The Evening Post. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1874.

Evening Post, Volume X, Issue 194, 3 October 1874, Page 2

The Evening Post. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1874.

I» a few days, the citizens of Wellington will probably be called on to vote for or against the adoption of the Public Libraries Act, 1869, in this city. Although the Act flays that it shall be lawful for the Mayor to. take a vote on receipt of a requisition from ten ratepayers, his Worship has really no option in the matter; as these words have, frequently jbeen held to be mandatory, j^asjafc the .last meeting of the Council, referred to the solicitor, we may presume that the vote will very soon bejtalteri "oiyfche subject. * -If the decision of the majority bf the' citizens is in the 1 Affirmative, the Council will then proceed to strike and levy a rate of one penny in :the;£dn the annual v&lue^f all' rateable property in! the city.-."lf tmr vote r is 'given iitL the. negative,' no farther action can be taken in the matter for a year. If tbe Act „be<brou~gbfr into operation, the Council may i borrow- money .on /the" security of the rate, .and the library;, .when established* will be .under, the. control and management of the City Council, or a committee thereof. There .fe-not-doubt'ithat in a city' such as this a ffree.publio library would be a very desirable .thing, otlt-js an institnfcfatt Whfeh we must < have rsooner, or later if we' are worthily to ; maintain our position as the 'Capital of the Colony ,t IWe '.very much doubt, however, 'whether? the.'Acfc in questioti affords the .{best means, ot 'attaining the desired end— a -peony rate Jn 'the city would only' raise a sum of between £400 and £500 per annum, It Js iiicafceljr-- "probable ! ' that our City would be able ta BdrroW any large ssom on the tecutity oi *ucti at&te and the lannuaLßumdtselfois-uttbrly insufficient for the purpdse.^ln fact if ther'ate ;were levied to-morrow we do ' not'- seV that- we should really be any nearer to the establishment aldi f feel publiclibriry. The Hrst year's :r*teiWauld'iDe!'b«rely f ßufficient to pay for i%hb reßt^andfarn»bin'g of » suitable build¦iflg ;and? if Oiit^did -that there would be nothing' ilef fcforJtheiporchase of books— a ¦HWary^'Switbi i empty" shelves would be ; neitheriu'sefat 'noricreditable to the, city. The? ,innnalf expense 1 bf maintaining the establishment would be nearly if not .quite rjtolittocfess the total proddsJe of annual 7*te;Vsftfaclrir we?shonld^Hke'to see such inoiifistitation <ftS3W7ff«e r publid< library esi»bllsbed in WelHogto«> We do not thinkjothat -=tn»-Jratep*yefH . Would act wiseljr>fdV''Jindeed ! 'fßcilitate > that ' object byi Votirig>ffdff-th*Mmrodttction of the Pabliodrfbrarieg Acti^> r The general opinion regArttingi' civic taxation'' already is ' that value -isflotvobtom«di^fdr ther money ¦raiseiJ^-thatK it"i*' tlonecessarily high in compsrisbnf with <l%\ii> results obtained. This feeling would -certainly be afcrength•ened by the imposition of the proposed fresE rate,? A pecfriy id the £is not a veryJ nignrate, but it is too high a one to be raised if nothing is received in return for, its7<aii*ctliisyj< we 1 rfeaT/ would be the case, 'The Cit^ Council has qdte iiiough to do-'inr fulfilling itfflegitiw ate functions, if life would but fulfil tbetn. J We do h6t con-?fliderit-abo4y cofflpeteat to manage ; such 'ait-nistitotiott *a^-«' public library, ; and twhileioac streets *»te unmade aaddilapidated; nwhile*' ot>\xt< City is nndrained, and ; our / hatbdtif f pblltfted by ( being made the s receptacle ; of ¦ nightscil, while, id ' f 'f«ctn the sanitary -condition, of 'bar'cityijr «»^ba6:^s i^fi:%ell can be,- and otti*s I t*ee^and footpaths neglected, muddy, amnb many places dangerou*, vre should be 'sorrytoseAaftydf theratipkyibgpo'Werof the city dive*ted^rotetn*{rarpoees of improving these matters to be , squandered, as we believeitwdttld bej itf an abortive attempt. to establish an institution very desirable po doußti if it- 4 cbnld be attained, but neither so necessary nor so urgent as the^other |*^brtS w^hkVe.in^dicßted, It will be wiser to mend^our ways and improve our sanitary conditiOTrthin to iaaposf e¥en~ar penby rate undervtbe Public Libraries Act. For a public library we must wait until either one of our Governments or some public spirited citizen gives ah endowment, which would enable a respectable start to be made, Then ; 1 Wniiat'rafe'ifi'aoWort'of the library, might fairly be asked for, ! — ———————— ¦ |

As there are several cases of indecent assault on the calendar for the Supreme Court sittings on Monday next, it is not improbable that the new act passed last session, making better provision for the punishment of this offence, may be brought into speedy operation. The Judge has now power to order that any offender shall

be once, twice, or thrice flogged. The number of lashes to be given must be specified, and must not exceed fifty, nor must the last whipping take place six months after conviction. A r contemporary very jaktffi rimatksltnatf ;— "' Tne reasons for, this last provision are not very clear. Perhaps the best reminder to such ruffians of the consequences* of their misbehaviour would be to give them the whole, or the "gtvftttg"p*rtl c or f sx)'md"i portioif fof ? such" punishment when leaving gaol. Tfiit ac-; ,C^fflp*Binl4ire:i 6f> tneir £di«jbarge toight exercise • wholesome influence on their tfntoteibehAriottr/!'/^, *jfrrj.-. -it i;r.<i r- L- i " Playgoer" has neglected to send us his -it, however, scarcely of such general iii' : terest at to justify the insertion of such | a olp^pletteß^at,!* Playgoer's," even if he had complied with onr invariable rale of reevery correspoii^ r f Eh» Church of England jDjooesan Syndd iatt Main J|s^nig|t|, { Tub businessv'was maihly ori % formal nature, the oaty ( foatures of general interest being a motion* bytfia'Revß. W. Harvey that the lowest stipend of a curate should be fixed at £2CO' the , Yen Arch1 d««obiS ' Btocft r ' j " Tlat ' the ( Biabbp '" be ' re(ihatt^d'to 6Ohßvi^ ih6 deairability of > *dntittm^lntd J deacM's brdars suitable men swilliiJg W devbfe Wme portion of their time 4o the work of the ministry, without requiring thetfato give up tbe secular'occupaJtidnt bVwhiott tWey 1 gaiax their livelihood.'!' The d«b»to dO'tbii Jfctter motion Wag •djourned until Mondajrevenirig. r ; '¦ -.; -Jit , is with, the most: sincere regret that ;W«notioe'att,tlie.Aajtraliftni telegrams the news of thedeattotMlss H*ttie Sh«ppard# .(Mrs fisllam).* There are few ladies on thi stage who would be more missed or more regretted^// -<By /steady perseverance and great nataral ability Miss' Shepparde in the course of a.few years attained » leading poiTtib^iatheptofewfon^ndfor a con-| tfderftDje time ¦osfcained- the rote of leading Hifi?iVmT&eilte< Royal on' Melbourne; Here 1 , in BbVertsbn's modern comedies ana T <3tfbeftVtt|tn6!6iicftl cdmedies; she showed* ! r*re ability and featablisbed' ber claim td 'tha'posiiforf ofMbeing ontf of tbe cleverest! .tfUtreises who.erer trod the-Australian stage.) !^W6ns^Hli& Miss 4^Shepparde ior { fOm0 T years r h»i „ been r connected with' comjrafmes i'h ttfiffcoldny' and 1 visited this; city about, six , years ago with Mrs; Roberta Heir. /I A little more than ten" months ago Miss Shepparde was married to> Mr Kwy a«U»n, the popolur tenor of

the Opera Company now performing here, With the exception of one short engagement, she has not appeared on the stage since that. She aCcdmpanied her husband on his tour through thia colony, and was warmly welcomed by all her old friends. Tfrom Auckland she returned to Melbourne, and now we have the melancholy news of her death there a few days after her confinement, and from puerperal fever. Mrs Hallam . was as deservedly respected in private life as she was admired on the stage. Mr Hallam will command extensive sympathy in his in'dsfc sad bereavement. He was informed df the news shortly after the close of the Opera last night, but fortunately the shock had been lessened by the receipt per Ofcagb or a sh6rt note from Dr Neild, informing him of Mra Hallam's illness, 'and stating that the worst results were feared. An advertisement appears in another column from the Wellington Education Board calling attention to the fact that the system of school capitation fees now is in operation, and announcing that proceedings will be taken against defaulters to enforce payment of such fees, "Angus," in the Australasian, says that Lurline is going in great form, and that The Ace is likely to be ill grand trim by the time the Cup day arrives, Lapidist is also spoken highly of, but no mention is made of Papapa. At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, the Tollgate v. Mail Coach question was revived, Mr Ollivier, for the former, founding his argument mainly on the regent decision of Mr Justice Richmond in favor of levying tolls on mail coaches conveying passengers. Mr Brandon again appeared for the mail coach. His Worship reserved his decision for a week,. , ' • The first meeting of the local Board for the Lower Hutt district, as convened by his Honor the Superintendent,- took- place at the Masonic Hall on Thursday evening. Present— Messrs A. Ludlam, H. .Jackson, H, Ellerm. J. White, and N. Valentine. Mr Ludlam r Was Voted to the chair. Tbe, meeting ' being only a preliminary one, there was hut little business done. It was agreed to advertise in the Post for tenders for an assessor, and also to form a tationto wait dn his Honor the Sup^in- 1 tendent on Monday next, to ascertain how much the Board would get out of .the £1,200 voted by the Council for the different ;Itoad Boards. > A few other little Matters' of ' but slight importance were alluded to, and the meeting was then ad- '¦ jotirbed until Monday next, at 7 p.m. We are requested to remind our readers of the soiree in the Oddfellows' Hall on Monday evening. The entertainment, consisting of glees, songs, &c, commences at 8 p.m. , and the dancing at 10. The promoters of this soiree are giving it in consequence of many who had bought tickets being unable to attend last Monday, owing to the bad weather. The success* of last Monday's entertainment, in spite of the rain, shows that there need be little fear of failure this time if the night be at all fair. Tickets purchased for the last one are available this time. Telegrams have, it is said, been sent to England authorising the calling of tenders for the £100,000 loan at 6 per cent for the construction of work necessary to supply Auckland with water. The New Zealand Herald announces with regret the death of Haora Tipa Koinaki, the principal chief of the Ngatipaoa tribe, which took place on> the 25th ult. This old veteran of the real Maori type was well known to many of the leading colonists and officials as a loyal man, distinguished also for his bravery, as he was truly honorable in all his dealings. The" deceased chief i| believed to have attained the ripe old age i^r^f'ft -nu\ j : ..' .o"> ;," „;. Rather a, smart and discreditable. trick ,jis" reported ,by the Bendigo Advertiser as having been played oh the keeper of ,a-cof- - fee, stall at Sandhurst, Some'half-dozen •'.young scamps who had. been gambling j'away the* night, in the, early morning went ..to the stall. Having r partaken heartily of and potatoes, each, of the six; m* , sisted upon paying. One of, them suggested "that they should ; have; the last in „wb.ich shoald pay the score, and the.pieman ',w.ak appointed as .starter. * ;' (.Off, off, -and away, was Bignalle'd,.and'the peds proved* remarkably fast, as' they went quickly out of aightr of thffpr6prietof l of the coffee- shop, who entertains an unpleasant surmise as to _who's the loser.