TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2059, 27 July 1867, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

t River Grey Coal Company.—A deputation of. the shareholders in this company will meet at the Government Buildings this day, at noon, in order .to have an interview with the mombers of the Government. Volunteer Ball.—The Officers and Non-commissioned' Officers of No. 5 Company intend giving a ball to the men under their command during next month. It is to take place at the Kaikainui Hotel, and a number of civilians is also to be. inyited. Tiie necessary preliminaries are being arranged, but the precise date has not yet.been decided upon. West Coast TnAwm-The following return shews the number of people and of Btock that have passed the Bealey to and from the West Canterbury Goliflelds for the week ending July 20 :-To the goldfieldsmales, 48; horses, 35; cattle, 325; sheep, 500. From the goldflelds—males, 19; horses, 15. Akaeoa and Wainui Road District.— A meeting of ratepayers .of the above district was held in the Survey Office, Akaroa, on Wednesday, the 24th inst'., for the election of a member for the ;R6ad Board;in the'placei of MrvGeorge'Haylock.Avhonadlreßigned:. 1 Mr C. J. Waeckerle;- the /Chairman of .■■'the' Board,presided. ; ; MrGarwood proposed, arid Mr Scarbrough l seconded the appointments Mr Henry^Piper : v:tb^the, : ;vacantf«eat;- : : ;W other; candidatei;being;proposed," .Mr.: Piper. was declared by the ; Chairman .'-'to -be (July

GAZBrTB/r-Tlie;.;., General:,Government 5 Gazette, dated July 20, 'contains an"'.order in Council making regulations.for.the management of Poßtrofßce»;in"the,;:colony.iThe schedule of regulations contains.2l6 clauses. Another Gazette, ;. dated July' 24, ; contains harbour regulations for the several ports of. entry on theiWest Coast of the province of Canterbury,, to '.come into operation/on August 1. the/Canterbury Rifle Volunteen, Alfred Maskell is to be Ensign in No 3 Company.v : The.following resignations have been accepted :—Captain : and Adjutant Charles Cook, Ist"Battalion';' Captain W. J. Steward, No 6; and 2nd Lieut. C, M. Igglesderi of the Artillery. . J, The Godlet Statue.—Last night,-at the meeting of the City Council,' the chairman stated that it had been decided to inaugurate this statue on August 6, being the anniversary of the birth of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. Two platforms are to be erected by MrMountfort around the statue, one for the ladies, and the other for those functionaries who are to take part in the ceremony. Mr C. C. Bowen, the Resident Magistrate, will formally hand over the statue to the City Council. A general : holiday will be proclaimed, the Government granting £SO towards the expenses of the inauguration, The Volunteers, with their band, will be in attendance. :? A; committee, consisting •of the Very Rev; the Dean of Christchurch; Messrs C. £ Bowen, Header, W. Wilson, F. E. Stewart, and J. S. Williams; has been appointed .to ; out the details ■: of.; the ceremonial, and will hold a meeting this, day at the Government Buildings at noonV Captain Charlrs Simbon,—We regret to record the death of Captain Charles Simeon after a lingering illness. "Captain Simeon was one of the early Canterbury settlers, and for some time held the office of Resident Magistrate, at Lyttelton and,Christchurch. He was the first Provincial Treasurer after local government had been granted to the provinces, and was.elected to the office of Speaker on the opening of the first Prov ncial Council in 1853. : Captain Simeon held a high position in the.regard of his fellow colonists,. and „ there are. many, of his old friends still in Canterbury;who wilt read this announcement of his death with great regret, Expected Visitors;— Two of the bers of the old...Canterbury;Association; founders, wemay'call them, of this province; are about to pay ub a visit.:. Lord Lyttelton and Mr Selfe leave England by theNotember Panama: steamer,;; and. expect to eat their Christmas dinner.at Wellington with one of their; former colleague—Mr, .HtzGeruld; Lord Lyttelton was the Chairman; oiUhe Association ; botii ho and Mr Selfe,'; apart from the numerous services they have rendered to this settlement, have always entertained a raoßt lively .personal interest In its welfaro and progress, and their knowledge of persons and places, and current local history, is auid to be such that they might almost be supposed to have lived here. In fact, once Mr Selfe was asked by a lady, who had spent some months.in.Canterbury,, and after an hour's conversation with her, " Don't you long to get back thore 1" It is not, we believe, generally known that Lord Lyttelton was at one time Under-Secretary of State for the colonies. :^'

Mk Cuosniß'WAiti),-A private letter lias, we learn, been received from Mr Crosblo Ward, dated 3rd June, the day before the Matur* reached Panama, lit which lie reports "all well.'Und appears to write In good health and spirits. Uter accounts aiate that the heat of the climate was most oppressive (as might bo expected at midsummer), and that having to wait a fortnight for the New York steamer, lie ha I become somewhat weak. We may conclude, therefore, that the illness mentioned in (lie Wellington telegram was owing only to a temporary cause, and that on the whole he hod benefited by the voyage. Mrs Ward had the good fortune, to meet a brother at Panama, an officer on board Ii.M.H. Scout, which was Btiitioned ihcre.i:, Panama is described a« a. Uorriblo hole.:; Tho Mataura" experienced bud .weather at;, starting from ; New Zealand', but tho rest of the voyage was in every way agreeablel as to ship, weather; Captain, and passengers. Whim all but '"■" on the':': Lino"''"''tlio : weather .wns doliciously

calm and cool-very different from our experiences on tho "Lino" in tho old Atlantic passage

LKOTUHB.-Last night Lieutenant Dobson delivered his third lecture in tho Orderlyroom, on Fortification. The special subject was "Linos of Defence and Military Posts," llio lecturer prefaced his special instructions by romarking that the principles of fortlflcatonwfo universally the samo, md appear aiiKo n tho simplest earthworks and tho most elaborately constructed fortross j and ho recommended h!s auditors to study tho plans <>f permanent fortiflcatlons, and master tho principles on which they havo been designed, st a preparation for taking advantage 1,, tho field, of every natural feaHire ot tho ground which oun be made accessory to the defence of a temporary post, 110 then proceeded to describe redan lines; and reviewed what ho had said on this subject in ma last lecture, reverting to the different systems of tracing these lines:—that is to say nes in which a flank defence is obtained by throwing out redans. He then pracooded to describe light earthworks and the methods of defending ledges; and dwelt upon tho uses of logs for defence, in a tlmbered country, and how garden walls and ow swampy ground could bo made available for defence; and he illustrated his opinions on the use of timbor by narrating portions of the American war of secession, in which trees were largely used for the formation of breastworks, &c. He then shewed his auditory how to defend bridges, and went on to describe the lines of Torres Vedras, of which he gave a very graphic account, and was istened to with much interest. We are, however, quite unable to do justice to the lecturer, through want of space, and must conclude our extremely brief notice of it by expressing our regret that we cannot make it more complete.