NEWS OF TEE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2126, 15 January 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF TEE DAY.

The usual monthly meeting of the Temuka Park Board took place on Tuesday. Present—Messrs Wilson (chairman), Paterson, and Barker. The Chairman stated that Mr W. McCully had signed the specifications for cropping land within the Park, and that Mr Hawdon’s tender for erecting bridge and other works within the Park had been accepted. An application from the Secretary for an increase of salary was deferred to a full meeting of the Board. Some small accounts were passed for payment, and, after some further discussion, the meeting adjourned.

The Kakalm District School Committee held their usual monthly meeting on Monday evening. Present—Messrs Beattie, Hay, Bradley, Hide, Tindall, and Kelland. Correspondence was read from the Board of Education, notifying that the appointment of Mr Sutherland to the mastership of the school had been confirmed. From the same, requesting the Committee to forward names of two gentlemen qualified to act as members of the Board. “Resolved that Messrs Wakefield and Postlethwaite be nominated, subject to their consent.” From the present master, Mr Culligan, intimating that the daily attendance was bad, only 50 per cent, of the children enrolled being in regular attendance. Resolved that the school break up for the harvest holidays on Jan. 28, and re-open on Feb. 9.” It was also resolved, “ That Mr Hay be respectfully requested to procure about £5 worth of books, to be distributed by lottery amongst the children on the roll.” The annual school treat was fixed for Friday, Jan. 23. At a meeting of the creditors of Thomas Hood, of the Masonic Hotel, Auckland, it was shown that his liabilities were £l2lO 5s 9d ; assets, £9O.

The date for the closing of the English mail has been altered till to-mor-row. Particulars will be found in our mail notices.

Our Waimate correspondent writes : The Corporation are making vast improvements to the town. A gang of men are kept constantly employed putting the various streets in something like order. All the large stones are being picked out and gravel spread where it is necessary. The grass which was allowed io overrun the roads during the time the County Council had the superintendence of the work, is being hoed up and carted away. Channels are being formed and the gorse cut from off the various pathways. These improvements arc giving the town a much better appearance and travellers will be saved the necessity of complaining of running their favourite corns against the large boulders which were formerly more numerous.

A fatal gun accident is telegraphed from Auckland. Peter Walker, of Hamilton, accidentally shot himself, while drawing his gun after him through a wire fence. He was pursuing dogs, which were worrying his sheep. The bullet entered his chin, and came out at the crown of his head. The deceased was a Mason, and Sergeant Major in the Hamilton Cavalry. He was married, but had no family.

Tradesmen will do well to be on their guard against one pound notes ingeniously altered to five pound notes, which are being placed in circulation. Two Union Bank notes tampered with in the way described have lately been discovered. A Dunedin exchange states that on Monday last one was being paid into the North Dunedin Branch of the Bank of New Zealand by a customer, when the teller noticed the forgery. The “ Otago Daily Times ” says : —lf the railways were owned and worked by a private company the one question which would rule the rates would be in each case, What is the best paying point at which to fix the tariff?

The following is from the 1 Statist ’: — “ From Birmingham comes a report which shows a change from the past years of steady and increasing demand from the Australian Colonies for English goods. It runs as follows : ‘ The United States markets are taking now many classes of goods which were till lately excluded; but in other respects our export trade must he reported dull, mainly owing to the depression of the Australian markets.’ For the nine months ended last September we exported to those colonies goods valued at only £11,095,000, or 1| million sterling less than in the corresponding period last year. Victoria is the chief delinquent, next Now South Wales and South Australia. Failures and difficulties amongst large import houses in Melbourne seem to have been the immediate cause of this check. We have before referred to the reduced supplies of gold sent from Australia this year, ascribing the reduction to the tightness of money on that side. Wool and produce on the other hand have come forward as freely as ever, and the recent rise in wool will no doubt have a beneficial effect.”

We have received from the agents— Messrs Barnett Lewis and Co.—the calendar for this year of the Imperial Fire Insurance Co. It is neatly printed and it contains a revolving diary that renders it an invaluable auxiliary to the countinghouse. We have also received from W. M. Sims and John King, the local agents very handsome calendars issued by the Victoria and Norwich Union Companies. The ordinary quietude of the Washdyke village was last night broken in upon by a tin-kettle serenade given by some of the Meat Preserving Company’s employees—the occasion being the marriage of one of their number. The tinsmiths had exercised their ingenuity in constructing instruments of torture in the shape of horns, trombones, Ac,, with which they succeeded in making night hideous until a plentiful libation at the Bhrine of Bacchus had been poured out.

The late rainfall did some little damage to the crops on the Levels plains, and had it continued, as at one time seemed likely, the prospects of a good harvest would have been seriously marred. In order that the subject of the waterworks loan may have the fullest consideration, the polling has been postponed till Thursday next, Jan. 22.

The Cunard Company, not to be outdone by the Orient, have concluded a contract with Messrs J. and G. Thompson, of the Clyde, to build a ship, the size of which will be exceeded only by the Great Eastern. The Sahara, for such is to be the name of the new steamer, will be built of steel. She will be 7500 tons burthen and 10,000 horsepower, and will be able to carry 450 firstclass and 000 steerage passengers, and 0500 tons of cargo. The ship is to be ready for sea in March, 1881. The latest story about the Pope is told by the writer of “ London Town Talk ” in the “Argus’ “His Holiness, though he has lost his temporalities, seems to retain a tolerably keen eye to this world, and to what unspiritual persons consider the main chance. An English lady of rank, a pervert. took some family diamonds to him the other day in order that he might bless them, which it appears is a common practice with him, by which he confers an inestimable benefit at what heretics consider a cheap rate. He has also another custom of accepting the offerings of the faithful for the use of the Holy Sec, and on this particular occasion the customs got mixed. He took the family diamonds with an angelic smile, and —no doubt mistaking her ladyship’s purpose —handed them over to his treasurer, who has got them still. It is one of those ‘hard cases,’ and, indeed, one very hard upon the lady in question, which 1 Vanity Fair ’ puts before its readers every week.”

The coroner at Grahamstown has been cruelly deprived of his fee at the instance of the turbulent Maoris. The other day a half-caste murdered his wife through jealousy and then hanged himself. Fearing that an inquest was contemplated the Natives assembled and demanded the bodies. The native officers said it would be injudicious to interfere, and no inquiry was held.

The Otago Harbor Board have increased their pilot dues to two pence per ton, making them the same as at Lyttelton.

An ingenious but effective method of getting rid of the Timaru corner-men was practised by a well-known soft-goods man yesterday afternoon. Sixteen able-bodied men sat after the style of Rip-van-Winkle and his friends on the window-sill of Coy and Drummond’s drapery warehouse. Suddenly a knight of the yard stick, with a huge watering-can in his right hand and mischief in his visage, stepped from the interior, and approaching the end man, politely asked him to get up for a moment. The loiterer rose, and the spout of the vessel being directed towards the window, the watering commenced. With a look of cool determination the shopman continued watering the sill of his window as one by one the sixteen corner-men gave way before the cooling shower. Then they gathered in a crowd and looked into each other’s faces with a stare of mingled disgust and surprise, but there was no audible remonstrance, and the cause of their displeasure walked back to his counter with the stately tramp of a citizen who for once had vindicated his rights. Professor Wallenburg has added more than one feather to his cap during his short stay in Timaru. Two well-known residents, MrJosiah Spence, and Mr George Paice, can now vouch for the Professor’s skill in the cure of complaints of long standing. The first-named gentleman has, wc arc informed, suffered from partial deafness and pains in the ears for a period of ten years past, while Mr Paice has been suffering from weak and impaired eyesight for three years. Both of these gentlemen have been under the Professor’s treatment while in Timaru, and both arc now perfectly cured. The Professor can be consulted for a few days longer at the Grosvcnor. The annual meeting of the Timaru Literary and Debating Society takes places this evening, at 8 p.m., when the Secretary will present a report of the work of the past session ; the Treasurer will submit a statement of accounts, and officers for the year will be elected. The business details will probably not occupy long, and should they be disposed of in good time, the remainder of the evening will be devoted to readings and recitations. There will probably be a large number of members and their friends present.

Eighteen thousand acres of land at the Upper Thames arc to be thrown open in a few weeks for prospecting. Several prospecting parties have been organised with the view of talcing advantage of the prospecting vote.

A native, named Te Tula, was burnt to death in his whare, at Waihi, last Friday night. A New Plymouth telegram states that the price of grass seed has fallen very considerably since last season. Ten thousand bushels have been offered, and refused, at 3d per lb. It is said that the price will be as low as 2ld this season.

At Nelson, yesterday, a young hospital patient named Clara Palmer, who attempted to strangle herself, was committed to the Lunatic Asylum. A subscription list for the relief o f the distressed in Ireland has been opened in Wellington. A Dunedin lady appeals to the corporation of that city that not being a frog she is unable to bathe in the public swimming baths, which at present arc filled with black mud, the produce of the city sewers. In spite of the strong representations of their architect and the warm advocacy of Councillar Fish, painter and glazier, the Dunedin City Council have resolved not to oil the external stonework of their municipal palace.

An interesting Life Assurance case was concluded yesterday, before Judge Weston, and a special jury, at Greymouth. Eliza Jane Thomson, a widow, sued the Australian Mutual Provident Assurance Society, for £2OO, being the amount of a policy on the life of her husband. The policy was not delivered, but the life had been accepted, and a receipt given for a half-year’s premium. The defence was that the life had been accepted through fraudulent concealment and untruthfulncss. Thirty seven issues were submitted to the jury, who, after four hours’ deliberation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff, for the amount claimed. Notice of appeal was given.

Mr 11. D’Orsay Ogden who’rccently opened the Academy of Music in Christchurch with a grand flourish, has closed his brief managerial career by filing his schedule His sorrowing frainds in Timaru will please accept this intimation. In the words of “ Pinafore ” Mr Ogden will now be able to

sing Stick to your whitewash and Never go to sea; And soon you will be ruler Of the Queen’s navy. Madame Adelaide Eistori has formed the decision to make another trip round the world, and has collected a company of very able assistants to accompany her. She will first appear in the Eoyal Playhouse in Berlin, and has already signed the necessary contract. Afterwards she intends to visit the principal places in Europe, and will also go to Australia where she was so well received on a former occasion. Madame Eistori having an ample fortune, could well afford to live at ease in her villa at Rome, but the attraction of the boards representing the world, seems as strong in her case as in many other artists, who are very averse to leave the footlights.

The Japanese method of keeping meat fresh in hot weather is just now attracting a good deal of attention in European circles. It consists of placing the raw flesh in porcelain vessels and pouring on it boiling water, whereby the albumen of the surface is quickly coagulated, and forms a protection against the further action of the water, so as to prevent the access of the air and the consequent putrefaction of the meat. The system of protecting animal substances by securing the coagulation of the albumen, and the exclusion of air, is of course no novelty and it can be hardly supposed that we are indebted to the Japanese for its original adoption. But undoubtedly their method of applying it is far preferrable to that practised by ourselves in the process of preserving tinned meats, which appears to consist of boiling them to such a length of time that almost all their flavor is destroyed, and the ultimate result is a mass of tasteless shred of muscular fibre.

Chiarini’s Circus has been rather unfortunate in Dunedin. The company, owing to the weather, has been playing to thin audiences, and last night, the arena being swamped, there was no performance at all. The special correspondent of the “ Otago Daily Times ” telegraphs from Wellington yesterday:— It is reported this morning that some difficulty had arisen regarding the Eoyal Commissioners re Native affairs, Sir William Fox having raised certain points which prevented his accepting the Commissionership. Whether or not there was any truth in this report I cannot say, but I have authority for stating that the matter was satisfactorily settled this afternoon, Sir William Fox and Sir F. D. Bell having agreed to act as the European Commissioners. They will be gazetted to-morrow, together with Tawhai, M.H.K

The great turnip seed case—Clive v. King —in which very substantial damages were given against the defendant, who is a seedsman in Christchurch, has not been finally settled. At the Appeal Court, Wellington, yesterday, leave was granted to appeal to the Privy Council.

A telegram has been received from the Chairman of the Sir Howland Hill Committee, in London, inviting the mayors of New Zealand to assist in providing an international memorial in honor of the founder of the penny postage system. The river steamer Hannah Mokau has re’ turned from her expedition with 20 tons of coal from the Mokau river. The steamer went up 22 miles and anchored in five fathoms. Owing to a snag in the river she was unable to proceed further with safety. The coal was brought from a distance of six miles in canoes. The coal is immediately alongside the river bank, and the vessels could lie alongside and take in their cargoes. The engineer pronounces it of excellent quality, and far superior to the Bay of Islands coal.

A felicitous paragraphist observes that “a Continental Cocker has been recently calculating the daily income of the reigning sovereigns of Eurojio, and if he is correct, the modern theory that certain private persons are richer than monarchs falls to the ground. Even a little king like the King of the Belgians has £328 per diem, or £120,000 a year. The King of Italy has thrice as much. The Emperor of Germany has £1,600 a day, the Emperor of Austria £2,000, the Sultan of Turkey £3,600, and the Czar of Bussia no less than £5,000 per diem, or £1,825,000 per year, which is a very tolerable income. And yet it is whispered that one or two of these people are not happy.” This, however, is only what reflecting people would expect of such human trash as the majority of modern Kings and Kaisers are. The Otago Land Board have resolved that in the case of all deferred payment land opened for three years and not taken up, and any cancelled licenses that have been re-opened and not applied for, the necessary steps shall be taken to have the same proclaimed open for sale by auction at 20s per acre. Yesterday at Balclutha Robert Sellar, for assaulting Robert Dickson with an axe at Kaitangata, on Dec 26, was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court. Colin Munro, for the theft of 7s 6d from the till of the Royal Hotel, Clinton, was sentenced to two months.

On Tuesday night a fire broke out in the house of Mr James Baker, residing at Kihikihi, Auckland, and resulted in the total destruction of everything. Mr Baker, an old man 70 years of age, fell asleep with a candle burning by his side. The curtains caught fire and the house was soon in a blaze. It was first discovered by Mrs Baker, who, after great difficulty, rescued the old man from a horrible death. The house was not insured.

At the Dunedin Police Court yesterday a man named Hugh Henry was charged with stealing from a Mrs dunes a purse containing £ll 10s. The parties had been passengers by the Arawata from Melbourne, arrived in Dunedin the day before, and had gone to Cox’s boarding house in Maclagganst., where the alleged robbery was commieted during the night. As the evidence in the case had not been fully prepared, and as Henry also wished to obtain the services of counsel, a remahd was granted.