THE WATCHMAN.

Saturday Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 124, 24 November 1877, Page 9

THE WATCHMAN.

" For some must w'atcli, ;whUe some must sleep,—r Thus sons the world 1 ayfay;”;-•;* • 1 ;i • At A f STAK-i>*STitiKr-A message ; said; they* Clutha had risen eight feet last Sunday, and dihen seemed lo.be y standmgf With so many,/ feet it should have'had no difficulty in stand?, , ; f ing,' htft' So far as jwe dan learn, it nevepr, left .!?H uMi,Jell ClLlk;!..! J V„ A Phantom Court.— According to the Jurist, the: ,Ap peal; Coprt at WellsiigtbnJhais?: ...been occupied in trying- defunct cases. It. . i? gratifying to find that tlieir Honours have nothing/more serious , pn hand. l th‘an ;dealing ; >: with dummy appellants and respondents; pu The Colonial Bank. —This institution; has-, entered into possession its. recent purchase —the, Punediii, .ITniversity 'building. It is. reported there is.’ a dispute; about the clock* but 'W Hope the Bank Will retain .it and; give the public as much tick as ft can* yet with as little winding-up. as possible. . s More Recreation Grounds. North. Diiriedin wants a slice of Peiichet Bay, to be converted into a recreation ground. The young folks are sighing for. better opportunities of “ kiss in the ring. ’’ It is quite , true that unless a man is in the ring now-a-day.a, he has little chance of getting on. Quick Work. —The fine new steamer Cuzcp: left Plymouth September’ 2f, and at-/ rived at South Australia November 7. The M time, actually occupied, ’steaming, was 39 days. Think of this, and ; compare it with the six months’ voyages not so very' long ago.* There is every hope of direct steam service with New Zealand accomplishiiigfhe voyage in six weeks. T' ..; , The Sea SEEPENT:-/The passengers f and stewards on board the Arawata" saw la marine monster 100 yards long, disporting itself in the briny, off Oamaru, The' chief officer said afterwards it was only a school of black fish tumbling,, about./ The stewards were going below at the time.; with empty,, glasses, which is suggestive, ,of the people on deck seeing double. : , m f*eK i ■ .niniinK Constitutional.— Qur brethren of the Good Templars, al ways' boasted of their good constitutions, the result of total abstinence from alcohol. 'But it’Appears they ! have nob got one of any kind, as Brothers Adams and Jago, of Dunedin, are, along with other delegates, engaged at Melbourne in compiling a constitution, whatever that may mean. We hope one of the rules will be to practise temperance in hearfcj speech, and be-, haviour. / ; Conchology.— Mr C. C. Armstrong, of , Dunedin, was,nearly hit by a vagrant; shell while walking on the shore of Hobsoa’s.Bay. on the Prince of Wales’ Birthday. It is said that the shell was fired; from an Armstrong gun, and it was no wonder it wanted to find its home in an Armstrong. Mr Armstrongbought the shell, and will likely present it to the Museum. Captain Hutton has. not. made up his mind as to the class in which ho will place it. Native Affairs. Our Colonial-born Minister, has an inherent right to the : title of;; Native Minister. When he made his State- . ment the other night, ’we expected some malformation‘about the oyster-beds of Sfewart’sT Island, the-only natives we care - aboutn - ,r precious with, the squeeze of a lemon—but he only talked of the Maoris, and fully endorsed the sugar and flour policy of his knightly predecessor. To be sure, sugar and flour cost less than gunpowder, but the tribes cost us too much metaphorical sugar.

The Financial Statement.— The Colonial Treasurer has had his say, which amounts to this : -The Land! Fund to be absorbed; less 20 per cent, for local purposes ; a uniform Land Law throughout the :Colony ; the cessation of peddling.ways ©f borrowing, and going in , for an. application to the British, capitalists for a loan of four, millions. The scheme has the merit of simplicity, and we will know better what we are about. : ; The Toast of “ The Colonies.” —Sir Julius Yogel was called upon to respond to this toast at the Sheffield Cutlers’ feast. He discoursed sensibly upon the advantages of easing the mother country of her redundant population, and the expediency of confederation with Britain. - He was loudly cheered, and the knife-grinders thought him true as steel,,and one of the;most polished Colonial blades they had seen. . •: ■ ;'/ - : ip Lwrui! A Useful Cat./t—We have often heard of Newfoundland dogs being put into the coach line, but we never before now have heard c>£ a cat which has been trained to working a conveyance. One of our exchanges, however, informs us that “ Mr W. Catt has started a public conveyance between Greytown, Gladstone, and Masterton. ” Our facetious imp, on reading this announcement, sent us the following “ Why should the police expenditure be very small in the three towns above-named ? —Because as they have a Catt always on the road, they will not require many traps. ” - .‘, l 1 Hot Coffee. —'During the delivery of a sermon at St. Peter’s Church, Wellington, the Bev. B. Coffey made the folio wing remarks :—“ Can we help reflecting on the almost profane conduct of praying every Sunday that the Almighty would ‘ direct; and prosper all their consultations.' We are only justified in praying when we have done our- utmost, or mean to .do.ihu Butthb last question that we ask about candidates: for they Christians ? Have they any religibn P Naiyj /iai/e they even any characters V ’