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Southland Times, Issue 3361, 29 March 1879, Page 2

Crowded Out. —We are compelled, through pressure on our space, to hold over tbe letter of "Old Fireman," and our Riverton Correspondent's letter.

Makarewa Road Board.— The fortnightly meeting of this '.Board will be held this morning, at the usual time and place.

Farewell Sermons.— The Rev. D. McNicoll will preach •- his „f are well sermons in the Leet street Wesleyan Church, to-morrow morning . and evening

Withdrawn. — The NaLional Mortgage & Agency Company's sale of cross-bred ewes aud wethers, advertised to take place at Wallaceto vn on Friday nest, has been withdrawn.

R.M. Court. —At the court yesterday morning, John Holmes, whose arrest we mentioned the other day, was brought before Mr McCulloch on a charge bf uttering valueless cheques, and obtaining goods under false pretences. He was remanded until Tuesday next. : -

Anniversary Services. — The anniversary sermons in connection with St>. ■ Paul's Church, Dee street, will be preached tomorrow. The Rev. Professor Salmond will conduct a service in the church in the morning, at the usual hour, and in the evening at Sloan's Music 1 Hall at eight o'clock. Collections will be made at each service in aid of liquidating the church debt:, On the following Tuesday, a soiree will take place.

The Most Southeen Church in the World. — By our advertising columns will be seen that to-morrow the opening sermons of the Primitive Methodist Chuvch, Bluff, will be pleached morning, afternoon, and evening, by the Rev. Mr Guy, of Dunedin. On Monday the opening soiiee will be held. We congiatulaLe our Bluff friends upou the possession of so neat and substantial a building for purposes of worship'. It is, we understand, the first church erected at the Bluff, and the most' southern 'one in the world.

Harbor Board Episodes. — At the clos e of the proper business of the. Board yesterday, one of the members, seized with a sudden zeal of .criticism, commenced an attack on some of the standing orders, of which he characterised one. as unintelligible, and another as requiring of the chairman to assume one function of the police. There is an order, it seems, pioviding. that the chairman, when rising to make a, motion, is not to be taken as having left the- chair.' How, demanded the critical member, could the chaiiman at the same time rise from the chair' continue to sit in it ? Here was a' poser, and one fitted to delight the. ancient schoolmen, who held the famous discussion on the sitting accommodation afforded by the point of a needle. It Was a pity to spoil the tiiumph of the modern casuist by pointing out that -what the lawyeis would call a constructive sitting was -all- that the order contemplated for the chairman, who, it is well known, is very ill-fitted to sit upon nothing. The next point made by the captious gentleman was that, as ah order existed _ for lhe ejection by the chairman of any unruly visitors, it would fall to 'that functionary to perform the duty of the tpolice. We fear that our friend must have forgotten his Latin, or the maxim would have occurred to him as a solution of the 'difficulty — Qui facit par alium faeitper se. The chairman could surely invoke the assistance of Inspector Fox,or,failinghim, even the aid of any of the Volunteer force who might happen to be handy. Was it for the sake of this sublime criticism that the constitution of the Board was altered, and new members introduced to redress • the failures of the old?

I. Y, M, A C^A.r--The ■ Rev. :f D, ;McNicoU. president of ..this Association, 'delivered a farewell ;Mdress i to the. members last night. There was a very fair attendance. In the ' course, of his remarks Mr McNicoll said that -he thanke'd' them very! heartily for the kindness he had received:. during the time he had held the presidency— -twenty months. He might, fairly assume ithat all. branches .of the ; Christian Church were : represented at that ■ meeting. ; JEis.objecfc was .tb;shbw ho wi deeply 1 they, were i-all^ interested in keeping such an ■institution as the Y. M. C. A. in thorough working order. ■ It seemed to him that in the colonies the original .idea of a Young* Men's Christian Association had been practically departed from, and that it was, so to speak, a united evangelistic society rather than the association he had referred to, banding together in evangelistic work, the earnest spirits of ali the different churches, and thus being capable of doing a work all the other branches of the church were unable to do. There were three special ways, he thought, in which such a society might carry on the good work, namely, by tract distribution, by holding suburban evangelistic meetings, and by tendering a welcome and lending a helping hand to evangelists visiting the town." Iu his opinion, it was evident that such an association must be worked on a broad basis," some common platform, — such a basis, in fact, as was provided by the fourth rule of the Association's constitution, which was read : — ""Any person shall be eligible as a member of the Association who professes his personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as his only saviour, and who acknowledges the divine inspiration and authority of the holy scriptures." -He showed how such a basis provided a centre round which all earnest spirits could rally and do much effective work in the cause of Christ ; and that in its scope of work, if rightly understood, it was the friend 'of * all denominations and the enemy of none. He concluded by hoping that thei Association would be blessed and made a power in the town. At a stage in the proceedings, Mr Froggatt, on behalf of the members of the Y.M.C.A., presented Mr McNicoil with a purse of sovereigns, and the reverend gentleman, in a feeling speech, replied. The election of a president, ,by the Board, then took place, and resulted in the Rev. Mr Jbhnston being chosen for the office nntil next annual meeting. -