The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3713, 9 June 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1883.

It will have been noticed that the Licensing Committees of all tbe chief centres of population have steadily refused, except in one or two instances, to grant licenses extending beyond 11 o'clock at night. The 11 o'clock license may now bo said to be the rulo rather than the exception throughout the colony. In Napier tho old system has been maintained, for reasons that no doubt were sufficiently convincing to the Committee. One of those reasons was, perhaps, that the Inspector's report of the conduct of all the houses was -good ; there was nothing to show that the midnight license had had any demoralising effect, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it was fair to assume that no ovils were resulting from a system the t had been in force for very many years. A reference also to the criminal records of the borough will show that there has been a marked diminution of convictions for drunkenness during the last six mouths, and_ this fact has not been owing to any laxity of the police in the execution of their duties. It has been patent to all who have had opportunities of discovering for themselves that for a longer period than the past halfyear there has been much less open drinkiii'-- at the bars of public-houses than formerly. In fact the licensed victuallers havo feit the dulncss of the times ns much as other tradesmen. From this it may be argued that the existing absence of vice is not so much duo to an improvement in the morals of the people as to their pecuniary inability to gratify a taste for alcohol. This may or may not be the case, but it is certain that, when money is abundant: and trade brisk, public-houses »hare in the general prosperity of the timos. Another reason that might have bad weight with the Committee in continuing the old system was that, in granting midnight licenses to tho principal hotels, ami only 11 o'clock licenses to the others, a flow of trade would have been directed from the les<4 frequented parts to the centre of the town. No good purpose could havo been served by adopting such a course so far as tho drink question is concerned, while a privilege would have been granted tofiomc houses that would bc.cloniod to others, in itself unjust and objectionable. There is another point that might have had some influence with the Committeo, namely, that thero has been no public outcry against the midnight license as thcro has been at other places. There has been no expression of opinion ono way or the other. It is therefore evident that the public is satisfied that the licensed houses havo been well coiiductod, and that no chango is considered necessary or desirable. No.doubt that, had there been public meetings, or newspaper correspondence upon tho subject, the Com-

mittee would have had somo indisation of the general wish of the community, and would havo been guided accordingly. As it was there was nothing of the kind to point to the desirability of making* any alteration. One house in each ward, in accordance with application, had a renewal "V*granted it to 10 o'clock, while all the other ' applications were for 12 o'clock, and tho Committee saw no reason to refuse them. It may happen, perhaps, that, before tho next annual licensing meeting, public opinion may change, or more public interest may be shown in the question, which may lead to a curtailment of the hours of business ; but, in the meantime, wo think the town is to be congratulated on tho fact that it was not shown to be necessary on the score of public morally to alter tho existing system.

Mr J. Collinge has been appointed collector of rates to the Meanee Road Board. There was a clean charge-sheet presented in the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning. The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court will bo opened on Monday at 10 o'clock. Jurors and others summoned to attend will do well to bear this in mind. Tho water-mains must have been keeping the Turncock pretty well employed during tho last few days, for nearly every day lately a pipe has buret and done more or less damage.

Chief Justico Sir James Prendcrgast arrived to-day by the steamer from the South, and was met nt the wharf b*y Mr P. A. F. Birch, tho Sheriff. His Honor has taken rooms at the Criterion Hotel.

Tho Poverty Bay Standard, that suspended publication last April, has again been revived by its former proprietor, MrC. H. C. AVebb. The paper appears in its old garb, and is carefully edited. AYe wish Mr AVebb every success.

Mr J. Stewart, C.E., was a passonger to-day from the South by the steamer Wairarapa. Mr Stewart will inspect the waterworks machinery on Monday, and will probably remain in Napier till Wednesday before proceeding to Auckland.

In reference to Mr Hugo's lecturo on bohalf of the Scandinavian Church to-morrow evening, wo aro requested by the committee / of the church to state that it will be de- - . livcred in the English language, and not in the Scandinavian tongue as announced.

A case, referred to as one in which the "biter was bitten," is reported to us. It is merely that tho impounder's horse has itself been impoundod, to the joy and amusement of all who aro in the habit of allowing their horses to stray on the public roads-

The Meance-Taradale Licensing Committee mot to-day, and refused to grant a license to William Morris for the house lately ocoupied by Mrs A_ughan, on the ground that the house was not required. The Committee reduced all licenses to 10 o'clock.

An extraordinary vacancy having occurred in the AVaipawa Road Board through the resignation of Mr J. S Aunand, tbe following nominations were yesterday received to fill the vacancy:—Messrs Henry Arrow, H. J. Baker, R. T. Brighouse, and E. Harwood. Tho date of election is fixed for Saturday, 16th instant.

Tho drains were flushed to-day, and au examination of the pipes at the several man-holes showed that there has been no deposit of silt, as reported to us the other day. Several persons, at the invitation of the turn-cock, went down the man-hole by the Star Hotel, and satisfied themselves that tho pipes were as clean as possible.

AVo have received several complaints respecting tho Herald's report of the proceedings before the Napier Licensing Committee yesterday. The report was little better than a burlesque of what took place ; but, as we cannot undertake at all times to correct the errors so constantly appearing in our contemporary's columns, wo must refer our correspondents to the journal in which the mistakes occurred. *

A recent telegram from Dunedin, in J reference to tho adulteration of spirits, • more particularly of brandy, has prompted enquiries why a similar analytical report on spirits supplied in this town has not beeu procured. The answer is easily given. There being no authorised analytical chemist here samples of spirits would have to bo sent to Wellington in chargo of tho person who rmrchasod the liquor, and such precautions would have to bo taken as to prevent the possibility of the several samples being tampered with. The expense and the troublo would be very great, and the chances arc the adulteration would be found to be only water, or some equally harmless ingredient.

Tho new roll of Justices of the Peace, so far as Hawke's Bay is concerned, is the best that has ever been issued. The namss of persons who have left the colony have been eliminated, and, strange to say, no dead men havo this year been appointed to a Commission of the Peace. The new Justices for this district are Messrs J. Bennett, W. J. Birch, J, Chambers jun., AY. Couper, A. Dillon, T. F. Fountaine, H. Gaisford, G. Hoslop, and F. Sutton. Amongst the names telegraphed to us wo notice that Mr T. Powdrell's has been omitted, whether by accident on the part of the sender of flic message, or by an unaccountable

.oversight on the part of tho Government, wo 'e\o not know.

A special general meeting of the members of tho AVorldng Men's Club was hold *vi the club hall last evening for the purpose of taking into consideration the advisability or otherwise of enlarging the club premises. Thero was a fair attendance, Mr Murray, the President, occupying tho chair. A A motion, to the effect that the time had arrived when it was desirable that tho en-

largernent of the club building should take place, was put to the meeting and carried unanimously, after which a long and desultory discussion ensued in reference to ways and means, plans, kc Ultimately a committee consisting of seven mombers Avas appointed to tako action in the matter, and report to a future meeting.

Au interesting locturo was delivered last night at tho Empire Hotel, a well-known and popular citizen occupying tho chair. The lecturer, who is, we beliove, a resident of AVellington, commenced by saying that he was a stranger to tho subject on which

he was about to speak, and that he had lost his plans of tho harbor. A roll of papers was then handod to him, on unfolding which it was discovered that it contained some curious drawings and an old shoot almanac. Nothing daunted, the learned lecturer drew a plan for himself, and contended that, if the Auckland rock was not exactly where ho had depicted it, its situation must be somewhere else. Ho then proceeded to explain that there was a reef running out from tlio Bluff to the Pania rock, forming the natural foundation for a breakwater, on which it should be constructed, and by which the travelling shingle would be trapped, and a beach like that towards Petane would be formed._ The lecture was enlivened by frequent sallies of wit and screams of laughter. A hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer and chairman terminated the proceedings.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court last afternoon, before Captain Proece, R.M.. Charles William Dawson was put forward on two separate charges of forgery. Tho evidence went to show .that the prisoner had made au unsuccessful attempt to pass a cheque for £7 16s, purporting to bo drawn by Mr John Chambers, junr., of Tc Mata, at Mi* Browne's drapery establishment in Hastings-street. Failing in this he presented tho cheque at Messrs Neal and Close's, where he purchased goods to the value of £1, and received the balance hi change. The cheque was aftenvards discovered to bo valueless. The second charge was for passing a ehequo, presumably drawn by Messrs Sewell and Donnelly, for £0 3s. This cheque the prisoner had passed to Mr George Hall in payment for drapery, but when" the latter discovered that it' was valueless he allowed prisoner to pay tho amount advanced and tore the cheque in pieces. Detective Grace, however, afterwards obtained the fragments and joinod

them together again. The prisoner was committed on both charges to take his trial at the ensuing criminal sittings of tho Supreme Court. Tho Resident Magistrate severely censured the witness Hall for having" torn up the cheque after knowing it to bo valueless, aud told him he had left himself liable to be placed iv tho criminal dock for compounding a felon)-. It is said that the ravages of the kea among the sheep in some districts of Otago have already become norc serious to the flockowners than the jnroad of the rabbitIt is proposed to lay the niatter before the Government and endeavour to ge.t something done,

A "wild man" has been making depredations in the Patoa district, and the settlors talk about organising a hunt. The culprit has among other things stolen a fowlingpiece and ammunition. Tho price of maize has lately greatly fallen owing to tho cheap supply of oats from the South, and the Bay of Plenty Times suggests that a few thousand bags should be shipped to England. Christchurch is pre-eminently the home of brass bands. Every society and every suburb appears lately to have come to tho conclusion that an assemblage of brazen instruments is necessary to its well-being. The AVellington Times says:—A "Constant Reader" writes that he has received great relief from attacks of asthma by drying and smoking blue-gum leaves, and he is desirous of extending a knowledge of this simple euro through the columns of our journal to others who may suffer from the same troublesome complaint. Tho Rivcrtoii correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes:—"Mr Hay, District Surveyor, has returned from the back country in good health and spirits. He is rather reticent, but I understand his information will considerably alter the appearance of the map between the AVaiau River and Preservation Inlet. Hauroto Lake will appear about double the size it is generally shown, and of a different shape. There is another lako of nearly tho same size within a few miles of it to the westward, and running parallel with it—by name, I believe, Tiritiri. However, the matter will havo to go through regular official channels, so the curious will have to bide their time." As a local proacher was holding forth upon the Queen-street AVharf (says the Auckland Herald), close to the watermen's house, a man came up, and before he could be stopped struck the preacher a violent blow on the head and face with a bag wliich contained some hardsubtance. Fortunately the force of the blow was materially lessened by the preacher's hat, otherwise the result would have been a nasty disfigurement of tho face. The dastardly ruffian, before the onlookers had got over their surprise, decamped. The preacher, nothing daunted by tlio assault, at once tried to improve tho occasion, by telling his hearers that that was only a small sample of tho persecution those who had the pluck to go into the highways and byways preaching tho Gospel were subjected to.

The Wanganui Chronicle says: —"Although, politically speaking, the Colonial Treasurer's progress along the coast has been ono of triumph, ho has hud little reason to look upon either the roads or rivers with peculiar affection. On Monday night he was stuck up at Ohau on his way from Wellington to Foxton ; on Tuesday tho coach having the Major on board stuck in the mud going up tho Patea Hill ; and on Wednesday the same primitive kind of conveyance came to grief at Manawapou, on the Major's journey to Patea. The state of the highways and rivers in this part of the North Island should not only ntake the Colonial Treasurer speak well of the Roads aud Bridges Construction Act, b;it wish from the bottom of his heart that every local body between AVellington and Taranaki was in a position to take advantage of that excellent piece of legislation."

Profossor yon Haast has examined some of tho washdirt and rocks from the supposed diamond fields in tho Ashburton district, and says the rock is a quartz porphyry, somewhat decomposed, containing quartz in crystals aud grains, and crystals of sanidine (glassy felspar), and of garnets. Mixed with" the washdirt wero numerous small grains and crystals of tho same ■minerals, but he could not find the lcust sign of any diamonds amongst them. He sent somo of tho supposed diamonds to Professor Ulrich, of Dunedin, one of tho most eminent mineralogists in Australasia, and that gentleman wrote of them:—" if tho two crystals from Mr Jacobsen's locality are genuino representatives of his diamonds, I am sorry to say he is grievionsly mistaken in their character. I pronounce tlicni, unhesitatingly, as quartz. . . . Both crystals are doubly refracting and softer than topaz. Crystals of the kind frequently occur in quartz porphyries, sometimes also in granular limestone." A steamer called at AVellington the other day, on her way to Sydney, which has been known on the New Zealand coast for many years, and was formerly quite a celebrity as the crack vessel of Messrs McMeckan and Blackwood's fleet. AVo refer to the s.s. Albion, which is taking her final departure from Now Zealand waters and is about to bo sold in Sydney by her owners, the Union Steamship Company, .'is she is not suitable to their present requirements. AVhilc under the command of Captain Undcw.-ood tho Albion made some capital runs between Now Zealand and Melbourne, maintaining a remarkably even averago of about 4h days, and also making some exceedingly smart trips between New Zealand ports. About ten years ago she left Melbourne and was trading in Japan waters for about two years, and sho afterwards camo out to the colonies again. Sho was then looked on as something exceptionally fine and grand, but is now regarded as quite oldfashioned and out of date. Half-a-dozen years makes great changes now-a-days. Tho Post says:—"An action which is about to be tried iv tho AVcllington District Court possosses features of considerable interest to ""tlio general public. Under the Lunacy Act of last year power is given the Government to sue for arrears of money incurred in support of patients at the various asylums throughout the colony, and advantage iv about to be taken of this provision t) proceed against Mr William Robinson, a Well-to-do fanner at Blenheim, for the recovery of £137, being the amount expended by tho Government in maintaining his wife, who had been an inmate of the AVellington institution for several years past. Tho case ia the first of the kind taken in New Zealand, and is likely to be followed by similar p -oceeclings iv other parts of the colony, Gjvornment having decided to take steps against tho near relatives of patients in every caso whore there is reason to believe they aro able to contribute to the support of the latter, but havo hitherto neglected to do so. Messrs Buckley, Stafford, and Fitzherbert will appear for tho plaintiff, tho Medical Superintendent of the Mount ViewAsylum." In his speech to his constituents at Mount Ida, Mr DeLautour referred thus to the Costloy bequest: —'' It seems to mo that one question which is at present deeply engaging tho public mind is tho unequal distribution of wealth. Men regard with amazement such a picture as was presented to us in Auckland the other day. AVo see there an old man (Costloy) nearly a century old, singularly penurious, ou his death-bed, at the last moment, bequeathing his vast hordes of wealth to public charities. AA r e sec him followed to his gravo with pomp and show ; wcheur arguments propagated that his bust should be put up in various prominent places in tho town. And why? Because ho accumulated hordes of wealth, giving nothing, helping no one, and at the last moment ho loaves his wealth to charities to mako his pjoace with heaven. But how was this money gained ? Honestly ? Yes, honestly, I admit, but at tho expense and by tho assistance of others—by men who bore the work and heat of the clay ; who worked as only men of the early days had to work ; and who, when a crisis came, lost their all, sickened, and died in many cases from poverty and privation. Costley in the early daysobtainedpossessionof land, and financial pressure—a pressure which sent many a brave, good man to a sickening death-bed — enhanced its value, and enriched its possessor." The Scotsman, March 28th, has been rather rough on our North Island poet, as fcho following extract shows:—" Mr Alfred Domett has though it necessary to prepare a revisod edition of his book, Ranulf and Amohia.' AVhy tho task should have been undertaken it is not very easy to undorstand, since, so fur as we arc aware, tho book in its original form failed to attract any considerable share of atttention. Nor is tins circumstance at all surprising. ' Ranulf aud Amohia' is a story of the adventures in tho South Sep. of a young ' sailor student' and of his lovo passages with a Maori maiden, who ultimately becomes his wife. The narrative is intrinsically devoid of any features of genuine interest, and it is made still less attractive to the ordinary reader from the fact that it is in verse. The genius of tho Laureate himself would scarce suffice to jn'ocure attention to a puuiu of 18,000 linos or thereabouts: and it must frankly bo said that Mr Domett is by no means a Tennyson. That he is altogether destitute of poetic power or inspiration cannot "ho asserted. Hero and thero iv his volumes we encounter felicitous imagery find musical lines, but tho great mass of his verso is of an exceedingly commonplace kind; and tho quality of his thought is not of a nature to. cqmpeusato for his shortcoming's' in Form uhcfoxpressiqi*..''

Tho London correspondent of the Argus says that a boy belonging to a training ship at"Portsmouth took a small yacht that was lying near, and set sail in her for France. Ho was, however, boarded by the coastguard about twenty miles away, and brought back to port. He should make a plucky sailor some day. During the passage of the ship Allanshaw, which brought 302 Government immigrants to Sydney, 20 cases of scarlet fever "took place, and there were five deaths from the disease. A strange fact is, that the fever did not make its appearance until the vessel was 7-1 clays out. This long interval (says a Sydney paper) is proof of two significant facts—one, that the germs of the fever must have been taken on board in clothes or boxes not unpacked until months after departure; the other, that any ordinary steam service would have landed the immigrants in New South AValcs before a single caso of scarlet fever appeared.

"A rational nature admits _of nothing but what is serviceable to mankind." For illustration of this apt quotation call at Professor Moore's Medical Hall, AVaipawa, and examine his extensive and varied stock. Music and physic, those great healers of both tho mind and body, are there represented. Au immense stock of musical instruments, comprising 173 different kinds, at prices from ls to £25 each.—[Advt.] When Wolfe's Schnapps was first introduced here, the article was analysed Incompetent chimists and pronounced pure and wholesome ', it is now and has been for many years a standard professional remedy. —[Advt.] _________