LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 30, 17 June 1868, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENE RAL.

♦ jßroickk MBTAt.— TUo Chrtetohuroh Couuoll Invlto tondcra for carting tlio brokon inotal recently purclianod from tlio I'rovinoial | Govornmont, from tho Lincoln rond to euoh purfco of tlio city iin may bo required. j Djnnkh.— A dinner, fired (w «omo tli«o ' ft^o between tho married and Alnglo momborn of No. fl Company of Hiiloa, will tako plaoo at Cokor'n Hotol thin ovonlng, Tho bonodlotn having nurtured dofcat in firing, nro to bo tho ontortainorn, and ft very floolablo evening is anticipated, FnttAßOvniaii Soowrv.— A gonoral mootin# of tlio momhora of tlilu tiodoiy will Ijo hold at tho Lltorary limUtvito thin evening, commencing at hiilf-pust flown o'clock, Tlio flrflt business to bo trammeled Ifl tlio oloctlon o£ oflloorflf but thoro aro othor mattom o( an equally important nature to bo brought forward, CUTiKTTBi— YcfrtordfiyVi Provincitl Government Gazelle contains a tablo Allowing tlio roaultfl of meteorological obsorvationa at Chrlfltchuroh, liculoy, anil ilokltlka for May, 1808) also, a notification that tho parlnorfililp hitherto oxlntlng botvrcoti Jamcfl I lay and Tliomne Orr Hay, aB utoekfnrmoi'u, at Lake Takapo, wav dlflflolvcd by mutual conoont, an from tho Bth April, 1807. A.O.F.— "Tho plccofl Intcndod to bo playod by tho momboro of thlw Order, for tho bonoflt of tlio Widovr and Orphans' Fitn<), on Tuchdny next, aro tho comedy of " Who Waatfl a Guinea ?" and tho farco of " A Nl«ht during tho Ifronch Horolutlon," Kxlcnslvo patronaßO lias been promiflod for tho occahloii, ami thoro in every roason to liollovo that tho ontortninmcut will prove aa Buccomful an any of tlio provloiM onoa plron by tho Order. Api'ointmjdntb,— -Tlio following appointmontii aro notiflod in a Gazelle publlflhcd yofltordays— Tho lion George Leslie Leo to bo iv membor of tho Kxceutlvo Council oC tho provlnco of Cantorburyj Mr David Mltoholl McKay to bo Immigration Officer nnd Oflloor to Administer tlio Charitable Aid Fund i Mr Gcorgo Thornton to bo Acting Provluel/u Kngluoor; nnd Sergoaut George Ue/iiiy to bo Innnuctor of SlaughterhouflOH for tho Lolth« flold diHtriot, vioa John Barlow rof)lgnoii LTirawoM Voldntiwh Bano.— Wo aro glad to notico n «rcat Improvement; in the playing of thin baud, Mr Cooinboo, band* mantot', dCHorvoa every credit for having in so flliort a tlmo dono ouch good work. It is rumoured that tho corps will not bo nblo, owing to tho oxponno, to rotaln tho OOlfVlCO* 0{ the bundtniwter, J£ want of funda Is tlio eauflo, wo feel euro an appeal to tho public, or a concert in aid, will moot with gonoral anpport< Tlio momboro glvo thuir timo to tho prActlco, and wo hope it will bo kept up,

Banqukt.—Wo understand that tho Mayor of Lyttelton is about to givo a banquot to his brother Counolllorsi Kaiaz'oi tlonovQH Coi/Noir/.— Another mombor of this Council— Mr Woodford— having resigned his float, tho Mayor notifies that tlio nomination for a candidate to fill tlio vacancy will talco place- on Wednesday, the 24th taut,, at noon, and tho poll, if necossary, on Wednesday, tho Bth of July, between tho hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Nomination papers, properly filled in, must bo forwarded to tho Mayor before 4 p.m. on tho 23rd inst. Muotinos ov QftWDWons.— A mooting of creditors in tho estate- of J. W. Trondwoll, commission agent and accountant, of Christchurch, was hold at tho ltogistrar's Chambora at cloven o'olook this forenoon, Tlio estimated liabilities amount to XO7O \7&, and tho assets to £1410 4a od, shewing a surplus of £742. 7s fld. Creditors proved to tho amount of £289 3s lid. Mr J. It. Graham was chosen trustco, and Moflere John Hoskynn and Courtenay Ncdwlll, supervisors, Mr Joynt Is solicitor for the bankrupt. A mooting of creditors in tho oat ft to of Thomas Binglohurst was hold at tho Xcglstrar'fl Chambers, at one o'clock, Mr <f , ti, Graham was ohoflcn trustee, and Messrs NfaoQrogor, Wtvttfl, and J. L. Wilson, fluncrvlsors, Invkothd District,— -Tho boundaries of tho district declared by tho Provincial Government to ho infected with plouro-pnou-monk aro ro-publlnhort for gonoral information. Tho southern boundary oommonccs at tho junotlon of tho Waimukarlri with tho oca, follows tho loft or north bunk oil tho river— • not including Kuiapoi Inland— to the {unction Of tho Poultor branch, and thanco up tho loft bank to its source Tlio western boundary In a straight lino from tho hond of the Poultor to tho summit of tho Tcrcmakau saddle, and tho eastern lino (o formed by tho sea, A further notice Issued by tho Government yoatorday. prohibits tho removal of outtlo from tho blooic of land known as tho Maori Hoflorvo, and somo of tho adjoining proportion, to any othor part of the infeotod district, without tho written consent o{ Ills Honor tho Superintendent or tlio Provincial Soorotary. Tho boundaries aro defined at length by advortlsomont, and a ponalty of £tiO for ovory head of cattle romoYcd, in .contravention of this notice, will be imposed, It Is Also further stated that from tho proDdnt dalo, no cattle will bo permitted to travel along any of tho roads comprised within this lattor rcntrlotoil dlstrlot, ANor-iwa von Doa.— «Wo extract tho following characteristically Amorioan story from our contemporary, tho Now York Turf, Field and Farm ,•— Anotlior tlmo wo wcro travelling on grounds wo had no right to tramp over. Tho only oxeuso was lileo that of military necosaity. It waß bettor fishing through tho farms whoro tho trout had bcon prosorved than in tho open lotu whoro all could flub, It was early morning, Wo had Hftcn at three, ridden ten miles, and struck tho creek «s tho trout woro roauy for break* faiit. Looking carefully for a sholtorod plauo to hitoh our horses, wo slyly crept on behind fences, &0,. till wo reached a part of the strewn not generally fished, A farmhouse stood a quarter of a mile away. Wo saw tho morning smoko ourling lightly from a stove plpo— saw a man and two boyscomo out to do chores —saw two womon busy about tho door, and a ferocious bulldog wandoring about tlio yard. If over wo flabed closo it was then. Not a whinner to disturb tho birds, or tho owners of tho land. Wo crawled through tho grass —dodged boliind clumps of aldors, and lifting largo apcoklod beauties out of tho water till our banket was full, Suddenly there was a malting through ah oat fluid, an if a mad hull wan doming 1 Wo looked towards tho house and saw tho furmcr and his two boys on a fonoo, tho womon in tho door, and tho bulldog bounding towards us, Wo saw it all— wo had boon discovered. The well-trained dog had boon sont to hunt us out, and, as tho mattor appeared, it was safe to bat ho was doing that thing right lively. To outrun a dog was not to l>o thought oh Thors was no tlmo to loho, Ho cleared a fence, came for us just a« wo reached a tree, and, by groat activity, wo took a front scat on a limb beyond his roach. Tlio farmer yelled to his dog, "Watoh him, Tlgol" Tlgo proposed to do that little- thing, and keeping his eye on us, seated himself undor tho trco. Thou spoko this ugly farmor man : — " Just hold on thnr, Btrangon till wo get broukfasti thon we'll como and sco you, If you aro in a hurry, howover, you can go now. Watch him, Tigo 1" Wo surmiflcd troublo— quite much) for twioo had that hold man of bulldogs and agrioulturo elegantly wollopcd innocent tourists for being scon on his aubtirbnn promlsos. Ills reputation as a ponco man was not good, and thore uroso a largo heart towards our throat 1 Tlmo is tho essonco of contracts, and tho saving ordinance for thoflo in troublo. Wo had a stout lino in our pookot, and a litrgo hook intended for rook bass if wo failed to tako ttroutt t and, as good luck would hnvo it, wo had a nice flnndwloh and a pioco of boiled corned boof in our other pockot. Wo called tho dog pot mumitt, but he wann't on It, Thon we tried to move down— when he'd movo up ! At laet wo trebled our biißd lino, fastened the great Llmorlolc to it, halted it with tho corned boof, tlod tho ond of tho lino to a limb, and angled for dog I Tlgo was in appotito ; ho smelt of tho beef— it vtnn very nlco. Ho swallowed It, 'and Dion wo pulled gontly on tho lino— lt was fasti TJgo yanked and nullod, but 'twas no uflOi Tho attention of tho canine [was diverted from üb— his business, was king dono by anotlior line ! Wo quickly slid down the tree— coming near blistering our back by doing it— bolzou tho basket and polo, and straightway wont tlionoo somoTrhat lively, Wo found our string of flali, and reached tho buggy and a commanding spot ju*t in timo to fIC« tho Sturdy yeoman move forth. Wo saw him and his cohorts, malo and fomnle, movo slowly, as if In no liaato, Wo saw thorn look up tho trco, Wo saw an anxious group ongftgod about dog, W« carao quickly homo,

Tub CARAMDiNJS.—OwIng to tho rough wot weather last night, tho attondaneo at tho Town Hall was not large. But tlio pro* gramme— a most excellent one— was carefully gono through to tho uompleto satisfaction of thoso present. Tho programme for this ovening i« ( as usual, very attractive Lttttelton Bonouau Council. — This Council notify that they havo adopted tho 1 1th imrt of tho 13th schedule of tho " Muni«lp«l Aof, 18(18," and that its provisions may ho nßcortained by application at tho clerk's oflloo, botweon tho hours of 10 a.m, and 5 p.m, up to tho 23rd lust., inclusive. Magisterial.— There were no police c*bcs for hearing at tho (Jhristchurch Resident Magistrate's Court this morning. At tho r.yttolton Court, before Or Donald, R.M., Kdward Gonet, sen., surrendered to his bail to answer a charge of embezzlement. Mr Joynt appoarcd for tho accused, who wm committed for trial. Natal.— Tho year 1807 lias mado Natal, aa i\ dependency of thu Crown, a quarter of a century old, In 1853 tli<j imports amounted to £11,712, and tho exports to £1348; in 1807 tho imports havo bcon £209,680, and tho exports £225,671, tho lattor tho highest amount ever yet reached, In 1867, 63,260 acres of land were under Indian corn, and produced 867,13 1 bushels j 22,195 acres wero under Kafllr corn, and produced 275,172 bushels | 1859 acres wero undor wheat, and produced 24,604 bushels i 1*2.706 acres wore under sugar, and produced 6826 tons ; 3155, acres wcro under coffee, and produced 100,006 lbs ; 1202 acres cotton, producing 217,210 Iba j 103 acres tobacco, producing .18,131 lbs. Tho year's export of woo), an ovor»advanclng item, amounted to 1,974,447 lbs. Of horses thcro wcro in tho colony 10,782 j homed cuttlo. 339,547 j woolled sheep, 200,582 ; Kaffir Hlicop, 42,085 ( mules. 220 { goats, 131,482. Tho total acreage of land undor cultivation is stated to bo 103,415, of whioh a very largo proportion is wrought by tho natives j and these people- produce the greatest proportion of the Indian and Kafllr corn. The abovo results aro tho work of a population consisting of 16.903 whitos (9194 males and 7769 females) and a coloured population of 170,855, of whom 6565 arc East Indian coolies, Tho import* of the colony, reckoned against tho white population, amount to Xl 5 por head, and tho exports to £13. [ Irish Voi.unt.kbh Cohm,— An adjourned meeting of tha promoters of this corps was. held at the Zetland Arms Hotel last night/ whon there was a numoroua attendance. Mr A. A. Dobba occupied t lie chair, In open-, ing tho business of tho evening, tho chairman; referred to tho necessity of the support of; some gentleman of influence being procured to tho movomont, and also his presidency at' tlioir meetings, After eomo disoussion, «| sub-committee of three was appointed to wait,' upon Capt, Wcstcnra, and request him to! contribute by this meanß towards tho success; of tho corps. Tho cost of equipment was. next gono into, and discussed at somo length,' Thoso prosont expressed a willingness to con-; tribute liberally toward* the incidental expen-j Bcs, and it was ultimately decided that an inexpeusivo uniform should, for tho present, bo adopted, and a moro proper outfit be dofcrrcd until such tima as tho corps shall bo entitled to recoivo pecuniary aid from tho General Government, It woo then agreed that tho first uniform shall consist of a scarlet shell jdOkot, bluo trousers, with a scarlet stripo, and a forago cap, with similar coloured bund, tho material used to bo flannel for tho jacket, and serge for tho trousers, Up to the present time, twenty-five persona havo expressed their intention of joining tho corps, and it is not expected that the slightest dlftleulty will bo experienced in procuring tho requisite number to entitle them to recognition by tho Government as a distinct body of our volunteer for«o. After some other matters of no public importance had been discussed, tho meeting adjourned until Tuesday next, the chairman and somo othor members being requested in tho meantime to obtain a prlvato room apart from any hotel, In which to asacmblo on that and all futuro occasions. Kaiapoi Swino BniD n;.— A public meeting, to consider tho Provincial Engineer's report on thin brldgo, took place yesterday evening, at tho Kaiapoi Institute, the Mayor (Mr M. Hall) in the chair. Tho chairman road tho Provincial Engineer's report, which was strongly in favour of erecting ft new bridgo alongsido tho old o»e, making uso of tho present swing [ by this|means tho trafflo would only bo Bimnunded for about two days. The cost of tho bridge would bo £1400) on tho other hand, to new pile, lengthen, or raise, and repair the present bridge would co.it £1260. The report of Mr Thornton after the Hood wan also read, in which he estimated that tho part washed away could bo repaired /or £660. Mr Parnham moved, and Mr Wearing seconded, " That it is the opinion of this meeting that a frco bridge should bo erected in continuation of Pcraki Htrcot by public subscription, to bo Bupplemontcd by v voto of the Provincial Council." Mr Wood ford moved a resolution appointing a committee to canvass for subscriptions, and lay tho matter before the Government. After considerable diooussion, Mr IMrch moved as an amendment, "'Hint this meeting is of opinion that tho repairing of tho present bridge is, under the circumstances, the most miltuble Hchomo." lie had had somo experience in these matters of Into, and wes well acquainted with tho cost of timber, He thought tho repairs might easily be dono for A'SOO, ths «urn immod by Mr Thornton. Mr Nownham seconded tho amendment. Tho main argument in favour of a bridga at l'oraki street was that it could bo constructed without a swing, It wai «tntcd that £500 wa» promised towards a bridge in that position, provided it was a free bridge. The Chairman asked why tho samo amount could not bo raised to repair tho present bridge and muko it a frco bridge, He put the amendment to the meeting and declared it to bo carried by 30 to 33. T'io meeting, which had been very demonstrative throughout, thoa broko up.

Waxworks.— A. collection of waxwork figures was announced to have been exhibited in Ujo old Wesleyan chapel. High streci, yes* terdny evening, but in consequence of unfor:seen difllculiics tho proprietor was compelled to defer tlie opening of the exhibition, Tnu TsT^OßAriuo Likes. — The late severe weather has caused extensive damage to tho Wo9t Const line. It is reported that seven miles oMho lino aro down, which has interrupted communication between Christ* church and Hokilik* since the 13th instant. All the other lines mo in good working order XBtb*m to Nbw York. — We aro advised by the Agents o( the Panama Company, that the date* of departure of the steamers from Colon (Asplnwall) to New York hive been altered, so that one of them will leave oa the sth or Oth of each month, thus connecting with tho arrival of tho boat from Wellington i\t Panama, nml so Avoiding the delay oa the Isthmus which bus hithoito been occasioned. Tlioro will now bo four boats despatched each month from tho Isthmus to New York and four to Bnn Francisco. Enolisii and French Characteristics. —An Englishman of tho best class supplies tho need for employment by hunting, racing, yachting, farming, legislating, travelling, or something else. Hut tho Frenchman does not tiiko naturally to these manly occupations. The Parisian society man unfortunately has no Wall-street, so he has Into rising and ennui. He has no money-making, so he has gambling. He has no exercise, so h« has Indigestion. Ho has no simple tastes, so he has absinthe, chartreuse, curagoa, or hefrondhoney under some other name, He has no politics, so ho has a " glorious " empire and a perfect systc-tt of gendarmerie— in f*ct, * paternal government, under which he Is ;•• libre, maia reglementt." He has no travel, so ho has got egotism. Finally, ho has no young lady frienda, so he haa— woman enemies, young or old. Who would be a Parisian ? As tho use of stimulants drives out the taste for more wholesome and natural food, ao doos tho living in Paris incapacitate for living e!*owhcre,orappreciating things not Parisian. Tho n;ysterl« of Paris, the wonders of Paris, tho joys and pains of Paris, tho loves and hates of Paris, tho nights and days of Paris, the glories of Paris, form tho theme towards which aro turned the eyes of all*-* Parin I A witty Frenchman has lately pub* Hslicd an article in which ho threatens the Parisians with lunacy or idiocy if they do not turn their attention away from taemsalraa. Ho reminds them of tho days renowned in history when Frenchmen shared with the rest of Christendom the victories, material and moral, gained by civilisation over barbarism. And he urges them to go away from homo as do tho English and Americans, to see the rest of tho earth, and to form a just estimate of their own little world of Paris. Vain I It is no use to strugglo against fate. "Latin supremacy "U a thing of the past. Dominion is to belong, hereafter to— somebody else. Tho Frenchman of 1867 prefers to sit at home and bring tho rest of the world to see him and his Great Exposition, while h* smokes the opium-pipe of self-complacency. SronT in AnYssiwiA.— Tho 7im<s correspondent with the Abyssinian expedition has thu following passage in a letter dated from Senate, December 14th— Some flocks of huge baboons missed the unexpected honour of boing blown to piocoi by British guns. The baboons would, I fear, have met with bat llttlo sympathy even from the Darwinian! among us, for they keep up a most monotonous, unmerciful barking among the neigh* bouring rooks, each apparently celebrating tho charms of some hairy Amaryllis, and they sometimes go to bed at most unmillUry hoars. In tho HndJiw Pass some black-and-white nvwkey* were seen, covered with a loug silky hair, which will prabably make the Abyssinian monkey muff tho latest attraction in the London shops. But the baboons near hero have cortuinly not the f*t*l gift of beauty. They deserve honourable mention, however, as the only enemy who have yet ventured to oppoao the progress of the British force, and who have even shewn a most un-Abyssiniaa contempt for BritUh firearms. The other day, at Hay ray Guddee, an officer fired in the direction of a party of them, and the fire was vigourously returned with a shower of stones. No other animal haa yet attacked us, though tho leopards in this country, unlike those of India, occasionlly take to man-eating, as do also the lions. There are said to bo now man-eating lions near liayray Guddee, and no postman will in consequence venture down the Koomaylce Pass alone. I ses from letters cent to the Bombay papers that lions have been round tho camp. If so, their majestys evidently came incog., and here, at any rate, their secret has been very well kept. But possibly there has been some confusion in the mind of the writer or printer between lions and byrenas. Elephants were seen on the other side of Annesley Bay, but no larger game has been shot except, indeed, in ono instance, when a Geiman gentleman was cujolcd by some waggish Somtnleet into blazing at what he afterwards described as a ' vild camel.' The proprietor of the camel, was, however, prepared to swear that, at any rate up to tho moment of the shot, the animal wns tame, and supplied the family with milk. Happily, the wound inflicted was an ignoble one, and the 'vild' or tame camel escaped with the loss of little but honour. Small gnmo has been shot in abundance, both at Zoulla and up here. At JJoulla it consisted chiefly of tho beautiful little deer, scarcely larger than a cat, and exquisitely shap»a, known as the Ueni>lsrael deer, and of spur* fowl. Hero we have hares and wild ducks and geese in almost Any quantity, and » tolerable supply of spurfowl. Some of them have a very good flavour, and make a wel* torao variety in tho bill of fare, as prescribed by camp regulations. It is not over pleasant to live on military rations alone, and at Upper Pooroo I found the officer* varying theirs with porcupine and nyr&x, the cony of the Bible. Cooked cony is said to be capital eating, but alive tho animal bears a bus* spicious and unpleasant resemblance to a bandycoot rat,"

Ltttbmdn CuoiiAii Sociktv,— -In eplto of tho weather last nl«ht, tlKJi'fl wan a cnpltal \ attoddanco o£ memberfl. An oxccllont programme for tho next concert ha» boon ftMaugcd. Touro Sol-pa ChMft,— Mr Kr England ha« commoncod n olatm for the praatfflo of naored mufllo, and aino for leaching tho system in tho Wenleyau Chapel, Lyttelton. A nurn of money Imh been voted by the church for the purcliflflo of books, LvTTur/TON Hook anj> Laddkh Company, •— Con«ldorlng the ntato of tho woatbor, there wan a fair attendance of mombor« hint night. They adjourned to Mr Curt'u store, and went through tlio diftoront cxorclscfl In a very oreditablo manner. LXTTBI/TON (Joi^OHlfiTft' BOOIHTV. — TIIO i flrab of tho wlnlor reading ban boon fixed to] takoplaco on Tliumlay avoning, tbo 26th! inflt. Vo«al (tu/flla will form part of tbo programtua. T?jo prlco of adminnlon to the liall will be fllxponce, nnd wo liavo no doubt thore Will bo a good attendance. i Katapoi.--A public gymtirtfllum baa for many years been iv much deoirad insiltution In Julupol, but until tbo prcflont timonoUiioK practical linn rc/iiillod, A public meeting |lfl to bo hold at tho Kalkaloul holel on S.iLunluy next for nrrnngltiK prollmlnarlofl for tho formation of a filab, and drawing np tbo neceusavy rule«. y-^mnxma.— Tho abolition of tho fltrango %ago of "shirking" to tho only ono of tho numoroun rcoommcndationfi of; tho Public Schools Commission that has been, an yet, cffootlvbly carried out at ijJton. Although defunct, it (Uhqvvcr rccordinp, as a »poolmon 0)5 What Eton boys and maatorn too oikx* thought "right nnd honourable," Thin was shirking j— If a boy was xoftii by a master out of bounds, or tfrthlg Into any prohibited place, or doing any prohibited aot, and ho, ecoing tho master, aroidad him, if only in tho ostrich fashion of hiding hit) head bohitid a 1 urze-bush or poet, whllo hl« logs wero all tho while visible, ho "shirked" tho ruattor, and , (ho latter, by ft legal fiction did not " noo " tho boy j and what waa porhaps, h till moro (it it is amusing at ail) was, that i£ the boy uonofltly and courageously wont forward to mcot tho maator he got tmaiflhed— for diureflpoofc J Tho mantc^ would nay, •• What do you mean by tills importlnonco In not shirking mo ? "—that is, " As tho assumption la that you havo a right to do wrong, why don't you avail yonniqif of It?" Ono of tho maßtoragavo it rv« hto deltborato tcßttmony that thfH practice wan "at tho bottom of a great deal of evil at^Eton," inasmuch as a |)oy might do what was wrong, but tho fault often Boomed to consist in being found out."