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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 182, 16 April 1878, Page 2

The Ashburton Mail is shortly to be enlarged to the present size of the Lyt. telton Times. We congratulate our old friend Mr Ivess on the success which has evidently attended his enterprise, and trust that his endeavour to provide so large and important a district as Ashburton with a suitable journal may meet with the support that it merits..

W*e are gratified to learn that the. Government have promptly acceded to the request made them by tile Lake Ellesmere Drainage Trust that Sir John Coode should inspect the works undertaken by that body. On his arrival in Christchurch on Saturday, Sir John 'found instructions awaiting him, directing'him to inspect the drainage operations of the Trust. Sir John Coode was to make his [inspection yesterday, and expected to complete it in one day. "'.'..' A meeting of the Akaroa School Committee was held in the schoolroom, on Friday evening last. Present —Messrs Meech (in the chair), Billens, * Bruce, Missen, and Dalglish. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. It was decided to apply to the Board of Education to sanction an. addition to the present school buildings, as per plan forwarded.' The probable cost of the enlargement is estimated at from £250 to £300. An application was also made for a sum of money to put a paling fence round the school ground. (Happy thought! Ed. A. Mail). It was also resolved to ad vise the Board to purchase a site for the erection of a master'-"**.house, to sell the present one, and throw the site into the playground. The children's treat was fixed to be held on Easter Tuesday, the children to muster at the school at 9 a.m., and then to proceed to German Bay. Messrs Annand and Nicholls were appointed a sub-committee, to arrange as to sports, &c. All the members of Committee were authorised to receive subscriptions for the treat. Two accounts were passed for payment, and the meeting adjourned to Thursday, the 18th instant, at 7.30 p.m.

On Sunday last, a serious accident had very nearly occurred in Akaroa harbour. It appears that Mr J. Thomas, accompanied by another man, whose name we have not been enabled to learn, started, during the afternoon, in a small boat, from Wainui, with the intention of crossing over to Dan Roger's point on a fishing excursion. A strong north-wester springing up, however, they were, in trying to reach their destination, blown away down the harbour, and finally about two miles outside the Heads. It was getting dusk and the situatrt>Yiwasbeconiing|serious, when fortunately a* breeze from tlie southeast sprang up and enabled them to reach Akaroa in safety.

We are requested to draw the attention of our readers to an advertisement in another column, in reference to the celebration at Le Bon's Bay, on Good Friday, of the eighth anniversary of the Congregational Church. It will be seen that arrangements have been made to hold a public tea meeting in honor of the event, after which addresses ; will be delivered. Divine service will be held in the Church at 11 a.m., and anniversary sermons preached at both services, the following Sunday. Every . care is being taken to render this anniversary as great a success as on former occasions, and, if the weather be favorable, a large gathering is expected. ' '] ' We are glad to be able to inform our readers that Mr Robert Stewart, of Barry's Bay, who, it will be remembered, was badly hurt by an accident on the Little River road some time ago, is progressing favorably, and that he is recovering from the injuries received as rapidly as is possible, considering their severe nature.

Latest telegraphic advices announce the death of Bishop Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand, where his memory will long be held in remembrance, and his unceasing labours have borrte such good fruit. In his missionary work, Bishop Selwyn gained the love and respect of the natives, and it was with the sincere regret of all classes of the community that he left this colony in 1867 to take charge of tbe diocese of Lichfield, in Staffordshire j England. The following account of his life appears in Men of the Times : —Selwyn the Right Key. George Augustus, D.D., Bishop of Lichfield, son of the late William Selwyn, Esq., of Richmond, Surrey, born in 1809, was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree as junior optirne in mathematics, and first-class in classics. While acting as Tutor at Eton and Curate of Windsor, in 1841, he was consecrated first Bishop of New Zealand. He has gained the respect and admiration of natives, and in the course of his missionary journeys guided a small ship many thousand miles to and from the scattered islands of the Southern Pacific. In 1857 he succeeded in obtaining from Government a division of his diocese. He was appointed Bishop of Lichfield in December, 1867. Bishop Selwyn made a tour through Canada and the United States in the autumn of 1874.

The usual quietude and stillness of Church street was disturbed on the night of the 11th inst. by cries of " Help," and other sounds indicative of a female in distress. , On reaching the scene of the disturbance it was found that an unfortunate man named Arnold, who has been staying down here for some days on duty connected with his office as baliff, had gone out of his mind, and had mado forcible entry into the premises of Mr Davis. Mrs Davis, and her family were, of course, exceedingly frightened, but assistance was speedily at hand and the man secured. A full account appears in our Police report. Our readers may with some advantage take a lesson from this case, and use more precautions as to securing their doors at night. Unfortunately, we do not now live in those happy, primitive, days when locks and keys were superfluous,

We understand that the new Oddfellows' Hall is at present at a standstill, owing to* the delay experienced in procuring the heavy timbers required to support the roof. Mr Coop, who is supplying the timber, has had some difficulty, in obtainmaterial of sufficient size and strength, and hence the present delay, "which is to be regretted, as the winter months are fast approaching, when the building will, doubtless, be in great requisition.

A terrible story of suffering and deathat sea was reported at Baltimore by Capt. Craig, of the brig Romance. He states that on the 15th November, when off St. Domingo, a three-masted schooner was observed signalling as though in distress. The brig bore down to her, and upon coming alongside discovered her to be the Josiah Grindle, of New York, to which port she was bound. The vessel left St. J ago on the 10th, and two days later the crew were all stricken with a pestilence resembling a low type of fever. Their sufferings were intense, and in 24 hours the cook and four seamen died and were buried at sea. The captain and first and second officers, the only remaining survivors, were also attacked, and their sufferings had been terrible, and it was with the greatest possible effort that they could, in their enfeebled condition, navigate the vessel. The first mate was in a precarious condition when the brig met the sufferers. Captain Craig rendered all the assistance he possibly could, and before parting with the Josiah Grindle placed four men on board from the crew of the Romance. He finally parted company with the schooner, which continued on her course for New York.

J. D. Davis, while thanking his numerous customers for the liberal support accorded him since opening his -furnishing warehouse, begs to inform them, that as all goods are made on the premises, the workmansh'p and safe delivery is guaranteed, thus avoiding freight and breakages. Deal with a local man, who can supply every article at Christchurch prices.—Advt.