LOCAL & GENRAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1602, 5 August 1882, Page 8

LOCAL & GENRAL.

The Otago Harbour Board Loan Bill got through Committee on Thursday (27th). On the motion of Mr Wright, however, an important; clause was inserted, to the effect, namely, that not more than one-fourth of the whole £200,000 may be spent ia the Upper Harbour until a depth on the bar of not less than 23 feet has been secured.

Mr Montagu Browne, who has for tho past ten months acted as business manager for Mr Bland Holt, left Dunedin on Thursday (27th) by the Kotomahana for Melbonrne, where he will assume the management of the Opera-house on behalf of the new lessees. Prior to his departure Mr Browne was the recipient of a handsome souvenir, presented to him by Mr Holt as an acknowledgment of the valuable services rendered by Mr Browne in the production of " The World " and " New Babylon." The presentation took the form of a gold alberfc chain and a neat and appropriately designed pendant, consisting of a miniature globe mounted on a sovereign, suitably inscribed.

A singular case was heard at the City Police Court on Thursday (27th). It appeared that a youngman, boarding in the house of one Karton, at Timaru, had unexpectedly journeyed to Dunedin, taking with him the latter's wife and sir children, with whom he started housekeeping in Arthur street. This move did not,. of course, meet with the approbation of the deserted husband, but what touched him yet more severely was the simultaneous disappearance of a rug, bedding, and various other articles. A search-warrant was obtained, and the adventurous youth was formally charged with larceny. Between the laying of the information and the hearing of the charge, however, a change came over the aspect of affairs. The husband wished to withdraw frozn the prosecution (having possibly made arrangements for the restoration of either wife or property). This not being permitted, he suffered a singular lapse of memory, and could not positively identify either blankets, feather-bed, or ;Jny i thing else as his property— except his wife and children. Those he could positively swear to. The whole case seemed perplexing, and the Magistrate was oonstrained to ask the wife " whether she had run away with the accused, or the accused with her." The witness did not quite know, but thought it did not much matter whether she " kept house for him, or he boarded with her." Under these circumBtances the case was dismissed, with a few emphatic remarks from the Bench.

On Friday, July 21st, at Scroggs Hill, East Taieri, Mr and Mrs James Callander celebrated their golden wedding anniversary Some fifty or so of their acquaintances and friends were present, amongst whom, it maybe mentioned, was Mr M'Gregor, photographer, who took a photograph of Mr and Mrs Callander, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. During the course of the festivities of the day, Mr William Jaffray, in proposing the [health of the host and hostess, gave a very pleasing address. He was a shipmate of Mr and Mrs Callander, arriving here in the Philip Laing in 1848, at a time when there were only three houses in Dunedin. What difficulties and hardships they had to encounter and endure few people could con* ceive in these days of railways and other coa» v@nie.noea, Little did he then, think be irowfl

'ever have the pleasure of being. present on BUGh an occasion as this. He believed that, like himself, Mr and Mrs Callander had never - regretted having come to > New Zealand. He wished them, their children, and their ..grandchildren every success and pleasure. A . very enjoyable day was spent by those assembled. • Constable Hillard, from Victoria, who, as we stated last week, came' to Otago t© make a search for one Charles Forbes (believed by the Victorian police to have been murdered ' atStawell), returned on Thursday (27th) bythe Rotomahana. He has been unable to learn any1 thing in this Colony concerning Forbes. JLlie inquiries he made at Lawrence convinced him " that Forbes had never been at Gabriel s Gully "as was stated. It may be added that Forbes was a tall, well-built man, and was of such • character as would render it very unlikely -that . he could be in a district for any time without •becoming generally known. Mr Hillard has, , t) return to be present at the trial of Burns, 'now under committal for the murder of Forbes. ' Mr A C.Begg received by cable on Thursday ; (27th) particulars of the steamer which is on the way to load a cargo of meat at Port Chalmers. Her ftame is the Marsala, and her tonnage 2500 ■tons . She is the , same steamer referred to m our correspondence columns last .week as having been fitted on the, Clyde with refrigerating machinery by. Messrs Hick, Hargreaves[ and, Co., She has a meat-stowing capacity of 700 tons measurement. She left on the 17th , June, and is expected to come direct to Dun- •, din. . _ : ' A statement" regarding the Corporation ; 'Wnces was made by the Mayor last week.. The total amount' of- the overdrafts on <' the" several accounts was ', £20,115-^nearly « £4000 less thanon thai;' day fortnight. Of this there was the strongest probability, that the ■ on the water and gas accounts would be paid off by the end of the year: 1 ' # The overr draft on ihe municipal account, which was at present under £7000,-would by the same date be probably- ,£15,000— considerably less thaA < the figure it stood at at the close of the last yeari The total revenue was nearly £100,000. - , ,'j The action for malicious prosecution, M*Leo<ji ' W .Reeves, was heard at the Supremo Court ' on Thursday (27th) .before Mr Justice Williams ' ■ and a special jury. ■ The facts of the case are well I , known, as' it has 'been before the . public previously.. Mr C. S. .Reeves was madfes the .defendant, as he .was chairman of the ' Committee of the Industrial Exhibition, which , .directed the prosecution alleged to have been ' malicious. The Jury, after consulting for . nearly two hours, returned a verdict for 40s— a sum sufficient to carry costs. , . The New Zealand -Timber and Woodware ■'Factories Company have just completed the 1 manufacture of the cylinder writing-desk and ■ bookcase which formed part of thepresenta- '■ tionmade to Mr J. Hume a short time ago by several citizens. The articles are' of the native «■ rimu wood; rind the design is Early English. ' They are' exceedingly .well finished/ and form, excellent specimens of ''first-class workman;- ' 'ship. The desk is thus inscribed :— " A tribute ■ •■ of -esteem and regard from a,- few old friends to <' James Hurde, in'tokenof his valuable services as superintendent of the Dunedin Lunatic ' Asylum: 30th .June, 1882." , ' ' | •,'VOurabi Pasha : (says the European Mail), ' whose name/is, now,, on every; lip, was until a J 'few years ago a noted and successful speculator ".' oh itheißourse and Stock" Exchange. ' He made a fortune' from the Suez Canal shares alone, " and prior' to, that was for a period a clerk in a " business office in Qairo. 'He' studied, but did 'not; graduate,^ the .great Moslem University ' El' Azhar, and, afterwards passed, the Military '< School at Cairo. His ambition developed with his fortune )t and is., quite as much an'unknown- " ' quantity., He is an Egyptian of the purest "'blood,' and bears the distinctive marks of the , ;ro,ce on his countenance,. >, , , ; • ■ - : "Ang i lo-Ans'traliani''iil the ' European Mail, ; " writes :— '« The 'many' friends ■ and former -• patients of Dr CotteMl, late ; of Invercargill, .•• will 1 be glad to hear that' he| after undergoing '■ -twb'v'ery severe operations in London, is no'jv J' convallescerit; and good holies are entertained i by his medical advisers of his complete restora- '" tiori to health: He has been under {treatment ■since the first operation was' performed in December of last year, and his wounds are not ' yet completely- healed." •The following is from the Cromwell Argus:— " We are told in a certain t book that at times "we may 'entertain angels unawares.' We ■ know of a hospitable landowner not a hundred ' miles from here, who is considerably disgusted ' 'to find that his mansion afforded food ana J " shelter to an individual (and the stable ditto for, his horse) whose special but undisclosed • mission was ,to inspect and report upon said ' landowner's efforts to keep down the rabbit pest on his domain, and whose report resulted ' m our good-natured friend having to interview the. R.M. at a cost of ' a few pounds. To ' ensure a cordial welcome at his establishment lnSuture, we should imagine it would be well ' ' for visitors to ' disclaim connection with the ' ' Rabbit Inspector's Department, as our friend's confidence in human nature is somewhat shaken '■ after his recent experience." ! 1 ! The Dunedin telephone exchange, which ' started with about 60 subscribers, has now 113 1 on the list; ■ , ( An English paper has the following : — " Tfye ' American public is said to be violently proyoked' by the fact that Mr Matthew Arnold ,' should have taken as a serious piece of statisti- ■ cal information the, statement made by the Nation newspaper ,that .not one man in a hundred thousand in America changes his shirt more than once a week or eats with a fork. 4 The Nation, in reply to passionate protests from those who take more cheerfully to forks and clean shirts, admits that the statement isj a hyperbolical illustration. 'We have all along, . it,says,,|been ready to make large concessions in the way of increasing the proportion of men ijvvhio change their shirts more than, once a week ;—so; — $o make them one in a thousand, fpr , ; instance— in answer to respectful remonstrance from any quarter.' Our own withers are not „ unwrung, for the writer says that his figures , are just as applicable to England as, to „ America. In the matter of the shirt, is not one in a thousand decidedly over the mark for this country?"' ! ' ■ Recent news from Paris states that a bill for the sale of the Crown jewels and diamonds lias passed the Chamber of. Deputies. The > c proceeds will be applied to a fund for distressed artisans. The following tenders were received for the contract for platelaying and ballasting to Waiho Downs (about nine miles) for the Waimate Gorge Railway Company:— C. V. Clarke, Waimate, £3340 7s 3d; James Cranston, Punedin, £3502 13s; Jas. Cranston, Dunedin, alternative, provided Company supply engine and. waggons, £2725 Is ; P. Dey, Mosgiel, £2838 5s 4d;. Henry Shepherd, South Rakaia, £3836 15s 4d : Michael Lynch, Timaru, £3652 18s sd ; O f Malley arid Easley! Sydenham, Chrisfcchurch, £2440 0a lOd (at. coated,, ' ■

We have received a large number of extraots from London papers, for which we have not space, all evincing the interest which was felt in the question of a supply of frozen meat from the Australasian Colonies. In commenting on the letter of "A London Butcher," the Daily Telegraph remarks:— "ln the London of the existing epoch, it has been calculated, there is one butcher for every 1500 head of its inhabi-, tants, which, looking at the actual population of the modern Babylon, would give the metro polis-a quota of some 2500 vendors of meat; but, as a matter of fact, the Post-office London Directory for 1881, including the northern and suburban districts, enumerates no fewer than 2800 wielders of the chopper and the ' steel.' It will thus be seen that the butchers of London are not by any means a feeble folk. They are numbered as the 24th among the City Guilds, after the, 12 Great Companies, l and having been so long ago as 1180 fined by Henry II for setting up an unlicensed frater-| nity, they were incorporated by James I in ■1605. The butcher is generally regarded as a tradesman who knows remarkably well how to take care of himself, and not to be ' put upon ' with impunity; while it is as commonly accepted that the butcher, with the aid of a good connection, a comely wife, exceptionally quick at casting accounts, and a contingent of carts, 1 fast-trotting l ponies, and butchers' boys' with complexions as rosy as the ' prime cuts ' which they dispense, is the beau ideal of an indus-j trious and prosperous' tradesman. To judge,' however, from the statements made in a_ letter to a contemporary by a correspondent signing' himself ' A' London Butcher,' the lot of the 1 flesher' is not altogether a happy one. . . .' ,In attempted , proof ,of the 'hazard' of butchering, he states that, quite, recently^ 'six or eight of the largest and best-known butchers in different parts of the town ' have .been compelled, to call their creditors together .and 'go into liquidation.' Six or'eight ! What are these among so many ! What class, of persons engaged in trade or commerce are exempt frqm a proportion of failures among their number? Bankers fail sometimes; so do diamond merchants and West-end tailors; so even do , the' philanthropists who discount bills at from 60 to 200 per cent. It would, however, be cerjtainly interesting and .instructive ,to learn fronj .some careful statist the number of, London 'butchers who. annually drift into .bankruptcy or, liquidation as against ' those who drive a , roaring trade,' and wax , fat at the expense of their overcharged customers, who, with very few exceptions, have neither the time nor the courage to grapple with the butcher, and 'flatly refuse to pay him extortionate prices, for the commodity in which he deals, and' which, it is to bfe hoped, the wholesome competition of , frozen meat, frorn^ the, Colonies will, ere long, rendejr much cheaper than is actually the case." It is quite evident the interests of the butchers do not quite run on all fours with those of this consumers. • , , . ,> j London telegrams, dated June 21st, 'iii: American- papers say:— "The Mayor of Dublin appeared in his official robes and presented a petition from the Corporation.; of < Dublin again the Repression (Bill. 1 .' He attempted to make a speech summarising the petition, when he was called to order. . Finally he merely read the petition. — During the discussion on clause '2 of the Repression' Bill ip the 1 -House, 'Mr Gladstone stated that the Government proposed to introduce words •limiting the power of 'police to search at nig^t to' occasions when there' is reasonable suspicion ( that a secret society is actually holding a.meet--ing. The Irish members 'accepted this as a reasonable and important concession.— The Times says the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland and his subordinates, after careful investigation, are ' Convince d"that crime in Ireland is not spofadio, but that it is controlled .by machinery deliberately set in motion through organised agencies, commanding large resources and obeying impulses of foreign origin. " ■ j j , An entertainment was given at the Lunatic Asylum on 1 Friday evening by the members <jf theold Sheridan Dramatic Club, who. it may b3. remembered, used, to perform, solely at the Asylum three or four years ago.', The performance was the last that will take place- there, as ■the hall is. shortlyto be changedinto a- ward, and the scenery, &c. transferred , to , Seacliii. A large number of tickets had been issued, and by 8 o'clock as numerous an audience as/could bo comfortably, accommodated had arrived.. The programme consisted of the well ? know;n farce "The Turkish Bath," in which the characters were capably sustained by Messrs Ja6. Stevenson, Charles timbers, Robert ' Martin, Albert Schott, H. B. Smith, and Miss and, Master Ward. ,The miscellaneous items we^e a song, " The Diver," by Mr Ibbotson; a recitation by Mr Stevenson; and a cornet solo, "Brise dcs Nuits," by Mr Feltham, accompanied by Herr Mosch — the latter ii^em receiving an imperative encore. The whole concluded with ' ' 'Bombastes Furioso," in which several of the abovenamed performers caused no small merriment by their spirited acting, and the entertainment may.be classed, as one, of the most creditable of amateur efforts. A supper was .subsequently given ,to the performers by Dr Neill, superintendent of the Asylum., . ! An impression seems to prevail that the Marsala, expected here to load meat in September, is an old boat of that name built in 1870. This is not the case. She is a new boat, built on the Clyde, and advertised in the London papers as of 3800 tons gross. By cable her tonnage is stated as 2500 tons, and this is doubtless her net tonnage. ; " Owing to the inclemency of the weather, the Otago Hunt Club did not meet on Saturday. William Jones, who turned informer in the cases of burglary at the P.elichet Bay railwaystation, Mr K. Ramsay's office, and the office of this paper, was on Saturday, at the Police Court, charged with being, concerned m them and committed for trial. . , ■ „ The certificate of the 'Melbourne :Exhibition awarded to the Mosgiel Woollen Comrjany fof J i#e excellence of -their manufactures, and a model of the Company's mills, are exhibited' in the window of Messrs^ Brown, Ewing, and Co., Princes street. 'The design :i of the'eertificate is graceful,' and its execution Easterly, while the model is neat, and, 'being made to scale, is perfectly'accurate. Both objects are sufficiently interesting' to warrant attentibn being drawn to them. In a recent debate in the House MrM.W. Green said he disliked very much to talk about himself.— (V Oh I" and .laughter.) He had lived 42 years, and was prepared to prove that, in regard to indomitable energy and ability to use his hands, he 'could compare favourably with other hon. members.— (Loud laughter.) People thought that .because he had 1 been_ a minister he knew nothing; but they were mistaken.—(Renewed laughter.) [ - A sailor on the barque Oregon, at Lyttelton, named F. Payne, had a rib broken on Friday, through falling, down the hold whilst loading cargo. When in the ship Waimate he, by a like accident, broke his arm, and in the ship Rakaia one of his >> legs was broken, Froni experience, he not unnaturally believes he is not tobe killed by acoideat,

The Pall Mall Gazette says : — " General Ignatieff has not been long in following M. Gambetta into retirement. Alike on her eastern and western frontier Germany has been relieved of a secret dread. Russia, like France, is now placed under the guidance of mediocrities, and Prince Bismarck is more than ever master of the European situation. That 1 is the first and most obvious result of the displacement of the Russian Minister of the Interior. General Ignatieff was unscrupulous and cunning, but his pre-eminent ability has beea questioned as little as the uneasiness with which his ascendency inspired his neighbours. All things were believed to be possible with Ignatieff in power, and the relief which his fall will bring to Central Europe will be only second'to that produced bythe overthrow of M. Gambetta. For good or for .evil, the influence of Germany will be strengthened wherever that influence extends. The change in> the Ministry of the Interior at St. Petersburg will be felt at Cairo and at Paris ; nor can it be a matter of indifference to England that the only formidable rival of the German Chancellor should disappear from the scene on the eve of the coming Conference. At the beginning of the year there were three states.men in "office in Europe who possessed a Europeau reputation — M. Gambetta, General Ignatieff, .and Prince Bismarck. To-day Prince Bismarck alone remains, and the whole Continent is overshadowed by that solitary and commanding figure. The French Ministry have had to resign over the Egyptian difficulty, their proposaj for a war credit having been, negatived. Italy having now finally declined to co-operate in the restoration of order in Egypt, England therefore is left to proceed single-handed. Qne regiment, the Scots Fusilier Guards, has been despatched to the' seat of war in the steamer Orient. The Prince of J Wales; it is' stated, had a desire himself to proceed with the British force, but at the wish of the Queen 1 he has remained in England. 1 Turkey is 'incensed at the action taken by England, and at her refusal to withdraw the troops, and consequently the relations' between the Porte and Earl Dufferin, the British Ambassador at Constantinople, are at present strained. From Egypt the news is that (Durabj is being strongly supported by the National party, who have resolved to carry on the war of extermination against the Europeans ; and at Port Said the rebels are forming entrenchjments. Sir Garnet Wolseley will, therefore, on his arrival find work ready to his hand. .

The' Australians have beaten the Scottish Gentlemen at EdinbuTgh by an innings, with several runs to spare. '

At the weekly meeting of the First Ctmrch Young Mente Literary Association, held oh Monday evening, an essay was read by Mr R. N. Adams on the "Formation of Coal," in which he endeavoured to confute the almost univer-sally-accepted theory that our coal measures have been formed of vegetable matter solely, arguing .that the difficulties in the way of such a conclusion are numerous, and impossible to be answered. . His contention was that coal is a mineral product belonging to the same, class, and originating in the same way, as Barbadoes tar, bitumen; .'asphaltum, and petroleum, the theory being that the liquid mineral had, at one time in the history of the earth, been contained in large mountain reservoirs, which, having by volcanic eruption or other cause's been burst open, the material flowed out and lodged in adjacent hollows, where it became hardened by the action of the atmosphere,, and was subsequently covered 5 over with silt from natural causes. ■ '

1 The vital statistics for the Dunedin district for the month of July are:— Births, 166; deaths, 46 j marriages, 41. For the corresponding period of last year the returns were :—: — Births, 163 ; deaths, 61 ; marriages, 40. Mr James Mills, of the Union Steam Ship Oompany,received a cablegram from Sydney on Sunday announcing the death ,of Mr David Rentoul, second engineer of the s.s. Wa,kaupu, oh- the' voyage from Wellington to Sydney. The message states that on the 22nd ult., the day after leaving Wellington, the deceased fell iamonsf the machinery, receiving injuries that must have caused immediate death. The remains were buried at sea. Deceased leaves a widow in Dunedin, but had no family. Under a rule' of the Company, which compels seagoing officers to insure according to rank, the Company contributing' one-third of the required 1 premiums, Rentoul's life was insured in the Government Office for £200 ; and it will be the first claim made under the scheme, which was-broughtinto operation a little more than '12 months ago: Deceased was 42 years of age. He joined the Company's service in February, 1878, as third engineer of the Taupo, and when that vessel was lost he joined the Wakatipu, and has been in her ever since.

. A deplorable tragedy through drink is reported from the East End of London. Timothy Sullivan, a waterside labourer, came hoa.6 drunk— a common occurrence— and began to quarrel with his wife. Not being -able to stand," he lay down on the floor while his boy pulled off his boots. "What a wretch you are," exclaimed his wife in a fit of anger, ' to be like this every day!"— " Never mind," rejoined Sullivan, "we will soon get over this. Further words ensued, when the husband, exasperated at what he deemed the undeserved reproaches of his wife, commanded her to "hold her noise," and, suiting his action to his word, seized a poker and, flung it at her. It struck her on the head, felling her to the ground, and shortly afterwards she died. The prisoner exclaimed, "I have done it this time, but I did not mean to do it. I know I have done it, and I will give myself up." The prisoner said at the police-station, " I was at many places to-day, and I had a good drop of drink." He further said, "I did not do it intentionally. She was as good a woman as ever walked the ground. , I have been married 23 years and never lifted a hand to her." He was convicted of manslaughter, but had not been sentenced when the mail left.

- The Paris Tramway Company wished to give steam a thorough trial, and as they have had five years' experience of it, and have tried every system they could 'find — the number was no less than 21,— they have every, reason to consider that their acquaintance with the merits and defects of steam power is pretty exhaustive. The end has been that they have totally abandoned steam and reverted to the old system of employing horses. • The result of the prolonged trials has been to show that steam is dearer than horsepower. The engine re quires a driver and a stoker, whose pay is, dearer flian two of the old drivers or coachmen., Then the fuel and maintenance of, the engines in „ order were costly ; while the original outlay in capital is about thensame as that required to keep up the requisite stud of horses, Moreover, hardly a week, often not a day in the week, passed without some apcident on the 'steam line, which proved very costly to the company, and > led to, complaints being addressed from various quarters to the < autharities. Hence, the authorities at last issued a prohibition i against the further employment of ateam, and in this the company acquiesced i with perfect readiness,

A London cable message to the Melbourne I Argus states that Hanlan has accepted a challenge from Wallace Ross to row five races, on five consecutive days, for lOOOdol a side. The Rev. J. W. Stack, writing to the Akaroa Mail, states that on July 25th ne< found Duvauchelle's Bay frozen. , He says :— " I found that the whole surface of tho bay, which is nearly half a mile wide, was frozen right across, and for about a mile towards Akaroa Harbour. The ice was about the tenth ■ of an inch thick a little way off shore, but seemed thinner near the beach. I carried a handful up to the house, that others might be witnesses of the fact that the surface of _ the bay was actually frozen. The ice remained floating about till after 12 o'clock, when a breeze sprang up, and it all disappeared." The Rev. W. Ayhnor recollects the bay being frozen once previously some years ago.

A young man named Robert Stewart nar-, rowly escaped drowning at Port Chalmers on Sunday. He had got on board a boat attached to one of the punts of his employer (Mr W. Satchler), when his cap was blown off. Without any consideration of danger he cast off the boat and endeavoured to recover his cap, but owing to the strong galp he was unable to' manage her, and she rapidly drifted down the harbour. She was observed by some residents of Mansfordtown drifting towards the powder magazine, and by the aid of a telescope they discerned she was occupied, and were about putting off to her assistance, but they were forestalled by a lad named William Julier, a) son of Captain W. Julier, of 'Deborah Bay,' who, with a companion, pluckily put off and took the boat in tow. The young man Stewart was quite exhausted when rescued, and perfectly unable to do anything, so that without the timoly assistance rendered him ho must have perished. He was taken on shore and his. wants attended to by Captain Julier's family, and in the evening returned to his employer's house, little the worse for his involuntary trip. l At the inquest at Invercargill on the man M'Watt, who died from starvation, Dr Galbraith deposed that he had examined the body of deceased. Ho found that there was a very ragged cotton shirt, but no undershirt on the body. He was extremely emaciated, and there was not the slightest trace of fat near the skin nor on the internal organs. In his experience he had scarcely ever seen a body so emaciated. The stomach was contracted coiip siderably, and contained what appeared to him to be bits of raw turnip and cabbage or turniptops. He inferred that deceased died of syncope, or fainting from extreme exhausjtion. He had probably got out of bed foisome purpose, and fallen to the floor, from which he had been unable to rise. Death was caused by exhaustion following on starvation and exposure to cold. He was of opinion that; the weak state in which M'Watt was seen was , caused by starvation, and by nothing else. In this he felt confirmed bythe extreme destitution apparent. The clothing on the body was so thin that a man in that condition must have suffered intensely from cold, and if he had had the means of purchasing clothing he would not have endured such sufferings. There was nothing, to sjiow that drink was the cause of death. The Coroner said the deceased appeared to have been of a proud, sensitive, and nervous disposition, shrinking from the exposure of his poverty, and preferring to die rather than to make his necessities known. The Jury found that Archibald M'Watt died of " syncope, or fainting, brought on by want of nourishment."

"The greatest successes of my life," said Barnum the other day, " are easily summed up. Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind, and Jumbo— the latest and greatest. On the Sunday Jumbo arrived in New York harbour I went down to meet him, and as we neared the city I saw the crowd ready to give the monster a welcome, and a picture of 30 years ago came before me. It was on that Sunday in 1852 that I came up the harbour with Jenny Lind. Hers was a great success, but Jumbo's will be greater. Jenny Lind took in 700,000 dollars while in this country. Jumbo has only been here six weeks, yet he has attracted fully 336,000 dollars, or an average of 56,000 dollars (£10,200) for every week he has been here." The cause of the impure atmosphere in the House of Representatives has at length been discovered. Accompanied by an officer from the Colonial Architect's Department, Dr Hector has • inspected the foundation of Parliament Buildings, and the result of the examination has been to reveal the fact that the ventilation-pipes provided for the purpose of conveying pure air into the legislative chambers are defective. In consequence of this defect deleterious gases are occasionally wafted into the ohambers from the seweva and closets, which may account for a goad deal of the sickness that has lately been prevalent among members and other habitues of the House. Steps are being taken to remedy the evil, and it is believed there will be no difficulty in effeoting this, but there must have been most reprehensible carelessness to let matters go so far and so long.

Although the Lower House deoided on Monday evening that bills relating to the 'disposal of Crown lands need not necessarily be referred to the Waste Lands Committee, they on Tuesday agreed to refer a number of such bills, including Mr Rolleaton's Land Bill and Sir George Grey's three— the Deferred-payment Settlera Relief, Pastoral Lands Occupation, and Elective Land Boards Bills. There was rather a warm discussion over the matter, during which Mr Montgomery and Major- Atkinson in dulged in somewhat heavy sparring. The Trustees, Executors, and Agency Co.'s Bill afterwards oame on for second reading. Mr Bathgate made strong objections to the bill, which had not been dealt with when the dinner adjournment arrived, At the evening Bitting Government intro duced their Loan and Honorarium Bills. A warning note of opposition ta the Loan Bills when they come to second reading was given by Mr Montgomery and Mr Macandrew. Afterwards some of the Consolidation Bills were dealt with, and Mr Dick's amended Licensing Bill was taken in Committee.

The death of Mr S. Bastard, who had for some time past been suffering from a lingering disease, is announced. Mr Bastard was an old Dunedin resident, and was best known through his lengthy connection with Messrs Sargood, Son, and Ewen. He had many friends in Dunedin as well as throughout the Colony, having been a commercial traveler for a number of years. The news of his, death will be received with sorrow by a numerous circle.

At the Port Chalmers, Po.ljce Court on Tuesday, 'before Messrs W. Elder and .T. Mill, J.P.s, Philip Cane, a seaman of the barque Pampero, was charged with desertion, and sentenced to be imprisoned for 12 weeks, with hard labour.

The annual tea.-meeting in connection with the Mornington Wealeyan Church was held on Tuesday (Ist), and. proved a thorough success. There was a crowded attendance, and at the after-meeting, at whioh the Rev. Mr Buttle presided, powerful addresses were delivered by several speakers, and the choiv rendered a wnfow of hy mj(is creditably,

Messrs Haxton and Beattie, the patentees of the flexible harrow, have just perfected an improved machine for the manufacture of this agricultural implement. It is a great improvement on its predecessor, absolutely noiseless, and calculated to be able to turn out in a twisted shape 600 of the segments of which the harrow is formed per hour. It was worked in public for the firsttime on Tuesday (Ist), and the machines previously in use were also open for inspection. About 30 gentlemen availed themselves of the invitation of the firm, and were greatly pleased with what they saw. A report of proceedings is given in another column.

We are glad to learn that the shares of the Otago Dairy Association (Limited) are being well taken up, both in town and country. An institution of this sort will bo of great service to landowners in adding to the value of their estates, and will prove an immediate boon to a large number of settlers who must eventually depend upon dairy produce for their incomes, rather than upon grain, which is more liable to fluctuation in price. Continued _ cropping, too. leads to the ultimate deterioration of the land.

The Bank of New Zealand will take possession of its new premises, at the corner of Princes and Rattray streets, and conduct business therein, on Monday, 21st inst.

At the meeting of the shareholders of the Roslyn Tramway Company on Tuesday (Ist) the directors' report was adopted, and the retiring directors and auditor re-elected unanimously Some discussion took place upon the report, and it was stated that Sunday traffic was necessary to make the line pay, but this was only made as a suggestion, as the question could not be discussed, no notice of motion having been given regarding it. The proposal to extend the lino towards Bishopscourt, which was made by the directors, met with approval, and soveral of the shareholders expressed themselves pleased with the result of the year's operation a though on this point there was not entire unanimity.

In 1870 the amount paid by the Dunedin City Conncil for legal evpensos was £1073, and the successive amounts to the present year were £1095, £957, £1250, £GGB, £G42, £396.

At the City Police Court on Tuesday, before Mr Carew, R.M., Alice Walmsley applied to have an illegitimate child committed to the Industrial School. — Mr Titchener, master of tho Industrial School, stated that the child had already been in the institution, and that although provision had been made for it for 12 months, the mother had not contributed any sum towards the cost of its maintenance. Every effort had been made to get the young woman situations, but she woula not stop in them, and showed a disinclination to do any work. — His Worship : Do you know that for a. fact?— Mr Titchener: I do. —His Worship: Do you know that she leaves situations of her ovyn accord, and is not sent away?— Mr Titchener : If she is sent away it is on account of her own misconduct. She can get employment easily enough, but she will not work. — His Worship : Do not say anything that you do not know of your own knowledge. — Mr Titchener said that in February last the woman was offered a situation, and she would not take it. A mother who had three children in the Industrial School, however, availed herself of the opportunity, and was paving 8s a week towards the support of her children. The applicant had written to him stating that she did not intend to pay anything for the child, and also that she would have half-a-dozen more children sent to the school. He had forwarded the communication to the Government. Sho accused the police of hunting her out of each situation she went to.— -His Worship (to the applicant) : Do you wish to say anything after what you have heard ?— Applicant stated that; the situation she refused was one at a hotel, and she declined, as_ she was too well known there, her name having appeared in the newspapers. She prodwed a certificate to substantiate her plea th.ajf she was not strong, and not capable of doing hard work,— Mr Titchener : I have not received a sixpence from her, your Worship, — Applicant said she had paid 8s to the clerk of the Court— Mr Titchener : She is one of those plausible women who would deceive any person. I know that she was turned out of a respectable boarding-house for being found in a single > man's bedroom. She got into the house under an assumed name, and the landlady told me that she was in tha habit of stopping out until midnight. — His Worship : What is a woman like her able to earn a week ? (handing the certificate put in to Mr Titonener.)— Mr Titohener: I could not say, This I know, the institution is so crowded that I do not know where to put the inmates. The mothers of infants go to all sorts of people —clergymen, lawyers, and others— to try and get their offspring admitted to the institution. If the authorities do not make somfe stand against such people, in the course of another two years we shall have 1000 children being: kept hero at the expense of the State. I could have got this child adopted, bat the mother would not allow me. — Applicant : I would be willing to provide for the child as soon as I am able to work. — His Worship : You must remember that by paying 8s or 10s a week you are not making total provision for the child. I do not s<ae my way to make an order of committal. You have had one chance of getting your child kept in the Industrial School, and you seem to be able to earn a livelihood for yourself and it. Therefore I will refuse to make a» order.

Rather a queer scene was enacted near Riverton the other day. Messrs Smith and Kingswell have been cutting a channel in the bed of Jacob's River, which many of the neighbouring 1 settlers believed would lead to flooding their properties. Some 30 of the Otautau and Strathmore residents therefore repaired to the spot, and, the eight or nine men at work on the channel having refused to stop, they proceeded to fill it up, of course a great deal quicker tham the men could dig it out. At one timo matter* looked serious, but Mr Smith was ssmi for, and he agreed to cease operations until next meeting of the County Council.

Dr dk Jonoh's Liatrt Brown Cod Livbr On..— lts Unequalled Effiqa^in Consumption andWastino Diseases.- Dr Henry Hanks, author of l<Conm:m[tion: Ita Treatment and Curability," writes : -"The superior esp[cacy of Dr de Jnngh'a Light Brown Cod Liver OH over the Pale Cod Liver Oil has proved, in Mi>y e^porience, unequivooal. Patients who have perstated tor several monlliß in the nee of tho latter, with scarcely any tmiooptible improvement, have, after a biiet trial of Dr de Jorirh's Light Browu Cud Liver Oil, acquired Buob. fatness and those distressing symptoms accompanying emaciation have ao rapidly subsided, thar. I havo b»en inductd to confide iv its reputed remedial powers, and consequently to oidvise its substitute <n for the Pale Cod Liver Oil." Benja. win Clarke, Ffq , M.8.C.5.. P.L.S., author of "Nona and t-uggestiona on Cod Liver Oil and its Uson," writes:— "The * Sect of the Pale Oil on thu circulation is no fe bly marked as not to be perceptible ; so thnt in srme ca^os of extreme debility, the patient, rom th 9 BlownebS of its action, 1b in danger of sinking from exhhustion, or iho disease, as in consumptiou, may become incurable from protraction My inference agreeß with the remak that Dr de Jongh'a Light Brown Oil effcots a cure in halt the time that the P»le Oil does." Dr de Jongh'g Light Brown Cod Liver Oil is sold only in capsuled imperial half-pints, pinti, and quaits, by all chemists Solo consigueea ; ' An.i»r, flarf ord, and Co. , 77 strand, London, *