THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1888.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9123, 3 August 1888, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1888.

The weariness of Parliament which the people of New Zealand generally feel, will not be relieved by the idle and purposeless debate which took place last night in the House of Representatives. An intention to ultimately oust the Government was generally understood as underlying the support which the Opposition gave the Premier in carrying through his Protection Tariff: and those who are supposed to pull the wires of the Opposition deemed that the time had come to put that intention in force. But whatever may have been the desirability of the movement, the selection of such a basis of attack as the reduction of members which took place last session, exhibited an ineptness in tactics that almost tempts one to think it was intended to court defeat if not party humiliation. The resolution moved by the senior Opposition whip, and which was naturally accepted by the Government as intended for an expression of want of confidence, proposed that the Representation Acts Amendment Act of last year, reducing the number of European members from 91 to 70 should not come into operation till after the next census in 1891. The intention of such a motion was not merely to prevent the reduction of members coming into force immediately, in th® event of a dissolution, but to defer the change even two years beyond the term of the expiry of Parliament by sffluxion of time; so that under all circumstances the next Parliament would have rtouired to be elected with the full anc >• 'imi -ued number of members.

An honourable member, who may be regarded as leader of the Opposition, stated that the House is "suffering a recov from its patriotic ardour in passing the Reduction of Members Act. Very probably this is so, so far as the House is concerned ; but the same cannot be said of the country, which, so far ;rom regretting the reduction, is indignantly demanding; that the House of Representatives sh&u;<J be further reduced to an extent never attempted before by the Assembly; and if at this hour we were asked, what measure could be proposed, which— to that of raising the Civil Service Estimt-fes to their former or a 1. amount *• •id be the most furi' asiy unpopular tfixug oat could be proposed to the country, we should say that it would be the restoration of the membership to its former number, and only a little

less unpopular would be the proposal that the effect of the reduction should not be felt at the earliest election of members. If, then, the Opposition, or those members of it who undertook to act in its name, contemplated taking the mind of the country on this question of all others as the test-point in a general election, they exhibit an audacity that we cannot characterise as otherwise than madness. For, had it happened that the Government, being defeated, obtained a dissolution, the reception which the Opposition would have encountered at the hands of the public at the hustings would have been characterised by little short of ferocity. Had it been on any other question that appeal was made, the issues might have been fairly fought, but to provoke a contest so palpably for the maintenance of Parliament at its present strength and costliness, when the whole world of New Zealand is weary of Parliament, and would perhaps annihilate it if that were possible, and certainly would reduce it to very modest proportions —to challenge such a contest were madness inconceivable. But what shall we say of an attempt to arrest at this stage the whole public business of the country while many measures of importance are in suspense, and when literally nothing has been yet done by Parliament to stimulate the progress of the colony It would have been the suspension of Parliamentary business for three months at the least leaving everything that is now in progress stillborn ; for before a new Parliament could have been summoned, the colony must have been partitioned out afresh in new electorates, new rolls compiled, and all the delay and wearying unprofitableness of a general election endured afresh. To risk all this disaster to party, as well as evil to the country, 011 the slender chances of a Ministerial defeat, and of a dissolution being refused by the Acting-Governor, and of the Ministry throwing up their portfolios, exhibited a recklessness that is difficult to understand. The whole thing has ended in a tizzle; and the incident is but another illustration of how utterly and absurdly out of place is our present Parliamentary pro cedure.

In any case the Government come very badly out of the Otago Central business, and we may add that the colony will come very badly out of it. It was clear and obvious that a Bill proposing to take nearly half a mil lion acres of Crown lands, yielding £48,000 per annum at the present time to the State, should have been in the hands of the Government, ana should not have been brought in by a private member. Yet the Government did allow a private member to bring it in, and left it in his hands. I he Premier was an enthusiastic supporter of a measure which was to denude the colony to the above extent, while other Ministers were as resolutely opposed to it. Thence arose the acrimonious debating, the stonewalling, and the consequent delay of public business. The Premier declared at one time that no other public business would be proceeded with till the Otago Central Bill had been disposed of. thus elevating it into the position of a Ministerial question. Ami now Mr. Pyke and the Premier have been defeated in obtaining all they wanted by the stonewallers. No word of abuse in Mr. Fyke's vocabulary is too strong for Ministers, and he has indignantly removed his hat from the Ministerial whip's room into the opposition establishment. It is interesting now to look back to see how the second reading of the Otago Central Bill was carried. »The discussion came 011 in the early part of the session, when the second reading was carried by 53 to 12. Mr. Fish, on that occasion, moved the adjournment of the debate, stating that lie had formerly supported the Bill, but now opposed it, because since last session he had done what he had not done beforegone over the whole portion of the line already constructed—and to some extent had viewed the country beyond. He had completely changed his opinion as to any necessity for the line. In the division, the following Auckland members voted in the majority :—Fraser, Graham, Hobbs, Jackson, E. Thompson (Marsden). The votes of Messrs. Hobbs and R. Thompson are accounted for by the fact that Mr. Pyke had promised to give them his aid with the Kamo and Kawakawa Railway Bill, which came on immediately after the division en the Otago Central. And, by the way, we may recall the fact that the bargain was not carried out, for so elated was the genial Mr. Pyke with his victory that he retired from the floor of the House, and allowed Mr. Hobbs to be defeated by the narrow majority of 2. We suppose that there is 110 help for some amount of log-rolling in political bodies, but it has been a serious curse to New Zealand, while this unfortunate country has been engaged in the prosecution of the Public Works scheme. A few members from one part of the country have succeeded in forcing a wasteful and useless work on the Government by combining with another knot who wanted some job carried through in their part of the country. It has, therefore, become easier to effect two acts of plunder than one. The Auckland members have 1 played very badly at their game, and have had such poor success that it is j not worth their while to go into it. I It has been stilted chat we in Auckland ! only got our new railway sta.io?. 011 ' the condition or the expenditure of about a quarter of a million at Dunedin, a great part of the sum on a bridge which has since be-n found to be quite useless. As fo : r ! onel Fraser. his bargain was no doubt support for a grant for the extension of the Thames Railway. We do not know enough of Major Jackson's desires to even make a surmise of his little game, and as we are anxious to give credit for disinterested motives wherever possible, we will suppose that he was absolutely patriotic ; that he thought that, although the North Island Trunk Railway and the Rotorua Railway were to be stopped in his own district, and trains were to cease running on. lines already made, yet that the colony should strain its resources t<® the utmost to f jrm a line to the wilds of Lake • lawea. But, as we have seen, Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Thompson sold themselves without getting their price. In the small mine . 'ty the Auckland members muster v r0.7. Amongst the twelve are '„ad. : j

Goldie, Hamlin, Lawry, Peacock Thompson, Withy, while Monk p ar i against. In terms of the Standing Orders, because it affected waste lancl° of the Crown, the Bill was sent to th I Waste Lands Committee, who reports that it should not be proceeded wiy any further. But, notwithstanding this, the Bill was forced on by th Government, and stonewalling had t " be resorted to to defeat it, 0 And, after all, what do we come to? ■ Of all the railways in the colony th! j Otago Central, the most useless of all' is alone to be continued. The Govern' ment is to devote £'35,000 to it, anr make some nine bridges. It is toV, I "pushed on to Middlemarch," notwit.r > standing that Mr. fyke himself ; that at MiddWrch there is no popul* tion, and cannot be any population to support the railway: We do think thatit is the most astounding tiii r 'r. in the history of New Zealand that the Premier promised that thi' line shall be " pushed on. ; \\] \ are standing amidst the ruins of (>i appointed hopes in regard to our rail, way system. Lines in some of th I most thickly-populated districts, whit/ j we hoped would be sources of di rK + I wealth to the colony, ate not pavin- I working expenses. To -save nierr; out! lay in the expenditure of riumi]-, W(l are stopping train services all OY,-r' t ;„! colony, breaking faith with settlers vh paid high prices for land in these die' ! tricts, and yet the Premier, nf i,,„ ! pressure from Mr. Vincent Pyke •.»,] his Otago friends, 'devotes a consider 1 able part of the little remnant 0 th loan to expenditure'on a line which habeen condemned again and a«aiu hv I committees and commissions ! It s,, ei]) . as if we were destined to pursue a mad career to the bitter end. What w'i' l the end be? u

As will be seen from our Wellington news, the Auckland 'members hataken prompt measures to give eiiect to the action originating in the public meetings held in this city in support ,-,f Village Settlement in this district. 1 deputation has waited on the Premier who expressed himself rather favour' ably to the proposal, and suggested the direction which action should takv The petition also, which has been larirely signed by persons in this district who are themselves anxious to take up land in these settlements, if reopen.-*! 'i/<s been presented in' the House by Sir George Grey, eliciting token's of approval from members. All this is so far good ; although some of the men., bers for this district were pleased to express themselves as more favourable to the giving of ' freehold tenure to the settlers. This, at least, was not responsive to the voice of our public meeting, which was distinctly in favour of the. settlements bcins continued on the same lines as those on which they were started, the leasehold being here regarded as a principal factor in the permanence of the system, as preventing the settlers from mortgaging or alienating their holdings. However, if this'object can be compassed in another way, this difference in opinion need not' create an insuperable obstacle ; although there are special reasons why leasehold is more appropriate than freehold under the system. For in other respects these settlers are exceptionally favoured in having provision made for their sustenance for a time, in advances made them for building their houses, and failing their timber and clearing their lands' J in their being given seeds fine! fruit-trees' for planting, and in their being provided with road work or other einplovmev.t to supplement their efforts to maintain their families while bringing their little farms into productiveness. These are very exceptional favours indeed; given neither under the Homestead, the Deferred-payment, nor any other system of settlement however favourable, as yet offered to the people ; and if in addition to such exceptional favours a free gift of the land is also made.— well, then, it will be an exuberance of liberality too good to be expected to last, and such as is altogether needless for the purpose of. attracting settlers. If, however, the Legislature is so excessively generous, though we may question the wisdom, still the public will submit with the best grace it can . but we trust that nobody will thereafter charge against the promoters of Village Settlements that they want to pamper these favoured settlers before all others in the colony. What is only asked is to rent them the land, and to lend them the money that will keep them alive till they are able to run alone, and to make "them pay for it all, rent for the land and " fair interest on the money ; and to preserve a lien _ to the country over the land in the meantime. That is all ; it is not unreasonably too much, but it is enough for the purpose. But if the new friends of the village settlers are going to heap favour on favour and load these people with blessings, beyond what their first friends desired, and give them freeholds, all we ask is that they will surround their generous gifts' with such conditions and limitations that the village settlers can neither mortgage nor sell their holdings for ten years or so to come. If the State has been so beneficent as to do so much, to give homes and the means of competence to the unemployed, it is not too much to insist that these liberal gifts shall not pass to the hands of those for whom they were not intended, and whose only object is to add field to field. The Village Settlement system was intended to be practically beneficent to the needy; let the lands under it be guarded "in some way, and in any effective way, against going only to feed the m;iV of the earth-swallower. That is all. The honorable member for the Waitenia, Mr. Monk, has a twinge of conscience at taking such a sum from the Treasury in the present financial position of the colony. This sounds curb ously amid the echoes still ringing oC some expenditures approved by the Assembly. The Otago Central Railway is to be pushed on by Government expenditure, largely, if not principally, to give on certain section«• of it oik v) ; the unemployed. Wo. hear also of j relief works clamoured for in the South, as, for instance, at Waimate, where the men are willing to work for is 6d r. .. " : and everywhere a large part or Chari'able Aid Boards' funds—a moi ;> contributed by the State—is devoted to a similar purpose, constructing works that have their only reason in the necessity of giving employment to the unemployed. It is safe to say that tes times the small amount asked by Auckland for the purposeof opening up Village Settlements, will be expended this year in one way and another, with no other valid justification than to prevent distress by want of employment. Such expenditure simply pauperises, and when it is over, the recipients of the charity will be as helpless and homeless as before, and the cry will be again for more. Does Mr. Monk's conscience feel nothing in the taking of so large su;.us as the ;e to pauperise the working chv-ses. while he is so tenderly sensitive ia asking for a tithe of the sum to place men, women, and children on the path to rude but hardy independence f However, we shai? not further discuss the question, but hope that practical common sense ; i prevail at Wellington* .

The stay of the German Emperor at ronenbaeen was unexpectedly brief owing, >i«saidto the coldness of the reception he received from the Kin-. The Kaiser is now meditating a visit to the King of Italy, "nd afterwards will pay his respects to Queen Victoria. A. Paris paper publishes what it purports n he a secret report, drawn up by Prince Kismarek against the marriage of Prince Alexander of Battenberg and the daughter >Vhe dowager Empress Victoria of Gernianv. The principal objection of the Herman Chancellor to the union appears to have been the fact that the Prince was not a persona ratio at St. Petersburg, and in the report' he dwell strongly on the imjxirtance of not offending the Czar. Messengers who have arrived from the interior at Zanzibar report that in April last the position of Emin Bey was one of "rent peril owing to the advance of the Mahdi. and that he had quitted his station ,nd was endeavouring to escape along the left bank of the Nile. This news throws ;; rht upon the rumours about a " White Pallia " in the neighbourhood of Khartoum. The mysterious stranger is no doubt the intrepid Austrian savant. But in that case hat of Stanley '! The war in Zululand is being prosecuted with vigour. It is reported to-day that one of Dinizulu's strongholds lias fallen into the possession of the British, the garrison surrendering unconditionally. The English troops are now advancing against the"chief.

The Irish Land League is evidently in want of funds. A communication has been received by the secretary of the Sydney Branch from Mr. Biggar. M.P., stating that two members of the Irish party will visit- the colonies this month. The last visit of the kind was a great financial -success. There are 93 goldminins companies in New Zealand, with a paid-up capital of £313,000, and they have paid in dividends £t>24,060. Auckland has 19 companies, the shareholders in which have paid up less than £30,000 hard cash, and have received in return over £328,000. The Reef ton district ' ,as 41 companies ; amount of cash paid up, £1*4.671 : paid in dividends, £243,807. kini:i district, five companies: paid ~ i capital. £10,82*2: paid in dividends, /ji hi Westland district, six companies: T,.;: capital. £30,222 : dividends paid, • Otago, twenty-two companies; cash £52.035: dividends paid, £34,156. \uokland. it will be seen, has had neSrly the good luck among the districts. The regular tri-weekly meeting of the I'rown Lands Board was held yesterday, There was a considerable accumulation of business, but it was mostly of a detail character, only of interest to the districts concerned. A detailed report of the proceedings appears in another column. A letter was received by the City Council v;-teniav evening from the secretary for '.he trustees for the Mount Albert cerae- \ -v. Mr. M. T. Clayton, who stated that a meeting on the 24th July, the trustees jvs.-lved. "'That, taking into consideration that onlv one burial, on the average, takes ; :.i?e per annum, and also taking into coni: k-ration the dry nature of the soil, aud the fact that there is no drainage from the churchvard, the question of closing the eeiuet-e'rv on the ground that it polluted the Auckland water supply, is a matter of sentiment. and the trustees decline to accede tea request in that direction." The letter was received. The following telegram was received last ihjht- by the Mayor of Onehunga (Dr. W. R.Erson) from the Auditor and Controller - General with reference to the amount of i'a.'vj, paid as compensation to the waterworks contractor :—" Attorney-General advises the surcharge of £330 cannot be recovered. The item is passed."

At tiie ordinary meeting of the Athenaeum last evening, held in the Victoria Arcade, the Rev. C. M. Nelson read a paper on " Superstitions." There was a small attendance, not more than a score being pre■■rat. The Rev. W. Tebbs presided. The lecturer. in opening his pa;>er, laid down the dictum that man is prone to believe in the false and disbelieve the true. Superstition he described as the excess 01 igno'.ince with regard to religion and the supernatural. Pagan religion was a m.iss of superstition. There had always been a belief in the human mind that, there were Certain individuals who had control over trie powers of nature. Fear, while it certainly d:.d not make deity, was undoubtedly i .- parent of superstition, and there had a.ways been great numbers of human beings who were the willing prey of impostors, who threatened evil and promised good to retain power over their dupes. (.*hosts, magic, and witchcraft were the chief divisions of the subject. Superstition had peopled the air with living beings, and the modern belief in ghosts was spiritualism. The lecturer then went on to give illustrations of the various phases of a belief in wo ider-working, and a number of nonsensical exorcisms. The third portion of the i-iject dealt with witchcraft, and consisted of • description of witches, their methods o; working, their trial, and the number borne 40,000) who perished as victims to the ignorance of the days when this superstition prevailed. John Wesley was quoted as saying that "the giving up of a belief j in witchcraft was a giving up of the Bible. The paper concluded by an exhortation to I* aside superstition and trust in God. The paper was commented on by Messrs. Lilly, McLachlan. Cranwell, G. P. Pierce, brpham. Dr. Girdler, the Rev. W. Tebbs, bad others, after which the lecturer replied and the meeting ended.

Mr. Oswald's Shakspeare class held their u-ual meeting on Wednesday evening, when several scenes from " Macbeth" were creditably rendered by the members. Recitations were given by Messrs. Saviller, Forrest, and 0-wald ; and a paper was read by the latter on "The Comedy of Errors," the play ar."anged for the loth. Four new members :vere admitted. Owing to the success attending his class he intends starting another, to rfieet alternate Wednesdays. Any ladies and gentlemen desirous of joining may send 'heir names to Mr. Oswald, at Granville House, Cook-street.

The reprehensible practice indulged in by some teachers of beating children about J '.e head and boxing and pulling ears! was brought up by Dr. Newman before the members of the Wellington Education Board last week. He paid he knew of a 'lumber of cases where the barbarous custom was continued, and he wished therefore to add something to the clause dealing with corporal punishment to the effect that teachers were on no account to touch children about the head. The chairman said he did not think it would be advisable to put that in the regulation ; they might ] ! i -• as well say how many strokes of the cane should be given. Dr. Newman did riot press the matter on the chairman undertaking to have a circular sent to all L'-arl teachers forbidding the hitting of children on the head.

The annual division of profits by the Au-tralian Mutual Provident Society has i'j=t taken place, and the large square enslopes containing the bonus certificates are to I,? seen in every nook and corner of t.he colony. The fact, that notwithstanding the depressed times, the amount of cash surplus lor the year ISS7, divided among the mem- >■! after making unusually large reserves, amounted to no less a sum than £375,343, -'ins providing a bonus at the rate of 40.6 per cent, on the premiums received during the year, as against 39.4 per cent, for the year ISS6, and that in many instances the reversionary bonuses greatly exceed the amount of premiums paid, speaks volumes for the vigour of management- of this eminently successful society.

Three members of an Otago school committee have been writing to the Board condemning dancing. The following is an Extract from the precious document :— ' e do not say that dancing is necessarily an 'l essentially sinful. Under careful restrictions and limitations it may be a harmless amusement, but we cannot shut our to the fact that night dances have a demoralising tendency, when carried far o '-he night, as they often are, they unfit e body for work, the soul for communion p lL h God, and have such a fascinating inuence on the minds of the youth as to teal away the affections from the high purnf 'T of man's being," hinder the entrance he spiritual life, and cause it to wither •ere it exists, and lead sometimes to tin S ,mm ? rn!it y." In discussing this queswas 0 . • > <-" i, <>o'« lin * used for dancing, it C«nfP°i! ntc ' ! " IIL by the chairman of the cont»!i U ' y " l h at the Boards have no all. ° Ver Committees in this matter at>

Mr. R. T. Booth, who is now en tour in Australia, quite out-Yankeed the Yankees, in the course of an address at a suburb of Sydney the other day. He said that if any twopenny-halfpenny country went to war, the Australians, English, and Americans are in a position to give them a cuff and put them to bed. The Eng-lish-speaking nations, notably England, America, and Australia, number nearly 100,000, souls. lie regretted that men thought so much of building forts and firing guns ; but let the Russian bear put his paw upon the fair land of Australia, then the British lion, the American eagle, and the Australian kangaroo would rise up as one man, and drive him back ignominously to his lair. The utterance of these words caused cheering that lasted fully live minutes. The picture of a lion and an eagle and a kangaroo rising up " as one man'' is about the finest example of muddled metaphor we have met with for a long time.

IXThe following, which is, apparently, a bit of polished irony, appears in the Christchurch Press:—-"Some persons here have recently been the recipients of a polite note i from Sir Bernard Burke, Dublin Castle, as j follows :—" Pray favour me with answers to the enclosed for the forthcoming work on the colonial gentry,' and enclosed is a form ; in which the. gallant knight says he hopes to render the work a perfect record of families of distinction in Her Majesty's colonies. The information asked for includes name, address, official post, dates of birth, marriage, and parentage of wife, names of sons and daughters and marriages of same, name and place of residence of parents, also grandfather and paternal grandmother. The requests are wound up with a desire for a genealogical account of the applicant's family, or any particularsconcerning grandparents will be most acceptable, but if this cannot, conveniently be given, any tradition as to which locality in England, Ireland, or Scotland the family is supposed to have come from would assist the editor in making the history of the colonial gentry a work of great interest." Referring to the reported discovery of manganese reefs in the Wellington provincial district, the Post says : — Mr. Walter Nathan recently asked his London reprej sentatives to make inquiries as to the value of that mineral in the Home market. He has now received a reply from Mr. George G. Blaekwell, manganese merchant, of Chapel-street, Liverpool, from which we are permitted to make the following extract : '• New Zealand manganese is chiefly used for steel purposes. Large quantities have already come in from that country during the last, five or ten years, and have been sold at various prices, according to analysis." The best has generally run about 48 per cent, to 54 per cent. The present value would be about lOd to lld per metallic unit, therefore, supposing that your ore would test 50 per cent, of metal (usual quantity from New Zealand) that would make it about 45s to 50s per ton delivered at. Mersey or equal port of consumption. Of course there is little or no consumption for it in London excepting for odd parcels, which might- in that case bring a few shillings more, as it would save carriage round here or elsewhere. Our manganese market at present is very much depressed, and at prices never before experienced. It will therefore be an unfavourable time for your friends to ship." A Southland paper reports that, while gathering shells for ornamental purposes at the Bluff the other day, a resident at Invercargill, Mr. T. Robb, jun., picked up, among a number of others, a. limpet shell. It was afterwards being cleaned, when it was accidentally discovered that on the inside was a wonderfully well-defined representation of a man's face. It was as perfect as a photograph, every feature being brought into relief. Mr. Robb is quite delighted with his "find," but is naturally curious as to how it obtained its —as some may regard it—"uncanny" adjunct. Perhaps some reader versed in conchologic lore will throw some light 011 the subject. The shell was found near the spot, where the Ocean Chief was wrecked.

j One of the principal questions agitating the Wellington mind just now is the erection of a rubbish destructor which has been ordered by the Wellington City Council, and is expected to arrive by the Coptic, which i-: due in Auckland to-day. The cost of the destructor is about £'2o<N). Complaints have been made that it would be an intolerable nuisance to those living in the neighbourhood from the noxious fumes emitted. It has been explained, however, that in a properly-made "Destructor " all the noxious fumes arising from the combustion of the city debris are passed through a body of Hame within the Destructor itself, and are thus rendered not only thoroughly harmless, but perfectly inodorous. In concluding a letter to His Worship the Mayor on the subject of the Destructor," which was read at the meeting of the City Council, Mr. W. Ferguson, C.E., wrote as follows : —" I desire to very seriously draw your attention to what appears to me a very great want, and one that could now be readily and easily met by the addition of a special chamber and furnace to your scheme, i.e., a cremator for the disposal of our dead bodies, or of such of them as have before death signified their desire to be burnt and not buried." The result of some trials with the new Maxim mitrailleuse, which has been introduced into the Austrian service, gives an approximate idea of the precision and effects of the improved ordnance. Hiram Maxim himself made consecutive points forming tiie letters of hi.-> name upon the face of the butts, from a distance of 1950 feet. One shot followed another in rapid succession during an interval of three to four seconds, until the word "Maxim" appeared in large and regular characters, readily distinguishable from afar. A striking instance of the effect which legislation may have on commerce has been brought to light. The Merchandise Marks Act has completely destroyed certain branches of German industry. Soon after its provisions became known and their operation was felt, cables were received from America by English agents for some American houses to cancel all orders for certain classes of German goods which had formerly been foisted on the public of the United States as of English manufacture. Plauen has suffered immensely, as the manufacture of cheap goods for the American market was formerly carried on there with great activity. The goods were shipped to England with labels which stamped them as of English manufacture. Now that they are labelled "Germanmade, "'the American public utterly refuse to buy them at any price. A letter from Melbourne says:—"And apropos of this I might as well relate an anecdote, as it is a good one of its kind. In my peregrinations about town one day last week I happened to drop into the White Hart, which is a great resort for M.P. : and others of that ilk. A little knot of members were there, making merry, as I heard, over the fact that the wife of one had just safely ushered into the world a little daughter. The happy father—a wellknown M.P., who has made a large for tune out of land syndicates—was there and of course there was a good deal of joking and laughter about the little domestic event. '¥ou saw that story in the Argus,' said one of the M.P.'s present, ' about a man whose wife gave birth to triplets—three daughters. He called the first Kate, the second Duplicate, and the third Triplicate. Good, wasn't it ?' ' Splendid !' answered the newly-made father (the member for B—, who is a well-known wit), 'And I tell you what it is, considering what land's done for me, I shall call my daughter Syndi-Kate.'" Some local Chinamen (says a Dunedin exchange) have devised a very ingenious method of money-making in a small way which is likely to bring them into the hands of the police. A number of the sovereigns now in circulation will be found to have the raised edges rubbed down with emery paper and notchcs cut in the rim with some sharp instrument. The amount of gold taken off each sovereign is considerable. The performance of the " Pirates of Penzance" by the Amateur Opera Company gives abundant promise of being a thorough success, to judge by the vocal and histrionic abilities displayed at rehearsals by both principals and supernumeraries. As a fitting finale to the piece, a grand tableau of " Britannia and Her Daughters" is to be presented at the close of the opera. In order to meet the increasing demand for tickets, the business manager has arranged for the sale of stall tickets at the box office (Mr. Wildman's), and stall and pit tickets at Messrs. H. E. Partridge and Co.'s, Quega-streeti. \

The Town Clerk, Mr. P. A. Philips, has received from Sir George rey the following note, which explains itself, and proves that the Free Library and its prosperity is ever present in Sir George's mind :—" Wellington, July 31, 1888. The Town Clerk, Auckland. Dear Sir, —I enclose for my Side of the Free Public Library seven original debentures, which were issued by private persons in New Zealand in the years 1844 and 1845, viz.—two for Is each, three for (id each, and two for 3d each ; also, three bank notes not issued, of a proposed bank in Outgo called '• The Otago Banking Company," viz., a £5 note and £1 note and 10s note. These notes were to have been issued by that bank in 1852 or 1853, but on the arrival of the proposed manager in the colony he found a Government bank of issue in existence issuing notes, whilst notes of private banks were prohibited. The proposed bank therefore never opened, as it was imagined that it would not prove a profitable concern without being allowed to issue its own notes. These debentures and notes are very interesting, as illustrating a past period in the history of the colony.— Faithfully yours., G. Grey."

It is curious (writes a correspondent in a Melbourne paper) what flotsam and jetsam have been cast by the great, gold-seeking wave of immigration in all sorts of out-of-the-way nooks and crannies of our colony. Said a picture-loving friend, himself the owner of one of our finest private galleries, to me the other day, " I have got a treasure for the Exhibition—a portrait of ' Wright of Derby," painted by himself." I never heard of Wright of Derby, I am ashamed to say, and was accustomed to identify Derby only with a well-known earl, and a better known horse race ; but 1 of course answered enthusiastically, " You don't say so ; tell me all about it." "Well," replied mv friend, '"years ago, when I was a lad, 1 was shooting on the Upper Plenty, and getting benighted, took shelter for the night at a settler's place, where I was hospitably received. When I woke in the morning, the first tiling that my eye lit upon was an oldfashioned portrait in oil hanging upon the wall. Though I did not know much about painting then, I was struck by the vigour and delicacy of the work. At breakfast I said to my host, "That is a magnificent portrait in my room." He smiled and answered, "Yes: that is a picture of my grandfather, painted by himself: he was 'Wright of Derby,' a contemporary and rival, if not an equal, of Sir Joshua Reynolds." Though I afterwards became better acquainted with the family, I never thought of the picture again till the other evening, when, in reading a life of Sir Joshua, I came across a notice of Wright. That reminded me of his portrait. I communicated with his great-granddaughter (niece of my host), to whom the picture now belonged), and she has kindly consented to exhibit-it."

Commenting on a recent raid by the Sydney police on " a Chinese gambling den," the Australasian has the following : —" What can fan-tan be? Is it. a pure game of chance like the dice which are thrown night after night in hotel bars (though forbidden by (he licensing Statute), or a game of skill like poker, which is played until all hours of the morning in the most respectable of clubs and private houses ? Or is it like the rattling which goes on at church bazaars ? And if the Chinese were to take to poker (after the example of the nation which keeps up an efficient police force on purpose to put down gambling), would constables continue to make raids upon them, and magistrates continue to send them to gaol? In the eyes of Chinese philosophers we must seem to be either the greatest.hypocrites upon earth or thecruellest persecutors. If they were to take a walk down Bourke-street, they would see a building, lofty and showy without, and magnificently furnished within. It is dedicated to betting and kindred amusements. The most honourable men in the community patronise it. In Swanstonstreet stands a building which is a still finer specimen of street architecture, but the furnishing is poor. It is the police court, erected, among other things, for the punishment of Chinese who gam hie when they ought to be reading hymn-books and Bibles. We punish them for their good, because gambling is harmful to an inferior race. If they were more refined and civilised they would bet on horses or pigeon-shooting, or play cards, and their minds would be improved, instead of debased, by such wholesome recreation. The simplicity of fan-tan is what makes it shocking to European eyes."

The first of the threatened claims for compensation in respect of the filling-in of Nelson-street las been presented to the City Council. A letter was received by that body yesterday evening from Mr. A. Sutherland, giving notice that he claimed the sum of £140 as compensation for damages done to his property in consequence of the filling. The claim was referred to the Legal Committee. The usual meeting of the District Committee of the Auckland Oddfellows (M. U.) was held in the District Chambers, Oddfellows' Hall, Cook-street, Auckland, on Friday, July '27th. Officers were elected for the present year, and a balance-sheet was presented showing the receipts to be £2362, and expenditure £1578. The Chemist and Druggist has the following : — Mr. H. H. Barnett, of Birmingham, whose adventures in New Zealand in association with Mr. Theodore Piesse and his formula book were duly recorded in the last volume of this journal, has now established a perfume factory in Broadstreet, Birmingham. It will be remembered that Theodore Piesse had deposited this formula book with other property with Mr, Barnett as security for a debt. Theodore afterwards got an engagement with an Auckland firm, and then he wanted to get back his book. He took, the imprudent method of suing for it, and afterwards charged Mr. Barnett with having stolen it. The charge utterly broke down, and Mr. Barnett came to England."

A meeting of the united Highway Boards of Raglan and Whaingaroa was held on July 28, at the Council Chamber, Raglan, to take steps for the construction of the proposed deepwater wharf in Raglan Harbour, for which a loan under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1885, has been granted by the Government, and for which the plans and specifications have been already prepared and forwarded to the Marine Department. After some discussion, it was decided to call for tenders for the erection of the wharf, either as a whole or in sections—No. 1, tee; No. '2, buildings thereon ; No. 3 and 4, tramway. Preliminary notice is to be given at once in Raglan, and upon the return of the plans by the Government, advertisements are to be inserted both in the Wkkkly News and Waikato Times news]tapers. It was also decided to use none but the best timber in its construction, and as the most available bush of totara is upon the Crown lands, near trig station 1601, Parish of Waipvi, Mr. S. P. Smith, Crown Lands Commissioner, was written to, asking permission from Waste Lands Board to procure the necessary material there upon payment of a royalty. The meeting was entirely unanimous, and after some routine business, such as the appointment of a permanent chairman, etc., the meeting separated.—[A Correspondent.]

Dr. Rennie announces in another column that in future his office hours will be from 1 to 4 p.m., instead of from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The grand vocal and instrumental concert which is to be given this evening in the Remuera Social Hall promises to be of more than usual excellence. A number of wellknown amateurs have promised their assistance, anion" them being Misses J. and C. Knight, ana Messrs. A. L. Edwards, T. Charter, Martin, F. Innes, A. R. Hunter, S. Hunter, and T. M. Jackson. For the convenience of those who live in town, Guy's bus will leave the Greyhound Hotel at seven p.m. Professor Brown will deliver the fourth lecture of the course this evening at the Young Men's Christian Association. The subject is " Boiling," and it will be illustrated by experiments. Attention is called to the sale to be held by Messrs. B. Tonks and Co., on Monday next, of the lease for one year of the splendid family residence at present in the occupation of Mr. D. J. McLeod, and very favourably situated near the Choral Hall, Symondsstreet.

Gents' suits, 15s 6d, 17s 6d, 21s, 25s 6d, all wool, new shapes, at A. E. Fenton's, 250, Queen-street, next to Tuttle's, photographer. (Read list in wanted column). Job lots in men's flannel undershirts and strong working shirts at A. E. Fenton's, 250, Queen-street, next to Tuttle's, photographer. (Read list in wanted coloumn.) Take time by the forelock and avoid his insults by using Mrs. S. A. Allen's Hair Restorer, which never fails to restore grey hair to its youthful colour. Sold everywhere.