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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6164, 19 August 1881, Page 4

We apprehend that it is almost needless for us again to call attention to the public raeot- : ing to be held this afternoon to consider the breach of faith of which the Government have been guilty in connection with the reclamation works. On former occasions "the Government have h.-id to be stirred npon the subject. After the work wa3 promised, fa long delay, took place,in beginning'it, then the contract was allowed to be bungled, and to stand for months while the contractor and the Government officers disputed, "and now tho Minister of Public Works has tho assurance to say, that "If anything further were done, the money must be taken out of the vote for. roads and bridges in the Auckland provincial,district.'.' There is no mistaking tho meaning of this. It signifies that the Government intend that the work shall not be finished, and that the people of Auckland will' bo left with an unsightly, stinking lagooa in, the , midst of the most valuable portion. of • the city. The people of Auckland will speak their minds freely on the .subject, the Auckland members will be galvanised into activity and unanimity, and unless the power and influence "of Auckland in. the' .councils of the colony amount to nothing, the Government will be forced to fulfil their pledges. There are other subjects at, present before Parliament on which the voice of tho Auckland public

should bo heard.;; There is some talk of bringing up the question of representation at the present meeting:: ; , ' '

It will be seen from our telegrams that the Eight Rev. Dr. QuinD, R.C. Bishop of Brisbane, Queensland, is dead. His Lordship was well advanced in years, and for some time has been in failing health. A few years ago His Lordship visited Auckland, and was for some time at the Waiwera Hot Springs. At that time—just prior to his return to his diocese, greatly improved in health by his trip—he was one of three Roman Catholic bishops who were in Auckland together, and who in company visited St. Mary's Convent and the other Catholic institutions of the city. The other two were Bishop Moran, of Dunedin, and Bishop Redwood, of Wellington. They wero accompanied by the Right Rev, Father Fynes, V.G., who was then, as now, administering the diocese of Auckland.

At 4 o'clock this afternoon, a meeting of citizens mil be held in the large room of the New Zealand Insurance Company's buildings, for the purpose of considering the action of the Government in relation to the harbour reclamation. The meeting will no doubt be influentially attended/ It seems to us that the most effectual way to grapple with the difficulty, would be to appoint an influential deputation to at once procecd to Wellington to deputationize the Government on the subject. The elections are at hand, and if this level is made good use of might be effectual in securing that consideration which might be otherwise denied.'

The ordinary weekly sitting of the R. M. Court to 1 hear and determine small debt claims was held yesterday, before Mr. J. E; Macdonald, R.M. His Worship gave judgment in-the case of L. D. Nathan and Co. v. Priddle, the captain of a vessel called the Ocean Ranger, from New York to Lyttelton. The action was brought to recover for damage to goods. The judgment will be found in another column. In the case of the DeputyCommissioner of Property Tax v. The Trustees of Davidson's estate judgment was further deferred. In the case of Glecson v. Dawson, heard at the previous sitting, His Worship nonsuited the plaintiff. There were several cases undefended, in which judgment was given for plaintiffs. The principal defended case was that of DeLias v. James Carden (the actor) for £50, for breach of agreement. The further hearing of the case was adjourned to enable the Court to decide a legal point.raised. For the defence, it was contended that the plaintiff had waived his claim under the agreement. The proceedings will be found reported in another column. ...

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Crown Landß . Board was held yesterday in the Lands Office, —Mr. D. A. Tole (Chief Commissioner) in the chair. The business •was wholly of a routine character. Dr. J. L. Campbell again took his seat at the Board under the Governor's warrant appointing him commissioner in the room of Mr. J. C. Firth (resigned). The proceedings will be found reported in another column.

In future vessels coming from Sydney will be admitted to pratique upon the passengers being vaccinated, or producing proofs that they had recently undergone that operation. Passengers by the Union S.S. Co.'s boats will be vaccinated before leaving Sydney, and thus detention here will be avoided.

No doubt the reason vessels from this port have been quarantined at Noumea is that they cannot produce a clean bill of health, but on the contrary Auckland is branded as scarlatina stricken. The attention of the local Board of Health was called to this, to all appearance, microscopic scrupulosity on the part of some one, but that body decided that the question exceeded their jurisdiction.

We are informed that Mr. Errington, C.E., has submitted a supplementary estimate of a plan for bridging the Waitemata, on similar principles to the pontoon bridge successfully in use at Calcutta, crossing the Hooghly, and designed by Mr. B. Leslie, C.E., London. In the Waitemata bridge, the superstructure would be calculated for the heaviest tram or roadway traffio, would offer no impediment to river carriage, openings 60 feet wide and 22 feet headroom would be provided, and a portion, of the bridge in mid-channel could bo removed in from 20 to 30 minutes, and giving a clear opening of 250 feet wide for extraordinary traffic when found necessary. The cost is £47,000.

The East Coast Native Land and Settlement Company, Limited, has been successfully floated, and the share list closes tomorrow (Saturday), 20th instant. In th South the enterprise has been very favourable viewed by the public, aud the shares largel) applied for.

To-day, Mr. Goldie intends to move at the meeting of the Board of Education, "That all meetings of the Board, ' whether in committeo or otherwise,'be open to the repreoentatives of the Press."

The following telegrams have been received by the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce from the Premier and Sir G. Maurice o'B.orke on the subjects of the railway reclamations, tho big dock, and the subsidy for steam communication with New Caledonia : —" Have received your telegram urging that the railway terminus reclamation be proceeded with. More money already on the estimates for Auckland than any other provincial district, and provision made for carrying on railway works which will be pushed on to completion. If expenditure additional to that provided for the reclamation- during the year were made, it would have to be taken from provision for works in the rest of the provincial district.—John Hall." "Orders for dock will be pressed on as speedily as possible. Papers are now before engineer, who will probably require some further information from Harbour Board.—Jons Hall." "Will cheerfully co-operate in urging Government to complete reclamation. Always considered a necessary work.—Maurice O'Rokke." " Regret Government do not see their way to comply with recommendation of Chamber for subsidy of £5000 for steam service to New Caledonia. -John Hall."

An alarm of fire was rung out last night by the: Grev-sireet and Albert-street fire bella about 6 o'clock.. It proved to have arisen at the residence of Mr. Daniel Allen, expressman, Wakefield-street. A boy had thrown an armful of shavings on the fire, when owing to the draught up the chimney the burning mass was taken up the flue. The fire was easily extinguished. Constables Kennedy and Rist were promptly on the spot, as well as some members of the Fire Brigade, but their services were not required. The chimney; on examination, was found to be in a cleanly condition; and the .occurrence was solely due to the lad's thoughtlessness, and purely accidental. About an hour previously another alarm of firo took place .m Waterloo Quadrant, which proved to bs occasioned by a chimney taking fire in . the,residence of the Jewish Rabbi, the Rev. Mr, Goldstein. The constablo on duty in Princes-street,' Constable Kennedy, immediately rushed over and assisted in extinguishing it.. The origin of the firo is rather obscure, as Mr. Goldstein states the chimney had only been swept about' six weeks ago. \

Tho football team which is to compete against .Waikato players at Hamilton tomorrow, proceed_by the 8,30 o'clock-, train this morning. We understand it is tho' intention of tho footballers to play return 'matches with the various Auckland clubs before the close of the present season.

David's ' Presbyterian' Church Svm n j street. After hearing the evidence prosecution, the Presbytery did not <wJ •! necessary to call upon Air. Dunn forvdefence, as the charges were not substantiate!? He stood completely acquitted, and », lution was passed to lihat effect, and » ing sympathy with him in the in which ho had be m placed. Ad e t,nl report will be found olscwhcre. This evening the ratepayers of PonsnnY are to meet at the Ponsonbv Hall it l >7 past 7 o'clock, for the purpose of con a id\ r - or otherwise of joining ihf

In the last Australian papers a is made in regard to the Detached Squad™ which may possibly account for the o lp from the Admiralty not to touch it v Zealand. All the vessels have, it suffered greatly from desertion, one ,h;' having lost nearly 100 men. This Jj has always borne a bid name a t the Britil Admiralty for promoting desertion from tii Bhips of war, and it is just possible tlmf »l. Admiralty having been informed of w w had taken place at Melbourne and Svdn™ decided that New Zealand should not & encountered by the squadron, with th leaving the vcsaebj c "tiicly under-

Last night an entertainment was riven i n the Beresford-street Public School. T] l(>t " was a very large attendance—larger, indeed than many previous similar occasions Thi meeting was presided over by Mr w Gome, Chairman of the local School Com: mittee who, after a few introductory remarks, submitted the various items of tfe programme to the meeting. The programme consisted of p.ano duet, solos, clefs, ™»d readings. Amongst the audience were a large number of grown-up persons, as well as children, evidently parents or relatives of the pupils attending the school. The entertainment was in aid of the funds for the school library.

Mr. Speight, M.H.R., heaving that many at the Thames were displeased at his attendwg the Land League meeting, has written a letter on the subject, which is published in the Thames Advertiser "I believe all T said in relation to the Irish land system and I feel sure that most, if not all, of mv friends will agree with the ideas I Cipressed ; still, under no circumstances, will I allow a fear of future consequences to myself to cause me to hide my opiuioua upon a subject which may ia its treatment have a direct bearing upon the land legislation of this our own colony. I have, therefore, to ask you to be good •nough to let my friends know that, so far from my feeling that I have made any mistake in this matter, I am quite satisfied the course I adopted was an honest aud proper one for any man to take who properly values as I try to, the principle which should underlie all the States dealing in the land of any country, viz., that the land was iutended for the use and occupation of the great bulk of the people, and not merely for the exclusive benefit of the few." There were two persons in the lock-up last evening for drunkenness—a mau and a woman. The many friends of the Rev. Richard Jones, late pastor of the Ponsonby Baptist Church, will be glad to learn that he lias received and accepted a unanimous call from the Welsh Baptist Churches of Adelaide and Port Adelaide to become their pastor. Ho has commenced his ministry among them, and as, besides a thorough knowledge of the Welsh tongue, he is an earnest aud hardworking clergyman, his labours amongst his countrymen promise to be very successful.

Several gentlemen connected with the company formed in Melbourne to work tlio White Island sulphur arrived at Tauranga per a.s. Wellington on Friday. Their visit is for the purpose oi inspecting Wliite Islaud for the benefit of some of the shareholders. The s.s. Staffa was chartered for the occasion, and the party, accompanied by Mr. C. H. Wilson, left Tauranga for White Island on Saturday evening. They expect to be on the island about a -week.—Bay of Plenty Times.

The repairs to the ceiling of the Police Court—at least, the putting up of a new plaster ceiling—have been completed and the scaffolding removed, and the Court sat there yesterday. The acoustic properties have not been in the slightest degree improved. and it is with great difficulty that the Bench or reporters can make cut the evidence of witnesses or the remarks of counsel. It is, without exception, the worst Court-room as reeards acoustic properties in the province, ami if something is not done to remedy this frightful defect, attendance at the Police Court by' magistrates, counsel, or reporters, will be a very unenviable work indeed.

The monthly inspection parade of the "A" Battery of Artillery, under command of Captain Payne, was held in the drill-hall last night. There was a good muster, and the inspection, made by Major Withers, appeared to be satisfactory. After the parade, the battery was exercised in company drill and movements by Captain Payne, and in big gun drill by Lieutenant Norric. There was no march out, as the members of the band had to remain for a meeting.

The case for the defendants in the Wade smuggling case was continued yesterday up to 5 o'clock, and a good many witnesses were examined who emphatically contradicted many of the main features of the evidence for the prosecution. ' The caso was adjourned until this morning at 10 o'clock.

Last Saturday evening Constable Walker, of Eden Crescent, had a very fine black spaniel stolen from his residence. He otfered a reward through tlio Press for its recovery, and last evening "from information received " went down to the steamer Argyle, about to proceed to Whangarei, and found his dog on deck with a ticket on his neck, which showed that he waa being forwarded as a present to the proprietor and editor of tlio Northern Advocate!- Mr. Walker at once took possession of his dog. On making inquiries it was ascertained that the dog had been taken possession of by a well-known character named William Henry Lloyd. He had made a : present of it to a young man a.t Seccombe's Brewery, named Alderton, who shipped it by the Argyle as a gift to his brother, as above stated. Lloyd was last night arrested for being drunk and disorderly in the Kyber Pass-road, but it is not yet known whether any charge of dogfancying can or will bo pressed against him.

A meeting of the English Church vestry was held at Hawera' on 'tho 11th instant. It was resolved to write to the' Rev. Mr. Calder, in "the Waikato, asking ' him if ho would be ' prepared to accept the appointment of clergyman, if it were offered to him.; : Mr. Calder, who has been privately communicated with by wire, proposes to visit the district before giving a final answer; but is willing to entertain any proposal submitted to him; Messrs. Young and Martyn will bo asked to act as a subcommittee to assist the vestry on the Plains; and Mr. Beresford and another will be asked to assist at Normanby.

-•■i Professor Fraser delivered a very interesting lecture entitled "Alcohol v. Blood and Brain " at the Temperance Hall last night to a numerous audience, under the auspices of tho Auckland Total Abstinence Society. The Rev. S. Edger occupied tho chair.