Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 741, 7 October 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

The Gourlay Family. — These celebrated artists are expected by the s.s. Airedale tomorrow, and will appear at the Colonists' Hall in the evening. Aquatics. — The opening of the season by the Lyttelton Boating Clubs will take place to-morrow, and, should the weather prove fine, we have no doubt it will be a great success. The L. B.C. and Trades Club are bus}' getting their boats ready, and the watermen have kindly lant their whale boats for the Christchurch clubs to pull in. A capital programme is being arranged, and a steamer will convey visitors round the course. The Unemployed. — About sixty met in front of the Government Buildings this morning. Mr J. S. Williams, on behalf of the Select Committee of the Provincial Council appointed to inquire into their case, came out to them, and requested them to choose three of their number to go into the Council Library and give evidence before the committee, which was then sitting. The meeting accordingly appointed three delegates, who waited on the Committee as requested. The following circular, in connection with the above has been issued : — Provincial Council Library, Christchurch, 7th October, 1870. Sir, — A petition has been presented to the Provincial Council, signed by I<B persons complaining of want of employment. The Select Committee to whom this petition has been referred desire to obtain your opinion upon the following points : — 1. Are you an employer of labour ? To what extent ? In what capacity ? 2. Have you experienced difficulty in engaging suitable hands, at any time recently? nnd i 3 labour plentiful at present ? 3. What is the present price of the labour employed by you ? What has been the average for the past year ? Do you think it excessive, taking into consideration the value of produce and the cost of the necessaries of life to the labourer ? 4. Have you had lately many applications for work ? and are you aware of any persons able and willing to work who are unable to obtain employment ? 5. Are you aware of any industries which have been given up, or which are hindered from being developed by rea9on of a scarcity

of labour at a reasonable rate of wages ? You will oblige the Committee by replying, as soon as possible, upon the several points, separately, annexing the numbers for convenience of analysis ; and also by giving such general information on the subject as may occur to you. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Joshoa Strange Williams, Chairman of Committee. Lyttelton Trades Boating Club. — A meeting in connection with the above was held in the Colonists' Hall last night, when there was a good attendance. The business was to consider the proposed rules and decide upon the purchase of a boat for the club. It wa3 resolved that the rules, as read by the commodore, be the rules of the club. Some discussion ensued respecting the class of boat to be ordered. Mr Ockford proposed, and Mr Belgrave seconded, that the style of boat be a four-oared racing gig. Mr Leslie proposed an amendment, which was seconded by Mr Carroll, that the boat be a four-oared whale-boat. The original motion was carried. It was proposed by Mr D. Mills, and seconded by Mr Ockford, that tenders be called for the building of a cedar boat, on the model of the Snowdrop, which was agreed to. It was proposed by Mr Carroll, seconded by Mr Young, and carried, that Messrs Ockford, Mills, Hay, and the secretary form a committee to draw up specifications for the building of the club's boat. Mr Morgan, seconded by Mr Carroll, proposed that Messrs Young, Leslie, and Hay form a sub committee, to assist the Lyttelton Boating Club in arranging and carrying out the programme of the opening day of the season on Saturday next, and that they be allowed to expend a small sum of money in necessary expenses. This was agreed to. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting. Benevolent Aid Society. — The Secretary desires to acknowledge, from Mr Pratt, £10; and through the Resident Magistrate, from Mr A. Duncan, witness in the case of Sinister v. Palmer, Bs. War Telegrams. — The news published this evening confirms the fact that 90,000 French soldiers have laid down their arms, and that on the sth Sept. the Prussian army, with the King aud Bismarck, were marching on Paris. The only item of really fresh news is the reduction of the Bank rate of discount to 3£ per cent— a strong indication that peace is looked upon as not very remote. Broadfield.— An entertainment in aid of the school funds was given in the new schoolroom on Wednesday evening. Readings were given by Mr Lawry, from the life of George Stephenson ; by Mr Cotton. " A Lecture on Women;" by Mr Westrupp, "The Death of Little Nell;" by Mr Glyde, " Artemus Ward amongst the Shakers." The musical part of the programme was entrusted to Mrs H. White and Mrs Gilletly, of Lincoln; Mr Gillingham and Mr S. Helms, of Rolleston; and all, more especially the ladies, acquitted themselves well. Mrs White was encored twice — first, for a solo, and subsequently for a duet between herself and Mr Helms. The audience parted after singing " God Save the Queen," highly pleased with their evening's amusement. Sundat h-cuooL Ikstitute. — The comraittee have made arrangements for the delivery of a course of twelve lectures on subjects useful to Sunday school teachers. They are as follows :— l. The Art of Teaching, Rev. F. Knowles ; 2. The Bible, as illustrated by Eastern manners and customs, Eev. J. 08. Hoare ; 3. The Holy Laud, Rev. C. Bowen ; 4. The Interpretation of Scripture, the Dean of Chri3tchurch ; 5. The Study of the Bible, Rev. G. J. Cholmondelely ; 6. The History of the English Bible, Rev. L. Moore ; 7. The Ancient Cities of the World, Mr Walter Kennaway ; 8. The Early Christian Church, Rev. J. W. Stack ; 9. The Bible, as illustrated by Eastern manners and customs, Rev. J. 08. Hoare ; 10. The Interpretation of Scripture, the Dean of Christchurch ; 11. The History of the Book of Common Prayer, Rev. E. A. Lingard ; 12. Ancient Egypt, Mr Tweatyman. Volunteer Inspection. — Colonel Packe held his monthly inspection of the Volunteers at the Drill-shed last night. There was a very good muster of all the corps — Artillery, Engineers, No. 2 Rifles (Royal Irish), and No. 6 Rifles — not the least noticeable feature being the large number of new recruits in each corps. The inspection of arms and accoutrements proved fully satisfactory, as also did the brigade movements, which were afterwards executed on the parade ground in f rout of the Drill-shed. On conclusion of the latter, Colonel Packe addressed the men in terms expressive of great pleasure at the very gratifying increase of recruits, aud intimated that during the summer lie would give a prize of the value of £10 for the best shots in the second and third class stages of the class firing. He also said he should have offered a prize for the first stage, but a long enough range could not be procured. Colonel Packe concluded by stating that a Church Parade would take place on .- unday next, the men to fall in in lull uniform at the Drill-shed, and be marched thence to S. John's Church for the afternoon service. Horticultural Societt. — A meeting of the committee was held at White's Hotel last night, at seven o'clock, Mr Wynn Williams presiding. A letter was read from Mr G. Gould, requesting that his prizes should be given — £5 to the most successful exhibitor in pot plants and cut flowers, and £5 to the most successful exhibitor in fruit and vegetables at all ihe exhitions of the season. A letter was also read from Messrs Coates and Co., stating that their medal was to be of silver, not of gold, as previously reported; also, that they desired it to be offered for a collection of cut blooms, as particularised in the schedule, and not for 12 dahlias, as fixed by the committee. The committee agreed to offer the prizes as requested. Mr Duncan intimated that Mr Gilchrist had placed a handsome garden knife at the disposal of the committee, to be offered as a prize. 'I he committee de.ided that the kuite

should be added to the prize for the best collection of fruit in Class E, at the final exhibition of the season. The following judges and stewards were appointed for the first show, to be held on the 9th of November next : —For pot plants and cut flowers — Messrs W. Hislop, J. Armstrong, and H. R. Webb. Fruit and vegetables — Messrs W. Ivory, J. Lowe, and H. E. Alport. Stewards : — Pots plant and cut flowers — Messrs A. Stewart and W. Compton. Fruit and vegetables —Messrs R. Chudley and R. Macfarlane, junr. Committee of management: — Messrs W. Norman, W. Gibbs, H. Crooks, and J. Milne. It was decided that the entries for the garden prizes given by Mr Wynn Williams should be open until Nov. Ist, instead of Oct. Ist, as stated in the schedule ; and Messrs J. Armstrong and H. R. Webb were appointed as judges to award the prizes. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. M.U.,1.0. 0.F. — The annual district meeting of this order was held yesterday afternoon in their Hall, Lichfield street. P.G.M. Parry presided over a large attendance of brethren, D.P.G.M. Jane occupying the vice chair. All the lodges were fully represented, and after the usual formal business, the election of officers for the ensuing year was proceeded with. This resulted in D P.G.M. Jane being appointed P.G.M. ; P.G. Parkin as D.P.G.M. ; J. W. Slade as Provincial Secretary; N.G. Hart, City of Christchurch Lodge, N.G. Thompkins, Benevolent Lodge, P.P.G.M. Ashton, Volunteer Lodge, as auditors. The past officers took up their respective degrees, after which the brethren adjourned to the White Hart Hotel, where the annual dinner was held. S. Luke's School. — The distribution of prizes to the scholars who distinguished themselves at the adjourned half-yearly examination last week, took place yesterday, the prizes being presented to them by the Rev. E. A. Lingard, incumbent of the parish, in the presence of some of the parents of the children and fiiends of the school.The following is the list of prize-takers. The prizes, twenty-five in number, consisted of instructive and amusing books of a superior character and in handsome bindings: — Upper Division— First Class: Scripture History, James McGregor. Arithmetic: -Tames McGregor, first prize; 2nd, Wm. Stening. English History: Joseph Newsome. Geography: Wm. Stening. Ist prize; Wm.Lamb, 2nd. Writing: F. W. Ansley. Spelling: Wm. Stening. Dictation: Rhoda Stening. Second Class — Scripture History: G. Robinson and Henry Smith, Ist prize, equal. Geography: Daniel Smith. Arithmetic: Fredk. Alexander. Spelling: Mary Newsome and John Foster, Ist prize, equal; R.Livingston, 2nd. Lower Division. — First Class — Scripture History: Alice Jane Pearce. Arithmetic: Alice Jane Pearce. Reading and Spelling: Annie Richards and Robert Stoddart, equal. Second Class — Scripture History: Richard Stapleton, George Lawrence, John Beckett, equal. Reading and Spelling: Mary Wilkinson. Arithmetic and Tables: Geo Lawrence. Third Class— Reading and Spelling: Andrew Reay, Ist prize; Alfred Pierce, 2nd. Arithmetic and Tables: Andrew Reay. Fourth Class. — Tryphena Cliff. Infant School. — Donald Mahony. Good conduct prizes, in the upper divison : — First class — Ist prize, Wm. Lamb ; 2nd, Thos. Tankard. Second class — Mary Veel. Lower school. — First class, KobertStoddart ; 2nd class, Mary Wilkinson ; 3rd class, Andrew Reay. In dealing with the first class of the Ist division, Mr Lingard said, in regard to the Scripture history, that the standard was 1(0 marks, and out of 18 boys, 11 made above si) marks. In arithme ie, Stening and M'Gregor each did 20 sums out of 21 ; M'Gregor missed one of the elementary sums, and Stening missed the last sum. Stening was highly commetided for the neatness of his paper, and although it was only intended to give one prize, and that was by Mr A. F. N. Blakiston (the examiner in this subject) awarded to M'Gregor, he should also give a prize to Stening. The history in this division was not quite so good as he could have wished, especially in regard to dates. The geography, both of Europe and New Zealand, was excellent, especially that of New Zealand"; the standard was 150 marks, and the first boy (Stening) made 137, and the second 135 ; in consequence of this closeness, prizes were awarded to both. In reference to writing, the examiner (Mr C. W. Bishop) in his report said, " that he desired to state that there is great credit due to those who have taken the pains to bring the children so far forward in this important branch of education." The spelling was fair, and also the dictation. In the second class, in Scripture history, as in the other subjects in which they had been examined, allowance must be made, as it was a mixed class, a great many of them having only recently been promoted from the lower school. The Geography, Scripture History, aud Arithmetic, in the upper part of the class, was good. In spelling, two of the children attained the standard (100). and the third boy, who got second prize, made 95 marks. The English History was so inferior that he could not award a prize, and hoped they would amend in this respect at Christmas. The lower school in all subjects has showed very satisfactory progress. The rev. genlteman said that, on the whole, he might say that he was very well satisfied with the progress of the school, and hoped that where they had riot done quite so well they wouldtry to improve by the next examination, which would take place at Christmas, when another set of prizes would be distributed. The examination of the girls' school for sewing had been overlooked, but the ladie3 would shortly examine it, and prizes would be given. Mr 1. M. Gee, a member of the school committe, applied for a holiday for the children. Mr Lingard said that the children had just had holidays; he would not now give one, but at some time duriug the quarter, when some amusement was taking place, a holiday woal \be given. This announcement was received with cheers, and the children were then dismissed.

Wines in the English Mjurket. — The following is from the Pall Mall Gazette :— Although much disposed to consider that the ultimate test of the quality of wines lies with the gourmet, and not with the chemist or the physician, the information which chemical science can afford appears to us a welcome contribution to the meana of judgment. Dr Dupre has undertaken lately to answer the question, What is wine ? The information which he is able to afford is very elaborately worked out in a series of articles in Hard toicke's Science Review, and appears trustworthy as far as it goes. To the Rhine wines he assigns a place of honour. They are characterised by a moderate alcoholic strength, from 7 to 12 per cent., a high proportion of volatile ethers, and the fermentation is very perfect. Good Khine wine is pure and wholesome, and keeps remarkably well, and often has an exquisite bouquet. Of clarets he gives an almost equally good account. - As a general beverage, more particularly when diluted with about half water, the lighter sorts of clarets are perhaps the most wholesome of all the different wines imported. Hungarian wine 3he describes as on (he whole inferior to both Rhine wine and claret, chiefly from a deficiency of knowledge in the art of wine-making. The country possesses, however, a climate and soil at least as well adapted for wine-making as either France or Germany — warm enough in summer to bring the grape to maturity without overloading it with sugar ; cool enough in autumn to allow the must to be thoroughly fermented without danger to the wine. Hungary, France, and Germany are classed as the three natural wine-producing countries of Europe. We are sorry to find that Dr Dupre gives a very bad chemical account of the Greek wines. Many of them he finds to be slightly fortified. They are generally characterised by a rather high per centage of acid, due chiefly to an unusually great proportion of acetic acid. They contain also frequently an appreciable amount of aldehyde, a product intermediate between alcohol and acetic acid, being, in fact, the first stage in the conversion of alcohol into vinegar. Among a great number of wines analysed other than Greek, he found aldehyde only in two samples — one a Sauterne, the other a Rhine wine. In both instances the bottles of wine had been placed for nearly a year upright, and badly corked, in an ordinary sitting-room. All this leads to the conclusion that Greek wines are either extremely liable to a slight acetous fermentation — which, for chemical reasons connected with their composition, is not unlikely — or that, owing to bad management, the mu9t, or new wine, is improperly exposed to the action of the air. Taken as natural wines, the verdict is that they will bear no comparison with the three previously considered, either as regards soundness and consequent wholseomenes?, or in regard to their flavour and bouquet ; while as strong wines they are greatly inferior to sherry and port. We are sorry to find the Greek wines impeached just at this moment ; but it is perhaps ns well to have all the truth known at once, and here at least there is obvious room for expectation that improvement may follow frank criticism and friendly censure. The wines are not as hopeless as the brigands. All sherries, evenfthose imported a3 natural sherry, are fortified by the addi ion of spirit ; their alcoholic strength usually varies between 15 and 22 per cent. .Port is usually " fortified "up to the same point. Both are artificial productions, of which the ultimate qualities depend upon the greater or less degree of adulteration. It does not add much to our knowledge to be told that " the better sherries form an extremely fine class ; possessing strength, sufficient body, fine flavour, and very exquisite bouquet, but to attain this perfection must be kept for many years in bottle." We were already aware that so much may be said for good and expensive sherry, port, and madeira. They are worka of composite art, and require antiquity to become mellowed into respectability.