Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6186, 14 March 1888, Page 3

Local & General.

i» . ■ Canterbury Coursing Club. — The meeting of the Canterbury Coursing Club, advertised for last evening, was postponed until Friday, at 8 p.m. Mandeville and Rangiora Road Board. — The monthly meeting o£ this Board, which should have taken place on Friday last, was adjourned for a week by Mr C. R. Campbell, the only member in attendance. A Runaway. — A trap belonging to Mr Sunderland was cleverly stopped by Constable Cartmill and Mr T. Lynskey on Kaiapoi Bridge yesterday morning. It appears that the horse shied, and threw out the driver, who was luckily only slightly hurt. Leeston School- — At & meeting of the i Leeston School Committee, held last Monday evening, Mr Anderson, of Tai Tapu, \ was appointed head-master, and Miss Barns head-mistress of the main school, vice Mr W. B. Mackay and Miss Thomas, \ who leave at the end of the present month. , ; Volunteer Inspection. — Yesterday • evening a Government Parade of the E , Battery New Zealand Artillery and the • Canterbury Engineers took place on the ; drillshed ground. The former mustered < 40, under Captain Martin, and the hitter • 31, under Captain Webster. Major Newall j was the inspecting officer. • Canterbury Engineers. — A meeting of j the Canterbury Engineers was held in their i orderly-room last night for the election of ( two lieutenants. Captain Webster pre- i 6ided, and Sergeant-Major Anderson and | Sergeant M'Gee were elected to the posi- i tions. About 30 members signified their ( intention of attending the Easter Encamp- i ment. , Concert and Dramatic Entertain- j ment.— On Thursday evening next the j members and friendß of the Sydenham ] Lawn Tennis Club are giving a concert in < aid of the funds of the Club. A first-class < programme of music, mirth, magic, and ' comedy has been arranged, and, judging from the number of tickets sold, the Odd- < fellows' Hall, Sydenham, should be well < filled. j Amberley. — Our correspondent writes:-— i From reliable information it may be stated \ that the railway authorities contemplate i the renewal of the mid-day train to and i from Amberley on Fridays only. If the Resident Magistrate's Court in the future ; be held on that day,' in lieu of Thursday, ib i i would be a source of great convenience to 1 those who hat e to attend it and the public 1 generally.

Heathcote Rifles. — A Government parade of the Heathcote Rifles tool: place ' at^the drillshed on Monday evening, when thirty-eight of all ranks were present under , Captain Calvert. The company was put ; through a number of movements by Staff . Sergeant-Major Barrett. I Heathcote Licensing Committee, ' Messrs R. Brown, R...Ciephane, D. Duncan, W. S. King, R. S. M'Diarmid, A. M. Ollivier, B. Taafe, G. Ticknor, J. L. Wilson, ' and J. Walker, have been nominated as ' candidates for the Heathcote Licensing ' Committee. The poll will take place on ' Tuesday next. ! Wesi/eyan Church. — The sale of work in the Durham street Wesleyan Sundayschool was open yesterday from 2 to 6 p.m., when satisfactory business was done. ! It will reopen at 2 p.m. to-day, and this ' evening the ordinary attractions will be supplemented by an exhibition of leger- : demain by Mr Seager, and a performance by Mr Corrick's string band. Stdekham Presbyterian Church. Very successful anniversary services were held in this church on Sunday last. Good congregations gathered to the able ministrations of the Rev Robert Erwin in the morning, and the Rev J. J. Lewis in the evening. The Rev John W. Hope, M.A., who arrived in this country by the Hurunui, conducted the afternoon service for the children and parents, and gave a very able and instructive address from 2nd Timothy, chapter i., verse 5. The Bpecial collections were very liberal. The Avon.— One of the gentlemen forming the deputation who last night waited upon the Drainage Board regarding the cleaning by dredging of the Avon, said that the fear of floods was so great in the Avonside district, that after a very ordinary rainfall people did not care to go to bed, feeling themselves insecure from danger by the rising of the river. The same gentleman was almost prepared to hand over hia property to anyone who would pay for the" deeds. It w*as almost impossible to let houses in that district, and the value of property had very materially deteriorated. The Mill- Dam. — This subject was again severely threshed out before the Drainage Board last night. A large deputation of influential citizens, led by Mr R. D. Thomas, waited upon the Board and urged many potent arguments in favour of the removal of the dam. Mr Thomas, Dr Symes, and others spoke at length, the general tendency of their remarks being that the dam caused an unhealthy state of the land adjacent to the river by the waterlogging of the soil, and that the Drainage Board were really the only body possessing the power to remove the dam. The Board decided to do nothing in the matter pending communication with the City Council, but meanwhile a legal opinion had been received from the Board's solicitors. Swimming.; — The first of a series of races , took place last evening at the East Chriatchurch School Baths, the distance being two lengths of the bath {54 yards). Appended are the results : — First heat : Won by G. Butts (scr) after a hard struggle with P. Hill (14sec). Time not taken. Second heat : Won by J. Skinner (lOsec), with A. Orr (Bsec) and J. C. Lane (2sec) in close attendance. Time, 48£ sec. The third heat was secured by A. Brabner (ssec), Glanville (6sec) second. Time, 56sec. Fourth heat : Won by D. Brabner (Osec), being hard pressed by — Shaw (tisec). Time, 49Jsec. The final heat resulted in. a very good race, the four competitors being in a bunch at the finish, A. Brabner (ssec), first ; D. Brabner (9sec), second ; G. Butts (scr), third. Time, 49£ aec. The next event takes place on Friday. Distance, four lengths of the bath. Kirwee. — The members of the Baptist Church held their annual harvest thanksgiving services on Sunday last. The services were conducted by the Rev D. Dolomore, of Christchurch, who preached in the morning from Psalm civ., and in the evening from Geneßi* viii., 27. His sermons, which, were very appropriate for the occasion, were attentively listened to by large congregations. The hymns in the morning were 49, 54, 79, and 90, from the Bristol Collection ; and in the evening, 274, 234, 322, 442, and 834, from Sankey and Moody, and on both occasions were well rendered by the choir, Mr H. Simpson presiding at the harmonium. Mrs Croskill and the Misses Simpson (3) displayed great taste in their decorations, which, consisted of fruits, flowers, wheat, and oats, and were very nicely arranged. At the close of the evening service the Rev Mr Dolomore announced that their anniversary service and tea would take place shortly, at a date to be named. Sydenhah Baptist Chtjbch. — Last evening a fruit soiree and entertainment took place in the above church, which proved a decided success. The pastor, the Rev F. W. Walker, occupied the chair, and opened the meeting with prayer, after which the service of eong entitled " Eva " was given. The reverend gentleman gave the connective readings, and the sacred gongs associated therewith were renderedbyMesdames Sydney Smith,Landells, Misses P. and E. Chapman, M. A. Simmons, S. Simmons, Wilson, Sadler, Douglas, Petrie, and Clements, and Messrs Miller, Smith, Landells, Williams, Attwood,Baker, Petrie, and Powell. Miss Stevens presided at the organ, Mr Hepworfch taking his position as leader of the singing, which, reflected much credit on both leader and singers. At the close of tho service of song a short interval was allowed, during which fruit wa3 freely distributed and obviously enjoyed. The second part of the programme consisted of selections from the Fisk Jubilee melodies. A very enjoyable evening terminated by the Benediction being pronounced by the pastor. Noeth Amuri Babbit Board. — The ordinary meeting of this Board was held on Tuesday, March 6 ; present — Messrs D. D. M'JTarlane (Chairman), W. A. Jjow, and H. Wharton. Numerous correspondence from the Loan and Mercantile Office re stoats and weasels was read and considered, and several other letters of an unimportant character dealt with. It was resolved to tranship the stoats and weasels per Coptic at Wellington, as that steamer is going to Napier before reaching Lyttelton. It was also further resolved to issue instructions to stop the further importation of stoats and weasels. On the motion of Mr Wharton, it was resolved — " That the opinion of Mr Joynt be taken whether the North Amuri Rabbit Board may dispose of their next shipment of stoats and weasels in Christchurch or elsewhere, the same not having arrived within the specified time." The meeting then closed. Cust School Committee. — The ordinary meeting of the Cust School Committee took place on Monday evening : presentMessrs Hasßall (Chairman), Cromie, Crysell, Tallat, Sandercock, Charles, and M'Kie. A communication was received j' from the Board accepting the resignation ! o2 Miss Meredith, but on account of the I decreased average attendance the Board were not able to sanction the appointment of a second pupil-teacher. A circular was received re conference of Chairmen of School Committees. The monthly report of the master was received, the number on roll being 134, and the average attendance 99. The Chairman was requested to prepare the annual report of the Committee, and present it to the next meeting for con- j Bideration. It was resolved that, on ac- | count of the depressed state of affairs in ' ' the district, th 6 proposed entertainment for getting funds for prizes stand over : until the end of the year. On the motion ' of Mr Crysell, it was decided to close the : school on Thursday afternoon, on the occa- ' sion of the Oddfellows* sports. The fences ( • round the school property having been put j in good repair, it was resolved that the ! head-master be requested to caution the : < children from damaging them. A number j j of accounts were passed, and some routine ! business transacted. ; ] Christchurch Working Men's Club.— < On Saturday evening last the hall of this ; Club was the scene of a new departure j from the usual social entertainments to '. members, as on this occasion there took < place a specially arranged rifle contest < between six members of the Sydenham and J six members of the Christchurch Working ' Men's Clubs. The weapon used was the ' Little Gem spring-gun, some of which I have been recently sent out to Mr Garrard, ' the President of the Club, who kindly lent ) ] the Club the use of one. The range was j i 40ft, each, competitor having five shots, > f

i _ ~" "~ ' .' ' :' • ' """^ " the highest score .' obtainable being 25 points. The scorinf resulted as follows ': — Sydenham— H. M'Kay, 19 ;J. Hancock, 17 ; J. Brooine, 17 j J. A. Edwards, 15 ;' J. Harman, 14 ; D. Round, 13 ; total, 95. Christchurch— W. Scull, 10; J. Costley, 19 ; T. Spanjer, IS; J. Petherick, 16 ; H. Barrett, 1G } C. Schofield, 15 ; total, 103. The Christchurch Club thus won by eight points. Some other matches took place, butthemoßt noticeable was Civilians v. Volunteers. The Civilians beat the Volunfeers by twelve points, the scores being — Civilians, 181 ; Volunteers, 172 ; ten men a-side, five shots each. Some excellent points were also made in this match, the two highest scorers bein» Mr M'Kay (Civilian), 23 ; Mr Blake (Volunteer), 22. The matches were the result of much amusement both to the competitors and onlookers, the whole affair being a pronounced succgbs. A return match will be fired at the Sydenham "Working Men's Club on Saturday evening next. The following team will fire for the Kniapoi Bifles against the Lyt'eitou. Nava's on- 1-a.turday i.t Br. mley : — Lieutenant Millar, Colcur.Ser&en.uc Blackwdll, Sergeant* Simpson and Tetnpleton, Corporals Simpson and Wright. Irivat.es Higgius. .Tohnson.Wilby.and Wright; emergencies— Bardon, Batoe, unii Clark. I