NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4787, 6 December 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Wbka railway works here are being brought to a standstill, as there are now no more ™ unemployed" sent to the worka. •BaSIpHIJT MiCHSTBATH r S OOXTBT. —On Saturday a man was fined 5s for being drunk and disorderly. There was no other biuinesß. J. E. Parker, Esq., J.P., presided. STOHPIirG WxßwasG. —On Thursday the Banger of the AoplimaUeation Society and a constable removed the nets in the "Waimalariri on the ground that their meshes and stakes were illegal. •AociDßHs.—On last iTriday evenicg s little girl, a daughter of Mr Eiwards, of A&hbarton, fell from a window to the ground, and broke her collar bone. The .window from which the child fell was 15 feet from the ground, and as she fell on a stony place the wonder is how she escaped instantaneous death. i

Thbasbb EOTAl.— "The Bonnie Fishwife,"- in which Miss Leopold made a hit as Maggie McFarlane, preceded " Pinafore " on Saturday evening at the Theatre Bcyal, when there was a capital house. Both pieces west excellently, the music in " Pinafore" especially so. To-night an act of " OhHperic " will precede "Pinafore." , Boast ot Cosshbtatobs.—We nnde*stand that Mr F. Jones has bean nominated to stand for Christchurch South-east as at the laefe nomination. "Wβ are further informed that Mr Ayera has withdrawn hie candidature, so that at present Mr Jones is the only candidate for the said district. Mr T. £J. Lambert has been nominated for the Wortheastward.

Xowai itostAiH BoAsa.— This Board held a meeting at toe Ksw&i Boad Board Office, BaicMni, oa Jftday at noon. Present— Messrs Bns« (chauman), Courage, Colaman. Yenghsn, MDonaH,Williams. The gum of S& mi granted towards improvements on the Bμ** o *™" Benb o£ reserves amounting to £30 Mβ wew received. Mr Oolenam wae instructed to expend a email sum in cutting *sp thistles in the plantations.

Kaiatoi Fabmbbs' Citrß.—At the next monthly meeting of this dub, Mr R. Coup has promised to read a paper opening a subject for debate among the members. B.M. Ooubk Bttsisbss.—At the B.M Court thia moa«Bg two remand cases, of "obteinirg moneyßender fal»e pretenees ,p and "having no vMble lawful means of support '*. willbeheard, There are also twenty summona cases set down for hearing. Exso&Tisa SOTBBBISHB.—The New Zealand Shipping Company's ahip Opawa, which left Lyttelton on Saturday night for London, toot with her £50,000 in gold, contained in ten boxes, and shipped by the Bank of New Zealand.

TiaiT os Eseuan Obiokexhbs.— ln connection with the contemplated visit of Eng. j lish profeeaionals to the Australasian coloniee, a letter was read from Mr Conway, of Sydney, at a meeting of the Cricket Association on Saturday evening. A report of the proceedings appears elsewhere. j PoiOTS Wbokg.—On Saturday morning ' the driver of the op-train on the northern line reported that on passing the signal box at the junction with the Eyreton line the points were wrong. Fortunately, as the train passed over them, the points which were opened for the Oxford train on the Eyreton line closed, and thus danger was avoided. The signalman has been suspended pending enquiry. Wooderd. —It is understood that in consequence of some informality in gazetting the polling places for the Mandeville and Bangiora Road Board elections, the Mechanics , Institute here is cot included in the list of polling places, and at the annual election of members of that Board in January, unless immediate steps are taken, ratepayers will be compelled to record their votes at Eangiora. I Ban&ioba Footpaths.—Eor some time the state of the principal footpaths through this town has needed attention, but the opinions of the members of the Down Council having been divided on the question of how to improve it, the work has remained in abeyance. At the last meeting of the Council, however, it was decided to asphalt and keep the footpath the full width from Ashley street to Mr S. S. Good's store.

A Distbessinq Case.—Constable Gaffney brought to the Hospital on Saturday a man named Charles Wfaitnow, whom he found in a etraw stack on Mr E. Wilson's land near the Maori Fa, Kaiapoi, where he had been about a fortnight without food or water. He has j been in the colony eleren months, and done no work. He is hardly able to speaker walk. His bed in the straw was in a filthy state. The Dbuidß.—The Lyttelfcon Hearts of Oak Lodge held their ordinary fortnightly meeting on Thursday evening at the Foresters' Hall, Lyttelton. The attendance of members wae large. The officers of the Pioneer and Hope of St. Albans lodges paid an official visit and were warmly received. Four candidates were proposed for membership, and the lodge then adjourned for harmony, and some capital songs and recitations were given by tho officers of the above lodges. Altogether a most enjoyable evening was spent. Baiotvay Tame?.—A public meeting was held at Waterton leat Thursday, to consider tho amended railway tariff. Mr John G-rigg occupied the chair, and explained the object of the meeting. On the motion of Mr Joseph Clark, a memorial to Government was drawn up, and signed by every one present. The meeting then terminated, the oh&irman intimating that the memorial would be forwarded as soon as sufficient signatures could be obtained, ar.d. that it would be left at Mr Hudson's store for the convenience of persons desiring to sign. Eaiapoi Spobts and Backs.—A meeting of the sports committee was held at the Borough Council Chamber on Friday evening. There were present—Meiers Moore (in the ohair), Bcrnip, F&tmaß, Praser, Pearoe and Dudley. After some diaouasion, it was decided that Messrs Buxoip and Patman inepeot the Cam paddock offered by Mr Bosuestow, and, if suitable, to make arrangements for holding the sport? and races. Subcommittees were appointed to canvass for subscriptions. It is hoped there will be a liberal assistance given to the committee, otherwise tho sports cannot be held. Madajtb Lorn Wixmot.—This lady gave another of her lectures at the Theatre Royal last night, when there was a good attendance in all parts. The discourse, as indeed all of them have been, was exceedingly discursive. The lecturess, commencing with Mosee, discoursed of Solomon, Joshua, Mr Charles Clark, Proctor, Bismarck and others, finally concluding with a passing reference to-the Irish difficulty. It will thus be seen that » large variety of subjects other than that announced for her lecture were submitted by Madame for the consideration of her audience. Saie 07 Saoikg Stock at Taitbbs ael's.—On Saturday at one o'clock Messrs H. Matson and Cα. submitted the well-known racing mare Blink Bonny and her progeny to competition, and the thoroughbred mate Ethelied, dam of the celebrated Bribery; also a yearling by Traducer, out of the same filly. The only sales effected were—Black .filly, 2 yre, rby Wrangler, and a brown filly by Traduoer, both out of Blink Bonny. The former fell to the nod of Mr E.Brown for -fill, while Mr T. McNaught scoured the latter for the sum of £20. The remainder! failing to reach owners' reserves, were passed in, ac also was Mr J. 0. Cora's well-known trotting mare Polly and her progeny.

Expobt ov Whbat to ErasiA.—At New-oastle-on-Tyne, yesterday (says the " Times " of October 6th) a transaction occurred which is eaid to be unprecedented in the history of steam shipping on the north-east coast, and shows in & remarkable manner the serious condition of Bussia as regards her wheat harvest. The steamer G-osforth was chartered to load wheat at Liverpool for Gronstsdt at lla 6d per ton. There were other offers in the market; Iβ 9d per quarter was quoted at Hewcastle-on-Tyne for steamers to load wheat at London for Gronstadt, bat there were not any takers. Losttbr Sofiooi.—The annual school treat took place on Wednesday last, in a paddock kindly placed at (he disposal of the committee by Mr S. Barwell. The attendance was very large, a general invitation having been given to the children attending North Loburn Sohool. An excellent programme of sports had been prepared, and at 5 o'clock the youngsters, to the number of 130, sat down to an al fresco tea, bat ominous clouds had been rising in the west for some time, and presently a tremendous thunderstorm buret over the holidaymakere. In spite, however, of the drenching, the utmost good humor and fun prevailed, and the balance of the comestibles was forwarded to the sohool, to be disposed of later on. The storm passing over, all made their way to the schoolroom, where a pleasant evening was spent. Songs by the children and games of all kinds kept the large gathering of parents and friends fully amused till twelve o'clock, when the National Anthem brought the annual treat to a conclusion. She school had some time previously been ably examined for prizes by Mr T. GK Smith, of Ashley Bank, and of course the feature of the evening was the handing over of the substantial results by the oh&irm&n, Mr 0. A. Cunningham. JmssEos School OosrarnTßß. — The monthly meeting of this committee was held on December 2nd, in the schoolroom. Present —Mr J- Barnett (ohairman), Messrs Sandryj Lean, J. McLaohlan, Pearce, and Ch BarrelU The Chairman reported that since last meeting he had found it necessary, before taking out summonses against the parents of children for non-attendance, to sand them notice, I which had been done by bis instructions. Hβ reported that, in sinking the pipe* for the artesian well, aftar getting down 124 feet, the pipes had broken, and in consequence fresh pipes had to be purchased, and another start made. Mr Barker had again kindly promised his services, also several other gentlemen. Hβ also reported that Mr Kallahan had offend to shingle to© playground, which was much need cd. Correspondence was read from the Board of Education, advising 'payment to credit far salaries, £34 5» 3d. From Mrs Smith, side school, I)oylestOD, that there had been an average of twenty-six in attendance during the month out of tbirty-eir on the roll. From Mr Ford, that there had been an attendance during the last week o{ 167, aud asking the committee to arrange for the Christmas holidays, also enclosing, as requested by the committee, an approximate cost of school books, as supplied by the commifctee to the children. For Standarf, Ho. 1 2s Id, Nα 2 3s 43, TSo. 3 7e Bd, H o . 4 8f 44, "No. 5 7« 4d, Ifo- 6 *• The eaowfcM y va3 in. etructed to write to all school committees in the district, askiag them co-operate with them to press upon the wmtrameat the necessftr of impacting osfopol &°ota, also to encloses copy of & prerorat resolution M Si end forwarded to the Board of Edwa. tioa. Oaechairnara was requested to arrange fm. thfl examination of the cjalarea tor prizes af the side eehool, an* *f a&ffa * H» Samschool. The meeting t&ta afyraraed. -*

District CorrfiT. — The usual monthly sitting of the District Court will commence thie morning before His Honor Judge Ward. TEOxmie Match. —A well-known sporting gentleman in Donedin has backed Native Cat to trot any horse in Hew Zealand for £200 aside. The acceptor of the wager is Mr Rirkwood, who will name the horse he will trot against the Cat on Tuesday. The match, says the "Daily Times," will take place in about a month. The first depoiit has already been made.

Mies Howabd's Bejhutt. —To-night;this lady, who from her artistic performances has deservedly become a great favorite here, makes her appeal to the playgoers of Christohurch, which it is to be hoped will be liberally responded to. In addition to this, to-night is the last of the stay of this bright little company in Ghrietoburch. The programme is a very en? ticing one, comprising one act of " Chilperio " and " H.M.S. Pinafore," Miss Howard playing the title role in one piece and Josephine in the other. The benefit will be under the patronage of the Ancient Order of Druids, a number of whom will appear in full regalia in the Droidical scene of " Ohilperic" LiGtraiAH Bbbs. —From the success which has attended the experiments of introducing these bees to Canterbury, it seems every way likely that they will be well acclimatized here this eeaeoD. The hive at the Acclimatization Gardens has been recently divided, and now there are three hives. The imported hive also contains two additional queens, which might be need in forming further stock or in ligurianizing hives of black bees. The hive imported by Mr !T. Wilson, of Kaiapoi, was divided on the 27th, and the original hive has now no leß3 than eleven queen cells, as well as large quantities of brood. Coin's Cibcus.—This circus, the advent of which in Christchuroh has been looked forward to with considerable interest, will arrive per s.s. Wakatipu to-day, and the arrangements are so far complete that the opening performance will be given on Wednesday afternoon. The circus has made quite a success in the Northern cities, and doubfcless will be as much so here during its short slay. The great features of attraction are the menagerie, which is said to be very large, and the display of the electric light. This latter is on a scale hitherto unattempted in the colony. The street parade will no doubt attract a large number of spectators, as our American oousins are perfect masters in anything like advertising, and this is about the most conspicuous that they could select. Sttddkk Death.—Wβ regret to have to announce that Mr Hurrell, clerk of the R.M. Court at Ashburfcon, died suddenly between Saturday night and Sunday morning, from, it is supposed, an over dose of laudanum. The deceased was stopping at Mr Ooker's Family Hotel, and had for some days been suffering from neuralgia, to obtain relief from which he purchased some laudanum from Mr Bonnington, chemist. It was not until noon of yesterday that Mr Hurrell was discovered lying dead in his bed at the hotel. One bottle of laudanum was found in bis coat pocket in addition to that already mentioned, the deceased having need it for external application also. An inquest will be held at two o'clock to-day. The burial will take place imme- : diately afterwards. Tfiß IIISGABDB.—"Baby-Betsy" was the piece de resistance on Saturday night at the Oddfellows' Hall, and certainly no more amusing eomesly hae ever been put before a Christohurch audience. From first to last the funny complications, in many !parts resembling those in " Pink Dominoe," excited roars of laughter. Miss Lingard, as Betsy, played the part with a keen and thorongh appreciation of the fan, end also with & dash and spirit that made it go immensely with the audience. Miss AdeUe and Miss Horan were good in their respective parts, and Mr Lingard, as A kind of comic Dr. Panglose, wae irresistibly funny. Mr Craig was the Baby, and played a part which must, to some extent at leest, be strange to him, with eucoess. Mr Steele had an Irish part, a kind of character he is always successful in delineating. Mr Overtoil and Mr Campbell rendered good service in their parts, and the piece asa whole Ttenb splendidly. To-night "Baby-Betay" will be played again, and those who desire a hearty laugh should see it. To-morrow "Our Boys," the gem of the Lingard repertoire, will be produced, end it will also be the last night of & season which has been all too short.

Naw PtJBMOATiONS.—-We have received a oopy of the " Now Zealand Illustrated Annual," issued by Mr M. Mosley. The annual, whioh consists of about a hundred pages of magazine size, opera with a poem «• Angels' Christmas Gifts," by MrW. J. Steward. The same gentleman also contributes another poem, entitled " The Christmas of fcbie South," and the other poetical contribution is from the pen of the wellknown Mr T; Bracken. " Waipounamnto " is a Maori legend, and the theme has receive! justice at the hands of the writer. The rest of the publication is devoted to tales and sketches of colonial life and

adventure, which are given in the table of contents as follow:—"A Wasted Life," by. Mr Gk I. Shaw j "Diamond Out diamond," a sporting story, by -Mr J. A. SeKej "A Heroine," by the Bey. H. C. M. Watson, 8.A.; "Money or Lov*," by 0. L. Innes; "Under the Wattles," by Vincenfe Pyke; " Peace on Earth," and " The EjamSt of Caste," both by the Editor. Ananonymour sketoh, " Lost in the Mallee," completes the list.. There are several illustrations which, although not particularly high specimens of art, are fairly passable. Taking the annual altogether, we should say from a cursory S' nee, that the editor may rest satisfied that labors will be appreciated by the public. There is sufficient variety to afford attraction for every taste. We have also to acknowledge the receipt of, No. lof "The Craftsman," a monthly journal devoted to the interests of TreemasoDry. .

, A PtrsHura Hakgm&k.—The hangman who executed Ah Lee at Dunedin for the murder of Mrs Young at Xyebnrn is at present in Oamaru, and has already sent in a written application to Government to be appointed hangman to Tubi, the Maori who has confessed to the murder of Miss Dobie at Opunake. The Hew Zealand Marwood is (the "Times" thinks) somewhat precipitate in his demands. He recently applied to the authorities <m the West Coast to be executioner to a man who was then being tried for wife murder, but against whom no ver* diet had been returned,

A New " WArrare Oabbiagb." An ingenious method for obviating the frequent stoppage of trains at stations, and yet acoommodating the passengers from these stations, has been devised by M. Hanrez. A " waiting carriage," comprising a steam-engine with special gear, and spaoe for passengers and luggage is placed on a siding at the station, and picked up by the train as it goes past. The latter, by means of a hook on its last carriage, catches a ring supported on a post, and connected with a cable wound on a drum in the waiting-carriage. Thereupon the drum begins to unwind, and in doing so compresses a system of springe, while the carriage is moved at a rate gradually increariug to that of the train. The engine of the carriage then winds in the cable, the train and carriage are connected, passengers are transferred (the carnages being of the American type) from the joined carriage to the train, and vice versa, then the two ere disconnected, and the engine of the carriage workup on the wheels brings it backs to the station whence it was takes.

( Thb Ex-OHAHPiosSoinißß.—The Sydney 'Echo writes—" The best abused man there has been ia Sydney for many a long day was Edward Trickett on Tuesday. Of course if he had won the boat race he would not only aave been the hero of 6he hour, bnt a hero amongst heroes. The prescience of co many excellent people would have been justified. The city would have been as gay with bunting as if a second Waterloo had been scored: and every barmaid in the place would have been, as bedecked with blue ribbon* as if her favorite had won the Derby. As the caae stands, thousands of persons waited, unable to sleep, until somo unseasonable hours on Tuesday, and then y in some instances, -wore xmable to sleep after the telegram was received. And then the report was magnified, It waa rumored that Hanlan had got out of his boat and had a driak, whilst i Trickettms panting and puffing afc him. Another version was that the Canadian sat down in his boat and read a aewspaper. Crowds now declare him a sell. Considering the large amount of money staked on h« winning the race, it is not to be wondered at that mortaScafciosi overpowers just judgments. Jwan the past victories of this renowned athlete are epoien of ac the triumph of beute : strengtii over finiehed skill. He is alao aocosed o£ evißcing a«a>aceifffld eel! omMmt» m tae certainty of winniag, that prevented hua t&Mag fee paw to secure a couqoeiifc. iiafe the climEi was reacSjed wnea a lawikia. not much higher than a waliing.e&k, swore his gods thai if TrickeSfc came to qrdney agara he 'wcmld challflage aim and nt aim hitnself,° *»

DiSTßxes zsr BtrasiA. —Baports of dearth and poverty are now filling the columns of the Bussiea Press from all parta of tho interior. Even the judicious organ of the Foreign Office does rot soruple to reprint'tito alarming intelligence of the more outspoken native Press for tho enlightenment of its foreien waders. Tbe "Nowpe Yresoya" oonteitwl&feriieet distressing news of the impovemli*d state of the rural papulation in the province o£ Ssmara, where the exorbitant prittß of all oeaeesariss fcf life have started a general emigration from some diatriota to the little better -feTored sell of adjoining provinces. One can judge of the etato of affairs hy these figures : —Ttie Zeinstvo o£ Saratov calculates the rural population of its district at 162,853 souls, end the amount of breadstuff* on hand and forthcoming will not supply more than one-third of this number. At the rate of one pood of rye per head it will be necessary to disburse 738,553 roubles. The one email district of Kanysohine solicits no less a earn from the Imperial exchequer for food and Joed grain than 2,000,000 roubles, and the great difficulty is that there ia co little grain any•where in store. One paper eayn that at Taganrog there are now scarcely any granaries that are not being rapidly emptied for interior consumption, '.The general atato of the country in this respect; is most deplorable, and as the " Sovoye Vremya" remarks, it is not to be supposed that the Land Assemblies, de* prived of unity of action, can put a stop to it. The economical crisis is a general one, to be overcome by general measures only. Sib Jambs Fhbgttsson in Ihdia.— The Calcutta aorrespondent o! the " World," writing in September, says of our late Governor:—"Sir James Ferguson, now Governor of Bombay, made his first public appearance tho other day as chairman of a meeting for raising money to relieve tho widows and orphans created by tho late appointments to the Kandahar command. Sir James was found to possess the faoulty of golden speech, and tapped the silver of the Parsees till the Bombay papers ran over with subscription lists. Hitherto the Governor's time has been chiefly ocoupied exploring hill stations in search of a suitable climate. Ho has shifted uneasily from Malabar Point to Parell, Parell to Matheran, [ Matheran to Poona, Poona to Mahableshawar, and Mahableshwar to Panohgani. The secretariat is quite giddy from trying to watoh i his movements, and the Press has abandoned him. Dicky Temple used to dart about; but he was always back everywhere before you knew ho had gone. The new Governor vanishes dreamwise, and the Post Office can scarcely button-hole him."

Fancy Dbess Bali, at Kaiapoi.—With his usual desire to entertain, Mr Bnrnip announces that he will arrange for a, fancy dress ball in the Oddfellows' Hall, Kaiapoi, on anniversary night. It is expected that this novelty will attract a good attendance.

Pighon Bat.—The favorite steamer Akaroa will resume her trade between the Fort and Pigeon Bay next Wednesday. A.O.F.—The half yearly meeting of the Court Thistle of the Forest will be held to-morrow evening.