Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5381, 6 August 1885, Page 3

Local & General.

• * At the ordinary monthly meeting of ! the Directors ,of the Rangiora Building ' Society, held on Tuesday night last, Mr j W. H. Foster was elected to fill the vacancy in the Directorate caused by the death of Mr J. J. Robinson. Mr Fronde, the Historian of the Tudora, ! told a New York interviewer that he i thought New Zealand would eventually | be the finest and most prosperous of all ■ the Australasian Colonies. The Christchurch Musical Society gives its second concert of the season this evening in the Oddfellows' Hall. The 1 programme consists of Spohr's " Last i Judgment," Schumann's " New Year's I Song," and Mozart s concerto in D minor. Last night there was a good attendance at the final rehearsal, and everything promises a successful concert. Tie annual Exhibition of the Sydenham Poultry Society was opened in the Oddfellows' Hall, Colombo road, yesterday. There was a large display of birds, of generally good quality. The Show was well patronised by the public, particularly in the evening, when the hall was crowded. It is open again to-day, with the additional attraction of a Cat Show. The proposal to relegate the West Coast Railway to a Select Committee was defeated yesterday by 34 votes to 27. There were thirteen pairs. Seventeen Canterbury members voted for the Bill, and three — Messrs Rolleston, Wakefield, and Sutter — against. Eight Otago members voted for, and thirteen against. Five votes were given by North Island members in our favour, and twenty-eight against. A meeting of the Committee of the St Albans Mutual Improvement Association and Public Library was held on Monday, at 8 p.m. ; present —Mr W. J. Neate (President, in the chair}, Messrs B. W. White (vice-President), Blackmore, Burt, Penteney, Hathaway, Knight, Phillpot, and C. S. White. Accounts to the amount of .£5 were passed for payment. The Treasurer reported that he had received .£4 14s 7d for rent, &c, and that the balance at Bank was .£29 13s 4d. The Librarian reported that ten new members had joined the library during the past month. The deputation appointed to wait on the St Albans Borough Council with a petition for a lamp to be placed opposite the Public Library in High street, reported that the Council had received the petition, and referred same to Lighting Committee to report thereon. After transacting the usual routine business the meeting adjourned. The meeting of the Parliamentary Association last night was well attended, and there was a considerable number of visitors, the ladies' gallery being full. A long discussion took place in Committee on the Customs' proposals of the Government. A number of amendments were proposed, but the division gave the Government a majority. Another amendment, however, in favour of freeing certain descriptions of iron from the payment of duty, was carried. The tariff was then reported with amendments. The Colonial Secretary, Mr Barkas, 'moved the second reading of the Hospital and Kindred Institutions Bill, providing for the division of the Colony into districts for the purpose of raising funds by rates, to maintain hospitals and other benevolent institutions, which were to be managed by Boards elected by the local bodies within the districts. Outdoor relief was to be abolished. After a somewhat animated debate, the second reading was carried on a division. The House then adjourned. Hugo's Buffalo Minstrels concluded a very successful season at the Theatre Royal last evening, when Miss Priscilla Verne, the "leading lady" of the troupe, took a benefit. There was a large audience, who showed by their hearty laughter and frequent applause how much they enjoyed the entertainment. Miss Verne and Mr Charles Hugo fairly divided the honours of the night, and they were well supporte&by the other members of the company. Miss Verne was encored for her song, " Colonel Crusher ; " and was even more successful — after a lightning change of costume — in the ditties, "I Won't Play With You Any More," and ■ ?' Open Your Mouth and Shut Your Eyes," j which she gave in response to re-calls. Mr j Charles Hugo was exceedingly good in his songs and funny sayings. Mr A. Santley's rich baritone voice was heard to advantage in his song " Stars of Heaven ; " Miss Violet Kingsley sang " True to Thee" very sweetly ; and Miss Ruby Gordon's ballad of " The Lover and the Bird " was well received. The quartette song and dance, " Where Pretty Violets Grow," by Misses R. Gordon, R. Clifford, A. Olive, and A. Hugo, was another good item on the programme ; and the attention with which Mr Harold Ashton's recitation of "The Old Actor's Story " was listened to, was a deserved tribute to its merit. Mr Frank Stevens' clog dancing, and his character song, "Happy Old Uncle Dan," were other items worthy of mention. Hugo's farce, " Thompson's Dead," concluded the performance. The Buffalo Minßtrels leave to-day for Napier, and, after a tour in the northern towns, will return for a short season here. General Russell Thayer, of Philadelphia, who is the inventor of a war balloon, has received instructions from the Ordnance Board of the United States Army to begin work at once upon a monster air- ship, which is likely to be one of the most destructive implements of battle known to modern science. It will have an ascending force of seven tens, will cost nearly ,£2OOO, and will have a length of sixty-six feet, and a diameter of sixty feet. It is known as the Dirigible war balloon, is cigar-shaped and pointed at both ends, and, independent of wind, it has a 3pecd of thirty miles an hour, the motive power being compressed air, which i 3 accumulated by machinery and discharged at the rear end. The airship can be steered in any direction, and tons of dynamite can be dropped as it sails over a fortification or a fleet of ships. Tests ■will be made as soon as it is completed. The new cocoa gunpowder has been found to produce less smoke than the ordinary article. It is soliiMe in air, and by its use the temporary shutting out of objects by smoke may be avoided. This matter is regarded as most important in its bearing on the firing of naval guns at sea. The disadvantage of the smoke hanging about after firing has been observed by torpedo officers. Owing to the bank of smoke usually being about 3ft from the surface of the water, it affords an excellent opportunity for the employment of torpedoes without the usual risks. Tho dang#r involved was observed at Kiel recently, when a sham attack was made on the defences of that place by tho German squadron.

A very rich heiress, an Irish ward of Chancery, failed to obtain the consent of the late Lord Chancellor of Ireland to her marriage with a respectable gentleman of very limited means. The -sudden death of the Chancellor, however, has enabled the disconsolate lovers to terminate the difficulty. For some weeks there was no Lord Chancellor, and the great seal was not put in commission, so the lovers decided to put all opposition to the match beyond the reach of the future occupant of the woolsack, and are now married. i Reynard threatens to become a nuisance in Victoria. Some rabbit-trappers ceased operations in consequence of foxes (twelve were Been one morning) taking 1 away the , rabbits when trapped. In some instances i the rabbits and traps were carried away ■ bodily. Sometimes the foxes get fast themselves, but always get off with the . traps. Several foxes have been found dead | among the rocks with the traps still clinging to their legs. In the Bristol County Court (England) on May 5, a money-lender named Clements sued a butcher named Ford for .£2O due on a promissory note, and it transpired that the rate of interest charged was 130 per cent. Judge Metcalf held that as the promissory note was a written contract he was bound to give judgment for the plaintiff, but marked his sense of the transaction by ordering payment at the rate of 6d per month. It wa3 calculated that ten years would elapse before the plaintiff would be reimbursed the amount he had to pay for Court fees. The arrest of the members of the Victorian Permanent Force engaged at Queenscliffe caused a little breeze in the Victorian Parliament. Mr C. Young asked if the men tried by court-martial were refused counsel, under instructions from Colonel Disney. Mr Service replied in the negative. Colonel Smith then asked if an enquiry would be made into the cause of dissatisfaction, but Mr Service said no. The dissatisfaction existed, and the feeling exhibited by the men was due to the interference of gentlemen who should have known their duty better, evidently referring to Colonel Smith's recent visit to Queenscliffe. Mr Smith then moved the adjournment of the House. Messrß Young and M'lntyre condemned the manner in which the men were treated by officers from England. Mr Service said the allegations were not to be believed until the captain and commanding officers had been asked to reply to the charges. Sir Charles M'Mahon deprecated alluding to Buch matters, in particular as being so subversive of discipline. Mr Young replied that the men of the Colony were not going to work for 2s a day, and have language thrown at them by their officers which would disgrace bullock- drivers. It appears from the Victorian Treasurer's Budget speech that the Melbourne suburban railway lines are now paying five per cent on the invested capital, although they were worked at a loss before the present Railway Commissioners took office. Mr Service gives Mr Speight credit for this result. He reduced the number of trains and lessened the work of the employees to such an extent that many men could be sent away to country stations without im- j pairing the efficiency of the corps. Instead of being a burden on the people inland, the suburban lines have been made to assist them. But for the improved returns these concessions to the farmers could not have been granted so easily. It was also a pleasure to Mr Service to refer to the good work done by the Public Service Board, who by their classifications have made changes which will in course of time save .£25,000 a year to the Colony. This result will be attained gradually, as the incumbents of offices at present too highly paid are removed to positions equivalent to their salaries. The lesson of organisation taught by the German war has not been lost on France. The question of military transport by railway has been completely regulated. From a paper on the military importance of French railways, it would appear that sufficient rolling stock is now at the disposal of the railways to meet any demand made on them in time of war. The French War Office disposes, besides, of a well-trained railway staff, capable of performing any service required. The rolling stock includes 6000 locomotives. The railway network comprises seven lines, available for concentrating the French army at any point of the eastern frontier, besides numerous feeders, and three strategic lines running parallel with the frontier. On each of the seven main lines, from 30 to 35 trains may be despatched daily, so that on each line a French army corps may be carried to the frontier ia 102 trains in three days. It would thus be possible to concentrate the 18 French army corps in from eight to nine days. The lower strata of the mixed nations who dwell in the south-western corner of the Austrian Empire are still little, if anything, above the savages who recruited the Austrian armies from those districts in Count Tilly's time, and long afterwards. A practical joke played upon a Croatian peasant has nearly caused the destruction of the chemical laboratory of the University of Agrarn. The man in question, coming with his wife into Agram, separated from her, agreeing to meet her a few hours later at a certain place. As she delayed her return, he expressed his anxiety to a bystander, who told him, in jest, that his wife bad probably been kidnapped by the University vivisectors, who made it their business to cut up women and children. The wife came up soon afterwards, and went home with her husband, but the latter repeated what he had heard, and the results were serious. On Whit Sunday an infuriated mob of peasants attacked the laboratory, crying " Down with the hell kitchen!" and had to be beaten off by soldiers. The University has since been watched every day by evil-disposed crowds. All the servants of the University have left their situations, and the professors have had to ask for police protection, being in terror for their lives. While averse from creating offencei and augmenting the severity of punishment, I am, says a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, disposed to wish that our legislators would reconsider in earnest the matter of the imposition of fines. Owing to the altered condition of affairs the amounts that Magistrates or even Judges are able to inflict become so trivial as to be inoperative. Take a single instance. In October, 1881, a certain ship left Liverpool for New Zealand. Before she sailed her crew were subjected to six weeks' imprisonment for refusing to go in her. She started, and was wrecked at Penzance, two o£ her crew being drowned. In evidence it came out that her cargo was 64 per cent above her gross tonnage, that her loadline in three consecutive alterations had been lowered six inches. For this deliberate and systematic fraud, accompanied by the risk of murder, the punishment was .£IOO and costs. Why, one ship which, thus well provided for, went down, would pay a score or a hundred such fines. A tradesman doing a large dishonest business can afford to be fined at the customary rate oftener than the authorities will care to prosecute him. Take again another line: what penalty is it for an aristocratic patron of j prize-fighting or cock-fighting, or any degrading pursuit such as again and again strives to hold up its head, to fine him five i shillings, or forty shillings ? A fortnight's ! imprisonment enw or twice inflicted would j put a stop to such practices for ever. If ' we are in earnest in legislation, we must ' make the punishment such as will secure obedience and involve degradation ; if we are not, let us blot the superfluous prohibitions from our books. ! There are ljooo,ooo men under arms in the British Empire. Every one of these men is a volunteer, and evury one enlisted voluntarily. All other Powers have to force their men into the army. No other ' military Power could keep such a large number by voluntary enlistment. ! The rapid growth of the tobacco industry is shown in the fact that in the United States alone there were manufactured last year 3,457,309,017 cigars and 994,334,000 cigarettes, requiring over 91,000,0001 bof leaf, an increase of over 50,000,000 since 1872. Other manufacturers o£ tobacco last yaar consumed 217,451,0001 b. : More than seven thousand horses nrfl ' i used on the street car lines in Boston.

It is stated that the Chinese Govern- j ment, casting asido national prejudice, hu3 called in the aid of European miners to works its coal mines. There are immense deposits of coal in China, and, with the aid now called in, they are expected to be very quickly developed. Owing to the growing indisposition toward matrimony of the young men of Connecticut it is proposed to pass a law imposing a heavy tax on all bachelors over twenty-five years <tf age. The report of the year's work at the London Mint shows that the coins struck consisted of .£2,336,513 in gold, .£664,433 in silver, and £69,346 in bronze, the latter including nearly .£6OOO in farthings. For the first time within living memory, it is said, a bishop of the Church of Eng- '', land, sitting in the House of Lords as a spiritual peer, appears with a patriarchal beard. He is the Right Rev Dr Ryle, ! Bishop of Liverpool. j Two million dollars' worth of cotton ! goods were sold by auction at New York , recently, being the largest sale of the • kind known to the trade. The total i brought an average reduction from current ! rates of about 3 per cent, and the purchases • were widely distributed throughout the ! United States. The number of scholars enrolled in the public schools of the United States is placed at 11,000,000. The Sydney Morning Herald suggests that ! New Zealand would find a profitable market for frozen mutton in Sydney, where the prices are as high as the rates obtained in London. "We are already," says our contemporary, " drawing meat from Victoria ; cannot we also draw it from New Zealand ?"