NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3156, 15 May 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The body of Bamford drowned at Coromandel, has been recovered.

A man named Matthew Clough has been drowned at Wanganui. On Thursday evening next " Chilperio” is to be repeated at the Theatre Royal, The supposed Christchurch diamonds on being subjected to the acid test at Auckland, crumbled away. Last night, at Christchurch, 115 persons signed the pledge and joined the Blue Ribbon Army. The social tea meeting in connection with the Baptist Church in E Street will be held in the Oddfellows’ Hall, Barnard street, to-night. A boy five years old broke his arm in the play-ground of the Lyttelton Borough School yesterday, by falling from a horizontal bar.

An inquest was held on the fire at Benin near New Plymouth, when the following verdict was returned s—“ Wilfully set on fire by some persons unknown.” At the inquest in Auckland on the body ofGornelius Begley, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death, with a rider that in future trenches should timbered, if over five feet in depth. The Inangahua election yesterday re* suited in the return of Aft Shaw, who defeated Mr Wakefield by a majority of 46. The votes polled were :—• Shaw, 826 ; Wakefield, 780. Mr Feldwick, Member for Invercargill, last evening addressed his constituents in the Theatre Boyal. He bad a thin and listless audience. He received a vote of thanks for his address.

At a meeting of the Temuka Mechanics’ Institute Committee on Friday evening, it was decided that the President, Mr J. S, Hayes, should take the necessary steps to constitute himself a trustee, vice Mr Men* delson deceased.

The Pleasant Point School Committee met on Saturday evening, and transacted ordinary business, and appointed a subcommittee consisting of Messrs Bntler, Greig, and Morris, to answer a circular re the Education Act, forwarded from Mr W. J. Steward, M.H.B. Mr B. F. Blundell left Timaru yesterday forOamaru, where he has been appointed accountant to the Bank of New Zealand. Several friends entertained him at the Ship Hotel at luncheon, the toast of hishealth being proposed by Mr G. L. Meason. Mr Blundell has been generally respected here by business men.

It is stated in Auckland that Bishop Luck, in conceit with other Catholic Bishops throughout the colony, intends to prepare and invite the Catholic laity to sign a petition to the Assembly re an amendment of the Education Act, The objection is against the payment by results with Government inspection, or against denominational subsidy in the proportion of Catholics to the whole population.

A fresh race between Bloomfield’s yacht Arawa, and Thos. Henderson’s yacht Bits round Tiri Tiri and back for £2O a side, took place at Auckland yesterday. The Bitawas sailed by Edward Moore, and the Arawa by .John Bell, The Rita took the lead from the outset. The wind was baffling and sometimes light. The Bita finally won by 22 mins. Unusual evidence of the joyouaness of the occasion is contained in a marriage annoupoerpent which appears in the “ Mecklenberg Gazette.” The nptipp tups thusWe have the honor to announce the marriage of our daughter Louise with Mp Nqtemapn, of Berlin-Sohwerin, January Bth, 1883,—H. Mailer and Wife,—She was the last of half-a-dozenj the &oid be praised.”

The meets of the S.C. Harriers Club will be resumed on Wednesday next.

Detective Twohy is transferred from Wellington to Auckland, and Detective Brennan of Dunedin to Wellington; Detective Strathern from Auckland to. Dunedin ; Detective Sullivian has resigned to go into business. Thomas Allen, 21 years of age, was yesterday sentenced at Christchurch to two months imprisonment for vagrancy. When arrested he bad to be scrubbed with a long handled broom.

Madame Bistori the famous tragediene appeared recently on the stage in Borne, a pitiable wreck, the papers say, She is very wealthy and is now finally quitting the stage.

At a special meeting of the Waimate County Council on Saturday, the tender of Mr A. F. McLean for contract No. 500, at £2716 3s 4d, was accepted, and the Engineer was instructed to proceed with snob works as had not been tendered for.

Certain Auckland publicans will be prosecuted for adulterating liquor. Several suburban publichonses are also being carefully looked after, in consequence of the complaints of gum-diggers and others, of the inferiority of the liquor dispensed to them:

There was a Holiness Council of the Salvation Army in Dunedin yesterday, at which Captain Pollard said fresh officers were on their way out, He said all the engagements of the Army as to renting theatres, &c., had been made in the hope of subscriptions coming in. He stated that the funds were held in the Court of Chancery and are not available for the use of General Booth in person.

A Chicago Jew, named Stone, promised to marry his lady-love, named Dora Apple on a specified day. When the time arrived he discovered to his holy horror that it was Yom Kippur Day, and he refused to fulfil the contract. She sued him for breach of promise, and in the Appellate Court it has just been decided . that no good Jew is obliged to indulge in apples on that great day.

A story of love, parental opposition, and suicide of the lovers comes from Matamoras, Mexico. It appears that in consequence of the objection of the parents of the two lovers to their marriage, a day or two ago the young couple bound themselves together with a rope, sprang into the river, and were drowned, the bodies being shortly afterwards recovered. The age of the girl was only sixteen. On seeing the corpses, the girl’s mother went mad, and also sprang into the river and was drowned.

The service boxes cast by Mr J. Hatton, Maori Hill, for the water-works department, are excellent specimens of the art of casting, being remarkably clean and finished in appearance. The Borough Council obtained estimates for these from Dnnedin, and the cheapest was 6s each, exclusive of carriage. Mr Hatton delivered them at the Council’s office, for 5s each, and better work there oonld not be, besides which a saving of £lO has been effected by giving the order to a local firm, and it is satisfactory to know that the £3O has been expended in the town.

Three men who were mulcted in penalties amounting to £4OO at the Resident Magistrate’s Court some months ago for illicitly distilling spirits at Porirua, and who were formally taken into custody in Wellington on Friday, owing to nonpayment of fines, were lodged in gaol on Saturday afternoon, by order of the Sheriff of the Supreme Court, where they will remain until the return of Mr Edward Shaw their counsel, from Reef ton. Application is to be made in Chambers some day this week for an order compelling the accused or their sureties to pay the fines and costs.

The “ Spectator ’’ finds Mr Parnell to be a very curious study. It describes him as “ an Irishman with hardly a grain of Irish temperament in him; a leader of a violent and loud-mouthed faction, who has hardly anything of the temperament of the agitator in him; a politician much more naturally inclined to be acrid and bilious than to be daring and dashing, and yet one from whom all his followers expect daring and dashing words.” It says ,( We have never thought well of Mr Parnell; but we do say this, that he is neither good enough to make a great effort for Ireland, which might really be the beginning of peace, nor bad enough to make a great effort for a rupture, which might be the outbreak of war. He vibrates between the two policies, and shrinks back from both, On the whole, we not only blame bat also pity Mr Parnell.”

At the Taranaki Jockey Club’s annual meeting, the balance-sheet showed the receipts for the year to be £lßsl, and the expenses £1799, leaving a balance of £52. The sum of £l5O is still owing to the Club. Mr Hately resigned the office of handicappqr, as circumstances prevented him from carrying on his duties as such. His past services were highly eulogised by members, and a hearty vote of thanks passed, and a testimonial of thirty guineas was agreed to be presented to him. Mr 0, McGee, of Auckland, wrote asking that the disqualification of Band wick might be removed, but the Club declined to accede to the request. The ambiguity of the Canterbury Jockey Club rules, which the Taranaki Club have adopted, was commented on, one of the rnles defining a “ maiden ” to he a horse that bad never run up to the time of entrance, and another rule stating up to the time of starting. It was agreed to expunge section one of rule eleven, doing away with the ruling of weights, and that rule fourteen be expunged. It was decided to hold a spring meeting.