Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5998, 7 February 1881, Page 4

The s.s. Penguin, which arrived in tlio Manukau yesterday, brings the Auckland portion of the Suez mail. The presentation of prizes at the Girls' High School will take, place this afternoon, at 2 o'clock. The prizes will be presented by the Mayoress. His Lordship Bishop Cowie and other gentlemen will deliver addresses.

Our Wellington correspondent that Captain Hume, the of Prisons, who is at present in AuekW has been directed by the Minister of J,,S " to proceed to the Kohimarawa Trajni^ 0 School to examine into various matters™* nected with the institution. It is akn i stood that Captain Hume will proceed tnVif" Thames district before the end of the we t The visiting Justices will meet the Insnectm." General of Pnsons to-day to talk over-raring subjects relating to the Mount Eden Gaol

There seems to be a strange fatalitv aWf the proceedings of the Board of Education of la te ; it has scarcely got rid of one trouble until it is into the vortex of another Tthe present case it is likely to come into cof lisiou not with one school committee hut with three, as well as with two of the rejected candidates, nominated for the an proaching election of of the Board. The circumstances are as fol low The Mount Albert, -Onehuufa and Parnell committees met on the 3rd Jauuarv and nominated Messrs. A. K. Taylor Joseph Newman, and John Wavmouth as candidates. By the teruis of clause 13 of the Education Act, it is required that all such nominations shall be transmitted to the Board "between" the Ist and 31st 0 f January, and in virtue of that clause the Board's solicitor gave ail opinion to the effect that Hie nominations were invalid. But according to the 11th clause, it' is provided that should any specified day fall on a Sunday or a holiday, then the succeeding day would be taken as the day legally appointed The 29th January was a public holiday, rmd the 30tli fell on a Sunday, so that there is ground for the contention that the 31st was a legal day for the nomination of members to the Board. Messrs. Newman and Waymouth are so far satisfied on that head that they have placed the matter in the hands of their solicitors, and, if so advised, will apply to the Supreme Court for a mandamus compelling the Board to, receive the nominations. The Board would have acted much more wisely to have left the matter in abeyance and allow the candidates themselves, or those of them who were defeated, to light it out at their own personal risk and expense.

Mr. George, M.H.R., Las just returned from a visit to his Rodney constituents resident at the Puhoi German settlement. The 'lion, member was informed by the Puhoi people that there was 110 occasion for his addressing a public meeting, as they were perfectly satisfied with the manner an which lie looked after their interests. Mr. Georsie was well received, and had a further opportunity of seeing and ascertainingthc public requirements of this portion of his electorate during his stay. A memorial, addressed to the Hon. Mr. Hall, Postmaster-General, was despatched by Mr. George on Saturday relative to postal matters in the German settlement.

There will be held a sitting of His Honor the Judge of the Supreme Court in Chambers to-morrow, the only sitting that will be held imtil after the vacation. The usual hour of sitting hitherto lias been 11 o'clock; tomorrow, however, Mr. Justice Gillies has announced his intention to sit at half-past 10 o'clock. •

A number of very handsome buildings, business places and residence sites, are now in course of erection in Custom-house-street West, and we believe a great deal more would be engaged in if the city authorities would provide for suitable drainage. Iu the neighbourhood of Gleesoirs Hotel a drain is very much required and would not be costly, as the owner of the property between the road and the sea has offered permission to have the drain carried through his property. Amongst the buildings at present in course of construction are two very handsome residences a little to the westward-of Gleeson's Hotel and the foot of Hobson-street. They, are wooden buildings erected on brick foundations, and are the property of Mr. Denis Lynch, of Kaipara, the proprietor of the Wairoa Hotel. Mr. Lynch is also about to erect a large brick building ou the adjoining allotment, and before all the work is completed lie will have expended fully £2000 oil this section. The large workshops and premises which are being erected for Mr. Thomes Ingles, blacksmith, at the foot of Albert-street, are now in a forward state, and attract a tiood deal of attention. The situation of these shops, close to the dock, is a very favourable one, as Mr. Ingfes is largely engaged in ship smith work.

The Government s.s. Hinemoa left the Manukau on Saturday for Wellington, via 2?ew Plymouth and Opimake. On board were Mrs. Dobie and Mrs. Major Goring.

Messrs. Seed and Batkin, the commissioners appointed to ascertain what further reductions can be made in the number of civil servants, returned from the North oc Saturday, and are now engaged instituting inquiries into the various Government departments in Auckland, with a view, we presume, of amalgamation, and farther retrenchment.

His Honor Mr. Justice Gillies will proceed to the South on the 25th of this month, to take the place of Mr. Justice Williams, during leave of absence in England. We observe that Mr. Justice Richmond was a passenger by the Hinemoa, from Wellington, stopping at Taranaki for a brief holiday.

Last evening the Rev. John Haselden was instituted at the IJpiphany Church. Ifewtou, to the charge of the Mount Albert parochial district, which will include the Whau and Epiphany. Now that a minister has been appointed the Epiphany people may be expected in due time to keep pace with the growth of population in Jfewton, by enlarging their church or building a fresh one on the new and suitable site they have iu hand. The little church was inconveniently crowded last evening. Mr. Haselden is not only respected and esteemed by his co-religionists for his faithful and efficient performance of ministerial duty, but also by those of sister communions for his broad views and catholic spirit.

Air. G. A. Brown delivered a lecture la«t evening in the Temperance Hall, Albertstreet, on '' Tlie Approaching End of this Dispensation." There was a large audience, many being unable to obtain admission. According to the lecturer's view, the harvest of the world was at hand; and the period had arrived of which John spoke, when in apocalyptic vision he heard an angel cry with a loud voice to liim, that sat on the cloud, "Thrust in thy sickle and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Arrangements have been made by Reuters Telegram Company for the introduction of » system of facilitating the economical transmission of telegrams between the Australian colonies and liurope. The codes prepared by the company may now be utilised for private messages where such is practicable, effecting thus frequently a very considerable saving 011 ilie ordinary cost. These are translated before delivery to the receiver, to whom a copy in plain language only will be handed. The company do not take the responsibility for errors in coding or translating, but promise every precaution to ensure accuracy. If the people of Auckland do not. in the paths of virtue it is not through lacK of good advice and expostulation. - Last evening, in addition to the usual church services, and the evangelical efforts at tne Theatre Royal, there was street preaching Ml the city, and also in the suburb of Newton.

We have received the following, table!from '&&&. art 3 include the transactions at the Thames Post-office Savings Bank; but, 'is the return speaks well some of our classes. A good & Senile r at the beginning of the present year, district at o g-?3 5s 4d, at the credit °J Bank makes a total sum of £272,832 ffis Tof at the credit of the Auckland workmen. To show the value of deposing Sfincs in some such institution as the above, nf keeninf them unutilised, we may 'TfTthit durin" last year the amount added hy way of interest to the deposits by the two the Post-office and Trustees Savings Banks—was no less than £10,410 10s. Tfc wiUthus be seen that the yearly addition t interest is no small sum, and deserves to be,looked after. Subjoined is the table referred to . Deposits in ISSO Anckland. Christchurch. . IS 7 £201,592 14 1 £1,2.27,13 4 Withdrawali in ISBO: — ' Auckland Christchurch. Dunedin. 1? 0 £180,141 4 3 £152,262 14 4 Interest added during 18S0: — Auckland Chris tchurch. Dunedin. illOl 5 8 £7,057 11 3 £6,378 12 1 To credit of depositors on January 1, 18S1 Auckland. Christchurch. Dunedin. 11 6 £191,399 811 £178,430 3 7 To credit of depositors on January 1, ISSO Auckland. Christchurch. Dunedin. 1 £171,800 210 £152,045 9 4 Increase on 18S0 :—

Auckland. Christchurch. Drinedin £15,024 1 5 £22,009 1 1 jb26,934 4 3 A special meeting of the Epsom Mutual Improvement Society was held in the readon the evening of inday last. The meeting was convened for the purpose of considering the advantage or otherwise of uhan<'in«\ the site of the proposed public hall from the one originally given to another which was available for the purpose, situated on the Onehunga Road. By some inadvertence the advertisement relating to the meeting did not appear in the Herald, consequently those persons who only take the Herald knew nothing of tne meeting, and the small number present who take an interest in the hall, but who are not members of the Society, was attributable to this cause. Some exception to the position of site first given had been taken by subscribers and others, and it transpired at the meeting that, directly the objections became known, Mr. Gardner began exerting himself to secure a site by purchase on the main road, winch (if obtained) would have been presented to the trustees of the building in lieu of the site' originally given, and it was . only "vfhen he. failed to obtain one in. this ■way thai a piece of land in his own paddock ■was' given. Some members present spoke somewhatstrongly againstaccepting any other site than the one first given, and looked upon it as a very graceless action to find ' fault with such a valuable presentation, but all appeared to be impressed with the idea that the main road was the better position of the two, and after Mr. Gardner had stated it to be "a matter of indifference to him personally which site was decided ripon, a ballot was taken, and the main road site chosen by two to one. Though somewhat irrelevant to the business of the meeting, a member directed the attention of those present to the extremely dangerous state of the road just beyond the place where the hall will stand, and he predicted some fearful accident ■ there if the danger, was not speedily removed. I think the attention of the : authorities has been directed to this matter before, and about £15 or £20 of the money collected at the toll-bar -would be ample to make the place safe. The meeting having dissolved; the building committee met, with Mr. Grey, the architect, present, and the building will be started forthwith ; and, judging from the plan, though not a large building, it will be an ornament to the district. Air. Baber has gratuitously surveyed the piece of land for the building committee, who take this opportunity of expressing the hope that those ladies and gentlemen who refused. to subscribe for a building on the other site will manifest _ their liberality ■now, mpre espeeially as it is resolved to - erect a more spacious and costly building on : the new site.—[A Correspondent.]

In the Police Court report on Saturday, the name of Frank McCormick occurs in connection with a charge of indecent assault. It should have been Francis Church. The members of the Christian Doctriue Society, .in connection with St. Patrick's . Cathedral, held their usual monthly meeting yesterday afternoon. Amongst other matters which occupied the attention of the meeting, the children's feast on St. Patrick's Day was fully discussed. The arrangements will be .similar :to those of past years. An active canvass will be prosecuted at once, in order to secure the necessary nieans for duly celebrating a day which is invariably looked forward to by the children as one of unmixed pleasure.

The Waikato Mail is about to pass from the hands oi' Mr. Ivess, the founder. In Saturday's issue the proprietor takes leave Of the public of Waikato in a most uncomplimentary article. -He says :—When the paper was published it was intended to make it a thoroughly independent organ of : public opinion in this part of the colony, but experience has proved that there are so mUny wheels within wheels in the Waikato, so many dodges and combinations,' so manybrings of all kinds, that unless a paper is prepared to become the slave of one and'all, 'its chances of success are slight indeed. In taking leave of the public of the Cambridge district, he does so with great pleasure 3 for the treatment he has receivetL at the hands of those who chiefly control public affairs here has been of the - most scurvy kind."

' Mr. C. O. Montrose, sub-editor of the Star on his retirement from that journal to assume the proprietorship of the Waikato Afn.il:' Cambridge, was presented by the literary staff with a very handsome album, suitably inscribed, and containing the poi - traits of the members of the staff, mounted in the form of a shield. The editor of the Star, in making the presentation, referred to Mr. Montrose's lengthy connection witli colonial journalism, and with that journal as sub-editor and special correspondent. Air. •Montrose acknowledged the gift in suitable terms, and those present bade him adieu with their best wishes for his future success.

His Grace Archbishop Steins officiated at i the nine o'clock service at St. Patricks Cathedral yesterday morning, and delivered, a brief but very instructive sermon on the gospel of the day. His Grace refeired in earnest terms to the establishing of the confraternity of the Bona Mors, which means a happy death, stating that on Sunday evening next its rules, advantages, etc., would be fully explained by him. The usual Evangelistic services took place at the Theatre Royal last evening. Dr. Kenderdine presided. Addresses were delivered by the Rev. Mr. Dunn and Mr. Utting. The Chairman announced that the collections in the boxes on the previous Sunday evening amounted to £2 6s 6d. In another column will be found a schedule o£ village lands in the Puke block that axe to be offered -for sale on the 9th March at Tauranga,

Lord Abbot Alcock preached, at' Vespers | yesterday, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, on ] "The Prodigal Son," his text being : "I wiirarise and will go to my Father, and say to him : ' Father, I have sinned against' Heaven and before thee."' The discourse was eloquent and affecting. There was a large congregation, and the musical portions of the service were creditably rendered by the choir. During the hearing of a case at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Dunedin, lately, one of the° solicitors engaged termed a witness a " right bower." His Worship questioned whether he could take judicial notice of such an expression ; but the lawyer referred to affirmed that in America not only had the Bench to countenance " poker," but it had also to. be conversant with all the rules of that game. ■ Mr. Herring, himself a Yorkshire farmer, and who represents a number of others, is at i present travelling through New Zealand with a view of reporting on its capabilities for agricultural and pas toral settlement.

A correspondent writing to the Daily Times says that a simple preventive of the ravages of linnets and sparrows "is to sow the portions of a paddock nearest the fences, say about a chain, with horned or bearded wheat. The spikes act as fixed bayonets, and not a bird, of the smaller kind at any rate, will venture to touch them, and as your agricultural readers are aware, it is around the edges where the mischief is done. I had no°idea until yesterday that bearded wheat was grown in the colony, or I would have made the suggestion earlier: but a gentleman with whom I was travelling informs me that he is this, year growing it, and so it is no doubt easily to be procured. By adopting this plan, by keeping the fences properly trimmed, and attending to the eaves of the buildings these birds may be prevented from becoming a nuisance, and perform in diminished numbers those functions which nature assigns to them —keeping in check the insect tribes, which in many of the unhappy Western States of America play such irremediable havoc."

Wo have to acknowledge the receipt of the new edition of the Rev. P. Mason's "Geography of New Zealand and Oceanica." It retains all its well-known features, and is considerably enlarged. It makes no pretentions to completeness, and is well adapted for what it is intended—for use in junior . classes in schools. But, while we have to admit that it contains more information about New Zealand than of the English published geographies. It is published by Messrs. Upton and Co., at a price to place it within the reach of all. It appears to have been revised with cai'e, although a few lurking errors have escaped detection, such as : The native name of the South Island is Te Wai Pounarnu, not Te Whai Pounamu ; the area of New South Wales is stated at 250,000 square miles, which is nearly 100,000 square miles under-stated. A similar remark is applicable to South Australia, which includes all the territory known as the Northern Territory, lying between the western boundary of Queensland and the eastern boundary of Western Australia. For those who will be generally using this book these, and a few other slips of a like kind are of little importance, but in a book that promises to be .so popular as this little one does, the utmost pains should be taken to secure, if possible, absolute accuracy. Saturday's Thames Star states that there was considerable excitement at Te Aioha last night over the exhibition of a large stone from the reef in the Morning Star claim, which showed gold freely. "Civis," in Passing Notes in the Otago Witness, referring to the proposal of the Daily Times that the Presbyterian Synod should adjourn, and see Herr Bandmann in a Shakespearean play, as well as Bandmann s offer to "dead-head" the reverend tentlemen, says : "It has been suggested that an appropriate play for these .Reverend Synodsmen would be ' Mvich Ado about Nothing, but that, you see, is ' sarkasm ;' for myself, lam terribly in earnest, too. Do you want, most learned, grave, and Reverend Seigniors, to improve your diction —to your Shakespeare. Do you want to study human nature in its various phases —to your Shakespeare. Do you desire to conceive of a wide range of thought, of passion, and of pathos, and so get lilted up above this little narrow world—to your Shakespeare. But above all don't forget the humour which runs through all, and makes even the villain lago, and the miscreant Richard 111. more or less humorous. And, the critics notwithstanding, you might have worse guides to your Shakespeare than the veteran Herr Bandmann, Walter Reynolds, Cathcart, and the charminc Miss Meaudet. The latter is but a child —only nineteen, —-but what a pathetic little Ophelia she makes, and how sweet her Desdemona! Go. reverend sirs, and weep, and laugh over a Shakespearian play, and then tell me whether you don't feel better for it, a little more human, and a great deal more modest in your estimation of your noble selves." Yesterday morning the Rev. Mr. Gulliver, the new English master to the Grammar 1 School, preached at St. Paul's an excellent l sermon from Proverbs 23 chap. v. 23, Buy Truth." ■

The Mormons are creating a sensation in Christchurch. Elder 33att had issued a challenge to Mr. Binstead to dispute on some doctrinal points, in Cathedral Square, on Sunday, January 30. At the time appointed an immense crowd collected, and the rival preachers set up their temporary pulpits in close proximity to each other. The proceedings had hardly commenced, however,, before the crowd evinced most unmistakably their disapprobation of the Salt Lake delegates, and would, no doubt, have proceeded to more unpleasant demonstrations had not Sergeants Morice and Hughes promptly put in an appearance, and, acting with great tact, succeeded in inducing the belligerent preachers to desist. Mr. Binstead promptly retired on being requested to <lo so, and was allowed to depart unmolested. The Mormon detachment were, however, not so fortunate, as the crowd followed them, hooting, and making such an inimical display that Sergeant Morice deemed it expedient for thenpersonal safety to give them tempoiaiy shelter in the police library, where they utilised the time during which their assailants waited for them by endeavouring, though | unsuccessfully, to convert some of the members of the force to their peculiar way of thinking. After a short time the crowd dispersed, and the Mormons were able to return home without molestation. The Board of Governors of Canterbury College are having warm discussions at their meetings. The engagement of Professor Hutton at the Agricultural School has been determined. At a late meeting attention was called to the necessity for some provision being made for the teaching of writing at the Boys' High School. The Board resolved to include ill the staff of the school a teacher of writing.

A.paper on "United Germany " will be read this evening at the monthly meeting of the Catholic Literary Institute. We learn that Mr. P. Doran intends to take down a variety troupe to the Bay of Islands at the regatta festival, and they will perform there on the 15th, 30tb, and 17th instant. The monthly meeting of Lodge Ara is to be held in the lodge-room, Masonic Hotel, Princesstreet, this evening, at half-past 7 o clock. The traffic on the Orakei Road, leading over the bridge to the Springs, is stopped during repairs to the road. The valuation list for the . Waitakerei West Highway Board has been preparcd and may now be inspected at the residence of Mr. A.lhl worth.