TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2742, 19 October 1869, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Court op Appeal. —His Honor Mr Justice Gresson, together with some members of the legal profession, left for Wellington by the s.s. Lord Ashley, on Sunday, in order to attend the Court of Appeal. Kaiapoi Swing Bridge. —The passenger traffic which had been temporarily opened on Sunday was again stopped yesterday, in order to enable the contractor to draw the old piles under the swing .It is to be hoped that the traffic will shortly be permanently re-opened. Cricket. —The next match of the season will be played on the 9th November, and is to be the First Eleven v. Fifteen Colts under the captaincy of Mr Fowler. The latter are to be chosen from all cricketers in the province who have not played in any of the interprovincial matches with Otago. Mr Fowler will choose his fifteen from the following—Messrs Ansin, Alington, C. S., Blakiston, Beauford, Chapman, Condell, Dumergue, Dignanj, Holderness, Hobbs, Lee, A., Lee, G., Miles, Murray, J., Parkerson, Pierce, Reade, G. A., Beads; h. E., Souter, Turner, Williams, C. F., Williams, C. H., and Wright. The Fifteen will practice every Tuesday and Thursday, commencing on Thursday next on the U. C. C. ground.

Heathcotb Boad Board. —The Board held their usual meeting at the office, Ferry Boad, yesterday, when all the members were present. The chairman occupied the chair, and the minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Letters were read from Mr Davis relative to the condition of the road near the Union Wharf, and referred to an accident that had happened through the bad state of the road in question. The Surveyor was instructed to have the road repaired at once. A letter from Mr Shand, chairman, Biccarton Boad Board asking the co-operation of the Board in getting a bill passed during the present session of the Council for the eradication of the thistles which have now become a great nuisance. A letter from Mr T. Johnson was read, asking the Board to reduce the sum to be paid for tolls on the swing bridge, as he was having a large quantity of flax brought from Sumner, which made the expense of carting very great. The Board declined to entertain the application. A letter was read from Mr M'Hutcheson, complaining 'of the growth of gorse on the road near his property. The Surveyor was instructed to carry out the 67th clause of the Boads Ordinance by having the gorse cut and removed from the roads and hedges adjoining the same, and to sendnotices to persons occupying the land to do the above work as specified in the above clause. The Surveyor was directed to acknowledge the letter from the chairman of the Biccarton Boad Board, and state that this Board will co-operate in any useful measure to eradicate the Scotch thistle ; and to write to the members of the Provincial Council representing this district calling their attention to the alarming spread of this most noxious weed, particularly on the waste lands of the Crown, and that they be requested to bring the matter at once before the Council, with the view to having active measures taken to carry out the provisions of the Thistle Ordinance, and otherwise take steps towards putting a stop to so serious an evil. The surveyor was directed to call the attention of the Spreydon Board to the imperfect manner in which the drain on the west side of Colombo street had been cleaned and altered under the direction of that Board. He was also directed to have some work done to Elmer’s road, if the residents near would assist, and to complain to the police of the cattle which are allowed to wander at large on the roads in the district. The Board; after passing accounts for work done, adjourned untUMonday, the Ist Novembernext. Agricultural Association. A numerously attended meeting of the committee was held in Wilson and Co.’s office, yesterday afternoon, Mr B. Wilkin presiding. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and sundry accounts were passed for payment. The list of judges was received in accordance with the answers received from those gentlemen requested to undertake such duties at the ensuing show. A letter was read from the Secretary of the Horticultural Society, enquiring whether the “ extra” ticket holders of that body would be admitted to the agricultural grounds on the same terms as the members proper, viz., half the price charged to the general public. The secretary was instructed to reply in the negative, the committee holding that the concession of half price to the season ticket holders was sufficient. A letter was also read from Dr J. D. Frankish, pointing out that prizes were offered by the Society for the best fillies for carriage purposes foaled respectively since 1866 and 1867, but none for geldings, and urging that these latter being generally the most preferred for carriage work, it would debar several owners from competing. The omission having been accidental, the necessary alteration was ordered to be made in the catalogue. The following gentlemen were appointed class stewards for the coming show :—Sheep—B. Wilkin. Cattle Mitchell. Blood horses Bruce. Other horses—J. Shand. Poultry—E. W. Fereday. They were also empowered to decide all protests—a meeting to be held in the office on the ground for that purpose at three p.m. The secretary was instructed to advertise for a tent for exhibiting the market

produce, and it was decided to submit the sites for refreshment booths by public auction. A baud was ordesed to be engaged for the day, and it waa arranged to trim the fence around the grounds immediately after the show. The following tenders for renting the society's grounds were opened and considered :—W. Wilson and 00., £2B 10s ;A. M’Dowell, £3O; A. 0. Cotterell, 36s per acre; Thos. King, AM. The tender of Thos. King was accepted. It was resolved that stock for sale should be entered, and subject to the same conditions as extra stock. A scale of charges for amusement stands was drawn up. Messrs W. Wilson, Stace, and Bruce, were appointed as> committee to arrange the price and place for the annual dinner, which is to be held on the evening of the show, tiie former not to exceed 2s 6d each. It was resolved that ploughs and harrows should be tested the day previous to the show, the judges of the implement class to make the T.o/.oqq.ry arrangements, and the secretary to advertise it.

The English Fundholders. —On the first dividend day last year there were 847,002 persons entitled to dividends on stock in the public funds. There were no less than 83,224 persons entitled to dividends not exceeding £5 ; 38,394 to dividends above £5, but not exceeding £10; 84,186 to dividends above £lO, but not exceeding £SO. The list then becomes very small by degrees; less than a fifth of the fundholders remain to be counted. 23,282 received dividends between £SO and £IOO, 12,484 between £IOO and £2OO, 3416 between £2OO and £3OO, 2247 between £3OO and £SOO, 1157 - between £SOO and £IOOO, -tOO between £IOOO and £2OOO, and 210 above £2OOO. All these are dividends for the half-year, and are repeated before the year closes, the same amount being receivable every half-year with « beautiful simplicity.” Twelve years previously, in 1866, the fundholders were as many as 268,359. The large holders are more in number now than they were then; in 1856, 1665 persons received more than £SOO as their half-year’s dividend, in 1868 1768. Indian Railways.— The only accidents peculiar to India are those which are the result of floods, cyclones, and such disturbances of the elements. In 1864 the lower part of Bengal was visited by a tremendous hurricane, but although sheds were levelled to the ground, roofs were torn away, and part of a train, including the engine, was blown over, no lives were lost. On this occasion, damage to the amount of £50,000 was done to railway property. On another occasion, on the Bombay side, the results were even more disastrous. A viaduct on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway was carried away by the violence of a flood, and a night-train following soon after ran into the vortex, taking with it a number of native passengers, fourteen of whom were killed. The bridge over the Nerbudda River, on the line between Bombay and Baroda, has more than once suffered injury from the violence of the torrent. In Scinde, on one occasion, a whole village on the banks of a nullah was carried away and brought down a railway bridge in its ruin. Wild animals have also been the cause of accidents. The other day an elephant charged a train and was killed, but such was the resistance which he offered that the. engine-driver was thrown off and injured. A buffalo has also been known to throw a train off the line by getting in its way. An Arht of Priests. —The following is from the Globe:—The ecclesiastical authorities of Berne have just published a census for the present year. These statistics show that the regular clergy is composed of 2265 persons, thus divided:—Cardinals, 32; bishops, 26; priests and clerks, 1366; and students at the ecclesiastical colleges, 841. The religious communities count 5215 souls, 2969 men and 2256 women. The lay population amounts to 197,198 ; soldiers in garrison, 10,207; prisoners under sentenae, 328 ; Protestants, 637; and Jews, 8688, making a total of 220,532, or| an increase of 3154 over the year 1866. The number of families is 42.515, or an average of rather more than five persons to each; Males are more numerous than females, the fgures being, 118,873 and 101,659 respective}*. Longevity te greater among the latter; of persona who have attained the age of 70 to 60 the women count 2367, and the men 8144 only; from 80 to 90, 556 and 495; and between 90 to 100, 55 and 34. The number of cardinals residing in the Eternal City has remained nearly the same during ten years, never having been below 29 not above 34; at present it is 32. The same remark does not apply to the bishops, who have never been so few. In 1864 they counted 40 ; at this moment there are no more than 26, Priests and regular clerks have also diminished during the last decennial period, the number never being so low. In 1864 it was 1504; at present it is 1366. On the other hand, the members of religious communities have augmented ; in iB6O the males were 2390, and the females 2031; the progression has been constant, and the figures now are 2959 and 2256. This increase is naturally explained by the confiscation of the Church property in Italy, and the expulsion of the monks and nuns from their monasteries and convents, many of them having sought an asylum in the capital of Christendom.

Bed-book Ventilation. —Is it necessary to state that the sickening odours, so perceptible at the first of the morning in any ill▼entilated sleeping-apartment, arise from the fact that a considerable volume of carbonic acid, with the vapour of perspiration and other animal exhalations, are mingled with the atmosphere of the chamber ? Science proves that all these products are deadly poisons. Nature expels them from the system, because they poison the system. Yet we insist on enclosing them within four walls. We shut up doors, windows, and even chim-ney-places, that not a particle may escape. Nay, we surround our beds with close-drawn curtains for the express purpose, it would seem, of preventing ventilation, for the express purpose of hugging close the poisonous atmosphere of our own bodies, and so reabsorbing into our systems the very atoms which, by the laws of God, have been cast out because they are detrimental. That we do reabsorb these poisons, needs no proof. The same act of breathing which renders them perceptible to the sense of smell causes them to visit every air-cell, to permeate every blood-vessel of the lungs, and come into positive contact with all the countless myriads of streams which are traversing the one hundred and sixty-six square yards of respiratory surface. . . Perhaps there is no more startling proof of the utter ignorance that exists concerning the laws of health than is manifested in the construction' of our houses. Halls, ante-rooms, and drawing-rooms, which during a portion of the daycare generally left empty —which may at any time be aired by the opening of windows, and which are constantly being ventilated by the opening and shutting of doors, or by draughts towards the chimney—these apartments are always the most Spacious and airy 5 while bed-rooms, which are generally tenanted with closed doors and windows for eight or nine consecutive hours—where, therefore, the vitiation of the air must be very great, and where, in consequence, an ampler spaci for breathing is an important requisite—these are generally found the most airless rooms of a dwellinghouse. Such errors could not possibly exist were not the generality so utterly uninformed as regards that branch of knowledge which should be made the first consideration in every person’s education —a knowledge of the laws ordained by God for man’s health and liappiness. Whenever, after a night’s repose, the slightest degree of closeness is perceptible in a chamber, it is an incontrovertible proof that the chamber is not well ventilated ; and that whatever may have been the benefit which the syatem may have received from sleep, that benefit has been partly neutralized by the ill-effects of an impure atmosphere.