Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 572, 21 March 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

Act Exhibition.— Saturday's attendance at the Exhibition was fully up to the average. Theatre Royai,. — There was a large attendance at the Theatre on Saturday night in all parts of the house. The Hibernian drama, " Poul o'Dhoul," and the burlesque of " Susan, the Blackeyed," were repeated. j Scientific. —We understand that Dr Haast has been offered the position of Colonial Geologist for Western Australia, by the Government of that colony. The public will be glad to learn that Dr Haast has declined the offer. Kaiapoi Fire Bbigade. — A meeting of this brigade was held at the Borough Council Chamber, on Friday evening last. Mr R. Wright, Fire Inspector, occupied the chair. The committee appointed to prepare rules for the guidance of the brigade, handed in a draft copy, which wa3 adopted, with a few alterations, and ordered to be printed'for distribution among the members. The chairman said the next business for the meeting was the election of officers. After considerable discussion, it was resolved to elect only a foreman and secretary at present, the branchman and his assistant to be elected from the most competent men after the brigade has turned out for practice with the engine. The election of officers, by ballot, was then proceeded with, and the following were elected, viz. :— Mr W.Burnip, foreman, and Mr H. Blackwell, secretary and treasurer, after which, the meeting adjourned. Tka Meeting at Raithbt.— On Thursday evening, the 17th instant, the anniversary of the Wesleyan Society at Raithby, was held in the chapel. About fifty adults, besides a large number of children, sat down to a capital tea, provided gratuitously by some of the members. The anniversary should have been held about New Year's Day, but it was thought advisable by those interested to postpone it for a few weeks, on account of there being at the time a counteracting influence elsewhere in the shape of a bazaar at Kaiapoi, and several tea meetings throughout the circuit. The chair was occupied by Mr A. Hodgson, and the meeting was addressed by the Rev./- J. B. Richardson, Messrs Sharplin, Rutland, Philpott, and Bradley. The proceeds of the tea and collection, amounting to £5 Ss 6d, will be devoted towards liquidating a debt of £6 10s 2d which previously rested on the chapel. The Defence Expenditure. — Referring to an article which appeared in our columns on the above subject, the leading Wellington paper of March 15 saya:— The South would have ample cause for dissatisfaction with the Fox Ministry if it were thus deliberately to break the pledges of reduction in defence expenditure made especially to the Southern members. But as far as we can ascertain, the statements of the Napier correspondent (of the Otago Daily Times) are absolutely incorrect. The Armed Constabulary, put down at 1000, number only 750; the natives with Topia and Kemp stated to be 600, only number 400; the Taupo natives employed, asserted to be 200, only amount to half that number; the Bay of Plenty natives and others set down at 150 number 100 ; the Ngatiporou which are put down at a guess at 500 number 450, and Hamlin'e natives and volunteers estimated at 400 more or less, are less by 200. Another 350 are set down as employed on transport and commissariat service, or as volunteers and militia every where on pay. There is a semblance of truth in this last item, for at the date of the letter a larger number of militia and volunteers were on pay than have been employed either before or since, in consequence of Te Kooti's presence for a time in the neighbourhood of Tauranga and the Waikato settlements. Thus; with the exception of the few days during which these militia and volunteers were employed, the 3700 men dwindled down to 2000, more than half of whom are natives not on consecutive pay. It is to be remembered, moreover, that the native forces, whenever they are not wanted/are no expense at all, aa their services can be altogether dispensed with at a moment's notice, without the slightest difficulty. We are not in a position to ascertain the exact expenditure on defence purposes by the present Ministry, but we have good reason for believing that the expenditure for the last three months will not probably exceed £14,000 a month, part of which may fairly be charged against the Northern Island for road work, as the Armed Constabulary are largely employed in opening up the country ; and by the plan at present adopted of subsidising only the successful results of a campaign against Te Kooti, this expenditure will be immediately and largely reduced.

Ross.— The Hokitika paper of March 18 publishes the following from its correspondent :— The drainage engine is gradually doing some good, although the effect is very slowly showing itself. In fact, Ross was never before in such a state financially. This is not to be wondered at when we take into consideration the large amount of money that has to come put of the pockets of the miners located on Jones' Flat at stated intervals, without their being able to get one single ounce of gold out of their claims as the result of the scheme to which they contribute, except in one instance, Everingham and party. In mining, no startling finds hare been made, although a fair proportion of gold has been brought in by sluicers, the weather having been favourable for the separation of the gold from the washdirt. A further proof of the faith in which the deep ground is held is, that two ten acre leases have been applied for, one by Hall and Co., and another by Geddes and Co. Several shafts at Gorman and Sailor's Gullies are being sunk to te9t the deep ground, one of which is being puty down by Smith and party. M'Rae and party on Guardian Flat have just got properly to work again. They have been putting in a tunnel about sixty feet long, and are now! upon a fine layer of washdirt seven feet deep, and are working it in day and night shifts, ] with two horses. They will, however, be glad when the Ross Extended get to work, from whom they expect to get drainage. At Donoghue'a, the water has been got out of some of the deep claims, and the work is again proceeding smoothly. At Redman's, the Bowen Extended are getting some good gold. This is the only one, with the exception of the London Extended, that is doing any good at all, but we believe that Redman's has good d«ys in store. Elleshere Farmers' Club. — A meeting of the Ellesmere Farmers' Club was held at Loe's Hotel, Lee9ton, on the evening of Friday, March 18. Present .—The Rev. W. J. G. Bluett (chairman), Messrs Frankish, Gardiner, Smith, Moorehead, Lemmon, Parkin, Barnet, Anderson, Rose, Woodman, Bullock, Dudley, Osborne, Gillett, E. Johnstone, and W. D. Lawrence. The chairman gave expression to the very great pleasure it afforded him to see so many members of the club present, and stated that he and Mr Gillett had paid a visit to the Christian McAusland, and were now in a position to assure those who" intended shipping by her that she was everything that could be desired, as far as appearances went. She was to sail about the 15th of April, and had accommodation for about 25,000 bushels of grain. The chairman had also applied to the Government, to ascertain whether they were prepared to make any abatement — in favour of the Clvb — of the rate of charges through to Lyttelton, but was shown the Act wherein it waß specified that no such arrangement could be entered into on behalf of any person or company. He (the chairman) was sorry to hear that one or two of those, who, at the meeting at the Irwell, had guaranteed to send home a certain quantity, now felt disposed to draw back. He hoped the rumour was incorrect, and if it unfortunately turned out that it was more than a mere. rumour, he hoped the Club would insist upon a very good excuse indeed being given for so doing. While in town he had enquired of the Government concerning the progress that had been made in the matter of the Southbridge and Rolleston railway, and he now produced a tracing of the original proposed route, which also shewed an amended one some 2£ miles shorter. The reason it had been found necessary to make any alteration in the original was, that several proprietors in the neighbourhood of Springston had refused to sell their land to the Government, 'except at an exorbitant rate, and some even to sell upon any terms. The new line missed Springston altogether, and presented no such difficulties. After an examination of the tracing, the Club passed the following resolution : — " That this meeting is thoroughly satisfied with the proposed alteration in the line of railway from Rolleston to Southbridge, as shown by the ' Chief Purveyor's, report, and marked (B) on the map, and respectfully requests that his Honor the Superintendent will without delay take steps to have the railway commenced, and carried if possible as far as the Irwell, or as much further towards Leeston and Southbridge, as the funds at present at the disposal of the Government for that purpose will allow, and that the tolls upon such line be granted to the contractor for such term of years as may! be agreed upon by the Government. The chairman had a communication from Colonel Brett, expressing a wish that delegates from the Ellesmere Farmers' Club and the Courtenay Farmers' Club would meet at stated intervals, to be agreed upon hereafter. — Agreed to. Mr Gardiner proposed that each member who intended sending grain to England would supply the chairman with a sample of each parcel of his grain, one-half of which samples would be sent by the vessel, the other to remain with the chairman. —Carried. A lengthened discussion ensued upon immigration, the final result being that the Club deem it incumbent upon the General Government to inaugurate a scheme applicable .to the whole colony. It was proposed by Mr Bluett, seconded and carried, that upon future occasions of meeting, upon no pretence whatever will strangers be admitted. Proposed also by Mr Bluett, seconded by Mr Lawrence, and carried, that a thanksgiving service be celebrated at Southbridge Church on Thursday, March 31, at 2 p.m.; also, that a dinner be held the same evening at Loe's hotel, Leeston, at 5 o'clock to which employers are to invite such of their servants as have shewed interest in their employers' welfare during the past year. Agreed to. The election of Messrs Moule, Anderson, Watson, and Baxter was confirmed; that of Mr Falloon was negatived, upon the grounds of his not being either a farmer or proprietor. Mr Frankish proposed Mr T. Taylor as a new member, seconded by Mr Rose. A letter was read from Mr O'Cal-

laghan, urging his claim of £8 for services rendered, and threatening legal proceedings in default. The Club resolved to allow Mr O'Callaghan to take the case into Courfc. An Affront Kbtbi,i,ed. — A story is told, says the Pall Mall Gazette, which may be commended to Parisian gentlemen as containing a valuable bint. Two Americans were dining with two ladies at an hotel in Baden Baden. A Russian priree, who wished to pick a quarrel with them, purchased two bouquets, and sent them to the American ladies with his compliments. The Americans glanced pleasantly at the Russian, and sent him by the waiter who brought the flowers two napoleons. The offender was, it is stated, so chagrined that he left the room. It is thus shown that people who have abandoned duelling may be by no means so defenceless against personal affronts as might be supposed. 3;he Papal Abmt. — The special correspondent of the Times in Rome says : — I have ,been this afternoon to a review of the Papal forces in the grounds of the Villa Borghese. There were about 7000 or 8000 men, and, as the day was glorious, all Rome was there. I have seen many reviews, never one so picturesque and beautiful. There is a large and long: circus, I should think about as large a 9 the Circus Maximus, surrounded by a sort of racecourse, surrounded again by terraces or large steps. The artillery and the dragoons were within the circus, and two regiments of Zouaves in the course round it. The old iofantry, one or two «ther regiments of Zouaves, and another squadron of dragoons, formed a large circuit at some distance round. The chief feature, at least in the way of curiosity, was some 100 of the new force raised from the Contadini, on the sea coast of the Campagna — light, active men, but yet to be made soldiers. These werechiefly distinguished by a sort of country sandals, and by their jaunty little hats, with cocks' feathers. I have seen many little companies of them conducted round Rome to see ail the churches and sights. As most of the ladies in Rome, most of the Bishops, in their costumes of various colours, and a good many other people privileged to dresß in gay clothes were there, the effect was charming. The Papal army contains a greater variety of uniforms than any army I know, and more colours. But that was not all. Here they were massed within and under a little forest of stone pines, cypresses, cedars, with temples, towers, and the bastions of the old Roman wall peeping through here and there. I could have done more justice to it had I not been a prisoner half-an-hour ia the returning columns, and surrounding mass of spectators, It was " magnificent " — whether " war " or not I leave others to say, The Khedive and his Goests. — Writing of the opening of the Suez Canal, the special correspondent of the Times says : — Now that all is over we may, without captiousness, express the opinion that the Land of Egypt was visited by a self-inflicted plague. There were too many guests invited, and they were of a sort, in many instances, to do no good to themselves or any body or thing else. The pressure was greater than the constitution could bear. There has been a good deal of grumbling— soate quite unreasonable and ridiculous, if not irritating and discreditable, a little well-founded, perhaps, so far as fortune is concerned. People of great expectations who came late have not what capitalists call " realised " on the occasion. The Suez Canal has made men acquainted with strange bed- fellows. Imagine a gentleman of no distinction in any way going to the Viceroy and demanding an audience, which Ismail, most accessible of Pashas and rulers to Europeans, granted, and in which his injured guest complained that he bad been put to sleep in a double-bedded room 1 And what a fine stroke of humour there was in the Khedive's atonement. He gave orders that three more beds should be placed in the apartment of the complainant. The way noble lords have been shoved into two-pair backs and doubled up with " commercials," or literary gents, or clods has been very trying; and now and then graver mistakes have been made; but if the bill of grievances were extended ever so long there would be still an immense amount of courtesy, order, and attention to acknowledge, praise, and be thankful for, which, under all the circumstances, is very astonishing. The Tbofpmamn Mubdebs. — The Times Paris correspondent supplies the following: — The trial of Troppmann (the official orthography of a name that has been very variously spelt;) commenced to-day in the Paris Assize Court. Although comparatively little has of late been heard of this atrocious criminal, that la not to be attributed to indifference on the part of the public, but merely to the exhaustion by the Press of every possible detail of interest relating to the horrible Pantin tragedy and its perpetrator. Certain sensational journals have continued to supply anecdotes of the murderer, and particu* lars of hie daily life, deportment in prison, &c., but to these it was impossible invariably to give credence, considering their improbability and the fact that those papers are frequently more anxious to stimulate the appetites of readers than strictly to confine themselves to facts. It is rather difficult to believe that Troppmann has bean so much indulged as is asserted, unless it was with the idea of throwing him off his guard and obtaining revelations. According to the papers, he has been leading in prison what persons of his class would term a ''jolly life," and which seems to hare been untroubled by pangs of remorse. His prison at the Conciergerie is a large room, which he shares with two police agents and two prisoners, who act as a-ixiiitry guirdians. An agent and an auxiliary are always with him — awake and vigilant. The cell is No. 1. and is the same that w^.s occupied by Phillippe. the man who murdered several women of the town. It is stated that he is allowed to play at cards with his four companions, and that he has indulgences in the way of diet such as we can hardly suppose are vouchsafed to ordinary criminals. On Christmas Ere

a paper of today relates, he was very gay and played at cards for a supper, which he won. « After supper they danced ; Troppmann capered and gambolled, after which he wrestled and boxed with one of his keepers, who had the worst of it. To console him for his defeat, Troppmann took his portrait. He has many accomplishment-." This sketch gives one a rather curious idea o£ the regulations and discipline of a French piison. His food is that allowed to what U called the "privileged" class of prisoners, but on the first day of bis confinement in the Conciergerie he turned up his noße at it, and desired chocolate for his breakfast, which was given him. He does not like to be spoken to of his crime, but often talks of it himself, and has given some horrible details, derived partly, perhaps, from a morbid imagination. It is said that one day, when he complained of his hair being too long, they offered to send for a barber, but he declined and aaid, laughing gloomily, that it was useless, since "in three weeks or a month all could be out at once." For the first weak of his imprisonment one of his " auxiliary" guardians was a powerful fellow, who had been drawer at a wine shop, and who appeared rather proud of his post of trust. He was very intimate with Troppmann. whom he used to ciU *« mon vieux Baptiate," and his opinion was that he had accomplices in the murder, and that they keep him tongae-tied by the threat of killing some member c:; his family. In an interview with his brother*, an artillery soldier, Troppman is reported to have denied having murdered Madame Kinck and har five children, although he admitted he was present— by constraint, he said— and owned to have killed Jean and Gustavo Kinck. The impression left upon the mind by the perusal of the numerous accounts of his prison conversation is that, either from want of memory or the better to conceal the truth, he has made conflicting statements. If it be true, as asserted, that upwards of 20 anonymous letters of a threatening character have been addressed to him in prison, and seized by the authorities, this would seem to confirm the suspicion of intimidation by accomplices in the crime. Great Wim, Fosgery in Russia.— A case that has excited an immense sensation ia Russia has recently been decided at S*. Petersburg. On the 11th of July, 1865, a Councillor of State, named Alexander Andreiew, died at Kharkow, leaving a fortune estimated to exceed 300,000 roubles, consisting partly of land and the rest of securities of various kinds. Having no heirs, the land he possessed in the government of Kharkow was placed under the guardianship of the Valki administration, and Alexander Zaroudny, a captain in the cavalry, was appointed trustee^ Shortly after Andreiew's death, some distant relatives of his sent ia their claim to the Civil Court at Kharkov. On the 23rd of April, 1866, the Governor of Moscow telegraphed to the Governor of Eharkow that a Councillor of State named Tutchew had declared that he had in his possession a will by which the deceased had bequeathed his fortune to a M. Saffian'kow and M. Vladimir Zolotnitzky, with instructions to pay his debts and to hand over to the Governor of Kharkow and the Archbishop of the same place the sums he had specified for sundry charitable institutions. M. Saffianikow, an old steward of Andreiew's, and M. Zolotnitsky, grandnephew of the deceased, went to Moscow immediately afterwards, but were unable to find M. Tutchew; the latter then returned to Kharkow, and the former went to Bt. Petersburg, and there concluded an arrangement with a M. Lavrow, by the terms of which the latter undertook, for the sum of 85,000 roubles, to seek out M. Tutchew and the will. The will was subsequently found in the possession of Prince Stcherbatow, who, with Councillor Tatchew, was appointed executor of the testament. Is July, 1866, the Civil Court of St. Petersburg pronounced the will to be valid ; and in the month of August of the same year the Civil Court of Justice of Kharkow decreed that Saffianikow and Zolonitsky should be put in possession of the property. But at the beginning of the following month Captain Paul Zolotnitsky, a distant relative of. the deceased, who laid claim to the property, got an interdict laid on this decree on the ground that the will was a forgery. In the following November he withdrew this accusation, and applied for permission to be released from the legal proceeding he had begun, assigning as a reason that further information bad satisfied him that the will was genuine. The Court, however, decided that if the proceedings in the Civil Court could be abandoned on the application of the parties interested, it could not be allowed in the Criminal Court, and consequently it enforced the decision that the order for an inquiry made on the 28th of September should be maintained. The ultimate result of this inquiry was the confirmation of the charge that the will was & forgery, and from the evidence obtained ia the course of this inquiry Alexis Zaroodny, Alexander Saf&anikow, Serge Lavrow, John Dinkow, N. Goraky, a retired Government secretary ; Prince Peters Stcherbatow, a retired lieutenant ; Captain Peter Matvelew, Nicholas Beltchenko, gentleman ; Colonel Nicholas Polozow, and the wife of the above-named Lavrow were brought before the tribunal of St Petersburg on the charge of forgery. Zaroudny, Saffianikow, and Lavrow were accused of being the instigators of the crime, the other prisoners with being accessories ; and along with them «ras included Vladimir Zolotnitsky on the charge of having been cognizant of the fact that the will was a forgery, and that he bad been induced to present it to the Civil Court of Kharkow in order to obtain the property bequeathed to himself under its provisions. No less than 124 witnesses were examined in the course of the trial, the result of which was that Lavrow was sentenced to transportation to Siberia, Saffisnikow and Dinkow to reside there ; Zaroudny, in whose favour the jury admitted exteau-

ating circumstances, was condemned to reside | in the government of Archangel, the tribunal, taking into consideration the state of | his health, resolving that it would appeal to -the Emperor for permission to remove him to a place where the climate was less severe. The remainder of the prisoners were acquitted. „'.-. ■■„':'.' . The Language, of the (Ecumenical 'Council..— The Pall Mall Gazette has the following :— Among other matters of speculation connected with the Roman CathoH.c Council it has become a question, not merely what these reverend seigniors wi'l say (ff -they are to say anything), but how they will say it. Latin, of course, is supposed to be the official tongue— the one familiar to the lowest and most incapable among them. But at a little rehearsal held the other day they ■came to signal grief at once. It was not a question of entering into a complicated debate about any dogmatical mystery, but simply of concocting the address to his Holiness in answer — more parliamentico — to his speech from the chair. And it was found that all the Latin available did not suffice for a common conversation. Cardinal Albieri, ta whose rooms the scene took place, was beside himself. There was such a Babel as had never been heard in or out of ••Genesis. At last a few American bishops proposed to substitute French, as a language in which a few present might understand -each other. Things went on smoothly for a few minutes in the tongue of the Galileans, if hen up rose the Bishop of Beggio and loudly protested against the profanation. Matters of the Church could only be treated in Latin, he said the Vulgate (which he evidently considered the original " Revelation ") being written in that holy tongue, and some one even suggested Chriit and the apostles as having . spoken that tongue, no doubt, sarcastically. ' And bo the Latin debate was resumed by the few who had mastered the language to a speakable degree. The others sat in silence, hut when it came to signing the address they did sign it all like men. This meeting may well be taken as a prototype of the whole Council.