OUR CANTERBURY LETTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7124, 13 December 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR CANTERBURY LETTER

The less said the bettor, porhaps, at present

about tho dotails of the horriblo charge of

, alleged criminal assault now pending against the three young men Tyrol!, Cotton, nnd i Peacock. Tho age and crippled stato of the 1 prosecutrix mako tha affair—if hor story bo correct—more thin usually disgusting, aud ' should the evidence go against the accused at their trial I should fancy they need expect no ■ ' mercy from Judge Johnston, who is nut tho i mildest of the occupants of tho Now Zialand • Beach by any means It ia only fair to tho accused to remember taat tbeir defenca was re served in the Magistrate's Court, and therefore that their side of tho story has yot to come before the public. As it ia, the general honor and indignation at tha wholo business is strongly foil aud loudly oxprcssod. It must ba admitted tbat scattered towns like Christchurch, containing within them so many amall areas of waste, ought, if it were posaible, lo poasf ss a much larger guard of police than at present. As it is, we have nothing to say against the quality of our police, but very good cause to grumble about their quantity, or the want of it. That Crimea of violence are as raro as thoy are, is attributable much more to tho ordarly ins'.incta of a tolerably comfortable aud decently prosperous community than to the presenca of any efficient preventive force. During his slay here, the Minister (or Public Worka was tho mark for many deputatit is. So len.; as Centralism reigns in New Zeuliu d bo loug wi 1 local government by deputation be a pha;o of our public life. Tha deputations on this occasion did not, vulgarly spoiking, "get much change" out of Mr Richardson. Th'.-y afkad for tho reduction of the grain rates, uf course. In repiy thoy got rather vague assurauct-B that the wholo subject of railway management was undf-r tho Guvernment's consideration. It seemed that , until tlw peaeral reform waa begun th-j Cabinet would not sco its way to commence alterations in tha tariff. When Mr Richardson pointed out that the financial arrangements for the current year had been bis;d on calculations founded tn the tariff as left turd bequeathed by the At'finsonian regime, his hearers rubbed their oyea and' wondered whether they w6ro dreaming, or whether they had been dreaming for the paat six months, and that Mr Mitchelson waa still Minister for Public Worka after all. It certainly seemed not a littlo queer and incongruous to listen to Mr Richardson poking aa the spoli-gist for the continuance of a system which he personally so sfcrougly denounced iv the early part of the year, and to overthrow which he and hia colleagues wore, from a Canterbury point of view, welcomed into power. However, we are a patient race. It took Major Atkioson and Co. five yeara before they could manage to thoroughly alienate . their Canterbury supporters ; and Sir Julius Vogul will nut lose the favour of his frieuda here in a day. or oven a year. -- As an example of bia popularity, I may point to the littlo iffect produced among his constituents ljy that appalling aod scandalous Argus cable mesasg-i re tue International Telephone Company. Oa the very day on which this appeared iv the morning newspapers, a preliminary meeting waa held to oigmise a baoquat in Sir Julius' honour. Rjapactability showed no eign of fighting ahy of the g'athemg or of the banquet. The latter promises to be highly successful. Apropos ot the telephone scandal, I notice (but neither of the newspapers befure mentioned has hud a word to say on the suljact yet. Possibly each is waiting for tha other to begin first. Lately, local government and Colonial defence have chiefly filled tbe-ir leading"columns, subjects which, though not precisely light to the pitch of frivolity, are at any rate better reading than wranglings over Freetrade v. Protection. A rumour was paasiue frcm mouth to mouth the other day pointing to Mr Larnach as likely to st"p into Mr Reynolds' Bhoes in the Cabinet. I am nf raid that Mr Laruach'u appointment would not be quite so popular here as it might be in Dunodin, We recognise that Mr Reynolds'successor should bo an Otago member, but would prefer to see some young blood tried —if possible I heard Mr M. J S. Macketzk's r.ama mentioned aa a qualified aud risirg young politician, who, with a littlo more Parliamentary experience, would not disgrace aiiy Cabinet.

Another rumour, of a diffarenh kind, haa been hflnat lately. I may a3 well eend it te you fir what it ia worth, aa it haa exorcisod the le«al profession hero not a littlo It ia to tho effort that the Government means to try and manage to make some changes in our banch cf Supreme Court Judges. Tho Chief Justico acd Judge Gillies are to bo "squeezed out" by hook or by crook, and Judge Johnston to ba transferred to Auckland, Tho place of the Chief Justico is to be takon by the Attorney-general, and tho Canterbury district is to be banded over to Judge Ward, now of the District Court, who would be Dromoted to the Supreme Court for the purpose. J do not feel bound to take all thia programme for gospel at present. It is quite possible that both tha Government and many other people would like to sco part of it carried out if practicable. I have alao reason to fancy that nothiDg definite bad beendocided upon a week ago, at any rate. Thia much ia quite certain: Judge Ward on the Supreme Court bench in Christchurch would not be at all a welcome chance either for tho bar or for the community. The " profession" would be up in arms to oppose such an arrangement. Mr Peter Cunningham, of Grain Agancy celebrity, has appeared amongst us again after his trip to Europe. Mr Cunningham waa reported some months -ago to be dangerously ill from a fever caught while travelling on the Continent. However this may have been, I am happy to sea ha looks none the worse for bia illness—rather the contrary, indeed. He reached Christchurch in time to figure as a welcome gue3t at the annual supper of the Canterbury Caledonian Saciety. The Society's poet, Mr Ferguson, recited in hia honour the following verses,-which struck me as being good enough to intereat "brither Scots" in Danedin, Being a Southron myself, I cannot answer for the correctness of Mr Ferguson's Diric, but perhaps Mr Vincent P.vke, tho only Englishman I know who is not afraid to write Scotch, can do so. Here are the verses. I tru3t your editor will not run his pen through them as being unlawful " padding " :— Eraw ateimer Coptic, onco again Successfully you've croaai-.l tue uiaia, An' br.-.chi back fee our ahorea a iWiia We a' 100 deir. Frao him we parted v- co tain , The ither j-oir. Oh, sir, we a' did misa ye sair Wh.n U'--t we hi 1 our a ipper rare— Stoved tawtiea, hngji-i, K.ouaa, an' malr O'S-jitti'hdi h?a; A wee drap Donal'r. taa «»s <h-jre To lave ocr wishes. An', m»D, to hßur th- pipsr pay A Highland fling, reel, or aVathspoy, Or chant a dirjre or plaiiitiva lay Wi' eerie souu'. Whilst drapß o' Donal't alt ar/ aye Wia passed aroon. Un stood each loyal Scot that nicbS An' gripped tbeir itlasae.i ppwklln' brlcht, Pled^in' your hca'.rh wi' a' their michU Iho' ia' awa'; Wiihioff to ace ? ou harne a* rkht Amm; them a. But wh»t'a tbe sruid <•' ua 'epeatin', Or ow re tho pa=,t liko lambkins bleatin' ? Sair, sair, we mlsse.i je at our rr.ee in', Trie aporta an' ithers. Accept thia hearty welcome grreetio*, F:ae frer.nß :,i,' brlthcis. Welcome, de-ir sir. May ocean never Ag±in tt&s ua tby prc-aen'e i-ever E/en when w-' cioss yon nitey river, Kay ihae an'thi.ie Drvel with us, nea'h Ihe shadow ever OI Him Divine. I wish I could say that Sir John Hall looks aa strong in health as Mr Cunningham, but tbia ia far from the caso. Nor does Mr Coster, just returned from his successful postal negotiations with the authorities in Wellington, look at all as hia friends would like.

Despite another week's damp and gloomy weathor, crops and gardens are looking flourish ing. Those fond of strawberries are having a good time of it, paroquets and blackbirds notwithstanding. Quite an amount of correspondence haa appeared in the papers about the former bird's depredations. -One gentleman, who muat be a lineal descendant of the valiant tailor of "Grimm's Stories," claims to have killad 22 paroquets with a single charge of abut in one currant bush. Shadis of Munchausen !'

Miss Ward has made a great bit here in " Forget Mo Not." An old playgoer told me that he had not seen anything for years which had " fetched " him so completely as her acting in the part of Stephanie. Though the public here uaually pronounce her namo as"Jennyve aye," it seems able to appreciate her rare skill. Moro on tha subject I will not say, as Misa Ward coin?s fresh from Dunsdin. Fathor La Chesnaia lecturtd iv tho Odc1Pellows' Hall on Saturday night on "Magic," and acquitted himself so that it was a treat to bear him. Frenchmen rarely roaster tbe English language to such an extent as that attained by the reverend lecturer, who managed to arouse in mesmerism and kindred topics intere't which has overfl jwed into newspaper correspondence, The rosa eho-v ttio other day was a pretty aighfc—all the more so by reason of the pretty dresses of tha ladies, who thronged it in considerable numbers. The roses were all that could be desired. Not so the strawberries and cream, retailed bazaar fashion by charming demoiselles at Gl par plateful. One purchaser declared that he paid 6d for six green strawberries, whose greenness waa hidden in cream. The chief prizatakera at the show were Mesars Carrick, Stevens, Aynsley, Triggs, A. M. Ollivier, and the gardeners of Messrs Strange and Beatb.

The meetings of parsons iutareated in promoting a company for making the West Coaat railway have resultad so far satisfactorily that several of our strongest local merchants— agency firms and others—have identified themselves with the project. It is understood that Mr H. Alan Scott, a partner of Mr Leonard Harper's, is going to London before long for the purpose of inducing certain English capitalists to advance the necessary funds.

A ladies' lawn-tennis match between the Canterbury and Lancaster Park Cluba was won by the former, though Mias B. Loughnan, captain of the losers, beat Mrs Alan Scott, champion of the winning side, in a single sot. The Midland Cricket Club beat Adding ton in tbe second round of Challenge Cup m»tch»B, Buchanan scoring 41, not out, and 82, for the winners. M'Murray bowled pluckily for the losers, who list through bad fielding. United (118 and 250) beat Lancaster Park (102 and 147). Liugden, 9 and 82; R. D. Harman, 70, hit in grand style for tha former; and W. P. Raaves, 8 and 3D, toppad tho score on the beaten aide. Tho players picked to practise for the interprovincial matches are working really herd.