Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5328, 29 May 1885, Page 3

Local & General.

aThe local option polling took place at Little River on Wednesday. In each case five voted for and six againßt an increase of licenses. Last night the Queen's Theatre was thronged with Bkaterß, many of whom were ladies, it being the Club night. The Rink will be open to the public to-day, as usual. The Harbour Board yesterday passed the following resolution .- — " That unless under special circumstances of emergency, neither the Harbour Board's pilot staff, nor the steam tug, will be made available to take steamers out on Sundays." The Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday resolved to support the action taken by other Harbour Boards to have an alteration made in the Harbours Act, so that Government should be required to pay wharfage on material imported by them. The programme last night at the Theatre Royal was a repetition of that of Wednesday, and was received with the same amount of favour by the audience. Tonight, the same performance will be repeated, and to-morrow night there will be an entire change. His Honor Mr Justice Johnston will return trom the Court of Appeal on Tuesday next, and will sit in Banco on Wednesday, June 3 ; in Bankruptcy, on Thursday, June 4, when the business set down for Tuesday, June 2, will be taken ; and in Chambers on Friday, June 5. He proceeds to Timaru on June 8, the civil and criminal sittings there being fixed for June 9. There was a good attendance yesterday evening at the ninth of the series of lectures on building construction, now being deUvered at Canterbury College by Mr E. Dobson, CE. The lecture dealt specially with fioers and pavements, the various kinds of which were classified, their merits and defects pointed out, and a number of practical suggestions on the subject made. Now that the Governors of the Canterbury College have taken up the subject of technological education, they aro becoming very active in the matter. The lectures being delivered by Professor Bickerton and Mr E. Dobson are to be followed up by a course of technological instruction by Mr Blair, master of the School of Arts, particulars of which will fee found in our report of the meeting of the Board held yesterday. Tho annual meeting of the parishioners of St Andrews' Church, Little River, was held in the schoolroom on Saturday last, the Rev Knowles, Chairman. Mr H. E. Tyson read the annual statement of accounts, which was adopted The following gentlemen wero elected as churchwardens : — Mr 11. E. Tyson as clergyman's and Mr William Coop as parishioners'. The following were elected as vestrymen :— Messrs G. Reynolds, M. Fitton, and Peter Mullins. Votes of thanks were given to the outgoing churchwardens and vestrymen, and also to the Superintendent and teachers of tbe Sunday School. The Chairman said theM was a debt still due on the church, and that an entertainment would shortly be given in aid of the building fund. He had many promises of assistance, and no doubt it would be a success. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.

The Governors of Canterbury College ' have granted leave of absence for one ] year to Profeßsor von Haaßt to enable ' him to proceed to Eogland as Commis- ; i sioner for the Colony at the forthcoming '; ' Indian and Colonial Exhibition, to be hold \ : in London. | i At a meeting of the Beard of ; < Governors yesterday, a letter was read ! < from His Excellency the Governor's ■ Private Secretary, stating that His ' i Excellency was advi?ed that, under i present arrangements, he is not in a posi- j tion toJJ interfere in reference to the diffi- \ culty which has arisen between the ! University Senate and the Board, with respect to the introduction of the objectionable plays of Terence into the pass Latin course. | Mrs Leavitt delivered one of her ; Temperance addresses to a very large ' audience in the Rangiora Literary Institute Hall on Wednesday evening last. The meeting was held under the auspices of the local Blue Ribbon Committee, and the Yen Archdeacon Dudley occupied the chair. At the conclusion, twenty-six new pledges were taken, and in i addition, twelve put on the blue. At intervals during the evening a choir, under the leadership of Mr T. G. Smith, rendered some of Sankey's hymns very nicely. — At tho invitation of Mrs Leavitt, a large number of ladies met at the Good Templar Hall, Rangiora, yesterday afternoon to discuss the question of forming a branch of the Women's Gospel Temperance Union. After Mrs Leavitt had fully explained the constitution and objects of the Union, it was decided to form a branch, and about thirty of those present gave in their names as members. An election of officers was then made as follows : — President, Mrs Rowse; vice-Presidents, Mrs Parkin and Mrs T. G. Smith ; Treasurer, Mrs T. Keir ; and Secretary, Mis 3 Dudley. It was agreeto hold the first meeting at the Wesleyan Church on Tuesday next, and the meeting then closed. The Robin Hood Company's consultation on the Birthday Handicap and the Grand National Steeplechase closed with 13,280 shares; 74S prizes were allotted instead of 220, through 5280 shares being sold over the original issue. The first prize, Birthday Handicap, value .£9OO, was drawn by a tent-maker, Blenheim; 2nd, J3270, labourer. Ferry road, Christchurch; 3rd, .£135, storeman at Dipton, Southland. Grand National: First, .£270, farmer, Selwyn ; 2nd, .£135, clerk, Christchurch ; 3rd, £0,7 10s, a gardener, Porirua Ferry, Wellington. In the special, in which 1850 shares were sold iv three days, the prizes were drawn as follows : — First, .£2OB, cordial manufacturer, Southbridgej 2nd, .£124, publican, Christchurch; 3rd, bricklayer, Addington. All the amounts above are net cash. The Globe Company's consultation closed with 2221 subscribers. The horses were drawn as follow : — Dunedin Birthday Handicap : First, .£199 18s, a well-known coach proprietor; 2nd, .£B3 5s 6d, life insurance agent, Christchurch ; 3rd, i£39 19s, commission agent, Hereford street. Grand National : First, .£133 ss, lady residing in Hereford street ; 2nd, .£66 12s, livery stable proprietor, Christchurch ; 3rd, JE33 6s, commission agent, Ferry road. A remarkable marriage has just been celebrated in Wellington according to one of the local papers. The bride is a good-looking woman of under 30 years of age, who has just taken to herself a fourth husband, her three previous spouses being all alive, and yet she is not now amenable to a charge of bigamy. When a girl she married her first husband, and afterwards discovered that he had a previous wife living. Leaving him she married No. 2, a single man, but after living with him some time they separated, and although the marriage was a good one she risked a prosecution and contracted a third marriage, also with a bachelor. Husband No. 2 obtained a divorce, and marriage the third being of course invalid, the parties after a time separated. Now a fourth husband has led this muchmarried woman to the altar. To give an idea of what it costs in South Australia to clear the runs of marsupials and other plagues which eat the grass and do damage to the flocks, a correspondent of a contemporary gives the following as the account of the run known as Paratoo: — In 1884, there were destroyed 926 wild dogs, 61,324 kangaroos, 11,G95 wallabies, 201,919 rabbits, and 254 eaglehawks. In the previous year, there were 526 dogs, 7704 kangaroos, 3838 wallabies, 35,779 rabbits, and 235 eaglehawks, showing that, with the exception of the rabbits, the destruction has been greater in 1884 than the previous year. The total cost for last year has been estimated at .£7437, out of which .£3365 was paid for rabbits, .£875 for dogs, .£l2 for eaglehawks, .£195 for wallabies, and the balance for kangaroos. The breakwater in course of construction at Taranaki, says the Auckland Star, is rapidly progressing towards completion, although the workmen have to contend against great difficulties. The ship Dunscore, which ie discharging cement for use on the breakwater, has had a very rough time during the last few weeks. Once Bhe lost both anchors ; on another occasion she had to put to sea for three days. The breakwater is evidently of use for small vessels, but it does not make by any means a safe landing. Recently the Hawea was lying inside when the sea was washing clean over the wall and falling on her decks. One great wave capsized several railway trucks, and pitched the luggage which they contained right on board of the steamer. Last time the s.s. Oreti was there she could not go alongside of the shore side of the breakwater for the same reason, and had to be kept steaming backwards and forwards while the passengers were landed in small boats. However, the dangers to shipping have been greatly decreased by the erection of the breakwater, which affords a comparatively safe anchorage for vessels, and it will most likely prove of considerable benefit to the place. Mr Larnach, so we hear (says the Wellington Evening Press) has given dire offence by the strict economy he insisted on having observed during his recent tour through tho Otago goldtields. It seems that a prominent member of Parliament, prominent both politically and corporeally, whom we dare not allude to more particularly than to mention that his initials are Vincent P., accompanied the Minister part of the journey, but getting pretty sick of playing bear leader, left him at an early stage. Imagine his indignation and contempt on receiving a bill for fifteen shillings for fluid niendicainents consumed by him as a remedy for the gout during his attendance in the Ministerial suite I There is also much growling down there because a Daily Times reporter, who made the tour with Mr Larnach, and wrote voluminous and mellifluous reports of each day's and each hour's proeeediags. has been dunned for twenty-five shillings for soda water and other tonics ordered by the doctor to sustain him in his labours. Fancy a reporter being compelled to pay for the necessaries of life — and travelling with a Minister too! Why, Johnny Sheehan always used to shout for the whole country side as he went along, and stick it up to native contingencies. . " What are we' coming to ? " asks J. C. Brown, with a sigh for the degeneracy of New Zealand politics. The best point of the joke is that in private life the present Minister of Mines is about the most open-fisted fellow living, with extremely liberal ideas regarding creature comforts, and always ready with the needful whenever he has people with him who don't happen to be as wetl off as himself. Hence his friends and followers in Otago I naturally supposed he would be doubly i generous with public money, and stand j Sam for all hands. But " No," says Mr j Larnach, " What's mine's my own, and I ; can chuck it away as I like. The money i of the taxpayers is another pair of shoes, j and gentlemen travelling with me will be : kind enough to find themselves in liquor or ' else go dry." Rather rough on genial soul 3 ; like Messrs Pyke and Brown, but honest and right for all that ! ! A Lawrence, Mass., man ran a needle into his great toe ten years ago, while stubbing around after kindling wood one winter morning, and the steel has just emerged from one side of his face. j As much as £7 were paid for a seat inthe ! New York Senate tohear the recent orations on Washington.

Regarding the misbehaviour of some Wel- j lington Volunteers on their return from . Monday's review, the Post says : — By some J means they had provided themselves with ! blank ammunition, and they kept firing their [ a rifles from the railway carriages as they | £ came along. In some instances they were : ( observed to aim at ladies and gentlemen £ on horseback on the Hutt road, which proceeding naturally caused considerable s alarm. The efforts of the officers were : powerless to prevent these disorderly • proceedings, but the names of six offenders ' ( were taken down, and they will be ; . proceeded against under the 271 st clause of j ' the Volunteer regulations, which provides 1 ( that " auy Volunteer who shall discharge j 1 any firearms when in any public vehicle or on any public thoroughfare without due { authority shall pay a fine not exceeding j £S." They will also probably be dismissed i from the Volunteer force. It is absolutely necessary that a severe example should be mado to put down disorderly and dangerous practices of this kind. At the last review at the Hutt, a couple of years ago, precisely the same sort of thing occurred. One Volunteer, while in Courtenay place last evening on his road home, actually loaded, his rifle near the gasworks, and discharged it in the street.