THE Otago Daily Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1874.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3915, 3 September 1874, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1874.

We little thought when commenting a few short weeks ago upon, the mass of sycophancy with which every detail of the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh was surrounded by the English papers, that the contagion of flunkeyism would spread so rapidly to these southern shores. When our near neighbour's house is ablaze, it is time for us to look out. So, when all Hobart Town falls prostrate in admiration at the wedding of an Earl, our own day of temptation cannot be very far off.

It seems that the Tasmanians have been fortunate enough to catch a live peer —that his peerage is an Irish one matters not —he is alive, and, like the good Duke of Edinburgh, condescended to get himself married, happy Hobart Town being choseu as the scene of the sacrifice. The excitement among the townsfolk must have been prodigious. "Every available portion of space in the Cathedral." says the Hobart Town Mercury, "was speedily filled, and while there could nob have been less than a thousand persons in the building, quite that number were obliged to remain outside, and be content with a : glimpse of the bridal party as they arrived and departed." Every epithet in the editor's exceedingly copious vocabulary is exhausted in describing the dress and appointments of the bride. "She "was magnificently attired in a rich white satin dress trimmed with Brussels lace j a splendid and costly Brussels lace veil, and a beautiful wreath of orange blossoms." She carried also " a rare fan of mother-of-pearl." The costume of the eight bridesmaids is described with equal minuteness and equal splendour of diction, down to their "wreaths of jessamine, and.lilies of the valley, and tulle veils." In one respect, however, we have just cause of complaint We are told but little —far too little— about the bridegroom himself, the Earl of Donoughmore. The curiosity with which we are devoured is rather piqued than gratified by our being informed that the bridegroom and his friends took up their position' in front of the chancel-steps. " Only this, and nothing more." As a set-off against this culpable reticence, we are given to understand that " the bride looked slightly pale, but throughout the ceremony retained her composure." This is as it should be, and strictly according to precedent. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, it will be remembered, on a similar occasion " bore himself with perfect composure and dignity."

We, too, could bear all this with tolerable "composure and dignity " if the young nobleman of six-and-twenty about whom all this pother is made had distinguished himself in any way. If he had travelled, for instance, and written a capital account of his travels, like Lord Milton : nay, if he had only cruised about in his. yacht, and set down what he had seen as graphically 'as the naughty "Earl" of the South Sea Bubbles, we could have pardoned a copious gushing forth of enthusiasm. [ While noblemen who, like Lord JNorthbrook or Lord Lawrence, have worthily governed a mighty empire in troublous timesj or who, like the Earl of Derby, have calmly devoted their lives to the public service of their country, may receive a very ample tribute of honour without in any degree abasing those by whom it is rendered, the one condition that will justify a gaping multitude in its hero-worship is, that the object of its idolatry shall himself have done something out of the common to adorn the title to which he has been born. But enough of the newly-wedded Peer. May he be happy, and get himself also a name amongst England's worthies, for which he has yet plenty of time. We did not use him as an illustration of a popular weakness without having a distinct object in view. We ourselves shall soon be called upon to welcome as a Governor a nobleman I of still higher rank. Let us see to it that we acquit ourselves in a manner worthy of freemen, who neither feel fear nor ask for favour. Surely it cannot be so very difficult for a community to show fitting respect for the Queen's Representative without surrendering its own self-respect. We shall watch with some curiosity, not unmingled with apprehension, the conduct of our depu-tation-mongers and dealers in addresses, whose tact will ere Jong be put to the test. If any considerable proportion of these good folks manage to hit the happy mean between becoming courtesy and rank sycophancy, we feel sure that no more delicate tribute can be paid to the common sense of the Marquis of Noamanbv, while no better evidence can be

given of the wide diffusion of that invaluable quality among ourselves.

No one who is compelled to pass the corner of. High street or Manse street and Princes street often but must acknowledge with painful rubbing of the shoulder and arms that we badly want some more open spaces on the pavement in the City. There is no room to pass upon the very crowded space devoted to foot passengers, and people in . a hurry are very apt indeed to make use of the roadway, at all risks of being run down by a, we beg pardon, the donkey cart. An opportunity occurs just now which may not, or rather most certainly will not, occur again, of adding one to our list of available corners where business men may congregate. Some steps have already been taken, but as yet without effect, to add the upper corner of Manse street and Princes street to our corners, just where Messrs Brown, Ewing, and Oo.'s new premises abut upon the two lines of traffic. We understand that the firm in question is ready, of course for a consideration, to keeD back their new building a few feet. The angle is a very sharp one, and every inch is af great importance there. We do trust that the Corporation will not haggle over terms too long, so long as to lose the opportunity. It is quite absurd to calculate the average value per foot of the land on this section, and hope to buy the very beat' piece at such value. The corner is, of course, the picked bit, and is worth a fancy price. if it be any use, we might remind the public that the sections immediately fronting this corner on the other side of Manse street are Corporation proDerty, and that, therefore, the price paid would eventually go into the pockets of the taxpayers, in the increased value given to their own property. As the City grows the want we speak of must grow at an enormously increased proportion. A few years hence, and the business part of the City will be absolutely impassable, and.it is less easy to create new outlets—less easy to tap the traffic in such places than anywhere else. We have before this drawn attention to the very, great difficulty of getting rapidly from Wise's corner to the Imperial. Men who are constantly in the habit of passing up and down will not need to be reminded of the trouble they endure. At Brown, Ewing's corner the difficulty will come to a climax, as ov/ing to the lie of the section, the angle is a very acute one. £200 is not one penny too much to spend upon an improvement of such value ; and we trust the Corporation will act in a liberal and far-sighted spirit.

Oar Wellington correspondent telegraphed last night :—" It is almost certain that Major Atkinson will join the Government." It will be seen ftom our ordinary telegrams that it is reported in Wellington that Major Atkinson, has accepted a seat in the Cabinet.

A bush fire in the direction of Pine Hill caused a lurid glare in the sky last night between ten o'clock and midnight- ■;

The following telegram was received by Mr Oram Ball yesterday from Cromwell:—, " Star of the East Q.M. Co., Carrick Range. Dividend 6s declared. Started crushing again on Monday. Stone will average like last, or better. Jas. Marshall, manager."

The City Coroner (Dr Hoc Yen) held an inquest in the Hospital at noon yesterday upon the body of Charles Burgess, who was found drowned about 200 yards on the inside of Vauxhall Bridge the previous day. Joseph Burgess, a brother of the deceased, was in his company on Monday, and they had three drinks together in town and two at Anderson's Bay. They were both under the influence of drink, and -witness never saw him again from when they parted near Cadzow's Hotel. Two other persons deposed to observing deceased walking near the water, and suddenly missing him when about the bridge, where they found his coat (in which was a bottle of beer), and his hat. They were apprehensive of his falling down on account of seeing him stagger as he walked. The jury brought in a verdict of '' Accidentally Drowned." Deceased- was 37 years of age, a native of Warwickshire, England, aud leaves a wife and family.

There will be a sitting of the Supreme Court in Dunedin for the despatch of Criminal and Civil business on the sth of October next.

Some important business was disposed of by the Waste Lands Board yesterday. Mr Harris explained that lie never used the statement imputed to him that the proceedings of the Board were illegal and "iniquitous;" the word he used was "inconsistent." While upon this subject we may call; attention to the , desirability of rearranging the furniture in the small compartment where the Board meetings are held, iv order that the sreportera may have a better opportunity of noting the important parts of the business. The agents under existing circumstances occupy an awkward position, having their backs generally turned towards the reporters, and when speakiugin an indistinct tone, it is almost an impossibility to catch the, exact words uttered. For instance, Mr Harris is confident that he used the word "inconsistent" in the phrase brought under the notice of the Board yesterday ; our contemporary's representative reported ifc " invidious," and we mistook it for. "iniquitous." There can be no doubt that a larger compartment is required for the business of the Board, or the furniture might be better arranged. Mr Harris's application on behalf of Messrs M'Donald and Matheson, for the Board to state a case for the Supreme Court was considered. A report of the proceedings appears elsewhere.

Tenders are invited by the Provincial Government for the erection of a number of stone and timber bridges on the main road between the Clutha and Mataura. They are all substantial structures, and are mostly in one span. The creeks wJaich they cross are confined by steep banks, and the bridges on that account wilt be a great ■convenience.

The City Council held another long sitting last evening, the time it lasted extending over about five hours. Late sittings appear to.have a very irritating effect on some members, and as the witching hour approached it was very evident there was no love lost between Mr Fish aud Mr Prosser and Mr Reeves, who, as usual, did not lose his' temper, but was pleasantly sarcastic Mr Isaac, who championed Mr Fish, was funny at the expense of Mr Reeves, whom he termed "that facetious creature." The Council adjourned till Friday evening at 7, Messrs Reeves, Walter, and Carroll having previously made an effort; to have an earlier hour fixed.

Our Queensfcown correspondent telegraphs i

—"Mr Warden Beethani declines the invitation of his friends to stand for the Wakatip district.—The hatching of the trout ora has not been successful as yefc. The failure is attributed to the large quantity of sediment in the water. Mr Worthington made some improvement in the hatching arrangements yesterda}-, which promise better success.— Accounts from the Shotover Terrace Company are. more cheering. The reefa at Skippers and Shotover are attracting attention. The Nugget and Cornish are getting oui; good stone. Some rich ground has been struck in a newly-opened terrace at the Sandhills, Upper Shotover."

A deputation, consisting of Messrs Esther, Muir, M'Lenahsa, and Dewdney, waited upon His Worship the Mayor yesterday afternoon. Ifc will be remembered that these gentlemen, with Messrs Dermer and Wragg, were appointed by the meeting of persons ia«

terested in bathing, held at the Athenaeum on Tuesday, for the purpose of having the Pelichet Bay Baths deepened and cleansed. Mr Esther presumed that His Worship was aware of the object that the deputation had in waiting upon him, viz., to ascertain if he would assist them in obtaining the use of the steam drecTge to clean the Pelichet Bay Baths. At present tViere were fully 3ft. of mud in the Baths. As the Corporation were altering and extending them, it would be a matter of little moment if they succeeded in securing the services of the dredge at the same time. The Mayor remarked that the steam dredge had a considerable amount of work to do. MrM'Lsnahan thought it could do all they wanted in one day ; there was only about a quarter of an acre. Mr Walter had that morning suggested the desirability of planking the baths, in order to keep them clean. They were now in their natural state. Mr Muir thought if 3ft. of mud were taken out of the Baths, and some gravel thrown in, it would have the effect of purifying them. At present it was impossible to bathe at half-tide. The Mayor said that nuisances of every description could get into the Baths if they were deepened lower than the channel. Mr Esther understood that the depth of- the water at low tide was 12ft. or 13ft., so that if the Baths were deepened about 3ffc. they would still be-above the channel. The Mayor, believed the Council would consider the best means of carrying out the wishes of the deputation. He advised them to write a letter that afternoon to the Corpotati >n, for consideration at the evening sitting; and, as they would wait upon the Government in a few days, the Council could lay the subject before them at the same time. Mr Dewdney remarked that the bathing season generally commenced on the Ist October, but some had. started already. Considerable dissatisfaction i was expressed at the manner in which Mr Hoy had kept the Baths; but that gentleman's lease will soon expire. The Mayor having promised to bring the question before the Council, the deputation thanked him and withdrew.

A number of the remaining single female immigrants were employed at the Barracks yesterday at current rates of wages. The single men will be open for engagements to. day.

We have received a copy of the Eoyal Horticultural Society's schedule and list of prizes for the year 1874-5. Exhibitions are to bo held on. Wednesday, 16t,h December! 1874, and on Wednesday, 13th March, 1875. The schedule, which contains the usual distinction of gardeners'list, amateurs' list, and list of prizes open, to all, embraces a large number of prizes. Information is also, given of the principle on which the medals are awarded. That the catalogue is favourably supporbed by the public may be inferred from the fact that it contains eighteen pages of advertisements.

The streets of Port Chalmers, especially in the vicinity of the railway station, were remarkable yesterday for something more than usual bustle. There were immigrants about—immigrants from the Harbour, and some from the Caversham Barracks. The former were from the Corona, some two or three hundred of them, and were en route for the Barracks, whilst the latter were the first contingent of the 200 men which the Government has reserved a right to employ on that section of the Moeraki and Dunedin Railway between Deborah Bay tunnel and Sawyer's Bay. Employing so many immigrants, if the Government see fit to do so, is a clause in the contract. Work is to be commenced this morning at the Sawyer's Bay end of the section. The Government has, of "coarse, to house and feed those people, and the latter will be less difficult of accomplishment than the former, for whilst provisions are plentiful, house room is quite the reverse. However, the emergency is to met by using the floating hulk that was fitted up for prisoners, the old Police Barracks in Mount street, and, if necessary, .the new workshop building of the Graving Dock.

A rather sensational bolfc occurred in Princes street yesterday morning. A horae, driven by a man and attached to a fourwheeled baggy in which sat a lady, seemed to have got away from the control of the driver, and came down towards the cab stand opposite the Custom House at a great pace. The buggy came into collision with one of the waggonettes on the stand, knocking it over, and the driver and lady were both thrown oa to the pavement. They were not much hurt, however, and the damage done is confined to the two vehicles. TheJady behaved with remarkable coolness.

At the meeting of Presbytery yesterday the Rev. Dr Stuarfc was appointed Moderator for'the next six months, the Rev. Mr Sutherland accepted the call to North Taieri, the Synod was recommended to appoint two tutors to the Theological College, steps were resolved to be tahen with a view to asking the Rev. Lindsay Mackie to accept the call to the First Charch, and Caversham was declared a sanctioned charge.

In our notice yesterday of "tho Spanish Restaurant, it should have been stated that the lower storey would be "erected," not " occupied;" by Messrs R. and T. Haworth.

Telegrams were received in Ihmedin yesterday from Oamaru,. stating that Mr David Hunter—oae of the contractors for the Waitaki Bridge, and well known and respected here—had slipped off one of tlie ways and been drowned in the river. The body was shortly afterwards recovered..

A special meeting of fee Port Chalmers Grammar School Committee was held on Monday evening to consider the resignation of Miss Quinlan, the head mistress of the school. The proceedings were brief; the resignation being accepted, and it was decided to at once advertise for another teacher. We observe an advertisement to that effect in another column, and that applications ate to be sent in not later than Wednesday, the 16th inst.

A small jetty is to be erected at the ToisTois for the accommodation of vessels fre. quenting that port, thereby obviaiing the necessity of beaching the vessels and dis charging into drays, which have to cross a swampy beach in order to gain the dry land. ■ "• ■

Charles Darlesoir, a groom in tlie employ of Mr Rice, whose stables are situate in Maclaggaa street, bad his right leg broken just above the ankle by a kick from a horse in the yard yesterday. He was admitted into the Hospital, where the f tacture was set.

We notice by the Pro\inesal Government Gazette that the quarfa crushing machine and building on the Sattray street Jetty, the property of the Provincial Government, will will be offered for sale on the 7 th inst.

Says the Western Star, "Sir .James Fergusson has resigned 1 So says the telegram. Well, we are iuclined to think the drapers of Riverton will not benefit.largely by the increased sale of pocket handkerchiefs thereby. Few tears will be shed by the people of the Western. District in consequence ; but, still, the poor boy has suffered severely for his very naughty conduct, and upon one consideration we think he might be pardoned. We might le£ bygones be bygones if he will now accept the memorable address, found in the fireplace of a certain hotel after his hurried departure from Eiverton, and have it framed and handed to his successor, as a reminder as to how badly he (Sir James) had behaved himself, and as a warning nofc to follow his bad example."

The amendments proposed by Mr Fox io the Government Licensing BJI of the pre-

sent session, says the Hawke's Bay Herald, have been ridiculed as the wild vagaries of a fanatical reformer; yet Mr Fox ia the orinator of very few of them. The proposition that bar windows should be made so as to ttfford a view of those inside, has afforded much amusement to some of our contemporaries, who took it for an idea of Mr Fox's } yet the proposal was really originated by Mr Vogel in 1572, in a speech to be found in Hansard, and it was then welcomed as a suggestion of practical value. It is straDge that Mr Vogel did not embody this pet idea of his own in his new Amendment Act. The proposals relating to barmaids, again, though moved by Mr Fox, were in reality suggestions by Mrßathgate, R.M., Dunedin, iin a communication to the Minister of Justice ; and Mr Vogel was indebted to the same source for some of the provisions in his new Bill. Several others of Mr Fox's proposed amendments were derived from Mr Batbgate's suggestions, founded on actual experience—suggestions from which Mr Vogel selected only such as might be acceptable to " the trade " which already exercises so undue an influence in ou-Colonial polities.

We notice in the New Zealand Gazette of the 20th inst., that John Bell Thomson, formerly Detective in charge Lere, and who went to the North Island with Mr Branigaa, has been promoted from a Second to a Firstclass Inspector of the Armed Constabulary ; and Christopher Joseph Naden, formerly a Mounted Sergeant at Oatnaru and Clyde, who left this Province for Wellington three years ago, has been promoted to the rank of Sub-Inspector.

The Southland Times thus describes some ', of the new arrivals at' present quartered at Invercargill :—" The immigrants who are at present residing in the old barracks in Esk street are an amiable lot. They are, it is true, but few in number, and nearly all women, • with tawdry clothes and outworn faces; but for pawning their goods and chattels for strong spirits, and for drinking, fighting, screaming, blaspheming, and in making night hideous in a general way, they are, we should say, simply unsurpassable. They seem to be fit for nothing useful, and the life they lead is truly a pitiable one. Still they are human beings, and must exist somewhere or other; but it is galling to think that the colonists' money should be wasted —literally thrown away—in bringing ; out people who, instead of being a benefit, | are a burden to the Colony."

The debate in the General Assembly upon the licensing Bill was. not of such a " dry" character as might be supposed. "It is a remarkable fact, says the Wellington Tribune, tha.t on the night of the debate on Mr Vogel's Licensing Act Amendment Bill, there were more drinks sold at Bellamy's thau on any other night of the session. The receipts were £9 higher than they had been previously—a practical protest, we presume, by certain members against the views propounded to the House by the eloquent and earnest advocate of total abstinence."

We have been so often toid that the demon Driak has it all his own way in the Colonies, that it is somewhat refreshing to hear that there are people in other parts of the world as bad or worse than we are, even if we do not believe it. This ia what Mr W. G. Mackay, a Southland gentleman, who has lately arrived in the old country, has to say in a letter to the Southland Times :—" I think very little of England, and less of Scotland. If has truly been styled a druuken nation ! The Colonies are bad enough, but they are a Paradise compared to the home country. Suffice it to observe that drunkenness and immorality reign here supreme."

Says the Southland News :—"A letter received by Mr Thos. Patterson, by the Albion from Melbourne, conveyed the intelligence that Mr John M'lntosh had succeeded in purchasing another Conqueror. The price paid at auction was 600 guineas. The horse is described as a rich bay, 6 years old. Mr M'lntosh intends shipping him by the Otago, which is appointed to leave Melbourne on the 9fch September. We sincerely trust that this valuable-addition to our draught stock may be safely landed; and that Mr M'lntosh's spirited enterprise will meet with a fitting reward. From the Melbourne papers we observe that Mr W. Lawson, of Invercargill, purchased at auction, several draught mares with high pedigrees."

Says theHawke'sßay Herald—"lf there is one cause more than another that ought to make the North Island embrace abolition, it is the chronic whine in tlie South that "they are being despoiled by the North. . By. the Compact of 1856 they received an endowment of Colonial estate that no impartial mind eonld say they were entitled to,; and they have ever since elaown a feverish dread that they might lose a. portion of it—first in clamouring for Separation, and when that failed, in melting it away in enormous sales and huge endowments. It is pretty evident that the South, being in the position of the elder brother ander the law of primogeniture, cares little what become of the younger so long .as he ,<ioes not quarter upon him. Like the young perker for whicli there is no maternal teat—he jaay die of inanition, or go 'anywhere, anywhere out of the world.'" •

Wesearcely know whether to consider the manufacture of plam-puddings on a large scale a " new industry "or not. An enterprising firm at Oaraarn, who have large and well-teonducted meat preserving works at that town, have -turned attention to the supply of plum-jmddinga for the goldfields. It appears that a very great deal of fine suet is obtained at these works, and it is thought that it can be better turned to account in the manufacture of puddings, to be tinned and cooked, only requiring tea minutes' boiling over the eainp fire to give off the actual being and full aroma of the Christmas plum-pudding. The experiment made turned out a complete success. , Whether it will be followed up on a. large scale we cannot teil.

Amongst the passengers per R.M. steamship Tartar, says the Southern Cross, are Mr F. Luidea and Mr E. Collins. These gentlemen are about to establish agencies in the Australian Colonies of Baron Reuters Telegram Cempany, Limited. We understand that later on the establishment.of a similar agency will be carried out in Auckland, and this would be of great convenience to merchants and others here. Mr Luidea has held the office of British Vice-Consul at Lima fora number of years, and had the honour of being presented by the Earl of Derby afc the Royal Levee held at St. James's Palace, London, on the Ist June last.

Mr Colenso and the Maori Lexicon are constantly cropping up in the Northern papers. The Wellington Tribune says:— '" Something was said of the Maori Lexicon in the House the other day. Mr Colenso who undertook to produce it, and who has been over paid for what he has done, is manifestly one who will never do the work. Se seems a man who does not know what literary work is, and from whom no adequate result need ever be expected."

The following is from the New Zealand Times:—"The Hon. Mr Waterhouse may be wanting in political acumen, and he may not just now 'hold the destinies of New Zealand in his hand,' but he nevertheless possesses a large fund of wit and genial humour. A few days back Dr Pollen moved in the Council for au alteration in the Oyster Fisheries Bill, by which rock oysters, hitherto exempb from its operation, should be included with 'shore' oysters. In seconding the resolution, Air Waterhouse gave

utterance to the following:—' He had,' he said, 'listened with some degree of disappointment to the remarks which fell from the Hon, the Colonial Secretary in introducing the second reading of this measure. Gfhey were at the present time favoured with having their counsels presided over by a Ministry of grand conceptions, and- he had hoped that the same loftiness of ideas which charac. teriscd their policy generally woiild have manifested itself in this; measure. He had hoped that they would have been shown clearly how, by the preservation of the old oyster beds and the creation of new ones, a sum) could be raised in thirty years sufficient to-enable them to pay off the balance of the Colonial debt which would be left after their forest plantations- had paid off their railway liabilities. : He*.had taken some troxfble to enter into calculations upon the subject, aud he could assure honourable members that his calculations were quite- aa trustworthy, and! might be relied upon with equal confidence, as those he had seen brought forward in favour of a similar scheme as regarded the payment of the railway debt. If they calculated that ther&were upon an acre of land or rather, in accordance with the same plan of argument tliat he had seen adduced elsewhere, he would put it this way: Was it not a safe calculation to reckon that upon one acre of ground there were at least one million dozen'of oysters? They knew that oysters. were packed together with remarkable closeness, and an estimate : of a million dozen of oysters upon an acre of ground was a low calculation. Estimating them'at the ridiculously small sum of 2d a dozen—as a matter of fact 6d being the sum ordinarily paid for them—they would find that one acre of oysters gave something like £SOOO. Now, was it not a safe calculation that over that large extent of seaboard north of Tauranga, w^th the^ estuaries running into the land in all directions, they had at least 50,000 acres of land available for the culture of oysters. It would be ab once apparent that 50,000 acres of oysters, at £8000----an acre, would give a return of something like £400,000,000 sterling. Here was unknown wealth capable of being deveted hereafter to the payment of our Colonial debt! Honourable members might laugh at this calculation, but he was quite sure that it was equally reliable with the calculations in reference to gum trees he had seen put forward. And there would be this pleasing reflection, that while satisfying the cravings of their appetites by consuming this interesting bivalve, they would likewise be contributing towards the payment of the Colonial debt. It was a great scheme, and he was sorry to see that it had not been dealt with in a broad and comprehensive manner worthy of a Ministry of such grand conceptions.' "

Some of the Auckland folk who waxed indignant at iir Vogel's proposition for the abolition of the North Island Provinces got decidedly "flowery" in the course of .their remarks at the public. meeting held'on the subject. One speaker said that "Mr Vogel's policy was like a one-wheeled cart—it would nofc go. There was only one remedy for the existing anomaly, and that was the abolition of the whole of the Provinces:" This gentleman wound his speech up, and let himself run down, by saying, "If Mf Vogel neglected the opportunity which he had of puttiug the Colony into a healthy state, it would be said of him in the future, as it had been said of another and a greater Julius in the past—

But yesterday the word of Julius might Have stood against the world: vow lies he there And noiie so poor to do him reverence! '

There was again'a.'luU attendance at'-'the. Princess Theatre last evening, when the well-varied programme appeared to oecasiori as much laughter and astonishment as ever. The conversation which Val Vose, the ventriloquist, carries on with his quaihfc figures Johnny Trbtter and Mrs Browa, and imaginary individuals, displays his wonderful powers. With the Great Airee on the tra-. peze, and the De Castro^ Family;4fi*their clever performances on the: Ro^an>iings, &c, not to mention the musical jptfrtibn bf the entertainment, it is impossibie not to be pleased. ■ : ■'