THE CITY, END OWMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1900, 17 February 1870, Page 4

THE CITY, END OWMENTS.

The returns furnished to the Council by the Provincial Government showing the present state of the city 'endowment accounts, informed us that there was a considerable sum due for arrears of rent£ which should be paid by the lessees of those endowments. The great degression which at one time existed in Auckland, naturally affected the property of which these endowments consist, as well as property owned by private individuals. Persons who had leased and subleased certain allotments fell into financial difficulties, and were unable to pay the rent. In some instances the buildings now on land belonging I to the city have been erected by sub- \ lessees of a portion of the original lot ! leased, and these buildings have been mortgaged. Under the existing law, j every person who haß leased any portion of theße large lots is liable, we believe, for the 1 wholo of the rent of j the original allotment. It thus becomes a grave,; question with persons who had lent : money on one or two houses standing on sub-leased portions of the original allotment, whether they would foreclose and take possession ot the property mortgaged to them. la many cases this was not done, for it was believed that the remedy would be worse than the disease, and the first loss would bo the least. The persons who leased or subleased the allotments may have become bankrupt, or have left the colony. The Government, therefore, has not been receiving iany rent at all for some time in such leases, and heace the arrears due tojthe City. If tho allotments, with the buildings thereon,' were put up by auction they would not, in many cases, bring much, if anything, more than the ordinary rental, j But if the Government could divide the allotments, s or accept j made by the sub-letting to #liif;li we ha»e referred, it i» believed that mortgagees and others would pay the back rent due on such single properties,

and thus a considerable portion of the arrears would be obtained, and there would be a good prospect of the rents being regularly paid for the future. If the law will permit the Superintendent to do this, there would be 110 practical difficulty attending it. though there inijrht be some extra trouble, for in some cases, rent would have to be received from perhaps four or five persons on account of allotments originally leased in one block. This would, of course, be no actual difficulty. It would entail no loss to the Government, no extra expense, and the Government would, at once, be in the receipt of a considerable sum in payment of arrears, with a good prospect of there being no arrears in the future. In some cases, the buildings on some of these allotments have been removed, in others untenanted, and, of course, greatly damaged and deteriorated in value.* Mr. Hill's motion, calling attention to this subject, may be the means, therefore, of doing good.

"Monthiy Summary. — Our regular monthly summary will be pablished tomorrow moraineThb Long Drive divid ;nd payable tomorrow will be £3 per share ; not £5 as stated in error yesterday. We observe that the borough council of Ballarat have been compelled in selfdefence, to close the Town Hall Gardens uftainst the public, in consequence of the conduct of some of the Ballarat rowdies, who have been in the habit of frequenting them. The Melbourne Leader also advocates the closing of the Fitzroy and L'arleton Gardens after dark, on the grounds of morality, and as the only means of preserving tho gardens from destruction.

A new company is started at Brighton, which it is thought might be made to pay ; at all events it is a pretty and interesting ' experiment, viz., the formation of an aquarium on an immense scale, so that tho «ea daily supplies the water. A writer says we ought to learn some , new facts again, though after all it | seems that as soon as we learn things now-a'days, we have to unlearn them again next tveek. On Monday evening, Dion sensational drama of " After Dark," is to be played at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The piece had a grand run in London, and was most favourably noticed by the leading journals. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway, of tne principal Australian theatres, are engaged, and will apppnr in the drama; and the management, determined to leave nothing undone which may ensure success, have engaged the services of the talented scenic artist, Mr. Frank Variey,-'whose brush is to provi'de us with some scenery hitherto unequalled in thi3 city, i he Catebpii<i.abs.—These destructive insects infest some of our out-districts, and are doing a great deal of damnge. We hear that in some places whole crops of maize have been completely devoured, with the exception of the hard portion of the stem. In some cases settlers complain : of the injury their fruit trees have suffered, | especially the peach trees, many of which have been quite spoiled. A CABB of walking in sleep occurred a few evenings ago, which 'nearly resulted in fatal consequences. A little girl, who resides in Cook-street, and is subject to qnTil 11IITO111 icjri», uvo.io fram Lo» toJ'itt iKo I middle of the night, and while walking : about the room fell from the top to the | bottom of a flight of stairs, striking her head heavily as she fell. The girl's fsce is very much bruised and she is considerably shaken, but fortunately escaped without serious injury ; considering that she j fell on her hea<i it is a matter of surprise that her. neck was not broken. Parents who have children addicted to this dangerous habit would do well to lock the bedroom door or take other precautions for their safety. Jt is but a short | time since we published an account of a j gentleman in London who while walking lin his sleep by some means managed to I get to the top of the house; he had not gone many yards when he fell from the roof and was killed on the pavement below.

A vebt able lecture was delivered by Mr. Henry Cornford at the Mount Albert schoolroom, on Tuesday evening, on "Ancient Navigators ahd their i'iscoveries." A lively account was given of the clumsy galleys of ancient Home and Carthage, and of their motley cre//s; the extent of their discoveries was pointed out on the map, the lecturer alluding also to the generally received idea among scientific authorities of the ancient 9 having extended their researches to tho great American continent. The leoturer coneluded a very interesting paper by reciting in a telling manner the British spirit stirring lay known as the " Spanish Armada," which was well received by tbe audience.

The Miner's State of the Goldfields Committee had a meeting on Tuesday evening. After some conversation it was agreed on the motion of the Chairman (vir. C. P. Mitchell), to adjourn tile meeting and empower him to call another meeting on the return of the deputation from Auckland.

Knsign Hagin and fifteen members of No. 1 Company H.R.Y., fired on Tuesday at the 400 and 500 yard ranges at the butts. Tho ammunition was very bad, and consequently the scoring far below this company's average, considerably more titan half the entire number of shots falling short of tlie target. '< he following gentlemen received Color.Sgt. Hendry's consolation prizes: — Messrs. Baner, Fielder, Moase, and fr-handley. Three hearty cheers for the color-sergeant closed the proceedings.

A meeting of the directors of Kiin's Hope Gold Mining Company (Registered),was held on Tuesday evening at the office of the company. Mr. Stickle*, manager;: reported that he had had an an interview with His Honor the Superintendent, respecting the leasing regulations, and obtained a favourable reply to the memorial presented on behalf of the company. It was decided to resume the work on the ground by contract immediately, and to take stept to enforce payment of all unpaid calls. A Kaby Show at the Thames. —The Thames Advertiser of yesterday, has tlie following:—We perceive by advertisement that the novelty of a baby show will take place on Friday evening, at the 'American Theatre, and the mothers of children who may wish to take part in the proceedings are requested to communicate with the lessees at tho, theatre. There will bo two prizes, the first value £5, and the second value £2. This is a rare opportunity for th« mothers ot fine children.

We are requested to state that in consequence of severe indisposition, Mrs. Lachtan McG-owan has been compelled to relinquish her present engagement at the Prince of Wales' Theatre.

Long Dbitk Company.—A full report of the meeting in this company, held yesterdny, appears in another column. The sudden death of Mr. Timothy Long, of Moanatairi Creek is announced. The remains were conveyed to Auckland yesterday by the p.s. L>uke of Edinburgh. The fifLh session of the Wellington-street Literary Association will be opened this evening at the rooms of the Young Men's Christian Association, when a paper will be read on " Desultory and Systematic Heading." A Pbovincial Government Gazette was published yesterday, and contains the announcement that the native title has been extinguished over the following blocks of land in the Taurikomore and Waihou districts ; a notification also appears that applications for lease by the Columbian Quartz Mining claim and six acres on the Karaka ; also, that seventeen applications for leases, comprising over two hundred acres of land, have been withdrawn. The Gazette contains the appoiatment of Constable McWilliams to be inspector of slaughter-houses, inspector of nuisances, and inspector of bread for the Thames district; and of Mr. John Graham to be relieving-officer in the room of Mr. Jihn IT.ing, resigned. Constable K. Anderson is appointed gaoler and poundkeeper at Husscll. Crown grants for a large number of persons are ready at the office of the Hegistrar of Deeds. Application is made to register the United Star Gold Mining Company, and the Gazette concludes witli a list of the licensed watermen for the port of Auckland, twenty-five in number. Dedwood Highway Boabd.—The trustees of the above Board sat yesterday, to hear appeals against the rate. There were not more than about a dozen such appeals, which in some cases were more or less attended to, and in others refused. A petition was handed in signed by seven ratepayers of the district, complaining of the general raising of the assesment some 25 per cent, over that of last year, and asking that it might be lowered, but as that of last year was, being the first year's assessment, purposely fixed below the fair value, and as it was clearly to be sern from the few appeals that 1 per cent of the ratepayers made against the rate, that the assessment was generally acceptable to the ratepayers, the trustees declined to accede to the request contained in the petition. Eight applications for the office of collector to the Board were received, and of these the choice fell on that of Mr. Thos. Jenkins sen.

We would remind our readers that the favourite and talented actress Mrs. Hall takes a benefit to-morrow evening. It would be almost superfluous for us to do more than mention the fact, as the public —the best judges in these matters—are sure to give the lady a bumper house on such an occasion.

Attempts at burglary are still occasionally perpetrated at the Thames, and considering the number who are liot in regular work, it is not to be surprised, at The Post Office, it is said, has been attempted on several occasions. The fifth Session of the Wellingtonstreet Literary Association will commence tills evesing at 7.30. A meeting of directors of the Multam in Piivo Gold Mining Company will be held at the company's office at 1 30 p.m. on Saturday next. • An'extraordinary meeting of the shareholders in" the Mount Alexander Gold Mining Company will be held at the Thistle Hotel, Auckland, on the 7th prox., at 3 p.m. Is there no way of stopping the constant waste of water that now obtains P Karely, if ever, is one of our street standpipes to be seen without three or four Arabs congregated round it, performing all sorts of aq iatic feats with the tap ; sometimes sending a stream into the face of a; passer by, sometimes taking the starch out of a well got up muslin— always wasting the water. On every side complaints are made of the short "supply of this necessary fluid. Occasionally the authorities make enquiries as to the best means of increasing that supply; now and then the merits and demerits of different watersheds are discussed, but at prasent we have to depend upon the pond in the Domain, and the pond on the rainfall, upon which no dependence can be placed." What then shall wo do with those who persist in wasting this water ? A Thames paper says a child of two or three years of age, whose parents reside in Grahamstown. had been ailing for some days. The child went to sleep yesterday afternoon, during which sleep a worm came down its nostrils, and the little suf ferer has since experienced considerable relief.

It is reported at G-rahamstown that a party working for a few nights " on the quiet" at Ohiuemuri, obtained twentynina ounces of fine alluvial gold. It is difficult to say whether or not tliere is any reliance to be placed on it. It appears that a kerosene lamp burst in the shop of Mr. W. T. Beala, Shortland, on Tuesday evening. The oil burst inta a flame, running over the counter and floor. It was promptly extinguished n ithout doin-* any damage to speak of.

ArTEBa three days' run, the screaming farce of Sharp v. Carey, Grilles and Hunter has been taken off the stage, tlie green curtain is down, and plaintiff has got a verdict. What will he do with it ? The question of costs is still an opeu one, so much so, that at present it looks very much as if plaintiff had gained an absolute loss. Anyway, the estate in bankruptcy, re Leathern, insolvent, comes remarkably badly out of the matter. The defendants' case was throughout utterly rotten, the payment shouldnever have been disputed, and those who were parties to it were undoubtedly most badly advised when they allowed it to come into Court at all. Nearly three days' time in the District Court" and a sum of money in the aggregate r.ot much less than £200, have been completely thrown away. The Court resumes at 10.30 a.m. on Friday, wheu the four other adjourned cases will be heard.

The principal charge ia the Police Court yesterday was that against George Kowley, of the Railway Terminus Hotol, who was convicted of evading certain < 'ustom duties (to wit, those payable on 150 lbs. of tobacco) contrary to the terms of section 163 of " The Custom 9 Regulation Act, 1858." The Justices inflicted a mitigated penalty of £50. John O'Connor, charged with assault and robbery, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, with hard labour, the Bench finding that lie had been guilty of common assault only. ,

After the conclusion of the case of tho Crown v. George Kowley, and subsequently to the penalty of £50 being inGeorge Kowley was arrcKted on warrant, charging liim with the larceny of tobacco from tue warehouse of Messrs. Cruickshank, Smart, and Co. Jnst before four p.m., C. J 'laylor, Esq., J.P., presiding, bail was accepted for prisoner's appearance on Friday, the' 18th instant, at ten a.m., in two sureties of £100 each, and himself in the sum of £300.

Aw extraordinary meeting of shareholders in Dixon's No. 3 Gold Mining Company will be held at the Waitemata Motel, on Tuesday, the Bih March, at 3 p.m. The Pbide oe the Pukewabu.—A correspondent writing to us from Coromundel says :—I visited this magnificent claim on Wednesday, when I beheld that which establishes beyond all doubt or question the auriferous character which most of the far-seeing of the mining community form.-d of the picturesque hill of Tiki. I beheld the uncovering of a leader of astounding richness. It runs through the claim, which is one of twelve men. Out of a leader, in my presence, was taken 25 lbs. of the richest specimens which have been discovered for a long time, either here or at the Thames. The stone of this leader, if the term is allowable, contains three-fourths of gold. This leader runs in a perfect diagonal through the claim.