Local Intelligence.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1804, 16 December 1862, Page 3

Local Intelligence.

Royal Lyceum Theatre. — The opening i performances of the season, came off last night in this little theatre, to a pretty fall house. ' The company were in full strength in Buck--1 stone's startling drama of " Victorine, or I'll i Sleep on't, which was very successfully represented. Mrs Foley entered thoroughly into the spirit of her part as Victorine, and the scene with Michael her lover, and her indecision ■ were charmingly rendered. Miss Etta.Williams made a capital impersonation of Elise, heing well supported by Mr Webster as Alexandre ; while Mr Swan as the poor lover, Michael, acted with considerable pathos. The performances as a whole were very satisfactory, ■ but the hour at which we go to press prevents , us entering more fully into their merits. The Colonial Chesterfield. — A correspondent writes relative to those original sketches, which at present appear in this journal in the following terras. " These little sketches, though possessed of both humour and satire, , are not applicable exactly to social life in this Colony, and do some injustice to it." Our correspondent is in a measure right ; the articles have been written from varied experiences gained in other and older Colonies, so they are inserted with the two fold object of picturing some phases of social life there, and ifibrdingat the same time a little amusement. Military Total Abstinence SooiEry. — The third meeting of this society since its for- * rnation, was held in the barracks on Friday eveninsr, Seigeant IJartnelt, the Piesident, ococcupying the chair. Addresses on the advantages and blessings of temperance were delivered to a tolerably numerous audience of soldiers, by ttie Rev. H. W. Scott and Mr Harding of Napier, which were listened to with much interest and attention. The latter gentleman we understand is a teetotaller of 27 years standing. Several glees and melodies were sung during the evening, and after a pleasant meeting, the proceedings closed by a considerable number taking the pledge.' ' i

i The " SPECTATOR."—-our cotemporary» the Spectator, iv his issue of Saturday last has an ingeniously wordec l paragraph, in reply , to the charge of wholesilo filching from this journal. The editor dees not deny the fact of his havinp- committed the act complained of; but it would appear, lays claim to do so as often as he pleases. We do not wish "to establish a monopoly o/ all local news;" but are glad at all times to afford our cotemporaiy every assistance in our power for ihebenefit of the public, We think however, in bare justice to this journal, that our co temporary should acknowledge the source from whence he derives his information. It it had been a solitary case, such as the ar rival of the Eemark, where we were the only persons in possession of the Daily Times, with the latest news from Otago ; we would not complain, although we were at considerable trouble to condense the intelligence, and at the expense of boat hire, &c. ; but on the arrival of the Marchioness, with English news in anticipation of the mail, the same system was adopted ; and our cotemporary has besides been guilty of many other acts of a similar kind, which no attempted evasion, or impertinence can excuse. Quick Work. — Yesterday afternoon, about 2 o'clock, Francis Madden, a prisoner under sentence of penal servitude for- 15 years, made his escape from the public works, on Wellington Terrace. Information was given to the warden, Mr Read, who immediately started in pursuit, and in less than half an hour, captured the prisoner, and brought him back to the gaol. The prisoner was found secreted in the tea tree scrub, in the lane leading to Hickson's farm. The Mablborough Case. — His Honor Mr Justice Johnston, on taking his seat in Court yesterday, intimated that he bad been obliged to take longer time for consideration, and w.is therefore unable to give judgment that morning as he had intended to do. No day was fixed, but his Honor expressed his desire to give judgment as speedily as possible. Seeious Accident.— About a fortnight since a native was found insensible and till but lifeless on the native land on the Manawatu side of the Rangitikei River, opposite to Mr Fox's estate. He was lying at the foot of a tree and had evidently fallen while attempting to climb it. He has since received every attention from Mr Fox and the Native Medical Officer, Dr Curl, but is still iv a precarious state. Nepia Taratoa.— This old chief who has long been in a sickly condition appears to be failing fast, and it is questionable whether he will outlive the present summer. There is no doubt now about his having set his back on "Kingism," and returned to his former loyalty. On the 3r lof this month My. Buller, R.M., administered.'tohim the oath of allegiance, and he is now in harness agaiu as a " Queen's Assessor," or Native Magistrate under Sir George Grey's new system. The New Bank Building — We understand that three tenders have been sent in fmm Welton and one from Otago. The one from Otago is considerably ibe.lowest, and will, we presume, be accepted, unless a more favorable tender was sent in at Auckland; the next mail from whence will bring full particulars. In round numbers Jihe Wellington tenders were C. R. Carter £4,200, S. Jacka £4,600, and J. Gell something considerably above j65,000. It may excite some surprise that an Otago con* tractor should be able to out-tender those on the spot, but we believe the explanation will be found in the fact that the architect was at Otago, and able to give personal explanations relative to some portions of the specifications which were here considered to be vagne. The architect was in Wellington to explain the plans, but that was before the issue of the specification. The tenders have been sent to the Directors at Auckland, with whom the acceptance tests. The " Invercarcull Times." — We have received the first number of a bi-weekly paper recently started in Southland under this title. The journal is well got up, and we welcome with pleasure its appearance as an important addition to the press of the Middle Island. The " Evening News." — This is the title of a new " daily " published iv Dunedin of rather diminutive appearance as yet, which if, its number of advertisements afford my criterion, promises to be a very successful speculation to the proprietors. It is exclusively devoted to local news. There are now three daily, and two weekly papers published in Dunedin. Svpbeme Court at Wanganul — Last week a soldier named Culnan was directed to take his trial at the next Criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Wellington for an assault &c, on a young girl ten years old. In connexion with this subject the Chronicle says : — " It will he seen from the account of the proceedings in the Resident Vlagistrate'scourt during last week, that another case has been remitted to the Supreme Court in Wellington. We had hoped that no more expence and trouble would have been caused by the necessity of sending prisoners and witnesses to Wellington. The Colonial Secretary promised nearly four months ago to include Wanganui in the circuit of a Judge of the Supreme Court; but as the present Ministry is. according to the Aucklander, highly accomplished in the art of " how not to do it," we suspect the inhabitants must poke them up, if we are to have a visit of a Judge of the Supreme Court during their tenure of office. It may be ol jected that there is no proper accommodation ; and this is certainly true. Especially if there were many cases to be tried, would the present Court-room he found very inconvenient. A little discomfort might, however, be submitted to, till better accommodation is provided, at least while the cases are few. And then arises the question, When will better accommodation be afforded ? and the additional question, What has become of the £500 voted for this purpose, or, when is it to be applied?"- We think it right to add, that we do not believe the fault is owing to any objection on the part of the Judge, and that as it is a most desirable thing to save the expense and trouble which witnesses are continually being put to, by having to come to Wellington, we trust that the evil will be brought under the notice of the General Government so strongly, as to induce the speedy application of a remedy." A Caution. — Johanna Stitt appeared at the Police Office, Wanganui, on the 9th inst., to ancber a charge of breach of the Munity Act, by knowingly buying a pair of regimental blue trousers of the value of 10s, from James Connor, a private in the 57th regt. Defendant pleaded guilty to purchasing the trousers, and stated she did not think it was any harm. She was sentenced to pay £l and three times the value of the article purchased, namely, 30s, and costs lls 6d, in all £3 Is 6d, or in default to ]4 days imprisonment The Chronicle, from which we take the above, adds the following caution, to which some of our Wellington people will do well to attend "we believe it has beenacommon practice to purchase articles from the soldiers, and that it has been necessary, in order to put a stop to it, to bring this case into court as a warning 1 . A penalty of £20 may be inflicted, and if a similar case occur, it is likely a heavier line will have to be paid than £l ; so that parties asked to purchase regimental articles should beware. 'Capture ok a Deserter. — Wa lately gave an amusing description of the fix in which a Canterbury Volunteer recently found himself, which if it had appearedjin a novel instead of in the sober record of" local intelligence" would have been deemed absurd. In tlie last Chronicle

Miere is another local, which in the pages of Charles O'MaHey, or any other of Lever's dashing stories, would have formed the groundwork for at least a chapter of racy incident and des- • cription. — " On Sunday evening a deserter . from the detachment of the 57tb regt., now in pairison here, was brought in from the south by constables Amphlet and Broughtoo. He was taken by Mr. Amphlet near tbe Manawatu, and on tbisside of Captain Daniell's, having complained of fatigue, be was kindly acci'inmodated by the constable with his horse, the constable walking behind his prisoner. The latter thought this too good an opportunity to be lost, and, notwithstanding the sayiug that ingratitude is contrary to nature, considered it more natural to turn his horse's head, rush past ihe constable, and make the best of bis way south. Mr Horace Broughton, the Rangitikei constable, happened to be at Bull's Hotel,, and hearing tbe thunder of hoofs passing, recognized the horse and his rider. Intuitively guessing ut the truth, he mounted, pursued and overtook the fugitive. We give the following extract from a letter we have received on this subject :~ "This reminds me of the trick that was once played ou the famous Irish robber, Redmond OHanlon, who attempted ta rob an agent who was returning to bis master on a tired horse with a large sum of money. O'ffanlon desired him "to stand and deliver ; " be tkrew a large bag containing coppers, over a ditch, saying, " if you want it, you must needs go and fetch it." Redmond followed the bag; the agent immediately exchanged horses and rode away, having made a good exchange, the robber's saddle bags being well lined with gold. In much the same manner was our bold constable left on the road by himself." Sensation Writing. — The Duastan Correspondent of the Otago Daily Times adds to his letter the following postscript: — " 11 a.m., 29th November. —Coach just starting. Sergeant -Mfijor Bracken's brother has just came from a prospecting claim at the Lake district. Largest piece 2f ozs, coarse gold ; describes it as sown as " thick as peas" ! ! Dog Shows. — Tbe Exhibition of dogs of every varietj of form, breed, size, and colour, from the diminutive pug, to the big Newfoundland, which took place some months ago in Lon« don, has caused the folks of Hobart Town to attempt a similar display. The scene is thus described by the Advertiser: — "The exhibition took place at Moore's Horse Bazaar, Liverpool Street, round which the various breeds of dogs were arranged, the-ani>nals being confined to their respective places by chains, in appropriate compartments. The walls and fences were covered with flags. A band of music stationed in a drag, gave variety to the scene. Tbe bazaar was attractive throughout the day ; the visitors, including Sir V. Fleming, Messrs Graves, Roberts, Hutchinson, and others known to appreciate such matters. Without pretending much sagacity on the meiits of the canine specimens, we might say, for proportion, beauty, colour, and variety, we never witnessed such a collection; and of course it was the first exhibition of the kind in Tasmania ;— it will not be the last. Many of the dogs were brought down by the morning coaches, and it was rather amusing to witness their progress to the canine rendezvous, and the wonderment of the juveniles as they passed along.