Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5092, 28 August 1884, Page 3

Local & General.

♦ The Rev Canon Stanford will give the sixth of his addresses on Religion in the Cathedral this evening at 8 o'clock. The annual general meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce will be held to-morrow at 3 p.m., when the Customs tariff will be considered. Messrs Charles Louisson for the southwest ward, and James Bowman for the north-west ward have been nominated as City Councillors. Last evening. an entertainment, which was well attended, was given in the Merivale schoolroom. Mr E. Cox was in the chair, and songs, contributed by several ladies and gentlemen, were much enjoyed by those present. The choir sang a number of glees in excellent style, andthe entertainment was concluded by the performance of the comedietta " Turn him out," by the Merivale Dramatic Club. A meeting of ratepayers of the Richmond district was held last evening to protest against the Drainage Board's proposal to return to the system of levying the rates on the annual instead of the capital value. Mr Flesher, member for the Avon district on the Drainage Board, was present, and made a long speech, replete with statistics, in ord^r to convince the meeting that the annual value system was the proper one to adopt. His words fell on unheeding ears, however, and the meeting unanimously passed a resolution to take steps to prevent the passage of a Bill through Parliament that would enable the Drainage Board to carry out their intention. | In the Road Board Office, Sheffield, on Tuesday evening, a representative meeting of those interested decided that steps should be taken to take over the five Crown streets of the township, viz., New, Good, Duke, King and Vogel streets. The Chairman was requested to get a legal opinion a3 to how to proceed in the required conveyance, and report to a meeting to be called by him. An adjourned general meeting of the members of the Christchurch Poultry Association was heldat Warner's Hotellast evening. There was a large attendance of members, and Mr R. W. Fereday, President of the Society, occupied the chair. A discussion took place on the rules, which were amended in one or two unimportant particulars. The name of the Society was altered to the " Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon, Canary, and Cat Society." At a Committee meeting of the Musical Society, held on Tuesday afternoon, the accounts in connection with the late concert were presented by the Treasurer, and passed for payment. The conductor presented his provisional list of soloists for the next concert, to include Mendelssohn's "Walpurgis Night" and Gade's "Crusaders." It was decided to give the concert during the first week of November, and then to put "The Messiah" in rehearsal for the usual Christmas performance. Several new members were proposed and admitted, under the rules of the Society, at half the year's subscription, as the last concert ended the first half of the season, and new members could be received on such terms. There was a very full attendance at last night's practice, which was called by advertisement for 7.45 p.m. The practices will in future commence at that hour. At the meeting of the Timaru Borough Council on Monday evening last, Councillor Gibson moved the proposition standing in his name, to the effect that a plebiscite of the ratepayers should be taken again as to the expediency of instituting a system of drainage for the Borough. He justified his action on economical and sanitary grounds. The opponents of the motion held that the badness of the times, the possibility of warding off disease by nuis-ance-inspection, the excellence of the atmospheric conditions, and the paucity of the population forbade any such step. The motion was carried by a majority of one, and the Council resolved to consider a scheme to be submitted to the ratepayers. Our Timaru correspondent adds : — " I went up to the Telegraph Office, to transmit this important piece of Timaru news, a little before 11 o'clock, but the officer in charge refused to allow me within the hallowed precincts, on the ground that a special order i had come down, by which he was bound to | exclude everyone from the operating room. | Hitherto, from time relatively immemorial, j any member of the Fourth Estate had the ; entree of the room after the hour for closing j the public office, and this denial, therefore, j occasioned a genuine surprise. After the j fire in the Education Office Dep6t, the j Telegraph Department took possession of , the room, and determined to make it an ; ante-room for the Press-men sending late ! messages ; but, the plastering of the apart- | ment being unfinished, it is not yet avail- j able, and, therefore, to*summarily turn the ' Press-men out of the room where they. had '. been wont to writo their messages, seemed j a needlessly harsh proceeding. I should be ■ curious to know how the Department justi- j ties such a sudden zeal for the maintenance j of discipline. I need not say the officers ; act entirely under instruction, and express ' the utmost regret at the position into which j they are forced. j Morris Green wall, the manager who stated that he had secured Mrs Langtry for the ; Colonies, has brought an action against her for breach of contract, in refusing to come to Australia. His damages are laid at 50,000d015. Why Mrs Langtry broke her contract (remarks a contemporary) is not yet known. She may not have cared for the long voyage to the Antipodes, and may I have been doubtful of her reception there. Probably she does not expect to find the ! same ovation as in the United States, and ! she may be so satisfied with the money she ! has made that she has no desire to go further to make more. But cne of these \ lawsuits will some day make a big hole in ! her savings. So far she has triumphed, because, it is openly asserted, American juries were too much smitten by her charms to be able to give a verdict against her. It is not stated where tho new action is to be tried ; if in the States, the same result may be expected. More probably, as Mrs Langtry is on the point of returning to this country, Mr Greenwall may think it wiser to wait and appeal to a British Court. After all, whatever it may cost the enterprising manager, Australian audiences have probably not lost mueh by Mrs Langtry's breach of contract. It is \ said she has improved, and her intention j to appear on her return to London as I Galatea shows that she is not wanting in ' ambition, hut she can never become a great I actress. '

There was a large attendance at the usual weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Debating Club, held in the City Council Chambers last evening. Fourteen new members were elected, and a large number of additional propositions were handed in. Several questions were answered by the Government, and considerable time spent in discussing the motions of which notice had been given. Two of the motions were negatived, and two— brought forward by the honorable member for St Andrew's, dealing with the official robing of the Speaker and the appointment of a messenger to the House — were carried unanimously. A lengthy debate took place on a Bill to amend the Law Practitioners Act, a large number of the members taking part in the discussion. Considerable interest was imported into the debate in consequence of the presence in the House of several members of the legal fraternity. Some capital speeches were delivered pro and con, the majority appearing to take a Conservative view of the measure. On a vote being taken, the second reading of the Bill was negatived on tho voices. A large number of notices of motion having been given, and a Bill entitled the " Farms Lands Settlement Bill " set down for its second reading at the next sitting, the House adjourned. Mr Ivo's lecture on " Chinese Gordon/' was delivered last evening at the Freethought Hall (lent for the occasion) to a large audience considering the other attractions, both political and otherwise. Mr Clissold was in the chair. As was expected, the view taken by the lecturer of Gordon's Chinese career was hardly the popular one. Mr Ivo graphically portrayed the inception and progress of the great Taeping rebellion ; sketched the youth of Hung the Heavenly King, in vivid colours.; briefly recounted the history of England's connection with China ; and told how the " Ever Victorious Army " was called into existence. He then took up the story from the date when Gordon assumed command of the Army until the termination of the rebellion. Tlie whole was enlivened by word pictures and frequent anecdotes of persons and events; and there was some considerable amount of forcible declamation. The lecturer, though attacking Gordon's conduct in China, concluded with a wann compliment to his subsequent benevolence and humanity to the poor of England. As a narration of the actual experience of an eye witness and participant, the address was both highly interesting ard amusing. The lecturer was frequently and loudly applauded. The Canterbury College lecture hall was again well filled with an appreciative audience last evening. The Professor introduced his subject, " The Histories of Shakespeare as a Preparation for his Comedies," by portraying the difficulties which the dramatist has to overcome in adapting the march of history to the limits of the stage. The use Shakespeare made of the comic element was clearly pointed out — to reveal the monarch in " undress." Heroic drama is most fitted for the stage; the whole spirit and destiny of a nation is best embodied in painting the career and destiny of a great individuality. Tho great poet learned to master his own soul before he attempted to mould the characters of others, and through many silent years studied men and toiled on in his despised profession until his mind had ripened. His witty, philosophical fools of the comedies j are but portraits of Elizabethan life. From the aerial flights of imagination, highest J in the " Midsummer Night's Dream," he descended to the sober grasp of facts, and in the " Merchant of Venice" deals with the actual thoughts and acts of men. His art matured as fife passed. His characters are embodiments of actual life, his Kings are true flesh and blood. The lecture concluded with a masterly piece of word-painting — a bird's-eye view of nature as Shakespeare saw it, brought into one grand harmonious picture. The subject of the next lecture is temporary life as seen in "Henry IV." and "Henry VL," and the philosophy of the plays. The opera given by the London Comic Opera Company last night was Von Suppe's "Boccaccio," which was produced with a completeness of detail as to dress, scenery and mise en scene, equal to anything that the company has previously appeared in. The orchestra, under Mr Juncker, played with great spirit, and the chorus left nothing to be desired in their treatment of the lively music allotted to them. Some alterations had been made in the cast since the opera was last produced here, the principal of these being the substitution of Miss Annie Schraeder for Miss A. Stanley, as Peronella; of Miss Lilly Kelly for Miss F. Slater, as Isabella; Miss Ethel de Vere for Miss Lilly Kelly, as Beatrice ; Mr J. Rattray for Mr Johnstone, as Cecco ; and of Mr C. Johnstone for Mr Juncker, as the Chapman. Miss Ivanova made a dashing Boccaccio, playing with admirable abandon. i Miss Annie Leaf sang with great sweetness 'as Fiametta. Miss Annie Schraeder was a ] sufficiently shrewish Peronella. Miss Lily j Kelly made a charming Isabella, and Miss '. Ethel de Vere was an attractive Beatrice. '. Of Mr Appleby's comicalities as Lamber- | tuccio those who have seen that artist i need not be reminded ; he was irresistibly ! i funny. Mr Knight Aston was in splendid ! voice, and played with much appropriate j \ freedom. M. Loredan as Pietro, Mr G. j Dean as Lotteringhi, Mr F. Wentworth as | Scalza, and Messrs Rattray and Johnstone j were at their best in their respective rGles. j The audience were very enthusiastic in J their applause, and re-demanded most of j the choicest morceaux of the opera. In j spite of evident reluctance to prolong the j entertainment, the following had to be re- : peated -.—The trio serenade, Mr Knight j Aston's introduced song, " Thee do I Love," I and Miss Leaf's " Young Love " in the ' first act; the Coopers' chorus and Miss j Ivanova's " Oh, Love, I Know" and yokel's : song in the second act; and the same \ artist's "We Parted " in the third act. j It need hardly he said that the sisters j Annie and Katie Martin were encored for i their sprightly dance in the last act. I "Boccaccio" will be repeated this even--1 in Sj The suspicion that the sudden death !of Midhat Pasha «vas not brought ; about by natural means has at length j been most circumstantially confirmed, J and it is now certain that Midhat Pasha j and his fellow prisoners were literally | starved to death. According to the i Strassburger Zeitung, which quotes a letter i from one of the exiles at Taif, the followi ing are the details of the case : — " Tahir ; Bey," says the writer, " who was one of the I Sultan's aide-de-camps, had been ordered to convey to Osman Pasha notice of his ele- : vation to the dignity of field marshal. At the same time he brought orders from Constantinople to ill-treatthe exiles at Taif both in respect to food and all other necessaries, in order that their end might be more speedily brought about. With a view to carry out these orders the Governor-General sent Major Bekir Effendi, a Circassian, direct from Mecca to Taif, where he at once dismissed the cooks and deprived the imprisoned exiles of every comfort. Bekir even sent away the physician of Midhat Pasha at a time when the latter was suffering from a dangerous attack of carbuncle. He also dismissed all the servants of Malimud Nouri Pasha and others. Only the commonest bread was allowed the jn'isoners, and the solders prevented thom buying any other food, even with their own money. Eighteen days afterwards a telegram from Constantinople ordered the servants to be restored, but, in the main, the cruel treatment continued. Then all saw starvation staring them in the face, the badness and insufficiency of the food causing them to despair of living long." In this letter, which is dated March 22, the exiles take leave of their friends, and express their sinister presentiments, which have been only too fearfully fulfilled. The French mechanics who recently visited the United States to see if emigration were desirable, have come back convinced that France is a better place for the workman than the United States. They say that rents are too high, the educational system defective, that liberty runs into license, and the workman is " ground " down by the employer. It is stated by the Superintendent of the Mint that the purchase of dirt adhering to gold costs no less than .£3ll per 1,000,000 sovereigns, and 1 per 2,000.000 half-sovereigns.