CORRESPONDENCE.

Colonist, Volume XIX, Issue 2281, 8 September 1877, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

t- 5" - To the Editor o/> the Colonitt. S. .'Sißj^A.-rhmorciirreiit sometime ago, to the effect that the Queen"Bte Belief Gommittet did not intend ' to enlighteq the donors 'by balance' sheet ou the manner in -which they'had fulfilled°the'trust placed in their hands, gainß some coloring by the incomplete and mixed up statement-published ml last night's Mail. Can you infottri tne whether 'the Committee' intend publishing a proper'balance sheet or not?' Will you also oblige me by stating sydur''opinion on' the following < question ?d-*-If a' Committee is elected to oolleet Bubiott^tionsi'fdr'a^ceirtiin object,'and,' further, to appty th'fnioneys 'thus1 icaru'ing tip the1 object stated', is'jit'')hot'|t^eiri duty,"theyHlmngf *,c- (i oepted the trust,' to »bt>* in' a niost'bc)niplete'Wiinfae/ the amounts'collect^, 1 and-furth'er to nshoVr°fchat Wey have expend^d't'bese ambuhts in'nccor'dan'cji^ith Che' wishes and inWntions'of the r Uiib^oribersI?—lW,''4o'.' i \n ',\)k[iuu>'n i.'ih f^-QtrßßlST.' " Nelson, Sept«mbeH7MßWJi«^ '' iwt " oSi\X> PWe do not know the intentions of tb« Committee,

I but it!<nu»t;be sup^oWd-thef^iri'tfoi;' negWt their ,' indisputable duty io far as to witbhW%6m''\he ' publio full'iofdrwitiS^'bittPai'td'lWe'girerfl ahiJ re'- [ ' eeivers ofifcnVsubs'eriptibi!i'.f<ll(Possib'lyI'theyl are only I Wai«n!g'tiirtb«|irtrtirDs"Dflftht e"c6llebt6rß'We' 181 l in, and tlio aoctfuat it duly HltflliteK—<Eft Colonist.! ■ ,' ~i. "\ »r»«i».i-.Mii i-V'.ll,- Miir> ■i ■> J ' fTi | to tiivi'iiui" HJul i • H1 ill i (' " , Thb.Tov^T, SCHOOL Q9JOHT«BE r at their meeting on Thursday .evening, appointed -Miss Pansy Chat,tock, oi W^kefieldji assistant in, the Hardy-street School, and,Miia Bupkeridge, temporary assistant in '.' that conducted,. by ,Mrj Sunjdy in, Hampden-stroet. Bojth had lomi previous experience} in, teaching. ~.- , t /0' -• ■' ■ > t ,Ths .MnitfAli, Lifb , .ASSOCIATION of Australia recently ' (l heJd t its t! annual,meeting in! Sydney, and,' /roifl the reppr^t, it,appoars ,tab.c rapidly growing m ,publicj favor., During the t previous year no less than^ .IOBjS, new policies, the total amounting to £348,510, < ,[were,issued,,,Adding roore^than fifty,per cent. to the , sum,, previously insured.' The broader the basis of mutual .societies, ,the greater,security there is that the ( osjlc,ulations,,irill nQt be, disturbed, and if si.eh progress, isoontinusd, thosel interested will booh feel themselves, as safe as if they, ware insured in the wealthiest proprietary office. ■'"',, j Ne# Lttthbbak i CHUBOH.-^-Th© Pastor of the Nelson Lutheran Church; the Re?. J. W'.1 C. Heine, was amongst the small bddy of-pi6rieers who 'chose this for a resting place. He arrired here in' 1842 in ,■ the iship St. Paul, and shortly afterwards inaugurated /services, in ?a building which > could -be 'called little more than a meeting, place, situate 'in Shelbournestreet, at the back of'where the Gaol stands. In" this . place services hart been continued till quite recently. Tbe building,however, having become muoh'decayed, it was found imperative to obtain ariother place of worship, and as the ground oa' which the building ' stood was the property of the<oburoh, a wish'was'felt' by the members to >erect >a 'more substantial edifice there, I The; congregation'is- small,-but a sufficient yum .was soon raised'with the aid of those belonging toother denominations,,) to warrant the commencement of the structure, which is now all but completed.; Situated,in a commanding position, the newplace of worship isineat and unassumiug, rather than showy and ostentatious. r Suilt 'to accommodate something over one hundred persons, its dimensions are!2B feet by 21 feet, with a height of 11 feet to the wall-plate, but to the highest part of the roof, which is A shaped, is aboutl3o, feet. Entrance is gained by a porch having double doors opening into tha church ifrom the nest, and fronting the entrance are the'pulpit and altar. ,Qn either side of a centre aisle seats will bo. arranged,-and,a harmonium occupies the north-east corner of tbe building. The church ia ' lighted |by three qmamental'.windows on both north and south sides, and by similar windows at the rear of the pulpit, and o'n'eithe'r'side of the porch. The appearance 'of the building is considerably improved by a tower,''nine' feet 'high, built' just over the entrance, and this is'surmounted by a cross 2ft 6m in length. The wood chiefly 'used is rimu, the wallplates being of totara. The whole of the inside is lined, and will' bo' varnished ; the principals are girded strongly together with iron, aud neat gas fibtings have been provided. The' contract, without tho inside fittings, was taken by Mr John Scott, and the work seem* to be faithfully executed. The inaide fittings were entrusted to Mr G-ormann, who has also surrounded the church with a railing. The church will be consecrated on the afternoon of Sunday, tho 16th instant, when the Rev. Mr Heine will offioiate, with the assistance of tbo Rev. Mr Meyer, and tho Her. Mr Dierks, a missionary lately arrived from Germany, and it is understood that it will bo dedicated to, St. Paul. It may be added that the church members hope to see many of other denominations at their consecration service, and doubtless numbers will avail themselves of the opportunity. Railwat to Motueka. —The following is the text of the petition sent to the New Zealand, Parliament, which is referred to in our leading columns : — "' We the undersigned inhabitants of the districts of Mofcueka, Eiwaka, Upper and Lower Moutere, Ngatimoti, Neudorf, Pangatotara, and Dovedale beg respectfully to petition your, honorable House to take into your favorable consideration the construction of a line of railroad from Motueka through the Moutere and intermediate places to unite with the Nelson and Fox Hill line at the most accessible point. It would be a great feeder to t the Nelson and Fox Hill line as it would pass through all the settled districts between Motueka and Nelson, where thera are five sawmills, and a large quantity of produce grown without any means of getting it to. market, except by the expense of heavy cartage., There are uo expensive bridges «r engineering difficulties to contend iwith, and it would be,a ver^qheap.linetd construct, The Postal service to;the,different,districts now< subsidised by Government could ■th.»n,,be t sent, by .train. For statistics as to population and produce grown in the before-mentioned.diatricts, we beg respectfully to refer! you to the Government; returns, and think that -they willibeajf'.ifaybrab'la.eomparisonas to population, produce, and extent of land for settlement, with i other, districts, that now, have lines .of railways, and we your humble petitioners will ever pray." [Signed by one hundred and eighteen settlers in the said districts.] > . \ "Local Option.—Our telegrams inform us that, "In Committee on the Local Option Bill, clauses- 2, 6, 7, and 8 were struck out without a'division. The further consideration was adjourned for a week." Reference to tbe'Bill shows that this means the '"entire" rejection of the principle contended for by Mr Fox, and withdrawal for this session, though why. he has given in without insisting on the names oa each side being recorded it is impossible to conjecture A week since clause 2 was amended by inserting i " fifty" instead of " twenty," and if passed as it stood it would have enabled " fifty or more adult persons, male or female," to require the chairman of the Licensing Court to define a sub-district, and to take the votas of the adult residents as to the propriety of bringing the prohibitory olauses into operation, that is, to stop the issue of licenses, and, after the expiration of those then ourrent, to subject any persoa selling liquor in the sub-district to not less than fourteen days nor more tkan six months' imprisonment, without the option of a fine, and to seize and forfeit all liquors in the " possession or control" of the offender. Clause 6 defined the centre of the subdistrict to be a house licensed or for which a license was sought, and if more than one suoh house, the chairman was to determine tha centre. Clause 7 fixed the area of the sub-district in a munioipal borough to be such as should include all the inhabitants withm " a radius of one hundred yards" from the centre, and clause 8 that outside a borough the radius should be two milts. To Cobbbspondents.—Pressure on our space during the Parliamentary session rendsrs us unable to find room for the letter «n " The Education Bill." Thbbb were iwo hundred and forty snmmonses issued at the Resident Magistrate's Court at Dunedm last Tuesday week. It was the largest number ever issued from that Court in one day. Oantbbbuby.—The rate at which the land fund of Canterbury is disappearing may be guessed from tk& faot that the sales during August reached one hundred and sixty thousand pounds sterling. Pbopbbtt.—Messrs Cable and Drummond's Turiroa station,'Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, has been bought by Mr George G. Stead,'of Christchuroh, for £27,000. The estate contains 9,000 acres freehold and 14,000----acres leasehold, and 18,000 sheep, a few head of cattle and horses. \ . • " ... 1 Libkbai.;— A gentleman, who desires, his name to m be kept secret, has sent a cheque for, £500 to the. Bishop of Wellington towards diocesan fund. THH Maobis .at (Taupo^are said to be suffering from a scarcity of food. At Wanganui, insufficient! food ana disregard to'1 sanitary'matters,' are causing-' f ' much sickness araonßst'th'e'Maoris.' - , ' j , , , Tfla Pbihob's Visit.' —The Lahore, Civil and ', Military GizettS 'makes the statement that—"ThePrince of WlaWs Australian tour is definitely'fixed ' J ' "for'lß7B. fI.R.H. will leave -England in the Septom-'' ' jear, accompanied by the Princess,, and- ' 'after visiting Australia and New Zealand, will return by way of the United States., 1( , <_ An1 , Unkind Cut. -" JJgles", writes 8-^$1 r l qni ) ,aa ~ old friend'yißiting Glasgow ; (July '4th'); I.(foan^jijpf, , „ ttiere i?a» l£ telyereoleffaneVstatue to ftobertßurns. "Dnl<^h'e udccasion'tof V)tn1e :f'unveiline an Australian medioal student went up to an enthusiastic Scotch*

man who was shooting himself hoarse, and blandly asked (more Mark Twain), " Pray, sir, who is this Mr Burns ?" That worthy Soot collapsed as from a —kick in tbe stomach. Plain Spkeoh.—There is oertainly simplicity— perhaps not a charming simplicity—in Sir John Robertson's style of disillusionising. In the New South Wales Assembly, Mr Fitzpatriok made a statement concerning the alleged intentions, of the, Bobertaon Government with respect to the amendment of the Laud A*ct, and Sir Jotm Robertson and Mr Garrett both denied the truth of the1 reference. " Then," said Mr Fitzpatriok, ''the little bird must have been very fallacious." To which Sir John Eoberteon plainly replied, " The little bird was a liar —that is all." In the same Assembly some curious and not very oreditable scenes took place prior to the defeat of the Parkas Ministry. The talk inside the House (aays the Sydney Echo) was neither instructive nor amusing.- One -hon. member accused another of " grinning like a dog," and when exception was taken to the offensiveness of the remark, he maintained that no offence oould'be given by » quotation from Scripcnre. ' Wellington in some respects would seem to bear a striking similarity to Texas, the land of cut throats and defalcators. It is said that during the Parliamentary season particularly, it is the city of refuge for all kinds of adventurers from different parts of the Colony, and that many of the visitors leave a host of anxious enquirers and (Borrowing creditors behind them. What makes matters .worse is the immunity which debtors have from being served with legal processes. It is alleged that summonses forwarded to the Empire City, instead of' being served, are quietly pocketed or pigeon-holed. Lately the attention of the Resident Magistrate was called to the great difficulty encountered in getting processes served by the Wellington bailiffs, who,,it was broadly affirmed, bad a peculiarly slovenly method; of performing their functions. One of the solicitors in Court complained that he had despatched a legal missive to Wellington about a month ago, and had got no account of it yet. Mr Mansford, R.H., promised that he would make inquiries, and have the matter represented at the proper quarter. — Otago Guardian, Otjb Pipes and Glasses.—The Otago Z>. Times supplies tha following figures from the Government returns of imports into this Colony :— In 1874. In 1875. In 1876. Article Imported. £." £ £ Beer 125,856 88,231 80,579 Spirits 259,049 245,816 281,872 Wine 117,000 94,071 98,886 £501,896 £428,118 £461,337 Tobaccoandcigars 98,072 110,326 100,429 ' Totals £599,968 £539,044 £561,766 ". Famine in China.—Missionaries in the northeastern provinces of China give painful accounts of the famine prevailing there. Tiie struggle for existence is very severe. The people devour potato-stalka, bark of trees, turnip leaves, or whatever can be eaten. In some towns, during the cold weather, large pits have been dug, in which crowds huddle to. keep warm. Chingchow has four such pits; in one of them 240 persons were packed. As fast as the dead bodies were removed from it, there would be a struggle for the vacant places. " My Bon," said a mother to a little boy four years old, " whom above all others will you wish to see when you pass into the spirit world ?" " Goliah !" shouted the child, with a joyous anticipation; " unless," he quickly added, " there's a bigger feller there." '.:,'.:*