GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 274, 1 May 1873, Page 10

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Provincial chest of Canterbury is overflowing, and the Lyttdton Times, speaking of the large receipts from land sales, pathetically aays "the question again is — what are we to do with all this money ?" Inquiry has , been made of the name and age of Cadet Smith, so that his title to the belt may be undisputed.- We are informed that his name is Edmund Smith, and that he was born July 26, 1856, so that his right to it is indisputable. From an advertisement published in' the fha, of JaniWy. 19, we learn that Mr Sothern, the original " Lord Dundreary " of the stage, has made arrangements to visit the Australian colonies during the months of September and October next. It is only a few days ago that a person in Auckland, finding himself the worse for liquor in the street, called a cab, and told the driver to take him to the lock-up. The request was complied with — the driver drove to the station, where his " fare " gave himself into custody, and was locked up for the night The Southland Time* says :—lt: — It is stated on good authority that negotiations are now proceeding between the General Government and the Provincial Government of Otago, for the purchase by the former of the Bluff Harbor and Invercargill amd Invercargill and Wintoa railways. At the recent session of the Supreme Conit, at Auckland, his Honor Mr Justice Johnston ruled, in a case of arson,;that a lodger's department is his dwelling j that if a man were alone in a building which had been set on fire, and left the building before the fire had reached his room, "then it could not be said "that a person Bet fire to a d veiling, some one being in." Consequently an indictment in that form could not be followed by conviction. The accused was acquitted. The Southland papers announce the death in London, on March 22, of "Mr John Ellis, the largest landed proprietor in that district, his runs, Merrivale and Five Rivers Plain, both extensive estates, being almost entirely freehold. He purchased largely at the time the Southland Government was in its greatest straits, and thereby, to some extent, helped to prolong its existence. He was also a very large owner of land in South .^Australia, where on one purchased run he. grazed 100,000 sheep. Mr Ellis, in company * with one of his sons, visited his Southland estates only recently, and could not have long returned to England before his death Occurred. *- The ship Edwin Fox, which left London for Canterbury on the 28th of January? f met with frightful weather in the Channel, and had to put into Brest on the sth of February for repairs. Her decks had been swept, cabin gutted, four boats, main deck house, pumps, and nearly all the sails carried away, added to which, it is sad to relate, the doctor and one seamen were killed. The vessel sailed fronr Brest on the Bth of March, over a month having thns beep required to render her fit for sea again, wnichxtf itself shows what damage must have been received. In addition to the Canterbury immigrants, there are 95 souls, equal to 82 statute adults, for Otago, being immigrants previously engaged .lor the Oberon. The MarriageuLaw Association in England has taken counsel's opinion on the effect of the South Australian act, legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister. The conclusion arrived at is. that such a marriage, contracted in colmies where it has been made legal, will henceforth be recognised as valid in England; but that the issue of such .a marriage will not, any more than before the passing of the law, be able to inherit land in .the United Kingdom, the Courts having held that to inherit land is not enough to be the issue of married parents; but that it is also necessary to be the issue of parents. who would* have been deemed married if they had gonje through the ceremony of marriage in the country where the land lay. r **- One good effect of fc^Erigllsh Adulteration Act is that it hashed to the discovery of the real composition of many articles of daily consumption. The latest discovery is a rather startling* one, and was made by a Dr Tidy, who declares that jam is not jam— that is to say, the composition which usually passes as jam : those imposing pots of preserve to be seen in "grocers' and fruiterers' windows. , -These are, according to Dr Tidy, made of the sweepings of warehouses, rotten figs, and gltte 1 No wonder then that "roleypoleys" are somewhat apt to disagree with the tender stomachs'of the eaters: As a neat thing in the way of apologies we beg to lay before our readers the following letter, published in several papers :—": — " To Justin Aylmer, Esq., Ross. Sir — Referring — toj* leadingjtrticU^^^-mv issue of the 2nd _^ ' S^BPJJ-ON BE.awisM.a-. instant, written by myself, wherem T 'mSae certain statements respecting your conduct as a magistrate, I beg to retract them all aa •being fake and malicious ; and I have further to apologise to you for' the gross libel con- , tamed therein, and to express my deep regret * that I should have so far forgotten myself aa to have inserted in my paper, not only upon the occasion alluded to, but upon many pre-, vious occasions, that which was untrue and calculated to defame and injure you. Signed, Richard Cuming, printer and publisher Ross News. Ross, April 7, 1873. " r There is a promise of a licb libel, ease in Melbourne. It is said that a young man of gentlemanly exterior, belonging to the dramatic profession, recently arrived there . from England- He obtained an engagement at the Royal, and was cast to make his first appearance as Roderigo in "Othello." On visiting the stage for rehearsal, the " star " declared that he would not play .with such a person ; and when asked for an explanation, asserted that the. would-be Roderigo was nothing more than the Park, ef Boulton and Park notoriety. - In vain the comedian disclaimed the impeachment, and the management, under the circamstanpes^ refused to. let him appear. The result is that he, has issued a writ for defamation of character, the service of which has been accepted. \ The Canterbury members of theuGeneral ) Assembly are about to make a graceful ac- • knowledgement.flk.frhe many favors bestowed on them by Latpfeowen, during their periodical visits to the seat of Government while Sir George was Governor. They have •■ had manufactured for presentation to Lady Bowen a beautiful gold cross set with precious stones, and a silver casket, which form an elegant souvenir ; and the following notice of the articles appears in tbe Lytteiton Times :— 'J he cross is of Greek design, and nearly four inches in length. A sapphire of great purity and. large size occupies the centre, encircled by eight small diamonds, eleven much larger diamonds being so arranged in settings on each of the four sides - of the sapphire as to form across of brilliants on a dead gold groundwork, producing a very rich effect. The casket is made as a repository for the cross, and the design is very neat, with sufficient yet not toe much ornamental chasing. The interior is lined " with white silk velvet, and the inner side of thejlid bears the following inscription : —"We tbe undersigned, members of the General ; ' Assembly, resident in the -Province of v Canterbury, request your Ladyship's accept-^ : ance of the accompanying cross, in grateful recognition of the hospitality and kindness which we have always received* at Govern- ' ment House during tbe tenure of office of bis Exoellwcy BirG,Boweu, G,C,M.G." , ,

The following «xtract from ft letter by Mr C. Thome to Mr Bird, Secretary of the Canterbury • Flax Association, is published by the Cbristchurch papers, and will be read -with interest :— "I have now a piece of perfectly beautiful huckaback towelling made entirely from Phormium, and hear that a damask table-cloth is now 'positively in the loom; but I cannot send you a sample of these, as they are all wanted here. If I find any to spare, then you shall have some. Mr Lockbatt is proving a most fervent and practical disciple as regards the use of Phormium : he has manufactured forDr Featheraton twine — seaming twine, roping twine,, various kinds of fishing net, tow yarns, which he has had dyed and is now manufacturing into carpets, fine yarn, from the fine fibre, which is being woven int'o>fine table-cloths, and his report is ' that the fibre improves in working on acquaintance.' This is exactly what I early maintained and Mr Forbes confirmed. Tour friend, Sir Daniel. Cooler, Bart., favored me with a visit on the Wth instant ; he seemed greatly interested, and thinks Sydney is the place where more enterprise would be shown in growing, dressing, -and manufacturing Phormium. Will the New .2eal and colonists let this industry slip from them ?"

b A meeting of the Education Board, at r which were present His Honor the Superin- . tendent (in the chair), Messrs Turnbull, L M'Dermid, and Bastings, was held on the 25th. An application was forwarded on behalf of the Queenstown School Committee," \ requesting that the district school should be t formed into a grammar school. The Queens- ! town Town Council, through the Town ; Clerk, wrote in support of the application. ( Mr Hislop also wrote, saying the attendance [ at the school in November last was far short t of that of others schools which had been , raised to the standard of grammar schools ; besides that, from the short time most of tbe , children had been attending the school under their present master, while their attainments were moderate, thew.^fewe very few whose 1 qualifications in the "Ksn%r branches were sufficient to .enable them to be taught by the head master of a grammar school. From the •present position of the school, its being formed into a grammar school was merely a question 1 of time. Should the Board resolve to recom- ' mend the passing of a Bill by the Provincial Council, with a view to establishing a gram- ' mar school, he would suggest that there* commendation be made, with the distinct ': understanding that the Board would noij feel itself compelled to establish the grammar school, till it was satisfied that the attendance and state of advancement of the pupils warranted a change being made in its position. It was resolved to ask the Pro-;; vincial Council to pass a Bill creating the school a grammar school, on the understanding stated by Mr Hislop. The Board then adjourned. There was a special meeting of the Council of the Acclimatisation Society on the 25th inst. ; there being present Messrs M orison (in the chair), Mathewa, Tewaley, Mason, Oliver, Turton, and Reid. A communication from tbe Colonial Government was read, stating that through an oversight in not renewing the proclamation, duck-shooting in this Province was illegal, and had been so since 1869, and asking the Society to fix the time within which duckshooting should be allowed, in, order that a fresh proclamation might be made.' A resolution was carried recommending that tbe ,time should be from March 1 to June 30. The. Chairman brought under the notice of thp "pouncil the desirability of declaring a district open for the shooting of pheasants. It was a thing that had been spoken about for two or three years, and in conversing with a number of gentlemen in the Waikouaiti district, who were interested in acclimi-, tisation—^fchjgy all expressed the opinion that it would be wise to allow pheosant shooting in that district Whileitwas impossible to guard in any proclamation against hen pheasants being shot, he thought those who took out licenses would be disposed to:confine their shooting as much as ..possible jo^^i^lCi&^would be,~ a pecuniary ' kjpsist£ice jw the society^ \as all the fees reverted . tg^itr aifd for acclimatisation ' '^nr^Scs.^^was of assistance to* have the number of cockbirds thinned. The opinion was expressed by Mr Turton that there would be indiscriminate shooting. A resolution was adopted in favor of asking the Government to proclaim an area extending from the Waikouaiti river to the Horse Range, and extending ten - miles inland, as open , for pheasant shooting in the months of^Tune and July of each year. The following reference to the examination papers of last year is made in the report of Mr Tancred, the Chancellor of the New Zea, land University : — "Taken as a ."•*"" " , papers seat in disclose--*"*^- 1 ' <Hr:fto ' e » *P c state of educate- - ji&ierally a higher , classics. v than was expected.' in fo- i-bae knowledge possessed by some ifcW of the best candidates is fully up to the ] average of that of an English- public school; but some of the inferior papers were so bad asto make it impossible to assign any marks at all for intrinsic merit. In mathematics, many of the candidates appear to have shown considerable ability-and careful training. In - physical science, it appears that this examination showed £ much more advanced state of instruction in the rudiments, than might have been anticipated from the absence of any regular course of study in this branch in the schools generally. The papers on* natural philosophy and chemistry were particularly well answered, seme of the candidates showing a practical acquaintance with the latter ' subject. The papers in zoology, botany, and geology, were not so well answered, shewing that the knowledge of these subjects was derived chiefly from, books only. Modern languages — French.—; In this subject there were comparatively few good papers, but among those which Btood highest on the li:t # the- answers were very creditable. German — For tbe most part the papers were very unsatisfactory. Of the whole thirty-eight candidates, only two were able to translate-with ease and correctness, showing that they had really made a study of the language and acquired a knowledge of its structure and laws. Of the remaining thirty -six only eight gave evidence of having received, a few elementary lessons, but none of these attempted to translate ; and the few questions in grammar which they' tried to answer were for the^most part answered incorrectly. The remainder did not- even -attempt the Bubject. In history, some of tiie papers, indeed it appears tbe larger por-, . ttott of them, were very satisfactory, and, considering that no special textbooks were given, showed a fair- knowledge of the subject. Seme of the papers were excellent ; in others, however, some very gross mwtakes occurred. In English literature a great number of the essays were very good, and upon the whole the result was satisfactory in this subject. "_ . The following are extracts from a letter by a gentleman wbp£»w«nt Home via San Francisco a few months since, and published in the Worth Otago Times :— The Trans-'Conti- " nental Railway, for about 2,000 miles, is a moat miserable affair and is miserably conducted. The trains go at a very slow pace, and a more ÜBcivil class than the railway servants I never met with. They will tell you nothing, and anything you want to know ; you must iind out for yourself. There are ' lew bridges on all the, line, and* a good thing ' too, for such, bridges as these are, it is a ' wonder people ..trust their lives upon. They are of timber trestle work,' no stronger' i than an ordinary fluming for a water-race to i a iiwJimilJ, »nd » good de*J pf ti»e timber i» j

getting rotten. The train moves, and that is all, over these places. There,|s only a single track for 2,000 miles. For many hundred miles the way is almost level, and without any cutting whatever, the sleepers being laid on the ground just as nature left it — then on with the rails, and away you go. No wonder tfiey could make ten miles in a day, and after all, cousin Jonathan hasn't much to boaifc about at that. The last 1,400 miles from Omaha is a much better constructed piece of line, better conducted, and the servants are more civil — there being plenty j of opposition on this side. 'Jbe carriages are handsomely fitted up, velvet cushioned, warmed by a stove at each end, and fitted with drinking fountains and-, water-closets. Passengers have to pay for their meals, which are nptincludedin their passage money. The climate at Home seems Hfchave undergone a complete change, to Have become much more humid. They have had terrible weather for fifteen months, the Bummer was wet, and the winter was wet, without frost or anow. It has been a sore year for farniers. Everything else is brisk, but goods of all kinds are very dear, most things much higher than in the Colony : even such^articles as tbe Colony has to import. Men's wages have been very high, coal and iron^miners getting 10s per day of eight hours/1 and many of those employed on piece wok' "earning from L2O to L3O a month. But qfSn with these high rates the men were not pontent, and are ruining the country by strikiV The masters have refused an advance — hav6, indeed) reduced the wages a shilling per day. Many . thousands of miners are "out." All other wages are good, but not so high in proportien. Engine-drivers, for inspanoe, .getn JOs i Sir day. _ The country for 2jjCinves round lasgow is almost entirely cf*nged since I saw it, what with railways, -rtoal pits, and iron. works. For miles andjnijes there is nothing but one mass of chimney-stalks and ' smoke. All the ironmasters have been making fortunes. Many people who were not worth a shilling when I left, have leased bits of coal-fields, and some of them have been making as much as 150,000 iv a year, out of one pit. They are getting almost any price they like to ask. Coals, that nobody would have had at any money when I left home, are fetching 18s a ton, and best 245,, often not to be had at all, the demand is so. great. The same coal was worth, when I left the old country, only from 2s 6d to 5s per ton. Pi?-iron has risen in the same way from LSO to Ll4O. Money seems to be of little value here now, and there are many better chances for a man with some capital than in the Colony, if he is not in a hurry and takes time to look about him. \ Commercial morality appears to be ap- j predated by the Maories The Htn'al-t tells of a Waikato chief named Rahi, who two years and a half ago left Auckland for his horn 3 in the Waikato, being at the time indebted to Mr Howden, jeweller/*' Queen street, in the shape of 15s, for moneys lent and work done. About six mofrchs after this it was reported that the chicf ff ßahi had been gathered to his fathers, sus Mr Howden wrote the account off iris ledger. But it so happened that .^neither the chief nor his conscience wife dead, for yesterday, after a lapse of twdyears and a half, he walked into Mr Howdpn'a shop and gave utterance to the follower phrase :— 7l How much you like of me|' t " which was understood to mean, " For what amount am I indebted^ to you?" On beings told that it was fifteen shillings, he laid his one-pound note on the counter, and waited for hia change, at the same time saving words to the effect that he was not so bad as to cheat those who trussed him ; but he had not been in town since he borrowed the money. Here, then, was displayed the principle of honor in its highest sense, and that, too, by one of the race supposed by .some to be devoid of all appreciation, if not of all conception of the principles of common honesty. '.r The Argm reports that a novel application was made to the Supreme Cotot ot the 6th inst. In, December, 1869, a lacK- named j Hayes, J&'sn eight years old, was sent to the Indujfctia! Schools for three years, at the instigation of his mother (a widow), who could not control him. The three years expired in December last, aud the mother, on applying for her bou, wai told that he had taken the oath of allegiance to her Majesty as a first-class boy on board the Cerberus ; the engagement was 'to be for five years. The mother, who had in the ' interim married again, objected (o her son entering into an agreement of that nature without her consent, and she applied to the Court for a writ of habeas corpus directing Captain- iPknter to, bring up the lad, and show the>«sh ' / - , which he was detained. by 7' • XBptain Panter attended with the boy, and the return 1 made to the writ of habeas was that Hayes had taken the oath under the Military and Naval Discipline Act, and had agreed to serve the Crown for five years, for wages ranging from 6d per day, fotLthefirifetyea*, to 2s 6d for the last , yentt i It 'was eonttnded. on behalf of tfed mother that the child' could not enter into such an agreement, -and that the Act of Parliament was only meant to apply to men ; that if the lad was to be apprenticed, it ought to be done in a regular way. It was fflpfe^Pftated, though the statement was def * nied, ! that Hayes had been induced to take oath tinder fear of punishment. It was urged on the other side that the contract Was one of hiring and service, and was of such a nature that the boy could voluntarily enter into it without the consent of his parents, and although he might object -te serve under it, no one else could be permitted to object. The Court took this view, and refused to discharge Hayes.