TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11900, 25 May 1899, Page 5

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

During April 1141 persons arrived in the colony and 2010 left. The Matron of the Samaritan Home would be glad to receive men’s or women’s left-ofi underclothing for the use of the inmates. A whist match was played on Tuesday evening between the Woolston Library and the Yorkshire Society, the Library winning by twenty' eight games to twenty-two. A team from the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Club visited Ashburton yesterday to play a match with the local club. The courts were, however, too wefc, and the match had to be abandoned, A man named Skew, who was injured on board the steamer Queen Eleanor at Auckland, has served a writ on the captain for £4OO damages. The vessel was allowed to proceed to sea on the agents and captain giving a bond. bliss Lilian Edgar, M.A., who is well known in Christchurch, being a graduate of Canterbury College, has just returned from India, and left Auckland yesterday by the Tarawera, en. route for .Dunedin. She will visit the various branches of the Theosophical Society throughout New Zealand, and . will give public lectures. During her stay in India, she conducted a most successful lecturing tour throughout the provinces, spending her spare time in studying Sanscrit and Tndi.m philosophies and religions. Miss Edgar intends to stay in Dunedin a week or ten days, and will then come on to Christchurch. The small boy who, without paying for admission, attends football matches at Lancaster Park, is a somewhat assertive individual, and the Rugby Union Committee , at its last meeting was engaged in dis- ‘ cussing tbe best means for his suppression. Be is such an enthusiastic follower of the game that he considers it his duty to stand right on the touch-line to watch the play, and after his invasion of the tea-room there is not much left for other people. One of tbe officials of the Union expressed the opinion that one small boy gave, more trouble than fifty men, and the committee decided to request the Lancaster ‘ Bark Company to admit no boys free of Charge. Messrs Nairn and Sons, the well-known Christchurch nurserymen and florists, have just issued one of the most comprehensive catalogues of nursery stock yet published in New Zealand. The seventy-two pages of the catalogue contain a vast quantity of interesting and instructive matter, condensed into brief space, and ■stated in plain terms, without any tendency to exaggeration. The descriptions of the Various trees, shrubs, and plants enable anyone to judge - of their suitability for any given situation, and instructions for planting and treatment are appended, so that the catalogue is a' complete guide to the planter. The catalogue, which is attractive and handy in form, was printed by the “Lyttelton Times” Company. That serious accidents do not occur more frequently on New Zealand railways is due chiefly to the care and vigilance , of the officials, bnt sometimes to the Providence that ■ protects men who are unable to look after themselves. On the departure of a train for Lyttelton last Evening the behaviour of ; a man who stood on the platform of one .of the carriages caused considerable anxiety to the-jppyters and others at the station. - He' yas under the influence of dlcoTiol, and was leaning out from the carriage,’ hanging on to the stanchion by one hand. His shouts gave bystanders the impresC'ion that he wished to stop the train , and once he seemed about to leap from the moving carriage. It .was only when his friends managed to drag him inside the carriage that thp bystanders .breathed freely again. To-morrow" Messrs Shaw, Robipson and Co. issue a circular giving particulars of an exriruordirutiy purchase of drapery. The same is to be sold regardless of its original cost. Special mention are pavy, blue and Ijjlack serges, 20 pieces of fancy’black dress gopds from - the looms of ,Sir Titus. Salt, which, in itself, is a sufficient guarantee of their genuineness ; also, 210 pair of blankets and 50 ladies’ capes, etc. Sale 10 o’clock Friday morning. 213, Cashel Street, opposite “ Press ” office. 82 Hanmer plains.—Visitors to the Hammer Springs will find the best accommodation at Mrh Lahmert’s, Jack’s Pqss Temperance ' Hotel, for 57s and 20s week. Free- conveyances froln the Springs twice daily. X 2356 Tour wise investment in bicycle pleasure ■for 1389 demands that you read the beauti- * iul Waveriey catalogue, now ’-eady. You - will also find, on inspection, that these are the iiighest-grada wheels that money con ■ obtain* ,'i'ha la tons stack of Sundries kept on hand. Waverley Cycle. Dqpot, 217, Colombo Street, Christchurch. 2396 Special,. Notice.-=Cro,wu Brand Tea prize competitions will be continued all this year rql.nd, and will close on tire last days of April; Jnac, August, October, and December in each year, Prizes of ladies’ silver and other watches, albums, worfcTboxes, etc. Hubbard, Hall and Co. 2384 Evemiea’s Patent Hoofing and i'encing Nails, neatest and best; perfectly watertight. Recommended by architects, and can be obtained from all ironmongers. X 2414 Cyclists who require their machines well and carefully repaired should send them to ’the ” Premiers ” of the cycling trade. Boyd and’ Bon, Gloucester Street. Telephone '658. 2374 Muddy roads, clean cyclists, by using tire automatic rubber mud-guards; fit any bicycle, 8s 6d pair, and elastic anklets, perfect fitting, 2s 6d pair, posted to any address. Cates, Lowry and 'Co.,. Christchurch and Ashburton. 62

The members of the Bearer Corps bad their new Government stretchers on parade for the first time yesterday. The stretchers are light, strong and handy, and were manufactured in accordance with a design made by Surgeon-Captain Parsons. Mr R. Jordan, the champion draughts player, played a large number of games at Lyttelton yesterday, winning all but one, which was drawn by Mr G. Lauronson. Today Mr Jordan will be at Brown’s Canterbury Hotel, and will leave for Wellington in the evening. Owing to the heavy state of the roads in and about Christchurch, the many cycling picnics which had been arranged had to be abandoned. The competitors in the Christchurch Cycling Club’s road race to Leeston yesterday were so covered with mud when they returned as to be practically unrecognisable. Settlers gardeners ' and others who intend to plant fruit trees or plants this .season will be greatly assisted in their choice of varieties by perusing a list which is given in this week’s “ Canterbury Times” of kinds which have been proved to thrive well, and to be worthy of culture. The list has been supplied by Mr J. C. Blackmore, Government pomologist, who has exceptional opportunities of observation, and it embraces all the principal fruits grown in New Zealand. A series of four monthly lectures, under the auspices of the Christchurch branch of the Christian Social Union, will be given during the winter in the Art Gallery. The first, on the subject of “ Christ and Social Law,” will be delivered on June 1, by the Right Rev Bishop Julius. The subsequent lectures will he given by the Rev Ai. Neild, Mr P. Rowland, and the Yen Archdeacon Harper. The objects of the Union are to claim for the Christian law the ultimate authority to rule so'cial practice, to study how to apply the moral truths and principles of Christianity to the social and economic difficulties of the present time, and to present Christ in practical life as the living Master and King, and the enemy of wrong and selfishness. The effect of the recent heavy rains on the artesian water-supply of Christchurch may be judged from the observations which Captain Hutton takes regularly at the Museum. The deep well, evidently affected by the rains some distance from Christchurch, rose fully two inches after April 5, ■ but when rain set in at Christchurch on May 3 it had again fallen. Since that date it has continued to fall, and it is now as low as it has ever been. From this it may be inferred that the second stratum, water-supply is not affected directly by local rain. The shallow well, on. the other hand, has been steadily rising since the rain began. The rise during the past three weeks has amounted to five inches, and yesterday the well was actually higher than it has been since September, 1837. COLONIAL SOLICITORS. A Bill to provide for the admission of solicitors of Courts of British possessions to the Supreme Courts of the United Kingdom is now before .the Imperial Parliament. A Bill with the same object was introduced a couple of years ago, and was submitted to the various colonial Governments, with the result that certain modifications were made on its reintroduction last year, but it failed to become law. The present Bill, which has the approval of the Incorporated Law Society, consolidates and amends the older enactments and provides in effect that on its being shown that the regulations in force in a colony are such as to secure proper) qualifications and competency, and thait solicitors of the United Kingdom are adequately recognised in the colony, her Majesty may by Order-in-Council prescribe the conditions as to service, examination, fees, etc., on which solicitors of such colony may be admitted to practice in the United Kingdom.

RAILWAY INSURANCE. At least one species of gambling has been almost completely abolished in Victoria, says the “Age.” A few years ago numbers of travellers by rail were in the habit of loading themselves with trifling weekly prints which promised to pay a good round sum to any man who managed to get himself killed on the line with a copy of the paper in his pocket. According to the evidence of railway officials and those who travel most frequently the sale of these publications to passengers is now very small, and they are never seen in a carriage except in the hands of an occasional youthful visitor from the Old Country. This game is called insurance, but, as was recently pointed out by an English writer, it is purely a gambling transaction in which the proprietor of the penny paper bets, say, £SOO to a penny, that no man will be killed in a railway accident while in possession of the paper. The railway officials deduce two reasons for the disappearance of the prints. In the first place, it is claimed that Victorian railway travelling is so safe that there is little chance of winning the bet, and in the second it is observed that the quality of literature which needs the introduction of the gambling spirit to promote its sale is of too meretricious a character for the average Australian.

AN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. Some tidings of the Belgica Antarctic Expedition. have reached Brussels, writes a London correspondent, and although the discoveries of the Belgica are not very important thpy add somewhat to our knowledge of the Great Lone Land which sur•rounds the South Pole. Sooner or la,ter the South as well as the North will have to give up its secrets. The Belgica left Ostend in August, 1897, but so far has done very little except, visit Hughes Bay and Palmer’s Land, and prepare a map of these regions. But she obtained several geological specimens, which throw some fight upon the structure of these regions, and penetrated the icebound region in the neighbourhood of Alexanderland. The extreme south latitude reached was 71.36, longitude . 92 W. The Belgica met with a great deal of stormy wea.ther, but the cold was not intense, except during last September, when the minimum was 43deg. centigrade below zero. The Belgica drifted about according to the direction of the wind, and did not get clear of the ice till March 14, 1899, at a period of the year when the summer was nearly over, find there was some danger that the expedition would be hemmed in for another year. The Belgica sailed for Puntas Arenos, in Patagonia, which she reached on March 28, and arrived at Monte "Video on April 4- Two officers, Lieutenants Dance and Wincke, died during the expedition, but all the rest are well, and have enjoyed good health throughout. ELECTRIC TRAMS. The question of substituting electricity for existing means of traction on the tramways is engaging the serious attention) of the London County Council. A sub-commit-tee of that body is engaged, says the “ Daily News,” in conferring with sub-committees of the London vestries with this object in view. In South Loudon there seems to be a good deal of opposition to the trolly or overhead wire system, on the ground that the pests along which the wires run would he unsightly, and would interfere with the unloading of vans at tradesmen’s shops. Of course, no such objections could be made to the systems by which the electric energy is communicated to the cars from under ground. The cable system, which has been in use for a few years past from Streatham Hilt to Kensington, seems to be doomed to be abolished in the near future. Experts say that by this system a very large proportion of the power generated is lost. The County Council have also various extensions in contemplation. They propose to lay down a, ncv, r line for electric cars from Streatham to Croydon, past Norbury, and from the Plough at Olapham Common

through Wandsworth and Putney to Richmond. PRINTED MATTER WITHOUT AN IMPRINT. The decision of the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court, in a case brought against Mr George Grant for having “ dispersed ” envelopes that bore information about the effect of prohibition in Clutha, but bad no imprint, was that a breach of the law had been committed, but not sufficient to justify the infliction of the minimum fine of £5. A conviction was therefore recorded, and defendant was ordered to pay the cost of a. Wellington witness. (£2 8s). The matter on the back of the envelope gave the comparative records of convictions in the Clutha district during the jio-license and the license periods, with a sentence or two of argument as to the desirableness of complete prohibition. A. DANGEROUS SPOT. A narrow escape from* a horrible death occurred on the Alfredton-Weber Road, between Rakanui and Waterfalls, a few days ago (says the “Wairarapa Daily Times”). A man named William Thomas was driving a bullock team and dray along a cliff, when, without any warning, the team took it into their heads to go over a precipice with a clear fall of thirty feet to the bottom. Fortunately for the driver, he had just moved to the opposite side of the dray, and was able to escape. The dray was loaded with posts, and one of the team was killed instantly and another was totally disabled. It is said that on this particular spot lie the bones of seven pack-horses which have gone over the cliff. ANGLO-FRENCH TRADE. At the monthly dinner of the British Chamber of Commerce, held at Paris on March 12, the state of Anglo-French commercial relations was under, consideration. The Secretary of the Chamber, Mr J. G. Coldough, made a statement on the state of Anglo-French commercial relations, and upon the way to improve them. He said: —“France sends England a yearly average of from 1100 to 1200 million francs worth of her produce and manufacture. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, sends to France between 480 and 490 million francs worth. For the last twenty-five' years the amount of French exports to England has been on the whole regularly increasing, whilst the amount of British exports to France has been decreasing. If we combine exports and imports, and examine their total to-day as well as their total a quarter of a century ago, we find that the trade between England and France, exports and imu-orts combined, has decreased by 60 million francs at the end of the period. We have therefore to face this situation to-day, that not. only the trade between the two countries has ceased to increase, hut that it is on the downward grade.” Mr Colclough went on to discuss the causes of this decline, which he summarised under the following heads:—(l) Declarations of origin and nature. (2) Nondistinction by the French Customs between bona fide mistakes and fraud. (3) Valuations. (4) Changes of classification without notice. After describing at length the difficulties arising from these causes, the speaker said ; ■ —“ If France refuses to listen to our complaints, let us write woollen goods instead of tea, silk goods instead of tobacco, millinery and artificial flowers instead of cocoa, and chocolate, in our Customs tariff, with an appropriate duty upon each.” t AMERICAN ARMY PENSIONS. The amazing onslaught on the United States Pension Department by men who enlisted for service in the late war is now in full swing. The Eighth Illinois Volunteers (Chicago), whose numbers of applicants first startled the public, are now far out-distanced by other regiments. The claims lodged with the Department up to March 31 are described, on good authority, as excessively out of proportion to the services rendered by the claimants. It is noteworthy that the regiments which did most of the fighting present fewest claims for pensions. But the Thirty-fourth Michigan Volunteers, who, although they were actually in Cuba, were yet never under fire, furbish 398 applicants for pensions, that number equalling more than 33 per cent of the full force of tbe regiment. Other unfortunate regiments are the District of Columbia, with 352 applicants, and the Eighth Ohio, with 349 applicants. Neither of these regiments landed in Cuba. The Thirty-third Michigan regiment furnishes 319 applicants, and the Ninth Massachusetts 317. The Commissioner of Pensions refuses to disclose the names of the officers among the applicants for pensions, or the proportion of officers to men, lest personal animosities should..be aroused.