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New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4269, 20 July 1875, Page 2

Parliament will be opened to-day by His Excellency, in person, we presume. Neither our special correspondent nor the Press Agency have, however, favored us with any particulars relative to the movements of the Ministry, or the probabilities of the day's doings.

The master of a coasting vessel was yesterday fined £5 and costs, for failing to keep a light on board his vesseL The lantern had been lit several times, but was blown out. In connection .with this case, we would mention that the Harbour Board regulations provide that every vessel must keep one person on board, as an anchor watch. Had this been done in the case referred to, a breach of the regulations would not have occurred. But there are matters of greater importance than this connected with the observance of this greatly-neglected part of the Harbour regulations. In the event of a etonn arising, the man on duty as anchor ■watch would be able to "pay out" more cable, and this, in almost every case, would enable the vessel to ride the storm out in safety. When this is not attended to, the vessel is very likely to lose her anchorage, and in being carried away, drag other vessels with her, and cause a very large amount of damage. We trust that this provision will in future be attended to.

From the Whau a correspondent supplies us with a few notes. Cultivation, he complains, has not been extended in the district as much as could be wished, though the progress made in that respect has been of late steady and very appreciable. Another brick manufactory has been started, making the sixth or seventh established on the Whau river. There are any number of pheasants and rabbits. The roads are very good for about two miles beyond the Whau, but near the entrance a stone bridge has lately been built acrose Gittos'a Creek, and although at great expense, it has already become very dangerous, especially after dark, the new earth-work connected with it having here and there slipped away. The Mount Albert and Whau 'bns has to cross it four times a-day, but at night the performance is not a safe one.

The following is the scale of fees authorised by his Honor the Superintendent to be charged by the local analyst, appointed under the Adulteration of Food Act, IS6C : —1. For each analysis under the said Act, ten shillings and sixpence (10s 6d). 2. For each mineral analysis, one pound one shilling (£1 Is). 3. For each miscellaneous analysis, not less than one ponnd one shilling (£1 Is), nor more than three pounds three shillings (£3 3s). Provided that the local analyst is authorised to remit any such fee aforesaid, at his discretion, in case the analysis be made for the public benefit.

We regret to learn that the Hon. Every Maclean has deemed it to be his duty to tender to the Governor the resignation of his seat in the Legislative Council. Mr. Maclean's private business will not permit that attention to his duties consistent with the great importance of the position he holds, and this fact has determined him to take the steps indicated. We could wish that such honorable conduct were more frequently pursued:

We beg to acknowledge receipt of the separate halves of two ten-pound notes. The money, when the remaining halves have been received, is to be appropriated as follows :— £10 to the Asylum for the old and destitute, and £10 for the' Orphan Children's Asylum. The sender of this liberal donation conceals his real name under the signature of " Entre Nou3." He is one who evidently prefers to do a good deed in silence. But he will have his reward nevertheless.

State of Her Majesty's gaol, Auckland, for the week ending July 18, IS7s:—On remand, 3 males, 1 female ; sentenced to peual servitude, 35 males; sentenced to hard labonr, SG males, 36 females; sentenced to imprisonment, 7 males; default of bail, 10 males; debtors, 2 males; received during the week, 23 males, 11 females ; discharged during the week, 23 males, 10 females: total in gaol, 143 males, 37 females.

Mr. Albin Martin, who has been seriously indisposed, is, we are glad to state, nearly restored to health. He was able to be in town yesterday upon business. Mr. Martin has been for many years foreman of the Grand Jury, from which he has lately received exemption. He has been long known not only as an artist of great merit, but a most active and enterprising settler.

The annual meeting of the ratepayers of the Xewton Highway District was held yesterday, at which trustees and auditors were elected, aud a rate of Id iu the £ on the value to sell was struck. The meeting also unanimously agreed to request the Superintendent to proclaim the Fencing Act Suspension Act, 1874, in force within the district.

It has been notified in the Provincial Gazette of yesterday's date, that an area described at Coromandel shall be a district known by the name of the Coromandel Highway District, and the first meeting of ratepayers has been fixed to take place at the Court-house, on Wednesday, 2Sth July, at 3 p.m., Mr. E. Wilson to be chairman of the same.

A correspondent of a Dunedin paper says: —The discoveries at Skippers will eclipse anything yet in Otago. I never saw anything like them before—not even in Victoria. The Phoenix tributers have between thirty and forty tons of stone out that will yield at least, if crushed alone, from sixty to one hundred ounces to the ton. I really believe it will realise the latter.

A letter has been received from Sir George A. Arney, who was at San Francisco at date. He had suffered considerably from sea-sickness, and he was about to leave on a tour to the Sierra Xevada, to return in a week, when he will proceed by rail to New York, en route to England.

The Highways Act, 1574, has been brought into force within the Epsom Highway district, and the first meeting of ratepayers is to take place at the Junction Hotel, Epsom, on Monday, the 2Cth, at 7 o'clock, —A. Beetham, Esq., in the chair.

The Pakuranga hounds meet at Bishop's Corner, on Wednesday, and at Woodward's, Flat Bush, on Saturday, each morning at 10.30.

The Dunedin Jockey Club has endorsed the recent decision of the Auckland Jockey Club in the disqualification of Barron and Kelly.

That eyesore and relic of days gone by, the City public pound, situated off Victoriastreet, has been abolished.

Pheasants are getting very plentiful in the neighbourhood of Dunedin,

A case of a somewhat peculiar character was heard at the Police Court yesterday. » young man, who was defended by Mr. .Joy was charged with having been drunk and disorderly. The evidence in support of the charge was given by the constable who made the arrest and another constable who came to his assistance. Both these witneeaea •wore that the man was drunk, and the former of them also deposed that he was disorderly ; but the second witness did not arrive at the scene of the arrest until att«r tke alleged disorderly conduct. The first witness also admitted having struck the prisoner on the head with his baton with sufficient force to make the blood come and to raise a lump, but said that he did so in selfdefence, as the prisoner first struck him on the mouth. The blow he did not consider a hard one ; but in this respect the prisoner and his counsel did not hold the same opinion a3 the constable. For the defence three witnesses swore positively that, though the prisoner had been drinking, it was not to excess, and that he was neither drunk nor disorderly when arrested. One o{ the witnesses for the defence admitted having cautioned the prisoner not so loud, telling him at the same time e fliere was a constable near, when, he said, the prisoner replied, " it was hard if a man was to be prevented by the police from speaking in the streets." The constable had previously depesed that the prisoner used words to that effect, but also that he accompanied them with words of an obscene and insolent character. This statement was contradicted by the witnesses for the prisoner. The evidence respecting the alleged assault was withheld for another charge, but thewitnesses stated that the prisoner did not strike the eonstable. It appeared from the depositions that the accused suffers from partial paralysis ; that he walks somewhat lame ; and that his ordinary conduct is boisterous. As a consequence of these peculiarities he might be considered by some to be intoxicated when he was perfectly sober. In view of these facts, the Bench considered the prisoner entitled to the benefit of the doubt, and dismissed the case, but at the same time remarked that in dismissing it they did not endorse the severe strictures which the counsel for the defence had cast upon the police. The charge of assault was dismissed without prejudice, the police not being prepared to go on with it. The case is referred to in onr editorial columns.

The Fakir of Oolu has been creating a sensation at Wellington. "The Entranced Lady" and the "Alarvellous Crystal Fountain" are astonishing even the practised eye of a morning journal reporter. He of the New Zealand Timts says:—"This part o£ the programme baffles description, and may only be correctly appreciated by those who ■witness it. The lady having been entranced by the agency of mesmerism, becomes an inanimate object, under the complete control of the Fakir, and, whilst in this condition, is placed in a series of postures, the retention of which, unaided by any visible adequate support, is opposed to all physical laws and theories of gravitation. She is made to represent Sleep, the Sleeping Beauty, Prayer, the Dancing Girl, Goddess of Liberty, Britannia, and a host of other historic pictures, clothed in costumes of a hundred varieties, and illuminated by a beautiful variegation of lights. Of the means by which suspension is sustained we confess total ignorance. " The cause is hidden, bnt the effect is seen," and the spectacle is perfectly bewildering. The third part of the programme is the Marvellous Crystal Fountain, and this, too, is beyond description. There are hundreds of jets in it, and each of them so thoroughly under the control of the mechanician that the body of water, cha-melion-like, changes its form every moment, and the play of a thousand different colours, a3 light of every hue is thrown upon the coruscating volume, produces an effect sublime in the highest degree, and perfectly enchanting. Throughout the evening an efficient orchestra performs excellent music, which alone is worth the admission fee. It is the same band that played for the doctor in Melbourne.

Now that we have welcomed the Hawea to our waters, and done so with shouting ; and now that the travelling public may Be fairly congratulated upon more and better accommodation along the coast than they have hitherto enjoyed, we (Wellington Tribune) wish to put in a word once again (we shall not count the number of times we have before done so) touching a reduction of fares. We have hitherto, in so far as this subject is concerned, spoken to a wicked and gainsaying generation, or rather company. Indeed, so long as the traffic rested mainly with a Wellington directorate, it was hardly in human nature to concede anything in this direction. But considering that the Wellington Company has been making a remarkably good thing of it, and uow that there are two Richmonda in the field, we wish to repeat that the rate of travelling is exceedingly dear, and that it ought to be reduced. We do not repeat the figures we have quoted on previous occasions to prove our assertion, but we respectfully submit to the directors of both companies that the subject is worth their consideration. The two companies, we are assured, mean to work together in the most amicable manner. Well and good. We may be permitted to hope, however, that this co-operation will not go so far as to stereotype fares, or even freights, as they are. A change is wanted, and there is nothing more noticeable in travelling than that ease and cheapness add to it very remarkably ; and it will be to the interest of the company which first makes application of the fact.

It will be gratifying to the friends of the late Mr. D. Macnaughton, formerly of Woodside Farm, Epsom, to read the following paragraph respecting his brother, which we clip from the Inverness Courier of the 22nd April last:—" We understand that Major D. C. Macnaughton, a native of FortWilliam, who recently retired from the army, has been promoted to the rank of lieutenantColonel by H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief, in recognition of his long and meritorious services, and that her Majesty has been graciously pleased to nominate him for a reward for distinguished services. During his long connection with the army, Lieutenant-Colonel Macnaughton has seen a great deal of foreign service. He was engaged with his late regiment, the 13th light Infantry, during the (Jrimean War, and wa3 present at the Battle of Tchernaya and fall of SebastopoL He also served with his regiment in India daring the suppression of the Mutiny, and took an active part in many hard-fought fields. Lieutenant-Colonel Macnaughton holds the Crimean medal and clasps, the Turkish medal, and Indian medal. It is satisfactory to think that in these times there still able to keep up the credit of thuir native district, like those brave and distinguished men who hailed from Lochaber in days of yore."

A late English journal says :—Capt. H. Burton, half-pay, late 40th Regt., was one of the law students called to the bar by Honorable Society of the Middle Temple on April 30. This officer while on half-pay has been devoting his time to the study of the law. He served with the 40th Regt. during the New Zealand War of IS6OGI ; also throughout the campaign of 1563-65 as deputy-assistant quartermaster-general, and superintended the construction and organisation of the military electric telegraph throngh the Waikato country.

Attention is being drawn in England to the value of the mule. At a recent show the prize mule stood seventeen hands, and was proved to be much stronger than a horse. Another animal exhibited, and which was only twelve and a-half hands high, had been driven the previous week 220 miles in fortytwo honrs, nnd entered London on the evening of the soeoud day at a pace of tea miles an hour, with no marks of fatigue.

A London correspondent of a provincial paper say that the members of the turf, or rather those who live by the turf alone, have just received a terrible shock. Mr. Chaplin, M.P., one. of the greatest supporters of the sport, has finally decided to dispose of the whole of his racing stud, and it is understood that it will be brought to the hammer in the coursfc of a few wewu.