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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4280, 8 December 1874, Page 2

It is understood that the Bteamer Luna, which has for Bome time past been in the: harbor of "'Manukau, waiting to bring on to Wellington His Excellency the Marquis of Normanby and the Marchioness, is expected to sail thence :on; Wednesday. As the Luna usually makes the run in a little over thirty hours, she maybe looked for here early on Friday morning. We understand that the members of the General and Provincial Govern- ; ments, and a number i of gentlemen holding official positions, will meet hiiri at the outer end" of the wharf. The Volunteers 1 arid Fire Brigades...will form on, the 1 wharf, ' and 'tho Artillery will fire a Baluto from the reclaimed land. At the shore end of the wharf the Mayor and Corporation will receive his Excellency and probably present an address. Space for ladies and' children will: be reserved at this point. All the friendly and other societies will bo invited to take part in : the demonstration, and if they like to do so,to present addresses. Tho General Government will proclaim the 1 day as a general holiday. • '< ■■'■■

The mail steamer Cyphrenes, now several days overdue at Auckland, had not been telegraphed when we went to press this morning. It will not he forgotten that to-morrow is the day of the transit of Venus, for the obser-, vation of which so many preparations have been made by the great European Powers and America. A hope may be expressed that the weather may favor the observers, not merely in New Zealand, but wherever scientific parties have been stationed for the purpose. The transit takes place early in the afternoon. The business of the Appeal .Court—the sittings of which have been unusually protracted—draws to a close. Yesterday -afternoon Mr. Justice Gresson sailed for the South by the Taranaki,, leaving Mr. Justice .Richmond, Mr. Justice Johnston, and Mr. Justice Chapman to continue the_ business of the Court. Yesterday, and in the latter part of last week, various judgments were givcu, which we shall publish as early as possible. Mr. Justice Jolmßton —who presided —intimated, that ,as the Judges would all have occasion to' leave Wellington this week, the whole of the business before the Court could not be disposed of at the present sittings. It was arranged that the mining-riparian case, then under argument, should be concluded, and afterwards the case of Dodd, of the Oneco, taken, in which counsel will be engaged. Then would be taken the case of O'Donoghue v. the Queen, which is a special case stated by Mr. Justice Chapman, and raises the question whether the Governor can be forced by mandamus to give his assent to an action being brought under the Crown Redress Act. In this case, it has been arranged, no counsel will be employed.

On Sunday evening the barometers in the South commenced to fall again, and by Monday morning this movement had extended itself ov«r the whole colony, the lowest barometers beinj then in the southern part of the Middle Island. From the Bluff to Timaru the weather was gloomy and overcast; from thence to Wanganui. cloudy, and from Wanganui northward clear and fine. Southward of a line from Cape Campbell to Queenstown the winds were light from the eastward, but to the northward of this line they were from south-west to north-west,, blowing moderately, except at Auckland, where it seems to have been stormy from the south. Various members of the Stephenson-Burford Dramatic Company, which has now broken up, returned to Otago yesterday by the Taranaki. Miss Stephenson, Miss Howard, Miss Mclan, Mr. Burford, Mr. Willis, Mr. Hydes, and; Master Hydes proceed to the Wairarapa. They will play for a few nights in Greytown. The Theatre Royal, we understand, has, or will be, taken by Messrs. Bates (the American actor) and Samuel 'Howard, who are makir/g arrangements for drawing together a firstrate company. Mr. and Mrs. Bates will in, themselves be a host; and should Mr. Howard elect to return to the boards, his re-appearance will be warmly welcomed. Should they perfect the proposed arrangements, Messrs. Bates and Howard will bring forward,a succession of well-known artists, who will not fail to draw good houses. : , . ■ ■ , "

A considerable commotion has been created' it would appear; in ..the.' railway department of the Government service since the advent of Mr. F. B. Passmore from England. Whether the reforms he has introduced are all improvements, and whether the reductions he has made are all positive and advantageous savings, remains to be seen. They have been followed by general complaint and numerous resignations both in Wellington and the North, and will probably demand some attention from the public as well as from the railway authorities. In the province of Auckland, as the telegraph has informed us, his changes have been followed by great discontent, and considerable excitement appears to exist there on the subject. A very strong letter—which, however, we shall not quote —signed by an officer of the service, appears in a late number of the Evening Star on the subject. Yesterday was a day of an unusual amonnt of interest on the wharf. Early in the afternoon the steamer Taranaki sailed for Lyttelton and the South, a full ship so far as passengers were concerned. Later in the day the Eangatirawent off,having onboard Madame Goddard, Mrs. Smythe, Herr Doehler, Mr. Eainford, Mr. Skinner, Mr. Lee and the other members of Madame Goddard's company, for the purpose of, giving certain arranged concerts in Napier. They will, probably "return by the same ship on their way to Auckland, unless a vessel is conveniently found proceeding direct from the capital of Hawke's Bay to Auckland. The Wellington, for Picton and the North, sailed at a later hour. The clipper ketch Falcon also sailed in the evening for Blenheim, with a number of passengers, the Batchelder and Vivian Troupe, and the race-horses Guy Fawkes and Sir Walter. The number of the departing passengers and their friends created quite a bustle on the wharf.

In consequence of many members of Mr. Moorhouse's election committee being engaged on urgent business elsewhere, the meeting which was to have been held at the Post-office hotel last evening, was postponed till Thursday evening next.

It is another proof of the expansion of the intercolonial trade that the new steamer Easby owned in Dunedin, and engaged in the Port Chalmers and New, South Wales trade, and which now makes her outward passages ma. Cook' Strait, will hereafter mako Wellington a port of call on the way to Sydney and Newcastle. The Easby is a fine fast steamer, though a collier : has excellent passenger accommodation, and under the command of Captain Kennedy, late of the Patorson, makes her voyages very rapidly. . The stewards of the Wellington Jockey Club met at the Empire Hotel, last evening, for the purpose of paying the prizes won at the late race meeting. The following are tin names of the winners, and the sums they received :—Maiden Plate, Mr. Jno. Walker, £95; The Wellington Cup, Mr. D. O'Brien, £213 IBs.; Mr.' Emerson, £23 155.; Selling Stakes, Mr. R. Mclvor, £47 10s.;,Hack Race, Mr. McMasters, £9 10s.; The Provincial Plate, Mr. Tancred, £7l Gs.; Mr. Walker, £l9 ; Mr. Gilligan, £i 155.; Handicap Hurdle Race, Mr. Mclvor, £7l 55.; Hack Hurdle Race, Mr. Jno. Stevens, £9 10s.; The Wellington Derby, Mr. J. Watts, £162 95.; Jockey Club Handicap, Mr. j; Watts, £123 10s.; Mr. Redwood, £i 155.; Consolation Stakes, Mr. T. ■Rowe, £3B; Mr. J. Watts, £9 fys.; Hack Race, Mr. Martin Baird, £9 10s. The total amount paid, 5 per cent, of the ' winnings having been deducted, amounted to £912 19s. The purchaser of the gates made a verbal application for compensation, on tho ground of the postponement of the second day's races. He waa requested to furnish his claim, in writing, to the Btewards by Monday next, when they will hold'their next Meeting. There is little doubt,' says the Wairampa Standardfhxit that the various racing events this year will be keenly contested.' For the Maiden Plate Nanakia is spoken of as the favorite, the only other competitor that stands much chance of winning being Princess Mary. No doubt Tambouririi will win the Wairarapa Stakes, but he will bo pushed hard by Little Wonder, who is in fine form this year; the Premier, too, stands a good chance for a place in this .event, which will be an exciting and keenly contested one. . The Premier is pretty certain to carry off the Ladies'Purse, as in a short race he may be expected to pass Little Wonder. The Hurdle Race will probably depend upon the result of tho similar event at the Hutt. Tommy Dodd is an old favorite, but one of tho untried horses may take' it. The result of the Jockey Club Plate will probably be pretty much the'same as that of- the Stakes, excepting that Premier may possibly Btand a better chance in it than in the former one.' The District Race will lie between the Premier and Little Wonder, and in tho "Produce Stakes Formosa will stand a good, chance. There are many new horses entered'-about which, as they are untried, it is difficult to express an opinion ; but Premier and Little Wonder are pretty certain to hold their own, and prevent too muchmoneybeingearried away from thedistrict. Tho former is by far tho best bred horse in the Wairarapa, and the latter is » very reliable one, and is this year in better condition than he has ever been before.' '- .

The drawers of horses in the Pier Hotel sweepstake will receive their respective amounts this evening.. .

It is proposed, in Canterbury to present: a ; testimonial to, Mr. Bowen, on his retirement from the office of Resident Magistrate. The Inverallan, the first wool ship for the season, sailed from Lyttelton for London on the 4th instant, with a fine fairbreezeof wind. She was out of sight before evening. The New York Herald, in its "personals," notices" the fact that "Allen's Royal English Opera Company,has,had a triumphal season at Wellington, New Zealand." ! - Mr. Wilson Gray,'it is understood, will net resign his judgeship before March or April next, when Mr. Judge Harvey will take up his duties. "-A v.r— •' ''."'■■

Mr. William Speedy,, of Wainui, East Coast, in the province of Hawke's Bay, has applied for leltcro patent for a method of pressing wool so as to economise space and render the wool-press movable. A clerk named Lyell, in the branch of the Bank of New Zealand, at Marton, has absconded. He is charged with having embezzled a large sum of money. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police. We are glad to,learn that Miss Aitken has kindly undertaken to give one of her entertainments for the benefitof the Recreation Fund, in the hall of the Lunatic Asylum, on Tuesday evening, at eight o'clock. The death is announced of the oldest preacher in Wales, the Rev. David Williams, at Llanwyrtyd, at the age of 96. It is stated that he had preached, every Sunday, sometimes two or three sermons each day, almost without intermission, for 72 years. It is worth _ knowing that postroffice orders were issued in America last year for sums aggregating not less than- seventy-five millions of dollars! This result is naturally regarded, by the New York journals as a very strong proof of the usefulness of the institution. A half-bred sheep, the property of Mr., Flighty,' of Pahautanui (says the Wairarapa Standard) has given birth to no less than eighteen lambs in five years. She had three lambs three years in succession, last year four, and this year five. The Standard does not expect this can be matched in any part of the colony. The Southern Cross states, on authority, that it is not intended by the Government to remove the Native Lands Court from Auckland. " The Chief Judge is to be removed to Wellington for mere administrative purposes ; and another Judge is to be appointed,in Auckland; and a court of record, with all necessary powers vested. in ; the Judge for carrying on the business, will be maintained."

; Three weeks of almost uninterrupted fine weather have enabled shearers in the Wairarapa to make great progress, and the bulk of the wool of the district is now baled up. It is rarely (reports the Standard) that such a favorable season occurs. Almost all the large stations of..the Valley have finished shearing, and both masters and men will be able to devote themselves to their Christmas amusements with' easy minds. Almost every one seems satisfied with the result of his clip. Prices are satisfactory, and the prospects for the coming year are unusually brilliant. Commenting upon a sale of Hobarton jams in Auckland, the New Zealand Hei'ald makes the following comments :—ln a few weeks Auckland will be ■supplied in superabundance with most kinds of the best descriptions of fruit. Peaches at sixpence per kit, cherries at a mere trifle per pound, currants, plums, and other products of the orchard, in such quantities that the demand will not be equal to the supply. ; Yet we depend on a' sister colony for that which we could furnish in almost any quantity from our own gardens. In 1873 we imported into the colony bottled and preserved fruits to the value of £IB,OOO, and green fruit valued at £25,000. All this shows a most unaccountable want of turning our native products to account. Here is £43,000 sent out of the colony for that which we produce, or should be able to produce for ourselves. Jams are an article of everyday consumption in the colony, and there is no fruit which is convertible into them we cannot grow. The Sydney Sunday Newsman which, by the way, is published every Saturday morning, says :—" Frank Towers, with his clever little daughter, has finished up at the Victoria Theatre. The ftnffngem«iil. was profitable and successful in every way. It has served to introduce father and daughter to colonial audiences, and their future career will surely be brilliant. They open at Newcastle on December 12th, and then go on a country tour." The Eev. Dr. Collis, of Shottery Hall, Strxt-ford-on-Avon, sent to the Bristol Examiner, and that journal published in its issue of Aug. 29, the following extract from a letter written, says the Lyttelton 2'imes, by a person of station in Wellington, New Zealand :—" The immigrants to this place are taken charge of by the Government and consigned to an excellent matron at the bai-racks, where they are taken straight from the ship. My wife went down to the ship and arranged with the young girl you were interested in. She seems a nice, good-natured girl. , If you could send us a thousand they would all be engaged in twentyfour hours. Immigrants are coming in at the rate of 3000 to 4000 a month, and yet wages show no symptoms of falling, and I can get no work done for less than Bs. a day. Girls get from £25 and upwards; and when I was at the goldfields on the West Coast a few weeks ago, I knew of cooks and barmaids getting £2 a week. Practically, nobody starves in this country, although there are many who would if they got their deserts." We understand that the gentlemen who—as announced by our telegraphic advices—have been the successful tenderers for the construction of the " Great Gipps Land" Victorian Railway at £127,500, are Millar Brothers, sons of the highly esteemed and well-known consulting civil engineer, Millar, F.S.A. The junior member of this firm last year erected the Kangitikei bridge, in the province of Wellington, N.Z., in an almost incredibly short time. They are, we learn, the largest bridge constructors in Australia. A silly story was recently wired from Hokitika, says the Otago Quardian, to the effect that Mr. Vogel had tried to dispose of shortdated debentures.af; Sydney, and had failed to do so. It ' was ; telegraphed to us as a fact, but we felt so sure that it was merely a canard, that wo intimated as much at the time. The greater portion of the Press, however, accepted the statement without question; and grieved or rejoiced theercat, according to their political proclivities. We are now in a position to state that our view of the matter was the correct one. Mr; Vogel did not fail. On the. contrary, he. succeeded in placing £300,000 worth of debentures on the Sydney market. Thiß is a highly satisfactory result, and shows the confidence generally felt in the resources of New Zealand. It is very doubtful whether any other colony could raise an equal amount in the same market, and this circumstance should, though we know it will not, suffice to silonce the croakers amongst us who are never tired of abusing the laud which shelters them. . ,

The name of the railway station at Sawyer's Bay, in the province of Otago,; was lately changed to Glendcrmid. The residents have drawn up , a protest, to the Superintendent against % the change. They say:— " Your Honor need; scarcely be reminded that the name of 'Sawyer's Bay' was given to the district before the arrival of the early settlers, and they naturally, feel aggrieved, that old associations Bhould be 'ruthlessly swept away by the manager of the railway at the instigation (if so it be) of any one." ; • ■ '■'>'■.■■ There is now (says the Butter News) a certainty that ;the Mount Kochfort railway will bo used for carriage of coal long before it reaches tho Ngakawhau, as the extensive seams in the AVaimangaroa district are likely to be in working order before the contractor reaches that neighborhood. The Stony-Greek and Fairdowh Coal Companies have. both commenced operations on their respective' leases. Both these companies are known to' possess valuable seams .of coal within a few hundred yards of the present lino of railway, and are anxiously waiting for the line reaching the neighborhood of WaimangaroW