SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

PORT OF AUCKLAND.

SUNSET: Th! 3 evening, 7.8 SUN-RISE: To morrow morning, 6.20 HIGH WATEIi: This evening, 9.8; to-morrow morning, 0.20

ARRIVALS.

Xvanhoe, schooner, Stuart, from New Caledonia Magellan Cloud, schooner, Millar, trom Russell Mary Ellen, schooner, from Mercury Bay Bella, cutter, from Tanranga Southern Cross, s.s., Sellars, from Tauranga Efiie Meikle, schooner, Hooper, from Napier Dant'.ic, sohooner, from Wangarei

DEPARTURES.

Tauranga, schooner, for Kaipara Star of the South, s.s., Holmes, for Napier Queen, schooner, Veale, for Russell

PROJECTED DEPARTURES.

For Napier and Southern ports : Nebraska, p.s., on

arrival For Boston, Mass. : Ayr, barque, early For Cork : Polar Star, ship, early For Northern ports: Rowena, s.s., Monday For London : Glenhuntly, barque, early For Sydney and Melbourne: Wonga Wonga, s.s.,

Cth February. For Southern ports: Phcebe, s.s., on arrival of the Nebraska For Norfolk Island : Nukulau, schooner, to-day

VESSELS EXPECTED.

Warwick, ship, from London. Sailed 4th November Caduceus, ship, from London. Loading Durham, ship, from London. Loading Moa, brig, from Melbourne Sailed 9th January Nebraska, mail steamer, from San Francisco, overdue Briton, barque, from Newcastle Ivanhoe, schooner, from New Caledonia Charybdis. schooner, from Levuka Sea Gull, schooner, from Levuka Southern Cross, schooner, from Sydney Prosperity, schooner, from Melbourne Rita, brig-, from Sydney Wonga Wonga, 3,5., from Sydney Mavis, schooner, from Lyttelton. Sailed 26th January Harriet Avraytage, barque, from Dunedin

IMPORTS.

Per schooner Margaret Campbell from Oamaru :—lll tons flour, 200 sacks bran, 85 do wheat, 160. dp pollard, G. W. Binney; 17 tons flour, 130 sacks oats, order; 2^- bags oatmeal, 1 do barley, 10 bags oats, 10 do flour, J. Murray. Per Ivanhoe, schooner, from New Cale donia—s casks claret, 7 cases brandy, half ton sugar, 5 cases wine, 2 do spirits from Norfolk Island, 40 tuns oil, 2 tons whale bone, 160 hides, 3 cases fruit, 18 bales wool, Cruickshank and Co.

The cutter Bella arrived this morning from Tauranga with a cargo of gum. The Mary Ellen, schooner, brings a cargo of timber from Mercury Bay. The schooner Ivanhoe, Captain Donald Stuart, arrived this morning from New Caledonia, with a sundry cargo, consigned to Messrs Cruickahank and Co.

The schooner Swallow has brought 1800 feet timber from Mercury Bay. The schooner Magellan Cloud has reported at the Customs from Russell with 130 tons coal, and 1 case for the Medical Institute.

The schooner Fairy has been floated and hauled alongside the wood wharf. The schooner Margaret Campbell is along side the wharf discharging. The schooner Tauranga left this morning for Kaipara.

The s.s. Wellington left Wellington on Wednesday afternoon. for the Manakau, via Nelson, Pieton, and Taranaki.

The schooner Erne Meikle arrived in harbour yesterday evening from Napier- The schooner Dantzic arrived yesterday from Wangarei with the following cargo :— 102 cases and 30 casks fruit, 30 boxes dried iish, GO casks pickled,, fish, and 2 tons fish in bulk, and 10 tons firewood.

The s.s. Southern Cross arrived yesterday evening from Tauranga with ten passengers and a quantity of cargo.

The p.s. Lady Bowen will leave for Mahurangi and the Hot Springs to-morrow morning at eleven o'clock. H.M.S. Dido will take her departure for the Fiji Islands to-morrow.

The alterations to the old paddle steamer Duke of Edinburgh have been completed, and she is now transformed into a smart three-masted schooner. She will be placed in the Bay of Islands trade, and has cleared outwards for the first trip to the port of 'Russell. Captain Bowton has been placed in command.

The owner of the winning yacht Energy denies the assertion that he poled out his jib while running down in the race. He simply boomed out his staysail to allow the jib to draw, an act which is allowed in yacht racing. A protest against the Energy after the race was not entertained on thi3 account. He also asserts that but for the accident to the yacht in carrying away her topmast, the vessel would have passed the goal ten minutes sooner than she did.

The s.s. Wellington left Nelson late last night for Auckland.

Mississippi Buccaneers.—Their Island Home near Muscatine.—A thickly wooded island, known as Long Island, about fourteen miles above Muscatine, in the Mississippi, has turned out to be a regular robbers' nest, a sort of Isle of Monte Cristo, as far as secreting valuables is concerned. The dis covery was made by the police of Davenport ■who, having had their suspicions aroused, visited the spot, but on reaching it found that the birds had flown. Many evidences, how ever, of occupation of the island were strewn around. Boxes of many kinds and many sizes were thick on the ground, with bits of paper and pieces of twine and rope here and there an old garment, and many signs of car penter work. According to the report of farm ers living near by, the island had been aban doned by the villians only the day before, when they had loaded a large yawl and a skiff with plunder and started southward. None of the houses in the vicinity.of the island had been disturbed by the thieves, and the farmers thought the people on the island were a party of sportsmen, for they were often seen fishing in the river and starting off with guns on their shoulders as if going off on a hunt. It is supposed that most of the burglaries which have been committed in Davenport, Muscatine, Wilton, West Li berty, and other localities in this section during the summer were the work of an or ganized band which inhabited the island, who used the secluded spot for secreting xheir illgotten goods.

COMMERCIAL.

MINING. The following are the current calls and dividends pa/able in the companies named below:— •S s. d.

MEETINGS.

Hauraki Saw Mill Company, Mr Bennett's office, Shortland street, Auckland, 2 p.m. 3rd February Ooromandel Tunnel G.M.C., Mr Tothill's office, Auck land. 10 a.m., 3rd February Central Italy, Grahamstown, 4th February Mutual Mining Invettment Company, Young Men's Christian Association Kooms, Auckland, 8 p.m., 6th February Green Harp, Insurance Buildings, Auckland, 8 p.m., 10th February New Golden Pa, Mr It. Home's office, Shortland street, Auckland, noon 12th February Masonic, Coromandel, 15th February Bonshaw, Mr Baber's office, Insurance Buildings, Auckland. 2 p.m., 13th February Shotover, Insurance Buildings, Auokland, 2 p.m. 17th February Bismarcleand French Republio, Insurance Buildings, Auckland, 2 p.m., 21st Febraary Tokatea, Coromandel, 21st February South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Company's office, Queen street, Auokland, 3 p.m., 24th March

CHIEF POST-OFFICE, AUCKLAND.

Mails will Close as Under :— For Thames, this day, at 5.30 p.m., and to-morrow, at t0.30 a.m. For Mahurangi, Matakana, &c, per Lady Bowen, to morrow, at 10 a.m. For Fiji, per H.M.S. Dido, to-morrow, at 8 a.m. For Whitianga, Tauranga, and Opotiki, per Southern Cross, on Saturday, Ist February, at 2 p.m. For Russell, Mongonui, Ruatoe, &c., per Rowena, on Monday, at 8 p.m. For Poverty Bay, per Comerang, Saturday, l9t Febraary, at 5 p.m. For Wangarei, Wangarei Heads, &c, per Clyde, on Monday, at 2 p.m. For Napier and Southern Provinces, per Nebraska, six hours after arrival. (Signed) S. B. Biss. Chief Postmaster.

NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS

'' A Poor Taxpayer " has neglected to send his name in compliance with our rule. " Enquirer."—The thanksgiving services for the Prince of Wales' recovery were held in Auckland on the 9th of May, 1872.

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31. 1873.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance,

And the good that we can do

Aux armes concitoyens ! formons nos ba taillons ! Marchons ! Marchons ! to the Mechanics' Institute on Tuesday night, there to die in defence of our "rights," protest" ing against Education. George Staines has unfurled the banner of liberty and pealed " the battle cry of freedom." Never in his tory hasj there been a great crisis but there has been a great man raised up; or if men's hearts failed, even women were unsexed, and Joan of Arc has led armed hosts to victory. Now is the day and now is the hour : see the front of battle low'r. See approach taxation's power, chains, and slavery. At last war is declared, and George has unsheathed his glittering sword. It is now death to the despots with Staines to the rescue. Shades of Thermopylae, of Agincourt, of Cressy, look down from the spirit-world and give your sympathy, if not your ghostly succour, to the braves who are fighting against fearful odds. It is hard to resist the progress of the age ; it is hard to bring people to shut out the sun's rays as a hateful and injurious thing, and it is no less difficult to rouse a man to enmity against those who would give education to his children at the smallest cost at which that great blessing can be con ferred. And yet a few brave men have essayed the task. They are very few, but they are very brave—that is morally brave otherwise called impudent. The late deliver ance of a public meeting at the Mechanics' Institute has not been sufficient to satisfy as to the estimate set by

the " working man " on education. He must be badgered into the belief that it will be ruin to his children. It is known that once an outbreak of the most violent kind occurred in a British penal es tablishment because a prison order had been issued that the prisoners should i put on clean shirts once a week. Education has all the horrors of a clean shirt to some people, but if they suppose that the feeling of disgust for either education or clean linen is cherished among the people of Auckland, they will find that our population is not a whit behind that Of other places in decency of taste and in love for their offspring, Men ajre not 90 blind as

we would be made believe, and if, for one or two pounds per annum, they get what cost them from three to ten pounds per annum before, they will not likely enrol themselves even under George Staines in opposition to the offer. We say nothing of the folly of in citing to resist the law of the land, because we know that oiir population is too peace fully inclined to pay much attention to George Staines' command, "Working men, to aims !" Ridiculous though it seems, such a manifesto has a serious aspect, and if in the natural dislike which people have to direct taxes, any popular disturbance occurs, we trust that the promulgators] of such inflammatory appeals, together with their aiders and abettors, will be held responsible. We are glad to see that Rev. Mr. Edger has had the good sense to retire to Albertland for a season. Not that we should have expected him to have shown any sympathy with silly appeals "to arms," but with George *Staines as com mander-in-chief, and the ludicrous aspect which the question has noAV assumed, the position would not have been a pleasant one, We oonolude with giving gratuitous oiroula tion to the advertisement inserted in the JlomUl i— H Working men, to arms ! Mon ster meeting ! Agitate for your rights i Attend at the Mechanics' Institute on Tues day night, February 4, at 7.30, to denounce the infamous Education Tax."—George Staines, The annual meeting of the Auckland Dis pensary was held this afternoon in the Mechanics' Institute, when the report of the medical officer was read and adopted. The report showed that a large amount of good is being done in a very unostentatious way by this institution, which is deserving of a far greater amount of support than is accorded it.

The deserters from H.M.S. Dido were placed in irons immediately on being put on board by the police yesterday afternoon. We understand that they will be treated as prisoners at large until the vessel's arrival at Sydney, when they will be tried by court mai'tial before the Commodore on a charge of mutiny, the act of mutiny consisting in their refusal to return to the ship with the pinnace when hailed by the officer in charge. The police were loudly hooted by the deserters' comrades when returning to the shore, Deteotiye Jeffrey being especially a subject for their invectives. We are authorised to state that the rnmour to the effect that the men were fired at when escaping from the ship was a mistake arising from the report of the usual nine o'clock guns.

The latest advices from England state that the deficiency in the crop is twenty per cent, of the actual yield, and the wheat require ments of the United Kingdom for the harvest year ending with next August at about 85,000,000 bushels.

Preparations are making at Woolwich Arsenal for a casting which is said to be the largest ever attempted, being intended for the anvil-block of the 30-ton Nasmyth hammer, which is to be erected in the new workshop of the Royal Gun Factories. It will weigh more than 100 tons.

The task of erasing the words '' Licensed Sharebroker " from the doors of the offices belonging to the sharebroking community has already commenced. To-morrow the new license fee will be due, and it is believed that few will again submit to the imposition of so high a fee as twenty-five pounds for a privilege which is granted in Victoria at five pounds, especially as share business is .so quiet.

The Hauraki Minstrels, by special request, repeated their grand negroic concert last night to an overflowing house. The pro gramme was nearly the same as that of the preceding night, and was carried out in an equally satisfactory manner. Most of the songs and other performances were encored, and the entertainment must be pronounced a great success, and highly creditable to the varied talent of the company.

The Bible has been translated into Esqui maux.

Meetings will be convened next week in the various educational districts defined by the Board for the purpose of electing District School Committees. As will be seen by our report of this afternoon's meeting of the Board of Education the city is to be divided into three districts, and there is to be one district each for Parnell and Newton. It is the duty of the District Schools Committees to decide haw many schools shall be established in their respective dis tricts, to appoint or suspend teachers, and have the general direction of educational matters within their districts. Each com mittee is to'consist of five members, appointed at a meeting of householders held within the district on a day to be appointed by the Board of Education. The powers possessed by the District Schools Committees are most important, and we trust therefore that householders will elect to that office men of education and intelligence.

We are informed that his Worship the Mayor has sent in his resignation as a mem ber of the Board of Education, from fear of the unpopularity which he thought would be likely to attend the operations of the Board. Since the late meeting at the Mechanics', however, he is disposed to withdraw his resignation, and is at present in some hesita tion waiting to see which way the cat jumps. We would advise him to toss up.

The only business at the Police Court this morning consisted of the punishment of four drunkards. His Worship the Mayor was on the Bench.

Mr W. Marshall, fruiterer, Queen street, has just received, per Hero, the choicest shipment of fruit this season, consisting of grapes, nectarines, plums, pears, oranges, lemons, apples, and pine apples. —Advt.

We understand that Mr J. Waymouth declines to accept the challenge made by Mr Bailey through our columns last night to match the Energy against the Fleetwing for £50 aside. His reason for so doing is that he objects to making a match with Mr Bailey. He has confidence in his yacht, and is still willing to sail her against the Fleetwing if the match is made with her legitimate owners—Messrs J. and D. Oxley—who are members of the A.V.C. as well as himself • but he will not race with Mr Baiey, a non member, in a borrowed boat.

Sir, —As the City Council is now in the act of collecting rates again, would you inform me whether there be any chance of owners of property in private streets obtain ing redress, as many of them by reason of the recent street improvements are now in a worse situation than before, their property being rendered almost inaccessible, and com parativly worthless.—l am, &c, One inter ested,

There was a good attendance at the theatre last evening to witness the performances of the Royal Magnet Troupe of artistes. Mr Fred Clifton introduced several fresh songs, which touched the enthusiasm of the au dience. We refer especially to his "Up a Tree," "Illustrations of London Streets," and "Jimmy Paddle," all of which were given in a masterly manner. JThe scenes of London at night were fair representations of life in the great metropolis, and were keenly relished by all who were present. Miss Fanny Sara sang the pathetic little ballads " Thinking of Home," and " Only to Love" with excellent taste, and in both was deservedly encored. The golden shoe-dance, by the champions, Messrs. Buckley and Holly, and the varia tions on the violin by Mr J. A. Herman, were cleverly performed. Lottie and her brothers, Frank and Victor, as usual formed the great attraction of the evening, and won the loud approval of the whole assemblage. The exciting farce of the "Troublesome Servants" brought a capital evening's entertainment to its close. The obituary of the London Times, of Sep tember 20, contains an annoxmcement of the death of Wm. Highgason, of St. .Tames-road, Holloway. It is stated that he was 111 years of age. Since the re-union of the two branches of the American Presbyterian Church the Board of Publication has issued 120,000 copies of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. A veterinary surgeon lately tried to "founder" his mother-in-law by dancing a polka with her until she got warmed up, and then giving her all the iced lemonade she could drink. The Opotiki correspondent of the Taitrcmr/a Times saya:—William Kelly, Esq., has just retained from a visit to that noble old veteran warrior in the Waimana, Eru te Maikowha. While there he was introduced to the elite — Mr Nathan, who had the prior honour, he having despatched Mr Robert Pitcairn in a neat and clever manner ; next on the roli, a beautifully tatooed ' old cus,'who was con spicuous in Bennet White's affair ; then the man that burnt the block house at Waioweka and lots of other celebrities. Yes they were there to be seeii; with their tomahawks, rifles, and meres so green, and other murder ous implements kept as heirlooms. Our member said he enjoyed it muchly, but did not admire the manner in which some of the elders took stock of him. Using his own words he says, "I felt half cooked, and longed to be out of it. A respected settler from Opotiki informs the Tauranga Times that five or six good cai'penters would find remunerative employ ment in that district at the present time. A man named Wm. Burns has been drowned at Kennedy's Bay by the capsizing of a boat. At an inquest on the body, be fore Major Keddell, a verdict of accidentally drowned was returned. A man, stopping his paper, wrote to the editor : "I think folks ottent to spend their munney for paper, mi dad diddent, and every one sed he was the intelligentes man in the country, and had the smartest family of boiz that ever dugged taters." A singular legal contest has been inaugu rated in one of the New York Courts to recover possession of certain real estate deeded by a man who alleges that he was married while drunk, and conveyed his property to his wife under the same circum stances.

In twenty-three years more than a million of population has been added to the city of London, without including the suburban towns swallowed up in the course of the city's expansion upon all sides. In the same time 250,000 houses of all kinds have been built, and the beats of the police have been extended 1,130 miles. Eighty thousand policemen are now employed regularly—a standing army more effective and better paid than any equal number since the days of the Praetorians of Home ; and these are, on ex traordinary occasions, assisted by the guards and household regiments of the Queen.

The payment of the prizes to the winners in the late regatta will take place this even ing at the Thames Hotel, and we believe there is a prospect of its being peaceably made.

The annual meeting of the parishioners of St. Sepulchre's Church was held last even ing. The report showed the total receipts to have been £834 13s sd. The church enlarge ment had cost £174 Us 8d ; towards this £95 had been received in subscriptions, £11 2s 3d in offertories, and £37 had been awarded to the school fund, leaving a balance of £31 9s 3d to pay. The School Building Fund now exhibited a balance of £101 Is 2d, thanks to the promoters of the evening's entertainment; £37 had been awarded by an architect as the charge for the schoolroom beneath the north transept. There remained a balance of £120 Is 2d. The lease of an allotment next to the church had been pre sented to the vestry by Mr E. Wayte, and the parish had the use of it for a nominal rental. Sixty-seven baptisms and eight marriages had been celebrated at the parish church, and one marriage at the district church. Twenty persons had been con firmed, and 155 persons were on the com municants' roll at the end of the year. Mr Iloberton had made a present of the gas fittings of the church. The reports were adopted, and it was agreed to make an effort to reduce the debt of £400 to the Native Pastorate Fund by regular subscriptions. Messrs Hill, Kensington, Morrow, Garland, Pierce, Kelly, and Coney were elected vestrymen.

In publishing the manifest of the Phoebe yesterday we omitted—l case Williams' blacking, shipped by J. Williams.

The Eight Rev. Dr. Croke has made a pastoral visit to Puhoi, and was devoutly received by the Roman Catholics of the district.

At the firing for the selection of colonial representatives in the Mauku district, Lieut. Mellsop and Volunteer Crawford qualified —the former with a score of 75 points, and the latter 78.

Many persons may have noticed a .patriar chal-looking elderly man both at Auckland and the Thames bearing generally a long stick, not unlike a shepherd's crook in length, but not in finish. The name of this man is William Mason, formerly town missionary of : Nottingham, England, and a sturdy advocate ! of the principles of total abstinence. The old man makes no pretensions to learning or j eloquence, and yet in his homely, vigorous j way, both in the dissenting pulpit and on the ! platform, he is generally successful in winning ' the attention of the audience. The old man, moreover, has done a considerable amount of good in his ins and outs among the shanties of the humbler classes, if not with his tracts, with his words of hope and encouragement. This veteran, with his crook, has been engaged by the Auckland Bible Society as a missionary among the men employed on the Mercer Railway, and the gum-diggers of Awhitu and neighbour hood. The chief part of his mission being to circulate the scriptures among the men so em ployed, as the Society considers that many of the workers of those districts are shadowed by gross ignorance and are without God in the world, I

We have been accused of dealing roughly with George Staines, but here is what the WctiJcato Times in a leading article has to say about him in connection with Tuesday's edu cation meeting :—" It is gratifying to find that the designs of the meeting were defeated. The good sense and respectability of those who attended were too nmch for the mob oratory of such men as Mr Olphert and Mr Staines'. The former gentleman was put in the chair by the motion of the latter. It may be unnecessary, but nevertheless we cannot refrain from warning the chairman that he has not got into good company. He who was instrumental in placing him in the seat of honour is one of those contemptible beings neither possessed of brains nor educa tion. Mr George Staines is a man who is beneath the notice of all classes of the com munity. If there is one man more than another who merits the contempt of his fellows it is he who makes a little money and thereby fancies that he has raised himself a stage in the social scale above the class from which he sprang. These men are always as Mr G. Staines—mob-orators (in very bad English)—nominally the protectors of the poor man—actually the condeinners of every thing that is stable and respectable. We should not have dirtied our pen by writing the above individual's name except with the object of shewing the class of men who are opposed to the Education Act." A lady in Marseilles has sued a hair-dresser for two thousand francs damages. He had offered to dye her brown hair red, and, in consequence of his operations, it turned violet. She was obliged to have her head shaved, An Athena paper states that Queen Olga's appointment of M. Taticheff, a functionary of the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, as her private secretary, has so scandalized the Greeks that her majesty has requested that gentleman to return to St. Petersburg. A Provincial Government Gazette was pub lished this afternoon, and contains City Council by-laws for the regulation of hawkers, carriages, and paving. The names of re gistered vendors of poisons are published for general information. The Gazette also con tains various goldmining and Native Lands Court notices. The English journals mention a case where a milk dealer, on a second conviction for diluting milk with water, was not only fined, but required, in accordance with the pro visions of a special law, to pay the cost of a notice in a leading paper, giving a full account of the transaction. The ill-fated Empress, Carlotta, will leave a fortune of one million sterling, which will be inherited by her brothers, the King of Belgium, and the Count of Flanders. She had vainly tried to take her capital with her to Mexico. Her brother, the King, refused to let her have it, and he paid only the interest. Her father, King Leopold 1., left his three children a fortune of fifteen million dollars cash. The object of the pilgrimage to Lourdes, in France, which has recently attracted atten tion owing to assaults committed upon the pilgrims, is thus alluded to by the Paris correspondent of the London Times: — "On the 11th of February, 1858, a little girl of fourteen, named Bemad ette, gathering firewood on the hill-side, found herself separated from her companions, and near a small cave, at the entrance to which appeared a beautiful and luminous woman, whom she does not seem at once to have recognised as the Virgin, but with whose lovely and tender countenance she was none the less fascinated. She recoimted her ex perience to the Cure, and daily went to the : mountain and saw the same appearance ; but ! it does not see^i to have been until the 25th of March that, at the suggestion of the director, she said: ' Madame, voulez vous me dire gui vous etes?' La dame detache alors son regard de l'enfant, separe ses mains, et plus rayonnante que jamais, l'ceil plonge dans la gloire dv ciel, elle dit, | ' .Te suis l'lmmaculee Conception ' —puis elle disparut. The phamphlet adds: Bernadettelost no time in running and telling Monsieur le Cure the name of the lady, and then the curate understood it. It was the Virgin, mother of God, who was come herself to confirm the dogma Avhich the Pope had just proclaimed. It has been the custom in France for devout Catholics to make pilgrimages to the grotto of Bourdes, where this appearance of the blessed Virgin is believed to have been made ; but this year these pilgrimages have been far more numerous than ever, and have assximcd a political character and significance which they never before bore." The corres pondent of the Daily News thus describes one of these gigantic processions : —" A great procession in honor of Notre Dame of Lourdes took place to-day, and passed off in a very peaceable manner. Three hun dred and fifteen banners, headed by a black velvet banner from Alsace, and one crape-covered from Metz were carried in procession from the parish church of Lourdes this afternoon to a large field near the grotto of Notre Dame, on approaching which the procession was met by the clergy with eight Bishops from the neighbouring diocese at their head. When the crowd perceived the banners of Alsace and Lorraine there was much clapping of hands, and loud cries of ' Vive 1' \lsace.' The clergy joined the procession, when they advanced to a large altar on a grassy plain facing the Church of Notre Dame de Lourdes and the Grotto. After the banners had been solemnly blessed, the Archbishop of Audi preached to a vast concourse, estimated at thirty thousand persons. Nineteen members of the French Assembly were in the pro cession. Several fresh miracles are reported. Perfect order prevails."

Germany claims that she will soon be independent of America as regards petroleum The crude material has been recently discov ered in Galicia in great abundance, and extensive preparations are making to fit it for market.

It has been finally determined that the beautiful Cathedral of Strasburg is to be completely restoi'edat a cost of over £25,000. Much of the masonry has to be rebuilt, and over 1200 panes of glass are to be put in. The famous clock is said to be uninjured, and only to require cleaning. During the siege a shell entered one of the windows and buried itself in the organ without exploding. No essential part of the organ was injured, so ' that it can be played, but it is not impos- I sible that the shell might fall from its ' position and explode. Aspirants to the office of organist are not numerous. Milwaukee enjoys its own fat woman. Her ! name is Praegar, and Fairbanks hardly doea her justice at 535 pounds. She girths five feet eleven inches over the bosom, five feet two around the hips, two feet four around the arms, arid when she laughs her chin wrinkles down into the dark like cellar stairs. A woman named Hayward, wife of a jockey, met her death in England under very peculiar circumstances. She was cracking nuts by striking them with a knife, when a small piece of nutshell flew into her eye. She did >lot take much notice of it at the time, but. some time afterwards the eye be came very painful and inflammation set in, which was followed by delirium, and the poor woman died. Eighty thousand Jews live in New York,

We have again to intimate with regret that we have no more copies of Reed and Brett's Auckland Almanac. We have ap plied to every one of our agents individually for any remaining on their hands, and have failed in procuring one ; but on the contrary have been informed by almost all that they desired a further supply ; andjeven from the remote Bay of Plenty we observe the follow ing intimation in a "local" of the Times;— " Reed and Brett's Almanac is out of print. Those persons who have ordered copies at our office will please accept this intimation. We promise that the public hunger shall not next year be left unappeased. Mr Simpson, C.E., has left Tauranga for Waikato, having obtained the appointment of Assistant Government Engineer in that district. _ • The price of works of art is rapidly increasing in Europe, ! In January the new French University for journalists will open in Paris, j There are 42 preachers of the Wesleyan Methodists in Scotland. j We have received the following letter for insertion in our columns: — "Sir, — I am surprised at your neglect in not extending your correspondence agency. I observe that j your contemporary the Crofts has planted an ( observer everywhere in the heavens above, ; in the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth. I read letters from a ' Man in the Bush,' a ' Man in the Fern,' a ' Man in the Flax,' a 'Man in the Swamp,' and a • Man up a Tree.' Sir, lamina position to keep you posted up on affairs as viewed from my particular stand-point, and shall be happy to know if you will accept meditations from a man Up thk Spout." Carl Both, of Berlin, says it is in want of salt in the blood that leads to small-pox. Pass the salt cellar, please. The Opotiki correspondent of the Bay of Plenty Times says: —"A severe accident occurred to a native woman at Turere on Friday last. A party of the Ngatai were returning from Whakatane to Turere, whither they had been to a crying match, and got rather "elevated." As the surf was very high,sufficient caution was not taken on landing, and one of the boats, on getting into shallow water, upset, throwing the occu pants into the sea, whereby one of the unfor tunate women got underneath the boat, was cut severely on the chin, and also three of her ribs fractured. It was fortunate no more were injured, as there was a heavy sea running at the time.

The owner of the fishing boat Surprise challenges the owners of the Bismarck to a rece on the 20th February.

There is much excitement in London in consequence of the rumour that Queen Maria Pla, of Portugal, whose godfather is Pope Pius IX., has determined to abandon the Catholic faith and turn Protestant.

An aristocratic New York tailor is engaged in evolving a suit of clothes to consist entirely of a cravat that Avill wind about the body, from neck to ankle, and will be fastened with a diamond pin.

A gentleman who has returned to Tau ranga from Whangamata informs the local journal that there "was a large number of stores at Whangamata, where almost every thing might be procured, and many more stores were going up in the bush ; that the supposed diggings were some short distance inland, where a large and increasing number of people were scattered about, most of whom had brought their supplies from Shortland, although pack horses were almost constantly arriving and being despatched from Whanga mata. At present the men on the ground ■were not supposed to be digging or pros pecting, but only waiting for the open ing of the field; but there was no doubt they would be using their powers of observation as vigiliantly as circumstances would permit, and possibly be having an occasional shy at any quartz boulder which might be in their way. The commencement of the road beyond Waihi is described as veiy rouyh and steep for a short distance, though it afterwards improves. The indi vidual referred to had gone by the steamer from Taurauga, and was landed on the rocks outside the bay forming Whangamata harbour, and he found the passage over these rocks both difficult and dangerous. He said there was a tine large flat, extremely suitable for a township, at Whangamata ; but this, unfortunately, had been reserved, for the natives, who would most probably lease it for building purposes, as the land was leased in Shortland. He described the state of affairs at Whangamata as one of suspense and expectation.

The city of Paris is to open this month a new school bearing the name of Levoiser, and organized on the model of the Turgot, Chaptal and Colbert establishments.

THE AUCKLAND WHALING COM PANY.

The usual half-yearly meeting of shareholders in this Company was held at noon to day, Mr J. S. Macfarlane occupying the chair.

The Secretary (Captain Clayton) read the following report :— Since the last half-yearly meeting the bar que Albion had arrived with twenty-one tuns of sperm oil, twenty-two tuns of black oil, and half a ton of whalebone, which was shipped to London in the ship City of Auck land. The Albion was again fitted out and sent away for twelve months, crew signing articles for eighteen months. Instructions were then given to the captain to whale along the coast of New Zealand and to the South during the summer, and should he be fortunate in securing a good quantity of oil he was to touch at Auckland to land it, so that it cauld be disposed of at once. When the Albion left Auckland she was five men and two boat-steerers short. The captain had orders to pick them up at some of the whaling stations if possible, but it is supposed he could not procure them, therefore he sailed for the Islands to obtain men there. Since then it is expected the vessel has been down South all the summer, and will cruise to the North as the winter advances.

"The statement of accounts showed the receipts to be as follows :—Draft on account of oil shipped per City of Auckland (less ex change), £2,230 9s 9d ; proceeds of sundries, ex Albion, £15 16s Gd ; overdraft at bank £1,264 Gs 4d. Total, £3,510 12s 7d. Less expenses, fitting out Albion, first voyage, £545 Is od ; ditto, second voyage, £1,426 19s 2d ; general expenses and interest, £68 13s 6dj paid overdraft at bank, £1,174 Ms 2d. Total, £3,514 5s 3d."

The report, etc., were adopted by the meeting on the motion of Mr L. D. Nathan, seconded by Mr Francis. Mr L. D. Nathan proposed, and Mr Dorn well seconded, that Mr Batger and Mr Snell should be appointed auditors for the ensuing year.

Mr Nathan handed to the Secretary a pri vate letter he had received from the captain of the whaling ship Europa, which was read, and it was resolved that a circular should be issued to the shareholders convening a spe cial meeting for the purpose of taking into consideration the advisability of obtaining more vessels for the whaling trade. & This concluded the business of the meet ing.

THE STORY OF JENNY KEMBLE, THE EQUESTRIENNE.

Mtss Jenny Kemble was engaged by Signor Chiarini or his agent in the United States as a circus rider at five pounds per week. She had previously occupied a similar position in Ryan's circus in the States. She came out to Auckland under the engagement with the Royal Italian Company. At rehearsals she did not please Signor Chiarini, who asserted that she could not ride. Jenny said s^ity. could. Howbeit she was taken ill, and ky sick at the boarding-house, in Hobson-street, where she was stopping. Here Signor Agrati, manager of the circus, visited her and asked to see her agreement with the circus proprietor. Confiding Jenny showed it him, and he placed it in his breast coat, pocket, and wished her adieu, after giving her a steerage ticket to San Francisco. But

Miss Kemble came out here as a saloon passenger, and as a saloon pas senger she -would return; and besides, Dr. Kenderdine certified that she was not in a fit state of health to indulge in a sea voyage down in the steerage. She was very weak, and required attention and comfort. Signor Chiarini was inexorable and •would do no more, and legal advice was sought. It "was finally agreed by the attorniea on both sides to leave the matter to the arbitration of Mr White, the American Consul. That gentle man, after due consideration, awarded the fair equestrienne a saloon passage to Cali fornia, a sum of ten pounds in cash for inci dentals, and board and lodging to be paid until the departure of the next steamer. This Signor Chiarini considered excessive and unreasonable and he refused to budge an inch from his original offer which Jenny declined to accept. Signor Chiarini, as pre viously announced bid his Auckland friends farewell at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, and left for Onehunga to take passage South by the Phoebe, but a piece of paper measuring 16in. by 4in., and commencing with these words—" Victoria, by the Grace of God : To w it"—thrust into his hands before embarka tion, caused Signor Chiarini to alter his plans and to return to Auckland, which he did, it is said, in no good humor; and he was not heard to bless the young lady who had so disarranged his plans. Consultations with attornies, agreements with friends, and con solation in innumerable cigars, left matters last night with no fair chance of settlement, save an appeal to the high authority of the Supreme Court. However, it is reported this morning that amicable arrangements would be entered into without resorting to the decision of his Honor the Chief Justice, and Signor Chiarini will take his departure for the South by the next steamer; and Jenny Kemble will seek another and it is to be hoped a more satisfactory engagement.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. This Day.

(Before his Honor Judge Beckham.)

Undefended Cases.

Judgment for plaintiffs : —Posseniskie v. A. D. McTavish, claim £9 6s; Slater v. A. McDoaald, claim £19 19s Gil ; E. O'Mera v. J. O'Mera, money lent; W. Moyle v. W. Lestrange, claim £1 Is, to pay os a week; George Basfcen v. W. Guise, claim (rent) £2 15s ; 0. Dundass v. R. Bellears, claim (board and lodging) £11 7s lOd. Defended. Ralph levoi v. j. c. marter. Claim, £3 10s. Mr Joy appeared for the plaintiff; Mr Beveridge for the defendant. This was a claim of £3 10s in connection with a card case, heard before the Court at a previous sitting, in which plaintiff was nonsuited. As the defendant could not appear the case was adjourned until Friday next. JAMES O'NEILL V. W. TOWNSEND. Claim, £1 13s 6d. This was a claim for goods, in which the defendant was ordered to pay 2s a-week on - a previous occasion, but had* failed to do so., James O'Neill stated that the defendant had been in employment, but instead of pay ing his debts he had been dmnk everj' night from the 13th of December, 1572, to the loth of January, 1873. He was also a dis turber of the public peace, and held peculiar views on the education question. He in terrupted the speakers, Messrs Olphert and Staines, at the Mechanics' Institute. Defendant stated that he had done a little in the fish and strawberry line on his own account; but was doing nothing at present. Judgment for plaintiff. RUDOLPH LINDERMAN V. T. SLATER. Claim, £16. Mr J. B. Russell appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Brock for defendant. Rudolph Linderman deposed that he left in the possession of Mr Slater, the defendant, certain articles of wearing apparel and a metal sextant, silver arched, which during his absence in Sydney defendant had caused., to be sold by auction. When he asked for i his property Mr Slater said he had sold them, and he might go to Mr Broclsuy 1 ' f would give him the balance of the sale. iLJ< left the goods with Mr Slater for a debt of £2 ISs 6d, and upon arriving at Sydney he forwarded by post-office order £2 of the money, and subsequently wrote a letter, neither of which communications defendant acknowledged. He did not return to Auck land so early as he had promised, owing to an accident which befel him at Sydney. He received no notice from Mr Slater that he intended to sell his property. To Mr Brock: He lodged in Mr Slater's house in July last, and left on the Ist August. He did not ask Mr Slater to pawn his property; but Mr Slater suggested that he should pawn them, which he refused to do. , He promised to pay on his return in the barque Novelty, but an accident detained mm in Sydney. Mr Joy contended that the defendant never received the plaintiff's letters, and thab he was justified in selling the goods, as plaintiff did not return according to promise ; and that previous to selling he had several times advertised that he would do so if the plaintiff did not fetch the goods away. Thomas Slater deposed that he was a lodging-house-keeper in Hobson-street, and that in July last the plaintiff was a boards

*** itlftrtKG BKA&, EMBAY, ?AKTffA|IY 31, 18&



CALLS Central Italy .. 0 0 6 Mary Ann .. .. 0 0 6 Hope of Coromandel 0 0 6 White Eose .. .. 0 10 Flagship Golden Anchor 0 10 Carnatic .. .. 0 0 3 Multum in Parvo .. 0 17 Golden Spur.. .. 0 0 6 Key of Tokatea .. 0 0 3 Buffalo .. .. 0 0 3 El Dorado .. .. 0 10 Working Miners .. 0 0 6 Watchman .. .. 0 10 Crown Prince .. 0 0 6 Pride of Tokatea .. 0 10 Goldfinch .. .. 0 0 2 Ballarat and Rising Sun 0 0 3 Twenty-third of June 0 0 6 Argo 0 0 3 Arge 0 0 3 New Rakaia .. ., 0 0 3 7 an •• •• .. 0 0 6 Imperial Crown ,, l o 0

Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Fob 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 14 Peb 17



CAN THE BEST MOLESKIN TROUSERS IN NEW ZEALAND BE SOLD FOR 6s. Ho.? NO! DRAPEKS AND OTHERS outside the Clothing Trade may offer such baits to the public, but as THE CLOT HIEB OF THE PROVINCE, and the only one whoso business is exclusively confined to the manufacture and sale of Men's Clothing, I maintain that it cannot be done. I can, however, offer to the Working Men GENUINE BARGAINS, being prepared to sell a pair of Moleskin Trousers,' equal in every respect to the Gs. lid. article, FOR ss. 11b. And a pair of GENUINE Crown Moles, FOR 6s. 11d. And the best in New Zealand, FOR Bs. 11d. SAMUEL COOMBES, MANUFACTURER & CLOTHIER, SO & 180, Queen-street. T COSSBAVE & C O.'S SALE OF DRAPERY & CLOTHING OMMENCES TO-MORROW (Saturday), FEB. 1. The Public are requested to inspect tho Goods as the Reductions are Genuine.