SOCIAL SUMMARY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 3059, 31 October 1870, Page 4 (Supplement)

SOCIAL SUMMARY.

His Honor the Superintendent has appointed Mr William Guise Brittan to be a member of the Park and Domain Board. The trout recently hatched artificially and naturally are all doing remarkably well. With the exception of seven deaths, shortly after hatching, no fish have been lost. There must now be nearly 2000 young fish in the bouse and the ponds. The boats from Mr Bnchanan’s fishery, Ikolaki, Akaroa, captured a small whale on Friday, the 7tb instant. The present has not been a successful whaling season, this being the first take made from Mr Buchanan’s, while we hear of no captures as yet by Messrs Wright’s boats of Island Bay fishery, Akaroa. The following is the Registrar’s return of births, deaths, and marriages in the Christchurch district for the month ending September 30. The total number of births was 96—42 males and 53 females ; of deaths, 29—16 males and 13 females ; of marriages, 22. The totals for the corresponding month in 1869 were 88, 14, and 13 respectively. A meeting was recently held at Southbridge, Mr C. J. Bridge in the chair, when it was resolved to form a society for promoting the interests of horticulture and dairy farm ing in the district. The new society is called the Southbridge Horticultural and Rural Industrial Society, and it is proposed to hold the fist exhibition during the first week in January, 1871. The firing for Mr W, H. Hargreaves’ (late captain of the Lyttelton Volunteer Artillery) gold medal prize took place on Oct. 10, at the butts in Polhill’s Bay. There were ten competitors for the prize, which was again won by Farrier Childs, and whose property it now becomes. A meeting has been held at Southbridge, to consider what steps should be taken in order to prevent any further overflow of the river Rakaia. The Provincial Engineer has estimated the cost of the necessary works at j£6oo, and it was resolved to petition the Government to put a sum on the estimates for that purpose, and to get the work done before next harvest. A gentleman largely interested in the working of the Malvern Hills Coalfield has sent to England for one of Thomson’s Road Steamers, with which to bring the coal to Christchurch. The coal produced has improved in quality of late, principally in adhesiveness—the blocks not crumbling away so easily as hitherto. It has been the custom hitherto to take the census of the colony every third year, the last having been taken in 1867. A short Act was passed during the recent session of the Assembly, in which power is given to the Governor, if so advised, to appoint that the next general census shall be taken in 1871 instead of 1870; In addition to the information which the enumerators have hitherto been required to obtain, the new Act provides that they shall ascertain, in each case, the quantity of wheat, oats, and barley, remaining on hand when the form is filled up. The Metropolitan race meeting, which comes off on Nov. 8, 10, and 11, promises to be a great success. About forty horses are in training. Mr H. Redwood’s string comprises Peeress, already well known in Canterbury, entered for the Cup and the C.J.C. Handicap ; XXX, a black mare, by Golden Grape out of v rescent, entered for the C.J.C. Handicap ; Songstress, a bay mare, 4 yrs, by Ravensworth out of Skybird ; Bashaw, a brown colt, by*St Aubyn out of Crescent, entered for the Derby and Cup ; Day Dawn, a bay colt, by Ravensworth out of Skybird, entered for the Derby. Mr H. Stafford’s string of horses arrived by the Airedale, all in first-rate condition. They are Magenta, Lacenfeed—both well-known here—Vulcan, a three-year old colt out of Vesta, and Mariner, described by a Nelson contemporary as a strapping colt out of Maria, by Potentate. Nelson will be well represented at the meeting.

The following tenders for the conveyance of mails in this province during the year 1871 have been recommended by his Honor the Superintendent to the chief of the New Zealand postal department :—North Hoad, Mr transom; Hokitika, Messrs Burton and Co.; Southbridge, Mr Cowan; South Road, Messrs J. and J. Cramond, who have contracted, we are told, for three years. For the Hokitika service, the subsidy is higher than before, but the subsidies for the North and South Road services are about half what they used to be. The third annual meeting of the Kaiapoi Building Society was held at the Institute on Oct. 5. Mr M Hall occupied the chair. The annual report and balance sheet were read and adopted. The meeting then proceeded to elect three directors in the room of those whose term of office had expired. The following were elected—Messrs M. Hall, C. Oram, and W. Weston. Mr J. W. Ellen was elected treasurer. Votes of thanks were then passed to the retiring officers, and the meeting dispersed, apparently well satisfied with the steady progress Which the society had made. The annual district meeting of the M.11.1.0.0.P. was held on Oct. 6, in their Hall, Lichfield street. P.G.M. Parry presided over a large attendance of brethren. D.P.G.M. Jane occuping the vice-chair. All the lodges were fully represented, and after the usual formal business, the election of officers for the ensuing year was proceeded with. This resulted in D.P.G.M. Jane being appointed P.G.M. ; P.G. Parkin as D.P.G.M. ; J. W. Slade as Provincial Secretary ; N.G. Hart, City of Christchurch Lodge, N.G. Thompkins, Benevolent Lodge, P.P.G.M. Ashton, Volunteer Lodge, : s auditors. The past officers took up their respective degrees, after which the brethren adjourned to the White Hart Hotel, where the annual dinner was held.

On Oct. 8, representative squads of the Christchurch Volunteer Corps fired for the silver cup given by Mr W. Wilson during his Mayoralty of the city. The competition took place at the Sandhills range, but the prevalence of a strong nor’-west wind interfered so much with the firing fthat the cup was not won by any of the squads. The minimum number of points required to win the trophy is 262, and No. 6 Company Rifles, who held possession of it from last year, and who were again the highest scorers, only succeeded in making 258. 'I he Engineers occupied second position, with 258 points, and the Artillery third, with 168 points. At a meeting of the Philosophical Institute on Oct. 5, Dr Haast, the president, made some remarks on the discovery of a large Apteryx (new species) at the base of Mount Cook. He said the Canterbury Museum received this bird from a collector on the West Coast of this Island, who states that the natives call this species Roaroa, and that a Maori from Bruce Bay informed him these birds were very valorous, and would defend themselves against the attacks of dogs by kicking. The specimen exhibited was found on one of the first levels from the Snowy Range. Dr Haast considered that it is not the large species found in this island, and which provisonally has been named by Verreaux—the Apteryx maxima—a bird probably of the size of a turkey, and which is only kmown from Maori descriptions, and “9 m European explorers hav ng heard its call and seen it striking the snow. It is an undescribed species new to science, although of the size of the Apteryx Owenii, from which it is distinguished by its much largersize. Its plumage is grey, speckled Vith black and Mr Potts intends to review the whole genns Apteryx, for which there js ample material ip the Museum, Dr Haast hoped that many qf the uncertainties of this genus would goon be settled. In tfte absence of Mr J. D. Enys, Dr Powell read a paper for that gentleman on certain .changes in the nomenclature of Npw Zealand ferns since the publication of the Handbook of the blew Zealand Flora, as shown by the Synopsis Fijicun, of Sir W. J. Hooker and J . G. Baker, published in London, 186$. All

the changes were particularised, and the names of some new ferns are also given. An inquest was held on Oct. 10, at Cameron’s Hotel, Saltwater Creek, before Matthew Morris, Esq., Coroner, on the body of Patrick Cruskelly, who was drowned on the 23rd ult while attempting to cross the river Ashley. Constant search had been made for the body since the occurrence of the fatal accident, but it was not found until Sunday last. The Coroner, in charging the jury, remarked upon the long delay in repairing the Ashley bridge, it being still in the same state as it was left at the last fresh. The jury returned a verdict of “ Accidentally Drowned,” the foreman handingto the Coroner a paper signed by all the jurors, stating “that they considered the Kowai Road Board greatly to blame for not having repaired the bridge over the River Ashley, the said Patrick Cruskelly having been drowned in attempting to cross that river.”

An inquest was held at the George and Dragon Hotel, Great South Road, on Oct. 14, on the body of Mr Innes, the landlord, who died from injuries received in descending from one of h's own stacks on Sept. 21. Dr Coward presided over the enquiry, and Mr Ranger was chosen foreman of the jury. From the evidence given it appeared that on the day named deceased was ascending a stack, near which was stationed a threshing-machine at work, but on being cautioned \y one of the men that he was in danger of being entangled in the drivingbelt, he tamed round and slid down the side of the stack to the ground. Unfortunately he had but a few moments before placed a pitchfork against the stack immediately under the spot he ascended to, and coming in contact with it in descending he received a serious wound. Dr Patrick was at once called in, but though most assiduous in his attentions deceased, after lingering in great pain for nearly three weeks, expired. A verdict of “ Accidental Death” was returned. We have to announce the death of Mrs O’Connell, of Mount Grey, a lady so well known and so highly esteemed in Canterbury, that we cannot allow the opportunity to pass without paying a tribute to her memory, although we feel that nothing we can say is required to heighten the regret which is universally felt at her decease. It is now somewhere about twenty years ago since Major O’Connell retired from the army, and commenced life as a settler, having chosen the Mount Grey station as the field of his operations. Unfortunately he lived a very few years after coming to Canterbury, and hence the recollections of Mount Grey are chiefly associated with the name of bis widow, who carried on the station and fulfilled all the ordinary duties of a settler with both vigour and prudence. Amongst the many virtues which endeared Mrs O’Connell to the people of Canterbury, perhaps the most conspicuous was her unbounded hospitality. In the early days of the settlement the track from Christchurch to the North passed near Mount Grey, and comfortable hotels were not so numerous as they are now, but the traveller was ever made welcome by the mistress of the station, who never seemed wearied or annoyed by the frequent calls upon her hospitality. Time soon changed the necessity for such a state of things, as a road was formed near the Coast, and accommodation houses sprang up; but although not called upon to dispense indiscriminate hospitality, Mrs o ’Connell continued true to her nature and exercised a liberal hospitality to her friends, and more particularly to those of them who, from illness or other causes, required a change of air. This custom was kept up to the last at Mount Grey, even daring the illness to which its mistress succumbed. Fully a year ago Mrs O’Connell fell into ill-health, which was at first believed to be merely a temporary illness; but as time passed on it became painfu ly evident to those around her that it was a much more serious matter than had been supposed. She bore her long confinement with great patience and fortitude, and retained her wonted fulness till her death, which happened on Oct. 7. Mrs O’Connell leaves five children —one daughter and four sons. A well-contested boat race took place on Oct. 15 at Lyttelton, and caused great excitement in the town. The race arose out of one of the scratch matches which took place on the previous Saturday. The stakes were £6 a-side, and the money was posted. The articles drawn up stated the race to be in watermen’s whale boats, from the cutter lying off the breakwater to the coal hulk, rounding this and the steamer Halcyon and back, three times round, winning at the buoy off the breastwork, distance nearly four miles. Two of the challenged crew finding the course to be different from what they anticipated and agreed to, withdrew at the last moment, and their places had to be filled up with others. The challengers chose Watson’s whaleboat, “Justin Time,” their antagonists having O’NeilTs whaleboat “Bangitoto.” Captain E. Norris acted as starter and referee. At 27 minutes past 3 o’clock, the boats having been got into good position, the flag fell and the boats started together. The men at once settled down to their work * at the Screw-pile jetty, the Rangitoto was leading slightly, the men pulling with a long,, steady stroke. When off the Railway wharf, they had drawn clear of their oppo-. nents, and they further increased their lead by the time they got to the hulk,. Although the crew of the Just in Time put on a spurt, the Rangitoto rounded the hulkten seconds in advance. The Just in Time again put on another spurt, and lessened the gap, and in rounding the steamer Halcyon they were only three seconds behind. A splendid race back took place, and the Just in Time again drew up. When off the Railway Wharf the crews were neek-and-neck; off the screw-pile jetty, the Just in Time was leading by half a length. Thia distance they increased, and rounded the boat off the breakwater four seconds a-head of the Rangitoto. The crew of the latter now put on a spurt, and an exciting race to the hulk took place, the Just in t ime leading by & boat’s length. On rounding the hulk a foul took place, the Rangitoto running into the Just in Time and causing her to unship her port oars. After a short delay both boats again got away, the Rangitoto leading by about two boats’ lengths, and the crew pulling well together, about 42 strokes a minute. The Just in Time pulled well, but their strokes were quicker. During the race back they lessened the gap c nsiderably, but although they put on some good spurts they were not able to get the lead. On the last time of rounding the boat at the breakwater they were 18 seconds astern, and the race home to the breastwork was most exciting, the Rangitoto coming in a winner by six seconds. The crew of the winning boat were—J. Snoswell jun., J. Wyman, W, Allwright, _ — Eadon ; coxswain, J. Durham, The Just in Time crew were—T. Hay, T. Ockford, —Metallick, J. McDonald ; coxswain, J. Roberts. A protest was handed in by the latter coxswain against the Rangitoto taking the stakes. After hearing the evi dence, Captain Norris decided that it oould not be allowed, A good deal of money changed hands on the occasion, Acclimatization. —At a recent meeting of the Council of.|hs Otago Acclimatization Society, Mr MtMfei stated that he had, on Friday last, being present, counted 142 sea trout, brown trout, hatched from the ova recently brought from Hobart Town, and Mr Clifford reported that since that day the remaining three fish had been hatched, not an ovum proving barren Gaol Returns.— The chief gaoler’s returns for the past month are to hand, showthe number of persons incarcerated during that period to have been—Chriatchurch, 42-22 males, and 20 females; and Lyttelton, 8,, all males. The Christchurch males are returned as—l 6 undergoing hard labour, and 6 ordinary imprisonment; whilst the females are 18 and 2 respectively. The o ere com P°sed of 4awaiting trial at the Supreme Court, 69 undergoing hard labour, 7 ordinary imprisonment, ■ a £ d 7 confinement for debt. The dia-