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Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2016, 21 October 1869, Page 2

Cricket. —A match between eleven gentlemen connected with the press of the City, and an eleven connected with the Princess Theatre company, will he played on the Citizens’ Cricket Club’s ground, which has been kindly lent for the occasion, on Saturday next. The sides are very evenly balanced, and some good play is anticipated. The following are the names of the players: Press—Aris, Allan, Buchanan, Cohen, Fraser, Lilly, Little, Muston, Seaward, Woodifield, Whitworth and Hughes (12th man). Stage—

Bartlett, Bell, Cole, Forde, Inglis, Howard, Kose, Smith, Scott, Woolfe, Joyce, and Cripps (12th man). A cclimatisation. — The Council of the Society met in the lower room of the Athenrtum this afternoon. There were present, Messrs Murisou (in the chair), Garrick, and W. A. Young, of Palmerston. The manager reported that the young wild ducks had been hatched out, and -were growing famously. The Canterbury ova were all hatched out in splendid condition, but the Otago portion was coming out slowly. He was afraid that the temperature of the water became colder before it reached the boxes in which the Otago portion of the ova was placed. The Southland ova were hatching out very well. The hon. Secretary reported that the deer at Mr Pick's had dropped eight fawns ; that gentleman had now 16 deer at his place. Mr Young mentioned that the trout that were in his mill-pond at Pleasant Valley were doing remarkably well. He did not think think that the Maoris, who were engaged fishing for whitebait there, at all interfered with the young fish. With reference to the statement that appeared in some of the papers that he had killed 200 hawks, only 47 had been killed by him. The rest were destroyed by other settlers in the vicinity. Mr E. W. Butts, hon. secretary of the Southland Acclimatisation Society, wrote intimating that Mr Howard, their curator, would be in Dunedin on or about the Ist proximo, to take over the Southland portion of the ova. A letter was read from the lion. Mr Gisborne, enclosing correspondence on the subject of the culture of the silk worm, a copy of which will be found elsewhere. The following subscriptions were acknowledged:—Mr W. Black, Oamaru, LI Is ; Messrs A. and J. H. Ro’land, Blackstone Hill, L2 2s; Mr John Douglass, LI Is; Mr W. M. Hodgkins. L2 2s. Proposed Address to Mr Branigan.—This afternoon, at two o’clock, a meeting was held at the Provincial Hotel, for the purpose of adopting an address to Mr St. John Branigan, late Commissioner of Police, expressive of their appreciation of his services to the Province. There were present Messrs George Turnbull, Davie, R. B, Martin,S Kenyon, Buttenvorth, L. 0. Beal, Watt, Rattray, E. ff. Ward, Pantlin, J. T. Watson, Hodgkins, J. H. Harris, W. W. Wilson, Maddock, W. 11. Reynolds, M.P.C., Hepburn, Barton, A. C. Strode, Turton, Douglas, J. Fulton, Tewsley, Chaplin, Wentworth, Thoneraan, Stevenson and Bell. The address will be delivered by his Honor the Superintendent, at a public meeting to be held at the new Post-office Hall to-morrow. Mr George Turnbull was elected chairman, and after the addresses having been read, it was moved by Mr R. B. Martin, and seconded by Mr J. H. Harris—" That the address, as amended, be adopted, and that the signatures of all the inhabitants of the Province who wish to sign it be attached to the illuminated copy, and forwarded to Mr Branigan.” It was carried unanimously.—lt was then moved by Mr J. Davie, and seconded by Mr I. N. Watt—" That a sub-committee, consisting of Messrs Rattray, Turnbull, Hodgkins, Wilson, Martin, Beal, Harris, and Davie, be appointed to procure signatures, and carry out the arrangements in connection with the presentation.” The Glass-Blowers.— Mr and Mrs Woodroffe may fairly congratulate themselves on the success of their entertainment. The Masonic Hall was crowded with spectators last evening. The ingenious mechanism of the glass steam engine, the models of public buildings, and other articles of artistic beauty there exhibited, are, in themselves, objects of no ordinary curiosity and interest; but to another circumstance of a rather unusual character must the immense house of last evening be attributed. It had been announced that a beautiful chain smoking pipe of the value of L 5 would be given to the authorofthe best conundrum on the glass steam engine, and another prize of inferior value would be presented for the worst conundrum; and no doubt curiosity to hear the conundrums propounded, and to see the prizes, prompted many to be present at so interesting a ceremony. There were upwards of fifty competitors for the prizes. Certain it is, the conundrums submitted discovered very little ingenuity in their authors, who most assuredly must have sent in their lucubrations under the impression that if they missed the highest they would certainly stand a remarkably good chance pf obtaining the lowest Jprize. The committee appointed to examine the contributions had undoubtedly a difficult task to perform. Mr Graham, one of the committee stated, preparatory to the prizes being given, that though there had been a difficulty in deciding which was the best amidst so much that was bad, there was no difficulty in deciding which was the worst of the whole series. He would defy any one to select a more abominably bad conundrum than that to which the second prize would be awarded. The first-prize conundrum was “ Why are Woodroffe’s glass engines like Her Majesty the Queen ?” “ Because their actions are good and transparent, and wherever they travel are universally admired.” The second prize conundrum was fas follows :—“ Why is the glass steam engine like a glass of whiskey hot ? “ Because neither of them can get up a tree.” We think the committee decided at all events with great judgment on the merits of the latter. The happy connection between cause and consequence here sought to be established is so immensely _ amusing, that ■ the audience on its being read was convulsed with laughter. The first prize was claimed, and a very handsome prize it was ; but the modest propounder of the second conundrum disappointed the audience, and did not make his appearance. But modest as the author is, we have determined on rescueing from oblivion aiyeffort so brilliant and ingenious. This entertainment is in every way deserving of support. The varied manipulations of Mr and Mrs Woodroffe are clear and instructive, and the distribution of prizes which takes place under the impartial hand of Mr Peachmau every evening, is interesting and amusing in the highest degree. On Saturday next a morning entertainment is announced to be given, to enable parents to take their children to witness the exhibition, and a present will be made to all the children assembled on this occasion. Southland. —The Waihopai election has resulted in the return of two members in the re-union interest —Messrs Wilson and Johnston. The contest was a spirited one, showing a pretty equal division of parties. The leading candidate on the anti-reunion side, however, stood at great disadvantage in being brought on the ground only at the last moment. With a little more time to have made himself known to the electors of the district, he would no doubt have been

Fire. —A very disastrous fire took place at the farm of Mr Thomas Dale, Tokomairiro, on the 19th inst. While engaged threshing, a spark from the engine-funnel alighted upon one of the stacks, which immediately caught fire. It was at once noticed, and a ladder and buckets with water having been kept in readiness, a man was on the top of the stack, with water before it had spread a foot in circumference. A northwest breeze was blowing at the time, and the fire spread so rapidly that it was impossible to subdue it. The consequence was that five stacks of oats, containing about 2,400 bushels, and three stacks of wheat containing abouc 80(1 bushels were totally consumed. No part of the loss was covered by insurance. The mill, which was the property of Messrs Gillies, Dunbar, and Lewis, and was insured to the extent of LIOO, was, along with sundry implements, also totally destroyed. The total loss is estimated at LIOOO, and no blame attaches to any one.—Brace Herald. The Salmon Ponds. —On a visit to the Waiwera last week, we were pleased to hear that the salmon in the pond are in a very healthy and thriving condition, and we trust there is truth in the report current in the neighborhood that the Government have determined to retain the services of Mr Dawbin, for the purpose of enabling him to ascertain the possibility of obtaining ova from salmon who have never paid a visit to the sea. We are aware that a similar experiment made by Dr Buckland, in the home country, failed, not from infecundity in the fish, nor from want of vitality in the ova, but in consequence of the fish being affected by inflamatiou in the vent, but as it is known that the temperature of the water in the Waiwera, is much lower than that in which Dr Buckland’s experiment was tried, there is a possibility of a more favorable result. At any rate it is worthy of a trial, as if successful, we shall he enabled to obtain a supply of ora from our provincial waters, and shall have less reason to regret the wretched result of the recent Mindora importation. A party who visited the Waiwera salmon ponds the other day, informs us that he saw a good many salmon disporting themselves in the water, and seemingly in a very thriving condition, thanks to the unwearied care and attention of their guardian, Mr Dawbin, who seems to have heart and soiil in his work, —Bruce Herald. Curious Accident. —The St. Ba>than’s correspondent of the Mount Ida Chronicle writes " Under the head of accidents I have to chronicle one which might have been attented with serious consequences. Last Tuesday a member of one of the sluicing parties in the basin (by-the-bye the same gentleman who is supposed to have jumped over the Blackstone flume some months ago) went up hill to turn the water in the hose ; while so doing a sudden rush of the treacherous element carried him off his feet, and he being rather a spare man was forced into the gorge of the hose. Talk about a strait waistcoat after that ! His feelings at this juncture I should say were unenviable. His mate, however, seeing the hose performing extraordinary gyrations without any apparent cause, went up, and, finding a sort of protuberance on the canvas, kicked it, whereupon the man inside (under great pressure) objected to this treatment, when out came the mate’s knife, and in a twinkling poor Pilgarlick was released from durance vile, a little frightened maybe, but seemingly none the worse for his close confinement. Of all the population in Otago he is probably the only person we shall hear of as having experienced the effect of an inundation on Saxby’s great day. I may remark that the above has been given to me as a fact, but as it appears to partake somewhat of the marvellous, my recommendation is that it be taken cum gram sails.” The Rising Maori Race.—The following extract from a lecture delivered by the Rev. J. Buller is published in the Parliamentary Papers just to hand : —A section of the Maori youth have developed into reckless desperadoes, under the training they have received from early boyhood in combat with our own troops ; they will now shoot Pakehas with the same zest with which they formerly hunted pigs. They will never yield. Their blood is up. Moulded by savage warfare, they have become, according to St. Peter, "as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. ’ Sharp, precocious children are springing up, who, with their mother’s milk imbibe the spirit of hatred and contempt for the alien race, and may be expected, under the present state of things to acquire a settled enmity towards the whites. These evils are germinative. They will grow with their growth. If we look beneath, the surface, we see the seed of future troubles. To our young men, and most of all to our Christian young men, I would say, "Think on these things.” No temporising, no vindictiveness, no rashness. Let the errors of the past be the beacons for the future. " Quit you like men: be strong.” Prepare yourselves for emergencies, and you will overcome them. Be not lulled into a false security by specious appearances. In town and country every young man should be self-reliant. I am not recommending a war spirit, but that decision which is necessary to peace. If the Maoris believed that every Pakeha was well armed, had strong nerves, and was a dead shot, it would fill them with unbounded respect for him. A public meeting will be held at the new Post Office hall to-morrow, at noon, when his Honor the Superintendent will present to Mr St John Branigan an address on behalf of the Province, expressing appreciation of his services as Commissioner of Police and regret at his leaving it for the North. Mr J. J. Bartlett takes a benefit at the Princess Theatre to-morrow evening, when the comedies of " The Contested Election,” and “The Jealous Wife,” wall be played. The programme is in itself sufficiently attractive to warrant us in predicting that there will be a good house. But Mr Bartlett has some claims for support upon the theatre-going portion of the public, which, we are sure, will not be allowed to pass unregarded. It would be almost superfluous for us to refer at length to Mr Bartlett’s abilities, which are generally acknowledged : but we take this opportunity

of remarking that lie is about the best light comedian that has ever been here. The pieces that have been chosen for production on Friday evening are admirably suited to his style of acting—in fact, he hardly plays better in any others that we know of. This Evening the projected moonlight trip of the Harbor Company’s steamer Golden Age will take place, and the beautiful weather is likely to render it most enjoyable. Every arrangement has been made to render it agreeable. The company will be kept carefully select; and as Fleury’s band has been engaged, a musical treat will be added to the splendid scenic effects of the harbor and shipping by moonlight. It is not often that opportunity offers to spend a few hours so cheaply and so pleasantly. The steamer will leave the jetty at 7.30.