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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9122, 2 August 1888, Page 4

The discussion in the House of Commons on the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the charges brought against Mr. Parnell by the Times, still continues. During the debate, which seems to have been of a very lively description, some angry scenes occurred, and the cloture had to be applied. Mr. Chamberlain, who i≤ the special bete noire the Parnellite party had the epithet of "Judas" applied to him by one of their number on his rising to address the House, while Mr. Parnell threatened to expose his intrigues with the party when the member for Birmingham was a Minister in the Gladstone administration. The internal affairs of France are once again attracting attention. A great strike Of navvies has taicijj place : and the Socialists, who set) in this labour dispute an opportunity for the furtherance of their own ends, have placed themselves at the head of the movement, and are indulging in threats of organising a

series of strikes, as a fitting manna ■of celebrating the anniversary of tht French Revolution. In any other country this sort of thing would have little importance attached to it, but in France ib is different. Then again, the French wheat) crop is reported to be a disastrous failure I which in itself is a disquieting circumstance' when one remembers the connection be' tween the price of bread and the Revolution I which it is proposed to celebrate by the revolt of labour. _ The new railway time-table, which come* into force on the 6th instant, will be fouud in to-day s Herald. The Kaihu Valley Railway from Dareaville goes for about eleven miles through* a block of land belonging to Messrs. Nimmo and 1 nine, and a claim of £4000 has been made by Messrs. \aile and Douglas who hold a power of attorney from these -entlemen, for fencing in certain places, for land taken, and for severance. Mr. Vaile has just returned from a visit to the district where he was accompanied by the follow' it»g gentlemen, who are to give evidence aa to the particulars of the claim :—Jl e «<r3. \V. Aitken, Ewington, Tothill, Duddine and A. Beetham. The case is to come before the Supreme Court on the Bth instant wiien a day will be fixed for hearing evidence. ° Mr. G. B. Beere, who has been engaged as surveyor of the proposed railway fine through the King country, lms procured an excellent descriptive picture panorama of the country in a series of sketches and water-colour paintings. They contain views from Ruapehu to the Lower Waikato, including views of Tongariro and adjoining ranges, and of native settlements about Lake Taupo. The sketches display keen observation and artistic judgment, and the series of views give a fail hfuf representation of some of the most striking features of tins extraordinary country. During the debate in the Legislative Council on the Tariff Bill, the Hon. Mr Stevens referred to the vicious system of Customs duties that had been in operation for several years, and the present state of the country. He said : " It is the doing of those who seized upon the Government in IS7O and led the colony on a career of wild extravagance and expenditure ; who induced the whole cotnm unity to set to work and gamble in land and every thing,and never permitted a single sound of caution tobeuttered from year to year, in Parliament or out of it, without scorn or reproach. I remember well enough how the voice of prudence was silenced. Nearly the whole of the Press of the colony assisted in hounding the people on to public expenditure—on railways absolutely not worth the sleepers on which they rested,and which entailed on us an amount of liability for interest on money which would make even a stronger country stand aghast." In reference to the accident at the Porotorau tunnel, Mr. W. H. Hales, District! Engineer, expected to receive a report from the authorities at the works, but none has yet come to hand. Some time ago Mr. Hales made strong representations upon tho manner in which the works were being carried out under. Mr. O'Brien, the former contractor, and a complete change was instituted, Mr. Briton being placed in charge of the contract. Since that time no complaints have been received by the District; Engineer. Mr. Hales says he can understand a number of men being frightened, and leaving the works when a fatal accident occurred.

Information was received at the police station last evening that Mrs. Mary Ann Sisam, the wife of Mr. W. Sisani, farmer, Waitakerei, had dropped dead under the followingcircumstances :—Mrs. Sisam, while walking across the kitchen during preparation for dinner yesterday, -suddenly fell down, and on being picked up she was found to be dead. Constable Kelly was despatched to Mr. A. Bcetham, coroner for the district, who will doubtless open an inquest to-day. Mrs. Sisam has hitherto been considered a perfectly healthy woman, and all her relatives express surprise at her sudden decease. A case of very great public importance was argued in the Banco sittings of the Supreme Court yesterday before Mr. Justice Gillies. The plaint is laid-by the trustees under the will of the late Henry Chamberlin, and the defendants are the Waitemata County Council, and Mr. 11. C. Brewer, Registrar of the Supreme Court. Briefly put the case is this : The Waitemata County Council sued a man named Simmonds for overdue rates and obtained judgment, but in forwarding the certificate to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, the position of the land was wrongly described, and certain lands belonging to the late Mr. Chamberlin were sold instead of those belonging i<j Mr. Simmonds. The Registrar, after the sale, gave a conveyance, and the question for the Court to determine vas whethei this conveyance was a valid one. Afte» hearing arguments the Court ruled that it was not. Mr. Theo. Cooper appeared fci the plaintiffs in the action, Mr. H. Camp bell for the County Council, and Mr. E. Hesketh for Mr. Cooper. An explicit state* nient of the case and arguments appears in another column. A meeting of the Whangarei Coal Company, convened by the liquidators, was held yesterday at Messrs. Hayr and Co.'s offices, Lower Queen-street. The business, however, was of a private character. In the Police Court yesterday, amongst other cases of nuisances brought by the Sanitary Inspector, Mr. Goldie, was one relative to an unclean privy, in dealing with which the Bench laid down the dictum that? it was the duty of the owner, and not the tenant, to keep such places clean. It is well that this should be known and understood, so that all landlords should see to nightsoil carts calling at tneir houses, and not depend on their tenants attending io this matter. In this, and this way only, can the difficulty in regard to keeping closets clean be properly attended to. The local Customs authorities have recently received intimation from Wellington to the effect that all playing cards manufactured in the colony are required to be stamped in the same manner as those that are imported, namely, that they must have the Customs stamp marked upon the wrapper and "deuce of diamonds" of each pack. As vendors of these articles are held responsible for non-compliance with this regulation which has recently been gazetted. it behoves them to acquaint the authorities if they have any unstamped cards in their possession. Some surprise was felt yesterday morning when it became known that Mr. T. BoyInn, of Glenburn, Ponsonby, had expired during- the night. It, was, of course, well known that Mr. Boylan, who had reached the rather advanced age of 71 years, had been in failing health for many years, and the only shock was the somewhat unexpected death at the end. Mr. Boylan was not apparently any worse than usual when he retired on Tuesday evening, bub during the night he passed away m his sleep, and was found dead by his relatives. Mr. Boylan leaves as mourners his a"-ed wife, and three sons, one of whom is in business in Gisborne, another a partner in the firm of Boylan and Tanfield, china and earthenware merchants, and Mr. W. T. Boylan, commission agent. Mr. T. Boylan, who was a native of Dublin, arrived in Auckland by the ship Kingston in ISSS. In Dublin he carried on the business of wine and spirit merchant, but, on arriving m the colony he adapted himself to its circumstances, and entered into trade in china and earthenware, opening an establishment in Shortland-street. After conducting this business for twenty years, he retired through failing health in favour of his sons, and the present firm of Boylan and Tanfield was formed afterwards. Mr. Boylan never took an active part in political life, and for some years past he has been to a great extent an invalid. D r . Bayntun ias been attending him, and has" been ware that he was suffering from heart disease. The funeral is to leave the late residence of the deceased at three o'clock to-morrow. Inspector Broham yesterday went to the Thames to inspect the Police department! there. The football season, in regard to senior cup matches, having terminated somewhat) earlier than usual this year, the Rugby Union are considering the advisability of having a supplementary season of about four weeks, and propose to play a third round of senior matches for a special trophy, or. the understanding that the gatemoney accruing from these fixtures is to be divided among the various city charities. This course will, however, only be pursued should the English team noC favour Auckland with a return visit, as.at present there seems bus little probability of their doing.

The members of the Auckland Society of Arts held their annual meeting last evening in their rooms, at the Municipal buildings ; the President, Mr. E. A. Mackechnie, presiding. The balance-sheet showed a credit balance of £121 13s 4d. Mr. Mackechnie was re-elected President, and Mr. C. D. Whitcombe stating his inability to hold office for the ensuing year as gecretery, Mr. J. L. Holland was elected secretary. The society also decided to raise a sum annually for the purpose of purchasing some picture descriptive of New Zealand life or scenery, to be placed in the Art Gallery. A report will be found in another column. In a case in the Police Court yesterday, of neglecting to attend to the payment of an order, relative to the support of an illegitimate child, Mr. Stratnern, representing the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, made the statement that it had become the custom of young men, against whom such orders were made to pay for a few weeks, and then leave the colony, and that in this way the Board had had some 35 illegitimate children thrown on their hands during the last twelve months. He intimated that in future he should ask for such persons to find securities for such payments. A boy named Thomas Mahon was yesterday arrested by Constable Hobson, in obedience to an order from the Minister of Justice to take him back to the Industrial School at Kobimarama. The boy had been allowed out of the school on license. The second and last of the public music lectures for this term took place yesterday afternoon in the Princes street lecture room. Professor Carl Schmitt treated his Bubjects in a more elaborate way than on Monday, and was listened to with great attention and interest by a large attendance. We are happy to see such excellent success attending the chair of music. A petition is now being signed by the residents in the Ponsonby district to the City Council, praying that the city abattoirs may be removed from the place which they at present occupy. The petition points out that the prevailing winds carry the offensive smell over a considerable portion of the city, and suggests that the slaugherhouse should be removed to eome place where this would not occur. We understand that it is the intention of the petitioners, if successful in influencing the City Council, to petition the Newton Borough Council not to grant any slaughterhouse license in future. Those promoting this movement say that the slaughterhouse ought not to be at the western side of the city. Almost all the animals killed come from the Waikato, the South, or from Onehunga; they are sold at Remuera and Newmarket, and have to be driven through a portion of the city, at considerable risk, all the way to the slaughterhouse. It is complained that the city abattoirs have been always the worst kept. Referring to the recent accusations of a Wellington paper of immorality against our public schools, the Press says:—"We are inclined to acquit the paper of the worst intention of slander. We believe that its credulousness, and its notorious proneness for nasty sensationalism, were taken advantage of by designing persons in order to strike a deadly blow at the system of public education in New Zealand. The paper fired the blunderbuss, not knowing what it was aimed at. But it was the denominationalists, the foes of the national system of education, who loaded it to the muzzle with a carefully prepared charge. It was a foul shot if ever there was one. No more effective way of discrediting the national schools could, have been hit on than to accuse them of being little better than houses of ill-fame. The utter unserupulousness, not to say the atrocious cruelty and wickedness of thus seeking to blast at one stroke the fair name of tens of thousands of innocent girls, need not be touched upon. All experience of history shows that fanatics, whether sectarian or secularist. have no scruples. ' The atheists in France have adopted precisely the same means for crushing the religious system of education in that country as the denominationalists here have adopted for crushing the secular eysteni of education in this colony." A general meeting of the; members of the Auckland Industrial Association was held in their rooms, Wyndham-street, on Tuesday evening, Mr. Thomas Gee (Vice-presi-dent) in the chair. After the ordinary business of the meeting had been dealt with, the Secretary read the report, together with the balance-sheet, for the quarter ending June 30, 18SS. The report dealt largely with the question of Protection and the Tariff just passed; it also called attention to the generous and able manner in which Mr. Shepherd had acted as delegate to the Wellington Conference. The balancesheet showed receipts from all sources to be £69 0s Id, and expenditure £53 9s lid. The Chairman in his remarks said that they had cause to congratulate themselves upon the improved financial aspect, and that the proceeds accruing from the concert just given by the Burns Club would still further reduce their indebtedness. The report and balance-sheet having been adopted, Mr. H. JI. Shepherd moved the following motion, notice of which had been given at a previous meeting, " That the name of the Auckland Industrial Association be altered to read, 'Auckland Branch of the Industrial and Protection League of New Zealand.'" The proposer, in moving the resolution, explained at length his reasons for so doing. The Industrial Associations . throughout the colony had already adopted the name, with a view of consolidating and I strengthening the associations by becoming i one united body. A good deal of discussion ensued, Messrs. Pye, Kelly, Menzies, ; Service, Smith, and Polgrain speaking to the motion, which was eventually carried, only three hands being held up against. . The usual vote of thanks to the chairman I Concluded the meeting. j

A fancy dress carnival was the attractive feature at the Columbia Rink last night, and there was a moderate attendance of Ekaters and on-lookers. The carnival, although not by any means coming up to the brilliancy of the first show, was nevertheless attractive. Amongst the male sex the prevalent costumes were jockeys, trainers, negro minstrels, and circus clowns. There were also some individual characters, including a representative of W. G. Garrard, with his dog snare; a Maori chief in mats; Gobo, from " Les Cloches de Corneville," and last, but not least, we have to notice the costume of the manager, Mr. Salmon. It was Robin Hood attire. Some of the ladies' costumes were entirely distinctive, and in good taste. There were vivandieres, Swiss girls, Spanish girls, etc., but amongst the best costumes was that of lolanthe. There were some very grotesque costumes, and some verv grotesque mishaps, too, and on the whole there was a very enjoyable entertainment. The Onehunga waterworks being now completed the contractor started the engine and filled the reservoir yesterday to a depth of six feet. Scattered throughout the town are standpipes for supplying water to the townsfolk. There are also hydrants which were connected with the mains, and a fire hose attached, which scattered the water far and wide, causing some of the old pensioners to give vent to their feelings in the exclamation, " I never thought 1 would see that in The contractor will be obliged to maintain the works for four weeks before the Council will be enabled to take them over. On Saturday next at two o'clock p.m. the Mayor (Dr. W. R. Erson) at the contractor's request, will make a formal start or trial of all the various plant in connection with the works. Saturday is the polling day for the proposed £'2000 loan, which amount will pay oIT all the remaining liabilities in connection with the work. Complaints are made that the old opponents of the waterworks scheme, even now that the work is completed and all the benefits within the reach of the inhabitants, are endeavouring to prevent the loan being raised. The folly of this is transparent.

Attention is called to the sale of shop fittings, counter, shop mirrors, brass window fittings, hat boxes, &c, to be held by Messrs. B. Tonks and Co. to-day at eleven o'clock, in the shop adjoining their auction mart, QueenBtreet. Attention is called to the sale of the whole of the household furniture and effects, upright pand piano, &c., to be held by Messrs. B. loaks and Co. on Monday next, at the resideuce of Mr. D. J. MeLeod, near Choral Hall, Symonds-sireet. .The sacred cantata {"Calvary") is to be P v en in St. John's Church, Ponsonby, tomorrow by the members of the choir, assisted £y mends, and orchestral accompaniment, to Dβ preceded by a secular concert. .4 meeting of the Auckland Athenaeum will M held this evening at the Club Room. 11, Victoria Arcade, when the Rev. 0. M. Nelson will lecture a "Superstition."