UNKNOWN FOR NINE YEARS.

o .-t ---ad >, a cor. .voll) dons in the 8 them iff-room also an •nd Wood .ing ttoqul m the Co, of Drapery. thing beins mild be re .rnltura and tomor kopt. 9 uollc7 of City Hall

a ro e'a age iage .client aeii aic . Living. irect and aiay know tor." The .i of Liviug ,o, when Sir chair, and gave a on hearing him ivingstoue's stylo vatemeuts free trout .iced his career down i occurred ou the 4th jcture, which was long as closed with a perora ole character of Liviug ue valuable lessons of .0 was one of the kings of ,nd shoulders above his fellow, silently by cliaracter that knovv ocessible to every person in every a, and that the true road to real J lies in the faithful discharge of in duties, and caunot be «yon in that udlc state called "indolence." Livius; one knew what should be done, and he did it with his mislit under the guidance of the Diviue Spirit. His religion was not emotional, but practical, aad ho made his life, as young men may make theirs, " our grand, sweet song." (Applause.) A vote of thanks and the benediction closed the proceedings.

I The usual meeting for united prayer will bo held in the hall of the V.M.C.A., this evening, at half-past seveu. The Itev. Mr Dunn will give a Bible reading. The "North Otago Times " understands that a party of mcv is being; organised in Oamaru for the purpose of proceeding into the interior in search of gold, s They intend suiting about the let of September. ;■..■/■.■' ■:,. ■ ■ . : -.■■ ■'-.-.; i::-':-".% .' :■' . :

to fto *c\v ate, ens dies, 13. . per mited KA.TS. 'P. - Carolina, ible con^ owner oi ed by one visited a uantitics oi •d left undis- Jpon entering ion perceived stituted them a that had been oy had time to ment they were ferocious vermin. tovc manfully to , unfortunately, iv their savage assail upset a hu>;c chest, id up the doorway; elapsed before their iistance brought them ; the rats had used their i cruel purposes that their •apged out of the dark it of day, had suffered so be scarcely recognisable, ear had totally disappeared, and hands were bleeding innumerable bites. Wayles terribly mutulated, for the ally eaten oil his nose, ears, sides inflicting hundreds of i different parts of his body.

CKINGHAMSHIKE SLEEPING GIRL. ■ the last nine years public attention n occasionally directed to the case ,irl, the daughter ot a labourer, at lie, Buckinghamshire, who is said to remained for that period in a condition i-nnce, perfectly holples3 and uuconscious. .c. only food given her has been a few loonf ill's of wine and ten, or wine and milk, dministered at frequent intervals. The case has been visited by numbers of medical gentlemen, and about two years ago it w.is the subject of correspondence in the daiiy journals. Local notice has just been directed afresh to this curious instance by the sudden death of the mother of the girl, on Wednes day of last week. The coroner for Bucking ham, Mr Frederick Charsley, held an inquest ou the body on Friday, and in the course of the inquiry some questions were put to the stepfather and sister of the " sleeping " girl as to the way in which the deceased woman had treated her. They stated that nine years ago tho girl was in Reading Hospital for some tour months, and was discharged as incurable ; she was brought home in a bed, and had remained ever since in a state of catalepsy. Her mother, the deceased, attended her, and administered tho liquid food by means of a teapot. About four teaspoonfuls at a time were poured down her throat through an orifice caused by a decayed tooth. In the course of his evidence MrHayinan, F.8.C.5., of Stokcn church, said he had occasionally attended tho deceased during the past few years, and had often seen the "sleeping girl." In his opinion she was paralysed and was quite unconscious. It was believed, however, by the vicar of Xurville, the Key. T. M. Stud holme, that the mental was not quite so torpid as the bodily power. Ho (Dr. Hay man) had several times fed the girl in the manner described, aud he had observed that the liquid passed down the throat like a funnel, without any act of deglution. The coroner told the jury that ho had thought it right to put a few questions about the girl, because it appeared that the deceased had waited on her, and it would be neces sary that some arrangement should be made by the parish authorities that Rhe should be properly looked after. The father was away from home the greater part of the day, and the rest of the family had their own household to look after. The jury found that the death of the mother had resulted from effusion of water in the cavity of the heart.

, , In the notice of the disturbance at the Band of Hope meeting, John Jenkins was reported to have challenged his friend McDermott to a fight, instead of Lawrence, who was the actual offender,

.king Bictniti^ company, Colonial Industries X ' Keliuldian. It bean iliat at the outset the o jrdcd itself as constituted iterest of Canterbury in the d Canterbury and Otago in I toe North Island, and , ' skland, are made to occupy licant place. Canterbury .'■ been the be-all and end-all, cldian Commission. In. *„•' i given on the subject of " .ucation given at Auckland' Tiuue and Burns at their rwards furnished in writioi - nveniencc of the ComnuV - 1 not a shorthand reporter a H patently for no other reason",' s too comprehensive a subject ■' g minds of the Commissioner!.'' reciate, and because it advoca. ishment of a school of Agriculi uological College in Auckland, idence has been deliberately ull prominence is given to* Canterbury College of Agrj-J. ■c prospectus is advertised in .ices to the report at the cotf . WHITAKEK'S KATLWAYS ... Whitaker's Hamilton to Cam' d Hamilton to Omahu Railway - been favourably reported fromth H is Committee. These Bills provide ; *£ Qall be lawful for the Government • j plans and specifications to be mad : ' ■. construction of a Hue of railwj ' iamiltou to Cambridge, and upon the ;tion of such plans and specification! jrovemor is authorised to cause the laid ■■" t of railway to be constructed out of any' ' nies now or hereafter available for snd' .rooscs. If the bills pass they will at ? ast commit the country to the conßtmo on of the above-mentioned lines.

WE3T COAST BILL. The name of the West Coast Bill is, I hear, changed to the "Disturbed District! Hill," and made applicable to all Maori districts which are now.or may hereafter be,: disturbed. The bill is not yet circulated.:. ; REPRESENTATION BILL. Mr Murray -will move on the second H reading of the Representation Bill that in the opinion of this* House there should be " no increase in the aggregate number of members of the House. That the electoral divisions should be arranged with a view ito secure community of interests and con. venience of electors and well defined-' boundaries. That in cities there should bo " one ir ember to G,OOO inhabitants, andia-V country districts one member to 5,000, that ; : where these members cannot be rigid)/ • adhered to, the limits of variation may be, ?■■ in cities, from 5,000 to 6,500 inhabitants; ';' in the country from 4,000 to 5,500 inhabit ants. That cities, having a qualification to -~: I elect three members, should be treated bs • one constitutency ; but each voter be end'l'• vy* tied to have only one vote, and to vote for •■; only one candidate. That in collecting ■:? census returns opportunity should be afforded to the inhabitants of any local governing district to declare lia what -.; electoral division they wish to be placed.' That the Representation Bill be withdrawn \ to give eilect to the foregoing resolntiota f. immediately on the receipt of the oeDBM returns.

THE RAILWAY COMMISSION.., | The greater part of yesterday's sitting *tijl| occupied with the debate on the KallwwW Cotnmissiouer's report. Mr Weight vtiDn undertook to defend the report said th^H most of the members of the Commission were disappointed ia finding how very little the interior of Otago had to justify railway construction. AH the recommendations Of' the Commission had been unanimous both in that and every other instance. The Com mission condemned it as a scheme strongly;' advocated by the late Premier as well asooo advocated by the present Premier. They-' condemned a project in which the chairman' of the Commission Limself had loDg taken an ;; interest, viz., one of the proposed Nehtm' ■_ lities. In making their estimates it was."';" necessary for them to ascertain whether the ' laud would warrant the cost proposed—that • was, whether it was land like that beiWetßM Newmarket and Riverhead, which Wo'oWSb hardly support a beast to the square, mile, jw or like Wanganui and Hawera, which. W'Sffl carry a bea«t 1o the acre. Mr George the memberforliodney,had saidthat the district was never visited. Ou making enquiry Mto ;• whether they could yot through to that par ticular district, they were told it was quite impossible, even although they were to attempt it on their hands and knees. The' proposal to make a railway to 'Whangarei - was about one of the maddest projectse*« heard of, as the district was supplied W& f splendid water carriage ; in fact they' had j seen quite enough to justify the concloatoa^-. at which they arrived. , { Sir W. Fox spoke on the subject,as)fw shortest route to his own door was all that had to bo considered. He apprehended there were other questions to be kept id. view. They had to consult the intetert «- Hawkes' Bay district. It would pay the ; Government to carry the products of v»J Foxton settlers tree of charge altogether, , rather than incur the responsibility Ot WM route. The country between Masterwn, and Woodville was worth all the line ot ■: country between this and Foxton. He was v disappointed with the Public Works State-;, meat Had the report been adopted in»« entirety, it would have been much better, g He was afraid the Minister for ■PooMr. Works laid too much stress on the coal measures of the country, and too litue OB n. the agricultural interests. The statement to his mind showed the over'^?f ; '' influence of the engineer for the Mid"l*! Island. He again referred to the Central . Otago. The first estimate of the cost in that line to Cromwell was £600,000; n<» year they got an estimate for thesameworJC carrying it ou to Alberton, 18 miles further, £1.100,000. His estimates, however, *»■>,. that it would not be short of fl-SW^, Now, he contended that they would not w justified in increasing such an expense," simply to open up 212,000 acres of Im«V He thought the Minister of Public WorKa had not sufficiently explained many of m proposals. He mentioned a very large snnv of money proposed to bo spent objW;, Kawakawa line. It was more necessary1 they should have explicit information as to data of this work, eeeing that a disun- - guished member of the Executive was-, personally interested in the work. 18~ , estimate of the cost by Mr Blair, of Orey- " mouth harbour works, was £600,000, Boa judging from the character of the estimates; made by that gentleman in connection w» other works, the probability is «"">"« cost would be very much more. BeW». it that the expenditure was wholly no; justifiable. Again, there were wharves m Wellington, Bluff, and Picton, whichi w«P.■ far in excess of the requirements of tiw* places. He was in favour of allowing»"; employes to share in profits all over i P» : cent. He ventured to say that an arra E : nient of that kiud would have tbe CIX? of bringing about greater reform 1";, economy and efficient working of lines. ,_ Mr Macandrew thought ho ourM"^ know better what Otago would suppw. than a few gentlemen who made a vsm < tour. The mistake made by the sioners was that they were guided by c*»., ing population. His contention was tll8g t : the country was lit tor settlement it W*B . for a railway, and the population was W"11 | to come. / , _- n : Mr Saukdbbs said tihat he looked Up" | the report of the Oolumiisionew ss »' .. valuable, more impartial, and more <" terested than the recoiinueudation made } any Select Committee! any civil servant, , yet any Minister of tfte Crown. llt ,o. Captain Colbbck Rescribed the mWS most unjustifiable. \