OUR POPULATION.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 93, 18 October 1881, Page 2

OUR POPULATION.

In our laßt iseue we quoted some official statistics showing that the immigration for the last quarter had exceeded the emigration by five persons. Fuller information is now available, and we are able to add some interesting particulars to tho3e we gave yesterday. It appears from the complete returns that the arrivals in New Zealand from "foreign" ports— i.e., from any place outeide New Zealand — may be classed as follows : — In July, 142 arrived from the United Kingdom, 298 (including 77 Chinese) from the Australian colonies, and 24 from other places. In August, 33-1 (including 10 Government immigrants) arrived from Great Britain, 267 from Australian colonies, and 51 from elsewhere. In September, 323 arrived from Great Britain, 286 from Australian colonies, and 85 from elsewhere. This givea an aggregate immigration of 1810 during the quarter. Takingthe departures, we find that 10 persons left for tho United Kingdom 523 (including 11 Chinese) for Australian colonies and 69forotherplace3. In August, 49 left for Great Britain, 371 (including 16 Chinese) for Australia, and 73 (including 43 Chinese) for other place 3. In September, 24 left for Great Britain, 4.3 (including 32 Chinese) for Australian Colonies, and 33 for other places. The total departures during the quarter were therefore ISOS persons. Only 10 Government immigrants — the balance of some nominations— are recorded as arriving within that period. In the case of the Chinese, the departures exceeded the arrivals by 25, only 77 arriving in the colony, as against 102 who left. Deducting, therefore, the Chinese, we find that the arrivals in New Zealand during the quarter exceeded the departures by 30 peraons.

The San Francisco mail will reach here by the Penguin about 11 to-night. The mails will be sorted at once, so that they will be ready for delivery the first thing in the morning. E. J. Tanner, builder, &c, of Wellington, convened a meeting of his creditors at neon to-day, at the Supreme Court House. His liabilities are filed at .£923 4s 7d, and assets at .£1822. The former include sums due to Mr. F. M Ollivier (£Bl2 ss- secured), Mr. F. Hill (.£53), trustees of Port's estate (^Bl5 2s), and smaller amounts. The assets are comprised of the following items :— Town acre, No. 955, valued at .£1500; house and land, Taaman street, £300; furniture, .£t7 ; tools, £5. The meeting lapsed. Our sporting readers are reminded that the nominations for the Railway Stakes Handicap, Hurdle Handicap, and HuttPark .Spring Handicap, in connection with the Wellington Racing Cmb's meeting on St. Andrew's Day, close to-morrow. A meeting of the Philosophical Society will be held at the Colonial Museum on Saturday evening, when there will be an additional attraction in the shape of an exhibition of a fine collection of mythological objficts, mats, weapons, &c, from New Guinea and some of the less-known Pacifte Island, obtained dnring the crnisa of H.M.SJP Beagle. The City Purveyor has been instructed to prepare estimates of cost in connection with the various uncovered drains within the city ; also to include the Harbour Board grant at the rear of the Queen's Bond iv his plans and estimates of the proposed To Aro reclamation, with a view to a mutual arrangement being arrived at The PubliflfcWorks Committee have recommended that the City Solicitor be instructed to take the necessary steps for having the verdict in the late trial of Climie v. the Corporation sot aside. The only case brought before the Bankruptcy Court to-day was an application by Charles Estall for an order of discharge. The affidavit was not in proper form, and the hearing of the case was postponed till Tuesday next. Our attention has been drawn to the fact that the chains along Waterloo Quay are at prpsent worse than useless on account of their insecure condition. -^jhgg i jj^jj,ceF7 the chains are either broken or tQyjptked, and it is stated that they are never hooked at night as they ought to be. The Harbour Board, having gono to the expense of putting them up, should certainly ensure their being made to fulfil the purpose for which they were provided. A social gathering of a very pleasant character was held last evening at the Athenseuin, in celebration of the Jewish feast. Simchas Torah — the "Rejoicing of the Law." Every Hebrew family in Wellington had received an invitation to be present, and tho result was that the large hall of the Athenaeum, which had been nicely decorated for the occasion, was well filled. A long programme of well-selected dances was entered upon, the dancing being continued for several hours. No. 4 room was set apart a3 a suppor-room. Altogether, the affair passed off with the utmost success, and all present appeared to greatly enjoy themselves. A treat will be given to the juv riles to-morrow evening, in celebration of the same event. A meeting of the members of the Welling, ton .rthenjeum is convened for this evening, to consider tho desirableness of borrowing a sum of money on mortgage for tho purpose of paying off sundry liabilities. General Burnside, whose death was reported in yesterday's telegrams, took a prominent pirt in the Am rican Civil War. In 1861 h» was appointed colonel of the Ist Kegiment of Rhode Island Volunteers, and took part in the battle of Bull Run, after which he was made a Brigadier-General. He fought during the Confederate invasion of Maryland in 1862, and on 7th November, much aga nst his wish, superseded M'Clellau in command of the army of the Potomac. On 13th December he was defeated by General Lee at Fredericksbnrg. When General Grant was placed in command of all the Federal armies, Burnside commanded a division, but in June 1564, having planned an unsuccessful attempt to blow up Petersburgh, he sent in his resignation. This the President refused to accept, but gave him leave of absence, and he was not again called into active service. He finally reined his commission in April, 1865. In 1866 he was chosen Governor of the State ot Rhode Island. In 1875 he was elected to the Senate his term expiring in 1831. Mr. Ranson is the successful tenderer for the erection of two large stores in Cubastreet for Mr. T. Whitehouse, grocer. The buildings will be of brick, and judging from the handsome designs which have benn prepared by Air. Thomas Turncu 1, architect, they will effect a great improvement in that street. There wili be two frontage3— the main one in Cuba-street and the other wiil face Dixon-street. The elevation is 37 feet, and the principal front will be, with tho exception of the doors and framework, entirely of plate-glass to the floor of the upper story. One of the shops will be 50ft. x 25ft , and the other 32ft x 25f fc. The price of the contract has not yet transpired. The Pioneer Lodge, 1.0.G T., held a very successful open meeting las>t evening at the Good Tempi ir Hall. The regular session was open at 7 o'clock, and four candidates wero admitted to full membership. At 8 o'clock the doors were thrown open to the public, and the room was soon filled to excess. Bro. M. Read, D D., occupied the chair, and the programme, which consisted of songs, readings, recitation.*, and a piano solo, was rendered in a pleasing and creditable manner. Addresses were given by bro?. F. H. Eraser, B. C. Robins, and the Chairman, in which reference was made to the a Ivaucement of tho temperance reform aud the good accomplished by the 1.0.'t.T. Earnest appeals were made to those present to nnite themselves with the order. After the meeting was closed several responded to the invitation by giving in their names. Mr. R. E. Bannister writes to us as follows •. — '' In your issue of Friday, under the heading of ' The Old Hospital,' is & letter signed ' Visitor.' With reference to thi3, l may say that I concur with hte viewß upon the matter, and I would add that I have Bpoken to many of the residents in the neighbourhood and others, and that they all concur in my idea, that the whole thing, building and contents, should have been burnt. Had we, in our '|Empire ' ity,' possessed what they have in Christchurcb, a i local Boird of Health, this old Hospital may have been so dispose 1 of. That our City Fathers have been remiss in the matter of the disposal of the old Hospital oannot be denied. r Jhe sale was advertised by the owners long enough for them to have talcan action in the matter, but they did not do so." Onr correspondent then proceeds to discns3 at some length the action of the City Conned in the iSchuitze case. The subject is hardly rolevant to the first part of his letter, and it is doubtful whether much good is Hkely to be achieved by arguing the case over again now that it is settled and the money paid. We have, therefore, excised his remarks on this subject. A private telegram from Gisborne to the Hawkea Bay Herald states, " the Southern Cross bore is down 100 ft., and has gene through a splendid bed of paraffin miotr&l."

Mr Oliver wa3 sworn in to-day before his Excellency Sir James Prendergabt as a member of the Executive Council. Hl3 appointment to the Legislative Council will be delayed until the dissolution of Parliament, in order to avoid the necessity of a doable election. A blight new to Now Zealand — Icerza Purchasi — has recently been committing great havoc among- the watt'ea in several parts of the colony, and complaints come from Chriatchurch, where wattle-growing is becoming an industry, that unless something is done to get rid of tlie peat, serious injury will be done to the plantations. In a letter to Dr. Hector on the subject, Mr. Maskell, the Eegi3trar of the University, and an entomologist of considerable note, resident in Christchurch, says :—": — " You might usefully give a general warning t« the public about it (the peat) aa the insect seams to be rapidly spreading over the country. It appears to confine itself entirely (so far) to the acacia and wattle trees, bnt once they attack them they seem to have little chance of surviving. Mr. Cornatock, United States Entomologist at Washington, tells me that in California it i 3 playiLg the mischief not only on acacias but on limes and other trees, and they imagine there that it was introduced from Australia. I have reasons for believing that it came here from Australia, though its nearest described ally is in Mauritius." Mr. Maskell suggests the propriety of destroying all the treeß which have been attacked with the blight. The members of the Wellington Literary Association are reminded that a meeting will be held this evening at 8 o'clock. An effort is being made to reorganise the society, and a good attendance is specially requested. During his address at a tea meeting at Wanganui on Friday night, the tfev. W. J. Williams stated that he had that morning passed through the youngest town in the colony— Manaia. Dnring his visit he had been told that Titokowaru had said that before many days had passed Manaia would be swept away, and the pakeha inhabitants would disappear. The Wanganui Chronicle is informed that the threat made use of by this blood-thirsty old savage was even more violent than Mr. Williams cared to tell his auditors. Titokowaru is reported to have said " that Manaia would be burned down, and that the pakeha men, women, and children would have their throats cut." Whether Titokowaru was in liquor or not is not known, but there is no doubt the words were made use of. We understand that should the Defence Office grant the nece-sary ammunition, the Naval Brigade intend to have a skirmish to-morrow night. The Petoni men will come in to take part in the affair. It is probable the company will mus:er from 150 to 200 men, as anything boyond the ordinary drill in the shed is greatly appreciated by the men. A correspondent, signing himself " Nunquam Dormio, writes:— ".As property is now to be obtained at a reasonable price, would it not be well, without further delay, to secure the right-of-way required for the extension of Allen-street, as laid down on the city plans f The completion of this street to the Te Aro reclaimed land taken in conj unction with the extension of Tory-street (already began) would vastly improve this over-crowded part of the city. If the present chance of securing the property in Grain? erstreet be allowed to pass, a largely increased price will have to be paid for it hereafter." At St John's Chu-ch, Willis-street, last evening, a meeting of teachers and friends of the Sunday School Union took place, in iurther celebration of "Sunday School Week." There was a numerous attendance, and the Rev. J. Paterson occupied the chair. Interesting addresses were delive ed by the Rev. J. T. Hinton and others, and the choir sang a pleas-ing selection of hjmns in a highly creditable manner. On Thursday next a Teachers' Conference will be held at the same church, when several important subjects are to be discussed. M«mi-3. Croskery, Hasell & Co. will soil tomorrow, fruit, produce, &c, Measra Laery & Campbell will hold their usual market sale to-morrow. Mes3ra. J. H. Bethuue & Co. will sell tomorrow, town properties, &c.

Lawn Tennis is now such a favorite pastime and mode of recreation that attire suitable for it becomes a necessity. James Smith, Te Aro House, has just received per mail steamer, a select assortment of Lawn Tennis Hats, in cream, palo blue, Royal blue, scarlet, cardinal pink, brown, and mottled. For garden parties, gamos of croquet, and lawn tennis, nothing is so becoming and charming as the Japanese Sunshades, just imported. These are in universal use in the Old Country, and being exceedingly pretty, novel and inexpensive, should, as the quantity is but limited, meet with a ready sale. For Lawn Tennis Dresseg nothing can surpass a beautiful make of diagonal twilled cream serge. For perfection of finish and durability this material is unrivalled, and can be obtained at James Smith's, Te Aro House. — FAdvt.l