TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11530, 17 March 1898, Page 5

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Amateur Photography. —There is every indication that the photographic competition arranged in connection -with the pictorial columns of the Canterbury Times will be one of the most successful of its kind ever organised in New Zealand. Competitors are reminded that they have ample time to take fresh photographs, as the entries do not close until April 26. Aquatic. —The Picton Rowing Club’s crew to compete in the Championship Regatta passed through Lyttelton yesterday, by the Te Anau, for Dunedin. The Clock Tower.—A start was made yesterday afternoon towards erecting the scaffolding which is to be used in putting up the ironwork of the clock tower. The Mayor's “At Home.”— There was a very large attendance at the City Council Chambers from 3 to 6 p.m. yesterday, when the Mayor of Christchurch and Mrs and Miss Lonisson were “at home ” to all citizens who chose to avail themselves of the opportunity. Every class of the community was represented in the 300 people who were present, and the afternoon passed very brightly. The library was used as a reception room, and light refreshinentsi provided by Mr Freeman, were served in the large Council Chamber, Mr Eossiter’s orchestra played excellent music during the afternoon. Trinity Congregational Church.—A public meeting in connection with this church was held last evening in the Trinity Congregational schoolroom. The Rev S. J. Baker presided, and there was a large attendance. The Secretary’s report showed that ten members had been received during the year. Reference was made to the nourishing condition of the Sunday school and other organisations of the church, and also to the work done by Miss A. Harband, 8.A., and Miss B. Harband, her sister, in the mission field in India. The year’s total receipts from all sources had been -5697 18s Id. During the evening speeches were delivered by the Kev I. rJarginson and Messrs Parker, Fraser, Franklin and Anthony, and the programme was interspersed with anthems and other music. Prior to the meeting a soiree was held, and was attended by a largo number of people.

New Zealand Natives’ Association, — A meeting of the Christchurch centre of the New Zealand Natives’ Association was held last evening in Miss Carr’s rooms; present —Messrs W. Beece (president), H. J. Beswick, W. E. Thompson, F. H. Cowper (honorary secretary), E. M. Carr, T. Clarkson and the Eev C. Praer. Pour new members were elected. The Secretary reported that eighty-four members had now joined the Association, and it was anticipated that the roll would number one hundred' before next meeting. After some discussion it was decided to hold a public gathering about the middle of April, when proper steps would be taken the objects of the Association prominently before the public and make a commencement with the work it proposed under tailing. A sub-committee was appointed to make preliminary arrangements tor an inaugural entertainment, and to report at a future meeting. Correspondence was read from Tunam with reference io the proposed establishment of a branch ;here.

Sale of Wheat. —A line of 900 sacks of wheat, chiefly Pearl, was sold at Ashburton on Tuesday at 4s 3d per bushel. Assessment Court. —A sitting of this Court will be held on April 1 at the City Council Offices to consider objections to the valuation roll of Christchurch.

Band Music. —At the rotunda last night the Engineers' Band played selections which were enjoyed by a large gathering of people. Garden Party. —A garden party in connection with the Street Methodist Church will be held this afternoon in the grounds of Mr Sorensen, near the Stanmore Road Bridge. The grounds will be open from 2.15 p.m. The Governor.— His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by Captain Alexander, returned from the south by last night’s express. His Excellency went on to Wellington by the steamer Penguin.

Oxfoed and Biech Hill Fiees. —The Mayor yesterday received a cheque for .£ll 3s from Mr G. Willmer, the veteran cricketer, with a letter stating that the money was the proceeds of a poem composed for the benefit of sufferers by the fires at Oxford and Birch Hill,

Cantebbubt Rowing Club. —On Saturday afternoon next the annual Scratch Fours and Sculls will be rowed from Stanmore Bridge to “The Willows.” Already a large number of entries have been, received, and a good afternoon’s sport is expected. Lady members will dispense tea in the social hall.

Drapers’ Hookey Club.— The second annual meeting of the Christchurch Drapers’ Hockey Club was held last evening at the Young Men’s Christian Association rooms, when the following officers were elected for the ensuing year : President, Mr E. C. vice-presi-dents, Messrs T. Coverdale, o ■ R. Triggs and M’Ewin; captain, Mr G. Good; vicecaptain, Mr R. Irwin; secretary and treasurer, Mr C. Yale; committee, Messrs W. Mitchell, H. Kilner, P. Flesher and J. Buchanan. Nine new members were elected, and the meeting closed with ajvote of thanks to the Chairman (Mr W. Mitchell). Ashbueton Ladies’ Liedebkeantz. — The annual meeting was held on Monday, when there was a large gathering of members. In the absence of Mrs Donald M’Loan, Mrs Denshire presided. The report and balance - sheet were received and adopted, and the following office-bearers were elected for the ensuing year: —President, Mrs G. A. M. Buckley; vice-presidents, Mesdames Bullock, M’Lean and Thomas; committee, Mesdames Mac Lean Dun, Denshire, Cuthbertson. Gates, Makeig, Mitchell and Miss Field; honorary secretary and treasurer. Miss Field; librarian. Miss Hamilton; conductor, Mr Owen. Several now members were enrolled, and the financial position was reported to be satisfactory.

Personal. —Professor Scott returned from Wellington by the steamer Penguin yesterday.—Captain Hannah, inspector of fire appliances for the Government, arrived from Wellington yesterday, and wont south by the express train to Seacliff Asylum on a visit of inspection.—Mr A. R. Lyons, property superintendent of the Hew Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, went south by the same train, as did also the Hon G. F. Richardson, M.H.R. for Mataura, and Messrs J. C. Wason, M.H.R., and P. Wilding and LEmbling.—Mr G. P. Bullen, of Zaikoura, arrived from the south by last night’s express.—Mr Dugald M’Pherson,* of Dunedin, is staying in Christchurch.—Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon arrived last night by the southern express.

Bankruptcy. The first meeting of creditors in the estate of John Robert Charlton, of Christchurch; veterinary surgeon, lapsed yesterday for want of a quorum. The bankrupt’s statement showed:—Unsecured creditors, £422 3s. Assets, book-debts, £43 ; property .£IOO. Total .£143. Deficiency .£279 3s. The unsecured creditors wereJ. A. Gilruth, about .£142; A. Tyree, .£21,; P. C. Raphael, .£55; Drs Ovenden and Palmer, .£43 14s; Kempthorne, Prosser and Co., £l6 19s ; Wallace and Co., £ls; Langdon and Steel, £l3; Campbell, £10; Cock, £7 12s; T. Bassett, £8 13s; Toovey’s estate, £5; Brookes, £5; H. Pannell, £3; Thompson and Turrell, £5; C. Palariet, £55; R. G, Warnes, £4 15s ; Reece and Sons, £4 10s and Ballantyne and Co., £4 17s. There were two other creditors for small amounts. A Message from the Sea. —A bottle containing one of the printed forms issued to captains of vessels by the Meteorological Department, Sydney, New South Wales, was found on the New Brighton beach on Tuesday. The paper sets out that “it is intended to be thrown overboard so that when found it will indicate the direction of the currents through which it has passed.” The following particulars were given:— “ Ship Trafalgar, of Aberdeen, 1 p.m., Jan. 27, 1898; latitude 48.17 deg south; longitude 165.52 deg east; wind W.S.W., strong ; weather fine, clear; sea S.W., high sea; from Newcastle, New South Wales, to Taetal, Chili. Signed, James Gleave, master. Coal cargo, temperature 74deg Pah. Barometer 29 - 34 (mercury).” As desired, the paper has been posted by the finder (Miss Bessie Williams) to the Observatory, Sydney. Sale of Fues,— On account of the large number of lots which had to be submitted at the sale of furs at Mr Charles Clark’s rooms yesterday, many lots could not bo offered, and it is announced that they will be for sale at the rooms to-day privately at

auction prices. 789 Notwithstanding a previous local of yesterday’s date, the Sterling Cycles secured more meritorious wins and victories than any other wheel competing at the Lin wood Sports on Saturday. Out of fifteen events, the Sterling secured seven firsts, ten seconds and seven third places, carrying the various riders, Sutherland, T. Clarkson, Wall, Blade, Portei 1 , Preece and Rodgers to victory, mostly all from back marks and not with big starts. In the big Wheel Race .Sutherland was first and T. Clarkson second. In the Mile Championship T. Clarkson was first and Sutherland second. Wall and Barker finished in that order; all the Sterlings competing in the race to the front. The One-mile Handicap was also won, by Blade, on a Sterling. 2080 McClinton and Thomson’s Barilla Soap is what Prof. Kirk recommends. (See advt. front page.) , 2224

But a gramophone, the latest and most wonderful home entertainer ever invented. Call and hear it. Barlow Cycle Co., 48, Manchester Street, next Coker’s. 2164 Wonderful value in 18ct. Wedding and Engagement Rings at S. Clarke and Co.’s jewellers, 148, Colombo Street.— [Advt.]

Dressmaking. —Ladies are advised that in anticipation of heavy demands upon this department for this approaching season, a leading Melbourne dressmaker has been engaged to take charge of a room at the D.I.C. The styles introduced will be quite a departure from those in-vogue in the Christchurch shops, with the further inducement that a specially moderate list of charges has been arranged for every model of gown made to order. 2228 Buyers of Zealandia Bicycles get the best value for cash, write for catalogue. Oates, Lowry and Co., largest manufacturers of cycles in New Zealand, Zealandia Works, Christchurch. — [Advt.] Mobepobk Celebrated Mild-cured Hams and Bacon can be had in any quantities from Hubbard, Hall and Co., Manchester Street, next Milner and Thompson’s. 2192 Dunlop tyres and Dunlop Welch rims are the fastest and most reliable combination in the world; guaranteed for twelve months. — [Advt , j

111-Considered Devotion to Brandy.—“ Thor were n. few attacks of mild dysentery, brought midnly on by ill-considered devotion to brandy, or biliousness produced by the same cause, Nor the latter wo used to swear by Eko'b ‘ Pjmtit Salt,’ wiiicli is simpl? irlva]u^vble. ,, —-Sec ‘ Coral Lauds, Vol I The effect of End’s “ Print Salt" on any di-ordered and feverish condition is simply marvellous. It if, in fuel, Nature’s Own Remedy, and »n unsurpassed one. Caution. —See capsule marked Eno’s ‘ 1 Proit Salt.’* "Without it you . have a worthless imitation.—f Advt.]

Sailing.— The fleet of the Brighton Sailing Club will decide the last race of the season on Saturday next. Canteeeuet College. —Professor-Clarke will continue his German lectures for beginners on Tuesdays, at 5 p.m. Socialist Chuech. —A public meeting, under the auspices of this church, will be held in Hobbs’s Buildings this evening. Noeth Canterbubt Educational Institute. —The adjourned annual meeting will be held in the Normal School on Saturday, at 10.30 a.m. Excuesion Faees. —Excursion fares in connection with tho Dunedin races and Otago Jubilee Exhibition are advertised by the Railway Department.

Jubilee Publications. —The Otago Daily Times and the Dunedin Evening Star have both issued admirably illustrated numbers to commemorate the Jubilee of the southern province. They have been prepared with great care and taste, and in addition to the illustrations contain a vast amount of reading matter that will be of great interest to the general public.

Paeish of Papanui. — A sale of work and gift auction will be held at St Paul’s Schoolroom, Papanui, to-day. The sale will commence at two o’clock, and continue all the afternoon and evening. The gift auction of produce will start at five o’clock. On Sunday next a harvest thanksgiving service will be hold in the church, when the offertory will be added to the amount realised to-day. Th® Rev W. S. Bean will preach morning and evening.

The Pbemieb’s Visit. —The arrangements for the presentation of an address from tho Lyttelton Liberal Association to the Premier on Saturday night aro now completed. The meeting will be hold in the Social Hall, near the railway station, and the chair will be occupied by Captain H. M’Lellan, president of the Association, who will present the address. The meeting is to be a public one. On Monday, the Premier intends to proceed to Dunedin by the express. Lecture. —A lecture was given by Mrs Harris (“Jenny Wren”) in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union rooms last evening, ujion “Women’s Work and Influence Past, Present and Future.” Mrs Harris spoke briefly of the necessity that woman should realise more and more fully her responsibility in all relations of life towards mankind. After dwelling upon the condition of women in olden times, and mentioning the Biblical heroines, she compared the privileges and “ rights,” which tho women of the present day possess as compared with the disabilities of their predecessors. The lecturer said that the future would be largely what woman made it, and woman could now truly feel that “ the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” Woman's true kingdom was not in the political arena, but in the moral, spiritual and home life of the world. Mrs Harris was listened to attentively, and at the close of the lecture was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.

CYCLING. At a special meeting of the Timaru Tourists’ Cycling Club, held last night, it was decided by 43 to 35 to secede from the Cyclists’ Alliance and join the League of New Zealand Wheelmen. THE WHEAT CORNER. Young Joseph Leitex*, the new king of the wheat market (writes the New York correspondent of the Argus on Jan. 30), can scarcely fail now to make his investments very profitable. At the end of December he owned nearly all the surplus wheat at Chicago and neighbouring points. To-day be has in his possession 9,000,000 bushels, carried by the Chicago storehouses, and 6,000,000 bushels more which is stored at various points within a few hundred miles of that city. No one else has any considerable quantity of wheat to sell for delivery at this time or during two or three weeks to come. Therefore the price has been x-ising rapidly, an advance of ten cents a bushel having been scored in the last two days. As the average price paid by Leiter was ninety-one cents a bushel, the sale of his holdings at present quotations, would give him a profit of more than 2,000,000 dol. Believing, as he says, that the Americas surplus for export has been exhausted, he is selling his contracts for transatlantic shipment and holding his grain for the home market. But it is not true that the country can spare no more wheat to be sold abroad. For a novice, Leiter has been very successful, but a great deal can be accomplished in the wheat market by a young man who has brains, and is permitted to use part or the whole of his father’s fortune of 30,000,000 dol. A REMARKABLE DRAWING. An extraordinary discovery is announced from Rome, no less than that Signor Marucchi, the archeologist, has discovered arough dx*awing of the crucifixion, inscribed with the Latin names of the soldiers who were standing around the cross. The conjecture is that it is the drawing of a soldier who was actually present at the scene, and of course such a thing is not absolutely impossible. In addition to inscriptions without number, there are. still in existence drawings, and even paintings, of an earlier date. A spectator might possibly have recorded his impressions of the execution, and his work, if protected from the air and from destruction by some accident, may possibly have come down to this age. But the probabilities are (the London correspondent of the Age says) very much against it. There is no very great likelihood that a Roman soldier would have taken any special notice of a punishment frequently indicted by the authorities of his country upon a fanatical and troublesome people like the Jews. It is very unlikely that he would have attempted to give a realistic representation of the scene if he were not present at it, or that he would have taken the trouble to add the names of the soldiers who were. Still less is it likely that he would have dared to disfigure the walls of the Palace of Tiberius with such a drawing. The probability is that the picture is the work of some second or third century Christian, and that the names are those of saints, or, possibly, of some of his personal friends. SILYERSTREAM MURDER. The amount voted by the Justice Department for the defence of Philpott in the Sxlverstream murder case was only £lO 10s. Mr Jellicoe, in his affidavit' in connection with the application to be heard before the Executive Council on the condemned man’s behalf, states that the fee set apart for Philpott’s defence was so small that he was prevented from making an effort to obtain change of venue, a step which he considers would have been only fair to the prisoner, who, through the publication of sensational reports in the newspapers, was, he alleges, condemned before the trial took place. Mr Jellicoe points out that be had arrayed against him no fewer than forty-six witnesses, the Crown Prosecutor (Mr H. D. Bell), one of the ablest advocates in the colony, Mr M. Myers (from the Crown Solicitor’s office), and the whole of the local police.

POMAHAKA. Mr. F. B. Flatman, M.H.E., who has just returned from a visit to Pomahaka, supplies the Temuka Leader with some interesting particulars of the settlement. Mr Flatman drove all over the estate, and crossed several paddocks, which had splendid crops of oats, turnips, and ryegrass. The thresher was at work on the ryegrass when Mr Flatman was there, and, judging by the straw and the after--math’ he considered that there was! at least from 50 to 60 bushels of seed. Many of

the oat crops he also considers should go 40 bushels to the acre. Turnips that were put in by ’the Government aro lookinw extremely well, and, in fact, the best crops in the district this year are at Pomahaka. The only thing the settlers want now is a fine month of harvest weather, as the oats are not yet ripe. Mr Flatman considers that the Pomahaka settlement is quite equal to any district in the country, and that people who take up the land at the rents charged by the Government should live very comfortably.

POLICE REMUNERATION. During the hearing of certain charges against a police constable in tho Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon it came out that he was m receipt of £lO per month, upon which wage he kept himself, his wife, seven children, his own and his wife’s mother, paid 12s a week rent, and supplied himself with uniforms. MEAT SUPPLY. At a meeting of the trustees of the Wellington Hospital, on Monday, Mr R. C. Kirk strongly urged that no tender for the supply of meat should be accepted unless the trustees were satisfied that the animals were killed in sanitary premises; but as the trustees had practically decided to accept tho tender of a butcher whose premises were said to be in a satisfactory condition, tho matter was allowed to drop.