LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5501, 28 February 1896, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Land Ballot. — A ballot f ortwo sections on the Cheviot estate, one on lease in perpetuity, and one a grazing farm, took place at the Land Office this inorning. and re-' suited as follows :— Section 14, Block XL, 24 acres, rental per acre 6s, one mile from Port Robinson, Cheviot, Mr E. H. Brown, threo applicants. Section i, Block X., 1250 Jicres. grazing farm, Cheviot, upset rental Us 3d per acre, Mr H. Hullen, sen., eighteen applicants. Pedigree Stock Sale. — On account of Mr P. C. Threlkeld haying sold several of his outlying farms he arranged to have a special auation sale at the Addington Yardß to-day, of about 2000 of his purebred English Leicester and Lincoln sheep, as well as of about 20 <f his Shorthorn breed of cows and heifers. There was a very good attendance of breeders and others. The sale, which opened with the English Leicester ewes, was conducted by Mr IV "A"; Archer (Messrs ' JDalgety ; and Company). The first -pen 'of two-tooth ewes realised 2igs, and -all this-' breed were disposed of at what must be considered satisfactory prices. ' : Wesletan Sunday School Union.— The annual meeting of the teachers of thd North Canterbury.Branch of the New Zealand "Wesleyan Sunday School Union was held at the East Belt School on Tuesday evening. There was" a -very, good attendance. Tea was dispensed, and the meeting was presided over by the president, Mr C. E. Salter. The secretary read the .. annual report, and the results of the'examiriation of teachers 1 and scholars. Mr F6ras inspector of schools, submitted V, his annual report. The election of officers ... for the e,nsuing'year resulted as follows :— President, Mr C. S. Howard ; vice-presi-dents, Mr W. H. Foster and Miss Smith; inspectors, Mr R. H. Ferguson (re-elected) and Miss Munnings ; secretary and treasurer, Mr G. W. Loiighton (re-elected).. The Smoke Nuisance. — Mr G. W. Russell, M.H.R., has received the following letter from the Hon A. J. Cadman, Minister of Railways:— "Wellington, Feb. 24, 1896. Sir, — With reference to your letter of the 17th inst., in regard to the smoke musance at Addington Workshops, I have the honour to inform you that the AgentGeneral was written to in October last and requested to obtain full particulars as to the various processes for the consumption of sinpke, and particularly in regard to Colonel Dialler's smoke abatement apparatus. With /respect to . the scheme for smoke consumption devised by a firm of engineers who . have interviewed you, I have instructed Mr Eotheram, locomotive superintendent of these railways,, to report on the scheme." • The Volunteers. — On Tuesday evening Staff Sergeant - Major . Purvis and Petty Officer Grant, of the Torpedo Corps, . conducted tax examination at the drillshed in signalling and electricity. The number of candidates sent by the various corps was — Engineers 9, Christchurch City Guards 1, and Christ's College Rifles 1. The Rangiora Rifles were examined last week,. The conditions were — Independent test message of 78 letters, each man to send his message in 2min 30sec, equal to 8 words per minute,' and having a percentage Of 90 in reading. The best four men per corps receive «£1 and a "'signaller's badge, provided they have earned capitation, for the current year. The result of the examinations .were as follow :—Engineers, 2 passed, 7 failed ; Guards, 1 passed ; College Rifles, 0 passed, 1 failed j Rangiora Rifles, 2 passed, 3 failed. St Peter's Presbyterian Church.— A tea-meeting in connection with St Peter's Presbyterian Church, Ferry Road, took^ place recently, and was attended by about two .hundred persons. Afterwards the annual congregational meeting was held in the church, which was well filled. The Rev W. Scorgie presided. The Session report, read by the clerk, Mr A. H. Linzey, showed that all the offices of the church were in a flourishing condition, and that the church roll- showed a net increase of sixteen members for the year. The balance-sheet showed that, after payment of all accounts, there, was a credit balance. Durin"- the year the committee had erected new schools which, with seats and extras, had cost .£199 8s 6d, the whole of which, with the exception of .£35, had been collected by subscription. The Sunday school, under the superintendentship of jlv It. Beattie, was doing splendid work, i The Band of Hope Teport showed a membership of 193. During the evening, Mr M'Kay sang a sacred song, and the choir rendered several anthems. Messrs W. Ross, Gunn, Jameson, and Jackson were elected members of committee for the enaninf year. Addresses were given by the Revs' W. Scorgie, R. M'Culley (of Ashley), and H. Kelly (of Waimate). Memorial Porch.— A porch, with, a • memorial tablet placed at the head, has ' iust been erected in the south-west corner of the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, in memory of the late Mr Herbert Olney, who died on Dec. 2, 1895. Another tablet is let in at the side of the porch, and is to the memory of Miss Hopestill H. Pillow, a missionary from the church who recently died in India. The porch, which was erected by Mr Chidgey, is built entirely of native woods, the pillars being of honeysuckle, and both in desi'm and workmanship is exceedingly . creditable. The tablets are the work of Mr Mansfield. ; Birmingham is overrun with rats mar are fed from the sewers. The authorities have taken no steps to exterminate them, becaxise Mr Chamberlain, when mayor, decLittHl'that rats were good scavengers, and by eating up garbage, prevented the spread oi disease.

Personal.— Mr T. Mackenzie, M.H.R., was a passenger by the south express this morning. Mr F. Baker, of the Deeds Registry Office, eft by the same train. Boabd of Education Election. — At a special meeting of the Summerhill School Committee, held on Tuesday evening, it was decided to vote for Messrs Adams, Peryman and Weston's election to the Board. The San Fbancisco Mail. — A Wellington telegram states that the s.s. Australia with the southern portion of the San Francisco mail, left Onehunga at 8.30 a.m. to-day, and should arrive at Wellington to-morrow evening. The Omapere, leaving for Lyttelton about 11 p.m., will take on the south island bags, but in the event of the Australia being late in arrival the Omapere will be detained, a North Canterbury Bicycle Club.— ln consequence of an unpleasant occurrence at the evening race meeting held by the above club last week Mr A. C. Wilniot (captain) sent in his resignation. At a meeting of the club held last night, however, satisfactory explanations were made and the resignation was withdrawn. Mi J. Shankland was elected to the vacancy on the committee caused by Mr H. C. Wilson's removal from the town. Eailway Excursion.— A monster railway excursion, organised on behalf of the State schools in the whole of the Ashburtor district, was run to Lyttelton to-day. The j>arty, which included school children, their parents and teachers, numbered somewhere about . 2900, and reached Lyttelton at 10.30 a.m. Mr W. Dickie, the secretary, upon whom. the greater part of the duties of arranging the trip devolved, had made a visit to Lyttelton; before the. day of the excttrsi6n ; and made most complete arrangements. 'Some- of : the party were taken, tc the wairships. during the day, while others spent their time in looking at the shipping and visiting the sandy bays, around the harbour. ' . . . . . , Cheviot— Yesterday morning Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., held an Assessment Court at the Land Office, Cheviot. There was only one objector to the coanty assessment, viz., Michael Cannon, the holder of a town soction, whose valuation was reduced by the Court from .£36 to .£2O. Navy League. — At the last meeting of the Ashburton High School Board it was unanimously resolved that. receipt of the circulars from the Navy League should be acknowledged, and that the Canterbury branch should be informed that the Board thoroughly sympathises with the objects of the League. St Albans Wssleyan Sunday School. — The annual meeting of parents and friends of the children attending the St Albans WesleyaW Sunday School was held in the schoolroom yesterday evening. Thore was a numerous attendance, and the Rev J. A. Luxford occupied the chair. The annual report showed that the receipts during the year had amounted to .£77 and the expenditure to £74. < Addresses were delivered by Messrs E. C. Brown (superintendent), J. Broughton and C. S. Howard. The prizes won by the scholars for tablet work were presented by the superintendent. Light refreshments' were P handed round by the teachers, and a pleasant hour was spent in games of various kinds. Social Gatherings. — A social gathering was held by the Orange Lodges, at St John's schoolroom, last evening, in honour of the visit of the men-of-war to Lyttelton. The room was crowded. Bro J. Middletonj District Master, occupied the chair, and welcomed the brethren from the fleet. An enjoyable programme was then ', gone through. Mr C. Wells gave a pianoforte selection, Miss Martin a-' violin solo, Bro Carey a recitation, Messrs Murphy and Sidon. a hornpipe, Messrs Ogier and Scrimshaw a duet, Masters Allan and Hanna a sailor's hornpipe, Mr Douglas and Messrs Deal comic songs, Mr Wood an Irish jig and Mr Dyhring Dutch specialities. Songs were contributed by Mrs Allan, Miss. Watson, Messrs Mulholland, B. .Caygill, W. Davie, 'Appiegarth and Mr : Ayres (H.M.S. Ringarooina) and Bros Downes, Huxham ahd Lemon (H.M.S. Katoomba), Bros Norris, Godfrey, Thew, Veitch- Miller, Spencer and PurceU (H.M.S. Orlando). Messrs' C. Wells and W. Pern,, and Misses. Diffin and Spencer acted as accompanists. During an interval light refreshments were handed round. Dancing followed the musical programme. Mr C. Wells supplied the music, and Mi* W. Wells acted as M.C. — Last night a "social" was given at the Working Men's Chib to a number of men from the various warships now in Lyttelton. Mr J. R. Davidson, chairman of the Entertainment Committee, presided, and welcomed the men. A suitable reply was made by one of the officers. The evening was devoted to songs, solos, &c., and the visitors evidently thoroughly enjoyed themselves..