TOWN & COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 7562, 29 May 1885, Page 4

TOWN & COUNTRY.

Local Qption Polling. The local option polling took place at Little Kiver on Wednesday. In each case five voted for and six against an increase of licenses. Lyttelton Harbour Board.— An ordinary meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board was held yesterday afternoon, when a considerable amount of business was transacted, as reported on another page. Church qf the Good Shepherd.— The new Church of the Good Shephard, Phillipstown, will be consecrated by the Most Eev the Primate on Sunday next. In the afternoon his Lordship will also address the children at their special service. Daily services throughout the octave have been arranged with special preachers, and some town and suburban choirs have promised their assistance. The people of Phillipstown may be congratulated on possessing one of the best churches in the diocese.

Lecture. —On Wednesday evening tlie Eev E. M. Hauxwell lectured on “ Afghanistan and the Afghans” in the Papanui Presbyterian Church. The rev lecturer dwelt principally on the present dispute with reference to the Afghan boundary. He said that Russia’s chief aim was the possession of India, and that she would push on with her longpherished schemes at every opportunity. There was a fair attendance, and at the conclusion the lecturer was accorded a hearty-vote of thanks. Lyttelton Defence Works. —On Wednesday the men of the permanent Artillery stationed at Lyttelton were engaged in getting into position the 7-ton gun in the lower battery at Battery Point, the carriage for which had been previously put up. The frame and racers for the gun at the upper battery have been fixed, and the gun, which is on the ground, should be mounted in a few days. The excavations for the bed of the 64-pounder to be mounted at Erskine Point have been completed. This gun is the one at present mounted inside the breakwater for drill purposes. Three of the magazines, at Battery, Middle, and Erskine Points, have been excavated, and the fourth, at Battery Point, will be commenced shortly. In addition to the detachment of Permanent Artillery, who, under the command of Captain’ Taylor, are quartered in the barracks just completed on the Sumner road, a gang of thirty men are engaged on the work, under the direction of an officer of the Public Works Department. Major Cautley is expected to arrive at Lyttelton to-day to inspect the worts.

' Queen’s Skating Eink.— Last night the Queen’s Theatre was thronged with skaters, many of whom were ladies, it being the Club night. The Eink will be open to the public tb-day, as usual.

Sunday Mails. —The Harbour Board yesterday passed the following resolution :—“ That unless under special circumstances of emergency, neither the Harbour Board's pilot staff, nor the steam tug, will be made available to take steamers out on Sundays.” , The Colonial Exhibition. —The Governors of Canterbury College have granted leave of absence for one year to Professor von Haast to enable him to proceed to England as Commissioner for the Colony at the forthcoming Indian and Colonial Exhibition, to be held in London. Wharfage on Government Material. " —The Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday resolved to support the action taken by other Harbour Boards to have an alteration made in the Harbours Act, so that Government should be required to pay wharfage on material imported by them. Sailors’ Home. —The first annual report of the Sailors’ Home Committee of the Lyttelton Harbour Board appears on another page. . During the 13 months the institution has been open, 440 men have been accommodated there. The expenditure has been .£B9l, and the receipts leave a debtor balance of £173. Ambulance Association. —The St John Ambulance 1 Association lecture/ at the Municipal Chambers to-day is the second of the series, and will begin at 4.30 p.m. The lecture at the Merivalo schoolroom is a repetition of the first lecture for the benefit of those whose names are already given to the Hon Secretary. The hour is also 4.30 p.m.

Supreme Court. —His Honor Mr Justice Johnston will return from the Court of Appeal on Tuesday next, and will sit in Banco on Wednesday, June 3; in Bankruptcy, on Thux-sday, June 4, when the business set down for Tuesday,' June .2, will be taken ; and in Chambers on Friday, June 5. He proceeds to timaru on June 8, the civil and criminal sittings there being fixed for June 9. Lecture on Building Construction.— There was a good attendance yesterday evening at the ninth of the series of lectures on building construction, now being delivered at • Canterbury College by Mr B. Dobson, C.E. The. lecture dealt specially with floors and' pavements, the various kinds of which were classified, their merits and defects pointed out, and a nnm--1 her of practical suggestions on the subject made. Technological Education.—Now that the Governors of Canterbury College have taken up the subject of technological education, they are becoming Very active in the matter. The' lectures being delivered by Professor Bickerton and Mr E. Dobson .are to be followed up by a course of technological instruction by Mr Blair, master of the School of Arts, particulars of .which will be found in our report of the meeting df the Board held yesterday. < ; The PijAYs op Terence, —At a meeting of the Beard of Governors yesterday, a letter was read from His Excellency the Governor’s Private Secretary, stating that His Excellency was advised that, under present arrangements, he is not in a position to interfere in reference to the difficulty which has arisen between the University Senate and the Board, with respect to the introduction of .the objectionable plays , of Terence into the pass Latin course.

Weather Exchange. New Zealand : Slight depression in south, still high pressure in north; winds moderate and changeable, hut chiefly westerly; showers in centre. Australia: High pressure over interior and south coast; depression approaching from west; winds moderate, and generally fine. Barometers. New Zealand: Eussell, 30 - 3; Wellington 30 - 0; Bluff, 29'8. Australia : Albany, . 29‘9; Hobart* 30-1; Portland, 30-3; Sydney, 30-4.

West Lyttelton Church.— At a Committee meeting of the above church, held on Wednesday night, it was resolved to authorise Mr Mountfort, architect, to call for alternative tenders, in brick and wood, for the above church. It may be mentioned that the church to be erected, is intended to hold about 230 people, and will be upwards of 60ft long, by.an average width of 25ft. Already the residents in West Lyttelton have contributed some .£l3O, which, with outside contributions and a grant from the Synod of £2OO, makes a tptal of about £4OO. Further contributions are, however, wanted. St Andrew’s Church, Little Etveb.— The annual meeting of the parishioners was held in the schoolroom on Saturday last, the Rev Knowles,, Chairman. Mr H. E. Tyson read the annual statement of accounts, which was adopted The following gentlemen were elected as churchwardens : —Mr H. E. Tyson as clergyman’s and Mr William Coop as parishioners’. The following were elected as vestrymen:—Messrs G. Reynolds, M. Fitton, and Peter Mullins. Votes of thanks were given to the outgoing churchwardens and vestrymen, and also to the Superintendent and teachers of the Sunday School. The Chairman said there was a debt still due on the church, and that an entertainment would shortly be given in aid of the building fund. He had many promises of assistance, and no doubt it would be a success. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings. , Mrs Leavitt’s Mission.— Mrs Leavitt delivered one of her Temperance addresses to a large audience in the Rangiora Literary Institute Hall on Wednesday evening. The meeting was held under the auspices of the local Blue Ribbon Committee, and the Yen Archdeacon Dudley occupied the chair. At • the conclusion, twenty-six new pledges were taken, and in addition, twelve put on the blue. At intervals during the evening a choir, under the leadership of Mr T. G. Smith, rendered some of Sankey’s hymns very nicely.—At the invitation of Mrs Leavitt, a large number of ladies met at the Good Templar Hall, Rangiora, yesterday afternoon to discuss the question of forming a branch of the Women’s Gospel Temperance Union. After Mrs Leavitt had fully explained the constitution and objects of the Union, it • was decided to ' form a branch, and about thirty of those present gave in their names as members. An election of officers Was then made as follows: —President, Mrs Rowse; vice-Presidents, Mrs Parkin and Mrs T. G. Smith; Treasurer, Mrs T. Keir; and Secretary, Miss Dudley. It was agreed to hold the first meeting at the Wesleyan Church on Tuesday next, and the meeting then closed.

Racing Consultations. The Robin Hood Company’s consultation on Birthday Handicap and Grand National Steeplechase closed with 13,280 shares; 748 prizes were allotted instead of 220, through 5280 shares being sold over the original issue. The first prize. Birthday Handicap, value .£9OO, was drawn by a tent-maker, Blenheim; 2nd, .£270, labourer. Perry road, Christchurch; 3rd, .£135, storeman at Dipton, Southland. Grand National: First, £270, farmer, Selwyn; 2nd, .£135, clerk, Christchurch ; 3rd; £G7 10s, a gardener, Porirua Perry, Wellington. In the special, in which' 1850 shares were* sold in three days, prizes were drawn as follows: —First, .£2OB, cordial manufacturer, Southbridge; 2nd, £124, publican, Christchurch; 3rd, <£B3, bricklayer, Addington. All the amounts above are net cash. The Globe Company’s consultation closed with 2221 subscribers. The horses were drawn as follow: Dunedin Birthday Handicap : First, £199 18s, a well-known coach proprietor; 2nd, £B3 6s 6d, life insurance agent, Christchurch; 3rd, £B9 19s, commission agent, Hereford street. Grand National: First, £133 ss, lady residing in Hereford street; 2nd, £66 12s, livery stable proprietor, Christchurch j 3rd, £33 6s, commission agent. Ferry road.

Parliament out op Session.-' —Mr L. Harper addressed 'his constituents last night at .Papanui, and received a vote of thanks and confidence. A report of the speech will be found on another page. - , Theatre Eotal. —The programme last night at the Theatre Eoyal was a repetition, of that of Wednesday, and was received, with the same amount of favour by the audience. To-night, the same performance will be repeated, and to-morrow nightthere will be an entire change; ’ The quarterly meeting of the Canterbury 1 Chamber of Commerce will be held at o p.m. to-day. A tea-meeting and concert will take place in the : schoolroom, New. Brighton, at 6 o’clock this evening. - , Nominations of five persons to fill vacancies in each of the Halswell, Spreydon, and Templeton Bond Boards, close at the ' Coords’ offices before I±' o'clock to-day. The elections will take place on June 5,6, and 5, respectively. A concert will be held in the schoolroom, Tai Tapu, to-dav. at 8 p.m. . The Prehbleton Bodge, 1.0.0. P., will hold a concert and ball in the i own Hall, Brebhleton, thisevening. v ■ > ■ A reguli. r meeting‘of the Canterbury Masonic Lodge will be hell this evening at 7.30, when a lecture will be delivered by the Ee v J. Hill. The meuiDers of St John’s Church choir will give a concert in tee schoolroom on Tuesday, June Sj commencing at 8 p.m. Madame Summerhayes will be assisted at her' second matinee musicale, to be given in the Girls’" Friendly Society room, to-morrow, at 3 p.m,, by Misses Bavinia and Ada Taylor, and Mr Spensley.

Valuable Freight.— During the Napier Harbour Board’s meeting last week it wasstated that the loan debentures had been.shipped as ordinary cargo, and that theshipping authorities wquld therefore only hold themselves liable for damage to the extent of £5. The Bank, however, hath insured the debentures for £IOO. It was also stated by Mr Wilson that the shipping agents.at first wanted to charge £3OO for: taking the debentures to England, on the ground that they were “ valuable securities.” • The Slaughter in Africa.— Of the Arabs, it is computed we have slain 3000at Teb, 2000 at Tamai, 2000 at Abublea, 1300 at Goubat, 1000 at Kirkehan, and. 3000 at the recent fights at and aboutHasheen, figure, which are probably below. rather than • over the actual numberTen thousand British soldiers have been, killed, wounded, and invalided, and the net result is nil. We gaze on a sea ofi blood in which is sunk twenty millions of treasure. .To whom this situation iseminently satisfactory, to Arabs, Egyp-, tians, or to Englishmen, does not exactly appear. - 1 • • , A Memento,op the Black Hole. —The; Englishman mentions an interesting historical discovery lately made in Calcutta. This is the Osact site of the monument erected to Holwell, the survivor and annalist of the Black Hole. Special interest attaches to the monument, as it marks the spot where the victims were, buried. When the search began, the Government of Bengal gave a small sum, but that, grant was expended, and the work'continued at the cost of Dr Hunter and some other gentlemen. It is proposed to mark the spot with a slab.

A Much Married Woman. —A most re- 1 markable marriage baa just bee l !! celebrated in Wellington according to one of the local papers; The bride is . a good-looking-woman of under 30 years of age, who hasjust taken to herself a fourth husband, her, three 5 previous spouses being all alive, and.-' yet she is not no w amenable to a charge of bigamy. When a girl she married her first, husband, and afterwards discovered that he had a previous wife living. Leaving, him she married No. 2, a single man, but after living with him some time they" separated, and although the marriage was, a good one she risked a prosecution and contracted a third marriage,' also with a . bachelor. Husband No. 2 obtained a divorce*, and marriage the third being of course invalid, the . parties after, a time separatedNowa fourth husband Las led this muchmarried woman to the altar. A Twenty-Four Houe Clock. —A clock' on the,twenty-four hour principle has justs been fixed in Bishopsgate street, Londony opposite the National Provincial Bank. It' is remarkable tor the simple method o£ indicating tiine upon the new enumeration. This clock has only one hand, the long minute hand,/and the figures around are' placed as heretofore. Instead, however, of indicating the hours, they indicate the minutes only, which are marked from, 5 to--60. The hours are shown on a sunk dial> revolving upon the upper dial, a space being left in the upper dial, in which the next hour figure comes forward instan-. taneously upon the minute hand, completing its circuit in 60 minutes. In short, the solitary hand marks the minutes, and. thf sunk-space shows the hour. , The new face is an improvement upon others recently introduced, in which all the 24 hours are upon the dial. The arrangement is applied to watches as well as clocks by the inventor. ■

An Exact Chinaman. —A story übed to be told of the captain of a ship who took an. old pair of pants to a Chinese tailor and told him he wanted a pair made exactly like them by next day. When he called for his garments the tailor explained that he had found the time rather short, as he had much difficulty in wearing out the nankeen in the same spots as the old pair,and the stains gave him considerable trouble to imitate them. It turned out he had executed his customer’s orders literally. A descendant of this Celestial lives inInvercargill. A member of the SouthlandHussars staying in one of the hotels-hap-pened to mention the other night in thepresence of a Chinese cookthathis " trottercases’’ were Cookhatn boots. Next morning the gallant soldier, on picking up his boots,, was horrified to find that they had been baked overnight—so, thoroughly that in one’ case the sides had been burned through. "John” had taken the remark about " Cookhams ” to mean that he was to “ cook, ’uni boots.” And he did. i The Taranaki Breakwater. — The breakwater in course of construction at Taranaki, says the Auckland Star,- is rapidly progressing towards completion, although the workmen have to contend, against great difficulties. The ship Dunscore, which is discharging cement for .useon the breakwater, has had a very rough time during the last few weeks. Once shelost both anchors; on another occasion she had to put to- sea for three days. The breakwater is evidently of use for smallvessels, but it does hot make by any means a safe landing. Recently tbe* Hawea was lying inside when tbe sea was_ washing clean over the wall and falling on her decks. One great wave capsized severalrailway trucks, and pitched the luggage which they contained right on hoard of thesteamer. Last time the s.s. Oreti was thereshe could not go alongside of the shore side of the breakwater for the same reason, and. had to be kept steaming backwards and. forwards while the passengers were landed in boats. However, the dangers toshipping have been greatly decreased by the ‘ erection of the • breakwater, which affords a comparatively safe' anchorage for vessels, and it will most likely prove of considerable benefit to the place. Disorderly Volunteers. - Regarding the misbehaviour of some ,WeUingtj|®i Volunteers on their return from review, the Post says:—By some means” they had provided themselves with blank ammunition, and they kept firing their rifles from the railway carriages as they came along. In some instances they were observed to aim at ladies and gentlemen on horseback on the Hutt road, which proceeding naturally caused considerablealarm. The efforts of the officers were powerless to prevent these disorderly proceedings, hut the names of six off enders were taken down, and they ■will be proceeded against under the 271st clause of ■the Volunteer regulations, which provides that “ any Volunteer who shall discharge any firearms when in any public vehicle pron any public thoroughfare without due authority shall pay a fine not exceeding £S ” They will also probably he dismissed from the Volunteer force, It is absolutely

necessary that a severe example should be made to put down disorderly and dangerous practices of this kind. At the last review at the Hutt, a couple of years ago, precisely the same sort _of thing occurred.' One Volunteer, while in Courtenay place last evening on his road home, actually loaded his rifle near the gasworks, and discharged it in the street. The' Indian Tboops at Souakim. —Mr Quicke, an ex-Inveroargillite, who has ' been stationed at Souakim for some time, writing under date March 15 to the Southland Times, says : —“ The majority of the Indian troops are tall, well-built men. They Lave had several men killed at night, but have retaliated with such vengeance that they will not allow even friendly tribesmen in the vicinity of their camp. They nearly killed one of them one morning after a midnight visit from the enemy. They say the friendly natives are only spies, and from what has transpired recently in the British camp it would appear that the suspicions of the Indian men are not only weU founded, but that these fellows often t.nlrp part in the night attacks on the lines. A day or two back one of these so-called friendly men met a Sikh trooper outside of the camp and asked him why he fought against his religion. His answer was prompt and decisive. Drawing the long, sharp knife these troopers wear in their belts he ripped his questioner open. His judgment and execution were rapid; his argument being that no friendly disposed Native would have asked such a question. There was another similar case, the insult offered being greater. An Arab spat in the face of an Indian trooper, who killed him instantly. The Indian troops will not allow the Natives —friendly or otherwise — near the camp, and they are right. These fellow s prowl about all day without anus, see all they can, and come down at night and kill those who have befriended them." ' The Vandkbbxlt Stockings. The Philadelphia Times thus describes where old Commodore Vanderbilt found the foundation for his great fortune: “ Vanderbilt was employed, and for quite a time, ran the boat from New York through the Narrows and up the Raritan river without great molestation. In those days New Brunswick was quite an important landing place along the way. Very early Mrs Vanderbilt thought an eating station or hotel at this point would pay. So she established herself in business as proprietress of an eating establishment, while ber husband ran the steamboat. For a quarter apiece she furnished a good meal, ■.. and did a big business. Her place was called Bellona Hall, and the little yellow building bearing the name is still standing near the banks of the canal, just below New Brunswick. One day Cornelius came to her and grumbled about having to work for other people, and said he ought to have a steamboat of his own. She asked him how much it would cost. He told her, whereupon she went to her closet and drew out from their hiding place some old stockings full of specie, and gave it to her husband to help him buy a steamboat. ' Prom this beginning dated, her husband’s remarkable (success. He grew rich by saving, and the first lessons he taught his ' children were that to he mean was to he .successful and powerful. It is said that the old Commodore carried this belief to such an extent that he even treated the wife badly who was the mother of their children, and helped him to make the first start in life by furnishing meals to the passengers from Philadelphia to New York who stopped at Bellona Hall for a rest." The Minister of Mines. —MrLamach, so we hear (says the Evening Press) has given dire offence by the strict economy he insisted on having observed during his recent tour through the Otago goldfields. It seems'that a prominent member of Parliament, prominent both politically and whom we dare not allude to more particularly than to mention that his initials are Vincent P., accompanied the Minister part of the journey, but getting pretty sick of playing bear leader, left him at an early stage. Imagine his indignation and contempt on receiving a bill for fifteen shillings for fluid mendicaments consumed by him as a remedy for the gout during his attendance in the Ministerial suite! There is also much growling down there because a Daily Times reporter, who made the tour with Mr Lamacb, and wrote voluminous and mellifluous reports of each day’s and each hour’s proceedings, has been dunned for twenty-five shillings for soda water and other tonics ordered by the doctor to sustain him in his labours. Fancy a reporter being compelled to pay for the necessaries of life—and travelling with a Minister too! Why, Johnny Sheehan always used to shout for the whole country .aide as he went along, and stick it up to native contingencies. “ What are we coming to ? " asks J. C. Brown, with a sigh for the degeneracy of New Zealand politics. The best point of the joke is that in private life the present Minister of Mines is about the most open-fisted fellow living, with extremely. liberal ideas regarding creature comforts, and always ready with the needful whenever he has people witji him who -don’t happen to 'he as well off as himself. Hence his friends and followers in Otago naturally supposed he* would be doubly generous with public money, and stand Sam for all hands. But “No,” says Mr Larnaoh, “What’s mine’s my own, and I -can chuck it away as I like. The money .of the taxpayers is another pairjof shoes, and gentlemen .travelling with roe will be kind enough to find themselves in liquor or else go dry.” Bather rough on genial souls like Messrs Pyke and Brown, but honest and right for all that!

The Royal Visit to Ireland. —The i Argus correspondent says:—The Prince and Princess of Wales have had a magnificent reception in Dublin. Spite of all that the Nationalists have attempted in the hope of creating prejudice against the Royal visitors, there has been nothing but a most hearty goodwill exhibited on all sides. It is true that the Corporation, as a body, held to its determination to take no part in the public welcome; but the local authorities at Kingstown presented an address, and it is one of- the greatest griefs of ■ Mr O’Brien's existence that his own constituency of Mallow is about to follow this example. The editor of the United Ireland threatens condign punishment to all and sundry for this failure to observe the dignified neutrality which was the order of the Corporation of 'Dublin. He prints a remarkable list of “■opinions” on the Royal visit, gathered from persons and public bodies who are avowedly hostile to the British Crown. Mr Parnell heads the list, and we are told that I know not how many hundreds of boards of guardians and other local authorities in the central and southern provinces have determined to hold aloof from' the Royal travellers. Unfortunately for Mr O’Brien, the public bodies may stand aside, but the people will not. At least such is the experience in Dublin, and tbere is no reason to suppose that it will be different elsewhere. The Prince of Wales is heating the Nationalists at e'h points of the game. His speeches are conceived in the most admirable spirit, and show all His Eoyal Highness’ characteristic tact and good sense. His personal bearing is irresistible, and yesterday, when he was found visiting some of the worst dens of the metropolis in his capacity of member of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Poor, he was almost overwhelmed by the affectionate demonstrations of the populace. Naturally, the Princess has not less attention. Her Eoyal Highness appears in Irish poplin of the national colour, with jacket and bonnet making profuse exhibition of the shamrock. It is not in the heart of the . Irish people to resist attentions of this sort, mid it ought not to surprise anybody if the present tour has some remarkable effect in caiiping and tranquilising the country.

Lord Spencer has given it as 1 bis, opinion that an Irish Balmoral would put an end to half the difficulties of the Viceroy, and the notion grows that it is by no means improbable that something of this sort may issue from the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their eldest son;