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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7719, 18 August 1886, Page 4

The Samoan question appears in a fair way of being amicably settled. A cable message which we publish this morning states that the Powers interested have come to an understanding regarding the maintenance c' the states of the Islands. A commission u to be sent to Samoa which, it is expectedwill be successful in finally settling difficulties. Germany and the United State! desire to effect certain Consular changes, m the British Government are opposed to them, Further faction rioting has taken place is Belfast, and the military had to be called out before order could be restored. On# man was killed, and several persons wounded. By the mail steamer Mararoa which left Auckland yesterday, Mr. J. C. Firth ww * passenger to San Francisco, on a brief »i sl to the United States, for the purpose oi personally inspecting and selecting the DIM' improved and perfect machinery and for the great milling and other enterprise® in which he is so largely interested. Mr Firw is a very old and greatly respected colonist, and has not been away from this portion ox the world for 32 years, but he iB generally recognised as one of the most enterprising and useful of our settlers, and his name i» well known throughout all the colonic' > n commercial, pastoral, and agricultural ctrc*e'Mr. Firth expects to be absent from colony little more than three months, and 1 accompanied upon his journey by one of ni sons (Mr. S. B. Firth), who is a well traine engineer, and who has previously visited t United States. Prior to his departure" 1. Firth purchased from the Harbour Boar > at public auction, sections 123 to l-/i , fronting Quay-street, at an annual re l3 ™~ £536 5s for the five sections, with an a tional 50 per cent, of rental at the en 1 •21 years. The object of this purchase ■», we believe, the erection of a new flour n < one of the largest in the colonies, ffl the latest appliances and i rn P roV ® ro „,.fo including steel rollers and auto t rCi machinery of the most approved pa The machinery for the new works wi Y bably be shipped by Mr. Firth from a prior to his return to Auckland. The No. 2 Battalion of Volunteers be' their weekly drill last night, but as n.i« have been anticipated, there was a • small attendance of the troops, #1 = there was a very good attendance ot o • considering the state of the Mth ? r, «.7 d ;j f i Dignan was in command. a P' a ' n f L City and. Lieutenant Dormer were with t,. Guards, Lieutenant Little and bis a m with the Hobsons, Captain Keep { command of the Queen's Own, and ,^ g Self in command of the Viotori. companies were put through a company drill by their officers. There were in the lock-up last " ue6S , two prisoners ou charges of dr ID. and Emma Crowther for threatening guac

The atmospheric changes which occurred hi the neighbourhood of Auckland jester- £ v were phenomenal. The morning brought f vTght showers, which were followed by mild. genial weather, and a bright, although water}, sunlight up to between one and two Sock At this time there arose from the harbour, evidently coming from seaward a f,J of extraordinary volume. To those who iwrved this feature from any high vantage "round-such as Princes-street-the effect of this midday fog was most extraordinary. It arose suddenly in a dense mass, and in a few moments every object in the harbour nd the faintest outlines of the North t-hore tore obscured, but above the fog for many minutes could be seen the upper masts of the American warship Mohican. The fog could be seen mounting up these masts gradually, and then breaking out with greater force. Emitting, as it were, dense volumes of smoke, it spread inland, traversing up the allies' and rising at the same time, as well as increasing in den.'iity. Soon the whole surroundings were obliterated to such at. extent that those standing on the brow of Constitution Hill could not discern th« buildings in Stanley-street, and as for Parnell it was entirely invisible. We have spoken to some of the oldest residents in Auckland, and they assure us that such a thing as a mid-day fog has never before been known in Auckland, although about a year ago a similar phenomenon was observed at Napier. It is quite evident that the fog came from the seaward, for it met the steamer Rose Casey at absut mid-day when on her voyage to Mahurangi, and caused her to go ashore at Whaugaparoa point, subsequently the tug boat had to be sent to the assistance of this steamer. The departure of the mail steamer Mararoa was also delayed by the fog, and the hideous screams of this steamer's whistle heard through the damp and murky cloud had a most weird ellect. The terry steamers, although they did not entirely stop traffic, had to proceed with great caution, and under many perplexities. After about an hour the fog, travelling inland in a southerly direction, gradually rose, and when darkness fell it had entirely disappeared. But with darkness came flashes of bright and dazzling lightning, without thunder. It swept at intervals of from five seconds to two minutes from the north-east round to the south-west, just above the horizon. A a quarter-past seven the lightning had gone more round to the southward, and the flashes, increasing in intensity, were then accompanied by the jjrst roars of thunder, followed by a heavy rainfall. For about an hour after this the flashes were very frequent, and the rapid ami heavy rolls of thunder almost in(Untaneously following the flashes, showed 'now close were the electric clouds ; but the tii-hes gradually became less vivid and more distant, and itied away entirely at about halt-past eight o'clock. An official visit was made to the U.S. corvette Mohican yesterday afternoon by [lis Worship the Mayor (Mr. W. R. WaJdel), to welcome the vessel to these waters. He was accompanied by the Town Clerk (Mr. P. A. Philips), and also by Mr. ,!, M. Krigham (secretary to the Harbour ' Board), and Captain Burgess (chief harbourmaster), the two latter gentlemen representjug the Harbour Board, of which the Mayor is chairman. The party went off 111 H.M. Customs launch, and were most courteously received by Captain Day and his officers. AYe may mention, as there have been several inquiries as to whether a salute would be tired, that th Mohican not being of sufficient armament, is not a saluting vessel. An adjourned meeting of the unemployed was held yesterday morning at the usual place of meeting. near the Auckland Harbour Board's office. There were about (,00 persons present. Mr. 11. W. Farnall presided, aud drew attention to the fact that about 100 men ere employed on the Kaipara railway works, and that more could not be taken on for a day or two, there not being sotiicieut sleeping accommodation. This, however, Mr. Coom hoped to have remedied in a day or so, and then another 50 men would be put on the works. Mr. Farnall had telegraphed three times to Mr, Ballance respiting the location of the people along the railway line, on small sections of laud, but up to the time of the meeting had received no reply. Sir G. Grey had had similar telegrams sent to him, and he had at luce taken the matter up, and was endeavouring to bring it under the notice of the House. Mr. Clark next spoke, and in a lengthy speech, criticised Mr. Lundon's Village Settlement Scheme, and. instead, sagcested a system of state farming. Mr. t'onuell moved, "That the meeting adjourn until the return of the members from Wellington, and that a deputation wait on them respecting their attendance at a public meeting so that they may give advice to the unemployed." The motion was carried and the meeting adjourned after a vote of thanks to the chairman.

La3t Monday evening the members of the Guiding Star Lodge, No. 11, 1.0. G.T., as gambled in the Presbyterian Church at Mlevslie, and installed the following officers for this term, viz. W.C.T., Brother C. G. Hil! ; W.Y.T., Sister M. Hill ; W.S., Brother C. Peek ; W F.S., Sister E. Laurence : W.T., Sister J. E. Hill; W.C., Brother Laurence, see, ; W.M., Brother Laurence, jnu. ; W.G., Brother Robinson ; W.0.G., Brother Windover ; W. .a.S , Sister M. Howard; W.D.M., Sister J. Ferguson ; Brother Laurence, sen,, fills L.D., and Brother Peek P.W.C.T. Notwithstanding the many call 3 made at present upon the charitable public of Auckland, the Salvation Army Prison Gate Brigade Home continues to be well supported. The authorities of the home are desirous of increasing the sleeping accommodation, as they cannot accommodate one half of those seeKing admission. Their idea is that a few small rooms added to the present building would not cost much at the present rate of wages and building materials, it is to be hoped that the appeal of this useful institution will meet with a liberal response, so as to enable them to make the much-needed extension and improvements. In our obituary column will be found recorded the death of Mr. James D. Davis, who has passed away at the early age of 30, of consumption. When an undergraduate of the New Zealand University he carried of the Bowen prize of He took an interest in Temperance matters, and contributed weekly notes to the Leader under the nom de plume of "Little Agib." Deceased was a native of Hastings, England, and leaves a wife but no family. For some years he had been in the Star establishment. The plans which are now being prepared for the cutting down of Hobson-street show a gradient of 18'73 inches, the cutting down running out at Victoria-street. The side streets—Swanson, Wyndham, and Durhamstreets—will be cut down back to Chapelstreet. 'I he surplus earth will be used in raising the level of Customs-street West some 12 feet, the filling tapering to nothing past the Auckland Timber Company's establishment. It is believed there is ample available material for this purpose. During the past fortnight no less than fifteen dogs have been poisoned round Filerslie by some mean fellow, and it is at present unsafe to take a dog out for a run, for fear it should happen to pick up some of the poison from the roads. It is not only on the roads, hut it is pretty certain that some of the dogs have been poisoned when actually on the chain. If a person can be fined for putting poison on hia own property without giving notice of his intention of so' doing, what punishment is too severe for those who take a pleasure in putting poison on the main roads. The larrikin element is showing itself pretty freely at Ellerslie at present, window breaking, stone throwing, and drenching off doorknockers being favourite pastimes. The constable has enough to do with the Onehunga part of the district, and Lllorßlie is left pretty well to look after itself.

The following applications for patents have wen gazetted : —From W. H. Denison, jjraonerton, for unloading coal hoppers; from J. D. Arnabaldi, Cambridge East, 0 5,' t° r . for wire fencing, to he known as The wire dogfrom H. Kennedy, LinJ°°a. joiner, for washing clothes ; from J. * arr , Hamilton, for straining fencing wire; rom 1. G. Krickell, Dnnedin, beehive 'manufacturer, for reversing frames in bee'lv; rom D. Gilmour, ironmonger, and Arthur Molllin, cabinet-maker, Mew Plymouth, for a clamp for adjusting circular |. w 10 an y required angle j from J. Bruce, ■tiinaru, milling engineer, for manufacturing oatmeal by cutting and rolling, combined or Bingiv.

]> There was a clean business sheet at the t ' e . Court yesterday morning with tin* h..^ Pt "° n ° , a summons case for wife -a '! IL " which was withdrawn before the - Urw opened, us the differences between the ' . lies hud been settled. Mr. P. A. Philips, ' m v.as ia attendance.

A detailed report of tho New Zealand Alliance meeting, held last evening in the City Hall will be found in the ; xth page. Tho Rev. A. Reid presided, and addresses were delivered by the chairman, the Veil. Archdeacon Dudley, and Mr. Glover. Sir W. Fox was not present, having received yesterday the tidings of the death of his eldest brother in London. To-night, however, he will be present, and deliver an address on "The New Zealand Drink Bill," and Mr. Glover will also have something to say on the same topic.

The Presbyterian Evangelist, Mr. Duncan Wright, delivered his third address in St. James' Church last evening. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather there was a good attendance, the body of the church being well tilled. Before he began his address Mr. Wright announced that he would give an address this afternoon at three o'clock for women, aud hoped to see a large number of mothers and daughters present. The evangelist delivered his address in an earnest and impressive manner, and also sang sacred solos at intervals.

A correspondent, Mr. F. Allright, expresses bis surprise that the clergymen of the city have not long before this taken united action with respect to tho unemployed. He goes on to make tho following suggestion : — "Seeing that to every £1 given to the Benevolent Association the Government grant a subsidy of '245, if a collection were made on Sunday next, morning or evening, in the places of worship in Auckland a substantial sum might be realised and handed over to the association, which, with the Government grant added thereto, would materially swell the fuuds in hand for distribution amongst the needy. If in such times as these people can find money for balls and theatres they can surely spare a little for the relief of their suffering fellow creatures." " 8.K.8." writes in a somewhat similar strain, and has also a suggestion to make:—"Considering the large number of people who were unable to gain admission to the Synagogue on Sunday, and the handsome sum collected from those who were there, might I suggest that a sacred conccrt be held in one of the churches at an early dato, when I have no doubt an equally large sum would ho obtained for charitable purposes. There is no time like the present, there being so very much distress to relieve in Auckland."

There were 110 less than three detectives perambulating the wharf or the deck of the mail steamer Mararoa at the time of her departure yesterday. The cause of their vigilance was on account of some gentry sunning themselves on the wharf, and it was feared they would do "the Pacific slope." If there was any such intention it was soon abauaoned, as it was hopeless to escape the argus eyes of Detectives Walker, Hughes, and Herbert, and the parties concerned subsequently returned to town.

There is reason to believe that the embroglio between the members of the Auckland Bowling Club and the Lawn Tennis . section will be satisfactorily and amicably settled. The Bowling Club in its overtures have offered terms to the lawn tennis players, in respect to the use of the green, the courts and pavilion which are likley to be acceptable. The heaviest part of the work in connection with the new Ponsonby reservoir—the retaining wall—has been pretty well got through by the contractor. A Grand vocal and instrumental concert, followed by a very amusing little comedietta, was given in St. Thomas' school room, Union-street, hist night. No doubt the thunderstorm in the early part of the night kept many away who would otherwise have attended. Tile piogramme opened with a popular duet, from " Martha," very well played by Mr. and Mrs. iSearell. " Contrary Breezes" \va3 very nicely rendered by Mrs Waters, and for which she was deservedly applauded. Miss Seymour was very successful 111 her reciting of " Bingen on the Rhine." Miss Cole followed by singing "The Blue Alsatian Mountains." Mr. Searell was fairly successful in the difficult song, " The Message." About the best number was the duet "When the wind blows in from the sea," which was very well sung by Mrs. Waters and Mr. Ward. The Misses A. Hamilton ?,nd Ward gave a pianoforte duet, which concluded the concert part of the performance. Miss Topper and Mr. Knight were unavoidably absent, and their songs had to be omitted. The comedietta "The Doctor's Mistake" was staged in lirst rate style, and went very smoothly, the characters being all filled by amateurs. The cast was as follows :—Dr. Cujus Mcßoozlefum, a pompous old country doctor, Mr. Robinson ; Mrs. Cujus McBooziefum, his newly married wife, Miss Rould ; Miss Kosa Toogoo.l, her sister, Miss Owen ; Mr. Augustus Tallboy, the doctor's bosom friend, Mr. Alio way ; Mary Ann, the irrepressible domestic, Miss Seymour ; Joe, the doctor's boy, page, &a., Mr. D. Hamilton ; Farmer Hoskins, Mr. G. Ward. No cud of amusement was caused, and the curtain dropped amid loud applause: With reference to the missing gold chain of M»s. Elsmore, with which the name of the boy John Henry Humpreys was connected, that lady now writes to say it was found on Saturday UDder some furniture. A sad spectacle was witnessed on Thurjday (says the Melbourne Age) at the City Police Court, where John Galian, formerly a solicitor in extensive practice in this city, was brought up on a charge of vagrancy. For a long time Mr. Gahan, by his dissipated habits, has ceased to have any business, legal or otherwise; and latterly he has wandered about the streets, literally starving, begging his daily food and shelter from the lowest class of persona in the slum 3 around Little Bourke-street. His appearance in the Court was pitiable in the extreme to those who had known him in his better days of prosperity. The once well-dressed popular lawyer now shuffled into Court as an old broken down man, clad in wretched rags, and wearing old dilapidated boots which left his naked feet exposed to view. His long uncombed hair and tangled beard, now quite gray, and his dirty raiments, denoted the utter neglect of his person which he suffered, whilst his hollow cheeks told a painful tale of privation. The arresting constable said he found accused begging in the street. He wandered about without any home to go to, and only subsisted on the charity of the public, lie slept at night in some outhouse or other, and seldom twice in the same place. The Bench committed the unfortunate accused to prison for 12 months.

The entertainment announced to be given in the Opera House by the Amy Johns' Pleasant Hours Company has been postponed. It is notified in our advertisement columns that applications to attend the annual examination of schoolteachers must be made before the loth pros. A conversazione under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A. will be held in the City Hall on the 27th inst. The Hon. G. Waldegrave will deliver a Bible resiling to ladies, at the Women's Christian Association this afternoon at three o'clock i

Amongst all our English poets there Is hardly to be found one who is better known than the author of "The Dream of Eugene Aram," " Tho Bridge of Si«hs," "IKemomber," "The Song of tho Shirt," and other poems, pathetic and humourous, which we are never tired of hearing about. Tom Hood will, therefore, he the subject of a lecture which the Rev. H. K. Dewabury is expected to deliver at Grafton Koail to-morrow evening. The proceeds of this lecture are to go towards paying for the piano which has just been purchased for use in the schoolroom. »

The following is the report of the Prison Gate Brigade Home for the period ending August 13 No. of meala given, 270; beds supplied, 40; persons admitted, 5 ; discharged or left, 0 ; still in Home, (i. Donations received : Meat, Messrs Hulme, Squirrel!, E. Wood and Co., Bradley, Wilson, Garrett, Hellaby, and "A Well Wisher " ; bread, Messrs Crowe, Lester, Buchanan, Brown, Kingsford, McEwen, Howie, Kohloy, Tremaiue, Wis Philips, and "A Friendmilk and butter, London and Devonshire dairies clothing, "A Friend " ; potatoes and cheese, Mrs. Laybourue; two sacks potatoes, Mr. Davis, Karangahape-road. Requisites : Sugar, bread and firewood. The Superintendent of tho Out-door Belief Soup Kitchen, Elliott-street, acknowledges donations from the following for the week ending August 14 :—Milk, London and Devonshire dairies; bread, Messrs. Condon, Corley, Orowe, Waters, McKeown, Wilson, Evans; meat, Messrs. Hulme, McNau.ghton, Knight, Walker, Meade, Carter, Langley, Wood, G.irrott, Binsted, Maxwell, Fisher, Co• rporative Butchery; vegetables, Messrs. Bartlett, .Smith, Baker, Sanford ; parcels of clothinp, Messrs. Hammond, Lilly, Goldie, " a Friend iiitj, .Messrs. Williams and Co.; bacon, flour, etc., Messrs. H. B. Morton anil liuw; cakes, nie., City Hail. Number of families receiving ieli'-f for week endine 14th August, 105; meals given at kitchen, 19,'5; number of men fouud woin for, 0. Any donations thankfully received.