The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1881.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5949, 5 March 1881, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1881.

A debate has recently taken place.in the < Legislative Assembly of New South Wales on what is known as the " eight-hours " system, which resulted in the affirmation of the principle by" very considerable majorities. .The. subject waa introduced by Mr Cameron in a series of resolutions to the effect (1) that, in the opinionof the House, the social-and intellectual welfare of the working classes demands tEat the Government should as far as possible encourage the eight-hours system of labour ; (2) that in all departments of theG-overn- :- ment service, where practicable, the work shall be carried out on the eight-hours principle ; (3) that all Government1 contracts for the construction of railways'should in future contain a clause in the conditions of contract that the work be carried out on the same principle. A brief precis of the arguments with which Mr Cameron supported his proposition may not prove uninteresting, . considering that the question is by no means one of a local character, but affects-in common the employers, of labour and. the working classes in all the Australasian Colonies. Mr Cameron commenced by stating that it was not the first time by-many that men in the Colony /had been' struggling for ; the shortening of their hours of work, and, they had been generally met by the argument that the Government adhered to the old system. It would be very hard, to justify the existence of a state of things, • now happily gone by, which called into; operation the Factories Acts of England, j which protected children from being employed more than a certain fixed number of hours a day ; but he believed it was^ in the interests of the State that Parliament should provide that those who; were the great producing classes of the country were not bo over-, wrought, more especially those in the employ of the Government, "as to prevent them from becoming good, thoughtful, energetic citizens." He could not think that it would be contended that the Civil servants were placed in such a position that their energies were more overtaxed than tho3e who wielded a pick and shovel, and if the 10-hours system was to be maintained the Civil servants should be compelled to work the- same-hours; He was not, however, he said, advocating any increase in the hours of the Civil servants, but maintained that if any justification could be shown on their behalf some justification ought to be shown for reducing the hours of labour of men in the employ of the Government. If it were in the interest of the State that men should work eight hours a day instead of 10, the argument came with considerably greater force in favour of the man who was exposed to the elements than in the case of a man whose labour was of a lighter character. The Government, in laying down any arbitrary rule, should see that as far as practicable all their men should be employed on a shorter system of labour. The acceptance of 10 hours as a standard day's work was one of those antiquated customs inherited from the Old Country, where the working classes had very little attention paid to their interests until during the last half-century. It was to the interest of a rising community—a community endeavouring to "lift itself in the: ; eyes of the world"—to show to the working men- of other countries that they would have a better homo than they could get where they were, and it would tend to do 'so if the Government— . the largest employers of labour—were ,to adopt; the eight-hours system. •" In a country where manhood suffrage and vote by ballot obtained, surely, it was their duty to adopt a more enlightened system so far as Government works were concerned." Mr Cameron proceeded ix> say that he was. perfectly aware that there were: many departments of the Government service where it would be impossible to ; adopt the eight-hours system as an arbitrary rule, and it must be left to the discretion of officers at the. heads of departments to regulate the hours of labour in such cases. The eighthours principle Bhould, however, be applied to the railway porters, who had to work 10 and even 12 hours a day, and whenever a call was made upon their energies by any exigency,,they,were compelled to work late into the night without extra-pay. ''He was sure the Minister of Works would "agree with him that with the increase of traffic on the lines it would be necessary for the utilisation of machinery arid the working the men with any show of humanity at all to work double shifts of men"; and he maintained that it would be a "positive gain" to work the employes in such a. way as to give them " a fair show of doing a fair day's work." With reference to the third resolution, he said that he was well aware that to a large extent it would be impracticable to carry out the eight-hours principle. For instance, if a firm of manufacturers took a small contract from the Government,: it, would be put of the question to ask them to alter their business arrangements so as to fall in with the eight-hours system. With regard to large works, such aa railways, he thought it was practicable; and as s matter of fact, the extension of the line to Albury was carried out by Melbourne contractors on the eight-hours principle. If their own contractors could not under the-present system obtain labour, they might under the other one, and the additional cost to the State would be infinitesimal. Mr Cameron conclud ed to the following effect: "He was not one who raved at capitalists aa thirsting for the blood of the labouring man, for both classes must go hand and hand, and he would give that justice to capitalists that he would give to manual labourers ; but the capitalists, he believed, would be benefited by the. adoption of the new principle. They would find that they would have more cheerful men in their employ than the down-trodden men who could not take advantage of the good things put in their way to benefit their condition." The House divided upon each of the resolutions. The first was affirmed by 43 to 28 ; the second by 38 to 33 ; arid the third evidently being considered impracticable, was negatived by 51 to 19. The members of the Government either voted or paired against all the resolutions—so the expression of opinion of the Legislative Assembly Is hardly likely to hare any immediate practical effect. As

an expression of opinion, however, on the part of an important Colonial Legislature, it has its value.

The House of Lords has passed the Irish Coercion Act with a celerity which shows that, whatever may be their opinion of measures of reform in the land laws, the Peers are unanimous in their desire to put down revolution. Their conduct in this matter will no doubt be severely criticised in Ireland, and put in contrast with their treatment of the Disturbance Bill last session—a measure intended to put a stop to arbitrary and unjustifiable evictions, and which they rejected by a large majority. This however, was in reality open •to many grave objections, and not the least of these was that it would not in any degree satisfy the Irish themBelves, because it hedged the landlord round with so many safeguards.' We-are still but imperfectly informed,of the precise nature of the Land Bill now before Parliament, which was characterised^by one Peer as the stick of sugar held out to the Irish people, while the birch'was held in the other hand in the shape of the Coercion Bill. Mr Gladstone, in replying to Sir Stafford- Northcote's remark that "tinkering with the land laws was not the way to deal with an evil that had its root far ■■■ deeper," spoke as follows :—

Why should the- rightl hon. baronet speak of " tinkering " with the land laws? That was an unfortunate phrase. Neither tinkering with land laws nor yet coercion alone would prove of any service. The remedy.4 indeed; which they proposed was a remedy applied to the land laws. The Act of 1870 had not proved sufficient, for undue exactions of rent bad been made, and he said thia without blaming landlords' as a class. Then the asßignment_pf_ the tenants' interest must be .rimplified and. amended, and the Bright clauses of the Act, recommending and favouring a tenant proprietary, would be prominently introduced'in the new measure.

Thia on the surface of-it reads like a very moderate .instalment-indeed of amelioration to a condition of things which has almost resulted, in r revolution, and may yet do so. Mr Parnell put the case as follows, and with, some force, only his public acts and speeches outside Parliament .lead us ,to suppose the issue is not in reality as he here states it:— '

Vindicating the organisation of the League, and the peculiar means by which it had carried on the " anti rent war," he denied that there had ever been a systematic opposition to the payment of rent, but simply of unfair rents. It was really a question of money which was at ißsue. The landlords demanded L 15,000,000 a year of rent, while the tenants were willing to pay L 10.000,000 the Poor Law valuation. Coercion, therefore, he asserted, was to be employed, not to save life and property, but to put L 5.000.000 a year into the pockets of the Irish landlords.

The real issue is not this, but, as Mr Parnell has elsewhere admitted, whether Ireland shall or shall not remain an integral part of the British '■■ Empire. The question of rentals would soon settle itself if the question of tenure and valuation for improvements were put on a satisfactory basis, and it is this: which the Land Bill is in some manner to accomplish. The creation of a tenant proprietary by means of loans at low rates of interest from the surplus: of the Irish Church funds, or from State funds, is an experiment well worth trying, but one whioh can only work itself out gradually, and a time of anarchy and terror is no time for giving it a fair chance. The ample powers which the Executive now possess to put down sedition will doubtless be used with mildness and discretion, and with a full conviction that a display of force alone can never pacify a people; while real and substantial grievances are left unredressed. The attitude of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Mr Forster,. is very well shown in the following extract from his speech in the same debate as that in which the speeches of Mr Gladstone and Mr Parneli. were made —that on the Address in Seply :—

Mr Forster said they did not desire coercive measures, but the state of Ireland was such that it was impossible to do without them. If the Government could not prove that life and property were insecure in Ireland, they would fail, and deßerve to fail, in gaining what they applied for. The honourable member for Cork had spoken with great moderation, and he might say that if all his speeches within the last three months had been as moderate, his life would have been more easy. But the case of the Government was tbis : the honourable member for Cork had openly stated that he intended to replace the law of the land by an unwritten law passed by some unknown organi-sation.—[Mr-Parnell: L only wished to replace the bad law.] All law must bavo a force behind it'to support it, but those v hi. broke the law did, not fear the law. i, eC v , 9 none would give evidence, and no juries would convict. The hon. member for Cork knew well that outrages would follow his words—[uproar, and cries of "Withdraw," in which Mr O'Donnell.made himself conspicuous, howling "Apologise !" at the top of his voice.] Well, he would put it in this way—that it he did not know that they would follow on his words, he he wan. indeed astonished, Crimes did not merely arise from evictions, for around Limerick there had been few evictions ; yet crime, agrarian crime, was rapidly on the inorease. The Chief Secretary then detailed several instances of firing at and wounding people (some of which were received by many of the Irish members with loud laughter), and explained that the outrages were not by any means exaggerated.

Nothing succeeds like success, and it now remains to be proved by this infallible test whether Mr Forster has rightly diagnosed' the disease and applied the proper remedy. Mr Parneli * has played into the hands of the Government to some extent by his visit to Rochefort at Paris, by-which step he has disgasted the Roman Catholics. There is good reason to believe that the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the priesthood, under, orders from the Pope, will do what they -can ;to put a stop to-re-volutionary proceedings. The Coßrcion Bill is to be followed up by the Armß Act, already declared " urgent," which restricts the use of weapons of offence, and then the powers of the Executive will be complete. Can anyone imagine that such powers, wielded by a Government of which Mr Gladstone is Premier and Messrs Bright, Chamberlain, and FoRSTEit prominent members, will;be abused? We are not much concerned that the Land League have, as we learn by a late cablegram, hurled defiance at* the "Coercion Act. They talk very loud, these gentry ; but, we very much doubt their "staying properties" when within the clutches of,the law. !

Our supplement to-day contains Passing Noteß, sporting intelligence, letters from our correspondents in Scotland, Australia, and Wellington, The Overland Route (No. 3), an account of a trip to Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, the Queen's Speech and the opening of the Imperial Parliament, and a variety of articles on interesting subjects.

The P. and O. Company's steamship Bokhara, with the inward Suez mail, arrived at King George's Sound yesterday. :

The following history of the transactions at the Land Board with regard to the now celebrated Eun 106 will, we think, tend to establish the charge of bungling and carelessness which we preferred tbe other day against the Board on this matter. On 20th January, 1880, the Chief Surveyor, reporting to the Board about certain runs the leases of which were to expire shortly; gave it as his opinion with regard to Run 106 that, that it "should be released, as it is rough sheep pasture land." On January 21st the Board had this report before it, and adopted the recommendation, which was forwarded to the Government, from whom an answer came in due course, authorising the Board to lease Run 106 for 10 years for depasturing purposes. On 19th May, 1880, the Board received a petition from settlers at Tuapeka Mouth, asking that the run should be surveyed into pastoral deferred-payment and agricultural lease allotments and opened for settlement. Having considered this petition, the Board minuted : —" The memorialists to be informed that the lease of Run 106 does not expire until March, 1882, and that at th e present time a large area of land in the same district is open for purchase as pastoral deferred-payment land. The Board will give the memorial every consideration when it comes to deal with the land in question." Yet the Board had dealt with the land in question four months before, a fact it evidently entirely for

got when this minute was made about the Tuapeka Mouth memorial. After this it will not surprise anybody to know that the memorial never received any further consideration what, ever; nor, so far as we can discover, did Run 106 again come before the Board in any way. It was advertised for re-lease about 12 months after the Board came to the decision to sell it, without any speciSo instruction from the Board on the point. Apparently some clerk discovered that it stood on the books as being for sale, and he inserted it in the advertisement. Then Mr Daniel, a resident of Tuapeka Mouth, discovered it advertised, and wrote to the Board requesting the "further consideration" of the memo"al wWch had been promised. Hence the recent ventilation of the question. ; !'

From a.Weilington telegram we learn thatMessrs Cameron and Closs, of the Otago jjniversity, have been awarded senior scholarships. At a meeting of the Senate of the New Zealand; University, held at Wellington in June of last year, to receive the report of the examiners for scholarships, it was found-that-the examiners recommended these gentlemen for senior ■scholarships, yet the Senate failed to award them. It is some satisfaction to them and ; their frienda that the present Senate onreconsideration have given them the honours they had fairly earned. It is, however, a question whether they can enjoy them, as they proceeded to Edinburgh some months ago—one to prosecute the" study of theology,: and the other that of medicine. ' :

We understand that a meeting was to have been held at Queenstown last night to raise fnnda for the purpose of inviting the Dunedin Volunteers to visit the district at Easter.

Messrs London and Wilson are erecting a handsome store at Walton Park. The dimensions are 50 feet long by 33 feet wide, and the walla to the top of the parapet are 26 feet high. It is built of brick, on a foundation of Pott Chalmers atone.

The Taieri County Council have, appointed a deputation to wait on Mr J. Fulton, M.H.E. for the district, to ask his aid in securing to counties a continuance of the subsidy of 20 per cent, (or whatever proportion can be obtained) of the land fund. It is felt that county councili suffer a hardship in having,to carry roads, &a through Crown lands from which they recaive nothing in the shape of rates, and from the sale of which Government now have refused to contribute anything to local bodieß.

Mr Watt, R.M., at the City Police Court yeiterday expressed himself in strong terms regarding the present licensing laws. He said that they were full of " regular pitfalls," and expressed a hope that some comprehensive additions and alterations might be Bpeedily made.- ~ -.-....

At last night's meeting of the North East Valley Borough" Council the Mayor moved thst the Balary of the Borongh Clerk should be reduced by LSO a year, and that the servbes of one of the surfacemen should be dispeisedwith. The motion lapsed for want of a

seconder.

Fresh charges of embezzling money from the Stanford Insurance Company were brought agafast Adolph Moritz3on at the City' Police Court yesterday. The hearing of them was not completed, and they were remanded till Monday next.

It has been suggested to ns that the numeous papers and magazines arriving from time to time by post without covers or addresses, and therefore disappearing in the recesses of the postoffice, might advantageously be distributed amongst the Hospitals and Benevolent Asylums of the Provincial District, or at all events of Dunedin, for the benefit of the inmates. We understand this is done at Home. We do not know whether any official red-tape stands in the way, but we commend the suggestion to the consideration of the Chief Postmaster. :

With reference to an announcement in onri local columns yesterday that Herr Scherek would travel with Signor De Vivo's Operatic Concert Company, we are requested by Heir Scherek to Btate that this is an error, and that although" very advantageous offers have been made to him by Signor Da Vivo, he has decfined them and decided to remain in Dunedin

Mr J. A. Mackenzie, the legal ■ manager, yesterday received a telegram from CromweU stating that the Cromwell Quartz-mining Company had deposited with their bankers there a cake of gold weighing 341 oz3, from 410 tons of stone.

A numerously-signed petition in favour of the construction of salt-water baths for the city was presented to his Worship the Mayor (Mr A. H. Ross) yesterday. His Worship promised to support the prayer of the petition, provided that a suitable sits could be obtained .and the ratepayers would permit the borrowing of money for the erection of the baths.

The Merton School Committee have voted for Messrs Begg, Kobin, and Shand for the Education Board. -

A sitting of the Supreme Court in Bink. ruptcy will be held on Monday next, before bis Honor Mr Justice Gillies.

A lifelike crayon portrait of the late Sir John Richardson is now to be seen in the window of Messrs Wise and Co.'s shop, Princes street. The portrait is the property of Mr Bradahaw, and has been drawn by Mr Dallas, the French master at the High School, and the teacher of French in the Otago University. It would be difficult to praise too highly the skill whish the artist has displayed—he has certainly produced an admirable likeness 'of Major Kichardson, and has won the thanks of many of the admirers of the gallant soldier and true gentleman, whose memory will long be regarded with affection in this community. ■• '

Mr David Andrew, of Green Island, counciV lor for the Kaikorai Riding in the Taieri County Council, has had to resign hia seat owing to ill health. ; ,: (

An accident occurred to a man named William Pellett, who is in the employ of Mr Carew, yesterday. He was driving along the road when the axle tree of the cart suddenly broke, and he was thrown from the cart oh to the ground with great violence. He, however, escaped without any more' serious injury than some cuts on his nose and face, and after these had been dressed ho left the Hospital.

As showing the extraordinarily good harvest in the Taieri this season, it ia worthy of mention that a 28-aore field of wheat threshed out during the past day or two yielded over 70 bushels tothe acre. On Mr Sutherland's farm, East Taieri, however, the wheat crop is only yielding- about 50 bushels per acre at the outside, while: that of the previous season yielded nearly 70. On Mr A. Todd's farm lio bags of barley were obtained from 10 acres.

'Referring to the late Sir Cracroft Wilson, the Timaru Herald says:—"Sir Cracroft, who was formerly a Judge in the Bengal Presidency» received the Knighthood of the Star of India for fervices rendered during thejlndian Mutiny In that eventful period he served for a time under Lord Clyde, arid, though a civilian, soon made himself distinguished by his soldierlike qualities. Previous to the mutiny breaking out he had visited Canterbury on furlough, and had acquired property in this Province, on which, at the closa of the Indian trouble, ha came to reside permanently. During the 20 years Sir Cracroft has been amongst us he has not, excepting a session or two in the House of Representatives, taken much share in public affairs. But as a settler and a colonist he has been invaluable. Energetic to a degree, he infused energy in all about him, and land which 20 years ago was dismal swamp and niggerhead has been transformed into magnificent pasture country. Though of ripe age, 73, he will cause a blank in society, and the dramatic world will miss him sadly, for to the drama he was a kind and constant friend."

In our report of the official inspection of the Dnntroon-Hakateramea railway, it was stated in error that another section of 26 miles running up the Hakateramea Valley remained to be formed. The distance should have been 16 miles.

The provisional directors of the Forbury Park Land Company, (Limited), met last evening in the Royal Exchange Hotel to allot the 2600 shares offered to the public. There were 6100 shares applied for, of which number 1306 were rejected on account of the applications having been made after the list was closed. The remaining allottees received about 54 per oent of their applications, with the exception of one reckless investor who applied for five shares and was allotted that number. '

The Collector of Customs has received the following notice:—"From and after March Ist, 1881, instead of March 31st, as before

announced, cases containing 1 doz reputed quarts of brandy, whisky, old torn, [or rum, will be charged as two gallons, and 18 bottler of each spirit will ba taken as three gallon*, and 24 bottles as four gallons. When there is any excess over the reputed quantity, duty Is to be charged on the actual contents as found on examination. In dealing with geneva, the case containing 12 email bottles is to be charged as two gallons, and the case containing 15 large bottles as four gallons. The strength will be calculated as heretofore."

The Palmerston Times says:—" Several fish salmon in their habits have recently •been reported to. have been" Been in the Opihi jKiver, and on Saturday, last a dead one found on the shingle at the Opihi George was sent to iTimaru, when He Cailton, an experienced" pisciculturist,. pronounced it to be beyond doubt a true salmon, but isunable to decide •whether it i3salmo salar, the European' [salmon, or Balmo quinnet, the Galifornian jsalmoti. The Acclimatisation Society are likely •to take steps to procure a live specimen and jsettle the point." ■■','.' ". '":

; A^contempprary says that Hearn, the WeiIlington sculler, says he is nnable to raise the iLIOO or L2OO stake required by Albert White, :of Mercury Bay, to be deposited before he will contest the sculling championship of the 'Colony; but he will back himself for LSO. He isuggests that White, P. H. Duncan (fee bast jscnller in Canterbury), and he should each deposit LSO, and pull in Wellington Harbour :for the stake and the championship.

i We understand (says the Churchman) that a missionary meeting will be held in the Temperance Hall, Dunedin, on th'eafternoon of Sunday, March 13th, at 3 o'clock, when addresses will be given by the Lord Bishop of the diocese, the Yen. Archdeacon Williamß, of the diocese of Waiapu, and others on behalf of both the Maori and Melanesian Missions. The, meeting will be attended, and special hymns «"">& by the children of the Sunday-Bchoola of the city churches.

The Clntha Leader, states that on InchClutha the crops are about half cut down, and a good deal has already been stacked in splendid order. In many cases, such as Messrs Mosley, Smaill, and Darling, the crops are tEe" best ever seen in that part of the Island. .

It is very probable (says the Auckland Star) that a sculling match for, the championship of New Zealand will take place shortly. It will be remembered that shortly after the last Auckland Regatta Albert White.of. Mercury Bay issued a challenge to rowagainst any man in New Zealand. He shortly afterwards received a telegram from P. H. Duncan, Tattersall's, Christchurcb,: expressing his willingness to accept the challenge. White then telegraphed offering to row him in Tauranga for LIOO, and allow him L25 if he lost the match. No reply was received to this, and White yesterday sent another telegram to Duncan. In it he expresses surprise at not receiving any answer to the previous communication, and then offers to row him at Christchnrch for the championship and LIOO, White to get L 25 in the event of his losing. It is expected that a reply will be received to-day, and should it contain lan acceptance, the arrangements for the race will be made at once.

The following " dark" paragraph about H.M.S. Emerald's cruise in the islands appears in the Sydney Bulletin :—"All the newspapers had the wrong atory. The Emerald proved herself a terrible avenger. They have captured 'one small nigger,' it's true, but have made 1200 darkies bite the dust. Shrapnel did the fe,tal work. The crews saw, what they did see. One thing was regretted. At dusk, one even ing, a canoe was chased. Not a boul lived under that withering muiketry fire. The: canes had been ' manned' by women—that was the regret. Every island lost several hundred men. The truth leaks out sometimes, this; time through ' that one little nigger.'" '• - I

The performance at the Princess Theatre last night, for the benefit of Mrs Mayo, was fairly attended, although not so largely as the object deserved or as the merits of the perform-: anca certainly deserved. The opening piece was the comedy of. "Naval Engagements,'' which provoked a vast' deal of amusement. There was then an interlude, occupied by singing and dancing. Miss Nye, Miss Hettie Howarde, and Miss Vivian each received warm encores, to which they responded. Mr Fisher sang a comic song; Mr Hooper danced a hornpipe; an amateur recited " Henry V.'s address to bis soldiers at HoEflaur"; and another amateur sang "Brown, the tragedian." Each of these efforts was warmly applauded. The burletque of ; "II Trovatore" was the concluding piece. The City Guards Band also lent their services. Mr Hooper, during an interval; returned thanks to the public for their attendance, to Mr Sibbald for giving the theatre gratis, and to others who had aided. The audience included his Worship the Mayor and other persons of note.

Messrs M'Landress, Hepburn, and Co. will hold a sale of hops at their rooms at 11 a.m. this day. Mr James Campbell will hold a clearing sale of china, glass, crockery, &c, commencing at 2 pm. this day, at his market, Moray place. The partnership hitherto existing between David Proudfoot and James M'Kay has been dissolved by mutual consent. ...-...., ... *

Pupils assisting in the chorus of "Pinafore" are requested to meet for practice at 2.30 this afternoon,: At 11 a.m. this day, at the Provincial Yards, Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co., will hold a sale of draught horses and drays. At their rooms, Princes street, this day, at noon Messrs G. T. Clarke and Co. will hold a sale of unredeemed pledges. -■- ' . : We have received the " New Zealand Churchman ?' for March. It contains among other interesting matter a sermon by the Bishop of Peterborough on " Christianity and Freethought." ..':■-■:■■ . We have received from Mr G. R. West No. 3 of the "New Zealand Magazine," containing the " Carmen" singing quadrille and a selection of popular pieces of dance music, arranged for both the cornet and violin. "■■■-:

We have received " Bradshaw's Guide to.New-Zeal-and "-for March. -. , L

At 2 p.m. this day, at his rooms, High street, Mr Montagu Pym will offer for sale a portion of the township of Kingston, Green Island. At 11 a.m. this day, at the Dunedin Tattersalls, Messrs Maclean and Co. will hold a sale of heavydraught and light-harness horses. \ : .- j At 2 p.m. on Tuesday next Messrs Connell arid Moodie will offer for sale sonic sections at Deborah Bay. ■ • ■'. ' ■.••...-.■ . . .'.■■ ■■_ ■- ,

We have been requested to draw attention to Messrs A. and T. Inglis' advertisements, published elsewhere. . . ■■'.■■ .■'...

The unsold sections in the township of Waverley are now open for sale by private treaty. ; The Timaru Harbour Board are calling for tenders for extending the wharf adjoining the Breakwater 300 feet. ■ .

There will be a change of programme at the Princess Theatre to-night, when "The Bride of Abydos" and "The Swiss Swains" will be produced. -■••-' Tenders are invited for the stock, lease, and fittings of the drapery establishment known as Cashel House, Christchurch. - *

-Mr Gordon Forlong will preach at the Union Church, Great King street, to-morrow morning and evening.;