Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 699, 19 August 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

Lyttelton .Winter Readings. — The next of this series will take place in the Colonists' Hall this evening, when an excellent programme will be presented. Educational. — A meeting will be held tonight at the Literary Institute, of teachers and others interested in education, with the view of forming an educational association. Theatre Royal.— " The Regular Fix," " The Quiet Family," and the burlesque of " The Fair One with the Golden Locks," were played last night to a thin house. This evening's performance will be for the benefit of Messrs Lambert, Huntley, Lovey, and Cripps, and a good programme will be sub- . mitted. j^Flax Rope fob Ships' Use.— We have informed by Mr Lennan, ropemaker, Colombo street south, that the ropes used for running gear on board the ship England were spun by him whilst in the employ of Messrs Benn and Walker at Lcithfield, and that the fibre was not in any way superior to that regularly manufactured by those gentlemen. £ Deputation. — The deputation from the unemployed had an interview yesterday afternoon with the Deputy-Superintendent and Messrs Jollie, Wynn Williams, and A. Duncan. Those who composed the deputation were informed that the City Council had no extra work to give to those who -were in want of it. The Government, however, would find employment at from 3s to 4s a day for those who should make application to the Immigration Officer. We understand that several contributions have been made to the funds of the committee. . Q '■; SiT^Z*

Benevolent. — la addition to the amount collected by Captain Wheeler, we are informed that Mr Isaacs has succeeded in obtaining about £20 in aid of the wives and families of those who were drowned in the s.s. Tauranga. Entebtainbient. — An entertainment consisting of readings and music, was given at St. Alban's schoolroom on Tuesday evening. The Rev. C. Oliver commenced with a reading, which was followed by a quartette, by Messrs Smith, Jones, and ladies; reading, by Mr C. W. Turner ; pianoforte duet, by Mrs E. Long and Miss S. Jones ; " The Friar of Orders Grey " was given by Messrs Smith, Cooper, and ladies ; a song by Mrs Peacock — " Fading Away,"— song by Mr E. Long— "The Bonnie Hills of Scotland" — which was well rendered, and a quartette, by Messrs Smith, Long, Jones, and Smith, brought the entertainment to a close. Entertainji - nt. — Another highly successful re union was held in St. Michael's Schoolroom last night under the presidency of the Very Rev. the Dean. The room was crowded to an extent verging on the inconvenient, and no programme ever passed off with greater eclat. The readings comprised " The foldier's Dream," by Mr J. A. Bird ; " How Commodore Trunnion went to get married;" a passage from Smollet's " Peregrine Pickle," and Mr Charles Green's Adventures in a Balloon," by Mr E. M. Johnson. The Very Rev. the Chairman and Mr W. G. Brittan jun. also contributed a dialogue from Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Miss Bradwdl also read the death of Paul Dombey from " Dombey and Son," and recited " Portia's Apostrophe to Mercy." The musical selections consis^d of several concerted pieces by a lady and gentlemen, members of the church; two pianoforte duets by Miss Ollivier and Mr Simms ; and the songs " When Sorrow Sleepeth," " The three Fishers," by Mrs Innes; " When other Lips," and Schubert's " Adieu," by Mr H. Thompson. Mr Simms played the accompaniments with bis wonted skill, and the National Anthem terminated the entertainment. Without entering into a criticism of the programme, we should not, however, omit to note the manner in which Miss Brad well acquitted herself. The rendering of both pieces evidenced not only careful study, but a truthful conception of the characters. New Zealand Rope.— The public have probably noticed that attention has been drawn in London to the fact that the ship England had arrived from Lyttelton with her running rigging composed of rope made entirely from New Zealand flax. A letter dated June 17, received by Messrs Miles and Co., gives the following account of the matter:— "Mr Devitt (of Devitt and Hett) hearing that a ship newly arrived from New Zealand had all her running rigging made exclusively of New Zealand flax, went on board of her in the Thames, and asked the captain for a piece of the rope that he might show it at his next sale. The captain expressed his high opinion of the rope, and gave him a sample of one the halyards. This piece of rope Mr Devitt duly exhibited to the buyers, significantly alluding to the abominable falsehoods of certain ropemakers, who had done much towards producing the late ruinous depression of the fibre by pretending it was totally unfit for rope, especially for marine purposes. Mr Devitt assured me that the sample of such good rope made from Phormium tenax seemed to electrify all the company." The writer states also that " the result of my labours and inquiries is to ! shew me the profound ignorance generally prevailing (in England) respecting every detail about New Zealand flax." The knowledge of this ought to encourage the Government and the various flax associations to disseminate more information and attract greater public attention in England to this valuable fibre. We are glad to observe that Mr Fox proposes to offer rewards for the best method of preparing New Zealand flax, and to appoint a Commission to collect and disseminate information in England. Education. — A meeting of working men was held in Exeter Hall on 15th June, at which the Rev. Mr Spurgeon presided. The chairman, in opening the proceedings, made the following speech, which would not be altogether inapplicable to this colony at the present moment : — Though the meeting was met to discuss a question upon which all could not agree, yet he hoped they would not follow the barbarous English practice of making a noise if they happened to hear anything with which they did not accord. With respect to his taking the chair at that meeting of working men, he said he did not like class distinctions, and had never preached a sermon to working men especially, for he thought there were great sinners among all classes alike ; but a great measure of education was required, especially in the large towns, where there were countless waifs and strays, who, uneducated, were sure to drift into gaols, and it therefore became the working classes to speak out distinctly. He was in favour of the compulsory clause, and he was glad to see the advocates of compulsion come largely from the working classes. If the peasantry of England had had a tithe of the working men's knowledge and spirit, it would have been impossible for them to submit to the oppression which they now endured, and if they were enabled to read the newspaper they would see where wages were higher, and would not be obliged to cringe to those among whom they felt bound in their ignorance to live. He thought the present Bill about the worst which could have been devised, and if it were passed as it at present stood, a society to emancipate education from State control would be needed. He thought the Government had been honest in their eudeavour to give a good Bill, and the Bill might be a very good stock on which to graft better branches. He held that " Bumbledom" could not be trusted to give different laws in different parts of the country, and while he held that "Bumble" should not have the power to control education, neither should the secularists, who were in themselves a scot,

nor any other sect. He declared himself to be in favour of reading the Bible in the schools, and he hoped that would come to be the law. He concluded by asking for a kindly hearing to be given to all the speakers." Moonlight Quartz. — We have been furnished with the results of three separate tests of Moonlight quartz by Mr E. S. Ellisdon, Lyttelton. The specimens were brought from the claim on three separate occasions by different shareholders, and there were several pounds weight of stone at each test. The first specimen brought by Mr D. Davis was proved to contain gold in the proportion of 8 ozs 3 dwts 8 grs to the ton; the second brought by Mr J. E. Graham, 6 ozs 13 dwt. 8 grs to the ton; and the third, brought by Mr W. H. Lane, 3 ozs 1 dwt and 6 grs; or an average on the whole of 5 ozs 19 dwts 7J grs. The Christchurch shareholders, with a view to improving the working of the company's ground, have selected Messrs W. H. Lane, W. P. Cowlishaw, B. D. Loughnan, — Melton, E. G. Wright, and W. D. Wood, to form the new directory, and have also appointed Messrs E. G. Wright and J. E. Graham to audit the accounts. The legal manager, Mr Nancarrow, has, in consequence of these proceedings, been instructed to forward all papers and accounts to Christchurch at once. Poultry Association. — The managing committee met last evening, Mr Gilchrist in the chair. There was a large attendance of members. A discussion took place relative to protests which had been made at the late exhibition, and which the judges had refused to consider. That of Mr Glassford's was first considered, and after a long discussion upon it Mr Davie moved the following resolution, which was seconded by Mr Calvert, and carried — " That in the opinion of this meeting the judges in the game class are to blame in not stating what exhibits were disqualified and wherefore ; also, for not entertaining Mr Glassford's protest when requested to do so. Mr Gilchrist then left the chair, which was taken by Mr Williams, and after making a few remarks deprecating Mr Fereday's conduct in writing to the newspapers about a committee meeting, moved this resolution, " That Mr Fereday, in writing to the newspapers with regard to any discrepancy in the report of a meeting before bringing the same under the notice of the committee, and so affording an opportunity to have such discrepancy corrected, tended to bring the Association into disrepute ; and further, that independently of this, his action was neither constitutional, nor his language courteous." This resolution was seconded by Mr Glassford, supported by the Secretary, Treasurer, and several members, and being put to the meeting, was carried unanimously. The treasurer was authorised to settle certain accounts, and the committee having agreed to meet again at 1 o'clock p.m., on Saturday next, to distribute the prizes won at the late show, the meeting terminated.