NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3107, 16 March 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The New Zealand University Senate has concluded its sitting.

Mr Shaw's address to the Inangahua electors is published. On Wednesday, 109,800 bushels of wheat were carried through to Lyttelton, The Auckland Horticultural Society’s Autumn Show is said to be a remarkably fine one.

There will be an emergency meeting of St. John’s Lodge of Freemason’s this evening.

There is to be a general meeting of the Hunt Olub at the Ship Hotel to-morrow at 2 p.m. The reconstructed G. Battery of the N.Z. Artillery, will parade this evening in review order for the first time.

The Dunedin Harbor Board will recommend to Government that the Board should consist of ten members.

It is clearly demonstrated that the Dunedin bar is only sand ; and it is believed with training walls the scour will soon clear it away.

George Robertson, the Maori wrestler, challenges Strong,the Border championship holder, to a contest for £SO a side, The challenge appears in the Dunedin papers.

There is considerable interest taken at Temuka just now, in a proposal to form the townships of Arowhenua and Wallingford into a borough. The master and journeymen bakers of Timaru are asked to meet at the Clarendon hotel to-morrow evening, to wind up affairs in connection with the burial of the unfortunate John Duncan who died from the effect of burns received in a bakehouse some months ago.

The following extraordinary paragraph appears aiming the Sydney telegrams in the “ Age "“ Private letters received here state that the daughter of a previous Governor, who was married to her father’s aide-de-camp, has eloped from London with a military officer.”

Great dissatisfaction has been caused at Beefton, by the alteration of the Brunner railway time-table, as Keefton has now only one mail weekly to Christchurch instead of two. A dead-lock has occurred between the mail contractor and the Railway Department. Our morning contemporary, the “ Timaru Herald,” is to be proceeded against for libel cf Mr Eustace Brandon. The prosecution, which arises out of recent proceedings in connection with the Copy wright Act in Dunedin, is to be a criminal one. The “ Timaru Herald ” Company “ in the dock.”

The following gaol appointments are gazetted:—George Boston to be gaoler at Auckland vice M. M. Cleary, transferred to Hokitika; Matthew M. Cleary to be gaoler at Hokitika, vice James Donaldson, transferred to Addington ; James Donaldson to be gaoler at Addington vice G. S. Heston transferred to Auckland; Mrs Donaldson to be matron at Addington vice Mrs Boston resigned ; and Mrs Ryan to be matron vice Mrs Donaldson transferred to Addington.

A queer case was heard yesterday in Dunedin at the Police Courts when a tradesman was charged with drunkenness. He had been arrested at about 2 p.m. in one of the principal streets, and he asserted the constable beckoned him across the street to arrestbim. Two respectable witnesses, one of whom had a glass of wine with him, a quarter of an hour before the arrest, declared he was sober beyond question, and the Bench discharged him.

The enormous amount of power stored up in coal is thus set forth by Professor Rogers:—The dynamic value of 11b of good steam coal is equivalent to the work of a day, and three tons are equivalent to 20 years’ hard work of 300 days to the year. The usual estimate of a four-foot seam is, that it will yield one ton of good coal for every square yard, or about 2000 tons for each acre. Each square mile will then contain 3,200,000 tons, which, in their total capacity for the production of power, are equal to the labor of 1,000,000 ablebodied men for 20 years.

At a meeting of creditors of T, D. Carr and Sons, storekeepers, Te Aroha, the debtors stated that they could not carry on, having exceeded their capital and the Bank pressing them. They stated their assets at £30,274, and liabilities at £28,738. The Bank of New Zealand was owed £9740. In July last they promised to give the Bank security whenever demanded, at five per cent interest. The Bank demanded, and got the security on everything. They were not well aware what they signed, whether a bill of sale or note. A trustee was appointed by the meeting, and also a committee of advisers.

An English religious paper states that Father Ignatius “ lately put the black veil on a’sister of the English Benedictine Congregation, who had completed her 2 years’ novicate. After a very gorgeous and imposing ceremony, the girl was laid on a bier covered with a pall, and carried away to a dark cell, where she was to spend the rest of her life in solitude. The priest told his own view of his share in the wretched transaction, in these words: ‘ Good people, I am either going to perform an action of the most horrible cruelty, for which I deserve that our gracious Queen should have me hung, or I am going to perform a most righteous, useful, and merciful action, in helping this young novice to make so tremendous a sacrifice of her life.”

The interprovincial race was rowed at Wellington yesterday afternoon. The Union Club, Christchurch, and the Star Club, Wellington, were the only competi. tors, and the Wellington Club won easily by five lengths. The distance was two miles, and the race was won in 11 min 43 secs.

The “Times” gives a long and very interesting account of a magnificent bequest made to the South Kensington Museum by Mr Jones, army tailor. This collection has been recently opened for inspection. It is of an estimated value of £300,000, and comprises pictures, sculptures, porcelain, furniture, trinkets, and miniatures produced during the reigns of Louis XIV., the Eegency, Louis XV. and Louis XVI.

At a meeting of the Board of Education at Christchurch yesterday, Mr S. C. Farr’s motion, of which notice was given a month ago, recommending the Government to allow School Committees to introduce Bible reading into District Schools, was withdrawn after considerable discussion. The majority of members were of opinion that religious instruction could be given out of school hop.rs, without any alteration in the Acrbsihg required, and the Eev, O. Bowen, Episcopalian minister,of Biccarton, wrote stating that he had given such instruction to children in the Biccarton school for years.

A stranger crime than the murder of Mrs O’Donnell, of Bullengarood, in the Gisborn district, by her husband, has perhaps (says the “Melbourne Argus”), never been committed in the colony. The unfortunate woman had lived happily with her husband for nearly 25 years, and had borne him eight children. She is said to have never had an angry word with him, but prompted by a sudden fit of jealousy, chiefly if not wholly, inspired by socalled dreams, O’Donnell, rose from her side early in the morning and butchered her in her sleep, by nearly severing her head from her body with an axe. Prisoner, who made no attempt to hide what he had done, looks forward to the gallows as his reward for accomplishing a mission of revenge from which he appears to consider he could not have been put aside. At the inquest a verdict of wilful murder was found.

la the Kesident Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, yesterday, George Collier, hotel-keeper, sued Mr Milner Stephen to recover two guineas, fee paid for the alleged healing of his daughter from a contracted leg. The plaintiff stated that Mr Stephen, after laying on of hands, said, “Your daughter is perfectly cured,” and asked him to sign a book of printed forms. He also said the fee was two guineas, The plaintiff signed the book and paid the fee, He noticed, as they left the room, that his daughter did not walk any better, and called Mr Stephen’s attention to it. His reply was that she was perfectly cured, and instructions were given to rub her joints with magnetised oil and bandage the limb with bandages dipped in magnetised water. She was to have bananas to eat. The plaintiff carried out these instructions, except that he could not get bananas. He measured the girl’s contracted leg and found it the same as ever. She went again to Mr Stephen, but no improvement took place. Other witnesses confirmed the plaintiff’s statement. The case lasted a 1! day and was adjourned to Tuesday next, when three more witnesses for the plaintiff will be called. Mr Stephen said he would not call witnesses from Christchurch, but applied ror six weeks’ adjournment, to enable him to have evidence taken in other colonies as to the efficacy of his cures, In London recently, a jury was trying a case in which the question involved was whether certain Mouton Eothschild and Chateau Lafitte—both of 1875 as supplied to the defendant, were equal to these same wines as bottled at their respective chateaux; and it occurred to the Judge, efter hearing a great deal of “ expert ” evidence, that “ afar more direct and satisfactory way of coming to a decision ’> wosld be for the jury to taste the wines. The jury were naturally of the same opinion, and . straightway retired, that samples of the wines, lettered A, B, C and D might be set before them. After an interval, the duration of which is not stated, they returned into the court and found for the defendant. Ten of them had considered the chateau-bottled Mouton superior to that supplied, while two had expressed no opinion. As to the Lafitte, there was more division of opinion—six were for the one sample, four for the other, and two expressed no opinion, It does not appear whether these two gentleman were teetotalers and had not tasted the wine, or whether like wise men, they had drunk it and said nothing

Mr West, the well-known musical conductor in Dunedin, publishes in the “ Star ” a letter from Dr Grove, an eminent musician, in which the latter strongly inveighs against the practice of singing in an unknown tongue, and refers to the Italian opera as an obstruction in the way of English musical progress. He concludes :—" Surely we should give a final kick at the tawdry painted spectre of the Italian opera which has been for a century and a-balf such an incubus upon us, and has pushed us down so far below our real place in the community of European music. Surely all composers, all teachers of singing, all managers of operas and concerts, all pupils and listeners, should keep this before them, should insist on hearing, and on making heard the words of their pieces, without which the music is to a great extent meaningless, nay, as “ sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Your readers may rest assured that at the Koyal College of Music this matter will receive the most earnest and serious consideration of all concerned.— G. Qrovb.”