The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1882.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6503, 15 December 1882, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1882.

Letters to the editor, the report of the Police Court, and a copy of the judgment in tho case 'of Connor v. M'Kay in the Appeal Court are published on our fourth page. Owing to the lengthy report of Mr Fish's speech wo are compelled to hold over leading matter, our reports of the Harbour Board meeting, and of the breaking-up of the district schools. We intend publishing n supplement to-morrow which will enable us to publish these reports, and a quantity of other matter.

Mr Gladstone is now celebrating tho jubilee year of his political life. He first entered the Hotlse of Commons in December, 1832, and has sat continuously as a member ever since.

The later particulars by cable concerning the terrible calamity at the Australasian mine at Creswick are so far cheering that some lives have happily been saved, though the large majority of the miners who were below have been killed. Of the 41 men who were working n the mine 14 managed to escape at tho time of the disaster, and now five more have been got out alive, although these are all in a wretched condition from their long confinement, and the state of one is critical. Altogether the dead bodies of 22 men have been re. covered. A subscription has already been started in Melbourne for the relief of those made widows and orphans by the occurrence.

The question of the permanent improvement of the bar at the Heads came before the Harbour Board yesterday, a list of motions being introduced by Mr Pish to the effect that the Government should be requested to examine the plan proposed by* the Board, and Sir J. Coode furnished with data which would enable him to say whether this partial adoption of his scheme would be of any use. After a short discussion, consideration of the question was adjourned. Mr J. M'JKenzie's plan of improvement was also held over for further consideration ; but Mr P. Willson's offer was declined. Mr Larnach gave notice of his intention to move that all harbour improvement works should be let by tender; and Mr Burt tabled a motion inviting competitive designs for the improvement of the bar.

We are informed that the statement that there was 30 feet of water in the Ross Creek reservoir is incorrect. There is only 9 feet 2 inches of water in that reservoir, which means 1 foot 2 inches available, the last 8 feet not being fit for use. In the Silverstream reservoir there ia 3G feet 6 inches available, but the pressure at the Oargill Monument is only about 901b. in the middle of the day. It requires 1201b. pressure to supply up to Arthur street. When the water is cut off at the northern end between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m. the pressure at the south ia from 1501b. to IGOlbDuring the other hours of the night the pressure over tho whole town is 1351b.

We regret to hear that Mr A. D. Lubecki, who has for many years fulfilled the duties of chief telegraphist in Dunedin so admirably, is leaving the department for a time, owing to ill health, and will probably travel for a time. Mr Lubecki has been 17 years in tho position he now occupies. Mr Lubecki will have the right of returning to the department at tho end of a year should he desire to do so, and 1113 health be restored. He will carry with him on his travels the best wishes of many friends. A successor hag not yet been named.

Sir Julius Vogel's stay in this Colony will be brief. He will only remain a few days in Dunedin, and will probably only visit Ohristchurch and Wellington before he takes his departure from New Zealand, His Worship tho Mayor has convened a public meeting for thisafternoon, at 4 o'clock, in order to take steps towards entertaining Sir Julius at a banquet.

Our Auckland correspondent forwards us, by telegraph, an extract from an article in the Auckland Herald, dealing with the Rev. A. O. Gillies. That paper .fittingly suggests that his letter to our reporter ia a matter which the Presbytery should take cognisance of.

We have been forwarded a preliminary cartoon issued aa an avant courier to a new seriocomic monthly paper which it is proposed to publish in Dunedin. The cartoon in question, both as regard.') drawing and engraving, is an exceedingly creditable production, and if the cuts in the new journal are to be continued at this standard, it will undoubtedly command a fair amount of patronage from the public. The subject selected by the artist for his preliminary effort is the transit of Venus, which is depicted from a humorous point of view in sevoral very bold and well-coucoived sketches. The name fixed upon for the new publication is " Toddy," a synonym, no doubt, for the London Punch, and it is proposed to issue the first number early in January.

The Finance Committee of the Harbour Board, in its report to the Board yesterdayj mentioned that great difficulty had been experienced lately in obtaining payment of dues, especially those in connection with wool and other exports. It was stated that if the course pursued by some individuals of raising obstacles in the way of collection was further persisted in, the Committee would have to take into consideration tho employment of a larger staff, which would in turn necessitate a proportionate increase of rates.

Daniel M'Kenzie, the well-known contractor, who was brought before the Police Court on Saturday last, charged with breaking win dows, and remanded for a week aa some doubts existed as to his sanity, was to-day transferred to tha Lunatic Asylum. We learn that for some time 'past M'Kenzie has been in an excitable condition, and has been carrying loaded firearms, which ho occasionally discharged, much to the terror of his friends. It is atated that he has been drinking very heavily of late.

Our sporting contributor " Beacon " writes: "In answer to several inquirers as to whether the Mata whose name was recently telegraphed aa heading tho list for a handicap at a West Coast meeting is Mr Hazlett'a well-known horse, I have to say that it certainly is not; more than that, I cannot conceive what horse is over there that can give old Fishhook a stone with any chance of winning."

The establishment of a Government labour exchange in connection with the Immigration Office, Dunedin, ia announced. It is intended to supply labour, of every deiscription for both town aud country districts. As this is a step in the right direction, it is tq be hoped that employers of labour, and inpn aud women requiring employment, will take full advantage of the facilities thus afforded. Forms of ap-

plication can be-procured- at all the country-post-offices and police-stations, and will go free by post; The names of persons requiring employment are registered in the Immigration Office, and thai situations will be bestowod on applicants in rotation in accordance with their suitableness for the work required of them. No fee is charged.

We are informed that another patent .is about to be secured for the manufacture of oilgas. The inventors have succeeded in perfecting a process for making a rich gas from any fatty substance at a marvellously small cost. A moat important feature of the new process is that it can be adopted in oxisting coal gasworks of any magnitude, with scarcely any alteration of the plant being required. The chemical constitution of the new gas is such that it can be stored in large quantities, and may be distributed without deposit or deterioration to any distance. The inventors confidently anticipate being able to manufacture the ga.s for less than 2s per thousand feet.

The Clutha Caledonian Society have arranged an excellent programme for their annual sports, to be held at Balclutha on Boxing Day. Altogether £75 will be distributed in prizes.

Our Lake County correspondent writes:— "A miner at Bracken's Gully possesses a kitten which has evinced a strange predilection for fowls. This singular kitten follows the fowls about all day, goes to roost with them, relieves the sitting hen, acts mother Jo young chicks—in fact, makes itself generally useful in the hen-roost and out of it to the feathered tribe. Perhaps the strangest thing about this kitten is that the hens and roosters let it do pretty much as it likes. The sanguine miner, who is a firm believer in Evolution, daily expects that -his wonderful kitten will follow the more, useful example of the hens, and when this occurs I shall duly inform your readers of such an interesting phase of Evolu. tion."

The report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the effect of the Contagious Diseases Acts of 18GS and 18G9 has lately been published. The conclusion of the Committee after careful investigation is favourable to the hygienic effect of the Acts ; and as regards the army, they declare that out of 10-G9 per 1000 who would probably have been withdrawn from the efficient strength of the army in the subjected districts if they had not been under the Acts, 5-38 per 1000 have been daily saved to the efficient strength of the army by the operation'of the Acts, in addition to increased immunity from other debilitating disorders. In regard to the constitutional, moral, and social aspects of the principles and administration of the Acts, the conclusion of the Committee is also favourable. The objections have not, they consider, been sustained by evidence, and the charges of misconduct against the police have broken down. They state that the Acts are shown to have been beneficial to the moral and physical condition of the women, and while they do not recommend the extension of the Acts to the United Kingdom generally, they come to the conclusion that they could not recommend their repeal. On the other hand, at the International Medical Congress hold in London in August last, various opinions more or less opposed to the principle and effectiveness of the Acts were expressed by medical men of different nationalities.

Tho claims of the doctor who was commis_ sioned by the Victorian Government to in. vestigate the supposed outbreak of smallpox at Hamilton amount to £932. The Board of Health has referred the accounts to the Chief Secretary.

The Australian Frozen Meat Company's new works at Williamstown are almost completed. The greatest attention has been paid to every detail necessary to secure the successful working of the Company's business. The buildings will cost £6000.

Commenting upon the prosecution of Lyle at Timaru for arson, the Timaru Herald says:—" His Honor told the jury plump and plain that the prisoner's story was not true, and showed them how it disproved itself. He took cognisance of every point that had been raised in the prisoner's favour, and with a dispassionate clearness that might have penetrated the dullest intellect, he demonstrated the fallacy of them all. The practical effect of the judge's analysis of the evidence was to send the case for the prosecution to the jury unobscured by any fictitious theories as to what might have happened if the facts had been different from what they were. Yet, after a retirement of 10 minutes, the jury found the prisoner not guilty. In the face of that yer. diet it is almost hopeless to endeavour to obtain a conviction for arson in Timaru by means of the ordinary procedure."

We have heard by the San Francisco mail of the failure of Mr Tennyson's new play, "The Promise of May." It is a pathetic drama of rustic life, in three acts. Its heroine's name is Dora, but its subject has nothing ta do with Mr Tennyson's poem of that name, which was dramatised by Mr Charles' Reade some years ago, though it resembles it at least in the extreme simplicity of the story. Mr Tennyson expended great pains on the portrait of the evil genius of the play, a libertina who glories in his lack of faith in religious and moral obligation, and makes love to the sister of the woman whom he has ruined and betrayed. The dialogue of the new piece is written throughout in prose. During its performance at the Globe Theatre, the Marquis of Queenaberry twice arose and protested against Tennyson's repre sentation of the principle of Freethought, which he .said was a travesty on the sentiments of Freethinkers. His remarks created a sensation, and the Marquis left the theatre.

The Australian Central Committee of the Irish Land League are in receipt of a telegram from Mr Parnell, intimating' that Mr J. E. Redmond, who represents New Ross in the House of Commons, had been deputed to proceed to Australia to further the objects of the new national organisation that has recently been founded in Dublin. The telegram states that Mr Redmond was to take his departure by the Indus. The platform which Mr Redmond is to advocate in the Colonies em_ braces tho following heads : — Nationa self-government, land law reform, loea self - government, extension of the parliamentary and municipal franchises, and the development and encouragement of the labour and industrial interests of Ireland. He will also urge the assimilation of the Irish franchise to that of England, and the adoption of the English system in the registration of voters. The cardinal principle of the campaign, however, is stated in the following words :— "The restitution to the Irish people of the right to manage their own affairs in a Parliament elected by the people of Ireland." MiRedmond, it is understood, will visit all the principal centres in the Colonies.

It may be worthy of note (says the Wellington Post) that by the Brindisi mail, delivered in Wellington on Wednesday, Gth December, replies were received to letters sent Home by the San Francisco mail which left here on 10th September. The latter was delivered in London on 20th October, the day on which the out. ward Brindisi mail which arrived on Wednesday was despatched. The replies were thus received in 87 days, or two calendar months and 20' days from the date of the original letters being despatched. This is probably the quickest time in which the double journey has ever been performed.

As an indication of the popularity of Colonial inscribed stock, I may mention (writes the Home correspondent of the Argus) that in connection with the £5,000,000 New Zealand loan there have been no less than 5000 transfers in the course of tho last two half years. The Canadian inscribed 4 per cent, stock is very difficult to obtain, having been almost entirely absorbed by trustees.

During the five Sunday afternoons on which the Art Gallery in Sydney has been open the total number of visitors has been 19,010, an average of over 3900 each Sunday.

His Excellency the Governor of Fiji visited Samoa in H.M.S. Diamoijd on the 24th October. The object of the visit was to inquire into some outrages which had been committed upon British subjects. "The result of the inquiry was that tho natives implicated were fined £100, which they paid. His Excellency then returned to Fiji, arriving there ou November 3rd in the same vessel.

A telegram from New York reports tho salvation from destruction of. a train containing 000 passengers by the noble courago and selfsacrifice of an engine-driver named Joseph A, Tieg. The furnace door of the engine having been opened by the fireman to replenish the fire, while the train was travelling 35 miles an hour, the back draught forced the flames out so that the-car of the locomotive caught fire, and the driver and fireman were driven back over the tender into the first passenger car, leaving the engine without control. The speed increasod, and the volume of flame with it. There was imminent danger that' all tho carriages would tako fire, and the whole train be consumed. The passengers wore panicstricken. To jump oft was certain death ;to remain was to be roasted alive. The enginedriver saw $hat tho only way to save the pas.

•aehgers was to-return-to- the engine and stop the train. He plunged into tho flames, climbed back over the tender, and reversed the engine. When tho train came to a standstill, ho was found in the water-tank, whither he had climbed, with his clothes entirely burned off, his face disfigured, his hands shockingly burned, and hia body so badly blistered that the flesh was stripped off in many places. He was taken in a state of unconsciousness to the hospital, where very little hope wasentertained of his recovery.

Another good audienceiassembled to hear Mr Maccabe go through his inimitable performance, which has been witnessed by numbers who never attend ordinary theatrical entertainments. Though many of the audience must have seen him more than once, and some of -them many years ago, the interest throughout is unabated and the applause tumultuous. The "wandering minstrel" is still the favourite character, and is a splendid impersonation.

Messrs Maclean and Co. will sell hacks, a hunter, harness horses, spring-cart, io. at T^tteranlla on Saturday.

Mcsjrj James Samson and Co. will sell furniture at their rooms to-morrow.

Tho Dunedin Bicycle Ciub meet this evening at the Pier Hotel.

The Christmas-tree and sale of goods in the Moray place Congregational Church hall will be continued to-day and to-morrow. Messrs S. and W. Maciay, booksellers, George street, have sent us a cipy of Melbourne Punch Almanac for 18S3.

Mr M. Pym will sell furniture on Mondaj'. Messra Bastings, Leary, and Co. will sell piano, clock, &c. on Tuesday; and on Satnrday, in George street, the Btock-in-trada of a'cabinetmaker.

Messra Wright, Stepheraon, aid Co. will sell the Taieri Show privileges to-morrow. Mr T. C. Fa,rnie, 8.A., will deliver a lecture in the Lyceum on Sunday evening- on " Agnosticism." Messrs Stephenson and Co. will sell furniture, cattlo, horses, books, &o. at the residence of All-George Stephenson, Palmerston, on Monday. Messrs M'Undress, Hepburn, and Co. will sell furniture at their rooms to^tlay; also new potatoes Messrs G. R. Freeman and Co., of Waimate, will sell horses from Mr Studholmo's estate on December 28th.

Messra M'Landress, Hepburn, and Co. will sell freehold properties in St. CJair and in Ascot Vale on Thursday, 21st inst; also the old Bank of Australasia property, iv High street. '" Messra Wright, SteprKnsbn,' and Co. will sell draught and light-harness horses (the property of Mr Taiaroa, 41. H.K.), on Saturday. Ada Mantua's " Champion" rapidly filling ; will close about 20th.-fADVT.]