GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 779, 15 October 1873, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

There was a very good attendance of compositors and pressmen at Wain's Hotel on Saturday evening, in connection with the newly formed Utago Typographical Aroocii' tion. The rules submitted by the committee were unanimously adopted, and ordered to be printed. The following were elected the board of management for the ensuing six months : - President, Mr David Stark ; VicePresident, Mr J. O'Connor; Treasurer, Mr A. Kisk ; Secretary, Mr W. A. W. Wathen ; Trustees, Messrs J. Pearci, A. Galloway, and H. Pearson, and seven members of the Association. Messrs Aris and Cuttle were elected Auditors. The Association is to be registered under the " Friendly Societies Act." Foitythree members were enrolled, and a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting.

The following appears in the Mount Ida Chronicle, .—Keeping things sweet seems rather a difficult matter for Superintendents as well as other men. Some Government papers show this in a strong light. Our readers are all aware of the Commission of Inquiry, conducted by Messrs Maitland and Shepherd, into the nfty-acre block sale at Switzers. This inquiry costs the country, it appears, L 142 16s 6d—at least, that is the sum the Superintendent claimed from the General Government. The Colonial Secretary, however, replied: " The cost of the commission, amounting to L 142 16s 6d, will, on my being furnished with detailed accounts and vouchers, be paid; but 1 would point out to your Honor that if any part of the amount consists of pay or honorarium to Mr T. L. Shepherd, there is great probability that his seat in the House of hepresentativea will be jeopardised." Whereupon bis Honor replies "thatthe Provincial Government only claims to be re-couped in the sum of L 75 5s 6d—being the amount payable to Mr J. P. Maitland, on account of bis personal and travelling expenses." Clearly, then, the L 66 Us balance was to hate been

paid by the General < overnmeut to Mr Shepherd, and no doubt hat been paid by the Province. A very bad principle underlies this keeping things sweet—a direct inducement to a representative a make a hubbub about nothing, to get a Commission of Inquiry appointed, on which, perhaps, he or a friend may be put We do not accuse Mr Shepherd of any such action, but it does not look well

According to the Southland Timet considerable dissatisfaction is expressed at the precipitancy displayed in electing a permanent Boarl of Directors for the National Insurance Company before the allotment of shares had taken place.

The Grand Jury's labors this session wen light, and only required about an hour's attention. They returned true bills in five out of the six indictments sent before them, lu the case of Kin*, charged with manslaughter at Port Chalmers, they found no true bill, and the accused was consequently discharged. They have some"" cock-shootists ■in Sydney. At one of the private practices there lately Mr J. Bashelle and Mr S. Lynch each scored 54 out of a possible 60, the former scoring ten bull's eyes in succession at 800 and 900 yards. On the following Saturday Mr J. J. Sla »e scored 57 out of a possible 60, made op with twelve bull's eyn and three centres.

We are glad to learn that Mr Henry Cla-v cott has been appointed travelling subcommissioner under the Colonial Life Assurance scheme. Sir George Bowen, whose despatches are a marvel of industry, sent Lorf Kimherley last year a file of Hansard, and invited him to read it. His Lordship treated this cool request with a certain degree of contempt, inasmuch as he never even answered the despatch. Notice is given in the last Government Gazette that three or more of the Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand will sit at the Supreme Court House, Wellington, on Monday, the 17th day of November next, to hear and determine petitions for the dissolution or for a sentence of nullity °f marriage, under section 60 of the Divorce and Matrimonial Canses Act, 1867, and also for the dispatch of all other business accruing under the said Act.

A shocking accident, the result of the common habit among larrikins of stonethrowing, occurred at Auckland the other day. A boy named Murray was looking at the scene of the great fire, when another boy named South threw a piece of lead and knocked out one of Murray's eyes. Murray fainted, and had to be carried home, and his poor mother swooned when she saw what had befallen him. The eve extruded on to the cheek, and was replaced as well as it could be, but the sight will never return.

On Saturday, the 27th nit, a man named Archibald Clark, a shepherd in the employ of Mr D. F. Main, Taieri Lake Station, was drowued in an attempt to cross the river there. He was in company with John Black, who had in charge two horses, with which he crossed safely. Clark, being on a young mare, would not make th» attempt, but desired Black to send the boat across for him. He did so, and in trying to haul the boat across the river, the rope broke, and Clark going overboard, was seen no more. His wife, who was lying ill at the time, is not expected to recover Gisborne most be a perfect paradise to offenders, and we can confidently recommend all our local inebriates, who periodically are brought up before the Mayoral Bench to emigrate to Poverty Bay. The following, which wetakefrom the Poverty Bag Standard, should act as inducement:—" Last week, two inebriates, who had been awarded fortyeight hours each, had to be released after two hours' durance, because there was no accommodation for them ! No place to lock them up in! No cwkbouse! No oatoffices ! No nothing ! The prisoners mast sleep either in the same room with the police, and be fed from the neighboring hotel, or be let loose, which they were,"

This it the pleasant way in which the Napier papers trick one another. The Teleyraph of the 12th inatant says:-" Plagiarism with a vengeance ! We have long been aware that onr morning contemporary has day after day pirated his local information from this journal. As a test, we yesterday informed the public that Mr Tbos. Cowper, bf the Empire Hotel, Waipawa, had met with an accident, the result of which was that Mr Cowper had broken his leg. This morning our contemporary, not to be behind in tbe times, reproduced tbe paragraph, carefully mentioning the particulars of the case. Mr Cowper, we are glad to state, is in the best of health, and no accident of the kin.l occurred. We trust this will be a lesson to our contemporary for the future." Kabbits hare become such a nuisance in Southland that the farmers there hare made common cause against them. The Western District Farmers' Club hare resolTed to petition the Legislature to pass an empowering Act enabling tbe Municipal Councils in that part of the Prorince to levy s rate of one per cent, and the Koad Boards a rate ef a penny per acre on all lands, by which means LB.OOO would be raised, which would provide the sinews of war to commence hostilities against the rabbita They propose te import weasels, ferrets, and stoats, and to offer a premium for every animal killed. The author of the proposal, in a paper read before the Club, says : -" In illustration of the danger to be apprehended from the rapid increase of rabbits, I may mention that tbe tract of country extending from the New River Ferry towards Kiverton, where, seven or eight years ago, flocks and herds grazed and fattened, not a blade of grass, or an animal of any kind is now to be seen, unless rabbits, and how they manage to exist is a marvel, as they have no food other than coarse rashes and stumps of tussocks. A scene of utter desolation presents itself for a distance of ten or twelve miles, and this ruin is altogether attributable to the rabbits. In passing Waianiwa in October of last year, I saw a smalt field of promising corn, which was afterwards destroyed by droves of rabbits that issued every evening from the bush in tbe neighborhood, and kept the crop so closely eaten dawn that the owner never reaped a sheaf for his labor." "Bohemian," the humorous contributor to the Lytttlton Timet, makes the following observations upon a custom introduced by the H.A.C.BS.:-I am not acquainted with the principles of that Society, but one of its objects is to induce people to be provident Will the branch allow me to ask, whether they could not be provident and loyal at the same time ? It is usual, when subjects of her Majesty the Queen meet in public for festive purposes, to begin tbe drinking with a toast to her Majesty the Queen, and not to " any foreign potentate!" What does the old adage say, Mr Proposer ? (although I don't suppose you arranged the toasts), "Speak well of the bridge that carries yoa over," and the old Anglo-Saxon bridge of liberty has carried yon ever considerably. Liberty is represented in the first toast, the absence of liberty in the one which you substituted for it But I can understand the lessons which induced yon to propose "Our Holy Father the Pope" rather than " Onr Good Mother the Queen." He is an old, old man, nearly ninety, and is in a precarious state as to health ; at any moment he may be taken from the bosom of his large family : at any moment a telegram may flash along the wires—" Pio Nono is gone." Even while yon were raising those glasses to your lips-while the Mo* wh touching your

palate, you were in mortal dread lest the unwelcome message should arrive and stay the sweet beverage in ill passage. Thm is, I think, a sufficient excuse for your haste, and is, no doubt, the correct one. It is not like a gathering of jolly Irishmen to pass over the lady's naane and prefer that of the gentleman, unless the reason is a very strong one indeed. Unless, indeed, the "Hiber-nian-Australian" should be "AustralianHibernisn," and mean that at the Antipod" the Irishman's nature has been tamed upside down. At a recent election of members of the Lyttelton Borough Council, some lively speeches wen made, the following for instance. Mr W. Webb aezt »poke. fleeaad if he spoke the mind of his family, he could only say he waa glad he waa defeated.— (Loud laughter.) He had been connected with politics for many yean, and they all knew how he came to this degraded Colony. —(Roan of laughter.! Some present might not know of the year 1830. He could only say he felt proud that twenty four good men and true had been found to vote for him, and fight the battle of their country-(load laughs)--but he mutt say he thought the town was degenerating, as at the last election he polled 71; but he intended going in for every election of councillors —(LaoghUr.) He would now leave oft—(Cries of "No, no.") Yes, he would, and put all sycophanti under his feet—(Load cheering.) Their laughter and grinning would not altar his Republican principles.- (Immense üboering, during which the speaker resumed his seat)

Mr firadahaw informs us that his Employment of Females in Factories Bill, which limits the boon which girls shall work in factories to eight passed both douses of the Legislature, and is new law.

We notice from our exchanges that a Melbourne gentleman, from the fashionable quarter of South Tarn—Mr Richard Henty Las just compromised with his creditors by paying them the magnifirent sum of one penny in the £.

The Immigration Officer ha* received notice of toe embarkation of Welsh and Whitehaven coal miner*, numbering fortrfive adulfe, per ahipa Lady Jocelyn and Helen Denny for Otago. The Lady Jocelyn sailed from London on Ist Angnat direct far this port, and the Helen Denny on the 7th Angnat for Wellington, from which port the"Y miners are to be transhipped to Duoedin. Three of the number hare families, the remaining number being young men of hut aaaa 19 and 26 yean of age, and on* aiogle woman aged 19. Applications will be received at the Immigration Office for their aervicea. From the monthly police report we find the following table of arrests made in the Province daring the mooth of September : Assault with intent, 1 man; do on police, 2 men; violent assault, I man; common do, S men; breach of the peace, 7 men ; do Shipping Act 1 man; do Railway Bye-laws, 1 man ; drunkenness, 76 men and 12 women ; damaging property, 8 men; disobeying am order of the Court, 1 man and I woman ; disorderly conduct, 6 men; forgery and ottering, 1 man; habitual druufctiimuss, 2 men, 2 women; inciting prisoners, 1 nun; indecent exposure, 1 man, 1 woman ; illegally on premises, 3 men; keeping booses of ill fame, 1 woman; larceny, 8 men, 1 woman; do from dwellings, 3 men, 1 woman -, do from person, 2 men; lunacy, 8 men, 1 woman: maliciously killing cattle, 1 man ; nislimtsil and criminal children, 2 boys, 2 girls; obscene language, 3 men, 4 women ; obtaining goods nndcr false preteuoro, 1 man; rescuing prisoners, 1 man; resisting police, 1 man; ship desertion, 3 men ; vagrancy, 2 men, 8 women; wife desertion. 2 men: total, 140 men, 34 women. In Angnat the number of arrests was 166, of whicft number 87 were for drunkenness.

We cull front the annual report of On Postal department n few figures, which are not only interesting bat instructive, ton number of post-offices estsblished in the Colony is 495; 114 being in Auckland, 12 in Tsraoaki, 29 in Hawses Bay, 40in Wettington, 43 in Nelson, 13 in Marlborough, 81 m Canterbury, 27 in Westland, 135 in Otago, and lat the Chathams. Toe inland services cost on the average about 4|d per mile; and their performance entails 1,180,364 miles of country being troversed in the year. The number of letters received was 3,368,673, or sn increase of 291,08 i over those received in 1870; letters despatched 3,370,470, or an increase in the twelve months of 585,763; while 2,767,682 newspapers were received, 1,643,409 despatched; those received showing sn increase of 459.048, and those detnatohcl a decrease of 227.741. The revenue of the department, however, shows a very satisfactory increase, that for 1872-3 being L 50.556, as against L 47.054 ia 1871-2. The partial reduction of the newspaper postage in the Colony, which came into operation on the first of the year, has not quite had On effect the deportment sntiapsted—vis., sn increase in the number of papers mjatai; but the revenue remains stationary. From January 1 to June 30, only 390,808 halfpenny and 872,926 penny stamps, or 1,263,734 stamps in nil wore sold, as against 1 068,823 penny stamps during the sum perwd in 1872, when the revenue from the sale of stamps amounted to L 4.453. This half, year it amounted to L4.44L In soeord*noe with the agreement arrived at at the I ltercolonial Conference last year, the postage on Intercolonial letters will be reduced from 3d to 2d per hatf-ounce on and after the Ist January next Under the division of the report referring to mangy orders, we 6nd thst the total number issueVf during the year was 44,660 for sums amoonting to the very large sum ot L 191.009 2s, bang an increase for the year of 8,369 orders, and L33.6U 8s sd, or 3,942 orders, and L 15.890 9s in excess of the increase of the previous year. This most 'striking in* crease would indicate, on the part of the public, a more general use of the money order system for making their remittances. Of the money orders issued, 28,156, of the value of L12J.125 14s Bd, were payable in the Colony; 10,619, of the value of L 44.535 9s 9d, were payable in the fTnited Kingdom; 5,885, of the value of 1-26 347 17 7d, were payable in the Australian Colonies Of the money orders paid in the Colony, 1,604, of the value of L 7.078 8a 6d, were issued in the United Kingdom, and 1.459, of the value of L 6.503 15s 3d, in the Australian Colonies. An sot of unprecedented liberality ia recorded by The Thus :-«• Mr James Bsird, of Auchmeddeu, the Scotch ironmaster, hot paid over to a body of trustees, to be called the Baird Trust, the sum of L 500.000, to be applied for religious purposes in connection with the Church of Scotland."

Mr A. Leith Adams, the author of a new work entiUed " Field and Forest Rambles," concludes, from his eipehence of ohmstio infof" l —i that there is Mora than s probability that Kogjtshmon will not continue to look like Knglishinen, nor e ran scotchmen like Scotchmen, any where oat of their own country, sioopting perhaps New Zealand. Undontdegramsaiuioanoethedeoanetof Professor Donati, of Florence, and Or Nelatoo, of Paris, men of distinction in the Snons to which they respectively be- . Professor Deeati is known to the principally in connexion with the discovery made by him on the 2nd Jnne, 1858, of the comet to which his name has been given. Dr Augusta Nelaton was a physician and snrgoon of ominano*. who obtained oonsiderable fame by his success in extracting a bullet from the foot of General Garibaldi, after ike failure of the eurgeent who had been pwiewly a ilteadim J v