THE The Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1874.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3920, 9 September 1874, Page 2

THE The Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1874.

As, owing to the pressure of business; at the ordinary meeting of the City •Council on - Wednesday last, all the motions on the Order Paper for that night had to stand over for consideration at the adjourned one, to be held this eveningl, Mr Councillor Reaves had not an opportunity of testing the feeling of the Council in reference to his scheme for " laying out" the Town Belt in building allotments for, leasing. We presume he will do so this evening, and we therefore avail ourselves of the opportunity thus offered of another remark or two in reference to the, matter, before it is brought up for discussion. We will ignore, in the meantime, the breach of faith implied in the motion with: those who originally set apart the reserve for a specific purpose, and those, also, who handed it over to. the Corporation to " manage" for the purpose as specified, and,set forth both in Act and Ordinance; we will take up more circumscribed ground, and on a lower platform. We will ask the Council to view the matter, for the presentj merely as it affects the personal and pecuniary rights, profits, and.domestic comforts of large sections of the community whose interests they as Councillors have been elected to conserve. There are. not a few of these who have invested largely in the purchase of town lands, for which they have paid higher and higher prices in proportion as the remainder of such lands, open for sale, became successively smaller and smaller. Upon the lands so purchased, numerous and subs fantial residences have been erected, from whMi the Corporation derives a large accession of revenue in the shape of rates, while the proprietors live upon the rents. Many of these purchases have, especially of late, been made in ; the immediate vicinity of the Town Belt, and have implied the expenditure of a much larger sum of purchase money ;on account of the many and very ob- ; vious advantages to be derived from ;that circumstance. Now, we ask, would it be fair to such individuals to rush into the market hundreds upon hundreds of " holding allotments for leas-; ing" in, the immediate vicinity of their several holdings, and, so reduce the value of their property 1 Others, again, have bought and built for their own personal occupation. Their plans have been drawn, and their gardens have been laid out, specially with a view to have in perpetuity a public reserve for a frontage, or as a back ground, according to their several tastes. The convenience and comfort of such an arrangement have been by •many of them very highly estimated and veiy dearly paid for. " Shall such, persons be doomed to wake up some fine morning to find themselves wholly surrounded, shut in or shut out, as the case may happen to be, with fenced off " building allotments f or, perchance, "with small tenements, whose back premises may abut full upon their front doors, or present a pleasant prospect from their drawing-room windows 1 It is true, as we mentioned last week, Mr Reeves still proposes to reserve from the reserve, " at intervals, such areas as may be sufficient for recreation grounds, gardens, and roads." But who is to say how much is "sufficient" forsuch purposes 1 The pioneers of the City thought that the whole Belt was no more than sufficient, and time will prove that they judged correctly. It the proposed encroachment were once

sanctioned, the reserved " intervals" also would—and exactly upon the same plan—one after another disappear, and so the people's pnrk would be made a field for speculation and barter. We trust, however, our City Councillors will prove on this occasion, that they have souls above bawbees, by preserving the Belt intact, for the sole purpose foi which it was set apart. As to the immediate necessity for its improvement, and the consequent expense of the work, there is really no such urgent present need for its being pressed on with railway speed. During the last few years good service has been done, and the work is still going on; and as time progresses a really healthful recreation ground will be within easy access to citizens from nearly all parts of the City, as well as a pleasing introduction to the City for persons coming in from the country. This will be a work, not simply for the City, but the country as well, and as such, we have no doubt the Government would, to some extent, aid the Council in its full completion.

The colonists of Australia and New Zealand are as a class not generally supposed to be at all deficient in that quality known by the name of "smartness," and even where people who live elsewhere are of a different opinion, we are well aware that New Zealanders and Australians hug themselves in the idea that they are particularly "cute," and are not at all disposed to believe that they are to be caught with chaff. Considering that Colonial tradesmen—and indeed, we uaght say colonists, as a rule—are men who have seen a good deal of the world—far more than the inhabitants of old country towns, who, as a rule, live all their lives in one spot—it is really surprising to remember how often they have been duped by mere tyros in the swindling art, men who have carried on systems of almost wholesale fraud here and in Australia, while in Great Britain the same individuals, had they desired to live dishonestly, would have found no opening for their particular talents outside the rather overcrowded ranks of the petty thieves. Our friends in Victoria have been taken in cruelly lately by one or two individuals, who have managed to live for a short time upon the fat of the land, though the possessors of no more substantial credentials than an unlimited stock of impudence and a knowledge of the particular weakness of the average middle-class colonist. In communities that somewhat pride themselves upon their democratic notions, and among men who would indignantly deny any tendency on their part to bow down and worship persons with no other claim to respect than a connection with.an ancient family, or the mere possession of wealth, the amount of pure and unadulterated flunkyism that exists is surprising, and.. the knowledge of this simple fact it is that enables so many impudent swindlers and adventurers to, from time to time, have it all their own way, not only amongst tradesmen, but amongst those who have complacently come to regard themselves as leaders of Colonial Society. In Victoria we have had the Melbourne Club almost as a body falling upon its knees and worshipping some elegantly dressed and well-spoken youth with a high-sound-ing name, who has, after following a brilliant career of fraud—rendered the easier by the way being almost paved for him—suddenly disappeared, leaving his newly-acquired and admiring friends to think what fools they were. The Melbourne Press not long ago, after something of this kind had happened, read the colonists a severe lesson upon the folly of their ways, and wehave often noticed in the Press of the other Colonies, lamentations that men who ought to know better were, so easily sold. Wehave not been with-: out our experiences of this kind in New | Zealand, although perhaps we have not laid ourselves so much open to ridicule as our friends in some of the sister Colonies. The fact still remains, however, that a man has only to arrive here, no matter from what part of the world, dress well, boast of his connections and wealth, and with nothing more substantial than a large stock of impudence, he can obtain a more than reasonable amount of credit, and mix—for a short time at any rate— amongst men. who have attained positions, and men who would be amongst the last to believe that they could be imposedupoD. -.-.-. We learned from the Telegraph Department last night, that the reason why we re. ceived no telegrams was that the line was interrupted north of Blenheim., The interruption probably occurred between Blenheim and the shore end of the Cook Strait cable. A deed of burglary at the north end of the city was perpetrated by some rascal on Monday night The grocery store of Mr A. Allan at the corner of Great King and St. David streets, was entered by means of a window being wrenched open with a crowbar, and the till, containing 30s, taken away, and five bags of flour removed a short distance from the: building. .The empty till was found in an adjoining garden, having no doubt been thrown over by the. thief, who has not yet been apprehended. '"""'

A summoned meeting of the Loyal Pioneer Lodge, No. 1, Protestant Alliance Friendly Society, was held in Milton Hall, Stuart street, on Monday evening ;; at which there was a good attendance of members, it having been called for receiving auditors' report and transaction of; other general business. , Mr C. De L. Graham was elected Secretary, vice George Boucher, resigned, and some matters of importance having been discussed, it was resolved to adjourn until the 21st inst., on account of the audit not being complete.

[ The proposition for the establishment of a Sailors' Home in Dunedin has met with such favour amongst the business community : and some of our shipping agencies elsewhere, that there appears little doubt of its being I brought to a successful issue. The funds have been augmented in various ways, by entertainments, private subscriptions,. &c, and to-night a concert and dance will be given in the North Dunedin Drill Shed, in which some well-known amateurs will t»ke part, and a tempting programme has been prepared. \ The balance of the single women immigrants per Tweed were landed yesterday and sent to Dunedin. As they reached the shore some time before the train was ready to start I they received permission to take a stroll ! ithrough the Port, and gladly availed them- ! selves of it. Many were the laudatory expressions elicited by their appearance, bearj ing, and behaviour. Certainly handsomer, better-conducted, or healthier-looking girls have not reached these shores for many a day. If they do not prove an acquisition to the Province we shall be very much surprised. After a number of unforseen difficulties . and delays, Mr Genever succeeded yesterday in raising the new gasometer to its proper height. As this was merely a trial " lift" the holder was raised by air forced in by a powerful centrifugal fan, driven by a port- ! able steam-engine at a high rate of speed, j The gasometer is what is technically de- ! scribed as a telescopic one, that is, it works in an inverted cup. The advantage of this principle is that a gasometer can be constructed with mnch larger holding capabilities and occupying le3s ground than one built on the ordinary system. The holder is capable of storing 160,000ffc. of gas. The full length of the lift is 40ffc., and the diameter of the holder 80ft. Yesterday

about four hours were occupied in filling the holder, and it required about one hour to empty it. Judging from the speed ab which the fan was revolving in a reverse direction as the air escaped—something over 3000 revolutions a minute—we should imagine that the pressure of gas from this holder will be sufficient to satisfy the most whimsi cal of town councillors. After a few trifling leaks have been stopped, we believe it is Mr Genever's intention to fill the gasometer, for use in about a fortnight. We have to thank Mr Genever for the ready manner in which he supplied our representative with all particulars necessary.

A deputation from the Port Chalmers Town Council yesterday waited upon His Honour the Superintendent, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Government intended to fill up the portion of the railway line near the Port which had not been attended to. The Superintendent promised to have the work done by prison labour. The hearing of the last of the District Court cases was concluded yesterday, and Judgment deferred until Tuesday. Judgment was also further deferred in the case of Outred v. Hyman until this morning. The unsettled weather of Saturday and Monday somewhat interfered with the newly initiated works in the vicinity of Port Chalmers. Yesterday, however, the immi grant labourers made a fair beginning. One hundred and two of them were employed along the line, commencing at Mussel Bay and extending downwards. Aa accommoda- ' tion equivalent for such a nnmber has not yet been provided at the Port, the great ma- j jority come from Dunedin in the morning and return at night, free passage being accorded them per train. Between thirty and forty of them are berthed in the Prison Hulk. . ; : ■ .: '•"■ . The adjourned case of W. Withers, who was charged with being absent without leave from the ship Otago, was heard at the Port Chalmers Police Court yesterday before Mr Taylor, J.P., and Captain Thomson, J.P. The defendant was ordered to return to his duty on board. It. Jones, an inebriate, was fined 5s or in default 24 hours' imprisonment. The sudden death of Harland, the boatman, at the Port on Monday has given occa- j sion for another expression of liberality on the part of the charitably disposed. He leaves a wife and four children entirely unprovided for, except the pittance they are I entitled to from the benefit society of which. he was a member. . i .. A man named Robert Edmunds, who had his leg broken in a scuffle, on Wednesday last, died in the Hospital yesterday after. noon. He was "suffering from delirium tremens. and consequently the limb could not be nursed. . . . .-..-■. A woman in the prime of life named Susan Jackson was charged before the Mayor and \ Mr Mercer, J.P., yesterday with attempting to commit suicide. She was found by two women struggling in Abbot's Creek, Green Island, on the 31st-inst., amd with difficulty rescued. The woman was very strange m' her demeanour, but the evidence not being sufficient to commit her, she was discharged. The trout ova experiment has not been successful as yet at .Queenstown (saya the Arrow Observer). Up to the present all! have died during the process of hatching. : A large amount of sediment in the water is1 supposed to be the cause. Mr Worthingtpn, who has charge o£ the.ova, hag made some improvements which promise better success.The announcement "of the resignation of, Sir James Fergusson (says the South Canterbury Times) and the appointment of the Marquis of Normanby to succeed him in the; Governorship of New Zealand, will take our1 readers by surprise. . Sir James does not ap-; pear to have succeeded in. securing the at-; tachment of the Colonists, and probably his; withdrawal from the Governorship will not; be much regretted. With the motives that '■■ have led to this step, we are not acquainted; most probably' tkey are purely of a private character, for, so far as his public career is concerned, we consider it has not only been unexceptionable, but tempered with sagacity and discretion., - i . , .-•: -.. • - :. ;

The owners of land in the neighbourhood of the Tokomairiro coalfield (writes the Bruce Herald) will be glad to learn that a second expert has confirmed Captain Hutton's favourable report on one of bur 'great resources. At the request of Mr J. Mackay, Mr David HutchesoD, ho well known in connection with the Shag Point ..coal mine, and a practical miner of very great experience, visited and closely inspected the " Real Maekay" mine last week. , His r. port is thoroughly favourable, not only to the coal seam but to the facilities for working which this mine possesses, and which he says are such that three hundred miners could find employment at a week's notice at auy time, and would average an output of from twelve to eighteen tons each per diem. He .also comments on the new road-now being made to the pit, which, from its almost uniformly level character, when completed, will, he. thinks, effect a great saving in the carriage of coal. "; •. ; ■••■= • '■■'>' -•■■-■'• -:' ■ :

I Mr Smith's Combination Troupe appear to be advancing in popularity at the Princess Theatre, for last night again the house was crowded. The troupe is essentially a "Variety" one, and all the members are clever in their own particular way. The juvenile members ef the company have never had any rivals in New Zealand, while Val Vose is certainly the best ventriloquist that has ever appeared in New Zealand or any of the Australian Colonies.' The Company are good individually, ; and as a, whole, and will no doubt draw good houses here for some time to come. A large head—a most clever piece of mechanism—that appears on the stage at the close of the acrobatic performance of the two youngest members of the De Castro family, is one of the best things of the kind that we have seen for a | long time. We have had hideous goblins in pantomimes, but this head puts them all in the shade. The head comes on the stage apparently without the assistance of legs and without the encumbrance of a body. The eyes roll about in a horrible manner, the wrinkles of the face move most naturally, ■■ and after both the youthful acrobats have disappeared down the capacious throat, an immense red tongue licks the lips of this mostwonderful figure as if the meal was an enjoy— able one. We cannot imagine anything more likely to please the youngsters in the house, as the stories in "Jack the Giant-killer," and other works so dear to juveniles, are put completely in.the shade. If the "head" is brought on the stage on Saturday afternoon, and is made to gobble up the small acrobats, we can safely predict that the little ones-in the audience will be delighted. The Dunedin Volunteer Artillery will pai-ade for inspection this evening at the Drill-shed. The Band will also attend. The single females per Tweed may be engaged to-day at the Immigration Depot, Caversham. The steamer Golden Age will leave Port Chalmers for Dunedin on Friday evening at 6.15 p m., returning after the close of the Theatre. The Government inspection of the Dunedin Naval Volunteers has bren postponed untii Thursday, the 17th inst.