Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 3644, 16 July 1873, Page 2

A return of births, deaths, and marriage certificates, issued at Auckland for the quarter ended 30th June, has been obligingly furnished ua by the Registrar. During the three monthß there were 327 births, 170 deaths, and 91 marriage certificates issued. The excess of births over deaths is 157. In the previous quarter there were 313 births, 136 deaths, and 106 marriage certificates. The excess of births over deaths was 177. The certificates issued for marriages were: Church of England, 19; Roman Catholic Church, IS; Presbyterian Church, 2; Independent Chapel, 1; Primitive Methodist Church, 1; In dwelling-houses, by ministers of various denominations, including two in private ohapels, 38 persons were married, and by the Registrar at his office, 14. Of those married, 78 were bachelors, 78 spinsters, 13 widowers, and 13 widows. Four bachelors, and 26 spinsters were under twenty-one years of age ; 16 bachelors, 30 spinsters, and 3 widows were under twenty-five years of age. Twenty-nine bachelors, 16 spinsters, 2 widowers, and 4 widows between twenty-five and thirty were married; 3 bachelore, 2 widowers, and '5 widows between forty and fifty, and 3 widowers over fifty. Of deaths, 51 were under one year, 16 under two years, 21 under five years, 3 between ten and twenty years, 13 between twenty and thirty years, 21 between thirty and forty years, 10 between forty and fifty years, 10 between fifty and sixty years, and 12 were seventy years and upwards. 53 per cent, of ohildren under ten years of age died of whooping cough, and nearly 19 per cent, of porsons over ten years died of consumption.

A Btriking incident, showing the vicissitudes of colonial life, came to light at a recent meeting of the Melbourne Hospital Committee. Evoryone at all conversant with the caterer] of amusement for the public about the gold diggings era will remember Mr. T. H. Rowe, of Rowe'e Circus, at the corner of Lonsdale and Stephen-streets. liike many other colonists who had golden opportunities of making a handsome fortune, Mr. Rowe did net avail himself of the chances which nightly crowded and enthusiastic audiences offered him, and, after leaving Victoria and buffeting the world in other parts, he came to the scene of his former prosperity. This time he came not as a proprietor, but as an employee in Chiarini's mammoth circus troupe from California. He continued his engagement with Cliiarini until the latter left for Sydney, since when he has been thrown out of employment. In the early days he extended a bounteous hand to all the Melbourne charities, and the Melbourne Hospital benefited to the extent of £732 by variouß benefits which were given in aid of that institution. Mr. Eowe is now soliciting charitable aid to raise as much money as will take him to California.

A special sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court was heir] yesterday, for the purpose of receiving His Worship's judgment in the case of Henderson and Maufarlane v. the captain of the Zanga. His "Worship did not think the plaintiff could recover. Mr. Weston and Mr. J. B. Russell were heard at great length upon the legal questions connected with the liability of captains of vessels and the claims of consignees where the master was changed during the voyage, and the bill of lading did not bear the signature of the new skipper. His Honor reserved judgment in the other cases upon the technical grounds submitted.

The lecture on " Sham" was re-delivered by Mr. Keed last evening, at the Mount Eden school-room, to an attentive audience of about sixty persona. As the lecture was a few days ago delivered in the Young Men's Christian Association, and was then noticed at length in these columns, it is unnecessary to say anything further, than that it was received in an appreciative manner. At its close the thanks of the meeting were conveyed to the lecturer. The proceeds of the lecture will go towards the fund for the improvements required to the school-room. "When the s.a. Southern Cross was leaving the hulk, to come alongside the wharf yesterday morning, the rail round the poop, from some cause or other, came unshipped, precipitating a man into the water. The first mate observed the accident, immediately jumped overboard, and rescued the man from his perilous position. This is the second life the mate of the Southern Cross has saved, he having saved a man from drowning at Calcutta some time since. The charge of arson against Job Tyler will be heard at the Supreme Court this day. His Honor will tako his seat on the Bench at 9 o'clock this and to-morrow morning, in order to get through the cases as quickly as possible. It will be necessary for the jurors to remember this alteration in the time the business of the Court begins. Two cases were disposed of by the Supreme Court yesterday. A native named Hoani Kahutaka was found guilty of larceny in a dwelling-house, and sentenced to Bis months' imprisonment. John Delaney was charged with exchanging a horse (larceny by a bailee), and sentenced to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. Instructions have been sent to Collectors of Customs throughout the colony to prevent the exportation coastwise, except as dutiable goods, of the small pieces of iron punched out of boiler-plates, the authorities having reason to suppose that disaffected natives are collecting them to serve in lieu of bullets for rifles. The monthly inspection of the Victoria and Hobson Companies was held in the Princesstrcet drill-shed last evening. There was a fair muster of both companies, and Major Q-ordon put them through the company and battalion drills, which were fairly gone through. The ratepayers of the Mount Roskill highway district held their annual meeting at the Prince Albert Hotel, Epsom, at noon yesterday. There was no discussion, and not a dissatisfied ratepayer present, so that the business was expeditiously transacted. An error occurred in our report of a meeting of ratepayers held at Stokes's Point on Monday last. It was there stated that Mr. Thompson was appointed collector and trustee, whereas it should have been elected collector and secretary. The Harbour Board held its usual fortnightly meeting yesterday, when various matters were disposed of. A detailed report ..will be found elsewhere. The Customs revenue at the port of Poverty Bay for the quarter ending 30th June, 1873, amounted, including fees under the Arms Act, to £1046 4s 2d. The usual monthly inspection of the Scottish Company is to be held in the Princesstreet drill-shed on Priday evening next, at half-past seven o'clock. One person oharged with drunkenness and a lunatic were in oustody at tho police station last evening.

Under the head of "Official Amenities," the Hay of Plenty Times thus drops down 011 Colonel Buasell for refusing to supply that journal with a report of his inspection of the Native Schools in the Tauranga district: — " Desirous at all times to supply information of local interest, we took the liberty of writing a note to the gallant colonel, in the following not uncourteous terms:—'The editor of the Bay of Plenty Times presents bia compliments to 00-lonel Russell, and will feel greatly obliged by a Bhorfc report of the Tarious native schools the colonel has inspected in this district.' To OHr extreme surprise, the note was returned to us with this endorsement: — ' Colonel Kussell is not in the habit of supplying any information to the Press.' Possibly the Government may have good and substantial reasons for not making such reports public, but we ask our readers, was the inspector's reply one that we hare a right to receive from a public official ? We fear (like Tittlebat Titmouse) Colonel Russell is unaccustomed to the position he is at present allowed to occupy ; that he has become, to use a vulgar, but expressive phrase, ' too big for his boots ;' fancies himself a ' triton among the winnows,' and a very great man indeed." The Sandhurst papers report a case which ought to serve as a warning to those persons who are carelesß in putting the criminal law into motion upon trifling occasions. An action was brought in the Sandhurst County Court lately, in which a young girl, a domestic servant, named Elizabeth Hepworth, sued a farmer named James Green for the recovery of £200 damages for malicious prosecution. From the evidence given for the plaintiff it appears that, on the 18th March, Green laid an information against the plaintiff, and obtained the issue of a warrant for her arrest, for stealing some goods, valued at £1. The girl was arrested, and brought before the police magistrate, who discharged her, there being no proof that Bhe had stolen the goods, consisting of a jacket, a parasol, and a pair of stockings. The girl, in her turn, brought the action against the defendant. The jury, without hesitation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff, with £75 damages. During the hearing of the case it transpired that the defendant had obtained the postponement of the action for the sake of its being tried by a jury, and during the postponement had transferred his property to his wife.

A Peak Downs correspondent of a Rockhampton paper gives the following account of the effect on a camp of blacks of the late eclipse of the moon s—?The moon rose on one of those fantastic scenes common in the bush of Australia—a grand fete at the blacks* camp. The young bloods—the dancers of this goodly company—were dressed and painted in the full dress adopted by one of their ancestors, so scant as to make a ballet-girl envious, the old ladies and gentlemen discoursing harmonious music. The dance became more exciting, and the dulcet strains louder ; the dust and flameß rose high, to heaven, when, lo! what stops this mirth ? It is the cry, " Moon tumble down !" All eyes are for the moment raised to the darkened moon, and then, forgetful of the already prepared sumptuous repast, of their worldly possessions, and of their ever-attendant war instruments, away scamper the motley festive party over the hills and through the scrub, regardless of all obstacles, and with but one object in viewto get at the back of the moon, that as it " tumbled down " they might not be under. On, on, they sped to the east, with the cry, " The moon take tke hindmost." An inquest was held at Otepopo on the 27th ult., on the remainß that were found in the bush there a few days before. The medical evidence was that the bones had been exposed for at least ten years. There were not any indications of fractures on the skull, or any other part of the skeleton; They were the bones of a matt about forty years of age, sft 7m or or sft Bin in height, and of a slight build. There were a pair of watertight Cookham boots found mar the remains, containing the small bones oi the feet. It appears, about eleven years ago, one John Andrews and seven others went pig-hunting in this bußh. Early in the day Andrews complained of being knocked up, his feet being cut from wearing new boots. Upon killing the first pig, it was given to Andrews to carry home, and afto* crossing the range near (Government hill, he was not afterwards seen, although a careful search was kept up for several days. The missing man Andrews, whose skeleton it is believed to be, was a married man, and his widow is supposed to be residing in the vioinity of Portobello.

The following extract from a speech delivered in the Imperial Parliament by Mr. Osborne Morgan on the Burial Bill, is certainly revolting enough, however great may bo its absurdity:—ln a village near Guisborough, in Yorkshire, a poor woman was delivered of twins. The doctor baptised one, but the other died before the rite could be administered. Both infants died, and the facts becoming known to the clergyman while he was reading the burial service, he had the coffin broken open. The remains of the baptised child were decently interred with Christian burial, while the body of the other poor unregenerate infant was thrown into the earth like a dead puppy. Yet, in that case the clergyman had acted in strict and literal conformity with the law. It was not too much to say that a law which permitted such conduct on the part of a clergyman, was a scandal to the age, and a disgrace to our country."

As the granting of publicans' licenses frequently leads to disputes, the following decision given at Melbourne may have some interest in this region:—ln two instances the licensing magistrates at Melbourne and at St. Xilda refused to entertain applications far licenses because a license had been refused to other persons for the same premises within the preceding six months. It was contended for the applicants that this view of the statute was erroneous, and that the prohibition as to hearing an application within six months applied to renewals, where the applicant was the same and the house the same as in the previous application. The Supreme Court adopted this construction, and directed the magistrates to hear the applications.

The Weekly Times (Melbourne) of tho 2lßt says :—Another privileged ruffian was bound over to keep the peace at the City Court. On last Sunday week he asserted his matrimonial position by smashing his wife's head with a billet of wood, tho result of his savage assault being sundry wounds and the removal of his victim to the Melbourne Hospital. Dr. Hinchcliffe gave evidence of the serious injuries which had been inflicted upon the woman, but there being very littie law in force for the prevention of cruelty to wives, this one's husband was let off in the usual way. Had he cracked a dog's head, he might have been fined or imprisoned.

Some idea of the extent of the timber trade of the Pelorus district is given by the local correspondent of the Marlborough Press in a recent letter. He eays:—" There are now six mills at work in the neighbourhood of the Pelorus, giving employment to some hundred and fifty hands, and capable of cutting about 7,000,000 feet of sawn timber annually. Yaluing this at its now market price, it will realise something like £28,000, and will give employment to two hundred vessels of the class now used in the trade.

The coach from Reefton, on the 6th inßtant, brought down a cake of gold weighing 560 ounces from the Anderson's Claim, and a cake weighing 129 ounces eighteen pennyweights from the Wealth ofNations* Claim. The result from the Wealth was for twelve days' crushing; the upper plates were scraped, but not the lower ones. The gold from both claims was lodged at the Bank of New Zealand.

The Wanganui Chronicle sayß that many of the landowners and occupiers along the coast ot that district are sorely troubled by the stealthy yet rapid encroachments of the sand, which, during high winds, is carried farther and farther inland to the destruction of large tracts of pasturage.

A contemporary has the following on the marriage of a dear friend : —" He stepped upon the Hymeneal platform, adjusted the fatal noose, and was swung off into the unsilent bourne whence he can never return save by the decease of Mrs. M'Clum,"

"Snyder," in the Weekly Herat n —I hare a faint recollection that, a '' a / ! two since, I referred to the people J land as possessing great scientifio ak ni Cl making a "convenience" of people, it- 0 . I quoted a case in point, as coming una., 1 own simple experience. A gentlemsn Z nected *!th that section of the press to I b&Va the honour and emolument to bel in confirmation of my theory, has related t°°* the followingHe was stopped in the sb* he states, a few weeks ago by a gentlema • shirts-sleeves and kid slippers. The neV man asked my friend whether he loved r horny-handed working mechanic and than™ underpaid tott;er-up of accounts? Tfr followed I put in my friend's own words "r fact they stand in print now, as he 4 them. " I said, I was a lover of the hoa handed, but on the whole rather prefer? dealing in hands that wern't horny, but ? me a plump lily white hand of lovely wotSl and I will squeeze it." "Never mindloS woman just now," waß the answer. «vryou come and try my sixpenny dinner tJ pared, especially for the working-man, and th trampled upon and ground-down ar:i Zin : So I said I would—when should I come ? An he said to-morrow, at four in the afternoon ' said the ground-down artizan feeds late to b going it at that hour, doesn't he. H e tjj, that wasn't it—he wanted me to coma aft» the crush of trade was over. So I went s directed, punctually to the hour, to coming myself by actual trial of the effects of a s ;. penny repast. Nothing could be finer. : plate of soup, followed by two flounderettes. These were succeeded by y, liver—wing, and breast of a chicken, with Blice or two of ham; afterwards, a plate o roast beef with mashed potatoes. Then son, rice pudding, with apple tart,and winding™ with a bit of oheese, a pat of fresh batter, sprigs of celery, and the brown end of a Frenc roll. Now, I said to myßelf, what a discos tented, cantankerous, ungrateful set of me, these artizans are, always talking of beie crushed and ground down, and complainic of bloated aristocrats, when, for sixpence, the can get such a dinner that they wouldn't h a bit the better if they were able to call th Queen their aunt. Then the man in the shirt sleeves came to me and asked how I liked th tucker, and I told him I liked it considerably •Then he said, "Will you give it a notice i your paper ?" When these words were spoke; it struck me quicker than lightning that thi man was making'a convenience of me. So Baid to him, " When the horny-handed come to this establishment do you give liim sou[ fish, liver—wing, and breast of chicken, roas beef, rice pudding, with apple sauce, cheese fresh butter, celery, and the brown end of i French roll. Do you do thfit, now ? Say } is so—show me it is so —and you shall have f newspaper all to yourself for a month, and thi Colonial Treasurer shan't have a line for hii Budget speech." Tlio man seemed to be trying to recollect something he lim3 forgotten, and failed me an answer. " Come," bays J, " let us know the facts bearing on tha case." At last he said he didn't thiai he did give quite suoh a dinner for sij. pence. "Then," said 1, "darn me if yoa have a notice." You see, said my friend, the ch&p had beea trying to make a con« venience of me, and I didn't see it—but what a crushing dinner I had for sixpence! —I am gathering together all sorts of funny facts in connection with people being made s convenience of. Somo time back, in this go. ahead city of Auckland, a man run into debt with a storekeeper, and having done this much, he ran away. The tradesman, after a time, wrote " bolted" on the credit side of tha ledger against the man's name, went home to supper, and didn't think anything more of so common an event. About two years after ha hears by chance that the man was living in Australia, that he had had a large property left him, and was keeping a lady and a buggy, Now, as a summons from Queen-street, Auckland, won't operate in Bourke-street, Melbourne, the storekeeper hit upon an invention so ingenious that many a man has received a pension for life for one not half so good. Ha sent an advertisement to a Melbourne paper that if J.T.S.fIX., late of Auckland, would come over he would hear of something greatly to hi 3 advantage by applying to A. and 8., solicitors, prothnn n fur inn, JT a AT" , under tha impression that he was coming in for a second landed estate, did come over by the neifc steamer, and he was served with a summons for the storekeeper's debt. I think this W3a makiag a convenience of a man, and I don't think that man liked it a little bit.

The travelling reporter of tlie Duuedin Star contributes the following amusing sketch: —There is a good sprinkling of savagery and Maoridom in Wanganui. There is to ba hera Been the swell, jewelry-wearing, buggy-drivin* Maori, the man well-dressed, the man halfdresaed, and the blanket-wearing animal in profusion. Women, as well as the sternef sex, thus clotlie themselves. They are to la found in every public-house, at the corner of every street, soiling apples or potatoes, drinking beer or strong waters, or playing ' Yankee grab' for pence. They appear to toil not, neither spin, but live as landed gentry should. The talented authoress of ' Maori Land' remarked : ' I have only seen three handsoma Maori women in all my life, among all the many faces of all tribeß that I have seen coming and going. And all I can say about those three is that they were not one atom like Maoris.' The colored ladies of this district certainly confirm the truthfulness of thi3 description. I don't think the men either can be called handsome, as a lot. They look beat at a distance—don't bear too close an inspection. G-reen marks and patches about the lips of a Maori girl add no attraction to our untutored vision, tlie rod, unadulterated article seeming far more graceful and seductive. Europeans like their women to wash, be fragrant, sit on chairs or couches—well, when you look ou a good specimen of the native raca squatting on the ground, and pulling potatoes out of a fire with her fingers and eating them, and feel doubtful whether the color of the skin she wears has not an additional tiuge from an accretion soap and water would remove, I don't believe our women folk losa by the comparison.

A hired assassin is a character more common in fiction than in the annals of actual crime. A man of the name of Osborne, hung at Eaioxville, 'United States, for the murder of a woman named Matthews, maintained, honever, in his last confession, that he hud been hired by a stranger to kill her. "He asked me," said Osborne, "if I would take 50'J dollars or 1000 to put a certain person out of the way. I told him ' No,' and asked him who it wa3 and what he wanted.. He then offered me 5000 dollars, ana said that he had arranged with another for a much less sum, but he had failed him. He said he believed I had tba nerve to do it. X then agreed to kill the person, but did not know who it was. He told me it was Mrs. Matthews. I started back with horror, and would not do it. He told me that she had heard a conversation, and was to be a witness for her father (in a lawsuit), ai d must be put out of the way." This man added, characteristically, that having felled his victim to the ground, he looked at her again for a moment, and felt he would give the world to have her well again, then took his knife and cut her throat.

The Rev. C. ft. Spurgeon has had a tempting offer to pay a visit to America. A gentleman well-known in the States offered Mr. Spurgeon 25,000 dols. for twenty-five lectures —£200 for each lecture. He would have been allowed to lecture for as many more nights as he chosfj so that in the course of a year he might have been worth £40,000. The pastor of the Tabernacle replies as follows : " I cannot leave the college or the orphanage, not if my house were filled with Bilver and gold from top to bottom. There are two thingß which I should feel if I went to America. The first is that I should go, not to preach the Gospel, but to lecture, and I cannot' do that, not for the National Debt."

The Wairarapa correspondent of the Wil' lington Independent writes : —I have never in all my experience seen such a lot of precocious young scamps as are to be found in the Wairarapa. At ten a pipe is their ambition, at fifteen they talk horse, at twenty they M 0 experts at the cue, and at often they have settled down to a besotted life.

A remarkable escape from firo, if not loss of ljfe sajs the Ballarai Courier, occurred during a thunderstorm, at a cottage near the Prince 0 f Wales Company's air shaft, Cobblers, belonging to Mr. Kenworthy, who resides in the place with his family. The family had been watching the storm, and were about eittiu" dowu to dinner, when there came n report, and instantly the house was filled with smote dust and soot, while the inmates appeared to be enveloped in flames. The Snins, for such it was, had struok the house near the ridgeboard, scattering the shin»les and converting one of the rafters into fibre"; proceeded down to the partition, where it appears to have divided —one stream making for tho fireplace, blowing out and smashing the lining boards in its course, and then it appears to have gone up the chimney, for it has left its track all the way np; the other stream made for a large maple pieture frame, one corner of which is shattered, and the gilt border in«ide all blackened on all sides and tY picture scorched. It then took to a provision «afa immediately under, shattered the nearest leg, burnt a hole through the perforated meinl, smashed crockery in a moßt unaccountable manner ; crossing over to the opposite leg, which it splintered to fragments, them around the partition into the butter, sugar, cream, etc., which were on the (jtjle—putting the performances of spirits completely into .the shade. Tho cream was rendered a putrid mass instantly, and the milk turned as thick *ia porridge, while the sulphurous stench that filled the honse was unbearable. The shock was considerable, but fortunately no one was seriously hart. The Lord Mayor of London has an. allowance of £S,OOO a year to meet the expenses of his mayoralty, but the actual expense is from £12,000 to £20,000. From the long-estab-lished custom, he and the sheriffs of London and Middlesex between them give a banquet on the night of the 9th of November. This is supplied by the city cooks, at a cost of £4,000, of which sum the Lord Mayor pays two thousand, and the two sheriffs one thousend each. He ha 3 also to give during his mayoralty a dinner to her Majesty's Ministers. The dinner costs £2,000, and, like all other dinners or banquets given at Guildhall, is supplied by the city cooks. All dinners and banquets tire given by the Lord Mayor at the Mansionhouse. The old-established firm of Birch and Co., Cornhill, have held this latter appointment for many years. Should any foreign sovereign make an official or publio visit to her Majesty, the Lord Mayor is expected to invite him to a banquet at Guildhall, in the name of the people of London, and these royal banquets cost from £2,000 to £3,000 each. Every and any distinguished foreigner who may happen to visit the metropolis of England has also an acknowledged claim on his hospitality and attention. The Lord Mayor is generally called upon to give five to seven banquets at Guildhall, and fifteen to twenty banquets at the Mansion-house. Should the Lord Mayor become a bankrupt during his term of office, he is entitled to a pension for life ; but the Court of Aldermen, from whom the Lord Mayor is elected, take special care that they only elect very rich aldermen as mayors.

A good story comes from the Grey Yalley. A short time ago a correspondent of the Grey Valley Times Eent an account to that paper of some bones that he had dug up on the Afcaura plains, which were supposed Moa bones. This discovery was repeated in other papers, and it was fully believed that the relies were those of a moa. It is evident, however, that a hoax was perpetrated, for the finder sent the following letter to our contemporary. He says :— " With reference to my report to you on the discovery ofAloa bones on the Ahaura plains, I exceedingly regret to say that my conclusions were precipitate, as the bones turn out to be those of a bHllock. I deeply regret having misled you, but have myself with many of my friends also been a riotim to my credulity ; for, on finding the bones, I had every fragment carefully washed and scraped, and devoted many weeks in an effort to put them together, and never finally lost my belief in their genuineness till I dug up from the same spot two horns, four hoofs, and a pair of hobbles, which I was reluctantly compelled to admit, were evidenaes irreconcilable witli my former theory. Had I not made the discovery last named, I am confident that I should have been able to put together a skeleton form which would bear a strong resemblance to the moa, as I bad only half exhausted my supply of material when the frame stood twenty-nine feet high, and called forth the admiration and Wonder of all beholders." The Poverty Bay Standard says :—"lt gives us great pleasure in announcing the laying of the keel for a schooner, to be built for Capt. Trimmer, at Tologa Bay. She is intended to trade on the coast; and possessing a light draught, will be a welcome addition to the carrying capacity of the port." The omission to use a stamp in receipting an account for £2 cost a Grreymouth resident just 14s more than the full amount he then received. The license of the Ferry Hotel, North Shore, was transferred from Henry Bedell to Patrick South, at the Police Court yesterday. The Emily Gold Mining Company is in process of liquidation, and creditors are requested to prove their debts on the 26th of August next, at the District Court. The annual meeting of the Red Queen G-old Mining Company will take place on the 30th instant, at the company's office, Shortlandstreet. Notice is given, by advertisement, of intention to apply for the transfer of the licence of we Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Panmure, to John Rodgers. The shareholders of the Una Gold Mining Company will hold their half-yearly meeting 021 the 31st instant, at Grahamstown. The seoond term of the College evening classes will commence on Monday next, the 21st instant. Tenders are called for, in our advertising columns, by Mr. Owen Jones, for a large quantity of posts and rails. Tenders are called for by the Parnel] Highway Board for the supply of scoria ash.