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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4768, 4 July 1876, Page 2

Both Houses of. Parliament meet to-day, A s usual a digest of the Financial Statement will be telegraphed to all papers free of charge. The Parliamentary ball at the Provincial Hall last evening was well attended, and passed off satisfactorily. The Opposition held a caucus yesterday, twenty-nine persons being present. It was decided not to oppose the Imprest Supply Bill, and to postpone any trial of strength till the full proposals of the Government in reference to finance and local government were brought forward. The criminal sitting of the Supreme Court open at the courthouse on Monday next, at 10 a.m. The following is the calendar : —Jane Elizabeth Williams, stealing from a dwelling ; Elizabeth Williams and William Henry Williams, receiving stolen property ; John Osborne, larceny ; James Shannon, rape ; James Calder, larceny ; Carl Iverson and Auni Iverson, stealing from a dwellinghouse ; Albert Horner, assault and robbery ; Joseph Haudley, larceny. We understand that the agents of the different insurance companies have signified their willingness to combine in subscribing £250 to the Central Fire Brigade, towards the purchase of the gymnasium' in Brandon-street, on condition that the Corporation subscribe a like amount. . The subject of this condition will be -brought on for discussion at the City Council on Thursday next. At last meeting an application \vas read from Superintendent Moss for aid on behalf of thg Central Brigade, and the general opinion of Councillors then appeared to be that both' brigades must be treated similarly, and. that, whatever sum they decided upon contributing towards the protection of the city from fire should be equally divided between the Central and Wellington Brigades. In all probability this course will be definitely dcc::h **' at next meeting.

The Speaker’s dinner was given at the Club last evening. A goodly number of members were present. It is scarcely necessary to remark on the fact that upon this “glorious Fourth of July” America as a nation attains'to her centenary. A meeing of thi Choral Society committee was to have been held last evening at 6 o’clock, but it was adjourned till Friday evening. We are requested to state that Mr. Francis Sidey’s large sale of drapery ■will commence this day at 11 o’clock, wet or dry. By an unfortunate accident part of a theatrical and a legal advertisement were transposed in our yesterday’s issue. The advertisements appear correctly this morning. We have been requested to draw attention to the examination of teachers to take place at the Thorndon School on Wednesday (tomorrow) and Thursday. We understand that the Rev. Mr. Coffey, of Milton, Otago, has been appointed to the new Te Aro church, and will take charge in October. Owing to the indisposition of Mr. Bates, the dramatic season at the Theatre Royal was not opened last night. “ Elizabeth ” will be produced to-morrow night. A meeting of the Combined Friendly Societies Committee is announced for Thursday evening next, having been postponed in consequence of the regular meeting place being engaged. The following transfers of licenses have been granted by the Licensing Bench; —Central Hotel, from Carl Hausmau to Salvatore Cemino; Provincial Hotel, from Daniel Rivers to George Albert Deavill. The sale of adulterated milk is assuming such proportions in Sydney that it has been decided to call a meeting of citizens to endea-’ vor to form a large company to supply the city with pure milk. There was a long civil list at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, but, as will be seen by the report of proceedings there, most of the cases were settled one way or another, and in only three cases heard were judgment given for plaintiffs. The following is a return of patients in the Provincial Hospital during and ending the month of June, 1876; —Admitted: males, 9; females, 2. Discharged: males, 12; females, 3. Died: male, 1. Left in hospital; males, 38; females, 8. Total remaining in hospital, 46. There is to be an entertainment in the Wesleyan schoolroom, Adelaide-road, this evening. A choice programme has been arranged, and as many of the pieces are favorites, the evening will doubtless be enjoyable to those who are able to be present. A Masterton telegram in the Wairarapa Standard says ;—Quiet but energetic measures have been taken for establishing a gas company in Masterton. A very respectable provisional directory is formed, and every means taken to secure the passing of a Bill through Parliament this session. The contractors for the laying of the permanent way on the Hawke’s Bay railway, section Waipawa-Takapau, are vigorously pushing on the work. The rails are now laid as far as Waipukurau, and the Telegraph says an engine and train of trucks on Wednesday ran from there to Te Aute. A conference of the chairmen of Road Boards in Canterbury took place on 30th June, the object being to make arrangements for a meeting of delegates from all Boards, to take place as soon as the Local Government Bill is issued, at which the measure might be considered and the opinion of the province expressed. It may not be generally known by those who subscribe to the Wellington Athenaeum, that annual subscribers have the option now of securing an extra ticket, with the concurrent advantages, for 10s. per annum. This, it should be understood, applies only to annual subscribers, which was not made perfectly clear in the resolution upon the matter passed at the last annual meeting of the institute. Small boys who will patronise cab steps and hang on to any vehicle they can catch, should take warning by what occurred yesterday. A young scamp who had been riding on a cab step got his leg caught when attempting to dismount, and was dragged along the ground for a considerable distance. Fortunately the street was very muddy and soft, and therefore he was more frightened than hurt when the cab pulled up. Another of those exceedingly pleasant musical and literary entertainments which are occasionally given at the Primitive Methodist schoolroom, Thorndon, takes place this evening. A lady well known in musical circles has kindly consented to preside at the pianoforte, and the other ladies and gentlemen who are to take part are quite capable of entertaining an audience. No doubt there will be a large attendance.

Prom our telegrams it seems that a man named McNicol, pretty well to do in Christchurch, was yesterday sentenced to eighteen months’, imprisonment fo*r perjury. He was convicted three months since, hut at the last sitting of the Court of Appeal in ‘Wellington it was attempted to quash the conviction owing to alleged informalities in the indictment. The Court, however, declined to interfere, and defendant was ordered to submit himself to judgment at the next sittings of the Court, which commenced yesterday. The Simonsen Opera Company appeared again at the Theatre Koyal last night. They were to have played at the Odd Fellows’ Hall; but owing to the indisposition of Mr. Bates, the new dramatic company did not appear as intended, and the Opera Company therefore took advantage of the opportunity to give two more performances iu the largest place of entertainment in the city. There was a good house, and Verdi’s grand opera “ H Trovatore” was repeated, with success, for Miss Lambert’s benefit. Before departing from Wellington, the company will give one more entertainment to-night, when there will doubtless be a large attendance. The performance to-night being for the benefit of Mr. Simonsen, a grand programme has been arranged, comprising parts of three operas, and a concert in which Mr. Simonsen will appear and perform a couple of violin solos. An “ Engineer Apprentice and Native Youth of Eighteen” writes to the Sydney Morning Herald to take exception to a statement that iu New South Wales a youth of seventeen or eighteen is commonly not so well educated as is a youth of fifteen or sixteen in England. He requests that his letter may be inserted “in your valauable journal” to show that the natives “ cannot quietly stand to he sat upon.” He also spells oblige with a d. Under the circumstances, his letter cannot be considered valuable as evidence for the defence. The writer of “Notes” in the Timaru Herald relates the following, which is new to us ;—An adventure in which an cx-publicaa and two gentlemen in the licensed victuallers’ interest, all well known hero, were concerned a few days ago, is worth relating. The expublican, scorning the old-fangled principle of hi cum and tuum, decided to bolt with a handsome sum his confiding creditors had enabled him to scrape together. He acted upon this decision, but did it so clumsily that one of his creditors here smelt a rat, and followed up the game. Fortune smiled upon the pursuer, and enabled him to come up with the object of his search on board a steamer over one hundred miles away, just about leaving for Australia. Here payment was demanded by the creditor without avail, but by making him believe that he had a warrant in his pocket (which, however, he had not had time to obtain), he bamboozled the runaway to leave the steamer and go over to the capital, the partner of the truant’s joys and troubles, in the shape of a wife, accompanying them. Here, after the creditor had shepherded Iris charges to such an extent as to pass one whole night on the doormat of their hotel bedroom, the ex-publican found out that his obstructor was not furnished with a warrant, and bolted again with his wife, taking berths on a steamer going to Melbourne via Wellington, the steamer bound direct to Australia having sailed, Before he could take his

departure another creditor as hungry as the former came on the spot and obtained a warrant on behalf of 1 the two. Before, however, the warrant was ready for execution the steamer glided away from the sight of the creditors, but fortunately the telegraph enabled them to put the law into execution at Wellington, where the runaway was incarcerated until he “stumped up” the demands made upon him, which included an extra £SO for expenses. He was then permitted to proceed to “fresh fields and pastures new,” where it is to be hoped he will find those with whom he is thrown in contact with in business pursuits less exacting than they are here. Referring to the refusal of the Home Government to recognise in England Australian marriages with a deceased wife’s sister, the Sydney Morning Herald says ;—“The marriage laws of Scotland and Ireland are different from those of England, but the Scotch and the Irish do not, by adhering to their own laws, cut themselves off, so far as this legislation is concerned, from the rest of the Empire. Nor do the natives of Scotland or Ireland find their marriages voidable or their children bastardised by a residence in England. And what is possessed by the Irish and Scotch in this respect may not only be asked as a favor but should be granted as a right to the colonists of Australia, The Australian laws affecting marriage are not anly the acts of Australians, they are also the acts of the Queen ; and the least that can be done in the mother country is to sanction legislation, which, without touching the English marriage laws at all, will give unmistakeable validity in the United Kingdom to marriages contracted in accordance with the laws of the Sovereign in the colonies.” The united lodges of Freemasons in Napier held a ball in the Odd Fellows’ Hall, in honor of St. John’s Day, on Friday evening last, which came off with great eclat. The hall was beautifully decorated with flowers and banners, and the walls around adorned with paintings kindly lent for the occasion; and as the brethren of the various lodges had been indefatigable in their exertions for the comfort and pleasure of the dancers, their efforts were crowned with the greatest success. There were fully one hundred couples of the elite of Napier present, and as the ladies were richly and tastefully dressed, and the brethren in full Masonic regalia, the combination made a very brilliant picture indeed. Ran (dually to nine the dancers squared for a quadrille, and dance succeeded dance till twelve o’clock, when a rush was made for the supper-room, and here the hearts of the hungry and thirsty were rejoiced, for the tables before them were literally groaning with the good things of this life. After the desires of the appetite had been satisfied, the following toasts were briefly but eloquently proposed and drunk with full Masonic honors :—Brother Pulford, W.M., Scinde Lodge, “ The Queen Brother Carley, W.M., Vic. Lodge, “ The Three Grand Masters Brother Gainsbury, “ The Ladies,” to which Brother Campbell responded. Dancing was then resumed, and kept up until the small hours of the morning. The immense increase in the railway passenger traffic of the United Kingdom is shown by some statistics, compiled from official sources, which have lately been published. In 1843 the number of persons who travelled by rail was 23,466,896 ; in 1851, 85,374,116. The latter figures had more than doubled in 1861, while more than twice as many travelled in 1871'as in 1861. In 1874 the number was no less than 477,840,411, to which must be added the number of individuals travelling under season tickets, 483,957, making a grand total of 478,334,361. A correspondent of the Bendigo Advertiser relates the following strange circumstance : “A singular incident of second sight occurred near Bunnymede a few nights since. A gentleman was visiting a residence about nine miles from that township on the night in question, and leaving on horseback about halfpast ten, proceeded along the road, when, having gone about five miles, the horse while going down a gully came to grief at the bottom, the gentleman just managing to throw himself clear. This happened a few minutes before eleven, and about the same time a lady at the residence referred to awoke, as it were, from a dream, and awakening her sister, who slept in the same apartment, she said to her, ‘ —— has had an accident, and I’m afraid he’s hurt, for he got up on his horse from the wrong side. I saw it happen as plain as if I had been there.’ Strange to say, the rider did remount from the off side, having hurt his left arm slightly in the tumble. The lady, on meeting the gentleman next day, described the accident so minutely, that he was thoroughly astonished, feeling sure that no one but himself knew anything about it.”