Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5192, 24 December 1884, Page 3

Local & General.

♦ Mr A. Parsons, of Fernside, was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace for the Kaiapoi district at the Eangiora Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning. The bazaar in the Baptist schoolroom was ! continued yesterday afternoon and evening, and was fairly well patronised. Judging from the number of sales made, there should be a good sum obtained towards defraying the church debt, the object for which the bazaar was held. Yesterday, a garden party and sale of work was held in the Parsonage grounds, Eangiora, to raise funds for colouring, and otherwise improving, the interior of the parish church. The attendance during the afternoon was not large, but improved towards the evening, when the Rangiora Brass Band enlivened the proceedings with some excellent music. The .Drainage Board and Board of Health held ordinary meetings yesterday afternoon. These were the last of the present Board, as a new Board is to be elected on Jan. 6, 1885. It is understood that Messrs Harper, Vincent, Parker and Ashworth do not intend to offer themselves for rei election. The Christmas services at the Cathct dral begin this evening, by a carol i service, at 7.30. At this there will be 1 the usual annual collection for the ■• CHoir Boys' Recreation Fund. This col- , lection has seriously fallen off each year. > The public who enjoy the services at the I Cathedral should not forget that the boys have to remain in town half their holidays

- — _ to carry on their duties, and that this fund has been established in order to give them outings during their three weeks' compulsory detention ir. town. ; ! To many of our readers it will be a matter for deep regret to hear that the widow of tho late Rev James Buller (who died on Nov. G) has only survived her husband some seven weeks. The deceased lady was utterly prostrated by the death of her late husband, with whose mission work she "was identified for 45 years. In manj stirring scenes, such as were experienced by the old missionary heroes and heroines, she proved herself possessed of a marvellously courageous spirit. Many an early settler found her home to be one where ready hospitality ' would be extended. She never rallied from the effect of Mr Buller'e removal, but j fears of her own death were not seriously ! entertained until a few days since. She passed peacefully away last evening. Had she and her husband lived until July next \ they would have been able to celebrate their golden wedding. j The annual meeting of the Loyal Leeston Lodge, M.U., 1.0.0.P., was held on Monday evening. There was a full attendance of members. The following • officers were elected for the ensuing term : . — G.M. and Lecture Master, Bro H. J. j ; TJnwin-; N.G., Bro H. Barlow; V.G., Bro : A. Shierlaw ; E.S., Bro D. Cant; P.S., Bro ' ;W. Durant ; Guardian, Bro G. Jones ; sup- ■■ • porters to N.G., Bros Traves and Chappel ; . : supporters to V.G., Bros Home and Came- j ron. It was decided, on the motion of Bro '. Durant, to open tlfe Lodge at 8 p.m., in- j stead of 7.30 p.m., during the ensuing four ; months. The D.G.M. Bro Leahy made an j i official visit to the Lodge, and congratu- { , lated the members on the success of the ' ; Lodge, and the efficient way in which it ' j was worked, and hoped that it would ' continue to prosper in the future as in ' j the past. The receipts for the evening amounted to .£33 4s, and the expenditure to .£l4 15s. There was a numerous attendance at the Eobert Burns Lodge (No. GO4 S.C.) last [ evening in the Canterbury Masonic Hall, { Manchester street, on the occasion of the j j annual installation of Worshipful Master i and investiture of officers. The installing ! officer was the R.W.D.G.M. (Bro the Eev J. Hill), and the imposing ceremony was most impressively performed. The officers for the ensuing year are : — E.W.M., Bro E. Buchanan ; S.W., Bro" Parks ; J.W., Bro E. W. Eastwoqd ; Treasurer, Bro P. Duncan ; Secretary, Bro J. E. Harkvs ; S.D., Bro E. Colquit ; J.D., Bro W. Jackson ; Chaplain, Bro W. J". Ferguson ; 1.G., Bro Hill ; Stewards, Bros Christie and Gourley ; Organist, Bro Tuck ; Tyler, Bro Toms. A couple of hours were pleasantly spent in harmony, masonic toasts and sentiment at the conclusion of business. A watch of somewhat novel construction is on view %at the shop of Mr I. Herman, 'jeweller, High' street. It is a silver hunting-cased watch, with English lever escapement, made by the International Watch Company, of London. The peculiarity consists in the manner in which the watch " tells the time." The face is very different in appearance from those of ordinary watches. There are no hands, and no figures ranged round the dial plate. In lieu of these are two small apertures, one above the other, each disclosing a figure or figures in Arabic numerals. Beneath the upper aperture is the word " Hours," while above the other is inscribed "Minutes." The figures change with the passage of time, those in the one aperture every hour, and those in the other every minute. This is effected Ijy the revolution o£ littte discs bearing consecutive numbers, and set in motion by the mechanism of tho watch. The regulation of the watch is effected by an apparatus exactly similar to that of an ordinary " keyless" watch. It is an excellent timekeeper, and does not appear more liable to get but of order than any other watch. . An amusinrg incident occurred in the High Court of Justice, London, on Oct. 28, which may be used as an argument at some future date against a cry for the appointment of more judges. Shortly after 11 o'clock on the day stated above Mr Justice North had finished his list of the causes which had been set down for hearing by him. Being desirous not to spend an idle day, he went to Vice-Chancellor Bacon to see if he could spare any of the cases on his list. ViceCbancellor Bacon, however, could spare none, and Mr Justice Ndrth then went to Mr Justice Chitty with the same object. Mr Justice Chitty thought he could spare a case, and after looking into the Judicature Act for authority for a transfer, he consulted counsel for the purpose of selecting a case from his list. This having been done, and the counsel in Price v. Insole agreeing that Mr Justice North should hear the case, it was transferred to this learned Judge's Court and heard by his Lordship. The incident created a good deal of amusement. It will be interesting to see. in what way the one real power in Germany will prefer to absorb the Duchy of Brunswick. The Duke of Cumberland's succession is, in any case, out of the question. But it is possible for the Emperor either to assert his doubtful claim to the inheritance in his character of the King of Prussia, and so annex the country to his hereditary dominions, or to treat it as vacant territory — its legitimate ruler being incapacitated by his refusal to acknowledge the empire — and govern it as Alsace-Lorraine is governed, as a Reichsland, that is territory immediately subject to the Imperial authority. The latter course would seem to be the most politic in every way. It avoids the appearance of " land hunger " on the part of the King of Prussia, while it leaves the local laws and constitution of the Duchy undisturbed. It would be more acceptable to the Bmnswickers, who, like the citizens of every German " Kleinstaat," have their local patriotism, and do not wish to become indistinguishable in the great mass of Prussians. And finally, from the point of view of those whose one object is the consolidation of Imperial unity, there is every reason for desiring the extension of the Eeichsliinder. The latter consideration ought to have great weight with Prince Bismarck. A little incident that was said to have occurred on the recent visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle appears in an English contemporary. At a stoppage in the procession, the Prince noticed a sailor with a handsome Newfoundland dog. " That's a fine looking dog, Jack," said His Royal Highness ; would you like to sell him ? " " No, Your Royal Highness," said Jack, "no money would buy him. I have had him from a puppy, and we're never apart." Presently the Princess said, "Yes, he's a beauty, Jack; I wish you would give Kirn to me ; I have taken quite a fancy to him." Poor Jack was fairly puzzled, but there was no help for it, so, with his eye 3 filled with tears, he said, "Of course, I can't refuse Your Royal Highness nothing; I wonder who could ? Where shall I bring him to ?" " Oh," she replied, with a smile, " I am very niuch obliged to you, Jack, for your beautiful present, but I think that perhaps he would be happier with you than with me, bo you must take great care of him for me, and you must let me know once a month how he is getting on, and I will then send you something to pay for his board and lodging," and, taking out a sovereign, she said with her sweetest smile, " here is the first month's payment in advance, and mind you take great care of my beautiful dog." As soon as Jack could recover his breath, he was about to pour out thanks and blessings upon tho beautiful princess, but, the obstruction to its progress having been removed, the procession moved rapidly on, leaving poor Jack speechless with astonishment and delight. The Guion liner Nevada, from New York to England, has just had a narrow escape from being burnt at sea. She left New York on Oct. 7 for Liverpool, having on board 21 cabin, 9 intermediate, and. 34 steerage passengers. All went well until Oct. 15 at noon, when it was reported that a portion of the cargo was on fire. The captain immediately took stops to'have the fire extinguished, and went below himself : with several officers. They discovered that j the cotton and hops were burning, and j they could not remain below, having to i come on deck again nearly suffocated: j Large quantities of water were poured on the burning cargo, and after Boroe hours' i

hard work the fire was got well under. To accomplish this, the saloon, intermediate, and steerage passengers cheerfully assisted, and worked hard. A considerable quantity of cargo had to be brought on deck, and several bales of cotton jettisoned. In addition to the pouring in of water, the captain had the steam extinguisher, with which the Nevada is fitted, brought into service. By this means, a quantity of steam can be driven with enormous force into any compartment in which a fire may occur. The use of the steam extinguisher proved most successful iv putting out the fire.. The captain, officers, crew, and many passengers did not cease working from the time the fire was discovered, and they were nearly exhausted when the ship arrived at Queenstown. A frightful accident occurred at the Carlton Ironworks, near Stockton, to a steeple jack named Booth. He was iron hooping a chimney 240 feet high. When at the top he lost his hold and fell. Half-way down was an iron rail, by which his .right leg was caught and torn from the body, remaining fixed there, while the dismembered corpse fell to the ground literally smashed. His father, who was contractor for the work, and his brother witnessed the accident. Great excitement prevails in Turkish Government circles, owing to a most audacious robbery that was successfully accomplished in October. The Turkish mail from Bagdad was attacked near the Zgorge Sakarich range of mountains, some 40 miles from Isinid. According to the official report the escort fought hard, but were taken unawares. The horses were shot down by the brigands, who were lying in ambush, and they eventually overpowered the escort. The entire freight was captured, one mail-rider and two Zaptiehs being killed, while several others were seriously wounded. The brigands made a grand haul, the Government loss alone is believed to be no less than .£60,000, consisting of tithes, remittances, and " accounts," while private losses amount to about £2000. One of the mail riders succeeded in escaping, and it was he who carried the news to Ismid the following day. The Sultan was very much exasperated at such an occurrence happening so near Constantinople, and issued orders immediately on receipt of the news for the despatch of a large body of cavalry to follow in pursuit of the brigands, and, if necessary, to follow them across Asia Minor. Three hundred troopers left for Ismid the next day. The attack was so well planned that the existence of collusion of Government officials with the brigands is strongly suspected. The pursuing party found several dead horses and niules on the scene of" the struggle, but without finding any trace of human bodies. Unqualified though, the recognition of the necessity of increasing the strength of their possessions abroad is on the part of the British Government, they are careful to the point of niggardliness as to the burdens to be imposed on the Imperial exchequer. The total estimated cost of the proposed armaments and works is .£891,870. It is intended, says the Home News, that nearly half this sum shall be met by local revenues at the different stations. Thus, the cost of the improvements at Aden will be .£128,000. Of this India will pay half. The defence of Table Bay is considered to be exclusively of Colonial interest, and the .£113,875 needed in that quarter is to be defrayed by the Cape Government. Singapore and Hongkong will pay for their own jm--1 proved works, which will respectively mean sums of J255..625 and .£75,000, the Imperial Government supplying the armaments required. The ,£45,000 demanded for Colemb'o is not to come from the Home Exchequer, and Mauritius will meet* the outlay — .£55,000 — on her own works, the Government here, as in the case of Hongkong and Singajjore, finding the armaments. These contributions 6n the part of the different stations affected, amount to .£409,720, leaving .£482,150 to the Imperial account. Less than half a million is surely a sum sufficiently small to devote to so important a purpose. Yet the Lords of the Treasury have now by some means or other arrived at the conclusion that only Aden, Singapore and Hongkong require immediate attention, and they refuse for the present to directly authorise the expenditure of more than ,£152,900 of Imperial money on account of these works. The annual consumption of water in extinguishing fires in London is about 17,000,000 gallons. The cost of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade is rather over .£IOO,OOO a year. More than 16,000 dogs were seized by the London police last year. Less than 2000 were claimed, and the rest were sent to that useful institution, the Dog's Home, or were otherwise disposed of.