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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5493, 25 June 1879, Page 4

I In our local columns yesterday it was stated that a unanimous vote of confidence in Messrs. Hamlin and hTobbs was passed by the electors of Franklin. The decision of i the electors, iu our extended report, should have been stated as a vote of " confidence and thanks." Alexander 1-inris *y was arrested at Devoaport yesterday on a eharoe of using obscene language in a public phc-*. He will also be charged to-day witii assaulting Mr, C. G. Quisk by striking him with his open hand. The only other fresh arrests made were three on charges of drunkenness. Kainer'a Diorama of the Rus3o-Turkish | War was exhibited ajam yesterday evening, Ito a crowded house. Several valuable pres- | ents were given away at the close of the 1 exhibition. A correspondent, writing from Waikato, complains of the dviay in the transmission of small parcels forwarded to Waikato through the Waikato steam Navigation Company. A parcel was forwarded to him ! on the 11th insfr. from a business firm in Auckland, which had not reached him at tbe time he wrote, on the 23rd, although a coach from Alexandra passes his door every day. The Otarfo Daily Times says that, in the event of the Hon. R. Stout resigning his seat in the House, \lr. James \lacassey will be put forward as a candidate in the Ministerial interest for the representation of Dacedin.

Wβ have received further correspondence from Mr. Harrison, relative to the "sensational paragraph " recording the threatened punishment of a pnpil of City West school No. 2 for not attending the muster of school children at Government House lawn. The incident, though worthy of a niche in our local columns, is certainly not one of the "burn ing questions " of ihe day, and in view of stronger claims upon our space we must decline to accord an opportunity for further controversy. Mr. Harrison ha 3 obtained publicity for his " unqualified denial "; our informant reiterates his " unqualified adhesion " to the truthfulness of the information he vouchsafed ; and for Mr. Harrison's information we may mention that " Another Parent," in a communication, endorses the origins.! stitement s« far, as to affirm that his child was not merely threatened with pun : shment, bat actually received it, for being abseut from school on the holiday ! That irrepressible boy, No. 2 — " The Boy That Head the Newspaper " he diffidently subscribes himself —has also furnished his little contribution to the " mem irandummiad" campaign, xiie orthography partakes somewhat of the phonetic, but in view of surrounding circumstances, we cheerfully concede that the weakness may be more his misfortuue than his fault. He will readily understand that it is more in sorrow than in anger that his letter is conveyed to the wast -basket. The public have now had both sides of the "strange story," and may decide on the balance of testimmy as they think fit, and with that all parties must be content, so far as our columns are concerned. Amongst the through passengers from Australia to England, via San Francisco, in the mail bo.it ycterday, was Mr. Topham, of the linn of Angus and Topham, railway contractors. Mr. Topham executed the contract of constructing the railway from Hamilton to Obaupc, and during his residence in the p-ovince he made many friends. Since theu the tirm. of which he is a memner, have constructed a large section of the Queenscliffe railway, in the colony of Victoria, and were highly conplimented on the expeditious and workmanlike manner in which the contract was executed. Mr. Topham does not purpose making a long stay ia EDgland. He will return to the colonies in November. We believe he has been making earnest inquiries regarding the prospects of peace or war, with a view to beins; in a position to advise while in England, relative to the investment of capital inland in the Waikato and other places ia the North Island. While admitting all the advantages of Victoria. Mr. Topham is more inclined to favour New Zealand, where there is a total absence of those lung drought* and disastrous fl o.:s «hioh often prove the bane of the Australian colonies. Another passenger who left Aucklind by the City of Sydney, en rouU fcr England, was Captain Ptrcival, a gent'emau who is well-known, and highlyrespected here. We are informed that Captain Percival goes home to take possession of a valuable property to which he has become heir, and his numerous friends, while regretting his departure, will rejoice In his good fortune. The -well-known leading chief of the Uriohan, Arama Karnka. of Kdipara, who has been latterly suffering from a severe bronchial affection, was induced by his friend, the Rev. W. Gittos, resident missionary of the district, to come to town and try the remedial effect of the Turkish baths. In the course of a conversation yesterday, Adam gave us an amusing account of his adventures at that institution, midtr the guidance of bis reverend chaperone. Adam was under the impression that the establishment w»3 " run " by those long-bearded and bacgy-trousered fellows, of whose desperate raids and tauas he had read in the Wananga, and therefore when he was " run in" by a genial " Oriental " attendant, with a strong Milesian accent, Adam was rather taken aback, as also as to how entering a heated room could be termed » bath Having attired himself in the Paradisaical garb of his great ancestor, the pa'ient, who is sixteen stnne in his stockings, was deftly put through the various processes in the tepidarium, sudatorium, &c. " You pakeba people," said Adam to his guide, "are strange people; if we Maoris went abont in this garb what a howl you would make, yet it appears to be the custom here. As a Maori chief, according to Maori usage, my head is tapu, but in this stTange wbare no part of a man seems to be sacred ; he is brushed down like a horse, ,ind wrapped in cold wet sheets to make him comfortable and warm ; and has water streamed down upon him through the roof, without ever asking his leave. The Pakehas can do anything ; they are the people who turn the world npsidedown." Adam,we may remark, in conclusion, expressed himself as obtaining great relief for his complaint from the Tu'ki-h baih, and is feeling well again. He considers now that the Turkish bath is the best mtdicine he has ever had for a cold in his life—far better than any he hxd obtained from the doctor. He strongly advises all his Maori and pakeha friends wh> suffer, as he has done, to go to Te Wliare Kaukau o Hika (Sykes). Mr. J. C. Brown, M.H.R. for Tnapeks, was married on Monday to Mrs. Halley, widow of the late Dr. Halley, of Lawrence. The ceremony was performed by the Kev. Father Crowley, and was witnessed by a large number of persons. The wedding party left Lawrence by special train at a quarter past 12, and joined the express at Milton, reaching Dnuedinjat 3.23 p.m. The second anniversary of the Court Zealandia's Pride, Juvenile Foresters, was held in the Albert Hall yesterday evening. The weather was fine and the house full. The concert commenced at 8 o'clock. The first part of the programme consisted of songs, both comic and sentimental, concluding with a laughable farce, entitled "Ihe Haunted House." The second part of the programme was long, consisting of pongs, recitations, and dances, and concluded with the side-eplitting farce, "The Troublesome Servants." Dancing commenced at half-paet ten, and was kept up until morning. Mr. Worthington gave his third lecture yesterday evening upon the "Punic Wars" in the City East 3chool buildiDg to the children competing for scholarships under the Board of Education. There were upwards of 120 children present. We have already described the manner in which these lectures are delivered. The style is plain and homely, the information thoroughly reliable. The pupils manifest the greatest attention throughout. Keferences are made by the lecturer to a blank map, the children being required to fill in the names of famous battle dates, of remarkable events and other details calculated to test their knowledge. Mr. Livingstone, the business manager for Rainer's Diorama, leaves to day for the Thames, where he intends to make preparations for the company performing there for a short season before their departure for Wellington. The great force of water in oome of the city mains in Sydney was forcibly illustrated recently. Between 11 and 12 o'clock, when the traffic in Pitt-street had almoßt ceased, one of the city turncocks drew a plug nearly opposite the Union Bank, for the purpose of clearing the pipe, when a splendid stream of ■water shot straight up into the air a height of GO or 70 feet. The Thames Adverlbxr states that Mr. Firth's new at. ainer, the Kotuku, is expected to commence the trade between Matamata, Thames River, and Auckland this week. She is nearly flat-bottomed, very broad, s,nd capable of carrying a great quantity of grain, for which trade she has

- On Monday evening, the teachers in the Mount Eden Baptist Sunday-school held a social gathering, for the puruoae of presenting an illuininated"iiddre3s to Mr. Ewington, and bidding him farevv-11. on r.iie occasion of his resigning his po.it as -ip<iriucendent of the Sunday-school. Mr. Mushbrook, the secretary, acting as spokesman for the teachers, expressed the very general regret that was felt by them at losing so devoted a coworker, and hoped that in his new sphere of labour he would manifest the same zeal and exert the same power as in the past. In the name of the teachers, he then presented the following address, which was beautifully illuminated by Mr. E. Sturtevant, jun. :— "To Mr. F. G. Ewington. Dear Sir,—Upon occasion of your resigning the euperiutendency of the Mount Eden Baptist Sundayschool, the teachers desire to give expression to the respect and esteem in which you are held, together with their deep regret at losing the services of so earnest a worker in the Master's cause. We pray that the blessing of the Almighty may abundantly rest npon yourself and family, and subscribe ourselves to be, —Ever faithfully yours, Allan W. Webb (president), Ambrose Coad, K. Pitnees, T. Cranwell, Annie Hebden Elizabeth Hallett, S. M. Wells, L. Wells, R. Bailey, N. Christmas, W. R. Rus'ibrook (secretary)." Mr. Ewington suitably acknowledged the present, and stated that his only reason for retiring was because he had joined the Church of England, where he believed he could worship Go I and serve his fellow - creatures with more freedom of thought and action than elsewhere. For years he had contemplated this step, and had taken it only after the most careful consideration, and with the conviction that it was ths path of duty. Hβ had found it hard to sever the friendships he had formed of late years amongst Dissenters, but could not allow personal preferences to stifle couviction or divert him from the right way, but he hoped to shew, and trusted hie former friends would also try to shew, that Christian sympathy can expand beyond four walla, and embrace all who are loyal to Christ irrespective of their badge or party. A very curious anomaly in respect to the law regulating the distribution of the grants in aid of public libraries, has been brought under our notice. The Devonport district has a free public library—the first established in the Provincial District. It was started in July last, and, to shew how it is appreciated, we may mention that upwards of 4000 books have since been issued. It is free to all residents in the district, whether permanent or temporary—and it is, in fact, conducted on the moat liberal principles. The gentlemen chiefly connected with its maintenance applied to the secretary of the Board of Education for a portion of the grant in aid of public libraries, but we were surprised to learn from him that the fact that the library was free, shut them out from participating in the grant, as the Act provided that the Board should only subsidise pro rata on the amount of income collected, or received in donations. Surely, this was never the intention of the legislature. Its effect would be to discourage any attempt at instituting such public boons as free libraries. The Wellington Po.<l of the lGth says :— " As the 3teamer Hinemoa was about to sail for Auckland on Saturday night, Edward Campion, orderly to His Excellency the Governor, fell overboard, and would have been drowned but for a sailor named Laytham, who jumped into the water to his assistance, and fastened a rope to him. The man was soon hauled on board, very little the worse for his adventure. The conduct of L3ytham was highly commended by thoee who were preseet." At a meeting of the Lodge Eden, E.C (Masonic), held last night, at the Rising Sun Hotel, Newton, the following brethren were elected to office for the ensuing year :—• Brother H. Chapman, W.M. ; Brother G. Johns>n, treasurer ; Brother Johnson, tyler ; Brothers Ellis, Holland, and Evans, auditors. The remaining officers will be chosen by the W.M. after his installation, in accordance with the usage of the English Order of Freemasonry. During the proceedings the present W.M., Brother Warren, reported that a suitable site for a hall had been purchased, with a frontage of 33 feet to Karangahape Road, and that a meeting of the trustees was to be held to decide on the class of hall which they intend to recommend.