Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 53, 15 July 1868, Page 2

Local and General.

I "irfl I I'l.KtMtO-I-NI-IMOKIA,-— Wo l'Cgrol tO 1)0 obliged to slate on the best authority that ll la. necessary to destroy cattle on the Maori run at (he rate of from three lo four weekly, Dinni'ii, — Wo understand that his Worship Iho Mayor and lite Superintendent .of the Firo Brigade Intend enterlalulng the members of that body lo dinner at the Icrnilr.atlon of their present year's service, Tho members of Iho Horough Council arc also lo be Invited guests, , ■Kaiapoi Ciitmoir Honour.. — The additions to tho school building aro now completed and rondcr tho school about doublo its original slzo, Tho now ljnrllon appears to be well and substantially built, and will doubtless add very -materially lo tho comfort of tho children during the ensiling suiiimer. Tho additional part is divided from tho original building by folding doors, and will enable tho school lo bo kepi on the * separate ' system Instead of 'mixed', as formerly,- 11 is also contemplated to divide, tho playground, which! haa beeu nicely levelled and gravelled.' I

St. John's CaOict Coitrs. -* The newly organised lifo and drum blind for this corps mot for thoir ilrst '• practice, at tho Schoolroom, Latimer square, last night. Thoro aro to ho Hoventoon porform'ej;fl 1" all, and undor tho able liiHlniolion ■ .of^lr l'ooro It Ih expected (.hat a few'wcokß; will »ec thorn sufIlclcntly advanced to appear ,'■ hi. public. Mkktino oir CriuorroitH.-rA meeting of creditors- in "Hio oslato of * William Sinclair, lately carrying on business us a storekeeper In tho IJe'athcoto Valley, wius hold at tho HoglHtrar-'s Chamber, nt 1 1 o'clock this morning. ,Tho estimated liabilities amount to £40!) ps ld, ami tho asset* to ' £15711 Gs Id • HUjjnltis, ,-iilOfl 17.« i, Creditors proved lo tho amount of -IMM 4s? Bd. Mr J. Ifl; Graham was chosen lyuslco | and Messrs John Inglla, Chrlfltchurch, nnd William Hawker, baker, .li'orry. road, supervisors, No, (1 Company' O.ILV,— A now orderly room Is In course of erection for thin company, near Iho Drlll-shcd. , It Ih precisely on the namo principle na those creeled for tho Artillery aiid Engineers, and b< twenty-four ■J'cot In length, by sixteen feet In width, It Is to bo lined throughout wllh match boards, andi flllod with tho necessary racks for storing anus, &c. Mr James Shoolbrufd Is the contractor, and the estimated cost of the whdlo work Is .ujiwards of *<i(l(). Tho erection of (hone buildings speaks woll for tho position of tho several, corps and tho continuance of the movement, which no many aro 'apt. to consider In a languishing state, Tho erection of the building will be Inaugurated on Thursday evening, when Captain I Invokes will entertain ■ tho members of his company to supper within its precincts. X 'inn Avon,— The labour gang aro proceeding" vory rapidly wllh tho straightening of the north bank of this river between Victoria and Colombo street bridges. Almost tho wholo of the projecting portion has been levelled to- within n abort ..distance of high water mark, nnd (the now slope of the bank Is boing sown with Kngllsh grass, a proceeding calculated to greatly Improve not only Its .'appearance,. 'but nlno Its capabilities »of resistance ngainst .'any scouring of tho rlvey That portion of 'tho bank ' neatest to flic Victoria Bridge has been faced with the stone granted fur that purpose-by the Government, aud Is so formed as to direct the stream Into tha Intended .channel without any abrupt turn or projection. If rom what Is now visible tho work, when completed, will greatly Improve the. appearance of, the river, whatever may be Its result In other respects. Const- Ilui-eas:-— The recent wot weather has forcibly demonstrated tho necessity of somo measures being taken by tho Horough Coimoll for bb'tior regulating Iho cutting of gorso hedges within- the elty, In a majority of instances the streets immediately beyond the business thorough Tares aro skirted by Immense hedges .which.' overhung tho.footpaths to a very great extent. In line wcathor iho nuisance may hot be ho much noticed, but vjdion rain has fallen, and dry walking ground Is sought for, and lis a rule only found on tho innermost edge ol! Iho footpath nearest to iti io hedgo, it .becomes a source of great unpleasantness not unattended with danger, By, a little curb' on- the part of Iho officials of .the Council, persona. olL'endlng could easily bo compoilou to keep 'their fences within reasonable bounds, and It 1« to be hoped that norno attention .will at onco bo paid to Iho mailer, f, S'l'iwi'j.uoir AHiw,-— The , course finally decided upon for these events. Is tho same as that on which tho Champion cross-country mooting was hold In' ItfOO. Ifc Is over portions ol! the fivrms, belonging lo Messrs Staco 'and Brlllan, at'the bottom of Cashcl street east, and Is about, a mile and three-quarters InAelrc.uniforoiico. ' Thero are fourteen .fences l;i ull, and tho coiirso having to be traversed twice for .iho "big event "that ruocwUJ (bus comprise , twenty-eight Jumps, Those are by no means of. a trilling nature, but without exception arc fair cross-country tests, whilst iionio aro most formidable In height and strength. Tho conventional Grand Stand will lie creeled on rising ground In the 'centre of (bo course, and all hough one on the outside of Iho .circle is generally preferable for races o l' any description, yet a capital view of (ho whole of each race will be obtained. Tho course could not be In a more convenient locality, being within halfihiillo of the city, .and easily allnluablo,' Some portions of tho road are certainly aT present in anything, but a .favourable state, but a little Hue weather will soon make them gooil for any kind of. tralllc. Wo are ro* quested lo remind owners of horses that entries close ali) p,ni, on Saturday next, and must be forwarded to the Secretary, at Tattersnlls. ' . J-aiai-oi ■•■Annual l'l.oimniNci Matoji, — An adjourned mooliug.of the Mandeville Farmers' Club was hold on Monday evening. I'rcKont— <Dr Dudley (president). Mossi'H Walls, Blrnlc, Stevenson, J'crrln', Kcctlcy, Duffel. Morrison-; ■ j'ldiby, Mdw/vrds, Wood, and several oiher farmers and persons Interested, The 'jiilhules of last -meeting were read aiid con firmed, and some alteratlonsfound to be necessary in the ploughman's rules woro made, The committee appointed to select a site brought up their report. It was resolved Dial tho site of. Iho annual match shall be fixed In Mr Jaipes Morrison's slaughter-bouse paddocks, oii tho Middle Island road, adjoining Mr Travis' land, on Ifrlday, July .'list. There are to be four classes, viz:— A champion class,' prlzeVa gold medal j a swing class; a wheel class, and boys' class, In which a lirst, second, and lhi rd prize, .In money or silver watches, will bo given at the option of tho winner. Entries lo be mudeiit tho Knikalnul hotel at 7 p.m,, Iho evening preceding tho nialch, The .committee also offer a prize of ;d I for the best groomed learn on the ground. It was resolved. to invite loaders for refresh, mont- booths.- All other arcangements arc left, to tho Ground committee Wo aro happy Id bo able to stale that from the support accorded lo the committee by the local agri? eiil turlsts, they ,wM ■be jln , /t portion to have oulto as (jepd,jf' f iiot'(i superior' match to any lornicrorib under tiio duHpicca of tho club.

Acoidknt.-— As n cart drawn by two Jiorses and belonging to Mr .Foster, contractor, wab proceeding pant the Junction Hotel, yesteiv (lay morning, the ho wen .took -'fright and bolted in tho direction of the Carlton Hotel. Coming in contact with the corner of Mr IMlon's shop, the cart wan .capsized, the horses ami driver nlno , being thrown to the ground. Tho front part of tho cart was broken to pieces und tho driver severely Hbakcn, but beyond this no duningc wits fortunately done, the horses being secured before thoy could rise from tho ground. ;Mh Thomas Uussiar., — • Tho Wellington correspondent of tho Otiigo Daily Times, writing on July 8, suys :— Since I wrote lo you ou Saturday, I am told that tho oifer to Mr Hussell of tho Sollcitorahlp bus be.n denied, but that tho oifer of a sent in the Legislative Counoll ii admitted, I have taken some pains to ascertain the eorreotitus* or otherwiHQ of thin denial, aud I am led to tho belief that thu denial only relates to the fact' thut ho olllclal offer ha. been made, which is really no denial nt all. A good nmny things nre done without' thero being ollkltt correspondence to Bhow for it, and many uppolntmont-i aro flrst of all talked over, or written privutcly about, before they nsauuie nn ofllclul shape. Ami it does not ulwayti follow that becauso a Premier knows nothing about a particular appointment being under offer, therefore nothing luu taken place. It docs not ulwayg suit the t'leuiicr to niuko thu Hrst move. .Mr FitzGornld's appointment is a caso iv point, that having been di.cv.-cd iindisottlcd with Mr Fiuhvrbvrt during a ten flay*' trip to Canterbury, for tho benefit of his health. Mr Stafford oould not outer such un appointment to a political opponent ou tho chauco of It.i being refund i but ho knew Unit tho appointment wuh being offered by his colleague for him neverthe ess. In Mr Russell's eiiflo thero is no such reason for delicacy, and, unless I am misinformed, no such ilolicaoy has been practised, HOMAN.IO AND I'WVrTY,— rA pleiWilllt little otory eoni.s to up, says the Ararat Advertiser (Victoria), from one of tbo area, which would lind v more fitting plaeo In bouio work of fiction, but na it rcvcnls n bright dido in human naturo It may very well bu related hero iv ono of our tioolal epi-iod-j.. Last week a very youthful brido and a sturdy bridegroom were united aftor a courtship ob aingu. turns iiuy "of thoso vory singular probations through which not a few of both acxoa have passed on the diggings. About ten yearn *ig> the mother bf a promising child who lived in a lint upon "an ont-ntatlon iv or near the Yarrain Ynrrnm run, promised to a young man, or rathor lad, ono day iv sport, thut he should hnvo her daughter in mnrrbigo when alio was old enough, ami thereupon tho matter was forgotten. Uut tho youth treiwured up the ntMiu|*te, and In the uuantime worked hard .md industriously, with the v low, we flupposo, of .stabliahing n claim for hia future HpoiiAC. About n yoar nincr, nfter tho mother und her husband nnd family had changed their mode of life, aud were .-.-aiding upon and cultivating a fine tract of land, thu youth to whom tho promise was given so many years ago camo io obdm lt» fulfilment The mother, to her honour be it said, never sought for a rolease. Sho plcadud that, the girl, then sixteen years of age, waa -still too young, and to thia the lover agreed, offoring to naa In t the father in hia farming operations In thu meantime, if in the course of another twclvo months lie might claim tho daughter, The agreement was cloned, aud the stranger becamo a rctilduut under thu samo roof as his alii meed, I)ii t not until the girl was aevcntoiii years of ngo waa it revealed to her that she waa designed to be thu wifo of their nailatunt, Tho "lassie," who it seems never thought much of tho hymeneal state, waa sorely distressed at flrne upon hearing that her destiny waa caat, but being assured by her mother that marriage was by no means nn unmixed evil, she eventually consented, and having «o far agreed, went further and permitted arrangements for the immediate weaving of the nuptial knot. The ceremony, as we beforo stated, wan performed in Ararat last week With tho bridegroom in hia now relationship, they make a happy and industrious family, and thoro Is little doubt of thoir steady advance in prosperity, , , ,