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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4221, 30 September 1874, Page 2

The third session of the fifth Synod of the Diocese (Church of England) of Wellington, commenced yesterday, at the Diocesan Room. The Bishop read an elaborate address, which will be found in another column. In it he carefully reviewed the matters that had occupied the late General Synod ; the position of the Church of England in New Zealand in consequence of the independence of all Churches from the Church of England in those Colonies which have a Constitution granted by the Imperial authorities ; and the proposition made in England to hold a conference of all the branches of the Anglican Church, to acknowledge therein the Archbishop of Canterbury as Patriarch ; and to establish a Central Court of Appeal, which, although a voluntarily appointed body, would finally decide all-questions amongst Anglican churchmen. He dwelt carefully upon the need of education being established upon a system which should not ignore religious teaching as an integral part thereof ; and he desired to bring before all churchmen the needs of the Diocesan Fund originated to supply the financial wants of the Church in outlying districts. He hoped before the end of the. present year to have other clergymen established in places now vacant, and bore witness to the increased desire amongst the :Maoris for religious services. The s.s. Albion was detained at Port Chalmers from Monday evening till Tuesday morning, and therefore is not now expected here until Thursday morning, with the Suez mail. Yesterday was quite a busy day at the wharf —bad as the weather was—the steamers having to make up for lost time through the storm on Monday. Blue Peters were flying from numerous foremast-heads during the forenoon. About half-past twelve o'clock the Rangatira for Napier, went to sea ; about one the Star of the South, for Lyttelton and the South, cast off, followed soon afterwards by the Phcebe, for Picton, Nelson, and the North. The Stormbird and the Manawatu also took their departure in the course of the afternoon. , We have been permitted to see a telegram dated Nelson, 7 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), which states that the p.s. Charles Edward had put back to that port after three days' absence. She reports that H.M.S. Blanche and His Excellency's yacht had anchored under Tonga on Saturday. On Sunday both vessels got under weigh, and ran to leeward, probably to fetch Croixelles 'or Port Hardy. The lime telegram says :—" A heavy north-west gale has been blowing ever since, and still continues. The tide last night was the highest ever seen in Nelson." It would te curious to know whether " the Man-Fish" who has lately- appeared at the Princess's Theatre, is one of the four French "coopers" or '.'cooperesses" who lately found their way amongstDr.Featherston's emigrants to New Zealand, who did not on their arrival show that they could " walk like a cooper round a cask," but preferred to dance tho can-can in the Parisian style on the boards of the Theatre at Auckland, and soon afterwards made their way to Sydney and perhaps to Melbourne. " Tho Man-Fish".- was unfortunate on his first appearance, which is thus described by one of the Melbourne journals :—" Then was to have come the prime attraction of the night, the ' Man -Fish,', but it did not:, appear, as. will be seen. A large tank, some eight feet in length, four feet in depth, and the same in breadth, was placed very far back on the stage. The front consisted of three panels of plate glass, showing that the tank was about half full of very muddy water. Presently M. Froidure came forward, dressed in a tight-fitting suit of clothes, covered 1 over with, mimic scales, He entered the tank, but very soon hopped out of it again, after which a - small boiler full of hot water was poured in. M. Froidure then got in again, and the moment he put his head beneath the surface every watch in the theatre was pulled out. To the surprise of all those who expected to, see him do his two minutes, he came up in fifteen seconds, and jumped out of tho tank, gesticulating very excitedly at Mr. Scott, who gave an explanation the substance of which will be found below. Meanwhile, Mr. Scott offered £2O to anyone who would remain under water one minute and a half, and a man in the pit at once accepted the challenge ; but on arriving on tho stage ho said ho onlymeant that he would, do the thing as well as M. Froidure had done, whereupon he was loudly hooted by the audience. Mr. Scott promised that everything should be right this evening, and ■ offered to bet: £2O that M. Froidure would remain three minutes undei water. Mr. Scott writes as follows : —' Will you kindly permit me, through your columns, to state the cause of the comparative failure of Mons. Eugene Froidure, on Saturday evening, at the Princess's Theatre. The same preparations were made on this occasion as on all occasions that this extraordinary man has appeared in his peculiar performances iu the water, with 'one exception, that of ascertaining the clearness and purity of the water, of which he had no knowledge in this country. At the Princess's Theatre the tank was filled by means ■of the hose laid on to prevent destruction by fire of the. building immediately before the performance was to be given, and was then j only found to be dirty from coming through , pipes unused for months past and unnaturally cold from lying in the pipes for. so long under '■ the building. When Mons. Froidure, who_ is entirely unable to speak English, by being interpreted, said that it was impossible for any human being to remain two ininutea in the water at the temperature it was in the tank, an effort was made to got sufficient hot water to raise tho temperature, without success, and subsequently, in consequence of the temperature of tho water, and almost immediately that the. audience had left the theatre, the glass was shivered to pieces. Preparations are being made for his re-appearance, which Mons. Froidure is. determined shall prove a success."

The last Torres Strait mail steamer, on her 'voyage southwards, spoke H.M.S. Challenger proceeding north, towards New Guinea. A private telegram, dated Westport, yesterday, four o'clock p.m., informs us that the fresh in the Buller was subsiding, and that no damage had been done to the banks of the river. Among the passengers who sailed to-day by the s.s. Phoebe was the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs, who, we believe, goes to Auckland. The Phcebe also carried away a detachment of the Armed Constabulary, to be stationed at Taranaki. It will be observed that the telegrams published in another column report high winds, heavy rains, and floods in nearly all parts of the Middle Island. Some losses at sea have been reported, and we fear that more may be expected. The weather still continues wet and tinpleasant. We learn that during Monday afternoon the barometer continued to fall on all parts of the coast. At Oamaru the wind came from the eastward about noon, and the vessels in the roads were immediately signalled to stand to sea, the glass falling to 29'36 at 10 p.m. On the West Coast there was a hard gale from N. W. to north at 4 p.m., with a heavy sea at Hokitika; the scud was very low, and the barometer down to 29'25. At Grahamstown it blew very hard from W.N.W., the gale reaching its height at 9 p.m., at which hour the glass showed 29'56. At the Bluff a strong gale came in from E.S.E. with a falling barometer, and similar weather seems to have been experienced at Port Chalmers. Yesterday morning the barometer showed 29"26 at Oamaru at 5 a.m. ; at Wellington it showed 29-27 at 5.30 a.m.; at Lyttelton it stood at 29'36 at 6 a.m. At the two last-named places the barometer oscillated frequently during the day, standing at 29'43 at Lyttelton at 10 minutes past noon. The daily report showed strong gale 3 and falling barometer nearly all over the Colony. Telegraphic communication was interrupted towards Opunake and on the West Coast of the Middle Island ; but about 3 p.m. information was received from Westport that the barometer stood at 29'16, wind blowing a gale from west; the fresh in the river subsiding. At the same hour the wind was a strong north-west gale at Wellington, whilst a falling barometer was reported from Blenheim, the town .at the time being flooded. At Queenstown (Lake Wakatip) the weather was stormy, the wind from north-east; the barometer 29-28. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Joseph Jenkins, master of the barque Record, sued the N.Z.S.S. Company (Limited) for £SO, for freight on 623 tons of coal from Newcastle. Mr. Moorhouse appeared for the Company, and claimed a nonsuit, on the ground that the summons had only been issued on the day previous, and served at 3.10 p.m., whereas clause 33 of the Resident Magistrate's Act, 1867, required that at least forty-eight hours should elapse between the issue of summons and hearing of the case,' unless defendants were about to remove themselves from within the jurisdiction of the Court. Mr. Gordon Allan, for the plaintiff, admitted that sufficient time had not elapsed, but submitted that an adjournment would meet the case. Mr. Moorhouse dissented, on the ground that the summons was bad, inasmuch as it was not issued as prescribed by the Statute. His Worship adjourned tho case until Thursday ; plaintiff to pay costs. Mr. Allan then applied to have the evidence of the plaintiff and two of his witnesses taken at once, under the Resident Magistrates Courts Evidence Act, IS6B, as the Record was about to sail for the Bluff. Mr. Moorhouse objected that the Act prescribed that due notice must be given. His Worship was of the same opinion and refused to examine plaintiff's witnesses until the day of the hearing. The following very short but very meaning announcement in the advertising , columns of the Melbourne Argus, ' addressed to an unfortunate (or fortunate?) Victorian, has some little local interest in it :—" If this should meet the eye of J. J. Campbell, your wife, with a. baby, was seen on board the Hero, for New Zealand." In New Zealand we are happily about to be relieved from the danger to personal liberty which appears to have brought about the social catastrophe involved in the following schedule in bankruptcy lately filed in Victoria :—" John Mitchell, late of Sandhurst, mechanical engineer. Cause of insolvency—lnability to carry on business through being confined as a prisoner for debt. Liabilities, £351 125.; assets, £389 10s.; surplus, £37 18s." We have been requested to call attention to the large clearing sale of drapery and clothing to be held this day, Thursday, and Friday, at the premises next Messrs. Lyon and Blair's, Lambton Quay. The fact of the goods to be offered being a portion of - Mr. Fisher's stock, of Nelson, and the sale being without reserve, will no doubt bring a large quantity of buyers together ; the sale will commence at eleven o'clock. : The police of Melbourne, a few days ago, were fortunate in saving New Zealand from the introduction of two undesirable colonists. One was a Canadian, named Benjamin Steinhoff, who had deserted his wife at Inglewood, and abducted a young girl of less than sixteen years of age from the same place, with whom he was making for this Colony. He was arrested by a detective on board the steamer Hero, just aa she was about to sail for Auckland. Tho fellow denied that his intention was to emigrate, but some luggage belonging to him was found on board the ship in the girl's charge, and he was taken on shore, and remanded to the place from whence lie came to face a magistrate and an angry spouse. : The verdict in the late action by the managers of the Melbourne Theatre Royal Company against tho Evening Herald there for the publication of an alleged libel in that uewspaper, resulted in a verdict for the plaintiffs with damages of one halfpenny. Mr. Justice Barry has refused to certify for costs to the plaintiff, ■as there was no evidence of personal malice. Some one in this Colony is probably interested in the fate of the poor wanderer whose death is thus recorded in a late Newcastle newspaper : —" The District Coroner has held an inquest at the Commercial Inn on the body of William Binnie, aged forty years. From the evidence, it appeared that deceased, who is an entire stranger in Newcastle, was in distressed circumstances, and had had Bonie difficulty in procuring lodgings. These he at length obtained at Mrs. Copeland's, Newcomen Street. On the night previous to his decease a collection was made for him at the Steam Backet Hotel to enablo him to get to his brother in New Zealand. Not feeling well, he went to Mr. Hobbs' shop for some medicine, and took a little at about half-past eleven. At half-past two the next morning he was found dead in his bed. Pr. S. T. Knaggs proved that deceased had been in a very emaciated condition, and attributed his death to the effects of disease of the lungs and heart. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with tho medical testimony." Mr. John Gully, tho now well-known aud popular artist of Nelson—who has just gone as the guest of His Excellency to the West Coast to examine the magnificent scenery there—is very industrious. We have had occasion lately to notice some of his later contributions to tho Victorian illustrated press, and now wo see that he : has lately forwarded to Mr. Fletcher, of Elizabeth Street, Melbourne (and formerly of Nelson), four fresh illustrations of New Zealand scenery. One of theso represents a mountain track on the Waitau ; another, tho active volcano of Tongariro ; a third, Mount Egmout from Omata ; iand tho fourth, Separation Point, on tho Nelson coast, at sunrise. Each has the breadth of touch and brilliancy of color for which this gentleman's pictures are so famous, and they all Borve to show that, while his, facility of execution appears to be greater than ever, he does not allow that circumstance to tempt... him • into . carelessness. Mr. Gully's water-color drawings, it appears, are rising in favor among collectors in the mother country, whither a great many of. them have found their way.

WESTLAND. The Greymouth Evening Star, of the 19th instant, makes what appears to be a reasonable complaint. It says:—" The steamer Murray left Westport at half-past three this morning with the English mail, and passed this port just before noon for Hokitika. May we ask why the Greymouth mail is to be delivered via Hokitika ? This steamer is subsidised to call at the different ports in rotation, and it certainly seems surprising that Greymouth should have been missed. If this thing occurs again, it -will be the duty of the people of Greymouth to communicate with the Postmaster-General on the subject, and see that the contract existing between the Government and the owners of the Murray is carried out in its entirety, and that no unfair preference i 8 shown to any one port of call more than another." Of the immigrants that arrived by the steamer Charles Edward, says the Star, the married men have all been engaged, the greater number by the Greymouth Coal Company, and the single men will most likely find situations in ft day or two. Anxious inquiries are being made as to when we may expect the single women, domestic servants being hard to obtain just now. Whitebait have been caught already this season in the Grey and Hokitika rivers, and the first bucketful of these diminutive • strangers was caught on Sunday in the Buller. AUCKLAND. ' The Thames Advertiser of the 22nd instant says:—" We hear on good authority that Mr. James Mackay is negotiating the purchase of a large block of land, comprising 300,000 acres, and extending beyond the Aroha to the Waikato. These purchases are of great importance to the Thames, because Mr. Vogel has promised to endow the local boards with a large share of the land revenue raised within their respective limits." HAWKE'S BAY. A case of sticking up is reported to have occurred on Saturday night last, on the Shakspeare Road, says the Times of the 19th instant. A man named Sweeney was proceeding to the Spit between the hours of - eleven and twelve o'clock, when he was assaulted, thrown to the ground, and his money abstracted from his pocket. Sweeney struggled with his assailant, but the latter succeeded in making his escape, taking with him only a portion of the plunder; for when Sweeney returned the next morning to the scene of the assault, he picked up a £1 note which the robber had left behind in his eagerness to get away. The Tauranga correspondent of the HawTcc's Bay Herald telegraphs that the chief Te Kuka brings important news of a great gathering of natives, friendly and disaffected, held at the Kaimai settlement, on the boundary of the range between, Tauranga and Waikato. The subject in discussion was in re the Cambridge Road, and the decision of the natives was adverse to it. .