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Otago Daily Times, Issue 550, 22 September 1863, Page 4

We would direct the attention of the lovers of billiards to an advertisement announcing a match to, be played this evening at the Jockey Club Rattray-street, between Messrs " Stafford and, Cattabeni. match is to be 600 up, for LSO a side, Mr Stafford giving Mr Cattabeni 130 points. Some excellent play is anticipated.

The Argus of Monday the 14th, observes with reference to the approaching Ballarat Handicap:—"The Victoria Turf Subscription-room will be opened as usual, this evening, when a strong muster of members may be expected, and something may be heard of the causes from which so many unfavorable rumours have proceeded relative to the mischances said to have happened to two (or three) promioent favorites amongst the horses^ entered for' the Ballarat Champion Race. On Monday evening, also, the Victoria Jockey Club stewards will receive en.triesat the Albion (as usual) for the Spring Handicap Steeplechase and Hurdle Eace, to be run in the- middle of next month," The Melbourne papers to hand, of the following day, do not contain any account of this meeting. It appears however, that some of the horses entered had been affected with pleuro-pneumonia. The Ballarat Star of the 14th, gives the following as the weights for the Handicap:—Mr P. Keighran's b h Mormon, aged, 10 st 4 lb ; Mr P. Dowling's eh g Falcon, 6 yrs, 9 st 4 lb; Mr James Wilson's b.h Ebor, 5 yrs, 9 st; Mr W. Lang's br h Saturn, 5 yrs, Bst 4 lb; Mr G. Watson's br m Regina, 4 yrs, 7 st 9 lb; Mr G. Warren's br g Tramp, aged, 7 st; Mr J. Tait's be Sir Patrick, Mr W, Lang's eh c Oriflamine, 3 yrs, 6 st ; Mr H. Fisher's eh f Rose of Denmark, 3 yrs, sst 7 lb, ■

The following are the latest Victorian mining statistics compiled from the mining surveyors' reports for the month of July : — The total population on the gold-fields for that month amounted to 227,653. Of these 93,594 are represented as actually engaged in mining pursuits, as f0110w5:—54,991 Europeans and 22,997 Chinese in alluvial mining, and 15,442 Europeans and 164 Chinese in quartz reefing.. The population is thus distributed over the several gold-fields--Ararat, 13,389 ; Castlernaine, 45,815: Maryborough, 44,837 ; Sandhurst, 28,424; Beechworth, 37,690 ; and Ballarat, 57,498. The area of ground actually worked upon is estimated at 764 square miles and a quarter. The approximate value of all the mining plant employed on the gold fields is stated at L 1,525,045, distributed as follows-Ararat, L 107,760 ; Castlemaine, L 265,679 ; Maryborough, L 202.766 ; Sandhurst] L 256,006 ; Beech worth, L15f1,740 ; and Ballarat] L 536,100, There are employed in alluvial mining 352 steam engines of 5,895 horse power, 4,157 puddling machines, 491 whims and pulleys, 231 whips, 234, horse pumps, 728 sluices and toms, 391 water wheels, 28 hydraulic boxes, 3 derricks, and 3,590 sluice boxes. In quartz reefing there are employed 449 steam engines of 7,950 horse power, 53 crushing machines, 195 whims and pulleys, 28 water wheels, 3 derricks, ands9 whips, ;: •; j

The restoration of the Drama to the boards of the Princess Theatre, last evening, was hailed by one; of the most crowded and enthusiastic audiences ever colledted within the walls of that house. There was no standing room in either boxes, pit, or stalls, and when the curtain rose upon the drinking bandit scene, with which the piece opens, it was plain enough to see that a return to the old style of entertainment; after six weeks run of minstrelsy and nigger fun, was welcomed with the utmost satisfaction by every one. The play selected for the occasion was one eminently calculated to intensify this feeling, and as much credit is due to the tact as to the spirit and enterprise of the management, for the choice of the piece and the manner of putting it on the stage. «;The Duke's Motto" is not only full throughout of intense dramatic interest, but it furnishes a stage manager a rapid succession of opportunities of scenic effect, which are invaluable in days when the public taste for this sort of thing has been so developed and stirau- -' lated. We cannot speak in too high terms either ; of the taste, liberality, or mechanical skill which produced upwards of half a dozen set scenes last night, any one of which but a few years back, might have secured a run for a piece of far inferior intrinsic merit to " The Duke's Motto." To particularise one where all was excellent we must pronounce the fete in the gardens of the Regent's palace by night the most admirable in effect, although perhaps not the irost laborious in construction. The Chinese lanterns in the foreground, and the long receding avenues, in which the illumination seemed gradually to melt away, presented a reilly beautiful spectacle. Nor ought - we to omit to add that in the subsidiary scenes, where the minor action of the piece ,had to be sustained, "there "was generally a sufficiency and fitness of appointment that satisfied the eye. The dresses were rich and tasteful, and some charming dancing and ohbral singing were cleverly introduced. Terrific combats of course abounded, and the most cravmg appetite for ; that species of entertainment must have been satisfied with the quantity of it served up. It is not, however, foisted upon the play, but is a necessary part of it, as will be seen when we say that the whole piot of:the drama arises put of the,murder of the Duke o» Nevers by bandits, employed for the purpose by Gonzaque, his next Heir .failing the issue of his marriage, and that his death is avenged by'bis ~ friend, Henry de Legardaire, .who successively at various points in the course of the play despatehe the mercenary murderers, and ends by killing their master in the presence.of the Eegent and the Court. The piece opens with the: plot for the assassination of the Duke, who becomes aware of.his intended'fate, and- engages De Lagardaire,. to receive hi 3 infant from the Duchess, to whom he has been secretly married, and gives him the" watchword agreed on with his wife—the Duke's family motto "Staunch and True." De Lagardaire., protects the child during the period of sixteen years, avenging, as we have said; his friend's death, and in the meantime learning to love his beautiful charge. We..shall.not fol tow the plot through its intricacies. Of course" in the end virtue and love are triumphant and the villanous schemes of Gonzague are made 'to recoil upon his head by De Lagardaire who ;eyer. rememebrs the " motto" given to him as a ■watchword by the dead Duke, "staunch and

true." The characters are very numerous arid, laid the whole strength of the company nnder contribution. Mr Holt sustained the three parts of de Lagardaire, Henriques, and JSsop the hunchback, (the twojatter of course disguises) with a cleverness and force that justly won'for him the warm plaudits of the audience and secured him a call more than once during the evening. ' The female parts are very subordinate to the main action of the plot. It would be invidious to name any individual actor with the exception we have made. The whole ■ company deserve to be "very sincerely complimented upon the perfectness with which their parts were got up, which enabled the piece to go off with a smoothness somewhat marvellous fora first night: " The Duke's Motto" will no doubt have a run.'

Athletic pastimes of any kind are not much practised in Dunedin. We hope they will be the growth of fine weather, dry recieation grounds, early closing, and Saturday half-holiday movements. Cricket,football,—and "golf"—we have no doubt will soon find a congenial home here, and help-to do the work of developing a " muscular Christianity." . England owes much to the cultivation, during'centuries past, of "fine manly qualities " amongst its people. The country sports of the squirearchy, the boating and cricketing of the Eton lads and the university youths—have they not had greatly to do with the making of heroes in the field, and of strong sturdyhearted men in all the walks of life ? Time was, when all ranks of Englishmen and Scotchmen indulged habitually in all sorts of out-of-door pastime — expanding their lungs, developing their muscles, and cultivating generally a robustness of physical health. Things have tended, of late years, somewhat to a discouragement qf this. The inventions of art have to some extent superseded labor, and the value of physical strength in the workshop has lessened. Wherever work has to be done, man has become rather the directing than the laboring power: the finger adjusting the machinery of science rather than the strong arm creating results by its own muscular energy. In shop, office, and professional life, the keenness of competition, the rapidity of action, cause a great and constant strain upon men's faculties. The world is living faster than it did. Thought must be quick, fint gers nimble, hours long, to get through the work of the day and prevent others getting ahead Against this strong tendency of the age it is well that we should make what stand we may and re assert the claims of physical man. We look upon every pastime as a real good that will divert our young men occasionally from shop and desk work, and give them healthy physical exercise in the open air. We are exceedingly glad, therefore, to find that steps are about being taken here to establish theold-Scotch national game of Golf It is a game honorable from its antiquity for it is supposed to have been a favorite rural pastime with the Romans. But it has been natural ised in Scotland, where indeed many traditional stories are told about it. Charles the First was said .to be passionately fond of it, and the anecdote runs that he was engaged in playing it upoa Leith Links during his visit to Scotland in 1641 when the news was first brought to him of the amo-gst the «ol fcs a , the Cu m Xa4 Z ■s played with clubs ana bolls the 1,1,7 i ■ to be Mcd in certain hji ">«« I»»ui(f idea of to gle LfT' P'I0° '" giV °afair exciting oaeafriSej Tf • " Tery ""^ "nd

the Cricket Club. Golf can be played on the skirts.of the ground, the centre not being required. ; The course of the game runs round and round.

We learn by electric telegraph from Port Chalmers that another accident, caused by the ground giving away, occurred last evening in the cutting, Gre>street, A laborer, named Jacobs, "while at his work, had his arm broken by a fall of earth. The sufferer is at present at the Royal Hotel in a precarious state.

A notice under the signature of Mr W. Mason, agent for the General Government, intimates that Mr Chas; Cameron is authorised to raise a company of Highlanders to proceed to the North with him as volunteers for the war.

By the Mail Steamer we are in possession of the following dates .-—Perth (Western Australia), August 5; Hong Kong, July 28; Shanghai, July 21 ; Singapore, August 7 ; Colombo, August 17 ; - Calcutta,. Angust 8 ; Bombay, August 9 j and Madras, August 10. I

The bill introduced by Mr Gladstone to make the gold coins of the Sydney Mint a legal tender throughout the British territories, has been passed by both branches of the Imperial Legislature, and on the 25th of July awaited the Royal assent.

At the last nieeting of the Dunedin Chess Club held on Friday evening, it was announced that his Honor the Superintendent, J. H. Harris, Esq., had complied with the request of the Club to become its president. The following officers were then elected :—A. Gr, M'Combe, Esq, Vicepresident ; B. L. Farjeon, Esq, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer ; and S." Marks, G." Swyer, J. Lazar, and —'Fleming, Esqs, Council of Management

The, later news from America which we published yesterday in the Daily Times Extra, is important, and fully confirms the view we took in commenting on the intelligence received by the mail. It is plainer than ever that the necessity of the. North : is to enforce "the conscription and that the determined resistance of the people to a compulsory enlistment threatens Mr Lincoln's Government with the utmost embarrasment. On both sides the materials for making serviceable armies seem to be becoming rapidly exhausted. At present, however, Mr Lincoln has a) fatal an enemy to contend against in his own mutinous cities as in the revolted South.

The steam ship Eangatira has been placed on the berth between Auckland and Dunedin, and the intermediate .ports. _ She is advertised to make her first trip from Auckland on Saturday next, the 26th instant, and will be due at Dunedin Wharf on the following Saturday, 3rd Oct.

Most of the intercolonial news brought by the Alhambra is crowded out. At Melbourne the new Governor, Sir. Chas. Darling, had been sworn in, and on the same day had prorogued Parliament: .The' House- were to be shortly "called together again. '•',''

The Hobart Town Mercury of 4th September, | in ah article under the heading, " Rogues in j Grain," states that a" case has just been brought i ■under.its notice, iv.connection with some grain' transactions, which is likely to afford employment' to gentlemen of the long robe. No names are' disclosed, but the .case is put by that journal in the following terms : —" A merchant of very high standing in. Launceston purchases a quantity of' •wheat by sample, in that town, at the full market price, and has it shipped to Hobart Town, where it is sold to one of our most respectable citizens, ■who has a contract with the Commissariat, and delivers a.portion of the cargo to that department in fulfilment of his contract. On an examination of what was delivered, by the officer in charge, suspicion was thrown on the whole of the cargo, and the result is that a very large portion' of it was, found ..totally unfit for human food. We have a sample now before us, and the least we can say of it is, that we should not like to have it ground into flour for our table. Others speak of it more freely, and, no doubt, with perfect, justice, as . a sample of smutty damaged wheat, which appears to have been washed before it-was put on board, and to have, been heated on the short voyage roiind from Launce9ton to Hobart Town, so much so, indeed, as to have imperiled the satety of the ship in which' it was brought by ignition, if the voyage had been a protracted one. At any rate, the article is totally unmerchantable, and it could hardly have been less so, when-it was put on board."