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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2177, 27 December 1875, Page 2

In his address to the electors of Christchurch, Mr Moorhouse said: —He had read with considerable regret, that during this election, certain strictures had been made upon the present administration, and especially upon one of its members. He felt that they were a little ungenerous, as he believed that Sir Julius Vogelwas the greatest genius that the Almighty had given to New Zealand. (Cheers.) That great man was now in England, engaged in the service of the , colony in the gallant, spirit of an honest man, and his presence there was of more value to the colony a thousandfold than would be that of all the gabblers who were talking, about him in his absence.

Me W. H. Eebd so well knoWn in the comic and local song line gave a concert on Friday evening at the Academy of Music. The attendance was not large, but the concerty^ent off very well. The only encore awarded in the first part was to Mr Steward for his song " Molly Darling " ;which> ( was K;wng by- him exceedingly ■ wellj arid fin an^we? .i^iShe! d^-j mand for its repetition he re-sangithe ilast! verse only,; an I eisample which might bef piore generally fdlldWed instead oj&ingiiig| another song, for if 'the ~ programme bet even of a moderate length having every other song encored and. then a second sung, every time the audience is dia-, posed to be appreciative is apt to make the entertainment tedious., In the second part Mr W. H. Keed: was very successful especially in his local songs (three in number) and his performance on the violin which he played in almost every conceivable position. The performance of Mr Fred Eeed on the, concertina was also very good. .

A performance will be given at the Theatre Eoyal this evening by Mr A\ex. O'Brien and a number of leading Auckland amateurs, assisted by some local talent. Particulars may be gleaned from our advertising columns. ; We are in receipt of two Provincial Government Gazettes published on Friday last. 1; One is entirely taken up with particulars of a land sale to .take place in Auckland. In the other are notices of the election of J. E. Macdonald Esq. as Mayor of the Thames (and of B. Tonks, Esq.) as Mayor of Auckland. Several notifications underthe Highways Act appear, and regulations under the Public Health Act. The Christmas collections at the Roman Catholic Churches on the Thames amounted to more than £100. At the meeting of the Central Board of Education held on Thursday last the api pointment of Mr O. A. Field to be head master of the Kauaeranga Boys' School, vice Eev. J. Marks, resigned, was confirmed. This is what the Coromandel Mail say s of Sir George.. Grey's. candidature for the Thames :-^Sir George Grey runs with Mr Macdonald for the Thames; This in our opinion, and we are quite sure, will in the opinion of many others, damn Sir George Grey in public estiina--tion from this time forth and for evermore. Sir George was, in the last Parliament elected for City West without any opposition, and, should he be found' to stand for the Thames, he treats his former constituents with the utmost contempt. That the Thames people will return Sir George we have little doubt. Just with as little doubfc as we believe the Thames people would run naked through the streets to meet a live Duke or a General, providing always that he were dressed in full uniform. This however does not excuse Sir George Grey, allowing that he is not quite bereft of his sanity, which many at this time fear is the case.

A covet of inquiry -— Colonel the Hon^F. Thesiger, president; Lieut.-Col. Lequesne, 12th Lancers; and Lieut.-Col. Flood; 32nd Regiment, members, assembled lately to investigate a recent military scandal of a grave nature. It is understood that an officer going through 1 a course of rifle instruction at Hythe was •••• drawn " by some of his comrades who had taken a dislike to; hirfi.; This officer reportedtwo of those who had taken part in the affair, and they were .ordered, by the commander, to rejoin their regiments. Before leaving, however, they determined on revenge, and having the intended victim into Folkestone at 10 at night, one officer set.upon him, his friends forming a ring and keeping off the crowd which had assembled. It is asserted that no fewer than 12 rounds were fought, at the end of which the officer who was atr tacked was unable to continue the battle. Indeed, it is said that he was too much injured to be able to return to Hythe that evening.. On these facts being reported to the Horse Gfuards, the court of inquiry above mentioned-was at once convened, and the matter is still undergoing investigation.::" •■,/. ':) ;; ■;:.;-■ '.:■'.-/■■.. , ;."■.: /;■

■' The Pall Mall, Gazette says that-the system of " inquiry rpbms ,'.[ introduced by Messrs Moody and .Sahkey does not appear to-be, altogether a success; and at a conference of ministers held at Liverpool last week with reference to the continuance of the revival movement, the " abuses of the inquiry room " formed the subject of discussion. Young persons, it seems, have found means of enrolling themselves among the workers, some of them gaining admission to the room on the pretence of being " inquirers," and have been seen " taking unseriptural rubbish to persons old enough to be-their grandfathers and grandmothers." A great many young men and young women, moreover, it is stated, use the inquiry room! for the purpose of flirtation,, and it was urged that too much caution could not be exercised in selecting the persons upon whom the responsibility rested of conversing with those who desire spiritual counsel. There can be no doubt that the presence of wolves in sheep's ; clothing ought not to be tolerated in any wellregulated inquiry room, but it is to be feared there will be much difficulty in detecting them. Perhaps the b&st plan would be to. establish a preliminary penance of a sufficiently disagreeable nature—such as haying the head shaved —as a test of sincerity. ,' • ■;■■ ; ,: ;

The Liverpool Orangemen .held a crowded meeting lately, to receive a reply to their address recently sent to the German Embassy in London for presentation to the Emperor of Germany, in which they approved of the new laws affecting Roman Catholics in the German Empire. The reply, which was dated from the German Embassy in London, stated that " his Majesty the Emperor has been pleased to receive from so many honorable gentlemen faithfully devoted to the Evangelical Church their entire approbation of the just and'necessary policy which his Majesty considered to be essential for the safety and maintenance of civil and religious' "liberty, the more so as this approbation comes from a country which, according to the best traditions, has always been closely connected with Germany*" • The reply states that the Emperor has commanded that the address from the Orange body\''.which is in itself a masterpiece of art,"'should be placed in the Emperor's^^ private library. I

At the nomination for Clive (a Napier correspondent reports) which jtoplc place Thursday last, Mr Buchanan proposeid Mr Ormorid, so as to speak [.&&% ftoCjthe great annoyance of the gentleman who had attended purposely. Mr Ormond made a long speech, and criticised severely Vogel's expenses and his visit to Europe.

He declared for an income-tax. He said as Provincialism was now dead the real contest would be between Abolition and Separation. Mr Buchanan caused a sensatioa'Tsy stating that he was in posses-" sion^f information which ho defied Mr Ormond j.^j'^djiy, that at the last session some members of the Ministry. :6ent asle|t|r|tfl|; Sir J. Vogel telling ftim nojt:it^ opjme again to New;;Zea-, {fend, dp accjpint of his unpopularity.} had quietly coiije v into; existen'ce®un'der Mr Stafford, of Which a', portion of the Ministry and some members of the House formed part. They were mostly, large land owners. Sjr Julius Vogel treated the letter, with indifference, and said that when he came out He would expose their little games. vM:r'-:'Ormoird-' :i ';"did« l'-BiOt-'i-':'icleiiySiil-it;-";-'Mr-Buchanan twitted Mr Ormond that when in power he attempted to obtain Chinese labour in the colony, and produced his despatches on the subject. Mr Buchanan may poll well, but will not succeed. Thbbe is rejoicing in the' Police of Paris over the capture of a droll scoundrel who has long given them work to do. This fellow hung around the Lyons Railway Station about evening time. On catching sight of a traveller who looked simple, he made acquaintance in a lonely spot, and mysteriously offered to sell watch-chains of amazing beauty and incredible strength. "Try it," said he,! j V You're ■ a fine man, but e?en you can't i break my chain." So the chain was twisted round the fine man's wrists, and snapped to. Whilst he struggled with it the vendor would calmly lay him flat, take all his valuables, and make off. For years this ruffian has been playing his ingenious game, going.sdmetimes into the country. One night lately at the Lyons Eailway, he found a victim, chained him up, plundered him, and ran away. But the countryman chanced to be particularly strong and swift. He broke the handcuffs, and he caught the thief. :

The Hi Z. Herald of Saturday last says:—Messrs W. J. Speight and A:. Porter came up to Auckland yesterday to ascertain whether Sir George Grey would stand for the Thames. We do not suppose that now Sir George will be put in nomination for the Thames, and indeed we believe that it would cause awkward complications were he to be nominated and elected. The Thames must, we think, be content to be represented by some one else than Sir George, but at all events that constituency may rest assured that he will not fail in doing all in his power for their interests. What he did last session is an earnest of what he will do in the future.,, ...,..• ...;■ •.,. .. „ v '.. ,-