Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 39, 29 June 1868, Page 2

Local and General.

Akaroa LiTniuiiY Inatitdth. •— Tiio annual mooting of subscribers to tho abovo Is appointed to bo hold nt tho library, Akaroa, on Wednesday, tho Ist July. te" Wha-INq,— Tlio boats at tho flnhory of Mr 11, Buohunan, Ikolaki, succeeded In capturing thoir first whalo of tho season on tho 8-tth Inst,- it Is estimated to turn out about flvo tuns of oil. and a proportionate quantity of bono. Wo havo no accounts from Mr Wright's flshory at Island Bay, Tun Patiu ICxmiiniTiON.-*«Wo learn from our lato fllos that tho Sturt arrived at Wnnganul on Juno 20, with tho Wellington quota of tho expedition, Having takon on board twenty-ono mon, selected from the Wauganui Voluntoors, and military storos, tho (Sturt dropped down tho rlvor and startod at daylight on tho following morning, for Patcu, T«m Panama Mail Sukvioh.— Tho Sydney Morning Herald, in an arlicloon tho Europoan nnd Australasian Mall Services, says .-—A rogular fortnightly mall Is only a question of timo. Tho Panama lino was designed to furnish that to somo oxtont, but tlio scliomc is ultogcthor upset hy tho adoption of tho lunar month for ono lino, whilo tho calendar month is used on tho othor, Tho two timetables dovetailed togothor very woll, but now thoy aro In hopeless confusion. Tho Panama lino, however, has dovolopod , a considerable passenger trafflo, and will do so moro now that tho dotontlon at St Thomas' has been dono away with, And It hus also a considerable indirect commercial valuo to those colonies. This year, for insianco, our had harvest has mado us dopendont on California nnd Chili for n supply of wheat and Hour, Tho steam communication that exists between us and thoso two granaries koci-s down the markot prico hero, Tho publio will savo this j oat', in tho cost of tho loaf, a groat doal moro Hum tho amount of tho subsidy to tho steam company. Tub GnnYMotmc Coat, Mit-uw, — The Qrcy River Argun of Jtmo 9.1, is enabled to elate, on the fttitbofßy ef a telegram received from tho ■Nelson Govornmont to Mr Commls* sionor Kynnorsloy, at Cobdon, that tho Bub* jcot of looking up tho llrunner Coal Mine has been reconsidered, and tho obnoxious resolution previously carried rescinded. Beyond this wo know nothing positively, but wo can easily nntlelpato that tho noxt stop will ho the opening up of tho Brunnor Mlno to publio competition, nnd thai/ tho Government will be enabled to offer a long loaso, upon tho most llboral terms, as an Inducement for the investmont of capital hi tho undertaking. Wo trust tho terms formorly offered wlllnowbeadhorcd to— that any company taking . up tho mlno must bo proparcd to lay down a lino of railway from the works to tho wharf at Cobdon, and that, on tho other hand, ovory facility will bo given to such a compnny for working tho mlno. This Ib absolutely necessary for tlio prosperity, of any company, because, for tho future, tho Brunnor Mlno will not havo tho coal trado of the port entirely in its own , hands, , In this respect matters havo rceontly changed for tho bettor, ns tho Christchurch Company, on tho south eldo of the rlvcr, aro now pushing on their works with vigour, and aro bringing to town a largo supply of excellent coal i and will certainly provo a very formldabio rival to any company taking up tho Brunnor Mlno,

Tiu Meeting.— A public tea meeting in aid of tho funds of tho Independent Methodist Church, Montreal street, will bo held this evening, Distention, -"-Wc would wish to draw the attention of tho Post Oflice authorities to the length of time whioh tho steamer Betsy Douglas is detained waiting in Lyttelton for the Akaroa nnd l'igoon Ray malls. On the 20th inst. sho did not ptart on her voyage until an hour after tbo arrival of the 9.30 a.m. train in Lyttelton. This, taking into consideration tho shortness of tho days and badness of tho roads ou tho Peninsula is a serious inconvonionco to parties travelling to Akaroa. Surely a simpler plan would be to mako up tho maDs In ChrUlehureh, Lyttelton flooding her mail separately, this would savo the timo occupied in making up tho Christchuroh mails in Lyttelton. Westland and the Cantero-tit Dhdt. —A seleot committeo of tho Westland County Council, appointed to consider the existing arrangomcntSwith regard to Wcstland's contribution to the debts of this province, has mado tho following recommendation :— »" Taking tho land revonue of tho Provinco j of Canterbury, on tlio averngo of tho Inst five ] yours at .£200,000, and that of Westland at j iJSO.OOO, nnd, assuming the Customs to maintain tho proportion appearing In n preceding table, tho amount of charge. for interest and! sinking fund would bo about ns follows:—* Canterbury. X_4,B2G j Westland, -616,604. Your committeo oannot find that tho existing | arrangement Is based upon Any grounds of . equity or justice, and thoy rcc-mmend that tho Council should petition both Houses of Parliament, praying thnt tho wholo mutter mny bo rc»oponod and roforrod to tho consideration of seleot Committees of both Houso.**, and also that step-*- should be takon by the County Council to havo the case of tho county properly laid bofore such committeo. W'*BTr,ANn County CocNOtt,.-— Tho membora of tho Westland County Council, by a m/iiority of six to two, havo adopted a resolution conßuring tho chairman for tho measures ho had takon to suppress the late political disturbances. Tlie resolution is interpreted to mean a rcquost to tho Governor to dismiss the Chairman. An amendment In favour of tho chairman was proposod by Mr Shaw, Mayor of Hokitika, but it was not oven seconded, Tho following is tho resolution referred to abovo, It was proposed by Mr -loos, oue of tho county members, and seconded by Mr Harrison, member for Greymouth -»-That this Council regrets tho occur* ronco of tho Into disturbances which havo taken placo during tho recess of Its sittings *, and that this Council is of opinion that it ought to have Ikou called together to render that advice and assistance to the Chair* man of tho County Council, as prescribed in tho Westland 'County Act, Clau o IS, with tho object of adopting measure.-" to suppress thai disturbance, and to make provlslous for any emergency that might ariso i and. secondly, that in tho opinion of tbis Council it is dcsirablo that tho abovo resolution bo brought under tho notico of his Excellency tho Governor's delegate, with a view to assert that tho functions of thii Council, can on no pr.tcnco, bo dispensed with for the future.'* GimAM)iNK District Locai. Protbction Lmaqum.— A mooting of tho committeo of this lciiguo was held nt tho Assembly Rooms, Tomuku, on Tuesday ovoning last. Thero wns a good attendance of members, although very inclomont weather and rising rivers kept Mr Cox and many others away, who had signified their intention of being present. The following wero tho principal resolutions passed :—" That this meeting thoroughly supports Mr Cox in his efforts to establish a systom of local self-government in this part of tho province* also confirms his objection to a central board, having a supremo control over tho local rovenuo of tho samo." *• That wo petition tho Gonoral Assembly to pass a gonoral county scheme, founded on tho ono of last session, and respectfully suggest that the legislative power of counties consists of bodies similarly constituted to tho prcsont Road Hoards, only with a greatly increased numbor of mombors nnd apportioned representation, and endowed with full power over tho revonue that may lie awarded to counties by the Assembly." •* That this meeting is of opinion that tho present Road Boards, witli nn inorensed numbor of members, arc Institutions that will sccuro an equitable expenditure of local revenue, nnd that their number gives a guarantee of the same. That tho General Government should havo no control over local rovenuo." A publio meet* ing, to consider theso resolutions, is called for Wednesday evening next, at tho Assembly Room, Tcmuka, Tho meeting was very unanimous In the opinion that no intermediate body, such ns tho Timaru nnd Gladstone Board of Works, is required, but only nn oxtondod system of Road Boards,' Theso Hoards have, as a rule, worked well I iv this district, although It lias long been folt that the number of members was too small by far. Tlio feeling against any further estab* lishment of centralism is very strong here, nnd wo flnd both tho members of tho Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, for the Geraldhio Road Board district— Messrs A. Cox, M.11.R. and J, nayhurst— testifying against it. At a previous mooting of tho Qoraldino Distriot Lcnßuo. hold nt Tomuka, on tho Ilth Juno, Mr Hayhurst nald;— Ho trusted that this lcaguo would never consent to. only one county being formed between tho Ntviigltata and the Waltaki. Let there bo at least threo counties ■ ono south, for tiie 'Waimato district i ono central, for Timnruj nnd ono north, for this district *, if not, the change would not benefit, this part of Canterbury. Ho greatly objected to making Timaru a centre, and being ruled from there. And, nt tho public meeting hold in Timaru, on tho 17th Instant, we find Mr Cox sayings— If a county Is established, that Is a* tho context shows, ono county from tlio Rnngitata to tho Waitaki, lam not going to givo up the idea I havo nlways held thnt it would bo an unsafo thing to create a central board, and givo it absolute power over the funds* we must keep clear of that. *

Vert SBttsinm..— A lady who occupies a distinguished position in Parisian society tuu adopted a new system of sending out invita*tions, whioh is likely to bo gonerally imitated. Instead of a pompous card, *' requesting tho honour" of tho presence of Monsieur or Mndamo So-«nd-^o at dinner or ball, she writes on the bottom of her own visUlng.card, »• Ball on the 29th," « Dinner on the 6th," as tho case may bo. puts it Into an envelope, and addresses it to tbo person she wants to receive. In that way she sires herself a good deal of trouble, and makes herself moro cordial -an A graceful by stripping it of a. stiff* and solemn formality. Ka Man nis own GnANDFATnak— ■> The following remarkable coincidence wUI be read with interest:— Some timo since it was announced that a man at Titusvillo, Transylvania, committed suicido for tho stranfe roanon that ho had discovered that he was h_s own grandfather, * Leaving a dying statement explaining this singular circumstance, we will not attempt to unravel it, but giro his own explanation of the mixod-up condition of his kinsfolk in his own words. He sayß;— *■ I married a woman who had a grown-up daughter. My father visited our houae very often, fell In love with my step-daughter, and married her. So my father became my son-in-law, and my step-danghter my mother, because sho was my father's wife. Somo timo afterwards, my wifo gave birth to a soni he was my father's brother-in-law and my uncle, for ho was tbe brother of my step-mother,. My father-*- wife— i.e., my step-daughter— haa* also a son* ho wns, of course, my brother. and in tho meantime my grand-child, for ho was tho son of my daughter. My wife was ray grandmother, because she was my mother's mother, I was my wife's husband, and tha grandchild at* the same time. And as tha husband of a person's grandmother is hit grandfather, I waa my own grandfather." Aftor this logical conclusion we are not surprised that the unfortunate man should hare taken refuge in obllvlQjg? It was tho most married family nnd tho worst mixed that we ovor heard of. To unravel such an entangling alliance could not have resulted otherwft than in an aberration of mind and subsequent suicido. How TO Rum-*- a IIosnAND.— A writer in Chambers'' Journal says:— Above all things, If a wifo wishes to mako homo attractive to her mato, let her keep a sharp eye on the cook. Nothing makes a male creature more discontented with his own houae than bad dinner*?, ill served* if there is anything that will make him swear (and there generally is, my dear young lady, although his temper scorned so angelic when ho was a-woolng), it is n cold plate with hot meat, or a bot one with his cheese. Neglect of this sort U unpardonable. Again, it may not be possible to givo him dainties, but it is easy to avoid monotony by a tasteful study of tho cookery book, and it is quite astonishing how the monster man can be subjugated aud assuaged by a judicious variation of hi_ meals. Tha creature might be allcgorically pictured lightly led by a fair lady, with a wedding-ring through his palate. Indeed, there are* thousand way. to lead him, if women would show a littlo of that tact for which they are so falsely credited. Opposition, contradiction, makes him furious* he stamps, ho roars) and becomes altogether dangerous. Whereas treat him tenderly, 0 wife, and you ehaH wind him round your marriage finger, I have seen wives miss their chance of gaining wbat they had set their harts on a thousand times through sheer stupidity i tbey know that a certain line of conduct is suro to anger him, nnd yet they wilfully pursue It, when smooth and easy victory awaits them In another direction. Tact I Such women, I say, liave not even instinct. Birds, ot Paradise, for instance (not to be rude), would net in a moro sagacious manner. Tub Royal Visit to Ibelasd.— The ten days' Bojourn of the Prince and Princess of Wales in tbo Sister Isle terminated on April 24, nnd tbo visit is acknowledged on all Bideto havo been eminently satisfactory. Tbe reception accorded to tho Royal pair by all olnsacs was not only cordial, but enthusiulie. The loyal demonstrations increased in warmth, and heartiness day by day. Wednesday, the 15th was tho day of tho landing, and the entrance to the capital between milos of cheering citizens and country folk, Thursday, and Friday were devoted to Punchestown Races, and on Saturday tho installation of the I'riuco as Knight of tho Order of St. Patrick, took place in tlie Cathedral, amid circumstances of splendour and eclat not witnessed in Ireland since tho Installation of Ocorgo IV„ In 18*21, Horticultural files, re* ylc**"', bulls, cattle shows, unveiling tho statue of Burko, receiving tho honorary degreo of LLD. from tho Sennto of tho Dublin University, and similar occupations, have filled up nnd pleasantly diversified the remaining days of the Royal vUU •, and, on bidding adieu to the gr.en shores of Erin to-day. ic will not bo without tho goodwill nnd affection of myriads whose loyalty haa been quickened into active life by the sight of the faces of their future sovereign and his beautiful consort. Tho Princess has fairly charmed and won all hearts. On landing, tho first gift presented to her wna a whito dove j and ns tlio young couple passed along, voices from tho crowd might be heard making such complimentary remark- om tbo following .— " isn't It grand my boy ? Isn't tlie Prince iliigant ? And was there ever such n Princess out of a fairy tale ? " Of course, the peoplo arc crazy that royalty should visit them again, nnd often ,- and It I* probable that, now the Ice has beeu broken and thawed, tho members of the Royal family will not here* after mako thomsclvcs so scarce In this part of their dominions. A residence In Ireland forthe Prlnco of Wale* will probably ba made nn occasion for asking Parliament for an augmented allowance to tho Prince. Such Australian readers ns nre not anted with the nowspapcr nccounts of tho festal movement*" of tho Duke of IMlnburgh In your columns, will bo gratified lo perus*e In the English journals graphic descriptions of the Royal S regress from day to day in Ireland. Tho etaiis aro full of interest.

MAHOnEBTBU RxniMT BniDon.—Tho pllo* driving and other apparatus for constructing this bridge aro now on tbo intended site, nnd tbe work will probably bo commenced during to-morrow or Wednesday. Tnin StjitwHlNt/onoknt,— llls Honor the Superintendent paid Lylhdton a visit to-day. Ufl was met by tite Mayor, Councillor Ward, and Dr Donald. Tho object of tbo visit was to flolccfc a sito for tho now itcstd.ont Magistrate's Court'liouoo, A MiflTAKß.*— On tho last birthday of tho Princess Louise, tho choir of the Chapol Koyal of St George, intending to sorenado this amiable Princess, coinmonccd their music early in tho morning under a tower of tbo oastlo flttiMted a considerable distance from tho apartments occupied hy tho Princess, Tho choir persovorcd, and" did not discover tbeir error until a mosnongor nt length nrrived to toll them of their mistake, and that they had been florcnodlntf some' ono clue, who could not accept tho inappropriate nddrosfl to youth and beauty and honour as regards tho occasion. Tub Vv'ivnit QnisuN oir Italy. --■••Tho IFloronoo correspondent of tho Daily News Rives a glowing description of tlie Princess Mnrghorlta, tho future Queen of Italy. She attained her sixteenth yoar last Novcmbor i— '{ She poflsoflflcfl a much moro oxtonsivo knowledge of modern languages than has hlthorto fallen to tho lot of elthor Italian princes or princesses. Bho ban a thorough relish for nnd fair proficiency in art ; she lias pootlcal powers of an ordor which would invito and receive careful cultivation if sbo woro born in afar bumblor spboro > but, bettor than tbis, a kindness' of iicart, and a slncoro desire to do good," To thcno merltH sho adds " tho attractions of hor youth and her groat personal beauty,"