TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1788, 10 September 1866, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Working Mens' AssocuTiou.-The usual weekly meeting of the members of this association will he held to-morrow evening. Theatre Royal.—"Lucretia Borgia," was repeated on Saturday night, with the "Bonnie Fishwife" as the afterpiece. There was a good attendance, and both pieces were very successful, Miss Juno being called before the curtain at the conclusion of each. To-night we are to have the " Ladies Battle," and " Hunting a Turtle.'" United Methodist Free Church.—The new church in at. Asaph street, will shortly be completed. It is a very pretty commodious building, without any pretensions to architectural beauty of design. It will afford sitting-room for a considerable congregation. The seats are now being constructed, and are of a very neat pattern. Mr. Rankin is, we understand, the contractor for the work. Accident.—On Friday evening .a young woman named Catherine Robinson met with a severe accident in Exeter Street. It would appear that she was returning home, and on passing near to Captain Sproul's house she fell over the embankment, a distance of some ten or twelve feet, into the recently excavated roadway below. Her cries attracted the attention of some people passing by, and she was found to be unconscious, but after a time recovered. She was taken to the house of Capfc. Gibson, and every care and attention shown to her.

Maori Funeral.—On Friday last the remains of Terangiwhakatuira, son of William Hapi, one of the principal Kaiapoi Maoris, were interred at the Maori cemetry with all the rights and ceremonies observed by the Maoris on such occasions, Previous to the interment, the friends and relatives formed in procession, and carrying the coffin, covered with a black pall, with them, proceeded to Kaiapoi where, after passing through Charles and Cookson streets, they returned to the pah by the North Road. The burial ceremony was then performed, and the coffin lowered into the grave, amidst much lamentation.

Ashley Downs.—The settlers in this flourishing and growing district have presented a petition to the proper authorities, praying that a post-office may be established among them. There are about 150 settlers ilr the district, who have to go to Eangiora for their letters, a distance of seven or eight miles on an average. Looking at the present state and future prospects of the district, and bearing in mind the large quantity of first-class land not yet brought into cultivation which it contains, we think the prayer of the petbioners a very reasonable one, and we trust it will receive the favourable consideration of the Postmaster-General.

Port Victoria Ploughing Match.—On Friday last this event took place at the farmstead of the Rer. Mr. Bradley, Charteris Bay. There was a large attendance, and there were seventeen teams on the ground. The match commenced at 9 o'clock, and the competition was terminated about four in the afternoon. In the first class the prize of £6 was obtained by Mr. D. Gibbie, and the second by the ploughman of Mr. J. Gibbie. In the second match we have not yot heard the names of the winners. After the matches were over, the Committee Judges, Secretary, and successful competitors, adjourned to the residence of Mr. Bradley and partook of an excellent dinner. Mr. John Hill, Albion Hotel, Lyttelton, supplied the refreshments during the day, and merged the satisfaction of the Committee for the way lie had studied the comfort of the visitors. Kaiapoi Embankment Co.uaiim:E.-The members of this committee held their usual fortnightly meeting on Thursday evening last, when the ganger reported thut the works at Sneyd's corner were progressing most satisfactorily, and were now so far completed iu to prevent any fears being entertained lor the safety of the town/should a fresh come down the river. The chairman was requested to apply to the Government for the amount due upon the embankment contract, which will be completed in a few days, and also for the amount due upon the contracts for staking the river bank, and fencing in the embankment, which will also he completed within the next fortnight. The contractors for .staking andwattliug the river bank, driving neglected to commence their contract at the titn ■ stated in specification, the ganger was directed to inform them that the committee would hold them strictly responsible for any hiss which might accrue should the staking, &c, iwt lie completed within the time stated in the contract, and also for any additional expense to which the committee might be put in employing the ganger for a longer period than intended. The committee intend meeting on the ground on Friday next, to pass the work which muy be then completed. NoRTIIKRN AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL Association. The provisional committee appointed to conduct the preliminary arrangements for inaugurating this reciety, held a meeting at Kangioru on Thursday last for the purpose of receiving correspondence and deciding upon the date for holding a_ general meeting of the subscribers and inhabitants of the district, at which the officers of the society for the first year are to lie elected. The following gentlemen were present:—Messrs. M.

Dixon (chairman), Brown, Mnskell, "VYjlde (hon. sec.) Crosby, Young, Wood, Hillyard, Pemberton, Buss, and Fendall. The hon. sec. (Mr. Wylde) reported that fifty-eight members had joined the society since the last meeting. A large number of letters were read from residents in all parts of the district, expressing their sympathy in the objects of the association, and promising their support. A form of constitution was agreed upon, to be submitted for approval of the subscribers at the next public meeting, which it was decided should be held on the 11th of October next, at Saltwater Creek, this being judged to be the most central place in the district, and consequently the most convenient to all.

The Wbather.—By the Government tele- si gram, published in. another column, it will be cvgrthmhuk( seen that the interior and western part of the T province have been visited by a very heavy 'I storm from the north-west, which has been 2 productive of some damage to the West Coast V telegraph. The line is injured beyond Bealey, A and is temporarily stopped. We learn that I the second-rate rivers, which are fed imme- F diately by the snow, had been steadily rising I from Wednesday last, and on Friday night n torrents of rain began and continued with- '1 out cessation till some time on Saturday n night, filling the rivers as high as at any t time since last flood. A violent gale of wind li ushered in the rain, and is supposed to have i blown some of the trees that line the road « across the telegraph. The Southern tele- t graph is also slopped, it is supposed, by the same cause. On Friday night, brilliant a flashes of lightning occurred almost momen- r tarily, and there were during the day visible i indications that a heavy storm was taking c place along the mountain ranges. On Satur- j day, the gale reached Christehurch, and the r dust was almost intolerable. Some damage c was done to houses in the neighbourhood ; i one in the course of construction, near Avon- , side, being totally unroofed. j The Volunteers—The spirit of Volun- i teering still continues on the increase in the ] northern districts, and the intended second i battalion promises to he equal, if not superior, in point of number to the first. The Kaiapoi company now numbers over fifty men, as also does the Eangiora contingent, and on Thursday last twenty men were sworn in at Leithfield by Captain Brandon, who had attended for that purpose at the request of several residents in the district who we desirous of organising a company of their own. Sufficient notice had not, however, been given of Captain Brandon's visit, and to this may be attributed the smallness of the number enrolled. But an adjourned meeting is to be held on Friday next, for a similar purpose, when it is expected that at least thirty more will become members. A meeting was also held at Woodend on Saturday evening last, when it was decided to form a contingent of one of the companies already enrolled. It is expected that about thirty men will be induced to join this subdivision which we understand will entitle them to a lieutenant's commission. On Wednesday evening last the usual parade of the Eangiora company took place under the command of Captain Brandon, when headed by the brass band they were marched ' to the Masonic Hotel, Drain Eoad, where they were halted, and at the invitation of their officers partook of refreshments. The health of Her Majesty the Queen and the commanding officers of the regiment to- , getherwith those of Captain Brandon, 1 Lieut. Poole, and Ensign Thompson, were ' drank with full honours, after which the men fell in again, and marched back to the \ drill room, where they were put through a ! series of movements in company drill prior 1 to being dismissed. The first battalion ' parage in this district which is to take place ' at Woodend, is looked forward to with cou- ' siderable interest by both the Kaiapoi and ' Eangiora companies, the Kaiapoi companybeing desirous of availing tlfemselves of this ' first opportunity of going to battalion drill in ' their own district, and the Eangiora com- '' pauy being anxious to show their brother ', volunteers that they have not been idle during the period they have been in training, ; and that they intend to he very speedily on a ; par with the best in the province. It is to ! be hoped that the weather may be propitious, when a good muster may with some confi- ' dence be expected. 1 Katapoi Discussion Class—The usual i fortnightly meeting of this class was held in e the library of the Mechanics' Institute on e Fridav evening last, to discuss the question j as to whether it was desirable that the Maoris e should be admitted to scats in the House of e Assembly and Legislative Council. Dr. e Dudley occupied the chair; and Mr. J. Hebf den opened the debate in the affirmative, in n which he was supported by Messrs. Hall, Ellis, Rose, Thompson, and Hommersliam, and op- ., posed by Messrs. E. C. Dudley, Feldwick, and i others. The debate was most animated i, throughout, and lasted upwards of two hours 1 and a half. In favour of the question it was e advanced that the Maoris, being British sube jects, and governed by the same jaws as the 1 European papulation, have a right to take i part in the legislation of the colony. All 0 Englishmen . or Europeans, when brought s into contact with a race less civilised than i themselves, are expected to raise them as f much as passible in the social scale. 1 by learning them to adopt, not only our customs and mode of living, but also our teach--3 ings and literature. This can only be - effected by offering them some object to : aspire to of sufficient value to repay them for I the studies and labours undergone, and no s better reward could be promised than the ii chance of, at some time, participating iu the t Government of the colony, and of framing t the laws by which they are to be governed. If a savage race is permitted lo adopt the f customs of Europeans without, at the same ~ time, being taught to desire education, they f are brought to a check in their efforts to be--5 come civilized, and lose their own arts and . customs before they acquire an equivalent to them in civilized life, and thus from the ii decay in the power of their chiefs and the - non-substitution of another kind of leader, s they degenerate and go back ■ into a worse :, state of barbarism thau they occupied before e coming into contact with the white race, by :, becoming lazy, listless, or indifferent to the t future of either themselves or ckiMrcn. e Again, the late disturbances in the North >, Island show a longing desire on the part f. of the Maoris for a separate nationality, it and government, which, not intending to r grant, it is our duty to provide-a substitute e as near approaching their desire as we can, 3, by allowing them to take part in the governy ment of the country. Again, if Maoris were p. admitted to the General Assembly they il would he enabled to give much valuable in(l formation on many questions of Maori legusy lation, and, perhaps, cause them to appear in quite ii different light to European -minds. B They would also he able to explain the acta ,1 of the Government to their constituencies, rr and probably save, much wrangling and' dias sension. That the Maori, as a race, do not i- possess sufficient mental capacity, which, if s properly trained, would enable them to fill e these positions, is untrue, as is evidenced by ii tho opinions of almost all who have come in 0 contact with them. They are clnrnctcrizcd e by s une of the ablest of New Zealand legis--1 lators, and those who have mixed with them, e as possessing great political aptitude, cong siderable powers of reasoning, and great di- :- ' plomatie capacity. There are many instances c of this during the recent disturbances in the g North Is'iimf, mid tliero are many proofs in (I those who have been .some years in Kng(l land of what improvement can lie cll'eclcd by o education. Against the question it was d argued that the Maoris are little better than h cannibals which they really were some thirty ie years ago. That they are altogether an iui- ferior race lo Europeans, and it would there--0 fore be an insult to all such residents in New '- Zealand to admit them as meinb.rs of the i- General Assembly. It was useless to expect n to keep Ihc Maoris in order by offering them k inducements to educate themselves, anil per mittiug them to take part in the Government r, of the colony. They can never lie kept ic quiet except by force. All savage races >- respect force more than persuasion All a coloured races are naturally of a lazy dispoir sition, and it would be folly to create that 1 amount of interest in them by offering a paril tieipation in the Government of the colony, >f that would in iuce them to study our litcray ture or language. To admit Maoris to the I- General Assembly would only make [, the position of the Middle Island

worse than ever. The Middle Island members hare already sufficient trouble to get any of their own measures adopted without increasing the number of Northern members, by admitting Maoris into the House of Assembly. The chairman next proceeded to sum up, after which, the question was put and decided in the affirmative by a majority of two.

' Lyttelton Volunteer Artillery, Battery No. 2.—We are glad to announce that the services of the members lately constituting No. 3 Company Volunteer Rifles have been accepted by the Governor as a battery of Artillery, and they will in future be known as Battery No. 2. On Friday evening they held a meeting at the drill shed, for .the purpose of nominating the commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The following are elected: Captain, Mr. Thos. Ritchie, Ist Lieut., Mr. S. E. Wright, 2ndLieut,, Mr.lgglesden,Sgt-Major, Mr. J.S. Willcox, Sergeants, Messrs. Davidson and Allwright, Corporals, Messrs. Macdonald and Ebert, Bombadicr, Mr. William Cummins, Farrier, Mr. William Childs. Another Armstrong 12-pounder is expected by the next steamer from Auckland for this battery. The members have been measured for their new uniforms, they are similar in pattern to the uniform worn by No. 1 Battery. We learn that the excellent band belonging to No. 3 Company will be considerably augmented, and that steps have been already taken to purchase new instruments. The Waimakamm.—We have to record another heavy fresh in the river, but fortunately without the attendant disasters to Sneyds Town and Kaiapoi which have characterized our former reports. On Saturday evening last the appearance of the river at Kaiapoi gave promise of a fresh of no ordinary magnitude, which was amply verified early on Sunday morning by the river rising to a height only second to that which it attained during the memorable fresh of Christmas last. Of course, on this becoming known, anxious enquiries were, made respecting Sneyds Town &c, and many persons

wended their way in that direction, fully i anticipating to And it two or three feet ] under water. Thanks, however, to the newly > erected embankment these expectations were j most agreeably disappointed, the whole of i Sneyds Town and that part of Kaiapoi previously inundated, when a fresh came down the river, being found almost entirely free water. On proceeding to the Sneyds corner, we found that the river had risen to within a foot of the top of the new embankment which is about that height above the level of the old one. We are informed that the embankment was only completed late on Saturday night, the men having worked late in the expectation of a fresh beingcaused by tlie nor-wester of Saturday, and that had it made its appearance a couple of days earlier, not only would Sneyds Town and Kaiapoi have again been inundated, but probably that part of the embankment erected would have been washed away. This stroke of good fortune must be particularly gratifying to the Embankment Committee, who thus find that their labours, which have been neither light nor pleasant, have saved the town from much damage and the inhabitants from considerable loss, which would inevitably have resulted had they dallied with the work instead of working with the indefatigable and untiring energy which their proceedings have displayed throughout. We have said that Sneyds Town, &c., was almost entirely free from water, which was in reality the case, but still some inconvenience was caused to foot-passen-gers in several of the streets, by pools of water which had collected in consequence of several of the drains overflowing, and also in another instance in consequence of the river at the end of Fuller Street West slightly overflowing its banks in one spot where it is unusually low. The overflow from the drains is caused, we understand, by the water being backed up there by the river, which, the fall not being great, soon causes the water to make its way into the adjoining streets. But this is very easily remedied now that the larger works at Sneyds Farm are nearly completed. A very trifling outlay in the shape of a floodgate for each drain would entirely prevent 6uch an occurrence in future, as many would gladly undertake the duty of seeing that it is properly closed when there are any signs of a fresh in the river. The overflow at the end of Fuller street might also be quite as easily stopped by the erection of a small bank wluVh would not require to be either of a very extensive nature or great thickness, as there is no current into the bank at this point, it being merely an overflow. Whilst pointing out these trifling works, which, when completed, will ensure complete freedom from inundation, either on a small or extensive scale, we would also call the attention of the Uaugiora and Mandeville Road Board to the present condition of the girder bridge. The river bed at this spot is making ground on the east bank, which, consequently, shunts the stream to the western one, thereby encroaching considerably upon the approaches to the bridge, and rendering them anything but safe for traffic. It is also loosening the piles at this end very considerably, as is shown by the first row from the western end having been loosened, and besides sinking badly into the bed of the river; about 10 inches has also shifted upwards of 2 feet down stream. It is to be hoped that the Road Board will acci-pt this caution, as the bridge is certainly unsafe in its present condition; and, if not speedily attended to, will be shifting still further from its present condition if even it does not, like its predecessor, disappear altogether. Fire at Woodend.—A very serious fire occurred at Woodend, on Saturday last, by which a large ■ brick building, belonging to Mr. J. Kessen, formerly the Woodend Hotel, was totally destroyed. The particulars, as far as we can obtain them, are us follows: Between one and two p.m., on the d.iy named, Mrs. Kessen, having just concluded cooking the dinner, was goiug to an adjoining store for a few articles, when a man on the opposite side of tlie road called to her that the roof of the house was on fire. On turning round she found this to be the case, the flames just beginning to make their appearance through the shingles. The alarm was at once given, when the neighbours ran to the spot to render assistance, but unfortunately no water was to be had, and before any could be fetched from the river, the flames, aided by the strong nor'wester blowing at the time, had gained such a mastery as to prevent any possibility of either the building or its contents being saved. In the meantime efforts were made to recover the property in some parts of the building, but this was also unsuccessful, as in less than thirty minutes from the time the Are was discovered, the walls fell in with a loud crash, leaving nothing but the chimneys standing. Fortunately there were no other buildings in the direction of the flames, or otherwise they must have also been destroyed, the spii'ks and pieces of burning shingles, &c, being carried to a great distance. The origin of the fire is not known, but it is surmised that a spark from the chimney must have lodged under the shingles, and been fanned into a flame by the wind. This is the only possible cause, as there has not been a fire upstairs for some days, and no light since the previous evening. Additional weight is lent to this idea by the fact tha 1 some two or three years ago the lU'f caught tire in almost precisely the smile spot as when first seen on Saturday last, but was on that occasion discovered in time to be extinguished. Mr. Kessen, who is only partly insured, will be a severe sufferer, as besides the building being destroyed, the whole of his furniture, wearing apparel, and books are burnt. Even a change of wearing apparel could not be sated. Mr. Kessen was unfortunately at Uangioraat the time, having gone thither by coach the same morning to attend a sale of cattle. The building, &c, is insured to the amount of £3OO in the New Zealand office, hut the • estimated damage is at least double this amount. The building, which was entirely built of brick, was i!G ft x 32 ft, with fourteen inch walls. Great praise is due to the neighbours of Mr. Kessen for the willingness they evinced to render assistance in quenching the flames.Their services however, were not of much avail, as not more than a dozen buckets of water could be obtained ; but even if an unlimited supply had been at hand, it is very doubtful whether it would have been of any material service, the wind being bo strong at the time.

A H E RD-BOOK.-The Daily Times statu that a publication on the principle of Coat > Herd-book, for pure shorthorn cattle is ah*} to be published by Colonel Whitmore . Napier, who is himself the possessor of small herd of pure short-horns. Stock ]i & ever pure, if born out of the United' ft *" dom, cannot be recorded in Coates's Hm' book ; and it has, therefore, been found cessary, in America, to compile a record the pedigrees of young stock descended f ro pure imported short-horns. Colonel \yi,j? more has undertaken the same task in p Zealand, and proposes to publish the (J! volume at his own expense. Breeders wII be wise to avail themselves of this onnortJ nity, and to put themselves in communicatm' with the compiler. ' n

Native Lands Court.—A nominal turn of all the officers in the employment J the Government was very recently laid h fore both' Houses of Assembly, having ut furnished, we presume, at the request of t ?. a Civil Service Commissioners, The return ' 9 a very interesting one, and the public own! something to the gentlemen at whose instant.! it was compiled. On looking over it, wo 'find under the iiead of Native Lands Court an almost interminable list of officers. There ar Chief and Assistant Judges; their clerks and assistant clerks; Resident Magistrates sow! broadcast all over the North Island ; \ assessors; natire policemen; native, pen sioners; and native doctors and medical at" tendants without stint. Adding tonc'hc'p the salaries of all these officers and" p En sioners, we find that they amount to tfo round sum of £29,123 18s. Of this sum! little over £2OOO is spent in the Middle Island The " pensioner" question decidedly wants a little more light thrown on it.