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New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 2103, 21 October 1870, Page 2

A lar»e number of men arc still engaged cutting down the Britomart. llill, aud the inlakc"on the Breakwater Road, which has been a source of much (larger for some time past, is being rapidly filled up. When it is completed, not only to the breakwater butround the hill as far as Official Bay, which it certainly ought to be, then the Breakwater Road, which has been hitherto nearly useless, will be in great demand by vehicles us a Miorl. cut from the wharf to Ollicial Bay, and we hope before very long to sec it carried right over to Mechanics' Bay. It would be an immense boon to the people of Parnell, and they ought to use thru- utmost endeavours to sec that the plan is carried out.

Quite a number of people have asked us whether or no 11.M.5. Blanche is open lo the public, and have expressed a great desire to pay her u visit, from the fact of her being the only ram that, has ever visited this port, and the"accounts given of her discipline, and the general appearance of tho vessel, which is said to be one of the smartest in the Knglish navy. We have no doubt that if the captain of the Blanche thought he would be conferring a favour on t'ic public by throwing his vessel open he would do so, more especially lis if is generally done in the case of all vessels of war that visit the harbour.

Among othe. improvements that are being made in the architectural appearance of our streets, we might mention the additions which are being made to the R .yal Mail Hotel, in Victoria street, on the Eilioft-street side. The hotel is being extended for a considerable distance along the last, named street, and being of brick cemented on the outside, and with considerable pretensions in its finish to architectural beauty, it will present a very handsome appeaiance from Queen-street. It is proposed, at an early date, to pull down tho wooden p rtion of the building, and re-build the whole with brick. When this is done, the Royal Mail will be one of the handsomest and most commodious hotels iu this city.

I A number of merchants and others, creditors of companies at present in liquidation, 1 met Mr. 11. V Warner, the otliclal liquidator : at the Pacific Hotel, on Wednesday afternoon, . in reference fo the winding up proceedings. [ It was pointed out lo Mr. Warner that, out of I 110 companies for which winding up orders ! had been obtained not one had yet been dis- : posed of; that the crodi'ors were being kept J out of their money ; and that every day was lessening their chance of recovering their ' money, by the departure of men who were i liable, and who could contribute. One gen- : tleman also stated th if, many of those present were shareholders in companies as well as creditors ; that during the de.ay that had taken : place many shareholders had left, thus leaving ; the burden the greater for those that remained. It, was suggested that Mr. Warner should apply to the Government for assistance in the work of winding up tho companies. Mr. ' Warner said that, as he was paid by a percentage on the money collected, he could not employ any great, amount of assistance. He ha I applied to Mr. Gillies, who, however, 1 could not assist him, but he intended to «ousult Mr. Vogel on the subject, who, he hoped, would bo able to assist, him on the part of the General Government.— Thames Aducrlixer. ! His Honor sat yesterday iu bankruptcy - jurisdiction. Several bankrupts received their , discharge. The Court roue at five o'clock ' Lipstine's case will be re3umed*to-day.

! A nasty accident occurred yesterday in : Synionds-.-treet. About half-past live o'clock ! Mr. Macready was driving in a buggy near the Roman Catholic burying-ground, accompanied ! by Mrs. Maeready and Mrs. Home and child, : when the holt came out of the shaft and tho , buggy capsized, throwing out the whole of the occupants. The child was the only member I of (he parly who escaped unhurt, the others ' being all much shaken and bruised, and the trap was smashed fo pieces. We have frequently ! called attention to the dangerous condition of the road about tnis point, nnd cannot but think it most extraordinary that a road carryI ing so much traffic should be left in such a state. There was a very good attendance at tho Prince of Wales Theatre last evening, when Shakespeare's play of "Romeo aud Juliet" was reproduced, .Miss Evans playing the part of Romeo, and Mrs. Walter Hill that of Juliet. '1 he usual weekly parade of the Auckland Rifle Volunteers was held last evening, at the Drill-shed. There was a very good attendance, and the evolutions of the members were creditably performed. There was, last evening, a meeting of the members of the Ethiopian Troupe, at the Mechanics' Institute. The accounts connected with the entertainment of Monday evening last were rendered, and ordered to be paid. On the motion of Mr. Ferrar, a very cordial vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Winter— the " Bones" of the troupe—for the very active part ho has taken in the various performances. It was resolved that tho next performance to be given sholl be in aid of the funds of the Old Women's Refuge, Graftonror.d. Several other applications remain over for consideration.

Tenders are invited by the Hamilton highway district, from persons willing to supply a certain quantity of kauri timber to the Highway Board. The trustees of the Wairoa highway district are requested to meet at the schoolhouse on the 11th of November, for the purpose of hearing objections to the assessment list. A meeting of the creditors of William nume is advertised to be held at tho Supreme Court on the 27th inst. The Rev. F. J. Garden will lecture at the Symonds-street Music Hall on Wednesday next. Subject: " Poetry, and the British and Irish Poets." Mr. Archibald Clark withdraws from his candidature of tho City East in favour of the Hon. Julius Vogel.

The case of Wirihana v. Miria, or a3 it has I been termed, " The Maori Witchcraft Case," is certainly exciting an immense deal of interest among the natives, both the plaintifl. j and defendant in that celebrated case having | their respective partisans. Yesterday was 1 another great day with them. They dressed in their best, and went in a body to the back of the old saw mills at the foot, of Upper Queen-street, near to which some of the parties interest live, and after having had the usual " blow-out." of fish and potatoes, washed down with waipiro, they attain commenced their antics, to the no small delight of the largo crowd of spectators who very soon assembled lo watch them. These Maoris mbst be very nice neighbours to the white people living close by, but for our own part wo must confess we would not care to reside iu their vicinity. Henry Ward Beecher says it will never do to " preach cream and practise skim-milk." The Melbourne Argus says :—The display of national feeling reported to have occurred at Ballarat, when a number of Frenchmen marched through the streets ninging tho " ilarseilliise," is one that the authorities cannot suffer to be repeated. The Germans have the same right to march about singing " Fatherland" as the French to indulge in this demonstration, and we cannot run the risk of seeing performed in the streets of Victorian towns a monstrous travestie of the fearful strife which has devastated the plains of France. So long as they dwell in this neutral land, foreigners must be content to keep their patriotic sympathies within due bounds. Our Germau fellow-colonists have, it, must be admitted, set an admirable example in this respect. Without bombastic talk or much public meeting, they have coll ected some £1,200 for tho relief of their suffering countrymen and countrymen and countrywomen. The French have the fullest liberty to go and do likewise. But as 11 colony, Victoria, like every other part of her Majesty's dominions, can but feel sympathy alike for the wounded and afflicted for both sides of th s barbarous quarrel, and 11 sincere desire to aid in lessening the sufferings of all, so that no unpleasant difficulties and disturbances may arise.

There were 39 applications for the office of Inspector of Mines at the Thames. Yesterday was the last day for sending iu applications. Between Durham-street eat and Victoriastreet a rcry excellent job is being done by the City Board in the way of curbing and chaunailing. The pathway is being widened too, aud altogether the improvement is very appreciable. We observe that, a large block of buildings is going up in Custom-house-street near the breakwater road and at the end of the intake. The foundations of the building are of scoria up to the street level, and all'oid considerable cellar accommodation below. The building itself is of brick, and is already built, up to the front storey. It, comprises three large stores which are being erected to the order of Messrs. Coombes and D.ildy. Two of them will front Customhouse-street, and the third Fort-street. When completed they will be very handsome and commodious structures. Mr. James Wrigley is the architect. By the erection of a few more similar blocks the unsightly intake will be altogether removed. We observe that, a fence is being put upon the western side of it.

We gather the following information with regard to rainy weather in the chief places of New Zealand from the Meteorological observations for the mouth of August: —The number of days on which rain fell were— Auckland, 30; Wellington, 23 ; l)uuedin,22; Taranaki, 28 ; Nelson 11; Curistehurcli, 19 ; llokitika, 15 ; Southland, 9. We take from a General Government Gazttte published at Wellington, the following as ihe scale of fees to be charged by certified interpreters under the Native Lands Act : — Interpreter's fee, £2 2s ; interpretation at offico per hour or fraction:)! part of an hour, 7s 9d ; interpretation of deed or other instrument each time (an f declaration of execution), £1 Is; composing and writing any document, in Maori, per folio of ninety words, ss; translating any document, either into the Maori or Knglish language, per folio of ninety words, 7s G I ; writing fair copy of any document in Maori, per folio of ninety words ; searching records in Native Lands Court, exclusive of Court fees, 10s Gd. The conditions under which they hold their certilleiles are :— 1. No certificated interpreter is to charge fees exceeding those fixed in the published scale. 2. No certificated interpreter shall refuse to act as such at the request, of any person willing to pay the fees allowed, on tender of the same. 3. If any such interpreter shall neglect or refuse to act on such request, he will be liable to have his certificate cancelled, unless h? can show good and satisfactory reason for any such neglect or refusal. 4. No certificate J interpreter shall interpret any deed effectuating a transaction in which lie himself has been employed as negotiator. 5. No certificated interpreter shall be allowed to receive fees from both parties to any transaction in which lie may be employed. Aiiy breach of these rules will render the interpreter liable to have his certificate cancelled.

Bismarck was in the habit of visiting some 1 of the fashionable beer saloons in thecapitd to smoke a cigar, drink a glass of Berlin beer, ; and discuss politics, as occasion served. One I day he had a rather extraordinary adve-ture, | which may servo to illustrate tho impetuous j character "of the man. The historian says : — 1 " He had just taken a scat, when a pai-ticu- 1 larly offensive expression concerning a member of the Koyal faiiily was used at the next' table. Bismarck immediately rose to his full j height, turned to the speaker, and thundered ; forth —' Out ot the house, sir ! If you are not off when I drink this glass of beer, I will break this glass on your head.' At. this there ensued a fierce commotion, and threatening outcries resounded in all directions. Without the slightest notice Bismarck finished his draught, and then brought, down the measure upon the offender's pate with such effect that the glass flew into fragments, and the man fell down howling with anguish. There was a deep silence, during which Bismarck's voice was heard to s.-ty, in the quietest tone, as if nothing had taken place—' Waiter, what is to pay for this glass ?' " Mr. Gough, the celebrated temperance lecturer, tells the following racey incident which came under his notice whilst upon a coasting voyage : —•" We had a man on board so notoriously wicked that we gave him the namo of the Algerine. His profanity was frightful. Utterly ignorant, all he knew of prayer or Scripture was the first verso of the first chapter of Genesis, and the first clause of the Lord's prayer. During fair weather he was a great braggart and bully ; when tho gale so increased that we were really in danger, ho began to show signs of fear, and soon we heard him muttering, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth—oh! oh!—our Father shart iu heaven —oh ! —we're going down—d the luck — oh ! oh ! oh ! —ln the beginning—oh !—murder! —d the luck —our Father shart in heaven.' When the jib blew away, he was ordered by the captain to go out with another man on the bowsprit. 'No ! I won't —our Father shart in heaven — no! I won't— d dif I do!' and there lay poor Jack prone upon the deck. ' Get up, you lubber,' said the captain.' ' Our Father shart in heaven,' said Jack. ' You need to be started with a rope's end,'said the captain. 'In the beginning God created the heavens and tho earth.' ' You fool! get up ! you'll be washed overboard,' suid th- captain 'Oh! oh ! —our Father shart in heaven,' said Jack, as lie crawled to one of the rings of tho hatchway and clung to it with both bunds. The exportation of frogs to France has for some time back increased considerably. A certain dealer at Vance has within the last three weeks dispatched 200,000, and three days back he sent off 30,000. They are principally directed to Bheims, Nancy, and Paris, a thousand of them costing 13 francs. Their entrance is free. The principal places from which they come are Vance, Fouches, the borders of Seinois, and pirt of tho province between Arlon and Iloufl'ulize ; at Kheims twenty-five pair of legs, the only part eaten, sell for sixty cents. Nevertheless, the frogs are exported entire.