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Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1857, 15 December 1874, Page 2

At the examination of the different schools takes place this 'week, in some cases extending OVer two or three days, we beg to intimate to teachers and members of school committees that we shall be very happy to insert schedule «f prizes and to whom awarded, together with any other particulars of public interest; but our repertorial staff Is inadequate to the demand created; by these unusual circumstances. :"''■■" \ : '/:

Tbx monthly meeting of the Thames Mechanics' Institute Committee was held last eveaing. There were present:—Messrs Bowe (in the chair), McGowan, Severn, McCullough, Berry, Leesang and Hollis. It was decided to make Mr Graham an offer of £50 for the allotment next to the Mcc hanios' Institute, and Mr Bowe very kindly laid, that if Mr Graham would accept these terms, he wculd advance the money. Mr "Wildman, Secretary, notified that the.new catalogue would soon be ready for circulation. Upon it bring determined to purchase two sets of chessmen for the reading room, Messrs Hollis and LessoDg each offered to present the Institute with a chess-board.

Tsa Miners' Accident, Reb'ef Fund Committee meeting—which was to hare been held last evening, lapsed on account of there not being a quorum present. Mr F. Day, Secre* tary, and Mr Donnelly were the only gentlemen piesent.

The Parawfti School Cemmittee held a epecial meeting yeßterday to consider the pro* p sed amalgamation of the four school districts. Eesolutions were passed expressing regret at the proposed amalgamation, pointing out rpeoial circumstances why Parawai should not be included, and urging that the Board of Education should at «nee cancel the pro* clamation relating to the amalgamation.

. How various aro the shades of snobbery ! Like everything else that grows with advancing ages, so does snobbery; and wbi'e wo can say, with much, gratification, that we are enlightened, that we aro advancing in reasou and in truth, bo almost must we say that we rejoice in snobs. That mar como oub of the enlightenment and civilisation. j ufc to demonstrate untuutakeably that we have ■nobs, here fplloweth. A young gentleman whom we may call Stiffneok, living not one hundred miles from Grahamstown, being fond of dancing, wanted to go to a ball one n^'ght at some period withiu the recollection of the oldest of us ; but though an acknowledged "fellah" in the most aristocratic sense of the word, ho had not so muoh as a dress coat, known commonly as a " claw-hammer." Thus Stiffaeck was in a plight, but he thought of a poor friend of hi«—a small potatoes man, whoso gentility was not of the high class colonial stamp, but home-made—and he went and borrowed his friend* coat, a feat he had often performed before bythe-way, but discovered that it did not fit him quite po well as usual—it was rather tight under the armpits. He told his friend thia. His friend told him that he need not take it unless he liked. Whereforo Stiffaeok said to his friend —"Aw! much obliged, my dear fellah, take it of course. Doosed good thing you don't belong to the Upper Ten—you know nothing of this sort of thing. But we have to sacrifice ourselves at the shrine of Venus, old boy ! we must do the hops." This was refreshing when we recolJect that aristocracy of this stamp have to make sacrifices at their common altar in borrowed weeds ;. and it is still more refreshing when he of whom we relate may be one of Albert Smith's mushrooms, and his "happily unfashionable" friend a gentleman.

Some of the telegrams appearing in our present issue reached us last night after the Star waa; published. This has occurred frequently of late, placing us ia the position of having to pay a high rate for news which is aaticipated by the morning papers. If it arises from a press of business on the lines, efforts ought to be made to increase, the facilities for transmitting press telegrams, which to evening papers are charged at half the rate of private message! after two hundred words.

Thh anniversary soiree of the Thames Baptist Church will take place this evening in the church, Willoughby street j tea at half-past six o'clock, after which addresies will be given and some sacred music, including some of Mr Sankey's revival hymns which have oauaed so much fervid excitement in Scotland. -

The body of the unfortunate man Henry Watson, the scanner of whose death was reported in yesterday's Star, has been found. Two wounds were discovered upon the head, thus beariDg out the supposition that Watson felt from the for© part of the vessel, was •truck by the paddles of the steamer, and at once knocked eensoless.

The Thames Scottish Company assembled in the Hall last night, under their commaEder, Captain Murray, by whom a section were put through, drill movements.

The annual convocation of the Provincial Royal Arch Chapter of New Zealand was held at the Masonic Kail, on Wednesday, the 25th Nov.; E. Companion Caldwell, P.G.P.Z., and the other officers present. The election of office-bearers for the ensuing year took place:—Companioa F. W. Hill (Christchurch), P.G P.H.; Companion W. M'Cullough, (Thames), PG.P.J.; Companion L. Court, P.G. first sojourner; Companion E. Greenfield; P.G. second sojourner; Companion G. C. Taite, P.G. third sojourner; Companion jEfonders, P.GS.E. j Companian James Mills, P.G. Treasurer; Companion W. Moodie, P.G.8.8.; Companion W. Bremer, P.G. Chamberlain ; Companion F. Beissel, P.G. Swordbearer; Companion George Smith, P.G. Janitor. —Otago Guardian.

The disposal of one inebriate was the only business in Court this morning. Captain Eraser, R.M., presided.

Ik our advertising column?, the Secretary of the H.A.C.B.S. invites applications from medical practitioners for the situation of Surgeon to the Society.

A Tut-ix-Bay correspondent of the Cincinnati Times furnisbes the following lively description of the style in which girls from different States and localities waltz, as shown by the hops at that pleasant.resort:—" People may say that a wait? is a waltz, but it is a mistake, as much as to say that a dog is a dog. for there are dogs and dogs, and there are waltzes and waltzes. With one person it is the poetry of motion; with another it is about as awkward a performance as putting yourself on a level asd going through tbe motion of running up-stuirs would be. A Kentucky girl is a natural wa'tzer, and she does it with a charming chic and abandon. An Ohio girl's waltz is easy, graceful, and 'melodious. 9 If she happens to come from Cincinnati, and across the Rhine, she swings dreamily round and round in the endless 'Dutch waltz.' If she comes from Chicago, she throws her hair back, jumps and cracks her heels together, and carries off her astonished partner as though a simoon had struck him, and knocks ever all intervening obstacles in her mad career around the room. If she is from Indiana, she creeps closely and timidly up to her partner, as though she would like to get into his Test pocket, ard melts away with ecstasy, as the witching i trains of the ' Blue Danube' sweep through the hall. If she is from Missouri, she crooks her body in ■ the middle like a door-hinge, takes her partner by theshoulders, and makes him miserable in trying to hop around her No. 9 shoes. If she comes from Michigan, she astonishes her partner by now and then working in a touch of the double,shuffle or a bit of pigeon wing, with the waltz step ; and if. she comes from Arkansas, she throws both arms round his neck, rolls up her ryes as.she floats away, and is heard to murmur, ' Oh, hug me, John 1'"

Spubgkeon says: —" There is nothing in the world that impresses a man so much as trust. Some years ago I was mastered by a dog in that way. He came into my garden, and he had no business there. Thinking that he ■would not improve my flower beds, I walked along quietly and threw my stick at him, and thus I advised him to go somewhere else. What did that dog do? He stopped, picked up the stick, and came running tome with it, and laid the stick down at my feet. I felt ashamed of having thrown my stick, and the dog * was told he might come round the garden when he liked. How could Ido •thtrwise."

Oxra eminent local scientist, Mr H. A. Sevorn, has been dubbed " Professor." A southern journal, in its telegraphic items having reference to the transit of Venus, said —" At Grahamstown Professor Ssrern will observe with nn eleven«inch reflector of hu own construction." Perhaps the size of the " reflector " had eomething to do with it.

Thb following inoideut is rolafced to th© Marlborough Express by a carreapondent in a neighbouring town:-—'' A rather lively toaae took place on Saturday night. Our only constable being unwell and confined to hit bed, a special was appointed. Ifow, the special, not being a very big man, nor a man of*extraor* dinary courage, and being fully aware of Ihe fact that an extra policeman had boon applied fora short time back on account of the ' rough' character of the inhabitants, thought it belter to fortify himself with sundry nobblera. The consequence was, he got very drunk ; and meeting a teetotaller on his rounds, hotaiclhe must lock him up for being drunk. The teetotaller tried to persuade him that ho was sobor, but ifc was no use, the drunken special would lock him up ; so seeing how matters stood, and being rather cute, the teetotaller marched off with him to the lock up, but when they got there, he shoved the drunken special in, and shot the bolt on him. What the authorities will do with the speoial is a subject of speculation at present. He was out yesterday., and got pretty well chaffed and laughed at, which did not seem to agree with his constitution."

Says the Wellington Tribuue, iv its report of the opening of the general Assembly of llio Presbyterian Cburch -.—"The Rev. Mr Hill, of the Thames, the retiring Moderator, preached an exceedingly able and logically reasonod sermon, founded upon Hebrews xi. 6. Mr Hill is rather above the medium height, thin and wiry ; his hair has laterly whitened, but he is still full of vigour, and wo hops thera are much work and isany years of usefulness yet before him. Mr Hill's oratory is of a quiet character, tut as he warms with his subject; his eye kindles and his facd becomes luminous,"

" Wheh a man has been out in the world a long time," remarks the Tribune, " earning his meat and drink in any other business than that of school-keeping, it is astonishing howignorant he soon becomes, and with what awe he listens to little girls bounding the principal countries of Europe, and stating the latitude and longitude of capital cities—perhaps spelling with ease and accuracy many of those puzzling words which send us to our Webster Unabridged. It is astonishing how we shad our learning as we get older."

A Canieebttby paper relates the following curious occurrence: —" As Captain Williams, of the shipMerope, was at breakfast in the cabin in port the other morning, he noticed a minute Bpiral column of smoke rising from tho swing tray suspended from end to end above the table. His first, impression was that some one had carelessly laid down a lighted ma'ch upon the tray ; but on inspection it appeared that the sun's rays had penetrated through the skylight of figured gla&3 and concentrated in a glass water bottle, thereby forming a focus and igniting tho tray alongside the bottle. Captain Williams then applied a piece of paper to the spot, which quickly took fire. Ho stated that after breakfast was over tho cabin was not,used again for hours, and that the chances are, that had he mt observed the smoko tho cabin would have taken fire."..

The London corresp3 ndent of the Post says :—The great excitement of the month has been the conversion to Borne of the Marquis of Ripon, who has in consequence resigned the grand Mastership of the Freemasons. The fact has been much canvassed, but it would not have made half the sensation if it ha:l not occurred in tbe dead season. It is not of much consequence what may be the religious opinion of one peer, more or less. As the Saturday Eeview puts it, if the whole peerage went orer to Rome, they would simply extinguish themselves, and tue Churchwould miss what it wnats—powar. The Marquis of Ripon is nothing mora' than a straw on the surface, the conversion of a score of marquises would not influence 'the great bulk of the population.

Ma CoDMAif, in his recsnfc work on Utah, says—"l was astonished t» hear polygamy advocated by ladies of education and refinement ; among them a school teacher who strongly favored it, perhaps because she was no longer young. At an hotel where I was staying I met a young marrie Hady of one of the first families of Salt Lake. Two of her intimate , friend j were wilh her. One day, when they were out of the room, she asked me, ?What doy«u think of A—?' 'She ii.a charming girl,' I replied. ' Indeed she is, exclaimed Mrs B—, '.I do wish B—(her husband) would marry her, I should bo like to have her with me all the time!'"

A NOVEp application of the telegraph, has been devised in * France—the transmitting copiea of maps ansl rfagrams. A numerallygraduated, semicircular plate of glass it laid by the telegraph operator over the map !• be transmitted, and a pencil of mica attached to a pivoted slip of metal, also divided into numbers, is allowed to move over the .plate. Looking through a fixed eye-piece the operator traces out his map on the glass witli the adjustable mica pencil, and, noticing the numbers successfully touched on the plate and on the moving metal arm, telegraphs to his correspondent, who, by means of an exactly similar apparatus, is enabled to trace out,an exactly similar map.