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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7007, 2 May 1884, Page 5

Wβ learn from our cable messages to-day that all the Powers have accepted the proposals submitted to them by the British Government for a Conference on the Egyptian question. France, however, does not. waive her demand that the Conference should be at liberty to discuss the whole question. A message has been received from the Governor of Berber stating he still holds the town with a small force, but that assistance is urgently needed. The marriage of Prince Lonis of Battenburg with the Princess Victoria of Hesse-Darmstadt has been celebrated with great ceremony at Darmstadt, in the presence of the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Crown Prince of Germany, and other exalted personages.

Two terribly destructive explosions have Occurred in Havanna, the capital of Cuba. The powder magazine in the arsenal exploded, and in turn caused a gasometer in the neighbourhood to explode. The damage to property is said to be immense, and a number of lives were lost. Havanna is the largest citv in the West Indies. It has a population" of 200,000. . The streets are spacious and well made, and many of its buildings are highly imposing. The city ie protected by strong fortifications. The regular weekly meeting of the City Council was held last evening. The proceedings were of more than ordinary interest, and included many matters of great public importance. A detailed report of the proceedings appears in another portion of this issue. Sir George Grey is in communication with friends in Cbristchurch with regard to hie visit to that city. At a late hour last night it was uncertain whether Sir George would leave for the South to-day. The weekly sitting of the .Resident Magistrate's Court was held yesterday. There was a large amount of business transacted, but none of the oases heard presented any special features of public interest.

The exhi?iition of the Auckland Society of Arts was open yesterday in the afternoon and evening. It was largely attended, especially in the evening. The interest in the pictures was as great as on the previous evenings. The Hon. James Williamson has purchased two of Mr. Albin Martin's pictures. Mr. Gaut's picture, "Moonlight," has been purchased by Mr. Osmond. The prizes drawn in the Atz Union have sensibly helped the sale' of pictures and of minor works of art. Many of the works of ladies have been sold by private arrangement. The concert held in the evening was a great attraction. The programme comprised: Pianoforte selections, Miss Brown; "The Village Blackemith," Mr. Charters; "Ye Gallants of EDgland," Mr. Knox ; duet. Miss Tapper and Mr. Burnham; "No Tongue Can Tell," Mr. Edwards; "Never More," Mr. Burnham ; "The Storm King," Mr. S. ' B. K.eeeiog. A very pleasing feature of the ixhibitiou yesterday was the attendance by nvitation trom the committee of the childen of the district schools. A large number if children from City East School were adnittad free yesterday under the superintendence of Mr. Worthington the headmaster and teachers. At the close of the exhibition in the afternoon Mr. Worthington publioly thanked the committee and its hon. Secretary, Mr. Josiah Martin, for their kindness to the children. Mr. Martin congratulated the children upon the opportunity that had beea afforded them to see the exhibition, also upon their conduct. This is the last day on -rrhich the exhibition will be open. It is lot necessary to urge the claims which such A exhibition has upon the general publio jver and above its intrinsic merit —as repreenting the true standard of taste and artistic culture in this part of the colodv. The children of other district schools and the orphanages will be admitted free to-day. It is scarcely necessary to mention any precautions against damage. The children of the district schools are well behaved. Still it is incumbent upqn teuohers and guardians to prevent as much as possible even the posBibUity of accident.

— It appears that the trouble over the crowding of first-class carriages at tbe late Papakura races is not yet over. It is authoritatively stated that only 32 firet-class tickets were issued that morning for the special train, while three short first-class carriages were provided, giving comfortable accommodation for 50 persons. A number of second-class passengers, it seems, gat iato the first-olass carriages, and absorbed the accommodation, hence the complaints of first-class ticket holders. The guards, while the train was era route for Papakura, discovered this, and jaade some of these second-class passengers pay the additional first-class fare to Papakura, while others were removed from the carriages, not having the necessary funds. The names of the offenders against the railway regulations, who are charged with riding Srst-ciass on second-claes tickets, have been obtained, with a view to further proceedings of a legal character.

The inquest on the body 'of Patrick Morao, who died in Mount Eden Gaol, has been adjourned by Dr. Tennent, Coroner for the Gaol, till this afternoon, at two o'clock, in order to procure the attendance of Dr. Bond, House Surgeon of the Hospital, Constable Burns (the officer who arrested Moran), and Sergeant McMahon (the non-commis-sioner on duty at the time of Moran's arrest). We understand that Moran stated before his death that he had applied for admiasion to the Hospital,' but had been refused admission. So far as is known Moran made no complaint to the police while in the lock-up as to having received internal injuries. Dr. Richardson has recently' performed a very successful operation for cataract, in the case of Mrs. Brimner, an old lady of 75. She wza becoming totally blind, but through the operation is now able, with the use of h cataract glasses, to read ordinary print. Mrs. Brimner is tbe grandmother of the jockey, William Brimner, who. was accidentally killed the other day at Kamo, Whangarei. • The system of giving warning to various license holders being found to be unworkable, persona taking little or no notice, we understand that unless the same be taken out promptly on the day payable, legal steps wiJl at once be taken to enforce compliance with the law. . A new firm of auctioneers has begun business in our midst. Messrs. Drew and Co. are now carrying on bnsinese as auctioneers in the wharf auction rooms, Lower Queen-street, where their first great sale of miscellaneous consignments will be held today. Preparations have been in progress for some time past to open the new Savings Bank building with becoming eclat. We learn that Thursday first has been fixed for the ceremony. Tbe new building has been ready for"the last week or two, but the other arrangements were not completed. Now that all details have been arranged, it is expected that His Excellency the Governor will conduct the opening ceremony.—The bank has been, eminently successful, and, together with the other attractions of 'the day, will be a brief history of the institution, showing its vicissitudes during the early days qf the colony. The Mayor of the city has been invited by the trustees to be present, and it is : expected that there will be a "considerable gathering of old citizens; who remember the institution of the bank, and of persons connected with the operative elasses, Trho have built up this excellent institution. A meeting of the committee of the Licensed Victuallers' Association;was held last night. A number of applications were sent in for the office of Secretary, arid'out of these Mr. John King was selected for the appointment. '-

In the City Council last night the Mayor referred to a paragraph in yesterday's Hbhald, which alluded to a fire-plug cover being placed on a valve at the corner of Nel-son-street, and also to there being a difficulty in opening the plug at the. fire, on Monday morning, in Victoria-street West. -His Worship stated thus "he had examined into the correctness oi these statements, and found that they were inoorrect—there was no error in the cover*, and the ping was clear when required. He was there before the hose-reel arrived, and when it did arrive, they merely wheeled round, and attached the hose at once." There is no doubt the Mayor, in making such a statement, did so in good faith; but he is labouring under a mieapprehension, as the following statement will show:—On Saturday evening Mr. Hughes was returning along Viotoria-straet West, from visiting the Ponsonby Fire Brigade station, when he noticed Lhe fire-plug opposite the Empire Hotel jammed with a piece of wood. . He went to-remove it," and Mr. Petherick, the contractor, coming past at the time, he remarked to him, "This would be a pretty fine mess if a fire broke out." On lifting the fireping cover, he found a valve, underneath instead of a hydrant. When the fire occurred on Monday morning, Mr. Fulljames, of the Fire Brigade, who lives about 100 yards from the scene of the fire, ran to open the nearest fire-plug, as is the duty of the fireman residing closest to the scene of a fire. Misled by the fire-plug cover, he started to open the valve opposite tbe Empire Hotel, but was delayed by finding it jammed with a piece of wood. Mr. Fulljames informs us that he had some difficulty in getting the wood out. While he was working at it, Mr. W. G. Connolly, builder, who is an honorary member of the Fire Brigade, and who lives a little over fifty yards from the scene of the fire, came up and assisted him to get out the piece of wood. Mr. Connolly informs us that the piece of wood was whittled, and had apparently been driven home with a rammer. When the Fire Brigade came up to attach their hose to the plug Mr. Connolly called out to them it was no use, as it was a valve, and not a fire-plug, and to go down to the fire-plug opposite Mr. Ogil»io's premises, which they did. The Mayor haa evidently confounded the two localities, and his explanation refers to the plug at Ogilvie's, with regard to which and the action of the hose reel-party his remarks are perfectly true. Those who choose to inspect the plug opposite the .Empire Hotel for themselves will find that there is a fire-plug cover on the valve. We understand this is not a solitary instance in which the Brigade have been similarly misled. At the tire at Messrs. Hesketh and Aitken's stores, Durham-atreefc, the Brigade took their hose down to Durhamstreet to the fire-plug cover only to find a valre underneath, and after losing precious time had to carry the hose back to the upper level of Albert-street, and to the fireplug opposite the gas lamp. That fire-plug cover remains over the valve to this day, the mistake never having been remedied. The valve covers are or ought to be uniformly circular, while the fire-plug covers are either square or oval, so that the accuracy of the above statement can be easily tested.

There was again a very lart;e audience at "Abbott's" last night to witness the performance of the "Lights o , London" by the "Youth" company. The etalls and pit were densely crowded. The piece is so well played, the constantly shifting and revolving scenery presents such variety; the emotional situations are so impressive, and the comedy of Mr. S. JR. Greville is so amusing, that the entertainment as a whole has given the highest satisfaction. The management has thoroughly redeemed the promise of putting a new style of drama upon the stage in a manner that compares favourably with some London theatres. To-night ie announced as "a grand fashionable night." The work of erscting the branch Savings Bank premises on the Surrey Hill eetate, is being rapidly proceeded with. The contractor is Mr. Gabb, and the contract time three months. The first night of the new season of the Ponsonby Social Union, toek place last evening, in the Oddfellows' Hall, Ponsonby. About -40 couples were present. Mr. W. J. Rees officiated as M.C. Hannken's string bend supplied the dance music. The committee elected is as follows :—Messrs. W. J. Rees, A. H. Jones, W. J. Geddis, T. Maeky, C. (Julpan (secretary), Lily, and Goudie. Refreshments were supplied, during the evening.

Mr. John M. Grace writes' in answer to our correspondent's statements in reference to the mortality amongst the natives ia the Hokianga district. Our correspondent said that seventeen deaths had occurred ia a population of 600 during a year. Mr. Grace says that thie is a very high percentage. He ijoee on to blame the Resident Magistrate fer allowing twenty-two children to die at Lower Waihou in ISSO or ISBI, till Mr. John Lundon drew attention to the subject in the House, and obtained a promiae from Mr. Bryce that the doctor at Mangonui would be sent to the district. Instead of there being only six deaths at Herekino, there were, according to the statement of Kuka te Huria, fifteen deaths in one month. Mr. Grace concludes his letter as follows :— "I regret nothing I have done. I retract nothing I have said in this matter. But I rejoice that my feeble pen has been the means of unearthing and dragging into the light of day the cruel indifference, the haughty disdain, the shifts and the sKams by which poor suffering humanity is allowed to wither away and die, while the Dives of, office feed sumptuously and dress in fine linen daily. I£ these be thy triumphs, O Bed Tape ! I weep for thy victims."

A handsome two-storeyed villa residence is in course of erection in St. Stephen's Avenue. Parnell, for Mr. Lawford, manager of the Bank of Australasia. The coat will be about £900, and the contractor, Mr. J. J. O'Connell. Mr. Superintendent Thomson received a telegram yesterday, fiMm the locU constable at Hokianga, stating that an iuque3; had been held on. the body of the cbild, James Young, who died from severe burns. A vordict of "Accidental death" was returned.

Mr. Thomas Spnrgeon delivered a lecture last night at the St. James's Hall, entitled "The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth." There was a large attendance, the hall being completely filled. Dr. Philson presided, and introduced the lecturer in a few brief remarks, in which he referred to the three years' labours of Mr; Spurgeon in Auckland, which had made him familiar to all, and endeared him to the hearts of very many of all classes, so that it might be said "his praise was in all the Churches." He (the Chairman) felt he was only expressing the wish of those present when he hoped that Mr. Spurgeon might be conveyed in safety and health to the boaom of his family, and that- in due seasen he might be restored in renewed strength to his loving and expectant people. The lecturer on coming forward was received with applause. He stated that he bad been endeavouring to arrange a series of lectures for the winter in aid of the Tabernacle fund. Among those who had consented to take a place in the programme were Professor Aldis and Consul Griffin. Itbad been his ownjintention to give the concluding lecture of tbe series, but the new arrangements involving his departure for England had. upset that scheme, and ho found himself at very short notice compelled to give hi 3 lecture first. That must be his apology for the imperfect manner in which he would treat the subject of his lecture. Its contents were "begtted, borrowed, or stolen," and he had collected his shells from every shore. The lecturer then, in his humourous and characteristic style, proceeded to treat of the various branches of his subject— l lying. equivocation, exaggeration, gosaip, flattery, boast' ing, &c.—illustrating them by historical, biographical, and poetical references. Mr. Spurgeon concluded with an eloquent peroration, in which he coDJured hie hearers to '•' bny the truth, and sell it not," and to walk in the footsteps of Him, who could say. without egotism, " I am the Way, t/ie Truth, and the Life." Mr. Shalders proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was carried by acclamation. Mr. Spurgeon moved a vote of thanks to Dr. Philson for presiding, which was also carried. After announcing that he would conduct service morning end evening next Sunday at the Choral Hall, Mr. Spurgeon closed the proceedings by pronouncing the Benediction. . There were three persons in the lock-up last night, namely, two on charges o drunkenness, and a boy for absconding from the Kohimarama Training School. The building trade is tolerably bviefc at present, and quite a number of plane are pouring into the Building Inspector a office.

Now and again some old Auckland citizen' trie* to do some good to the district in which he has long resided. This is a commendable characteristic. Lately Mr. Charles Taylor, of the Tamaki, went home, and since his arrival there he became acquainted with a newly discovered process of cleaning tho fibre of the ramie plant, from which tbe "China grass" of commerce is obtained. Th& plant hau been tried in nearly all the warm colonies of Britain, and-in India, where it grows to any extent, but great difficulty ha* been experienced in cleaning the fibre. Cleaning by hand, as the Maoria formerly cleaned the phormium tenax, is too slow and costly to make a trade, but the new method of cleaning the fibre has revived the hopes of those who formerly took an interest in this plant. The method of cleaning now adopted appears to be the combination of two patents, neither of which is successful in itself. Mr. Taylor has sent a number of samples of this fibre in various stages of cleaning, and also pieces of different kinds of cloth manufactured from the spun fibre. They were sent to Mr. Cheeseman, the Secretary of the Acclimatisation Society, but he handed them, together with the papers, reports, and small packages of the seed of two varieties of the plant from which the "China grass" is obtained, over to the Domain Board, who are now carrying on tbe work of acclimatisation so far as economic botany is concerned. Tho seed should 'be sown without delay, and if it be really a fact that the fibre contained in the bark of

"China grass" plant can be prepared at a cheap rate so as to make its culture and preparation a profitable industry, there is an unlimited market for the dressed fibre in all manufacturing countries. If the packages of seed now received succeed, Mr. 't'aylor promise* to send further supplies on subsequent occasions. M.H.R. railway pisses have their disadvantages as well as advantages. At Napier, the other day, a member of the House of Representatives, resident some distance from that town, had the misfortune to have a judgment summons served upon bim. Ho tender of travelling expenses was made, and relying upon, the fact, the M.H.R. did not attend. Counsel for the judgment creditor contended no tender was necessary, as the debtor held a member's pass, and could travel free. The R.M. took the same view, and made an order for payment, or imprisonment in default. The Lady Superintendent of the Hospital desires through our columns to acknowledge the gift of a basket of lemons from Mr. J. C. Firth, and bundles of old linen from Mrs. J. Dickey and Mrs. Williams. The Rev. \V. B. Baker will deliver a lecture in the Wesleyan Chapel, North Shore, this evening. .

The Auckland Weekly News, the largest, be3t, and most readable family journal In the colomy, will consist this week of forty pages. Besides being admirably illustrated, It Iβ characteriied by the fulness of its intelligence and the variety of its oo»tents. Its agricultural articles are carefully written, its country, colonial, English, and foreign news full and well selected, and its literary matter both interesting and edifying. It publishes each week sermons by the moat prominent preaohers of the age, serial tales by the ablest authors of the day, special articles on general topics by well Informed writers, entertaining letters from its correspondents in America and England, and a large variety of instructire matter. As a weekly newspaper ana family journal, the News is without an equal. This week the News will contain a portrait of General Graham, who was in command of the British troops in the Eastern Soudan, during the recent operations against Osman Digna, and of £1 Mahdi, from a sketch taken in Kordofan. It Is said to be a faithful likeness of the victorious rebel. At the Haymarket to-day a shipment of valuable horsei will be offered by Mr. Buckland. They are the property of Mr. Twentyman Hodgson, who has used etrery care in -procuring itoclc specially suited to this district. In another column will be found the preliminary and somewhat singular notice of an entertainment to Bβ given shortly in the Choral Hall. We are Informed thai several prominent Udies and E.ntleraen are ictirestinif themselves in this unique Leap Year undertaking, an*, the object being a charitable one, they merit, for two reasons, success. Mr. H. n. Smith intends to give an exhibition of bis limollcht views, at Papakura, to-morrow evening. The exhibition . will take place in the Public Hall. Mr. Smith has succeeded in securing some local views.