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Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1500, 1 December 1874, Page 2

It cannot be itemed that there has been a very widespread idea that the large sum of money spsnt on the; silt basins has been wasted. At a meeting of the City Council some months ago this opinion was plainly expressed by one of the Councillors, who might be expected to know something about what he was saying, and the public, perhaps taking their cue from this authority, have been largely of the same way of thinking. When the basins were put in operation the objection raised by fault-tinders was that the nuisance caused by the outfall of the main sewer had not bean abateel. This, however, could not long be maintained, when it became strikingly apparent that a great improvement in this respect had been effected. Then it was asserted that, however the smell might be lessened while the basins were being filled, the change for the better would be more than counterbalanced by the fetink caused by the periodical emptyings. The silt basins, we believe, were first suggested by Mr Higginson, C.E., and the suggestion was taken up aud elaborated by Mr McDonald, the present clerk of Works to the Haibour board, under whose superintendence they were constructed at the order of the Board, who were not slow to perceive the advantages which would would arise from their system of working. The basins have now been in use for nearly a year, and although few persons may be aware of it one of them is now being emptied. Sufficient time has elapsed to allow of a fair teat of their efficacy ; and we should not be doing our duty as public censors if we did not give credit where credit is due. There can be no doubt whatever that the silt basins have proved a complete success, in the first place it is quite the exception now if any smell at all is noticed where formerly an overpowering stench was the rule. In the next place, we now have a decent foreshore, where, till last year, we had nothing but a putrid, reeking bed of slime and filth. The change is very marked indeed, and cannot fail to be noticed by the staunchest opponents of the system. The most telling evidence of success is the complete deodorisation which has been effected in the silt. Mr Peckham has undertaken to empty the eastern basin for the sum of £125, and has already done part of his work. The silt is brought up through the man-holes, and heaped on the top of the basin before it is taken away. As Captain Daldy expressed himself the other day at the Harbour Board, the refuse is little more than scoria dust and small stones. Tne continual action of the water seems to have entirely taken away, and that too, so insensibly, as to cause no nuisance in the harbour—the whole of the offensive matter. So entirely has this been done that it is actually a matter of dispute whether the silt is of use as manure or not. The latter would seem to be the general opinion, for the bulk of the contents of the basins is to be employed to fill in the Custom-House-street intake. We understand that a gentleman at Riverhead intends trying a few loads in some stiff claysoil, and at Dedwood we believe an experiment of a simiiar kind is to be made. We do not profess to determine how these will turn out, but we cannot refrain from tenderia<r our congratulations to the Harbour Board for having perfected at least one great and useful work.

We have received to-day the December number of the Auckland Church Gazette, which, as usual, is full of readable and wellselected matter affecting the Church. Elsewhere in our columns will be found various extracts from the number. It is intimated among other announcements, that the Bishop will hold an ordination at St. Sepulchre's Church on Sunday, the 20th, at 11 am.

In connection with the transit of Venus, a well known gentleman of this city has re counted to us an Unlucky misadventure that has just fallen to his lot. It appears he is in training for the coming astronomical event, and when the sun's rays this morning shot athwart the horizon, he levelled at the orb of day his telescope with the shade properly adjusted, and everything en regie. But the shade appears to have been insufficient to intercept the powerful rays, alii he must have cot a species of sun-stroke in his right optic The way in which it manifests _ itself is by a nervous and involuntary twitching amounting now and then to complete closure, being to him both unpleasant and excessively awkward. The affection itself will doubtless pass away, but it has produced a result that is exceedingly embarrassing. We may premise that he is a man of irreproachable character, and not even subject to suspicion of impropriety in any form. This forenoon, however, in coming down the street, he met a lady at whom he looked —a3 is usual with gentlemen awaiting the gracious signal of recognition which is to be followed by the raising of the hat—but in that unlucky instant the nervous affection of the right optic supervened, and the lady who is the model of her sex in all that is worthy evidently supposing that he had winked at her, straightened up her grecian bend and raised her bonnet ribbons looking daggers at him. To call after her and explain was the thought of an instant ; but he could not resolve in his perturbed stat9 of feeling. To hesitate was to be lost. She had passed, and long will it be ere his mind is dispossessed of the painful associations connected with the "transit of Venus."

Yesterday t<vo youg men were brought up charged with uttering a valueless cheque. The charge has been withdrawn to-day, as it was found that it had been laid entirely in error. The cheque it appeara had been oiiginally the printed form of the Bank of Australasia at Auckland, and had been altered in the usual way by the drawer, one of the accused, so as to be drawn on the Bank of New Zealand at Ida, in Otago. . In «rror it was presented at the Bank of New Zealand in Auckland, and of course payment was refused. The mutter was represented to the police as a case of "no account," and the two young men were arrested. The whole thinu, however, was merely an unfortunate mistake. On a telegram being sent to the Bank at Ida, a reply was received to the effect that the account was good, and instructions wore given that the cheque should be cashed. On the receipt of this information, and the error being discovered, the young men wore at once set at liberty, aud the charge withdrawn.

Mr. 11. .T. Smith, Permanent Secretary of the Good Intent Lodge, writes with reference tn the letter of Mr. Roberts, a sick member of that lodge. Mr. Smith considers thai the letter casts a reflection upon him as the person appointed to transmit all money in connection with the lodge, and states positively that he " has not received any money for the party in question." Beyond this, Mr. Smith vouchsafes no explanation of tbe caso, on the ground that "the matter is a purely lodge affair." He futther expresses his ODinion regard ing what letters should and what should not be inserted in a journal, a matter with which we are probably better able to deal than Mr Smith. While we have every confidence in the general management of the Old Fellows' .Society in the city, we cannot but regard the course pursued by the Permanent Secretary in this case as extremely unsatisfactory, and calculated to dannge the Order in the estimation of the public. The proceedings of the Loyal Good Intent Lo'lge, and every other branch of the Benefit Societies regiHfered under tin "Friendly Society's Ac;." arc not merely " lodga business," as Mr Smith plea<u-s to term it, but public business, amenable to the law, and to the critichm of public opinion. >\nd cvenj if it were not so, every member of the community is entitled to appeal to the I'reiß, which represents the bar of public opinion, against any injustice, public or private, which ho may fcid he has been subjected to. We n?irrfl inquire into the case of Itobarts, but ho'ore the matter goes any further, we would advise th; Permanent Secretary, or some officer of bis lodgg, to vouchsafe some more lucid explanation than that which has been given as yet, if they desire to appear in a good light before the public. With reference to the statement that insinuations were conveyed in the letter implicating Mr Smith individually, we would draw attention to the paragraph itself to show the absurdity of such an assertion ; and that an emphatic denial should have been considered necessary is much more likely to bo regarded by the public as an instance of the adage that "a guilty conscience is its own accuser," ratber than as a proof that. Roberta has not been subjected to some hardship.

The Presbyterian Church News, for December, is published punctually to date, and we have much pleasure in commending this well conducted religious periodical to the attention of our readers. In an article on " Special Services," it is announced that, in accordance with a resolution of the Presbytery of Auckland, with the view of creating a religious revival, there will be an interchange of pulpits and two week-day prayer meetings, by the united congregations of St. Andrew's and St. James', extending over three weeks, early next year. The number contains a well-written article, by Delta, on "Religious Instruction," and by Gamma on " The Sabbatic Institution in its Old and New Testament Aspects." " The Character of Revival Fruit" forms an interesting chapter on this topic, which is at present engaging a very large amount of attention. "Advanced Thought" is especially a topic of the day, and interesting to all. There are readable chapters on the '' American Temperance Movement," and " The Christian League." Also, full information relative to the proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales, and of the New Zealand Church in the various provinces.

We notice as an evidence of that good feeling and liberal spirit between the various Protestant denominations, which we should like to see more widely diffused, that during the Bishop of Auckland's recent pasboral visit 1 o the Northern districts, he was invited by the Rev M. Macßae. Presbyterian Minister, to preach in the Kirk at Waipu. If a combination of churches in the work of Home Mission throughout bhe various scatterred districts of the province could be secured, bhe religious wants of outlying settlers would be much better supplied than they now are.

We find that the information furnished us concerning the supposed purchase by Mr Edson, chemist, of the premises owned by M r Short, draper, of Queen-street, for £3,500, is wholly inaccurate. MrShort has not disposed of his property, and considers the sum'named was not representing the value of the land alone on which his fine brick structure

stands.

It is really very unfortunate that some o* the collectors of the Education tax should make their office more unpleasant to the people than it need be. We have a complaint from a householder, who has paid his rate, but whose house was since called at during his absence, and his wife and children subjected to what he considers impertinent questions. We are also informed that one or more of the collectors quietly walk into houses without so much as saying "By your leave." All the collectors understand perfectly well that they have no right to do this, and they should not presume on their position. We do not wish to refer invidiously to any individual collector, and therefore withhold names that have been furnished us, but we hope that care will be taken to avoid these little unpleasantnesses.

Notice is given that the meeting of the Junction Lods?e, 1.0.6. T.. is changed from Thursday to Monday.

Our correspondent "E," writing from Whangarei, oa "Mercantile Co-operation, ; says :—" Sir,— deferring to the leader in i your issue of 31st ult., I am pleased to find i that all the editors of newspapers in Auckland are not ashamed or afraid to advocate the cause of co-operative stores, nor ignorant j of the success that has attended their estab- j lisblilent in Great Britain, and other countries. It seems to me surprising that this mode of doing business has not been tried in j Auckland years ago, considering the advan- | tages that would h*ve accrued to working men generally, as well aa to all persons receiving a steady income. Strange to say, instead of first taking root in such a | large centre of population, it has been began in, and spread from a rural village. ! The success attained by the Whangarei ; Pioneer Society, whose members have increased tenfold in less than three yea-s, has induced the formation of other societies ia the north and elsewhere, all of which, I believe, have been successful. As a pioneer of the co-operative system in this province (I may say in this colony), and having full confidence in its universal success, I believe the time has arrived for establishing a head central establishment of this kind in Auckland in j connection with those already in operation, and others that may be opened in the country for their mutual benefit, the town store supplying the country stores with general merchandise and disposing of dairy and other produce consigned to it by those in the country. Your limits will not suffice for a particular statement of the advantages to be derived from this town and country interchange, I shall, therefore, probably, take an early opportunity of laying my views oa this subject before the public of Auckland in a lecture, which is now in course of preparation. —I am, &c, R. The Good Templars and old topers alike will be interested in the observations which have recently been published in the Lancet, the leading medical journal of Great Britain, upon the relative values of tea and spirituous liquors. A medical writer, who accompanied the Ashantee expedition, says : —" The main thing appears to be to avoid alcohol altogether except at meals, and then, of coarse, only to consume it ia strict moderation. To "use a listle wine for thy stomach's sake " is old and very safe advice, we suspect, for men who work hard With their brains or muscles, especially in the case of those who have reached middle age. In the case of young men, or in those wLo are leading an active out-door life and possesses a vigorous appetite, alcohol is quite unnecessary as a rule, and only useful under exceptionable circumstances. One of the greatest requirements of the present day is a cheap and pleasant beverage, free from alcohol, of which persons engaged in urbsn pursuits can partake ad libitum during the summer in this country. No practice is more injurious than that of having recourse to what people please to term " a nip" of brandy in the interval between meals. The appetite is impaired and the digestion seriously cl ranged by such a practice, to say nothing of the fact that " it grows by what it feels on," and a constaut craving for alcoholic stimulants is soon engendered.

With reference to the shipwright McCormick, who deserted his child in che strange way recorded in a recent Liuae of the Star, we learn that he is working on the steamer Lily, in the Kaipara district. The child's mother is absent in tb.3 country, and probabably knows nothing of the remarkable desertion of the child by its father. Mc-

Cormick's conduct seems quite unaccountab'e, no intimation whatever hiving been given of hia intended departure, and but for the kindness of neighbours, the jjoor child would have fared badiy. The following is an account of an accident that befel little Willie Cummings, who !os; an arm by being ruu over by the cars : When tin; lad was taken home his arm was broagit after him. It; was thrown into a pail, wnen the poor little fellow screamed with pain. The severed limb waa then placed in a box and buried in the garden. bhortly after, little WMlie complained of a pain aad a queer feeling in tha severed hand. "3 He said thit something was crawling on the inside of the hand. The limb was exhumed, when a large worm was discovered in the palm of the hand. A large jar was then obtained, and it became necessary to crowd the arm in, when the sufferer fairly went into a paroxysm of pain. The limb was placed ia a jar partly filled wiih alcohol, and then replaced in the ground. The little fellow complained that his arm and fingers were in a terrible cramped position, aad that the little linger and the next one were growing together. The jar was then taken up, wLen the limb was found crowded and cramped as described. This is remarkable, although such instances are often related. In this case the little nine-year-old lad was ignorant of what disposition was mide of the limb. The lad is very low, and some doubts are entertained of his recovery.— lf. Y. Times.

The complimentary, concert to J. H. Beale, Esq., will be given this evening in the Choral Hall, the particulars of which appear in the programme in this evening's issue, consisting of overtures, choruses, duets, and part songs. Miss Lindsay will sing the beautiful song, "Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead." Mr. Beale and family will perform the charming overture, the "Prince and Peasant." The pretty sone:, "The Night Darkens In," music by Topliffe, the blind organist; of Trinity Church, Southwark, will be sung with other equally musical productions. A real vocal and. instrumental treat may therefore be anticipated. The duets to, be performed this evening will include " The Manly Heart,'' from Mozart, and " O'er Shepherd Pipe and Rustic Dell," composed by Balfe. The chorus of the " Russian Hymn," nearly new, and "Hail, Ye Initiate," will form a pleasing part of the concert. We would also call attention to the splendid " Anvil Chorus" from " Trovatore," music by Verdi, which has only been given once before in this city. Should the Hero arrive in time, Lord Norminby (the new Governor) will probably be present.

The district of Newmarket i 3 coming to the front with inventions. Mr Taite, chemist, Newmarket, offeis to housewives a new preparation, which is to do away with the ancient process of boiling clothes previous to washing them. By means of the chemicals used in the mixture, the dirt is thoroughly extracted. One lady affirms that she washed nineteen dozen clothes in the morning by the aid of the same, and got dinner ready by 12 o'clock, a feat which reflects equal credit on tha virtue of the preparation, and the ability of the person using it. If Mi1 Taite would further discover a method of cleansing clothes without the aid even of water, he would be a still greater benefactor to his district, Newmarket being sadly deficient of that important element during summer months. Last season Mr Witheford supplied seventeen families and on c baker with water from his private well. "Mute" speaketh at last. He says: — " Sir, —A recent lecturer on the abolition question seems, in the excitement occasioned by dealing with a large subject before a crowded and enthusiastic audience, to have omitted that reason which of all others must have been uppermost in his own mind in favour of the proposition—namely, that the good people of Auckland declined to employ him as " undertaker" at the cremation ceremony. It is not the first time it has happened thus with that ' vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself,' for many a one who has aspired to be master of ceremonies has been relegated, like the lecturer, to the comparatively harmless and obscure position of a Mttte."

Mr W. L. Eees will deliver a lecture this evening, in the Beresford-street Hall, at half-past seven; subject: "The evident destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race." The lecture will be given in connection with the Beresford - street Congregational Church Christian Institution Society, and the proceeds will be devoted to the new building fund,

Mr. A. Dornwell, butcher, of Queen-street, purchased the oxen which secured the prizes at the last Agricultural Show, and has been supplying his customers with splendid beef. He announces another prize animal at his establishment to-morrow. Brumagem half-sovereigns clumsily made are afloat in Wellington, and many rind their way up here. The " smasher" is described as a man of middle size, fresh complexion, sandy hair, moustache and. beard of the same colour, and trimmed off, and. dressed in a blue cloth suit. The performances last night afc the Prince of Wales Theatre, by the members of the Garrick Club, attracted a considerable audience, and gave general satisfaction. " Ben Bolt" and "the " Pride of the Village," were represented with much fidelity, and for amateurs was quite up to the mark. Miss Maggie Knight played in her usually interesting manner, while her songs and dances won the applause of the house. The characters were all well sustained, and the Garrick Club deserve encouragement. The half-yearly meeting of the Auckland Permanent Co-operative Building and Investment Society will be held tlm evening, in the large room of the Young Men's Christian Associaiion, to receive the committee's report and baZance-sheet. A gentleman who has just returned to Wellington from England gives us an amusing account of the way in which work is done tbe Agent General's office at Westminster. There is a maguificent suite of rooms. Dr. Featherston himself occupies some chamber upstairs ; our informant was at the office half-a- dozen time 3, but was never fortunate eDOUgb to see him. Dr. Buller, while Secretary, was accessible, obliging, and fall of information about the colony to all who met him. But the clerks—half-a-dozen or more of them—down stairs are the amusing part of the business. They are arable, exceedingly jolly, and ready to do anything they know, but unfortunately they know nothing—at least nothing about New Zealand. An immigrant wishes to ship for Wellington ; they complacently put him down for Otago. Our friend pointed out a special case to them, as one of hardship. They were sorry—thought it wa,3 all the same-New Zealand, they supposed, was one and indivisible -the places were all stuck together, if there were so ma,ny places (which they appeared to think was exceedingly doubtful)-but could they do anything? Perhaps they could transfer the immigrant from an Otago ship to a Wellington one. " Oh, yes, with the greatest pleasure imaginable." They would transfer half-a-dozen or half-a-score, if our friend wished it. It was done accordingly And then came the cream of the joke. With a merry twinkle of the eye, one of these clerks asked this New Zealander how long this " little swindle," this" do," would last? How long, did he think, they should hold their billets. Their billets w-^re very nice—easy work and fair pay—they hoped the thing might continue for a year or two, although it seemed too good to last so Ion;*. The impression conveyed to our informant was that they regarded New Zealand as a sort of convenient name under which to borrow money,

and to relieve England of a portion of its redundant population—that immigrants were g.nng away they knew not where, and it was wittftheia a question of sink or swim—the former most likely—that the affair, in so far as these officials knew anything of it, was that of a wonderful or prolonged joke, very good while it lasted but not likely to last

long. — Tribune. The Central Board 3of Heilbh, constituted under the Public Health Act, are, it is contended by the Christchurch Press, practically powerless, because while tho Act imposes on thorn multifarious duties, ib gives them no money to carry out their functions. The Dunedin Council does not seem to hold with Mr Passinore's views of economy. AnoSher clerk ha 3 been engaged by the Corporation at a salary of £300. The legal rate of an auctioneer's valuation commission on stock has been determined by the Christchurch Resident Magistrate to be live per cent, for the first £1000, and two and a half per cent, for anything over that amount.

The sixty-seventh conference of the New Jerusalem Church in England, Svvedenborgian, has just been held in London. There were present seventeen ministers and tifbythree lay delegates. The place of assembling was near where Swedenborc died, March 29, 1772. The topics discussed were the New Church day-schools, the colleee, missionary institutions, etc. The revised liturgy, which has been on hand for several years, was announced as completed, and was adopted.

The forcible kidnapping of labour in the South Sea Islands is referred to in the interesting account of the cruise of the Missionary schooner Southern Cross, published in the C7iurc7i Gazette to-day. It oceura in the notes on the visit to Ambrym Island as follows : —" At Ambrym it was a much more important advance that Mr. Kenny went to spend a month ashore. He was found very well, and he had apparently enjoyed his stay, though there was fighting all the while, and an old scholar of the Mission was killed. Not a very great deal can be done in a first visit, but a first visit is an important step. There the Missionaries found at anchor a well-known Queensland trader, and it gives some notion of the way they get their labourers, to witness what was seen. They had got sixteen men from a place some little way down the islaqd, and these men had escaped the night before. The Jason's boat were pursuing them, and the missionaries were on shore for some time getting our party together, and arms were seen from our vessel being put into their boats, and some fighting was expected. They were signalled for to come on board. The missionaries heard th^.y had got four on the first expedition ; how they managed the second time they did not learn, but it doesn't look much like peaceful engagement of labourers. The reason given for their escape was that the traders had shot two men in the neighbouring islands, and the Ambrym men were afraid to stay. That was the second Queensland trader seen at anchor, and from the first also people had swam away in the night.