TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2345, 29 June 1868, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Akaroa Literart Institute. The annual meeting of subscribers to the above is appointed to be held at the library, Akaroa on Wednesday, the Ist July. ' lea Meeting,—A public tea meeting in aid of the fun is of the Independent Methodist Church, Montreal street, will be held this evening.

iKStTKANCE.—We understand that a private meeting of the ngeut3 representing the various Insurance Companies in Christchurch is to be held to-duy. The object' of the meeting has not transpired, but the public will be able to form a shrewd guess. Wiialing.—The boats at the fishery of Mr 11. Buchanan, Ikolaki, succeeded in capturing their first whale of the season on the 24th inst.j it is estimated to turn out about five tuns of oil, and a proportionate quantity of bone. We have no accounts from Mr Wright's fishery at Island Bay. Magisterial,-At the Uesident Magistrate's Court at Akaroa, on the 26th inst. before J, Watson, Esq., K.M., James Wilson sued C. J. Waeckerle, chairman of the Akaroa and Wainui Koad Board, for £6 14s, alleged balance due on the building of a bridge at Duveauchelle Bay. The case was dismissed plaintiff to pay costs. ' The Patea Expedition.—We learn from our late files that the Sturt arrived at Wanganui on June 23, with the Wellington quota of the expedition. Haring taken on board twenty-one men, selected from the Wanganui Volunteers, and military stores, the sturt dropped down the river and started at daylight on the following morning, for Patea. Meeting of Creditors.—A meeting of creditors in the estate of Charles Cecil Rookes was to have been held at the Registry's Chambers, at 11 o'clock on Saturday, but only one creditor attended, and the meeting consequently lapsed. The liabilities in this matter Rje the same as stated in the previous petition under the .Debtors and Creditors Act, namely, £800; «nd the assets, £2<): defluency, £7BO. Mr Slater is solicitor for the bankrupt.

Lytielton Hook ahd Ladder Biuqade, -At a special committee meeting, held mi iriday evening in the Colonists' Hull, relative to the consideration of Air Bird's offer to the Council of the engine of the Liverpool and Loudon and Giobp Insurance Company, and which had been referreil to the brigade by tbe Council, it was proposed by Mr England, and seconded by Mr Alluright, '"lliat this committee has no objection to undertake the charge of tbe engine offered by Mr Bird, on condition that they are indemnified for all expense connected therewith." f his resolution was carried unanimously, and the secretary was directed to notify the same to the Council,

j DETENTioN.-We would wish to draw the attention of the Post Office authorities to the length of time which the steamer Betsy Douglas is detained waiting in Lyttelton for the Akaroa and Pigeon Bay mails. On the 25th inst. she did not start on her voyage uutil an hour after the arrival of the 930 a.m. train in Lyttelton. This, taking into consideration the shortness of the days and badness of the roads on tbe Peninsula is a serious inconvenience to parties travelling to Akaroa. Surely a simpler plau would be to make up the mails in Christcburch, Lyttelton sending her mail separately, this would save the time occupied in making up the Christchurch mails in Lyttelton. Pleoro-Pnkumonia. The symptoms of tins disease amongst the cattle on the Maori reserve at Woodend are gradually becoming of a somewhat more favourable nature. Too much reliance should not, however, be placed upon its continuance, for tbe original mob having all been destroyed may have caused what is probably only a temporary check of the disease. The present wet weather is not of tbe most favourable description for furthering its crndieation, but would rather be most fatal in iis results if a warm close atmosphere were to accompany tbe return of fine weather. On lliursday List Mr Hill paid another visit to

the reserve, but only found it necessary to destroy one out of the 500 head of cuttle now remaining in quarantine. Mr Hill is in hopes that the steady decline of the disease will continue, and has certaiuly at present a favourable opinion of it,

West land Codntt Council.—The members of the Westland County Council, by a majority of six to two, have adopted a resolution censuring the chairman for the measures he had taken to suppress the late political disturbances The resolution is interpreted to mean a request to the Governor to dismiss the Chairman, An amendment

in favour of the chairman was proposed by Mr Shaw, Mayor of Hokitika, but it was not even seconded. The following is the resolution referred lo above. It was proposed by Mr Hoos, one of the county members, and seconded by Mr Harrison, member for Greymouth : —That this Council regrets the occurrence of the late disturbances which have taken plane during the recess of its sittings; and that this Council is of opinion that it ought to have been called together to render that advic6 and assistance to the Chairman of the County Council, as prescribed in

he Weatland County Act, Clau e 13, with he Object of adopting measures to suppress hat disturbance, and to make provisions for ny emergency that might arise ; and, ecomily, that in the opinion of this Council tis desirable that the above resolution be irought under the notice of his Excellency lie Governor's delegate, with a view to assert hat the functions of this Council, can on no retence, be dispensed with for the future." Westland and the Canterbury Debt, -A. select committee of the Westland County 'Ouncil, appointed to consider the existing rrangement'With regard to Westland's con ribution to the debts of this province, has nade _ the following recommendation Taking the land revenue of the Province f Canterbury, on the average of the last fiv ears at £200,000, and that of Westland a :50,000, and assuming the Customs to main ain the proportion appearing in a precedini able, the amount of charge for interest ant inking fund would be about as follows--3 interbury, £24,826 ; Westland, £15,804 r our coramitteo cannot find that the existinj irftngement is based upon any grounds o Pity or justice, and they recommend tha he Council should petition hath Houses o -irliament, praying tlmt the whole matte nay be re-opened and referred to the consi leration of select Committees of both Houses nd also that steps should be taken by th "ounty Council to have the case of the count iroperly laid before such committee. Headings.—The first of the series of th Colonists' Winter Kvening Readings tool >la< e on Friday evening, and we were sorry t ee sopooran attendance. DrDonald,presiden if the society, took the chair, and gave a brie ccount of the progress of the society. Th said, hoped to have been wel upported in their undertaking to provide ilieap evening's recreation. A glee having beei ung by Messrs Plimmer, Hilier, and Ellisdor fr J. Ollivier, who had kindly consented ti live the readings, then read " Arelic of Genera Jauset," « The (('Connors of Castle Connor. 1 'The Little Vulgar Boy," "The Frenchmai ■nd the rats,and "Vat you please." Th udience testified their appreciation by fre [uently applauding. Mr Carder sang tw ongs during the evening, and wa ncored. Mrs Grant kindly presided a he pianoforte, and during the eveninj ilayed a solo which was encored. D )onald proposed a vote of thanks to M )llivier, Captain Gibson, Mr Carder, and Mr irant, which was carried by acclammation vftptain Gibson returned thanks, and gave at ;ccount of difficulties he had met with ii tarting these readings. Dr Donald said i iad been hinted tn him that it would be i ;ood plan to form among the members i fading society. It was a fact that fe\ englishmen or Englishwomen could reai atisfactorily to themselves or others, If i :lass were formed he would aid it. Th infjing of the National Anthem brought tin mtertainment to a close. Runaways,—On Friday three pair ■ liors earns bolted simultaneously from the fron if the Kaiapoi Steam-mill, The drivers wer "side getting their receipt?, when the engin >lew off steam, frightening the horses, whicl wltcd up the street and across the sand-hills Jne of the teams came into collision with i elegraph pole, knocking it down. Beyorn lome trifling damage to the harness, all th earns were uninjured, being stopped on tin land-hills. The telegraph pole has since beei ■opliceil.—A horse attached to a dray, belong ng to a man named Gallagher, took frigh ipposite Heece s, in Colombo street, on Satui lay forenoon ; but no culpability attaches t he driver, for he was standing at the horse' lead, with the reins in his hand, when th tnimal took fright at a woman who was com ng out of the slwp, carrying a large baskel jrallagher lost his hold of the reins, and th torse galloped off at a tremendous pace file dray grazed the lamp wliieh has recentl ieen erected at Brass' corner, and came ii lontact with a post on the opposite side o lie street, smashing it close to the ground I lie animal continued its career along th •ight-hand side of Cashel street, as far dowi is Parker's old registry office, where, comini n collision with a post, it was thrown to th ;round. The dray sustained some sligh lamage, and the horse was lamed. It is some vhat surprising that no further acciden esulted, as there were a great many dray; ind traps along the line of thoroughfare takei )}' the runaway, Explanation— Pleuro-Pneumonia.—W mve received ii letter from Messrs Peter am Donald Gumming, requesting us to contra lict certain allegations and insinuations mad >y our reporter, which appeared in the loca lolutnns of this journal on the 16th and 18tl if this month. Our readers will perhap ieed to be reminded that the Messrs Cum ning recently drove some cattle from th Mson province into Canterbury, and thai lie cattle were destroyed, under the provi ions of the law for the prevention of th pread of pleuro-pneumonia. Our corres londents object to several items in the re wrt, which appeared on the 16th, where it i tated that "the persons driving the cattl lid not come by the usual way, evident) mowing that they were doing wrong, 4c.' tears Cumming deny this insinuation, ant listinctly assert that they cime by the usua 'ay, and were not aware that they were doint mng by introducing the cattle. Our cor vspon lents point outthat the report is wrom nth regard to the date on which they crosses he river. 1 his is stated by the paper to havi ieen the 11th inst, whereas it was on the 9tl Vgain it is pointed out that on the 18th inst he reporter says, that" the Messrs Cummini nust have been acquainted with the fact o uch a proceeding being prohibited, and al bough the loss of their cattle is in itself m iglit penalty for their conduct, vet they cer ainly deserve other punishment" also." W .re at all times glad to correct any misstate nents which may accidentally appear inou lolu'iins, and therefore do not hesitate to d< oin this instance. The observations mad' iy our reporter upon the merits of this ens ire evidently founded in error and ou K h lever to have appeared in our columns. % ssure Messrs Cumming that we are as mucl innoyed at the appearance of such ignoran sumptions as they can be, and that it i [uite unnecessary for them to threaten ut vitli a lawyer's letter in order to obtaii ustice at our hands. Our object a eporters is to publish truthful facts am Iwse only, but when, as will sometime iappen, wrong facts or unjust reflection! reep into our columns we shall always b ound ready to withdraw the one and apo ogise for the other as we do in this instance Gkraldine District Local Protectioi jeague.—A meeting of the committee o his league was held at the Assembly Rooms L'eiuuka, on 'l'uesday evening last. Ther M 8 a good attendance of members, althougl ery inclement weather and rising rivers kep drCox and many others away, who hai ignified their intention of being present I'lie following were the principal resolution lassed" That this meeting thorough!' upports Mr Cox in his efforts to establish 1 ystem of local self-government in this par if the province; also confirms his objection ti central board, having a supreme contro ver the local revenue of the same." " Thai re petition the General Assembly to pass i ;eneral county scheme, founded on the one o: ast session, and respectfully suggest that thi Legislative power of counties consists o lodies similarly constituted to the presen toad Boards, only with a greatly increase! lumber of members and apportioned repre entation, and endowed with full power ove; lie revenue that may be awarded to countie iy the Assembly." " That this meeting i t' opinion that the present Road Boards vitli an increased number of members, ar nstitutions that will secure an equitable ex lenditure of local revenue, and that tliei lumber gives a guarantee of the same. Tha he General Government should have ni ontrol over local revenue." A public meet ng, to consider these resolutions, is called fo Vednesday evening next, at the Assembl; loom, Temuka. The meeting was ver] inanimous in the opinion that no intermedial »>dy, such as the Timaru and Gladston Joard of Works, is required, but onlj n extended system of Road Boards These Boards lnve, as a rule, worked wel n this district, although it has long been fel .hat the number of members was too small b; Ear. The feeling against any further estab" lishment of centralism is very strong here and we find both the members of the '1 imari and Gladstone Board of Works, for th Gnraldine Road Board district-Messrs J

Cox, M.H.R. and J. Hayhurst—testifying against it. At a previous meeting of the Geraldine District League, held at Temuka, on the 11th June, Mr Hayhurst said:—He trusted that this league would never consent to only one county being formed between the Eangitata and the Waitaki. Let there be at least three counties j one south, for the Waimate district; one central, for Timaru; and one north, for this district; if not, the change would not benefit this part of Canterbury. He greatly objected to making Timaru a centre, and being ruled from there. And, at the public meeting held in Timaru, on the 17th instant, we find Mr Cox saying:— If a county is established, that is as the context shows, one county from the Rangitata to the Waitaki, I am not going to give up the idea I have always held that it would be an unsafe thing to create a central board, and give it absolute power over the funds; we must keep clear of that.

The Panama Mail Service —The Sydney Morning Herald, in an article on the European and Australasian Mail Services, saysA regular fortnightly mail is only a question of time ; The Panama line was designed to furnish that to some extent, but the scheme is altogether upset by the adoption of the lunar month for one line, while the calendar month is used on the other. The two timetables dovetailed together very well, but now they are in hopeless confusion. The Panama line, however, has developed a considerable passenger traffic, and will do so more now that the detention at St Thomas' has been done away with. And it has also a considerable indirect commercial value to these colonies. This year, for instance, our bad harvest has made us dependent on California and chili for a supply of wheat and flour, lne steam communication that exists between us and those two granaries keeps down the market price here. The public will save this jear, in the cost of the loaf, a great deal more than the amount of the subsidy to the steam company. Tni: Gretmodtii Coal Mimes.— The Cr'ra/ River Argus of J une 23, is enabled to state, on the authority of a telegram received from the Nelson Government to Mr Commissioner Kynnersley, at Cobden, that the subject of locking up the Brunner Coal Mine has been reconsidered, and the obnoxious resolution previously- carried rescinded. Beyond this we know nothing positively, but we can easily anti ipate that the next step will be the opening up of the Brunner Mine to public competition, and that the Government will be enabled to offer a long lease, upon the most liberal terms, as an inducement for the investment of capital i« the undertaking. We trust he terms formerly offered will nowbe adhered to-that any company taking up the mine must be prepared to lay down a line of railWft Ll r ? tl,e works t0 tlie wharf at Cobden, and that, on the other hand, every facility will be given to such a company for working the mine. Phis is absolutely necessary for the prosperity of any company, because, for the future, the Brunner Mine will not have the coal trade of the port entirely in its own Hands. In this respect matters have recently changed for the better, as the Christcburch Company, on the south side of the river, are now pushing on their works with vigour, and are bringing to town a large supply of excellent coall j and will certainly prove a very asm: