Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 242, 20 February 1869, Page 2

Local and General.

*. Magisterial. — There was no public business transacted at the Christchurch Magistrate's Court this day. Otago Fine Arts Inhibition.— We learn froni our Otago files received yesterday, that the Exhibition continues to be very fairly attended. Bankruptcy. — Mr D. Davis, of Lyttelton, merchant, has filed a declaration that he is unable to meet his engagements with his creditors. Patrick Frederick Sinclair Miller, chemist, of Leithfield, has also filed a declaration to the same effect. ! Spreydon Fair. — The date for holding | the next Rangiora fair having been fixed for i March 10, the committee of the Spreydon fair have deemed it advisable to change the ! date of that fair to Friday, March 12, instead I of Wednesday, March 10. i A. O. F. and Odd-Fellows. — At a meet|ing of a progamme committee, held last night in the Foresters' Hall, it was arranged that the general committee meet on Tuesday night to receive reports, and to make final arrangements for the demonstration to take place during the Duke of Edinburgh's visit. wf Harbour Soundings. — Mr Rochfort has nearly completed the harbour soundings, and we learn that there is very little alteration from the soundings taken some years since. The only difference perceptible is near the breakwater, occasioned no doubt by the blas£? ing of the rocks for this work. It is *4xy satisfactory to learn that the harbour is not silting up, as has been stated. G-as Company. —An ordinary general meeting of shareholders — to receive the report of the directors, to elect three directors in the room of Messrs Gould, Deane, and Lane (who retire by rotation), to declare a dividend, and to transact general business of the company — will be held on the Ist March. The Southland Conspiracy Case. — Messrs Aylmer, M'Kenzie, and Sayefs, thc_ case against them having broken down on a late trial,' were re-arrested, and again brought before the Bench. They have been committed for trial. Bail to the amount of personal and , two sureties of £500 each in the case of Aylmer and M'Kenzie would be accepted ; Sayers, £1000 personal, and £250 for each of two sureties. Flower S&ow. — The last exhibition of the setson will take place in Coker's Gardens, on Thursday next. Productions for competition must be staged by 10 a.m. The Canterbury Yeomanry Band and the Band of the Orphan Asylum will perform during the exhibition, which will be kept open until 10 p.m. From 12 till 3 p.m., the admission fee will be 2s 6d, and from 3to 10 p.m., Is. Instead of holding the' annual dinner on the show-day, as hitherto, it will not take place until the following evening. By this arrangement, a larger attendance can be relied on. Royal Irish Gil. V. — A concert in aid of the funds of this company will take place at the Town Hall, under distinguished patronage, on Thursday next. The programme will be a lengthy and varied one, and will be interspersed with some of the most favourite comic songs — a feature which should certainly prove attractive. The other vocal and instrumental selections will be performed by some of our most noted amateurs ; and, from its diversified character, the concert is certain to be a great success. A rehearsal will be held at the Crystal Palace Buildings, on j Monday evening, and a full attendanoejs re-J Royal. — The performance rale night was under the patronage of his Worship the Mayor and Councillors of Christchurch; the same bill being produced as on the previous evenings of the week. There was a very large attendance in all parts of the house, but more especially so in the dress circle, where we noticed his Worship and several Councillors. The piece, was played without any very noticeable fault, and was, . in fact, the most complete representation of the week. We would, however, call the attention of the management to the great unpleasantness caused by a number of persons smoking in the pit. This has been very noticeable during the past six nights, and has been gradually increasing until it has bean insufferable nuisance. i y Aquatics. — Although rather late in the Reason, we have to chronicle the arrival of two new boats in Christchurch, one being from Sydney, built by Reynolds, on account of the Canterbury Club, and the other by Fuller, of Melbourne, for the Railway Club. The Sydney boat is apparently very well finished, some of her fittings being equal to cabinet work. She is over forty feet in length, and about three feet three inches in beam. She was pulled ashore from the John Knox yesterday afternoon by members of the C.R.C., and conveyed through by train. The Railway Rowing Club boat has been repaired by Mr Harrison, of Lyttelton, and is apparently as good as new ; her length is forty-five feet, and her make similar to the Lurline. We understand that both boats will be launched this day week, and christened by lady friends of each Club. There are also ten engraved pewters to be presented to members of the Railway Club, and it is probable that some scratch matches will be pulled on the occasion.

New Zealand FtAx Gmc. — Every one who has watched the progress of the nnmberlens experiments which have been made during the last few years to utilise thej Phormium tenax, is aware that one of the chief obstacles in the way has been the presence of a gummy substance. To get rid of J this in any way has hitherto been one of the great aims of the flax-dresser, and large quantities of it have accordingly been wasted. We now find, however, from an article in the Practical Mechanics' Journal, that this gum is likely to become an article of some commercial importance, as it has been found "to stand alone out of many other substances tested, in its adaptibility to all the requirements of patent detector envelopes."^ We recommend this fact to the consideration of all who are interested in the subject. Mit, Haughtox. — The New Zealand Sun of Feb. 18 says: — This gentleman, we understand, has, in vulgar parlance, been putting Ms foot into it in Wellington. For a long while it has been understood that he has been the author of strained attempts at facetiousness in the shape of pretended dialogues which have appeared in the Government paper, but which have been remarkable only for their gross personalities. Dr Featherston has treated with contempt, some scandalous examples of the kind, and, encouraged by the impunity with which he has met, Mr Haughton has been seeking fresh game. Mr Judge Johnson and Mr Felix Wakefield have been considered suitable subjects by himself, but not so by others. A general feeling of disgust is aroused, that a person like Mr Haughton, occupying too an official position, should turn into ridicule a Judge of the Supreme Court — one who might be supposed to be exempt from political animosities. Mr Stafford, we understand, amongst others, is very angry. A man who indulges as Mr Haughton has done so freely in' the use of personalities, cannot be surprised that his weapon is turned against himself. We cannot say more at present than that he is likely to j find that the example he has set will be followed to his own detriment, although to the colony perhaps with the fortunate result of ridding it of any further political know- 1 fcjgfeoishim in the future. _ *: Volunteer Packie lielosj his usual inspection of the head-quarter volunteers yesterday, and although the weather militated against the attendance, the whole p issed off very satisfactorily. The arms and accoutrements were found to be in a very creditable state, and the drill was fully up to the usual average. The Yeomanry and Cadets, under the command of Major Wilson, C.8., mustered at half-past five in front of the Drill Shed, . and after being inspected, were put through a series of fcjcoqp and squadron manoeuvres. THietitinid' was also'present, and at a later pferiod of the evening the corps held a general meeting at White's Hotel, for the purpose of revising the by-laws regulating their guidance. : Considerable time was spent in discussing them, and several useful amendments made, thei most important being that relating to dismissal for non-attendance. The number of consecutive absences allowed was reduced, and any member living within a radius of three miles of Christchurch wili now be' dismissed if he fails to atteHd three successive parades without leave from the commanding officer. The Artillery, Engineers, No. 6 Company Rifles, and the two Cadet Corps, paraded at 7 o'clock, and each were examined separately, except the two latter, which were amalgamated under the command of Lieut. Gee, of the St. John's Corps. The inspection was followed by battery and company drill, under the respective officers of corps, Col. Packe watching the movements. The parade concluded a little before 9 o'clock. Small Pox. — The Wanganui Chronicle, of the 16th inst., thus refera to the recent case of small pox : — The patient we have had occasion to refer to is dead — done to death beyond all doubt — most likely buried without inquest or inquiry of any kind. The case is a melancholy one, chiefly bo on account of the way in which the unfortunate man was treated. He might have died under the most favourable circumstances, but he had no chance of living after the treatment he received. Eeaders will remember our description of it. A human being, leprous with a virulent akin disease, sick and sore, put aboard a small canoe, and left to drift about in it half-full of water for fifteen or twenty hours, with a cold wind utid drenching rain during a part of the time, then landed on an inhospitable f-hoi - e without proper attendance. Is it any wonder he died ? But we fling out no indiscriminate censure. The Health Officer, who is one of the kindest and most humane of men, we believe, did all that he could for the patient He engaged assistants ani a medical attendant. And here the neglect began These, we are informed, got drunk, and iience the miserable appearance which was made, and which has ended co lamentably. These persons, whoever they are, "must bear the blame; they . , thoroughly deserve punishment. nd altogether the thing is a discredit to us, which must not be permitted to occur ngain. Primarily, the fear of infection had much to do with the catastrophe. Small-pox is one ot' the most infectious of epidemics, but among a vaccinated population it is neither the fatal nor terrible disease it was in olden times. Every fitting precaution should be taken against it, but there is no need of going the length that our authorities did. There were kind-hearted individuals who would have seen to the case of the unfortunate man, but they could not do so at the expense of undergoing quarantine for three weeks, which they were told they must do, if they went near him. This, we cannot help 6aying, was a mistake to begin with, and unfortunately it only turned out to be one of a series of mistakes, for which no one in particular, save the drunken attendants, are to blame, but for which all of us ought to feel both heartily sorry and deeply humbled.

Thp Suez Mail.— An Otago contemporary understands that it is the intention of Captain Mackie to push on the s.s. Omeo to Melbourne without touching at Nelson, so as to reach Port Philip on the Ist March. * Public-House Ordinance. — The quarterly meetings of Justices, for the purpose of taking into consideration applications for public-house licenses, will be held at Christchurch, Lyttelton, Kaiapoi, Timaru, and Akaroa at 1 1 a.m. on Tuesday, the 2nd March. Two applications hare been received at Christchurch, three at Lyttelton, and one at' AkaToa. None have been received at Kaiapoi and Timaru. The Salmon in Tasmania. — The Hobart Town Mercury of Feb. 2 publishes a letter from a correspondent, who says :— Your readers will be glad to learn that large fish, which I have no doubt are salmon, have within the last few days been seen leaping in the Derwent, in the large pool just below the mouth of the Plenty. The man who saw them being a native of the colony, cannot, of course, say they were salmon, as he is entirely unacquainted with the appearance of the fish, but, he says, as he was fishing for mullet on Thursday evening last, he saw large , fish, such as he never saw in the river before, leap eleven times in the deep pool already mentioned. As the salmon are expected to make their re-appearance about this time, and, (if they are in existence) would naturally take advantage of the " freshet " in the river in the beginning of last week, to make their ] way up to the spawning grounds, there can, I i think, be no reasonable doubt that these leaping fish are the anxiously looked for salmon. In confirmation of the above, the Mercury of the same date says .- — We learn from W. A. B. Jamieson, Esq., the Warden of New Norfolk, that Mr Charles Mathews, of New Norfolk, and on whose word every reliance is to be placed, states that last week he, on more than one occasion, saw salmon in the Derwent opposite Mr Sharland's hop garden, near Deep Gully. Mr Jatnieson says that this is the spot that the late Mr Ramsbottom had pointed out to him as a likely place for the salmon to be seen in at this particular season of the year. Mr Jamieson has no doubt as to their being there.