NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 135, 5 November 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Metropolitan Show.— To-night up to 6 p.m. is the last date for entries to be made of stock for this show, which takes place on the grounds of the Association on the 12th iust.

Lyttelton Gas Company.—At a meeting of the directors of the above company it was resolved that theremaining 89 unallotted shares of the second issue be placed in the market at a premium of 80s per share. The erection of the works will be commenced as soon as the excavations are completed, which are in active progress.

Cricket. —The Eleven v Fifteen Colts, with Mr A. M. Ollivier as captain.— This annual match will be played on Thursday, the 12th instant, commencing at half-past ten. The following are the players selected to represent the Eleven : —Corfe, Dickinson, E. Fowler, J. Fowler, Fuller, G. H. Lee, Maples, Monck, T. K. Moore, Souter, Stevens, Wood. Any of the above who may be unable to attend will please notify the same to Mr E. Fowler as soon as possible, to enable their places to be filled up.

Pedestrianism.— A very good little programme of spoi is, to take place on the 9th inst, on the Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s Grounds, has been arranged in connection with the 440 yards’ race between Messrs J. G. Barrie and Levviu. The events besides this comprise 150 Yards Handicap Flat Race, 200 Yards Boys’ Race, Half mile Handicap Flat Race, and 300 Yards Hurdle Race. For all these good prizes have been offered, and from the handicaps good sport may be looked for.

Calcutta Sweeps. Calcutta sweeps were drawn last night on the leading events in the Metropolitan meeting. Owing to the date not having been fixed, the attendance was sir all. Mr J. H. Bennett officiated as auctioneer, and the following prices were obtained —Derby, eleven subscribers at £2 each, net value of sweep, £2B 10s ; Wainui, £ll ; Somuambula, £5. For the other nine acceptances no bids were offered, and the horses reverted to the drawers. G.J.C. Handicap, value, £BB ; Templeton brought £l7 ; Traitor, £ll ; Tamburini, £8 ; Balter, £8 ; Emmeline Colt, £2 ; Zigzag Colt, no bid. Cup, net value, £B7 Is; Wainui, £10; Tamburini, £10; Toi, £8 ; Templeton, £(>; Traitor, £2 ; Somuambula, £2 ; Hercules, no bid. Sweeps will be drawn on the same events to • night, commencing at eight o’clock.

Horticultural and Arboricultural SOCIETY. —The monthly meeting of this society was held last evening, at the Clarendon, Mr Watts in the chair. There was a large attendance. Mr Gun trip read a paper on the best varieties of conifeue to plant, at the close of which a vote of thanks was accorded to him. Arrangements were then made for the forthcoming show on the 10th of December, when judges, See, were appointed. Mr Marsh, of Ham, showed a number of roses, Mr It. Lyon some double tulips, and Mr Maim also shoved a stand of tulips, which were much admired. After the transaction of some other business, the schedules of exhibits at the forthcoming show were presented to the members, and they all seemed pleased with the manner in which the sub committee had drawn it up.

Leithfield Presbyterian Church.— A success!ul tea meeting was held here on Tuesday evening last. A large number of persons were present. The tables were provided by Mesdames McNaught, Mahler, Forbes, Trail, Smellie, Wallace, and Smellie After tea a public meeting was held, at which the pastor of the congregation, the Kev W. H. Horner, presided. Letters of apology for the absence of Levs W. McGregor and J. Armitage were read. Addresses were delivered by the Revs J. Freeman, A. F, Douglas, and Messrs Harper, Henderson, and Gavin. Selections of music were sung during the evening, Miss Tomes presiding at the harmonium. Votes of thanks were passed at the conclusion, and the meeting terminated. In the past year the church has been lined, seated, and painted, and the Presbyterian congregation at Leithfield, which numbers about thirty families, deserve great credit for their exertions in providing such a neat and comfortable place of worship as that in which they assemble.

Good Templar Hall Company Limited. — A special general meeting of the shareholders in the Good Templar Hall Company Limited, was held last evening in the Temperance Hall, Gloucester street, at eight o’clock. The chair was taken by Mr J. B. Dale, who read the advertisement calling the meeting, and stated that the arrangements the directors of the company had submitted to the last general meeting of shareholders had fallen through, and that a new resdution giving the directors a carte Handle in borrowing powers was necessary. After some discussion, Mr Mills proposed and Mr W. Smith seconded—“ That the directors be empowered to borrow £IOOO on the best terms they could.” Messrs Buxton, Ness, and Hitchings having addressed the meeting, the resolution was carried unanimously. Mr Andrews, M.P.C., moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, and the meeting closed. The erection of the Hall will now be proceeded with so soon as the preliminary arrangements can be settled.

Eyreton. — A correspondent writes on November 3rd : Yesterday afternoon, at one o’clock, took place the heaviest hailstorm that 1 remember to have seen. It had been thundering for some time, rising from the south west, and as the cloud reached overhead it broke into hail. First of all, at ten minutes to one o’clock, a roaring, rushing sound was heard in the air, something like the sea. and it appeared to be in one particular spot, while nothing remarkable was to be observed there, when at one o’clock a few hailstones fell of such a size as to cause one to run for shelter as quickly as possible, and in five minutes it was coming down very heariy. The ground was soon covered, and it piled up six inches high on the exposed side of doors, &c, viz, N.K; tie noise was

deafening. The stones were generally large as walnuis, and some of the size of small hen eggs. Glass was cracked, and fruit and branches tore off the tiees.

Akaroa School Committee The election of nine gentlemen as a school committee for this district resulted in favor of Messrs Alexander Tones McGregor, W. Peulington, W. Bruce, K. Norman, H. Badge. A VVesteura, A. Rodrigues, IT. Hewer, P. O’Reilly. Imported Sheep, —By the Taranaki arrived some excellent sheep, consigned to Mr U. Wilkin. There were 58 in all, 57 of them being two tooth sheep, Lincolns and Lincoln and Leicester cross ; the 68th was an imported sheep from England, and is a pure Lincoln, an aged sheep of great merit. They are all from the flocks of button Bros, of Southland, and one of these gentlemen was in charge of them. In the same ship Mr Campbell brought , some good useful horses, one pair (blacks) being exceedingly handsome carriage horses.

Sale of Booths, &c.—The usual annual sale of booths, ’krect cards, right of sports, &c, in connection with the metropolitan meeting, took place yesterday at Warner’s Hotel, and attracted a large gathering of pm chasers. Mr J. H. Bennett acted as auctioneer, and having briefly but in glowing tetms described the advantages of becoming a purchaser of a site on this particular occasion, proceeded to business by offering the first site for a publican’s booth. A stare was made at £8 per day, and bids came pretty freely until £ll per day, or £3B for the meeting, was reached, at which figure Mr I’ristoii, Borough Hotel, became the purchaser. No 2 brought a fair number of com petitora, and after a dropping fire of bids fell to the nod of Mr Carl, of the Empire Hotel at the same figure, £BB for the meeting. The remainder of the booths, Nos 8, I, 5. and 6, sold as follows:—No 8, £lO per day. Mr Garland; No 4, Mr Dudley, £8 per day; No 5, £5 per day. Mr J. W. Smith; No (5, £8 per day, Mr Simmons. The confectionary booths, four in number, were the next to come under notice, and they sold as follows : —No 7, £1 ler day, Mr Brett; No 8, Mr Sello, £2 per day; No !), Mr W. Genet, £5 per day; No 10, Mr Berg, £4 per day. For the cards, from the number of “ likely ’uns” about the room, a keen contest was anticipated, and the result proved the correctness of surmises. Forty pounds was named as a start, and £lO bids came fast and fmious until £BO was reached, being £5 over last year’s result. For a few moments “ the taleut ” took breath, and a survey of the situation, but considering it was good enough, another fiver was ventured. This was topped by another fiver b d from a well known sporting man, which had the effect of closing accounts, and the cards were knocked down to Mr A. Drake at £OS. The right of sports was secured by Mr C, Burmester, for £22 for the meeting, and Mr Drummond took off the horse-yards at £2 5s per day. Mr Morton will, we understand, have the grand stand, and all who know the resources of his genius in the way of cateiiug, will agree that he is the right, man in the right place. The total proceeds of the sale amounted to £80(5 15s; last year the total was £BB7 ss.

Ashburton.— A lecture was delivered by Professor Biekerton in the hall of the Library, on Monday evening, November 2nd, on “ Chemistry as applied to Agriculture,” illustrated by experiments. The president, Mr Alfred Saunders, in a short speech introduced the lecturer to the audience. Professor Biekerton, in opening his lecture, dwelt on the great progress science had made of late years, and that the essence of true farming required a certain knowledge of chemistry, as well as other sciences, in order to be able to tell in what state the land was in as regards its component parts. By a series of experiments the lecturer explained the action of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon ; and also showed the state in which they would be of most avail to plants. He strongly advocated the use of lime as a good restorative, and dwelt at some consideiable length on the advantage to be derived from drainage, showing that the apertures left.by the receding water became filled with air, which after sundry stages being gone through, brought nutriment to the plant. The lecture, which lasted about one hour and a half, was listened to with great attention by the audience, and at the close a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Professor, who in reply thanked them for their rapt attention, remarking that though he had lectured to larg r audiences, yet he had rarely done so to one more attentive, and he expressed his pleasure in being the pioneer lecturer of science to the Ashburton, and hoped at a future time to see the seed sown that night spring into good fruit, in fact into “clover, not sorrel.” He strenuously advocated parents sending their children to the college to go through a system of scientific teaching, so that when taught they might apply their learning toward the benefiting their farms.

A most important discovery in telegraphy is reported to have been made by Mr Elisha Gray, of Chicago, who has succeeded, says the Echo, in perfecting an instrument which will convey sound by electricity over an itnbioki n circuit of extraordinary length, without the aid of automatic repeaters, which in the ordinary transmission of messages occur about every 500 miles, to renew the current of electricity. Mr Gray is reported to have not merely effected an improvement of mechanism, but, as we understand it, he has made a discovery which may lead to most important results. He has transmitted sounds dis'inotly audible at the receiving point over an unbroken circuit of 2400 miles, reproducing on a violin attached to the receiving wire several tunes played on a small melodeon or piano key-board at that distance of space. Some noted electricians are said to predict from the success which has attended Mr Gray’s experiments, that the time will come when manipulating instruments will be done away with altogether, and when the telegraphic operators at each end of the wire will transmit the sound of their voices along the wire, and talk together, instead of telegraphing.