CHRISTMAS NUMBER OF THE AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9040, 19 November 1892, Page 5

CHRISTMAS NUMBER OF THE AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS.

Following our usual custom, we shall issue on Saturday, December 17, the annual Christmas number of the Adoklakd Weekly News, preparations for which have been going on for some months past. No pains or cost has been spared in order to make this year's number superior to all previous issues, and we confidently predict that the universal verdict of our multitude of readers will be that our efforts have been crowned with success, and that theChristmae number of 1892 excels all its predecessors in the interest and variety of its contents, the wealth of its seasonable reading matter, and its literary and artistic merit. The number will consist of sixty pages, printed on superior and highly-finished paper, and will have a coloured cover. There will be given away with each copy a beautiful historical lithograph, reproduced in monochrome from the original painting by Mr. Kennetfa Watkins, the justly-cele-brated artist, and representing very vividly and graphically the invasion of Auckland by the Ngatipaoa, a memorable event which occurred during Sir George Grey's first Governorship of the colony. This picture has been specially executed to the order of the proprietors of the Auckland Weekly. Nbws, and has been reproduced from the original at their general printing works. The scene depicts tho 58th regiment paraded upon the hill where now stands the Supreme Court. On the beach at its base are the war canoes of the natives, and close by are the Ngatipaoa themselves going through the weird and wild movements of the Maori war-dance. In the bay H.M.s. Fly rides at anchor with her decks cleared for action. Prominent in the foreground is Sir George Grey (who is accompanied by Colonel Wynyard and other officer*), dictating terms of withdrawal to the Maori chiefs. The picture is full of animation and character, and forcibly recalls one of the most critical and exciting events in the history of Auckland. A novel feature of the reading matter in this year's Christmas number is a collection of Now Zealand ghost stories, contributed by correspondents in various parts of the colony, who narrate their experiences of what, for want of a better term, is known as the supernatural. Those narratives are all authenticated by the writers, and comprise much that is mysterious and inexplicable, and as a contribution to the literature of occult phenomena will be found both intensely absorbing and valuable. There are also, among other excellent and attractive features of tho Christmas number, pages devoted to the ladies and to children (full of instructive and amusing matter), while the miscellaneous contents comprise a number of short and seasonable tales, feome of them by well-known authors, games, chess, draughts, charades (illustrated), puzzles, riddles, music, and a fine poem by Mr. Thomas Bracken, entitled " God's Own Country," the whole forming the largest, best, and most interesting and diversified Christmas number ever printed in the colony. Orders should be forwarded to oar Publishing Office at once.