SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

HIGH WATER : This evening, 843 ; to morrow morning 9 2 „„„ „ Ta „ .„ SUNSET: This evening, 6.23 ; SUNRISE: to- DiuiT w mornin*, 5 £9 , MOOD'S AGE : First Quarter 15th, 0 44p m

ARRIVALS.

H. Eolda, s.s., from Wanganui ojU v. wealing barque, Moxsio, from a cruise

DEPARTURES.

.* tl,;i t'r. schooner, for Wercuiy Bay Q^een, .-chooner, for Hokianga

PROJECTED DEPARTURES.

F>r Newcastle—Union, barque, early Fo« <<an Francisco Mikado, s.s., (next English

*T»U), March 19 For the ißlnnds-Martha, barque, early Vor NhOier-Inverene, ship, early ' F<:.r London-Glenlo'a. ship, about the 7th March Por Timaru— Wave, brig, early reerl^-ss, for Katpara, Wedne:day next l'.iyhne for Levuka. Wednesday For Ho&art Town—Bella Mary, barque, early

VESSELS EXPECTED.

Hero, Vs, from Sydney, ahout 23rd "Wonga, from Sydney, early Cader On, ship, from London ; sai'ed Fernglen, ship, from London : sailed Baron Aberdare. ship, from London; sailed Decß Shooting Star, Darque, from London ; sailed Dec 23 Bapido. barque,f rom New York, via Adelaide Syren, brig, lrom Lyttelton Ryno, brigantine', from Rotumah, early Flirt, brigantine, from Lyttelton, early Papua, schooner, from Rarotonga, early Belle Brandon, schconer, from the Islands, early . The barque Kapido may be expected shortly from Adelaide. Messrs. 8.. Walker and Co. have determined to load her for London instead of ]New York.

CHIEF POST-OFFICE, AUCKLAND.

Mails will Close as followh . — For Thames, to-morrow, at 8.30 am. For Tauranga, per Vincent, this day, at 5 pm For Waiwera and Warkwoith, per La y Bowen, to morrow, at 10 a aa For Mangawai per St Kilda, to-morrow, at 10 a m For Opotiki, per Coralie, to-moirow, at 11 am For Napier, Gisborne, and Wellington, per Southern Cross, to-morrow, at 3 p.m. For Levuka, Fiji, per Star cf the South, to-morrow, I at 3 p m. For Taranalii and Southern Provinces, per Lady Bird, on Rriday next, at 10 am Per s s Mikado on Monday, 19th inst&nt, as under: For Sandwich Islands, Untted States of America, Canada. British Columbia, Central and South America,, and British and Foreign West Indies, at 1t'.30 a m. For tho United Kingdom and Continent of

all£these minor considerations however, the fact is the loan is not floated ; but is simply negotiated with a private firm at a price to ua unknown ; and that firm hi 3 " announced" the intention of let ting other 3 share in ib at 93, or four pounds ten per centum under the prices quoted for similar New Zealand stock, on the 25th December la3t. If there is iv all this anything to excite to hysterical jubila tion, then we shall try to work up the appropriate emotions ; but to our seeing, the telegram, which required the joint counsel and concoction of Messrs Vogel, Julyan, Sergeant, and Featherston to make the news palatable t> the New Zealand people, has something ia it that makes us long to hear the "particulars to shortly follow" before abandoning ourselves to excessive exhilira tion.

Thomas Samuel Kemp, the scene-painter, and well known in most of the towns New Zealand ha,s gone the " way of all flesh" at the early age of thirty-three. Tom was not only an artist of considerable taste;, but was wont to strut his hour on tho st&gtv As ackrs, however, like ofchei' men in the great drama of life, have their exits and their entrances, So Tom, artist and player, has made hia final exit from the scenes of this mortal life. He died yesterday and was buried to-day. Tlie decteased is spoken of as a genial man. S,nd a favorite among those of his two-fold profession. He had been suffer ing for several weeks from an internal eovh-

The fine suburban property adjoining the residence of the late Superintendent will be offered for sale in 124 building allotments and paddock sections by Messrs. Samuel Cochrane and Son to-morrow, at their land mart. The opportunity is one .that should not be overlooked by those seeking villa sites within a moderate distance from the city.

To the Editor : Sir,—lv Monday night's issue I notice that tenders had been received I for the Supreme Court-house renovation. Would you kindly inform the public when ami where they Were received, and under whose directions this important work is being carried out ?-—I am, &c, Builder. [We cannot. Pet haps some of oiir readers will supply the information.—Ed. E.S.] The charges against Alexander McPhail, Captain of the ship India, were heard to-day at the Police Court before T. Macffarlaue, Esq., and W. J. Hurst, Esq. We had under stood that the case was set down for to-day, that the Charges might receive the benefit of our Resident Magistrate's experience in its settlement. However, we trust that the upshot of it will be successful In convincing people at home that here in the colonies we are careful to punish any act of a captain which may endanger the lives of immigrants; and that it does not matter one bit whether the captain owrs the ship or not, he is equally subject to the laws of England, which in this respect are the laws of the colony also. On Fiiday evening Mr William Hoskins will take his benefit, which occasion Gold smith's fine comedy, "She Stoopfl to Con quer," will be pei formed.

To the "Editbr: Sir,—What authority has

by diver at Callab, and the hold flooded to pnt out the fire. "■ " It has been ascertained that spontaneous combustion of coal was the cause of the fire which destroyed the fine steamship Japan, as it originated in the bunkers where the wet coal w s placed. RESULT OF THE TRANSIT OF VENUS OB^WRVAI lONS.-THE EARTH a PPrtOACHING THE SUN. New York, January 17.—The World pub lishes .1 c»Ui dispatch from London, saying the firsu tentative computations made at Greenwich, of data obtained from observa tions of the recent transit of Venfis, yielded results bO-ru"what different from what was expecto I. Four calculations independently, give tbe sun's parallax as being; respectively 9 6"—9.45" 9 25"—and 9 20"—the mean being 2 24". The computations were made byProi O. Vlenricle, of University College ; Frederick Cattrie, of the Royal School of Mines and Art; and Messrs. Dunkm and Ellis, assistants at the Royal Observatory, Greenwick, No calculations have yet been completed at Kew Observatory. The com putations were made onl> on the basis of the moments of external and internal con tract as reported from different points of observation, and may be much modified when the photographic and micrometic measurements aie taken into account. Based on this dispatch, ihe WorW re marks, on the authority of an American astronomer :—"To say that the sun's parallax has been ascertained to be 9.24'/, is to say that the slln is distant from us about 88.443,726 miles. This is 6,926,274 miles less than the distance made cut by Encke, from observations of the last transit. and three or four millions

Mr Hesketh having said his client wished to apologise frankly, the prosecuting counsel consented to the withdrawal of the charge which was accordingly recorded.

CITY SATE DEFAULTERS. A long list of defaulters was produced at Court by the Town Clerk, the majority of | which were settled out of Court. Judgment for plaintiff was given in the case of Francis Patukay, for a rate of 10s on his property in Baker-street. William Holder was rammoned with fail ing to pay the sum of £3. M" J B. Bussell appeared for the City Council, and Mr Joy for defendant, v. ho d enied his indebtedness. This it appears was another ot those frequent mistakes of which complaint was made a few days ago, and as Mr Holder was. resolved to set the matter right, the case by mutual consent, was remanded until to morrow in order that the case may be fairly stated before Mr Beckham.

OHINEMURI.

(PER STAR CARRIER PIGEON.)

The Prospectors' Claim Condemned.

Operations at Waitakuri

MACKAYTOWN. [From Our Special Correspondent.]

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GENERAL AND PROVINCIAL GOV ERNMENTS.

(To the Editor of the Evening Star.)

Sir, —lam unwilling to believe that the General Govprrroent is adopting meansof staivinp ihe Provircial Government, with a view of hastening ihe abolition of Provincial Institutions in the North Island ; yet at the same time one cannot close bis eyes to the fact that great neglect and injustice has been done to the Province by the delay in handing over the lands acquired from' the natives to the Provincial authorities in Auckland, and by the unseemly disre gard of the General Government to the wishes of the settlers m its delay in opening the line of railway to Drury, which is generally believed to arise' through the sHibborness of one man^ backed up by certain members of the Government It is to be hoped our new Superintendent will insist upon the line of railway being banded over to the province as fast an the different sections are completed in order that it may be worked on a more satisfacsory haeis than it has been by Mr Passmore.-

«Hk ItitiM. WM, VmranifiaA*. MaiM 16, iiW ;



■\T7" E HAVE EEC EI YE D i'jtß S.S. Hero, . T Ii } E E C A SE S OF BLA.CK AND COLOURED SILKS, Purchased a Job in London by our Mr Grahsm. B3T- Tte ENTIRE LOT will bo disposed of at I SELLING-OF.F PRICES ! J. COSGRAVE & CO.