Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4298, 30 December 1874, Page 2

DciITNG tho week ending the 10th inst., the number of passengers who travelled on tho Victorian railways was -10,554, as compared with 25,793 in the corresponding week of last year. The passenger fares and mail receipts amounted to £6459 Bs. 6d ; in the corresponding period they were £5381 os. sd. The income from the carriage of merchandiso, minerals, and cattle was £13,288 13s. 3d., as compared with £13,087 11a. lid. Tho total income for the week was £19,7-17 16s. 9d. ; and in the samo week of last year it was. £18,468 12s. 4d. From the Ist of July of the present year to the 10th of this month, the aggregate railway income of Victoria (not including the private lines) was £-122,132 13s. lOd. ; while in tho fame period of 1873 it was £388,034 14s lid. The largeness of these amounts, as well as the increases they show, should be encouraging to this colony, where returns from railway expenditure are only beginning to form an item in the colonial revenue.

Cardinal Cullen and tho ballet girls in Dublin have boon in turn rousing each other's ire and indignation. One of tho scenes in the opera of " II Talismano," now being performed at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, represents the interior of a Roman Catholic chapel, into which a procession of ballet girls, dressed as nuns, enters. The idea of amm being represented by a ballet girl, whom ho denounces as "a stum-bling-block for the fall and ruin of the uuwary," was too much for his Eminence, and he forthwith issued a pastoral forbidding Catholics to visit the theatre.

Copies of the new wharf regulations were yesterday gent round to all the leading merchants of the city, from whom suggestions will be received up till Thursday next, the day upon which the City Council meets finally to decide upon the matter. The mercantile community are the parties chiefly interested in' those portions of the regulations relating to the shipment and discharge of cargo and the charges therefor, but there is one important alteration which Bhould receive the careful consideration of the Council before receiving its sanction, namely, the adoption of the system o£ tender in lieu of auction sale. The wharf committee have recommended that the wharf should be let by tender, and the report of the committee has been passed by the Council. It is very .much open to question whether the city would not be a considerable loser by the change. Reasons can be advanced against it, and no doubt some of them will be ventilated at the meeting. At present these causes are not apparent. The fluctuations of the barometer have of late been somewhat peculiar. Between Monday and Tuesday it rose about one-tenth over the whole North Island. From Blenheim southward it fell about two-tenths ; but at Hokitika it has risen a little, and remained stationai-y yesterday afternoon, although the barometers on the eastern coast had begun to move down quickly. Moderate winds and remarkably fine weather were prevalent over the whole colony yesterday. The business at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday was again very light. Christopher Lockyer, charged with drunkenness, was remanded till Saturday, to give him time for cooling reflection. On Monday he called three times at the lock-up, and begged of the watch-house keeper to lock him up. He was at the time laboring under certain delusions, produced by drink, and purely as a matter of charity the constable complied with his wishes. To keep him out of harm's way during the rest of the holidays, his Worship remanded him for a few days, to wear away the effects of a long drinking bout. George Stewart, the man arrested on a charge of arson committed in Victoria, was again remanded for a week, to await the arrival of the Victorian detective, who is expected in the Ladybird from the South. A charge of assault, preferred by Mary Reed against Mary Ann Bradford, was dismissed, as neither party appeared when called on.

The officials on the civil side of the Resident Magistrate's Court seem to be enjoying a respite from the absorbing labors entailed upon them during the past six months. Litigious people seem to have smothered their angry feelings since the beginning of the holidays, and, as a matter of course, the Court receipts have fallen below the average of the year. Yesterday only four cases were down for hearing. In R. M. Cleland y. T. Remington, judgment was given for the amount claimed, £3 7s. Bd., and costs. In White v. Webster, claim £8 9s. 6d., judgment was given for £2 12s. 6d. and costs. Heighton v. Bond and Bowater, claim £2l, was adjourned for a week, in consequence of the summons not being returned ; and Stuart v. ITesbit, claim £-15 ss. 4d., was adjourned for a week at the request of the plaintiff. The transit of Venus was successfully observed in Queensland. It was noticed there, however, as it was by the observers at-the Hutt—as already mentioned in our columns — that Venus did not make her appearance exactly at the calculated time. Mr. Jackson and Commander Hewett estimated that the contact took place about four minutes after time, as calculated on the formula supplied by the Nautical Almanack. At Brisbane Venus was reckoned to be three minutes late. The day there was "superbly fine," and "the surroundings of the sun were absolutely cloudless during the whole time of the transit."

A cottage adjoining Mr. Tonks's store in Manners-street was yesterday morning discovered to be on fire, but all fear of danger was speedily set at rest by the men who happened to be watering the streets in the locality at the time. The Central and Wellington Volunteer l'ire Brigades turned out with alacrity, and were quickly at the sj}ot, only to learn that their services were not required. The Constabulary also came down from Mount Cook with their engine, but fortunately the only good effected in their case also was a little exercise for the men. The promptitude shown on all sides was highly commendable.

A rather extraordinary accident happened at the foot of the Pakuratahi hill about three o'clock on Monday afternoon. Just as Hastwell's coach approached Wagg's Hotel .from the Featherston side, the driver, Mr. Maecarrow, saw a timber waggon in front. He pulled his horses up, thinking the waggoner would draw off into the sidling to allow him to pass, but instead of doing so the teamster, thinking it better to get as far as Wagg's, where they both intended to stop, whipped his horses up the bit of hill before coming to the hotel. The waggon had a tolerably heavy load of timber on at the time, but the five horses being all young, went up the hill with it at a smart canter. Unfortunately they took fright at something, and galloped away past Wagg's, although Mr. Anderson, the driver, did all he could to pull them up. At a little distance past the hotel the team were in full swing, and it was evident they could not long escape the danger of such a sinuous route. One of the leaders at last came into collision with a telegraph post, which he struck with such force that the post snapped in the middle like a carrot, and the horse was killed on the spot. This stopped the headlong career of the remainder, who were brought up all of a heap, though no further damage was done. It is a cause for thankfulness that the coach did not happen to be going the other way. Had the two vehicles met under such circumstances, either on the Pakuratahi or the Rimutaka, there could have been but one result, namely, serious loss of life. Drivers of teams should, therefore, exercise greater care than did Anderson, who will lose about £35 by his indiscretion. The travelling public along the coasts of New Zealand will receive with some regret the announcement that Captain Wheeler, of the Taranaki, is about to leave the service of the N. Z. S. S. Company. It has for some time been exxiected that a lucrative offer from -the Harbor Company of Dunedin "would interfere with Captain Wheeler's relations with the N. Z. S. S. Company, and yesterday he sent in his resignation of the command of the Taranaki, having determined to accept the offer of the Harbor Company to proceed to England to bring out their new steamer for the Dunedin trade. From the time of his connection with the Panama Company, Captain Wheeler has always enjoyed a favorable reputation amongst the travelling public, who will miss one of the most popular commanders of the N. Z. S. S. Company's fleet. It is not quite certain when Captain Wheeler proceeds on his mission to England. The Choral Society committee hold a meeting this afternoon at Mr. Hunter's offices to elect a conductor, a pianist, a treasurer, and a secretary. The society wants more than this —it wants complete resuscitation. The fact that the gentlemen who hold the two firstnamed, the most important offices in the society, only hold them temporarily and refuse to hold them permanently should be accepted as conclusive proof that the present condition of affairs is eminently unsatisfactory. As a matter of fact, musical enthusiasm in Wellington is just now at its lowest ebb. The concerts of the society have not latterly displayed a very healthy existence, yet the " Messiah " concert —a concert altogether outside the influences of the society—showed that the material for a strong association is at hand if it were properly utilised, but a radical reform in the preßent organisation is -necessary to secure a more wide-spread interest in the proceedings of tho society and the conduct of its affairs. A great deal more could be said upon this matter, but the committeo might themselves effect a much needed change by inviting an expression of public opinion upon tho question of re-establishing the society upon a more satisfactory basis. The meeting to-day will have placed before it various accounts, and will be called upon to decide a programme for the next concert. Mr. George Bell, a son of tho proprietor of the Dunedin Evening Star, has been admitted a barrister of the Supremo Court of Victoria.

The City Council committee appointed to arrange the ball to the Governor, and those who desire to co-operate with them, will meet in the Provincial Council Hall this afternoon at four o'clock.

The crops in the neighborhood of Blenheim, and especially those that were sown late, are reported to be looking very promisingly. A steam flour-mill is about to be erected by Mr. Atwood, on his farm on the Wairau. A bonemill, it is said, is much wanted in that locality. At the Theatre Royal last night the drama of " The Streets of New York " was repeated with success. This evening the performance will be by command, and under the patronage of his Excellency, who, with the Marchioness of Normanby, will be present. " Our American Cousin will be produced. Ther3 will, no doubt, be a full house. . It is due to Mr. Eustace de Brandon to state—which should have been done some days ago —that the beautifully illuminated address of welcome, presented by the Mayor of Wellington to the Marquis of Normanby, on his Excellency's landing in Wellington, was engrossed by him. It was one of the prettiest pieces of illuminated work we have ever seen in the course of a rather long experience. At a meeting of the managing committee of the Forester's sports, held on Monday evening, the first prize was awarded in the Mile Race to Skellie (whose foot was spiked by Moran), and the second prize to Moran, although he came in first. All the other prize money was paid over, and the accounts of the fete audited and passed. . ; The Langstone had a shipment of twelve sheep for Messrs. Moore and Currie, Kai Iwi, Wanganui, and thirty-nine sheep for Mr. Mcllardy, Napier. Of the former one died and of the latter sixteen on the voyage. The vessel also brought two bulls for Mr. McHardy. The Stormbird went alongside the Langstone on Monday, when Messrs. Moore and Currie's sheep were transhipped into the steamer for Wanganui. The Rangatira shipped the sheep intended for Napier yesterday evening, and then proceeded to sea. Some names, not unknown in New Zealand, are mixed up in the following curious case, which is reported by the Sydney Empire of the 7th instant :—"Frederick G. Lyster, a brewer, but now, or till just lately, a theatrical age"ht in Sydney, was sued in the City Court there by his wife, Sarah Jane Lyster, for having deserted her. Mrs. Lyster, a lady-like person, appeared in court with a young child in her arms. It appeared from the evidence given that the complainant and defendant had be6n married about two years, but had lived together only twelve months ; at marriage the complainant gave defendant £l5O or thereabout, for their mutual welfare. He came to Sydney, and his wife followed him. Since in Sydney he had acted as a kind of agent for Miss May Howard, but got nothing for his labor. He was merely a friend—and had accompanied Miss Howard from Adelaide. He lived for some time past on his own private means; these private means were loans from Miss Howard, and amounted to about £IOO. He had no other money but that which he had received from Miss Howard, and it was by these means that he had supported himself. Of the £IOO he got, £5 were given to the wife, and £29 for furniture for her house. He did not live with her in Sydney for reasons that he would not state. He was doing work gratuitously now for the new brewery. He was sure that his wife's brother did not give some money towards furnishing the house in Sydney. The Bench (Messrs. Jolly and Levy) made an order that £1 be paid weekly, for six months, by defendant to complainant. Mr. Merriman, who appeared for Mrs. Lyster, asked that defendant be made to find sureties for the due compliance with the order. Mr. Carroll objected. The Bench differed, and ordered that as the defendant, according to his own statement, was in the habit of travelling about from place to place, he should find two sureties for payment in the sum of £l3 each, or one in total amount. Professional costs allowed."

The Coromandcl Mail speaks of the Tokatea mine there in the following terms :—" Another haul of 5001bs. of specimens has been taken from the stope3 in Bismarck level since our last', making altogether over fifteen hundredweight of specimen stone in hand, which will be crushed early next week. Gold is still showing freely in the face. Nor is it alone on the shot now being opened upon that those sanguine of the future of the mine rest their belief. Much is to be expected from the new reef recently opened out in the northern portion of the company's ground. As far as it has been worked it has given evidence of turning out scarcely inferior to the Tokatea lode itself. Whilst worked upon in the Peep o' Day ground the country was very hard and the reef pinched, but when it passes into the Tokatea ground the country entirely changes, becoming of a soft and favorable character. The striking too of good gold in the Vanlow level affords proof of the existence of gold at depth, which is another argument in favor of permanent prospecting. Altogether the appearance of the mine is most satisfactory." On Friday evening, the 18th instant, says a Hawke's Bay contemporary, " a pleasant evening's amusement was afforded to the scholars of the native school at Omahu, preparatory to closing for the Christmas vacation. About S p.m., all the scholars, besides many grown up persons, both Maori and European, assembled in the large schoolroom. One could not fail to observe the neat and becoming manner in which the school girls were arrayed for the occasion. Dancing was immediately began, when quadrilles, mazurkas and waltzes succeeded one another, and were gone through in such a manner as displayed no small knowledge of the Terpsichorean art. After some little time the younger pupils adjourned to an adjoining room, and there partook of refreshments. Towards twelve o'clock, a movement was made towards the supper-room. Here were ample preparations to meet the appetites—made keener by dancing. The fine old chief, Renata Kawepo, prssided at the table, and the whole ceremony was gone through with almost dignified decorum. Dancing was resumed after supper, and continued on towards the small hours. It was impossible not to observe, from the general demeanor, that the pupils here are obtaining culture of an order higher than that wrought by merely an elementary knowledge of the English language."

An'old and respected resident of Dunedin— Mr. G-eorge-Meynell—has been overtaken by misfortune at Sandhurst, in Victoria, which will be regretted by the friends who knew hiin in better days. He was charged on the 16th inst., at the City Police Court there, with stealing a cheque for £3 10s. from the office of the Clerk of Petty Sessions —a place at which he frequently called. Meynell was not seen to take the cheque, but said he had found it. His family were in the deepest distress from poverty, and he appears to have been anxious to pass the cheque to relieve their wants for the time, but still honorably reluctant to do so. A witness, a friend of the prisoner, stated that prisoner had come to him and showed him the cheque, and said he had found it. He said he would like to find tlio owner, as ho might get a reward for it. Witness told him he had better take it to the Bank of Victoria ; but he did not advise him to get it cashed and keep the money. A clerk, employed at the Shamrock Hotel, deposed to having cashed the cheque for the prisoner. The cheque was sent to thn Bank of Victoria, but was not paid. Three witnesses . who had known the prisoner for from six to ton years, gave him a high character, and one of them—a Mr. Marks —said he had let him a house in Dunedin for over twelve months, for which he received £lO a week rent, and had always been paid promptly. Had witness known prisoner required so Bmall a sum, he would have given it him, or more, cheerfully. Prisoner had pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to imprisonment for two months. A curious instance, says the Wanganui Evening Herald, of the wonderful instinct, or whatever it may bo called, of dogs, is the following :—A sheep dog, owned by a shepherd, has so often seen his master stoop down from his horse to assist a sheep lying on its back, that now the dog lifts them up of his own free will, seizing the wool about the tail in his mouth, and pulling might and main till the object is effected. The dog belongs to Frank Renwick of Parawanui.

A ropemaker from Geeloug, in Victoria, has lately been visiting Dunedin, where he has been buying flax at £lB per ton, f.o.b. The survey of a line of railway between Palmerston and Clyde is to be commenced by the provincial surveyors of Otago early in the new year. Some of the material for the bridgj over the river Waikato at Ngaruawahia is now on the ground. The heavy iron work is to be carried up by rail as far as Drury, and the building of the bridge, therefore, will be begun very soon. The committee of the Dunedin Athenaauni have resolved to refuse admission in their library to the lectures of Mr. James Smith, of Melbourne (once very popular as an occasional lecturer in that city), the "Sunday Newsman," a work called "Devil"; and another entitled "My Experience, or Footprints of a Presbyterian to Spiritualism and Everlasting Punishment." We mentioned lately* that Dr. Smythe had been lost overboard from the ship Ballochmyle, on the late voyage from Lyttelton to San Francisco. We now learn that he was hauling in a large albatross, which he had caught, and he fell overboard, the ship at the time being under full saiL Life buoys were thrown over, the vessel brought to, and the boat lowered, but nothing could be seen of him, and not being able to swim, he sank before assistance could be rendered. Dr. Smythe was wellknown in Lyttelton. The Provincial Treasurer of Nelson is going "the whole hog" in the matter of economy. He is credited by the Charleston Herald with having on a late visit to that district resolved to reduce the police force to two constables for the whole of the extensive mining di-trict between the Totara River north, and the Razorback south. Those who have travelled the country referred to, will be best able to judge of how extremely useful to the residents two constables will be in it. Some interesting geological curiosities are reported by the West Coast Times as having been discovered in the course of constructing the Waimea water-race. One of the most recent is the discovery of portions of the bones of a whale in the neighborhood of Fox's township, about five miles inland, and in a situation about five hundred feet above the level of the sea. These strangely situated relics of marine life have been brought to town by Mr. Gow, the Inspector of Works, and have been handed to the Secretary of the Institute, by whom they will, no doubt, be added to the collection of similar curiosities in the Museum. The bones were found in a blue lias deposit, abounding with shells and other indications of an old sea-bottom or sea-beach. In the same vicinity some moa bones were found some time ago, but these were got in the superficial deposits. In this instance the bones were enclosed in an altogether older formation, but are in a wonderful state of preservation, and unpetrified, though they must have been in the situation where they were found for many thousands, it may be millions, of years. The profits from wool this season promise to be enormous, renwks the Queaislander, which adds that " a firm of absentees, whose runs are in the Downs and Western districts, had over £30,000 profits last year. This season they will, in all probability, have a still larger income, four-fifths of which goes 'home/ to England to support the partners. The total expenses of the stations do not reach £IO,OOO per annum. These are huge profits ; there are many similar cases ; but not a soul in the country would begrudge them were the owners of these princely properties paying anything like a fair equivalent to the country that protects their property, and from which they extract so much wealth."