Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9328, 11 October 1893, Page 4

Our cable messages this morning state that the foreign warships at Rio de Janeiro will land troops should the pillaging now going on continue. The President of the Republic is reported to be confident c; victory, and declines to agree to any compromise- The coal strike in England ought now to be considered at an end. The Board of Mediation has decided ia favour of the men returning to work at the old rate of wages, a reduction to take place in December. It is doubtful, however, whether the men will accept this award. The body of one of the victim? oi the Dutchman, De Jongb, has been discovered floating in a river. There is now little hope of the America Cup being brought back to England by the Valkyrie. In two trial races the English yacht has been beaten by the Vigilant. There ara still three to be sailed, but in order to win the Valkyrie will have to defeat the American yacht in each of them.

Yesterday H.M.S. Curacoa left; Sydney for this colony, and is to remain in New Zealand waters for some months. One of the sons of His Excellency the Governor i« an officer on board the warship. The Tauranga and Lizard remain here to meet the Curacoa, the former proceeding to th« Islands in about a fortnight's time. There was considerable discussion at yesterday's Harbour Board meeting as to silting, dredging, and the depths of water available. The practice of throwing uasavoury garbage by the cartload into th« harbour appears to have been a practice of long standing. Adverse comment was made upon the laxity which allowed the custom to arise and continue, but it was decided to prosecute the offenders if their names could be ascertained. The question of the greatest depth obtainable at the wharves being given in the Official Year Book as twenty-four feet also came up for discussion, as did the paucity of the information afforded in regard to Auckland generally. And here there came a crucial difference between the Harbour Board and those re sponsible for the Year Book. The Board's officials say more information was supplied than appeared ; the Premier in answer to Mr. T. Thompson said all the information sent to Wellington had been published, and further that the portion said yesterday to have been sent for publication reached head-quarters " scored out."

A requisition is being signed requesting Mr. A" H. Nathan to stand for the Mayoralty. Some of onr loading citizens have already signed it, pledging their support.

Some time ago the Chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. Cro'wther) made inquiries as to the disposition of the fish refuse at! some of the establishments while he was in. vestigating into the charge of the harbour being silted up through the city drainage. The information which reached him was that one of the Avondale settlers came in daily and carted it away for manurial pur« poses. The discov*y of the fish deposits at the Railway Wharf on Monday has led the Chairman of the Board to renew his inquiries, and he has sent out to Avondale, but he has as yet been unable to find that industrial settler or his cart. He has found some fish refuse, but in "another place." It says very little, however, for the executive officers of the Board that this practice has been allowed to go on without being reported orvapparently detected.

In a letter from our Kawakawa correspondent published in yesterday's issue, it was stated that a rumour has caused some excitement lately, it being an order to all gumbuyers to cease altogether from purchasing any gum for the next three months. On making enquiries at the various gum buyers and gum merchants yesterday in Auckland, they stated that they knew nothing about the matter, and thought there was nothing in it. It was possible that some parties buying for American houses might have ceased buying owing to the silver crisis having affected the gum indus« try as well as every other in the United States, hence the rumour, but as a matter of face gum was bought yesterday from gumdiggers who came to town. The gum buyers state they are simply the creatures of circumstance, and are controlled by the markets, rather than themselves controlling the markets. The higher the price gum brings in the market, the better for them, while the men are contented, and that they have no interest, as a section of the gumdigging community believe, in " bearing" the market. There is said to be 3000 tons of gum lying in New York at present, 1500 tons in London, and 800 tons in Auckland ; so that two-thirds of the year's supply for the British and American . market is already to band. It is suggested that, if the labour of the gumdifi'gers was utilised in making roads in the roadless North, the country would be benefited in two ways, First, the country would be.opened up, and the gumfields having a rest," the price of gum would shortly be greatly increased. The fortnightly meeting of the Board of Education was held yesterday. A considerable amount of business had collected, and the Board were obliged to sit until late in the afternoon in order to dispose of it. The motion. standing in Mr. Cooper's name, with regard to grants for fencing to the country school committees, was, at his request, allowed to stand over for a month. The Board adjourned at five p.m.

The adjourned meeting of the Devonporb Borough Council was held last evening," the Mayor and all the members of the Council being present. The special business was the selection of a clerk of works from among the fourteen chosen at the meeting on the previous evening. A first ballot of six was in favour of Messrs. J. Trayes, W. Pringle, J. Mays, T. Reid, J. Patterson, and R. N. Ellis. A second ballot for three resulted io favour of Messrs. Pringle, Trayes, and Mays. The final ballob gave a majority for Mr. Jas. Mays, who was elected to the position. The duties of the clerk of works commence on November 1, and the salary is £3 pe£ week.

An accident happened to the Union S.S. Company's steamer Poherua just after she came out of the Auckland Graving Dock yesterday morning, by which one of the biades of her propeller was carried away. The steamer had got clear of the dock, and a line was run out to the mooring buoy, by which she was to be hauled over to berth ab the Queen-street Wharf; but unfortunately as the vessel's head swung towards the wharf, the propeller came in contact with one of the projecting piles at the breastwork/ with the result that one of the blades was snapped off. The steamer then berthed ab the breastwork, and the necessary work was' proceeded with. lb is expected that everything will be in readiness for the steamer to proceed on her voyage to Kembla either late to-nighb or early tomorrow morning. „

The annual meeting of shareholders of the South British Insurance Company will be held to-day at eleven a.m. It will be seen by our obituary column that another old colonist has passed away, in her sixty-ninth year, in the person of Mrs. May, relict of the late Mr. Joseph May, of Mount Koskill, who had been resident in the colony since 1840. She was one of. the passengers by the Bhip Delhi, and was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her maiden name was Wilson. The funeral will take place to-morrow afternoon, ab St. Andrew's cemetery, Epsom.

At the Residenb Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. Bishop, the case of Wolsar v. Parrott was partly heard, Mr. Bishop being for the plaintiff and Mr. Beale for the defendant. The action was for alleged damage to property at Mount Albert, and £50 was sought to bo recovered. The plaintiff and Mr. Johnson were examined, and 'plaintiff's case then closed. The defendant then gave evidence, and the case was adjourned until to day ab halfpast eleven. There are six witnesses still to be examined.

The ninny friends of Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Pignan—and their name is legion— who met him in Queen street yesterday were pleased to notice the progress which he has made towards recovery after the long illness which has confined him to his house for upwards of four months. A good deal of this confinement has been duo to the inclemency of the weather, and the strict orders of medical advisers thab ho should take no risks of catching cold, but the fine weather now prevailing has had a beneficial effect on him, and he appeared to thoroughly enjoy his outing yesterday, and the congratulations of his friends on his recovery. Colonel Dignan will shortly, we hope, be able to resume his active duties as officer commanding the volunteer district' of Auckland, chairman of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and member of the City Council and Harbour Board.

On inquiring at the Hospital last evening, our reporter was informed that the two men, the victims of the blasting accident at Kaukapakapa ; the man who attempted to shoot himself with a revolver ; and the girl who endeavoured to commit suicide by swallowing matches, were all progressing favourably at the institution. The first weekly parade of the City Rifles since its formation by the amalgamation of the City Guards and Newton Rifles was held last night at the Drill-shed, but the turn-out was a poor one. There were only 20 in the ranks, and Lieutenant Oakes was in command, Captain Robertson and Lieutenant Dormer being absent. After inspection of arms the company was put through some infantry movements by one of the non-commissioned officers.

The consideration of the Harbour Board's new bye-laws was to have token place at yesterday's meeting, but in the absence through illness of Mr. Napier, who has taken great interest in their revision, the subject was postponed.

A telegram has been received by Inspector Hickson from Constable Hist, of Kuaotunu, stating that James Arnold, a blacksmith, on Monday nijjht last, fell into the fire at the whare of RrDorai;, and was very badly burned. He is no i expected to recover.

It appears that the straying of cattle up at Eden Terrace is a great nuisance to the residents as well as a danger to railway traffic. Yesterday some cattle got on the line in that vicinity as the afternoon train tvaa on its way to Helensville. The enginedriver blew his whistle and slowed down, but one cow got caught by the cowcatcher and had her hind leg broken.

The employees of Mr. James Martin met together on Monday evening and presented the manager of the stables, Mr. Joseph Carrie, with a handsome breakfast cruet, on the occasion of his severing his connection with the firm. The presentation was made by Mr. Martin, who referred in high terms to the respect in which Mr. Carrie was held by all. An adjournment was afterwards made to the Windsor Castle Hotel, and a pleasant evening was spent.

On Monday evening the St. Luke's Mutual Improvement Society, Remuera, held their regular meeting. Mr. John Strange read an essay on "Tennyson." Selections from the works of this poet were read by Messrs. H. G. Pilkington, F. Strange, and A. Monro. A spirited discussion followed, in which the following took part:—Messrs. Mead, Sanderson, Martinson, R. Miller, H. G. Pilkington, A. Monro, R. French, F. Strange, J. Ambury, R. B. Heriot, and \V„ J. Parker. A vote of thanks was accorded to the essayist for his thoughtful paper, and to the readers of the illustrative selections.

A meeting of the newly-formed committee appointed in connection with the Ponsonby Regatta was held in the Pon?ouby Club Hotel last evening. There was & large and enthusiastic attendance. The regatta was fixed for December 2. A programme was drawn out, and subscriptions were reported to be coming in rapidly. Messrs. Seid and Clare, boatbuilder.«, have already promised prizes to the extent of £5 5s and £5, respectively, and numerous other handsome donations are also forthcoming.

The dramatic performance under the auspices of the Auckland Polo Club was renewed last evening at the Opera House, when a large and fashionable audience again assembled to witness the production of " Written in Sand," and "O'Callaghan." All the parts were admirably sustained ; better if anything than on Monday evening, for there was greater smoothness. Both productions reflect the highest credit on Mr. Montague, under whose direction they were. The orchestra, under Mr. A. Eady rendered excellent selections during the evening.

A variety and burlesque entertainment was given last evening in thj City Hall to a crowded house, so tar as the stalls and pit were concerned, by the Good Samaritan Company. The entertainment consisted of song.?, dances, etc. It will be repeated tonight. The concert tendered by Herr Tutschka to the Young Men's Christian Association, will be given on Friday evening, in the lecture hall of the institution under his conductorsliip. The programme is varied and attractive, consisting of songs, duets, violin solos, and a duet for oboe and clarionet etc. A number of ladies and gentlemen have kindly given their services on the occasion. Madame Tutschka is down for two songs.

The annual carnival and concert of Professor Carrollo will take place at the Opera House on Monday next, and poomises to be the best of the series he has given. The first part will be opened by 50 pupils, which should form a pretty scene on the stage, and together with the athletic events and vocal and instrumental selections, should form a good evening's entertainment.