Untitled

Thames Advertiser, Volume XI, Issue 3185, 4 December 1878, Page 2

In a Government GaseUeoi the 21st alt, it is notified that James Monteith McLaren, Esq., has been appointed Inspector of Mines for the gold mining district of Hauraki,

The officers of the Tararu Road Wesloyan Sunday School are about to adopt a novel: way of assisting to wipe off the debt on the building. They intend to hold a soiree in the Tararu Gardens oh Tuesday next, The grounds will be open from three in the afternoon, and tea will be ready at five; but before that time strawberries and cream may be obtained ad libitum. After tea a promenade concert will be held. The price of tickets has been fixed at a low rate, and already a large number have been sold, The affair promises to be a great success.

Before the ss, 'Hawea' left Tauranga, a telegram was received from Mr Mills, manager of the Union Company, authorising the local agent to pay the hotel expenses of the passengers.

. On Monday next Mr G. Newell Phillips will deliver a lecture in the Baptist church, on 'Dr Samuel Johnson.' It is to be in aid of the funds of the Youog Men's Christian Association.

The Young Men's Christian Association have rented the large andconiinodious building known as Champion's boarding house, next door to Mr M. H. Airpy sshop in Pollen-street, for a period of twelve months, in which to hold their meetings, &c. The interior ot the building is now undergoing considerable alterations which, will be completed in time for the meeting of the Association to-morrow night.

For the information of civil servants we may state that section 6 of the Civil Service Act Amendment Act, 1878, provides that every officer and person who has entered such service prior to the passing of the Civil Service Act Amendment Act, 1877, and who would be entitled to claim a retiring allowance under the Civil Service set, 1866, is entitled to reckon on the computation of his retiring allowance the time during which be was in the employment of the New Zealand Company or of any Provincial Government. This, we believe, will increase the retiring allowance of two civil servants on the Thames.

The Church Mission authorities are about to receive justice at the hands of the Government. It is nearly two years since they requested that their tenants and others occupyiug land at Tarawai, who suffered in eonsequ'nee of the water race dividing tbeir land, and leaving pirt of it almost inaccessible, might be pat on a footing equal to that enjoyed by them prior to the construction of the race. They asked that the means of access to their land should be put in the same state as it was before the race interfered with jt-Jk The engineer's estimate of the cost of this was forwarded to the Government as £2,000, and Mr Calcotfc has been sent up to examine the land, and see into the justice of the claim. We understand that the Government iuiend to pay for the land taken,' and to erect four bridges over the race, in order to do justice to the landowners beyond, who have so long been deprived of a proper road. The final arrangements will be concluded with the eugineer (Mr Macfarland) in' a day or two.

The Hauraki Engineers held their usual plain clothes parade last night, and were exercised in infantry drill. Notice was given of the usual company parade on Friday evening, and of the monthly church parade on Sunday, when Divine service will be attended at the Congre-

gational Church, It was also stated that the order for the new uniforms will be sent by Mr Wiseman with the outgoing mail.

Mr Hoskins and Miss Colville are passengers to Auckland by the s.s. ' Taupo,' which arrived on Tuesday. The Darrells went South iu the ' Taupo, 1 which left again the same afternoon,

A man named John Thomas White has been charged at the Auckland Police Court wilh obtaining goods by false pretences, by representing that he had come into a fortune.

Th? Wanganui annual race meeting is fixed for the 13th and 14th of March. There is £510 to be divided into twelve races, and the principal handicap is £300.

The Inspector of Kerosene for the Wellington Corporation has been testing several consignments of kerosene to different merchants, and out of 1550 cases he found not more than 25 or 30 were perfectly safe for household purposes, flashing point being from ninety to a huudred degrees;

baaaHßManM'i . i His Worship the Mayor (Dr Kilgour) received a message from the Hou. the Minister for Public Works yesterday, in reply to communications forwarded by the representatives of local todies, to the effect that he will ho here the week after next, if possible, and will then take steps to satisfy our concern for the railway. We mu3t not, however, allow ourselves to be lulled into a feeling of false security over this matter. Those who tell us that it is "time enough to make a noise when any crookednesses are detected," arenotsufficientlyconversantwith the story of the widow who obtained redress because of her often importunity. Whilst we are sleeping our Auckland opponents are working, and it is not wise to wait until the steed is stolen before locking the stable door. Besides, we wish to avoid the calamity of "crookednesses" even at the risk of everything we do being misconstrued into a charge against the Government for the peace and comfort of which some people have recently acquired a profouud respect. We trust the result of the recent election for Mayoralty has nothing to do with this suddenly-acquired respect for Ministers' feelings, let us not be led astray on a matter of so much importance. The snubbing \vliicb. Mr Sowe received in the message is significant of danger, and unless We .iro jlive to our interests at a time when something may be done towards satisfying our claims we shall have cause hereafter to reproach our snpineness and indifference. Let our local bodies continue their efforts, rather than relax the same, by communicating with our friends, Sir George Grey and the Hon. Mr Sheebaa, on this subject, The Hon. Mr Macandrew should be fortified with their ultimatum in order to counterbalance the persuasive eloquence of Auckland landowners, and the specious arguments of contemporaries.

An inquest was held at Ohinemuri on Monday, before Dr. Kilgour, Coroner, on view of the body of a labourer named Taylor, commonly known as "Robinson Crusoe," who expired suddenly at Mr Thorp's. Deceased had been in Mr Thorp's employ for some time, and was very quiet and rtserved in his habits. Be had teen unwell for some little time, and expired suddenly on Sunday. A verdict that deceased died from natural causes was returned, and the remains were brought to the Thames per p.s. 'Te Aroha,' by Captain Dalton, yesterday for interment. '

A corespondent informs us of the followingincident, which he considers too good to be passed over in silence:—A Councillor (one of those who is said to hold his seit because a better man did not oppose him) was passing along Brown-street yesterday, when his attention was attracted to a group of youngsters intent upon 'destroying the wooden footpath, and on inquiring the cause be was told by one of their number that "Bill had lrst a bob." With commendable consideration for the juvenile who had lost the Queens image in silver, vulgarly cal'ed "a bob," he asked the youngster to desist, and kindly tendered him the amount necessary to make his heart rejoice and spare the spoliation of the Borough footpath. The young urchins were all admiration for the gent,and one of them exclaimed, "He's a brick! ain't he Bill ?" Losers of coin or other valuables between these traps should inquire the whereabouts of that Councillor.

Mr G. S. Graham, Grand Master English Constitution, -will hold] a Masonic celebration in Auckland this evening,

Our Tauranga contemporary of Saturday last (the morning after the accident to the s.s, 'Taranaki') says:—"Paroti Taiwaitai, one of the leading chiefs at Manngatapu, was waiting the arrival of the' Taianaki' to visit his sister, who was ill at Gisborne. About nine o'clock yesterday morning, at Asher's store, he remarked, in the presence of several persons, that the vessel had struck upon a rock, and that Was delaying her. Surely he must have the gift of second sight."

Information was conveyed on November 27 to the police at Ahaura that a miner named Thomas Bradford, otherwise "Tommy," was missed at Nelson Creek; and, as a land slip has occurred at the mouth of his tunnel, it was i feared he was smotheied<~.Tlie„jniners set to work, while others searched the neighbouring gullies. He was found dead last night in a gully, with a tin dish and a pick and shovel at hand, The dish was half-full of wash-dirt, as though he had been prospecting. The cause of death is supposed to have been apoplexy, The body was very much decomposed, and it is conjectured that he had been dead about three weeks, He had promised to vote at the recent County election for Nelson Creek Biding, and, not putting in an appearance, fears were entertained respecting his safety. He worked alone, and was well known and respected, being an old resident.

A Maori, who is known as "Friday," and his infant child narrowly escaped being burnt to death early on Sunday morning. "Friday," it appears, was living in a raupo whare on the banks of the Thames River, near the telegraph towers, and early on Sunday night it caught fire. "Friday" was nearly stupefied by the smoke, and ran into the open air, but recollecting that his infant child was in the burning dwelling rushed in again, and succeeded in saving the child, a gun, and three £1 notes. The child and himself were burnt in several places, but the hurts will not prove fatal.

The schooner ' Josephine,' Captain Donovan was to have sailed from Lyttelton for the Thames yesterday, with a full cargo of breadstuffs.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a lecture delivered on the Eoman Catholic confessional in the Protestant Hall, Sydney, by Mrs Dillon, and says,—Mrs Dillon premised that nothing but an imperative sense of duty to God could hive induced her to come before the public in such a manner as this. It was far from ber intention to insult Roman Catholics by anything she might have to say, which would have reference entirely to her own experience in connection with the subject under disscussioni She had not been brought up in the Church of Borne, but consideration led her to think that, of er all, the Church of Rome might be the true Church, and she became a member thereof, and scrupulously attended to the duties that then became incumbent, even to auricular confession, She dare not give utterance before her audience to the filtby langnage wbich she had been compelled, in the confessional, to hear and reply to; End fiom her own experience and the experience of her daughter, she testified to the truth of Father Chiniquy's statemont, so boldly contradicted by Mrs Constable. She pioceeded to shew, by extracts from Den's Theology and other text hooks of the Roman Catholic Church, ' ncum ' )eD ' ; on * ne P r i ests i" confession b fIW inch and such questions, suggesting wickedness of the grossest description, of which the girls beard for the first time in tbeir lives, and the result of which is to be seen in the number of fallen women in our streets, the majority of whom, the lecturer said, are of the Roman Catholic Church. About two years ago she was in a dangerous illness, and her daughter brought ber a priest from St Mary's, who, after receiving her confession, anointed her; but he had scarcely been half-an-hour away when another priest came, and claimed, as the priest of the parish in which she resided, the right to confess her, &c. She advised every parent present to keep their children from the confessional, and never allow a priest along with either wife or daughter.

Liebig's theory that liquor-drinking is compatible with animal food, but not with a farinaceous diet, has been put to the test by Charles Papier, an English scientist, and in each of the twenty-seven cases tried it was fully substantiated. The most remarkable of these experiments was in the case of a man sixty years of age, who had been intemperate for tnirtj-five years. His constitution was seriously impaired by his frequent excesses, But after an almost fatal attack of delirium tremens, he was pursuaded to adopt a farinaceous diet, by which a complete cure was effected in seven months. Among the articles of food especially adapted to the cure of a taste of alcohol are placed niacaroni, haricot beans, dried peas, and lentils, all of which should be well boiled and flavoured with plenty of olive oil. The principle on which such a diet causes a disinclination to alcoholic liquors is said to be that the carbonaceous Btarch contained in the macaroni, beans, or oleaginous food appears to render carbon in an alcoholic form both unnecessary and repulsive,

On Mouday night a fire broke out in Sydenham, a suburb of Christchurch. It originated on the premises of D, Foster, a furniture dealer. The next Bhop and house of niue rooms, occupied by Mr Robinson, bootmaker, was also totally destroyed, and other buildings near were saved by a copious supply of water. Again did the superintendent of the fire brigade express his disappointment that the powerful railway engine which could 60 successfully have overcome the friction of a 2,000-feet length of hose should be unavailable. The insurances are as follows:—Foster's freehold property, house £250 in the New Zealand office, stock £350 in the Sun office, tools £50 in the Sun office, estimated loss i'SOO; Robinson's freehold property, £375 on the house and stock divided between the London and Lan. cashire, %v Zealand and Sun offices. Robinson estimates his loss at £500. The occurrence of this lire will probably have the effect of causing the Borough Council to take prompt action for securing a water supply for the district, which is wholly without one.

The Press Agency telegrams regarding the progress of the Native Minister, Mr Sheehan, at Taranaki, being necessari'y meagre, we are glad for the information of our readers to reprint the official report published yesterday morning by the Ministers now in Wellington. As evidence of friendly relations having "at last" been established, the report is very gratifying, and full of encouragement, pt Sheehan, it appears, "slept with Rewi" on Sunday night at Waitara, and "Rewi slept with Mr Sheehan" on Monday night at Cottier's Hotel; chacq'un a son tour. This is quite a new line of native policy. There was, no doubt, what Mr Shandy would have called <" a bed of justice," and it was then, perhaps, arranged that instead of going at once to Waikato by way of Mokau, as lie proposed, the Minister should reverse the route and come from Waikato to Taranaki by way of Mokau on a future occasion when there will be no fear of giving offence to Tawhiao by so doing. It appears also that what we may venture to call the Christian name' Hannah' of the steamer which was to carry peace and commerce into Kawhiaand Mokau has been wiped out to avoid ! ' trouble." Mr Sheehan in Parliament attached great importance to the fact that Rewi had become part o<v ner of this steamer, but with great " tact" he omitted to tell the House that, now the purchase was made, Eewi is under the impression that the abate was bought for, and given to him by the Government. He knows that he paid nothing. The old chief must have had a good time altogether, and appears to have enjoyed himself thoroughly.—JV. Z. Times.

Under the provisions for the Land Tax Act of last session it is necessary that every Gunmissioner of Crown Lands in each district shall, during the first week in each month, deliver to the Deputy-Commissioner of the district in which the land affected may be situated, a return of all Crown lands, including any within a gold fields district, which may be sold or otherwise alienated during the previous month; and every Warden's Clerk shall, during the first waok in each month, deliver to the Deputy-Commis-sioner of the district in which the land affected may be situated a return of the leases or licenses granted or transferred under the Mines Act, 1877, or any Act repealed thereby.

The turning of the first sod of the Kakaia and Ashburton Forks Railway, the first constructed under the District Kailways Act, seems to have been an interesting affair. Though the leogth of the line is only 23 miles, it is stated that it opens a market for 180,000 acres of agricultural land. Its cost is £55,000. Though the extension reaches only to Methven, it is intended to continue it to Mount Somers, when the coal measures in that district will doubtless be thoroughly tested, and the Mount Alford Forest will be brought within reach of the treeless area, extending over so large a portion of the South Canterbury district. Mr George Hart, the chairman of the directors, officiated at the ceremony,

The news of the discovery of gold in New Guinea has caused, writes ' inglo-Australian' 'ialho European, Mail, some sensation here, dnd if it should turn out the precious metal is to be had for the digging, as it was at Ballarat some years ago, the 'rushes' from the colonies are certain to be supplemented by 'rushes' from the States, Chili, Peru, Central America, and the old country, until New Guinea will find itself affrighted from its propriety by the sound of strange tongues and the clinking of the miner's pick. Paths hitherto untrodden and livers not yet explored will have to yield up the seciets of ages to the enquiring mind of the adventurer and poineer, and even Queensland will find to her regret, perhaps, that the Chinkies, who, not so very long ago caused her so much trouble, will tie up their queues, shake the dust of the colony off their slippers, and take ship for the new Eldorado, not less welcome to them, perhaps, because it is nearer home.

Only lately we announced that Mr F. G, Rawson had given up business at New Plymouth, and started at Hawera as chemist and druggist. On Monday afternoon, about halfpast three o'clock, he died, while snffering from an attack of epilepsy. Deceased was the third son of Dr Eawson, one of the early and most respected of New Plymouth settlers, and never thoroughly recovered from a severe gun-shot wound received by him in 1860, when, as one of the Taranaki Volunteers, he received his baptism of fire at the attack on Waireka, In the engagement referred to, the deceased gentleman had his leg shattered—his recovery to partial health being deemed almost a miracle— and has ever since been subject to attacks similar to that which proved fatal on Monday, His wife only arrived from New Flymouth the day before the attack commenced,— Patca Maih

"Spectator," in the Canterbury H'imes, writes:—By the last mail, the full scores of the remaining matches oE the Australians in England, with the exception of the two last played at Glasgow and Sunderland, came to hand. lam thus enabled to give the batting averages of the team in fhe eleven aside matches they have played. These were 17 in number, and include all the country matches, that against the M CO,, the two Gentlemen's and two flayers' matches, and those against the Orleans Club, Hull Town Club, and Cambridge University. Of these they won 9, lost 4, and i were drawn, Now, it has been said that the Australians were a weak batting team, and in England they have won tbeir reputation, I may say, entirely by their bowling and fielding. And yet towards the end of their tour they batted all round splendidly, as a glance at their scores will show, Still more do the figures given below prove that their batting strength has been underrated. With one exception, the whole of them have ob'ained figure averages of ten and upwards. This, too, it must be remembered, was against the stiongest of the teams they met, where the bowling was nearly always good, and the fielding of the best description. Besides showing how greatly their batting strength has been underrated, this compilation conclusively proves that a better all round team has never been sent out to do battle for its country, It is rarely that any team exhibits such uniform merit all round. This fact seems to have gradually dawned upon the minds of the English public, for I have seen a quotation from an English paper which dwelt at some length upon the good qualities of a team whose bowlers on occasion could perform equally as well with the bat as with the ball, and which in fact had no tail, It will be seen that 0. Bannerman is facile princeps, while Blackham comes second. The batting of the latter has been uniformly sound all round, and the carefulness of his play is shown by the fact that he was eight times not out, on six occasions with double figures to his name. Allan, too, has been lucky with the bat; while Spofforth amassed the third largest total of runs, Garratt did not fulfil the promise of his early innings, but Bailey scored much better after the first few matches. Midwinter would probably have had a better average had he played more innings, but even as ic is he 13 third on the list. Gregory, as might be supposed from the bad form ho has shown throughout the whole trip, is low down, and Boyle of course is whipper in. It is strange how much the Bendigo player has fallen off from his Australian form, for, like Gregory, he used to be a, yery reliable bat two or three years ago.