Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4953, 17 May 1894, Page 3

Local & General.

The Canterbury Times.— The current number of the Canterbury Times contains many special articles upon seasonable subjects, among them the first instalment of a paper on "The Fruit Garden"— giving practical instructions on the planting and management of an orchard— in the garden columns; information regarding the latest fashions, in the ladies' pages; a fall budget of dairy news, in the agricultural pages; and a complete record and review oi football matters— regarding whioh the Canterbury Times is the undisputed authority in New Zealand. The contents of the sporting, literary and general departments of the paper are also up to date. LINWOOD CHKBB AND DRAUGHTS ClUB.— The annual meeting of the Linwood Chess and Draughts Club will be held in the club room at 8 p.m. to-day. Police Court.— At the Police Court this morning, a first offender was fined 5s and costs for drunkenness. Mr W. W. Tanner, J.P., was on the bench. Auction. — Messrs Ayers, Beauchamp and Co. will sell a quantity of oranges, lemons, pine apples, walnuts, potatoes and onions at 11.80 a.m. to-morrow. An Alarm.— On Tuesday night Mr and Mrs Preston, of Holly road, St Albans, were alarmed by some person trying the window and door of their house. They had retired, but had nob extinguished the light, and it is a matter of conjecture whether or not an attempt at burglary was being made. The St Albans constable is looking into the matter. Sale op Privileges.— Messrs Tonkp, Norton and Co. soli-by auction this afternoon the privileges in connection with the Sirthday Meeting .of the Canterbury i Tiotting Club, to be held on the Adding- I ton Show Grounds. The publican's booth realised £23, and was purchased by Mr P. J. Fuchs ; the eonfectioaer's booth, £5, Mr Harvey; fruit and oyaters, 15s, Mr Butcher; and right of sport?, 2s 6d, Mr Harvey. A Cold Bath.— A little mild excitement waa caused at Lyttelton on Wednesday evening just as the steamer Janet Nicoll was leaving the wharf. One of the crew was assisting to haul in the gangway, when he lost his footing and went overboard. Fortunately he did not strike the piles in his fall, and, as it was low water, he was able to claim the protection of the wharf stringers, from where he was rescued by some of his mates not much the worse for his sudden immersion. The Volunteers. —On the Queen's Birthday the E Battery, the Engineers, thft rifle corps of the city and the Garrison Band will parade in Cathedral Square at 9.15 a.m., and will proceed to Sumner by tram under the command of Major Francis. The Eangiora and Kaiapoi. Rifles will come to town by the train arriving at 9.55 a.m., will go on at once by train to Lyttelton, and will march thence to Evanb's Pass and await orders. The Lyttelton Navals and the N Battery will parade at their drillshed at 10.15 a.m., and will march to Evans's Pass to await orders. The Mounted Bifles will parade at 9 a.m. in Cathedral Square, where they will receive their orders for the day. All corps will, parade in drill order, with haversacks and water bottles. Kaiapoi Wesleyan Sunday School.— At the Wesleyan Sunday School, Kaiapoi, a very successful concert was given on Tuesday evening. Along programme of thirty-four items, consisting of quartettes, duets, solos, &c, waa very successfully gone through, and highly appreciated. The attendance was large, and the proceeds were in aid of the district circuit fnnd. Primitive Methodist Church. — The service of song " Loved Unto Death " was given last evening in the Primitive Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace. Mr W. Hooker ocoupied the chair, and Mr A. Carey gave the connective readings. The music was very well given by a welltrained choir of youthful voice 3, aud .the orchestra rendered valuable assistance. Masonic. — The installation of Bro G. D. Greenwood as W.M. of the Amberley Masonic Lodge took place on Tuesday, at Amberley, in the presence of a large number of local brethren and visitors from Christchurch Lodges. Worshipful Bro B. D. Thomas, D.D.G.M., assisted by the D.G.L. officers, performed the ceremony, and invested the following officers :— Bros W. S. Smith 1.P.M., J. P. White S.W., A. Black J.W., H. Gain Secretary, C. B. Mason (P.M.) Treasurer, P. T. Baker S.D., G. M'Bae J.D., C. Blake I.G. and P. L. Adams Tyler. At the conclusion of the ceremony the brethren adjourned to the Crown Hotel, where Bro Lascelles had prepared a supper, which was thoroughly appreciated. ; A Direct Liner Aground. — The cargo steamer Matatua, now at Lyttelton, touched the bottom when coming out of Oamaru on Saturday last, and upon arrival in Lyttelton the matter was reported to the proper authorities. The Collector of Customs yesterday held an inquiry into the circumstances, and the evidence will be forwarded to the Marine Department, Wellington. As the Bteamer j waa not making water, it was not con- ! Bidered necessary to dock her, but Captain Willis, Marine Surveyor to Lloyd's, yesterday procured the services of Mr S. j Derbidge, diver, who went down 'and \ made a minute examination of the ship's rudder and stern-post— for it wag well af b i that she struck—but found nothing j wrong, An" Elective Lubricator.— Mr J. M. Ory, a locomotive engine-driver, living in Dunedin, has (says the Otago Daily Times) invented a novel and very effective selfacting lubricator which can be made to feed oil either to one bearing or to a large number of bearings ; and, in the latter case, each bearing can be supplied with j exactly the right amount of oil. The oil can be seen on its way to all the bearings, and the quantity to each can be noted at any time by a glance at the glass through ■ which the oil drops from the reservoir through the regulating screws. By another screw all oil can be stopped instantly, when not required, as when the machine or engine is stopped, and by j unscrewing this Bcrew each bearing again is fed with its portion of oil. The whole invention is well thought out, and is simple, and cannot get out of order with any ordinary ÜBage. . i E Battery.— The annual Morris-tube match between the past and present members of the E Battery took place last evening. There were fourteen men in each team, and the fiist ten men fired seven Bhots each, while the remaining four fired five shots each. The match resulted in a win for the present members by thirteen points. The following are the scores: — Present— Corporal Taylor 26, Corporal Louisson 26, Gunner Butler 27, Corporal Cropp 30, Gunner Lester 28, Sergeant Treleaven 34, Sergeant Lowry 18, Trumpeter Gordon 29, Sergeant Harrop 19, Gunner Maine 19, Gunner Menzies 18, Corporal Berry 18, Quartermaster-Ser-geant Dougal 16, Sergeant-Major Sinclair 22; total 834. Past— Ex-Gunner Kermode 23, Ex-Gunner Sherwood 22, Ex- Gunner Jackaon 31, Ex-Gunner Farrell 18, ExGunner Gurney 28, Ex-Gunner Caterer 21, Ex-Gunner Lightband 28, Ex- Sergeant-. Major Duncan 27, Ex-Sergeant Tait 28, Ex-Bombardier Henwood 19, Ex-Quarter-master-Sergeant Pox 21, Ex-Gunner Howell 16, Ex-Gunner Bertie 18, ExGunner Scull 21; total 321. After the match a social gathering was held in the orderly-room, and a number of toasts were honoured, including that of "Ex-Captain Martin," whioh was drunk with musical honours. Songs and recitations helped to pass a very pleasant evening. One-half of the population of France is dependent on agriculture for a living, one! quarter on industry, one-tenth on commerce, f our - hnndredths on liberal professions, and six-hundredths on income derived from funded property or stock. The number of land -owners cultivating their own land is 9,176,000; bankers and merchants are set down at 789,000; manufacturers give employment to over 7,000,000; State functionaries form an army 805,000 strong; and there are 23,000 journalists and men of letters.

"A Teip Thbough India."— There waa s large audience in the Oddfellows' Hall, Aahburton, on Tuesday evening, when the Eev G. B. Inglis gave an interesting and instructive lecture on his trip through India. The lecturer kept the attention of his hearers throughout, and at the conolusion was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Before and after the lecture a number of musical items were contributed. Tempibance Society.— The usual fortnightly meeting of St Michael's Temperance Society was held on Tuesday evening. There waa a large attendance. The Eev A. W. Averill occupied the chair. Recitations were given by Misses Pullar, Love, Johnston, Mendy, Lee, S. V. and E. Payne, Masters W. Hodson, Griffin, Myers, Richard and Eobert Emmerson, and Kr W. Guise Brittan. A song wa3 contributed by Mr C. Chapman. Little Bivbb. — A very enjoyable social gathering in connection with the Boating, Cricket, Tennis and Eifle Clubs was held in the schoolroom on Tuesday evening. The room was very tastefully decorated for the occasion, ferns, flowers, tennis rackets and oars being some of the most noticeable features. The gathering was the largest ever held in the district. The dancing commenced at 8 p.m. and was kept up with much spirit till the early hours of i the morning. During the evening Mr W. H. Montgomery, member for Akaroa, presented several trophieß to the successful winners in the late tennis tournament and at the Wairewa Boating ClubV annual regatta. The Addington Yards. — Live stock was fairly represented in most departments at the Addington yards yesterday, the supply of fat sheep being especially large. Business throughout was anything but animated, and a considerable proportion of the entry was passed. The time limit which was put on the auctioneers a week or two ago, and which had the effect of expediting sales, was not enforced yesterday, and a good deal of time waa wasted unnecessarily by some of the salesmen. Now that the days are so short buyers complain bitterly at the length of time taken over some lots while a number of other pens are still waiting to be Bold. The beef market was well supplied with both light and heavy-weights, bnt only a small proportion of the entry changed hands. A mixed entry of dairy cows came to hand, and all good sorts were disposed of at a slight advance on last week's prices. The store cattle market was represented by a few old cows and bulls, with' a pen«or two of yearlings, and but little business was done. The fat sheep pens were well filled. There was a rather better entry of crossbred wethers than has been the case of late. A splendid line of Shropshire cross two- tooth wethers was sent forward by Mr H. Waahbourne, of the Selwj n, and Messrs H. Mataon and Co. succeeded in topping the market with them at from 17a 6d to 18s 3d. The entry also contained a large number of merinos, many of them of superior quality, the bsst bringing up to Us 2d. Buyers for export were operating more freely, and a nice line of handyweight wethers was taken at 13s 6d for tbe Home market. There was little demand for inferior sorts. The store sheep market is decidedly fhfc,- the only sorts required being good two and four-tooth cross-breda. The entry of pigs wa3 much smaller than it was last week, and the market remained at about the same level. 7he entries for the day comprised : — l5B head of fat cattle, 80 store and 75 dairy cattle, 5000 fat sheep, 200 fat lambs, 3000 store sheep and 430 pigs. The following are prices current : —Beef 19a to 21s per 1001 b. Fat cattle — Steers £4, 10s to £9 12s 6d, heifers £4> to JBB, cows £4, to £1 10s. Prime mutton 2d per lb. Fat sheep—Cross-bred, prime heavyweights, from 12s to 16s 6d, extra good from 17a to 18s 3d, secondary 9a to 11s, best cross-bred ewes 11s to 14s, secondary 6s to 10s,. beat merino wethers 7s to 11s 2d, secondary 5s to 7s 6d, merino ewes 2s lOd to 5s 6d. Fat lambs — prime 7s to 10s. Store sheep — Forward turnipers 9a to 10s 6d, secondary 63 6d to 83 6d, good crossbred breeding eweß 7s 6d to 10s, aged 3s to Ss 6d, crcsß-bred lambs 3s 6d to 6s 6d, sound-mouth merino ewes 2s 9d, culls from Is to Is 9<J. Pigs at prices equal to from 3Jd to 3fd per lb for bacon pigs; heavy baconers from 40s to 48s, light 28s to 37s 6d, porkers 17s to 265 ; stores 8s to 16s.