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Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3126, 24 February 1879, Page 2

A special meeting of the Thames Harbor Board was held this morning at the Council Chambers. Present—The Chairman, the Mayor, Messrs Brown, MeGowan, Osborne, Ehrenfried, Wilson and Read. The meeting was called to discuss the financial position of the Board, and after considerable discussion telegrams were sent to the Government requesting that the promise given by Mr Sheehan and Sir G. Grey should be carried out.

We notice lying on the beach at Grahamstown some fine pieces of junk timber, some of themlweighing 4 tons, cut by Mr Casey's men at Taraiu creek for the Thames River Sawmill.

There was on view at Mr Lawless 1 today a handsome basket hilted dress sword with belts, intended for presentation to Lieut. P. Johnston, of the No. 1 Scottish, at the inspection this evening. The sword blade is handsomely engraved with a devise of thistles, and bears the recipient s name. The belts are very handsome.

The following is the weekly state of sick in the Thames Goldfield Hospital from 16th to 22nd February, 1879: — Statistical Nosology.—Zymotic diseases : remained 3, admitted 2, remaining 5 ; Local: remained 8, discharged 2, remaining 6 ; Developmental: remained 2, remaining 2 ; Violent: remained 1, admitted 1, remaining 2. Total: remained 14, admitted 3, discharged 2, remaining 15. Out-patients, 40—Mr Aitken requests us to acknowledge the receipt for the benefit of the patients of a bullock's head and a shin of beef from Mr Bobbett.

The monthly inspection of Nos. 1 and 2 Companies Thames Scottish Battalion will be held this evening at 7.30 o'clock. Several prizes will bo presented to members of both companies by MrsKilgour.

The Scottish Battalion and Cadets and the Naval Brigade and Cadets mustered yesterday morning for the purpose of attending Church parade, the former to St. James' Presbyterian Church and the latter to St. George's. There was a good turn out considering the number of men away on leave.

At the E.M. Court this morning the only business was the punishment of one drunkard in the usual manner. A. J. Allom, Esq., J.P., occupied the Bench.

The Lenten Pastoral.of Bishop Moran speaks strongly against the secular education system, and incites Catholics to use every effort in their power to sustain Catholic schools.

The following table—extracted from the Registrar General's Report on the vital statistics of the Boroughs of Auckland, Thames, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hokitika and Invercargill for the month of January—gives the population, number of births and deaths, and proportion of deaths to the 1000 of population of each borough :—

The Wanganui Herald says:—"The action taken, by the Wanganui Rifle Volunteers in the matter of the widow and family of the late Sergt. Major of the Rifles (meaning, we (Napier Telegraph) presume, the late Drill Instructor Sergeant Kelsall) is to be heartily commended They propose to raise a sum of not less than £10. If every volunteer company in the Colony will show the like practical sympathy with the bereaved family sub* stantial help may be forwarded to them.

The Thames will be well represented at the forthcoming meeting of the New Zealand Eifle Association. The Thames men who will compete are: —Thames Scottish—Downie, Fenton, Beid, Weir, and McLean. Navals—J. A. Gordon, Walker, Armstrong, Harris, and Thomas; Engineers—Captain Small, Kellar, and Clark. Doidge, of the Bangers, will be unable to go. Several of the men left this morning en route for Nelson, and the rest will leave by to-moi'row's boat. The shooting commences on the third of next month, and though it is to be regretted that Major Murray, Clark and other old representatives are unable to go, we have no doubt but that those who have gone will uphold the prestige of this district.

A veet fine sample of pears was left at our office this morning which were grown in Mr Joseph Pearce's garden, Hape Creek. One pear was nearly a pound in Weight, and of a most agreeable flavor. The fruit is known as the Bon Creton pear, and the tree was very heavily laden this year. The great quantity of fruit produced upon the Thames, especially this year, should give encouragement for the establishment of a fruit preserving manufactory, and might prove a very remunerative local industry.

At the Akaroa banquet the Hon. John Hall is reported to have spoken thus : — " He recollected no period during nearly twenty-five years' acquaintance with the public affairs of the Colony when the financial outlook for the Government was calculated to furnish matter for graver anxiety than at the present time. An examination of the financial statement of the Colonial Treasurer would satisfy them that the current ordinary, expenditure of the Colony now exceeded the ordinary income by no less thau £500,000 a year, and had to be supplemented to that extent from the Land Fund."

Theee is a waggish farmer in the Hutt district who objects to pay the land tax. When a form was sent to him to fill up with various particulars he put down the value of his land at £0 0s Od, adding, under the head of "Remarks," the explanatory observation, "Ir^ the present state of the labor market."

Just now there is a great deal of talk about the water in Wellington being tainted with noxious impurities, and in practical alleviation of the trouble, the Venerable Archdeacon Stock has come forward with a simple recipe for making a filter. He says : " Buy a large flowerpot, and a jug on which the pot can rest. Cover the hole of the flower-pot with a piece of glass. Break charcoal into the size of marbles, and put this into the pot to the depth of one inch. Place over this

two inches of charcoal finely broken up. Cover with a plate to prevent the charcoal being disturbed. No better filter than this can be bought." He adds that it is not well to use the water of a newly-made filter. Water should run through it once or twice to remove dirt from the charcoal. The Archdeacon's filter might be found useful in Dunedin.

At a meeting of capitalists and employers of labor, held at the Chamber of Commerce, Sydney, for the purpose of forming an association for the prevention of strikes, by securing more harmonious relations between employers and employes, Mr Dibbs, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the A. S. N. Company, remarked that the Company's loss had been £12,000 through the strike, which had altogether prevented the disbursement of £30,C00. The objects for which the meeting had been called were resolved upon.

The preliminary deposit, says the Sydney Town and Country, of £200 out of £1000 aside, to be fought for in Victoria, by Foley and Hicken, has been put up. The principal backer of Poley is understood to be a fellow-colonist, who telegraphed the amount required, on Saturday last. Jem Mace has the Sydney man in training, and is confident of his pulling it off The Thompson family say they will put their bottom dollar on him. The hereditary foe of their house is sponsor for the Victorian, and is also confident of victory. It is not for a moment supposed that the police will prevent the fight. Mace's visit to Melbourne has caused quite a pugilistic revival, and fights for stakes are of daily occurrence. Kelly and Mace are looked upon as two great apostles by the youth of our sister colony.

A Poveexy Bay paper says:—Mr Thomas Morrin has agreed to expend to the extent of £20,000 on the construction of waterworks, and accept Borough debentures in payment, if • the report of his engineer, Mr Black, be favorable. Mr George Black is one of the most eminent engineers in the province, indeed the colony. His management of the Union Beach pump at Coromandel, and afterwards of the Big Pump, Thames fieldfield, gave entire satisfaction. Mr Black and Mr Drummond proceeded up the Waimate| river yesterday, to commence the survey. We are authorised by Mr Eees to state that for any lands on the Whatauopbko block required by the promoters of the waterworks either freehold or leasehold will be given on very liberal terms.

A shoet time ago Mr Earl Walker, of Batley, wrote to Osman Pasha, the hero of Plevna, expressing admiration of his conduct, and furnishing him with a copy of a newspaper containing flattering remarks upon the general's conduct. In reply, he has received the following letter from the Pasha. We preserve the spelling and composition:—" Very charmed by your letter. I can but thank you for your good opinion from me. I have only done my duty, and every loyal Englishman would accomplish the same. I am over and over recompensed by the affection of my generous sovereign, to which the Almighty may give a long life without sorrows. Excuse if your address is faulty, you did not write explicitly. Many thanks. Dirdis Eochp (Constantinople), this 27th, August, 1878. Yours (signed), Osman. Mr Earl Walker, at Batley, Yorks., England."—The letter bears the impress of the general's signet, on which is a verse from the Koran. .

I commend the following figures (writes " Atlas" in the World) to those who think that the Divorce Act is responsible for all the mischief in England. It. is known that divorce does not exist in France. The nearest thing to it is the separation de corps, equivalent to the English judicial separation. It is therefore interesting to know how our neighbors tare under that regime. From 1846 to to 1850 the average of separations 1080. This gradually increased until 1876, when the number was 3151—0r exactly three times the number in 30 years. Strange to say, only 14 in every 100 are asked for by the husband, the wife thus having 86 per cent to her credit. Is this to be attributed to the jealously of the fair sex, or the indifference of the sterner ? Seventeen per cent, out of the total number do not wait for the twelve month to expire before trying to rid themselves of their bonds. One-third of the 3000 live together from 5 to 10, and another third from 10 to 20 years before they ask to be separated, and upwards of 500 only do so when the silver marriage approaches.

11 Me Fbank Allan," the Gipps Land Mercury states, "received a very welcome and most unexpected surprise on Friday by post from Philadelphia. It will be recollected that, during the cricket match in that city last year, a number of watches were stolen from the pavilion occupied by the Australian Eleven, and that the property could not be recovered previous to their departure. The Police, however, promised to use every exertion to restore the stolen articles, and they were apparently successful a short time after the theft. The packet which Mr Allan received contained two watches, his own and one he was bringing out for his brother, but not a single scrap of writing to explain how, where, or when the watches were found. The only in forma* tion of the source whence the packet was sent was on the address, which intimated that it came from the Police at Philadelphia."

Estimated Population. Total Births. Total Deaths. Proportior of Deaths tc 1000 of population, Borough. Vuckland .. Dhames .... Wellington.. tfelson .... 3hristchuxch Dunedin.... Kokitika .. [nvercargill.. 13,732 5,425 19,037 6,603 ! 13,402 22,491 3,244 3,761 48 22 ICS 22 60 70 12 21 32 13 57 14 33 24 2 3 1-33 2-40 3-01 212 2-46 1-96 0-62 0-80 T0ta1.... 361 178 • • ••