Evening Post. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1877.

Evening Post, Volume XV, Issue 211, 8 September 1877, Page 2

Evening Post. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1877.

"Down-right earnest bitterness;" "concentrated essence of malignity ;" "cold-blooded cruelty." These are a few of tho descriptions applied by hon. members to Mr. Ormond's attack on Sir George Grey, and even they fall short of expressing the rancorous hatred evinced in his words. The more one looks at his speech, the more one is astonished that any man, and of all men a Minister of the Crown, should — not in a moment of passion, but in cold blood, weeks after the provocation was given — make such a violent, and utterly ungeutleinanly attack upon political opponents, j Those who have sat in the New Zealand Par- j liament since its first session declare that ! nothing to be compared to Mr. Ormond's speech has ever been perpetrated before ; and that no such intense excitement has over before swayed the house, almost as one man. The most staunch supporters of the Government have been loudest in their condemnation, actually going the length of declaring that Mr. Ormond has acted a part which deserves expulsion, not only from the House, but from the society of all laying claim to the name of gentlemen. Mr. Ormond has imperilled his own seat on the Treasury benches, and that he has also imperilled the very existence of the Ministry must be patent to everyone who even casually watched the debates of the last two nights. Ministers have more than once shown themselves to be exceedingly sensitive to newspaper comments, and quick to resent and punish strong language as applied to their proceedings. Surely, after this display by Mr. Ormoud, Ministers will not have the hypocrisy to cry out against strong language when one of themselves in that respect has " out-Heroded Herod." A few more speeches like that of Mr. Ormond from Ministers of the Crown, aud the prestige of our New Zealand Parliament will be for ever gone.

The Maoris are going to be employed in a most useful and interesting experiment. The Sandwich Islanders are dying out, so the Hawaiian Government have sent an agent to Auckland to obtain a number of stalwart healthy Maoris to proceed to the Sandwich islands, and there be duly given in marriage to the copper-tinted belles of Honololu, the idea being, that this amalgamation of the races will produce the happiest results, and raise up a new generation of sturdy islanders in that sunny clime, far superior to the present dying-out lot. We do not know whether a cargo or so of Maori girls will also be sent to wed with the male Sandwich Islanders, but that probably will likewise be a part of the experiment. What sort of " omniverous biped " a cross between a Sandwich Islander and a Maori would be it is hard to say. Perhaps we may live long enough to find out.

Affairs political are seething. It is understood that there is discontent in the ranks of the Government followers ; that hot disputes aud angry discussions have taken place within the sacred precincts of the Cabinet Council Chamber; that his colleagues have reproached Mr. Ormond as having been guilty of action which may lead to their downfall as a Ministry, and that Mr. Ormond has recriminated hotly to the charge. Things are looking very unpleasant for Ministers justj ust now. That Hawkes' Bay land transaction scandal may yet possibly have serious — even fatal results to them.

In our telegraphic columns will be found a long and interesting summary of new? relative to the War ia the East, telegraphed specially by our own correspondent on the arrival of the San Francisco mail at Auckland. The telegram includes an extract from a despatch by the War Correspondent of the London Times, which gives a most thrilling and terrible picture of the horrors now being enacted on the hapless Bulgarians by both the contending parties in this sanguinary struggle, the Russians being guilty of atrocities quite as disgraceful to humanity as those perpetrated by the " unspeakable Turk."

Our usual Saturday night's supplement, published with the present issue of the Evening Post, contains : "The Russian army in Turkey ;" " What the World Says ;" " Youthful Fiends;" "The Priest in Absolution;" •' Miscellany ;" " Three Grooms Claiming the Same Bride ;" " Explosiou at the Greymouth Coal Company's Pit;" "Nil Desperaudum ;" "A Bulgarian Spy;" "Untrue to Nature;" Advertisements, &c. The inward San Francisco mail arrived at Auckland last evening by the s.s. City of New York, two days in advance of the due date. The southern portion of the mail was transhipped into the s.s. Wanaka, which sailed for the South at 9 o'clock this morning, and is expected to arrive in this port on Monday afternoon. We understand that Mr. Henry Russell objected to his private letters being laid on the table because he did not himself know their contents. 1 1 was ten years since they were penned, and it is said they are fifteen in number, though only two are relevant to the subject under debate. Provided that Sir John Richardson selects these latter from the correspondence, Mr. Russell does uot object to their being published. The Working Men's Club in Te Aro still continues to increase in membership, and now occupies a very prominent position a<* one of the most useful public institutions in the city. A bagatelle table is now provided for the use of members, and contributes greatly to the quiet enjoyment of many of the habitues. In other respects the club is gradually getting well provided with means of rational amusement. Mr. A. S. Allan, Registrar of the Supreme Court in the City of Wellington, ha 9 been today appointed Commissioner in Lunacy. In the course of a very powerful and slashing speech, Mr. Wakefield last night dubbed the hon. member for Napier (Captain Russell) with a patronymic, which will stick to him as long as he sits in the House. Referring to the fact that Captain Russell's voice was never heard, save when the Opposition attacked and exposed the Hawke's Bay land transactions, he said the action of the lion, and gallant member put him irresistibly in mind oi a certain class of shooting galleries, You might

bang, and ban?, and bang again, but unless you struck the little black mark in the centre, there was no result. But when you did hit the bull's-eye, a little wooden soldier jumped out, and presented his mimicgun at you. So» when the bull's-eye "pf the Hawke's Bajr land transactions was hit) the hon. member for Napier immediately jumped tip, and presented hH mimic gun. When Mr. Wakefield went on to speak of Captain Russell as " the hon. and gallant little wooden soldier," the hit did not tend to allay the laughter of the House. Another good joke was made by the hop. member tor Qeraldine; "In politics as in business," quoth he, " the same rule holds good, and how can the Ministry injure tbeir lives without a polWy?" He knocked Mr. Orraotid about in a most astonishing manner, describing him is " a cold-tftoodea animal," and, without a single unparliamentary word, implied in the most clear manner that he, Mr. Ormond, was of all men in the colony the most accomplished in putting forward the reverse of what was the actual state of facts. Mr. Wakefield put it even more strongly than this,his meaning being conveyed chiefly by the emphasis, gesture, ana manner used in delivery. Mr. Ormond fairly writhed under the lash. Referring to the ambiguous manner in which the Hon. the Attorney-General can say anything, he said it was almost hopeless to divine his meaning. He meant something, but everyone of the eighty -six meml>ers in the House had a different interpretation to put upon his words. A very strong tale concluded Mr. Wakefield's speech. One man complained to another that he had been called a thief by a third party. " Never mind that," said his friend. "Ah, but it's true," replied the aggrieved man. Air. Ormond was in the position of the thief in the story, and that was why he was so stung by the charges relative to the Hawkes Bay land transactions. A wretched horse — suffering dreadfully, and covered with hideous sores — has been wandering about the Adelaide Road durimg the last day or two, apparently ownerless. It would be a work of mercy and humanity to destroy the miserable animal, and we hope this will be done speedily, as, apart from the cruelty of allowing the poor beast to linger in such suffering, it presents a horrid and repulsive spectacle to all passers-by. The only case on the criminal list this morning was one in which a sailor named Patrick Donelly was charged with having been absent from the barque Elsinore for a couple of days without leave. The defendant, it appeared, had only been on the spree, and as the captain agreed to take him back to the vessel he was discharged to go On board. A local evening contemporary has got into trouble again through indulging in its strong natural taste for libel. The alleged libel appeared in its issue of last Saturday, and cast certain asperiipns, by way of innuendo, on a gentleman connected with a dramatic enterprise in this city. As the result of this, Mr. C. W. Hillsden, who considers himself the subject of those aspersions, has instructed his solicitor, Mr. Gordon Allan, to commence an action for libel against the proprietors of the local print in question, claiming £500 damages. 1 1 is anticipated that the meeting of St. Paul's pnrishioners, called for Monday evening, will be a very stormy one. as a certain section of the congregation will offer strong opposition to the proposal that all scats shall be thrown open to the public in the morning, as in the evening, when the bell ceases, while this movement is promoted witli extreme earnestness by another large section of the parishioners. Heavy S. W. gales continue to-day in several parts of the colony, including Dunedin, Port Chalmers, Taranaki, and elsewhere, but the barometer has riseu considerably, and there appears every probability that Wellington may escape her share of the late atmospheric disturbance. The Theatre Rojal was very well patronised last evening, on the occasion of Onzalo's benefit, and the performance passed off most satisfactorily, Onzalo coming in as usual for his full share of applause from the audience, at his daring evolutions on the trapeze. The wellknown American drama of "The Octoroon" will be produced again this evening for the last time this season. The meeting of licensed victuallers, called for 2.30 yesterday afternoon, lapsed, as we stated, last evening, but subsequently a few met together and formed a committee to make the necessary arrangements for giving a banquet on Monday to the southern delegates, now in Wellington, relative to the Local Option Bill. Mr. George Fisher will meet the ratepayers of Thorndon Ward at the Princess Hotel, Molesworth-street, this evening, at 8 o'clock. The quarterly general meeting of the Wellington Typographical Society will lie held in the left side-room of the Odd Fellows' Hall this evening, at 7.30. For some days past the House has — well, the olfactory organs of our M.H.R.'s have been offended. It has been bad enough down below ; in the galleries it has beeu ten times worse. So offensive did the atmosphere become on Thursday evening that several members were unable to stay in the House, and as matters were not improved yesterday afternoon, the House was obliged to adjourn at ¦ half-past four o'clock. Carbolic acid and dis- ' infectants were freely used, and the sitting in the evening was resumed. Captain Lloyd, the genial and popular exskipper of the steamers Taranaki and Wellington, has turned railway station-master, having received that appointment at the Chartsey station on the Canterbury railv/ays. There was a very good attendance at St. George's Hall last "evening, when the variety company succeeded in producing a capital entertainment. We notice that Messrs. Blake and Martin have opened a splendid bowling alley on Lambton Quay, which is fitted up in a most comfortable and elegant style. The alley is situated at the rear of the refreshment saloon opened by the firm in the premises formerly occupied by Charles Grey, confectioner, and being under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Frank Ledbury, a well-known caterer for such amusements, will no doubt be largely patronised. A number of rooms have likewise been fitted up in the establishment, where visitors to the city will find every comfort, nothing having been spared by the proprietors to render the place a credit to the city. The third annual meeting of the Rising Star Cricket Club will be held on Tuesday evening next. We learn from the Christchurch correspondent of the Dunedin Guardian, that Hoojier is going on with his action against tho iS cw Zealand Sun, and that the case will come on for trial. Recently, it seems, the lessees of the theatre threatened the Sun with an action, but, after frightening the proprietary, they allowed the matter to drop. The statements made concerning Hooper were remarkably strong. The monthly meeting of the Wellington Teachers' Association took place this morning, at 11 o'clock. A groat doal of routine business was got through, and a resolution was framed adopting the "Teacher," published in Melbourne, as the organ of the Association. Another resolution, disapproving of the religious clause in the new Education Bill ; and a third, appointing a deputation to wait upon the Board m reference to pupil teachers, were also passed. It is so rarely that first-class business sites, situated in the very heart of the city, are brought into the market, that we direct special attention to Mr. W. Finniraore's approaching sale of those valuable sections, situated in Manners-street, and known as " the Gibson Estate," which is to take place on the 2<jth September in the Odd Fellows' Hall. The sections are situated on the soutli side of Manners-street, and extend from the Wesleyau Church towards Willis-street. Nearly all of them are already built upon to a small extent, but the buildings do not cover an eighth of the area of the sections, being for the most part small premises of ancient date. As the sections have frontages and depths of 51ft by ' f»ft, G2ft by 123 ft, 35ft by 147 ft, 65ft by 106 ft, and other frontages and depths ot about the same dimensions, it will readily be understood that there is abundance of building space for the erection of large and handsome building premises thereon, to replace the present buildings. The sections will be sold subject to deeds of lease now with only short periods to run. We presume that the leaseholders will make strong efforts to purchase the freehold of the land on which their premises are situated. There is, however, certain to be very keen competition for the lots. With the proposed Te Aro reclamation, the rapid extension of the city in the Te Aro quarter, the formation of the tramway, and the erection of factories and other establishments, it is practically certain that Manners-street will, ere long, become one of the most important and central business thoroughfares in Wellington, possessing Theatre, Banks, an Arcade, and a

goodly row of huge warehouses and handsome shops. The present sale is therefore one worthy the attention of the capitalist, the investor and the man of business.