Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume IX, Issue 2523, 26 February 1872, Page 2

We have to acknowledge, from the Superintendent'* office, printed copies of " particulars of designs for new hosipal, and of steam services, forwarded to the Editor, as being matters of public interest." Notice has already heeu directed to these projects. The only matter at all deserving of mention now is the " general'condition of steam service," which appears to bo drawn up in such terms as to render strict compliance with them impossible. Perhaps the object would be gaiued if no tenders were forwarded to the Provincial Government.

The south side of the new footpath from Constitution Hill to Mechanics' Bay has been washed down, and, as a result, the oongr'gations of St. Paul's and St. Andrew's were last evening subjected to much inconvenience. Bitter complaints were made that the gaslamp on Constituti n Hill was not lighted. There is a regulation, we believe, which directs that the gaslamps shall not be lighted on moonlight nights. There are some nights on which moonlight is of very little use. It would be a reasonable concession to the public if the lamps were lighted on Sunday nights, when crowds of people are in all directions going to and returning from church, and have to traverse every description of ground.

There were two cases of larceny at the Police Court on Saturday, in which respect-able-looking men declared that they had committed the offence with which they were charged "through the influence of liquor." His Worship said the more he saw of cases the more thoroughly he became convinced that drink was the motor influence which developod whatever was bad in man or woman. The first evil suggestion under the influence of driuK became an actual fact which the law must punish. It was not possible to avoid the idea that these men were then in a position which they were never meant—and which they themselves never meant, —but would rather, under better influences, be horrified to occupy. Drink grew upon people like a disease, and the Lunatic Asylum, rather than the gaol, was the place for their treatment. It was a very sad thing to see men of that class fall into such degradation.

His Worship gave judgment on Saturday in the case of Air. Hey wood, of the Auckland Hotel, for having two bars (under one licence) opening into different public thoroughfares. His Worship held that the Licensing Act Amendment, 1871, was sufficiently explicit, if there was any ambiguity about the first Act. The police, however, consented, to withdraw the charge upon a promise being giveu that one of the bars would be closed.

Six drunkards were sent to Mount Eden on Saturday, three of whom were women. Ihe small-box was crowded with these wretched inebriates, and the stench from it was so bad that the presiding magistrate called the attention of the police to the fact, and asked that they might be led into some yard, or other place open to the air, before being brought into Court. One or two decent looking men, imprisoned on other charges, said the smell was so bad they could not bear it. One of the drunken ladies, with a round oath, declared she couldn't stand it, and the magistrate gave her fourteen days, not for the declaration, but its emphasis.

Messrs. Brogden have fitted up an office inside the Albert Barrack square, where the business of the firm will be conducted. The building is conspicuous among those surrounding it, which are fast going to ruin. This office looks neat and clean outside ; the interior is comfortable. Earth closets are erected in the small area which is enclosed. Something should be done with the buildings in the Barracks, else they will disappear bit by bit. The windows are broken in the old hospital, the wooden stores are dingy, and the whole " congregation" of buildings is putting on quite a dismantled appearance. Probably the buildings belong to the General Government, and if so, there is a process of wilful waste going on. Better they were taken down, and the timber sold, than they should be an eyesore and a nuisance on this recreation ground. It is a penuy wise and pound loolish policy which allows a thing no longer useful to stand till it rots.

There is a nuisance fast developing itself to which the police in the city and trustees of suburban Boards should have an eye. If a cow may not graze upon a public highway, why should a flock of geese be permit Led to frighten horses in their abortive flight and with their screeching cackle ? These birds are worse than the kites of as many unruly boys. The other day a horse ran away in Stanleystreet, Mechanics' Bay, having been affrighted by several geese flying across the road. If you may shoot your neighbour's goat for going on your ground, why not your neighbour's goose. In streets densely inhabited, there is no excuse for keeping these creatures, and there can be no question they are an intolerable source of annoyance.

We would call attention to the advertisement of a by-law which will shortly be brought into force by the city authorities regarding privies, cesspools, and drains. The Council will be enabled, by virtue of this by law, to bring into operation the earth-closet system, and we hope that there will be as little delay as possible in carrying out some salubrious plan of the kind.

State of Her Majesty's Gaol, Auckland, for the week ending February 24, 1872 :—On remand, 5 malea j awaiting trial, 4 males, 2 females ; sentenced to peual servitude, 56 males ; sentenced to hard labour, 64 males, 27 females j default of bail, 8 males, 1 female ; debtors, 1 male ; received during week, 13 males, 4 females ; discharged tiuring the week, 9 males, 4 females. Total in gaol, 138 males, and 30 females.

We understand that final arrangements respecting the Puru track, at the Thames, have been made, and thai tenders will be shortly called for the construction of the track.

The magnificent paddle steamer Nevada was yesterday visited by some hundreds of people, who availed themselves of the opportunity of her lying in port on Sunday to inspect this boat. The small ferry steamers were busily employed during the day taking visitors to and fro, and the watermen also had their hands fully employed up to the time of the steamer's departure.

In the 8..M. Court, Coromandel onT day, the following case was beard •— Stott sued Frederick Woollains and six o !) to recover £30, wages said to be duo toll '' printer, publisher, and manager of t ne A mas niaudel Mail. After l.he hearing of aqn a ( j r °" of evidence and much argument dl> t' "' for the plaintiff), a nonsuit on the" excess of jurisdiction was recorded. r\ correspondent lias sent us a full report of tp' case, but it possesses not the least iuteresi- r" our readers. "" ' 0r

From our Thames telegrams it will be s> that Mr. Christie, of Otago, has accepted ir" Walker's challenge to fire for £1000 tt-sii e '{ the match is shot off in Otago, and that if! Walker has acceded to the terms.

Our Thames correspondent has ielegrar,! -H to us, to annouuee the arrival of the cu'tt Rapid, from the Wairoa. The .Rapid repo-ta having spoken the cutter George, all weli on Thursday last. It will be remembered 'that some portions of wreck were found in »!j e Thames Gulf last week, which were thcuoh«to belong to that cutter. =

We have been informed that the chief Busby died at his kianga on the Bth instant. The deceased was one of the m -~<. influential natives in the north, and had ! 0D » been the leading man in his own tribe. He was a staunch friend of the Europeans.

The fruit crop at Wangarci is said to bvery good indeed. Plums, apples, pears i» are in great profusion. It seems a pit v some of these fruits cannot be brought "up to town for sale, in place of the half rotten and tasteless rubbish we receive from the other colonies.

In a correspondent's letter from Wan»a-ei will be found an account of a fierce = m!<> which lately passed over the settlement doing great damage to buildings. '

The Thames Mining Board is, apparenilv alive and kicking. A meeting of members of the so-called Board was held last Friday a t which a vacancy was filled up by the electioa of Mr. Bassett; and a good deal of abuse was indulged in towards Mr. Gillies. The Superintendent is to be sued for the secretary's salary; and a. " handsomely engrossed n e tj. tion" to the Governor was " signed by all present," complaining of the manner ia which the delegated powers have been exercised by His Honor. The fault, as it appears to us lies in this —that although the Proviucia Council made no provision for the Secretary of the Mining Board, the Superintendent undertook to pay him at the rate of £1 per week.

The following sums have been subscribed towards the Greymouth Uelief Fund :—City Council, £20; G. W. Binney, £5 55.; W. Kcnderdine, £3 35.; !E. Prosser, £2 25.; the Mayor, £1 is. ; Town Clerk, £1 Is.; James George, £i; J. "W. Diddams, £1; D. H. Mackenzie, £1; R. 'Whitson and Son, £1; J. Slater, £1; auonymous, £1 ;J. Solotaon, 103.; H. S. Miller, 10s.; — Sheuy, 10s.; _

Sharrow, 10s.; — Fitzgerald, 55.; A. K., 5a.; J. H. W.; 2s. 6d.; a friend, 2s. 61.; a friend, 2s. 6d.; W. L. Kees, £3 35.; W. Anderson, City Surveyor, £l Is.; a friend, 2s. 6d.; Sparrow, 2s. Gd.; A. E. 10s.; totd, £4G Ss. 6d. Further contributions are earnestly solicited. If is the Mayor hascauEed subscription lists to be sent to all the banks, newspaper offices, &0., in the city.

Partridges are rapidly increasing in the Province of Canterbury, and hares are common in the Waihola district.

Tenders are required by the Provincial Government for the construction of the Matawai tramway, Tiki, Coromandel.

Several notices under the Laud Transfer Act will be found in our advertising columns.

The monthly meeting of Lodge St. Andrew will take place this eveniug, in the Masonic Hotel, at 730 o'clock.

We understand that Messrs. Archard and Brown's tender lor the erection of the telesraph posts from Grahamslown to Coromandel hi>s been accepted.

We learn that the uniform of the Auckland Scottish Volunteers has been sent for from Melbourne, and is expected to arrive in about two months. The jackets are to be red, and the kilts the same as those worn by the 42nd Highlanders. The men are to wear the Glengarry cap, and the officers the Highland bonnet, with plume and feather.

The manager of the New Zealand Insurance Company received a telegram from the agent of the company at Christchurcli announcing two fires having occurred in that city simultaneously on the night of the 20th instant. The company's loss is trivial.

The Auckland correspondent of the Xapier Telegraph, writing about '.he expedition of the City Council to the Nihotopu, says : —" The whole party returned to town very one of them, said to be a teetotaller, and known as a model among all church-going peop! being so far elevated as to call forth the remark from a number of boys, ' Well, you're a tight un, you arc' " This is rather too bad. We have enough black sheep amongst us to obviate the necessity of circulating such mischievous reports as the foregoing.

The Independent urges the Wellington people to get up a subscript ion, aud offer a goud prize for an intercolonial boat-race to be held there next year, after the example of th» Canterbury people We might suggest thai* Auckland people should not permit themselves to pluy third fiddle, if we did not believe that they will never play any fiddle at all in boating matters.

At the request of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the fallowing directions for propagating Californian trees from seed have been prepaivd by a practical agriculturist and seedman in Sail Francisco : —" Make a compost of uue-third leaf soil, one-third clear sand, and one-third good loam. Mix well, and fill into shallow boxes—say, three or four inches deep, sow the seeds thinly on the surface, and cover with a mixture of half sand and half leaf soH mixed. Tho tuiali seed may be covered a quarter of an iuch ; the larger sorts, a half to one inch deep. Place the boxes in a common hot bed or green house, on shelves one or two feet from tho glass if warm weather, and water moderately from time to time when dry. With careful management, most of the sort* should germinate in a few weeks. When the plants are, say, three inches high, set the boxes outside the frame to hardeu a few weeks. and they are ready to plant in nursery rows. Water plentifully after planting."

Our readers will remember that a few daj= ago Signer Cagli, of the Opera Troupe, publicly punished a vagabond named Graham, in Dunedin, for having in a low publication known as " Graham's Review" grossly iusulted the opera company generally, and the wife of Signor Cagli in particular. The following is the offensive quotation from Grahams publication :—" But these Italians are such a moral class of people that they turned out all the city angels from the stalls, and in handing the money back to one ihe same party said that he was cming down to see her, but she told him that he need not but himself to the trouble. They also made a mistake and turned out a mimed woman, and after she was in the entrance the party apologised in the following manner :—' Me beg pardon, Madam; Meiu Gott! I tot you was one bad girl!' I am credibly informed that one of the gentlemen on friday night asked where his lady was, and was told that she w« last seen going away with a gentleman in a buggy and pair. lie cried iii-tears on a horse ana rode all over the town, but did not succeed in finding her. However, she turned up at UJ o'clock next moruing, none the worse. There is a friend of mine who has seen the same lady in Svdnev before over there was an Italia" Opera in the southern hemisphere. They are a mean lot, tho-e theatricals." It was understood that the femisie referred to was Madame Cauli, from the facL that she had paid an-" to Mr. an 1 Mrs. John Cargill, ak •reen Island, ami it being too iate for her r«turn home sue had remained for Iho night. That was the or cuuistancfi of which adistorted version had D<*u given in the article. We understand that during the last frM the channel at Shortland has shifted. * bank has formed near the light beacon, ana the channel shifted 1o westward. lh' s » no doubt account for the steamer Ecterp - being detained a tide in the channel turoug grounding. — Advertiser.