THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1888.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9126, 7 August 1888, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1888.

While an earnest desire is felt, we believe almost universally, among the people of New Zealand, that the expenses of the great Parliamentary machine should be decreased, and that to this end, and for other reasons, the number of members of Parliament should be diminished, we have been startled to learn that it was or is in contemplation to add another member to the Legislative Council. The rumour to this effect has been for some time in currency, and last night Mr. O'Conor essayed to have the affair brought into open light. He withdrew his motion, however, on an explanation from the Premier, an explanation which as elucidated by a subsequent answer from the head of the Government, seems to us to in no way remove the grounds of apprehension, for the Premier qualified his expression, by saying that no appointment to the Council should be made "except by direction of the House." As the appointment in question is said to be intended to be preceded by such action in the House, it seems to us that Sir Harry Atkinson's disavowal confirms rather than disproves the truth of the rumour. Major Campbell, the intended recipient of this honour, is a most estimable person, and it is remote from our intention to make the slightest reference to that gentleman derogatory either to his ability or worth. He has been for many years in occupancy of the honourable position of Clerk of Parliament, and it is obvious that the only reason for raising him to the colonial peerage is to provide for him a pension for his declining years. It cannot be that it is because there is any insufficiency of number of members in. the Upper House, or that it is desirable to add to the wisdom or debating power of thai r»uguoi QstprnWooo Either of these, having an eye to the public good, might have furnished reason for such a procedure ; but the course said to be intended is not with the object of the public good, but solely that of private beneficence. Major Campbell in his official position has had opportunity of cultivating the amenities —with the members of Parliament to whom is entrusted, by a confiding people, the purse-strings of the colony. He has been not only courteous, but obliging and serviceable to members when in official intercourse with them ; and they, not having to pay the money out of their own pockets, in an access of great good-nature, are pleased apparently to have the opportunity of settling on him, in addition to such pension as he is entitled to, the douceur of a hundred and fifty pounds a year fcr the term of his natural life, to be paid from year to year from the taxation of the people. Had there been, as we have said, any necessity for this, or any benefit thence arising to the public, reason would that the public should acquiesce; but as nothing of the sort is even pretended, then we do not hesitate to say that such an act would be an insolent and wanton wrong on the public Treasury. The number of the members of the Legislative Council, being forty-five, is greatly in excess of what is required ; and as it is impossible to remove any members unless for exceptional misbehaviour, there is no possible way of diminishing the numbers but through the process of human decay and the removal of members by death. Slow and unsatisfactory as this manner of decrease is id •would, in the! course of time, effect the

desired object; but to arrest that decrease of membership, by adding new members, is very ill becoming a Ministry and a House which owe their position, to the " retrenchment roar" that has been reverberating through the colony. But this is not the only objectionable feature in the contemplated appointment ; for it appears to be the result of an intrigue in which at least some members of the Government and the Opposition are mutually involved. In consequence of the pledge given last session by the Ministry not to make any further calls to the Upper House at present, they are precluded from taking direct action, and accordingly the movement is intended to originate among the members of the Opposition, to whose request the Government will graciously accede. his manner of compassing the difficulty, showing that such pledges as that given by the Ministry are made not for the protection of the State, but so as to not offend the feelings of Her Majesty's Opposition. Indeed, nothing could more strikingly exemplify the idea which seems to dominate the minds of members of Parliament,— namely, that it is theirs of right to squander the public estate according to their pleasure, provided only that the two parties into which they have separated themselves, are agreed as to the method in | which the plunder is to be divided. It is possible that the premature disclosure of the intrigue through Mr. O'Conor's action, may lead to its abandonment, though the Premier's statement as to "direction from the House" leads us to the opposite conclusion. But such direction from the House, invited in this way, if not previously incited, will not exonerate the Government from the responsibility of making such an untimely and uncalled-for appointment. Indeed, without under-valuing in the least the importance of the Government of the day carrying out the behests of the House of Representatives, we do not hesitate to affirm that the formal acceptance of such direction, the surrender to the House of this prerogative of the Crown, and the fixing of a precedent virtually amounting to a rule in relation to appointments to the Legislative Council, would be an invasion of the Constitution which the Government and the Legislature are not warranted in perpetrating in this irregular way. Whether members of the Upper House should or should not owe their nomination to selection at the hands of the Lower Chamber may be a fair subject for consideration. But the Constitution for the present has prescribed the course to be taken for the tilling up of that Chamber, which is intended to impose a check 011 the hasty legislation of the House of Representatives; and any alteration in respect of such appointments demands very careful consideration. If a change is to be made we venture to think that the public of New Zealand will not favour its being in the direction of subordinating the Council to the House of Representatives by making it the receptacle into which will be shot the selections made by the members of the other Chamber. The obvious result of such a course would be the degradation of the Upper House, which would not be in the interests of good government. Questions of a constitutional kind and far-reaching in their issues are involved in such procedure as seems to be intended in doing honour to Major Campbell, but it is to be hoped that regard to the financial position of the colony, and deference to the public feeling which such an appointment would surely evoke from every part of the colony will be sufficient to put an end to any attempt, under any pretence, to add to the numbers of the Legislative Council.

The Pan-Anglican Conference, now holding its sitting in London, has an importance attaching to it world-wide in character. As in a sense the Supreme Court of one of the largest religious denominations of the Anglo - Saxon race, its decrees, if not absolutely binding, cannot fail to extend in their influence over a wide sphere, and to produce results affecting the world even beyond the limits of its own communion. It is therefore of no ordinary importance that this high authority has made deliverance among others on questions of such moment as the laws of divorce. On this subject the whole empire is in movement, and there is something imposing in the sight of a body that bravely stands by the ancient landmarks, and refuses to yield to the reforming tendencies of the age. That such a course will have much effect on the progress of divorce we are not disposed to expect ; still there is always a moral good in testifying to what we believe to be the truth, even though it is like Mrs. Partington and her mop resisting the advance of the tides. This ConferCllvjv -, *!$•••«•-»'!. representing the Protestant Episcopal cliurciies 01' tl»o British Empire, and we presume America, has resolved to not recognise any divorce unless the dissolution of the marriage bond has been made on the grounds of adultery, and also to refuse re-marriage to those who have been divorced for any other cause. The effect of this, of course, will be that divorced persons will attach themselves to other denominations than that of the Church of England, and that the marriages of such persons will be performed if not by ministers of religion, at least by Registrars, Mayors, or such other civil officers as are appointed for that purpose. It is probable that few, if any, will feel the severity of this prohibition, for the terrors of the Church have ceased to terrify ; and people nowadays, in the colonies at least, sit rather loosely to their denominational obligations. There can be no doubt that great evils may arise from laxity in relation to the binding obligation of the marriage tie; but common sense and every day experience tell us that far greater evils, and incomparably greater human misery may result from two persons being irrevocably bound together, when the ends for which marriage was instituted have been violated, or are hopeless of attainment. The whole tendency of civilised society is towards interposing the claims of humanity, and giving a reprieve to domestic misery which otherwise can only end with the grave ; and this Pan-Anglican Synod, if its decrees are attended to, will only have the effect of imposing on its people burthens which they cannot and will not bear ; and placing itself less in sympathy with the humane and enlightened spirit of the age. Brutal cruelty, absolute desertion, penal servitude, permanent insanity, nullify the ends and objects of marriage as fully as infidelity ; and the withholding of the benisons of the Church from the

release effected in consequence of fi" will not lessen the frequency 0 f e release, although it may have the of prompting men to throw- 0 «-, ct shackles of religion at the sarnf.V and to remove themselves further f the voice of its ministers. ota

Our cable messages this morning that the strike of navvies in France tending to other branches of IM,, ■ V* e< ' that collisions between the strike r ' Br "' police are frequent. Terrible prevails in Montenegro, in con«e ()Uf .'' Ut '. the failure of the harvest, and forty'!? I '' sand persons are now dependent on <'•, •" A motion for the expulsion of r'V Hugbes-Hallett from the House of (' r ' inons, in consequence of the recent connected with his name, was propo-Vip' 4 ' the Chairman of Committees allow it to be tabled. A large nun V miscellaneous items will be found in*-,' 1 cable news. 1 iJ ' ::

Members of the House who were t,l ,1 to specific retrenchment have found'-!"' one great hindrance to the carry their work is the apathy of the • r '} of the electors. During the debate Council on the Customs Duties Hi!! Hon. J. H. Miller urged that the only -'! to check the present extravagant e.vL a? ture was to bring the people face to f.'"" with direct taxation. He said then. ■ *''' only '27,000 persons out of the who!*- <t, : " lation of the colony paying direct tiiy.Z" to the Government, and there wert^u'*' 3 owners of property who do ,* l{ * J property-tax. -By reducing the to £100 the revenue of the country wr,'!q be increased, although more thin ui thirds of the increase would be t.-i.utribr '• by the present taxpayers. .Mr. .\h;i (>1 bats the argument that the I'-J/i.Oi would be paid by these addiii.,| lf ,i ."11T,? taxpayers would not be worth trouhij,■' people about, by saying, " That is thet reason why I should like to see it ' cause you would add these ."iO.ooo r ,' "27,000 who already pay the J^' and by that means you would u t \ ' creased number on your side and nl.Vj'. their support in restraining extravajw* If you extend the operations of direct t«.-' tion you have the best guarantee that v,* can get against a repetition of p.i-• —the best guarantee that you .will in- ,~i it in the power of political adv-ntm.^. 1 •, come here in the future, careless of th* s-'. fare of the colony as long as th,.-v r ,'.» triumphant on the wave of extrav^^*' The regular meeting of the 1'..:-..; Borough Council took place la-t pi business was of a routine character, ex--. ' one clause in the report of the Fnr.-n,.,.,'.: Works, which brought- up a son,.v.j - awkward question. .Mrs. Col. M„t- j Brookside, owns some- house and , . property in iuanukau Poae. s ■ i;; tr--* since the Council decided on defining •;» line of street, and the result wa- tha-; Matson's houses when being re-w-cctcil.atr l moved back by their order- fr.*in ».awas then the line of street. To i-~r. >- right to the space claimed fcy the Mrs. Matson has had her gates shifted tj to the present footpath, and as the.-.; are naturally a great obstruction the tV:r>;r:.a of Works considered it necessary th.,something should be done. The was referred to the Legal and Fins:;:; Committee. Mrs. Matson's objve t . Vi believe, is to bring the matter to an by compelling the Council to take action against her, so that, in all probability tta dispute will furni.-h some employment to the members of the legal profession.

Two cases of very considerable hue:--; to business men were heard at the civil sittings of the Supreme Court ye-tor'hv. The first was the easa of Mcyuarrie v. McGregor, the circumstances of vhieh v>:e somewhat peculiar. The plxinritf w; : - a shipbuilder, and the defendant, who L! been a hotelkeeper, was now out of badness. It was alleged by the plaintiff in April last they purchased a bripimhi from Kennedy Bros., of Grey-mouth, for £t>oo, that McGregor paid the full money on behalf of both, on the understanding that the half interest was to be transferred to McQuarrie on payment to Met Sroyo: f>i £.300. The defendant, however, sold the vessel for £780, and when McQuarrie claimed his half interest and tendered the ' £300, McGregor refused to recognise his claim. After hearing the evidence for the plaintiff, defendant's conusel consented to a judgment being given for phinthf £100, and costs on the lower M.ale. Tu second case was that of Ehrentried v. (.leeson : one arising out of the covenant binding the trade of certain hotel- to certain brewers. The plaintiff is a bivwrr, and the defendant the owner of rive hotel-. The plaintiff purchased from the ileter.d.ra the beer trade, etc., of his hotels for CJi". 1 , and an agreement was entered into t-.a: Gleeson was to make a proviso with eaci lessee of his hotel that they mu.-t deal with Ehrenfried. But some time ago (liee-:a re-entered on possession of the Albion H td —one of the hotels in the agreement— lias continued to trade there as licence since, buying his beer, cigars, wines, spirits, etc.. where he liked, and acting as if it was a " free house,*' on the ground th.it lie was not bound by the agreement, as that only affected his tenants. The matter v.-*? argued at considerable length, a Bar x extraordinary strength being engaged, Messrs. Cotter and Theo. Cooper ap|f-aiu: for the plaintiff, and Messrs. Button and £• Hesketh for the defence. There was a hc-3 of witnesses in attendance, but they were not called : and His Honor adjourn, i t::? case until Friday to enable him to thoroughly consider tie agreement. Another interesting case comes on to-day. Mr. Durrieu, the Provincial Auditor, sues the Thames County Council to compel the members to refund certain moneys, tie payment of which was not authorised. A dangerous mantrap exists at the shore end of the Hobson-street Wharf, and it is a wonder that serious accidents have not resulted. here the wharf joins the shore its paving is from three to four tec? higher than the roadway, and it ha- " 5 protection in the shape of rails or lielit. so that it can easily be imagined that persons coming shoreward from the wharf after nightfall run great risks of walking over the end of the woodwork and sustaining a nasty fall. Such an accident occurred last night. Three men coming from the brigantine Borealis, which had been moored to the wharf during the forenoon, waked straight up the wimuf, «"- 1 — -f them stepped over the end as described, ' though luckily escaping an serious inju* . > he received • a severe shaking and an "- 1 sightly abrasion to his face. Since » • Harbour Board permit the wharf to _ce used, and vessels are constantly !}'•;- alongside, they should surely see that us approaches are in a safe condition for -- i and limb. The following telegram was yesterii': received by Inspector Brohaui, from on ' stable Ward, respecting the boating *-' ci ' dent at Kawerua :—''lt was heartrending seeing brave men perish, and to be l!tttr I ; 1 -, powerless to save them. A few ro» " tubes would have saved them all. )^ at " was evidently struck with the boat in ° n of her many turns over. The people 0 shore could almost touch them but the back rush would carry them away again." He describes Wyatts boa, as being sadly bruised. During the last trip of the s.s. DouglS', the Bay of Plenty an accident occurred J) which Captain Austin and one of the ciec* hands had a narrow escape from clrownn>rOn the arrival of the steamer ori W -l tane, Captain Austin and the man put 1 - from the vessel to place lights on the r ° L " at the entrance to the Whakatane chanii ■ Their boat had not left the steamer minutes before those on board heard en - for assistance. The mate itnmetha s ordered the lifeboat to be manned alaunched, and on its being pulled «' r l haste to the spot Captain Austin ani » man were found clinging to their which had been upturned by the lt ' / waves. Both were in an exhausted co ' tion, but we are glad to learn t.ia • have suffered no serious effects from immersion. At the Onehunga Resident Magist ra jf e Court yesterday, before His Worship J. Mavor (Br. W. R. Erson), and Mr. - ■'/ Dickey, J.P.'s., John Barron, alias btaiK^ was charged with assaulting Mrs. ; u) j Vesey. The prisoner pleaded ul,t /\',\- or was bound over to keep _ the twelve months in two sureties o. £*>• and himself in a similar amount. - 3 • sureties were not forthcoming, the soner was sent to Mount Eden tor .. , r y months. Patrick Dunn and James ' were charged with drunkenness at» orderly conduct on Saturday night, t instant. They each pleaded guilty» * were lined 10s and costs "is.

fesf' f; : ■ '

At. the opening of the Supreme Court ■ .jl sittings yesterday it was found that* here was °a full panel of 36 jurors in attendance, and that only four would be required.' -Mr. Justice Gillies suggested that instead of swearing in the whole panel four jurors should be called and sworn, and {he rest, discharged, and Messrs. Cotter and Hesketh, the counsel engaged in the only jury case, agreed to this course being adopted. Mi". Button, however, intervened and said that the case of Ehrenfried v (Jleeson, a claim for unliquidated dam-(l'-res. must be tried by a jury of 12, and he quoted a ruling in support of his contention. His Honor said he did not feel inclined to follow that ruling, and Mr. Theo. Iper pointed out that in an exactly similar case Mr. Justice Williams had declined to follow this ruling. They did not claim damages. They claimed for an account, ti nl something after. His Honor read the clause of the rules which provided for trial lv a jury, and said it did not apply. Mr. Cooper quoted the case he had referred to. Mr. Hesketh said in the case Rhodes v. Kerr Mr. Justice Ward ordered a jury, although he (Mr. Hesketh) had quoted the f i-,> now quoted by Mr. Cooper. His Honor, however, did not think a jury necessarv, and a jury of four having been erapmeiled the remaining jurors were discharged.

Richard Feltus. who has been an object of solicitude in Auckland for some years past, has not only got into hot water in f-vdney. but got our Charitable Aid Board into hoi water too. it may be remembered that Feltus escaped from the Asylum, and remained away for fourteen days, when he was apprehended by the police. The Lunatics Act provides that if a lunatic escapes for 14 days he cannot be sent back to the Asylum unless he is re-examined by wo doctors and recommitted by the Resident Magistrate. When the police communicated with Dr. Cremonini he said that now he had been away 14 days he did not vi.-li him sent back. So a little work was pot for leltus by one who had known him in better days. He. however, after he had been working on and oil" for about three weeks, begged to be sent to Sydney, where. lie said, he bad friends w ho would take him In the hand. On assuring Mr. Ewington t ii.it his friends in Sydney would give him another .-tart in life, that gentleman comv ;.;:iieated with the Charitable Aid Board t ~-k their assistance to pay his passage. '] .. v said they would pay half if Mr. } .nation would collect the other half. He : so. handing the money to the Board, v < paid Feltus" passage. It now appe.irs 'hat the irrepressible Dick has been t- ruciu up in Sydney on suspicion of being i'.ie. and told the authorities that the A. '.ik'and Charitable Aid Board had sent hi-.i to Sydney to get rid of him. Sir il.urv Parkes has. in consequence, written l,i o.ir Government, the Government have p-riiten to the Charitable Aid Board, and t ■ Hoard have to explain matters. It appears to us a matter capable of easy explanation. With the best intentions in the v :. a poor fellow was helped to a sister c ! >:iv, and ho has misrepresented hi* ease. Win :> the tacts are known it will be seen j that -'ur authorities have not tried to shunt I incorrigible s on to the Sydney market. With reference to the accident that hap jv-n-M to Mr. Delanev, of Cook-street, we •„:v -rated by Dr. Bakewell that he was rnlv called in on Saturday afternoon, when me of the Brothers of St. Vincent de 1'..-:!, under whose care Delanev has I s. n. asked him to see the case. He-j -.rid that there was fracture of the j neck of the thigh - bone, and that it j would be impossible to attend him at his It icings. He. therefore, wrote to the -use s trgeon at the Hospital offering to *■_: the limb if the necessary splints, etc,, P-.-re sent down, and thus save the patient the pain of being moved to the Hospital j with the limb unset. No blame attaches t-i the Hospital surgeons, as it is no part of their duty to attend cases outside the H i-pital. The poor man. who met with j the accident-, is extremely to be pitied, as he ha? been suffering from the effects of a blow on the head for the last 17 years, which had partially paralysed the left side, and entirely prevented him from working. He has thus been dependent on the Charitable Aid Board and some relief given by the confraternity of St. Vincent de Paul. The usual Gospel Temperance Meeting was held in the Protestant Hall. Karangahape Road, last Sunday evening. Mr. R. French presided. Mr. J. Roberts cave an address on the national, social, and individual loss, arising from the use of alcoholic liquors. During the course of the evening a duet was sung by Miss Nodder and Master Ryan in a highly pleasing maimer. The final meeting of the Board of Inquiry re Mr. Soall's proposed system of musketry instruction for New Zealand Volunteers will take place on Wednesday, in the Drill-shed, at fi.3o p.m. This inquiry, unlike most military one-, is open to the Press. An accident, which, fortunately, was not Serious, occurred to one of the travellers employed by Mr. W. J. Beale, sewing machine importer. Auckland. On Friday, whilst Mr. Frank Lees was riding between Richmond and Tauwhare, hi* horse slipped in crossing l a small bridge and fell, bruising the rider's leg, and giving him a severe shaking. He was able to ride into Hamilton. and hopes to be all right in a few days or so. The horse's eve was hurt rather Lad! v.

" K.J.," Ngarunwahia, write? : — In my humble opinion, the reason that so many smart editors and correspondent-! have hitherto failed to give the true answer— laughably simple though it- be—is thai none as yet seem to have caught the true meaning l of the question. Instead of trying to rind how many etrtrs a certain number of hen-- could or would lay in a given time, they have gone into all sorts of figure*. and found out to their own entire satisfaction, not what the hens would do, but what they ought to do. Question : ' If a hen and fc-half lay an egg- and a-half in a day and a-half, how many eggs will six hens lay in even days Answer : Twenty-four. I trriveat that number thus :—As three halfhens take three half-days to lay three halfeggs, one whole lien will lay one whole eg 11 in the same time. Therefore one hen will lay four eggs in six days, and six hens will lay twenty-four in the same time—i.e., in six 'lavs. That being undoubte*".-^ " " {i'V ' NV faanv will the six lav in pew 'lays . 7'. nrvfour of course. PerhfP 3 /hey ought to lav-more, but as t w -nnnnr. hey won t. to lav more, but as . ■> . Thev Ijava -n laid an egg on the sixth day, t,n.i "i» ti.o cro> 'ruth day they won't lay at " fur the simple reason that the eggs are tot ready—their day and a-half is not up. Eureka /" Messrs. Sargood, Son, and Ewen, who have lately acquired the stock of the oldvstabiished firm of Messrs. Owen and Graham, have just issued an elaborate trade circular. It has been printed at the lithographic and job-printing departments d: the Hkk.at,t> office. The circular, which contains an outline of the stock of Messrs. Bat-good, Hon, and Ewen is in pamphlet form, and enclosed in a beautifully lithographed cover. The design on the first page of the cover is that of a shield, in the centre of which is the Royal arms, with the British ensign and Union .Jack at. either fri'le, and below are illustrations of the firm's principal business houses—those in London, .Melbourne, Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin. The remaining spaces are appropriately tilled, the result being handFotne and striking. On the last page of the cover appear useful maps of the North and {South Islands of New Zealand. The other p irtions of the circular are neatly printed, t.or- work altogether being very creditable. Mr. George Fisher, Minister of Education (says a Canterbury paper), is a clever man, and h well-educated man in one way ; but his youth was not wasted in grinding over the dead languages. It does seem a little out of place that gentlemen—Mr. Fisher, is m>t the only one by scores—should be Uiade superintendent, of an education which includes what are esteemed most important brunches, of which they are themselves gnorant. Mr. Fisher was cruelly reminded i>f this on Thursday. A member made use a long Latin quotation in the House. - ! t!i<;r members pretended they could not Understand it. and asked Mr. Fisher, as ■ nister of Education, to translate it for hem. This episode very forcibly suggests 'at i; the responsible head for the whole education system has got along very well— dlO has done well—without Latin, the general taxpayer might make up his mind - jat, specially as times are not very good , , now youths who will have a very • uirier chance of becoming Ministers of ; u^ at ' on . ma y ( '° without Latin—at all \ i"i' Latin provided atthe public expense. th* i . ne din telegram last evening states in"! * U 'i' S6t ' n at an ear 'y hour this mornthe'rl' . (:o "' nue< i to fall heavily during y> and shows no signs of clearing up.

Last evening a well-attended meeting of Mount Eden residents was held at Waite's Hall in response to an announcement which appeared in yesterday's Herald calling a public meeting to consider the cose of James Champion, at present in Mount Eden Gaol for disobedience of an injunction of the Supreme Court. It was asserted by the conveners of the meeting that Champion had been the victim of a malicious attempt to vilify his character by certain persons having circulated an injurious report concerning him. Messrs. H. M. Shepherd, L. Rimmer, H. Waite, E. T. Cartwright, Rev. Mr. Bray, and others, spoke strongly upon the alleged injustice done to Champion, and resolutions were passed to the following effect :—" That the meeting felt the warmest sympathy with Mr. J. Champion and his wife and family, who were suffering under the stigma of a malicious attempt to vilify his character, and hoped that the originators of the slander would be brought to justice;" and " That a subscription be at once raised to provide funds for Champion to vindicate his character." A committee, to make the necessary arrangements for taking legal action against the originators of the alleged calumny, was then appointed, and the meeting terminated with votes of thanks to the conveners of the meeting and the chairman. A large number of persons handed in subscriptions to the committee before the meeting dispersed.

The Victorian Government scheme in connection with the expenditure of 10,000 on technical education is speedily assuming a definite form. The scheme provides for the employment of experts to visit the agricultural centres and 'impart instruction in technical subjects. At present it is proposed to immediately employ some gentleman with a wide acquaintance in the cultivation of fruit trees, and the preservation or utilisation of fruit. A specialist in viticulture will also be employed.

An Otago paper states that all advices from the interior agree as to the deplorable state of stock owing to the continuous fall of snow and severe trusts. For a time every effort was made to keep sheep out of the snow, but latterly that had to be given up, as there was no place to put them, the whole surface being covered. Cattle and horses gathered round the homesteads, looking wistfully at the fast-diminishing haystack. It is almost certain that the loss of sheep will be the heaviest ever known on the Upper Waitaki. The Waitaki mail driver reported on arrival at Kurow on Saturday night that on Thursday there was three feet of snow on the Otematuta saddle. Distant fields are proverbially green. Some time ago (says an exchange) four or five people in lnvereargill, thinking that they might- better themselves if they went off to Buenos Ayres, determined to write to ail -resident of that- town now living there before taking decided action. His reply has been, received, and is certainly not of a nature to tempt- people to leave here, even in these dull times. He writes : —" Competition is, in all trades, very keen, and in the chief cities rents are high, and anyone coming here has to meet all these things. The language chiefly in useSpanish—is another difficulty. For young people who understand Latin it is not difficult to learn, I'ut for middle-aged folks who don't the language would take years to master, even to make one at all understood. '' A Southern paper says :—'• Last Tuesday's north-going afternoon train ran into a mob of horses about halfway between Kopua and Takapau, killing two outright and maiming another by breaking one of its hind legs in several places. The slaughter happened about mile peg GO. The train was coming round a curve into a small bridge with considerable speed down an incline, and the horses could not be seen till it was too late. Two of them were caught- by the cowcatcher, carried across the bridge, and at hist got so firmly lodged in a mangled mass underneath the cowcatcher in front of the engine's first pair of wheels, that the train was brought to a standstill. It is a wonder that the engine was not derailed. As it was, it took fully half an hour to clear the nauseous obstruction of reeking gore. The cowcatcher had to be unscrewed and the train backed before the mangled remains of the animals could be hauled away. " A lecture on '• Colours," delivered by Professor Brown at the Napier-street School some time ..go. was so well received that he has consented to give it again at the Devoniiuiv Hall next Wednesday evening. For the convenience of visitors from Auckland, steamers will leave town at seven and halfpast seven p.m., returning after the lecture. The following is the state of Her Majesty's prison, Auckland, for the week ending Aug. 4th, ISSX : —On remand, 2 males ; awaiting trial. 6 males; boys, •"> ; penal servitude, 42 males, 3 females ; hard labour, 106 males, 27 females : imprisonment, 2 males ; default of bail, 11 males, 1 female : debtors, 1 male : received during the week, 17 males, ofemales ; discharged. In males, 2 females; total in prison : ITo males. SI females. Mr. Witlieford appears to have lost no time in Melbourne, having within a week of his arrival in that go-ahead city taken offices in Collins-street, between the Mining Exchange, where so many fortunes have recently been made, and the new elegant.structure, nine storeys high, being erected for the Bank of New Zealand. As Mr. Witlieford is established in the best business centre of the great commercial metropolis of Australia, he is prepared to receive New Zealand properties. His address appears in another column. An entertainment is to take place this evening in the Ponsonby Baptist Church. Judging by the names advertised, it pro- j mises to be of a very interesting nature. Miss Moncur, Miss and Master Willow, and ! Master Barry, will recite ; also songs by Mr. 0. Taylor and Mr. Kilpatrick. The price of admission has been fixed at sixpence.— [ A DVT.] The treasurer of the Women's Home, Parnell, begs to acknowledge the following sums: Rev. J. S. and Mrs. Hill, £2; Miss Leachman. £1 ; J. R., "is; Dr. Kenderdine, iJ'J. The financial year commenced July Ist. Contributions in money, clothes, or household requisites will be thankfully by i of the corny-"'*r"' in ify eliss by any <•; the corny- , ' , J , Hall P"" ,lIHL i..no will take orders tor i ..asn"i or needlework. The committee are : Archdeacon Dudley, Rev. J. S. Hill, Rev. G. H. S. Walpole, Mrs. McCosh Clark, and Mrs. Kinder.

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," saith the preacher, especially balls say we. But when it is our good fortune to be invited to so thoroughly enjoyable an affair as took place on the lMth July, we are inclined to forget the vanity and remember only the pleasure. A committee of the Kohukohu ladies gave a leap year ball on the abovementioned date, and, being invited, I accepted the invitation, and I must say I never spent a more pleasant evening during the course of a long and chequered life. The hall was very tastefully decorated with nikau, treeferns, etc., and also with a ;rreat number of gaily-coloured flags, kindly lent by Captain Greenwood, of the Devonport, which ship is now loading kauri junk at this port. When the guests be; to arrive I was busily engaged admiring the great many rich and beautiful dresses, and the equally pleasing faces of the ladies. Some of the dresses were worth mentioning. Missßowe, pink dress, covered with white lace, tastefully . draped. The two Miss Hartleys looked well in white dresses, ingeniously set off with pink. Miss Jessie Gray, white figured muslin skirt with pink bodice, adorned with white lace ; Mrs. Large, white Indian muslin skirt, ruby velvet bodice, set off with white lace; M rs. Leon looked well in cream-coloured satin, trimmed with blue satin. Mrs. thorough, pink llama; Miss Jane Maxwell, white llama, draped with white lace. But I need not multiply examples; suffice to say that all the ladies present were tastefully and some beautifully dressed. As to who was the belle, it is hard to decide amongst so many whose claims were good, but it was almost unanimously decided that Miss Jessie (sray was the one whose claim was the best. Dancing began at S.tf) p.m., and was kept up with great vigour till broad daylight, with tiie exception of a break at I'-'.'IO, when the whole company adjourned to the.supper room where a superabundant supply of all sorts of good things was provided. Before the adjournment to supper took place, an interesting ceremony was gone through. I refer to the crowning of the beau of the ball. A wreath of ivy was made, and the mistress of the ceremonies, being entitled by right of her office to the disposal of the crown, laid it on the head of Mr. Richard Brassington, and her choice was approved of by acclamation. Miss Roue made a very efficient M.C., so long as the ladies' leap year privilege lasted. Her place was equally well filled afterwards by Mr. McGechie. Messrs. Klieber, Koleis, and Robinson, assisted by a stranger whose name I believe is McKay, supplied the music in such a manner as to make improvement impossible. There was neither hitch nor unpleasantness during the whole evening, and all present seemed to enjoy themselves to the utmost.—[A Kohukohu Correspondent, j