NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2736, 28 December 1881, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Tenders are invited for the tenancy of refreshment rooms at the Christchurch. Ashburton, and Studholme Junction railway stations, to be sent in by Jan 10.

Mr Boag’s mare, Grace Darling, won the champion prize in her class at the Taieri Show yesterday.

Among our receipts by a recent mail from tho North is a very well-designed and excellently lithographed Christmas card, containing pictorial reminders of the work done by the Post and Telegraph officers, and the words “A Fraternal Greeting from the Officers of the PostmasterGeneral’s Department, Wellington, New Zealand." The relation between the officers of that department, especially the telegraphists, and the Press is much a closer one than may be generally supposed, and may well bo termed fraternal. We heartily reciprocate the kindly wishes of our friends.

The late constituents of the new member of the Legislative Council, the Hon. G. MeLean, have presented to him a large solid silver salver weighing 50ozs, beautifully inlaid and bearing the following inscription ;—“ Presented to the Hon. George McLean, M.L.C., by the electors of Waikouaiti as a mark of their esteem and in recognition of the valuable services rendered to the district as its reprefentative in Parliament during a period of ten years.” To Mrs McLean a silver bracelet, necklace, locket, brooch and earrings were presented.

Mr John Ollivier has . been appointed Resident Magistrate at Lyttelton. The prizes won at the Friendly Societies’ sports on Boxing Day will be paid at the Foresters’ Hall at 8.30 this evening. The Williamsons “ struck oil ” in Dunedin on Boxing night, turning away people from all parts of the house.

A young man named Grey, of Pleasant Point, lost the middle finger of his right hand last week by getting it jammed between a pair of cog wheels in a reaping machine.

Entries for the South Canterbury Caledonian Society’s Sports will close with the Secretary at 8 o’clock to-night, and with Mr Bell at the Clarendon Hotel at 10 o’clock.

At the Police Court this morning, before His Worship the Mayor, J.P., John Carmichael was fined 5s shillings for being drunk and disorderly yesterday. Peter Smith, for vagrancy and habitual drunkenness, was sentenced to one months’ imprisonment with hard labor. This is the twelfth time since the beginning of May 1879, that Smith has been convicted of drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and vagrancy, and has since then served two sentences of two months, and two of one month, with hard labor, besides shorter terms.

A few days ago a Reuter's message was received from London by cable announcing the loss of the ship Waipa, from Lyttelton, at Dunkirk, on the French coast. The N.Z. Shipping Company have received a cable message at their Wellington office, a day lat r in date than the Reuter message, which announces the arrival of the vessel but makes no mention of any casualty having happened to her. A serious accident happened at Masterton the other day, AMr Jago was driving a brake, in which were some shavings and a few parcels. His hat blew off and while recovering it he heard someone shouting fire, and looking around he was amazed to see his brake on fire. About £2 worth of damage was done to the vehicle before the fire was put out. It was supposed that a spark from a mill chimney he had passed just previously was the cause of the fire.

The number of declarations of insolvency filed in the Supreme Court of the colony during the year 1880 was 777, the assets in which, as shown by lists and statements filed, amounted in the aggregate to £600,525 17s Id, and the liabilities to £689,428 16s 2d, the deficiency being £88,902 19s Id.

A good many gas explosions and losses of gas are attributed to leakage at the “ water slide.” Mr Blackett, a well-known chemist of Melbourne, substituted glycerine for water in his meter and found it answer perfectly. Glycerine docs not evaporate like water, but on the contrary will absorb moisture.

No fewer than 447,274 words were transmitted over the English wires on the day that Mr Gladstone spoke at Leeds. This is believed to be the largest total ever despatched from one office in a single day. A “ disorderly ” named Hector Beaton was lodged in the same cell at Oamaru with another of the same class on Christmas morning, and immediately began to give his companion practical illustrations of the meaning of his name, and yesterday morning he received seven days for the assault.

When the evening train for Oamaru on Boxing Day pulled up at Waitaki South, a Maori under the influence of liquor commenced shouting at the top of bis voice. Seeing the scarlet uniforms of the bandsmen, who were passengers by the train, the noble savage called upon the band to “ play up ” reminding them that it was “ Chrissimus,” and that it would be “ Happy New Year soon.” It is remarkable (says the “Oamaru Mail”) that during the whole of bis harangue the Maori did not make use of a word calculated to offend the most sensitive ear, and the one thought that probably ran through the minds of ail present was— Where can a white man be found who would have behaved himself with such decorum under similar circumstances ?

It used to be said of the position of an Indian agent in the United States that “ the salary was not much, but the stealings were immense. ’ In New South Wales, says the “ Vagabond,” honourable members are not paid any salary. They get free railway and tram passes, and have the run of an unlimited supply of stationery newspapers, and a magnificent library. These little perquisites, with the many free feeds, and admissions to public shows, make an hon. member’s seat well worth £IOO a year. One cattle dealer saves considerably more than that on his railway pass.

A San Francisco paper contains the following |under the heading “ Unkind Strictures” : Policeman Kennedy has been sat upon by the elephantine sarcasm of a contemporary, because he arrested a drunkard who was being robbed, and while doing so premitted the thief to escape. We fail to see how the alleged guardian of the peace could have done better. A drunkard is a more degrading spectacle than a thief, any day. If fact, we can lay our hands on several prominent thieves to whom Kearny street is chiefly indebted for its lively and stylish appearance. Besides the comparative certainty of being “ gone through ” when intoxicated dees more to discourage drunkenness than all the red ribbon reformers that ever made a whited sepulcher of their noses with chalk. Unquestionably, it is better for our policemen to stick to the time honored custom of incarcerating the oblivious “ lush ” and divide with the thief.