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Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3627, 25 May 1880, Page 2

It frequently happens that the originators of great events are never recognised, and that the whole credit of their results is given to others who may or may not havo played an important part in their operation, but more as unwitting instruments than promoters. Success is the key to the applause of the multitude, and the iavours of mankind. The last is esteemed the first, and praise is awarded to the commander who brings the vessel into port, while tho pilot who steered her through tho shoals is often for* gotten, Well may the world he compared to a puppet-show, in which the attention is fixed on the figures moving on tho stage, without a thought for the unßeoa hands which pull the wires. This result, if generally ap« .. parent, is equally observable in Volunteer/ allairs, which ebb and flow with the energy or neglect of its commanders, Without such enthu. siastic officers as this district has for many years possessed, it would have been impossible for the Thames force to have attained- the high reputation unanimouelyawarded it, Itwill there* fore be with feelings of surprise that our iaauo of to-day will be perused by Auoklandcre, and readers in other parts of the Colony, at bo report appearing in our columns of the usual Queen's birthday review, or other Volunteer celebration, Beyond the salvo fired from the worn-out old guns of Captain Wildman's tars,—and perhaps an extra refresher or two, drained by those 1 old soldiers' who would have deemed it an act of disloyalty to let the day pass without due recognition—wo have nothing to record, This is not as it should be; there must bo a screw loose somewhere; the heads of the more* mentwill be held responsible by public opinioa for the apparent remissness of the six hundred .Volunteers who don the Queen's livery on other holiday occasions. The reason assigned fo r there being no review yesterday ip, we are told, because the officers are nursing their dormant energiea in-order to ensure a brilliant and numerous assemblage of the Thames boats on the natal day of the. heir apparent, the 9th of November next; but this can scarcely be accepted as a valid excuse, seeing that half a year elapses between the two occasions, " There must be some other reason, .which the handa that pull the,wires care not to disclose, and which we will not too carefully enquire into, having fulfilled our duty in pointing ont that the leaders, and not the men, are responsible for the apparent remissness in celebrating the anniversary of' Queen Victoria's birthday of 1880, ' '

Although yesterday ffas the sixty-first anni« versary of the birth of Her' Majesty, and wag observed as' a general holiday, no sports or amusements took place, and the day passed off very quietly indeed. Of course it rained. The Boyal salute fired by the Navals from their big guns had the effect of bringing down the customary Bhower, but judging from its force it was by no means the result of artificial induce* ment. Taken altogether the Thames seemed wanting in loyalty yesterday, perhaps for the first time since the opening of the field, What we missed most was a Volunteer demonstration, for what day'is more suitable out of the 365 than the one on which we delight to honor Her Most Gracious Majesty, ' Bat some Voluntoer officers appear to bare lost their interest in the movement. The novelty of their equipment 'hasiwom off, and they are content to take a IeBS active interest in such celebrations, We trust this is not the prelude to the death of the more* ment on the Thames, 'so { long pre eminent for its efficiency in this respect, Will .;th'e Water Committee instruot their turncock to pay some little:attention to the waste of water which is continually going on at the Goods wharf ? If. the engineering skill displayed in laying down the water pipes along the Goods.wharf had been shown in any other part of the world the clever'author would have received a leather medal as a, token of his ability —or the want thereof,; : I A number of .boais containing sight-seera visited the whale on the, sand-bar, at Shortlaqd, yesterday. One of them, the yacht ffertha, containing a lady and about a dozen gentlemen, was caught in a very heavy squall, which passed over the Gulf at about i o'clock, anil some exoitement was created amongst the passengers in consequence. The little vessel shipped several seas, but weathered the storm gallantly, and brought its living freight into harbour safe and sound, but drenched to the Bkio. She was managed very cleverly, by, William Bolton, • '

A special meeting of the Thames Borough Council ia to beheld at half-past 10o'clock this morning, as the circular convening the same says, " To consider the financial position of the Borough, and make provision lor the guarantee entered into by. the Council to Mr McCaul; also to consider the advisability of discontinuing asphalt operations during the wet weather." We are at a loss, to know why the meeting has been called at such an unusual hour. Surely afternoon or evening, when many Councillors and the public are better able to attend, would have been early. enough. Besides, we think the "financial position''has been discussed before, and we do not believe that an early morning meeting will tend to remove the obstacle. As to Mr McOaul's guarantee, that was also discussed at the. last meeting, of the Water Supply Committee, and another meeting oE. that body was intended to be held at which the report of the sub-committee would be dealt with, With regard to asphalt operations, the Foreman of Works has repeatedly tirged as an excuse for not progressing to the satisfaction of some Councillors that he cannot lay down asphalt in wet weather,. and in view of the rainy season sufficient'reason exists for such discontinuance., Let the water tables;, and apologies for the same, receive some attention, and the complaints of aggrieved ratepayers will be less frequent. The heavy rain of the last few days has caused the water courses in Richmond, Baillie, Scaley, and Mackay streets to overflow in places, and the result has been troublesome to many ratepayers who have had their grounds flooded in consequence. It would be well if a few days were devoted .to cleaning out the water, courses after- , the long spell of fine weather, and making preparations for the winter before us, The season for constructing asphalt footpaths is over, and a little attention to the drains would be a boon which ratepayers have a right to expect at this season of the year in those localities where the Borough have not yet seen their way tj lay down permanent water tablesi • A man named William Kemp, a sawmill hand, was killed on the Wellington-Qreytowa railway on Saturday. It appears he was intoxi« oated, and was sitting asleep on the platform of Silverstreara station, when the steps of the first carriage caught his legs, throwing hitn under the wheels. Both his > legs were broken, and his body was fearfully mangled. No Mama is attached to the engine driver, he not having time to pull up when the deceased was ob« served. Mr John Keid addressed a large meeting of electors of Oamaru at the Volunteer Hall oa Saturday night, The address was favourably received. He said he would support the pre. sent Government iu their policy of retrench* ment, but would 'not bind himself to blindly follow them in all their measures, A vote of confidence was carried. Yesterday the Auckland' Volunteers held a review and races at Elletsli?, The weathey was showery.

Mr Doran's Variety Company made their second appearance at the Academy of Music last evening, and were very well patronised. The first and second parts of the entertainmene consisted of songß, dances, and an amusing farce entitled ' The Prima Donna/ which were well rendered, and elicited loud applause and encores, The performance of a burlesque on the well-known comic opera • H.M.S, Pinafore' comprised the latter part of the bill of fare. The ship was brought in with all the honours on the stage, if not on a 'cradle' at least on the back of a youth, who lad been in one. Mr Love made an admirable Sir Joseph Porter, and the Captain Corcoran of Mr T. Williams was irreproachable, Little Buttercup fonnd a capital representative in that infant prodigy the younger Elder, while the Boatswain of Mr.JB. O'Hare, with a voice as deep as a draw-well, would have gladdened the heart of Dibdin. The various songs were received With shouts of laughter, and the curtain fell at the conclusion of the burlesque amidst enthusiastic applause. The entertainment will be repeated this evening,

The 8,8. Kotuku has left the engineer's hands, having received an additional screw at the yards of Messrs Eraser and linne, Auckland. She is the first triple screw steamer in the Auckland waters, and wo are glad to find the experiment is a successful one. The screw is in the centre, and . has been found to assist the speed and power of the vessel materially. She has made a successful trip to Mr Firth's Mstaznata estate since the improvement has been effected, The b,s, Blanch will make a trip or two this morning from Shortland with visitors to the whale now being successfully. dissected and ; tendered down by the fortunate fishermen who own the prize. • The Naval Brigade fired for the Darling Cup On Saturday, and Mr George Gfinn's gift of £5 was divided amongst competitors for the same, into three classes. Petty Officer Walker won the cup for the third time, which would hare teen consecutive but for Seaman Hirst stepping In at the last competition but one. Petty Officer Walker scored 54 points at the 200, 400, and 600 yards, and receives thirty shillings and Mrs Quint's prize, Lieut. Gtordon took second prize, 20s, with 52 points, and Seaman Luckie the third prize, of 10s, with a score of SO points. In the second class Seaman Cartwright took first prize, of 255. and the aggregate for Lieutenant Barton's writing desk, with a score of 47 points. Seaman T. GoldsWorthy was second in this class, with a score of 45, and took 15s, and Seaman Webster third, 10s, with a score of 33. Tlie following is the result of the firing for men who had not previously won prizes:—Seaman Paull, Ist prize, 20s, 37points; Seaman A, James, 2nd prize, 15s, 37; Seaman B. Berryman, 3rd prize, 10s, I 35; Seaman J. Coutts, 4th prize, 53, 355. I A concert was given in the Templar Ha 11,.. Rilleaton street, last evening, under the auspices of the Pioneer Lodge of Good Templars. There was a fair attendance notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, and the programme provided was much appreciated. Mr. Nodder, who presided, made a few remarks in reference to its being the Queen's- Birthday, after which Mr Parsons played an overture of selections from the Opera 'Pinafore,' in a most accomplished manner. A glee, 'Lordly Gallants,' was well rendered by Mrs May, and Messes Hilton and Nodder, and followed by Mrs Jas. Gribble's song, 'We Parted by the River aide,' also exquisitely rendered. Mr James Jones then gave a recitation entitled 'The Quaker,' which pleased the audience very much,' and he' had to ['respond to pn encore, This was followed by Mr J. P. Hilton's 1 Why Bouse the British Lion,' which : was given in that gentleman's usual excellent style. Miss Cleave gave 'Oh, ye tears,' and like Mr Hilton,fchad to respond to an encore. .Mr James Vivian then sang, with good: effect, •Oh could we but-recall the past,' and was followed, by Mrs May witn 'Somebody's Darling,' and a pianoforte selection by Mrs Alexander. 'The Outlaw'was the title of the next song, given by Mr John Cocks, and much appreciated. The trio of 'All the Brave Birds,' by Messrs, Nodder, Jones, and HiltoD, caused much laughter, and took well with the audience, ai also did a ,flute solo by Mr Vivian, accom. Mr Parsons on the piano. A song by Mr Jones, entitled 'The Student," and 'God Save the Queen ' by the company, brought She flracert programme to a close, after which the Siom was cleared, and an hour's sport in social gimes indulged in.

v The condition of the hard at the foot of Mary street, where the road should join the reclamation wo»ks, isßuch that it can no longer be called the hard, and unless some attention is paid to it by the Harbour or Municipal authorities, it will be our painful duty to record eomj eerious accidents as the result of inattention to the necessities of the case. We trust the work will be done at once, ' ' . Sarah Bostock, sentenced to six months for a breach of the Customs regulations in Auckland, has been pardoned by the Governor and released, in consequence of the petition praying {or the same. Those/who wire fortunate enough to obtain portions of the Australian butter brought am in the freezing-room of the Slrathleven (says the European Mail) are anxiously awaiting the next consignment. Much of what is now sold in the metropolitan markets as butter is not butter at all, bub a conglomeration of every variety of fat; The same may be said of a ' good deal of the butter sold in America. There numerous substitutes are largely manufactured, and these are put on the market with such names as oleomargarine, butterine, &c. We are told that one company alone, working Quder the patent of RL Mege, converted in 1876-7 as much as 500,0001bs of fat into the so-called butter every week. Now it is an undeniable fact that many consumers are willing to pay a higher price even than the exorbitant ■ rateß now charged both here and in New York for the real article if they could depend upon its genuineness, and as it is felt that it would . certainly not pay the producers in Australia to adulterate their butter, thereto every chance of furthe; consignments being disposed of at a more remunerative figure than that obtained for the shipment per Strathleven, If you are apt to feel chilly (says an English contemporary), dress warmly at home. A wadded coat will enable the chilly man to sit and work anywhere indoors, and so will an extra suit of thin flannel worn during the whole of the activc day. Just let anyone who doubts what we say try the very simple expedient, when the dullness becomes unbearable, o£ patting on his dressing-gown over Lis ordinary clothing, and in five minutes he will be perefctly. comfortable and ready for work, while he will not suffer as he fancies he will, when he goes out of doors. The popular notion upon that suject is a mere delusion. You are not strengthened for outdoor work by shivering indoors, 'but rather weakened; habitual warmth, if not too great, being one of the best preservatives of constitutional strength. Always try to remain moderately and healthfully warm.

, An important point in a bigamy case is thus, referred to by the Adelaide correspondent of the Melbourne Argus .-—Mr 0. C. Kingston, a rising young lawyer, has startled our community with a curious point he has raised in the Supreme Court, in reference to marriages solemnized according to the rubric of the Church of Eagland since the passing of the Marriage Act of 1868-D, It was raised in connection with a bigamy case, and Mr Kingston, who defended the woman who had married a second time while her first husband was alive, contended that, according to our law, it was absolutely essential to the validity of a marriage that each of the parties to the ceremony shall say ' I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, A,B, do take thee, C.D., to be my lawful wedded,' &c. Under the Church of England service these words aro omitted, and Mr Kingston's contention is that all the marriages that have been celebrated according to the form adopted by the Church of England since 1868 are invalid; His Honor Mr Justice Boucaut expressed the opinion that the point was one of exceeding importance, and reserved it for a more elaborate discussion before the Full Court. It is a strange point, and one that is causiDg sot a little speculation, not to say agitation, among a large section of the com« muaity, 1 !