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Otago Daily Times, Issue 285, 18 November 1862, Page 4

There was a very fair attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening, to witnes*. the p&rfovmance of " Hamlet." Mr Holt g.iva a correci interpretation of the character of Hun let, and Miowed an amount of fl.iish wiiicii co.iid only result from a careful study of the pirfc. Ha was most effective in the soliloquy, and in the closet scene, where lie treats his mother to such unpalatable truths. Mrs Holt filled the part of the Queen very satisfactorily, but lacked energy in .some of the scenes. The character of Ophelia was hardly suited to Miss Harriet; Gordon ; but it was evident she took great pains, and was proportioiub'y successful. Her rendering of the little incidantal ditties was very effective. Mr Sheiis played well as the King, albeit he was somewhat stiff. MrR.B. Dale, as Polonium, and Mr Manly, as Horatio, made tha most of their parts ; and Mr Hydes made an indifferently u rood first grave-digger. The subordinate characters were well supported, and the pioca was put on the stage very effectively. T.ne farce was the " Alerton Family." The presence of several crying infant?, and an usual noise fiom the refreshment room, disturbed'the audience considerably ; and at times it was difficult to hear 'i word jf the play. T;ie evident interest .whicH w*s manifested during the whole of the perform iuce, s'lowcd that it d 023 nod require "seusacion" peices to secure the appreciation of the audience ; mi we hive no doil )t th.it, with such a comp tny, the theater-goers of Dunedin might be ofcener given a Shaksperian treat, with advantage to tite management.

The " New Zjaland Advertiser" (Wellington) mentions a rumo,- to the effect, that General Ganeron is about to resign his post, asC>:n----n inder of the Force?, and hints that the state of compulsory inactivity he has been kept in, since his arrival in the Colony, lus something to do with it. A new branch of business has sprung up between Auckland as;d Sydney, in the exportation of Cjlontal-bre'-ved Ale, from the former place to New Son h Wales. We understand that a race is to come oT tomorrow, on the Ocean Beach, between Mr Thomas Dickson's buy gelding, Tommy, and Mr Jackson's bay gelding, Billy. Taj match, we are in' formed, is for £100 a-side, and the distance a mile and a half; one event. ! To-morrow evening, His Honor Major Ricaard<3on will deliver a lecture in X iox C/iureh, to the [Young SI ni's Christian Association. Sa'yect: | %1 The inilaeuci of individual exertion on the i welfare of a State." It is notified elsewhere, that copies of the •Acts of the General Assembly, passed at the last session, are on sale at the Sub-Treasury, Duuedin. It is annonncel elstwhere that the New Zaalaud Pioneer Lodge ot the A 1.0.0.P. nvill be opened on Thursday, 20 th inst., at the Queen's Arras Hotel. A public meeting ef owners and occupiers of land within the Danelin Educational District is conven.dfor Friday, tha 21st instant, at htlf-pist 7 o'clock, in D.r Barns' Church", for the purpose of electing a School Committee. The leases of several sections of the Crown R-i&erve on the S, mdspit, Waikmaiti, having been forfeited/will be let by auction, for the remain ler of the term o,j -'the Bbh< b&ember. An advertisement on; the'subject appears elsewhere.

| " The Cricket on tlie Hearth"—tiut pleasant dramatic version of the most charming of Dickens' Christmas stories, w s produced at the Princess Theatre, last evening ; but it was unattended by the success it deserved, the house being un \ y moderately attended. Most agreeable it is lo l'enew one's acquaintance with the Munt good-hearted carrier, John PerTybinglc ; ami his cheery' treasure of a little wife, Dot; with the old toy-maker, Caleb Plummer, and his gentle, sensitive, blind daughter, Bertha, whom lie surrounds with small delicacies of taste, and fondly cheats into belief in the existence of a lot in life which is not theirs ; and last, and greatest, for originality of conception and mirth-provoking power, with the immortal Tilly Siowboy, Dot's handmaiden, but not helper. Pleasant it is, while John's brow is clouding, and his hand is' raised to take the life of his disguised friend, and while Dot is grieving because her husband's love is turned from her, only for that in the goodness and guilelessness of her heart, she is'striving to secure-the happiness of that friend and his longago betrothed—pleasant it is to know that the Spirit of the Cricket will yet set all ri.rht again making all hearts light, and all faces* radiuLt • to know that Tackkton, the selfish sneerer at human kindliness, will not triumph, as he hopes but will be turned by the sweet influence of Bertha into something resembling, though faintly, the noble benefactor she had mentally pictured him ; and that even Tilly, will so far shake off the crushing weight of.the inevitable baby, as to be capable of a mischievous joke in part punishment of Tuckleton. The audience did not seem, at fir*t, to appreciate the force of the moral lesson which was being administered to them ; but of course they wanned as the action proceeded and the drama was decidedly successful. Mr Tom Pawcett was good as Peei-ybingle, his b*st blaring being in t!ie last act where his supposed s-nse of duty makes him strive against the true love which is tugging at his heart-strings. Dot has certainly bjen pUyeri with more of the r •tine ments of the finished art in acting, than it was played last evening ;.but we doubt if ever the little embodiment of all that is true, and simandcosey in a wife an 1 housekeeper, ever had 'a' more natural, life-like representative than Mil, Emily Wiseman." She completely carried the audience with her, in every sentence, while she was making a clean breast of all her plotting and fluttering to be, but refusing to be just yet' again taken to her husband's arms a-.a 'heart' Caleb i\nd Bertha were excellently played by M> John Dunn, and Madame drandini* ; Bjrtha's song meeting with a deserved encore ' Miss E Neville was Tilly Siowboy. The meiamorphosis" from the gay and hanJsom* Prmce-lov^. of t-xtravangan/as, with which ona is apt to associate this young htly, was something astoa:i,li».» S'ie looked a veritable slattern, with her shoek^ea.ltd red hair and her untidy dress ; and even in the minutest hit of by-play, while feedin- the baby and herself, she had an easy naturalness that showed the keen observer and the vemii'e •actress. She really seemed in her nursin.r V, despite her unobtrusiveness, to divest lute'n' rion from the business of tlie drama • .and when she did become joyous, there- was an unsophisticated gushinguess about her which overwhelmed everything. Her singing o f the West Country air was indescribably °odd and earnest; and h was almost tumaltujusly encored Mr Hall did well with the part of the Sriii>er' unimportant as it is in itself. The cushion' dunco brought down, the curtain amidst -general an pkuse. We sincerely hope tlut the drain-i will draw tull houses this evening an ,i to-morrow • I uss in Boots ' again went capitally.

Thursday evening fa to,l* devoted at the Li-muess llieatrc to a benefit for Mr R. Kuh'er As an admirable phyer on the cornopean, and as a perfect master of many other instrument,, he has greatly aided towards the excellence of the orchestral playing at this theatre; and his<lu«t playing with his brother (on cornopeans) hasten oneol the most charming features of all the morning concerts. The capital comedy of " L'm don Assurance," with Madame Durct as L-ulv Gayspanker, is on Thursday to be followed by a concert, and a farce, in winch Miss Neville will appear ; and we trust that the h-juse will be crowded.

We have received a letter making inquiries respecting the distribution of t!w in >n-y sab seabed for the relief of those who lost their all by the wreck of the T.unar; and seesin- i llfor ; in _ tion also, as to way m portion of the fund has been appropriated to the relief of the crew, who equally xvah the passengers, lost everything,- t j ' possessed. W e feel sure that it is on , nv £ £ for us to mention, th it this information is so-iXh to induce the gentlemen who have had' the managemene.it of the affair, to publish a defiiled account. <^ui,u

Ihe Canterbury races are fixed to fake pl, co on January 23, 21, and 22, 1333. Entriea J, ° alien Stake, LIOO, ad led to a «weep atak , B .rf U, must be mvh with the Secretary of the Cvi terlmry J.,ckey Clh!>, on or before the 6th D." cea.ber. For the Canterbury D«rby, 153.3, LIOO added to a sweepstakes of Lio each, f, P t |,- eo ' year-olds; entries must be made on or befor Ist Jannarv, 1853. • •

Six cases were got off the Ifet during a morning sitting of tin Supremo Court, yesterday. and as there was tken none ready for tr j a ,/ th ; Court adjourned at one o'clock. j n lhrt , p ' yJicts were taken bj consent . two were' stated to be settled ; and one (tfendoza v Coleman) was stopped on some legal points, and a verdict for the plaintiff directed. T.h case first in order for this m>rning h M mil wain o. Norton ■ and then come Dutch v. Bo.lp.ith, and Jones and Another v. Wilsoc and Another.

Copies of the Acts of the General Assembly, passed daring the last session, will be supplied to-members of the legal profession, on application at the office of the Resident Magistrate, at Hie Court House. Mr Strode has obtained 20 sets of the Acts for tins purpose; and he deserves the thanks of the profession and the community for the course he has taken.

, It will be seen by the letter of a correspondent at Waitahuna, which appears elsewhere, th.it ono of the coaches has a^iin been upset by the witjd at'Muant Stewart. If we are n.. fc mistaken, this is thcthir.l occasion of such an accident occurin* at the same place. ' '°

The usual weekly meeting of the Dunedin Debates Club was l.dd In Clarke's TY, aperariCe g^, Monday eve-aopj Mr ffalliwell occupied the chair. Mr Wxiham D. Swirt was unanimously elected lreasurer to the society. Mr Jw> then opened a debate -' Which is the greatest Incentive t<» Crime -• Ignorance, lnt»iup»rouce, Poy-rty, or the 8 ru^rie aft-r Wealth?" H« strongly Ui^j" that intemperance w;«s by far the greatest incentive to crime. Several meinb ;rs then took p irt U the debate, afoer which the qmstio-i was put to the mee,f|ng, and it was, by am-jjrity of votes, declared tbat intern per mcd was th« LTeatest inceiiUyd tJ crime.. The snbjct for disc j.isiou next Monday evening is---"Whici) is the ?better form of Goveivimeut— the Mouanjlucal or UopaWieaui'' . ',

It had e.n thought b> m.uiy »h,i had iteo.Jecrions of the first attempt at laying asphalt*.pavemtnts in London that the new paw-mentslaid in Dunedin would be a, t to ;jcr. foft with ihe 6umn;er he.it. It is sjitsat<ry t>»find that rothii g ol the kind occur edy* sterility, which was as hoi a day as it is at ah probable there will be all the soinn er ; indeed n any Yietorians said that it reminded them of M lbournc, yet the pavemtnts showed no sign of softness, nor was there any effluvium from them. A short time back we inserted a paragraph in which it was stated that a t!is-agree-ab!e .*me!l arose from the asphalte in the heat of the day. We are now satLlied that our repoiter must at that time have been deceived by the fume from the melting pots which would very probably be wafted to his nostrils from where the pavcnient was in course of laying in some street. The pavement appears to be well adapted fur use in this climate, and that it wears well is proved by the fact that, what has been laid for six months is apparently as firm as what was only laid down last week.

We publish elsewhere a copy of a "Notice to Mariners,' 1 to which, as correcting an important error, we <Utm it right to direct special attention. In the Hu'bour regulations as gazetted on the sth instant, it was stated that the signal " blue with a white .St. Andrew's cross, indicated ebb tide, and bar fit to take," whereas the signal in question means "ebb tide, and bar 7»o< fit to take.' The mi. tike was made by the General Government, and the correction emanates from the Provincial authorities.

The fed lowing particulars of a gross outrage Upon a senior named Harding, in the Hawkc's Bay district, has been communicated to'the " Hawkes' Bay Times" :—" Sir—As I have just returned from a visit to my station at Waikari, and ha\ing been subjected while thereto no little abuse and annoyance from certain of the natives of the district, 1 tiust you will aiibrd space for a brief account of the outrages to which I alludeThe unlives concerned in the affair aire 22 in number, j.ihl are of the kiiinyas at Pohoa, Petane, and Tonghoia. They arrived at (he Waikari kainga en Wednesday, the I.oth ulc, (being on their way loaiunanga to be held at Wairoa), and wished to nut their horses into my paddock for the night. This 1 was obliged to refuse as (I told them) I wanted to geL the seed from my grass. rlhiy, however, declared that if I did not give thun kave they would bring them in by foice. 1 replied they should not be allowed to stay, for if they did so 1 should turn them out upon the run. Ui on this, Sydney threatened amid much abusive language, to take my horse licm me the fust time I should stay at Petane and hiiie it, to as I should lose it. Early the next DiOiuiifg, as 1 lelt n»y house for the back part of the inn, i aw.- Hint they were busy crossing their horses, but as I supposed that they were going on t!nir way, I <iid not take any notice ; but I found on my let urn in the evening that the whole 22 hoifefc had been lelt to feed in the paddock all the

jiy. On their return from Wairoa (on Wednesday lasi) tin-}'tnice more turned their horses loose into the jaOdoik, and this time without asking have. 1 thin fore, with tlic assistance of one of ir.} mm, j.roi ceded to eject them. This was Ftizcd as the occasion for ;i violent attack upon me by IS of tJit* party, headed by Sydney and Kennta (of Pahoa), armed with spears, poles, lillets of wood, &r. I was knocked down from behind by F.cnata, and dragged along the grass on iry face by the hair at tiie back of my head, whilst atother—standing over me and brandishing a Lillet, amid the most awful oaths and curtc-E— thnatuicd to kill me if I did not go into n.y hciue ami aiiow the horses to stay. Sydney B'.ole a sic t k-^l;ij> ficm ny hand for the utu, for Ins horse Icirg iliivcn I however sneceeded in nginning this l.y *rmai;s of another native. jAltl.Mgl- £iil jcetid to much abuse and no little duij^v, I rdiiMd to yuld to thorn ; nor did I 1. n\e lhcm in til I m.w tlum commence to cross tl:e riM-r with the horns. They, however, took, n.y n.i:it ar;d leit it on tlieoj jiosiie side, S\dney tiTid ciLivs Iliieatciiing to kill my horse on the iiist o(<a.M(n tls-y rot it in their power.—l am, Sir, joui>, &c, J. lUiiDiKG. October 28, 18G2."

11t] i:iHdin Fire Brigade- met yesterday evenhy. Jci ] i;iti((, viili tl.nr new engine. Thire vi.su i-.iir dv.mci.iihl llie trgine worked well ah),f.r< ). at ti.e time it nj jeaitcl tl at tidier the su] i ly ol vatcr v«s insufiiciuit, or that the suctldi 111 i.iiiti.s v«s t.ct acting pio]trly. Tl;e v«tu■ vi.s tliun to a j:ccd height, and was fruly f-i^iiLkd in ivciy diiccticn, indeed iatlier tco iiul} lor the unifort of some people. It v.ctild lev. (11 icrtlie lire Ejigttde to bear in nil d 1].!»1, v.l.ile it is of the utn.ost in:portance t! at tl.cy }}xxAcl l.;.ve troy /or the practice neccf-fi'.ry (o .Heine (-ffieiency in the dueharge of their in.j crtr.iit fine-liens, and while a certain an omit (i iiiconvt-iiknce will on that account be churiully idT-Tie, it is yet their duty to avoid any ULiiOdstjiiy sniiojai.ee either to the inhabitants of the siutts in wiiich they practise, or to'the casual \ assirs by. Last night, however, the water was directed against houses with but su.aU regiiiel an to vleiLcr ckois and windows were cloEtcl.iMid tiiii kied about the streets without cuisidcmiic'ii for tie pasyengers.