Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4745, 16 July 1883, Page 2

Local & General.

An entertainment, consisting of clairvoyrcco, moamejfiem, and musio "will be given in tho Theatre Bojbl to-morrow aud the .following evening by Colonel F. Markoe, assisted by Miss Daisy Markoe and Master Markoe. Mr B. Aloxandor will also appear in a vocal and instrument?! medley. A onmical information for libel at the suit of Mr W. X/.Eeeß, has been laid against Kenneth Kerr, editor of a GHsborne paper called Facts, and Charles Wobb, proprietor of the Standard, and printer of Faols, for an artiole in last Fridaj's issuo, relating to tho Land Company's doings. Tho caso comes on on Monday morning. Stanley and Darbyehire's Juvenile Opera Company will re-open ad the Theatre Royal on August 18. Herr Bandmanu rill probably pay us another vieifc ere long, cs ho ie now in treaty for the Theatre Bojul for the month of November. Mr Fred. Dnrk is also in treaty for tho Eoyal for "The Merry Thoughts and Huppy Moments " Company, who aro now in the Hawke's B,jy district. Mr Lachlon M'Qowan did not succeed in makiisg arrangemgnts for the eppearanco of the Sydney Company, in whoie i'-toreste ho applied for tho Boycl a short titno ago. At tho half-yearly Bummoncrl meeting of the Eopo of St. Albang Lodgo, U.A.0.D., for the purpose of dectiDg officers for the en* cuing term, and receiving tho Auditors' report and balanco-sheet for the Lalf year, there was a fairly numerous attendance of members and Tjotors. After the usual routine of busineps vti»b transacted, tae Seoretary read the balance-Bheet, which showed tho Lodge to be favourably progressing, notwithstanding tho heavy call whioh has been made upon the Sick Fund during the half year. The balance sheet having been adopted, the Lodge proceeded to (he election of officers, with the following result :— A. D. f Bro John Bennetts; V.A., Bro James Silveßter ; Trensuror, Bro A. 0. Birfc ; Secretary, Bro T. Walker; A.D. Bards,. Bros T. Cooper and George Stokes ; V.A. Bards, Bro» J. Hathaway and J. Dixoy; 1.G., Bro H. Blackmore; 0.Q., P. A. Bro J. E. Tomlinsen s M. Secretary, P.A. Bro W. Drake. Tho officers eleot were then ably installed by D.P. Bro Sutherland. It vta decided to present the retiring P.A. with a P.A. certificate suitably framed. Hearty votei of thnnki were aooorded to the installing and retiring officers, and the Lodge was oloied in the> usual manner bj the A.D. Bro J. Bennett*.

The following items will he found on tho fourth page of this issue :— Tale : " Lovo at the (Sold fields " (to be continued) ; Canterbury Museum ; Poultry, Pigein, and Canary Show; Mr Bryoa Vindicated by a Maori Witness ; Sporting : Ghrintchuroh Hunt Olub Steeplechases ; Football : Intwprovincial Match. The additional workshops in course of erection at Messrs Hcott Bros.' iron works are rapidly approaching completion. The new chimney, 70ft in height, has been finished, and fitted with a oast iron cap, of about a ton in weight. This cap is surmounted with an ornamental railing, of very handsome dosign, which greatly relieves the otherwise) not very sightly appearance of the chimney. It is stated that considerable dieiatisfaotion is felt in the rural fleathoote sub-division cf the drainage district at the fact that the residents have been subjected to a rate of five-eighths of a penny in the £ on tho capital value of their property, whioh is equal to about 8d in tho £ on the rental value. It has boen proposed to hold a public mooting to protest; against what is considered an excessive rate. She strange noise reported a3 having been heard in the vicinity of Amberley last Thursday afternoon, was also very distinctly heard •t Bangiora, a distance of nearly 15 miles. There it resembled a sharp thunder clap, and those who heard it were led to believe that a violent thunder storm was in progress stmewhere in tho north. The Theutre Boyal is Btill clcsad, and will not bo re opened until Saturday next, when a company of amateurs and professionals combined will open for a short season, during which Betsy and Caste are to be produced. The Company includes Mies Qwynno HerricV, Miss E. Tnsmpson, Mm Tyrrel, Messrs HewmaD, Orocks, Jerrame?, and Wilkinson. A conf#ren<33 was to have taken place on Saturday between a sub-Committee of the Industrial Association and one from the Corn Exchange, in order to endeavour to arrange for united action on tho part of the two bodies in procuring a suitable building ss a joint office. At the time eppointed, however, though the representatives of the Industrial Association were in attendance,' those of the Corn Bxohauge, with one exception, did not put in an appearacce, aad the conference accordingly fell through. The body of a newly born child waa found yesterday morning in High street, Gieymouth, Bouth of Bawyers' creek bridge, alongside the road, wrapped in calico and brown peper, with four halfcrowns tied in a corner of the calico. Evidence showed that the ohild had been born alive, and probably died from negleot. The umbilical cord beisg cut with a blunt instrument, and not hariug bees fcisd, the hemorrhage earned death. The jury returned a verdict accordingly. It was Been by a young girl on the day before, and although on the edge of the road, and in full view of passers by, it remained undisturbed until this mornIBff. Very satisfactory intries were, received on Saturday night for the events of the Christohurch Hunt Club Steeplechases on August 2, there being 8 in the Hunt Cup, 13 in the Tally-Ho Plate, 11 inlhe Open. Steepleohaie, and 14 in the Hunters' Flat Haoe. The list appears in another column. — Gold Coast and the other son of 8t Albans recently brought over by Mr Davidson fram Tasmania, were submitted to auction at Tatteriall's on Saturday afternooa, but both were passed in, the biddings not reaching the reserves. Betrayer whs also brought under the hammer, but Mr Butler declined to part with him for 160 guineas, which was (he highest bid obtaiaed. The master of the hounds, Mr Cotton, being incapacitated by reason of his recent accident, from taking his place in tho field on Saturday, Mr H. Bradley had tho hounds in charge. It wa3 originally intended that the meot should bo at. the Woolston Hotel, whence the scano of operations was to be transferred to Linwood, for whioh latter place several horsemen made in preference to journeying to Woolston. Thoy waited gome time', but no hounds pat in an appearanoe and great was their chagrin on subsequently learning thai; cwing to his being unable to ■eoure a man to lay tho drag over the Linwood country, Mr Pipov had laid it round the neighbourhood of Hillsborough, where an extremely tough and lengthy run saw even those in front rank kisa Mother Earth more than once. Owing to the proximity of the Hunt Club Steeplechase?, several of the best honea were not out. The meet next Saturday will be at the Kennels. - The entertaiDment given at Springston in aid of the widow and orphans of the Jate Mr Williams £j tho Druids* Coloured Opera Troupe nifty fairly be pronounced an unqualified success, Tho ballads rendered by Measw Ashford, Willsteed and Cotter quite merited the hearty encores thoy received, whilst Meisra Dickie and Sinclair, tho corner men, were as successful as usual, being frequently stopped by the roars of laughter their jokes provoked. Tho stump speech by Mr Hewitt, and double eocg and dance by Meiers Dickie &nd Gordon, were both rodemanded. On the motion of Mr Mathews a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Troupo for their kindness in giving such an excellent entertainment. Mr W. S. Willsteed, on behalf of the visitors, thunVed the ladies snd gentlemen of Springßton for tho very lind and enthuniaitio manner in whioh they had received them, and also stated that the primary object cf the Troupe's existence was for the purpose of giving entertainments for benevolori t purposes. They had already, he said, given ten for benevolent objects since the formation of the company. The troupe will appear at the Theatre Royal on next Xhursday evening. Messrs P. and D. Dunoin last week made a successful trial at the Racecourse of their improved disc harrow, whioh they have pro> tested by letters patent. Of these the first that may be noted is the substitution of shafts for a pol?, thus lessening the weight to l>e dealt with by tha horsss, which they also prevent backing upon the knives or discs ; Another improvement is an arrangement for connecting the two rowß of duo, whioh while allowing the usual ste-saw motion, at tho «ame time a-lows them to rise and fall independently J'f each othci 4 ; a third is the introduction of a ball and socket join's, allowing the draught platea to be screwed together perfectly rigid without jamming on the socket, by which each set of discs can accommodate itself to the undulations of the -ground, and ba set to act at any desired angle ; yet another improvement is the attachment of an axle to the shafts for the purpose of fixiog wheels to transform the harrows into a vehicle when the machine, not at work, haß to be moved from one place to another, in which case the discs are unshipped, and laid • -upon a frame at the back of the abafts. She various improvements, it will be seen, are of 'Considerable value, and the manner in which they have been carried out reflects great credit on the invention and akill of the proprietors. It has now boen confirmed thatat his recent audience with the Sultan, on his. return from Egypt, lord Dufferin did mako representations on the subject of Armenia. He presented his observations in a form calculated to be least disagreeable to Turkish nueceptibilitiee. A correspondent remarks that the sympathetic British Ambsasador painted out that the non-fulfilment of the promises made in regerd to the application of reforms in the Asiatic provinces of the Porte would inevitably entail a Ices of those provinoeo to the Ottoman . Empire ; ani he concluded by urging the Sultan to give immediate effect to Article 61 of the Berlin Treaty. -Immediately after the interview the Sultan sent for Said Paefca, tho Grand Vizier, to confer with him on the subject. It is stated that His Highness strongly counselled His Majesty to act entirely with England upon this question, and to promulgate at once the desired reforms. Being somewhat reluctant to aooept offhand the patriotio and statesmanlike ad • vice proffered by his Premier, the Sultan called in his foreign Minister. Aarifi Pasha, delighted to have an opportunity of opposing tho Premier's polioy, unhesitatingly tendered the contrary advice. He endeavoured to persuade tho Sultan that England was not Rsrioua on this question, and that sac lad merely revived the subject, of reforms in Armenia in order to frighten His Majesty | into accepting the no? order of things brought about by that Power in Egypt, *^h\" appeared to make a certain itnpressiop on the Sultan, and the _ divergency of views between (lio Ito Ministers becoming known, rumour at ono moinonfc predicted the fall of Said Pasha. The position of the latter was, however, strengthened on the following day, when the Austrian Ambassador, in an interview with the Sultan, supported Lord Dufferin's representations on the subject of Armenia. Toe German Ambassador, in an audience with the Sultan, followed his col.Jffgnei witb tik« representation!, and this j

finally scoured the victory for the Prime Minister, and Said Pasha, the samo evening, reoeived the Sultan's commands to give immediate application to a system of reforms throughout tho Asiatio provinces. Th.9 Sydenham Bifles hold a church parade yesterday morning. About fifty of the Corps mustered at tho Drill-shed under the command of Captain Joyoo and Lieutenant* Johrjßton and Linn, and headed by the Garrison Band undor Bandmaster Hamilton, marched to St Saviour'e Ohuroh, Bydenham, where sorvioe was conducted, arid an impresßivo Bcrmon preuohed by the Hey H. B. Cooks, chaplain to the corps. la connection with tho Society for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals an address was delivered by Mr J. Cunningham to the soholars attending the Bpringfisld Bohool on Friday. In a foroiblo and impreasivo manner he pointed out the objects for whioh th Sooioty had boen formed, and throughout was listened to with rapt attention by tho young people. At the conclusion he was grooted with a round of upplauae. Many of the children belonging to tho school, which is an exceptionally large one, intend joining the Booiefry. Special services under the direction of the Committeo for nromoting the union of tho various Methodist Churches of New Zealand were held yoaterday in the Weßleyan, Free Methodißt, Primitive Mblhodiit, and Biblo Christian Churches in the oity and euburba. Sormons bearing on the subjeot of the union of the branches of the Methodist Church, sotting forth tho advantages likely to rssult thorefrom, wero preached by ministers appointed for the purpose. "A curious piece of evidence," cays a London writer, " has come to light of the Bpirit of gambling that is prevalent among a large seotion of tho public A man and hia wife have been taken up at Epsom for having in their possession a lottery machine, formed by a rotatory coffee roaster, the tiokets of whioh were drawn out (to ensuro fairness, I suppose) by a monkey. They sold twelve tickets for a shilling each, and the holder of thG winning ticket received the whole of the money, oxoept two pence, charged for oommission by the proprietors of the apparatus. This is a lees percentage than is claimed by the bank at Monaco, and jet, suoh was the extreme profitableness of the establishment from the number of competitors that on the man was found £10 and on tho woman £20." We do these things better in the Colonial, only imtead of using a ooffee grinder we construot an elaborate machine and call it a totalisator. The New York Tribune recently contained the following calculation by O'Donovan Bossa of how mnoh it would ooifc to bring England to her knees :— " Let us see how much it would cost to burn England, to burn London, the heart of England, say:— Passage money of 1000 evioted Irishmen from Ireland to London, £6 eaoh, £6000; rooms io 1000 London hotels, one night, 5s eaob, £250; 1000 boxes of matohes, at a farthing a box, £1 0a lOd ; passjge money to fly after the 1000 beds are lit, £6 each, £6000 ; contingent pocket money for 1000 men, £5 eaoh, £5000 ; total, £17,251 0s lOd. That is somewhere about 85,000d01j. That lnuoh would strike England to her knees ; that much would holp tho men at home to froo Ireland. Can the Philadelphia Convention raise it ? " This is reokleas extravagance on O'Donovan's part, a critic cf Bossa said. The £250 for rooms is quite unnecessary , as in the prewiling confusion the 1000 Iriahmc-n' could easily "skip out " without paying a penny. O'Donovan also forgets that at the same time thoy might quietly pocket tho jeweh of fljing guests, and thus not only defray all their own expenses, but perhaps make a profit out of the transaction.

Though M. Challemel-Lacour announced this week that it was not the desire of France to conquer Anam, he only have changed his viewa very reoently. Si lately as tho beginning of May, M. Brun, French Minister of Marine, distinctly told the Chamber that Government intended to compel the Emperor of Anam to consent to the occupation of the Province of Tonquin, to acknowledge a French Protectorate ,ovor the rest of tho country, to entrust all power to Frenoh officials, and to make over all revenue, reociving in return a Frenoh guarantee, and one third of the net receipts for himself. The whole of Anam, a kingdom larger than Great Britain, stretching from Saigon to China, with a population of 5,000,000, was, in fact, to be annoxed at once, and governed on the Tunisian system, tho revenue of £1,200,000 being divided into three parts. One would be loft to tho nativo sovereign, one j^enfe on public works, and one useel for Hdminißcruti*«d purposes. The country was to be garrisoned by marines, and by 6000 Tonquinesa militia to do fatigue duty. M. Brun admitted that the Chinese Government had already despatch? d 200 D men to Tonquin, but thought the presence oZ Frenoh troopa would overawe them, and that there would be no complications. The Committee agreed with him, and will, remarked the Spectator at tho time, report in favour of a credit of £220,000 for the expedition, but it is otill doubtful if the Chamber will asßent. The Deputies certainly will not, if they understand that the ruler of Anam can sign no suoh cession of his kingdom, he being tributary to Pekin, and that the result will be a dangerous war with China. France can defeat China, but not with a handful of marines operating 1600 miles from Pekin.

Just now, while Parliament is in the ; mortal throes of re-modelling the Bankruptcy Act, it will bo interesting to reproduce Elia'fl eontiments on the subject. Writing to Barnard Barton, on Deo. 8, 1829, ho says :— " I will toll you honestly, that it hf.s been long my deliberate judgment that all bankrupts, of whatsoever denomination, civil or religious, ought to be hanged. The pity of mankind has for ages run in a wrong channel, and has been divoated from poor creditors to scoundrel dobtors. I know all the topics— that distress may come upon an honest man without his fault ; that the failure of one that he truetod was his calamity, &o. Then let both be hanged. Oh, how careful this would make tradera! These are my deliberate thoughts, after many years' experience in matters of Ir&de. What a world of trouble it would have saved you if friend had baon immediately hanged, without benefit of clergy, whioh (being a Quaker) I presume he could not reasonably insist upon. Why, after slaving twolve months in your eeaign business, you will be able to declare 7d in the pound in all human probability. B. 8., he should be hanged. Trade will never flourish in this land till euch a law is established. I writo big, not to save ink, but eyes, mine having been troublad with reading through three folios of old Fuller in almost as few days, and I went to bed last night in agony, and Bin writing with a vial of eye- water before me, alternately dipping in vial and inkstand. This may inflame my zeal against bankrupts ; but it was my speculation when I could see better. Half the world's misery (Eden else) is owing to want of money, and all that want is owing to bankrupts. I declare I would, if the State wanted practitioners, turn hangman myself, Bnd should have great pleasure in hanging the first bankrupt after my salutary law had bean established." Ihis outburst would probably have been even more violent, if delivered to-day. The Standing Committee on trado at Home have pronounced in favour of a clause that a compounding debtor shall not be entitled to a discharge on pajment of leea than 69 in the pound.

It has boen decided to light up Fort Said by means of compressed gas upon Fintsch's Bytteno, and instructions have been given by the Suez Oanal Co. for tho 6reotion of a small gasworks at that port. It is intended to have three fixed lights, eaoh capable of burning two .months without replenishing, and eight floating buoys 9ft in diameter, whioh will also burn for two months without recharging with gag.

t agreement recently concluded between i the Government and Count de Lesseps I for the construction of a second Suez i Canal will hamper Australian trade for the next fifty years. Mr James Service, as Colonial Trea- | surer, will probably make his Financial ! Statement on Wednesday next.