Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 683, 1 August 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

Representation of Chsistchiibch.— We learn by telegram from Wellington that Mr .Travers |has placed his resignation in the • -hands of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. A writ for the election of a new •member cannot be issued till the Speaker has called attention to the vacancy in the House, to-morrow. It is possible the writ may come •Jpiru by the Taranaki. Jf New Zealand Flax Tow. — A Wanganui paper has been informed that a gentleman in r .that town has received a letter from D. «Masterton and Co,, of Melbourne, on the subject of tow for the manufacture of paper. A paper manufactory has been established in Melbourne, and it is probable that New Zealand flax tow, which at ihe present time is of little value, will in a short time be in great demand.

PI Gobsb Hedges. — We Kare been shown, at Clarendon Hotel, a most ingenious model of " a machine for cutting gorse hedges hy horse power, invented by Mr E. H. Hudson, of Taitapu, bnt, as a patent has not yet been applied for, we are not at liberty to give a description of it. Stoke Educational District. — The School Committee of this Educational District, which takes in most of the North Moeraki Downs, joining Fernside Educational District on the east, and Cust Valley on the south, has accepted the. tender of Mr Carter for the erection of the school and master's house. They are to be commenced immediately. Malvern Hills Coal. — We are informed by Mr Hicks, of the City Bakery, that he recently tested a sample of coal, consisting of one hundredweight and a-half, from Mr M. B. Hart's pit, Malvern Hills. Mr Hicks assures us that his ovens were heated in half the space of time than has been the case on occasions when he used a corresponding quantity of imported coal, and that there are no "clinkers" or dross deposited in the grating after consumption. Dramatic.— Miss Rose Evans and Mr G. Claremont appeared at Burnip's Assembly Room, Kaiapoi, on Friday evening in their varied dramatic entertainment. The attendance was not very large, but the wellmerited applause accorded to the performers afc the conclusion of each selection clearly testified the appreciation of the audience. The performance was repeated on Saturday evening with similar success. Miss Evans will re-appear at the' Town Hall to-morrow evening. Inquest.— An inquest was held on Saturday afternoon before Dr Co ward, Coroner, on the body of Mr Beverley Buchanan, who was found dead in a chair in his bedroom the previous afternoon. Mr C. W. H. Woledge was chosen foreman of the jury. The evidence showed that the deceased had been under the doctor's care some months previous. After hearing the evidence of the witnesses and that of Dr Campbell, who made the post mortem examination, the jury returned a verdict of " Death from Natural Causes."; Ecclesiastical.— The Ross paper of July 26 says : — The Lord Bishop of Christchurch, assisted by the Rev. D. O. Hampden, held Divine Service in the Church of England on Sunday morning last, and after the service, several of the congregation received the most Holy Communion. During the evening service, eight candidates received the Order of Confirmation, and after this was concluded, his Lordship, in a most solemn and touching manner, addressed the congregation on the importance of the ceremony they had witnessed, and particularly urged on, those who had just been confirmed the responsibilities in taking on themselves the vows promised for them at their baptism. Theatre Royal. — A more than usually attractive bill was presented on Saturday night. Bulwer's " Lady of Lyons" was the first piece and " Narcisse" the second. Both may be classed amongst the most successful of the pieces produced during the engagement of Miss BoAvring and Mr Steele. The large audience attracted by the bill* had every reason to be satisfied with the success of both dramas. The acting was more evenly balanced and more finished than on previous representations, the stock members of the company being generally more perfect in their parts. The two leading characters in each piece offer no scope for remark beyond what has already been bestowed upon them. To-night Mr Searle takes a benefit, the pieces announced being " The Rivals " and " Twenty Minutes with a Tiger." Ltttelton Children's Entertainment. — The fifth of the series took place in the Church of England Schools, Lyttelton, on Friday, and attracted a large attendance! The readings given on the occasion were too lengthy, some of them occupying over half an hour, and not being interesting to young minds, sorely tried their patience. We hope at the next entertainment this will be avoided, and that light pieces, capable of being understood by children, will be selected. Master ' Harry Knowles gave in capital style a short reading during the evening, and obtained a well-merited round of applause. The band of the Orphanage was present, and played several pieces during the evening. The Rev. F. Knowles, at the close, spoke very feelingly of the death of Mr Buchanan, who had always been a great friend to the children of the town. Springs Road Board. — The Board met on Friday last for the purpose of receiving a report from the clerk as to the amount of rates collected, and to authorise him to summon defaulters, the three months allowed by the Ordinance for the payment of the rates being up on the Ist of August. A list of those who had not paid having been read, the clerk was instructed to sue at once. He was also instructed to prepare the rate roll and assessment for the ensuing year, and to prepare a tracing showing the properties which,, in his opinion, were liable to be injured by- the overflow of Nos. 1 and 2 rivers. Letters were read from the Secretary for Public Works stating that the fourth instalment of the Government grant would be payable after the Ist of August. From the Acclimatization Society soliciting the aid of the Board in obtaining subscriptions ; and from the Board of Conservators with reference to the rat 6 about to be collected. It was resolved not to undertake any works except the maintenance of the roads till the winter was over. A petition, which had been forwarded for the signature of the chairman, with reference to the Tai-tapu Road, was signed, and the chairman was desired to wait on the Government, as one of the deputation, to present the same, as requested by resolution of the meeting at the Ellesmere Arms. Some accounts having been passed foi* payment, the Board adjourned. The members present were Messrs Pannett, Mile 3, Gammack, aud Wright.

Mandev_xle : TihsiQ^rThi Inhabitants of this district are in very. great need of a school. Distance shuts thlm out from the advantages bf Fernside district school, the nearest settler's house being three miles and a-half from Fernside : Distance and the river Eyre from Eyretown school. At the present time about forty children are capable of attending school. Several preliminary meetings have been held to consider the matter, and steps have been taken to solicit subscriptions, which amount now to over £50. Shortly a meeting is to be held for the purpose of taking the necessary steps to have a school established. A New Contrivance. — "Nature" mentions a new contrivance for preventing people looking into a room, while light is not excluded. It consists of a number of glass rod 9, arranged either vertically or horizontally, and secured together by appropriate frames, forming a series of cylindrical lenses, which break up the light and throw it into every part of the room, thus producing a soft and diffused glow which is very beautiful and pleasant. The glass rods may be of any colour, and by an arrangement of the colours very beautiful effects can be produced. The contrivance is the invention of Mr Demuth. A Faithful Tiger. — An amusing scene occurred the otber day at the citadel of Dover. The 102 nd Regiment have a very fine tiger just come to this country with the regiment from India. He is very tame, and is daily taken for a walk, and he also goes round the mess table getting tit-bits. The other day his keeper got the worse for drink, and made his way to tbe den, fearing detection. An officer, Beeing that the man lay asleep, and the tiger sitting by him, sent for the piquet, who at any other time can do what they please with the beast. The moment they attempted to go near the keeper the tiger growled, and very soon let them see they must keep off. For two hours the tiger kept guard over bis keeper, who, on awakening, was surprised to see no one dared come near his charge. Chinese Pirates. — The Overland Chinese Mail relates the following as an " amusing incident." We confess that we fail to discover where the amusement comes in. The Mail says : — An amusing incident happened on the coast near Ningpo a few days ago. A rather high mandarin started from Taichow on board a war junk, to attack pirates known to be on the coast between that port and Ningpo. Shortly after leaving, his junk overtook a trader, well laden with passengers, going in the same direction. The usual inquiries were interchanged as to destination ; and the two. sailed on in each other's vicinity. On the following day, two other traders hove in sight — all going on the same course, and all full of passengers. On the third day, the three closed in on the war-junk, threw combustibles on board, boarded her in the confusion, looted her, and drove her crew overboard. The mandarin's foot was cut off as he disappeared over the side, and he was drowned, together with many of his men. Of course the traders were pirates, who had got wind of the official intention in regard to them, and thus turned the tables: It is said that they are all .disbanded soldiers from the Taichow mandarin's force, who had taken to piracy from want of other employment. A Slight Mistake.— The Paris correspondent of the Sydney Morning Heraldrelates .the following:— A comical mistake occurred a few days back through the combined influence of the passion of the French for showing off any little scrap of English they may manage to pick up. A certain marquise, desirous of possessing a chignon of a particular shade of blue black that the French artists are incompetent to produce, applied, to her . hairdresser to procure her a quantity of this appendange, of the desired shade. The coiffeur having picked up a small modicum of English words, sent to his London brother the following message per telegraph.}—" Send at once to Madame la Marquise de D a, University street, a packet hares, blue and first-rate, the amount of which you will put upon my account." The London hair merchant, much surprised at the arrival of such an order, set himself, nevertheless, to execute it; and the Marquise accordingly received, to her amazement, a day or two ago, an open-work hamper, containing a couple of " blue" hares, which rare and excellent species of game Bhe can now acclimatise on her estate in Normandy. She has requested her too-polyglottic hairdreiser to send a freßh order to the London house, and to use, tbis time, hiß native tongue instead of his English. - Speculating fob a Fall.— The Paris correspondent of the Economist tells the following :— A judgment just given by the Imperial Court of Paris may be of interest to speculators on the Bourse. A certain Mr Thompson, an Englishman, engaged in very extensive operations (they amounted, it is eaid, between July, 1867, and May, 1869, to not less than 356,000,000 f., making £14,240,000), had speculated for a fall at the end of April last in the French Threes, in the Austrian Railways, and the Suez Canal, but the result was contrary to his expectation. He could not pay the differences, and was " executed." The sums produced by the execution, joined to those he had deposited with his brokers as a guarantee, not sufficing to clear him, one of them brought an action against him for the sum remaining due. In answer, he pleaded that his speculations had been purely and simply gambling, and that the broker knew it. On the part of the broker, it was represented that Thompson had given himself out aa a banker and as the agent of foreign capitalists, and that' consequently his operations must be considered bond fide. But the Court, after investigating the facts, said that it appeared that Thompson had taken out no licence either as hanker or trader, had lived in very modest style, had no office and no clerks, and had only bis own limited capital to dispose of ; all. which the plaintiff knew, or, on making inquiry, might have learned. It followed that the speculations of such a man carried on to an enor-

mous figure, and Bettled when "T^hey were* settled, not by the delivery or the Receipt of securities, but by payment of differences; were, " in reality, only bets on a rise or fall which were condemned by the law and by morality," and could hot consequently be made the subject of a law suit. And as the Court held that the broker " could not have been mistaken" on the matter, it dismissed his action, and ordered him to pay the costs. O'Connorville. — The following is from the Times : — The late Mr Fergus O'Connor purchased in 1847 a farm of nearly 300 acres in the parish of Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, on behalf of the shareholders of his land company. This was one of three or four estates purchased by him, and it is said there were 70,000 shareholders. This estate he divided into 85 allotments of from two to four acres each, and built a cottage on each allotment, distributing the plots and cottages among those shareholders who had paid up the full amount of a share (£5) in their order as they stood upon his list, and a shareholder obtaining possession of his- little farm received from the company's funds "head money" of £7 10s an acre, and was charged with his share of interest of a mortgage debt of £5000. The estate, with cottage building, road making, &c, cost £20,000, or, with the head money, £22,500. The land is a good deal of it on cornbrash, and said to be worth about £2 an acre. The Assistant-Commis-sioner, who recently visited Oxfordshire on behalf of the Commissioner on Employment in Agriculture, found only two of the original allottees in possession, and the allotment of one of these had just been sold. The seller said, " he had been twenty years learning how to live without victuals, and had just about come to it." As long as the head money lasted all went well, but after a time the allottees, who were chiefly artisans from large towns, and did not like hard agricultural work, began to j leave their allotments, and tbe interest of the debt not being paid, the mortgagees endeavoured, but in vain, to sell the estate. Even- ] tually the affairs of the company were wound up in Chancery. A considerable number of the allotments were sold, and the possession of the remainder was confirmed to the allottees on payment of a rent-charge which, in the case of a four-acre allotment, amounted to £9 10s. The Assist-ant-Commissioner considers that a tolerably fair farm rent, allowing £3 for the cottage; but the person above mentioned has sold his four acres and cottage for £106, subject to the rent-charge of £9 10s. If the shareholders could have . held on until now they would have sustained no loss except that of interest. But to make a living for himself and family off even the largest of these allotments would require all the energy and skill of an able-bodied agricultural labourer ; to the class of men whom Mr O'Connor introduced it was almost an impossibility. Mr Freer, a landowner, has purchased about a third of the estate. He has put three or four allotments together, letting them to one ; man, who sublets the cottages. The allotments, he says, are let at 50s an acre with £3 additional for the. cottage. Many of the | occupiers work for wages as well with neighbouring farmers. Mr ITreer says "A man may get a liviDg off ten acres let at a fair I rent, or he may- get a living off (say) two 1 acres, for which he pays no rent or rant-charge; but none of those who have the allotments singly at a rent are able to lire off them. A man whom I knew purchased an allotment of four acres for £160 seventeen years ago, soon paid off £100 of his debt, and has made a living since. He wants £350 for his allotment now, and could easily get £300." The Assistant-Commissioner describes the cottages as built of stone and slated, having three rooms on the ground floor, each twelve feet square, a piggery and ahed. - The pattern Is the same throughout. He says he never saw a place more dreary and devoid of all the picturesque features of a* country village.