News of the week.

Otago Witness, Issue 1161, 28 February 1874, Page 17

News of the week.

The Nelson hop plantations are suffering severely this year from the attacks of a small grub.

The Maoris near Tauranga are asking the modest price of ten shillings per bushel for their wheat.

We undei stand that the Catholic Clmrch at the Arrow will bs opened by the Right Rev. Dr Moran on Sunday, I.3th March.

Mr George Young, watchmaker and jeweller, Princes street, has been appointed jeweller to His Excellency the Governor.

Dr Berggren, the Swedish botanist, is at present occupied in examining the Alpine vegetation on the road between Christchurch and Hokitika.

The tender of Mr Bruce, Waimate, Canterbury, for the erection of the Waitaki Bridge, has been accepted. The amount has not yet transpired.

The Original Detitscher Verein held a special meeting last night at Bannatyne's Sussex Hotel. The principal business was to elect gentlemen wishing to become members.

The competition for the three scholarships, open to students for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, will take place in the class-room of Knox Church, on the 29th and 30th of April next.

During the week ending February 21st twelve patients were admitted into tho Dunedin Hospital, and 16 discharged therefrom. The number at pre- ent in the Hospital is 127, of whom 20 are females.

The number of persons nominated through the Immigration Office, Dunedin, between the lOfch and the 18th February was as follows :-— English. 32 ; Scotch, 34; Irish, 11 — being, in all, 92 souls, equal to 79 adults.

An accident occurred on board the ship City of Dunedin the other afternoon, whereby one of the hands received serious injury, his thigh being fractured. Dr Stewart, of the ship, assisted by Dr Drysdale, set the limb.

The Catholic Church at Naseby has to be removed on account of a party of miners taking up as an area for a claim the site on which it is situate. A contract has been entered into for the sum of £220 for its removal and rebuilding. -

The Presbyterian congregation of Waitahuna has, we understand, given a unanimous call to the Rev. James Skinner to be its minister. The Rev. Mr Skinner has been about three months in the Colony, and is at present supplying North Taieri.

From an official telegram, sent from the Premier at Auckland to His Honour the Superintendent on Saturday, we learn that the steamship Atrato was to sail from England on the 6th of February with 700 immigrants on board, for Otago and Canterbury.

One hundred and thirteen of the immigrants at the Quarantine Station were admitted to pratique on Thursday morning, and sent to Dunedin in the steamer Peninsula. The Clutha engine, with four carriages attached, •onveyed them to the Caveraham Barracks.

The Southern Cross says :—": — " The gentleman who perpetrated the following is now under medical treatment : — ' Why would it be improper to act Macbeth between decks in the Mikado ?' Because no actor could there exclaim, • Damned bo he who first cries hold, enough !' "

Tenders are now called up to Wednesday, 4th March, for the erection of an engineshed at Dunedin. The shed is to be 100 ft by 40ft, will have three lines of rails, and will accommodate nine locomotives. It will be built between the present engine-shed and Rattray street. There is now quite a dearth of teachers in this Province. In the issueß of the Gazette for several weeks past there are no less than ten District Boards advertising for teachers. In most cases the salaries offered are liberal, and good encouragement is held out to young men of ability,

A handsome wooden bridge, on the bowstring girder principle, is about to be construe red across the Leith at the head of Castle street. It is intended for foot passengers, and will be 70 feet long and 4 feet wide, the footway being suspended on two laminated timber arches. The New Zealand Herald says:— "The foundations of the Bean Rock Lighthouse were very much shaken during the Lite gale. All the iron uprights or piles, with the exception of one, are found on inspection t » have suffered from the effects of the gale, and the masonry is injured." The larrikin pest is even worse in Auckland than here, if one may judge from the following in the Herald : — "Yesterday a dog was scan running from a right-of-way in Hobson-streer, with both its ears and tail cut off — the act of three lads, who had performed j the operation with a saw." In an action brought to recover £30 on a stopped cheque, before Mr Strode the other day, the j^'itiff was nonsuited on the ground that the cheque, which was post dated, was in effect a bill of exchange, and therefore should have been stamped as such, and not merely a3 a cheque. The reading-room of the Athenaeum was open for four hours on Suuday — from two p.m. until six p.m. The room ■was well rilled during tho day, and at one time tlieru were over fifty subscribers present. Mr Lnbecki, the President of the Institution, and Mr Winter, Treasurer, were in attendance.

The Rev. Mr Paton, of the New Hebrides Mission, has returned to Dunedin from his visit to th.3 churches in the southern part of the Province. We learn that he has met with most gratifying success in the form of large contributions towards the fund for completing the purchase of the new mission ship.

The Government Gazette notifies that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint the following gentlemen to act as Justices of the Peace for the Colony :—: — Thomas Thomson, Esq., of Campbelltown ; William Sinclair Trotter, E-=q.. of Kingston ; and James Waddcll, Esq., of Campbelltown, Otago.

We take the following from the New Zealand Herald :—": — " The members of the police force stationed in Auckland have subscribed the sum of -£13 9s Gd towards the proposed monument to the late Commissioner, Mr St. John Branigan — a very creditable sum, indeed, considering the miserable pay which is doled out to them. "

His Excellency the Governor of Queensland, at the opening of the Colonial Parliament, stated the construction of the telegraph cable from a part of New South Wales to a part of New Zealand has been ratified by the Government of the latter Colony. Queensland now only awaits the action to be taken by the New South Wales Parliament.

Mr Millar, who passed about six months ago as a teacher of the third class under the Otago Education Board, has been appointed to tne school at Port Molyneux, in the room of Mr Thomson, who Las taken charge of the school at Mataura. At Port Molyneux a neat and commodious school building has been lately erected.

We are informed that the Dunedin Waterworks Company has acceded to the suggestion made by the Acclimatisation Society, that tickets should bo issued entitling the bearers to fish for perch in the Company's reservoir. The ticket, for one season will only cost five phillings, and the amount will be handed to the Society.

Elisha Harris, a Cornishmrm, was received into the Gaol a few days ago, escorted by Police Constable Baird. He was sentenced at Balclutha, on the 17th inst., by Mr Maitland, R.M. . to three months' imprisonment with hard labour, for stealing 20 plug 3of tobacco, and 5 boxes of lucifer matches at Glenomaru, the property of Thomas Pollock.

The Grand Interprovincial Steeplechases Committee have decided that the steeplechases shall be held at Willow Bridge, Waimate, Canterbury, on the 21st April next. It is notified that the Committee wish to impress the public of New Zealand that these steeplechases are got up purely for the encouragement of the breed of weight-carrying hacks.

It is a great mistake to think that barley of good quality cannot be produced in this Province. On the farm of Dr Inglis, East Taieri, there is a very superior crop, full in the ear, and of excellent quality, which is expected will yield from 50 to 60 bushels to the acre. The seed, which was Chevalier, was obtained from a firm in town, for which the Doctor paid 9s per bushel.

Yesterday was one of the most unpleasant days we have had this year. The rain began to fall before daylight, and continued steadily without intermission until dark. After nightfall there were occasional showers, and a black sky that promised more wet. There was a sloppiness about the streets, and a dampness about everybody one met, and outdoor work was anything but desirable.

The boat race between Messrs Burkes and Strachan's employe's will take place in Mark Webb's sister boat3 — the Challenge and Return— this afternoon, 28th inst. The course will be from the Old Jptty to Black Jack's Point and back— six miles. Should this race be finished in time, a pair-oared race, in the same boats and over the same course, will be pulled by two of Messrs Burt's and two of the Union crew.

We are glad to see that Mr Bathgate, in his capacity of Resident Magistrate, is determined to have the sanitary laws carried out. The other day when he took his seat on the Bench for the first time, several persons were charged with having permitted nui-

sances to exist on their premises, and in each case he inflicted a pretty heavy fine, and pointed out the necessity of keeping the law in this respect.

A meeting of dairymen was held on Thursday morning at the Royal George Hotel, the object being to discuss the question of the raising of the price of milk. Mr Sanderson occupied the chair. After some discussion with reference to the price of labour and other matters affoctina; the trade, it was unanimously resolved that the price of milk should be raided to 5d per quart for the cix months commencing Ist of March next.

His Honour the Superintendent has appointed the 30fch of March next, at 7 p.m., as the time for holding meetings of owners and occupiers of land and householders for the election of School Committees in the following districts, where no committees were elected on the 12th of January, tbe day previously appointed : — Port Chalmers, Porto • belle, Mauetown, Waiwcra, Popotunoa, Otepopo, Saddle Hill, Oteiamika, Waipori, and Clinton.

An appeal case of some importance was hoard bffore Mr Watt, R.M., last week. The Dunedin Water Works Company appealed agtinst the valuation placed upon their land and works in the Upper Wakari district, by the Half-way Bush District Road Board. The net annual value of the land pnd works was assessed at £3252, and the appellants sought to have ib reduced by about 45 per cent. The Magistrate reserved his judgment.

The improvements now going on in the Museum, and especially in the department devoted to birds, are worthy of special notice, and redound greatly to the credit of the new curator, Captain Hutton, and the taxi derrnist, Mr Jennings. The admirable style in which Mr Jennings is mounting the birds will go far towards redeeming the character of the institution, and when the other changes contemplated by Captain Hutton are carried out, tae Museum will be all that can be desired.

Mr Henry Clayficld, of Lawrence, tinsmith, &c, is a lucky man ; his lines have fallen on pleasant places ; he has only to go on soldering kettles and billies for another season, and then it will be his own fault if ho cannot retire on a competency. The Tuapeka Times remarks :—"lt: — "It is evident that the age of bunkum has not yet been pissed by New Zealanders. Mr Hpnry Olayfield has been appointed tinsmith to His Excellency Sir James Fcrgusson."

We mentioned once before that although there was a copy of the Koran in the Athenaeum library, the shelves of the Institution did not contain a Bible. Mr John Logan, with commendable forethought, caused a fine large edition of the Holy Scriptures to be placed in the Reference-room of the Athenaeum on Saturday, for the use of the Sabbath visitors. As Mr Logan has only lent the Bible to the Institution, it would be well if the Committee purchased a copy and placed it on the shelves.

Several persons who have taken passages to Great Britain in vessels that are soon to leave the Port are anxious to know whether they are to have Mr Sullivan, the Maungatapu murderer, as a fellow passenger. After the Mikado affair, the vessels that leave Port Chalmers will no doubt be closely watched, and by none more closely than by those who know that upon their vigilance depends their freedom from the company of one of the worst criminals the Colonies have ever produced.

There are a number of persons in this city who appear to look upon the proceedings in the Resident Magistrate's Court as a kind of cheap and light entertainment, provided for them by a paternal Government. The samemen may be seen in the Court day after day, and often week after week, wide-a-wake, and apparently taking a deep interest in everything that transpires. What the nature ot their occupation can be, when they can devote so much time to amusement, is a mystery that is only occasionally solved.

Formerly horses, instead of being landed on the Port Chalmers Jetty, were landed at Carey's Bay, but the making the beach road destroyed the landing place. After several narrow escapes from accidents caused by landing horses on the Railway Pier and driving them through the town, the Police authorities have objected to horses being landed there in future. Now, prisoners are tc be set to make a place alongside the road, at which horses can be landed, and the people of Port Chalmers will have one grievance less.

The Dunstan Times laments that flocks of geese and ducks are allowed to disport themselves in the Town Race, and to convert what should be a pellucid and wholesome stream into a vitiated and tainted stream of liquid mud ; droves of dirty, hide-bound, diseased-looking cattle are permitted to roam through the highways and byeways of the town ; and goats, in herds, appear to be licensed to go wherever they will. In no other tip-country town is such allowed, and we hope the occasion will not arise for us to again revert to the matter. ""The Presbytery of Dunedin met last Wednesday in North Taieri Church, and after service by Dr Stunrt. Moderator pro tern., it was moved by Mr Turnbull, and seconded by Mr Thomson, that a call to the ministry among them bo given to the Rev. James Skinner, A.M., preacher of the gospel, and unanimously agreed to. Tne parishioners present fixed their name to the call, which will be put into Mr Skinner's hands next Wednesday at the quarterly meeting of the Presbytery. The number who were present, notwithstanding the severity of the weather! indicated tho interest felt in the matter.

The last Gazette Btates that the Government is determined to wind up all outstanding accounts due by immigrants for passage money, and unless payment is made on or before the Ist of next month the Provincial Solicitor will be instructed to take proceedings in order to force a settlement. Persons who cannot pay in full, or who require an extension of time, are requested to call peraonally, or to forward particulars of their cases to the Treasury before the Ist of March.

Mr Redwood's horses that are to tako part in the forthcoming Dunedin Jockey Club races, arrived at the Port by the Phoebe on Tuesday, and in the evening were brought by road to Dunedin, and put up at Mr Scott's Commercial Stables. _ The string consists of Lurline, Spritsail, Calumny, and Parawhenua, and when they arrived in the city there was quite a crowd of persons anxious to get a glimpse of them. They were all heavily clothed, however. The horses will at once be let to work at Forbury Park.

After meritorious services since the pioneer days of Otago, Mr Strode, R.M., has retired on his pension, and has been superseded by J. Bathgate, Esq., the new permanent magistrate for Dunedin. He took his seat on the Bench on Tmsday, and contrary to expectation — judging from the crowded state of the reporters' box and punctuality of lawyers — Mr Bathgate did not make any observation regarding the office, but, as though knowing what was anticipated, said peremptorily to the Clerk of the Court, " Call out the first charge." The Committee appointed at the meeting of the Surat's passengers have had several interviews with His Honour the Superintendent during the last few days, and Mr Macandrew saw Mr Larnach on Saturday to ascertain the price his firm intended to charge for the recovery of the passengers' luggage from the wreck. The reply was £700 for the luggage already recovered, and £1 per package for all that is to come. The passengers wished the Government to advance the £700, but this has, we learn, been declined, on the ground that the price aßked by Messrs Guthrie and Larnach is too high.

Our Lawrence correspondent, in referring to the late raceß, says: — "An event took place at the meeting which was not in the programme. A certain number of people had arrived in a spring cart, and had just succeeded in getting to the ground, when the horae started off with the machine, which he conveyed in various directions and at different angles, depositing the body in different portions as he proceeded on his run, until at length he arrived at a farmhouae gate, at a distance of about half a mile from the point of starting, where he surrendered at discretion."

We understand that Mr Justice Chapman has received a telegram from the Government informing him that an Order in Council has been made, fixing the Lawrence Circuit Court in future on the third Tuesday in March and September (in lieu of June and December), and the Invercargill Circuit on the second Monday in June and December. The Order in Council appears in the last Gazette. This re-arraugement of the circuit Courts of this Province is adopted in order not to interfere with the sittings of the Court of Appeali n May and November, and to suit the second sittings of the Supreme Court in Dunedin.

The Lyttelton Times publishes the account sales of 1000 sacks of Canterbury wheat, ■which were shipped to England by the Himalaya in June last. The grain, measuring 3727$ bushels, cost on board, including sacks, fijs per bushel, or a total of £935 3s 9d. In London the shipment, including sacks, grossed £1334 16s 2d. The London charges, which included freight, interest, market dues, lighterage, landing, delivery, &c, dock charges, factorage, commission, and delcredere, came to a total of £450 12s. The net proceeds, ther fore, after deducting the charges, were £884 4s 2d, or 4s Bld per bushel ; which showed a loss to the shipper of £50 19s 7d, being equal to 3£d per bushel on the quantity shipped.

At a Committee meeting of the Grand Interprovincial Steeplechases, held at Waimate, February 14th, it teas resolved that the steeplechases be held at Willow Bridge, Waimate, on the 21st April next, and that the programme be advertised as follows :—: — Maiden Plate, 50 soys. ; entrance £5, added ; distance, 2 miles. Grand Interprovincial Handicap, 100 soys. ; nomination, £3, to go to fund ; acceptance, £5, added ; distance, 3 miles. Waimate Steeplechase Cup, 75 soys. ; entrance, £7, added ; distance, 24 miles. Consolation Handicap, 40 soys. ; nomination, £1, to go to fund ; acceptance, £3, added ; distance, 2 miles. It iB stated that the Committee have organised these races purely to encourage the breed of weight carrying hacks,

Speaking of the trip of the Luna, the Timaru Herald remarks :— " The Government ateamer Luna, now on a trip round tho Middle and North Islands, to enable the sites of lighthouses to be surveyed, arrived at Timaru on Monday. Captain Johnson, of the Marine Department, lauded and exam* aned the three proposed sites here, one being where the present light is, a second near the Beach road, and another at Patiti Point. The following telegram which was received by the Mayor of Timaru, has been kindly placed at our disposal by His Worship :—: — *Be harbour light, I have a reply from General Government that Captain Johnson has instructions to attend to the Timaru light, and that a copy of his report shall be sent to the Provincial Government. When reoeived, Borough Council shall be Apprised of con* tenta,-TjKW. W. Maude.'" * r

The following "produce" telegram from the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, London, has been kindly placed at our disposal by the local agency of that company. It is under date London, 4th February, 1874 :—" Wool—The next sales will commence on the 17th hist. ; up to date, 98,000 bales have arrived. TallowBeef, 4ls per cwt ; mutton, 42s per cwt. Leather — 17,000 sides Australian have been sold since our last report ; best side 3 fetched one farthing advance on previous rates ; others remained unchanged. Wheat — Market quist. New Zealand Hemp continues dull of sale ; the stock, according to last returns, amounts to 2300 tons." The foregoing telegram bears date, " Melbourne, 6th February, 1874."

The First Church building in Dowling street, revered by many worshippers who were oft attendants in the days of Dr Burns, is rapidly changing its solemn internal appearance to become a boot factory for Messrs Sargood, Son, and Ewen. The seats and pulpit have been removed and are announced for sale, and the first floor partitioned in the centre — the front department for tailors, and the back for bootmakers. The stairs, taken from the end of the building, adjoin the partition. Benches have been erected on the Becond floor, space being left for machinery, and the basement floor is also fitted with benches to accommodate 100 workers. When windows are placed in the foundation, to light the ground floor, the building will be completely metamorphosed.

The Surat passengers are determined to leave no stone unturned in their endeavours to get their luggage. On Saturday some members of the Committee waited upon Mr Holloway. Chairman of the National Agricultural Labourers' Association, England, who is now on a visit to Dunedin, on business connected with immigration. They asked that gentleman to use what influence he might have with the Government in getting them assistance in the recovery of their luggage. Mr Holloway expressed great sympathy for the passengers, but did not see that he could help them. The Committee are now going to take legal advice on the matter, possibly with a view of ascertaining the liability of the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Government in connection with the loss of their goods on the Surat.

The new Episcopalian Church at Port Chalmers is gradually but surely growing towards completion under the busy hands of the contractor and his men. The masonry work was finished some time ago, and now the contract for roofing and flooring the edifice is progressing. The framework, half the sarking of the roof of the main body of the building is up, whilst the framework of the roofs of the chancel and vestry, and choir are in course of erection. Mr Bauchop, the contractor, speaks confidently of having all finished, including the floor, in a month's time. It was originally intended to shintle the roof, but we hear that the committee have almost decided to use slates instead, slates not only being of greater durability, but will be more in keeping with the stonework of the building. The Holy Trinity Church (that is the name) premises to be a handsome and substantial building, and a credit to the Port.

A meeting of the ratepayers of Maori Hill was held in the Baptist Schoolhouse the other evening, Mr D. Roy in the chair. The meeting was called to protest against the excessive valuations made by the Halfway Bush and Flagstaff Road Boards, and was determined by a resolute and general appeal against the assessments. Deputations were appointed to wait on His Honour the Superintendent with a view of obtaining a more equitable arrangement than at present exists. The ratepayers of Maori Hill, a suburb only seven minutes' walk from George street, are compelled to travel a distance of six or seven miles to lodge an appeal with a Board whose interests are not in any way identical with Flagstaff and Whare Flat, some ten or twelve miles off. It is noticeable that a district like this, with sixty houses in it, the Water Works, and a largo amount of landed property, is without a representative at the Board.

Messrs Sampson and Brown are sinking a coal shaft alongside the Clutha Railway Line, close to the Chain Hills. They are now down to a depth of about ninety feet ; but the quantity of water in the shaft has kept the engine exclusively employed in pumping for some days past. This obstacle, however, will be overcome in a short time, and the proprietors are sanguine of meeting with a good Beam of coal. They have already cut through two or three seams, but have not met with a greater thickness than two feet. The proprietors lately sank a shaft in the neighbourhood of their present operations, but, after going to a depth of about Beventy feet, they were obliged to desist, owing to the large quantity of fine sand they met with. If a good seam of coal be found at the present scene of operations, the proprietors onght to make a very profitable thing of their speculation, seeing that the mouth of the shaft is within a few yards of the railway line.

A carpenter named George Dutch, met with a Berious and painful accident on Friday week, whilst at work on the new brewery being erected in Cumbeiland street for Mr James Copeland. Dutch was walking on a plank nearly as high up as the roof, in the highest part of the unfinished building, when the plank broke at a part where there was a knot in the wood. The unfortunate man fell down nine feet on the beams of an unfinished floor, fell through these down ten feet, his head striking on the edge of a floor* beam. He got a ter»

rible cut which extended all round the left side of the forehead, and to the left temple. He was brought to the Hospital in an insensible state, and attended to by Dr Yates. The cut being a clean one, required comparatively few stitches. The wound, though serums, does not appear to be a dangerous one. Bad as the accident is, it is fortunate for Dutch that he did not fall through the beams on which his head struck, there being about another 20 feet and another row of beams between him and the ground.

The Southern Cross, in referring to the ex-convictj Sullivan, says :— " In heaven's name, or rather the devil's, let him go ; he ought to be got out of the Colony by some means, for it will be comfortable neither for himself nor for the colonists of any place in New Zealand to have such a notorious character so stained with crime running amongst us. It is true, without his aid it would have been impossible to have found evidence to hang his three fellows in crime, and heuce the necessity for promising that pardon which he has now received. One thing is clear, he is not a welcome intruder into this Province, and the public will expect the authorities to find means of sending him from our shores. Bat as he is, no one with any humanity will desire to hound the man down ; but let him go and repent of his crimes in some place where he is not known. Nobody wants him in New Zealand, and certainly he is not wanted in Auckland. The memories of the atrocious murders with which he was actively concerned- are too harrowing to those who can recal the circumstances, and the excitement they created all over the Colony. Send him to some of the South Sea Islands."

The Messrs Brogden are vigorously pushing on the railway works at the Chain Hills. The men have worked in a considerable distance at the Taieri end of the tunnel, and are making rapid progress. Owing to the soft nature of the material at this end, it will be necessary to brick in the tunnel some distance from the opening. This tedious work, however, will not be required for any great distance, as it is found by means of a shaft that harder rock exists farther along the line. Two shafts have been sunk, and driving will soon be commenced. The men engaged blasting in the shaft have adopted a novel expedient for getting rid of the smoke after a shot has been fired. The bushy end of a cabbage tree is attached to the windlass rope, and is thus lowered and raised several times, the smoke being as it were pumped out of the shaft. A gang of men are busily engaged at the Dunedin end of the tunnel, and will soon commence driving. A large landslip at this end, which it was feared would prove a serious hindrance, has turned out to be of a comparatively harmless character. If no unforeseen difficulty is met with, the tunnel will probably be through before nine or ten months have elapsed.

The Dunedin Sabbath School Teachers Union met in the hall below the Wesleyan Church last week, to hear the inaugural address of the President, the Rev. Dr Roseby, The Rev. Mr Rigg occupied the chair ; and besides the members of the Union who were present, there was also a large attendance of the public. The Rev. Dr Roseby, in his inaugural lecture, discussed the necessity of such an institution aB this Union was ; its objects, as comprising united prayer, fellowship, and conference, the conducting of model classes, the establishment of a circulating library for Sabbath School teachers, and the periodical delivery of public lectures, or series of lectures, on subjects touching the interests of vital religion in the community, and especially among the young. He described the basis of the Union as being evangelical, catholic, and practical. He anticipated as the result of its establishment a more catholic spirit in the Church, and increased efficiency in Sabbath school work. The lecturer concluded with an urgent exhortation to Sabbath school teachers to unite in this good work. The lecture waa interspersed and followed by choral selections of sacred music, under the able leadership of Mr S. H. Little. A cordial vote of thanks was given to the lecturer, another to the choir, and the meeting was closed with devotional exercises.

On Thursday, the 18th inst., the Waitepeka School was examined, at the request of the School Committee, by the Rev. W. Bannerman, in presence of several of the parents of the children in attendance. The pupils, numbering upwards of thirty (several being absent), were examined, first together, as to their acquaintance with the portion of Scripture more recently read at the opening of the school daily— the portion being the Book of Exodus. With the leading incidents recorded in that Book the children proved themselves quite familiar, answering Mr Bannerman's questions with great readiness. The several classes were afterwards examined separately, from the lowest to the highest ; the children reading, spelling, and reciting from their ordinary reading books ; the more advanced having in addition, exercises in grammar, etymology, &c To those latter Mr Bannerman read a narrative piece only once, which they were required to write from memory. This was done with considerable fulness, with remarkable accuracy of spelling and grammar, and with very considerable neatness of writing. Questions on the geography of England and Australasia were very correctly answered ; and the exercises in arithmetic, in the simple and compound rules, practice, proportion, fractions, and evolution, were similarly characterised. Specimens of essay writing and map drawing accomplished from time to time during tbe

course of the year, were shown, and were very much admired. At the close of the examination, which occupied several hours, Mr Bannerman congratulated the teacher and the scholars on the very satisfactory examinations the latter had undergone, referring very specially to the excellency of the reading, the correctness of the spelling, and the smartness with which the written exercises had been performed, The teacher had evidently been at great pains to have his pupils read with distinctness, and sufficiently loud to be heard— matters not always accomplished. Mr Bannerman expressed his great pleasure at the progress shown.

On Wednesday afternoon, about three o'clock, a party, consisting of several members of the Variety Troupe, had left the Junction Hotel with the intention of driving down to the Port. By mistake, it seems the driver, one of the Company, took the Blue, skin road ; but, soon discovering his mistake attempted to turn the buggy, and in doing so upset; it, the occupants being thrown out. By some means the vehicle was righted, and the horses in galloping past the Junction Hotel — the buggy being then tenantless — caused the leaders of a waggon belonging to Wm. Smith, teamster, to shy. Smith's horses turned round in bolting and broke off the shafts and axle ; the driver at the time being in a standing position on the shafts. He, as a matter of course, was thrown down, but, singular to state, was uninjured beyond a scratch or two. The buggy horses continued their course down the road towards Dunedin, and were only stopped near Kemp's store, in the Valley, by one of Lockwoou's teamsters barricading the road with his team, and thus compelling the runaways to take refuge in the ditch, when they were quickly secured. Smith is entirely blameless in the matter, and estimates his damage at or near £60. The buggy was materially damaged.

The gang of hard-labour men, under Mr Ferguson, are making capital progress with the construction of the new road at the Port. A point nearly half-way down one side of Deborah Bay has been reached ; and before the close of the summer season the road will in all likelihood have completed the circuit of the Bay. It is to be hoped that early stepswill be taken to complete the large section of this really important work already formed. No time should be lost in pitching and metalling, in which the Port Chalmers Corporation ought to lead the way, and so set an example to the Bltieskin Highway Board, through which district the road is now p issing. Something also might be done to keep cattle from straying on the road, which, not being armoured with metal whilst much of i f - is made ground, is peculiarly susceptible to damage. The Blueskin H'ghway Board will do well to look to this. Because the cost of this road does not directly come out of the pockets of the ratepayers of the district through which it passes, the road is not to be regarded as less valuable on that account. It is a most costly undertaking, prison labour being nearly as expensive aa free, and when completed, will confer inestimable advantages on the Port and on the outside districts. Therefore, ihe communities who will directly benefit by it, should* not- grudge a liberal outlay to complete the work and to maintain the road afterwards. We trust that the winter rains will not find it in its present unprotected condition.

The masquerade ball at the Queen's Theatre a few nights ago must have been a lively little affair. We heard of one gentleman, attired a la Charles L, who was under the impression that his disrobing room was somewhere in the immediate vicinity of the harbour. Accordingly, he proceeded there, and came to grief in about 4ft. of good mud and slush. From the description given of the gentleman by a policeman on duty, "he was the very image of a mermaid," but this statement must be taken guardedly. The plume in his hat, which at the ball looked so king-like, assumed a sort of muddy icicle appearance, and the high boots, when emptied, contained a conglomerate masa of dead cats, old boots, and portions of kerosene tins. Late in the morning several of the guests had an argument, and removed their coats before proceeding to settle it. One man took up another's coat, and, under the belief that it was his own, refused to part with it, at the request of the rightful owner. He was given in custody on a charge of larceny, and brought before the Resident Magistrate on Saturday. No felonious intent could be proved, and he was discharged. He was a sailor, and the constable who arrested him, at five in the morning, Bwore that his prisoner was perfectly Bober at the time. Mr Strode said, that from his knowledge of the world, he could not believe that a sailor who stayed at a ball until that hour in the morning, left in a sober condition.

We heard a good deal of the virtues of the German j&rbswurst, but this useful sausage has found a rival in a Russian biscuit, to the nourishing and salubrious qualities of which much of the good health enjoyed by the soldiers of the Khivan Expodition is ascribed. It is composed of onethird powdered beef, one-third powdered sauerkraut, and one-third rye flour.

An advertisement was recently inserted by the authorities of a small hospital in the south of London for a secretary, who, in return for five hours' work a day, was offered a salary of £150. It is interesting to knowthat the answers to the advertisement exceeded 300 in number, and among the applicants were a colonel in Her Majesty's army and a titled member of a noble family.