INTERCOLONIAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9037, 12 February 1891, Page 2

INTERCOLONIAL.

Thoro was a largo attendance last evoning at the Presbyterian Church, Kaikorai, when thp ) Rev. Mr Chalmers gave another of his interest- 1 ing lectures on tho mission worlc that is being carried on in New Guinea. The KeV. R. R. M. Sutherland presided, arid proceedings were commenc'od by tho Ruv. Mr Bannermau, who fed in prayer. The leoturer then proceeded to givo a graphic description of tho country, its relatious to Great Britain, aud the advantages arising from the proclamation of British sovereignty. Tho lecture throughout was interspersed with anecdotes and incidents characteristic of life on tho island, while at the conclusion tho speaker was loudly applauded. A collection was then made, which realised the sum of £4 7s Gd. The first meeting of the newly elected Henley River Board was held on Saturday last, and was attended by all the members—Messrs Stovenson, Fleming, Anderson, Shand, and Thomson', fl^r Stevenson was unanimously elected chairman, and Mr John Grant was reappointed clerk and treasurer. Wo have to aunouuee with regret tho death, after a long and painful illness, of Mrs Andrew Cameron, who for many years resided at Port Chalmers, where her husband carried od business until recent years, when he removed to Dunedin. The deceased lady was highly esteemed. An inmate of tho Ashburton Old Men's Home, named Neil Campbell, who died suddenly after partaking of his dinner on Tuesday, was reputed to be 102 years old. The attention of Mr "justice Williams and a special jury will be occupied in the Supreme Court at Invercargill to-day with a case in whioh lan S. Simson, formerly an auctioneer and ex-mayor of Gore, claims £10,000 from the Colonial Bank and F. W. Blsworth (the plaintiff's late partner). Sir Robert Stout has been retained on bahalf of the plaiatiff, and Mr Haggitt appears for the defendants. The title of " Windy Wellington," which has been conferred on the Seat of Government, and is frequently applied to it, is confirmed by official records. Tho report On the statistics of the colony for 18S9 goes to show that it h by no means a pleasant fiction that high .winds are far more numerous in Wellington than in the other centres; for it appears that while in that year thoro were gales rr high winds at Dunedin on IS days, at Lincoln (Canterbury) on 26 days, and at Auckland on 39 days, the iuhabitants of Wellington had to endure as many as 77 windy days. The report states, moreover, that such days wero much less numerous in Wellington in 1889 than in 1888. Mr Francis Wilkinson, of Nevada, Roslyu, met with a serious accident, whereby he will in all probability lose the sight of his right eys. When chipping a stone, a splinter struck and fractured the coveiiog, and eventually the eye itself was poisoned. Although voder skilful medical care, there is little hope of Mr Wilkinson ever regaining the use of the injured eye. The Garrison Band intend giving an open air performance in the Octagon on Wednesday evening next, at 7.30, when a collection will be made in aid of tho Kakanui fund. An attractive programme will be presented, and as the capabilities of this band are well known, there is no doubt but that there will be a large attendance on the occasion. Tho Tapanui School Committee have voted for Messrs Borrie, Fraer, and Jago for the vacancies on the -Education Board, Of the four candidates who have been nominated for the three vacancies on the Education Board Mr Fraer received nominations from 74 school committees, Mr Macgregor from 59, Mr Jago from 41, and Mr Borrie from 24, Tho North Otago Times learns that Messrs Piukerton and Earnshaw, M.H.R's., will visit Oamaru this week, and deliver addresses there. The Rev. W. G. Paraonson, who is well-known in Wcrleyan circles in Dunedin as having been for n few years paitor of the Cargill road Church, is about to leave Oamaru, where he has been ministering lately, this step beicg necessitated by the delicata health of his wife. An Invercargill telegram states that a large number of sheep are being brought into Southern Otago and Southland from North Canterbury for fattening. Seven thousand wero deceived by train during tho past few dsys, and more are to come. A committee of tho " old boys "of Wellington College have just completed a task which is worthy cf imitation by the ex-High School Boys' Club in Dunedin. This has been the preparation and publication in book form of an " O!d Boys' R;cord," which contains a complete roll of the ptst pupils of the institution, with particulars, as far as po3sible,as to their present occupation aud addre3S. A sketch of the history of the co'lege, records of the athletic and scholastic achievements of the " old bays," and a list of masters past and present also fiud a place in the volume. The Lyell Times snys:—" A case has occurred iv this district which bears on the face oi it a great amount of hardship. A Chinaman named Ah Ting is working up the Buller. river as a miner, and is earning a very precarious living, sometimes only a few pennyweights a week. He is a married man, his wife baing in Wellington, and has n maintenance order against him, which has bc:-n left unsatisfied to the amount of £36 arrears. His family consists of five ohildren, threo of whom are ia the Industrial School, Nelson, and two he maintains with difficulty himself. A warrant for one month's imprisonment has bf.en issued from Wellington for tho amount of the arrears. Constable Stewart, baforo executing the warrant, made inquiries into the circumstances of the case, and found it one of almost destitution. These facts he has laid by telegraph before Inspector Goodall, who ha? advised delay in the matter pending the whole case being referred to headquarters. There certainly appears to be very little justioa or utility in carrying out the law to the extent of imprisoning this man, who at present is making every endeavour to maintain himself and the two children he has with him." Mr E. G. Wright, M.R.R., submitted a proposal at the tot meeting of the Ashburton County Council that the engineer for the county should be instructed to proceed to Victoria and inspect the principal works of irrigation in that colony before drawing up his report on the cost of irrigating the district between the Ashburton aad the Rakaio. In doing so, be gave it as his opinion that the cost of an irrigation scheme would be largely in excess of the benefit to ba derived, but afterwards qualifkd thi3 by the remark that if the rainfall of hit and the preceding year wero to be taken as an average of the rainfall of the country, he would havo no hesitation ia lending bfa assistance to the very widest system of irrigation. He thought, however, that so long as the question was one confined to the irrigation of small areas, they cosld afford to be content with such knowledge as they could glean here, and what experiment might give them; but when they attempted ths irrigation of 300,000 acres they essayed an undertaking of proportions too large to enter upon withoutthe f ullc3t preparation, and he suggested that it would bo money well spent to send the county engineer to inspect tho work carried on by the Chaffey Brothers, at Hildura. The proposal did not meet with acceptance at the hands of the council, as ail the speakers opposed it, one of them characterising tho scheme iuiliatod by the Chaffey Brothers as baing nothing more than the irrigation of small gardenß, and the motion was negatived on the voices. Lieutenant-general Sir George Harmae, in responding to tho toast of " The Army," at a dinner given by the Merchant Taylor's Company, said that iv bin belief, the magazine rifle with which the British troops were now being armed was the best arm in the possessession of any European nation. He freely admitted tbat when first introduced it was not altogether perfecr, nor did he say that it was not capable of improvement; but there could be no finality in arms or anything else. Within the last three hours the last pattern of the rifle had been in his hands, aud ho believed that now that any little imperfections had been remedied it was a most perfect weapon. Wo have been shown tho lnedul presented by tho Albion Cricket Club to Mr James Croxford in recogaitiou of his services iv tho OtageCanterbury match. It is in tho form of a fancy Maltese cross, aud bears the following inscription :—" Presented to James Croxford by the Albion Cricltot Club. Otago v. Canterbury, January 1891." It is beautifully designed, and ia a credit to tbo makers. Tho New York World, which has the largest circulation of any New York paper, has, it is said, been sold to a syndicate, the principal members of which are George W. Cbildß, of the Philadelphia Ledger, and the executors of ihe Jata Joseph W. Dreze!, tba wealthy New York banker. Toe prica said to have bcou paid was £800,000. The circulation, of the World is about j lit 300,000. ' pi

The American Copyright Bill, which has been passed by the. House of Representatives, b,a9 a sting in its tail which will not please British publishers. Copyright is given to foreigners as though they were American citizens; but it is clogged with the condition that tho copyrighted book must be "manufactured "in America. That is to say, it must be printed from typo Get up or from plates stereotyped in tho United States. That is a eerioua condition ; and more than one publisher has argued that in a few years' timo it will involve shifting the seat of the book trade from London to Now York. Teat is surely to exaggerate tho danger, since it would always bo possible to establish reciprocity by requiring that the many American books which come over from the States in sheets should ha " manufactured " in England. It iB expected th&t tha vessels which are to foim the Australian auxiliary squadron will nil arrive in Australian waters at about the same time, and tho occasion will be marked by a naval demonstration of some hind. The squadron consists of five fast cruisers and two torpedo gunboats of tho most approved type. In accordanca with tho arrangements that have been made, two of the cruisers will be "laid up" during peace, and it has been decided that these shall ba stationed at Sydney. A measure out of tha usual run of private bills 13 to como before the Commons during tho next session. It is to incorporate by act of Parliament the " Trustees and Guardians of Shakes 1 pearo's Birthplace," in whom is to be Veßted the property known as Shakespeare's birthplace, together with the museum and library, and the moneys held in trust. Power is to be given to the trustees to purchase, if and when the opportunity may arise, Annie Hathaway's cottage at Shottery, as well as Mary Arden's houae at Wilm'cote. The property to ba transferred is now vested in the Stratford-upon-Avon corporation. The new trustees will receive from donors or purchase manuscripts, books, and other articles illustrative of the time of Shakespeare, and generally maintain the whole property as a national memorial of Shake speare. As a portrait painter, Meissonier, tho great French artist, who3e death at an advanced age was recently chronicled by cable, was eagerly sought after by wealthy people in search of the notoriety which was to ba acquired by the possession of a canvas bearing his signature; and many amusing stories are told of the artist'B contemptuous treatment of some of his wouldbe sitters. A wealthy pork packer from Chicago is said to have called upon Meissonier one day with an offer of £200 for a half-length figure of' himself, which must be completed in a fortnight, under a penalty of £1 per day for any delay beyond the time prescribed. The artist looked his visitor up and down, and curtly remarked, "I would not paint your portrait for £2000. You're not a fit subject for any pencil. Good morning." " Well," rejoined the American," I won't insist on the deduction if you'll agree not to detain me very long." " Detain you!" was the scornful reply; " I won't detain you another second. There is the door. Go!" " Hallo ! What's tho row about?" inquired the disconcerted stranger. " Simply this : that you have mistaken your man. I paint horses and doga occasionally, but curs never." > Mr John Grlndloy cells cheep and cattle at Balclutha to-morrow. Mr B. M. Speeding 6ells wines and spirits on Thursday next at his roome. The ariimal general moating of the Oufcram Soclf-tieß' Hall Company will bs held on Monday evening. Key. Mr Chalmers, missionary, addresses meetings this and to-morrow ovonlng all Hanover street Baptist Hall and North-Kast yalley Piesbyterlan Church respectively. The election of Licensing Committee and the local option ro" 'or Peninsula Licencing district) takes p'sce oa February 28. Nominations for the committee are receivable up to February 21. . Tha election of a membar of the Taieri pounty Council for Outrara riding takes place on February 24 Nominations are receivable till tha 20th. Mr John English, registrar under the Pharmacy Act, notifie* that the election of a member of the Pharmicy Hoard, vico Mr W. Wardrop, resigned, takes place on March 5. Nominations are receivable till Februaiy 20. Messrs Jamei A. Park and Co. sell Colonial Bank and insurances shares to-morrow, at their rooms. We have received from the Crown Lands Office lithographed maps of the runs to be offered at auction on the 27th inst. Dunedin Autumn Itaces, February 25, 23, and 28. Cup day, Wednesday, 25. First race at 12.30.— [Advt.] The Bey. F. Fi/wel!. of Ohtiafohunsh, who proceeds to Knglirjd er-ly in April next, la willing to communicate with those parents who msy desire companionship and tuition for their Lsonß while on the voys.re Home.—[Abvt.] The D.1.0. shareholders and cuftomers generally are reminded the company's great summer bargain tables have now commenced. A large quantity of good and useful lines in every department are laid out, and will be cleared at real bargsiu prices.— [»EVT.] ' " Lome " fs everywhere regarded as the crems de la creme of whiskies.—[Advt.] Money can ba obtained from K. Franc!*, Octagon (next Athenaum). Bopaiii weekly, monthly.—[Adv.] Johm Hislop, Watchmaker and Jeweller, 74 Princes street. Tho olde»t established house in town. Sopsirt of all kinds. Good assortment Watches, Olooki. and, Jewellery. bpeotaelss to in.it all jlghtc—[Advt.] See G, and T. Young's stock of watehei, docks, jewellery, sterling silver and electroplated goods. Five first-class awards received E.Z. and S.B. Exhibition 1889-90. Prices strictly moderate. Lorgoit and finest stock In N.Z. to soiect from.—[Advt.] By speoial appointment to his Bxcellenoy the Governor Lord Onslow for premier quality Aerated Waters and Cordials.—1' Of otbor Sodawaters that bays come under our notloa, and take a very high place in Australasia, we would be remiss if we did not mention that of Meßsrs Thomson and Co., of Dunedin."—"Australian Brewera'Journal," 1890.— Thomson and Co., Crystal Springe Mineral Waters Works, Dunedin.—[Advt.]