NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2253, 22 June 1881, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Fine Arts. —An opportunity rarely to be mot with in the colony for connoieeurs to i acquire really excellent picture* will be afforded to-morrow, when Mr W. Savage will offer his well-known collection for tale by Mr Hawkes. The pictures are so well known to all lovers of art as scarcely to need comment ; but it may bo noted that (.hey comprise gems ' fiom the pencils of some ot the best European artiste, end also those who in the colony have made t icir mark. Amongst the latter may bo mentioned New Zealand scenery, by Hoyt, ; Peel, and Cousins ; Maori pictures by Lin* , dauer, and last, but not least, some of the ; best marine pieces by the late W. B. Jones, of I the Tararua. ■ Lyttelton Naval Brigade — A meeting of this brigade was held on Monday night, at which the decisions of the recently-held , Court of Inquiry wore road. The charges ; brought by Sub-Limt* Pyemont were not ! supported by any woi'ght of evidence. Of the petition from the brigade, asking that • Sub-Lieutenant .Pyemont’s appointment be • annulled, Colonel Packe, upon the evidence taken at the inquiry, considered he was not : justified in complying with the prayer ot the petition. Further evidence has since been sent to the Colonel, who will, no doubt, see 5 that the fesling of the brigade is strongly adverse to the appointment. Entertainment. —A dramatic and vocal . entertainment will bo given in the Templar t Hall, Worcester street, on Thursday evening, at eight o’clock. P.A. Benefit Society, Queen’s Own i Lodge. — The quarterly summoned meeting of f this Lodge was held on Monday evening, when there was a large attendance of brethren and visitors, W.M. Bro. J. Denham in the chair. After passing the minutes of the previous , meeting, and the reading of correspondence and other routine business bad been dealt with, the election of officers for ensuing term . wa! proceeded with, and resulted as follows : —Bro. W. J. Slone, W.M.; Bro. D. Barrett, D.M.; Bro. T. E. Tonoycliff, secretary; Bro. J. Ooxheod, trseasurer; Bro. J. Kendrick, chnplin ; Bros. Grant and Stevens, auditors. ] The W.M., when declaring the officers duly elected, said it gave him great pleasure to see how amicably the election was conducted, and the groat interest the members took in it. I Bro. J. Ooxhoad, D.D.GKM., announced that i he would officially opon the Eoyal Standard ! Lodge at Addington on Tuesday, 28th inst., and hoped to see a good attendance of this ; Lodge in answer to the invitation of the • Addington brethren. One member applied for his clearance, and it was granted. Four wore proposed for membership, and one initiated, Fr ■ GK W. Gat is asked for the loan of the Lodge Bcgalia for the opening of the new Lodge, which was granted. The secretary stated the receipt of the evening to be £49 2j 6’, Sc e other business having been transacted, the Lodge was closed in peace and unity at 10 30 p.m. Lyttelton Beass Band. —List night a most successful meeting of this newly.formed band was held in the Drill Shed at Port. The band now numbers twenty-four members, the majority of whom are mire than more tyros iu the art. Sufficient encouragement has been forthcoming to enable them to purchase twenty-three instruments ; and, if the sympathy and assistance of the icsideuts of Lyttelton is a siric qua non of their success, the members may feel confident that, under Mr Bowles’ conductorship, their efforts to organize a brass band worthy the name will be cordially supported. Ashbubton Peesbvteeian Church.—A special meeting of the managing committee was held on Monday evening, the Eev. A. M. Beattie in the chair. On Ur McLaren’s proposal, seconded by Mr Q-. M. Robinson, Mr Alexander Craighead was unanimously elected to the honorary pest of choirmaster. St. Stephen’s, Ashburton. —At a special vestry meeting on Monday evening the Rev. W. 0. Harris, Acting Archdeacon for Akarua, occupying the chair, it was decided to convene a meeting of parishioners to discuss the advisableness or otherwise of constituting the township and suburbs ot Ashburton a eepavute parish from the country district. A Cask of Teespass. —At the Rangiora Court on Tuesday, a defendant named Ford wanted to know from the Bench if the officer who served summonses was allowed to knock people’s fences about. The Bench said they c mid not entertain the application now. The Clerk to the Bench blandly suggested that the complain; nt ought to bring his action for trespass and damage. Wheat foe Fhance. —The barque Andes silled from Timaru on Sunday with a full oargo ot wheat for Dunkirk, France, shipped by Messrs Royse, Stead and Co. This is wo believe the first whole cargo of wheat shipped from a New Zealand port for France direct. It is pleasing to see that our merchants are bestirring themselves, and looking out for fresh markets for our exportable surplus of wheat. Wo hope this pioneer cargo may result in the opening up of a French trade. The Blue of the Sky.— Recent researches by Professor W. N. Hartley, of Dublin, have led him to conclude that the blue of the sky is caused by tho presence of ozone in the atmosphere. Ozone, ho finds, has a great capecily for absorbing the ultra-violet rays of tho spectrum, and a very small quantity of it mingled with air in a glass tube produces a full sky-blue tinge. His experiments have demonstrated that ozone is a normal constituent of Iho higher atmosphere ; that it is in larger proportion there than nearer tho earth ; and that the quantity present is quite sufficient to account for the observed limitation of tho solar spectrum in ultra-violet reg ons. A Despatch Box. —“ Michell’s Maritime Register ” thus describes a novel invention for shipwrecked sail ore, which was taken on board tho Jerusalem, which lately left for Melbourne from London : —“ Tho invention, which is called a ‘ despatch box,’ and is the design of Mrs Dean, of Hustings, is a little boat three or four feet in length, being huilt upon the principle of a lifeboat. It carries a sail on which is a Scripture text executed in phosphorus. Tho idea is that, when a vessel is wrecked, the fate of the ship may be written down, and tho record deposited in tho despatch box on the deck of the little boot, and tho craft committed to tho mercy of the waves. With a moderate wind tho boat will travel four or five miles an hour. Captain Bench intends launching tho boot, which has been named tho Little Jerusalem, about 3"0 miles off tho Soilly Isles. Certain despatches and instructions will be placed in the b ix, and a lighted lantern will also bo placed on board."

Lyttblton Licensing Meeting. The following licensees received a renewal of their hotel licenses at this Court yesterday : —Mr Andrew McDonald, Canterbury ; Mr P O’Brien, Empire; Mr John McQuilken, Bailway ; and Mr E. Pym, Ocean View. At a former mooting of the Court those licenses were withhold for fourteen days at the instance of tho police, and for the purpose of certain alleged repairs and improvements being made to them. These having in tho interim been completed, the opposition of the police was withdrawn. Sergeant Morico addressed tho Court at length upon the nuisance which existed in several parts of the town in connection with licensed hotels caused by insufficient backhouse accommodation, and tho Court expressed their determin ation to accept a complaint of this kind from tho police at tho next licensing meeting as sufficient reason to refuse a renewal of the then existing license in the case of any house. Tho Court further intimated that the at!* tion of the Licensing Commissioners bad been before drawn to thia matter, and it had been left in the hands of tho police to nee that the nuisance was abated. Sergeant Morice stated that ho hud but recently been appointed to to the station, but ho understood that tho local authorities had had their attention called to it. Tho commissioners on the Bench wore Br. Donald (chairman), and Messrs T. 3. Potts and J. T. Bouse. The Licensing Bint. —A meeting of licensed victuallers was held at Morton’s Hotel, yesterday, to consider certain matters in connection with the Licensing Bill now before Parliament, Mr James Watson, of the Commercial Hotel, Dunedin, who has bean deputed by the Dunedin branch of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association to visit Wellington for the purpose of watching their interests, was in attendance, and Mr Morton was aekod to proceed to Wellington on behalf of tho Christchurch branch. Mr Watson and Mr Morton loft for Wellington by tho s.s. Waikatipu. The members present at the meeting appeared to be very much .dissatisfied at tho hurried manner in which tho Bill had been dealt with, considering the extent of the interests involved. A Field fob Speculators.—ln suburban and country land there is at ihe present time in Sydney an enormous amount of apoculation, and rapid fortunes are being made by tho prompt and knowing ones. Auctioneers hove their regular Saturday sales, with free railway and tramway passes, free luncheons and bands of music,

A Pbofitadlb Investment. —A membsr of the London Stock Exchange, writing to “The Tim 09 ” on March 21st, states: -In 1875 the British Government purchased of the lata Khedive of Egypt 176,602 Suez Canal shares at 20. At the present time the price of these shares is about 78, showing the handsome profit of £10,242,916.

Measles at Poet. —Yesterday information reached the authorities that a family, passengers by the steamer Wakatipu from Dunedin on Monday, had suffered from measles on the passage up. Upon inquiry, Mr Robert Hay, a steerage passenger by the vessel, with his wife and four children en route to Sydney, stated tbat two of his children were ill with measles ; that they had been living at Roslyn, a suburb of Dunedin, where the disease was very prevalent. The two children were seen by the two medical practitioners at Port, both of whom pronounced them affected with the disease, and At once ordered their removal to the quarantine station, a suggestion which was subsequently given effect to, and the family are now over at Ripa Island. One or two cases of measles have been reported lately in Lyttelton, and it is stated that a very large number of cases have been met with recently at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Sumner. The authorities at Port are on the alert, however, to prevent any spread of the ailment by the admission of infected persons from seaward, and every preenution is being used to that end, both by Drs. Macdonald and Rouse. It is due to Mr Hay to say that he had endeavored, to the best of his ability, to have the sickness in his family reported before the steamer should proceed upon her voyage. Ho quite acquiesced in the necessity for the removal of his family and himself to the quarantine station. It may also be stated that, had the matter been kept quiet until the arrival of the steamer at Sydney, it is probable that the vessel would have been quarantined. Some of tho passengers by the steamer were of opinion that the Chinese passengers on board in no way conduced to tho general health of their Caucasian follow voyagers, and no little dissatisfaction existed among the latter when they found themselves brought into such intimate contact with the Celestials.

Tub Mbtbopolitan Tkmpkbancb Hotel. —The opening of the Metropolitan Temperance Hotel was celebrated last night by a banquet, at which about seventy guests sat down, including a number of ladies. Mr H. Thomson, chairman of directors of the Temperance Hotel Company, occupied the chair, supported by his Worship the Mayor of Christchurch and Dr. Brins. The vico-obair-men wore the Rav. H. 0. M. Watson and Mr Geo. Booth. 'The tables were laid out in a very tasteful manner, and the viands, which had all been prepared on the promises, reflected the greatest credit on the cuisine of the establishment. “ Sentiments ” were substituted for the ordinary “ toasts ” proposed on festive occasions, and the liquid refreshments consisted of tea, coffee, and other beverages of a non-intoxicating character. After dinner, the chairman proposed “ Her Majesty the Queen,” and the company joined in the National Anthem. Then followed “The House of Representatives and Legislative Council,” The chairman next proposed “ Temperance Hotels and Coffee Palaces, ’’alluding to the first steps that had 1 been taken during his Mayoralty towards the erection of a temperance hotel in Christchurch. The present building, which only occupied a portion of the ground, could bo extended easily without interfering with the business. They could not, in his opinion, expect it to pay very well until there were thirty or forty more bedrooms. There were about 200 shareholders, and if they would each take ten shares more that would mean £2OOO, and the.required accommodation could be added to the building. They should all put their shoulders to the wheel, and try to induce others to take up shares. Mr J. T. Smith, who responded, gave some interesting information with reference to temperance hotels and coffee palaces in other places. The other “sentiments” were “ Temperance Societies connected v/ith Christian Churches,” proposed by Mr Booth, and responded to by the Rev. H. 0. M. Watson ; “Temperance Benefit Sociolies, Independent Order of Rochabitea, and Sons of Temperance,” proposed by Mr H. Bennetts, and responded to by Dr. Russell; "Independent Order of Good Templars and Total Abstinence Societies,” proposed by the Rev. R. Taylor, replied to by Mr C. M. Gray end Mr Olepbano; “ The Clergy of all Denominations,” proposed by Mr 0. B. Taylor, and responded to by tho Rev. H. 0. M. Watson ; “The City and Borough Councils,” proposed by Mr Booth, and responded to by the Mayor on behalf of tho City of Christchurch, and Mr J. Joyce on behalf of tho Borough of Sydenham; “Tho trade and commerce of Canterbury,” proposed by Mr Webber, replied to by Messrs Kirk and Scott; “ The Presa ” and “The Ladies.” A number of songa were given during tho evening, and the company separated before midnight. A description of tho building has already appeared in our columns. Wo may add that tho accommodation provided is excellent, though rather limited in extent, while tho building has been furnished throughout in a handsome and substantial manner. Business will bn commenced thia day. Information respecting meals will bo found in our advertising columns.

German Competition.— “ German ladica of good family,” who arrive in England in scores, nro seriously competing with English governesses. The English picture trade is principally in Gorman hands. The ranka of labor arc crowded with Gorman workmen. Wo have Gorman architects and Gorman professors of all kinds. Gorman engineering firms compote successfully with ours. Their cheap contracts ore frequently accepted in preference to those of English firms for worko of considerable magnitude, as they not only bring ironwork from Germany, but German workmen as well. Wo have everything from Germany at the lowest possible figure, even to the humble Gorman potato, which, it is assorted, rivals the Irish article in quality, us it does in cheapness. And yet wo do not Boycott our Teutonic friends. On the contrary, wo hold out our arms and receive them as brothers, though wo stand in danger of being ruined by German cheap labour and Qoiman competition generally. Those arcr surely facts which should make tho - subjects of tho Kaiser be a little more tolerant of Israelitish competition—“ London World.”

Tramway -Accident. —At about half-past two o’clock this afternoon the Papanui tramengine, while crossing the Viotoiia Bridge on its way to the city, came into collision with a straw-J-.den waggon proceeding in the same direction, with the result that the waggon was overturned. The driver, whose name is Mcllroy, was not hu"t, end the horses escaped without injury, the only inconvenience being a slight delay in the tramway traffic. The driver of the waggon wai on the near side of the road, but his load was such a largo one that it was impossible for the engine to pr's without coming into contact with it.