LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Colonist, Volume XVIII, Issue 2039, 22 February 1876, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Entertainment. —The members of the Artizans' Association will give an entertainment at the Oddfellows' Hall on Thursday evening next, when an excellent and varied programme will be produced. This Association has strong claims upou public sympathy, and no doubt this attempt of the members to raise a fund to replenish their library will be crowned with success.

Waimra Steeplechase.—This race meeting which takes place to-morrow bidaffair to be a great success. Tiie day has been proclaimed a public holiday, moat of; the storekeepers intend closing their establishments, and special trains will convey passengers 10 and from the race-course. The time of the trains will be found on the second page, and the programme of of the events on the fourth page of this issue. The Customs Revenue collected at the Port of Nelson, for the week ending the 19th of Fobruary, amounted to £906 7s. 6d ; divided thus, for duties, £862 16a. 3d; and for pilotage, £43 11s. 3d.

The Anyil vrksus the Plane. —On Saturday afternoon a very eood game at cricket was played in the Botanical Gardens, between two elevens of blacksmiths and carpenters. The .game was keenly contested, and the scores show—■ 'fJ Ist Inngs. 2nd Inngß. Total Blacksmiths... 64 ... 61 125 Carpenters ... 32 ... 97 129 The latter won by two wickets and four runs.

Public Vote. —The City Council held a special .meeting last nigjit and voted the .sum of £25 to supplement the efforts b.eiivg jniide to,give;a'dinner to the officers of the cable ships Hibernia and Edinburgh.

: Meeting.—A meeting was held at the Trafalgar Hotel last night, to consider fche question of celebrating the successful laying of the New Zealand cable. Judge Broad occupied the chair. It was stated that the City Council had voted £25 towards a dinner, but several gentlemen were rather in favor of giving a ball in preference to a dinner. It was proposed tc give a dinner on Thursday, and a ball on the following evening, but it was not known whether both cable ships would still be in port on that date, consequently it was decided to wait until this morning to learn whether the City Council will grant the £25 towards a ball instead of a dinner. If not, a dinner will be given on Thursday evening, and efforts will be made to get up a ball on Friday night. Umiovs Disturbance.—Last evening four seamen belonging to the ship Hibernia, having been engaged in a boat cleaning the vessel, took the opportunity of rowing ashore. Som9.of the officers were quickly in pursuit,, and .the men, who were found in a public-house- irivßridge-street, were then given in charge. Sergt. Nash arrested the men with the assistance of Constable Cooper, but they strove to their utmost to get free, and assaulted the police savagely. One man went bo far as to draw a knife but he was quickly placed hors de combat by a blow from Sergt. Nasli's baton. This-officer waa considerably mauled about, but with the assistance ol some civilians the men were ultimately lodged in the lock-up and they will be brought up at the Police |: Court this morning. '

. The Cable.—On' Saturday we learnt that the shore end of the cable had been successfully joined to the ocean portion and that communication bad been established with Australia and England. Later in the day. the ships Hibernia and .Edinburgh were sighted, and in the afternoon they both steamed up to the outer anchorage, and in honor of the acomplighmenfc of their great undertaking, the siiips were decked from stem to stern with bunting; At night both Vessels made a grand protechnio display, presenting one mass of different colored lights, and some exceedingly beautiful fireworks were let off. The Volunteers turned out and fired salutes from their big guns, but unfortunately no notice was given of the renlly grand display, ao that any spectators'were so merely by chance. On Sunday, the steamers Chirles Edward, Wallace, and Lyttelton made several trips ro the ships and on each conveyed a large number of sightseers on board. Yesterday these steamers also went out, and to day the Lyttelton will run an excursion. It is well worth the while of anyone to view these fine vessels, and to see the appliances and machinery used in cable laying.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Saturday, John Millar, F.S.A., late Provincial Engineer, was charg. d by the Inspector of Police that on the 7th October last, he obtained £49 15s by false pretence from Oswald Curtiß, the Superintendent of Ne.eon. Mr. Pitt appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Acton Adams for the defence. On the application of Mr. Pitt the case wu3 remandsd till Friday next, bail being accepted, the accused' in £300 and two sureties of £150 each. Messrs. Thornton and Lightfoot were accepted as sureties.

Smith's Combination Troupe will perform at the Masonic Hull on Thursday evening next. Mr. Smith iß>^ell known in Ne'son aa a provider of a really first-class, entertainment, and it is sufficient to know that his name is associated with this company to guarantee that it is a good one. It more were required, the Company has invariably appeared before large audiences in the South.

Interpuovinoial Cbioket Matches.—The Nelson Cricketers leave here on Thursday next, to play the annual game with Wellington. As far as is known at present our men will play at Wellington next Monday and Tuesday, leaving same ' evening for Blenheim. They will play at Blenheim on Wednesday and Thursday, and return home on Friday. We wish them every success.

Our Cadets.—The following are the winners this year of the General Government Cadet prizes :—

A i?ew days ago, Mr James Simson, of HopeSeld, met with nil her a severe accident. His cows were behaving anything but amicable towards each other, and on.Mr Simson essaying to miike peace amongst them, he was knocked down, and wag very severely bruised all down the right side of his body. Mr Simson being stout in body, and about seventy-six years of age, he felt very acutely the rough treatment he received, but his numerous friends will be pleased to hear that he is fast recovering from its evil effects.

Brevity the Soul of Wit.—*' Simpson," of the Southern Mercury writes :—" I have just been shown a magnificent speoimen of the penman's art, in the shape of a valedictory address to be presented to Judge Ward at an early date. The wording of the address is brief and to the point, as follows :—' So lons, your Honor.' "

Faoai Above.—The Chemical Review states that in a drop;of water'obtained from v single snowflake,' and magnified five hundred times, were found pieces of coal, fragments of cloth, grains of starch, sandy matter, and; an immense variety of other substances, not a fragment.of which exceeded in diameter the three-thousandth part of an inch. .. • ,

Seeiotjs Fibe in Otago.—The private residence and wnolshed belonging to,Mr Joseph. Culling, at Hampden, Otago, have been destroyed by fire. The damHge was estimated at over £2.000, and the place was uninsured. '

The California papers are discussing a project to construct a canal through the .San Joaquin Valley, from Tulare Lake to Tidewater. It would be 200 mile 3 long and cost 3,ooo,ooodollars.

There are twenty-one universities in the German Empire ; fourteen of these teach only Protestant theology.

Theke 16 being built at the imperial Russian arsenal at Nieolafen a'steam ram of a novel design, which will be cased with armour-plates of a thickness far greater thau have hitherto been employed. This vessel, which will have a speed of 15 knots per hour, will be fitted with torpedo apparatus. She will carry no guns, and will depend entirely upon a' formidable ram for offensive purposes.

An anti-shouting crusade has been lately formed in Adelaide under the title of "The Church of England Temperance Association." This association, it appears, has two forms of pledge. One is an ordinary pledge to abstain altogether from intoxicating drinks. The second is a pledge of temperance, and runs as follows:—"I promise that by Gt-od's help I will abstain from all use of intoxicating liquors except at meal times, using them then only in strict moderation; also that I will refrain from ' treating' to intoxicating drink?, and that I will use every effort in .my power to restrain my fellow men from intemperance." : ■ '

A Thame9 correspondent says:—" Already more than 200 men have left the district and Colony. If the present state of affairs ia allowed to continue, more will be sure to follow. Those who leave take money with them. They are the only people who can move. Those who are left behiud will be helpless to move, and muat fight through it somehow, but the absurdity of introducing new ohnms at,.£ls to £20 each while old experienced colonists are in difficulty, is apparent.

; An entirely white magpie has been captured near Carroll,,Tamworth, New South Wales.

A Swimming Toubnament will bs held at Dunedin on an early date, in connection with Lieutenant bims's swimming school. ,

The largest flour mill in America is owned by exGrovernor 0. 0. Waahburp, of Wisconsin. The mill is seven stories high, coat three hundred, thousand dollars, and turns out one thousand barrels of flour a day. Human Flesh and Blood.—Recently,, at Jacktown, Greene County,. Pa., after a bull fight, a negro girl aged fifteen years, was put up to publio auction. We, are told that after several bids had been made, the girl was finally sold for an old horse and whisky for the crowd, and was actually carried away by her purchaser, amid the cheers of the drunken rabble. The authorities intend punishing the ruffians who took part in the disgraceful proceedings.

Birth in " High" Ln?E.—A female monkey in the JEJlorslie Gardens, Auckland, last week gave birth to a fine heabhy male monkeyette. Paterfamilias, or monkey pere, (3ays the Herald) while accepting the pleasures of wedded bliss, strongly objects to the oares and responsibilities, and shows v ferocious animosity to the youthful progeny of whose being he is author, so much so that it has been found neceseary to place him inirons. We learn from our Roxburgh correspondent that the body of a man was found in the Molyneux, at Roxburgh, yesterday morning, His throat, is cut, and there is what appears like a bullet wound on the forehead. Eleven pounds in notes weie'found in his pockets. He is supposed to be the nmn Bond, missing from Cromwell last week.— Olago Daily Times, February 15. Civilisation. —Recently a Maori went from New Plymouth to Wellington, and returned with a bycicle That Maori, says the Southern Cro.ss x is a go-ahead fellow.

- Enterprise.—The General G-overument asks £210 for seven years as the price for establishing a telegraph office at Graham's Sanatoria, Waiwera Hot Springs, Auckland. The 'Cross hears that Mr Graham ia likely to accept the offer. .The barque Ardvar ■ which arrived'at Auckland from^Glasgow, on February 16th, brought 2466 pipes for the waterworks of that city, and a fine lot of Lincoln sheep. > ,

Sergeant Hood, Artillery f G'adefc Shone, City „ Hurley, College „ Jessop, City bugler Leaper. Artillery Sergeant Edwards, City Dadet Young, City Sergeant' Olouston, Artillen 0a< 7, idets, 55 points »■ -51 „ .. 47 „ ,, 45 „ ,. 45 „ ,, 45 „ 45 „ „ 43 „