Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4342, 24 March 1882, Page 2

Local & General.

Professor Hutton will deliver the opening address in the Canterbury College lecture room on Monday evening, at 8 o'clock.

The Eev W. 0. Burming, of Geelong, will preach on Sunday, morning and evening, in the Oxford terrace Baptist Church.

A meeting of the Hibernian Australasian Oatholio Benefit Society will be held on Thursday evening next re Exhibition prooes* lion.

A lecture will bo delivered by the Her. A. J. Messing, at the Jewish Synagogue, ac half - past 10 to-morrow morning. Members of other denominations are invited to attend.

TheWaikato Steam Navigation Company have ordered a new steamer, to cost £10,000, for the trade between Manukau and Waikato, via the Heads.

Mr Bichardson, of the Empire Hotel, hat received a telegram from the Under Secretary, Wellington, stating that the Government will give permission for the totalisator to be used at the Mew Brighton Baces.

An election to fill tho extraordinary vacanoy for the couth-west ward in the OitjCouncil will be held on April 13, at St John'g eohoolroom. Nominations must be sent in before noon on Monday, April 3.

A poll will be taken in the Ellesmere licensing district on April 8, for the purpote of taking the votes of the ratepayer* as to whether the number of publicans' or New Zealand wine licenses may or may not be increased.

The Friendly Societies' Challenge Cup it now on view in the shop window of Mr TJrquhart, ftolombo street, by whom it hat been manufactured. The cup, valued at thirty guineas, is of silver, and upon it areengrossed the embloms of the Oddfellows, Foresters, and Druids.

The Committee of the Woodend Horticultural Sooiety held a meeting in tho schoolroom on Wednesday evening last. It was decided to pay the prize money of the late show ; and slsa ho aoltl a praiQ t rooht and cinyaanihoznuiß show on May 3, in the Church of England sohoolroom.

The meeting of the Kaiapoi Regatta Committee, called for this evening has been postponed, as several of ° the members . ar* unable to attend. The owners of the Ariel and Fairy have decided to sail their race over again on Saturday afternoon, April 1, at that is the first day on which the tide will suit.

At at adjourned meeting of the Directors of the Temperance Hotel, held on Wednesday, Mr and Mrs Neil were elected to the positions of manager and housekeeper respectively. The work of furnishing the new wing of the hotel (which in a few daji will be ready for the reception of visitors) was given to Mr A. J. White.

The Grand Duke Constantino Nikolaievitch, the oldest uncle of the present Czar, declares in a letter to a Bussian friend that he will sever return to Russia for any lengthened stay. He haß ceased all' connection with Bussia. The Grand Duke allows that he bad had some relations with the Badioals, but none with the Nihilists. He accuses the Bussian. Naval Administration of graTe and numerous faults.

An electrio storm has been experienced at Hobart, the most noticeable effeot of the atmospheric disturbanoe being the interruption of telegraphic communication. For some hours the wires worked only intermittently, and business was thus seriously re* tarded. The day was exceptionally hot and oppressive, and in the ' evening the vivid lightning formed it magnificent spectacle, one that was almost continuous for several hours

Harvest thanksgiving services were held last Sunday at Bt John's, Herorata ; Si, Ambrose's, Sheffield, and at Kowai Pass, the two ohnrohes, and the Boad Board Office at thelatter place being nicely decorated. The curate of the dittrict conduoted the services, which were exceptionally well attended. It is much to be hoped that the residents of Kowai PaBB and its neighbourhood will see the necessity of a church being erected shortly, tho congregation having quite outgrown the limited spaoe provided for their accommodation. A suitable site for the purpose has been liberally presented to the Church by the Springfield Coal Company.

The body of the little boy, O. 8. Monck, who was drowned in the Estuary on Wednesday evening, was recovered shortly after midnight on the day of the acoident, by a fisherman, named John- Durant. An inquest wus held at 4 p.m. yesterday, at Mr Monok's residence, Bumner. Dr Coward, Coroner for tho district, presided. The evidence disclosed that the deceased was playing with another boy on the banks of the Estuary, near his father's house, when he tried to get into a boat that was fastened to a •mall jetty. In doing bo. he lost his hold, and fell into the water. His companion, who called lourily for help, states that he saw the deceased rise to the surface three times, and then dissppoar altogether. The Jury returned a verdict of " Accidentally drowned."

A meeting cf the Kowai Fbbb Jockey Oluk was held at the Springfield Hotel, on Tuesday fo*t, for the purpose of receiving nominations for the handicaps in tLo luiihcoaiing races. Mr Hugh Gassidy occupied the chair. There was a large attendance of mombera. Four tenders were received for supplying hurdlcß, and that of Mr Ditvoy, at £6 11b lid, was accepted. Twenty-fivo horses were nominated, nine for the open Hurdles, six lor the Springfield Plato, nnd ten for the Ladies' Purse. Mr Flanagan's offer for right of refreshment booth was accepted. It was resolved—" That members of tho Club in arrears with (heir subscriptions be given an opportunity to pay up until the night of the goneral entry, as it is purposed after that date to post and strike off the roll of membership all whose subscriptions are then unpaid. A volo of thanks to the Chairman terminated tho proceedings.

The first concert of tho soason given by the Orchestral Society took placo in Mr Coombs* buildings last evening. The large room in which the concert was hold was well filled by subscribers of the Society and their lady friends. The Society aro to bo congratulated upon the success which has attended their concert, and while the performance as a whole reflected credit upon tho ladies and gentlemen taking part in it, the Honorary fleorotary, Mr T. Butland, desorves special mention for the trouble he has taken in briDgingtho concert to such a successful issue. Of the various numbers of the programme, thoso worthy of particular notioo were Miss Spensley's rendering of " Jfrnani Involami," which was oncorod ; Mr Clayton's clarionet solo, a grand fantaa'a from Brepiant, which was excellently rendered ; a cornet solo, by Mr 0. Coombs, deservedly encored ; and a song by Mr J. Kuox. Tho other numbers woro ovortures to "Domino Noir" (4uber),and"Lodoieka" (Ohcrubini) i flate solo, by Mr J. Rowley ; selections by the orchestra from "Lucia di Lammormoor," " Girofle-Girofla," and "Lucrezia Borgia," duo concortante, violin Bnd piano, by Messrs J. Coombs and R, T. Bearcll. Mr Coombs acted ati loader of tho orchostra, Messrs Enox and Button as conductors, and Mr B. T. Searoll plajed tho accompaniments to tbe> solos.

From our cable news of to-day, it will bo teen that the Bank of England has reduced jto rate of discount to three per cent. The annual meeting of the Fire Brigade was held last evening, when the^ following officers were then elected :— Librarian, A. P. Pillow; Secretary, A. W. Hillier; Treasurer, J. Anderson ; Committee — Messrs P. Hobbs, W. B. Hobbe, A. Anderson, P. M. Johnson, E. Smith, and J. Eraser. The balance-sheet, which showed a balance of £56 18s 9d to the credit of the Brigade funds, was read and adopted. It was unanimously agreed that the Brigade should take part in the proceedon on the occasion of the •pening of the International Exhibition. _A Tote of thanks was accorded the retiring •fficera, also the Committee. The following story is told in a Melbourne paper: — "There is a gentleman who, as he wears his best clothes on Saturdays, I take to be a frequenter of the Synagogue, and who is, I believe, an authority in the hop market. He is also remarkable for an almost impenetrable deafness. Meeting an acquaintance arm-in-arm with a cousin from New Zealand, he pressed them to adjourn to the bar parlour of the Cerf Blanc, in Spring-street. The visitor, who speaks the Maori language fluently, used it freely in conversation, and, pleading an engagement, shortly left the two friends together. Wr.en they were alone the gentleman with tfcj defective ear-drum said, • What a nice fellow 5 oar friend is. Ho must be one of our people. I never in my life heard a man speak such good Hebrew.' " The confusion of tongues here mentioned suggests a new possibility as to the whereabouts of the Ijost Ten Tribes, which, our friends of the British Israel Association should investigate atanse. The Otapo Daily Times says:— An oo•urrenee of what it is not too muoh to term a disgraceful nature, happened on Sunday in the Boman Catholic portion of the Southern Cemetery. The grave in which, a burial was to take place was found aot to be large enough to admit of the coffin being lowered into it, with ihe result that the relatives of the deceased person had to wait for a considerable period whilst the grave was being enlarged. The thing might be pardonable had this been done with anything like despatch, but the person acting as sexton hurried away, leavißg two little boys to finish the work ; and ti ter a most distressing delay, the feoyi proving quite unequal to the task, one ef the attendants at the funeral had to take it out of their hands and conclude it himself. A leavy shower occurred at the time, so that the mourners had a most uncomfortable wait. Thfr scene wa3 a deplorably painful one, and the Corpora: ion, whose employee the sexton presumably was, should certainly take steps to prerenta recurrence of the like. The following extract is from the Engineering and Mining Journal, of New York :— " The first step is to be taken in a movement, tiie final issue of which it it difficult to foretell. It is announced that the American Iron and Steel Association has concluded its ar- | xangements for holding a convention in this mtj in November, 60 urge upon Congresß the necessity of appointing a Commission to gather information upon which a revision of our present tariff laws is to be based. In it* present shape those laws have, but very few ( friends, and even they cannot deny the necessity of a thorough revision. The impending struggle will be fierce, and probably protracted. All interests involved should be given a full hearing, and much will depend upon the force with which the claims <of the Tarioos parties are presented. Experience in the past has shown that grave errors have been made in this direction. Many questions, purely technical in their character, will come up for discussion, and it is to be hoped that in their settlement clearer ideas will prevail than those which have held sway^ until now." The Federal Australian sees' in this some nope that the mission of Sir H. Parkes to the States may be successful after aIL

that to reverse many of the decisions would raise the whole body of the tenants against the Aot as a mockery and delusion, and revive the partially brokon power of the Laud League. Bad as Ireland is now, the Government could not face the risk of what it might become if Mr Parnell, as soon as he gets out of gaol, which he must doby-and-by, could say that hie prediction had come true, and that Ireland had nothing to expect from the Liberal party any more ■ than from the Tories.— Correspondent S. A. Register.