TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXI, Issue 13415, 18 April 1904, Page 4

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Persons who wish, to secure copies of tin second Antarctic number of the " Canterbury Times," which will be issued on Wednesday, are recommended to send in their orders ai once, either, to their news agent or to the publisher of the "Lyttelton Times." The first number met with an unprecedented sale, and as this week's paper will contain a large collection of the veiy choicest of the pictures taken by the photographer attached- to the Discovery expedition, it is expected that the demand will be even greater. At a public meeting at Mayfield on ■Saturday, a committee was appointed to canvass the district for support, towards the erection of a public hall. Feed is fairly plentiful in the Ellesmera district, (writes the Leeston correspondent of the "Lyttelton Times"), and stock aw thriving. AH farm work is well advanced. If sufficient applications are received, it is intended to institute special classes foi commercial law and accountancy hi eonneo tion with the Chriatchurch Technical Aaso . ciated Classes.

■ The Christchurch Garrison Band will play fourteen new marches for the military evolutioas of one hundred trained ladies during the Volunteer bazaar, which will begin, at the Colosseum on Thursday. Mr F. Wilding paid a tribute to the memory of the late Mr A. M. OUivier on Saturday night. Mr Ollivierjs dying wish, he said, had been that Lancaster- Park should be kept always, for the benefit of sport.

It was stated by Mr J. R. Morrison, captain of the Canterbury Rowing Club, at the annual entertainment on Saturdcy, that the club's boats had been taken out 2300 times. The figures showed that an enormous amount of work had been done on the river.

The following Christclmrch business firm* will be represented, by teams in the .Morristube competition, which will be held during the winter months:—Messrs Ballaintynia and Co., Strange and Co., Mason, Stnithers anij Co., Ashby, Bergh and Co., Ree.ce and- Co., the Farmers' Co-operative Association and the D.I.C. The conditions are—Ten men a side, jseven shots each. The first match will take place at the City Hall this evening. The Rev W. Lee, who was pastor of the Lyttelton Methodist Church about twenty-five years ago, and was appointed;' to the circuit for a second time at the last conference, conducted tha services at tiie ehurch yesterday.- | The anniversary of the Sunday school waa celebrated. At,tha evening service an orchestra assisted the choir, under the direction of Mr Or. E. Collins. Miss Bromley was organist. Ths collections at all the services were in aid of the Sunday school funds. There was a good attendance at tha smoke concert given by the Canterbury Cricket Association on Saturday night, when the Cups were presented to the winners in the past season's competitions. Atf attractive musical programme was given* Messrs Millar, Merton, March, Cookson*; Vincent, Webb and Winter Hall, amongst others, contributing' items. In replying to the toast of " The Winners of the Senior Championship," Mr A. Kinvig, the captain of tho Sydenham and Aldington team, referred to the sportsmanlike action of Messrs F, &, Prankish, Wigley and Boddington, who, after helping United to win tue Cup for four years in succession, had, at the beginning of last season, thrown ia their lot with the Sydenham Club.

The Southbridge Town Board met on Thursday, Dr Withers presiding. Li connection with a, circular from the Mayor of Timaru regarding the battleship. New Zealand presentation fund, jfc was -decided t« call a public meeting for. Wednesday even* ing to consider the matter. Messrs Lard and Loughnan forwarded their opinion ir regard to a recent case in which a. ratepayer, bad been sued for water rates. The legal • advice went to show that unless it could°b# proved that the ratepayer had applied U have the water in the first instance, tht Board could nob proceed. The chairmaK stated that ho had withdrawn from the case, and his action was approved. Subsequently, the Board decided to divert the water back! to its original position.- Accounts amounting t0,£21 13s 9d were passed for payment. "Rowing is an absolutely 'clean' sport in this colony," Mr F. Hobbs remarked when proposing the toast of " Sister Clubs," at the Canterbury Rowing Club's entertainment on Saturday evening. He added, thai the only tendency towards professionalism was a desire to take advantage of technical errors. In that way clubs had lost races that they had really honestly and honourably won. But that seemed to be the only weakness in connection with the sport. Mi F. D. Kesteven,, captain of the Union Club, said that he had never heard of a; rowing race having been sold. In every race he had seen the men had rowed to a finish. • He praised, the friendly spirit that prevailed among the rowing clubs in Christchurch, and expressed an opinion that as long as it existed the sport would continue to progress. Saturday night saw the close of the Art Society's exhibition. A concert, organised by Mrs Percivel Smith, was given, Messrs Millar, March, Vincent, Cookson and other? assisting. Dr Jennings presented the raed« als and prizes awarded by the Society, at follow: —Study of a head, Miss E. BairiJ Luxton, pupil of the School of Art; land- , scape, Miss F. M. Shaw, pupil of Mr W. / Menzies Gibb; model from life, Mr G. F. Kelly; black and white, Mr C. F. Kelly,' School of Art student. Dr Jennings referred to the irreparable loss the Society had sustained in the death of the late president, Mr R. D. Thomas, who had ever taken sucli ai lively interest in the affairs of the Society. : With regard to the permanent gallery, hs said that he feared that it was hardly fulfilling the object sotight by those who had . brought it to its present state, inasmuch - •as one never saw students or teaching going, on within its walls. The Society possessed some of the works of "cue best living artists', many of them having been selected for it by the late Lord Leigkton, P.R.A- Surely such were worthy of the best attention of the teachers of art in Christchurch. A new departure had been made by The council in offering two prizes for the best essay done by children attending the city schools. Soma 1700 children availed themselves of the ogportunity to visit the Gallery, and no doubt it would lead to lasting results. Dr Jennings thanked all who had helped the. Society in the" entertainment of the visitors by arranging excellent programmes from time to time. Imported. Plough Shares, Cockshutt'a "Kid" Ransoines, R.N.F." and Hornsley'a "0" Shares. All sizes. Morrow, Bassett and Co. . X 3208

Jewellery Sale.—All goods sold: at gresSi reduction. All the newest and choicest assortment forjpresents. For one montfc only. K. Grieshaber, Jeweller, 155, Col« ombo Street. X 3371 TurnbuU and Jones Limited, have several eecond-hand gns engines and dynamos in first-class order for sale cheap. Call an<? inspect them. X 2926 Black, Beattie and Co. are making a, special display of ladies' woven and woollen underclothing in their windows, suitable foF, winter wear, comprising divided skirts, combinations, vests, slip bodices and eightdresses ; also a fine show of men's Kaiapoi, Roslvn and Petone all-wool undershirts and pants, in all sizes. Value at prices charged unequalled in colony. Call and inspect before purchasing elsewhere 1983

Special lines in white Boslyn and Kasftpoi bknket3 are now being shown .by Messrs Black, Beattie and Co., in their wis** dow, in all sizes, at very low prices. Valuo. unsurpassed, yisit of inspection invited, ' „._:. .'- : 1918 :

The date of the dinner to the officers of the Antarctic expedition has been fixed for Friday, April 29. Tho Phillipstown School fete will bo held in tha school grounds on April 28. An outdoor entertainment has been arranged for, besides a sale of work. A sitting of the Lyttolton Police Court was held on Saturday before Mr C. C. M'Carthy, J.P. Frank Bassett was fined 20s and ordered to pay 7s costs of Court tor having got on a train in motion at Lyttelton on March 26. The Dunedin Drainage Board is sending a deputation to interview the Minister of Marine at Wellington regarding the refusal by the Government to pass the Board's plans for the construction of the Bird Island drainage outfall. A tejegram from Wonganui states thnt the Marine Department ordered a survey of Tanner's "new ark." The Minister has now authorised the release of the boat. Mr Tanner arranged to be towed to sea yesterday, and will sail for Wellington direct. The insurances on Mr R. Sunderland's property, which was partly destroyed by Ire late on Friday night, are as fellow:— Building, £250; flour and other stock, £200; and trap and harness (which were saved), £l5O, all in tha New Zealand Office. • A telegram from Wellington states that Rifleman H. Hawthorne, of the Sarori Bifla Club, who was selected to go to England with the New Zealand team for Bisley, cannot make the journey, and that his place ■will be taken by his brother, G. Hawthorne.

The Pence Fund for school children, in connection with the proposed presentation 16 the battleship New Zealand, is being liberally subscribed to in the South Canterbury Education district. Collections taken it the three Timaru schools averaged l£d per child. At the Conference of Road Board delegates on Saturday afternoon, Mr G, Witty, M.H.R., entered a strong protest against the amount olaimed by the Railway Department from the Selwyn County Council for bridge maintenance. Tho sum a*»ked for was £4OO, or one-third of the Council's annual subsidy from consolidated revenue. ■ The following are the successful tenders for the supply of lignite or brown coal for the New Zealand Railways for 1904-05: Hikurangi Coal Company, about 1000 tons at 8a 4d per ton; Taupiri coal-mines, about 17,000 ton 3at 8s per ton; New Zealand Coal / jmd Oil Company, about 10,000 tons at 8s per ton; and Nightcaps Coal Company, about 12,000 tons at 7s 6d and 5s per ton. Speaking at. the meeting called' for the formation of a Road Board Association on Saturday, Mr G. Witty, M.H.R., made Eome reference to the abatement of the small birds nuisance-. He said that assuming all Boards to have expended money in the same proportion as the Templeton Board the number of birds destroyed would have been 681,947, and the expenditure £894 13s Id. ■ Mr M. A. Philips, the New Zealand representative of Messrs H. W. Peabody and Co., of New York, is in Christchurch. His company has been appointed the agent in America, of the New Zealand Electrical Construction Syndicate, and arrangements have been mad© to send by. the outgoing San Francisco mail full particulars of the rails,

plant and material that will be required from America, so that no delay will take plaoe.

That the name and fame of New Zealand are attaining a world-wide reputation is further attested by a .fetter received last week by a well-known Wellington business man from that busy hive of industry 'in the great American Republic, the city of Chicago. The writer, a historical and portrait painter, who claims kinship to the artist who Was commanded by the late (Jueen Victoria to paint the " Jubilee picture," inquires as to bow the fino arts flourish in New Zealand, as the "most civilised country on the globe,", and thinks that in its capital city be might find an appreciation of bis talent which Chicago apparently can never afford. A young man named D. R. Mathis did a rather daring feat on Saturday. An ioecart belonging to the Christchurch Meat Company was left standing outside Dr Russell's residence, and while the driver was away receiving orders the horse attached to the cart bolted. It gallopod down to the South Belt and turned up Gasworks Road, accompanied by an escort of twenty or thirty cyclists, who evidently thought that the sensation was as good as a fire. Wnen a collision between the runaway and another cart seemed inevitable Mathis managed to get alongside the frightened horse and stopped its career, within twenty yards from the spot where he first placed his hand on the shaft and only five yards from where the other cart stood. It is stated that this is the fifth occasion on which he has stopped runaway horses. Those who saw the feat expressed their admiration for Mathis's courage, and skill. In speaking on the question of the destruction of small birds on Saturday, Mr G. Witty, M.H.R., quoted the following figures, showing the amount' collectable and the actual expenditure by tbe "various Road Boards. Tbe figures in parentheses give tbe amounts actually expended—Avon, £96 10s 2d. (£B3 12a 8d); Riccarton, £l5O Osi lOd (£4O 3s 6d); Templeton, £B7 17s lOd (£B9 17s 7d) ; Hea-thcote, £9O 3s 7d; (£3 10s lOd); Halswell, £62 19s lOd (£3l 7s lid; Tai l'apu, £2l'os 5d (£ll lis lid); Lincoln, £6O 6s 4d (£32 0s id); Springs, £lO2 lis Id (£62 8s 7d) : Courtenav, £143 9s 7d (£143 14s 2d); Ellesmefe, £226 14s 8d (£215 5s 8d) ; Malvern, £22 lis 2d (£25 .9s lOd); East Malvern, £2s' 3s 9d (£26 9s lOd); South Malvern, £l6 7s 6d (£ll 10s lid); Rakaia, £59 Is 7d- (£49 16s sd); Lake Coleridge, £39 0s lid (£3l 10s 0.1); Upper Waimakariri. £ll Is lOd (£25 5s Od).

During the past year (says the Wellington "Post") marine insurance to and froatu the colony apparently has- not been a source of wealth to the underwriters, as tho following ]ist of casualties in the coastal and intercolonial trades will indicate: The wreck of the Gairloch new New Plymouth, the stranding of the Mokau on the Manawatu bar, the destruction by fire of the schooner Brothers at Bluff, the total wreck of the Ada and Eva' south of Hokitika, the stranding of the Emma Sims, the total disappearance of the schooner Toroa, bound from Greymouth to Wanganui, and the foundering of the kauri-gum laden Lily Bell on tho run from Kennedy's Bay to Auckland. The homeward trade also hit the underwriters as follows:—A fir© on the Machrihanish at the Wellington Wharf, the total wreck off Land's End of the Luna bound from Liverpool to Wellington, the stranding of the Niwaru at Las Palmas, the damage to the cargo of the. Essex through a leak, a second stranding of the Niwaru iear Napier, the fire on the Amsterdam at New York while loading for New Zealand, the total wreck of the Ben. Avon near Cape Palliser, the damage by b- leak on the Thoraliebank bound from America to Wellington and Auckland, the grounding of the Bubi Seddon in the E-ed Sea, and the total loss of the Northern Monarch near New Plymouth. " Advice to Inventors." This pamphlet may be obtained gratis. Henry Hughes, Patent Agent, 183, Hereford Street. Established 1882., X 3368 Bring your Lamps to be fitted with chimneys, ohades, illuminators, burners, galleries, or altered from table to hanging lamps. Abo, in stock, a large assortment of bracket, table, hall, bunging and hand lamps, from Is each. See window. All marked in plain figures. Competition defied- Fletcher Bros., Lamp Importers, Lower High Street. X 3014 Thia week you are invited to inspect special display of fashionable novelties in all departments, which Messrs Beath xad C, Ltd., are making in their extensive warehouse, Oashel Street. Lovely colouring effects in dress materials, silks, plushes, novelty trimmings, ribbons and laces, latest shapes in furs and muffs, newest designs and colourings in flannel bloussngs, fancy flannelattes, etc. See our special display this week. Beath and Co.* Ltd, E 825

A falsi alarm of fire was given at ten o'clock last evening from the-White Hart box. The Brigade turned out The proceeds of the sale of work that was held on Friday and Saturday in connection with St Barnabas's Church, Kaiapoi, amounted to £BS. There was an unusually heavy fog over the city last night, and in places the lamps were visible only us a spot of light in a circle of illuminated mist. A 'correspondent of this journal -writes that a farmer in the Xaiapoi district has had some exceptional yields of wheat this season. A paddock of fifty acres gave 76 bushels to the aero, and one of seventeen acres averaged #2 bushels. Late on Saturday night, two men belonging to one of the vessels in Lyttelton were arrested by Constables Wool ton and P. Moore, on charges of having used threatening behaviour. It wus, stated that they had been assaulted, and that they bad threatened retaliation. On Saturday night, Mr Wilding, speaking from twenty years' experience of the colony's cricket, said that to be a New Zealand cricketer meant to be one who could "take his place as a gentleman with any players in the world." The New Zealand cricketer had less to unlearn than the English amateur, and could nob learn anything from him. The Mayor said at the Cricket Association's eocial on Saturday evening that when there had svsemed a chance of the negotiations between the Association and the Lancaster Park Company falling through, the City Council had obtained the .right of first refusal of the ground before it was cut up for sale. He felt sure that in the future the Council would not allow the ground to be lost to the public. Mr Clement Wragge, the well-known inetcrologist, gave a lecture'at Ashburton on Friday, and his "Voyage Through the Universe, Illustrated," interested a large audience. Ho described scientific phenomena in language that appealed to his bearers, and hia words wero emphasised by numerous limelight views. Mr Wragge will speak at the Choral Hall on Thursday. A pleasant little incident took place at the establishment of one of our best-known jewellers last Tuesday, when a lady and gentleman who are about to bo married were presented with a very handsome cruetstand. The gentleman, in a fow well-chosen words, expressed his thanka. We might state that the jeweller's name is Butcher, and that this incident is of daily occurrence, sometimes happening several times a day. Every person buying a wedding ring is treated in a similar manner. X 3157 Dinner and Tea Sets.—Fletcher Bros, have just opened up another fine assortment of Dinner Sets, from 19s 6d upwards; Tea Sets from 7s 9d; Bedroom Sets from 12s 9d ; China Cup and Saucers, W. and G., 2a lid; Pink, etc., el*., and three gold lines, 3s sd; Plain White Earthenware Is lid; all per half-dozen. Fletcher Bros., Lower High Street. X 3014

WEST COAST COAL. A telegram from Westport says: —The Wesfcport Coal Company's output last week was 17,170 tons 6cwt, and that of the State coal mines 1154 tons, making a total of 18,324 tons 6cwt. There are three records here; tbe Westport Coal Company's output, th« previous record being 15,800 tons, the State coal mines output and the total output. A very marked improvement in tbe State coal lias been shown lately, and there is promise of good business being done. I GERMAN METHODS. The work of Germanising Prussian Poland goes ruthlessly forward. Besides the enforcement of tbe German language, it is being violently introduced wherever industrial occupation brings any considerable number of jiersons together. In the mining districts no word of Polish may be spoken. All ordera are given, and must bo responded to, in German, and men are harassed with fines and in other ways pereecuied for speaking in Polish among themselves. Tbe business and accounts of the sick and other benefit clubs among the miners must also be conducted in German, a lapse / into Polish'entailing forfeiture of funds. A CURIOUS BREACH OF PROMISE CASE. If all Courts were like the supreme body of Illinois, lawyers would have a special interest in St Valentine's Day. A young man of that- State recently sent a newspaper to one of hit? girl friends, marking an article called "Love, the Conqueror," and writing in the margin, "Read this.'' Tho young woman read it, and as the young man failed to live up to the sentiments expressed in- the article, she sued him for-breach of pro'miise, and was awarded £BOO damages. The Supreme Court, in sustaining the verdict, said: " The article may be regarded as defendant's own letter. It doubtless contained sentiment which he sanctioned, couched in language more choice than he could compose. It was bis appeal for marriage; it foretold in clear and emphatic language his object and intention in bis courtship with her. She doubtless placed this construction upon it, as she well might do, and laid it aside as ai rare treasure." THK CRY OF THE CHILDREN. The Auckland Education Board, at its last meeting, received some pathetic evidence of tbe hardship which many country children undergo. Inspector Mulgan forwarded to the chairman a composition exercise written by a fifteen-year-old, Standard 111. pupil on the subject, "What I Do in the Day." It was, ho believed, a fairly accurate account of a day's work, and represented, without- exaggeration, the lit* led by many children in the back blocks. The composition was as follows : " I rise at half-past four. Before breakfast I light the fire., go and get wood and a bucket of water, put on tho kettle, and set the table; then Igo and help in with the cows and start to milk. What Ido bjfnro noon: I come- in from milking and wash up the dishes; then I go for potatoes and peel thern; then Igo and make the beds, and sweep out tho house. I put on the potatoes at eleven o'clock, and have d'nner at twelve. In the afternoon I help to waen up the di-h-as; then Igo and help my mother through her work. In the evenin e 1? feed the calves and I go and milk. After I have done milking I como in and get tea ready; givo'S and R • their tea, hear S his lessons, and then put them to bed. After tea I was.l) up, learn mv own lessons, and go to bed at nino o'clock. "Tho communication, reported Tnsnecter Muls?an, disclosed a terrible state of affairs. It showed the d x iffl'ni!t!efi in the of ecTuentirm in manv of tbe country districts, and thnt tho teachers contrived to do so mil eh as tbev did war tbe best answer to those who thousht little of our primary education s-rfltom.