NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 73, 19 September 1874, Page 6

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

We have been requested by the Most Rev. Dr. Mornn to aclcnowv ledge, with thanks, the receipt of £35 towards the education fund, being the proceeds of the concert given for that purpose by the St. Joseph's choir. Wb wish to remind our readers that the concert and moonlight excursion in aid of the erection of a church at Pork Chalmers, takes place on Wednesday evening. The Golden Age has been chartered for the occasion, and tho members of the Provincial brass band have kindly consented to accompany the steamer on her double trip. With these attractions, independently of the muoiual treat at the Port, vre have no doubt that the amount of patronagG which will be accorded will be worthy of the efforts taken by tho committee to make the entertainment a success. According to announcement, the steamer leaves the Old Jetty on her downward trip at 630 p.m. We notice from the advertisement published elsewhere that vai ions changes have been made in the programme submitted in the Masonic Hall, several most attractive ballads being included. The entertainment is under the patronage of the Most Rev. Dr. ftforau, who has signified his intention of presiding. We have been frequently gratified by receiving the most encouraging expressions of approval from our subscribers, speaking in terms of commendation of the tone and conduct of this journal. la some of these, sa«gestions have been made wiih regard to the class of matter ' to be selected. While thanking our patrons aud well-wishers for the kindly interest which no doubt prompted (he suggestions, we would remind them, that a large portion of the space in the ' Tablet' Li devoted to a class of reading not to be found in ordinary weekly papers, and that therefore it is hardly to be expected that its columns should bd devoted to all the topics to be found in purely secular journals. As tho o'gtm of the Catholics of NewZi aland, matters connected with religion, munt of ne essity claim precedence in it. We must bear in mind that while there are various channels from whence ordinary new 9 may be gleaned, to it alone can the Catholic community turn with reliance for the true and urgarbled accounts of matters affecting the Church. The course which we have heretofore carried out, we shall in future ' endeavor to maintain*; and v. hile considering the defence and advocacy of the cause and principles we represent of paramount importance, it Bhall bo our constant aim to make the columns of the • Tablet' a source of attraction, interest, and improvement. At a meeting of the Juvenile Contingent of the Hibernian Society, held on Monday evening, a resolution was unanimously carried, tendering the thanks of its members to tho President of St. Joseph's Branch, Bro. Bunny, for his labors in the establishment of the Contingent, and his continued and unwearied zeal in its direction ; and an expression of regret was evinced at their inability to testify in a substantial manner their "appreciation of the sacrifice of time which he had made on their behalf. We believe it is the intention of the Contingent, at the conclusion of their meetings in future, to devote a short time to recitations, readings, and the singing of hymns appro* priate to the occasion, with a view to make the meetings a source of attraction. We understand that a meeting of gentlemen connected with the Press in this city will shortly be held, to prepare the preliminaries for tiie formation of a Press Club. The necessity for such an institution has made itself apparent with the rapid growth of journalism during late years, and no doubt seems to exist as to its ultimate success. We believe it is intended to have billiard, smoking, and reading-rooms, where members can meet and speud their leisure hours, instead of" being scattered, aa at present, over tho city. "Birds of a feather flock together," says the adage, and tho verification of it in this case will, we doubt not, prove a great boon to the parties interested. We wish the project every success. We presume that the complaints which have been so repeatedly made by the Press of the time taken in. the transmission of telegraphic news within the Colony, must be attributed rather to the inefficiency in the working of the department, than to the culpable nedect of its operators. If such be the case then, the following fact will be as interesting and as great a matter of wonder to our professionals as it is to ourselves. According to a telegram from Adelaide, a message was recently despatched from that city to Bombay, the delivery to the person to whom it was sent, and the receipt of an answer in Adelaide occupying less than eight minutes. When we consider the difficulty and distance of transit both by land and water, and the almost incredibly short space of time in which it was accomplished, we have reasonable grounds for supposing that two hours are somewhat iv excess of tijie in which a message should travel between Dunedin and Invercargill, and that our department is even yet capable of improvement. Poet Chaxmeks has become somewhat notable of late for the number of sudden and violent deaths which have occurred there. Last week the melancholy deaths of -Mr Harland and Mr Eastern were chronicled, and on Saturday night an accident occurred at the Bail way Pier, terminating fatally. It appears that two men, belonging to the ship Parsee, in attempting to get on board, foil from the pier into the water. Both men were rescued, but one of them, Grogan, received such injuries from striking the ship's chain in his fall, as necessitated medical assistance being summoned. Dr. Drysdale having attended the sufferer throughout the night, finding symptoms of iuflammatioD, ordered his removal to the Hospital, but he died in less than au hour after admission. An inquest was held at Port (Chalmers on Monday evening, on the body of a man, which had been found by the keeper of the Quarantine Island amongst the rocks on the previous day. From the evidence of two men belonging to the chip Tweed, it appears the deceased had been a sailor on board that vessel, but being under apprehension that the captain was about to prefer a criminal charge against him, he had on Friday night euleayored to desert by swimming

«hor«. When last wen by the witnesses, he was striking out dire t for land, and, from tho progrees he was then making/they were under no apprehension as to his safety. A verdict of "Accidentally drowned" "Was returned by the jury. A*r accident. of a seriouß nature, and which might have been attended with fatal consequences, occurred on Taesday afternoon, at the church m course of erection at the corner of Hope and Startordatreets. It appears the men employed were about removing < ne wooden frame upon which one of the centre archeß had been "built but the bricks not having been svfflciently cemented, a considerable portion of the archway gave way, carrying with it the scaffolding upon which the men were standing in its fall. Most of them, however, had received sufficient warning to enable them to make for and clin<* to the upright poles for support. One man, however, was not so forturate, ana he was being precipitated head foremost to the ground when providentially, his legs became entangled in one of the ropes, suspending him in the air, and by which he ultimately reached the ground in safety. Advices from Auckland state that the captain of the Macare^or was eummoned to the Police Court for a breach of the 29th section of the Post-office Begulations, by refusiug to deliver up certain mails in his possession on demand being made by the Postmaster. Mr M'Cororick appeared ior the defendant, and said the captain was certainly entitled to some remuneration for bringing the mails. He also urged that Caprain G-rainger had been instructed by the owners to act in the manner he had done, and that he did not know he had been acting contrary to law in the retention of the mails, which were consequently delivered up. A demand was also made on the captain bp the AS P Company for the sum of £267, for services rendered by the Star of the South to the Mucgregor, while on the reef at Kandavu. The amount being forthcoming, the vessel proceeded on her trip to Sydney. His Worship the Resident Magistrate, after the business of the j court had been concluded on Tuesday lust, took occasion to read the j members of the Fourth Estate a severe homily on their misdeeds. ! Some inaccuracy had crept into the police report published in the • Daily Times, 1 and his Worship, at the instance of his clerk, publicly charged the representative of that journal with wilfully ami maliciously misreporting the case/ with the view of injuring the official in question. Had the officer been misrepresented, he possessed redress by publishing a contradiction of the error ; and the injustice of his Worship in taking such an extraordinary and unprecedented course, on the mere ex parte statement of a subordinate, has been shown by a distinct disclaimer and disproof of the uu, worthy conduct imputed. We have received a communication from " W.J.N.," in reply to a letter published in the • Tablet' some time since, but wo do not deem its publication advisable, our correspondent having evidently written in ignorance, and without a sufficient knowledge of the subject jßad he fully investigated the matter, he would have found the facts as stated. We have also been forwarded correspondence by " J H.," which we must respectfully decline. Of course, the actions and conduct; of public men are freely open to criticism in their official capacity, but we rigidly exclude from our columns anj thing of a personal character with regard to the piivate actions of individuals. The Premier, in a recent speech on Provincialism, thus predicts the future greatness of the midland Provinces : — " I am not nnaware that some of the Middle Island Provinces do not partake of th* prosperity which exists in the larger Provinces ; but I think that they have a great future belore them. I look upon Westland and Nelson as the Cornwall and Staffordshire of New Zealand. These Provinces have very large and varied mineral resources, and I am sure that these resources will be developed with great advantageto the Colony." If the statement of a Northern paper be worthy of credence, the Hon. Julius Vogel labors uudor a similar disability as that of Mr Von der Hejde. The Auckland ' Star ' asserts that the-b rthplace of the Premier is Belgium, and although naturalised as a Biitish subject in Victoria, ho has never undergone a similar process in this Colony. It certainly seems an anomaly that a person who has been naturalised as a Bdlish subjeit in any part of Her Majesty's dominions, should be debaircd fiom asserting the rights and privileges of citizenship throughout her dependencies, and that a claim for such could not be maintained wherever Her Majesty's representatives held sway. Should the rumor prove correct, it ojjens up tlie question of the legality of all the official acts of Mr Vogel as a Minister of the Crown ; and although it is move than probable that in this case " the wibh was father to the thought," it shows the necessity that legislation sl:ould be brought to bear on the point, and sweep away this absurd inconsistency. The Victorian journals have always spoken of the Premier as English born, and the How Zealand 4 Time*,' while distinctly denying the statement of the ' Star,' replies that even if it were the case, an Act could be passed to make everything he has done legal. This, no doubt, would be the only course out of the difficulty, but it had been wel! if the disability had been removed when the Hou,-c was in session, and the case of Mr Von der Hyde was under disoussicn. TnE constituency represented by the Hon. Mr O'Eorko have been anxious to show him some mark of their high appreciation of his honorable and self-dunying conduct in resigning place and pay in support of his principles. At a meeting of his admirers and supporters, held on the 3rd, at Auckland, a 'committee wos appointed for tho purpose of raising subscriptions, and it is intended besides inviting him to a puWic dinner, to present him with a lasting testimonial, in proof of his long and, faithful services and honorable conduct. Bx the Otaco the intelligence i.< brought of the appointment of the Very licv. Martin Crane, of Dublin, to the newly-created See of Sandhurst, declined by Dr. Fortune. - The Agent-General, under date 3rd September, reports that the following number of immigrants were despatched in August : For Auckland, Hj d ispes and Assaye, 7(50 ; for Kelson, the Mail, 330 ; for Wellington, thd fcioukur, 415; ior 'laranaki, the Hturah, 380- for Xyttelton, the Pleiades, 220 j for o>ogo, the Auckland, 3 JO. '