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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2950, 23 November 1900, Page 3

Too good to last ” was the comment on yesterday’s brilliant weather. The reaction came during the night, with a strong breeze from the south, and to-day we have another sample of dampness. We have very good authority for stating that there was not the slightest ground for the statement made at the inquest on the little boy Redmond yesterday, that there was any delay or difficulty made about admitting the body to the Hospital morgue. The Hospital Board has a. rule against it being used as a publts morgue, but in this instance the rule was not applied. A left-handed compliment was dealt out at the Mills banquet. Mr Plimmer, in the course of his speech, expressed pleasure at' Mr Mills having been appointed Commissioner of Customs. He was glad to see that an efficient head had been appointed to that Department. It had a difficult tariff to work, and some of the interpretations had been most grotesque and a source of annoyance to Customhouse officers and merchants alike '-Just then thelgather.ing realised that the Customs Depamment has for some time past been under the control of the Premietr, and there was an outburst of loud laughter, in which Mr Seddon heartily joined.

Winter Winds need have no Horrors for You.—lts winds and rains may give you coughs and colds. If you propose getting rid of your troubles quickly, safely, and pleasantly, Benjamin Gm» is all you require. It soothe?, inflamed surfaces,and tender membranes; loosens hard phlegm and causes free expectoration, breaks up the hardest cough, allays tickling and irritation of the throat. Suits yonug or old children like it. Benjamin Gum, price Is 6d arid 2s 6d everywhere Wholesale agents, Kempthcrne, Prosser and Go’s. N.Z Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose death is announced to-day, has been a- musician all Ivts life. He began as a chorister, and when only 19 had composed music for Shakespeare’s “ Tempest,” wdiich w r as performed at the Crystal Palace, and three years later his cantata “Kenilworth” was produced at the Birmingham Festival. His music of “The Sorcerer,” “Pinafore,** “Pirates of Penzance,” “Patience,*' “Mikado,” and other comic operas, are well-known in the colonies, the latest that we have heard .here being his setting of “ The Absent-Minded Beggar.” Much of his wmrk, however, was of a serious and sacred character, oratorios, etc., and he w r as editor of “ Church Hymns,” for wdiich he composed several tunes. His father was principal professor at Kneller Hall, the training school for British wllitary bands, so that it, may be said that he inherited his musical Capacity. A Reuter’s telegram from Capetown of September 7th, says : —An order for nearly 300 large coal trucks, involving an expenditure of £150,000, is about to. he placed by the Rand gold-gifting- companies, quick delivery being a vitally important condition. Tenders have been received from British and American manufacturers, the latter quoting a lower price and offering quicker delivery. British financial houses here fear that unless English manufacturers are more energetic and more willing to meet their customers’ they will be forestalled, wdth the recult that the commercial benefits wdiich will ensue from the w r ar will be reaped by feu reigners. An official recently issued, on afilial train, collision that occurred in March last- in a tunnel; near Glasgow, reveals a» astounding blunder on the part of a signalman. A workmen's train was, owing to some defect in the brakes, standing in the tunnel, when it was run into by a- following workmen’s train, wdth the result that seven persons were killed and 31 injured. The collision, Colonel. Yorke considers, was duo to irregularities committed by a signalman, and, as far as he was able to judge, the responsibility rests upon him,. The signalman's first blunder was in accepting the second train before he made sure that that, the first had passed his box, a blunder that was inexcusable, as he was protected from such by (lie “lock and block” system. Finding Ids signals were not released by the box in advance, he concluded that something was wrong with the apparatus, and released ids instruments by means of a special key I only to be used in cases of emergency. He I then gave “line clear”- the following-