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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5398, 6 March 1879, Page 2

During the months of January and February the rainfall was less than 2± inches, against an average of nearly 4 inches in each of those months. Since the rain began on the present occasion, over 3 inches had fallen up to yesterday evening. During last night the downpour was heavy and almost incessant. It is not too much to say that the present rains will be worth tens of thousands of pounds to the settlers in the colony. Not only will the farmers be benefited, but all the saw-mills will get an abundant supply of logs to the mills, and the machinery which has for a long time in many instances stood idle will ba set to active work again, workmen hitherto idle will be employed, and building operations, which for months past have been held in abeyance, will be at once begun with an abundant supply of timber at reduced rates. There was a considerable amount of business done in mining shares yesterday, and the brokers issued a price-list. Several stocks shew an advance upon late quotations, and a brisk demand was felt for Moanataiari and Alburnia. The recent gold returns from the latter mine have enabled the directors to declare a dividend of 2a 6d per share, while the reserve fund has been augmented, and now stands at £3700. The improvement in the yield of gold from the Moanataiari, coupled with the receipt of the following telegram from the mine manager, no doubt accounts for the rise in the value of the shares yesterday:—"Struck reef in the tunnel. Abundance of water coming out. Must be cut into further before I can speak as to quality." The following are the correct insurances on buildings and stock affected by the lire at Masterton :—National, £2350 ; North British, £2250; Standard, £1200; Northern, £900; Sun, £500; New Zealand, £250; South British, £100 ; Victoria, £lUO. In our obituary will he found a notice of the death, at the Kawau, of Mr. Peter Macdonald, an old settler, who residod on the is'aud when the upper mine was being worked. Deceased possessed considerable ability, and was highly respected by Sir George Grey, who appreciated his shrowdness and humour. Macdonald has lived continuously on the island for the last seven years. Mr. G. S. Kis3ling, J.P., presided at the Police Court yesterday, but the only business before the Court were three ordinary charges of drunkenness. The customary penalties of 5s and costs or 24 hours' imprisonment were inflicted. At the Onehunga Licensing Court, before Commissioner R. C. Barstow, Esq., It.M., J. Robertson, and T. Paton, Esqs., J.P.s, and J. D. Jackson, the only business was the transfer of the Junction Hotel licence from Jenkins to Sergeant. At the Papakura Licensing Court, on Tuesday, March 4, before Thomas Jackson, Esq., It. M., and J. B. Hay and S. H. Shulford, Ejqs., Commissioners, M. A. Ridler applied for a transfer of tho licenco held by her late husband for the Railway Hotel, Mercer, which was granted. We are glad to learn that an accident which occurred yesterday on tho new line of railway botween Newmarket and the Whau has notentailedany serious consequences. Tho circumstances are as follows:—A ballast train started from the Whau at about 11 o'clock. The engine was at the back of the train, and Mr. Larkins, the contractor for the construction of the line, was in the front truck, looking out for obstructions. When opposite the church, at Mount Albert, a cow crossed the line, and Mr. Larkins gave the signal to stop. The engineer obeyed the order, and tho train of twelve waggons stopped suddenly with a jerk. Mr. Larkins, who was at tho end leaning over the rail, was, by the sudden jerk, pitched out, and fell forward on tho buffer. He was severely wounded on tho head, a scalp wound 3 inches in length being inflicted, and at first it appeared as if his limbs wore also injured, for his leg was jammed, and he appeared to be hurt on tho knee. Mr. Larkins's injuries received prompt mcdical attention, and he was able to be about town yesterday afternoon, and beyond the fact that his head was bandaged, he seemed little the worse for his dangerous experience. We are glad to find that the Working Men's Club continues to be an unqualified success, and that the number of members daily increases. Various alterations are about to be made, which, it is anticipated, will tend to improve tha status of -the club, and to mako it more useful for the purposes for which it was first designed. These will be pondered over by the committee which will sit to night and deliberate on the best means for carrying into good effect the original intention. Ths " Museum of Science and Art," which has been exhibiting its contents in Queenstreet, near the Thistle Hotel, was opened last evening, but the weather was not favourable to a numerous attendance. It ia full of curiosities which sustain the interest of the visitors for a considerably time, more especially the pretty illuminated fountain with its many-colonred brilliant hueß. The singular optical illusion, entitled ( ' Fatima," was re-opened yesterday evening. The weather was greatly against the attendance of any considerable proportion of the public. The place has been renovated. The proprietor has announced his intention to give half the receipts to the Auckland committee for the relief of tho sufferers by the recent accident at the Kaitangata colliery.

The_ first meeting of the Mount Eden Domain Bjard was held yesterday in the ; Mayor's room, Canada Buildings. ' Present: ■ the chairman of the Mount iSden Highway : Board, Messrs. Bridgman and Harper. The Mayor of Auckland was elected chairman , for the ensuing year. Mr. Bridgtnan was elected hon. secretary. It was resolved to apply to the Minister of Crown Lands for a provisional grant of land. ' It was also resolved to apply to the Waste Lands Board for a plan of the Mount Eden Domain Reserve. It is the intention of the Auckland Choral Society to give a special performance for the benefit of the fund for the relief of the sufferers by the Kaitangata colliery accident. The night fixed is Tuesday next. The pieces selected are Mendelssohn's "Athalie and Macfarren's cantata, entitled " May-day." There will be a rehearsal on Monday evening. We hope the effective members of the Society will muster in full force, so that the concert may be a thorough success. Tickets can be had at Upton's and upon application to the committee of the Choral Society. The anniversary of the Shipwrights' Association was celebrated at the Working Men's Club on Tuesday night, by a ball and supper. There was a large attendance, and a very pleasant reunion. The room was handsomely decorated with flags kindly lent for the occasion by Captain Tatchell, of the ship May Queen, and Captain Robertson, of the ship Loch Fleet. A committee of the association arranged the proceedings and provided the supper. Messrs, Bowring and Wright provided the music, and Mr. Evans proved an efficient M. C. Tha whole affair was a very pleasant and satisfactory gathering of the members of the association, their wives, and sweethearts. There were no fresh arrests made by the police yesterday. The entertainments of the Stewart Family may be described as drawingroom burlesques, yet this limitation rather gives scope for additional accessories that do not depend upon extension, such as colour and musical effect. The picturesque on the stage comprehends combination of detail no less than general effect. Burlesques require the greatest variety of colouring. In this respect, good taste prescribes its own limit. The Misses Stewart have evidently considered the tone of varied aud rich colouring. Their taste in respect' of costume is very remarkable. When all three are on the stage together, thia faculty exhibits itself in many contrasts and combinations of colour. The weather has been much against the theatre this week, but f;he new entertainment " If; or, An Old Gum. Re-set," has been sufficiently attractive to draw appreciative audiences. Miss Dacy Stewart ag actress and vocalist, Miss Nellie Stewart as dancer, vocalist, and actress, Miss Maggie Stewart in special roles, aro each very clever. Mr. Richard Stewart is evidently an actor of great experience. There is nothing so conspicuous as the excellent manner that governs the whole performance. Mr. Haroourt Lee, the leader of the orchestra, is sufficiently well known in Auckland to make his own performances on the piano very attractive to lovers of musics. The entertainment will be repeated thii evening. The representatives of Auckland in the Assembly are informed that the election of a Governor of the Grammar School will take place on Saturday, sth April, and notice is given as to the delivery of nomination papers. It will ba seen on reference to our telegrams from Nelson, that our District Champion (Gunner Bowden) is in the running for the Colonial Carbine Championship. Lieut. Skinner is also within a few points of the leadiog man for the Rifle Belt. In consequence of the long-continued drought the Cambridge Farmers' Club Horticultural Show, which was to have been held on the 19th inst., has bean postponed sine die. A correspondent writes from Cambridge : —Talk of " entertaining angels unawares 1" What do you think of the following ?—A friend of mine (Mr. S. Bright) has unconsciously been the entertainer of royalty in the person of King Tawhiao's fourth and favourite wife. It happened in this way :— Mr. B. has a friend near Te Awamutu, who has great influence with the "upper craft" natives, and this Queen being a guest of his, was talking about Cambridge, saying she would like to see it, but did not like to go alone, or with the natives, when it was at once proposed that she should ride over with his little girl, and have his best horse to rido on. The offer was too tompting, hence the visit. When they arrived the little girl delivered her message, but knew nothing of her companion, and it was not known till they left who the wahine was. She has a. most interesting face, full of intelligence and curiosity, talked a little broken English, and understood more than she could express. She was delighted with Cambridge, and said that if Auckland was better it must be a grand place. Cambridge has always been a favourite place with the 7angatiras. She maintained her incognito admirably—as a Maori can do, —saying she should come again ; but no sooner had she loft, than an old woman, who has charge of the native hostelry, let out who tho etranger was. Tho Church Gazette for March has been published. A large proportion of space in the present number is devited to the record of parochial intelligence. Of letters there are two; one, bearing the signature of "Clericus," suggests that the clergy and Church officers should arrange to prepare reports of all Church meeting themselves for publication in local newspapers. The leading article is upon tho popular topic of religious instruction in common schools. The article bears the well-known initials of " K.M-" The writer says, " The only flaw in our present system is, the exclusion of any religious teaching during school hours. Christianity is thus placed before the children as an alien and an outcast, while many earnest, conscientious minds feel deeply wounded at this insult to principles the utility of which they deeply value." Tho writer further on says, " A Government schoolmaster is, for many reasons, not the proper person to teach religion. He may be very fit for his proper duty, and be very unlit for this." He advocates that, as in New South Wales, " permission should be given to each denomination to impart religious instruction to its children during school hours. If that duty is not attended to, we shall have no one else to blame but ourselves. Let the permission be granted, and then there is no reason why some district Church organisation, and proper officers, should not be charged with this duty." Though we cannot approve of such recommendation, wo should be glad to see the Bible, without comment or any dogmatical teaching, daily read in our public schools. The Bible is a book that all sects of professing (Jhrittiana rest their faith upon, and the Bimple reading of a lesson in it daily would go far to satisfy all sections of the Church universal. The rest of the present number is occupied with extract matter aud advertisements. The Pride of Newmarket Lodge of National Independent Order of Oddfellows was duly opened at Newmarket yesterday evening,—Bro. William Porteus, of the Eureka Lodge, presiding. Bro. P.G. M. Henry Rafton, D.G.M. William Thompson, P.G.Si. J. Wright, and other dignatories were present and took part in the proceedings. The following officers sf the new lodge were appointed :—Bros. James Gardiner, G.M.; James Collins, N.G.; J. W. Garrett, V.G.; JohnStallworthy, Secretary; William Webber, Assistant; Robert Dennison, Treasurer ; and Messrs. Edward Barlow and Stitchbury, Trustees. The P. G.M. presented the dispensation aud spoke hopefully of the progress of the order, and gavo useful advice regarding the working of the new lodge. Bros. Wright, l-oveil, aud others addressed the lodge, after which Bro. Collins thanked the members for the honour conferred on him, and the meeting closed. Auckland Lunatic Asylum and Old Hospital Auxiliary for tho week ending March 1, 1579: —Remaining last week, 192; admitted since, 2. Remaining: males, 134: females, 58. Total, 192. Blind obedience to official command is a matter so altogether lovely and especially to be desired by the powers that be, that it would almost seem impossible to conceive how the practice could be carried to an undesirable point. But the possibility, nevertheless, does exist, as the following incident may prove. A white resident of Ovalau had noticed that hiß Fijian neighbour's yam crop, though ovor-ripe, remained nndug. In the course of a morning's conversation with one or two taukeis, he enquired, " why don't ' you dig those yams ?" " Well," replied the 1 philosophic son of the soil, " all our yams are 1 tabued for the Voi Bose at Bau in November i next, and, as we must not touch them, they < can even remain in the ground till they are rotten."—Fiji Times, The Melbourne magistrates are deter- 1 mined to put down the system of sale of 1 gifts, and every case of the kind will be proceeded against, whether in connection with i public entertainment or not. i

From the Fiji Times of February 5, we . learn that John Daly, master and owner of the brig_ Heather Bell, was charged, on the 28thultime, before*the Hon. John Gorrie, Judicial Commissioner, for that he did, on or about the 18th day of March, 1878, at or ' near an island in the Pacific Ocean, commonly called Ocean Island, detain a native -•] of an island in the Pacific Ocean, whose name to the Court was unknown, for the * purpose of importing of removing such 1 native, without his consent, into an island € or place other than that' in which he was at s the time of the commission of such offence. 1 After evidence had been taken, defendant, .t was adjudged guilty of the offence, and was 1 sentenced to six mouths' imprisonment, aud i to pay a fine of £150 to Her Majasty, and < further was ordered, to find security to the ' amount of £500 for his future good be- I ■ haviour. If he fails to find the security, I ; prisoner is to ba deported from the Western i Pacific. Prisoner was then handed over to i the proper officers for removal to the gaol at < Totoga. The Leader says: One of the arguments advanced in defence of a secular State system of education has been that the clergy are not really so zealous on the subject of religious instruction as they profess to be, since they do not avail themselves of the opportunities which have been afforded them. This argument, which has been often put forward and as often substantiated, was repeated by Mr. Rashleigh at the Wesleyaa conference. That gentleman is in a position to know, for he iB chairman of the Daylesford board of advice, and in that capacity he stated at the conference that though the schools in his district are open to any who wish to impart doctrine after school hours, the opportunity is never taken advantage of by the local clergy. The remarks of Mr. James, M.L.A., were equally telling and to the point. If Bible-reading were allowed in the State schools, this, he said, would be regarded as a concession to Protestants, and Roman Catholics aud other sects would then claim parallel indulgences. The clerical party, he thought, should have " more confidence in themselves," and not expect the State to do their work for them ; while in answer to the charge that larrikinism had increased under the secular method, he pointed to the statistics, which shewed last year that crime in Victoria had decreased, and the moral status of the population generally improved. The Government, says the Melbourne Argus, has be6n drawing upon the banks for £80,000 per month for the last three months, making a total of nearly a quarter of a million in all. These advances are obtained in anticipation of the new loan. The Government also desires to raise money on the security of the debentures into which the 4 per cent, stock has been converted, and a meeting of bank managers was held within the la3t few days to deal with the proposal. Every desire was manifested to assist ths Government, but in consequence of thj increasing stringency of the money market it was found necessary to ask for an alteration of the terms and conditions originally named. Here the matter rests for the present. We mention these details because an absolute contradiction was given to our general statement that the state of the Treasury was compelling the Government to carry on negotiations for a loan from the banks. Contradictions of this nature are, indeed, frequent, and are made apparently because in unimportant matters we take no notice of them, but their value may be perceived from the above instance. Two of the roughs concerned in the recent unseemly disturbance on the Sydney cricket ground were brought before the local Police Court, and fined and sevorely reprimanded for their misconduct. The Bench expressed deep regret that Lord Harris and his team Bbould have been exposed to such an unpleasantness. It was stated that the Victorian bookmaker who created a disturbance in the pavilion has had his fee of membership returned, and will never be again admitted to the ground. The Melbourne Argus writes :—Mr. Matthew Burnett has returned to Geelong, after a trip of 4,300 miles travelling by sea for the benefit of his health, touching at Tasmania, Sydney, and the chief cities of New Zealand. His health is much improved, and he intends to begin his work among the masses early in March. The present is the last ' year in which this gentleman intends to carry on his mission in the colony, as he has arranged to enter upon a campaign in Sydney, and afterwards in New Zealand. The Sub- 1 Inspector of Police in Sydney has promised to render his assistance to Mr. Burnett when he enters upon the work of reclaiming the 1 degraded classes of that city. An important advance has been made towards solving the problem of illumination at sea by an adaptation of what is known as the Holmes' distress signal, in the form of a Bhot, i for illuminating purposes, to be fired from i mortars at ranges varying from five hundred I to two thousand five hundred yards. These I signals possess the reoirkable property of < emitting a very powerful white light the mo- < meut they come into contact with the water, and when once ignited- are absolutely inex- i tinguishable by either wind or water, and i burn with a persistency that is almost incredible, 30 or 40 minutes'being an average duration. The shot containing this light is : constructed so as to be buoyant upon the water, and, at the same time, with sufficient ; rigidity of form to withstand the concussion of the powder. Upon striking the water at the required range, the shot, floating up I to the surface, immediately bursts into a ! brilliant flame, with great illuminating power. Half-a-dozen of these shots, fired from an ironclad or gun-boat, would effectually surround her with an impassable cordon of light at any required range, and by such a device the enemy's movements of , attack would become plainly discernible, and any attempt to break through the illuminated zone of light be at once detected, however dark the night. The writer of "Passing Notes" in the Olago Witness, referring to the Holy Land , as a rising rival to ilie colonies in the East, says :—" The railway from Alexaudretta to the Persiau Gulf will pass right through the ' old Garden of Eden, which we should not be a bit surprised to see turned into a people's , park, with building allotments all around it, and the adjacent plains of Bagdad cut up into deferred payment sections. Only fancy corner lots at Jerusalem and desirable ' suburban sections on the Mount of Olives ! ' What advertisements for the daily Press ! ' What chances for the descendants of the ' lost tribes!' What glowing imagine 1 What grand old historical associations about a nice little squatting property on Mount Tabor, on the hills of G-ilboa, and 53 sections in the plainß of Jezrael! And this is what wo are coiniDg to." There died, at 24, Middle Arthur Place, Edinburgh, Margaret Anthony, at the advanced age of 101 years. Tha deceased was married early in life to Mr. Alexander Reid, Ingleston, and had twelve children, six of whom are still alive, the youngest was over 50 years of age. She lived to reckon her descendants to tho fifth generation, most of : the great and great-great grandchildren ' being in New Zealand and America. She enjoyed good health, and had a retentive : memory and considerable power of observation up to within the last fortnight. From 1 the time she was thus laid up till she j breathed her la3t, she never complained of any pain.—Scotsman. j At the sale of the Wonga stud Tim i Whiiller was bought in by Mr. Bryant for ; 400 guineas; 0. B. F. was bought by Mr. : Stubley, of Queensland, for • 225 guineas ; ] Queen of the May by Mr. C. M. Lloyd, of i Riverina, for 105 guineas ; and Despatch by i Mr. Elliot, of Wagga, for 205 guineas. The best and highest-priced colt was by Tim Whifller from Talkative, and was bought by j Mr. J. W. Whittingham for 135 guineas. 1 The horses were very much out of condition, i At a meeting of Adelaide citizens, a large ! majority negatived the Corporation pro- j position to borrow £24,000. The Council ■ intends to take a poll. j Mr. James H. Thomas, formerly engineer ' for existing lines of railways in New South £ Wales, and now Director of Public Works * and Commissioner of Railways in Western £ Australia, has been sworn in as a member of * the Executive Council. ' A curious libel action was heard in the 2 County Court, Victoria—Anne Smith against t Kreitmeyer, proprietor of the wax works. a The effigy of Sirs. Smith, who was charged with the murder of her son at West Melbourne, was added to the wax works, and the collection and figure remained there after she had been acquitted. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, with a farthing „ damages. A number of wharf labourers struck at IN Melbourne in consequence of a number of non-society men being put on to work dis- d charging the Lady Darling. | Several children were nearly killed by eating poisonous berries in the Brisbane Go- J verament Gardens.