THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4405, 25 December 1875, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1875.

Christmas always appeals to the instinctive generosity of human nature. He spends it most reasonably and most profitably who surrenders the cares of business into the keeping of the harmless enjoyment of the time. Wisdom can derive a lesson from the confidence with which youth and innocence contemplate the future. Age may recapture the colours of youth by assisting at the coronation of the mythical personage that presides over plum pudding, although here prudence must be taken as the guide to rescue from the fiendish nightmare that punishes repletion. The Lord of Misrule is no longer proclaimed by the stipendiary jester, and the Abbot of Unreason has lost his licence to preach, outside his monastery. The mighty expansion of human interests during the last twenty years has deposed both theso dignitrries. A career dawns upon the young man or young woman much sooner now than was the case when the "Tally ho !" coaches were compared to streaks of lightning for getting over ground at the rate of twelve miles an hour. A boarding school miss receives probably a telegram of the last new fashion before she h&s experienced the delight of her first love letter. Her imagination may be deepened as well as expanded by intelligence of the loss of some relative, parent, or friend flashed from the opposite side of the globe in a few hours. But a thousand causes in our day contribute to make serious the young and the aged, for both periods of life calculate their chances of happiness from the antecedence and succession of neverceasing social phenomena. Merry Christmas ' will be much given to talk upon pre-historic subjects and the theory of evolution, while roasting the chestnuts, and his young clients are burning their fingers in boisterous frolic. The popularity of Christmas has its source deeper than the necessity of physical relaxation or repose from .the strain of mental anxieties. It is the season of hopefulness. He enjoys it not who allows care to be of his company during this season. The interpretation of the Christian year is a resolution of providential compensation. No man is wholly miserable, and no mania whollyhappy. Theloreoftheseason wHI tell us that the rich might find their solace in giving succour to the poor, while the poor can afford an example of the practice of many virtues to the rich. Either way a man may gather from his circumstance the kind of nurture that will prevent him repining. This is not the time to talk of the conclusions of political j economy. Fifty weeks of the year have been given to that subject, and a period of two weeks is not too long to shew that there is heart as well aa money in the world. It is true that heart here has not the same room or incentives to mani-. feat its instincts which prevail with it in Old England, Bonnie Scotland, or the Green Isle. There is no snowdrift from which to rescue the wretched, the sun is usually brilliant overhead, and the breath of summer is warm to the cheek; civilisation does take care of most of its chilnotof all, and neveryetwas a really deserving case' that sought the hand of charity in these old countries which did not find it open and full. But if there are no snowdrifts, no chilling winds, no squalid penury in Australian colonies, except such as vices breed, there are miefortunes of a special kind. The migra-

tions of laboiir are fariher and more irncertain; tKe innocent iamily is often the victim of & parent's folly, or imprudence, or crime. The deserving wife eometimes endures the humiliation of undeserved abandonment," the orphan stfems more an .orphan here, for benevolence has not yet attained such, organisation as to act upon a systematic plan, and with almost professional sagacity. These classes of sufferers have claims upon the well-to-do and comfortable. Reasoning upon i the conditions of a eubject does not re- ! move its motive influence. Charity proclaims itself a friend, and for what it gives it seeks no reward but gratitude, ' else it is not charity. But the pensionary 'is made a pauper when fed and told he does not deserve Ids food. Such a person learns the secret of his existence from the arrogance that baits and accuses him. He grows to be dangerous, and knows it. We have not come to this in New Zealand yet, but signs are not wanting that this is one of the "rocks ahead." We commend earnestly to the leaders of society in this place, that they be vigilant while there is yet opportunity ; that they will cast off pride and probe distress, relieving it, if deserving, with liberal hand. This is a kind of work which, if not provided for in time, will find new tenants for gaols, hospitals, and asylums. " A word in season how good is it." Suffering, though it may be the consequence of error or imprudence never loses its title to respect. The greatost Onb That e'er wore earth about him was a sufferer, Jk. mild, meek, patient, humble spirit, The first true gentleman that ever lived. There may be found those who have the highest claims upon humanity, but are too timid to prefer them. These are the martyrs to circumstances who should command some of the time of a Christian festival. Upon topics of wider public import we have nothing at present to say. They must be left to another season. We hope the time may be in every sense propitious, alike to greybeards and auburn ringlets. Not that we have any sympathy with the alliance of May and December, but that the wisdom associated with the one may protect the graces interwoven with the other. We heartily wish that the weather shall be bright, the strawberries ripe, the turf green and soft, and the music in accurate time. We might appropriately repeat the old Franklin's carol: — The Wild Boar'g Head In hand I bring, With garlands gay and rosemary, Wo pray you all sing merrilv Qui estis in convimo. The Latin refrain may be interpreted, ' ' A merry Christmas and a happy New Year," which in plain truth and thorough sincerity we wish to " all our readers."

Some time ago Mr. Murray, the British Consul at Portland, Maine, made some statements relative to the alleged failure of the Maine Liquor Law in the state of that name, •which received currency in the English press. These statements were at once taken exception to, and refuted by those best acquainted with the question—the officers of the State. The| Hon. Mr. Win. Fox—ex-Pre-mier of New Zealand—having his attention called to Mr. Murray's assertions, determined to test their truthfulness by personal observation, during his passage through Maine, while en route for England. Mr. Fox says he was desirous of ascertaining how far "prohibition does prohibit," and the following was the result of his " amateur detective" experiences in Portland, as well as his interview with the celebrated British Consul:—"l arrived at Portland about four o'clock in the morning. I deposited my luggage at the hotel, and started out on my rounds, having made up my mind to perform the duty of a sort of amateur detective as long as I was in Maine. To use a vulgar phrase, I went ' poking my nose' into every place where liquor or drunkenness was likely to be, but nowhere could I meet with either. I began at four o'clock in the morning, and kept that up till breakfast time. I went down to the wharves and quays, which are more than a mile long, where all the steamers and shipping are moored, and where drunkenness would be probably most rife, if there were any, and before breakfast, I repeat, I was quite unable to detect any signs of it. Well, in the course of the morning I called upon the Hon. Neal Don-. He showed me places where it had been completely swept away, and where there had been grog-selling places, which are now turned into greengrocers' stores, and after having spent a very pleasant morning with him, I said, ' Now, I am not going to leave Portland with your etory only in my ears. We have a British Consul here, and I am going to hear what he says. I know he has a different story from yours to tell'—so, having an introduction, I went down to Mr. Murray, the British Consul. I found him a most courteous gentleman. He did his best to give me all the information in his power, and finding we had mutual friends, we were soon on a footing of considerable intimacy. He spoke his mind to me without the least reserve, and allowed me to argue with and interrogate him to any extent I pleased. lam bound to say that I think he entertains very strong prejudices on the question. Shakspere tells us of men ' who cannot endure a harmless necessary cat. . Now, the Maine Law seemed to be Mr. Murray's harmless necessary cat. He alleged, as facts, all the a priori arguments against it. such as that it made men hypocrites, was one law for the rich and another for the poor, and bo forth. But when I asked him for facts he seemed at a loss to supply tliem. I called his attention to the statistics adduced on the other side, such as those contained in the ' Cloud of Witnesses,' and other documents, and I begged him te tell me whether the facts stated by General Neal Dow and others, as to the diminution of crime, employing of persons, &c., were true or not. Mr. Murray candidly admitted that, if true, they went far to prove the success of the law. Then said I, ' Will you tell me if they are true or not ?' Mr. Murray admitted that he could not, and that he had no evidence to disprove then." The Governor of the State of Maine, in a letter to the London Times recently, says, "So general has beoome the conviction that the policy of prohibiting the dram-shop, on the whole, restrains the evils of liquor traffic immeasurably beyond any conceivable system of licence or regulation, that all organised opposition to the ' Maine Law' has ceased in this State, and at least two-thirds of our people give it a hearty- support." It is true the number of convictions against the statute have been more numerous during the year 1874 than in any other year since its enactment ; but that fact simply proves that its provisions are now being honestly and rigidly enforced. During the Civil War all questions of social reform were thrown into the background, presence of the pressing exigencies of the times. But with a return to a more settled, state of things, the law has been gradually assuming its old potency, and, sustained by strong popular sentiment, is making ftself felt in the large number of convictions alluded to above.

So far, the elections in this province have been conducted fairly, and without anything having been said or done fitted to cause unhappy reflections in the future. Candidates have in general spoken of each other in complimentary terms, and have not, so far as we have seen, transgressed the rules ■which ought to be observed when persons have to refer to each other in public life. Perhaps, the peculiar circumstances , of. the , elections have had something to do with this tolerant spirit. Amongst free and thoughtful men, there will infallibly be differences of opinion on all subjects, and these differences of opinion are quite observable now, but there is a general conviction that in the ensuing session some active and united step must be

taken by the Auckland members to lift the province from the disadvantageous positionshe has hitherto occupied as compared vrith the reat of New Zealand. But perhaps we have said enough lately on this subject, and it -was our desire, on this Christmas morning, to have as few merely electioneering matters as possible to force upon the attention of bar readers. Throughout, we have endeavoured to give fair play all round, and have freely given insertion to correspondence on all sides, whether the letters were in consonance with our own opinions or not. We only required that the letters should come up to a certain standard in ability, and should be written in a fair spirit. Of the letters we publish to-day, we may say that we have had to excise a small portion from the clever but whimsical letter of "Peter Simple. The letter of "Elector," is from an esteemed correspondent, whose communications are always fairly and ably written.

Our telegrams from Melbourne, under date 17lh instant, state that "the non-arrival of the steamer Colima, in Sydney, has left the agents without a boat to take the mails on to California, and the Government has declined the offer of the Macgregor for the conveyance of the mail. The agents have, therefore, advised that in the event of the non-arrival of the Colima, there will be no boat available this month." This difficulty will by this time have been overcome, although, doubtless, there will be some delay in the dispatch of the mail. It will be remembered that the Colima only reached this harbour on the 13th inst., having broken down during the passage from San Francisco. She lay here for five days effecting repairs, and left again for Sydney on the 18th inst. She would in due course reach Sydney on or about the 23rd instant. The Cyphrenes, which left here on the 19th instant with the New Zealand portion of the mail, will therefore be detained some time in Kandavu, waiting the arrival of the Colima, which latter boat -mil have to continue the passage to San Francisco, the Cyphrenes being debarred from going on by the Government Engineer here, on accouri of repairs being required to her machinery. It might, however, so happen that the Government Engineers at Sydney may also pass the same interdict with the Colima, and compel her to go no further than Kandavu and back— in which case the mail service will lapse into chaos again. • *

Thb Newton nomination yesterday was more than a mere form, for Mr. Swanson, having apparently recovered from Bis indisposition, was able to deliver an address npon several interesting topics. Mr. Swanson's views on the subjects of taxation, the runs in the South, and the Civil Service, ■will find almost universal acceptance here. A reform is urgently required in the Civil Service, and a outting down of the huge departments that have been growing up at Wellington with the rapidity of mushrooms, and for whose accommodation an enormous building is now being erected. That the Central Government exercises a vast amount of control over the doings of local bodies i 3 an evil which should be remedied. It arises no doubt in part from the vicious system of subsidising, and the radical remedy would be not to allow so much money to be filtered through the Central Government.

The Relieving Officer, by the direction of His Honor the Superintendent, has directed the contractor to issue the materials for a Christmas dinner to all persons in receipt of relief at Auckland and the Thames. There are, we understand, about 200 cases. The denizens of the Old Men's Refuge are to have a good Christmas dinner from the £5 contributed by His Worship the Mayor. The following tenders have been accepted for services and supplies during the nine months, commencing Ist January, 1876 :— Printing for the Provincial Government, Henry Brett; stationery, John Henry Upton; binding, William Leys j carting, no tender received ; shoemaker's supplies for Mount Eden Gaol, no tender received; blacksmith's supplies for Mount Eden Gaol, T. and S. Morrin ; conveyance of prisoners between Gaol and Courts, P. Quick ; rations for Mount Eden Gaol, H. S. Meyers ; rations for lock-up, C Burton; prison and police supplies, C. Burton ; provisions for Provincial Hospital, H. S. Meyers; provisions for Old Men's Kefuge, H. S. Meyers; provisions for Provincial Lunatic Asylum, H. S. Meyers; bread for Hospital and Kefuge, Thomas Teasdale? moat for Hospital and Kefuge, Ileuben Elley; bread for Lunatic Asylum, E. Wilson and Co.; meat for Lunatic Asylum, R. Reeves ; milk for Hospital and Refuge, Thomas Johnson ; milk for Lunatic Asylum, F. Hewin and Co.; rations for sick and destitute at Auckland and Onehun<ra, T. W. Doonin ; at Thames, F. Hewin aucl Brother; at Panmure, S. Wallington; at Howick, George Wagstaff. Coals, W. and G. Winstone. Firewood for offices, &c, John Brown; for Lunatic Asylum, Richard Smyth. Drugs and medical appliances for Provincial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, no tender received. A young man of respectable family—in fact, the son of a clergyman—was yesterday committed at the Police Court to take his trial at the Supreme Court upon three distinct charges of forgery and uttering. It seems almost incredible how a man in the position of the accused could have so far endeavoured to effect his own ruin and bring disgrace upon his family by such an act as to forge his father's name to a cheque for the sum of ten shillings, for such w.is the first charge gone into. The act could not Have been for the purpose of obtaining the assumed value of the cheque, as it was given in evidence that it was ofiered to pay a debt of eight shillings and sixpence owing by the accused. The most painful part of the proceedings at the Police Court yesterday during the hearing of the charge against this misguided youth was the appearance of his own father as evidence against the son. Strange to say, only the day previously two lads were placed in the witness-box to give evidence against their parents, both charged with the serious crime of arson. Those whose business compels them to visit the Police Court regularly generally become callous to most scenes, but the exhibition presented there during the past two days is sufficient to make even them shudder.

Mr. E. D. Davies, the ventriloqmst assisted by a talented company, opened at the City Hall last evening. There was a full house. Air. Davies is certainly the best ventriloquist that has visited these parts. His mimicry is most amusing, causing roars of laughter during his portion of the entertainment, entitled " Anecdotes and adventures ef Funny Polks." The programme was completed by the Brothers Du Ville on the horizontal bar, and in the high school of gymnasia, songs and specialities by Mr. T. Empson, pianoforte selections by Miss Eva Nora Davies, concluding with Mr. and Mrs. T. Empson in their parlour entertainment. Two hours in the City Hall would be well spent during the stay of Mr. Davies and his company. A special programme will be prepared for Monday night. The Borough Council of the Thames have decided to erect a building at Parawai for the purpose of a fever hospital, so that isolation of cases may be effected. There have been two more " special" notifications of scarletina, but the report is stoutly con. tradicted by the parties affected. It is to be hoped that the change of weather will render the precaution unnecessary. ' The presence of scarletina would be a dreadful scourge, and prevention is better than cure.—[Thames Correspondent.] Tenders for the erection of a villa at Campbellville, Ponsonby, for J. Morrison,. Esq., were opened today at Mr. Hammond's office, the lowest of those that had complied with the conditions was Mr. Golwell'e, which was accepted. The design is Corinthian ; the building will be set up from the j ground, at an elevation commanding choice views of the surrounding waters of &• harbour.

Yesterday evening there was a meeting of a few enthusiasts in % certain "room in t>!u» town. They had been reading sensational papers, and became possessed. That is, possessed with the idea that they could communicate -with departed spirits of the Just and the unjust. It seems that twenty or twenty-five - years ago, there started np a sect of believers in spiritual manifestations. Some Yankees had been reading the works commenting on the Kosicrucian and other similar doctrines. They got their heads muddled on the subject of the re-appearance o£ the spirits of the departed, and fully believed that they could oommunicate with them. The first outburst of this hallucination was in the shape of table-turning, which, as many may remember, was supposed to have been done by means of spirits of those gone before us to another world. After thin, the five or eix millions of believers, who it was said existed in the United States, made further developments, and proved to the satisfaction of the weak-minded and the hysterical, that communication could be held with the inhabitants of the unknown realms to which the souls of the dead had gone after crossing the river Styx. These communications ■were supposed to be made by means of taps under a table (not taps of a public house where spirits are said to be retailed), and a sort of alphabet was formed. Not only this, but ghosts were seen, and in every respect clothed in respectable broadcloth, or the usual dresses worn by the de : parted. That is, while the elothes of a. father were lying a cupboard waiting to be cut up, and cut up for the use of the children, the spirits converted them to their own use, and wore them from dark until cockcrow. The absurdity of the whole "new religion," as many in the United States had the impiousness to call it, was repeatedly shewn up and the conjurors held to ridicule. The tableturning was shewn by learned professors to be the result of the accumulative momentum of the muscular involuntary pressure on the table, and the appearance of spirits was also clearly proved to be the pure effects of exalted imagination or the results of the action of spirits of a very different kind. Strange to say, in spite of all common sense, in spite of all reason, in spite of all the teachings of Holy Scripture, there are yet to be found, a nnmber of lunatics who believe in these so-called " spiritual manifestations." About three years ago there was what they called a "circle" in Coromandel, consisting of these enthusiasts. They invoked the spirits, and called upon the guardian angels to bring them to the fore. In the meanwhile, the whole of the members of this peculiar institute were sitting round a table, with their hands linked and pressing on it. The table began to cut capers, and it is said tried to dance a hornpipe on one leg. But while this was in progress, something else was going on. A morepork was roosting quietly on the chimney. The turning of the table below made him dizzy, and a sudden flash of light, as one of the conjurers moved to one side, and allowed the light to pass him, completed the job. He fluttered down the chimney, and extinguished the light. There was a general "skedaddle." They thought they had really "raised the devil." at last. One of them said afterwards, he was positive he had nearly been suffocated by a sulphureous smell. The only thing certain about it is, that the circle did not surround the table again, and the sceances were given np. So much for Coromandel. But we are told that the people in Auckland who were sufficiently foolish to try a similar miserable experiment utterly failed. So much the better for them. An affair of the kind is far beyond the reach of irony. Nothißg but a good course of opening medicine is likely to do the patients any service. A five-grain pil. hydrarg., followed by a good black dose next morning, is the best cure for the spiritual disease. Mere talk, without exhibition of powerful medicine, is not likely to be of any use.

Two Provincial Government Gazettes were issued yesterday. We notify the principal contents. The offices of the Provincial Government will be closed from Saturday, the 25th, to the 28th, and from Ist January to 4th January inclusive. The official notifications are made of the election of Mr. Tonka, as Mayor of Auckland, and of Mr. J. E. Macdonald, as Mayor of the Thames. H. E. Sharp is appointed a member of the Waikouwiti Highway Board, vice A. Kelsall, deceased ; W. B. Farrand and E. Pilkington are appointed members of the Albertland North Highway Board, J. H. Harrison and D. B. Macdonald are appointed auditors of the Tiki Highway Board, and Joshua Robinson of the Pukekohe East Highway Board. Notifications is made that the folfollowing have been appointed to supply vacancies :—Kirikiriroa, J. B. White to be member and chairman; Maungatawhiri, R. Proudc to be member. The appointment oj several fence-viewers and collectors are notified. Under the Public Health Act, 1872, the following regulations are issued by the Central Board of Health for the province : —" Local Boards of Health are authorised and required in all cases in which diseases of a malignant and fatal character are discovered to exist in any dwelling-heuse situoted in an unhealthy or crowded locality, or being in a neglected or filthy state, to compel the inhabitants of any such dwellinghouse to remove therefrom, and to place them in a place of proper shelter. Whenever such removal shall have taken place the Local Boards of Health shall take immediate steps for the cleansing, ventilation, purification, and disinfection of the said dwelling-house. All costs and charges incurred under the foregoing regulations shall be provided by the local Board of Health for the district." A notification is published that a number of parcels of suburban* and rural land will be offered for sale at the Waste Lands Office on the 26th of January next.

In yesterday's paper we stated that 700 salmon ova had been placed in the Thames and Ohineniuri Rivers, on behal£ of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, by Mr J. C. Firth, assisted by Mr. A. J. Allom and Captain Goldsmith. We are informed that the precise number of young salmon deposited was 450. Yesterday, the Society shipped to Tauranga, per Rowena, 250 salmon fry, to tbe care of Mr. E. G. Norris, for one of the streams falling into the Bay of Plenty. Our Thames correspondent, referring to Mr. Firth's expedition says :—"Mr. Firth has completed hie task successfully, and deserves the thanks of the province for the pains he taken in supplying our river with the foundation of a splendid fishery, the benefits of which cannot as yet be estimated. Mr. Firth, accompanied by Captain Goldsmith, took 800 prisoners, contained in six boxes, to Paeroa by steamer, and liberated one box, about 100 fish (six weeks old) one mile above Paeroa. About 30 of this lot were dead, but the remainder were healthy, and appreciated their liberty. The rest of the boxes were taken up the Waihou, or Thames. After proceeding a short distance it was noted that the small fry were dying, when it was judged prudent to introduce them to their proper element at once. They were accordingly placed in the stream, and it is to be hoped, they -will escape their natural enemies, increasing and multiplying, and receive the protection of all who have the welfare of the district at heart. Should the experiment succeed, it will add to the resources of the district, and be a lasting memorial of the benefits that can be conferred on a people through the instrumentality of an individual." We are requested to correct an erroneous impression that the holidays of the public schools have been extended beyond the time already fixed. This is not the case. The motion which the Board had before it at its last meeting merely concerned the city and some of the suburban schools, and no de- J cision was come to. The matter was re- i ferred to the school committees concerned for their opinion. With reference to the hours of teaching, no change whatever has been made in existing time-tables or existing regulations. Our Coromandel correspondent telegraphs that the Tokatea Company have declared a dividend of 2s 6d. Wβ are sorry that Christmas dividends are ep scarce this yesr.

The Prince of Wales Theatre was r& opened last night with the long.<tf pec ted Christmas pantomime, and the moat sanguine expectations of the management must have been realised by the success which greeted it Tie building was crowded in every part -L in the stalls especially there waa hardly enough standing room. The performance commenced with a comic piece, entitled "Delicate Ground, m which Miss Carry George, Mr. • Jn?™'?*' and Mr - Charles Searle sustained the different characters with their usual ability. The pantomine entitled, "Harlequin Bluebeard, or Good Fair* Maoriana and the Demon fo f_ lowed after the usua intermission, and was enthusiastically received by the audience. The piece was excellently mounted, and, for the first night of. its .appearance, very well performed indeed. The scenes were painted m first-class style, and on the transformation scene being displayed a unanimous call waa made for the artist Mr. Thornton, who was obliged to appear and bow his acknowledgments. The mechanical effects were also well managed. Miss Jennie Nye, as Patrina, and Miss Patty Holt as Selim, dressed their respective parts magnificently, and acted them faithfully. Mr. Sam Boole's appearance as Sister Anns was sufficient to throw the assemblage into roars of laughter, and he succeeded in keeping them in that state time. He sang one or two songs witWcood effect, and had to accede to an imperative recall for one of them. Bluebeard ■was enacted by Mr. Collier with fidelity, and he presented a capital representation of the terror of our youthful days. The Harlequinade succeeded in turn, with Miss Jennie Nye as Columbine, Mr. E. Alexander as Harlequin,. Mr. G. W. Collier as Clown, and Mr. Charles Searle as Pantaloen. The local.hits were numerous, witty, and to the point, and the auditory testified by loud applause their approval as each noted celebrity had his foibles exposed. A transformation scene of unusual brilliancy and splendid effect, depicting tha future of Auckland, brought the evening's amusement to a close. The pantomime is undoubtedly the best that has teen presented in Auckland for many years past, and the company deserve the highest praise for their untiring efforts in catering for the pleasure of the playgoing public. Wβ had almost forgotten to mention a part of the performance in which about forty youngsters dressed in naval costume execute several complicated manoeuvres in a manner that would put many of our Volunteers to the blush.

Our Thames correspondent writeß:— " Considerable ill-feeling is expressed against certain, of our large and influential mines, inasmuch as sections of the property are not worked, and thereby labour is not allowed to develops the gold supposed or known to exist in those localities. Complaints are not wanting in charging the mining inspector ■with a derelection of duty in not compelling the various mines to be fully manned, or else thrown open for re-entry to the public. This may at first sight appear reasonable and fair, and in regard to those areas held under lease, and upon which no work, or next to it, is performed, then the Inspector should step in and report that the ground is held, not for mining purposes, but for speculation, debarring labour and capital from the object in view—the development of the goldfield. Every facility should be granted for taking up ground with a view to its being wrought—and abandonment should read—that any other party might occupy the same. With regard to claims or leases partially worked, it must be remembered that the number of mere employees is not the test, though in several instances the full complement of men are kept going within a few acres or even one, that would fully represent 10, 20, or even 30 acres, but the amount of money expended in labour-saving appliances need to be reckoned ; and that, without a security of title to hold large blocks, —blocks that have been purchased from former owners owing to their inability to work them with profit—it would be vain to expect costly machinery to be erected, and deep sinking resorted to by directors of companies, unless they had a fair prospect of extending their operations from time to time, and utilising their machinery to the utmost. One step might be done to alleviate the present scarcity of employment, and one that haa proved in several instances the salvation of the property to the companies, that is by letting the tribute. When a company can do no more than pay the rent, it is better to let it te tributers ; but when the ground pays generally well upon labour employed, tribute should not be resorted to. Nearly all the companies are engaged in deep workings; let the portions not undermined be offered to tributers from the surface to, say, 100 feet down, at a very low per centage for a definite term as against the company, for tributers cannotpractically be bound to continue if the workings will not pay. The parties so taking sections would no doubt thoroughly exhaust the surface and expose reefs or lodes that have hitherto been unknown or regarded as unprofitable, but would now leave a margin of profit, and by their workings would shew an index to the profitable working of the mine from the deep levels worked in other parts of the same property."

During tne late contest for the offioe of Mayor of this borough a good deal was said about a certain bet made between Mr. Councillor McNab and Mr. J. K. Macdonald, of £50 to £5 as to the result of the contest. This bet was won by Mr. Macdonald, and the latter was pledged by some of his electioneering friends to hand it over towards the funds of the Hospital. This he did few days ago, in the shape of a cheque, payable on January Ist, as a New Year's gift. Yesterday Mr. Macdonald received a cheque from Mr. Macnab, enclosed with the following polite notification :—" Pollenstreet, Shortland, December 23, 1575. J. B. Macdonald, Esq. Dear sir,—Please receive the enclosed cheque for £50 sterling, being the amount of a bet I lost with you last week at the election of Mayor. Your visit to Auckland immediately after the election prevented me paying this before now. —I am, &c, D. Macnab." We are quite sure the public will appreciate the honorable conduct and public spirit displayed in these transactions, and give credit where credit is so much due. — Thames Advertiser. A correspondent Advertiser, writing from Ohinemuri, % flight which two miners got into : —" T:£|i>s<j£resh caused great fun to-day at Owharcfet 3fo9t of the men are camped on the Pr&spectors' side of the river, butvMessrs. Stewart and Stoira had elected to locate themselves on the southern side. Communication was stopped in consequence of the flood , , and, although there was plenty of tucker in the main camp, the two men were in danger of ! being starved out. Loaves of bread were cut up into junks and thrown across to them, but for everyone they got, at least two went to feed the eels. Biscuits were afterwards thrown over, with better soccees, and some of their mates arrived from Waitekaun with a large retriever dog, who swam across with ' a junk of beef. Of course, the deg was carried down tho stream a long way, but he mnnaged to- land safely with his load. I think they onght to call their claim the Relief of Luckuow. The Tapu correspondent of the Thamtt Advertiser winds up his last letter as follows: —"Now, Mr. Editor, as the festive V/nod is rapidly approaching, I must conclude by wishing you all the compliments of the season, and hope that you will be able to spend your Christmas far beyond the reaab. of printers' devils, or any others of the fraternity, bodily "r spiritually. The contract of the Messrs. Smith on the Thames water-race is so far near completion, that the water has been aUowed to run in the race to near its junction with Nα 3 contract (Mr. Foughey's), in the vicinity of the Bob Roy Hotef Parawai. In the course of , week the race will be ready to convey the water from end to end.—[Thames correspondont.] The drawing for Mr. Seuffert's grand art union is advertised to take place at the Mechanics' Institute on Wednesday afternoon of the sth of January. Members are requested to get their tickets without delay.

The third " cup" match of the series will be played at the Ellerali* cricket ground, on Monday (Boxing-day), between the Auckland C. C, and the Ponsonby C. C. The following are the selected players:—Auckland : Oonnell, Garland, Cotton, Kent, Kusaell, Ryan, Coates, White, Blnnden, Philson, Braithwaite. Ponsonby : Lankham, Helps, Howard, Kelly, Bruce, Dignan, Eeece, Masefield, Branstone, Regan, Carder. Wickets will be pitched at 10 o'clock.

Divine service will be held in the following places of worship to-morrow (Sunday), as under: —Pitt-street Wesleyan Church : Rev. A. Reid, morning; Rev. W. J. Williams, ■evening; Graf ton Road Wesleyan Church: 3Ur. EOis, morning; Rev. A. Reid, evening; ParncJl Wesleyan Church: Rev. W. J. Williams, morning; Mr. Jessop, evening. Lorue-street Hall: Rev. S. Edger; morning, "A Joyful Chris:; bringing Glad Tidings ;" evening, " The end o£ the year better than the beginning—the True Work of Life." Newton Hall: Service at 11 a.m. and 6.30 l>.m. Congregational Church, Beresfordstreet: Rev. Wtirlow Davies, M.A., mornug and evening. Welleslcy-strreet Baptist Church : morning, " The Angele' Song" ; evening, " Mercy inade Manifest, or Life in JCetrospect." A number of 3ots of suburban and rural lands are to be olfered for sale at the Waste lands Office on the 20th January next. Full particulars appear in our advertising columns. A call of 3d per share has been made in the Xen , Exchange Gold Mining Company. Payment must be made by Wednesday, 12th proximo. : .'."" Tickets for admission to the Ellerslie Gardens are to be obtained to-day at Moses' Clothing Mart, corner of Queen and Short-land-streets. Mr. G. A. Avey notifies his intention of opening the Park Hotel, corner of Rutlandstreet and Wellesley-street East, on New Year's Day. Notice is given that the transfer books of the Tokatea Gold Mining Company will be closed on the 30th inst., preparatory to the payment of a dividend of 2s Od-per share. The half-yearly meeting of the Coliban Gold Milting Company is to be held at CJraharnstown on the 10th proximo. Tenders for removal of the Newmarket Toll-house are to be sent in to the Star Hotel before 12 o'clock on Tuesday next. £

CHKISTMAS EVE. There ■was the usual amount of stir and hustle in the town last night as on former Christmas Eves. Shopping and gazing in the shop windows occupied the crowd from 6 p.m. until nearly midnight, when the streets became less peopled. Of the decorations usually made preparatory to the Christmas festivities by the vendors of Christmas goods, very little can be said. Shopkeepers evidently having made up their minds that to be well stocked, with first-claes articles, and to have a good show, was all that was necessary to "drive a trade." The most noticeable display was by the butchers, who showed prime meat—such as King Henry 4he VIII. was wont to delight in gracing hie table with.

The arrival of two or three vessels lately ironi tropical fruit-bearing islands in the Pacific, enabled a grand show of pineapples, oranges, bananas. &c, to be made at the various shops belonging to the U.S.N.Z. and A. fruit merchant, in Queen and Shortlandstreets, also at the fruit stalls in the market, ■where also fresli vegetables—very fresh owing to the recent rains—were in abundance. The best display in the town was to be found in the Market, where festoons of flags were suspended in all directions over 4he busy stalls, and the only thing that was repuired. was a band of music to remind one of a fair. There is one establishment in town that perhaps escaped the notice of many from its decorations being of an unpretending nature, but yet fitted for the occasion. This was the United Service Hotel, where in neatly formed wreaths ronnd the lower jarts of "the windows were the old English iolly and mistletoe —emblems of Christmas, so real and so ~nicely arranged. At the Thames Hotel, Christmas Eve was iept up in the good old English style, and many took their departure from the house loaded either with a goose or a pair of fowls, and "something else." To-day will be the great day of the year for home rest and enjoyment, when families severed by the necessities of life meet together, when circles where there are ao vacant chairs gather in thankfulness and joy ; when absent ones are kept in remembrance, aiyl when gladness is deepened and solemnised by ihe memory of the departed.