TOWN & COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 7543, 6 May 1885, Page 4

TOWN & COUNTRY.

The Afghan Difficulty. —The pendulum of diplomacy is now swinging toward the side of peace. The telegrams this morning announce both sides have agreed to arbitration, Denmark probably being the medium. The Jingoes are naturally furious, but there is an evident sense of relief both at Home and on the Continent, evidenced by the advance in securities. San Francisco Mail. —The mail steamer reached Auckland early yesterday morning, and the southern mails were sent south by the Penguin at noon. A summary of news, containing some interesting information regarding the Afghan difficulty, the Indian rising in Canada, and other topics, is published elsewhere. When the steamer arrived she was boarded by the police, who arrested a man accused of murder in the United States. Appointment. —Mr Alison D. Smith, of this city, has received the appointment of Superintendent of the Victorian railways. Church of the Holy Innocents, Amberley. —At the last meeting of this vestry. Captain P. Hayter was unanimously elected synodsman for the district for the ensuing year. Mr W. S. Smith’s name was also added to that of the already appointed vestry. Supreme Court. —His Honor Mr Justice Johnston sat in Chambers yesterday morning at half-past 10 o’clock, and in Bankruptcy at 11 o’clock. The proceedings in Bankruptcy were not concluded till 8 o’clock in the evening. This morning, at 11 o’clock, his Honor will sit in Banco, and deliver judgment in two cases. The list of business to be done will be found on page 3. Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. —At a special meeting of this Association, held yesterday afternoon, it was decided to accept Mr Twigger’s offer of an endowment of five acres adjoining the land purchased from him for a new site for showgrounds at Addington. The meeting was called because the members had voted at the annual meeting under the impression that the five acres were to be a free gift. Mr Twigger, however, wishes the land to remain as an endowment for the Association in perpetuity, and not to be sold. ■

Theatre Eoyal. —The excellent draw-ing-room entertainment now being given by the Faust Family at the Theatre Eoyal, attracted a very good audience down stairs last night, and their performances, as well as the ’cello playing of Mr Wand, were greatly applauded. The Company again appear to-night. Weather Exchange. —New Zealand : Generally fine weather, with south and south-west winds ; high pressure to southwest. Australia ; High pressure to south, and generally fine ; winds easterly. Barometers. New Zealand : Eussell, 30-1 ; Bluff, 30’2. Australia : Hobart, 30‘3; Portland and Sydney, 30 - 2. Harvest Thanksgiving. The annual harvest thanksgiving took place in St Mary’s Church, West Oxford, on Sunday last. The church was very nicely ornamented with corn, fruit, vegetables, and flowers. An appropriate sermon was preached by the incumbent, the Eev J. Sheldon, and suitable hymns were rendered by the choir. Christchurch Bicycle Club. —A special meeting of the Christchurch Bicycle Club took place last night. There was a very fair attendance. It was decided to defer having a race meeting on account of the Volunteer demonstration ; and it was unanimously resolved to send for a 54-inch racing bicycle as a special prize, to he competed for by the members of the Club only, to he won three times in the aggregate before becoming the property of the winner.

Sale op Work.; —In connection with the Girls’ Friendly Society, a sale of work is to he held to-morrow, in the room, Hereford street. We hope it will be liberally patronised, especially as funds are required to increase the usefulness of the institution, in providing a home and training, school for servants. There will be some useful and cheap garments for children for sale, in addition to the numerous fancy articles usually provided on such occasions.

Christchurch Parliamentary Association. —Tho second session of the local Parliamentary Society will be opened at half-past seven this evening, in tho Provincial Council Chamber. Mr J. Holmes, M.H.E., will act as Governor on the occasion, and deliver the Vice-Regal Address. The Clerk and Treasurer will be in attendance half-an-hour before the opening hour, to receive subscriptions and proposals for new members. It is intended, we believe, to alter the night of meeting this session from Wednesdays to Saturdays. The Wilbebforce Eeeis. —On Saturday last Messrs Williamson and Co., of Springfield, despatched a six-horse waggon with mining material and provisions for tho Wilberforce, the first that has penetrated the interior so far in that direction, Tho firm are the successful tenderers for the delivery of the mining plant, and the supply and delivery of provisions to the North Creek Company; and now that the road is made a very material difference will be found in the cost of living for anyone who may be tempted to try fortune on this the newest of our goldfields. Temperance Mission. Mrs Mary Clement Leavitt, delegate from the Women's Christian Temperance Mission of America, will begin her mission in the Theatre Royal on Sunday. Mr R. T. Booth, speaking at his last meeting in the Y.M.C.A. rooms, of the conservation of his work in Christchurch, said that ho considered this gifted lady’s arrival a Godsend to the cause, just now so much in need of organisation. Mrs Leavitt is a cultured lady and an eloquent speaker. She has conducted successful missions in Auckland, Dunedin, Oamaru and Invercargill. St John Ambulance Association.—A meeting of the Committee of this Society will be held on Friday next at the City Council Chambers. The Mayor of Christchurch having consented to be one of the Vice-Presidents, will take the Chair. We understand that some 20 additional names have been sent in since the public meeting, amongst them being those of Mrs Hulbert and Father Ginaty. For the convenience of others who may wish to join, the Hon Secretary will be in attendance at tho City Council Chamber to-day from 3to 5 p.m. Members should at once intimate their wish to enter for the preliminary course of instruction. Papanui Coursing Club. —The annual meeting of the Papanui Coursing Club was held at Wild’s Hotel last night; Mr J. Wild in the chair. There was a large attendance. The Secretary, Mr C. A. Calvert, gave a report of the year’s proceedings, which showed that, after paying all liabilities, a balance of £2 10s remained to the good. The report was adopted as read. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—President, Mr James Hurse; Secretary, Mr C. A. Calvert; Treasurer, Mr John Wild; Committee: Messrs Cookson, Ravenhill, Taylor, Bassett, Porter, Bell and Willis, with power to add. A programme for May 19, consisting of an All-Aged Stake of two guineas each and a Puppy Stake of one guinea each, was arranged. The Secretary was instructed to make arrangements for a Judge and Slipper. Nominations for the above will close on Saturday, May 16, at 9.30 p.m., and the draw will take place immediately afterwards. The meeting then adjourned. All Nations’ Bazaar. —The popularity of the All Nations’ Bazaar is evidently by no means on the wane, judging from the large number of visitors which gathered in Tuam street Hall last evening. The fair stall-keepers, in their attractive costumes, did a good trade, as they deserved to do, for their perseverance in pushing their wares. The fountain on the stage had been improved in appearance by the addition of several globes, containing gold fish. Mr Corrick’s string band performed a number of selections, and solos were sung by Miss Pender, Messrs E. Plunkett, Carroll and Cronin. Miss Pender and Mr E. Plunkett contributed a duet. A tableau vivant, which served to show off the gorgeous and grotesque costumes worn by several of the devoted workers at the bazaar, was very effective, and will be rendered more so when the electric light on the stage has been shifted forward, which is intended to be done for future evenings. It has been decided to continue the bazaar till Saturday night. Mr Mudd will re-arrange and add to the fernery, so as to convert the whole building into a winter garden. To-night Madame Cecilia Summerhayes will play two solos on the pianoforte, and there will be other musical attractions.

East Belt Wesley Sunday School.— The anniversary sermons in connection with the East Belt Wesley Sunday school, were preached on Sunday last by the Eev J. J. Lewis in the morning, the Eev W. Keall in the afternoon, and the Eev J. Berry in the evening. There were large congregations at all the services, that in the evening being especially well attended. Yesterday a tea and public meeting took place in further celebration of the occasion. About_ 350 persons sat down to an excellent tea in the schoolroom, the tables being presided over by the lady teachers. After tea, the public meeting was held in the church, under the presidency of Mr W. Harris. The Secretary read the annual report, which was of a very satisfactory nature. It stated that the scholars on the roll numbered 300, an increase of about' 40 over last year. There were 24 teachers, as against 18 at the commencement of the year. The financial position of the school was good, a debt of .£2O having been paid off, and a small balance remaining in hand. The conduct of the children had been uniformly good, and the results of tie teachers’ work were, on the whole, encouraging, Addresses were delivered •by the Eevs J. J. Lewis, W. Keall and J. Berry. At intervals during the evening suitable hymns wore sung by the children, Mr Wotton acting as conductor and Miss Banks as organist. The customary votes of thanks concluded a very .pleasant meeting.

Professor Bickerton’s Lectures. —The second of Professor Bickerton’s lectures on Applied Science was delivered last night, at the Canterbury College, before a large number of students, and • was of the usual practical and interesting character. Salmon Ova. —An inspection of the ova in the hatching-boxes yesterday showed that they were all in the same excellent condition as when landed. In order to prevent their hatching out toe early the boxes are cooled by means of pieces of ice spread over the covers, the Weuham Lake ice brought from England by Mr Farr being used for that purpose.

Soudan War Panorama. —There was a good attendance at the Oddfellows’ Hall last evening, when the Diorama of the Soudan War was exhibited for the third time. The exhibition went well, and was concluded with the usual distribution of gifts. Mrs Graham, Peterborough street, was the recipient of the principal prize, a drawing room suite. The diorama will be shown, again to-night, when a pianoforte will be among the gifts. The polling for the election of three persons to fill the vacancies in the Oxford Hoad Board will he held to-day, at the Board’s office, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The candidates are: — Messrs H. Englebrecht, J. B. Gorton, T. M’Grath, and W. F. Pearson.

The annual meeting of the ratepayers in the Malvern Bead Board district takes place to-day at noon. The nominations of candidates to act as members of the Board being in excess of the required number (three), a poll will be taken atihe Board's office, Springfield, to-day. The following were the persons nominated: —Messrs H. Davies, M’llraith, Hamilton, G. Butherford, A. Sayers, and T. Seay. The annual meeting of the ratepayers' of the Ashley Bead Board district will be held at the office of the Board, Lohnrn, at 12 o’clock to-day. Nominations to fill vacancies in the Kakaia and Heathcote (Opawa ward) Eoad Boards are due before noon to-day at the offices of the Boards. The Wharfage By-law of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, to come into force in the Port of Lyttelton on May 14, is detailed in an advertisement.

Terrible Colliery Accident in Ger-many,-—A terrible colliery accident is reported from Ehineland. The loss of life is appalling, and exceeds anything of the kind ever known in Germany up to the present time. The disaster occurred on the night of March 17, in a new pit, called the “ Camphausen,” which is near Saarbriicken, on the productive coalfield of the Saar. The cause of it was a sudden and most destructive explosion of firedamp. The main shaft fell in after the explosion, and the ventilating apparatus was destroyed. At the time of the accident no fewer than two hundred and nineteen miners, men and hoys, were underground. Of this number only thirty have been rescued. It is believed that the others, one hundred and eighty-nine in number, have all been killed. The Zbalandia Dispute. The Zealandia left Sydney with a full complement of able-bodied seamen and firemen, all of whom had good discharges, and not a man of whom belonged to the Union. She had over 1000 tons of coal on board and all the mails. The agents have thus won the day, and beaten the Union in a fair struggle, lasting over a week, during which period the fortunes of the opposite parties swayed very evenly in the balance; indeed it was uncertain until the very last moment how the dispute would end. As the Zealahdia will have no occasion to stop on the way, except to land passengers and mails, she has no further obstruction to contend with, at any rate during the present voyage, and it is expected that she will land her mails within contract time. The members of the Seamen’s Union naturally feel very sore on the point. The German Colonial Steam Line.— For the present the Eeichstag has decided not to subsidise a West African line of steamers, hut the proposal to subsidise a line to Eastern Asia and Australia has been approved in precisely the same form in which it was altogether rejected last session, showing that, in the interval, national feeling on the subject of Germany’s transmarine interests must have undergone a remarkable change under the influence of recent events. An annual subsidy of 4,000,000 marks for fifteen years was voted for the Australian and Eastern lines. The Australian line will include a branch one to the Samoa and Tonga Islands. There, is no doubt that the speech of Herr Mier, of Bremen, the Chairman of the North German Lloyd Company, had a good deal to do with the voting. He brought forward figures to prove that the Germans, with this Australian line of theirs, would beat both the English and French—that the time from Berlin to Sydney, via Alexandria, would be only 36 days, while the transit from Paris took 39. The Bill has yet to pass its third reading, hut there seems little doubt that before many months are over there will be a splendid fleet of steamers running between Trieste, Brindisi, Alexandria, Australia and the East.

Murder of a Japanese Ambassador at Eotterdam. —The Japanese Charge d'Affaires for the Netherlands, Sakurada, has been assassinated at Eotterdam under the following circumstances: —While residing in Brussels, Sakurada had made the acquaintance of a young Belgian woman, Jeanne Marie Lorette, living in the suburb of Molenbeek St Jean. On his removal to the Hague last December she followed him thither apparently *in the expectation of marriage. Her hopes in this direction were, however, destined to disappointment, as she ultimately succeeded in ascertaining that Sakurada already had a lawful wife in Japan. Subsequently a quarrel ensued, and Sakurada went to Gouda. Thither the following' day the lady followed him, and ultimately they proceeded together to Eotterdam, alighting at the Hotel de Hollands. There a fresh quarrel took place, in the course of which the lady drew a revolver from her pocket and fired at her paramour. The ball penetrated the right temple of Sakurada, who was at once conveyed to the Eotterdam Hospital, where he expired. Mdlle. Jeanne, after shooting Sakurada, attempted to commit suicide by cutting open the veins of her wrists, but the wounds she inflicted on herself were not dangerous. The murderess, who is only twenty-one years of age, was placed under arrest. Invention op Dynamite Shells.—Eecent intelligence brings the report of a great stride towards that era foretold by General Hamley, when the perfecting of weapons shall have been brought to such a height that armies cannot face each other. It has been rumoured many times of late that various authorities are experimenting on the use of dynamite shells, but the terrible danger of accident deters them. The Now York correspondent of the Standard announces that American ingenuity has evaded this danger to some extent. “An elastic buffer prevents the premature explosion of the projectile itself,” and a number of distinguished personages witnessedsome very striking and successful practice. A six-inch shell, charged with eleven pounds of nitro-glycerine, fired at a thousand yards’ range, made a hollow twenty-five feet in diameter and six feet deep in solid trap-rock, whilst the fragments were scattered over half a mile. This is prodigious. Guns of such calibre could not be used in the field, nor would it ever bo safe, perhaps, to carry dynamite shells in an ordnance train. But for garrison artillery this invention is so important that it seems almost to presage “ the end of all things” in the way of bombardment. If a six-inch shell radiated half a mile, the charge of the hundred-ton gun—seventeen inchesojif we remember right—would- destroy a township or a fortress. Ships could not venture to carry such missiles, and when coast fortifications are provided with dynamite artillery, nothing that floats could come near them. It has been urged that the common law of nations would forbid the use of such terrible weapons, as it forbids explosive bullets. But the cases are utterly unlike. The explosive bullet is prohibited because it has no greater moral effect than solid shot, rending individual men to pieces without a general result. But shells of dynamite are justifiable on every ground which is pleaded for shrapnel, with arguments vastly strengthened.

An Executioner in the Nihilists’ Pay. —A Moscow paper states that Kroloff, the executioner of the murderers of the late Czar Alexander, has been arrested at St Petersburg. He was in receipt of a salary of 200 roubles per month from the Nihilists, in consideration of which he passed documents and letters for them in and out of the prisons, and rendered other services.

Rowing Machine. — It will be remembered that when Hanlan was in the zenith of his fame, it was loudly asserted in some quarters that he.had a machine concealed in his boat, which supplemented his rowing with mechanical power. Curiously enough tne same sort of accusation has been brought against Beach, but as the would-be inventor took the matter into Court, the, whole thing has been exposed as a delusion and a fraud. The Sydney correspondent of the Argus writes :—“ The subject of the race between Beach and Hanlan for the championship of the world came before the District Court recently in a rather strange manner. An inventor named Snowden claimed that it was by the use of a certain mechanical contrivance which he had constructed that Beach had been ‘enabled to wrest the championship from the Canadian. Mr Snowden had undoubtedly invented a certain instrument, the right to use which he sold to Mr Deeble for ,£4OO, the payment of the money being conditional upon W. Beach being satisfied that the invention would enable him to row over the champion course on the Parramatta River in two minutes less time than he had previously covered the same distance in. The invention, however, seemingly did not accomplish all'that was claimed for it, and it was therefore returned to the inventor, who tried, but unsuccessfully, to dispose of -it to Hanlan. Mr Snowden now sought in the District Court to recover ,£2OO from Mr Deeble with respect to the invention, a model of which was exhibited in Court, but as Beach pronounced it to be a useless thing altogether, a nonsuit-was entered against the plaintiff." The New South Wales Contingent.— The Australian papers are beginning to publish letters from their correspondents who accompanied the expeditionary force to Egypt. From these it appears that even so early as the voyage out breaches of discipline occurred. “Drunkenness, disobedience of orders, and breach of discipline without malice, were the principal faults, and most of them were committed unwillingly. Many of the men displayed great ignorance of the position they occupy under military law and discipline, but the greater number are apparently acquainted with their situation and its duties. As day after day went by, the whole of the contingent showed itself more amenable to discipline, and its work went on more smoothly and rapidly.’ 1 The most seiious fault was that of a bugler, who left his post without orders, for which he got 56 days’ imprisonment, commuted to 28. As the commander informed the men, such an offence in a few days would expose the culprit to the penalty of death. Another passage from one of the letters is : “Several of us have revolvers of our,own, but the majority are supplied by the Government with revolvers which are miserable weapons. The ammunition is also exceedingly bad. The cartridges miss fire about one in six, and the cylinders are sometimes blocked by a bullet falling out of its case, and hanging out of the chamber. These were the revolvers obtained from-the Police Department at Sydney. They are, however, intended merely for practice on the voyage, and will be replaced by others supplied by the British Government, together with ammunition." Sergeant Dransfield broke his left ankle by slipping on deck while wrestling. Another man hurt his spine by falling downstairs, and had to be §tft behind at Aden. No letters have yet been published descriptive of the binding at Souakim,