Untitled

Evening Post, Volume VIII, Issue 295, 16 January 1873, Page 2

By proclamation in to-day's New Zealand Gazette, his Excellency the Governor has dissolved the Provincial Council of Wellington. Samuel Deighton, Esq., J.P., has been gazetted Resident Magistrate for the Chatham Islands, vice T. M'Donnell, Esq., resigned. "We understand that a subscription is on foot for the pnrpose of presenting to Lady Bowen, before her departure, some small souvenir of Wellington, whereby may remember thi3 colony. It is intended to be a public matter, a gift from the people. We also hear that a dejeuner to Sir George Bowen is on the tapis. The fire bell rang out the alarm to-day at about noon, when it was discoveied that the fire was again on Mr. Cleland's property, this time on Lambton Quay. A f chimney of a Bhop in the occupation of Mr. Smith, had caught fire, and the sparks had ignited the roof of that and the next house. The small engine and fire buckets belonging to Messrs. Jacob, Joseph and Company were soon in requisition, and being well used by volunteers, the danger was quickly over, and the fire out. "A few minutes after the fire bell sounded, an accident occurred to one of the engines belonging to the Wellington Brigade, which fortunately did not prove serious. The engine by some means became disconnected from the horse, and the driver, who stuck to his ribbons, was pulled violently off his seat and thrown to the ground. The horse, finding himself free, and frightened by the sudden change of affairs, galloped off at a tremendous pace, which he kept up till an obstacle in the shape of the Provincial Government Buildings put a stop to his career. We are glad to state that the driver, beyond receiving a severe shock and a few bruises, sustained no injury. Miss Aitken is evidently as popular a reader now as she was on her first visit to Wellington some 37 ears ago, if we may judge from the large audience which gathered last evening in the Odd Fellows' Hall to listen to her poetic and dramatic delineations. That she has lost none of her power to convey the full meaning of the authors she interprets was evident before the first few lines of the scene between Hubert and Arthur were recited. The effect of Arthur's pleading, wbich^,to ordinary readers, might seem to show tliat Hubert was weak in purp"6fe,\JwaS, by Miss Aitken's tone of voice^ie^slightest gesture, and the minutest changejlra look, shown to be due to the boy and his innocent eloquence. " The Wonnerfu' Wean" caused the audience to laugh not only at its quaint Scotticisms, but also at the expression which accompanied them. Lastly, of Miss Aitken's rendering of E. A. Poe's " Bells," we scarcely know what tosay more^ than that it was a triumph of high training and talent. We have heard Montgomery, Mrs, Heir, and others succeed to a certain extent in reciting this poem, but its full beauty we had not realised till last night. From the intonation of the voice when Miss Aitken was giving the words "Bell, bell," imitating with wonderful exactness the reverberation of a clanging bell, the audience, even if they had not heard one word of the lines preceding them, could .have told whether it was the marriage, alarm, or the funeral bell she was speaking. "The May Queen," the "Charge of the Light Brigade," "Come Whoam to thy Children an' Me," "The Brook," and " Mansie Wauch's First and Last Visit to the Play" completed a role of recitations, which, as a whole, surpass any we have . heard in the colonies. During the evening, between the readings, Mr. Parker played a faw pieces on the piano. We hope we shall soon have another opportunity of enjoying such an intellectual treat as Miss Aitken afforded her audience last night. The inhabitants of Kai Warrawarra have sent in a memorial te the Superintendent, on the subject of the sanitary • condition of the village. His Honor, in reply, has promised. to lay the matter before the Central 'Board of Health at its next meeting, on Thursday, the 23rd inst. Captain Moss, Central Brigade, requests ns to acknowledge the receipt of £1 from Mr. Hauamann, of the European Hotel, in acknowledgement of the activity which the members of his brigade displayed in turning out with their engine at the alarm of fire this morning at Mr, Gladman Smith's. Mr, Toomath, one of the members of the Education Beard, who is now on an official visit to the Wairarapa, held privately an examination of teachers, and candidates for teachership, at Greytown, on Tuesday. The object of his visit is to enquire into and report to the Board the state of Education in the Wairarapa, and more especially in that part of it which is represented by the Hon. Mr, Wate.rhoc.se ; and at the same time to take such steps as may be deemed advisable in co-operation with the settlers to place the schools of the district, and more especially that of Greytown, on a more satisfactory and efficient footing, The Standard says that the memorial which would tenable Greytown setters among other things to deal with the Waiohine Biver question has received 72 signatures, A memorial to the contrary effect haft been signed by seven person.

The firat pile of the Ruamahunga Bridge was driven on Friday last. With regard to the Highway and Education Acts, the Standard says the general opinion in Wairarapa West appears to be that these measures should be permitted to have a fair trial ; but no objection would be made to such amendments being introduced as would give fuller local powers to the ratepayers, or which would tend to render the acts more workable. The arrival of the ship Zealandia at the Bluff, with 320 immigrants, created quite a sensation at Invercargill, it beiug the first lot of immigrants that had come to the Bluff direct from London for several years. On (Saturday evening next, Mr. George Bromley, assisted by Miss Emily Neilson, will appear at the Odd Fellows' Hall. The revenue of New South Wales is at length recovering after a long depression. The Sydney Morning Herald says :— " For the last ten years our successive Treasurers have had great difficulty in showing ever so small a surplus, and tax after tax has had to be imposed or increased to bring the revenue up to the standaid of expenditure. This year, however, the Estimates have been far surpassed, and so far as can be calculated at present, the revenue will be at least £550,000, in excess of that of last year. One effect of this sudden increase has been to discharge the greater part of that long out-standing deficiency which for the last ten years has been the bete noir of successive Treasurers. We can now report that by the end of this year nothing will remain of this troublesome debt, but some Treasury Bills to the amount of £334,600, and which do not fall due till the middle of 1874." A smart shock of earthquake was felt in Greytown about half-past nine o'clock on Tuesday morning. The Standard states that a combination among the settlers of the Lower Valley to resist payment of rates has been some time in existence, but that they have now reconsidered their determination as they have good reason to believe that the Education Board will provide them with a school teacher, and for the sake of securing this desideratum they will at once pay their rates and withdraw their opposition to the act. The Argus of 3rd January says :— The representatives of the wool-growing interest of Victoria and Riverina met at Scott'a hotel yesterday, to discuss the abuses which still exist ab the London wool sales. From 70 to 80 gentlemen were present, and the proceedings were characterised by almost entire unanimity. Resolutions were passed condemning the draft system, and the practices which the brokers follow of acting for both buyer and seller ; and affirming that the number of sales should be increased from five to six per annum. That the occasion had arrived for united action geeined^o be felt by all. The leading agents in London were gently rebuked for hiving done nothing to remove the abuses which had been pointed out to them. Sir George Bowen will, we fear, find the Victorian newspaper critics harder to deal with than those of New Zealand. A Queensland journalist, quoted by a writer in the Australasian, declares that a passage in a speech recently delivered by his Excellency at Dunedin is copied, word for word, from a speech delivered by Sir George at Darlling Downs in 1861, and which is preserved in a number of^ All the Year Round, dated 22nd K June, 1861. oae Roman of Victoria seem undecided as to the course they ought to pursue in reference to the new Education Act. A private meeting was recently held at the palace of the Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, where, it is reported, after considerable discussion, a determination was arrived at to avoid adopting any definite course until the regulations had been published by the Government. Those regulations and the act will then be placed aide by side, with a view to ascertaining if the Catholic schools can consistently be brought within the scope of the new state of things, or be withdrawn from all connection with the State. The Catholic body will then publish a pronunciamento, and a public meeting will be held, in order that so vital a question may be considered by the general Catholic body, as well as from an ecclesiastical point of view. It seems likely that a warm contest will take place for Wairarapa East. Mr. Andrew will stand again, and Messrs. Toomath, C. J. Pharazyn, and Barton are spoken of as probable candidates. We have received from the Gevernwent Printer printed copies of the railway contracts entered into between the Governor of New Zealand and Messrs. Brogden. Western Australia has made an application that, for the future, the P. and O. Company's steamers shall call at Freemantle or Cockburn Sound on their voyage to and fro. The Victorian Government do not oppose the change. The Wakatip Mail says :— " We are informed that Mr. W. J. Barry has applied for an extensive lease of a copper lode in this district, which he intends to place in the New South Wales market, with the object of its being worked by a large company. The richness and abundance of copper lodes in this district, especially in the locality of Moke and Moonlight Creeks, has been long known, and we sincerely trust Mr. Barry will be enabled to bring his new project to a successful issue, believing, as before stated, that if properly and judiciously conducted, th« undertaking will tarn out a profitable investment to its shareholders." The Rev. James- Nish, of Sandhurst, Victoria, has arrived at Dunedin. Mr.Nish has been commissioned on the part of- the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria to represent that

body at the Synod of Otago and Southland, which holds its yearly raeetiug in Dunedin dm ing the course of this week. The Age of the 4th contains the following information with regard to the Intercolonial Conference :—lt: — It may be considered a certainty that the Intercolonial Conference will be held in Sydney on the day after the arrival of the^next mail steamer, by which vessel the delegates from Western Australia are expected. The representatives of New Zealand had an interview yesterday with our Victorian delegates, and it resulted in telegrams being despatched to the other colonies, pointing out the desirability of the postponement. There can be no doubt of their unanimity in favor of the proposal. Another advantage is that the representatives of South Australia, Taßmania, Victoria, and New Zealand will be enabled to join those from Western Australia, and \ proceed to Sydney " all in the some boat." The delegates from Tasmania will be the present Treasurer and the late Premier, Mr. Wilson ; and those from Queensland will be the Premier, Mr. Palmer, and the Minister of Lands, Mr. Thomson. We extract the following from the Lyttelton Times :— There is some talk of a public meeting being convened in Christchurch to consider the question of sending a crew or crews to compete at the Wellington Interprovincial Regatta. It is known that the Kaiapoi and Heathcote clubs are to be represented in the four-oar and pair-oar races, and though Christchurch may not make up a crew, a meeting of the kind referred to would be very useful for considering how the interests of the Kaiapoi and Heathcote representatives could be promoted. The Chinamen employed on , the portion of the Clutha railway line near Milton, contracted for by Ah Tong, are reported to have struck, owing to some difficulty in getting their wages. Mr. Justice Chapman, in a recent address to the Grand Jury of Otago, strongly urged the necessity of an act being passed, empowering judges to order persona convicted of oriminal assaults upen female children to be punished by flogging.