TOWN & COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXII, Issue 7412, 1 December 1884, Page 4

TOWN & COUNTRY.

Vital Statutticu.— Tho Registrar's returns for the past month nw—-Birth*. UJS; marriage*, 30; deaths, 51. Ron Ovk».— Tho cxpttws train on Saturday morning ran over a cow near Tinwald, and so injured it that it hud to be killed. Tinwalu Town Uo. .—At a meeting of the Tinwald »V Tb rd, hold on Friday evening, 3W> b«ror waa elected Chairman, and Mr Reid Secretary. SraiKortKut Colli »mr.f~With reference to the recent strike of collier# at the Springfield Colliery, we understand that the men have now returned work on the manager*# terms. Sunpat School Union. —Tho sixteenth annual aorvloo in connection with the Canterbury Sunday School Union took place in the Tuam street Hall yesterday afternoon. The children of the various schools belonging to Urn Union mustered at their schoolrooms, and at 3 o’clock marched to the hall, which they filled to overflowing. The service consisted of short prayers and addresses from various gentlemen, interspersed with special hymns. Akiilsy PnmnrmuAN Church.— Tho anniversary of this church was celebrated on Friday by the usual tea meeting. Trays were provided by the following i—Moadamo# J. Hanks, 11. Duncan, W. Wilson, and li. ColUo, and the bachelors, for whom the Misses Carmichael and Waller “did the honours.” There were over 200 guests, many of whom were members of other denominations. The pastor of the church, the Itev B. Tout, presided over the aftermeeting, which was held in the district schoolroom. Interesting speeches were delivered by the Bovs B. M’Orogor (of Kaiapoi). W. Bowse (Wesleyan), J. Parkin (Free Methodist), and J. Crowes (Bible Christian). Hymns from Sanks/s colleetion were sung at intervals by the bobtirn choir, under the leadership of Mr Thompsun. Miss Carmichael ably fulfilling the duties of organist. Votes of thanks to the ladies, the choir, and the speaker* were carried by acclamation. Conckbt,—A must suewsHtful concert in aid of tlie fund* of the Prebbleton Preabyterian Church was held on Friday, In the absence of the Bav B. J- Perter through illness, the Itev J. Blmidte took the chair. The {wograinum was an excellent one, and was faithfully adhered -te. A part song by Mieses Ivey and Hardy and Messrs noy mid Bingham, was detervedly % encoml, m ultta solo* ** BoWn Aiw. MU F. Martin was heartily evened for •• Whore lias Scotland Found her'Fame F’ and responded by giving “I’m pw're Young to Marry Yet ‘ with much archness. In her accord song “ Caller lleirin‘. M In character, ehe fairly brougbtdown the house. Mr Itowley*# flute «010 was well received. Mr H. Johnston was listened to with great pleasure in “ My Heather Hilhi,” being in good voice, and giving It with much taste and clearness. The same may bo said of Mr Comerford’s “ Boatswain 1 # Story/ 1 ' which was enthusiastically encored. Mr Adams was encored for “John rtrumile,” and Urn “ Snotwe." by Mr Itewley, convulsed everybody, and w suited in a very hearty recall. Instrumental piece* by Miss Elmelte, Mias and Mr NloboU, Mr# and Mr Dunn, and song# by Miss Sharp, Mies Dunford, Mrs Dnnii, and Mr Bingham filled the twognuaune. The entertainment was emtmuded by a “ Scene from the Trial of Pickwick/’ which was amusingly given by the members of the t.iiw>iw Debating Society,

PottKSTftfts* lias Mine Seeiwrr. Tho Korwrtws* Dramatic Socteiy have decided that Ift future their atmtuil performance* »halJ l«» hold In tho summer tinw, instead of in winter, ns heretofore.

Musical.— The telegram stating that | Mr Landergsn was ahout te» become organ- j Ist of St Matthew’s. Church, Dunedin, appears to have lawn Insimni Mr { lAtidergnn stilt pursues ins avocation in f Christchurch. !

Tm» llßl.nia» llßi.K'i.vt k M.*te llarvrn. Use ptiergeiio promoter of Ib ismittarrati«s to this Colony, will loarp VV«>{. lingbrn for bytteiton te*<tay. The Committee of tiu> Clismtei of t’oiiimorr*' haves arrnogesl for an tntervtew with him at their room*, at 3 p us, to-morrow, CMlturD'iriiKt u UowMJio Cwm. ~ Tim no'inl'ora of thin Citsh *|H>nt a most enjoyfthle aftertUHin ou Hatnrtlay. when they had aft alphahotiral mateis themnolvoa. Tho gaiiion at tho diffomit rinki wore cloacly contested, in sororal tite victory being a very narrow one. TintATHB Hot a u. —At tho Theatre Iteynl on Saturday evening Miss Oeorgio Smithnon and her friends repeated ** Withered leaves ”' and "Tho llonnio Fishwife,” Tho audience, though not very numerous, waa very appreciative, and freely a{>plauded tho principal pcrformoni. AcctiißST.—Shortly after 0 o’clock on Saturday evening, when his Excellency the Governor’s carriage was being driven along Manchester street, near the inaction of Tnam street, the hind aitfo suddenly snapped near the off-wheel. Fortunately none of tho occupants wore hurt, though somewhat startled by the shock.

Ahuiumiton AomcubTUUAi. and Pastobai. Association.— At a Committee meeting of tho Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association, held on Friday evening, after some routine hiuuiess, the odvisablcnoss of holding monthly meetings of the Society was discussed, but nothing definite was agreed upon.

Tub Minimtbk ok Pciiuc Works. On Saturday morning the lion E. Richardson was interviewed by Mr Match, M.11.K. for Invercargill, with Mr Handyside Chairman of the Nightcaps Coal Company, who had come up to see hiti) on tho subject of tendon for the supply of coal. They naked the Minister to reconsider tho decision recently come to by the Government. Mr Richardson, after hearing them, promised to refer the matter to Wellington. Disow nki> at Ska. —A telegram was received in Port on Saturday morning stating that Edward Houghton, chief officer of the barquentine Jasper, of the C.W.T. lino, was washed overboard and drowned on the passage from Mauritius to Port Chalmers. Houghton was well-known and respected in Lyttelton. Ho has occupied the position of chief officer in the above-named line of vessels for some time. Ho was also master of the brigantine Island Lily for some time. The nags of the shipping in port were lowered to halfmast on receipt of the sod news. Ohoka Hack Meeting. —This popular annual meeting takes place to-day, and, if the weather suite, promises, ns usual, to be a great suoecss, the programme consisting of eight events, each of which, so far, are represented by good fields. The Addington Brass Bond will be in attendance, and a special train has been arranged for, leaving Christchurch at 10.30 a.m. and arriving at tho course at 11.30, and returning to Christchurch at 5.43, thus giving visitors an opportunity of witnessing the first and last race. Every comfort has been provided for the public, of which a large gathering is anticipated.

Fakeweu. Dinner.— The friends of Mr Thomas Tattle met on Friday evening at Green’s Hotel, Sheffield, to wish him success on the eve of his departure for tho North Island. An excellent spread was prepared by host Green, and about twenty gentlemen were present. Mr 0. A. Keys occupied the chair, and Mr O. B, Willis was vice-chairman. The health of Mr Pattle was duly honoured, and various other toasts were drunk songs were sung, and a very enjoyable evening spent. Mr Pattle lias occupied the position of station mister at Sheffield for some time, and his present removal is the result of an application on account of ill-health. Parliament Oct or Session. —Mr Sutter addressed the electors at Pleasant Point on Saturday night. He warmly supported the District Railways Bill as a Just measure of relief whore it was needed, and expressed his confidence in the future reproductivenesa of the linos. He also 3rted the granting of concessions to a cate to carry out a large and important work like the East and Wed Coast railway. He denounced most of the Opposition of lost session as factious, and quoted from the speeches of Mr Wakefield to show how little of tho virtue of consistency there was among the leaders. Mr Wakefield, speaking to tho diggers at Rooften in ISESS, expressed his approval of land nationalisation, but early this year, at Leosten, speaking to an entirely different constituency, ho denounced Mr Boliesfccn’s jwrpetual lease system as a first step towards nationalisation of the land, which he said he would always oppose. Mr Sutter’s address was very well received.— MrJ Wakefield addresses the electors of Selwyn at Leosten this evening.

South Canterbury Refrigerating Company.— I 'The annual meeting of shareholders in the above Company was bold oa Saturday in Messrs M'Lean and Stewart’s saleroom. Timoru. Mr E. Elworthy, Chairman of the Company, presided, and there was a moderate attendance. The report, which was adopted, stated that a site had boon purehosdb railway communication arranged for, and every preparation made for commencing operations. Messrs Moody. Acton, Jonas, Ford i retiring), and F. l„t Cron were elected Directors, and Messrs Fraser and Granger Auditors, at a foe each of five guineas. The next annual mooting was fixed for the last Saturday in November, 1885, and it was resolved—- ” That in clause 2, after tho words ‘on or Indore * the words ‘3O days after’ be inserted." Votes of thanks to the Chairman and Director* brought the proceedings te a close. It Is probable that on order for machinery will be cabled Home. The Company have a site of 01 acres near town, fronting ou the railway and on the sea. They havt put down a well 08ft, yielding a tested supply of UW.OOO gallons per day. Three thousand two hundred and ninetytwo shares of X’s each have been taken up. A iiMWtliur ef liw Cbrbrtehoreb.iteeiue t*!»b will W teW *t tb* Fetorier*' Halt H 8>««. Au BsusorkUsAry B«e«»'*i hmsuae ol the Basse oru ]JitwM*t. Oil, C*k« *'ul Fibre Msnufseturuw tVaajittu* will te hM *t «b» «boU'W|«»j, liaiMiure. »i e%bl w’ciuefc thwerealsg. . Tit e.u*l temQhtJv lureOn* ol the thri*loLur. b C«# Ceaueil wifi te IwW thw »ve*»u«. *t 7 ” A'tureUu* uf Uie Ht Juba's Tei«|wreto«e Heehriy wilt tebrid this eveutwr. Tb* Musrouuue of the ly tletlen #«*«». te te hehi oa Joe. i.« p«W»hadT» aaetber j.qrfA awetius >« the tUbwell w»4 Nprey*loa Sperl* will te tebl »t the Jsnuvtkm Hotel 10-awrrew, «t »,a«. . .... . Mr a. A. North’s Üborei Übws will pre a tore! «i 4 ttiatemoeatel i« Nt Michwni • Beho«i* roam o« Tburwlsy. . The Iksud at Ktloesriou meets oa Tlionslsy, si 3 p.W.

T«8 Tnsoeorwirr# in In'oia.-The #ubitMt of theosophy. in the absence of topic* t! f uturo general interest, ho# lately own* tiwl a largo share of the attention of the ndlan threw and public. It ha# been brought prominently forward by the publication Ua the Madras CWilia# Colley# Jftiooam# of a oorreapondoaco alleged to have pawed between Mtluw. Bl»vitt*iy aucl a Monsieur and Mdme, Coulomb, who appear fe> have been follower# of her, but who, having IWlen out with the soot, have pUoed the letters in the hand# of the Editor of the magasUm. Those letters. If genuine, certainly prove Mdtne Blavatoky to be a comma mate impostor, who, with the help of Coulomb, imposed upon the credulous bv ingenious triokepy. 'The «oantral body ol the Tibetan Mahatma Koot Humi la desanbedwaonitoarranirament of Madders, moslin, and a mask.

white the wonder-working dirine ttt Madras l» wild Ui te* a more conjuror'# rabbet. Tte< theoDopbiste Indignantly d«vlar« the letter# to be impudent forger lex, hr,l «>«te that the C ,'oUiotub# were cxpetlel the Hoctely, and hav« taken thl# uxmo# to revenge themwdve*, h'ttAnt r. Atttt AmvittrA. —Br '-ate*- and otherwise w* have teamed that mu- h of the vim* poured out against English )»y I’arls journal# hna (wn tnm#terr<d to Amenta. The reason i* that the Yankee# have l»’en very outejmken in their «nte »*m of French proeeedbgs in China. One of their paper#, for instance, remark*: — " Before the war with China is over, the Britij.?i lion will probably he irritated to tin* point of seining the Frenchman hy the naj*? of his neck and shaking him «it of hi# troupers.” This i# very vulgar, tint, very forcible, and no wonder Johnny Crapattd doesn't like it.

lonowAWer: op tnr, Itai.ia"* lowr# The napentiiioa of the clause# in Italy «m greatly instrumental in causing more death# than the cholera Itself. The panic created hy the knowledge of the terrible plague in Naples Is almost incredible. Everyone almost finally became panic-stricken and lost every vestige of reasoning, I’hyst.dan# were distrusted and medicine# suspected. In one district the people actually beli -veil that the doctor in that particular section received 20 lire# (Uss) for every cholera patient that died under hi# hands, and that, when hi# victim# amounted to 1000. b« was to receive a life pension. That such brute ignorance and superstition should S revail i», after all, not so very surprising, or an Italian journal states it a# a fact that of the 30,000,000 Italian# more than 1 6,000,000 are anal./uh«li —that is, can neither read nor write. A Fhxncumaw’s Orrmoß or th% EmvM»H Navv.— There is at least one sensible Frenchman in Pam, despite all the rant and abuse that have been uttered there lately. M. Comely, the principal writer in the Gaulou, warns Frenchmen in that journal not to bo deluded % the pessimist lamentation# of certain English Admirals about the decadence of the British navy. Me maintain# that that navy is yet stronger than the French in every part of the world, and that if France, puffed up by misleading statistic#, were to bo so unlucky as to go to war with England, Admiral Courbet, unable to cool, could only bring home such ships as might not be sunk under soil round the Cape, tor England would block the Sue* Canal. He deprecates the delusion, and urges that the “ state of reprisals," the new term for war, may be speedily pat on end to.

Pick lb Paw. —Marriages are to light!; and easily made in America, that it it not altogether surprising young women should sometimes hardly know whether they are married or not. This appears to hare been the case with a good-looking young person who waa recently arrested with a male companion in New York, at the instance or a citizen, who charged the lady with deserting her lawful husband, and her companion with abducting his wife. In Coart, the plaintiff alleged he bad introduced the fair fugitive, who was only IS yean old, as his wife to all bis relatives, and that, in his opinion, this gave him a legal claim upon her. The young lady’s other admirer thought the claim illfounded, and to settle the matter, asked the girl whether she would marry him then and there, the presiding magistrate officiating at the ceremony. She hesitated, conferred with her solicitor, who considered ! the beat thing was “to choose the hand- | somest of the two,” which happened to be the one who had caused her to be arrested. This she consented to do, but the magistrate declining to twite them, they left the Court to get the Mayor to marry them. Fa rout*, however, the inconstant maiden changed her mind again, and determined she would marry the other suitor, which so enraged bis rival that the two bad a desperate quarrel, the result being that they were both taken to prison for creating a disturbance in the streets, and the pretty Miss. or Mrs, loose was left alone, free to change her mind as many times as she pleased. Tas Canadian Votaokcbs in E*ivr*r.— • Great thing* are expected from the Canadian boatmen on the Nile. They have been sent out on the strong recommendation of Sir Kedven Bailer, Colonel Butler, and others, who know their value, having seen them at work on the portages and rapids of their native rivers, and who were convinced that they would do good service in getting the flotilla up the cataracts of the Nile. They are rather a motley hybrid-looking lot, selected by Lord Melgund, the Governor-General’* military Secretary, solely on their individual merits, and without reference to nationality. There are to be found amongst them representatives of all the races that live under the Canadian Dominion. There is the pure English colonist, the French Canadian voyageur, the half-breed, and the aboriginal Bed Indian. All, however, ore alike animated with a strong spirit of patriotism to the great empire to which they belong, and this, the first experiment : lin employing colonists in an Imperial campaign, cannot but have an excellent j effect throughout the British dominions. In Canada itself the enthusiasm evoked by their selection waa shown by the concourse that collected to wish them God-speed when they left Manitoba. It is a cunou> proof of the rapid progress of the newest province of Canada, that not far from the very spot where Garnet WoUeley landed to check a nascent rebellion, » strong detachment famished by the locality should start to help him in his latest campaign.— Hews Afar*. Tu« Auuck-Loiuuinx Dkciuci;. The Governor of Lorraine, General Mauteuffel, has published a deem* which is severely criticised in the French Press, The leading clans# in this decree enacts I that the son# of Frenchmen resident m | Alsace-Lorraine, who have reached the | military age, must either become natural- ' toed Germans or leave Ahtace-Wraine. The number of young men affected by this degree is said to be about 16,000. and the radical journal, let Jmik*, odes ** whether ’ the army of Franc# has been dispersed j all over the globe in order to facilitate the j werk of General Manteuffid ? ” The .VhV.-«< FiAds writes; “This document will take its place among the most extraordinary production* of the history of this century. France has not forgotten the exodus of 1871. when thousands of Frenchmen in Alsace-Lorraine preferred the abandonment of their homes to living under the domination of the foreigner. France also recollects that in IH7I thousands of Alsace-Lor-raine*)*. on the faith of the treaty of Frankfort, chose French nationality, but remained in the annexed Provinces. It is to the children of these latter Alsace-Ixw-rainera that General Munteuffel's circular is addressed. It is now 14 years since that country passed under the German yoke, and Alsai'o-Lorraine la as far as ever from being Gorman Led. Neither General Mauteuffel nor any other Statthalter ran ever Germanise those French departments. Our vanquishers may excite Ihemtelve* to the verge of madness, but their anger cannot change the fatal consequences of their acts.” The Awmcaa fbtfwrler says: “If after fourteen years’ rule no better method of governing the annexed French departments can be discovered than by decrees «>f the arbitrary character mentioned above, then it must be confessed that the Germanisaiton of these annexed Province* ran only b® effected by the gradual extermination of the original inhabitants and by supplying their place with choice Femeramans carefully selected by Prince Bismarck, especially warranted not to imbsb# the prejudices of the present race « ALa^Lormlnera.”