Local and General.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume XXIV, Issue 2079, 18 August 1896, Page 2

Local and General.

; Mail Service.—Tenders for the mail service aie invited elsewhere.

Piano Toning.—Herr Tiling notifies he will arrive during tbe week. Orders can be left at this office.

, Intkrmediatk Stock Sale. — Farmeis, dealers and others interested are reminded tiiat there will,be an intermediate stock sale at Duvauchelle's on Friday next, August 21st. Akaroa and Wainui Road Board.—The annua! meeting of ratepayers in the above Road Board, District to confirm accounts, will be held at noon on Saturday next, August 22nd. There will a'ao be an ordinary meeting at the same date.

The Australian Ckickeiers. — The Australians won the match agaiust Sussex by six wickets and two runs.

The Matabelk War.—lt is stated that a four days' a«r>i=tice has been arraieed, and that Mr Rhodes visits the Matabele at Matoppo with the view to their suriender..

Fruit Pests. — All interested in fruitgrowing—arid that we take it means the wbo'e Peninsula—are reminded that Mr Jno. O. Blackmore, the Government pomoloeist, will lecture on the codin moth and ether noxious fruit pests in the Oddfellows' Hall this evening. He also proposes to make a few remarks on general fruit culture, •which will doubtless be v<ry interesting.

Presbyterian Church.— At the Christchurch Presbytery on F.idav. the Rev- A. M. Wright presented the ell fruin Akaroa in favour of the Rev. H. Moniaon, of Hastings. The call, he said, was signed by 97 out of 102 members, and HO adherents. H* moved that the call be sustained. The Rev. Dr Elmslie seconded the motion, which was carrifd. Pigeon Bay M.I. 5 -:.—The usual weekly meeting waß held in the Side Schoolroom on Thu.rsd»y, August 13th. The-e was a very good attendance of membets. showing that the recent bad wea'ber had not damped their enthusiasm. Scotch and other readings were contributed by several members, and it was ananged that a debate on the subject of • Old Age Pensions' should be held on Thu-sday, August 20th. The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m. Constable for Souther idge. —At a meeting of the Southbtidge Town Board a letter was read from Mr W. H. Montgomery, .M.H.R., re the appointment of a constable for Southbridge, statins that he had written to the Minister of Justice and his reply was that the question was still in abeyance, and that he was asking on the Estimates for to enroll a few mote men to strengthen the force, and if bis proposals be agreed to upon reconsideration it may be deemed desirable to again place a constable in charge at Southbridge. The Kirby Trial.—The Kirby trial has been concluded, and a verdict of guilty returned. Sir Egbert Stout asked that the following questions should be reserved for the Court of Appeal:—(l) Whether the evidence as to Ki'by's banking account had been properly admitted, and (2) whether there had been any accusation or threat to Herman by the accused. Leave granted, and sentence was deferred until the questions are settled by the Court of Appeal in Octobor. In the conspiracy case against Kirby and J3a«sett, a verdict of not guilty was found.

Ambulance Association. —Our readers are reminded tbat a meeting of those desirous of forming a bianch "f the St. John's Ambulance Association, will be held in tbe High School at half-past three to-morrow afternoon. His Worship the Mayor will preside and Dr. Laing will be present and give full information. We have already alluded to the great advantages of such an Association in the isolated bays of the Peninsula, and hope that before long there will be a member in each of the small centres that nestle in the Peninsula hills.

Ellksmpre Electoral — We have received a tracing of the new Ellesmere Electoral District. It is not by any means too lucid, as the maps only hive a rel line drawn round 'hem, and the small roads cannot be 'distinguished* As far as we can see, however, the altcations are as follows :—At the Southbiidge end, the district is extended to take in the town of Leeston and the country as far as Killinchy (apparently included), and thence out to the Rakaia. Formerly Lezston, being on the other side of the railway line, was over the boundary, though the town district of Southbridge has always been included. On the other hand, Halswell now appears to be thrown into the Rice iron electorate, and the Governor's Bay and part of Teddington are included in Lytfcel'on. The Polar Expedition.—Dr Nansen, the Swedish Po'ar explorer, has returned to Vatdp. Ho succeeded in reaching lat. 85 degrees 14min, which is four degrees further north than any previous expedition has penetrated to. His ship, the Fram, was abandoned in tbe Autumn of bst year; and the crew wintered in Fianz Josef Lind. Their food was bears' flesh and whale blubber. The ai tempt to drift across the Pole failed. Nan«en is coming home in the steamer Windward, belonging to the Jackson-Harms worth Polar expedition.

Imperial Parliament.—The Queen, in a message to Parliament, exposed her gratification at the sentiments of loyalty, and asked th-tt the proposed celebntion should be resetvrd until the completion of the sixtieth year of her reign of September 26 has suggested The House of Lords has abandoned Lord Cloncurry's amendments to the i'i'-h Land Bill, and the other amendments have been accepted by the House of Commons, including those that town parks may be used as firms. On his leaving the House, Mr Gerald Balfour was heartily cheered, for the ability and energy he had displayed in the passag3 of the measure.

Crete. —In the House of Commons the Riuht Hon. G. N. Curzon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Office, stated that the Powers wete opposed to Greece annexing Crete. He also stated thit while the British fiVtin Cretan waters was unwilling to resort to force, it had greatly helped to prevent """'■.'

Late Cable.—Sir John MiUais is dead. ffpr Majesty the Queen and the Prince of W-des sent messages of condolence to the fanrly. The American, German, and French pap-re refer to his death as a loss to art — The assassin of the late Shah has been executedi—LebeUthal, a German inventor of a fivine machine, was killed by the fall of bis in the city—The two new steamers which are beiug built for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand will be named the Moana and Waika'i.—A sad and fatal accident happened on the staee dming a pfrfpimjince at. the Novelty Theatre, when W. France et-bbed .another actor named Temple .Crozier, while acting, death being inHtantarieouß. The accident occu'red through the spring of the dagger failing to act. —News has been received thfc the Inkoianpi< and other tabes hwe combined with Sam-ry the °r j at Mohamrdan chief, with the 'bject of expeling the British from Coomass c the capital of Ashatitee. H M.S. warships Phoebe aud Magpie, with a lorce of Acca Hau-sas, have sailed for Elmina, whence they march on —Li Hnng Chang will visit Omada.—Anarchy virtually pievads outside the Ft each lines in Madagascar, and the lives of Europeans are >fe uventy m'ipß from the capital. The tia'ivea have burned aiany obuiches withju tbe laaS faiy ißOiHhtf. ,

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