THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, NOV, 6, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1888, 6 November 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, NOV, 6, 1874.

Poem Sir George Grey is getting excited, and by and by will have to be taken care of by his friends. About a fortnight ago he wrote a long petition to the Governor, which ho sent to the Superintendent for publication, in which the few pertinent ideas were covered up with utterly irrelevant statements about the destiny of Bussia and the policy of Prince Bismark. Then the Herald informed us in a leader that Sir George had consented to draft a new constitution, not for N ow Zealand, but for the whole of the British empire, but how the proviaces of this colony were to be dealt with was not very clear, Obviously Sir George had puzzled the gentleman who undertook to convoy his sentiments to the public. We venture to say that the new constitution for the British empire, when it does appear, will not create any very great sensation out of New Zealand, and will be very quietly received even within the colony. Bat the hermit of the Kawau, who has been so quiet all these years, has woke up in earnest. He has taken to petitioning all round, and now addresses the Superintendent about the rights ot the people of Auckland to the waste lands. Sir George has possibly been stirred into activity by the telegram from Mr Fitzherberfc, who in his desperation clutches at Sir George Grey as a drowning man would catoh at a straw. Sir George himself ascribes this fresh outbreak to another cause, and it is that he had the other day got a copy of the Lyttelton Times, "from which he became acquainted with the nature and origin of the compact of 1856." He then goes in for a few chapters from the early history of New Zealand, which occupy about the same position in this effusion as his ideas about the Kussian race " marching on" did in the former petition. It was probably the best plan, at the commencement of this colony, when settlement proceeded from different centres, and was carried on by different organisations, that there should be separate provinces, and that each province should have considerable powers of legislation. But there was never any difference of opinion amongst sensible men that when there was easy,and frrquent communication by land and sea, and that when the telegraph connected every settlement, that these provincial institutions would only work for evil. There may be a difference of opinion as to whether the time has come when these institutions should be dispensed with, but no sensible man would dream of saying that they should be allowed to remain forever; and out of the provincial centres the universal opinion is, that they ought to have been put an end to long ago. As to the compact of 1856, which Sir George has just learned about from the Lyttelton Times, it may operate very mucn to our injury now, but that has not much to do with the question. Apparently, the people of Auckland on that occasion acted with narrowminded greed, and gavo away a splendid heritage for a few pounds in ready cash. Esau's bargain was wisdom in comparison, but Ksau and all his descendant) to the latest generation had to stand tho consequences, and so, to all appearance, will the people of Auckland havo to starve while the. South, mo enjoy tog the Uo.cU.Qf;

the colony. We do not have any share in these lands now, while provincial institutions are in force, and if wo are ever to have any share it will come through the destruction of the provinces. Sir George finds out that several things have been done in the history of flew Zealand which ought not to have been done, and wants to turn everything topsyturvy ■turvy again. It can hardly be in tho mouths of the people of Auckland to pick legal flaws in the A.ct of 1856 dealing with the waste lands, seeing that they themselves took part in passing that Act, and that they took what they thought at that time was an equivalent for what they parted with.

Yesterday was the sth of November, the anniversary of Gunpowder Plot, but the youth of the Thames seem to have come to the conclusion that there was no necessity to commemorate the failure of Guy Fawkes. Some may think that this marks degeneracy, and that the youngsters of the Thames have lost taste for the amusements of exploding crackers and squibs which used to delight those of a former generation, The celebration of the sth of November has, however, lasted some centuries, and as everything is bound to come to an end . some time, the liunpowder Plot commemoration may be closed now without any evil effect, We venture to say that if some one were to make an attempt to blow up the Superintendent and Provincial Council he would not be viewed with such horror as the misguided Guy Fawkes was—indeed, a good number of people might be disappointed that he did not carry out his intention. In these days, however, people are content to "blow up" their rulers metaphorically, and as this will stand a great deal of repetition, it is as well for all parties—even for the sensation-loving newspapers, The right to erect one booth and the use of the pavilion, already erected on the grounds, for the sports at Parawai on Monday, were sold at auction yesterday, and purchased by Mr McMahon, of the Kuranui Hotel, for £13, and the right to a refreshment stall was bought in by the proprietor at £2. We understand that the Board of Education, at their meeting yesterday, had under their ensideration the memorial from the Thames in reference to a High School. The Board decided to defer the application, and telegraphed to Mr O'Sullivan, who is here now, to obtain all the information he could on the subject from those who are moving in the matter. We would suggest that the committee should be called together, and that Mr O'Sullivan should be asked to attend, _ The Sunday School Union in Auckland some time ago proposed to have an exhibition there of the work of children attending the Sunday schools, and solicited aid from the branch of the Union at the Thames Various causes prevented the matter from being generally and heartily entered into, but when the exhibits were brought together yesterday in the Baptist Church surprise was crested at the number, variety, and interesting nature of the artie'es. The tickets affixed to the articles told in most cases the age of the workers, and it was surprising to see what children of quite tender years can produce. There was one very haudsome piece of shell-work, there were coloured maps, water colour pictures, bead work, pin cushions, stockings, and a number of knitted and sewed goods—indeed, as the advertisements say, a variety of articles too numerous to mention, They were opened for exhibition at the Baptist Ohurch yesterday, and during the afternoon there was a large attendance of juveniles. They will be sent up to Auckland on Saturday.'

The brig ' Rio Loge,' which has been loaded with 80,000 feet of timber at Gibbons's upper milf 011 the Thames river, was yesterday brought down as far as the lower mill by Captain Best, the pilot. Owing to the winds now prevalent she had to heat down. She will take in about 80,000 feet of timber at the lower mill, and will be ready to depart for her destination with the next spring tides in about a week's time. The members of the Loyal Orange Lodges Nos. 8,12, and 13, held an evening party and dauc3 at the St, George's Hall last evening, in celebration, we believe, of the landing of King William at Torbay. There were 35 couples on the floor when dancing commenced, shortly after 9 o'clock, and this number was subsequently very largely increased. The members of the Orange Lodges were clothed in their brilliant regalia, and the hall was decorated with flags and banners, There was a good dancing programme of 24 dances arranged, and there was an excellent quadrille baud in attendance The dancers appeared to enjoy themselves thoroughly uatil an early hour this morning. We are glad to see that the challenge which appeared in our issue of yesterday has been accepted by two of our skilled oarsmen, Messrs Alfred and John Newdick, The New Zealand Gazette of October 29 fixes the quorum of the Licensing Courts at three members, including the chairman, This allows one member to be absent. It will be remembered that the question was raised at last Licensing Court at the Thames. The Gazette disbands the Hutt Rifle Volunteers, and the Wakefield Rifle Volunteer Cadets. The Customs revenue for the September quarter shows an increase over the corresponding quarter of last year — £311,631 this year, against £243,325 last year. The figures for the , Thames are — £2,944 this year agdnst £2,488 in 1873. We give the figu-es for the principal towns— Auckland, £63,540 against £54,918 for last year; Wellington, £34,647 against £22,086; Lyttelton, £43,946 against£27,724; Dunedin, £94,212 against £69,749. It will be seen that by far the largest proportional increase is in Lyttelton. : It will no doubt be a satisfaction to the parents of the children who are attending the Waiotahi Creek School t> learn that in consequence of the favourable report given by Mr O'Sullivan of the progress made by the scholars, under the able tuition of their teachers, a number of friends have taken steps for providing a treat for the children on the Prince of Wales' Birthday. This is to consist of a trip to the Tararu Gardens and a spread there, besides which amusements will be provided for them; and amongst other donations we may state tint Mrs Captain Eraser, who has taken a good deal of interest in the school will provide milk, id for the juveniles, and Mr Wilson, on behalf of Mr 11. Graham, will give admission to the gardens free. The Tramway Company will take them out free of expense, and Piper Eotberinghain, of the Thames Scottish Company, will head the procession from the school. The children will sing various selections in the Tararu Gardens. We congratulate the residents on Waiotahi Creek on the great interest which they have invariably displayed in the progress of the public school which ha 3 been established in their midst, If the same interest was displayed in other portions of the district we have no doubt the working of the Education Act would afford more general satisfaction than it does at present. The annual meeting of shareholders of the Lincoln Castle •J.M.C. will be held in Mr P. J. Wardell's offices, Wilhauisou-street, this afternoon. Mr R. S. Smythe, agent for Madame Goddarde, is in Christchurch, Owing to the world-renowned pianisie having arrau.,ed to commence her American tour at the banning of next year, she will only be able to pay New Zealand a flying visit, She will probably give two or three coucerts in each of the large towns, while the smaller ones will not be visited at all. As Madauie Goddardo \va3 to leave Melbourne on Oct. 24, she would arrive at Hokitika (where, however, she will not land) at the end of the month, so that, taking Nelson and Wellington on her way, she would be looked for in Christchurch abou', the begiuning of November. Every day a student is detailed to watch by the side of the tomb of General h'A at the Waslungton.L.<se. University..

Messrs Stone Bros, received four tenders for the masting and rigging of the auxiliary s.s. ' Emu,' and that of Messrs Brain and Bishop was accepted, for the sum of £778. The advertised departure of the R.M.S. 'Mikado,' from Auckland for San Francisco, has been altered from the 27th to the 25th instant, being two days earlier than was originally announced. His' Honor Sir George Arney proceeded to Wellington yesterday by the s.s. 'Wellington' for the purpose of attending the of Appeal. It is expected that about 10 days will suffice to get through the business. Extensive repairs are being carried out by Messrs Holmes Bros, to the p.s. 'Enterprise No. 2,' at the North Shore, She has been stripped, and will receive new paddle-boxes, < new decks, beams, staunohions, bulwarks, and stern. Her machinery is also undergoing a thorough overhaul, and the boilers are being > cleaued inside and out. We {Herald) understand that the preliminary arrangements connected with the Naval Training School at Kohimarama are being pushed on as expeditiously as possible. The contractors are busy at work in repairing buildings, &c, and Kohimaranu is assuming somewhat of an animated appearance. Captain BretoD, who is to be in charge of the establishment, removed there last week, Thebarqae 'Stanley Castle,' which arrived in Auckland on Wednesday from, London, brought a full general -which we notice—l parcel, E. F. Bush; 30 tons pigiron, Stone Bros.; 3 cases, 3 casks, 4 boxes, 2 ingots, Geo. McCaul; and the following passengers :—M: and Mrs W. Gf. Pavett, and Miss Kmily Pavett, John Peverett, Mr and Mrs B lakey, and J. Blakey. We {Gross) learn that Mr Fenton, the Judge of the Native Lands Court in Auckland, has received instructions from the General Government that he and his Court are to remove, as soon as circumstances will permit, from Auckland, in order to be established in Wellington. What reason there is for this removal we do not pretend to understand. In no place in tae colony are the services of this Court more required than in Auckland, and the transfer of the Court to Wellington will cause very great public inconvenience, manifold delays; and iu the matter of enquiry, evidence, and correspondence, produce a very great increase in the costs of proceedings. The s.s. 'Ladybird,' H.- J. C, Andrews, commander, arrived on Wednesday from the South in the Mannkau. Passengers: SaloonMr and Mrs Comisky and servaut, Mr and Mrs Callis, Mr and Mr 3 Braithwaite, Mrs Bucholz, and 3 children j Messrs Passmore, McVicar, Davis, Wright, Maddock, A. Wood. Steerage —Mrs Morrin and child, Mr and Mrs King, Mr and Mrs Wright, H. Jorth and family (4) ; Messrs Wood, Augurin (2), Wilson, and 5 natives. "S.S." writes as follows to the Auckland Star /—There was a little fun created yesterday • at the inquest on the Wakefield-street fire which seemed scarcely in keeping with so grave a subject. The witness, John Smith, stated in his evidence that in course of conversation with : Kemsley a very old gentleman was present who was a stranger to him. He did not know his name, there was a mysteriousness about his manner; and at last he glided up Wakefieldstreet. Ajuror dskedif witness thought that oil gentleman was still in existence, whether he h.d a tangible frame, or whether it was a sp ; .rit clad in visible habiliments, Another listener enquired which old gentleman it was ? He might be the prince of darkness drawn forth by the smell of fire (laughter), Another wished to know if he was dressed in black or white (great laughter). Witness said he was not competent to answer such questions, but he believed he wore a summer suit, and he thought he was a citizen, because he was crowned with a white hat. On being further & interrogated about the mysterious old gentleman, witness concluded in his mind that the mysterious stranger was a grocer and tea-dealer.

The Auckland Star argues the necessity of appointing a public executioner for New Zealand, We quote.—"lu nearly every country where capital punishment is legal such a functionary is recognised, and his salary is a regular item in the estimates. Why should it not be so here? We have hail already one bungle which would have been prevented had an experienced person been employed; and had it not been for the assistance rendered by one of the wardens it is extremely likely that the same' would have been recorded on the last occasion. There is another reason why such an appoint ment is to be urged, Great difficulty is always experienced by the Sheriff in securing an executioner of any description. Such an odium attacks to the oflhe, and however complete may be his disguise, so certain is it that the ' name of the volunteer will crop up in some way: ! or other that few men can be found so hardened, or "indifferent to public opinion as to place themselves in such an invidious position. We know from the best authority that the ma .. who executed Eppwright refused point blank ■ to officiate last Friday unless he was paid exorbitantly,, and consequently a novice had to be engaged. One functionary would do for the whole colony. The appointment would not involve more than a few pounds per annum ircrease of expenditure, and the cruse of justice and humanity would be more efficaciously served." A lively young messenger boy in the Telegraph Department, Hokitika, has been four.d guilty of destroying messages to save himself the trouble of delivering them. He used to affix signatures to the receipt forms him self. Through one of these freaks thirty-eight immigrants were landed at Greymouth instead of Hokitika. A, branch of the H. A.C.Bi Society was inaugurated at Invereargill last month, by Bro. P. J. Bunny, the delegate appointed by the Executive Directory in Melbourne. Mr Bunny said the society was spreading very rapidly' both in Victoria and New Zea'and.. There were now 17 branches in New Zealand—viz., at Auckland, Grahanistown, Otahuhu.Onehunga, in the province of Auckland; Napier, in the province of ETawke'sßay; Greymouth, Charles- ■. ton, Brighton, Greenstone, Ross, Waimea, and Hokitika, on the West Coast.; at Christchurch, in the province of Canterbury; at Oatnaru, Naseby, Dunedin, and Inveffiargill, in the ' province of Otago. A dispensation had been granted for the opening of a branch in Wellington, and arrangements were now pending for the establishment pf a branch at Nelson. All the branches in New Zeiland are under the control of the Executive Directory, Melbourne In consequence of the branches being so scat-. tered, it had been found somewhat difficult to form them into District Boards. To form a District Board, five branches at least must unite fo.' that purpose; therefore it may be many years yet ere District Boards can be formed in New Zealand. When the movement was first mooted in Dunedin, he (Mr Bunny) found it very up-hill work, owin? _to a prejudice that had sprung up against it. Despite every persinsion, people would persistently maintain that it was a party society, ushered into life for the mere purpose of serving a political end, and they sternly set their backs against it, bec.wse they thought that it was calculated to do more harm than. good. He could assure the ladies and gentlemen present that it was quite the reverse to a party society. No; it had been eitabliahed for the grand purpose of making its members practical Catholics-for the grand purpose of forming a golden link of fellowship and love between Catholic and Catholic, as well as for the wise purpose of providing against accidents and sickness, to which we were all more or les3 liable in this world. Persons even now assert - and mauy of them were Catholics, too—that the tf.A.0.8. Society had alrealy done hann. They say that since the establishment-of the society (he was speaking now of Dunedin) that Orange Lodges had sprung suddenly into exist'-; ence. Now, as for Urange Lodges, they need have no fear of them; all they had to do was to give them plenty of rope, and stick firmly ,to their principles. ~ The Melbourne papers state that a gang of female pickpockets have lately been operatingon travellers in omnibusses and cabs in that city, and numerous wbbßri.e.3, have becn'M*. .pwlei,

Mr Seebohms, one of the chief photographers of the Transit of Venus Expedition on board the TJniled States steamer, which arrived at the Bluff, was compelled to remain at Bahia. Brazil, being unable to continue the voyage on account of protracted sea-sickness. The LytttlUm Times says goldfish appear fo thrive in the tanks of artesian well water, which have been formed in the city for the suppression of fires. Four of these fish were recently placed in the tank in front of Mathesons's Agency by Mr W. Wilson, and they can he seen near the surface of the water one minute, the next making a hurried descent to the bottom of the fountain, which is ten feet deep, and contains sixteen thousand gallons of water. Goldfields consfcituenciej (says the. Mount Ida Chronicle) will need to take care what they are about iu their choice of represent itives to fill any vacancies occuning in Goldfield Provincial electorate districts. _ The Provincial party—the party of hereditary instinct and immense accumulation of private interests—will. spare no pains to return their own men—specious with fair promises. Men of the Birch stamp will crop up with profusion, not scrupling through their agents to attempt seats not vacant—so sweet to them are the juicy grapes they haveto long been in the habit of crunching between their teeth, We hear nothing of such al tempts being made for the safe seats vacant, owing to absence of representatives, such a 1! Waikouaiti and Dunedin. Oh no! But the dangerous and noisy outposts are to be secured at all hazards, It is to be hoped that Goldfields constituencies will not be deceived, but will put in their own men, better and honester by far than the general run of camp followers retained by conservative Provincialism. One of the mrst popular preachers in Londou just now is the Eev. J onald Fraser, who preaches in a Piesbyterian chapel in Berkeleystreet, just off the Edgeware-road, His style and manner 1 are far more like an Italian's than a Scot's, and he uses a great amount of action. Sometimes he says a good thing with a real dry Scotch humour, For instance, in a recent sermon he said, " I wish to inform you that there are pickpockets present, I have not the the smallest objection to their being present, and I hope what they will hear will do them good. Only I may as well tell them that the eje of Providence is upon them, and that there are policemen in the gallery," Mr H. M. Stanley has left Zanzibar on his Central African expedition. It is said that he will eventually have as many as 800 men at his disposal to carry out its objects. He has had two portable steel boats built in this country especially for river service. It is said that Mr Stanley regards the expedition on which he is now entering, as one attended with great personal danger. One of the members of the expedition is a magnificent dog, presented to Stanley by Lady Burdett Coutts, and said to be worth £500. The London correspondent of the Scotsman .says that—"Three members of the Society of Friends—Messrs William Beck, of London; Joseph John Dymond, of Bradford; and Alfred Wright, of Hull—are about to leave England on a religious mission to Australia, They will go as representatives of the English Society of Friend?. Their principal object will be to promote the friendly adjustment of points of doctrine upon which their Australian brethren are at variarce, but as was the case with James Backhouse, G. W. Walker, Stephen Grellett, and others of their predecessors in the same path of travel, they will probably interest themselves in the various social and moral questions of interest to the community generally." William B. Astor, the American millionaire, is now over eighty years of age. He is possessed of property worth 70,000,000 dollars, or £14,000,000.