Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 445, 17 April 1865, Page 4

"Wis understand that the s.s. Ahuriri, Captain Sliuttleworth, will leave the Manukau this day for Waiguaroro with despatches to LieutonantGeneral Sir Duncan Cameron. The Ahuriri will take a large portion of her original cargo to Wniguaroro, Together with a quantity of biscuits, to take in which at Onehunga she discharged a quantity of forage.

Statu of Tin; Kabaxgahafi: Uoad.—A public meeting of tlie inhabitants of Newton, lias we perceive been called, for to-morrow evening, and will be held at the Newton Hotel, to take into consideration the state of the Karangahape road, and to take measures to bring the wishes of the meeting under the notice of the Provincial authorities. We think that if the inhabitants on the Ponsonby road, the western side of Franklyn-streot, and some other parts of the Western suburbs, were to take the same steps there would be 110 harm done. The Provincial authorities sadly neglect their duty on the western side of the town.

Captain Sciikodek, of tlic liumena, reports to the Port Chalmers' correspondent of the Daily 'Times that the contemplated war between the Spanish Government and the Peruvians has resulted in an amicable settlement. Peace is to be restored between the two powers, the blockade of the Chincha Islands and other possessions abandoned, ami this had so far advanced, when the JJumcna left, that the treaty of peace had just been signed by the contending parties. Finances of jN mv-South Wai.es.—On *29th March the Treasurer made the financial statement. He said the state of the finances was most unsatisfactory, and the revenue insufficient. A large sum of money was required for next mail, but how to raise it was the problem. The estimates showed a deficit at the end of 18(53 of £399,700. and for last year of £412,910. to meet which £272,000 has already been raised by Treasury bills, which he intends redeeming at once by issuing debentures for £853,000, the amount of the total deficit to the date of the estimates. The expenditure for the year is estimated at £1,825,180, and on loau account £185, tOO. He expected to raise from revenue £1,951,798, besides the loan accouut, leaving a surplus at the end of the year of £129,280. The only new item of taxation is a stamp duty, amounting to £100,000, on agreements, bills of exchange, promissory notes, drafts, bills, money orders, bills of lading, conveyances, articles of apprenticeship, bonds, charter parties, mortgages, liens, leases, transfers of insurance policies, bank notes, receipts, transfers of stock, property, and stations, and legacies and successions. He expects to raise £50,0U0 by the .Border duties. Another despatch states that the deficiency in ihe public accounts to the end I

of last year amounted to £412,900, caused by the losses through floods, rust in wheat, anil the failure of the crops. JN oktherx Association.—The Council of the Northern Association is to meet to-day at four o'clock p.m., being convened for special business. The Late Feakful Calamity !V at Masclipatam.—" The following interesting account of the fearful calamity at Masulipatam, of which meagre and imperfect notices have appeared in this country, is contained in a letter from a young gentleman in Madras, a native of Abroath, s to his friends at home. At present the great topic of conversation here is the Masulipatam calamity, an account of whii i. vou have no doubt read by this time. Masulir'i'am is a large town on the coast, some two 11 u:. i v.,1 miles north of Madras. It, is principally inhabited liy natives, there being only a small sprinkling of -Europeans. Suddenly, at the dead of night, the wind rose and the sea began to roar, common enough incidents in that locality, and not therefore calculated to alarm anyone. But the wind increased to a hurricane, and one mighty wave rose and rolled in upon the devoted city, drowning 10,000 of its inhabitants. like so many rats in a trap. So sudden and unexpected was the visitation Mint only a few escaped. There was a great cry, '• the sea", is upon us," aud the next moment Masulipatam was submerged. The wave rolled back again,

like sea felltoitaaccastomedplaco.andleftasccne of desolation scarcely parelleled in history. The ' ground was covered with the dead bodies of men, women, and children, and animals of eveiy description. "Wherever you went death stared you in the face, and there were no means of burying the bodies, the living were so few. When the sun rose that morning the whole city was ip ruins—trees torn up by the roots, houses laid level with the earth, the crops on the fields rendered utterly useless. All provisions were destroyed, and the wells of fresh water were filled with salt water. : The Collector telegraphed to Madras, and three thousand Coolies were sent to bury the dead, and provisions were also sent. A subscription list has also beeit started in Madras for the relief 6f the sufferers; and a large sum has already been scraped together. It is much feared that a pestilence will break out, caused by the effluvium from the rotting of the dead bodies. Tendebs for the services of a vessel, to take about 200 tons of commissariat supplies from Auckland to Port Waikato. are called for by the resident transport officer. Compensation Cooet. — Seventeen claims were heard on Saturday. One or two were of a rathet peculiar nature. Mr. It. O. Stewart, JR. M., preferred a claim of f"c'2o for losses through non-occupation of a mill and premises at Eaglan. He stated that he did not abandon the mill on- account of the rebellion, but in eonsequence of the depression of trade arising therefrom. It was not dangerous to occupy the mill, but the people having grown no wheat there was no work for it to do, the machinery therefore stood idle, and during the absence of the owner, who left to fill an appointment under Government, some damage was done. The Commissioner seemed to entertain the idea, that if compensation were allowed ip. such a case, tradesman of Auckland suffering: indirectly from the rebellion had a claim. We cannot say whether Sir. Beckham will admit this claim or not, but judging from the tone of his remarks, and his well-known sense of justice, we should hardly think it possible. In another case, that cf Lieut. Johnstone, a claim was made for cost of prosecution in a case of felofiy arising from therebcllion, of betwecnoneandtwo pounds. This item was struck out, the Commissioner remarking that Mr. Johnstone had no right whatever to pay costs in a prosecution for felony; such a thing was unknown, and he must apply to the clerk for the amount to be refunded. He had no doubt it was an error of the clerk to the Magistrate before wliora the ease was heard. This is the second instance in_ which a claim for recovering costs of prosecution has been made and refused. Judging from these facts it would seem that Government are in the habit of appointing clerks in Resident Magistrate's Courts who are altogether unacquainted with the rules and practices of the Courts, and thus the grossest impositions are unwittingly practised. It would only bo an exercise of the commonest prudcnce if appointments were made from persons who have served a sort of apprenticeship in the profession. The business of a law Court needs learning as well as any other business or handicraft. There was another peculiar feature came before the Court on Saturday. Major James Speedy had preferred a claim on a previous day ; he was re-called for further enquiry, when the Major admitted that lie had received from Government £<lo for rent of a paddock and the run of his farm for Commissariat bullocks, and that the portion of land for which he received the £-45 was the same for which he hail already claimed a pound an acre in this Court.

The Gas at last in Auckland. —Agreeably to the anticipatory announcement, made last week, the long desired event of the first lighting of the streets of Auckland with gas took place on Saturday night, and considering all circumstances, with very great success. A large proportion of the city population had assembled in the streets to welcome the advent of the "New Light," and the debut of the much-longed-for novelty may be considered to have been quite as brilliant as that ot any star that has appealed among us for a long time. In fact, Queen-street was thronged until at advanced hour of the evening, with moving crowds of gazers, who seemed never to weary of staring at the unwonted spectaclc presented to them, while there were occasional ' rushes' into some of the other street, as the report spread of some particularly effective illumination, or of some establishment whose meter had come to grief, and left it iu sudden. and ignoble obscurity. The burners were perhaps too small for the purpose to be allixed to the street lamps, only a very feeble glimmer was emitted by them— scarcely equal to that of the old oil abominations. But that this paucity of light arose from no deficiency iu the quantity or quality of the gas supplied by the company, was demonstrated by the appearance of such shops and other establishments as had the proper kind and size of burners, and whose fittings were in good order. This was notably observable at Mr. A. Clark's, in Shortland-street, who has imported from England a very handsome and effective gaselier of a novel design, in which the light is reflected from a silvered glass bell; at Messrs. Berma and Meiulellsolm's, tobacconists, whose shop was most brilliantly lighted ; at Mr. Williamson's, whose new bowling saloou was illuminated in a manner that, left nothing to be desired ; at Messrs. Home's, Friend's, and many others. At the gas works themselves, a rosette of ten burners was exhibited, which lighted up the rugged path leading to them with a most cheerful and diffusive rudiance — the excellent quality of the gas being evinccd by its pure white flame, without any admixture of the red or yellowish rays which betray the presence of other elements of combination than those required for securing the highest illuiniuating power, and the ample pressure by the sturdy resistance which the unprotected flame offered to the strong breeze that was blowing from the contiguous harbour. Under the manifold difficulties he has had to contend with, Mr. "Wark. the manager, may congratulate himself on having made a most satisfactory commencement, when the various details of pipes, meters, and fittings are regulated, which must of necessity be the work of some few days ; and wheu the gasfitters have thoroughlj- comprehended the axiom that only a very small light can come through a very small orifice, and have applied burners in accordance with it, Auckland will be able to boast of being as well lighted a city as any on this side the line, and its streets—redeemed from the odium of being mere pitfalls and man-traps—will become even on a winter's evening, bustling and agreeable promenades.

Death ijy Burning.—Mrs. Martin, the particulars of the accident to whom we recorded last week, died from the injuries received on that occasion in the forenoon of Saturday last. Her sufferings since the occurrenco of the fire have been most excruciating, and although the services of a number of medical men were enlisted, not the smallest hope of her recovery were entertained from the first. We regret to state that Mr. L. Martin, who, though a namesake, is in no -way related to the deceased, but who so courageously rushed to her succour, has suil'erod more than \va; at first anticipated from tlie eflects of his exertions, the burns on his hands and arms continuing to cause extreme pain, and requiring constant surgical care. We take the following from the own correspondent from Auckland of the St/dnei•/ Morning Iferahl:—" Much as the colonists believe themselves to have suffered from .Exeter Hall and the Church iMissionary Society generally, I may say there has been but one spirit of regret tor this awful manifestation of the truth of what the colonists have urged about the Maoris, and the missionaries denied. The fact seems to be, now that Pai Marirism lias actually infected the whole—or nearly the whole—of the rebel districts, and those districts that havo^nonrifbed

the war, although not openly hostile. And this | fact means this : that the war hero is but just' begun, if it is to leave New Zealand a place fit for British settlers, or any one but half demons to live in. The change of the Ministry, and the remcval of that august body to Wellington, seems to have paralysed everything—at least nothing is done. The Governor is daily looked for back in Auckland. He is reported to have had stormy interviews with the Ministry at Wellington, consequent upon his refusal to remove to the empire city, while the danger was really in the Is ortli. Much complaint is made of the new tariff here, but yet more of the arbitrary system of interpretation imposed by the Colonial Treasurer. There will be much iil-will to the Weld Ministry caused by this, and no good gained by it." A meeting of the electors of Parnell has been called lor this evening, to be held at the Windsor Castle Hotel, at S o'clock. The time for receiving tenders fortlie erection of a Wesleyiin Chapel on the North Shore is, we see by Mr. Cameron's advertisement, extended until Wednesday, the 19th inst. , Masonic.—The regular monthly meeting of the member?, of this lodge will be held this evening, at tjie lodge room", Masonic Hotel. Pbincb or YYales Theatue.—There was a very full house at this place of amusement on Saturday evening. The piece was oue of those sensational ones for which this theatre has become so well known of late. The title is, •' The Memoirs of the !" and although of

such a startling name, it was not of quite so supernatural a character as might be imagined. The whole of the plot of the piece may be summed up in a very few words. A widowed lady and her daughter are living together in the castle of the lady's deceased husband, and in consequence of the village in which the marriage was celebrated being burnt to the ground, no proof was to be found of the marriage. Upon which a certain count (Mr. Clitl'ord) comesand takes possession, and turns the unfortunate lady (Miss Kate Grant) and her daughter (Miss Juno) into the streets. A certain lawyer's clerk (Mr. Edwards) takes upon himself to restore the ladies to their rights, and does so by lneaus of information contained in a book entitled " The Memoirs of the which contains the secrets of several families, by the discreet use of which he is enabled to make them acknowledge the rights of the outcast ladies. There is a character in the piece, Jean Gaulthier (Mr. Cox), to whom the duplicate of the marriage certificate was confided, and who had taken an oath not to speak a word except yes or no to a living soul until certain talistnanie words were spoken, when he was to deliver up the documents to the man who spoke them. The words were spoken by the lawyer's clerk, and immediately tne mason recovered his speech and found the lost documents, and all ended happily. We must not forget to mention the character of "Valentine, wliich was sustained in a masterly manner by Mr. West, whose abilities we have so often spoken of. Several gymnastic performances followed, and the whole of the evening's entertainments were concluded by the farce, " The Captain's not Amiss," which was, in the vernacular of the gods, " a screamer."