Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7645, 24 May 1886, Page 4

! The situation in Europe continues to give cause for uneasiness. Another Ministerial crisis has occurred .at Athena, and M. Tricoupis is stated to be forming a Cabinet. Should he succeed a decided change will be given to the direction of Greek policy. It is doubtful, however, whether in the present temper of the people any statesman favourable to a peace policy can secure a. following sufficiently strong to maintain him in office. Further outpost fighting has occurred on the frontier, but it is stated, as on a previous occasion, to have been due to a misunderstanding. It is a noteworthy sign of the times that German officers in France have been recalled, and that the usual summer furlough has been refused. It is stated that the Russian candidates in Roumelia have collapsed. A subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce has been appointed to draw up a report on the question of necessary railway works in this provincial district, which when adopted will be forwarded to the Auckland members of both Houses of the General Assembly. Throughout yesterday afternoon a steamer inside Tiritiri was signalled from the signal station at the North Shore, and, owing to her evident slow progress, a good many persons were of opinion that she must be the Harbour Board's new steam dredger. The vessel, however, proved to be the s.s. Explorer, which is usually employed amongst the islands of the Pacific, carrying stores, etc., to the various guano islands occupied by the company who own the vessel. The Explorer has come to Auckland to receive extensive repairs and a new propeller. At the Police Court on Saturday morning the business had to be put back or adjourned on account of there being only one Justice on the Bench, and those having business at the Court delayed for half an hour while the messenger was scouring the streets to procure a second gentleman. The members of the bar engaged protested against the frequent adjournments which have to be made with prosecutions in consequence of the Justices set down on rota not attending. Mr. Theo. Cooper, who was engaged in a railway prosecution, characterised it as disgraceful that so much valuable time should be wasted in consequence. This is a very miserable result of all the fuss that has been made about measures having been adopted which would compel Justices to attend. Messrs. Richard K. Baber and John Hugo Harrop, being the only two candidates nominated for the office of auditors for the borough of Parnell, have been declared duly elected by the Returning Officer, Mr. Rawlings, Mr. M. H, Airey, well known in Auckland and at Thames, has been appointed travelling agent for the Auckland district for the Government Life Insurance Association in place of Mr. W. J. Speight, who has been appointed resident agent in Auckland. Temperance sermon 9 to the young were preached in various city pulpits yesterday, at the request of the Band of Hope Union. The agitation for the construction of the alternative line of railway between Auckland fcnd Penrose is being renewed, and a petition is being signed by the mercantile community calling upon the president of the Chamber of Commerce to take steps to impress upon the Government the necessity lor carrying on the work. The Auckland Band of Hope Union anniversary is to be celebratod this evening by the annual gathering of the Bands of Hope in the Choral Hall, at half-past seven, when Mr. W. Noble and the Rev. C. H. Garland will address the meeting. At halfpast two in the afternoon a conference will be held in the Alexandra-street Schoolroom, when papers on the phases of the temperance question will be read. Mr. Noble will be present, and other temperance workers, and all total abstainers are invited to come. A tea will be provided at half-past five at Robsou's Rooms. A preliminary meeting was held on Saturday evening for the purpose of making preparations for the meeting to be held this evening at St. James' Hall, in Wellingtonstreet, of those sympathising with the cause of Home Rule for Ireland. The following resolutions were adopted for submission to the meeting to-night:—lst, " That this meeting desires, on this the 67th anniversary of her Birthday, to express sincere loyalty to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria ;" to be moved by Mr. P. GleesoD, and seconded by Mr. Joseph O'Meagher. 2nd, " That this meeting expresses its cordial thanks to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone for his heroic efforts in the cause of Home Rule for Ireland, and its earnest hope that ht3 efforts may be crowned with success ;" to be moved by Mr, G. M. Reed, and seconded by Mr. J. J. Crofts. 3rd, " That a cable message be forwarded to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, embodying the foregoing resolutions, and that for this purpose a committee be appointed ;" to be moved by Mr. G. Leahy, and seconded by Mr. J. M. Grace. A. letter was read at the meeting from the Rev. Mr. McKinney, the Presbyterian minister of Mahurangi, in reply to an invitation forwarded to him requesting him to preside at the meeting. The letter stated that Mr. McKinney was unable to leave his parish at present, but he expressed his sympathy with the object of the meeting. It then proceeded :—" It is very sad to see the Protestants of Ulster—so many of them at least—taking the part that they now appear to be taking in relation to this great question, and expressing the fears that they do aa to what would result were Mr. Gladstone's proposals carried out. In regard to the groundlessness of some of their fears the statements made in a letter that lately appeared in the Belfast Witness—the principal organ of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland—are very gocd. The writer is a Presbyterian who has long lived in the South of Ireland. He says, ' There is no such thing as an anti-Protestant feeling in the South of Ireland, and anyone who asserts that there is belies the people of the South. If the people of Ulster be not visited with the horrors of civil war, which some speakers seem so coolly to contemplate, till the Catholics of the South invade the province, they may, I can assure them, rest in peace and security.' ... In the late election for the British Parliament the voice of the great majority of the people of Ireland declared in favour of Homo Rule, but it.will be ill, I believe, for the Empire if this almost unanimous voice of the nation is not listened to." " "

f —— It is high time that the City Council in- J fcreased the efficiency of the Fire Brigade J by giving them a hook and ladder carriage, which can be drawn by horse-power. At present the firemen have to make themselves beasts of burden and drag the machine to a fire, no matter what may be the distance. A good illustration of the present system was to be Been on Saturday morning, when the men had to drag the carriage all the way to Ponsonby and up College Hill, arriving at the scene of fire quite blown and exhausted. Scarcely had they dragged it back to the station when out rang the bell for the Grafton Road fire, and away they had to tear with it up Wellesley-street. The absurdity of the affair is that the hook and ladder carriage iB the apparatus for saving life, and should be first on the ground, but owing to its being dragged by the men generally arrives last. If our City Fathers had a turn of running the carriage to a fire at Ponsonby some night they would soon find ways and means to . have it fitted for being dragged by horses. . Superintendent Hughes drew attention to ■ this " felt want " years ago, but until some ' lives are sacrificed through delay in getting the hook and ladder carriage on the ground, ' it is not expected that any improvement in ' the plant will take place. [ Yesterday afternoon the Tabernacle was filled to overflowing by Sunday - school , children, the occasion being an address to , Mr. Noble. The following schools wero , represented Tabernacle, Mount Eden, and Ponsonby Baptist schools, also those of St. David's (Presbyterian), and Pitt and Edwin streets (Primitive Methodist). There were about 1500 present, and on the platform were the Rev. C. Worboys, Messrs. Battley, Ronntree. Corkilland others. Mr. Noble gave an excellent address on "Temptation," which was appropriately illustrated. Some choice hymns were sung. The proceedings concluded with the benediction, by the Rev. C. Worboys. Some short time ago it was advertised that a number of trees and plants, which had been raised in the Domain Gardens by Mr. oldie, might be had at a small cost. Most of these are of considerable economic value, and it would be of importance if they could be cultivated in this colony. We are glad to hear that there have been a large number of applications for these plants by settlers in different parts of the North Islaud, who will no doubt test their capabilities in different localities. A section of the Salvation Army, en route from Parnell to Onehunpa, experienced a wonderfully narrow escape on Saturday night. They left Parnell at about five o'clock in Mr. Thomas Hodgson's spring trap, driven by Mr. Hodgson himself, and had two lights burning brightly. Shortly after passing Mr. Barstow's gate at Epsom they observed a large spring waggon coming along the road at a tremendous pace from the direction of Onehunga, and Mr. Hodgson at once pulled to his proper side, but the driver of the van apparently made a mistake and pulled the wrong rein, for the waggon turned right on the spring trap, and the shaft of the latter entered the flank of one of the waggon horses. Mr. Hodgson and one of the occupants of the trap were thrown on to the road and severely shaken. Someone cried out to take the name of the waggon driver, but the latter drove off at full speed without waiting to ascertain what damage he had caused, but he had not proceeded far before the wounded horse dropped, and it was left lying on the roadside ail night. There were no lights on the waggon. The escape of the party was almost miraculous. Mr. Hodgson's •arm is bruised and stiff, and one of the Salvationists, who was thrown out of the trap, was bruised about the body, and is somewhat lame and stiff, but no other injuries were sustained. A largely-attended meeting of subscribers to the fund for a testimonial to the Very Rev. Monsignor McDonald was held at three o'clock yesterday afternoon at the Marist Brothers' School, Hobson-street. There was a large and influential attendance, and Mr. , J. L. Tole presided. Mr. Danahar stated' that various sums of money bad been raised during the week, and the fund was now close on £200. After some conversation a3 to the form the presentation should take, it was agreed that the most suitable form would be an addrsss and a parse of sovereigns. Two forms of address were submitted to the meeting, and No. 2 seemed to best meet their wishes, but as it required some alterations it was decided to appoint a sub-com-mittee, consisting of the chairman (Mr. Tole), the treasurer and secretary, with Messrs. Jeune, Nixon, and WcEvoy, to report on Sanday next, when the address will be finally adopted, and the time and place for its presentation decided on, as the arrangements will be finally closed on that day. A vote of thanks was accorded to the chairman, and the meeting then adjourned until Sunday next. Sermons were preached yesterday at the Grafton Road Wesleyan Church in aid of foreign missions. There was a large congregation at the morning service, when the Rev. A. Reid preached an eloquent sermon upon " Missionary Work and Temperance," founding his discourse upon Matthew xxviii., 19and 20 verses, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations," etc. His concluding sentences referred to the evils attendant upon the drink traffic and the use of strong drink. He said there was as much spent on drink in England in two days as was expended in one year on all the missions of tho Protestant Churches. Reference was also made to the disuse of the kava drink by the Fijians, and the efforts made by the Maoris of the King Country to atop the sale of liquor by proclaiming it a district free from the drink traffic. In the evening there was a fair congregation, when the Rev. T. G. Carr (Parnell) conducted the service, and preached an impressive missionary ■ermon, taking his text from Matthew vi., 10th verse, "Thy kingdom come." The offertories amounted to £7 12s sd, There is little further to record concerning J the fire at Ponsonby on Saturday morning, as nothing has transpired to throw light upon its origin. The owner, Mr. Forder, had the house mortgaged to Mr. Thome, solicitor, for £250, and Mr. Thome's interest was covered by a policy of £200 in the Royal Insurance Society. Dr. Knight, who had been called up to visit a patient, was the first to notice the fire, while going along Ponsonby Road. He ran to the Ponsonby firebell and rang out an alarm, and then went to the fire brigade station and informed the custodian of the circumstances. Intelligence was brought to the policestation yesterday that a man was lying in the Domain, severely cut about the face, as if he had been fighting, and in an exhausted condition.i. On the police going up, however, it was found that he had been removed by some of his friends. At the various city and suburban churches yesterday petitions were being signed re the Contagious Diseases Act and the New Hebrides annexation question. There were in the lock-up last night four persons for drunkenness; Lewis Johnson and John Hignan, drunk and disorderly ; Frederick Frouin, Edward Hamilton, and Richard Hiuston, larceny. In Saturday's issue we recorded the destruction by lire of Blasch's boardinghouse, Grafton Road. We now give some additional particulars:—From the statement of Mr. Blasch (who was formerly a successful miner at Coromandel), the family, consisting of himself, wife, and his sisters-in-law, Misses Lizzie and Norah Scanlon, went to bed about half-past eleven p.m. on Friday night, leaving everything apparently secure. He was aroused by cats fighting, and on getting up to stop the disturbance, he found the corridor fall of smoke. Going back he awoke his wife and put her through the back window, which was only a few feet from the ground, passing out the child to her, and the young women got out by the same way. Meantime the firebells had given the alarm, and in a short time Superintendent Hughes and the hose-reel arrived ; but, though there was a good supply of water, the fire had too strong a hold to permit of the building being saved. The fire was, however, prevented from spreading to the adjacent block. As the flames were first seen issuing from the back portion of the house, it ia supposed that the fire originated in the kitchen. Mr. Blasch had purchased the lease through the Building Society for £620, and it is built on one of the Grammar School endowments, on lease of which some four years are unexpired Mr: Blasch states £73 in notes in his great coat were burned. One of his late boarders, a Mr. John Bow, states that he left because Mr. Blasch gave notice that he intended giving up keeping lodgers. His boxes, which he had not yet removed, were destroyed. The sufferers by the late fire at Borsboom's lodginghouse, Queen street and at present under treatment at the District Hospital are progressing very favourably, —■J may now all be considered out of danger.

A number of ready-made houses are being shipped by the Orpheus for Port Derby, for which destination she leaves this week, via the Cambridgo Gulf. Too order has been executed by the Auckland Timber Company. Notwithstanding the complaints m»do as to the insufficiency of the premium offered for the prize design for the Sailors' Homo, no less than seventeen designs have deen sent in for competition. The committee have not yet made any selection.

On Monday evening next the Ponsonby Choral Society will give a grand vocal and instrumental concert in the Oddfellows' Hall, Ponsonby. The programme will bo found in another column, and is one of the moat varied and attractive which the society has put before the public. The Orchestral Society will render their services on tho occasion. It is to be hoped that the- efforts of the society to popularise good music will be rewarded by a " bumper" house. The senior cup football match between Ponsonby and Gordon Clubs, played at Newmarket on Saturday, was a most exciting contest, ending in favour of Ponsonby by a try to nil. There was a very large attendance, it being estimated that there were 2000 on the ground, notwithstanding the charge of sixpence for admission. Particulars of the play will be found in another column. The following are the nominations as candidates for the office of auditors to the corporation of Auckland :— Charles Adolphus Jonas, nominated by F. G. Ewington and Alex. Thome ; Moritz Samuel Leers, nominated by Lawrence D. Nathan and W. P. Hoffmann ; William L. Mitchell, nominated by H. \V. Heath, Henry White, and Henry C. Bell ; and Thomas Leigh White, nominated by Richard Cameron and \\ . S. Cochrane. A Mongouui correspondent writes : — On May 7 we buried the wife of Mr. Lawrence, mate of the whaleship Charles Morgan, formerly Miss E. Edwards, of this place. They were married one year ago this mouth, and after living together for a short time, he had to join his ship, leaving with the idea of coming back as soon as his ship reached home. Mrs. Lawrence had been weak for some time, but of lato she had been in a rapid decline. She died at her mother's residence at Victoria, on Tuesday, May 4. She had got up and was going from tho bedroom to the sittingroom, leaning on her mother's arm; but when she got to the sofa her strength gave way, and her mother lifted her on to the sofa and found that she was dead. She was a young person who had made many friends, and was very much respected. Her remains were carried from Mrs. Edward's through the bush road some distance by twenty young men of the neighbourhood, when the cortege was met by Mr/Charles White's van, and the remains were then brought on to Mongouui. In front of the Mongouui Hotel, the friends at once took charge of the coffin, on which two wreaths of ivy and flowers were fastened, and carried it along the beach to the ohm-en, where the deceased had been for some years organist. Mr. Thomson, the minister for the district, officiated, her old comrades of the choir singing the hymn for the occasion. The choir then took their stand at the grave, and when the minister had gone through the service, they sang " For ever with the Lord." The church was tilled with many women and children, and a good deal of feeling was shown. The news of her death will be sad intelligence for her husband when he reaches home. Her age was '25 years.

On Saturday evening Mr. Noble gave another of his interesting temperance addresses at the Theatre Royal to a crowded audience. Dr. Knighi presided, and was supported on the platform by a number of clergymen and influential laymen. Mr. Noble took as his subject "True Reform." He gave a graphic and humorous sketch of a great reform meeting which he had attended in Hyde Park. Pothouse politicians undertook to reform the nation, but they could not reform themselves. There was a great cry of the land for the people, and the people far the land, but in England, if the working masses would leave off their beer, the " three acres and a cow" would be a matter of no great difficulty. Those who thought the nation conld be reformed through the platform made a great mistake. Reform must first begin at home, as that was the basis of all true reform. While men deplored bad times and yet, by their social habits, kept their families in chronic poverty, they showed that they had yet to learn the very alphabet of political economy. During the evening Mr. Noble played several concertina solos in a style which showed him to be a good musician as well as a good speaker, and they were enthusiastically encored. The Band of Hope Mission choir, under the conductorship of Mr. Robert Tudehope, also did excellent service by rendering some choice musical selections. A number of pledges were taken at the close of the proceedings. Yesterday morning Mr. Noble conducted a devotional meeting in connection with his meeting at the Pittstreet Wealeyan Church schoolroom. There was a good attendance. During the week he will visit Remuera, Onehunga, and North Shore, in connection with his mission. Our Whangarei correspondent writes : —Mr. Mitcbelson's address to his constituents, published in your columns, is bow very well circulated. Though his friends would have liked to see him in the flesh, they must be doing with seeing him in print. Of one thing ther* i 3 no doubt: he iB sincere in his professions ; he can be depended upon, though everyone don't agree with him. For instance, in what he states in reference to the extension of the railway from Kamo to the Puhipuhi Forest, that he cannot see his way to urge it upon the Government—the Whangarei people do not agree with that; and in the matter of extension of the line to deep water, crossing over to Grahamstown at a great expense, competent authorities are of opinion that the river could be dredged up to the lower wharf at much less cost, giving all the depth required by steamers of the class likely to come for coal to our port. At Hamilton on Friday evening Mr. S. Vaile delivered an address on "Railway Reform," before a very large and influential meeting. Mr. Primrose presided. It was resolved to form a Railway P.eform League to further the views of Mr. Vaile. Our own correspondent (Waipn) writes : — On Sunday May 9, when the tidings circulated through the district that Mr. Hugh McLeod had died that morning at his father's residence, Upper District, it created profound sorrow with all, and deep sympathy with his bereaved parents. The late Mr. Hugh McLeod was the eldest son of Mr. Donald McLeod, and was 28 years of age. He was born at Auckland, but bromght up at Waipu, where he received a fair education in the common school of the district, and distinguished himself from other boys as an apt scholar, diligent, and fond of his books. Some years ago the deceased gentleman entered the service of the Board of Education as probationer. He passed a successful examination, and obtained promotion from the Board, and had charge of various schools in the provincial district of Auckland, in all of which he left a favourable impression behind him. Two years ago his health broke down, and he was necessitated to retire from the service of the Board, and give over his school; and, although all that medical skill and careful nursing could do to arrest the progress of the disease (consumption), ho expired as stated above. I remember the death of many here, but I can safely say none has created such a general impression as the death of Mr. Hugh McLeod; all seemed as if they had lost a friend. The funeral took place on Thusday, May 11, and his remains were followed to their last resting-place by a large number of people, some friends coming from other settlements to pay their last respect to their departed friend. The Rev. A. McLean conducted the funeral service in a most impressive manner. Through the Wealeyan Churches of the Pitt-street circuit a portion of yesterday's collections were given in aid of the Freeman's Bay Mission. This mission is doing a good work among th» Freeman's Bay larrikins and other children who do not either attend a day school or a place of worship. To-morrow at noon, D. F. Evans will sell by public auction, by order of the mortgagee, a portion of that desirable property, Fto/anville, Mount Albert, fronting Old North Koad, extending back to the railway line, with privilege of a right-of-way on north side. This grand site contains about 2£ acres of rich volcanic land, high position, grand view—in fact a first class site for a gentleman's residencesituate near the residences of Messrs. Beck, Greenwood, N. Wood and others. It is well worth inspection.' Terms exceptionally easy, namely, one-fifth cash. To-night in the Foresters' Hall, Newton, a minstrel performance and concert, concluding with a sociable dance, is to eventuate towards a charitable object. Tho Anal rehearsal took place in the hall on Saturday evening, ami everything passed off without a hitch, the choruses especially going very smoothly. I Further i articular! will be found in the advertisement in another column.