NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XVI, Issue 2164, 25 March 1870, Page 3

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A. meeting of the ratepayers of the Bpreydoi Boad Board diitriet was held at their office Lincoln Toad, <m Wednesday» ; March 23rd for the election of a member in the'place oi Mr A. Whincop, resigned. The Hon. H. J Tancred occupied the cfiair; when Mr Joht Terrace Bell was proposed and unanimous!] elected.

The usual monthly meeting of the council ofthe Acclimatisation Society will be held at the Literary Institute at 3 p.m. to-day. Tii- Art Exhibiiion returns show a eon* «iderable increase in the attendance: over 250 visitors entered the building yesterday, ex-i cluskeof seaon tickets. The public are evidently realising the fact that Saturday Iβ the closing day. There was another capital liouae at the Theatre Eoyal last evening, when the comedy of " Used Up " aud the burlesque of * .Lalla Rookh" were repeated. To-night "All that Glitters is Not Gold," and the burlesque of " Lalld Eookh" will be performed.

Wβ notice that an officer of the N Z nostal department will take charge of the mails as far as New York. This will all*y any anxiety which hue been now nnd again expressed as to how they would be taken care of after reaching San Francisco. Owing possibly to the threatening lo&k of the weather on Thursday morning the Kaiapoi fair was not attended anything like what it was expected. We trust the one to be held noxt month will be more successful, ac the undertaking is deserving of eupport. On the Sand hills behind Kaiapoi ie a Cemetery which has been closed for several years ; we are sorry to hear that the fencing round it has been t«ken away, piecemeal, and vow the little railings round some of the graves are gradually disappearing. Could not aoroe steps be taken to prevent such desecration ? We understand that the report of the examiners for the four scholarships to be awarded by the Board, of Education ie Bβ follows :—W. Charles Bean, Church School, Kaiapoi; Arthur E. Bird, High Schpol, Chrietchurch ; William H. Herbert, Templeton School; Henry J. Knowles, Rev. J. D. Fergusson's School, Lyttelton. .'.... , Among the recent improvements at Koiapoi we observe the approaching completion of a more pretentious store than any of Us prede. ceeeore. It is erected for the firm of Belcher and Fairweather, and is situated in Charles street, having a direct frontage on the river, and by means of a tram will be connected with the wharf. Its size is 60 feet x3O feet, witii three floors. Messrs Price Brothers are the contractors; and it is to be quite finished by the middle of April. : The firing for representatives for the colonial prize firing aY Duhedin from the Northern companies, C.R.V., took place at the Woodend range, on Wednesday last, under the supervision of Lieut. Pemberton. Tho conditions were —fire shots each at 400, 500, and 600 yards, any position being allowed. The highest score made was by Sergeant Cameron, No. 3, 41 points • Che next by Private George W. -Wearing, No 6, 40 points. The othej two" competitors, Corporal Clark, No. 5, and Lieut. Pemberton, not scoring up to ,the requisite qualißcation, 40 points. A slight Mud blew, from the east quarter across the line of Jire. Messre Cameron and Wearing were the.' representatives from this district ia|t jear as well ac this. \ the cry of " dull timee " consider ake are being effected in Christ chorch.J'We notice that the buildings on thi £he fire : in XJaehel:- street are rapidly apprMching completion, or have teen con viz., "of Meser xjttuo Sim, c,»*-*«»«£» Mfl ß a»s G-. L. Beath an< Co.. drapers and clothiers ; Mr Pratt, draper

Somerset House ; Messrs R. and D. Sutherland, grocers ; and Messrs A. Duncan and Son, seedsmen.. In addition to these there is a handsome shop erecting in Market square for Mr Knapman, grocer, and the Central Hotel, at the cornerofdolqmbo and Gloucester streets, of which Mr Moir is thie landlord, is being entirely rebuilt, and will, tve understand,' be fitted with every convenience co as make it a first'claaa hotel. In accordance with the Canterbury Temporary Mining Reserves Act, 1869, the following reserve has been temporarily Six hundred and forty acres (more-or j les?) Situate on Run No. 537, in :the Waipara ' district, bounded on the north-westward by the Waikari Valley toad; on the southwestward by a line parallel to and eighteen chains fifty HnVe from- the northeastern boundary of. Section 8198 ; on' the southeastward by a line at right angles ,tp the last described boundary line drawn from 'a; point thoreon, bfing eighty three chains from the aforesaid road •' arid on the north-eastward : by a line parallel to the south-west boundary, ■ so as tb contain the above and - include quarlz. reefs,, subject, nevertheless, to the improvement pre-emptive rights on the above run. ....... A meeting ot the Spreydoh Boad Board ' was held'on Wednesday. Present—Mr Tanr ored (chairman), Mif 1 Sharpe, Mr Archer arid ■ Mr Bell. Thefollowing tenders were opened for gravelling Montreal street —H Jackson, 2s " per yard; T F Partridge, Iβ lid: per yard (accepted.) For clearing the River Heathcote ' for the year ending 3 let December n|ext —T '' McGrandeJ, £11 13s 4d per mile ; Jas Mole, 3 £12 per mile ; W H Whiting, J865 for the j whole; T Teathern, £60 (accepted,) For clearing the Halswell to 31st December—W \ H Whiting, £25 j T Leathern, £24 (accepted.) *■ The following worts were rbrdered to be f proceeded with, viz, •to » erect Ja new ) bridge over l tbe Halswell river; to t form . two streets on the east side ,of Selwyn street y to put in culverteTehere required on Section 79 ; and to form the road - running , through Section 407. The Board then adjourned. Last evening there was a narrow escape from a serious fire m Kilmore street, at the 3 back of the premises occupied by Mr Wood, timber dealer. Mr B-. Davis, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, was walking down Kilmore street when he was alarmed by ecreame ; he at once proceeded to f the spot and found th«»t a cottage I occupied by a person named Palmer was ' on fire. He burst in the window, and ' entering, found that-a kerosene lamp which been placed on a table; <doee to the wall had S barat and had eet fire to tbe table anS the wall of the building., Two children who were in bed in the room (the father and mother having gone out and locked them in) were sitting up looking at the £re. Mr Davis, V having firet provided for the safety of tbechildren, snatched the blankets from tbe bed, ~ and commenced to smother the flames, and succeeded in keeping the fire under until assistance arrived, when it wa» totally extinn guiahed. c Madame Carandini's beneßt concert coni cluded-the eeries in Chrieteburch. The pro- >£ grtfnjnie. presented the attraction of a second F. part containing several piece* of ft character o ( epmething beyond the uraal run of those y hitherto given by the company; indeed there was such a cluster of things really good that

Mise Rosina'e ballad, "I'll spoak of then, had the nir of att injudicious interpolation. Madame Carandinft " Angels ever bright nnri fair" commanded tho perfect attention of tho audience, nnd we may congratulate tho younger portion of our fellow listeners in having h>ul the opportunity of hearing once so fine ft Bompl'eof »■■» great a muster. The trio, ''Lift thine eyea," from Elijah, was rehehed so much as to beur einging ngsiia with increased appreciation from tho hearers. Mr Sherwin'a ainging of "My pretty Jano" did not i satiefy us, but it is in itself co charming a ballad we wore not snrprispd at the oncore it elicited. The " Death of Nelson," given in response,

was warmly received, and we suppose wo shall bo deemed fastidious in spying wo don t caro about it. Old Braham'e singing, and tho glorious recollections of Trafalgar when fresh, were no doubt a great assistance, and that aS 3istance in our day it wants. Miss Fannie promised "My mother bids mc bind my hair," and we must own to a disappointment in having instead anything else. " I know a bank " went very nicely on the whole, but we take exception to little variations from the tost, which we do not think improvements. The attendance was a fuir one—and we had hoped to have seen a full house on the occasion of the benefit of I Madame Carandini. It is so seldom we have the opportunity of hearing singing proper at all—that much may be learned from tho visits of an artist so distinguished—we only wish the programmes of Madame CaradinPs concerts were of the moderate excellence "in a musical eenee, of the programme last evening—and we further add. it. is a regret that should have

been the last. An Alexandra correspondent of the Auckland «' Evening Star" explains the reason why the Waikatos are quiet, in the following remarks:—"His Excellency "was, no doubt, pleased to find the district bo quiet, and was likely informed, on reliable, that there was not the slightest fj&ar of Waikatoa making any disturbance or interfering with the settlements. This is quite true as long as nothing extraordinary occurs to disturb them j but I question it the real cause of their remaining so quiet is known, except only to a few. The Waikatos are short of ammunition —that is the secret. I think all the natives who went to the Baglan meeting from this district have returned. The number estimated to have been present at the meeting is from one to, two thousand. In an article on the future prospects of New Zealand, the :•* Nelson Colonist " says—ln economical or practical importance, New Zealand is inferior to no-other part of the globe; Her.mineral treasures jnay be said to be inexhaustible. Her water power is enormous. Her happy climate ie well fitted to raise a race of hardy arid enterprising men; and her soil is adapted to every variety of productiori; 1 She is in fart rich in all that constitutes the natural prosperity of a country. It would be difficult to exnggerattfthe influence of such advantages, when we reflect how much.' man's progress depends on;|hecfrcum« stances amid which his lot r isctte*rarid that man can double the gifts of tittiSri. 2 A more striking instance of the- that may be made when locality is propitious, perhaps could not be cited, than that which is presented by the history pt they Australasian Colonies. It is only about eighty years ago

since a" fleet of eleven sail, comprising Hie Majesty's frlgoto Sy*«»", «»» arniod. fender, threo store ships, and six transports, sailed from England for the purpose of founding at Sydney the first l£hgii&h colony in the Southern Hemisphere. Thirty yeare there was not a single town in New Zealand. But to-day there is both in Australia and (New Zealand a rate of progress such as the world has neper before/witneeßed.;/C6nturieß have been crowded into decades; what the people of the bid world toiled for ogee to win, has become the birth-right of Australasia. | The states and cities of its' youth may be? compared not unfavorably with those of the mature age of Europe. . /; - It is B4id, says the " Daily Times,", that jaltuvjal and qaartg gol I has been recently diecoverejl on Mi Humffray'e run at Strath Taieri, and that several miners are already at work/on the spot. The Mount Ida paper furnishes the following particulars regarding the discovery :—Early la'sti ! 'week intelligence was received that a good gold-bearing quartz reef was dleoovared bjg Messrs Bremner, M'lvor, and Lynclf, riear the'junction of "tlie Sutton stream wittftTie Taieri river, near Mount Ross, and about thirty miles from Hyde/ The reef cropped np on the surface, where gold was first found. A shaft was eunk to a depth, of fifteen feet—rgold being obtainable from~....the J3urface downwards. In prospecting the TubbloA email, dish yielded half a grain of 'gold; "A 'hole was drilled in the reef for the purpose of biaeting to a depth of two feet, and on the drillings being carefully washed, three grains of gold was the result. The precious metal is plainly observable in any part of the stone. Several gentlemen from this township immediately'proceeded'to the scene of the discovery, with the object of satisfying themselves as to the correctness of'the above, statement,' and, if possible, to form: a satisfactory conclusion regarding the probable yield and richness-of the ieef. One pound weight of the stone was taken on to Naseby, for--thfi_purposer of being crushed and tested,. The reeult of the cruenitfg "WBB~htghly satiafactory, the yiel<i being one grain of fine gold, or say five ounces to the ton. The prospectors and the gentlemen who visited the reef are quite sanguine as to the genuineness and richness of the stone; and are also confident, frdtn the nature of the country, that a number of other reefs exist in the locality. Later intelligence to hand informs ij ue that claims along the line right and left have been taken up, and that a large numbers of minere'. rights have been applied for and issued to the hands employed on the neighboring stations. We have ourselves' broken and examined several pieces of the stone taken from the reef, and without one single exception gold was plainly visible in all the pieces. Dr. Day, writing to an American paper, suggests the following plaa for ascertaining the temperature of the interior of a bale of flax:—As ifc ie very to have a ready mode of ascertaining the condition of the centre of a bale of flax ac to heat and moiature, this I think may be done by driving into the middle of a bale a piece of gunbarrel, bevelled off to eharpnees, ppilico fashion, then pass down & email thermometer until its bulb just touches the flax, previously noting the degree at which it stands ; leaTe it for a moment, and on. withdrawal you at once laarn the state of tfie flax both as to heat and moisture by the rise of the mercury and the dew on the bulb if the bale be heating,

We learn from the Auckland Star" that a gentleman recall* ™** from Ohinoinuri etatea as , no "J ™ '""f nmful eiamination of tho district t*w\i !is no doubt whatever n 9 to tho rHi ne j, f "° [ reef*, and of the existence of iZ '•* largo quantities in the crroks. Our inf ln i»» gentleman of lon. experience inS" mattere, and from his examination Ohinemim country h« j* moß t «,i» BlUno J'° JT.oapabilitie. of affording large population. Hβ found twe reefs ft about two feet in width, tho oihe? threo • both of which gold could be found whil' ' n one it could be Peen all through the nt m \ n one cr.-ok in which ho worked fora faw nan a day for throe days, he succeeded in xnthhl out with a tin dish more than an o- tlnrough flaky sold of tho beat quality 'n!? informant has brought up several tcry fi n ! raef specimens, and a quantity of allurial

A. correspondent thus writes to "L»nrt *«a Water " :-Although tr. are all familii 5{ the wonderful tales told by vcyagera on the Amazon of the buoyant power of the l ea f o f Victoria regin, now a common and welt known water plant, I have not Been recorded the actual weight supported j it may therefore interest your readers to mention an experi. ment made in the Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, London :—A leaf was selected, the worst but one of eight on the plant, aa we did not like to deetroy vhe beet; it w as however, pretty perfect, only a few holes within sis inches of the margin . diatcoiep 5 feet 6 inches. On this leeifl nheod a wheel 3 feet 6 iuchee diameter, with eight apokea made of thin wood, and a email footboard, on which I etood and floated " high. and dry;" the wheel vraa : necessary to distribute the pressure over a considerable portion of the surface, the texture of (ho leaf being exceedingly tender (the footboard did not touch the leaf, but rested on the spokes of the wheel). I have no doubt that if the wheel had been of the earno diameter as the leaf it would have eerved as a Ufa. raft for a email family, as the nest expert ment will show. The wheel and footboard were removed from the leaf and the surface left quite free ; wo then gradually spread over the surface shell gravel, previously weighed out in lote of half-cwt } basketful after basketful wae shovelled on up to 3owt,, when the gardeners standing by would not believe their own eyes, and began feeling under the leaf, thinking there tnuet be eomo other support than water—but no, the leaf floated quite free j another 2011?, and another, and another, was thrown oa, and yet the good ship remained seaworthy and no signs of foundering; 4261 be called, Water began to leak in through the holes; the excitement, or perhaps the heat of the ♦•rterre" iv which we worked, made Uβ ; ratntfr; haaty and unsteady in loading cargo, the weight of which was being augmented iby the leakage, and an unlucky cast tilted the leaf anion e water rushed over, it crumpled! op: liko a sheet of paper and sank in deep waiei , , carrying with it a load of 4361bs (beeiclee water). This is the greatest weigh t I haze yet Been a leaf support,* and -the .woight .now, on the plant may be considered equal to TJ tons.

The freestone from 33arrabool, Australia, ii said to be highly suitable for sculptor's work. Mr Brain, the sculptor, states that it ha% a splendid grain, is easily and yet i>, capable of .allowing work, equal to what could be done on marble to be turned out from ifc. Next; to marble, he saye, ho never worked on anything equal to this etone. Application has been made io the Government for leave to blow the hull of the light , niqg to pieces by mepsne of tor]pedo»s» It iv suggested' (statee the fceeleffig " A&?«rtiser) thafc if, permission be accorded, the volunteer* will be willing to undertake the conduct of (he operation for the sake of learning how to use the formidable warlike appliance that it ha* been pfeopoeed to employ. A projeot which for months poet lias occupied the attention Of Mr Grant, the exMinister of Lands, hae. eaye a Melbourne contemporary, at last attained a eliupe which will enable, the public to is in all its bearings. < He hae conceived the feasibility ot establishing railway' connection between the capitals pf the AuetrAiiancoionieettQdEui'op?. via the gulf of Carpentaria, the Butch and English tfrraite settlements, and India, n* 1 calculates that .by this route the ocean nafigj' : tidn wlil U reduced to 1W miles, and « h : firetstep towards,the accomphehment oU « '" purpose, lie-intend to aek the Govcrmnen* to : ppen up communication with the Gown; mente of the Australian colomes, "Jf ■ his-proposal to them in orSerto e« ueir ' views. *iiiiir*^^y"i