NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XXX, Issue 4094, 10 September 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Cm Couircil.. —A formal meeting of the City Council wae adjourned last night till tomorrow evening. Last Wbbk's Customs Duties.—The total Customs duties collected at the Port of Lyttelton during the week, ending September 7th (exclusive of beer tax), amounted to £8969 12s 3d. Exctbsion Tbains:—Since the magnates have come and gone over the line to.Dunedin, it has been suggested, that the railway authorities ought to grant excursion tickets to the public, extending over a fortnight, whioh would have the effect of bringing many of the Dunedin people into Chrietchurch. AsHiiET Cototi Cotooii. —Mr B.Coup was on Monday nominated as Councillor for the Eyreton Biding, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr Isaac Wilson. There being no opposition Mr Coup will be declared elected on Monday next. It is understood that the new member is entirely averse to the adoption by the Ashley Council of the Counties Act. . . "■ ■ Chbibtohitbch Pototbt Association.—A committee meeting of this association, was held last night at the Shades, Mr T. Stapleton in the chair. " Ifc was decided to send home to eminent fanciers for some choice varieties of canaries, pigeons, and poultry, for which purpose the first remittance of £100 was to be forwarded at once. A vote: of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. East Chbibtohitboh School—The householders of the Hasfc Christchuroh school district last night elected a committee in place of that which lately resigned. :. There was a large attendance on the occasion,; and after the election had ended the new committee held its first meeting, at which the Key. H. C. M. Watson was appointed chairman. ,

Hokitika. Road.—-On Saturday last the Hokitika and Chrietohuroh coach for the first time during the last twelve weeks managed to make the through journey in days, arriving in Christenixroh at 3 p.m. Mr Thomas Power left Hokitika at 6 a.m. on the previous day, and some idea of the difficulty of the road may be imagined when it is stated the track through which the coach had to pass in the Otira Gorge had to be cut through a solid mass of enow, leaving a compact wall <on either side many feet higher than the roof of the coach. Men were employed until six o'clock on Friday night • removine the snow ahead of the coach, and a greit deal of credit is due to both Canterbury and Westland men for the energy they displayed in clearing the track. . ' ! ' '■ : *'■"; \ ; V' '■ . ' ~;:- ; .

FiBB. — Between three, and fqurj o'clock yesterday afternoon* a sod cottage, the property of Mr Harrap, residing opposite the Asylum,: on the Lincoln road; was discovered to be on fire. It appeals that a laborer, named O'Callaghan," living in the home, had just quitted it. When distant only a few yards be looked back, and saw that the house ' 'was m Bam.es. He at once returned, and for-, tunately was in time to save the principal furniture and effects. There, was no insurance on the house,: which was completely destroyed. It is supposed that the causa was a spark from the fire, which communicated it to the lath and plaster chimney.; Mrs i O'Oallaghan wa» lying down asleep at the time, but managed to escape.from the burning houje without injury. . ; Lbct.ubb, —-A lecture.. in, connection With Young Men's Christian' Association was .delivered; last night by the Rev. R. Waddell, in the Congregational schoolroom/. Manchester street. The subject .-chosen by the lecturer was "Sceptics," which:-.Hei treated in! 'a. masterly and original manner. - Depart-' ing from thtf ordinary definition of 'the' term, the' , lecturer plained hie reading of the title to be ratlier that of the,man of one idea, who only culti- ; rated lone, faculty and wished to reduce; »U things to his own standard. He illustrated this by a division of ; eceptioism into four ; classes: the business sceptic, the vain sceptic, the cynical sceptic, and ■ the. religious sceptic. In eloquent language the lecturer pointed put that, by a slavish devotion to one belief to the exclusion of all *yznpathy with others, the moral nature of a' man was deteriorated. Science looked outside to one class of facts, and religion looked inside to another class of facts, and each was equally sceptical in all Batters that were not reduced to its own standard of proof. A vote of thanks to the lecturer terminated the proceedings. Openisg of SouTHBBrDeB Catholic Chubch.—This building, which has been erected on an acre section, part of Flood's Southbridge Township Extension, granted to to the congregation by Mr John Flood, was formally opened on Sunday last, and supplies a want in the neighbourhood. The contract was let to Mr Early, a local builder, who notwithstanding several drawbacks, the frame with rafters, &c, having been blown down some time since, has completed the work in a most creditable manner, at a cost of about £620, including internal fixtures, £70 above the original contract price, under the supervision of Mr J. S. M. Jacobsen, tbe architect. The main building, 40ft. x 20ft., with a 14ft stud, offers sitting accommodation for about 250 persons. A vestry Bft. x Bft., and octagonal sanctuary 12ft. x 10ft. have been added. Both externally and internally the building has been planned after the old Gothic style, and from ite elevated position considerably adds to the appearance of the township. Neither time nor expense have been spared in the internal arrangement* of the building. The ceiling is diagonal boarded with alternate red and white pine boards. All the walls are, dadoed to a height of four feet, plastered and distempered above, all the rest of the wood work being varnished. The ceremony of formally opening the church was performed on Sunday by Father Ginnaty, parish priest of Christchurch, assisted by Father Chevrier, local district priest. liong before 12 o'clock the church was crowded. and numbers were not able to obtain admittance. The high mass service was most impressively celebrated by Bather G-innaty, assisted by a choir from Christchurch. After which an addreu was delivered by Father Chevrier, whose appeal for donations in aid of the building fund was responded to by the congregation, £65 being collected at the morning jerrice and a further ium in the evening.

Kaiafoi Magistrate's Covbt. — There was. no public business at this Court on Monday. St. Aicdbbw's ENTBBTAnrarBiTP. —Owing to the.inclemency of the weather, the entertainment advertised for last night was postponed until Thursday, the I9th instant Columbabian SoctßTY.— The monthly meeting of this society, which was advertised for last night at Radoliffe's Hotel, did not take place, the weather doubtless preventing the members from attending. Thbatbb Rotah.—The company, who arrived on Sunday afternoon from Wellington, made their re-nppearance last night in " Leah the Forsaken." A persistently rainy night and " Leah " indifferently cast, are not a cheerful combination of circumstances, and undT these conditions the play was produced last night. -The result was depression otfthe part of those who patronised the stalls and pit, which might have communicated itself to those in the dreas circle, only it whs —empty. To-night "The Daughter of the Regiment" will be produced, with Miss Daley in the leading character. Assault. —About half-past nine o'clock last evening J. B. Waterlow, the head waiter at the Ohristchurch Club, committed a seriou* assault on Mr Cougblan, the steward. The men had previously had some dispute, and Waterlow, in an access of passion, struck the steward on the top of the head with a braes table bell, cutting through the scalp, and inflicting a severe wound. The waiter was detained while the police were sent for, and then accompanied the prosecutor to the police depot, when the charge was entered. Both parties will appear in the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning. The Recent Cash en? Dsstttutiott.— From inquires made at the Hospital, it appears that the girl, Kate O'Malley, was not refused admission. Mr Pridgeon, the acting housesurgeon, was perfectly willing to admit heron the recommendation of a medical man, but the'girl herself refused to get out of the police van, saying there was nothing the matter with her, and it was the Lunatic Asylum she wished to be admitted into and not the Hospital. The statement as to her recent recovery from typhoid fever was also incorrect, as the books of the hospital showed that she was an inmate as far back as January, and was discharged cured at the latter end of the next month.

Wkkdon. —An entertainment was given in the schoolroom, Weedon, on September 6th, by the Templeton Amateur Christy Minstrels, a troupe which has recently been organised by some Templeton residents, and which made its second appearance before the public on Friday night. There wae an excellent attendance, and all present seemed highly pleased. Tire comioahties of the two corner men (the brothers W. J. and T. Guy) kept the audience in a continual state of laughter. Step dancing by Messrs Joyce and W- J. Guy. stump speeches by Messrs-Buck - nell and T. Guy, and songs by F. and W. Marshall, were also well received. The performances of the troupe as a whole were highly creditable. An amusing little farce, entitled " The Lawyer's Clerk, concluded a most successful entertainment. The room was then cleared, and dancing kept up till an early hour. Abubihs a Pbisokbb.—The Visiting Justices of the Wellington Gaol (sayethe "Post" of September 4th) at length hare come to a decision in reference to the case of the convict Hawkins, who was alleged to hare been maltreated by the warders on his recapture, after an attempted escape. The Justices consider that the evidence conclusively proves the prisoner to have received ill-treatment from one of the warders, "who has received a severe reprimand, together with a warning that any repetition of such misconduct will be followed by inetiint dismissal. The Visiting Justices also thought it advitablo to caution the warders generally that they must keep strictly within the prescribed rules in their dealings with the prisoners, and that exceeding of their duty will be punished with summary dismissal. Pbomotion or Cantebbubt Tbaohbbs.— Canterbury teachers seem to meet with considerable success in their applications: for appointments outside of the province.- Only lately Messrs Hill, Loughrey, and Edge have moved to superior appointments elsewhere. The " Nelson Mail" of Sept. 6th says :—We understand that Mr J. J. Patterson, one of the masters of the Chrietchurch Normal School, has been appointed to the mastership of the first division of the town schools. MV Patterson, besides producing very good certificates and testimonials from Victoria, was warmly recommended by his superior, Mr Howard, Principal of the Ohristchurch

Normal School, ah institution that has won a

colonial reputation. There-were twenty-four applicants, whose testimonials were submitted fo the town committee at their request. The committee .signified their entire approval of the appointment of Mr Patterson. Bbgulation oj Mikes.—Respecting the Bill for the above purpose at present before the House, the " Grey Eiver Argus", says:— Four years ago the then Minister of Public Works, Mr E. Bichardson, introduced a Bill for the Regulation of Mines, but for some reason or other it ha* remained a dead letter, and itha» now been revised by Mr Wason, who, in moving' the second reading, said the coal trade was assuming such magnitude that it was neceeeary an Act should be brought into operation. Three parts of the accidents occurring in mines in this colony he believed were what might be called preventible accidents. So important, he said, had the matter become at home, that the miners themselves were obliged to take action in the matter. The Bill has passed its second reading, and will bo doubt go through with few amendments, and when it is passed it is to' be hoped it will be brought into operation at once. A NOTB rpEBBKEj.DBiNKJBBS.r—Saye the " Medical Examiner" r-A general impression prevails that, "ignorance is bliss." This manifestly depends on the nature of the ignorance and the nature of the bliss; for ■ example, it surely cannot be a blissful state to be acquainted "with the following-preparations that are advertised, and, we presume, used by town and country brewers:—" Bavarian bitter, lib. equal to 641b. of hops. For adding to copper, or when racked. "B.isulphate dfJime'i'.fbr the prevention of acetous fermen-, beer."' "Double, harirtdin (aroma), for flavouring mild-like pale ales, lib. equal to 321b. hops." : . Burton water crystals, especially recommended to brewers for rendering ales more preservative, improving attennuation, dropping clearer, paler in colour, more «parkling. The quotations we have given are from the advertisement sheet of a well-known and officially published claw of journal, and clearly show that ignorance produces, at any rate in the beer drinker, head-ache and stomach-ache,' rather than the bliss that poets write of.. Now, if" we could but restore the

brewers of England to that condition of ignorance when they could only brew beer wjtjb. malt and hops, we might fairly regard it as a case of ignorance being bliss. Aβ it is, however, this age of faience has produced brewers that are chemists and wine merchants that are perfect masters in that mysterious department of knowledge which is euphemistically called "blending." We can scarcely complain of the danger that has arisen from a little knowledge ; our trouble has clearly come from our drink-makers knowing too much. -

• Public Libkabibs and Litbbabt InskTtrnoHS Biijj.—Of this measure the Timaru " Herald " has not a very high opinion, as will be seen by the following:—lt is manifestly a great pity to repeal the Public Libraries Subsidies Act, 1877, unless some other measure, at least likely to serve equally well the purposes of the public, is to be substituted for it, and that we must say the Bill before us is not calculated to do. In the first place it makes the simplest operation of a library committee a Tery expensive procese. The mere preliminaries to the forma , ion of such a body, indeed, would cosb a considerable sum, for the first step to be taken is the execution of a memorandum of association verified before a solicitor of the Supreme Court. Then there are to be applications for hearing and days for hearing before the District r/Coiat, and filings ■ and endorsements by the clerk, and registration by the secretary of the Board of Education, and twenty shilling fees, and ten shilling fee*, and goodness knows, what besides. In fact, the difficulty and expense of establishing public libraries would effectually prevent anything of the kind being attempted for the future. The necessity for employing lawyers occur* at every-step, and wholly does away with the personal interest which is one of the most pleasing features of the work of library committees. We do not know why this Bill has been introduced, at aIL There was no demand for it that we are aware of. We do not for a moment wish to say that it may not be required ; but, HBCft it abolishes laws which should like have a reawra for its introduction. It has been referred to a Select Committee, of the .Legislative Council, and we hope that it will be shorn of much of its enmbrons machinery before it is reported. Wβ shall watch it* progress with some care.

Mb. Babtos's Committal. — Amongst other things which it is proposed that the Commission, to be appointed under Mr Delatour's Judicial Commission Bill, shall do is the following : —Examine and report to the Governor as to the power, authority, or precedent, under which George Eliot t Barton, barrister at law, in the month of February, 1878, was imprisored by the direction of the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Richmond for one month in Wellington gaol, a-;d as to the procedure followed in the exercise of such power Jα such impriionment. Maitai Valley Coppeb Mikb. — The owners of this mine (says the " Colonist ") have now received advices from the proprietors of the smelting works, to which the three tons of ore from the outcrop of the lode was sent for the purpose of testing its value, and the report- cannot be otherwisethan highly satisfactory to them. It appears that the undreised ore yielded at the rate of lob per cent., and that the value of this ore in Nelson was £6 6s, but the advisability of dressing the stone was urged. With dressed stone, we are informed the yield would be about 25 to 30 per oent., and there would also bo the material advantage to the owners, of the saving of carriage and other charges upon the larger bulk. Mr Newport has handed us samples of both ore and the metal obtained from it, both of which can be seen I at this office. i Aubtbalasian GovEßifOßS.—His Excellency Sir G-eorge Bowen (cays the Melbourne : ' Telegraph ") hae accepted the Governorship 'of the island of Mauritius, and will, we understand, leave Victoria by the November mail, or at latest by that of December. His Excellency's commission as Governor of Victoria is dated from Oeborne, the Isle of Wight, 23rd May, 1873. His installation, however, did not take place until the Ist of April following, so that the term of six years, for which colonial viceregal appointments generally run, does not expire until April of next year. Though the information of the premature close of Sir George Bowen's term of office here will probably surprise the public, it has been known for some time to a limited circle that his Excellency was some time ago advised that he would have the choice of assuming the Governorship of some other colonial possession before the end of the year. We believe that the next Governor of Victoria will be either Sir Hercules Robinson or the Marquis of Normanby. It has, however, been stated on good authority that Sir Hercules has already declined the honor of coming to Victoria. The present statesmanlike Governor of New Zealand is therefore likely to be Sir George Bowen'e successor.

One or Russia's Gains.—Fobart Pasha writes to the London " Times ": -1 remark that Kuasia always insists that, however much she may curtail her demands territorially speaking, her new territory must include the '■ Kilia mouth of the Danube. Of course it must —that is, if she is to have anything of great value commercially and strategically, for the following reasons:—At the Kilia, or northernmost outlet, or, as it is called, branch, of the Danube, the sand-banks are growing so fast to seaward that already a harbor fairly protected from all winds has been formed between the point of sand at the entrance of the branch and the main land, a distance of about two miles ; in fact, during the late war I was anchored there with several ships in perfect safety. In a few years a capital harbor will be formed. Admiral Sprett, 8.N., who has surveyed that coast, can corroborate what I state. In addition to this, there is another point of still greater importance connected with the Kilia branch of the Danube which .should be generally known. It is this—that whoever commands the Kilia branch of the Danube oommands all trade in that river; at all events, so far as the entrance and some ten [ miles upward is concerned; because by deepening the channel in that branch he would j invite (it muet be remembered that the Kilia branch is the first outlet the water in the great river finds in its downward course) the great-rush of water into its channels. This rush would of course lessen the depth of water in the two other or lower branches, and this little game might be carried on so as to render Sulina and St. George's mouths mere mud pools. It may be all very well to talk of retribution for the manes of the Emperor Nicholas, but I strongly suspect that the great champions of the cause of humanity and . religion think; more of possessing a snug little port in the Black Sea, with the power of any day stopping the commerce of the Danube, or at all events commanding it, than of the dear departed. If Eussia is to have Kilia branch of the Danube,, the waters, .works, &c, muet be in the.hands of the European commietion of the Danube, or else we shall live to regret it. Yes, and to the very mouth of the branch, and no means muet be at hand whioh would admit of her euddenlt taking posses* sion. '.She ia very fond of 'sudden action; explanations afterward.

Mb W. Wilson.—Mr Wilson's address to tba ratepayers of Christchurch appears in today's issue of this piper., . : ,' : fllASONic.—-A lqdge ; ;of instruction will be, held this evening at the Robert Burns Lodge, No. 60, S.C. • j CoBNiSfiMBNi—A ; meeting , of Cornishmenj to be held in St. Michael's schoolroom, is convened for Tueadayy the 17th, for the- piiipose of considering the making of a special gift from Coroishmen in New Zealand to the new Cornish cathedral. ■ ; , - ' .

CHBISTCHXTReHFOOTBiLI. CliUB.—A BJ)eCial general meeting Jof this Olnb will be held; at Badciiffe's Hotel this afternoon, at five o'clock. 1 Papanul School.—-A'lecture, entitled " A Trip to Wonderland," Trill be delivered jon Thursday -in; the Papanui District Schoolroom, by Mr C. C. Howiro, in aid of the children's annual treat and.priies.: •"■ ■ ■ j I.O.Q.T.—The pjembers of the SeaNyiniihe Lodge will meeu'this evening from 7to 8. After the latter hour the meeting will be thrown opeu to the public. <■■ <■ ■' ■■' U-:. : ! ~'

Meeting of Batsfaybbs.— A public meeting, to afford candidates for the City Council an opportunity of meeting the burgesses, will be he!d : to-morrow evening Iα tie Oddfellows' feeven. T