TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2928, 28 May 1870, Page 2

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lancashire Bellringers. —The bellringers, assisted by Miss Liddle and Mr Hilton, will appear this evening at the Canterbury Music Hall. Runaway. —Between eight and nine o’clock last night a horse belonging to Mr John Henwood, Kaiapoi, and attached to a spring trap, bolted in Colombo street, but was fortunately stopped in Cathedral Square before any serious damage had accrued. Football. —A match will be played today in Latimer Square. The sides will be— Members of the Boating Clubs against the Club. Members of the Boating Clubs should take this opportunity of retrieving their lost laurels. Play to commence at 2 p.m. Le Bon Bat. —Mr William Barnett, in reference to a paragraph which appeared in our issue of May 7, desires us to state that the site only, of the congregational church now in course of erection at Le Bon Bay, was presented by him. Photography. —Mr D. L. Mundy, who is now on a professional tour in the North Island, has just sent down a number of interesting and very well executed views of Auckland and the Thames goldfields. Thes* views will add to Mr Mundy’s reputation as an artist, and we hare no doubt they will attract many visitors to the studio, Oxford terrace.

Sporting.— lt appears that the Melbourne turfites are already beginning to speculate on the next Cup. The writer of turf gossip in the Leader of May 14 says :—lt may be all right to back Manuka, but I confess I cannot see it. There are some who have taken 100 to 5 about him for the Melbourne Cup, which I look upon as next door to insanity to do at this early date. He has been fired since the last Cup, and as yet it is a toss up whether he can be brought fit to the post or not.

Theatkb Royal. —There was a very full house last night, the occasion being a benefit to Miss Herberte. With the counter attraction at the Town Hall, this amount of patronage must be regarded as a great compliment, and will, therefore, be doubly acceptable. The items submitted were the second act of “Under the Gaslight”—in which Miss Herberte has some prominence in what is one of her best characters, Peach-blossom, —the farce of “Tom Thrasher,” and an extravaganza. The first calls for no further notice, except that Mr Searle, in the absence of Mr Wolfe, played Snorkey, a description of character which was clearly unsnited to him. In the second piece, the principal characters were sustained by Miss Herberte, Mr C. Massey, Mr Coker, and Mr C. Green. Miss Herberte played with her usual care. Mr Massey gave evidence of having made considerable improvement since his last appearance on these boards, and Mr Coker rendered his part of Tom Thrasher with all a sailor’s boisterous freedom. Mr Green required too much prompting to be effective, and the less that is said of the other characters the better.

Flax.— The prospectus of a company for spinning and wearing the native flax has been published in the Wanganui papers. With regard to the prospects of the under* taking, the Herald says :—At a time when flax is receding in price in the home market, and when tow will hardly pay the expenses of shipping, a spinning and wearing company, to manufacture woolpacks, sacks, scrim, and those coarser materials which can easily be produced in the colony, is most opportune. Sufficient flax will be produced in the district of Rangitikei alone, to supply the demand which the mill will create. Within a few weeks six flax mills will be at work in Rangitikei. It will pay these proprietors to send the fine qualities to England, eren at £3l per ton, while the coarser sorts, and the tow, will be used up by the spinning company. The prospects of the company are as fair as those of any local enterprise could possibly be. A high protectire import duty on the articles to be manufactured, will enable the company to compete successfully with the English made article. The duty at present on bagging, sacks, and woolpacks is one shilling and sixpence, and on scrim one shilling per cubic foot. The machinery, it is anticipated, will not cost more than £SOO, landed in the colony. A large number of persons in the district have been engaged on the manufacture of these articles in England, and with a first-class overseer, the question of skilled labour is satisfactorily settled. We notice among the provisional directors, some of the most energetic business men in the district, and we look upon their names as a guarantee of success. Acclimatization Society. —The monthly meeting of the Council was held at 3 p.m., yesterday. Present : Messrs Blakiston (chairman), Boys, W. Wilson. Hanmer, A. Duncan, J. A. Bird, R. Fereday, J. Anderson, S. C. Farr, Wynn Williams, and Jameson. Mr Boys (hon. treasurer), reported that he had obtained £SO from the Government, for the purposes of the Society. The Curator reported that Messrs W. Harris, J. L. Wilson, and A. Blower had become members of the Society ; that acorns, in* eluding some of the sweet Cape variety, had been received from Mrs Deans -, the contribution of paradise ducks, from Mr A. Ransley; that the total receipts for the month were £5 Ids iOd; that the estimated expenditure for June was £6. On the motion of Mr Hanmer, Dr Powell was elected a member of the Council in the room of Mr Nottidge, who was proceeding to England. Mr Hanmer moved—“ That the Secretary be instructed to ask the Otago Acclimatization Society whether they will instruct their agent, Mr Bills, to obtain the birds mentioned in the resolution as on their own account, the Canterbury Society undertaking to pay the Otago Society their portion of the expenses ; the birds to be delivered in Canterbury.” Mr Bird seconded the resolution, which was unanimously agreed to. Reports on sericulture were read from Messrs W. Wilson and D. Nairn. The thanks of the Council were voted to Messrs Wilson and Nairn, and it was resolved that their reports be lianded over to the Subcommittee on Sericulture, to be embodied in their report to the General Government. The following notices of motion were given by Mr Jameson: —“ That it is desirable to promote acclimatization on a more extended scale, and to obtain larger importations of animals, &c., than hitherto. That, with this view, the public interest in the Society should be sought with more energy. That the grounds of the Society should be made more attractive, and funds raised by the adoption of a charge for admission.” The Council then adjourned.

CtmigTr Minstrels.— There wu a fair attendance at the Town Hall last evening, and the performances were greeted with the usual amount of applause. Ifa the second part of the prognmme Mr Rainford was justly encored for his descriptive song, and he responded with “■ Stock'd in the Cradle of the Deep,” which was received with equal favour. Mr Carroll’s Galatea Hornpipe and Champion Boot Dance, were loudly applauded ■, and Mr Bent’s Eccentricities were very heartily received. The gem of the evening was the quartette by Messrs Howell, Sayers, Melbourne, and Rainford, which was re-de-manded. Mr Howell sang “ Hark, I hear an Angel Sing,” with much expression, and his performance met with a well-merited response from the audience. The programme, to judge from the applause, gave the highest satisfaction. To-night a new bill will be presented,

Lbithfibld. —Mr P. H. Melville Walker, a new candidate for the representation of the Sefton district in the Provincial Council, addressed the electors at the schoolhouse, Leithfield, on Thursday evening. Mr Woodhouse was voted to the chair, and in introducing the candidate remarked upon the fact of most of the public offices in this district having hitherto been sought by the same persons, and that he for one welcomed the appearance of new aspirants for public honours, providing they were men of intelligence and the right metal; he had much pleasure in introducing Mr Walker to the meeting. That gentleman, in asking for the support of the voters at the ensuing election, spoke briefly on some of the leading topics of the day, and- more particularly on those questions which most affected the residents of this district—notably, the means of communication between this part of the province and Christchurch and Lyttelton. He would advocate, first, the proper construction by the Government of a good main road in place of that already existing, which was little better than a quagmire. With regard to the Northern Railway, he thought it should be brought to the Ashley Bridge; and failing the inability to obtain a loan to carry it ou to the Kowai, he thought it would be practicable to form a company by which means that could be accomplished. The agricultural statistics showed this to be one of the largest grain producing districts in the province, and it was absolutely necessary for the farmers iu the North to have equal facilities 1 with those in the South for placing their grain and other produce in the market. Mr Walker was of opinion that local industries deserved more encouragement than they had received, and thought that a handsome reward for the invention of some method of flax dressing that should meet the requirements of the home market, would be of more 1 practicable benefit to the province, than a reward for the discovery of a goldfield. Mr Walker was opposed to compulsory education, and with respect to immigration, would like to see a large proportion of operatives brought out. In answer to questions, he stated that he could not agree to a proposal for the reduction of the price of the waste lands, at the expense of compensation to the squatters. He was in favour of provincialism rather than centralism, and with respect to the union with Otago, he thought that we ought to join with the Nelson province also, which would amount virtually to a separation from the North island, but he did not think the time had yet come for that. At the close of his remarks, a resolution to the effect that Mr Walker was a fit and proper person to represent the Sefton district in the Provincial Council, was proposed by Mr Moore, seconded by Mr Brydon, and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the chairman, terminated the meeting.