TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11888, 11 May 1899, Page 5

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

The Boioiti, with the San Francisco mail, is expected to* reach Wellington this njoaaring, and the sonthem portion will be |espatched to Lyttelton in the afternoon. ~

The LytteJfcon Marine Band, under Bandmaster Coilin3, played at the Eotunda last tight. ..■■

Mrs Herrick would feel grateful for the gift of any tree?, case wood, or timber of *ny kind,, for the fire kindling industry at jthe Home. She would gladly undertake the removal or cartage of either.

Qn' Tuesday evening a confirmation service was held in St Paul's Church, Tai Tapu, whign, despite the inclemency o.f the weather, there was a good congregation. Fire female and three male candidates were presented by the Bev H. Williams. Bishop Julius delivered an eloquent address on "ideals," .taking for hh> text, 11. Timothy-.iL, 8, re.vised version. ~

Mr F. Eenner telegraphs from Kaikoura: The statement in Monday's "Lyttelton tames" that the vote of thanks to Mr Meredith for Ma, address in the Town Hall *t Kailtoura last Friday included the words /'and for his attention to the wants of the district "is absolutely false. The further statement that "the meeting closed with for Mr Meredith and the Government"' are also absolutely untrue. Ifa

jphaera were called for. The Hon W. Hall-Jones, Minister of Public Works, arrived from Timaru by the express last evening. He was accompanied by Mr Homeman, his private secretary. The Minister 'will leave this morning- by the north train, and wil drive over the "route of the proposed extension of the northern. ■ railway to Blenheim. He will inspect the new Waiau Bridge, and will stay atChevifvo to-night. He proposes also to inspect the newly-formed road from the Coaway River to Kaikoura, through the Hundalea country.

The presentation of diplomas to students ©f Canterbury College will be made in the College Hall on Monday, Jane 19, at 3 p.m. The University Senate decided that the ceremony should in future be a University function, but it is probable that the Chancellor, Sir Jamea Hector, wjll not be present in person, and that he will appoint p member of the. Senate, resident in Christehurch, to act in bis stead. The Students' Association of the College is making arrangements to hold a conversazione in the evening. There appears to be a Jack of musical and lyrical talent among the students this year, and it is therefore not likely that the afternoon proceedings will be enlivened with songs as in previous years.

The Eev B. J. Westbrooke was among the passengers who went south by the express yesterday. Mr and Mrs John Boothman, very old residents of Lyttelton, were passengers by' the steamer Rotomahana on Tuesday night for Wellington. They will - join the Buahine for London, and intend . to take up their residence in England. Mr -and Mrs John Eoberts left Lyttelton by ' ' the Elingamite last night for Napier after '• aTesidence of about forty-eight years at - • Lyttelton. Major Richards, Mr I'. Pice and ; . the Hon H.K. Taiaroa were also amongst •the passengers by the Elingamite. Jlajor ,'~ Richards and Mr Pine will go Home by ' die Ruahine. Mr R. H. Pearpoinfc arrived !rom the south' by the express last , tvoning;

, Owing to the recent rains, the state of the river Avon from Ward's Brewery to New Brighton is better than it has been for some time past.'

A meeting of the committee of the bakers' ball was held last evening, when ifc %vas decided that only a limited number of tickets would be issued.

Mr D. C. Cameron, of Dunedin, Grand Secretary of the Good Templara for the past twenty-five years, arrived by the s.s. Elingamite yesterday, en route to Toronto, Canada. He will bs the representative of the Grand Lodge ~of Ne\v Zealand at the session of the International Supreme Lodge, which-meets on June 28. As showing the great advance which has taken place in ■ the price of sheep during the past few months, it may be stated that a line of sheep which had been sold in the fat pens in the Addington yards about three months 1 ago for 13s 7d'to 13s 9d were again brought in yesterday, after having been on stubble, and realised from 18s lOd to 23s 6d. Consideration of, a letter from the House Surgeon kept the Hospital Board engaged for over three hours yesterday. The letter made certain charges against the Chairman, Mr C. M. Gray, who replied at length, and brought counter-charges against Dr Fes. After hearing Dr Fox in explanation, the Board decided to ask Mr Gray to resign from the positron of chairman. Professor Robin, of Paris, paid a visit of inspection to the Lyttelton Gaol on Saturday, and expressed himself*astonished at the cleanliness and comfort of the place, and the, healthy appearance of the inmates. This state of things, he said,.contrasted strongly with French prisons, and the place reminded him more of a well-kept boardinghouse than a penal establishment. A big eron of onions,, for the manuring of which river weed was used, has been grown at Dallington. It has been suggested that the fertilising properties of these' weeds should be thoroughly tested and reported upon by the Department of Agriculture, as should they prove generally useful for this purpose, part, at all events, of the cost of clearing the river might be defrayed by their sale. A man was arrested last evening by Detective Cassells, charged with having stolen two overcoats, one from the White Hart . and one from the ' City Hotel. Thefts of this kind have been very prevalent lately, and last Sunday several coals were taken from the porch of St Paul's Church. The police wish to warn private persons from purchasing overcoats offered to them, as there are several men offering stolen goods for sale.

Aii the request of the city authorities, +he Lyttelton Marine Band, under Bandmaster G. E. Collins, last evening played a selection of music iru the band rotunda, in Cbrhstchurch, and a collection was taken up fothe purpose of providing more seating accommodation in the Square. Although there were over a thousand persons present, the collection amounted to the munificent sum of 8s 4d. This was made up of twenty-four coppers, four threepenny-bits, five sixpences, and three shillings. The Hospital Board intended at yesterday's special meeting to first consider the tenders for re-plastering the Hyman, Marks Ward. The architect, however, was not'in. sight when the Board met, and the members decided to deal with a Uetter from Dr. Fox. This brought about a discussion lasting over three hours, and consideration of the tenders was postponed till the next ordinary meeting. One of the members remarked that the ward seemed doomed never to be completed. At a meeting of draughts players held last night it was decided to send out sub-, scription lists to the various draughts clubs in Christchurch and vicinity for the purpose of obtaining funds to pay a portion of the expenses of Mr E. Jordan's visit to this city. A number of subscriptions have already been received. It is intended to hire a room, where Mr Jordan will play all comers night and day. Mr Jordan was to leave Oamaru last night for Timaru, and , is expected to. arrive in- Christchurch on "f Saturday, when he will be met by a committee of draughts players. Blankets, Flannels, Rugs, and Men's Lambwool Shirts and Pants. We are now showing a very special purchase of 500 pairs White Blankets, commencing at 8s lid per pair; 48 pieces of Flannels, from B£d per yard; 25 Bugs, from 10s 6d each; and 20 dozen Men's Lambwool Pants and Shirts, from 3s lid. See our window's for special show of these goods.—Shaw, Robinson, and Co., 213, Cashel Street 92 Strongest where others are weakest. Zealandia Bicycles, price £2l, built with the new butted tubing, making frames, front forks and head unbreakable, also overhanging chain-wheel and twin roller chain. Write for catalogue. Oates, Lowry and Co., dhristchuxch and Ashburton. 62 Your wise investment in bicycle pleasure for 1899 demands that you read the beautiful Waverley catalogue, now *-eady. You will also find, on inspection, that these are the highest-grade wheels that money can obtain. The latest stock of sundries kept on hand. Waverley Cycle Depot, 217, Colombo Street, Christchurch. 2396 Hanmer Plains.—Visitors to the Hanmer Springs will find the best accommodation at Mrs Lahmert's, Jack's Pass Temperance Hotel, for 37s and 20s week. Free conveyances from the Springs twice daily. X 2356 A good opportunity to secure a useful mount for winter riding. The Anglo-New Zealand Cycle Company have several se-cond-hand machines for sale, good, useful bicycles, both ladies' and gentlemen's, from £4 103 upwards. A special display of these is now being made at the D.1.Cl Depot. A full range of the latest model Anglo Specials and Osmonds now being shown. Orders booked for the world-renowned Humber cycles. 278 Special Notice*—Crown Brand Tea prize competitions will be continued all this year round, and will close on the last days of April, June, August, October, anb* December in each year. Prizes of ladies' silver and other watches, albums, work-boxes, etc. Hubbard, Hall and Co.. 2384 Evenden's Patent Roofing and Fencing Nails, neatest and best; perfectly watertight. . Recommended by architects, and can be obtained from all ironmongers. X 2414 Cyclists who" require their machines well i and carefully repaired should send them to the " Premiers " of the cycling trade. Boyd and Son, Gloucester Street. Telephone 658. 2374 INCENSED CITIZENS. Chicago is excited, as it has never before been in its history, over an attempt on the part of the tramway monopoly to obtain by bribery from aldermen some extremely valuable franchises. So exasperated are the citizens that threats of lynching against corrupt aldermen have been openly made. The movement, indeed, has gone to such an extreme length that the Mayor has felt it necessary to caution the people against committing any overt act. As indicative of the popular sentiment, men have distributed in the streets white ribbon badges, on which is printed a gibbet, from which dangles a noose, whilst below is printed, "Anti-fifty-year Steal." In a couple of hours 200,000 of these badges were distributed, and they are worn by some of the wealthiest and most conservative business men of the city. ANGLING. Mr G. D. Hamilton, of Woodville, who is touring the colony in the interests of the book on " Trout Fishing," which he has been commissioned to publish on behalf of the Government, has finished a portion of his southern tour, and returned to Woodville last week, He leaves again in a few

days for the south 'to continue his work.' There are about 800 rivers to report on, so that he has considerable ground to cover. Mr Hamilton informs the "Hawke's Bay Herald " that from what he has seen there are no rivers to beat those in Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Wairarapa for trout fishing in the colony.

THE AMERICAN PRIZES. , Concerning the prize vessels taken by Americans, and eventually sold by the Government, Marshal Horr said: —"The value of the Spanish vessels captured was greatly over-estimated. The forty-six that I sold brought but VGl.OOOdols. The steamer Pedro was the best prize taken. She brought 200,000d015, and her cargo sold for 35,000d015. The Panama, popularly estimated to be worth 1,000,000d015, was sold for 100,000dols." DEATH r OF A MISSIONARY.! Mr John Wilkinson, the local secretary, informs the " Otago Daily Times" that the China Inland Mission Council at Dunedin has received news of the death of Mr Olegario Guardiola in China on March 13 at the age of thirty. Mr Guardiola formerly resided at Anderson's Bay, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church there. After, undergoing a course of training in Melbourne he "farewelled" at Dunedin in August, 1896, and proceeded to China as a missionary, where he laboured in connection with the China Inland Mission till the time of bis decease. Mr Guardiola was of a quiet, earnest, unobtrusive disposition, and was much loved by his fellow-workers. PRE-HISTORIC IMPLEMENTS. The most recent addition to the Museum collections is an exceptionally interesting and instructive one. It consists of fortytwo specimens of eolithic implements, the largest being of the general shape and size of an axehead, and the smallest like a small spear head. They were obtained by purchase from Mr B. Harrison, who discovered them among the high gravel plateaux of Kent, in England, and there is no doubt as to their authenticity. They belong to the pre-glacial epoch, to the time when man "had not sufficient intelligence to differentiate between tools and weapons. Yet each piece of flint reveals evidence of some intelligence. It is rough, certainly, and on one side is untouched; but the other side has been smoothed a little, and the edges have been chipped with some care. In the same case at the Museum are to be found both weapons and tools of the paleolithic age, but each article among them can be described as a knife, a spear head or an axe. With the eolithic specimens the case is different. They are but pieces of flint, roughly shaped. A small one, fastened to a hard, long stick, might serve as a spear; a large one, fastened to a shorter and heavier stick, as an axe; others again were probably held in the hand. These eolithic implements are undoubtedly the oldest thalj have yet been discovered in Europe. They have lain so long among the gravel that they have lost the dark colour of flint, and have now a red iron coating. THE PRICE OF MEAT. The "New Zealand Times," 'commenting upon the action of the retail butchers in Wellington in raising the price of moat by one penny per pound all round, says:— " The excuse put forward, namely, the coming in of the winter freights on frozen meat, is 'too thin/ It is more reasonable to conclude that with higher shipping rates there ought rather to be a reduction in the price of meat for local consumption, because any factor that will reduce the return of meat shipped to London ought to make tho price less on the local market, unless a combination, has- been entered into between the shipping' and the meat companies to raise prices in the colony. In the stockyards of the colony meat has been selling at about one penny three farthings the pound, and as feed becomes scarce during the winter months the tendency of prices should be downwards, rather than upwards. In the present case the local consumers will have to pay more for their meat than those in London."