TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 1929, 23 February 1867, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

: The Avon Election.—Mr'Reeves met the 1 electors at the, Plough inh.j.Riccirtbn, last evenings At: : the close of thei meeting, after several questions had been put; : t6 the caiididate, a unanimous rote oi/cohfidericeiwas. passed ihfavour of Mr Reeves, and the meetiirig separated. : Marvels of. pERO.—TInV troupe will make :their-first .appearance.brt : Monday, at the :theatre. ' The programme irtcliidesa variety; of talent'in: different departments. Miss Brown is spoken of as an actress of some eminence, ..and also as being a ddriuuse of; considerable : merit; Senbr Abecco was ■ igreatly admired -in Melbourne both as a skilled harpist and a good tenor singer. ■The manager..appears to-have catered : for every .variety of taste in the\ entertainment to.be-JubmHted to the public. Theatre. EoyAL.—The. benefit of Miss Gougeriheim took place at the theatre last nightj.imderthe patronage ofhis Honor the .Superintendent; who was.preseht,' The play hinges upon an incident in;..the life, of the : royal scamp mis-named "the Merry ;Monarch:'' A number of historical' personages appear upon the scene, and the pieceis. an interesting. and : well-written one. -It was successfully played, although some of; the performers ivere not well-up in their parts, and the delays .between, the ,acts were verytedious; The amusing burlesque of" Aladdin!' terminated' the performances at a late hour, The house was well attended. Tins evening,; if wemay.put.faithin.the posters, is to be thelasfc of the season., Death from Drowning,—On Thursda}' evening last a boy named Charles Wylie; seferi years of age, was drowned whilst bathing in a creek flowing into the river Waimakaririj at Kaiapqi. It appears that, deceased,, with a. youth .named Keetley, wpnt to. the creek for the-purppse. of bathing: between 5 and 6ip.m. Keetley refused to enter the wafer, whereupon deceased ventured in by himself, when he speedily got put of his depth. He cklied; to Keetley; who wiii; on the bank, for help, hut the latter being, unabjeto render assistance, ran and told his; mother. Mr Moody and the. father of deceased were flrsttb amye oil the spot, but: by this time deeeasedhad: sunk), and could hot be found for some time untU.he was observed fibating down, the stream; Mrß. C. Dudley; -went in and ■ fetched the body out, but life: was. extinct,. An inquest.was.'held-yester-: day afternoon, before pr Dudley, but had not concluded wHen.pur express.left....

,NEW.BRiD(3E OVER THE fITAIMAKAMBI. The project of bringing, the 'W"imakafiri at corner in order.to connect ;.iiyreton. arid Oxford. moreVnearly-.with"'■'Christr' church and Kaiapoi, -ffhicji has long been desired by the residents of. these: districts, hag, during the last few days,:receited fresh; stimulus andbeen brought before the public in a tangible form. : A .Bubscriptioh list, headed; by ;Mr. Marmaduke Dixon ; with ■ £2OO, has been opened, and:already contains dohaitionsto the amount of newly £4OO. This ■list, accompanied by a petition, isf .to be presented to the Rangipra and'Mandeville Road; Board, and should they declirie'to take steps; in the:matterj is then to.be!;brought prbmvi neatly before the.;Gorerrihient. That the /bridge will prove a ;great .boon^not.only v to. I -theresidents in iia .iinmediate. Ticinity|,biit.; j also to. those.of Chrijf Ichurch.; and Kaiapoi; : tliere can- . be, : ho : '---'dt>ub£ : ""■ ' :i .-.'Wlwa backed '■'.' by the subscriptions. ■. raised, it ought to receive every: attention .from those in power. The estimated cost of the bridge and necessary approaches is'about £ISOO. It is intended to spin the river at a spot knoWnas Cherry's Ford, and in. the distance from Ghristchurch toOxford it would saveat least twelve or fifteen. miles; and.from Kaiapoi to Eyreton three or four. There are pro- ■ perly tomed roads'on each-bank to.the spot where the bridge is to be, and riothihg but tjie actual erection of that structure is re? quired to complete the line of communication. Now that active measures have been adopted we trust they may '■• be pushed forwarlwithvigp.urlandhop,e,tbe Government; will, on discussing its merits, find tbimselves 'justified in seconding the efforts of the inhabitants by means of a subsidy towards the erection 61 the bridge. Volunteer CoMiUTTBE.—On Thursday night this committee helda meetihg.attheCriteripn Hotel. Present Acting Major Steward, Captain Simmpns,Bnsign 'Blakißton,Sergcant Major Urquhart, Sergeants; Brass atidPacjc:ard, Privates Barnes, Ballard, Dpbbs, and Buxtort; and Mr Tippetts,'Hoii; Sec7 : Ensign Biakisfph occupied the chair.;'- The minutes of; the last two meetings were read and confirmed. The Chairman stated that a deputation had waited;on the^ProvincialGovernment: with; the resolution of the;committee, relative to. the provision ;of refreshments for the outlying volunteers attending the review, arid; that the Government had promised £2O for tliis purpose:; arid 1 .Major" Steward .stated that Lieutenant;: ■■'; Hawkes had' waited oh the Provincial Secretary, since: the review, aid .informed him that the cost of: .refreshments provided. bad been about £4O, and that the; secretary had given a tacit consent to pay this suin. Messrs Brooker and Spn;had:thec6ntract;,to. supply; •.theserefreshments at 8s a head, and 253 men partook of them j and the Recount: for beer supplied was £6 6s. Tlie total cost after making a few deductionawaß £44 ss, and it was resolved th it the review committee be; re-: quested by the chairman .to apply to the Provincial Secretary for -that- sum..; Major ; Stewart then brought : up'-\th'e ; _-repprt;pf the; cpncert.eommittee, the gross.receipts.of which were £68.16s Bd;' The expenses, were £3B: 16s sd, leaving a net;-biil'ance;;of;:.£3oi;.piitv of which the committee recommended an: honorarium of £5 to; Sergeant .Stansellj for his valuable servicesin gettirigupthe concert.' The report was adopted,- and it: was ...resolved: that ,the .thanks of thei committeebe.given:to : theconcert;sub-cpmmittee for. ;the ....excellent; manner in which they had arranged the concert. A letter was read .l'rom;Mrs;FitzGerald expressing her. gratification at; : having, been, able to assist at the -concert,.. ancLetating.that her early depnrture for.Wellington: would. probably prevent her from, rendering simitar assistance pii any future occasion. It was resolved that the thanks of the committee be given to those ladies who had kindly given, their aid at the late concert: It wasresolved. that the correspondencebetween the comrhanding officer and the sub-committee appointed to suggest and receive instruction*.from tlie.: commanding officer connected with ; the review belaid on the tabh. The ciirrespijh-' deuce was accordingly produced. An.account qf £3l Is to Cole and Co'was ordered. tpbe paid. PrivateDobbsof No:2 Battalion; stated that the .-Battalion desired to..expressits sense of the courtesy extended -to. it by the other companies on the .day of the late review.. It was then resolved that the thanks: of this Committee, are diie; to the review j committee, for the saiisfactory tier in which they■-'■: carried out. the'.' Views pf , the' .general : committee, considering the circumstances, in which they were placed. The Chairman then read two protests wiiichhe had' received ngainst tlie | result of the .shooting for Mr Luck's cUp. One of private Ballard,dh behalf of the competitors of No. 6; Company, stated' that the triggers had -not, been; properly te>te<l. This protest [ was referred ;by the committee to ttie' ; officers commanding the j squads-at-'i'ih'e'fiiriiig who, being, present;'! dtcided that it be-disallowed. Tiie (Other-! ■protest which was made by the.coinpetitprs of No, 6 Company stated that, the trigger, used by a member of No. 1 Company bad,

been.: tampered with. In reference to this protest, the committee resolved that No. 1 Company won Mr Luck's cup, on the conditions laid down for the match. On the suggestion of private Dobbs, it was agreed that an early application should be made to the Government for the capitation allowance. : The cup given by MrE. B. Ilishop was exhibited, and it was resolved that the words, "in succession" be erased from the inscription upon it. Some accounts were then passed, and the meeting adjourned. •Mdkdkr on the West Coast Boad.— We have received some further information .in, reference to this murder. It appears that two. men, the one named Kerr, the other only known as Jem, travelled in company with fifteen Chinese, who started from the West Coast diggings to go overland to Otaso. The :twp..inen accompanied the Chinese a3 far as the Cass River Hotel, where Kerr obtained :work and remained. Jem went on with •them, and was seen in their company between Craigieburn and the scene of the murder. After this no European was seenJn their icqmpany until their arrival at the notel on this.side of Porter's Pass. It appears that a lEuropean was in their company, but he does not'answer to the description given of Jem. However, he stated that he was going with them to Otago. On the Cliristchurch side another European was seen in their company, who.nearly corresponds with the description .of; Jem, but who did not wear a similar dress. The;. Chinese turned off at Grainger's near the Racecourse Hill, and '.oris their arrival at Davis's station, where they camped for awhile, no European was ia their company. Thence they proceeded towards the Selwyn, and camped at Mr-. Westeiira'a station, still unaccompanied by any European. Kerr states to the police that his mate wore similar articles of clothing to those found buried near the spot where the body was found. Some Chinese counters named "cash," were found in the hut. A billy, and part of a canteen was also found buried near the spot, an<L Kerr states that whilst in the company of the Chinese, he saw three or four similar ones ih.their possession. A small bottle was also found in the hut, which Kerr says is similar tb ; : the one carried by Jem when he left in company with the Chinese, and in which he carriea oil, for the purpose of applying to his feet. Some other small articles were found near, the place were the body was buried wWch Kerr says he never saw Jem carry. The hat Jem wore has not been found. :He : had also a blue cloth coat and vest, which have not yet been discovered. A red-checked shirt, a checked cotton shirt, and a hat which ICerr has not yet seen, were found rolled up together, a short distance from the scene of the murder. It appears that the Chinese camped about half a mile on the Castle Hill side of the hut where the murder is supposed to Have taken place Here the police found a pair of nearly new dungaree Chinese trou-sers-and two very old Chinese jumpers, Kerr describes Jem as being about 30 years of age, fiyefeet seven or eight inches in height, light hair; small thin sandy whiskers and moustache, with some peculiarity in one of his .teeth. This description exactly corresponds with that of the murdered man. The deceased wore a pair of boots cut across the toes. When he parted with Kerr he obtained instructions from him as to a short cut by turning off from Lake Lyndon to the Rakaia. The'Cliinese did not take this route but went round by Porter's Pass. Two of the Chinese spoke English fluently, and one of them, who had been engaged as cook on the West Coast, wore English clothes. He appeared to be the .leader of the party. They were all in want of money, and were endeavouring to sell all the small articles they possessed as they went along. They crossed the Waitangi on their way to' the Otago province, on the i6tli inst., and the Otago police have been communicated' with on the subject. Every inquiry has been made, but up ti the present moment nothing has been heard of Jem. It is still possible that he might have parted company with the Chinese, and turned off by himself at Lake Lyndon to the: Kakaia, or he might have come direct to Cliristeliurch. The tomahawk found, corresponds exactly with the one which Kerr states Jem had in his possession. On one of the legs of the new moleskin trousers found was a portion of one of the Christchurch newspapers. High School Lectures.—Last evening ;Dr Haast delivered the second of his course on' Geology, at the Town Hall. The Rev. .Charles Eraser occupied the chair. The learned lecturer commenced his discourse by stating that the object of his present lecture was: chiefly to give an explanation of the stratified or sedimentary rocks, which unlike the.primary or plutonic rocks which formed the inner coating of the central mass of the globe, had been deposited by means of water. In determining the relative age of any one of these layers of rock, its composition was not how. considered to be a sufficient index. Chalk and sandstone were substances very different in composition, but they were found to con,tain: similar fossil remains, and the relative ages of fossils having been scientifically determined, they in their turn determined the relative ages of the rocks in which they were found. By fossils, the lecturer said he meant the.remains or indications of the former presence of animals and plants. These fossils were divided into four classes; they consisted < Ist, .of some of the actual substance of the animal or plant, which had lived coevally with the deposit in which it was found, as for instance,'its shell, bones, or teeth ; the softer parts were of course too destructible to be preserved. The second class consisted of thereplacement by another substance of part of an animal or plant; the third class consisted of casts or moulds of the creatures whose forms had been thus preserved by impression on the rock while in a soft state; and the fourth class consisted of simple imprints as of the foot of an animal while walking. The lecturer then went into some calculations on the remoteness of the earliest geological /ossiferous epochs, and commented upon the division of the strata into ; periods, and of periods into groups and epochs; and concluded this passage of his ; lecture by stating that the total thickness of ;thestratifled rocks was about 112,000 feet. Then descending from the grander ideas /of.. the science into comparative details, he stated that in the rocks were found sixty distinct elements. Rocks, he said, were simple or mixed. Examples of .simple rocks were quartz, limestone, felsite, &ci. Mixed rocks were clay slate, mica-slate, 'gneiss, &c, and\ the?e were divided into crystalline and mechanically mixed rocks, and ■again subdivided into such as were distinctly ..and indistinctly mixed. The three rocks just named were crystalline. Some of the mechanically mixed rocks were breccia, conglomerates, and sandstones, which are distinctly mixed j and marl, clay, and fuller's earth, which are indistinctly mixed. The lecturer here exhibited specimens of some of the rocks described, and in the crystalline irocks' pointed out the different forms of : the crystals in carbonate of lime, felspar, hornblende, &c, and then proceeded to remark on the fossils found in the sedimentary rocks, by far the greater part of which he said were of aquatic species, some ; of them of monstrous proportions, and most of ; them now extinct; only three species of existing animals being found in the tertiary strata, which consist of but comparatively recent /deposits. He then explained the difference between what are technically called conformable and uni-onfurmible rocks, by a drawing on the black board. Conformable riles consisting of strata lying parallel to one'another, and unconformable rocks being strata, one series of which have been disturbed ,from their original position, and shifted for ..instance, from a horizontal to a perpeidicular one, and the other series having been deposited horizontally above them. The third and last lecture o£ the series will be delivered on Tuesday evening next.