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Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2021, 16 April 1875, Page 2

A correspondent writes under the signature of "A Catholic" to ask "who assumed the authority of representing the Catholics of the Thames contrary to their knowledge 1 ' in the matter of a recent presentation, but as the writer neglects to attach his name and address we cannot give the letter insertion.. ; Mr Mackay left for Auckland yesterday, whence he intends to proceed to Nelson by the first steamer, in order to see bis father, who is very ill. Mr Mackay,.sen., is an old colonist,. and was for several years a member, of the House of Bepresentative?. At the Warden's Court yesterday, .two complaints were heard in the instance of the Inspector of Miners' Eights against a man named Green, for cutting timber without a license. Mr Miller appeared for the .complainant. Defendant waß fined Is and coats in both cases. The National Bank will to-day take' 'posses*, sion of the new oices at the comer of Albert and Davy streets, alteration haß been made in the interior of the building, so aa to suit it for banking purposes, and both interior and exterior has been painted. The melting-house at the back has been in use for sometime. Two large sheets, containing on one the' Lord's prayer, and the other the creed, were yesterday fixed , in the English church. The lettering has been beautifully executed by Mr Slator. The Auckland and Worth Shore Ferry Company invite tenders for the building of another side-wheel steamboat, on a similar plan to that of the p.s. 'Takapuna,' at present running to Ohin'emuri. 'Ihe new. steamer will contain several improvements on the ' Takapuna,' although on . the same principle. She will not hare so much height out of water, and will present even'a smarter appearance than-, the 'Takapuna.' She will 'be considerably larger in all respects, and is to eclipse everything else in. speed. An 1 order for her ma- ( chinery was forwarded to Glasgow some timo ago, so that no. delay will be suffered in getting j the new steamer under way. The Civil Sittings of the Auckland Supreme Court were appointed to commence on Wed« nesday., When his Honor took his seat on the - Bench it was found that all the Common Jury cases had been'settled except one, namely, v. the Crown .Prince Gold Mining I Company. In this cause it was announced that;, the parties agreed to a special ciie to be bud- . mitted for his Honor' a decision. .His Honor . discharged the Common ' Jury, and adjourned the Court until Monday, when the first Special Jury case will be taken. .; : The s s ' St. Hilda' arrived in the Manukau on Wednesday with the following passengera -' from Wanga'nuiMr and Mrs Amon, Mr. and , Mrs Scott, Mr and Mrs Smith, Mrs 6. Bull, Mrs J. Bull, Mrs Grange, and Mr Reid, i- -:«

r j!lw Ajadcwy of Mttoio- Mt BfoW, ea .theMcasion of a beuefit in aid of the widow of the late Sobert Fox, was crowded, and a performance was provided which was highly creditable to the abilities of the amateurs of the Thame?. It was sufficiently varied to please all tastes. The gymnastic performances were wonderfully clever and daring, especially those of the Hunter brothers on the horizontal bar, and the Anderson brothers on the double trapeze. The comic songs ofMrßeedon the measles and strawberries and cream, were received with roars of applause. Miss Wiseman and Mies Hunter rendered several airs with much feeling and taste, and the comic portions of the programme were highly successful. Al- - the entertainment was a very pleasing one, and we were gratified to observe that it was so largely patronised. The Thames Scottish Baid played a number of se'ections on the balcony before the curtain rose. After the performance there was a dance, in which the performers and many of the audience heartily enjoyed themselves up to a late hour,

There is do vessel loading at Auckland for London at present, but the N.Z.S. Company's chartered ship 'W. W. Smith" is now loading grain at Lyttelton for London, and will call at Auckland for light freight, sailing for London in the course of next month.—The barque ' Shooting Star' is now 112 days' out from London; the New Zealand Company's ship «Femglen* is also 104 daya' out. Both vessels may be expected at any hour.

We are surprised to find our contemporary the Cross repeating the following in its issue of yesterday, after it has been so flatly contradieted:—"lt is reported that gold has been found at -Bicks's Bay, on the ilast Coast. Several places have been tried, and in each of them the colour has been found. It is believed that farther exploration in the district will reveal the existence of a payable goldfield."

At a recent meeting of the Auckland Institute, J. 0. Firth, Erq., and Colonel Haultain were appointed to wait upon his Honor the Superintendent to bring beforebim the pnject of erecting a museum by the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute, In accordance with the above resolution, these gentlemen called upon his Honor yesterday forenoon. They that £3,000 were required for the building; that £1,600 had .already been guaranteed by private subscription, which no doubt would be supplemented still further; and they wished if Sir George Grey would cause £1,003 to be put on the estimates towards the building, or would the Provincial Government contribute £100 per annum for a certain number of years. Sir George, in the oourse of conversation, remarked that the province was in a very impecunious state, and he was inclined to think that the best course would be to bring in a bill authorising the borrowing the amount required, and that a sinking fund should be established for the eventual liquidation of the debt.—Herald.

The Herald says it may, perhaps, be as well to direct attention to the fact that the increase in the potato crop in the . c outh is over 7,000 tons, aud also to the following significant sentence in the commercial report of the Lyttelton Times of a recent date:-"As there appears to be a considerable surplus of potatoes, both in this and the Otago province, merchants show no disposal to operate at over 32s 6d to 37s per ton, at Christchurch."

TheiCs. 'Southern Cross' brought the following passengers from Wellington Saloon : Mr and Mrs Atkin. Steerage: MrsJlcLaughlan. From Napier—Saloon: Messrs Abbay, Stevens, Mlison, H. Hastings, Carey, J. G. Harris, "Kelly, Joseph Rhodes, Misa McDernett, Mis Horace Dean. Steerage: Messrs H Goyce, Frank, lumbardo, Gnrgars, S. Bell, T. Tillaw, Malouey, H. Bloom, Mrs Weatherill and i children, and a prist ner.

The mail steamer 'Cyphrenes' is due in Auckland from Sydney, and will leave with the English and American mails at noon this morning. The following passengers have already looked in Auckland by the * Cyphrenes' for her return trip to San Francisco:—Saloon: Major Palmer, Miss King Tyler, Mrs and Miss Bigginson, Mr and Mrs H. Clarkson, Mr and Mrs Clarke, Rev R. Abboy; -Messrs J. R. Kenny Hinson, Louis Brown, W Mills, &. R. Creyte, 8. B. Biss, H. Duke Warne, J. Mallock, A. Craig, E. Hornshy, C Pike, C. Pike, j»D., Joseph Rhodes, Wylde-Brown, and 12 in the steerage.

- The Government geologist of Canterbury, N.Z (Julius .von Haast, Ph. D.,'F.R.S ), says the Ballarat Star, visited the School of Mines on Tuesday. .and made the following eutiyin the visitors' book:—"Thanks to the officcis of the institution, I have been allowed to make myself acquainted with its working, and if I may be allowed to express an opinion, I must confess that I have teen exceedingly pleased with what L have seen, including a student from New Zealand.' Thiß at least proves that the institution has already some reputation cutside the colony. Ihe practical value cf liicb an institution can only be. seen after many years of work, although the excellent mode of testing tbe abilities of those in cbrge of mines must be doing immediate good." Twenty-five persons have lodged nominations for the April examinations as underground managers, enginedrivers, and in telegraphy.

" A new Settler" writes as follows on the treatment of measles by the medical profession of Auckland and suburbs:—"l must repeat what I said before, that in Onehunga and the surrounding neighbourhood, patients afflicted with the measles have had wines and s,irits freely administered to them, and that the favourite potions are gin and Bulphur, or whisky and saffron; that the enlightened sanitary teachings of medical science of the last half century are in many cases totally neglected; numbers of patients have not been allowed to have a change of linen during the progress of their disorder, iic. If Dr Nesbitt will only make a very slight enquiry in the district in which he says he represents just now all the available part of the medical faculty, he will find what I hare stated are facts, not imaginary fallacies. Though not a medical man, or the son of ore, I am not blind to what isgiingon around me. It is a fact that in Auckland one, if not more, medical practitioners constantly administer brandy to old and young, children and infants, in cases of measles. The gentleman who is the most notorious for this prescription is also singularly conspicuous for the large number of cases under his charge that terminate fatally. Jn opposition to this kind of treatment I will give the instance of another medical man who, the other day, on being asked as to the state of his family's health, replied, ' Oh, they are quite well now. I treat them homceopathically.' Sheenquirer, an ardent homceopathist, thinking to gain a wrinkle, said,' Indeed doctor; what medicine was it you gave them, that worked Bach wonders V The reply was,' Nothing!'"

MrW. L. Bees, whose candidature for the Provincial Council met with the severest condemnation from the editor of the Soutkrn Cross, concludes a lengthy letter in reply with the following statement:—"A poor child named Cecilia Allen was accused of arson, and before she was tried in the Supreme Court, the Cross, knowing that a number of jurymen would, for certain, read their remarks, said she was guilty; that she was to dangerous that ghe could not eafely be placed] even in a prison, or penetentiary, or rffuge, because very likely she would burn it down, and closing up in its own peculiarly humorous style, suggested that it was a . great pity that the poor little child could not be chloroformed out of existence. Naturally enough all the Press here and elsewhere in the South, and in Australia, cried shame upon the Cross, but that piper, even after the jury had found the child not guilty, instead of making any apology, added insult to the injury already inflicted. The girl is now suing the Gross for libel, and lam conducting the case. I think that the public will now fairly see the causes which operate on the minds of the editor and managers of the Cross in relation to me. Ido not doubt that 1 could have had them punished for libel more than once, but I would sooner treat them as anyone of the general public -wculd treat a snarling cur, growling about and snapping at bis heels—turn about and give it a good kick, and amid its howling go on Byway."

• • Wi havo another good story frarn $glea, of tho Australasian, this week. He says:— "Our cousins on the Pacific Slope don't do things by halves, lhey go for big things. They have had a mining excitement, and now they have a reaction. But just see what an excitement in San Francisco meant. The two great stocks most favourably affected by the discovery of the ' bonanza '—the gigantic silver lode—were California and Consolidated Virginia. In each of these companies there were 108,000 shares, and, at the average prices of the first fortnight of January, these two stocks represented a market value of 28£ millions—not dollars, but .pounds sterling! To talk of amounts of that kind must raise a man in his o»n estimation. Ordinary finance must appear to him a mere matter of detail, But an American is not afraid of large figures Daniel Webster once said in an oration (after dinner), 'Gentlemen, there's the national debt—it should be -p.iid —ye 3, gentleman, it should be paid—l'll pay it myself. How much is it?"

The Ovem and Murray Advertiser reports that an inquest was held at the Lunatic Asylum, JBeechwovth, lately, before Dr Dobbyn, deputy ■ coroner, on the body ol Klizabeth Ann McEntee, aged five years and eight months, who had died the previous day. The child, who was the daughter of one of the warders in the asylum, was left well in bed on Monday morning when her father went to his .duty. When the father left there was a small vessel containing about six ounces of neat brandy on the table in the kitchen, and the child must have got to this, as, about half an hour after his leaving, she was found by her mother lying on the floor of the bedroom in an insensible state. When the mother entered the room there was a strong smell of spirits, and the child was cold. Hot water was at once applied to her feet, and the father sent for. ' On his airival he found her unconscious, and also that from four to five ounces had been taken from the vessel containing the brandy. Thinking sleep would bring her round, he applied no remedies, but, as no change occurred, at two o'clock in the afternoon be sent for Dr Deshon, who gave her some croton oil, which did not produce any immediate effect. About six o'clock the child was seized with convulsions, and Dr Dick was sent for, and on bis advice an injection was used, but it was evident that the girl was in a dying state. She expired at about eight o'clock on Tuesday morning, having never been conscious from the time her mother found her lying on the floor of the bedroom, In accordance with the medical testimony, the jury returned a verdict that the deceased died from the effects of an excessive dose of brandy.

From a copy which has been sent to me of that very cccentric publication, The Englishman, which has brought Dr Kenealy to such condign grief (says Atticus in the Leader), I learn a very curious incident, Some days before the ill-fated steamer' La Plata' left the docks, some one sent an anonymous letter to Mr Plimsoll, M.P., calling his attention to the fact that the ship was dangerously deep. He in his turn sent the memo, to the Board of Trade, which refused to interfere, upon the ground that the communication was anonymous. The end was that the ship was allowed to proceed to sea, with the result which every one knows. It might have been quite right not to act upon an anonymous communication, but there would have been no harm in making a few inguiries. It was owing to a similar dislike of going outside official routine that the" 'Alabama' was allowed to leave Liverpool, and commence that lively little c&rcer which cost Great Britain a pretty round sum in cash, to say nothing of loss of prestige. I wonder whether the detective police always insist that the information supplied to them should be written on good official foolscap, and that the real name of the informer should in every case accompmy his screed.

A. W. Cruden, late manager of the Rochester branch of the Union Bank, was convicted of embezzlement at the Sandhurst General Sessions, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. "During the hearing of the charge," the Bcndigo Independent says, "awitness gave a somewhat surprising description of what he called 'irregularities' in the bank. He was at one time teller in the Union Bank at Rochester, and said that whilst in that position he had frequently given chequesforvarious sums andhad not an account at the bank; but when these cheques were presented he found the c>sh and paid them, and then tore up the cliques, This, he eai>l, was done by other bank clerks ; but he admitted that it waa an irregularity, His Honor, in summing up the evidence in the case, said it was something more than an irregularity—it was n gross impropriety."

An English paper states that the excitement caused by Professor Tyndall's escapade at Belfast has not yet subsided. He has published his address in an extended form. As originally written it was too voluminous for oral delivery. He has now restored the excised portions, and in his preface be avails himself of the opportunity to defend himself from his critical assailants. To the Dean of Manchester, who calls him "an avowed material atheist," he curtly says that such names have lost their power to wound or injure. He tells Cardinal Cullen that the imbibation of scientific knowledge by the youth of Ireland, will be more powerful than any Protestant propagandism or other external influences to bring about an abatement of " the mediaval proceedings amongst Catholics which are a scandal and an amazement to nineteenth century intelligence." He denies the correctness of the inference drawn by the Belfast Presbytery, that he and Huxley " ignored the existence of God, and advocated pure and simple materialism." is so much lus been said similar to this, it is but fair to allow Professor Tyndall to define his own feelings in his own words:—" Christian men are proved by their writings to have their hours of weakness and of doubt as well as their hours of strength and conviction, and men like myself share in their own way those variations of mood and tense. Were the religious views of many of my assailants only alternative ones, I do not know how strong the claims of the doctrine ' material atheism' upon my allegiance might be. Probably they would be very strong; but as it is, I have noticed .during years of selfobservation, that it is not in hours of e'earness' and vigour that this doctrine commends itself to my mind; that in the presence of stronger and healthier thought it ever dissolves and disappears as offering no solution of the mystery in which we dwell and of which we form a part," After this admission, it is open to doubt whether>at the time of his penning his Belfast address, Professor Tyndall was "in the presence of stronger and healthier thought," or was in one of his " hours of weakness. 1 '

Tne Virginia Ghronick says: ."If absence of care is happiness the population of Virginia City ought to be the happiest in the world There is a feeling of independence here scarcely ever experienced elsewhere, and a freedom from the artificial trammels of society which in older communities are based on wealth, birth and position. In other words, every man is a man in his boots. Many of the miners are worth from $5,000 to §50,000, ami work for occupation rather • than from necessity. When they are engaged in a mine, they are always on the lookout for developments, of which they are quick to take advantage. They have friends in other mines with whom they compare notes, and they often in this manner succeed in accumulating large fortunes. The recent coveries at the north end of the Conißtock were known to the miners long; before the public were made acquainted with the existence of the Bonanza, and many of tfcem realised handsomely from the rise in stock. In most other communities a working man has no means of getting rich, except from the proceeds of his own labour. It is a dead open and shut with him, and a fortune is so difficult to acquire that an undue respect is paid }o the possessor of money. Here everybody is a speculator, in fact. There are but few who do not own stock in some mine, which they hope will tmn out well, and they do not know what morning they may get up and find themselves rich, Their daily labour is very well as far as it goes, but the ground upon which they base their expectations is their stocks. The late developments, and the assured prosperity of the country for years to come, with the hope of new discoveries, has strengthened this feeling, and it is hard to find any here a more hopeful, sanguine and independent population than that of Virginia City.'