EVENTS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 541, 7 August 1865, Page 5

EVENTS OF THE WEEK.

The departure of General Cameron, and the demonstration of sympathy nnd regret of which that event was the occasion, has obsorbed almost ,' verr other local news of any interest. The funeral of the late Colonel Kempt, occurring on the same day, wns another event which evoked verV sorro'rt ful interest oil the part of those to who:" he was known. He was followed to his , ' ro stin fr place bv a verv large number of military. and the officers of H.M,S. Brisk. Tlie funeral services was rend by the Lord Bishop of New Zealand. The deceased was greatly respected. H' s eoffin bears the following inscripjj 01l "John Francis Kempt-, Major and BrevetColonel Ist batt. 12th Kegimcnt. Died July 2sth. IStio- A.ced 60." new Lodge of Odd Fellows has been opened t the Gloucester Arms. Karangaliapo Koad. It is designated the "Loyal -Vewton Lodge," and is in connection with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. M.I 7 . The Orakei natives have taken to kit-making as a branch of profitable industry, and have sold some verv good specimens. By this craft they are able to "procure a living. A vessel has been seized by the Customs with an illicit still on board. The St. Kilda, schooner, suspected. has been boarded ; but the captain, bv a piece of strategy, having ejected the Government officers, managed to get ofl". Other vessels are suspected of illicit distillation. It is stated that owing to the high duties recently put on articles, the Customs has been defrauded" to a considerable amount, and an impetustosmugglin£ upon a targe scale This mercantile demoralisation follows closely upon the heels of corrupt government. The following are the particulars : \ seizure was made on Tuesday night last bv Constable O'Hara. of the Auckland Police, at the western point of Freeman's Bay. of a boat containing several casks filled with molasses a worm. tubs, and other materials necessary for the purposes of distillation. A man named James Henderson, a mason, we believe, residing in West Queen-street, was apprehended on the Point bv O'Hara. but nothing, as far as we can learn, was found on him to connect him with the boat and its cargo. Two men were in the boat when Constable O'Hara arrived at the beach, but they jumped overboard nsd escaped. It appears that Captain Williams, of H..M S. Customs was engaged in watching the Point, having reason to believe that smuggling would be coin? on there during Tuesday night, and that such was the case he became certain when lie heard suspicious sounds in the direction indicated, and saw. by the aid of a night-glass that a boat was lying off the Point. Meeting O'Hara at the sawpit. who had been attracted from Prake-street by seeing a man. as lie supposed, lurking about for no good, but who turned out to be Captain Williams on the watch the two proceeded to the Point, and then made the seizure. It was a pity that the authorities had not sent a few men with Captain Williams, whose energy and perseverance in hunting this matter out have been shorn of their full measure of success through the want of sufficient assistance to effect the capture. We understand that there is a considerable amount of smuggling going on at the present time, and that the Customs' boat for several nights past lias been cruising up and down the harbour The suspicions of the Customs' authorities have been directed to Wangaruru and other places in the and it was nly on Tuesday, we believe, that two persons had retarned from a tour of the northern districts, whicli they had visited in disguise, for the purpose of hunting up illicit stills. A cutter, too reports that she was boarded off the Kawau the other night by a boat belonging to the Customs. We have just seen the photographic sketch taken bv Mr Crombie, on Tuesday last, of the presentation of the address to Sir Duncan Cameron. The view is taken from exactly opposite the platform, and takes in the back ground the extreme upper portion ot the city about the windmill. .Amongst the group upon toe platform are readilv recognised the ;ace and figure of the General at the moment when he was concluding the replv to the address, as indeed are those of most of the bye-standers around him — civilian and military. In the foreground is a portion of the vast assemblage gathered to witness the ceremony. The faces and the figures of these latter are necessarily much confused. The various deep lights and shades—the constant swaying of the mass of people to and fro, are insuperable difficulties in the way of the photographer. In the present instance, a " woman in white" persisted in walking across the line of view—the half-dozen steps which she took while the sun was doing its work are left upon tue foreground of the sketch iu the shape of a sort of white cloud, or " milky way," following her track, her face itself appearing dark enough for a sister of the nameless one. .Altogether the sketch presents a verv excellent tableau, the main point in work of this character. The plate is 11 x 9 inches, and will be ready for transmission to England by the supplementary mail on Saturday. We understand that this likeness cf the General is the only one now extant in the colony. The following was pubished by the Taranaki Herald of the 29th We stop the press to announce the painful intelligence, received iate last night by an orderly from Warea, that Capt. Close of the 43rd LA. has been killed by the rebels near Warea have no particulars, but hear also that Hemi, a friendly native, and two soldiers are wounded. Captain Close was stationed at Werea Kedoubt.

The following are the particulars Riven in relation to the affair in whicli Captain Close lost his life at Warea :—" Another victim has fallen to Maori vengeance, at Wan-a, in 1 aranaki. Captain Close, of the 43rd Lisjlit Infantry, in charge of the redoubt left at by Colonel Warre. had gone with a party of men to the cdije of the forest for firewood. There a body of the enemv, lay in ambush, and fired on them as they approached. Captain Close was killed by the first volley, and two soldiers and one friendly native were wounded. The troops on being fired upon charged their assailants, 1 ut the latter made good their retreat. they sustained any loss it is not kaown.