Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 302, 3 May 1869, Page 2

Local and General.

J^Tiiu Late Accident. — We regret to say that. Dr Willis died at a quarter-past seven o'clock last -evening. The deceased never regained consciousness from the time of the accident. The Weather.— We notice by a telegram from (he Bluff that it is blowing a heavy S. \V. gale. The glass has been falling rapidly during the whole of the morning, and the Port Officer has warned vessels of this fact. tf Magistk rial.— There were no cases at th^e Resident .Magistrate's Court this morning. At the Lytteltoii Court, Patrick Dunn was charged with being drunk and incapable, and dismissed with a 'caution, : ' Registrar's Returns.— The births of one hundred and one children were registered in the Christchurch district during the mouth of April, 1869—males, 52; females, 49. The deaths during the same period were 22. Lyttelton Parish Gathering. — The annual meeting of v the parishioners will take place *.>in. the Colonists' Hall to-night. Tea will be on the table at six o'clock, after which a public meeting will be held. The choir of Trinity Church will be present, and will sing a selection of music.

/^Presentation. — A very handsome black marble time-piece has been bought with the money subscribed on Good Friday last, by the excursionists to Mackintosh Bay, and will be presented to Mrs Mackintosh. On a silver tablet is the following inscription : — " Presented to Mrs A. Mackintosh, by the passengers of the s.s. Gazelle, for the kind reception on Good Friday, March 26, 1869." Eyreton. — Owing to the very inclement state of the weather on Thursday, the public meeting called by Mr Dixon at the Eyreton school, was but thinly attended. No business was done, but, before leaving, Mr Dixon explained to those present his views respecting the contemplated division of the Kangiora and Mandeville Road Board district, and the benefits likely to accrue to either party, in the event of separation being effected. Lincoln. — The Times Minstrels, assisted by Messrs Morgon and Hobbs, gave an entertainment in the School-room on Saturday evening, in aid of the school funds. Saturday night, though the only one at the disposal of the Minstrels, is inconvenient for country people. This, added to the bad roads from the late rains, made the attendance less than it would have been, but the room, nevertheless, was nearly filled. The Minstrels had been advertised to open the concert at halfpast seven, but, owing to unavoidable delay on the road, it was nearly nine before they gratified an expectant and somewhat impatient audience by their appearance. Mr Morgon took the part of the traditional " Mr Johnson," Mr Hobbs was " Tony," and Mr Ffrost was " Bones." The entertaiment began with the " Gip3y Chorus," which, like all the other choruses, was remarkably well sung. It is unnecessary to notice all the pieces, but we may remark that Messrs Morgon, Cliff, and D. Dunlop, were encored in their solos, as was also Mr Poore in his solo on the tin whistle. Tony and Bones contributed greatly to the success of the entertainment, and although some of their jokes were not very new, most of them were very highly appreciated, to judge by the hearty laughter which they caused. Tony gave a solo on the Japanese fiddle, and was rewarded with a contimious shriek of laughter, as he well deserved to be. The "Band of Brothers," though fairly done, did not take the fancy of the audience so much as might ha^e been expected. The performers, in this and other instances, were placed at a considerable disadvantage by : the smallne-s of the room. Altogether, the entertainment which concluded with the National Anthem, was a decided success. At its close, Mr Glyde, on behalf of the school committee, proposed a vote of thanks to the Minstrels. The entertainment, he remarked, was the best they had ever had in the Lincoln district, and he hoped to see the Minstrels again, not only in the Lincoln but also in other country districts within their reach. The vote of thanks was accorded with applause. Mr Dunlop, iv acknowledging the compliment, apologised for any shortcomings, which the audience seemed to think was unnecessary. Hearty cheers were again given for the linstrels, and a. well-pleased company dispersed to their several homes, guided by tho light of a brilliant moon. The Caxtisubuiiy Rowing Club. — On Saturday afternoon the members of this club terminated the boating season by holding the last of their scratch matches. It was origi nally intended that scratch pairs should be the programme of the afternoon, but a number of members present appearing anxious to test their powers in a sculling match, Mr Herdson, the captain of the club, at once consented to. allow the programme to be altered, and the necessary preliminaries were accordingly soon made. Six gentlemen entered their names, Mr R. P. Crosbie, Vice president of the C. -.C, very kindly undertaking the duties of both starter and judge. The boats were the same as those used for the pair oared matches, namely, the Cygnet and Swan.and were rowed without coxswains, the course being from the Stanmore bridge to the willows at Ward's brewery, a distance of a little over a quarter of a mile, Ihe boats were accompanied in each heat by one of the four-oared gigs of the Club. There was a very fair attendance of spectators. First heat: between the Cygnet, sculled by E. J. Dudley, and the Swan, sculled by W. H. Churton. This was a firstrate race to within 100 yards or so of the winning post, where the Swan then leading fouled her opponent. The former came in first, but the Judge declared the Cyguet the winner in consequence of the foul. — Time, 3min. 15 sec. Second heat: between C. A. Nalder in the Swan, and Henry Thompson in the Cgynet. Although the Cygnet put on one or two game spurts to pass her opponent, the Swan won a comparatively easy race by about six lengths — Time, 2 rnin. 50 sec. Final heat — This heat was between Messrs Dudley and Nalder, the winners of the previous heats. Unfortuuately, Nalder ran into j the ba.ik soon after starting, which completely threw him out of the race, the Swim winning easily. Time, 2 miii. 45 sees'. Tliis heat did not, however, decide matters, as Mr Churton challenged Mr Dudley to pull him again for the stakes. .This Mr ! udley at once agreed, to, and a very pluckily contested race was the result. The latter gentleman proved. too much for his opponi nt, and pwon by half a. length. Time, 2 mm. 2G sees. >j3ome of our readers may. find the follow ng of some interest, viz., a list of the names of the Avinning crews. in matches rowed by members of the club during the last two months : — March 13— D. A.-Murriiy and E. J. Dudley, Pearce, , (cox),— Cygnet ; March 20— J. 11. Herdsop and G. Stead, Pearce (cox), — Cygnet; (four-oared race), 1. C. A. Nalder, 2, N. Macfarlane J ,3 J .E,J v Dudley, 4, E. A. Lingard, Pearce' (ebx),— lsis ; April 3 — W.yH. Churton, andj_E> J.. flud.ley, 'Galjender (cox),— Cygnet • April , 1 Q^T, Grfersph ahjl It. Foster, Pearce (cox), — Swarf; ' April 17 — (priyat<e:match) J t .Mi Jie^dson and G. Stead* McCa'rdell "(cox),— Cygnet '; W*. H. 1 Ch urtbn and E. J. Dudley, Callender (cox), — Cyguet ; May I—(sculling1 — (sculling match) E. J. Dudley — Swan. 1

The Rotai. Visit.— His Honor the Superintendent has received the following telegram from the Hon. E. C. Yorke, equerry to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh : — " I am desired by the Duke of Edinburgh to convey to your Honor, and through you to the Provincial Government and to the inhabitants generally of the province, the expression of His Royal Highness' sincerest thanks for the loyal and hospitable reception accorded to him by all classes of the coininuuity, and of his warm wishes for the prosperity and welfare of your province." A tor*. — Ihe Pans correspondent of Tlie Times gives the following:— V strange story of an intention to poison has been rucniug the round of the Paris j mrnals for some days back, but the narrative was so VBgue that all that could be gathered from it was that a Poli.«h nobleman had proposed to a youn » woman known for her personal attractions, but only mixing in a certain circle anxious for amusement and gaiet}', to accompany him to the masked ball of the Grand Opera for the purpose of attracting the attention of a gentleman that should be pointed out to her, and then of giving him a bonbon which would cause almost instant death, having all the appearance of apoplexy. i n the midst of the confusion the young woman was to escape, and for her assistance she was to receive 20,000 f. The Figaro now gives the names of the parties, and states that the case is in the hands of justice. The principal prisoner is a Polish Count, and his accomplice a medical student, also of the same country, but of French descent; the intended victim was Duke Rodger de Bauffremont, and the young woman through whom the whole plot was brought to light is Madame Bdval. The Couut made her acquaintance :it the house of a third party, and came a few diyß after to make her the proposition to give the large sum mentioned. He was particularly anxious for her to send a letter proposing a rendezvous at the Opera, but she got alarmed and refused. He then went away, but ou calling a second time informed her that he had written in her name On the Saturday evening at 5 o'clock the < 'ount left, and said that he would be back at midnight' to conduct her to the ball. She immediately went out and informed the Commissary of Police of her quarter, .vl. Crepy, of the whole affair. Between 11 and 12 o'clock that official and M. Bellnnger, anothercommiss-iry, went to Madame Belval's apartment in the Rue de Penthievre, where the Count had already arrived. He was at once arrested and searched, and on Mm were found 1 1 bonbons of the Maison Boissier, wrapped up in the paper of that house, but which evidently had never been opened. As to the poisoned one, nothing of the kind whs found on him. In his pockets were 241 f. and some tickets for articles pledged at the Mont-dc-l J i<?;6. and it was afterwards ascertnined that the fount, far from having 20,000 f- to give away, was in embarrassed circumstances. On Madame Belval stating that the Count had left a friend in a carriage at the door, M. Orepy went down and arrested him, and the other, on going upstairs to the apartment, dropped intentionally a little parcel containing two bonbons carefully wrapped up. The commissary, however, heurd the Bound and picked up the packet, and the contents were, in fact, found to be poisoned. The prisoner did not deny the design attributed to him, and of course, was taken into custody with the (■ount. The motive of this extraordinary intention'on the part of the Count is said to be a desire to get rid of the husband in order to enjoy more tranquilly the society of the wile, on a search beinc made in the apartments of the two prisoners there was found in that of the principal one a telegram addressed from London to Ostend by the Duchess de Banff remont to the Count, which document will play a prominent part, in the trial. Servants in England and America —lt is evident that the origin of the numerous lnb)ur saving contrivances in America is the lack of good servants ; but in London the inhabitants have been complaining for years of the lack of good servunts, and are yet very slow to introduce servant-saving machines. Americans, who know what the horrors of 8:-rvantdom reiilly are, cannot but regard these complaints as ill-founded. Everywhere in Eoglunl, not excepting London, the servants seem astonishingly docile, civil, willing, and wt-ll trained The worst London maid-of-all-work wht» ever transformed a lodging-house into a purgatory shines like an angel by contrast with her Irish sister in New York. The most Btupi<l, negligent coachman in England is a perfect master of his business by contrast with his brother, the independent adopted fellow-citizen, who murders your horses in the United States. Perhaps the best servants we hive had in America during the past twenty years were the black slaves in the JSoulh ; but they ..were exceedingly luzy, wasteful, and expensive so th<t I have often heard a Southern planter declare that lie was the - real slave forced U work for his negroes. But, thirty or forty years ago, there were a setof servant*, mostly blacks, attached io Knickerbocker families in New York and New Jersey who were as neai perfection as men and women can become Those were the days of Dutch kitchens Dutch dishes, Dutch neatness, and Dutcl housewifery, now long past and never to ie turn. With them failed away the old faith ful race of servants, who honoured and re spected their employers, and were honourei and respected by all. Occasionally one happens upon a descendant of this race, with al the virtues of the good old stock; but th< accident is very rare. I remember one o them riow-^a uegress named Diana — witl whose culinary art no French cook couh compete, and witli : whose' merits as a w'omai few -white women.could compare. She Jivec only to' show us what treasures we had lost But the English servants, at their best, ar precisely.- like these .Knickerbocker marvels At ' tlieir 'worst, they 1 "are so much bettfe than the present race of servants ii America, than any American who values hi comfort more than his democracy would dt

well to exchange countries for this reason alone. Nevertheless, we are right to flatter ourselves that we have no good servants because of our democracy. It 13 not pleasant to think of thousands of young men and women who grow up as servants in private houses with no ambition beyond exchanging their domestic servitude for the public servitude of a little landJordship and landladyship in a minor tavern, [n America a coachman raiy win his way into Congress, and a servant-girl may marry a future President. If we must have either discomfort or feudalism, let us choose discomfort. But sometimes when I watch the English servants at their work it oucurs to me that, as there is notiii.ig degrading in household service, antf as Americans pay very dearly for it, surely it ought to he more honestly and ably performed even by embryo congressmen ami the possible wives <>' presidents. If any remaining Pogram object to this sentiment as unrepublican, I'll make it stronger by suggesting -that we should have in America stricter laws to compel our future rulers to give us fairer work for our fair waxes.

A Pkeoise Suicide — George Brown, alias Childs, aged 35, lodging at Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, was found dead in bed, havit g poisoned himself. At the inquest, the following remarkable letter, found in his room, and addressed to the American Consul, was produce.'!: — "Sir, — My name is George Childs, and I have a brother at 98, Pearl street, Boston, U.S.A., who you will please to write to by steamer, and have me sent the same day, Saturday. Have me put in a sealed coffin, and that in a handsome rosewood one. Tliey are not to be opened at Boston You will see the enclosed receipt is for §1500 in 5-20 Bonds, on which two years' interest has accrued. All the coupons are there with the bonds, and my brother can get the whole, as the receipt i 8 made payable to him or me You can keep the receipt till he sends you the amount of the expense you will be at. IV II him the remainder of the bonds I want divided equally between my sister Susan's ohildren. My Bible i* for Martha Bowditch; my accordeon for Annah Lancaster ; my trunk and contents for Galen tiowiiitch, jun. My brother's name is Albert Clii Ms. I owe Miss Fletcher ten weeks' rent up to lust Ftiday, the 5th — £i 15*, which you will not pay her, as she has impo-ed upon me ever since I have been here. Sell my hat and give credit for it. There is nothing of mine in the bureau, the locked drawers are hers. You will remove ray trunk at once, and sen.] it to my brother. The key is in my vest pocket, which you will send by a separate conveyance. Please carry out my requests explicitly, and oblige your's truly, George Childs. P.S. — Have me put in my offln just as you find me, and don't have me opened on any account. You will make no more of this public than you are obliged to." The jury, having heard the whole of the evidence, returned a verdict to tlie effect that the deceased bad committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity. Reminiscences of Wellington. — Although Wellington was ever foremost in the fray, he was never wounded except upon one occasion, ami that was at Orthc-z, where he received a severe confusion upon his hip from a spent bull. This prevented him directing in person the last movements of the .'irrny on that day, but he did not quit the field until Soult had began to retreat. In this engagement my elder brother, the late Duke of Richmond was most dangerously wounded while leading his company to the attack. The wound was pronounced to be mortal. Upon the. following morning Wellington was enabled to get about upon crutche?, and his first WHlk was across the street to the hou-.e in which his former aide-de-camp lay. lie hobbled into the room where the patient was still in a most precarious state. The surgeon, Df Hair, late of the Hoy a) Horse Guards (Blues), who exhaus'ed with fatigue, was resting upon a mattress, started up at the entrance of the duke, and mndt a sign that tbp wounded man whs sleeping. For a second Wellington leant against the mantel piece, suffering from the most poignant grief. Suddenly my brother awoke, and recognising his chief, expressed a hope that he had been successful on the previous day. " I've given them a good licking," replied the great man, " and I shall follow it up." The exhausted youth turned to doze again, and as the duke quitted the room he appeared broken-hearted at the thought that he had taken a la.it farewell of the son of one of his oldest and dearest friends. Another instance of Wellington's te.uder feeling may be mentioned. Dr Hume, ttie duke'a stuff-surgeon, who had attended Sir Alexander Gordon, one of his grace's aides-de-camp on the field of Waterloo, was anxious to report the death of that gallant officer as early as possible. With this view Hume tapped at the duke's door at about h'ilf-past 3 o'clock on the morning after the battle, and was told to come in. He found his grace sitting up in his bed, covered with the dust and sweat of the previous day. The kind-hearted surgeon told him of Gordon's death and other casualties. Wellington was deeply affected, his tears dropped fast upon liis friend's baud, which he held in his, and were .chasing one another in furrows over lus dusty cheeks. Brushing them suddenly away with his left hand, the duke said, in a voice tremulous with emotion, " Well, thank God, I don't know what it is to lose a battle, but certainly nothing can be more painful than to gain one with the loss of so many of one's friends." ' Emigration to the Colonies. — The Times comes to the conclusion that as the only unfailing demand of a new country is for those competent to reclaim new land, our emigrants must represent, if not trained agriculturists, fit any riite men qualified to become sueh — that is, men with strong arms, laborious iftfb r irs, and a' little capita. But these are precisely the' characters most desirable at bomi?, exactly/lbe :men we • should wish to ' beep, and who might be pretty safely relied upon for keeping themselves. What good would it do us to drain the country of such I

people ? The answer is that such emigration would at any rate, diminish the numbers to be maintained at home. If a good workman goes away, he leaves his place to be filled by a workman not quite so gooi, who, it may be hoped, would become all the better for *he chance. That is what has actually occurred in Ireland. If we cannot drain Kast London into a colony, we can create vacancies in other parts of the kingdom to which the population of K.ast London may be diverted in its turn, and we must not grudge the selection which our colonies mny reasonably require. Let the reader think for a moment of what actually occurs in America. Who and what are the men who bring new districts into cultivation, and aid territory after territory to the dominion of the United States ? They are, so to spoiik, professional colonists. They are men whose lives have been passed in battling with nature, and whose instincts lead them to perpetuate the conflict. Men of this class would t>e welcome anywhere, and as they increase and multiply they would open a demand for other clashes which would speedily become known. It would probably, however, suggest itself to any reader, after a study of emigration statistics, that such movements h:»ve never been so successful as when voluntarily originated and conducted. The emigrants most sure to thrive are those who form their own plans, count their own means, and raise their own money. There is a large class, certainly, which cannot be relied upon for any .-uch self-help, but thi* is the very class not wanted abroad. The Standard holds that in any scheme of colonial emigration, it must not be forgotten that the colonies are by no means anxious for more immigrant?. It is certain that the very mention of the word "pauper" will arouse all their national susceptibilities, and that they will protest scarcely less violently against this invasion than the did aga'nst the project to revive the transportation of criminals. The question is, are we prepared to iiccept the responsibility of grappling with it — f imposing the Imperial will upon the colonies ? It is preposterous to maintain that because we have planted a fringe of settlements round the souhern and eastern shores of Australasia, therefore we have abdicated our right, to interfere with the development of the entire continent. It cannot be said that either legally or morally we have abandoned our claim to the Australian waste lands. Those lands are the property of the whole people of the kingdom. We have an undoubted title to them, and, of course, a right of entrance. "