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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 13 July 1915, Page 2

A very interesting historic rehc has been presented to the Akaroa Borough Council by Mr G. W. Thomas, of Aka- : roa, in the shape of a copy of the proclamation read by. governor Hobspn in; May, 1840, orii■-.the occasion of. ~the;, an : ., nexation of the South Island. The copy is to be preserved;'.with - other historic; relics in the, Council's collection, v. ;-, / The unique sight", of a cyclist ■ xiding|< up the avenue"on' Saturday night with; his coat well on fire was witnessed (says' the ''Wiangannii.'Ohiionicle.' 1 ) A. good' ■many people .saw . the conflagration', but one of the last'to discover it was th© cyclist himself. He promptly shed the; garment in the vicinity of the Post Office, whez-e several enthusiastic bystanders assisted him) to jump, on it. The amount of damage was represented by a hole a,bout a- foot-square. Judging from statistics arriving in the United. States,. sport in England isat its lowest ebb. No cricket games will be played this summer, all lawn tennis and golf championships have been can-el-lea, and. the.principal race meets-and athletic festivals' will not be "staged. Of the 3000 cricketers in England, 2112 already have gone to the front; The_ majority of the others have erilisted._ Sixtynine cricket "stars" "have been killed in action. "Fun in court" aptly describes.. the proceedings at His Majesty's -Theatre,. Auckland, last Thursday week, when several well-known citizens were waylaid in Queen-street andi haled' before "My Lud". of-the mock ... court. Mr Jack M'Ardle. was,judge and Mr Barry liupmo the. chief prosecutor, wihile the ladies of the pantomime company i constituted the juiry. /■ Some of the charges were ludicrous. The manager of the Bank of New Zealand was fined £5 for "singing a song, to wit, 'I Know a, Bank' ,r : a corporation official was likewise dealt : with for '"requiringthe City Council to "furnish- him with a 'motor car,' when he. already had a 'Mayor' on the premises"; the proprietor, of the, was cast in another "fiver" because he did) "hilariously draw a picture of the' Kaiser, knowing the same to be Hnnlike him" ; while a. jiromiiient citizen, described, in the summons- as Auckland's coal' king an a shipping .mag--nate, had to cheerfully sign, a cheque .for £2O for having. a "very ibig heard." 'To be the lucky owner of a ihorsq that won the double—Grand • National Hurdles and considered a. sufficiently gTave offence to warrant a fine of £26 10s; and a cleric who witnessed El Gallo's dual win was mulct in a. small amount for being "seen in»an excited state on Ellefslie? course." The fines andi the court admissions totalled £6OO, wnidh go to swell the hospital* ship fund. ' . •