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Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1805, 15 October 1874, Page 2

There word no casss eefc down for hearing, at tlio B.M. Court this morning. '

Thk Hon. Wil'iani Hunter Eeynoldi, Commiisioner of Custoxs &c, is at t present on » visit to tke Thames Q-oldfield. To-day he inspected tke Tarious public buildings, and objects of interest in the mining world.

The weekly meeting of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society was held last evening in the Hall of the Mechanics' Institute. The attendance of members waa very feir, and considerable discussion took place during the evening aa to ths proepecU of tb,e Society, the different speakers eeeniing very hopeful of. continued success. A paper will be read by Mr. Stant in at nest meeting, i namely, upon " Criticism." This is a most excellent subject, and if handled -well should prove very interesting and eV'cit considerable discuision, a> it-is one upon which there is sure to be a diversity of ©pinion. <A X ; ■'■"' " ■ >:-A ■M ' ' ■

There can be very little doubt (says the Tasmanian Tribune) that the system of immigration now being carried on in Mew Zealand is a wise policy, devised by a man whoie clearness of vision and statesmanlike abilities prevented him from viewiag remits in such a narrow-minded way as they aria viewed by many of those who lay claims to the title of political economists in the protest day. To populate a country, wiich it is said possesses unlimited resources; to have forest lands, where there is now no inhabitant, colonised ; to bavii the soil, most of which is knowa to! be 'of ' unquestionable fertility, cultivated—wsis the thought which influenced the leading statesman of New Zealand when ha-, announced in his- scheme the broad ptj*?iple ef free immigration. :t

The Commissioners appointed by His Honor the Superintendent to conduct the investigation into tho aUeged Hospital- mismanagement entered upon their duties this morning. The enquiry ii being held at the Court House, Grahainstown. Tho Commis-' eioners are Dr. Philson, Provincial Surgoon, and -Mr. E. L. Lusk, Prorinciil Acoountant.. AWe have been* rcquestod to intimate that tho annual flower show under the auspices of the tadies Benevelont Society Trill be hfeld some .time next mqn._tb,, and ns an additional, attraction a poultry and: dog show wilif be; added. This will be the mcaps, it is.hoped, of eubetantially augmenting the funds "''it the Ladies' Benevolent Society.

"Geema^'"Mabx 1/' one of the bTdast inhabijtants of Oamarxi, jdied therej last week. She had redded tliere for ten er twelVo year 3, and was a very active laborer in tho distribution of tracts,^aud the. colportage of Bibles. In tho latter' duty she has -walked long distances vrith a burden of Bibles on her back, journeying sometimes as far as Otep'opo and back on foot. • ' :

The Sketcher for October is equal in point of variety in its" illustrations to former numbers, -and- they are all of standard excellence in execution. „The front; page illustration, "Trying tho-JCffect," is capitally conceived. " Hunting in Victoria," "River side Skotchos," and " Artistic Notes in Kiverina" are also finely executed engraving?. The Sketcher is si credit to! tho prbpriotdrs and to the colony which produces euch a paper. ', , ,

T:h..b first of the fortnightly meetings of the Thames Borough Council will bo nfcld this, evening, and the business will bo interesting, as the subject of the rates will be brought; before,, th^, meeting, we believe. A number of peqplo giumbla, at the assessment of certain properties, and these objeclioos will be hea^d;' but'as great a. number perhaps; object:to.tho empunt of 'ihe rate which has boen 'struck. "HGwefer, it id too late to'raiso that question now—the' 5 per cent, nail (so to speak) has been clinched.

Severe weather would appear to.havo pre? vailed in the Southern part of tlio Iforth Island, telegraphic communication with Wellington having been ititemipfced during the last threo days. The wires have been down somewhere in the Province of Hawke'a Bay, and• the damage done has-been so serious liasi;o cut b'ff all communication with the South during the time specified.- Ifc has been a most unfortunatu. circumstance, as local news: has been unusually scarce and hard to g«tat : by. the most indefatigable, of reporters. The line* are not yet repaired.

A Denteb (Colorado) paper notes the return to that city of Miss Mattia" Gaylord, of Boston, " the great tourist of the North-West and the' Pacific Coast,'.' and says.: " Five yoavs ago she andhereieter made this city their initial point of departure for a wonderful journey ;of 13,000 miles, which they accomplished with their own carriage, viaifcing every, camp, settlement, Tillage, and city JLii- the Territories and 'on the. Pacific Coast. Miss Graylord is now en route 1o Australia^ ■nhoire she will spend the next two years in a similar journey." ■■■■■■■■-■■ ' '''■':._

A MBiipEilli tower to Abraham Lincoln, the late President of the United States, is about to be erected in London. The fact is looked upon with considerable interest; in America, where the feelings which animate the subscribers to the memorial aro properly understood. > ;The subject is referred to irt the following terms by the New York Herald : — "The Lincoln Tower, apart from being a grand tribute in honor of a pure, selfsacrificing patriot and earnest friend of humanity, one who Bfcruck off tha fetters of thousands and'rprnoved from his, country .the: stigma of slavery, ia a significant proof of the hidden bond of sympathy and estceia that exists between England and America. The proposed tower will ba worthy of' the groat man to be.commemorated, and will bo.the first monument ever evicted to a foreign ruler upon English soil."

A pbacticai. miner informs us (Times) of a Bimple method of .purifying quicksilver from adulterations or ininerals with which it may through long use have become impregnated. Having a quantity .of silver on, hand, which had proved sluggish and did not act oa the plates, our informant states that he placed a small quantity of it ia a vessel, for the purpose of treating it in the. ordinary, way, by means of. chemicals. Having;.first trcatod'the silver witb nitric acid and warm watar, he proceeded td^a'sh it'wifcli boiling water, in which a small quantity of salt had been placed, and was astonished to find the metallic fluid b; coming' quite lively* throwing up th£i impurities and all foreign matter to the top in a kind of scum. On being informed that ..Saltiad^been'i'mixedvwitjj-'th'e'h'ptyalie^u.sed,; as it lia&'bQeri'intended for culinary parpo'aes^ }he made another . experimentr^tith; boiling water, free from any saline mixture, and not until a small pinch of salt .had been added, did the silver become lively and commence to throw up a scuta. .Since that time *jtir infor* mant states, he. ha 3 ,Used nothing but salt to, clean his quicksilver, of coursetreating it with nitric acid in the firat itutauce, and he has invariably found this simple and inexpensive plan to answer the purpose.

; ThEiKbv. T. IT. Bird delivered a lecturo on tlio " Press and Pulpit " at tbe.lndependent Church, Melbourne, -a few days iipca. The lecturer traced, the rise and < growth of thefourth estate and gavp illustrations ,of each, which he hoped would bo brought into , barmoniui operation. Some of the brightest ■ names in English literature ,bad; the lecturer stated, been newspaper, mea. The Press was very powerfuli rind very thin-stinned', and to touch it ns a critic or cenior was like toucliiug tho electric fisbi The lecturer gradually traced the. rise and progress of the presi since ;1622, when Nathttniel Butter's Weekly ]Bews was published, which was satirised•. by Ben Jbrnon in hii comedy, Staple of. Ifews. H<?, howerer, etated that, the press was tho eaitbly w^sp'on ot : Jhoi brandishing of which iipgß grow pale, cabU nets trembled, and kbgdpms totiered.to their fall. While spenting of tho pow.er and influence of tho press, ho denied that the, pulpit web decaying, either in style or tone. The character of tha modern; press was that of a wise and able teacher, and an jnyjncible defender, of tho rights:' of; people. '..The criticisßVof the. press had had a AvholoßOtne influenccioii t;lje pulpilC : Mr. Bird said that the -pulpit- /Was :at its lpweit «bb now, but ■wouid assuredly bo titred wifh tie;

Mope bones! This time a single skull has been found by a person,, digging near the Shorhlnnd Saw Mill. The 'deposits of human rjmai'aa arc cortfiinJy very' largo in ''every directicn on tlio field. riliia particular skull is evidently that of a Maori, and its appearance" is' suggestive 'of the manuei* in which, the oneo living head came to be laid low. Just in the locality of tljo temple, there w a ja6god cut, such as wou]d ba wade by a blow from a tomahawk. Tho Bone all round this hole is perfectly eound,and therefore it is to be supposed that the skull was that of a Maori'who fell in tho battles between the tribes, of many of which the Thames wtfa the sdenoi '' ''■ •' '•'.; . ■•'■■■■■■.

The dullest suicide recorded (gays a Paris correspondent) is that of a brido in tho last days of har honeymoon. .Incompatible as wora their characters, ihe' newly married couple loved eaili other.- tenderly, and the leiter left by the young wife for her husband confessed, "I love you, but cannot bear to live :with you, so I die for you." Har body pas found, life hnvirig been destroyed by 'charcoal fumes, and a note explaining that she " died en chemise, the weather being so Hot; " on her heart was found the photo, of her husband, and a pack of cards whioh occupied her last moments, dividing her fata in the other workl. Bodies are so constantly fished up out of the canal, that the journals no longer relate the event.

The Taranaki Eerald gushes oror the girls thusly:—While it. has alway3 bzon an acknowledged fact that the Taranaki women' are the faireßt-in New Zealand, yefr the. ilialf has not been told of them. Thtir forms are perfect models of ease and grace,and tboro is a certain style and gesture in their walk which is not possessed by one put. of a thousand in fcbo rest of the Colony. Their features are regular and handsome ; their skin fair ; l'ght waving hair; dark-blue-eyes, aad^a peachy bloom .on their cheeks which makes them almost irresistible. ; Their forma are much | better developed than any other women, and though slender enough around the waist,J their muscle is sufficient to curb tho fiery steed upon whose back they take their, morning exercise. .. ; ', :