News of the Week.

Otago Witness, Issue 1588, 29 April 1882, Page 10

News of the Week.

We learn from the Tablet that a reception took place at the , Dominican Convent, Bunedin, on the 20th, his.Lordsb.ip the Bishop of the diocese officiating. * The young ladies who received the habit of St. Dominic were Mjss Kate Scully, daughter of Major Scully of Napier, in religion Sister Mary Dominic, a choir nun ; 'ana Miss Teresa King, late of Christchurch, in religion Sister Mary Martha, a lay sister. The ceremony, which took place in tho temporary chapel of the Convent, was strictly private, o\v'm% to the want of accommodation for visitors. Our Fortrose correspondent writes :—": — " I regret having to report the failure to recover the bullion, &c. by the diving party at the scene of the wreck of the s.s. Tararua. The efforts of this party have been strenuous, and have extended~over nine months. It appears that the divers have found the bottom to be quite clear of sand and composed of rocks, boulders, and beach, with a considerable amount of kelp or seaweed to contend with ; in fact, the description given of the course of the track made by the steamer when 'coming upon the reef is compared by the diver to a lane enclosed by a 12-foot hedge of kelp, and this was found to retard operations so much, in j' consequence of its becoming entangled about the , air-tube, that a knife was needed constantly at hand to cut the weed and free the tube. The course of the vessel was traced for some distance by this, and when found she was in two distinct portions. These have since become so much broken up that the debris appears to cover nearly an acre of the bottom. The storeroom was found to be covered by a portion of 'the deck. This, in consequence of the girders or beams of the deck being of iron, had settled ' down so closely that dynamite has had to be used to remove it. I hear somevrice, brandy, &c. have been seen about where* the storeroom was situated, and some lemonade was recovdred , which, after being taken to Mr C. Brunton's 1 station, was found to be quite undamaged by , its long submersion ; but nothing of any value 'has been recovered. After the fine clear weather and calm sea of the past week, the men appear to have decided that any further ' efforts are useless, as, if anything was to be done, it could then have been effected"." His Honor Judge Ward held a sitting of thf District Court on the 20th, instant, when the only case called on was George Wilson v. ' James Smith, the claim being £28 4s, for goods •supplied. Mr D. Eeid appeared for plaintiff, , and Mr G. Cook for defendant. Mr -Reid ob 1 jected to the defence being gone into, as it had 'not been filed in sufficient tune. Mr Cook explained that, this was owing to a misunderstanding by which it was expected that the i case was to be heard in the iI.M. Court, and, iin order to meet the difficulty he asked fpr an 1 adjournment, agreeing to pay costs. The case 'was accordingly adjourned by consent, with " costs, till next sitting of the Court. The Government have now called for tenders for the erection of goods-sheds on the site of the • new railway-station. The sheds will be four in , number, two on each side of the main system of rails. On the harbour side the length of |, the sheds will be 400 ft and 500 ft respectively, I and of those on the north side 350 ft and 500 ft respectively, the width of each of the sheds being 42ft. The buildings will be constructed ot timber, with slate roofs. Access will be provided to those on the south side from the street running alongside the cross-wharf, and to those on the north side by means of a new street to be opened up by the Kailway Department between the passenger line of rails and that foi< the goods traffic. There will be three cartdocks in each shed, 'and import and export doors' at intervals of 40ft, besides waggon-tra-versers. The buildings will probably be com. mencod about the end of n ext month. Our cablegrams this week announce the death of the celebrated Darwin, author of the "Origin of Species" and "Descent , of Man," through which" and many other such works his name has become so famous.' He was born in 1809, was the son of Pr Darwin, of Shrewsbury, and grandson of Dr Erasmus Darwin, also a famous scientific j writer in his day. , , i . Napier is obtaining a very unenviable reputation in the matter of its sanitary condition. Two deaths were reported from there the other day from fever; and several racing men and visitors who went to the Napier races were struck down 1 by the disease, and have had a hard bout of it. -We learn that a further death attributable to the fever occurred at Christchurch yesterday. It was that of Mr John Tait, who acted as traveller for Messrs A. and T. Burt. He visited Napier 'recently, and contracted fever there, but had reached Christchurch ere he was confined to bed. He had recovered, however, and was thought to be entirely out of danger, but' was attacked by congestion of the lungs, which proved fatal. He was a young man, unmarried, and his relations reside at Invercargill. The Education Board at its meeting on Thursday resolved to appoint an additional inspector of schools, and to 1 offer the appointment to Mr Patrick Goyen, at present inspector in the Southland education district. We understand that Mr Goyen has accepted the position thus offered to him. He has acted as inspector in the Southland district ever since it was separated from Otago, when the present Education Act came into force, and was selected for that position out of a very large ' number of applicants. Mr Goyen has earned for himself a high reputation as an efficient inspector, a skilful examiner and organiser, and a courteous and kindly gentleman. His training and experience were gained in the Stabe schools of Victoria, where he passed through every grade in the service, from pupil teacher to head master of a large and important State school. The Board and the district may be congratulated on securing the services of so experienced and efficient an officer,

Tho barque Janet M'Neil, which arrivod from Glasgow on Friday, had a peculiar experience upon her passage. She took the JN . Ji. trades in lat. 27 N., and whilst passing through them she was covered with clouds of fine dust of alight cinnamon colour, which continued to fall until she got southward of the Cape de Verde Islands.

The concert given by the Quintette Club on Friday was interrupted by an amusing incident. During Miss Miller's singing of the cavatina from "Lucia," the audience were startled in the midst of a cadenza by hearing an attempt on the part of some individual m tbe pit to warble an imitation of one of the singer's phrases. Whether this decidedly unwelcome addition to the efforts of Miss Miller was an involuntary outburst of vocal power or not there was no time to have explained, for the offending "god" was at once ejected with considerable force from the theatre, with a " man in blue" at his heels.

A meeting of gentlemen desirous of forming a cavalry troop in Dunedin was held at the Criterion Hotel on Friday evening. There were about 40 gentlemen present, and Mr 1. Fergus, M.H.R., occupied the chair. A list was produced giving the names of 37 gentlemen in Dunedin and 10 in the Taieri who intended joining the troop. The Chairman read a letter from Major Burwell, of the Southland Hussars, offering any information that might be required in connection with the matter, and he aiso suggested that the proposed troop corps provided they were willing to allowthe company thus formed to be styled the Southern Hussars'. On the motion of Mr M'Callum, seconded by Mr Benjamin, the suggestion of the chairman was adopted. Mr Bacon was of opinion that Lieutenant-colonel Stavely's consent should be first obtained in the matter, but Sergeant-major Thompson said this had been done. It was finally resolved that the Committee, together with Dr Murphy and Mr Stronach, should wait on Lieutenant-colonel Stavely to have the troop sworn in. The meeting terminated with a hearty vote of thanks to Sergeant-major Thompson for his kindness and courtesy in having afforded much valuable information to those interested in the subject. According to the Bruce Herald,_ threshing operations on the Tokomairiro Plain are now well advanced. The yields fully answer expectations—oats averaging 60 and wheat 45 bushels to the acre. An inquest was held at Papakaio on the 19th, before Mr W. H. S._ Roberts, J.P., acting coroner, into the origin of the fire which occurred on the evening of the 3rd inst. on Messrs Millington Brothers' farm, and which resulted in the destruction of certain .stacks of grain and a threshing-mill. After hearing the evidence, tho Coroner, in charging the jury< said there was quite sufficient proof that the fire had been the result of incendiarism ; but there was no light thrown on the •perpetrator of the action. He charged them :to bring in an open verdict. The Jury, with- .' out retiring, returned a verdict to the effect ithat the fire was the result of incendiarism, but .by whom caused there was no evidence to .show. [ With regard to the meteor observed in the .Southland district, our Fortrose correspondent states that at about 8.10 a.m. it was observed I passing from about east to west, from over the ; ocean towards the Seaward Bush. ,As it de.scended it appeared to become disunited, leaving fragments of fire in its course, and. when '! finally disappearing.it left apparent ,a thin line [of cloudy matter similar to smoke. At the | same time thpre was the report of an explosion similar to wliat might be unagined to proceed 'from the discharge of an immense piece of I ordnance, causing buildings to vibrate and [windows and articles upon, shelves to rattle. ■Iso great was the effect, of the. explosion that Imany, persons cannot be convinced that the i shock was not that of an earthquake. ! The Olde Englishe Fayre was concluded on ! Thursday night with a dance. Before the close of, j the entertdintnent, the Rev. R. A. Kerkham, in a ! few appropriate remarks, thanked the public for : theirliberal support; andhisLordshiptneßishop '. of Dunedin followed with a hearty commendation of tHe zeal of the ladies and the committee, who had worked sb heartily for the interests of John's, Roslyn. Certainly the "fayre" ,has been the most successful effort to raise ' money for church objeots that has been known' [in Dunedin. It was a pleasing novelty, and ', was carried on with great, spirit from beginning jto end, running for nearly a fortnight. The people of Roslyn are to be congratulated on their energy and enterprise ; and the example > they have set to other churches of making a i great effort to pay off their debt is an excelr lent one. The gross' takings have exceeded £1400, and though the expenses are heavy (about £450), it is hoped that when the scenery and some few "remaining articles have' been sold, the net result will be nearly, if not ciuite, £1000. Mr Bastings last night again kindly acted' as auctioneer, and sold the greater part of the remaining goods. : The notorious Garrett, wno a number of t years ago was concerned in " sticking-up " at Maungatua, West Taieri, and subsequently ' received a sentence of 21Jyears for, burglary at Dunedin; was released from the Christchurch I Gaol two weeks back, after serving over 13 years of his term in Dunedin, and the rest in Lyttelton. , On leaving Lyttelton Gaol he received, £2 of Government money, and obtained lodgings in a Christchurch boardinghouse. His money being, expended, he made application yesterday to the Com mitteo of tho .Benevolent Institntion. . By a singular coincidence, the. Chairman of that Committee wive an old Dunedin resident and one of the Grand Jury who found a true bill.when Garrett's case for the burglary was brought before them. An immediate inquiry after the application showed, that Garrett had honestly expended the £2 in .payment for two weeks' board, and the Committee decided to find him employment for a few weeks in digging potatoes. Should Garrett's conduct continue to prove satisfactory, it ,is the intention of the Committee to find him work among the old men in, the Domain gardens. It may be mentioned that Garrett has stated that all he wishes is that work may be found for him during the few years he expects to live. It seems that before his conviction in Dunedin he earned over £40 in Wilson's brewery, Rattray street, at his trade of coopering. This money he placed in the savings bank, but according to Government rules it is now forfeited. The Christchurch Committee purpose moving the Government , in the matter with a view of having this sum invested as a reserve fund for Garrett. It will be remembered that a short time ago the Government resolved to issue annual season tickets entitling the holders to travel on any part of the New Zealand Railways for the sum of £50 per annum. The idea was then looked upon in some quarters as a probable failure, but now that it has been put in practice, though only reoently, the results so, far augur well for its success. In Dunedin over 20 such tickets have been applied for. and the issues in the other' chief towns' of the Colony aw alao' nearly equally Iwpe, ' -

A gentleman who has recently visited the Otara beach states that is now quite clear of wreckage, though a few miles up and down the coast much remains to tell the tale. The cemetery is over a mile from the reef, sheltered by large sandhills, and securely fenced from stock. The most of the bodies have been buried in a large trench apparently parallel to the coast-line. Each grave has been marked by a rough picket with crossboard, and number roughly painted on. The timber used is half-inch to inch thick, probably, pieces of broken cases, and some of the pickets have already fallen. Before long all traces of them will be lost. A few graves have names attached, but all in the same rough style. Some graves are scattered about the ground, and some have been opened— such as those of the Campbell faraily-but very imperfectly filled up again, with the remains of the original shells used left lying about on the grass. The gentleman referred to suggests very properly that the ground should be sorted up and planted with evergreens, and that some sort of simple but substantial monument should be erected in memoriam. The expense of doing this would bo small, and we believe if a subscription list were started in Dunedin there would be no difficulty in obtaining the requisite sum. Now that the Otara block is settled, a committee of settlers in the neighbourhood could be obtained to see that the cemetery, if once put in order, was kept so. j Our Christchurch correspondent says :— I have ascertained upon indisputable authority that steps are being taken to secure the arrest' of Shepherd, the defaulting storekeeper ] of Tiinaru. It will be remembered that he some few weeks back levanted from that town, leaving heavy liabilities behind him, and it has J since transpired that he took a passage by the i last San Francisco steamer. Detective O'Neil | leaves to-morrow by the boat with the San Francisco mail to bring him back, if possible. ■ The defaulter is known to have withhuna, considerable quantity of cash, and when in j Christchurch left a parcel for a short time at the railway -station, which is supposed to have ; contained bullion. We understand that a Dunedin gentleman who was a passenger by the March mail to San Francisco, which reached there on Tuesday last, has telegraphed to the effect that Shepherd, the Timaru defaulter, who was a passenger by the same mail, landed at Honolulu. The stop's being taken to arrest Shepherd "will, therefore, in all probability be fruitless. By a private letter just received we learn that the sum' of £1000 has recently been offered by an English firm of manufacturers for permission to advertise on the outside of one of the boards of the London Directory. It is also stated that Kelly and Co., the proprietors, refused the offer. Such is the value of advertising. The Dunedin Sunday-school Teachers' Union -held its inaugural meeting on JMda3* evening in the hall of the Congregrational Church, Moray place. The Rev. Lindsay Mackie, president of the Union, occupied the chair, and' the attendance was very satisfactory. The following papers were read :— " The History of Sunday-school Unions," by the Rev. J. White ; " Aims and Objects of Sunday-school Unions," by Mr T. E. Fraser; "Advantages of Sunday-school Unions," by the Rev. Dr. Roseby. The proceedings' were enlivened by musical selections, solos being given by Misses Tunnicliff and Pratt, and Messrs Jago and Hails, accompanied by Mr Little on the organ. An enrolment of members was taken at the close. It is proposed to hold monthly meetings for the promotion of interest and efficiency in Sunday-school work. Bishop Moran attended at the South Dunedin Catholic Church on Sunday morning and 1 celebrated Pontifical High Mass there. After service his Lordship was presented with an 'address from the congregation congratulating him on his safe return to the Colony. The church was nicely decorated for the occasion, and over the entrance to it a beautiful arch was erected. 1 A meetingof the Otago Hunt Club was held at "V^am's Hotel on Saturday night. There were about ten gentlemen present, and Mr!F. W. Petre occupied the chair. It was decided to open the season by a hunt on Saturday week, and a meeting will shortly be called to consider the substitution of the rules recognised in the Home Country for those at present adopted by the Club. The Club promises to have a prosperous year before it in point of membership, as a large number have signified their intention of joining during this season. Mr David Paton, who in his official capacity as guard on the Tapanui railway was much esteemed by the settlers in that district, goes north to Ngapara, having been promoted to the office of stationmaster at the latter place. The ordinary meeting of the Burns Statue Committee was held in the Coffee Palace on Friday ovening, Mr R.Campbell presiding. The Sub-committee reported arrangements for the Scotch concert on Wednesday evening next, in aid of the statue fund, to be complete. The programme was submitted to the meeting, and was highly approved of. Mr J. Mitchell (Naseby) wrote asking to be authorised to collect subscriptions towards the fund in that district. Messrs , J. Mitchell, J. Gillies, and Thomas Callender were elected members, of committee. Several subscriptions were reported, and it was decided to order the statue by next month's mail, should the amount subscribed justify the Committee in so doing. Meantime the secretary was instructed to obtain returns of subscriptions from the country districts. The Mataura Ensign states that Captain F. W. Mackenzie and Mr Feldwick, M.H.R.'s, made an inspection of tho country through which proposed lines for the Gore-Kelso railway run. They wer,e met by Messrs Milne, Cruickshanks, and Lamb, who conducted them over the different routes as far as the Waikaka township. Dr Macdonald, rector of the High School, has been appointed a member of the Council of the University of Otago, vice the Hon. H. S. Chapman, deceased. An unusual point was raised as a defence to an action brought for beer supplied, at the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Monday. It was that the plaintiffs in the case were cognisant of the fact that the liquor was wanted for an unlawful purpose. Such knowledge on the part of the plaintiffs was, however, not proved, and they obtained judgment. The Auckland Herald, speaking of the new Government, says : — " Wo nave no doubt that, whatever may be the duration of Mr Whitaker's administration, it will be honest and patriotic. The Parliament is a new one, and contains a large proportion of members who are new to Parliament. These men cannot naturally be expected to be eager for a change of Ministry. There is no compact Opposition with a recog-nised-chief, and in the event of a change no new member could be expected to be eligible for office. It is therefore, we think, naturally to 'be anticipated that unless the Whvtaker Ministry make some conspicuous mistake, the end of the' proximate Bession will still see it i» office, I . '• '.

The Bey. Mr Lindsay, of Waimate, ' has ' accepted the call to Otepopo, Mr liyley's former ■ charge.

In the Gazette this week the following notifications appear : — Messrs H. Clark, J. Green, and W. Arthur to be commissioners for the purpose of classifying land reserved from runs in Otago for settlement; Mr Thomas Hinchliii' to be registrar and vaccination inspector at Port Chalmers ; Mr W. A. Comerford to be registrar of electors for Clutha ; 'Mr George Faehe to be licensing commissioner forDunstan, vice Dr Leahy, resigned; Mr James Simpson to be clerk of Licensing Committees for Dunedin South, Central, Bell, and' Leith ; tho Rev. A. C. Gillies to be an officiating minister under "The Marriage Act, 1880." Mr Arthur, chief surveyor, returned to Dunedin on Saturday, having accompanied the Land Board Commissioners (Messrs Clark and _ Green) as far as Naseby, on their visit of inspection of those runs and portions of runs set apart for sale on the deferred-payment system. From Naseby tho Commissioners, will be accompanied over the Manuhorikja by the district surveyor, and they will return to Dunedin about Thursday next, by way of Shag Valley. New business premises aro being erected in High street for Messrs W. and G. Turnbull. The building will consist of three storeys, and the basement and top storey will bo devoted to the storage of goods, while the ground floor will be set apart as offices. The length of the building will be 58 feet, by 28 feet in width, and Si feet in height, on the east side, while it adjoins the premises at present occupied by the firm. The entrance-door will open into a vestibule giving , access to sample and waiting rooms on the left, private and accountant's offices on the right, and. a large public office at the rear of the premises. To tne back stores ' access is provided by an archway 10 feet wide running between the two buildings, and at the v rear of the new one there will be a loadingstage for carts, together -toth storemen's' offices^ The building will be of brick, on foundation ol£ Port Chalmers stone. Mr R. A. Lawsoii is \ the architect. . The Otago Hunt Club have re-elected Mr Petre as master for the ensuing season, and have appointed as huntsman Mr John Ppole, a gentleman who has had considerable experir ence in hunting in Tasmania. New and commodious kenneJs have been built on Mr Petre's property at St. Clair. The Club has been placed on a much more substantial basis than formerly, 14 gentlemen having guaranteed a subscription of five guineas each, in order that, in the event of the membership falling short of the number required to keep the Club in full operation by ordinary subscription, there may be no risk of its suffering financially. This step is one universally adopted by the Home clubs, and with much success. 'The membership of the Otago Club is,how-' ever, still open to those wishing to join it, on the same terms as formerly, and the new regulation is merely introduced to afford aguarantce of the engagements entered into by the ,Club for the season. : • ' ■ Everyone is talking (says the Home News) of the extraordinary vigour and vitality of, Mr Gladstone. On 'Tuesday, February 27th, he' jwent to Windsor to see the Queen. ' Her Majesty has used her personal influence to avert a conflict, there is little doubt, between 'the two Chambers of the Legislature. ,By ■ half-past 2he was back in London. At ' 3he , addressed his supporters in fl Downing street. .'Shortly after 4 he was at 'his place in- the , House of Commons answering questions : then , came his first speech on the motion for postI poning the orders of tbe day, followed by his ; encounter with Sir Stafford Northcote. After ;this he moved his resolution, in a speech of rather more than an hour; he spent the whole [ evening hi the House of Commons, and did riot ', return nome till half an hour after midnight: , Such is a day in the life of a Prime Minister, whose age is threescore and twelve. The Aurora Australis is reported to, have been very brilliant in Australia, as it was ■in New Zealand, on April 17th. Meteors were also seen. It is stated that so beautiful an aurora has not been seen at any time- since, 20 years ago, when it was followed by a very dry winter. A Sydney telegram of that day adds : — "The weather had Been unsettled. allday but nothing very unusual has been reported. During the last four days a splendid spot has been visible upon the sun, and changes in its form are going on rapidly.. 1 There, are several small clusters of spots visible, and the number of spots has been increasing of late." A very well attended meeting of the shareholders in the Invercargill Coffee Palace and Private Hotel Company was held on Friday ' (says the News of April 22nd) in the offices ot Mr J. E. Hannah, when the following gentlemen we're elected directors for the -ensuing year :— Messrs J. 0. M'Ardell, George Lumsden, Th'os. C. Ellis, Norman Prentice, ' Thos. Denniston. H. G. Mussen, and' W. H. Pearson, Mr J. E. Hannah being elected secretary and treasurer. We understand that the applications for shares have exceeded anticipation, and that there is every prospect of the number being largely increased, the share-list ( not having been closed. , , ' A grain show is to be held at Balclutha on Friday, 26th May. • >- At Naseby the other , day a Mr Bailey was conducting a mining case before Warden Ked« dell when he made some remark concerning the evidence a witness was giving. The witness promptly and expressively replied, "You are an ass." The witness afterwards apologised, but the Warden evidently had some sympathy with the uncomplimentary rejoinder, for he thus addressed Mr Bailey : " I don't think you have much to complain of. You don't treat the witnesses well. Your manner, is irritable and unnecessarily annoying. , The way ( you cross-examined Mr Johustone would be dis T creditable to a professional man. Don't identify yourself too much with your client's interests, and don't make it a personal question if a witness does not give the answer you wish. You areappointed as anagent hereto assist your client and me also ; but you ann®y me. You fight all round." , Mr Bailey said he was sorry there was any necessity for his Worship to make the remarks that had just fallen from him, and the matter there dropped. At the City Police Court on Monday last a distressing case was heard in which an unfortunate named John Cook was charged with having insufficient, lawful means of support.— Mr Weldon said that this was a most unfortunate case, attributable to the misfortune of the accused— not his fault. He had received savere injuries some time back in a mining accident which crippled him completely, and since then he had tried every available means of obtaining an honest livelihood. Poverty, however, had evidently preyed upon his mind, and he had twice been lodged in the Asylum. Accused was brought to the lockup last night, as he had absolutely no place of shelter to go to, and it was not the wish of the police to press the charge. The gaol chaplain, (Mr Torrance) w.as exerting himself in the matter, and hoped to gain admission for the Accused into the Benevolent Institution.— The. Bench accordingly dismissed the case, „ ,

Mr Maxwell, general manager of railways, ' is understood to have .withdrawn his resignation. The Union Steam Ship Company received a cablegram 'from London on Tuesday advising: the departure of the Mariapouri from Lisbon for Melbourne direct on the 17th inst. ; of the sailing of the Mahinapua from the Clyde on the'22nd inst. ; and of the successful launching of the Omapere on the 20th inst. ' The meeting held at the Princess Theatre oil Tuesday night, convened by the Trades and Labour Council to consider the subject Of tne eight-hour system of labour, was attended by a . large number of people. His Worship the • Mayor occupied the chair, and a number of resolutions in favour of the eight-hour system and its legalisation were carried unanimously by the meeting. - The Somersetshire on her recent passage to Melbourne had the'same experience as befell the Janet M'Neil on her passage to this port from Glasgow, Whilst in theN.E. trades she had a storm with her for 300 miles which carried with it a cloud of red dust that, covered-every part of the vessel. ' The ordinary meeting of the British-Israel Association was.held on Tuesday evening. Mr R N' Adams in the chair. A very able and instructive paper on British history was read by Mr Adams, the reader dwelling on the Ma'gna Charta, the . Reformation, England s success in war, and many other matters ofc interest to the student of English history. ' '' The annual tea-meeting of the South Dunedin Congregational Church was held on Tuesday evening, and was attended by about 200 persons. Tea having been partaken of in Nati-; imann's Hall, an adjournment was made to the /*?Town Hall, where addresses were delivered by, ' "the 'pastor of the congregation (Rev. Mr Tonkinson), Dr Roseby, and Messrs Jago and Shacklockr ■ Dr Roseby congratulated the congregation upon, the ( success of their efforts during the year, 'especially in the matter 1 of their having procured a,site for a church, which ' Ke.hpped to see erected before the next annual .meeting.s hould be held. The choir of the' Moray, place Church rendered valuable assist- . ance during the evening. ' ' ' ' The Bruce Herald states that " one day last ■ -week two men, 'beating letters of introduction •from a' Dunedin labour agent, sought work on the' Oatlin's River railway works. It was, noticed that they were no^acoustomed to such a kind of employment, and were, for some reasons, ' regarded with suspicion. They were, however, told that they might take their meals and eleep in the' tent, which they did. , On Friday morning, while, th'ey^ were absent,, the car- , pen^rwas engaged in putting up some bunks . lri'tbe tent, and accidentally discovered some very • suspicious-looking articles in the j>lace - where the men had slept the previous night. ' He called in several others, and a search of the men's' swagß was instituted, which resulted in the, discovery of a s . dark-lantern, whioh, when turned on, would showthree different shades •of coloured light, three revolvers, and nearly ; 60 keys, besides crooked and bent wires. The men' were, upon their return, tofil, that unless they immediately, cleared out they 'would be " ,giyenin charge. They then left, and .took the road in the direction of Balclutha." i , A 'Somewhat remarkable case was referred to % his Honor Mr Justice Williams during argument in the Supreme Court on, Tuesday. The facts of it were that a young lady wa!s travelling alone in a railway carriage in America, and the conductor ventured tb give her' a kiss. , Action for assault was taken against the company owning the railway, anpl after the case had passed through several courts, the plaintiff was finally awarded a

illars dam;

'' ' At, Oamaru Court on 'Monday^ Alexander .' Copeland was charged with absconding from the' !• Industrial School at Caversham. It appeared ' that' the boy, who had been committed recently to the'schodl for five 'years for being in an un- ' occupied house off Tees street, had run away a couple of days after, being sent down, and . from Dunedin ,to Oamaru. He was - to be sent back to complete, his term. ■' 'His Worship cautioned the 'boy that he miglit ' have been sentenced to a whipping for tlie 6*? en'ce, and that if he appeared again he would certainly receive one. At the first annual meeting of the Canter- ■ bury Caledonian Society, Mr P. Cunningham, ' in returning thanks for the honour the Society had done him in electing him first president, announced that he had decided to offer the sum of £25 to be expended in promoting one of ■ the objects for which the Society had been 1 formed, and he wished it to be called " The "Caledonian Society of Canterbury Scholar1 ship." >Mr A. M'Rae then stated that he wished to make a donation of £5, to be ex- !• pendod in recognition of special acts of' bravery in saving' life in Now Zealand or New Zealand 1 waters-. V otes of thanks were passed to Messrs • Cunningham and M'Rae for their handsome donations. "Some extraordinarily hard swearing took place at the Oamaru Resident Magistrate^ O )urt on Monday. George Wallace, a publican cat Ngapara, who has frequently been charged ; with breaches of' the licensing laws, was charged with being drunk whilst driving a baggy. Constable Cloary swore that, .when he siw defendant driving along the road defendant.was drunk. He had a companion in the buggy, who was sober. This companion was James Campbell, a blacksmith, who swore • that Wallace was sober, as also did an ostler who had scon the buggy start. The charge was dismissed. Wallace was further charged with using threatening' and abusive language to tho constable on the same occasion. Constable Cleary Was again tho only witness for the pro6 icution ; but for the defence James Campbell swore most positively that they never saw the c mstable, and, therefore, that Wallace most certainly never used the language imputed to him. His Worship (Mr Robinson) said he could not profess to understand on which side the truth lay, and dismissed this chai'ge also. According to the Home News, the great • American showman, Barnum, is to visit Australia. The celebrated elephant Jumbo, from , the London' Zoological Gardens, is to .be ' ' amongst the curiosities of his menagerie. The fact that the InvercargiH tramways ply on Sundays is a heinous offence in the eyes of the Southland Times. It says :— " It does not - need a Sabbatarian to denounce with emphasis the conduct of the Invercargill tramway directors. The return they are making for the unexpectedly liberal patronage of the public is to create a piiblic nuisance and outrage the feelings of the best-disposed part of the community. They found a quiet Sunday in the streets of Invercargill and in the suburbs, and they have made one of din and bustle, unmarked, as far as thoir traffic is concerned, from every other day of the week It will be a thousand pities if a boon so great as the tramway has furnished is to be countervailed, by misuse and perversion. Let it be clearly understood that the present state of things is due simply to the greed of a company (represented by its diroetorH) that is abusing its privileges, and that profew indulging Miat greed to doing justly, loving mercy, and guarding the morality of the people,'^ "