STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1882.

An Irish Doctor's Love Letters.

[N stating the case for the plaintiff, in the brea'-.h of promise action brought in the Dublin law conrts by a Miss M'Nulty, against a surgeon named Macauley, Mr Munro, Q.C., said that his client was the daughter of a gentleman who occupied a good position in Ballina, and died in the Year 1880. leaving a widow and a consider able family. The defendant was a medical <rentleraan,havinga very extensive practic. The correspondence, which commenced so ■ tar back as the month of September, 18(4, was very voluminous, and Us progress showed how the acquaintance ripened into love. In these letters defendant over and over again expressed his affection in the most enthusiastic language. He had a high opinion of himself, and appeared to think that there was no girl in Ballina who would not look upon him as .a ■ catch — that they were few who were not anxious to set their caps at him ; and he impressed upon the plaintiff that she was happy in having such a lover as he was. The nrst letter was dated the 6th of September, 18/4, and, like all the others, was fiul of protes tations of love. It commenced in a way which almost terrified and deterred him ■Erompernsingit, were it not that his duty to his client compelled him to do it. The words were :—

If anyone reads this but Miss M«, I hold him accountable before God and Justice. It is now after eleven o'clock p.m. Your remarks to-night have almost frozen me. You are aahamed to be seen talking with me. It you love me tor ray own sake nothing will daunt you There are many ladies in Ballina who would be glad to accept me. ... • Bcfo™ my God I speak my mind to you, and I would caution you to do the same. The defendant spoke also of how the " bit ter future" might be fulfilled, and begged her not to imagine that he was tinder any "spiritual influence " when he wrote, but hoped to have a glass of punch at palf-past six o'clock. The letter wound up with these words, which somewhat reassured him after the warning with which it com menced —

You may show this letter to your mother and >the world, If you like. The defendant also advised her to study constantly and to work diligently, and said When you will bo with ■ your Itoddy you will not be continually stitching. As you are improved in the kissing way you can be also improved in other ways.

{Laughter.) On the 7th October, 1874, he wrote thht if the Queen of Great Britain offered him her daughter he would not marry her if he did not love her. He asked her was it not pleasing to her to consider him a Fellow of the College of Surgeons, and told her that he wag steadily taking root in Ballina; that his practice was se cured, and that he hoped to be able to ect up a carraige. He suggested that she should come up to Dublin and attend the Alexandra College, and take lectures at Trinity College or the Royal Dublim Society (a laugh), and hdadded—

Have confidence; you are £he star that impels me to be vigorous. You know that virtually yon belong to me and I belong to you. . . . . We will get married on the " swell" in Marlborough arteet Cathedral—the Cardinal's chapel.

On another occasion ho hinted that they should get married at Notre Dame, in Paris, aod he repudiated the idea of accept ln" any fortune with her, as lie was mak in'* plenty of money, and he quoted Car .dinul Ric&elieu's expressioninLord Lytton's drama-"In the lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail." Later on he wrote that he was always speaking of her, and— Here i 6 a hundred million of sweet kissesi for yon . If you believe in kissing now, I think Ul eat you 'he next time, and have you all to myself (laughter.) As to his opinion of himself he said— Luu.ebuU 'la W>). The students caUcd mo the "great Macauley. • (Reoewed laughter.) In one letter he tells the young laSy that he was cignt miles away attending a woman m accouchment, and that the people said Dr — jras nothing to him (laughter). After all this correspondence the defendant, changed his mind, and broke off the engagement. The jury awarded Miss M'Nulty £430 damages.

MUSICAL NOTES.

f<PKCtALLY WBITTBH FOB THB "STAB" by Pbof'essor F. 0. Cailliau.] NO VII.- MUSICAL INSTRUCTION IN THE COLONIES. (COSTINTJBD.) I pass over in silence the really puerile signs which are charged in the Tonicso-fa system, with representing the different snnnda ot the gamut, and which at nioit would be tolerable only for Caching infants at the breast, but not nupils of 15 years or upwards. It ,-■ true that pupils make a play of them, and tbat thoy use them tor tun king fun of their teacher. After lung experience one would be able to employ these eigns and actions, perhaps, for making hiimelf understood by deif mutes. S) when the children are withdrawn from the school their musical knowledge ia al n;ost "nil," unless they know by heart '■ God Save the Queen," wbich they would have been able to learn quite as well in the ordinary notation. Thus unconscious children are forced to lose their time in learning nothing. Who is blamoiible in the nutter? Is it the parents? Kvi doutly not, for they place reliance in the men who arc specially charged with liia education of their children. With a horn then does the responsibility rest? With the Commission tbat has been charged with examining tho system pro fited it by the Committee of Instruction, which reported of the impartiality and I'ucnrity and knowledge that it believed it I- id marked in the delegates whom it had chosen. This is the only way in which I have baen able to account to myself for t!ie monstrous error with which the public teaching of mosic has been associated. The firm of Curwen and Co. has thought it prudent, in order to prevent mouldiness from deteriorating its products, to put a .'.rong pressure upon the men charged with deciding of them thu?. Besides the people who are the friends of real art, not wishing to accept this confused system, the aforesaid firm was forced to advance its operations elsewhere, and it is unfortunately the Ooloniee, so full of pro mise of every sort, that have bad the mis chance to attract their attention.

I But again and lastly, if the Tonic Sol-fa is a system that can be recommended, why is it not tangbt in onr Secondary Schools, »a«h as the Grammar School and Girls' High SchooL Let anyone ask the distin g lisned professors who teach in those v.i|H»rior establishments what they think of it, and we shall see if their opinion is in its favour. Is it because the free public ?. hools are attended by the children of the jreat bnlk of the people that on« should tench them music by means which if thoy are not actually in jurious, are at least wholly useless, and ara only effective in causing to be frittered away the precious time of the young intelligences who, seeing art with a face quite unmeaning and unattractive to them, are often discouraged to the point of com pletely abandoning}^ or at any rate, to that oil giving it only a perfnnctorj attention. With a musical education so incomplete aid neglected, the love of art cannot de velop itself, and the shouting which escapes iiom our popular schools, directed by vivial gestures, resembles too slightly true .'"■•giiig to inspire with anil educate the r-asto of the youthful pupils, while their mn»ical lessons cannot have any other rosnlt than that of filling with a strong antipathy to the study those who receive-them. This is undoubtedly the cause of the comparative inferiority of music as compared with the other branches of popular education, and if we do not winti that its teaching snnuld be restricted to temporary and unsatisfactory methods, but desire rather that the art may strike its •' oU deep in our midst, we shall have to -;t ; e and insist that it should figure more largely in the list of studies for our primary and secondary schools. Let us not forget that it is in childhood that our mental organisation bends itself readily and with ease to the demands of ait, and acquires that delicacy of auricular perception which alone|constitutes tue musician. The want of this so embarrasses the directors of our societies i.hsit they can hardly attain to any passable execution with the forces under their con trol, whilst among nations where music is regularly taught the members of musical associations and learn with promptitude and facility the most difficult choruses. Here, on the contrary, a thoroughly affective chorus-singer or Orpheooiate is a ! irity, for it requires much time and great application to engrave each note upon the mind, and to innocnlate with every intona tion, the memory of choristers, with whom everywhere patience is seldom a posses sion.

Then, whan this manoeuvring work is accomplished, to what efforts must it not i.tad, in order to obtain from an inept or unskilful {mass the -nuances and the style which are desired < A few mem bers better endowed than the rest carry with them sometimes the others, and at some moment or other, swollen with un justifiable pretension, they desert their post, and then the house of cards falls to pieces. And the majority of the societies supported by practice are bat edifices of sand, teaching pupils at great expense and trouble—edifices which the least breath destroys from base to ceiling. Ah! if the telephone could bat com municate to our ears one of the great choral executions of the Continent, what a differ ence would we find between it and ours, and yet is the numerical 'strength of those Societies greater than that of our Choral Society? Sometimes, but in ths greatest number of cases their strength is inferior. That which they have, however, aa an ad vantage over us, is that each member fulfils his fair share of the work, aud forms a real, intezral part of the chorus,—that is to say, there are no useless members. And with what enthu siasm, rising sometimes to delirium, are tueir harmonies received, while the stranger plainly sees that the applause of the audi ences is positively the result of satisfac tion, and not, as with us, a matter of custom. I have beard concerts here where the num ber of performers certainly did not con« stitute a defect, tor they were sufficiently numerous to lead me to expect a volume of sound that would fill the hall, and yet the result was disappointing, for the singers had no power at all proportionate to their number. To what, Ihen, .is this due, if not to the inclusion in the choir of a large number of mute or useless members ?

The Singes of Drunkenness.

A SUNOERr,AND police-sergeant once camo in for a severe wigging from Mr Simpson, theu on tli* bench, tor not being able to say to what extent a prisoner was drunk. In order to be prepared on all questions of the kind in future, lie wrote in his pocket-book the following :— Sobriety. — When sober, there is not much disposition to talk, aud a glass or two predisposes ti sleep. Lively.—This state is icached byn glass or two mor**. Reasoning powers good, aud wh.it is said ia smart and pertinent. Fresh.—Another glass and the drinker is still more eloquent, but. loss logical. His jokes are capital in Ids own estimation. His perception is still tolerably clear, —beyond himself.

Very fresh.—Conversation more highly coloured ; eloquence impassioned ; and the drinker overwhelms his companions with a flood of talk, and begins to suit the action to the word

Tipsy.— Gestures very vehement, and epithets much exaggerated. Argumenta tive, but not rational. Words constde-ably abrideed, and ideas lamentably obscured.

Very tipsy.—(iota turn for vocal music. Speechilie* in incoherent language, and evinces a most decided tendency to mis chief aud locomotion. Proud as a peacock, bravo as a lion, and amorous as a dove.

Drunk. —I'erveiselv quarrelsome, and stupidly good-natured: dealing much in shake-hands and knock-downs. Tongue stammering and feet unsteady.

Very drunk.—Abortive nttempa toßppcar sober. See everything double. Balance totnlly lost, and vocabulary reduced to a few interjections. Stupidly drunk.—Head ami stomach topsy-turvey. Eyes fixed and glaring. Utter incapacity of speech and locomotion, accompanied with an indistinct conscious ness ot the situation,

Dead drunk.—Trying to hold on to the floor, or, if asleep, confused dreams of the devil or creditors.

The Power of Music.

Clll'isu has not much of an ear for music, but he spent a considerable sum in having; his daughter taught how to hammer a piano ; and he is proud of her accomplish ments, lie was talking with us over tho fence the other day when a scries of dread ful sounds came from his piano through the open parlour window. Presently Chubb remarked : —

"D'ye hear that! Just listen to that! will you ? That's what I call music ?' Then there were a few additional banga on the instrument, a tloiirish or two, anil then more discordant thumping. "Splendid? is'nt it?" said Chubb. "Mary Janes lmstin' the music right out of that machine, you observe. Them s the Strauss waltzes, I believe, she's raslin' with now, Jus1 listen !"

AVc remarked that, from the energy dis played, Mary Jane at least seemed to be reaily in earnest. But whether she 'was treating Mr Strauss exactly right was open to quesition "Idon't know nothin' about music," observed Chubb' " but I kin tell tho real tiling when I hear it; and I kin sit and hear Mary Jane play wal'zes and tb.9 ' Maiden's Prayer' uiTtil It makes me cry lite a child."

We asserted that if she played those com positions as .she was doing now, it would make anybody cry. A deaf mute would shed tears, "Listen to tint now! will you?" as a wild tumult of sound came from the par lour. " Isn't that splendid ? If I didn't know it was Mary Jane a-tearinc; round among them waltzes, x'd tbink it was one of the fellers who play at the concerts. Let's go over and hear her " We eutered the house. Mary Jane was nowhere to he seen ; but to the infinite dis gust of Chubb there was a red-haired man, with a fist as big as a l->af of bread, tuning the piano. Chubb requested us not to tell anybody, and we won't. It is related here in confidence, aud it must go no further.

Gilbert and Sullivan's next Comic Opera.

Mr Arthur Sullivan is at Cairo working at the score of the new comic opera which is to fol'ow "Patience," which, however, ntill proves extremely attractive at the Savoy Theatre. Mr Gilbert in London sends the libretto to Mr Sullivan in Egypt, and it U expected that the ooera will oe completed by the end of March or the beginning of April. Lovers of Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan's delightful combina tions will naturally be curious to know what the subject is. They have a sorcerer in the first opera, sailors in the second, and pirates in the third, while the wor shippers of fcstheticism have been carica tured in the last. In the the next opera they will quit the world of mortals for a time to revel in fairyland. Twenty-five years before the piece commences a fairy has committed the indiscretion of marrying a mortal. This by fairy law is death, but the queen of the fairies commuted the sentence to banishment for life among the mortals, on condition that she leave her husband and never reveal herself to him i again. Soon after a son is born unto her This son is half fairy, halt mortal, being fairy down to the waist—a real idol with feet of clay. He is educated as a mortal should be, and called to the Bar, where his progress proves so remarkable, owing to the cleverness and the exceptional integrity with which he conducts his his profession, that in a few year 3he rises to the rank of Attorney-General. True to her promise, the mother, although she sees the father, never allows herself to be seen by him, until an incident which shows that the mother's love to her child is stronger than the love for her own life, makes her break her vow. She reveals herself to him although the pennlty for the act is death. The fact is that father and son love the same girl, and the father, fancying his wife to be dead, contemplates marrying the girl. The mother, after having in vain tried in disguise to persuade the father to give in for the sake of his son, as a last resource, unveils her face and tells him, " Behold, you cannot marry, I am your wife ?" The skill and taste with which the fairy, representing the noblest sentiments, is led through the piece with aesthetic grace, is only what could be expected from the skilful and satirical pen of the author. The climax will be a surprise, but wo are not yet permitted to reveal it. Perhaps the author himself has not yet made up his mind i to the denouement.

UNKNOWN.

The favourite millinery Inccfok or Moresque. y more Long lace strings or bridles' Will' X *»bon fashionable on bonnets thuti *i strings CrCpc broch(S in all shades of colbtt^jJUSt. white and cream, will be used in trimittidg \ bonnets. §

Lace find gauze brocades in lace dfesigns lor millinery purposes are brought out in large quantities. There is a tlireatened rovival of gros grain ivs a dress fabric this season under the nam« of faille scduimnte. Prevailing styles in silks aro rich brocades, moire antique styles, and satin striped and brocade striped moires The looking-glass beads used in millinery arc toned down with opaline, iridescent, and milky pearl etl'ec', that modify the glitter. Artificial facetted glass beet'es, coici nellas, dragon Hies, and butterflies appear as ornaments on the iirst importations of Paris bonnets. 'I'lie most elegant-white wash dresses of the coming summer will be of linen lawn and sheer linen cambrics, soft as India muslin aid almost as transparent. Mustard yellow china silk pajamas, dotted with small circles of navy blue, are the latest novelties in these goods, seen in some of the best houses in tbe furnishing departments. Manilla and Panama braids are again in vogue; but English Duiistablcs and split straws and Milan braids form the largest part of the first importations of spring niil tioery. Fourages or draped cord trimmings can be benight at the trimming stores in colours to suit the new cheviots, Gilbert cloth flan nels, and other woollen goods for early Bpring suits. The new tinted penrl beads used in spring millinery are large, of irregular and eccen tric shapes, and have facets all over them. The same kind of beads come in looking glass, with iridescent ellccts, and in jet. .-Esthetic neckerchiefs consist of a square of pale rose, blue, olive green, or mauve mull muslin with bright-coloured rosos.pan sios, and other flowers in exaggerated sizes, but nature's own colours printed on them. Simple -vvido hems all around, and no lace ou them, is the correct style. Negliges for boudoir and bedchamber wear are imported in all pale shades of colour and white and cream coloured Surah ' silk. They are trimmed with lace-edged rutllen, shirrings, and sometimes with bands of swan's down. They come in two pieces, the skirt and unlined sacque, or in the form of a long demi-trained and much-trimmed loose princess robe. The seams are beau tifully felled and feather stitched on the out»idf. The hems also are done with a view of the washable possibilities of those elegant garments. Wholesale milliners' importations of Paris trimmed hatsconsist of capotes, pokes, and Normandy caps, with flaring brims; the trimmings are a mixture of crepe, lace, pompons, flowers, and ribbons of a new kind of soft satin-finished gros grain which come invoiced as " faille sedmsantc ' rib bons. Tho prevailing colours are natural straw shades, cream, salmon, pink, tea rose, pale blues, and, when "faille sedui sante ribbon is used, metallic olive green, dark and turquoise blue, and Turc red. Tinted penrl beads of large size, and pins to match, form the ornaments.

The Weaker Vessel.

The idea of a woman ever, under any cir cumstances, being " cruel" to a man, in the sense of treating him with violence, may be considered almost grotesque, but there is no doubt in theworld that in tho nuptial suit ot "M'Alpin v. M'Alpin," just decided by the Englisti Appeal Court, the weaker vessel behaved towards her lord >n a man ner the reverse of "kind." She did not

pour several bucketfuls of iced water down his buck in order to " keep him for future reference," according to the precedent re cently set by a vivacious American lady. Still, the husband who has his whiskers pulled by his beloved one, and who in ad dition to this mild form of discipline, re ceives the contents of a glass of brandy and water in his face from the same fair hands, may perhaps be said to be in a false posi tion. Mrs M'Alpin is described as ha»ing " raved " at her spouse, and threatened to put a knife into his body. Under the cir cum«tances Sir James Hannen not only re fused to force the husband to receive his wife back, but granted a decree of judicial separation on the ground of cruelty exer cised by the lady, and this judgment has been declared good by three Lord Justices of Appeal.

The S.S. Tararua.

The diving operations at the spot where the Tararua was wrecked are thus referred to by the Fortroae correspondent of the " Otago Daily Times,":—" I regret having to report the failure to recover the bullion, &c. by the diving party at the Bcene of the wreck of the ss. Tararu-i. The efforts of thin party have been strenuous, and havo extended over nine months. It appears that the diver* have found the bottom to be quite clear of sand and composed of rocks, bonlders, and beach, with a considerable amount of kelp or seaweed to contend with; in fact, tha description,given of the course of the track made by the steamer when coming upon the reef is compared by the diver to a lane enclosed by a 12-foot hedge of kelp, and this was found to retard operations so much, in consequence of its .becoming entangled about the air-tube, that a knife was needed constantly at hand to cut the weed and free thx tube. The course of the vessel wan traced, for some distance by this, and when found she was in two distinct portions. These have since become so much broken up that the debris appears to cover nearly an acre of the bottom, The storeroom was tound to be covered by a por tion of the deck. This, in consequence of the girders or beams of the deck being of iron, had settled down so closely that dynamite has had to be used to re move it. I hear some rice, brandy, &c. have been seen about where the storeroom was situated, and some lemonade was recovered which, after being taken to Mr C. Brunton's station, was found to be quite undamaged by its long submersion; but nothing oi any value has been recovered. After the fine clear weather and calm sea of the past week, the men appear to have decided that any further efforts are useless, as if anything was to be done, it could then have been eftected,"

Music and Nonsense.

Very many good people cannot sing, at least not very well. No wonder ; and we fear that Moody ami Sankey threw bitck the musical education of this country many years. If you go into one chapel you may hear the Ima from Dr. "Watts rendered thus— . And 800 Sal—see Sal—s«c salvation nigh; I -Kissibly, in another— !' cr, > "o my Sal—my Sal—my salvation stands. 1 Whe. '**» this is sung to the tune, "Sonietin. " Job "— i Then Bet— \nd loTv Theo better tllan before. And loto . And thus-— — Stirupthfs-stu ! <i heart to pray. Stir up this stap. What is funnier still- -more oxalt3onr joy. And'nioreegga—moroeggs- n " — This to the tune of " Aauo. With thy nennv- With thy bencalcton iipsl. iriog— Fancy a grave congregation dwei. _ow-ow Before his throno wo bow—wow—wtw*, Or a lot ot young ladies piping— Oh for a man— Oh for v mansion in the Bkles, And the tenors following withtt- Oh my poor Poll, • "'.* Oh my poor Poll, Oh my poor polluted souL Or this— Oh Bond down Sal, Oh send down Sal, Oh send down salvation from on high. Yet these are less comical than— And we'll catch the flix;™ And we'll catch the flee—oe—otinpf hour. Po you call that music ? Then there is the pronunciation, too. Go to any other chapel, and even to nome of the churches, and you'll hear Bad havoc made with the language. In a recent oratorio we were invited to Wejoice! Wejolco pwatoly, by the choristers, while one of the soloiat-t asked— Wow shall abide tlie day of his coinini; ? All this wants putting light.

THE HOMELESS.

It is cold dark midnight, yet listen To that putter of tiny feot; Is it one ol your dogs fair lady, Who whinos inthc bleak, cold street? Is it one of your silken spaniola Shut out in the^uow «nd the sleet I My dogs Bleep warm in thoir baskets. Safe from tno darknens and snow! All thebnasMin our ChriHtian England Find pity wherever they go. (Those are only tho homeless children

Who are wandering to and fro.) Look out in tho gnaty darkness - I have Boon it again nnrt again. That shadow that Hits bo slowly Up and down past the windowpone ;— It in surely some criminal lurking

6nt there in the frozen rain ? Nay, our criminals all nro sheltered. They are pitied, and taught,and fed; That la only a sistor-woman Who hag sot neither fond nnr bed . And the night cries " Sin to be living," And the river cries " Sin to be dead." MJBS PItOOTEI

MY NEIGHBOUR'S THOMAS CAT.

I cannot love my neighbour's cat Although his fur is long and sleek. Ho ravages my garden so. And works fresh mischief orory week. My neighbour's is a Thomas cat

And given much to loooe delights Indeed, so far as I can tell.

■ Ho's nearly always out o' righl Oft in the stilly hours when I.

Am in tho arm of Morpheus laid. I'm startled in mt sleep, and wake To hear his awfut serenade !

Ah mo ! what fearful sounds arise!

Whatanguishsd tone.-i his voice can take; Worse than the wailing of a babe Atllictcd with the stomach ache.

And next such awful moans I hear. Like airs on untuned trichord grands Then such like sounds an soda makes When opened by unskilful hands! Tho cat ho haunts my dreams at night,. And keeps me on tho wutch by day. And very often causes 1110 To utter words I should not say. My neighbour is of friendly kind. And o'er tho fence we often chat: In fact I rather like the man. Hut no! I cannot lore liis cat.

A Strange Child Murder.

Public sympathy has been deeply moved lately in connection wi'h the disappearance and murder of a child in London, the cir cumstances attending which arc so singu larly sad as to remove ti»e event entirely out of the category of ordinary murders. The " Pimlico Mystery- " was the term ap plied to this event, when the little girl of seven and a-half years disappeared from Winchester-street, Pimlico, and a mystery it still continues, though the little body has been found in the Medwoy, two hours dis tant by rail fora London, the neck showing marks of strangulation. A Mrs Pay has been arrested, and, on tvidence wholly cir cumstantial, has been committed by the coroner for trial for wilful murder. It is alleged that about the time of the disap pearance she was the last person seen with the child, to whom she was said to be greatly attached; and she was known to be back in London six or seren hours later, affording sufficient time for her to have tra velled to and returned from Yaldin", where the body was subsequently found. But the point that contracted her first with the mystery in the minds of the police was in the fact that the place where the body was found in the river (submerged by a I rick fastened by wire) is within a few hundred yards ot the house of the woman's parents. There is nlso a shadow of corroboration in a scarf found near the body, alleged to have belonged to Mrs Pay. The pain. fill part of the story N that criminal rela tions having admittedly existed between Mrs Pay and Moore (the father of the child), it is supposed the woman murdered the poor littfe child merely to wreak her revenge on the- father. But" the mystery is still darker from another possibility. Moore appears to be a man of diarcptuab'c charac ter, though looked on as a respectable car penter and decent citizen, and seems to have acted badly to a number of other women before, and the sup pontion is also entertained that one of these may have personated Mrs Pay—for the identification is not satisfactory* except as to the dress—and having committed, tho mnrder, placed the body where it would direct suspicion to Mrs Pay, thus taking a double revenge on the man and a rival. In any case, everything seems to point to the inevitable conclusion that the innocent child. Geqrgina Moore, fell a victim to th«x i wretched intrigues of her fa,tb,cr t 7 , tl , .;



* FEW USEFUL HINTS ■^^ SUGGESTED IIV 'fllH NEW ZEALAND INSURANCE COMPANY. How To Pbkvbnt Firks: oil eet the beat. arUftcial light Never toko a light Into a row light near curtains or dra 'p%kio«^r^tiSht. . "Place shades over gas-lights in shop wm ,lnwa undkee" poods a safe distance therefrom. d™>ermitno smoking jn warehousesespccmlly fxora 3 onclowd in non-pombustiblc; sub itorTco and carried four feet above tho roof. "Hatchways and other openings in the ilpors at storesT factories, and warehouses, should be with available in case of accidents. Stores should have nn iron tank of wafer. always filled, on each floor. "Buildings in which cotton waste, rags, or nil are nsed for cleaning and oiling machinery Should have an iron box to hold the same as ?K substances are liable to spontaneous lgni Uon and if neglected, may constitute an element of vory serious danger. " Havo your chimneys regularly swept, at fixed intervals; at least once in three months. Useful as theso precautions may be, your greatest safeguard is to INSURE AGAINST FIRE IN THE NEW r/BALAND TNSURANCB no, QUEEN-STREET. AUCKLAND.