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New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4813, 20 April 1877, Page 2

The sharemarket was a little stiffer yesterday in several stocks, but no great amount of business is. recorded. Moanataiaris gradually rose from £8 5s to £S 15s, and after the regular business hours transactions are reported to have taken place at higher figures than the foregoing. It is not known upon what grounds the advance. has taken placc, and the rise can only be set down to one of those freaks that seize mining speculators from time to time. The report of the mine manager, which we herewith append, and a subsequent telegram, shows no ground for the " spurt," and the rise must therefore be accepted as temporary.! Piako stock also improved, and although they did not maintain the buying price curreut in the early part of the day, yet at the close of the market they were decidedly higher than on Tuesday. The following is the mine manager's report, forwarded on Wednesday evening, and also the telegram received yesterday morning : —" 1 bug to inform you that sinking the new winze has been started. On breaking down the reef it shows a little mineral, but I cannot sec any gold in the stone. In driving east on No. 9 auother belt of elay has been intersected, completely cutting off the reef, which is, I think, heaved to the right or south ; the stuff from this reef continues to give the same average as last reported. The winze sunk on Heldt's, from the tunnel level,- is down over 100 feet, and making water fast. I have therefore suspended sinking, and started a cross-cut south from No. 9, at the 80 feet level. I was hoping these two reefs would junction at bottom level, but it will take a cross-cut 20 feet from No. 9 to intersect Heldt's ; this will now be done in a few days. As wired this morning, there is 0500z3. amalgam on hand for three days' crushing. The stuff from No. 9 stope has been all cleaned out, which had not been done since putting in timber; this has been showing very well. There is no other change to mention. — Yours obediently, Hour. Comer." " 19th, 10.44 a.m. No. 9 reef making in drive east. No reef broken in new winze. Have intersected leader in cross-cut towards Heldt's leader. Winze showing a little gold. No other change."

For the past week or two labourers have baen engaged in excavating the footpath in front of St. Matthew's Church. It is to be hoped that the work will "be pushed forward to completion as energetically as possible, for should a fall of rain take place, the thoroughfare would become a perfect quagmire. When the men. loft off woik 011 Saturday evening last, the excavation had been carried up to within a few feet of the church doors. On Sunday morning the dangerous state of the footway was seen, and caution exercised, but in the evening the dim light of the lamp in the clmrch yard was not sufficient to disclose the yawning chasm, and mauy persons were within an ace of tumbling over. The wonder is that no serious accident did happen. It is to be trusted that this state of things will bo rectified in future, and that to-morrow means may be taken to secure for the public as much safety and convenience as the.work in progress -will allow.

' The entries for the Handicap events of the Auckland Kacing Club - meeting, to be held on the .Queen's Birthday, must be made with Mr. Percival, the secretary, of .the club, at or before S o'clock this evening. Private telegrams from the Empire state that,; in, all probability, Inspector Broham will be appointed ChieE of the Armed Constabulary in the North Island. -If the rumour is correct ir, will necessitate many .changes amongst the different officers and-men in the various provincial districts. _ .Referring,to the.report. of the concert re-, cently field at Tuakau, our correspondent makes the following correction : " Will you please correct an error in last week's issue ? Instead "of "a surplus" of £10 after paying all expenses, it should have been £1 only. 1 wrote about .'a£,' hence probably, the mistake." The Chicago Minstrels treated their patrons last evening to a new programme, comprising several new "nigger melodies, duets, quartettes, and concerted pieces, with Grotesques and character delineations of the usual extravagant kind. These performances provoked the usual amount o£ laughter, ionight is fixed for'the benefit of Mr. Chas. Wallace, the leading comedian of the troupe. He is undeniably clever in his particular line of business. There is a very elegant work of art being exhibited ■in . the shop of Mr. PhiUipps, colourist, Queen-street. It is an oil painting by Kenneth ' Watkins, representing the " Pink Terrace," .of. Rotomahana. , xhe difficulty iii this particular is to produce the effect of colour as toned by the features of the landscape, avoiding those-garish hues which are so tempting for sensational artists. Besides the general effect, which is instantlyimpressive, the details of the surrounding conditions of the landscape, even to the sulphurous and bubbling water, the stunted fern and ti-tree are very naturally represented and in a manner which is in the strictest sense artistic and striking. Some little trepidation was experienced yesterday at the severity of "a shot" of the blasting operations being now carried on at the end of Hobson-strcet, upon the reclamation and levelling contract for the City Board. There was a general alarm for a time, the inhabitants of the houses thinking it was a severe shock of earthquake. It is to be assumed that ordinary precautions were taken against accident to life and limb, but we have heard that very strong remonstrances have been made by one or two property owners in the vicinity against the recurrence of the dangerous '' shots. Fair progress is already made with the erection of the new Wesleyau Church, Onehunga. The foundation, a fine one of scoria stone, raised to an elevation of about 2J feet from the ground, is already finished, and the brick pillars for supporting the plates are all erected. The carpenters are now busy with their portion of the work, and yesterday they were fitting the ground and wall plates. The timber which is being used is of the very best description. . It is being supplied by the Shortland Saw-mill Compauy. The building which, judging from the plans, will be very neat, ornamental, as well as substantial, will be 50 feet long and 30 feet in width, and when completed will be a credit to the members of the Wesleyan Church at OnehUDga.

The s.s. Hero appears to be rather unfortunate while in harbour this trip. In. our police records will be found the report of a charge" of smuggling against the stewardess of the vessel, and we understand that a charge of assault is likely to be preferred against the chief officer. It is stated that the officer in question yesterday afternoon noticed that one of the lumpers «as not in that state of sobriety consistent with the proper discharge of nis duties, and be was told to cease, whereupon high words ensued, and these merged into a scuffle—the lumper, from the external evidence of his face, coining off second best. The man applied to the police for a summons for assault, and it is likely that the case will be brought into the Police Court. We. inspected, yesterday, in the fitting shop of Mr. Hcslop, High-street, the most elegant piece of ironwork that has yet been turned out in this part of the colony. It is the product oE the ingenuity, skill, ta3le, and patience of Mr. Peter Birley, of Seafield View. The design is that of a fu3chia turning round a stem about four feet long, in which flowers in full bloom and in • bud, stamens, pistils, leaves, and twigs are represented in minute fidelity, being forged and welded with singular accuracy of special features. The " veins" of each leaf, the cups and pistils of each blossom, are strictly expressed, both in the sense of being wrought out of the metal, as well as being true to nature in respect of detail. The metal used i 3 Lowmoor iron. The effect of the whole is very artistic. The Government, having in view the importance of getting news from Europe at the earliest possible time, have agreed to open the telegraph office at 9.30 each night, the arrangement commencing last night. •This has been done, we believe, at the instance of the Press Agency. It is obvious that it is of the utmost importance we should have immediate intelligence respecting the declaration of war, and as it it probable that other nations besides the two who are now principals, may ultimately join in hostilities, we know not what course may have to be taken before Europe again settles down to peace. The extension of the telegraph is at present of great advantage to England, whose ships are on every sea and at every port. New

Zealand is in a somewhat disadvantageous position for getting the earliest news. It is the Far East of the world, so that when -telegrams reach Melbourne at four o'clock in the afternoon, it is already six o'clock here. Telegrams reaching Melbourne at six o'clock in the evening hitherto have been too late for transmission to New Zealand, owing to the closing of the offices, but this will now be obviated. The public must bear in mind that the office will only be open for the reception of messages from Australia. The.barracks at Kihikihi are being dismantled, and the material conveyed to the new barracks to be erected at Cambridge for the Armed Constabulary. There is much discontent amongst the settlers in the district in consequence, and at a meeting of the settlers in the Kihikihi district on Slonday evening, the following resolutions were passed : —"That this meeting is of opinion that when the defence of Kihikihi frontier can be abandoned, a defence force in the Waikato will be unnecessary." Resolved, " That a copy of the above resolution be telegraphed to the Hon. the Defence Minister." \Vrxting on the same subject in our Waikato contemporary; Mr. J. H. Mandeno says the settlers had been led to believe that the natives would never give them any more trouble, and that it is " quite right and safe to reduce the defence force of the country to a mere name. In the whole of the Waikato, I suppose, we shall have somo forty men of the A.C. force, and these are to be crowded into one corner of the district, far away from the most troublesome natives. Kihikihi, a settlement within one and a-half miles of the Maori country, a place constantly visited by numbers of lawless Maoris, who, on the least provocation, or no provocation at all, give vent to their insolent bounce and swagger, is to be left without a man of any description to keep the peace, and even the very buildings are to be taken down and removed. And this is - not all. Under Sir Donald McLean's fostering care, a body of cavalry was raised in the Waikato, of which Waikato and the province were justly proud. This force numbered altogether about 120 men, all well mounted and armed, and to some extent drilled. The whole cost of the force was about £1100, or about t9 per man and horse per annum. There is every probability of this force meltiug away during the next few mcnths to the merest shadow.

. . . . Ido not know how it i 3 with the Cambridge Troop, but 1 do know that a large proportion of the Te Awamutu Troop look upon it as a slight to the whole troop, and arc prepared to send in their arms along with their officers' resignation." This is a rather serious state of matters, coupled with the present turbulent disposition shown by the ■ M aoris in the Tauranga and Thames Elver districts.

An important native meeting is to be held at Kaipiba on Saturday next, when several hundreds of natives from various parts of the country are.expected to be in. attendance.

Special Constable Parker, of Waiuku, arrived in town last night in charge of a prisoner named Dauiel Dunn, who was sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour by the Resident Magistrate of that district, for indecency.

His Honor Mr. Justice Gillie 3, his Worship the Mayor, Mr. Barstow (Resident Magistrate), with Mr.' Errington, the Waterworks Engineer, paid a visit of inspection to the waterworks yesterday, and were shown over the building and had all matters explained to them by Mr. Errington.

In. reference to the competition for Mr. Beek-s cup, ini the present Rifle Association meeting, we are requested to state that the match for this cup will be open to all Volunteers in the Auckland district, whether members of the Association or not, provided they present themselves oil the range and pay the entrance fee. We have also been asked to state that in the All Comers match the position at the 200 yards range will be standing, and the S-inch bullseye will be used. On the subject of female nurses in the Hospital, " Observer" says that the appointment of such nurses needs no commendation —it ! speaks for itself. Common sense tells ns that woman is by nature and instinct the most fitted to perform the delicate and important duties appertaining to the position of a nurse of the sick and ailing. Man is a rough animal; his mode of handling these tender cases is invariably uncouth aud awkward, and where kind sympathy and tenderness of feeling should be exhibited we often find callousness and jocularity. People passing through Vulcan Lane or High-street felt much curiosity to ascertain how . a large round cavity with surrounding broken ground came to be in the centre of the intersection of the two streets. Xhe first impression was that there had-been a burst of the uuderground water-pipes. This however, was not. exactly the case, although what happened was an event oE a similar character. The branch pipe from the main terminates and is plugged at this spot When the full pressure was on, it wa3 per hap 3 at its greatest upon this plug. - The pressure has been calculated by a competent authority at TOOOlbs., acting horizontally. The effect was, of course, to break up the ground about the spot for several feet. JSo damage of any kind was involved in this event, except the labour of filling up the hole.

Subjoined is an extract from a private letter to Mr. J. H. Mandeno, o£ the Waikato, from his brother at Tauranga " The telegram you saw in the Weekly JN ews about the Maoris here 18 true enough. There are a lot of them squatting on Fraser's land. One day lately he tolcl them they would have to clear off, as he intended ' to plough up the laad. The next day, while ho was away in Tauranga, a lot of them went to the house, threatened to tomahawk Mrs. Fraser,' and play the mischief generally if they did not clear out. She at once got a horse, and went after her husband, and told him what had happened, lie went to Mr. Brabant, and demanded a warrant. Our worthy R. M. said it was of no use giving a warrant, as they could not get the natives. Fraser said give him the warrant, and he would catch the niggers himself. Brabant then refused point blank. . Half-a-dozen constables could have taken the whole lot without the least trouble; but, oh ! no ! that would have beea too much responsibility for a Resident Magistrate and .Native Commissioner, with £600 a year, to think of. The end of it will be these fellows will have another piece of land somewhere else given them. They have not a shadow of a right where they are. Fraser holus the land under Crown grant."

In our yesterday's paper we reported that Mr. Thomas Walker, a trance medium, was lecturing at Sydney with great success. We <*ro informed th.it a .telegram was received i from this young man yesterday; stating that he was on board the Eotorua on hi 3 way to Auckland. Apparently, we are shortly to be favoured by Spiritualists of different lines of business. The Davenport Brothers .an' working their way u p here; while Mr, Walker, who i 3 said to be a " trance meilium," promises to auticipate them by .occupying the field at once. Mr. Walker is •said; to have been imperfectly educated, but when any question is proposed to him, he closes his eyes, and discourses about it fluently, and with profound aud accurate knowledge. He is, of course, in all this merely the mouthpiece of certain spirits,- and we understand -he numbers amongst his immediate instructors, Mungo Park, some one who was known while in the flesh'as the Uev. D. Stewart, and others. We must say we sh'oiild prefer Mr. Walker's exhibition to that of the Davenports. The rope-untying featmay be mere jugglery—weare inclined to think it is as we have seen it done by men who made no pretensions to being aided by spirits, except by a glass after their labours are done; but whether Mr. . "Walker's uttrances are inspired by spirits who speak through him, as he asserts, or are the outcome of his own mind, we should be glad to hear able and thoughtful discourses from his lips. The County Chairman (Mr. Brodie) and Councillor Bagnall lost no time in furthering the arrangements made with the native chiefs on Tuesday last regarding the Totara road. Yesterday morniDg these gentlemen, aud Mr. Ai.tken, County Surveyor, accompanied by Wircmu Taipari and Nikorima Poutotara, with Mr. Tookey, started to mark out the line of road from Rewi's fence towards Kerikeri. The various tapus were poiuted out, and there will be no difficulty in avoiding them and obtaining a good road near the base of the hill towards the Waipapa Creek, where a small bridge will require to be erected. The road will take a straight course from thence to Kerikeri. There is abundance of material on the route to make a good road, and over country easily accessible. Several chiefs of the various settlements joined the road party, and various discussions took place regarding the proceedings which were going on. These chiefs were all favourable to the road. The only matter that concerned them was the securing of the sacred ground from the depredation of pigs and cattle. The intention of the County Council respecting the manner in which the road would be constructed was also discusscd and approved by those present. It was arranged that the conditionsimposedby the County Council, and the terms required by the native owners, should be committed to writing and placed before another meeting, to be hsld in Shortland to-morrow morning. After a satisfactory conclusion has been arrived at the document should be signed by the County Council and the native owners of the land through which the road would pass. liewi was a quiet observer of the proceedings.—Thames Advertiser.

Monday next being St. George's Day, the various bauks will be closed. A call of Is per scrip sh? re has beeu made in the Ajax G.M. Co. An entertainment will- be given on Friday next, in the School-room of St. Matthias's Panmure, in hid of the church funds. Tho annual meeting of the members of the Auckland Football Club will bo held this afternoon, at five o'clock, at the Thames Hotel. Henry Carroll,, a debtor, intends applying to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 2nd for an order of discharge. ' An order of the Supreme Court declares that the deed of assignment in the estate of Johu Jacobsohn, of Tauranga, has been completely executed. Shareholders in the late Cro.vn Princess Gr. m. Co. are reminded that the time for reccivmg applications for shares iu the new company expires to-day. Charles Edward Madden, of Queen-street, solicitor, has filed a declaration in the Supreme Court that ho is unable to meet his engagements with his creditors.

is given that the partnership hitherto existing between J. W. Waller and Richard Gavlick, carrying on business as timber merchants and sawmill proprietors, has been dis solved, and that the business will henceforth be carried on under the same of Waller And Co,