Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5165, 21 November 1884, Page 3

Local & General.

— ♦ Messrs Jackson (Mayor) and Sutter, M.H.R., were yesterday returned unopposed to represent the Borough on the Timaru High School Board of Governors. Mr Robert Grimwood, of Southbrook, another of the " old hands," died yesterday, after a short illness. At the time of his death he was 74 years of age, over 26 of which he had passed in the Rangiora district, respected by all. The Garrison Band will play a number of favourite airs at 8 o'clock this evening on the lawn of the Working Men's Club. Should the weather be at all favourable, we anticipate a good evening's enjoyment. The open-air concerts by th? above and other bands, in past seasons, were thoroughly enjoyed by members, visitors, and the outside public. It appeared from the remarks of one of the speakers at the Conference Temperance Meeting, last evening, that a brother minister, in one of the suburbs of the city, preached General Gordon's funeral sermon last Sunday, under the impression that the hero of Khartoum had met his death. " Jane Shore " was repeated for the last time at the Theatre Royal yesterday evening, to a very fair audience. Mrs Lewis was as successful as ever in her impersonation of the heroine, and was honoured with more than one call before the curtain, while Mr Douglass met with howls of execration as usual. Tonight the comedy drama " Clouds " will be performed for Mrs Lewis' farewell benefit. The Company open in Wellington early next week with " Jane Shore," and their agent, Mr Dodge, went forward yesterday afternoon to make the necessary arrangements, 't At a meeting of the Committee of the Industrial Association, held last evening, it was decided to send a deputation to interview the Minister of Public Works, who is now in Christchurch, on several matters in which the Association take an interest. Another deputation was appointed to wait on the Board of Governors of Canterbury College, re the establishment of a School for Technical Education. A meeting of the Kaiapoi Horticultural Society was held in the Farmers' Club Chambers on Wednesday evening, at which there was a good attendance, Mr R. Coup presiding. It was decided to write to the several gentlemen selected to act as judges. A sub-Committee, consisting of Messrs Coup, R. W. Smith, J. G. Kidd, R. Wright, and J. Lowthian Wilson, was appointed to carry out the detail matter connected with the show, and to allocate the specia 1 . prize money. It was resolved to nold the usual promenade concert on the evening of t.ie show, Dec. 3, and after other minor matters had been arranged, the meeting adjourned. The Directors of the Southern Cross Petroleum Company report that some delay in continuing boring operations at their works has been occasioned in inserting the G-inch through tlie 8-inch pipes. The G-inch pipes will require raising, and it is anticipated that this will be done and boring resumed in a few days. Extracts of the weekly diary are published as usual : — " Nov. 4 : The character of the rock is a dull grey shale or flag ; there is no difference in any of the Btrata of rock as regards the gas. We have no water yet. Nov. 5 : Drove the pipe 4ft this afternoon. We were sixteen hours drilling 4ft below the pipe, as it was constantly filling up ; the pipe drives very easily when we have a hole below it. I can drive 100 ft a day if I can only get a hole below the pipe. The well makes no water whatever. It must be the force of gas which drives the broken rock up into the pipe. Nov. 7 : The last Bft has been in clay and gravel ; oil and gas continuing the same ; total depth, 437 ft. We are still above the oil, as it frequently shows in the sand pumpings. The gas is very troublesome ; it sometimes forces the cavings up into the pipe and keeps us drilling in the pipe when we have been far below it." The conductors of horse cars in Val' paraJßQ »re women.

An adjourned meeting of the Woolston Town Board was held on Nov. 18 ; present — Messrs Freeman, Bowron, O'Neill, j Coles, M'Diarmid, Hopkins, and T. York • (Chairman). A letter was received from J S. Prisk, offering road metal. Resolved — ! " That the Works Committee inspect the ! quarry." Resolved — "That tenders be , called for 100 dog collars for the year ; 1885." Mr York reported, on behalf of the ' Works Committee, that Long street con- ' tract was completed, and that the streets in the district were being attended to. Mr Hopkins reported : Finance, since Oct. 28 to Nov. 18 — Receipts, J331 5s 2d ; expenditure, .£22 4s ; credit balance, .£4B 9s Bd. A long discussion took place re Hargood's road ditch. Resolved — " That the matter be left in abeyance for the present, as there is a great diversity of opinion." Re loan i question. Resolved — "That the Board take < steps under the Municipal Corporations ; Act to raise a loan for concreting sidechannels." All the members except Mr O'Neill were in favour of the resolution. •Re rating. Resolved — "That the Board adopt the Rating Act of 1882, and rate i under that Act for 1885." The Clerk was instructed to forward a copy of the resolution to the Property Tax Commissioner, to have the same gazetted, in accordance with the Act. After doing other routine business, the meeting ended. A shop in Cashel street has excited considerable attention from the novelty of its appearance, though, in sooth, that appearance would be familiar enough to the inhabitants of an English town. A large can, bound with braßS, occupies a central position in the window, and is surrounded by a number of pot plants, whose bright green contrasts refreshingly with the dusty street. Certain placards, in the same window, announce that Devonshire cream, new milk, and other products of the dairy farm, are for sale within. The shop is that of Messrs R. Gainsford and Son, who have decided to dispose of a portion of the productions obtained from their farm at New Brighton in this manner — a manner common enough in the Old Country, but decidedly new here. A supply of milk, Devonshire cream and curds and whey, is conveyed to the shop in , Cashel street twice daily, so as to ensure customers receiving them perfectly fresh. Provision is made for supplying these dainties," to be consumed.on the premises," and, doubtless, many persons will avail themselves of the opportunity of partaking of the wholesome and appetising refreshments to be thus obtained. A glass of soda and milk is particularly pleasant and 1 cooling on a hot day, and, as this can also be had at Mr Gainsford's, it may be expected that he will do a good trade in that description of refreshment alone during the sum mer months. He is making preparations also for supplying strawberries and cream and cream cheese to his patrons. Of the interior arrangements of the shop, there is little need to speak. They are simple, yet well suited to their purpose, and the appearance of the room, with its pans of cream and milk, and piles of butter, protected from the dust by light coverings, is particularly neat and pleasing. I A case has just come under the notice of the Legacy Duty Office at Somerset House which far surpasses the wildest flights of the novelist's imagination. •It appears that a woman upon the death of her husband cohabited with the husband's brother, and a son was born to the parties. Upon the death of the natural father, it appears that the son actually went through the legal process of marry- : ing the mother, and in the eye of the law ! became to all intents and purposes the legal husband of his own mother. Three : months after the marriage the mother 1 died, leaving all her belongings to her ' legal husband, thereby avoiding the 10 ! per cent legacy duty which would have i been chargeable had she bequeathed them j to the same man in the person of her illegi--1 timate son. I A London paper states thaif experiments i are to be made to test the applicability of , the Atlantic cable to telephonic purposes i as soon as the Mackay- Bennett cable is laid I between Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Gloucester (Massachusetts), the distance between the two ports being 850 miles. If successful, a staff of operators will at once be sent to Valentia, and an attempt will be made to telephone across the Atlantic. Practical electricians are cf opinion that with the same instrument sound may be transmitted twice as far on wires under water as on land wires. The new apparatus invented | by Mr Gillette, a Michigan electrician, ' will, it is stated, stand the force of GO batteries, whereas anything over two batteries would wreck the Bell telephone instruments. The latest experiments with ; the new instruments were made between ; New York and St Louis, a distance of 1500 1 miles, and were completely successful. I Telegrams cannot be transmitted by cable • faster than at the rate of 12 words a ! minute, while it is believed that 30 words j may be telephoned in that space of time. I The telephonic system will be, therefore, j much more economical than the other, and | will, it may be expected, give a great ! impetus to the transmission of news by i wire across the Atlantic. " The New York j editor," says a Transatlantic paper, specuI lating on the possibilities of the future, i "will, in the lapse of time, ring up j Constantinople, and will call for a I three-column interview with the Grand Vizier, or a t6te -& - te'te with the Sultan in the reporter's best style." , We may add to this that the new trans- ! niitter invented by Mr F. Hebden of this city is expected to effect the same purpose as the apparatus mentioned above. Its capabilities of resistance have not yet been fathomed, as sufficient force has never been • obtained to put its endurance to a severe test. Experiments are, however, shortly to be made in the direction of ascertaining : the amount of resistance Mr Hebden's patenb can offer to the batteries. It may j be said, in the meantime, that sixteen ; batteries have been used, with the result , that the clearness of the speaking was not '. impaired in the slightest degree, while the j volume of sound was considerably increased. > No one will be surprised to hear that there are now some 300,000 cyclists in the United Kingdom ; that the capital invested ; in the manufacture of the machines is about £2,500,000, employing some GOOO to : 10,000 men. * j In England the apertures of street letter- .; boxes are surrounded by luminous paint, ! to facilitate their use at night. i .=— —