Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 431, 1 October 1869, Page 2

Local and General.

I Golden Rumours Again.— The declining 1 symptoms of the gold fever were this raorniug roused into something like their old activity by another extraordinary discovery, reported to have been made on the Peninsula. The facts, ascertained after careful enquiry, are that Mr A. Cuff, of Lyttelton, brought a piece of quartz into Christchurch which displayed a large per-centage of gold to the naked eye, and which is said to have been picked up by a female somewhere on the Peninsula, but in what direction no one could tell. It is about the size of a man's fist, and. we were informed by Mr Cuff himself, was found previous to the first outbreak of the Peninsula excitement. Maghsthriad. — There was no public buaines3 transacted at the Christchurch Magistrate's Court this morning. Lyttelton Boating Club. — By an advertisement in our columns, we notice that the opening of the boating season has, in conseh quence of th 6 English mail day, been postponed from to-morrow until Saturday, the 9th instant. Lusus Nat urge. — A sow belonging to Mr George Bailey, farmer, Eyreton, had a litter of pigs during the present week, one of which was of the following extraordinary shape. Its head was slightly larger than j those of the others, and it had eight perfect '-legs, two' tails, and two distinct bodies, as far as the shoulder. It can be seen by any one visiting Mr Bailey's farm. Gaol Returns. — The returns for the month of September have been issued, and give the number of persons incarcerated at I Christchurch during that period at 4 1 — 22 males and 1 9 females. Of the former sex, 1 8 were at hard labour and 4 ordinary imprisonment ; the latter comprising 1 for trial | at the Supreme Court, 17 at hard labour, and II ordinary imprisonment. In l.yttelton 76, all males, were confined — 1 being for trial at ' the Supreme Court, 67 at. hard labour, 3 ordinary imprisonment, 'and 5 debtors. The discharges for the month were — Christchurch 19 ; and Lyttelton 1-2. The. Wkatuer; — The Oamaru local paper of Sept. 24 has the following :— The unusual drought of this season has, we hear from an up-country station, had most serious results. The ewes, being iv wretchedly poor condition, in consequence of the great scarcity of keep, have been in many instances too weak to lamb, and where this has not been the case, a large ;ropor lion of ihe lambs have been lost through their excessive weakness, and the inability of their dams to supply them with their natural nutriment. Unless rain comes parly, the results in some parts of the country will be very disastrous. : The crops, too, of all kiuds.^are sorely in- need of rain, and without it bur harvest prospects are likely to be but poor. The Late Fiiiß.7-An inquiry" as to the origin of the fire which burnt down the premises occupied by Messrs Jacobs and Isaacs on unday last, was held at the White Hart yesterday, before J. W. S. Coward, Esq., Coroner. The following gentlemen were sworn as the jury :— Andrew Duncan (foreman), F.-A; Bishop, ; G.Fletcher, H.Thomson, W. Pratt, It. Sutherland, W. Sheppard, C. Kiver, junr., G. Inwobd, T. Tombs, W. White, W. Gavin, C. C. Aikman, and M. B. Hart. Messrs Craig, Thompson, and Bird, insurance agents, were present. The inquiry was conducted by Inspector Pender. After the evidence had been heard, the jury returne t a verdict to the i Jfcct that there was no evidence to show how the fire originated. Accident. — Between four and five o'clock yesterday afternoon, while two of Mr Rowlaud Davis' daughters;, and Mrs Clark and her two children, were driving along the towing path of the River Heathcote, near to Mr Martin's house, the horse shied, and backing, the trap was precipitated into the river in deep water. One of the Misses Davis had jumped out, and endeavoured to urge the horse forward, but the ground was too steep, and horse and trap with occupants fell into the water with a plunge. The horse made one effort only to get up, but failing to do so, the animal lay dowu on his side and was drowned. .Mrs Clark and one of her sons had a very narrow escape. Seeing their critical position Messrs Rutherford and Dixon quickly got into ; a boat 'and" rescued them just in the nick \bf time. J)r Prina was at once sent' for, and we' ate glad to say that all have recovered.

Popular Amusement and Entertainment Association. — At the last meeting of the committee, the Secretory submitted the following statement of the receipts and expenditure for the six entertainments at the entrance charge of 3d: - Receipts, £48 14s Id; expenses — Town Hall and gas, £21 ISs 6d ; hire of pianos, £11 4s ;- professional fee, £1 Is ; advertising and printing, £11 9s 9d ; attendance at hall and carting, £1 19s ; total, £47 12s 3d ; leaving a balance of £1 Is lOd. The receipts for the entertainment on Sept. 14, at an entrance charge of Is, amounted to £22 19s 6d. The expenses were £15 12s 2d, leaving a balance of £7 7s 4d. The total balance, to be placed to the credit of the Rural Sports Fund, is £8 9s 2d. Lttteltox Regatta Coxceut. — The committee must be congratulated on the success of their concert on Wednesday evening. The hall was tastefully decorated with flags and evergreens, and the room was well filled. The programme commenced with Stevenson's glee " See our Oars," which was very nicely rendered. Mrs Beechey sang with great taste Gabriel's "Ruby," and was heartily applauded. Mr Howell sang admirably " The Anchor's Weighed," and in reply to a persistent encore, repeated the last verse. A duet, arranged for harmouium aud clarionet, " Cujus Animain " was excellently played by Herr Biinz and Mr Parker. Mr Carder's song " The Sailor's Grave," being \ encored, he responded with " Maid of Athens." Miss Jenny Toomer's song "Milly's Faith" was also encored. The duet for flute and pianoforte " Rondo in D " by Mr J. C. Wilson, C.8., and Mr Parker was heartily applauded and redemanded. The first part concluded with a duet "The Larboard Watch," which was excellently rendered. The secend part commenced with i a duet for cornet and pianoforte by Messrs C. Coombes and R. Parker ; it was encored but not responded to. Mr Zeesler sang his song with great taste, and was warmly applauded. Mrs Beechy sang " The Forsaken" exquisitely, eliciting the applause of the audience. Mr Parker's harmonium solo was encored. Mr Howell sung " The Good-bye at the door," which was encored. The violin solo by Mr Biinz was well received ; and Mr J. Parker was encored for his comic song. The duet " All's Well " brought the concert to a close. Litekaky Institute. — The quarterly general meeting of subscribers was held in the lecture hall last night, the Rev C. Fraser in the chair. The treasurer reported a credit balance at the bank of £27 8s lid, but said there were outstanding accounts owing to the amount of £30 12s 9d. A recommendation made at the annual general meeting for closing the library during hal f the day was discussed, and, with a view to facilitating its decision, a return of attendance during the 24 days, ending Sept. 27, was submitted. This showed that the total attendance, from 10 a.m. to noon, during that period, had been 4-<; from noon to 5 p.m., 99; and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., 196; giving a total of 147 for the day, and 196 for the evening. After some consideration, it was resolved that the mat ter should be further deferred until the nextquarterly meeting, the statistics being, in the meantime, continued so that no hurried decision should be arrived at. The insufficiency of papers in the Institute as referred to by his Honor the Superintendent at the closing entertainment of the winter series was mooted, aud the committee reported that arrangements had been made forgetting the following additions forthwith : — The Southern Cross, the Grei/ River Argus, the Hokiliha Leader, the Field, and Bell's Life in London. Through the kindness of the Press Company they were also to have immediately on arrival in Christchurch one copy each of the Melbourne Argus, the Spectator, the Pall Mall Gazette, and the London daily Times. This list was deemed very satisfactory by the meeting, and a vote of thanks was accorded to the Press Company for their liberality. A motion carried by the committee at a recent meeting " that it was desirable to remove the reading-room to the lecture hall, which should be permanently fitted up in a convenient aud comfortable manner, the committee henceforth confining their attention entirely to the requirements of j a library and reading-room, and abandoning all further ideas in respect to entertainments," was submitted and approved. It was then decided that a list of newspapers and other periodicals taken in by the Institute, should be printed and hung up in the rooms, the propri.tora of the two leading journals to be also asked if they would insert it in their columns as a standing advertisement at a nominal cost. A resolution was also adopted, requesting his Honor the .-'uperiutendent to assume the office of patron of the Institute instead of president, and that a president and two vice-presidents should be elected from amongst the subscribers. Dr Turnbull was elected to a vacancy in the committee, and a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman. The Thames Goldfiei,ds — A correspondent of the Greymouth Evening Star, says — This Thames rush is not a storekeeper's rush, nor a duffer's rush. It has got quartz reefs, and some few of them very rich, although not as rich by a long way as has been circulated about them. The Thames rush may be called, as indeed it is called by many, a sharebroker's and general swindler's rush. There are several hundreds of companies in existence. The locality of many of these alleged quartz-reefs is not even known by the shareholders. 1 hey don't want to know. They know there is no gold. All they want is to sell their scrip to the first fiat they can catch. Four-fifths of the companies which have been rushed into existence 4 never produced an ounce of gold, and never will. The amount of paid-up capital in these mines is all moonshine. There is not a sixpence in the pound in hard cash. It is a gigantic bubble, and when it bursts, as very s o» it must, thousands and thousands will find themselves ruined, swindled, robbed, or beggared. If some of these shareholders —men, not a few of them notorious police-

characters — are not yet lynched, or tarred and feathered, it is strange to me. Do not let any of the flourishing reports you hear about Auckland induce any of you to leave Greymouth if you can only make a living and hold your own. The Imperial Troops in Nbw Zealand. — A Blue-book lately issued by the Imperial Parliament contains a passage showing that H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, the FieldMarshal Coramanding-in-Chief, protested against the removal of the lSih Regiment from New Zealand. Under date 28th i.ecem- | ber, 1867, his Royal Highness* secretary, Col. Johnson, intimates to the War-Office that the Commander-in-chief " is desirous of drawing the attention of the Secretary for the Colonies to the important question of the withdrawal of the battalion of infantry from New Zealand, and trusts they will concur with His Royal Highness in the opinion that it would be very prejudicial to Imperial iuterests to leave that important colony without regular troops, a course that appears to have been contemplated, but which His Royal Highness hopes will not be carried out." Woomvashing. —" A Yorkshire Woolgrower" writes to the Argus on the subject of wool- washing in hot water as follows: " A short tioje ago there appeared in your paper a paragraph to the effect that it had been found in England that the practice of washing wool in warm water injured the fibre. Such a complaint was made by some of the wool staplers last season, but it is a noticeable fact that it was solely in relation to Victorian wools. Now, in Tasmania, for many years past, the wool has been washed in warm water, but no complaint has ever been made about the quality of the fibre. I think, therefore, that the cause of the injury to the fibre of our wool cannot be the warm water, hut admits of an equally ensy explanation It is simply the use of soda-soap in washing instead of potash-soap. Whenever soda or hard soap ie used a peculiar harshuess of feeling is observablj in the wojl, and this harshness is caused by the splitting of the fibre through the action of the soda. Where potash or soft soap is used, this harshness never results. That this is so may be easily proved by washing equal weights of wool in soda ley and potash ley and carefully drying, when it will be found that not only is the parcel washed in soft soap more silky to the touch than the other, but that it has not lost nearly so much in weight." Geoege Francis Train. — The Argus copies the following from the San Francisco News Letter of June 5 :— George Francis Train, that incomprehensible compounded agglomeration of impudence, brass, conceit, egotism, vanity, insolence, ignorance, shrewdness, cunning, cupidity, vulgarity, buffoonery, obscenity, infidelity — the intellectual eunuch, the oratorical harlequin, the verbal limberjack, the financial burnt-cork clown, the political dancing- monkey— that social eruption that keeps the epidermis of the civilised portion of the human race in a constant state of irritation — that perambulating moral cancer that is eating out the life and the patience of the two hemispheres — that uuiversal pedlar of stale fish, whose mental tia horn eternally vexes the ear of the world— insufferable bore and ineffable blathcr-skite— is still holding forth in San Francisco, hefore gaping nmUitudep, who accept hia senseless balderdash for wisdom, because they do not understand it, take his insolence for bluntness, his buffoonery for wit, his ranting for eloquence, his sickening self -laudations for independence. — Stockton Gazette. [Our sentemporary is fair — very fair — hut mistaken. The audiences oc Mr Train accept tint gentleman's eloquence for nothing of the kind. They go to look at him for the same reason that they go to North Beach to seethe nasty bears and monkeys. George Francis is amusing, and if our people keep a tight grip on their noses, perfectly inoffensive. TheNews Letter also says — " George Francis Trrtin stated that the English were a nation, of drunknrls and prostitutes. Mrs ' Jones,.- 'of Prospect Place, Clay street, resented. this in-' suit to her countrywomen by collaring the blackguard in public and spitting in his face. Mrs Jones, of Prospect Place, i lay street, is entered in our books as perpetual free sub-. scriber to the News Letter." A New Pianoforte Movement. — . Messrs John Brimsmead and Sons, London, have l«tely introduced a real improvement in pianofortes, whereby greater elasticity is given to the movement of the key*, and consequently greater e-se and comfort are afforded to the player. The hammer being held firmly by the check after it has struck the blow, the strings are allowed to vibrate freely, thu3 producing a purer, more sustained tone, and owing to there being no tremulous recoil of the hammer, greater pow<r and volume. When, heretofore, this desideratum has been even partially attained, the repetition has been sae:iflced, as it was necessary, when the hummer was held " in check," to raise the finger off the keyboard before the action was perfectly reinstated and ready for another blow ; but by the improvement above noted, a repetition of the note can be obtained even when the key is pressed down to within one-eighth of an inch of its utmost limit. This effect is partly due to the bevelling of the " sticker," which thus not only escapes freely, but assists the readjustment of the action. This arrangement obviates the necessity for a space between the hopper and hammer, and prevents the former from striking the leather on the butt of the latter, and producing that "rattling" so disagreeable to the ear of the player. Friction is thus reduced to a minimum : the blow ie rendered direct and uniform, and intermediate percussions between the pressure of the finger on the key and the blow of the hammer on the string are avoided. Indeed, it is impassible for the hammer to remain in contact with the string, and stop the tone after the blow has been struck (technically termed blocking), as the butt ;n against which the arm from thesticker presses forces the sticker quite clear of the: hammer butt. This i»"ftn important improvement, when we consider that the action ; of ordinary pianos baa'' a

number of hinges made of vellum and leather which are apt to become swollen and stiff by moisture of a damp room, and spoil tin touch.