Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1194, 15 December 1871, Page 2

Local and General.

Magis?eeial. — At the Christchurch Besident Magistrate's Court this morning, Michael Howard, charged— before C. C. Bowen, Esq., E.M. — with having been dnmk and disorderly, and exposed his person in a public place, was fined 20s. LzTTULTOK Boating- Club.— A. meeting of the Club will bo held at the Mitre Hotel, this evening, at half -paat seven o'clock,, when the engraved pewters presented by Mr W. Cameron, and won on Saturday last, will be presented. Messiah Conceht. — The committee have been in somo difficulty as to 'the performance of the " llessiah " on the 21st instant, in consequence of the advertised opening of the opaiu company on the 19fch. As that compuny will not be here before the 26th instant, tli- difficulty is removed, and we trust that all interested will do their utmost to render the performance a success. The support of tha public is confidently expected. A general rohwusal will take place in the Music Hall ou Tuesday evening, 19th iust. Lytxkltu:v Rugatta. — A meeting of the Comr.iitt-tSe was held on Thursday afternoon, in the Colonists' Hall ; 11. P. M. Aynsley, Commodore, occupied the chair. It was resolved tint, Messrs Shaw, Saville's Cup, brought out by Captain While, be offered a3 the firat prize in the sailing race for vessels uudor 150 to:i3. A sub-committee — consisting of Messrs Cunningham, balder, Roper, Gibson, Allwright, M'Lallan, Packard — wero appointed to arrange all details, and report at an early dafco. Tho .sub-committee met in the evening, and drew up a report, which will bo submitted to the Committee on Monday afternoon. UiaoN Rowing Club. — The new boat, expjeted by the .John Knox, to replace the onvj smashed dming the previous voyage of tJie vessel, has not come to hand this trip, and it 13 doubtful whether the two new boats ordered from England will even arrive in time for the inter-provincial regatta. They nre on board t;ie Charlotte Gladstone, wliic'h did not leave England until after the middle of October.

Friendly Societies.— We are requested to inform the public that the net proceeds from the receipts of admission into Richardsons' Show, on Saturday, will be devoted to the Widows' and Orphans' Fund of each order. New Sculler's Boat. — Mr Joseph Daw- i son, the champion sculler, is having a newskiff built at Reese's Yards, the dimensions being 33 feet in length, 13 inches in the beam, and 7A- inches deep. It will not however be ready in time for the Kaiapoi regatta. Early Closing Association. — The list of names of those tradesmen favourable to movement will be found in our advertising columns. It was believed that the residents at Papamii were adverse to the half-holiday, but this has since been ascertained to be incorrect, a3 several influential gentlemen in that district liave signified their approval to the secretary. Special Service. — Many old colonists and others will be glad to be informed that there will be a special service to-morrow morning at the Old Mother Church of the Province, St. Michael's. The service will commence at ten o'clock, and will consist of morning prayers, with special psalms and lessons, followed by a short address, and the celebration of the Holy Communion. The offertory will be in aid of the Building Fund of the new church. The Anniversary Sports. — The sites for booths having been allotted, the framework of several has already been erected, and both the grandstand and Richardson's booth are in a forward state of preparation. All the long grass on the square has been cut and carted away, and the course is in excellent going condition. Training is continued witli increased vigour as the day draws near, and it is very evident that, if the weather is fine, there will be large fields for every event. The Drill Shed Enclosure. — The committee of the City Council appointed to enquire into this matter were referred by the Government to Colonel Paeke, who informed them that it is now too late — contracts having been let — to decrease the height of the fence, and that it had been found impracticable to drill the volunteers properly without some means for keeping the general public beyond bouuds. There will, therefore, bo no alteration in the character of the fence, which it may be said is now all but completed. Papanci School. — The committee of the Papanui school have succeeded in obtaining a site for the necessary buildings in the desired locality — Rapley's corner. It is a portion of the property at present occupied by Mr Rapley, and is one. acre and a quarter in extent. The position is in every respect suitable for the purpose, and a considerable sum having already been subscribed towards the erection of a school and master's house, wo may expect to see the work entered upon at an early date. Christchurcii Colonists' Society. — The usual meeting of this society was held last evening, at the White Hart Hotel, Mr J. Ollivier in the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, a discussion took place as to the advisability of obtaining a room better adapted to the requirements of the society, and a resolution to that effect was carried. Several other matters of importance to the well-being of the society were discussed. Mr Wynn Williams in a very able speech moved the following resolution : — " That it is desirable, in view of the impending changes in the Constitution of the colony, that the system of Provincial Governments should be simplified, by doing away with the paid Provincial Secretary, and permitting the Superintendent of the province to conduct the business of the Government in the Provincial Council, and by generally adopting a mode of procedure more in accordance with municipal institutions," which was seconded by Mr Ffrost. and supported bj r Mr Nairn. The resolution was not fullj- discussed, and an amendment was moved by Mr Ick. The subject will be resumed at the next meeting. TnE Museum. — In the cursory glance on which Tuesday's notice of the re-opening of the Museum was based, some very important additions made to the collection during the recess were inadvertently overlooked. Amongst these are a number of heads from animals indigenous to Central Asia. They ivere collected bj r the celebrated traveller Hayward, who, it will bo remembered, was stoned to death during his memorable journey in this part of the world by natives when near the Pamier plateau. The collection comprises the head of a yak from Tliibet, one each of the ibex, the mnrkaur, the Cashmere stag, the antelope, and the four-horned sheop from Yarkhand. They are all in excellent condition, and form a most interesting feature in the Museum. Being fixed to the front of the gallery railing at the north end of the building, they are also seen to good advantage. In a small case near the collection of eggs, there is auothor highly interesting "collection, but which is more likely to be overlooked. This consists of a thigh bone and a few toe bones of a gigantic bird of proy which is deemed to have been contemporaneous with the moa. They wore found at Glenmark at the time the moa bones were discovered, and have been described by Dr Haast as Harpagornis Moorei. In order to give some idea of what size the species must have been, the bone 3 are placed in comparison with similar bones of the largo Australian eagle and the New Zealand harrier. The Australian eagle, it must be remembered, is capable of carrying off a good sized lamb bodily, and yet the bones of the Harpagornis Moorei are very many times larger, whilst the comparison with the bones of the New Zealand harrier is such as to make the bones of the latter appear of a most insignificant size. It is apparent, therefore, that the Harpagornis Moorei must have been a gigantic bird indeed, quite capable, as Dr Haast remarked, of carrying off a young moa. In the cases devoted to foreign birds, an argus pheasant from Malacca, a black-necked swan from South America, and spur-winged goose from Central Africa, are also very notable. There is also a very large cabinet of butterflies and beetles from England

on the ground-floor, and in a case upstairs there is a large lump of punga punga — bread made by the Maoris from the pollen of the raupo, taken from Te Kooti. It presents a very yellow appearance, in fact is a light gold colour, and anything but pleasant when regarded as an article of food. Anniversary Day. — The s.s. Halcyon will leave Peacock's wharf to-morrow morning, on the arrival of the first train from Christchnrch, for an excursion to Pigeon Bay, returning in time for the last train. As the fare is very moderate, we have no doubt a large number of persons will avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting this favourite spofc. St." Andrew's CnuRCH.-r-At the weekly congregational meeting for religious readings last night, the Rev. C. Eraser intimated that he had received communications from Scotland to the effect that the Colonial Committeo of the Free Church was jjrepared to do everything in its power to forward the interests of the Canterbury Church Extension Association, and hoped soon to send out a minister for them. The readings of the evening consisted of an account of one of the Jewish festivals, read by the Rev. John Campbell j lessons from the life of Loyola, read by Mr Craig ; and the Religious Statistics of Otago, read by the .Rev. C. Fraser. Land Registry. — The New Znaland Gazette of December 9 contains a series of new regulations for the conduct of the Land Transfer Department. The most important of these reads as follows : — " In all cases where application is made to bring land under tho Act by any person entitled at law thereto, and tho certificate of title is directed to. issue and is issued in the name of the applicant, the fees for bringing such land under the- Act, with the exception of the " Application Fee," may, at the option of the applicant, remain unpaid until such land is dealt witli by him as registered proprietor. The District Land Registrar shall retain any such certificate of title until the fees due upon the same have been paid, and, until such jmyment, shall not register any dealing with the land included in such certificate of title." It has been urged, hitherto, by holders of propex^ty that unless they wished to dispose of it, there was no advantage to be gained by bringing it under the Act, while the expense was considerable. This natural objection is met satisfactorily by the new regulation. Holders of property can now, by merely paying the application fee of ss, obtain an indefeasible Government title instead of the ordinary one. All the other fees can remain unpaid until thoy wish to deal with the property. Trustees in Bankruptcy. — The Accountant in Bankruptcy has issued a notification calling the attention of trustees in Bankruptcy to Clause 226 of the Bankruptcy Act of 1867. It runs as follows : — Each trustee shall within fourteen days of the thirty-first December in each year, or on the first lawful day after the expiry of the said fourteen days, deliver free of charge to the Registrar of the Supreme Court or Clerk of the District Court, as the case may be, a return in the f orni of Schedule B hereunto annexed, of every estate in which he is trustee, and the Registrar or Clerk Bliall within fourteen days thereafter transmit in the form of the said schedule to the Accountant a return of all estates brought under the- operation of this Act in the- district of which he is a registrar or clerk, as the case may be, and the accountant shall cause the returns so made to be regularly bound up and preserved according to alphabetical order of districts in a volume to-be kept at all times in his office, with an index thereto, framed by him, which volume shall bo open to all concerned, and any trustee who shall fail to make such return shall be removable from his office, at the instance of any one creditor, or of the accountant, or subject to such order as the court which awarded, such adjudication or the Supreme Court may think suitable. New Bridges across the Avon. — The proposal for a new bridge across the Avon in a line with Armagh street is assuming a very practical form, and it is very probable that a satisfactory conclusion will be arrived at. It is intended to have a substantial structure to cost from £100 to £500, one-half of which it is expected the City Council will provide. The promoters havo obtained subscriptions to the amount of £200. and in view of the great convenience likely to result from the bridge, promises of support have been given by tho Government, the Judge of the Supreme Court, and the Wesleyans attending the Durham street Church. Mr Thornton, Provincial Engineer, has offered his services in the preparation of plans, gratuitously, provided that such, be acceptable to the City Council, and the consent of the Government be first obtained. The promoters would like to havo one span in the bridge only, and- suggest the adoption of the laminated arch on which principle the roof of the Supremo Courthouse is supported. Since the movement in favour of the Armagh street bridge commenced there has been some talk of reviving the question of a bridge in continuation of Cashol street, but as yet nothing has been done. The promoters of this bridge could only raise about £90 towards the half of the estimated cost, £340, and there is apparently no hope of getting more at present. French Braggadocio. — M. Jules Richard strongly condemns in the Constitutionnel tho frivolity and braggadocio with which his countrymen speak of their recent defeats. " Not to acknowledge one's defeat," he says, "is worse even than to be defeated. When a nation has not known how to conquer, it should at least know how to bear defeat with dignity. . . . At this moment there is not a small tradesman in France who is not convinced that the war ought to havo been continued, and that we would havo conquered in the end ; . . . and any one that tells him we have been thoroughly and completely beaten is immediately declared a traitor who has sold himself to the enemy. . . . Let us acknowledge, once for all, that we have been defeated; and if our rulers wish to do us a service let them not strive to console us ; but, on the contrary, let them speak incessantly of our sufferings and our defeats. It was not by

consoling herself with easy delusions that Prussia got her revenge for Jes»; it was by looking her misfortune steadily in the face, and labouring to repair it. If M. Thiers wishes tq deserve well of his country, let him beg of his friends of the Academy to cease their complacent smiles and self -jubilation ; then let him ask a thoroughly serious man like Colonel Stoffel to write a pamphlet for popular. reading, entitled 'What Prussia did after Jena.' Let thi3 pamphlet be printed at the expense of the statey and given to all the children in schools- who have won a prize. That would be better than the incessant cry of, ' I/honneur est sauve.' No, our honour is not saved ; no, there is no consolation for our misfortune ; no, we arc not only beaten, but ingloriously beaten." Agricultural Societies. —At a late dinner of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Mr Gladstone is reported to have said: — It is of the utmost importance that agriculture should have the means of i"ecording its or decline. We must not suppose, because it is an ancient art, and one that has been prosecuted in its simplest form, it is, therefore, otherwise than an art which of all others perhaps affords the most vai'ied scope and the largest sphere of development to the powers of the human mind. It is most essential that it should have the best and most efficacious means of comparing its state in one year with its state in another — of recording for future encouragement the progress that has been achieved in the past. Commerce and manufactures, as Mr Gladstone observed, naturally collect round great centres of industry, and produce that constant intercommunion which is of vital importance to their, advancement. But with agriculture the case is different, for its nature is to be gathered around local centres, which, under ordinary circumstances, have little or no connection with one another. It is in comparison an isolated art, and therefore it might follow, under given circumstances, that many parts of the agriculture of a country were languishing, simply from a want of a knowledge of progress which has been achieved in other- portions of the land. This is tho besetting danger and difficulty of agriculture; This is largely remedied by yearly meetings of agricultural societies. The stock raised in one district are shown to the farmers of another district, and vice versa, and the best stock and the newest implements are submitted to the inspection and criticism of every fanner who comes to find fault with, and to 'profit by, something or another he finds displayed before him. And veiy few farmers- are- there who visit these yearly exliibitions without bringing away with them more or less of information they turn to useful account. English Republicans. — English Repub* licanism in one of its forms is thus " chaffed " by the Pall Mall Gazette of September 1 : — " The Leeds Mercury of yesterday published a telegram from Leicester conveying, perhaps, the most alarming intelligence that has ever been made public- in this country since 'the Norman Conquest. A great sensation, said this telegram, had been caused at Leicester by a public announcement from Mr Odger that he and his colleagues would take care that the Prince of Wales shoidd never ascend the throne of these realms, but the country should be governed by a president or prime minister. It was no wonder that Leicester was somewhat startled by this declaration of the intentions of Mr Odger and his colleagues, more especially as it is evident that if they have the power to prevent the Prince of Wales from sitting on the throne, they have equal power to select a nominee of tbeir own for [ this elevated position. Is it possible that Mr Odger himself woidd bo induced 1 to wear the crown ? Shoemakers generally are advised to stick to their last ; but it cannot be denied that Odger the First would sound very well, and of course if Mr Odger and his colleagues, whoever they may be, decide on the substitution of the House of Odger for that of Brunswick, it is tho duty of the country to submit to the change without a murmur. It is perhaps premature to raise the question, but it would be a satisfaction to hear that Mr Odger and his colleagues have no objection to tho coronation of that gentleman taking place in Hyde Park instead of Westminster Abbey. It has long been felt that the seat of Government is shifting from Westminster to the parks, and the men who chant the blasphemous litanies on the occasion of those public meetings at which now so many great questions are settled, would doubtless, if remunerated by a few pots of beer, consent to officiate at tho coronation of Odger in room of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and administer the oath in a fashion more in accordaucc with the spirit of the times than if it were administered by an obsolete primate. It is is also to be presumed that there will be no objection when Mr Odger has ascended the throno to the Prince of Walc3 occasionally holding a Sunday meeting in Hyde-park or Trafalgar-square on his own account. His Royal Highness has surely as much right to discuss his grievances in those localities as Mr Odger and his colleagues." The English People. — In an ai-ticle on "The Physical Degoneracy- of the English People," the Spectator cites a large number of facts to show that Dr Beddoe's conclusion in favour of such a degeneracy is contrary to the evidence. Says our contemporary : — "If there is one fact certain in the history of the world, it is that tho notion of the physical degeneration of the human race which pervades all literatures, has infected all creeds, and has been embodied in almost all histories, rosts upon no evidence whatever. Abraham would not be more noticed in Syria ,for his size than any Sheik who traces to him his ancestry. There is no record worthy of a moment's attention of any race who, if stripped and disarmed and put opposite an equal number of English navvies equally stripped and disarmed, would not in ten minutes be smashed into indistinguishable jelly. The earliest pictures we possess of human beings, those on tho Egyptian monuments, display a people slighter, shorter, and with altogether less of all

the constituents which make up healthy weighfc than the English o£ to-day. Greek statues^ when intended to be life size, are the simulacra, as far as weigbfr goes, of G-reek men, 1 and women as we see them now. The soldier of Pharaoh was very like a Sikh, and a Greek athlete- would have recognised his own type- in Leotard, the trapeze performer. The notion that civilisation weakens- is just as baseless. An average New Zealander or Kaffir is about the equal of an average Englishman, and no other savage is eveu that. Mo3fc savages would be as hopelessly beaten in a naked contest with an Englishman trained to their work as an untrained Englishman would : be by a Westmoreland wrestler, and a very large proportion of them are: greatly inferior to any Western man, could not enter into any physical contest with them with any hope of victory. The most perfect savage of mankind, the Veddah or the Andamanese, would be strangled by a London costermongei 1 in three minutes, and the Red Indian warrior- in 1 the highest condition' is, apart altogether from the differences created by civilisation, wholly unable to encounter the Kentuckian-. The Kentuckian can crush his ribs at the first hug. We believe that the whole of the popular bheory of deterioration in cities- is originally the protest of the boor against the superiority of the citizen, whom he pretends- to despise because he is- pale,, but who can and does do double his work ; who can outrun, hinij outleap him, and out-talk him, and if he happens to turn poacher, defeat him in open: fight. A London rough may be, and very often is, an obscene brute ; but he will give any countryman in England,. not being a Celt,, two stone, aaid then ' thrash his head off.' Whom is it that he as a mere animal has degenerated from, the knight whoso armour is. three inches too short for him-, or the yeoman whose bow he can wield as easily as at Agincourt ? "