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Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1801, 30 April 1874, Page 2

We understand that the libel action, Warden Eraser v. the Auckland Evening Star proprietors, lias been postponed until after the sitting of the Court of Appeal in Wellington, where the attendance of Chief Justico Sir G, A. Arnoy will be required, Bia Honor leaves for the South in a few days, and we believe it is at his suggestion that the case has been thus postponed. The next proceeding is the appearance of defendant's counsel (Mr MacCormick) before his Honor, which was to have taken place on Monday next, to show cause why a rule nisi should not be made absolute calling upon them to auswer a criminal information for libel. The decision of the Judge as to whether such an information' shall follow will then be givon, If the ruling is in favour of plaintiff, a special jury will be empaunellcd to try. the case, on a day to be fixed by the Judge.

We believe an iuvilation is about to bo forwarded to the Auckland, Naval Brigade by tho Thaine's Navals,' asking them to meet at the Thames on the day follqwing the Queen's Birthday'(Monday, the 25th May), when we have no doubt they would be hospitably entertained, and thoroughly enjoy themselves.

A gentleman who arrived last night from Ohineniuri informs us. that there is but little stir there about the laad question. The cause of quarrel is, that the three or four Hauhaus are incensed, or have been stirred up to appear incensed, at the Crown grantees of a block of land daring to sell it. We presume that, aa usual, the Government will support the Haubaua,

We understand that the Artillery Company of Volunteers in Auckland is to be disbanded, and that applications have been sent in to the officer commanding the district for the Armstrong guns attached to the company by the Auckland Naval Brigade and the Hobson Company of Volunteers, ffe would suggest that an application be sent in for a share of the guns by the 'lhanies Naval Brigade, and have no doubt the result will be their division amongst the two Naval companies. What claim the Hobson Volunteer Company can make out for the guns we are at a loss to understand. The two Naval companies, we understand, muster stronger than all the other Volunteers of Auckland put together, and yet the Thaine3 company, which outnumbers that of Auckland meets with little support. The Auckland company meets in a drill-shed provided by the Government; the Thames in one erected at their own cost. Auckland possesses a pinnace; the Thames company, after several appeals for one, is about to commence building two at their own cost, Of the four guns in the possession of the Thames company two are useless, and this appears to us to be the best reason for making application for the guns of the disbanded Auckland Artillery, corps.

The Hon. Mr Waterhouse cime down from Ohinemuri iu the ' Bouna Ventura' last evening, He has been making a tour of the Lake country,

We hear that the action for false imprisonment by Donnelly against Captain Fraser, K.M., has been settled.

His Honor Judge Monro presided at a sitting of the Native Lands Court at the American Theatre yesterday, for the purpose of re-hear-kg a claim to a large block of land near Warahoe, bearing the unhandy name of Ipuwhakataratara. At a former sitting of the Court under Judge Fenton, the land was awarded to Whakarongotai and his brother tloniana. The coun-ter-claimants, the Taiparis, now applied for a re-hearing. The evidence was not concluded yesterday.

It will be seen from our Wellington telegram that Messrs Briton and Martin, of this place, are the successful tenderers for tlio Mercer contract of the VYaikato railway at a sum o£ £21,529. Mr Briton is likewise the successful tenderer fir the Rangariri branch .at £3,098.

Although the weather lastnigbt was very unfavourable there was, nevertheless, a very good attendance at the Theatre ltoyal, when the popular drama of "The Flowers of tho Forest" was played, Miss Clara Stephenson sustaining the leading part, Cynthia. In performing this role, iu which sho played during her former visit to the Thames, Miss Stephenson- showed the very marked improvement in her histrionic abilities, which we hive.previously noticed, She fully realized the part which she played,' and fairly earned the frequent applauso with which she was greeted. She was capitally supported by Mr Collier as lahmael, and by the other members of the company. Mr South was very amusing, as the Kinchin. Mis 3 Tilly Andrews as Lemuel also played with great spirit, and Miss Busone'M Starlight Bess was a'so very successful. The performance conclude! with the farce of " Whitebait at Greenwich.' 1 - " Lady Audley's Secret" and the burlesque of "Aladdin/' which were played so successfully on Tuesday, night, will be repeated to-night. The lessee, t it will be seen, has removed his company to the, Academy of Music for the remainder of the week, and has re-arranged the prices.

At the Police Court, yesterday, Captain Goldsmith was in attendance. . The only business was an application for the transfer of a license of the Hipe Creek Hotel, which, was adjourned until to-day, there not being aseoond justice present. : '"'

■ The tonic sol-fa flinging class in the Wesleyan, Church, Shortland, bids fair to become a suc« cess, so far as numbers are concerned. ■' Fifty, persons applied for admission last week, and; ten more who were unable to attend last week are expected to join the class this week, Mr Crump notified to the class that the weekly lessons would be amnged, with a view, to earnest progressive work, and not for amuse* ment, and intimatod that as soon as fire or six of the class wew prep.ind for mora difficult work, a second weekly practice would; be oofia-1 menced, He hoped that this branch would be in work before the end of June, sand that the class would apply themselves vigorously to their lessons, so that. it may start with ( a good number. A. test will be necessary for admission to the higher branch of work, . A seizure of timber has been made here under the following circumstances, Baysa New castle paper (N.S.W.) :-The 'Augusta,' schooner,-which arrived from the Thames, with", a cargo of timber on the 17th, instant, oommenced discharging cargo at tho wharf facing the Custom-bouse, on Thursday. Captain Bengali states that ho was not aware that timber was dutiable at this port, and believed ho had complied with all regulations whon he entered; '■ at the Customs. About 600 feet of timber had ! been discharged when tho seizure was nude. :That already landed was taken possession of by ; the Customs authorities; and duty was.paid; ; oh the portion still remaining in; (he vessel.'' !The matter stands-thus at present, and will so ■■remain until'a reply has been, received to the-, ! usual oificiai report aud other representations of 'the facts of the case which have been forwarded ;to the head office. ,•...,,.

:' On Sunday afternoon (says the. Tauranga 'correspondent of the Star) Mr James Mackay Ordered -a native policeman to proceed to the iNgae telegraph station with a telegram from itho Governor. Tho native refused, when Mr Mackay struck him severely. • • The Maori ran out of the house whon the bcouo occurred to -Wilson's Ohinoniutu. Hotel, and appealed to,hi» : mates, who demanded Mr Mackay to show himself. Mr Mackay pluckily wont outside at once, when an attempt was made to m)b him, ;but he succeeded eventually after greafc difficulty in pacifying the Maoris.: Itisßiid that ithe Maori is much hurt.'- Tho no slight excitement, and was thought at one time ito assume rather a.serious aspect.

Now opened up, ex«Hyltoa Castle/ fourteea, cases containing now dress goods,' millinorjr, straw goods, ribbons, feathers, flowers,' noTeN ties in fancy wool goods, shawls, ruffles, collar*, &o () imptQd direot by J. Mabshai*,-|;AdyJ^

An effort is being madeto raise funds to build a church at Taupiri, '■

We (Cross) hear that a brief in a cause cdebre, marked one thousand guineas, was lately refused by one of our leading counsel.

The Hokitika district goldfields are not yet entirely worket out. At the Waimea a 2,000feet tunnel has been put in, the result giving 2dwtstothedish.

The Poverty -Bay Herald] states that the frost was so keen during the night of the 18th instant, that in the morning a firm coating of ice was found upon a bucket of water.

The Waikato Times states that Mr P. A. Whitaker has commenced the practice of his profession in the Waikato district. He makes 'the fourth member of the bar practising in the Waikato district.

The captain of a well-known steamer of this port, as justly celebrated for his punctuality as for his undeviatiog politeness to the fair sex, bitterly feels failure in executing a benevolent action, Just as he had given the order to cast off yesterday morning, he observed an old lady making the best o£ h«r way down the wharf towards the vessel in a rapid but undignified manner. Out of pure benevolence the departure was delayed a,minute or two, until the expected passenger arrived panting at the gangway. Requested by a sailor in terms more emphatic than polite, to "jump aboard," she grasped the gangway tenaciously, and gasped out, "Have you seen my little dog'"_ With the most intense disgust depicted on his countenance, that captain applied his mouth to the engine-room speaking-tube, and roared in awful tones, "Full speed ahead."— Cross.

"A Sufferer" writes as follows in the N.Z. Herald:—" I do not like rushing into print, but there are occasions when a man must, even though ho likes it or not, feel, himself compelled to write. Such is my case now. In the matter of the reflections cast upon the Thames police by the presiding magistrate and Warden I cannot' control my pen. He was pleased to rebuke them for the manner in which they saw fit to entrap a person who it was Saspectod was violating the law, and them with placing temptation in his way. If I have my friend in my room with my plate upon my tible, might he not prefer the same charge against me if my spoons are missing ? I think him altogether wrong My friend knows the law; if he takes my spoons he must abide the consequences. 'Or let me take another figure. I have a rat in my heuse; it is a liuisance, I have tried to poison it; it is no go. I have tried to shoot it; 1 have set my cat to catch it, and am foiled. I catch it in a trap.' Who is indignant ? Sir, tho specimenstealers and those who have received and crushed them for them have been the rats that have spoiled the peace and injured the progress of the goldfields. I leave your readers to draw the moral."'

A correspondent of the Napier Telegraph, who visited Ruatahuna, writes:—" It is generally supposed that gold is to be found in the Whakatane river, or else in some of its tributaries, and indeed two or three specimens of quartz containing the precious metal Lave been discovered in that locality and brought to Napier. This being so, I promised myself a day or two of amusement in searching for the hidden treasure along, the creek binks. I should premise that I know nothing of the art of searching for gold, and am almost ignorant of everything in connection with geology, but still some pleasure can be derived from looking at things in nature strange to the eye, and of this opinion also are the native youths and lassies. With the object of killing two birds with one stone-to bathe and see what sort of rocks were to be found—l went to the river, and was at once followed by a small crowd of big girls and boys, three or four men, and some women, I made these people understand tint I was about to divest myself of my clothing, but beyond expressing their satisfaction that such was my intention, they—the women—showed no sign of removing to a distance. There was no help for it; the men had all undressed and had gone into the water, and so I followed suit, or rather attempted to do so, but the instant I exposed a white back and shoulders, I becime Bach an object of curiosity, that blushes suffused my cheeks. I should have probably been more at my ease had I been labelled as works of art are at waxwork exhibitions— 1 visitors are requested, not to touch.' I got a swim at last, but did not find any gold."

Some time ago (writes a London correspondent) I sent you a description of a magnificent Masonic Temple which had been erected in Philadelphia. The ceremony of opening the same is described 83 having been most impressive. At the dedication the procession of the brethren, who marched six a-breast, extended for three miles along the principal streets of the city. The Craft is immensely strong in America. In Pennsylvania on the first of January, 1873, there were 345 lodges, counting 36,185 members, 57 of the lodges being in the City of Philadelphia. In the whole of the United States there were at that date 556,295 Master Masons, 117,971 Royal Arch Masons, and 36,535 Knights Templar.

The. Rev. W. Coleman, Bishop Moran's Vicar-General, was a passenger by the 'Mongol,' and proceeds to Ireland on business conueeted with the diocese. We learn from the Tahkt that "his mission was not finally determined on till one o'clock of the day on which the 'Mongol' sailed. Had letters arrived from Europe on that day, stating that the priests expected were on their way or about to start, there would have been no necessity for this journey to Europe, But no letters to this effect came, and the Bishop thought it not consistent with his duty and the claims of his diocese to wait any longer." Father Coleman's mission is to endeavour to supply the diocese's pressing wants; to place students for the diocese and colleges at home so that a regular and sufficient supply of priests may be counted on in the future, and to invite Christian Brothers to come out as teachers of the Catholic schools in the province.

. The Indian Pioneer, referring to the marriage of Prince Alfred, s*ys:—"The young Grand Duchew speaks Esglish and French and German quite as fluently as her own tongue. I know that you desire to hear if she is handsome. Well, she is a healthy-looking, wellbuilt girl. But is she handsome? An officer of the Guards told me that the portion given her by the Czar is four millions of roubles, But ii she handsome ? Well, to come to the point, she Is not a regular beauty. Her lips are a little too thick—her nose is not Grecian, Having said so much, I have said all th»t can be uttered against her good looks. For them I might mention that she has a Ejood bust and figure, charming eyes, white teeth, and a most winning expression of countenance when she likes."

"A death under very peculiar circumstances," gays the Pleasant Greek News, "occurred in the Stawell Hospital on Friday morning Two brothers, named Saunders, residing at Stawell West, have for some time past supported their mother by wood-cutting. On Friday last they were in the bush, and at i o'clock ceased work for dinner. This consisted of fried mutton chops, and while they were taking it, the eldest of the brothers, whose name was William, complained that he bad swallowed a hone, He appeared in great pain, and started home. Next day he seemed somewhat better, but on Sunday obtained admission to the hospital, where he was treated by Dr. Greenaway, and appeared much relieved. About midnight on Wednesday, he commenced vomiting blood in large quantities, and died about an hour and a-half afterwards. The poai-morkm examination disclosed the fact that a piece of bone had ttnck fast in the poor young man's throat, lacerating the oesophagus, but apparently doing so further harm until Wednesday night when it' sesms to have been dislodged, in which process it cut completely through the aorta, or main artery of the upper portion of the body. The patient then bled to death in a short time, It is stated that a more remarkable case is not on record, the medical men connected with it atatiog that, they,have met with nothing similar in • their experience. The deceased young m<in bore a very,exemplary character, And is deeply regretted by all who knew him," A crack invisible to the naked eye,—The OBWfcof ft whip,