THE REGATTA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 934, 24 January 1890, Page 16

THE REGATTA.

Given favourable weather, Wellington regattas invariably succeed. Wednesday’s was no exception to

the rule. The weather was all that could be desired. There was a good whole sail .breeze, and the several events were well contested. The arrangements made by the Committee were perfect in every particular. It is deeply to be deplored that an occasion so joyous and interesting should have been marred by the lamentable and fatal accident that cost the elder Mr Kebbell liis life. It does seem like the irony of fate that a settler of such long standing and so highly esteemed should have been called suddenly and _ violently to his account on the occasion of the Jubilee celeoration. We are sure that the district will unite with 113 in tendering sincere condolence to the bereaved family, more especially as two other members of it were drowned nearly at the same t’me up country. Such coincidences are rare, and Anniversary henceforth be a dark day with the Kebbells,

Rest den t j Mag istr at e’s Court. —Before Mr J. O’Meara, Justice, at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, a first offender was fined 5s or, in default, 12 hours. Timothy Foley, who had been arrested ou a charge of being illegally on the premises of Annie Pullen, North-street, was discharged, the prosecutor not appearing. Free Public Library. —Further subscriptions in aid of the Free Public Library have been received as follows :— J. Curain, £5 5s , F. de J. Clere, £1 Is ; Dr G. Gillon, £3 3s; D. N. Wilkinson, £1 Is; J. H. Hall, £1 Is ; Mr D. Anderson, £5 5s ; Mr A. J. Rutherford, £3 3s ; Mr W. Madge, 10s. The total amount now subscribed is £2244 2s.

A Distinguished Visitor. —The Government have received intimation that His Highness the Kunvar Bhav Singji Madhav Singji, heir-presumptive to the Raua of Porbandar, Kathiawar, was to leave Hobart for Wellington yesterday in company with bis tutor. The young gentleman is making a tour of the Australian colonies, and the good offices of the Government of New Zealand have been solicited on his behalf by the Governor of Bombay, Lost Boy. —Mr Emanuel Rosa, of the Lower Hutt, reported at the Police Statiou on Sunday that his nephew (Joseph Rosa) had disappeared in a mysteiious manner. Mr Rosa stated that he left the hoy in charge of a horse and cart in Lower Cubastreet on Friday afternoon while he was attending to|business, and on returning about half an hour afterward he found that his nephew had vanished. He is described as being 14 years of age, with dark complexion, brown hair, and was dressed in a dark tweed knicker suit, and wore a spotted black aDd white straw hat with yellow band. The Eiffel Tower. —Observations with the anemometer on the summit of the Eiffel Tower show that during a period of 101 days ending October 1, the average velocity of the wind was 16 miles an hour, whereas at the Paris Meteorological Office 66ft above the ground it was only 5 miles an hour. Thediurnal variation of velocity at the ground showed a minimum about sunrise, and a maximum about 1 p.m. ; whereas on the tower the minimam occurred at 10 am. and the maximum at 11 p.m. Such an inversion is usual on high mountains, but was not suspected at the height of 994 ft, where the instrument was placed. The L.\te Boating Accident.— Up to the present the body of Herbert Mitchell, who was drowned in Evans Bay on Sunday week, has not been recovered. On Saturday morning Mr Martin recovered the boat which cost Mitchell his life, a short distance from where she capsized. Attempts were made on Saturday with fishermen’s nets to recover the body, but without avail. If the weather is favourable, dragging operations will be resumed to-day. Mr Mitchell, senior, brother of the deceased, presented Mr Martin with the boat in recognition of his prompt efforts to save young Mitchell, and also for his services in searching for the body since the catastrophe. A Sbioky Day. —The smoke from what was evidently an enormous fire somewhere in the vicinity of Ohariu poured into Wellington in dense volumes all day on Wednesday, and had a very unpleasant effect upon the people who were moving about in tho open. The day being a comparatively still one, ashes were dropping over the city during the afternoon, whereby numerous eyes were irritated and much involuntary weeping produced. Settling down over the hills along the harbour coast in the afternoon, the smoke gave the harbour a most gruesome appearance, but in the evening it passed off, “ fading away like a lover’s sigh.”

The Premier. —Sir Harry Atkinson returned to Wellington on Friday by the s.s, Te Anau, arriving at 9 a.m. He was riceived on the Queen’s Wharf by Mr Mitchelson, who has been AcUug-Premier during Sir Harry’s absence. The Premier was still looking somewhat pale, but declared lfimself much better in health for his holiday trip. He was much fatigued with his journey from Christehurch, but managed to attend his office in the afternoon, where he met hrs colleagues for an informal chat. He was better on Saturday, having rested from bis sea trip. He went out for a d ive during the day. Imperial Weights. —The weight of a cubic inch of distilled water is the base of our present syitem of imperial weights and mea-nree. As defired by the Act of Par’iame*it in the reign of George IV., it we ; gha 252,45 S grams ; but more accurate determinations have since shown it to weigh only 252,256 standard grains. The authorities of the Standards Office have therefore proposed to the President of the Board of Trade that the national measures should be readjusted. Here, then, is an opportunity for the “most meaningless of modern measures,” as Sir William Thomson calls the British standards, to be-super-seded once for all by the convenient metric system.

A Queer Adventure.— Mrs Skelly, a woman who was observing the procession from a verandah at the front of Willis-street on Wednesday evening, had a rather remarkable adventure. Moving about on the verandah, Mrs Skelly trod on a skylight and fell through. Fortunately she had the presence of mind to cling to the sash as Bhe was falling, and remained in that position until the bystanders rescued her. Mrs Skelly, who received a rather severe shock, was taken into the ohemist’s shop (Mr Harris’) next door, and attended to. Subsequently she was sent home in a oab, apparently not much the worse for her adventure.