ab bheir disposal for the purpose. The second performance of "In His Power" atbracted a large crowd to the Opera House last nighb. The piece is of a popular style, and is both well acted and admirably pub on bhe stage. Miss Achurch gives an excellent interpretation of the part t'\ Marie Graham, bhe unhappy wife, and in . -cene whore she drugs her husband she

painfully realistic. Mr Charrington a./i'.in scored as the villian of the drama, and Mr Herbert Fletnming acted the part of Hubert Graham faithfully and well. The principals lasb nighb were honoured with a call before the curtain. To-nighb "In His Power" will bo produced for the last time. •« Masks and Faces " is billed for to-morrow niffifc. when Miss Achurch will appear as P„£ Woffington. The company is a good one and well worth seeing, while a feature is made of staging"each piece in good style.

The Finance Committee of the Wellington City Council recommend thab the cost of the building for the proposed Free Library should not exceed £10,000, and bhat the design be so framed as to allow of the erection of one wing only ab present, ab a cost of £4,000: that this amount be advanced from bhe general account, and be repaid by the yearly surplus left from the proceeds of the library vote of Id in the pound, which is estimated to yield £1,300. Ib is believed that the amount of £4,000 can be paid off in seven years, by which time ib is hoped that arrangements will be made to complete the building. . The Committee's recom mendabion will be considered by the Coun cil tO-night

At a well-attended meeting of tho Tailoresses' and Pressers' Union held in the V.M.C.A. Rooms on Tuesday evening, a large amount of routine business was done, and a delegate was appointed to wait on one of the employers re the wages, and to inform him thab the Union is fully determined to see bhab their laws are acted up to, as the other employers are satisfied that their demands are only fair and reasonable.

A joint letter signed by six P.M.'s of the S.C. Lodges, four E.G. W.M.s and one I.C. W.M? has been senb bo His Excellency Lord Onslow, from Dunedin, regarding his letter re the establishment of a Grand Lodge for New Zealand. V\ hilsb acknowledging His Excellency's apparent desire to restore peace to the craft, they say that the question has already been discussed in all its bearings, and nothing: has occurred since the opening of tho so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand bo alter or affect the decision the representative Lodges bad arrived at. To re-open the question now would, so far as they can judge, be to acknowledge that their lodges were in error, and cause irritation and annoyance on a subject on which comparative unanimity exists in the Lodges.

A man who has been termed the "New Zealand Quentin Matsys,"Mr Peber Birley, the well-known Auckland blacksmith, is dead. He expired ab liih residence ab Seafield View at six o'clock lasb evening, after a rather short illness, aged 61. He was suffering from a complication of spinal and brain complaints. Mr Peter Birley might fairly have slaimed the title of the Quentin Matsys of New Zealand, his achievements in ironworking being quite as remarkable as those of the Flemish blacksmith of four centuries ago who became a celebrated artist. Mr BirFey was born at Ripondon, _ Yorkshire, in 1829 and served his apprenticeship in Manchesbor. Became out to Auckland in 1859 in the ship Tornado, and started business in Mechanics' Bay, selling out in 1862 to Messrs Fraser and Davidson, whose business developed into the large concern, of Fraser and Tinne. In 1873, Mr Birley *ook a trip to England. The vessel by ■which ho was a passenger, the barque Anize, was stranded off Lake Takapuna. Mr Birley swam ashore to the Lake and troughb bho news bo Auckland. He again commenced business here, and has remained in Auckland ever since. From his youth Mr Birley was noted for his clever manipulations in ironwork. In England he made an endless chain, forged without a weld, which atbracbed attention ab the International Exhibition of 1851. His achievemenbs in Auckland have been even more remarkable. Some years ago be made a pair of smoking pipes one yard long of wroughb iron, which are :now in the Auckland Museum. After thab he complebely staggered local smiths by producing a steel pen-knife blade with an unburnb straw imbedded in it for its complete length. This was presented to the Wellington Museum by the Hon. Wm. Swanson. Mr Birley's crowning achievement, however, was the famous iron fuschia, which obtained firstprize for ornamentalironwork attheSydney Exhibition in 1879. This wonderful piece of work also took first prize ab the Melbourne Exhibition of 1881, the Industrial Exhibition ab Wellington, and bhe Indian and Colonial Exhibition at London. Mr Birley was, without doubt, a "cunning worker" in iron, and if he had lived in bhe days when the armourer was a person of much imporbance, he would have been a greab man indeed.

The Council of bhe New Zealand Educational Institute met again at 9 this morning at the Wellesley-streeb School, and got

through a large amount of business prior to the mid-day adjournment. Some discus sion took place upon a resolution protesting against the action of certain Boards of Education in issuing instructions to teachers to refrain from taking an active part in politics, bub members were divided in opinion on the subject, and tho resolution was defeated by 20 to 8. Ie was agreed to recommend the establishment of a Courb of Appeal for teachers, to consisb of the Minister for Education, bhe Inspector-General, and one

teacher chosen by the Institute in the district affected, also thab " agriculture" should bo made an alternative subject for the "D. examination." The Council adjourned ab noon till 7.30 p.m., and bhis afternoon bhe members and friends were enjoying a pleasant outing at Lake Takapuna.

A case of supposed child murder is reported from Christchurch. On Tuesday two girls, aged 16 and 14, daughters of :James Coombs, of Linwood, were picking fruit in the garden of an unoccupied house at No. 11, Gloucester-street East, when they noticed the head of an infant lying on the ground „near some gooseberry bushes. Close by was a piece of a clothes' line made into a noose stained wibh blood, and a white woollen shawl also blood-stained. The girls went home, but did not tell their Parents till 7 p.m. Mrs Coombs, with a Mrs McCracken, went to the garden and found the head still lying there. They covered it with the shawl, and informed bhe police. Inspector Pender and Detective O'Connor accompanied them to the spot, but found the head gone from under the shawl. They searched the garden, but did not find it. O'Connor resumed the search 1 yesterday, and about 5 p.m. discovered the LWd under a thick growth of gooseberry pushes three or four yards from where the children had seen it. Ib xvas considerably decomposed, and there was a deep cut on bright bemple. An inquest was opened " the police station before Mr R. Beebham, Land adjourned, for a week. No furbher have since been discovered.

Our Thames correspondent wires:— A find of kauri gum of considerable importance has been made on the eastern side 01 *he Thames River, directly opposite the , discovery made on the land oi I Bagnallßros. The find is on Mr James Marshall's land at Matatoke, and over iu«- ---: gumdiggersare already at work, many oi I 'Jri»Pm are doing well."

A strong efl'orb has (says a Press Associabion telegram from Dunedin) been made here to bring about the status quo before bhe sbrike, so far as work on bhe wharves is concerned. Every attempt has been made to induce non-Union, men to join the Union, and it is alleged that the misrepresentations of bhe employers' intentions and other means have been used wibh the view of causing dissatisfaction in the ranks of the non-Unionists, the intention being to do away wibh free labour, and compel the owners to work the steamer* under Union rules. The Union Company have up to bhe presenb made no distincbion bebvveen Unionists and non-Unionists, though keeping, and determining to keep, the pledge with the non .Unionists. The tactics lately employed have, however, proved so irribabing thab, if continued, there is a possibility of the Company discontinuing employing Unionists altogether. Although victorious in the recent struggle, the Company made no change in the rates of pay or hours of labour. Before taking steps in the direction indicated; and to pub a stop to the alleged misrepresentations, the Company are issuing a statement of the facts, with printed regulations for the guidance of those in bheir employ.

Mr E. T. Smith, called the " Becond Gough," arrived by the s.s. Manapouri from Sydney yesterday, and was met and welcomed by Messrs Glover, Clemens, and Hill, on behalf of the various temperance organisations. Mr Smith is the guest of Sir W. Fox. He will probably resb a few days before beginning his series of lectures, of which particulars will appear in the Star. The Sydney " Daily Telegraphs " says of Mr Smith: — "Whab ib is claimed that Mr Edison's wonderful invention will do for orators generally Mr E. T. Smith does for the great temperance advocate, Gough. He repeats tho famous addresses just as they were uttered to enthusiastic thousands by their originator, and ib is claimed for him thab bhey lose little or none of their power and marvellous sympathetic attractiveness by his rendering. Mr Smith has been so successful here that two extra recitals had to be arranged for. : ' Tomorrow evening a reception tea is to be given to Mr and Mrs Smith at, the Tabernacle Schoolroom. Representative temperer.ee workers have been invited to be present.

The Executive Council of the Auckland Employers' Association met yesterday afternoon. A good deal of routine business was bransacbed. The secretary reported that subscriptions had come in well, and that satisfactory arrangements had been made for carrying on the work of the Association. It was resolved that Mr Ewington, the secretary, write to tho Trade and Labour Council and the Knights of Labour, expressing a desire to establish a Board of Conciliation, to be composed of about six employers and six employees, for the amicable adjustment of differences and tho averting of strikes. Letters from other Employers' Associations were read, and it was resolved to try to organise a strong body of employers over the colony.

Duriag the next few days members of the Auckland Regatta Committee will commence an active canvass of the ciby and suburbs for subscriptions to provide funds for the annual festival to take place on the 29th instant. The total prize money allotted is between £300 and £350, and wibh the improvement in business recently reported little difficulty should be experienced in obtaining the requisite amount. It,is probable that one of the Union Company's large steamers will be secured as flagship for bhe day, and that she will, as on a former occasion, make a trip round Tiribiri after the Regatta.

After a fortnight's stay in port here, the French cruiser Volba, 1,400 tone, Captain Huguet, lefb this morning for Valparaiso (Chili) direct, homeward bound bo France. She steamed oub of tho harbour shortly before noon to-day, and shaped an eastward course. Her brip across the Southern Ocean will take about three weeks to Valparaiso, where she makes a short stay before going on home to Cherbourg. Her commission haß nearly expired.

Additional Island advices received from Rarotonga by tho steamer Richmond contain intelligence of a very severe and destructive hurricane which occurred lately in bhe Hervey Group and caused great damage and some loss of life. Ib was in bhis hurricane, which occurred on bhe 20th of October, that the ill-fated Auckland schooner Araura (JuliaPryce)waslostoffbheislandof Aitutaki. Ib appears that Captain George Short, formerly of Auckland, who went as supercargo, etc., in the libblo schopner, narrowly escaped losing his life in her. The Araura lefb Rarotonga on the 15th Ocbober for the North for a cargo of lumber from Penrhyn Island. On the 17th she called off Aitutaki to land some limejuico barrels. She was delayed there for two days. Capt. Short and the master of the schooner were on shore. On Wednesday there were no signs of the schooner, she being evidently blown out to sea. Towards the evening she was in to shore again. On Thursday at 6 a.m. the wind cam» round to the N.N.E. and blew hard with rain. The schooner was again lost sight of from the land. The wind increased in violence, with terrific squalls, until at 3 p.m. Ib was blowing a perfecb hurricane. Ib was a "high wind" with a vengeance. The natives all left the village and took to the bush for shelter. Cocoanut, banana and orange trees were uprooted and swept away in thousands by the force of tha gale. At 4 p.m. that day the baromeber had fallen as low as 29*48. At lasb the hurricane began to spend its force, and towards morning it had passed away with a shift of wind to the south-west and fine weather overhead. The first thought of everyone was for tho schooner. There was no sign of her, and ib was also found that a whaleboat and a canoe which had gone out a little distance from shore were lost and nearly all in them drowned. Both were capsized in the terrific sea running, and five out of eighteen on board them were drowned, the others clinging to bhe capsized craft.. A searchboab returned during the day having picked up two female and nine male passengers and crew, all natives,of the Araura. It was found thab tha schooner had capsized ab 3 p.m. the previous day in the hurricane, and thab eight persons had gono to the bottom with her. The schooner was a crazy old craft. The survivors had saved themselves by clinging to the galley, the hatches, and some planks that had come adrift from her. They had been .over fifteen hours in the water. The hurricane is considered to have been the worst and hardest experienced at Aibutaki since 1864. Ib was little felb ab Rarobonga. Over 70 houses on Aitutaki were totally destroyed. The local new church was unroofed, and huge trees were clean snapped in two. The occurrence will bear hardly on the natives.

A young man named John O'Sullivan, age 19, was yesterday committed for trial at Blenheim on a charge of impersonating a man of the same name afc the general election on December sth. Tho accused was refused a voting paper at the Blenheim booth, and subsequently drove out to Marlborough town and recorded his vote.

After having a very successful run of a fortnight in Auckland Miss Amy Vaughan and her Burlesque and Pantomime Company aie going down to the Thames next week. Before leaving town Miss Vaughan is to take a complimentary benefit at the City Hall on Saturday evening, when a monster programme comprising aU the best parts of the previous pantomime and burlesque performances will be given. Miss Vaughan has gone to very considerable expense in connection with the pantomime, and she deserves a crowded house on her benefit night.

Robert Nairn Ryburn, a bankrupt, made his sworn sbabemenb to-day. In 1883 he entered into partnership as a produce merchant with £1,000 borrowed from friends. Till 1887, the firm did well. Then bad times came and his private engagements acted as a drag. Last June the partnership was dissolved and his indebtedness to the firm was pub down as £250. His debts amount to £694 0s 7d, all unsecured, and assets about £60, furnibure and £40 land. He could make no offer.

On behalf of the Sydney Trades and Labour Council the secretary of that body has forwarded to Mr F. K. Bust, secretary of bhe Auckland Council, a very nicelywritten letter of condolence to the relatives of the deceased S. D. Parnell, who is referred to therein as " the originator of the inestimable boon at presenb enjoyed by the majority of bhe Working classes of Ausbralasia," viz., bhe liniibation of a day'a labour to eighb hours. "Mr Parnell," the writer adds, "must have felij a pride and satisfaction on seeing, year by year, the seed he and his fellow pioneers had sown increasing and multiplying until it had spread throughout the conbinenb of Australia, and from bhenee to tho nethermost parts of the globe. We feel extremely sorry to hear of the decease who has fought for the benefit of his fellow-creabures, but know that on this occasion we can safely remark, 'By their works ye shall know thorn.' The enclosed letter which Mr Bust will forward immediately conveys to the relatives of tho deceased the sympathy of bhe whole representation of affiliated societies, ' Mr Parnell, as the prime originator of the eighb hours movement,' ib is said, has earned a uame thab will live to the end of all time, in fact a name that should be recorded on the pages of every Trades Union rule and minute book, as the name of one whose mission in life seemed to be dedicated to the solepurposeof benefitting his fellow creatures who ab the time were suffering from exhaustively long hours." The Council sincerely trust thab time will assuage the grief caused by the loss of one so dear, and that fitting monuments shall be erected in memory of the originator of the eighb hours' system throughout Australia.

The Dunedin City Council adopted last night a reporb from tho Finance Committee, by which all officers are classified, The initial salary is fixed in each case, as well as the maximum salary to which each officer can attain. It was decided to confer with members of both Houses as to legislative action in bhe way of extending cemeberies. Among tho letters received was one from the Mayor of Moscow, Russia, addressed to " His Excellency, the Lord Mayor of Dunedin," making inquiry as to the working of the cable tram system. It was decided to supply information. The Mayor's salary was fixed ab £400 as usual.

The well-known figure about town of William Hodge will be missing from the streets for some little time, we understand, as he has co go to Sydney to obtain possession of a legacy from a deceased aunb. There will, be a felb wanb when William goes, and Auckland will hardly appear the same,