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New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 2797, 15 January 1873, Page 2

An episode, of considerable interest took place in the Supreme Court yesterday. Mr. Alfred Beetham, prosecutor in the case of Anderson, for stealing quicksilver, upon presenting himself to be sworn, was objected to by Mr. Bees, the prisoner's counsel. The ground of objection was that Mr. Beetham had some speculative opinions respecting the doctrine of rewards and punishments and the penal sanction of an oath. What passed will be found in our report of tho proceedings. Mr. Beetham said he was a professing Christian, believed in the obligation of an oath, but knew nothing of "rewards or punishments"—that is, he had no evidence to form an opinion. Hia Honor allowed Mr. Beetham to be sworn, reserving the mattor for the Court of Appeul, if necessary, as to the validity of Mr. Beetham'B evidence. The prisoner, however, was acquitted of the offence charged agaiDst him, so that a reference to the Court of Appeal will not be necessary.

The first case under the eleventh clause of the City By-lnws, which refers to the keeping of goats witbin the city, and provides that they !?ha"H only be kept upon enclosed ground, wns tried at the Polico Court yesterday. Tho defendant wiehed to explain that the goats were securely tethered, but was told that this did not affect the case, and that tho by-lavr must bo complied with. It being the first case, no penalty was inflicted, but the defendant was given to understand that in future the by-law would bo strictly enforced, and that, after the publicity the case would receive, a plea of ignorance of tho existence of the byInyv would liave very little weight on the mind of tho Bench.

Is it not poseiblo for tho streets of Auckland to be watered something after the manner mentioned by a correspondent. Ho aaie in the city I came from, two men would tuko their places opposite each other in the putter at tho head of a street, furnished with a wooden shovel, such aa maleters use, and a piene of wood with a sack or some old canvas nailed to it, to make a dam; they would then turn the water eloivly on, and throw it across the road to meet each other, until the duet whs well laid. Then move on and repeat the operation, until the whole stroet was troll watered. Once a day for this operation waa generally sufficient.

The question of Mr. Williams's election to tie Jlurbour Board by tho City Council being intalid, wuß yesterday brought up at tho meeting of the Board, a notification from tho Mayor, enclosing a letter from hie Honor tho Superintendent, having been received. I'mlrr on, when the question of filling up the vacancy waa brought forward, Mr. Thomas Williams was unanimously re-elected, on the mot ion of Mr. Maeready, seconded by Captain Casey, the feeling of the Board being that, independent altogether of their own opinion, they ought to confirm the City Council in the choice which they had made in Mr. Williams.

The City and Suburbs School Committee, appointed at the last meeting of the .Education Board, to inquire into the arrangements necessary for carrying the Act into operation within the city and suburbs, met at (he offices of tlie Board, in Wyndham-street, yesterday. After some discussion, it was decided to adjourn till Friday, at 2 p.m., and tho Inspector waa requested to prepare for the committee a •tatement of hie Tiews as to the number and position of the schools required for the city and suburbs.

The following are extracts from letters received in Christ church by the Suez mail :— (I.) " The price of tinned meat continues firm, and the excellence of the Canterbury Meat Export Company's produce is being more and more acknowledged." (2.) "Wβ hear of no complaints as to the quality of the meat, and yoar local company is to be congratulated on the successful result of their operations during the present year."

The oroae street abutting on lower Pittstreet is being cut down to the level of the main street. As it is necessary to excavate to a depth of over six feet to do this, it has been abold undertaking on the part of the district Board, and will draw largely on their funds. But the work is very necessary, and there can bo no cause to complain at ratos being expended in what will be a convenience to a large number of the ratepayers.

Yesterday was quite a field day at the Diitrict Court. Hundreds of defaulting aharaholdere were adjudged to pay certain amounts of contribution, varying from a pound or two to twenty or thirty. The names of the companies were quite a study to persons of a hazy geographical knowledge, and were highly suggeitire of the character of the men who originally pegged out the various claims aud alter■wards christened them. Taking them as they appeared upon the list, we could imagine the first holder of the Leviathan Gold Mining Company to have had some connection with the great steamship which was christened by this name, but never called by it, her old name of Great Eastern sticking to her through thick and thin. The miners of the Warrior may have been men who were in some shape or way at one time connected with that gigantic armour-plated vessel. The Star and Garter suggests pleasant reminiscence! of, a quiet picnic at Richmond, while on the Hazeldell, we could fancy men wedded to forest, field, and brook. The Mexican and Peruvian, which follow next, bring to our mind's eyes the savage splendour of the ancient inhabitants of these vast territories; the barbarities of Cortes and Pizarro, and, at a later period, the tra»io death of the Emperor Maximilian. In the promoter! of the Nil Desperandum G.M.O. we see a ieb of steady, hard-working fellows, determined to do or" die; while the Great Exhibition brings before us the wonders of '51 and '62, especially the crush, fashion, and splendour of the first-named exhibition. Among the christeners of Taurus, we are inclined to think, were some men of classical education; while John o . Groats cannot but remind us of the celebrated walk from that place to the Lands End. The Brighton G.M.C. doubtless transfers many a one, in his mind's eye, to the broad walks and esplanades of George the .Fourth's favourite watering place. Really, when we come to consider the immense number of uiiningeompanies that have been in existence in this province within the last five years, we cannot but wonder, that ever names were found for them all. And yet hardly one of them was christened recklessly or without proper thought or discussion. And of the hundreds upon hundreds of shareholders' names that come before the Court, how many are there of people who are as willing to pay as they were originally to take shares. Yesterday the objoctions were multifarious. In some cases objectors had "gone through the Court" to clear themselves. In one instance, this not satisfying the Court, an end was put to the matter by the information that the unfortunate man wae dead. But the bankruptcy plea appeared to be the great card, and counsel, in some instances, quite put on the indignant that their clients should have been sued at all, and applied for costs. In one case " infancy " was pleaded and allowed by the Court—but coats applied for, for bringing the " infant " (about five feet eight in his stockings) from the Thames, were disallowed. On the whole, the business gone through yestorday will have the effect of clearing the air of a good deal of speculative miasma.

On Sunday last two dwelling-houses were completely destroyed by fire at Awitu. It appears that a person numed Kelly, occupying one of the buildings, left his house early on Sunday, and about 9 a.m. the person occupying the adjacent one was aurprisod by volumes of smoke rushing into his house. Upon going outside he discovered that Kelly's was on fire, and the fire had got such hold of the interior of the building that any attempt to extinguish it would have proved futile, as the flames were already bursting through the roof. In less than teu minutes the adjoiuing building was iu flames, and it was with considerable difficulty the tenant managed to save his effects—both houses being destroyed in a very short time. Kelly lost everything, inoluding a large quantity of kauri gum, scraped and ready for market. The origin of the lire is a mystery yet to be solved, Kelly having no combustible material iu the house, and ho affirms he extinguished the fire before leaving in the morning.

It has been said of old time that there is nothing new under tho sun; and the sayin? is ropeat.ed in these modern times. But we musk come to the conclusion that a moonlight trip on a new punt, with a quadrille band, under a French conductor, for the infinitesimal charge of one penny, is something quite new under the sun, the moon, the stars, or any of the planets; and that whatever may be done in the future, the attempt never ha.3 been made in the past since the creation. The following advertisement appears in yesterday's issue of the Waikato Times : — " Moonlight .Excursions.—The new punt at Ngaruawahia will make excursions on the Waikato every evening until further notice. A quadrille baud, under M. Le Sueur, will be in attendance. Tickets one penny."

His Honor the Chief Justice was occupied the whole of yesterday with the trial of James Anderson, upon n, charge of stealing 128 lbs. of quicksilver, tha property of the Puriri Quartz Crushing Company. The evidence was in effect, that the company sold its plant to the Emery Company, and the battery manager placod under the planking the above quantity of quicksilver. When handing over the place to the new company, the quicksilver was missing. Tho prisoner, upou the evidense of a person numed Adams, who whs also implicated, was alleged to have sold the quicksilver to a person named Barclay, who was also charged with receiving it, knowing it to have been stolen. The prisoner was acquitted.

The usual meeting of the members of the Auckland JJ arbour Board ivas held yesterday afternoon, when a very large amount of business was disposed of. The year's accounts were brought up aud adopted; and f/oni these it would appear that the Board is in a flourishing condition. The salaries of officers were fixed for the ensuing yoar. Fifty pounds a year was added to tho salary of the Clerk of Works, and the same amount to tho salary of the Shipping Clerk employed upon the wharf. A good deal of other business was done, a report of which will be found elsewhere.

The Waikato Steam Navigation Company, we lenrn, will pay the Wnikuto growers 6s per bushel fur ull wheat secured, and of good marketable quality. The company will take delivery of the grain from any navigable point on either eide of the river. Our Waikato contemporary says the furuiera can thus secure a higher price by Iβ 6d per bushel than those in any other part of the colony. This may be so, but we can scarcely think the W.S.N. Company intend to buy wheat with the special object of selling it at u lose.

At a meeting of the Tararu Highway Board on Monday afternoon, with Captaiu Eraser in the chair, letters were read from the Superintendent stating that £350 had been allotted to the Tararu district under the vote of aid to goldfields roads at the Thames, but was not payable before April. Letters were alao received from the Board of Education asking for a copj of the rate-roll for 1872-73.

The experiment at the Onehunga smelting worki proceeded yesterday, with equal success to that on the previous day. Aoout 25 cwt. of puddled balls have been produced, of the same quality of steel as the bar drawn out and planed at Mr. Maaefield's foundry, and to which reference has already been made. The heavy rain in the evening interfered with the prosecution of the work.

In consequence of the wet weather list evening, there was no performance at the circus. We are glad to learn that on Saturday afternoon next Signor Chiarini will admit the children of the Orphan Home free of oharge. An uncommonly good programme is announced for to-night.

Wβ would remind thoee who intend to furnish designs for the laying out of the Barraok Hill as a public recreation ground, that it is necossary they should be sent to the Superintendent's office to-day, aa none will be received afterwards.

A meeting was called for last evening at Hamilton, for the purpose of bringing pressure on the Government to construct a line of railway from the Thames Hirer to a point on the Waikato.

Last evening two persons were in the look* up for and three for Tagranoy.

Last .evening a meeting of ship labourers favourable to the formation of a Lumpers Accident Fund and Benefit Association wa§ held at tho Thames Hotel. About forty lumpers were present, and Mr. Brown was voted to the chair. The whole proceedings were of a most informal character, and nearly two hours -were spent in reading over a proposed draft of rules before the society was even formed. The reporter, then suggested to the chairman the proper way to go about things, when the real business of the evening was commenced. On the motion of Mr. John Niccol, it was proposed to form a society, to be called the "Lumpers' Accident Fund Society. ine following persons were appointed a committee to draw up a code of rules, to be submitted to a future meeting :—Messrs. Brown, W. Niccol, John Niccol, — Crawley, and Inkster. The meeting was then adjourned until next Tuesday evening, after whioh a number of members were enrolled. If the newly-ap-pointed committee weuld allow us to make a suggestion, it would be that the draft rules read last evening be cut down to about onethird, as the whole thing is a mass of repetition. Some of the rules should be struok out altogether, especially that which essays to regulate terms between master and man. The objects of the society are really of a most beneficial character, but the promoters do not appear to know exactly how to go to work to place it on a proper footing. We would advise the committee nt the next meeting to have some person present, by whose advice they could be guided, and who would enable them, to start the Society in a proper manner; afterwards all would be smooth sailing. It is proposed to register the Society under the Friendly Societies Act.

We are indebted for the following items of intelligence to the Thames Advertiser : —A. meeting of the shareholders of the Young Queen Gold Alining Company was held on Monday evening, iu the Court-house Hotel. Mr. J. M. Cowell was called to the chair. The following gentlemen were elected director : —Messrs. JDewar, Unthank, Watters, R. M. Mitchell, Wilkiuson. —The Magnet Variety Troupe again attracted a very large audience at the Theatre Jloyal on Monday night. The house was almost as full as on Saturday, and the audience was quite as entbusiustic. —An adjourned meeting was held on Monday evening in the Volunteer Hall, Shortland, for the purpose of taking the further steps necessary for the formation of a Thames Horticultural Society, to iuclude professional gardeners and amateurs. Mr. Stilwell was called to the chair. Mr. Jas. Maokay, jun., was elected President of the Society, Mr. J. E. Macdonald Vice-Presideuc. —The purchase of the Whangamata has advanced another stage, some of the Mgatikaraua having sold their interest. The purchase of none of the three blocks is yet complete, and the probability 13 that it will take quite a fortnight before any of the deeds are fully signed. Any attempt to prospect the ground at present will only retard the purchase, and perhaps prevent it altogether.

On Saturday, says the Waikato Times, a riot on a small scale took place at Cambridge. It appears that the constables stationed in that townehip arrested a native on the charge of stealing a blanket. A number of Maoris were in the townehip, who mobbed the officials, and succeeded in rescuing their countryman. They took him away, however, with a pair of handcuffs on. The coolest part of the whole affair was, that a native rode back to ask the constables for the key to unlock the useful though rather uncomfortable appendages. This sort of tiling is very disgraceful, and we trust that more than two policemen will in future be stationed in Cambridge;—being the nearest township te the boundary, it is liable to have its peace disturbed at any time the natives may take it into their heads to get drunk.

We take the following from the Poverty Bay Standard of the 23rd ultimo : A funeral cortege passed through the town ye3terd.iy on its way to the cemetery. ittr. Robert Read, late brother of Captain Read, has been declining for some months past, and after trying chsnge of air, and scene, at lust succumbed to a general break up of the constitution. Mr. Read was one of our earliest settlers, whose hospitality was proverbial and extended in the palmy days, anterior to the settlement of Te-Kooti-ism in the district; but no more earthly trouble will reach him in the long-looked-for bourne, whither he has gone. " May he rest in peace," is the united prayer of those who are about to follow. Mr. Lysnar read the Church of England burial service at the grave.

It will be seen from our report of the proceedings of the Harbour Board yesterday, that a sum of £200 was voted to bore for water for the supply of shipping in the harbour, the boring to be made on the property of the Board. Should the test prove succeisful (and we have reason to think it will), the Board would then be independent of the City Council, while a considerable source of profit would be cut off from any water supply echeme for the city and suburbs. Moreover, if the trial be thoroughly made, it may settle the question of water supply altogether.

The advertisement of the Nelson Superintendent offering a bonus for the discovery of a seam of good steam coal within a stated distance of the port of Nelson, is stimulating search. Specimens of what appears to be true coal from the Clarke river, a tributary of the Batou, have been lodged with the Superintendent, which are to be eubmitted to Dr. Hector for examination.

A parade of the Manukau Rifles took place on the 10th instant, at the Awitu parade ground, when arms, accoutrements, &c, were inspected by Capfc. Douglas. At the conclusion of the inspection, the men went through a short marching drill, when they were then handed over to their drill-instruc-tor. SubLieutenaat Coulthard afterwards drilled the Cadets.

The railway worke along the Picton and Blenheim line are progressing rapidly, and tho number of men employed is constantly on the increase. The number of labourers at work at the present time is 16S, exclusive of gangers and artizans in other trades.

Any persons requiring farm servants or married couples, who arrived by tbe Chili, will be supplied by Messrs. Brogdeu & Sons,' upon payment of .the promissory note »iven by the immigrant so engaging beiu" guaranteed.

On the 10th instant a meeting of the Awitu School Committee was held, the object being to decide upon a school district. It was eventually resolved to acquaint the Board of Education that the proposed district should comprise Awitu.

The business at the Police Court yesterday was not of an important character, beine confined 13 the punishment of four drunkards two cases of petty larceny, a number of summons cases under the City By-laws, and two assault cases.

tvi PfP Sea Fishery Company lately established at Chnstchurch have purchased a suitable vessel to commence operations with. Ihe company expect the vessel to be ready for eea in a few daya.

! ™ nnt i. Several meeting of the Auek laud Chamber of Commerce will be held at 3 o clock to-morrow afternoon. A special meeting of the Chamber will be afterward, held.

Three hares, brought from Melbourne by the Tararua, have been delivered over to the Secretary of the NeUon Acclimatization Society. They were let out on Mr. Withers" farm at Bichmond.

i a ?P e 5 atlTe , bakors in Melbourne have resolved that ten hours shall constitute a day's labor; that the time for commencing work be left an open question, and that no member sleep or board at the shop he worke at. Mr J. A. Smythe, Messrs. Brogden's representative in Otago, pays his navvies ninepence anhourinatead of sixpence, as originally agreed

The Customs revenue for 1872, at Wellington, shows an increase of 124 per cent, on that for the previous year.

The number of men employed by Messrs. •fforka of the colony is orer 2.000.

An article which appears in the l M » number of the European Hail, speaking of phormiam tenax, eays :—Tlibae of oaf friends in New Zealand—iadeed we may ear the colonists generally—who are interested in the progress being made in the introduction o thie fibre for textile fubriea, will be interested, in the following remarks suggested by an able article in the Dundee Advertiser, on "Th e Development of the Jute Trade." It is not becauee a fibre 13 condemned on its firsfc introduction to public notice, that therefore hopes are to abandoned with regard to its future naefulness and large consumption. We learn from the article referred to tiist- "T" % ave prophesied then, that the depised Or. u . ..». _'_re would yet grow to be of more importance than flax would have been considered foolishness." And again : " Spinners, manufacturers, and consumers were alike prejudiced against it. The machinery used for spinning flax was not well adapted for spinning it, and when spun, owing to the bad reputation of the material, the spinner could not find a market for his yarn. By-and-by, after many failures, these difficulties were overcome, and since the real merits of the fibre • have come to be known, the growth of the trade has been something wonderful." Jute is now taken readily for the finest, as well as the coarsest, description of fabric, the b<;st fibre entering largely as a mixture into the cheaper silk piece goods, and the rough fibre being manufactured into coarse sacking. So far as we hare been able to learn, the " phormium fibre" is already considered, by those who hare tried it, Tery superior to jute for the latter purpose, owing to its great strength ; thus rendering it better adapted for the rough usage to which this class of goods is subjected. For wool-packs, we venture to predict, it will speedily be brought into use, if the colonists will forward to this country fibre sufficiently well dressed to enable manufacturers to use it, and then send their orders for the packs made from this fibre.

A notice in reference to the forfeiture of certain shares in the Coronet No. 1 Gold Mining Company appears in our advertising columns.

A meeting of the creditors of Valentine Blagrove is convened to be held at- the office of the trustee, Supreme Court, on. the 18th instant.

The annual general meeting of the Quebec G >ld Mining Company will be held on the 23rd instant.

The annual meeting of the shareholders of the Nil Desperandum Gold Mining Company is convened for the 24th ins'.

The half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the Durham Ox Gold Mining Company is convened for the 31st inst.