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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5552, 14 January 1879, Page 2

A fire broke out last night in an outhouse belonging to Mr. Skeliy, contractor, of Wordaworth-street. The bell rang out the alarm exactly at midnight, and very shortly afterwards the Wellington and Central Fire Brigades were on the scene. Their services, however, were scarcely required, as the flames were confined to a wooden building used as a washhouse, situate at the rear of Mr. Skelly's house, which was burned to the ground before their arrival. The owner of the property is at present away at Wanganui, and it was impospossible to ascertain last night whether the building was insured or not. Of course the place was reduced to ashes, but the loss could not be very much, as there was nothing of value kept in the place. His Honor the Chief Justice and a special jury were occupied yesterday with the hearing of the case O’Neill v. Brown, an action to recover £325, being at the rate of 2J per cent, commission on the amount of the contract for the construction of the City Tramway. The -Anal resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff for £*225. An extended report appears elsewhere.

The commission on higher education will commence its sittings to-morrow in one of the committee-rooms in the General Assembly buildings. All the members have not yet arrived in Wellington, so that real work will not commence till next week, by which time a plan of operations will be decided upon. A largely attended meeting of the Regatta Committee was held at the Pier Hotel last night, J. R. Brown in the chair. We were glad to notice several masters of vessels in the port present. An additional £ls was handed in by Mr. Hill. The committee, however, hope that a considerable addition to the funds will yet be received, which is very needful, as the prizes are much higher than usual. Another race has been added to the programme, viz., ships’ boats sailing race. The time for starting the • various races was arranged, which will be found in the advertisement. The total amount of subscriptions now received was stated to be £250.

A lawyer was set down a little in the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday. - _He was questioning a witness who mentioned incidentally that a dinner was given by certain railway contractors in Westport “ to the lawyers and principal people.” ” Oh,” remarked counsel, in search of a compliment, “Do you look upon lawyers as the principal people?’’ The witness smiled patronisingly and replied, “ Yes, in Westport.” I said “ principal,” because there are more lawyers than other people there. Counsel proceeded with the examination. The fine imposed on a petit juror named Robert Neill, for non-attendance at the criminal sittings, was remitted yesterday by his Honor the Chief Justice, the defaulting juror excusing himself on the ground of illness.

Baker and Barren opened last night for a season at the Theatre Royal. Thera was a capital house, especially downstairs, and the continuous rounds of applause which followed the efforts of Messrs. Baker and Farron must have satisfied those gentlemen that their popularity has in no degree waned in their absence. The piece chosen for opening with was “Conrad and Lizette,” a neat little drama of the low comedy class. Its principal characters serve to bring out into bold relief the versatility of -Messrs. Baker and Farron, and they are kept in the foreground throughout. Their singing and dancing is certainly the best of its class that comes to Wellington, but their dialogue and acting is not of a character calculated to draw in the upper part of the house; in fact, .a, good deal of the performance might with great advantage be omitted, but while there are such stalls and pit as last evening no doubt the management will keep things as they are. In the course of the plot there are some capital scenes and tableaux, and several of the. characters are rendered with more than ordinary ability. Mias Saunders, Mr. Morlynes, Mr. Jeidan, Mr. Welsh, and Miss Morosini might be specially mentioned. The only house worthy of the accomplished -lady since her arrival in this city assembled at the Athenaeum Hall last evening, on the occasion of the complimentary concert to Mdlle. Charbonnet. It was no small compliment to her to find the hall crowded despite the very inclement weather that prevailed, and the pianiste’s reception by her audience was more than flattering. The entertainment was under the patronage of the Mayor and Councillors; and our only regret is that space will not permit us to refer seriatim to the items which the programme comprised. The concert was a genuine success, the instrumental portion of it more particularly. We have received a copy of the New Zealand Country Journal, being the first number of the third volume. The promoters solicit assistance and co-operation from all parts of the colony, as they are anxious to extend its influence beyond a mere local circuit. ,It has lately been appointed the official journal of the National Agricultural a connection which may be expected to increase its circulation, and to extend its distribution throughout the colony. ■■ The chairman a address to the first meeting of delegates from the various Agricultural Associations in the Middle Island is published in full, and is a most interesting document. We notice that in this address the number of sheep in the Australasian Colonies for the year ending 1878 is estimated at 65,000,000 ; in the Victorian Year Book the number of sheep for the year 1877 is set down at a trifle under 58,000,000.

A general meeting of the Wellington Cricket Club“was held at the Pier Hotel last night, Mr. Bell in the chair. Six new members were elected, after which the rules of the club were revised. This was all the business.

The very successful drama of “ Amos Clarke” will be presented at the Imperial Opera House this evening for the last time. On Wednesday evening 3Mr. George Bignold will take his benefit, on which occasion will be presented a new comedy-drama _ entitled « Alone” and the ever popular nautical play “ Black Eyed Susan,” the beneficiary appearing in both pieces. Thursday will be the last night of the season, the company sailing for the South on Friday. From Picton we hear that the improvement noticed last month is still observable in the railway returns, and the receipts now on the Picton section show a small and decided profit. Not only is the line more than paying its way, but there is a perceptable increase in the returns for the last four-weekly period as compared with the same time in the previous year, the balance being £ls Is. 3d. in favor of the present. The reduction of the cost of working may have converted it from a non-paying into a paying line, but the steady increase of the amount of receipts shows that the railway may be made profitable if the people are accommodated with facilities for travelling and carrying goods. The completion ef the line into Blenheim will supply the want, and we may expect shortly to see a great improvement in the monthly comparison made between the receipts and expenditure on the Picton line.

The case of Gollop v. Atchison, for slander, will be tried before his Honor the Chief Justice and a special jury to-day. The schooner Alert is expected hero in time to enter for the regatta on the 22nd. There is every prospect of the meeting proving a complete success. The Marlborough Press of the 10th instant, says “ Affairs still continue to look well at Golden Point, and we learn that Mr. J. F. E. Wright and several others recently paid a visit to the Golden Point mine, and took back with them to Wellington several bags of stone taken from different parts of the mine. Some very indifferent looking stone, which did not show a speck of gold, and which was found in a break in one of the reefs, and thrown away in the mullock by the miners, shows the astonishing result of 36ois. of gold to the ton, and this with a rough test of crushing and washing. Another sample taken from the reef at the foot of the 40ft. shaft, gives an average of about 6ozs, to the ton, when roughly tested.” It is not surprising, says the Jurist, under the circumstances, that difficulty is experienced is filling up a vacant District Judgeship. The Judgeship created some months ago at Napier is still vacant, and it is not known that anybody is to be appointed—although there have been several applications for it. It has been stated in the newspapers that the appointment has been offered to one or two professional men of good standing, and declined. A Judgeship with £750 a year, and two or three minor offices attached to it, can hardly be an object of ambition to members of the Bar. As the Districts Courts are certain to fill a larger space in the administration of justice from year to year, there should be no hesitation iu seeking to elevate the position of the Judges. Those valuable town acres, situated at the top of Diion-stroet, and having frontages to Dixon-street and the Terrace, well known as lately the property of G. Hunter, Esq,, and now owned by the firm of T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co., are at last to be offered to public competition, subdivided into suitable villa sites. The sections have frontages of 40ft. to Woolcombe and Dixon streets, and Macdonald-crescent and Percival-streets, two new streets made through ths acres; and are splendidly situated, as there is a splendid view from each allotment, and although out of the bustle of the city are yet within five minutes’ walk of the principal business houses in the city. The sale is advertised to take place on the 27th inst.