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Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1495, 25 November 1874, Page 2

A statement appears in our telegrams relative to immigration and emigration, that should arrest the attention of the most indifferent to political and social questions. Id a year's colonization we have, at enormous expense, brought 8.754 people from the other side of the globe, and they have thrust out 4,761 of our own colonists. This is the simplest and most intelligible way of putting it. We spent, we may assume, at least £150,000 in connection wiih the importing, of these strangers, and we spent nothing at all in providing passages for our own fellow colonists, who have been obliged to go somewhere else to find a living. We have rejoiced over these raw new chums who have cost so dearly, and who will grumble for two or three years at least at their hard lot, and the wrong we have done them in inducing them to leave "good homes" to die in this wilderness, and we have'nt spent a tear or a cent in recognition of those who have borne the burthen and heat of the day of colonization, but go away with their colonial experience from a land that has refused them a home. There is something rotten in the state of Denmark. A Southern contemporary attributes it to bad land laws, and bad mining regulations. But whatever may be the causes contributing to the exodus of 4.701, they are at least as deserving of consideration as are the ways and means for introducing 8,754. We do not think that in all the statistics of colonization there could be found a more striking illustration of the manner in which a "great colonizing policy" may be a hollow sham than is supplied in this drain of population. Like the tub of the Danaides, the filling of Nesv Zealand with population seems so far to have been a bootless task, and it is hardly to be questioned that stopping up the holes by giving settlement and homes to those that are here, should be simultaneous if not preliminary to the pouring in of immigrants. Population was to be the antidote to the evils of our enormous and increasing debt. The debt will be here, but what of the population ? Nine thousand come ; five thousand go !

We would direct special attention to the important London produce telegram received from our Wellington correspondent, embodying the intelligence brought by the last .Suez mail, per Albion to the Bluff. The recent advance of kauri gum in the Auckland market to the very high figure of £42 per ton, ha°. puzzled a good many outsiders, but the excellent rates l tiling at home, reported in our telegrams, now account for the readiness to buy at an apparently unremunerativeti»ure. The mes-age conveys welcome intelligence relative to phormium, which has been very much depressed here, and we hope an increased dtmand in our own market will revive this flagging industry, and set many mills now stopped to work again. Any improvement in the home value of these two important staples of our province is of interest to the general public as well as to commercial men, and we hope that, in the event of a revival n the iiax industry, such care will be exercised by producers in the preparation of tho fibre as will preserve its reputation. '1 here is no doubt that this industry has si.fl'ered very seriously from negligent preparation or wilfully fraudulent packing, which may be temporarily profitable to the perpetrator, but must, iv the long run, bring uiu and loss on the whole industry,

The following really good letter is just to hand from Motu-Thi :—" Motu-Ihi, Nov. 21, 1874. —Sir, —We beg, through your influential journal, to return our sincere and heartfelt ihanks to the New Zealand Government for their kindness in placing us in quarantine. We have been told that scarlet fever prevads in Auckland, and have come to the conclusion that our detention is due to that, the Government not wishmg to expose us to the chance of infection. We presume that measures are being taken to quell the disease previous to our landing. Some of us, lam sorry to fay, do not perceive the real cause of our enforced seslusion, and are sufficiently thoughtless to say that they are losing valuable time and money, and would rather run the chance of infection in Auckland, if they could at the same time obtain work. The single men say that they have had no more illness than the saloon passengers, who have been released, and that they should be also let go ! They do not see that that is the very reason why they are detained. lam very sorry that but very few thoroughly appreciate the wisdom of the quarantine officers. We are well taken 'care of here, and have excellent unfurnished apartments to live in, where all lie down together most comfortably on the floor, as we have been told is the custom of New Zealanders. Some silly people want screens and partitions. How absurd ! They ought to learn at once the habits of our adopted home. Everything is done here to fit us for what is before us— from drawing water and cutting wood, to an endless fumigation with brimstone. We again beg to thank the Government for their fatherly care and kind consideration. —We remain, your obedient servants, A Few Sensible Immigrants."

Anent the bakers meeting just convened, a correspondent writes : —Sir, —I perceive by your advertising columns that the bakers of Auckland purpose holding a meeting this evening for the purpose of discussing matters in "connection with their trade." I am informed that an attempt will be made to pass a resolution at the meeting to raise the price of bread, and charge a uniform sum. Now, sir, I think it is high time for the people of Auckland to take the matter in their own hands, and form a Co-operative Bakery Company. Such a company was formed in Wellington some six or eight months ago, and has proved a great success, by paying its shareholders 10 per cent, and that has not been its only benefit. When flour is reduced in price, the price of bread is at once lowered, the bakers being obliged to follow suit, or else lose their custom. The establishment of such a company also prevents Master Bakers banding together on the slightest pretext in order to make us pay more for the " staff of life." Let us be up and doing, and no longer be at the mercy of those wno appear to have no mercy upon us. — I am, &c , Paterfamilias.

We notice that our contemporary the Cross claims that ten of the immigrants per Waitangi were induced to cast in t heir fortunes with the colonists of Auckland in consequence of a perusal of that journal. We may remark in extension of our contemporaries remarks that the balance of the shipment, some 300 persons trace their conversion directly to the convincing power of tbe Evening Star. This fact we think fairly entitles ourselves in conjunction with our coadjutors on the Cross to some remuneration out of the immigration loan which is so liberally lavished on itinerant agents in Britain. The elemen ary singing class, on the Hullah system, will be commenced this evening by Mr Theophilus Cooper, in the class room of the Young Men's Christian Association, at half-past seven o'clock.

We have r. ceived the following queries respecting the special settlement system : - " Hamilton, JNoyember 23. 1874. To the Editor of the Evening Star : Sir,—l have noticed from time to time that you have endeavoured to impress upon a certain class of persons the importance ot availing themselves of the benefits derivable from the . Special Settlements Act.' Would you kindly furnish answers to the following : 'Is it necessary that his Honor the Superintendent should proclaim a district under the Act before appicat on, or should application be made first? Are the special settlements alone confined to that portion of ihe island which lies to the North of Auckland? Could special settlements be obtained in the Waikato ou application, or should intending settlers wait umil his Honor takes it into his head to proclaim toe district ? If it is true (as has been rumoured) that the northern portion of the island is alone intended for such settlements, then I say the vi hole thing is a farce, for by a little negotiation large traces of land lying a ong the frontier settlements in the Waikato could be purchased at a nominal sum, and which could be set aside for special settlements. But IJsuppose the Government thinks the land too good for such a purpose. I agree with you, sir, in saying that the Actis a good and judicious one if carried out in the spirit for which it was intended, but it is feared it will not. There are a good many who would be glad of further information on the subject.—l am, sir, yours, &c, Nkw Chum, Waikato." With reference to the location of special settlements there is nothing in the Waste Lands Act that confines special settlements to the Northern portions of the province. Its provisions ore quite as applicable to the South as to the North. There may, however, be some difficulty in the fact that a large portion of the best land purchased by the General Government has not been handed over to the Superintendent, and we think it will be found that tbe General Government will not be indisposed |to throw difficulties in the way of these lands being made available for special settlement. It does not appear to be necessary that lands should be proclaimed as open for special settlement before applications are made, but we would recommend our correspondent and all others with similar intentions to place themselves in communication with his Honor the Superintendent on the subject. The settlement of industrious agricultural population on the lands of the province is his particular hobby, and we feel confident that every information and assistance will be afforded.

When the first clock was formed by the three humble artists from Delft, in Holland, in 130S, in the reign of Edward the Third, it was regarded with agreatdeal of superstition, and rudely supposed to be chiefly the work of invisible hands. This wonderful machine for measuring time, however, grew into public favor, and the two first reliable clocks were, in the reign of Henry the Third, placed over the gateways of the abbeys of Canterbury and Westminster. Watches w^re first made at Nuremberg, and taken to England in 1577, in Queen Elizabeth's time. If the clocks and watches excited a kind of superstitious awe in those days, what would not the mysteiious clock to he seen in the window of Messrs. Kohn Brothers, of Queen-street, have done? It would ceitainly have paralysed every spectator with fear. Those ages, however, are passed, and in these days of progress we hail every new invention of the human mind with feelings of profound gratitude. On Saturday evening, so crowded was the pavement under Messrs. Kgliu'b window by persons desirous of getting a sight of Kohn's mysterious clock, that the service of a police constable was necessary in the language of the poet to " clear tbe way." We have looked in vain to discover the invisible workings ef this marvellous clock, which keeps such unerring time, and give it up. There it is, however, in the window of Messrs. Kohn—a picture and a mystery,—to be seen and inspected by everyone.

Rainbows at night are not very uncom" monly seen in Auckland, but they are mostly of white colour, and entirely destitute of the tints that beautify rainbows during the day. About eleven o'clock last night, however, a beautiful and perfect bow was visible in the Southern sky, in which the blue, green, yellow, and orange tints were distinctly marked.

To the Editor : Sir,—On almost every shop front and door facing in Queen-street are projecting large hooks and nails, on which tradesmen are wont to display their wares during the day ; and thus it happens that on Sabbath evenings, when the various churches have sent forth their congregations, the streets for a time a^e densely thronged, and it is of common occurrence for persons to be jostled up against one of these dangerous projectiles, rendering perhaps a costly article of apparel entirely worthless. It so occurred on Sunday last when a young lady, on passing a shop within a few doors downwards from Vulcan-lane, was accidentally pushed up against one of these objectionable nuisances. I do not know whether tho occupier of the shop could be held liable for the damage done, but certainly I think they should be removed at once, for it might so happen that he might be called upon to pay rather dearly for them. The City Council, with its multitudinous bye-lawa,| might add another to the lole by prohibiting the use of these dangerous destroyers of clothing.—l am, <kc, Pedestrian.

A very good plan for making a woman become a Good Templar was recented followed out by a workman in Hobart Town, whose wife would persist in going out to spend his hard-earned wages in drink, instead of keeping it to buy bread for the little ones at home. As he could not labor at the same time and watch Adam's rib, and keep her away from a defect of our nature, he bethought himself to burn all the paraphernalia (petticoats included) of his own dear Eve. And, as a consequence, she has for some time jast had to keep her couch, supplied with all necessary comfort, but sans certain articles of apparel. What a good idea, says the Mercury, as to how to make a Good Templar, for there she is now as sober as on the first day she saw the sun.

A lively dashing young visitor from the spirit world has been astonishing the people of various States of America. It is reported that this young lady has been caught and detained on earth, and this is the way it was done, as recorded by an American journal: —" Katie King the Spirit is reported to have been caught in a Michigan village by the slack of her breeches. A watcher having been put in a bedroom adjoining the cabinet whence she ethereally emerges, and a sleepy man having leaned against the door of said cabinet so that she could not materialize herself into the room, she left by the back way and scudded under bare poles across the fields, where she was caught. She proved to be a lady of Philadelphia a relative of the Holmes mediums, and she was dressed in boy's clothes. This story has an air of improbability, and we rather favour Katie. Why should the Philadelphia lady have been in boy's clothes, and carrying a light cane ? The truth seems to be that the Michiganders wanted to be very smart, and invented the breeches story. We do not believe in Katie King, but we do not any the more believe this story, mainly because she deceived Philadelphia, a stupid city, but still not so stupid as to be outdone by a girl in breeches scudding over a Michigan goose-pasture.— Katie King is now at Adrain, Mich., still travelling on her shadowy shape."

The directors of the Union Bank of Australia have behaved very handsomely to their clerks and employes. Lately they resolved upon the payment of a bonus of 10 per cent to all the officers of the bank. This is as it should be, and exhibits a proper feeling of harmony between capital and labour—the employers and employed. Such a stimulus to exertion will no doubt be profitable to the bank.— Guardian.

The great American circus was comfortably filled last evening, and the various equestrian and acrobatic performances were greatly successful. The extraordinary feats of Mddle Gracie and Mr Gilham met with rapturous approval. This gentleman was also excellent in his representations of England, Ireland and Scotland, and the quickness with which he changed the representative costumes was very remarkable. He was capital iv the three characters, and equally correct in tbe several dialects. Young American, and Messrs Hutchins and Turner, were f uliy up t > the mark, whilst " Dick Tuiptn's ride " was well sustained throughout. The wayside public house and the carmine host, were picturesque and full of life. The " Black Bess" of the piece had evidently been studiously trained for its parts, and is a very fine animal. The performances throughout were rendered with remarkable fidelity, were thoroughly appreciated, and resultt-d in a feeling of apparent satisfaction to all present. Most of the scenes will be repeated this evening. The following description of a Fiji cannibal chief is from the pen of the Australasian's special correspondent :—" Bitova has always been a violent, bad man, and a thorough obstructionist iv all good measures. Some 14 years ago he strangled his own daughter for a simple act which, according to Fijian custom, is tambu. A canoe was upset, and the occupants, with great difficulty, swam to a reef. Eitovas daughter was safe on the reef, and looking round for her companions she saw a young man struggle manfully through the waves, and finally gain a firm footing. She was so pleased to see him out of danger, that in a moment of forgetfulness she half embraced him. The kinship of tbe young man made this tambu. The old chief saw the act from a distance, and jswore that she should die. The old men of the tribe soroed (made presents and humbled themselves) to Bitova five separate times to beg the life of his daughter. They finally offered themselves to the executioner in her place ; but the old savage could' not be moved from his grim purpose. The only concession he would make was to kill the old men first if they wished it, and his daughter afterwards. And so the unfortunate girl perished. Bitova has also clubbed and eaten some of his nearest relatives."

The "big gooseberry" is proverbial, but we can't grow them. So in dull seasons the harassed journalist has to fall back on gigantic straw berries. A sample of fruit from a new seedling strawoerry, really worth examination, has been placed on view in the window of Mr. Brewin, seedsman, in the market, who supplied the seed from which the plants were grown. Some of these strawberries are four-and-half inches in circumference, and of rich flavour. They were grown by Mr. George Smith, of the Hobson Bridge Nursery, who will have a large number of the plants on sale for next season.

Mr George Goldie, the officer appointed under the Public Health Act of 1872, calls the attention of the public to the fact that section 20 of that Act provides that from and after the Ist June, 1875, earth closets will be compulsory, unless water closets with proper drains, communicating with a main drain, are already in existence. We have seen by several cases which have been brought before the Police Court lately that some persons aie careless iv these matters, and have not due regard for the health of the community. The provision of the Health Act therefore, is not inconsistent, but absolutely necessary for the public good.

The Good Templars of Napier purpose giving a concert at an early date. The proceeds of the concert to be devoted to the purchase of a piauo, for, we presume, the Uood Templar Lodge.

Mrs McLean, widow of the late John

McLean, who met with bis death at Maketu in September last, while in the act of falling a tree, begs to acknowledge receipt of tbe sum of £8 collected on behalf of herself and

five children, by John McLean, of Napierstreet, and to return her sincere thanks to the subscribers for their timely assistance. The master-bakers of Auckland will hold their adjourned meeting this evening in the British Hotel, when it is hoped thero will be a good attendance, as matters of importance are to be brought forward in connection with the trade.

The Auckland mails via Suez arrived by the Albion iv the South, and have now got as far as Wellington on their way North in the ss. Tarunaki. We may therefore expect to ba placed in possession of our correspondence in a few days. The members of the several Volunteer bands mustered strongly last evening iv the drill shed for practice, and played the National Anthem together very effectively. Major Gordon was iv attendance, and the practice was conducted by Bandmaster McComisb.

The vacany caused by the resignation of Mr H. Pycroffc, lately teacher of St Matthew's school, Hobaon-street, has been filled by Mr Harold E. W. Sutton, second master of tbe Mount Hobson District School; and from what we can learn it will be to the advancement of the latter-named gentleman in a pecuniary point of view. The t;otal number of scholars at present is forty-six, though new boys drop in daily. The schoolroom, we hear, is large and commodious, and capable of holding many more. Mr Sutton being of an energetic disposition, it is to be hoped that the Bchool will increase both in numbers and learning.