The Evening Star. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1891.

Evening Star, Issue 8506, 4 May 1891, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1891.

The Railway Commissioners have despatched Locomotive Superintendent Rotherham to Sydney to report on the trial to be made there of the Westinghouse and automatic vacuum brakes. The * Clutht Leader' chronicles the death of Mr John Dunn, of Romabapa, who was one of the pioneers of the Glutha diatriot. He arrived in Otago thirty-four years at[o, and immediately took up a farm at Romahapa. Though taking no active interest in publjo matters he took the liveliest interest in politics, and was an ardent Provincialist. The country districts around Oamaru declaied against the Prohibitionists, but only by small majorities. At Enfield there was a curious coincidence. Twelve persons voted for the Moderate "ticket," and an equal number voted for four out of the five Prohibitionists. At Weston, which was regarded as a Prohibitionist stronghold, the Moderates had a majority ranging from 13 to 11, obtained by a number of persons going from Oamaru to vote. Over the entire district their candidates had a majority of 14. Rev. T. Spurgeon closed his evangelistic services at Hanover street Baptist Church yesterday. At the evening service the building was crowded in every part—there was no more standing or sitting room available—and several who came late were content to stay in the room behind the pulpit. Probably the building had never been so crowded before. The preacher mentioned that he had received written applications for prayer from between sixty and seventy people.

Respecting the ill • fated mission to Manipur, the 'Bombay Gazette,' of 21st March, says:—"Mr Quinton, Chief Commissioner of Assam, proceeds to Manipur shortly to inquire into and settle matters connected with the Maharajah's abdication last September. It will be remembered that the Senapati, or Commander-in-Chief, attacked the palace that month, and the Maharajah fled. He afterwards signed a paper saying he"would not fight the rebels, but would go on a pilgrimage to Brindabun. He is now living in Calcutta, and claims to be reinstated, averring that the story of the pilgrimage was only a ruse to enable him to escape from the State."

From Brixham comes a Btory of the sea, affording another illustration of the singleminded devotion and courage proverbially characteristic of the " Men of Devon." Two trawlers collided off Start Point and foundered, and the crew of one were swept away while in the act of lowering the boat. When all were struggling in the water, tTarriß, the skipper, was heard to exclaim: " Whatever will my poor wife and children do if I am drowned?" Whereupon John Mugford, the third hand, who had secured the lifebuoy, took it off his own body and pushed it towards Harris, saying: " Here, akipper, use this. I have no one but myself, and if I am lost nobody will suffer." The skipper, putting his arm round the buoy, called to Mugford to do the same, adding: "It will keep us both up; anyhow, let us both share the same fate." Happily, both men were rescued by a passing trawler. The movement in favor of the creation of "working homes for unemployed" (writes the Paris correspondent of the * Sydney Morning Herald') is going forward. One of these institutions, due to the initiative of M. Sculfort, a commercial traveller, has just been inaugurated near the Pantheon, in presence of some former Ministers and others warmly interested in the attempt. It contains dormitories, workshops, and kitchens; and the inhabitants, in addition to being lodged, clothed, and fed, will receive pay for the work they do under the direction of the manager. It is hoped that similar asylums will be founded in other quarters of the city. The first of the agricultural colonies whioh M. Georges Berry has persuaded the Municipal Council of Paris on founding for the employment of families on the point of falling into professional heggary is about to be opened at La Chalmella, in the Marne, where that gentleman, with his aid and the assistance of the architects of the Counoil, will receive and instal the first batch of oolonists.

Rarely indeed (says the ' Daily News' of the 21st March) has even a fickle and faithless defendant in a breach of promise case rewjved such a oastigation as that which has fallen tfi the lot of the defendant in the suit of Robertson v. Whiteley at the hands of Mr Justice Smith at the Yorkshire Winter Assizes. Having referred in good set terms to this gentleman's unfair behaviour and "peculiar insolence" towards the lady he ! had once delighted to honor in sentimental I verse, His Lordship went on to sum up the evidence in the following bluntly outspoken fashion:—"The law (he said) allowed the plaintiff to interrogate the defendant, and he sVore on oath «I aayl never at any time prow?sed marriage to the plaintiff, lhat was a lis. The defendant also said «I say I have never on any occasion introduced the plaintiff to any persons as my intended wife, or as the person to wtam I was engaged to be married.' That was £ Jje. Defendant further stated «I say I have net pn any occasion heard the plaintiff introduced to any person as my intended wife, or as the person to whom I was engaged to be married. That was a lie." In conclusion, the judge declared that "if he Jjad the defendant inside the dock instead of outside, he should as certainly as he should conviot Mm have given him six months' hard labor." Another yonng New Zealander who went to iiu *°P* *° oom pl e * e h ' s mus ' oa i education is irivW a g° o< * ac count oi Mmself. Mr Alfred Bill, pf Wellington, took part in a concert at Leipzig by the pupils of the Conservatoire, and wrote for it a sonata for violin and piano. Of sis composition the 'Zeitung' of February £i said that it. was distinguished by much originality, as well as by thoroagh clearness of constriction and perfect form." The critic adds that the pupil composers have shown a remarkable ability to work out their "ideas." The same journal, in its issue a week later, mentions very favorably Mr Hill's playing of Spohr's famous Eleventh Concerto for violin with orchestra. It says:—" He has at his command a well-developed technique and a find round and full' singing' tone, such as is required for the due interpretation of a Spohr composition, while his execution is in good taste. His performance has created a good impression, and proved that he has been a diligent student under excellent direction, and has made honest use of his time. ... He made it evident that he is a really capable violinist." Another Leipzig paper, mentioning Mr Hill's sonata, praises its originality of conception and completeness in form, adding that "the: short fugato in the finale showed the composer to be specially skilled in counterpoint." On each occasion Mr Hill was loudly ap plauded, and recalled four times. Received: Stone's • ABO Guide 'for May. W.O.T.U. annual tea meeting on Tuesday. , Pastor Thomas Spurgeon will lecture on 'Conquest of the Congo' in Hanover street Ohuroh to-morrow evening at 7.80. Madam 6 Cora opens her season at the Princess's to-night, and will doubtless be welcomed by a large audience. Of late yeais a school of hypnotists has come into existence, and has, made itself famous by its treatment of patients whilst ia a cataleptic state. At the same time there have always been a few individuals m the world who have proved their possession of the power to mesmerise by exhibiting the same to the public for its amusement and entertainment. Of such is Madame Cora, who essays to demonstrate the possibilities of her art in this new fi»l4.

Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Oo 'a name was accidentally omitted as having sold the Ben ohau Station on Thursday. Annual meeting of Licensing Committees of Musselburgh and St. Ki d\ P.»rk districts in Council Clmmbera, St. Kilda, at noon on June 8.

Mr J. D. Perrett is exhibiting in the Dresden Company's shop window five oi' paintings which he is about to tak i to Melbourne, some of them having been executed to order. The centrepiece In the window, and the largest, is a view of Milford Sound, showing the Lion Rock, Mitre Peak, and the summit of Mount Pembroke. It 1b a noble scene that Mr Perrett depiots, and he has treated it in a moat effeotive manner, conveying a Rood idea of height and distance, and making the boldness of the scenery more apparent by giving a comparison with the Tarawera and her boats. The coloring of the picture is deserving of high praise, and a prominent feature in the work is the treatment of the water. The picture of the lake above George Sound is a striking and well-oontrasted work, and here again we mußt direct attention specially to the sucoess Mr Perrett has achieved in respect to the water, the ruah at the outlet being most graphically depicted. This picture is of peculiar value, in that it deals with a scene not often selected by touring artists The view of Hall Arm, Smith Sound, is one in which the artist has been happy in all respects —the bush, the background of mountains, the calm water, and the figure in a boat all showing skilled drawing and harmonious treatment in regard to coloring and all matters of detail. The soene of the Head of Lake Wakatipu, a well-known vlaw, is a quiet, sober-colored pioture, faithful to Nature and altogether a charming piece of work, Mr Perrett also shows "Happy Hours,' a glimpse of ragged bush in whioh two children are playing. This picture was on view at the Otago Art Society's Exhibition, and was then favorably noticed by the critics. The collection is a valuable one, proving Mr Perrett's olaim to a promiuent position iu the art world, and our only regrot is that these piotures are goir g away from the colony. There is, however, thia compensating advantage: that they will enhance the artist's reputation in a wider sphere than he has here, and perchance help to further advertiso New Zealand and her painters.