NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 197, 12 January 1877, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Members of the several Branches of the H.A,C.B. Society in Otago and Canterbury will be glad to learn that the Secretary of the Dunedin Branch received information by the Arawata that the Dispensation for opening the District has been granted, and will he forwarded by the s.s Ringarooma, which is due at Port Chalmers to-morrow. Mr. John Maher will represent the Invercargill Branch, and Messrs. E. Carroll and Cantwell the Dunedin Branch at the meeting of Delegates, which will be held on the 24th inst. At the ordinary meeting of the Dunedin Branch, H.A.C.8.5., the following officers were duly installed for the ensuing term :— President, Bro. John Brennan ; Vice-President, Bro. John Dillon j Secretary, Bro. John Cantwell; Treasurer, Bro. M. Connellan; Warden, Bro. W. Conway; Guardian, Bro. F. M'Cluskey. Mr. James Martin was proposed for membership. At the preceding meeting the Balance Sheet, Quarterly and Government Returns were read and adopted. A table of statistics, prepared by the Secretary, was also read, from which it appeared that the Branch was in a healthy condition — no cases of sickness having occurred the quarter, while tie assets amounted to £323, and the total liabilities to ,£2l. It was resolved that the Auditors should reseive 10s 6d for each quarterly audit. Thheb fine oil paintings have arrived in Dunedin from Rome where they were selected to form prizes in the forthcoming Art Union to be held in aid of the new Conventual Buildings. Two of them represent severally " A Sybil," and " An Italian peasant woman and child." The third is an excellent copy of Guido Remi's celebrated "Aurora," a picture whose fame is universal. Some exquisite works of art in bronze have also been received from the Eternal City, and the prize-list now amounts to a considerable value. To bring them within reach of all, the tickets have been issued at the low price of half-a-crown.

The • Marlborough Express ' nays that the Hon. Mr. Robinson only owns two-tbirds of the Cheviot County, and will only be able to return three out of seven County Councillors.

The ' Illustrated New Zealand Herald ' for January containß, in addition to several admirable engravings, a colored supplement, entitled " Australian Pets," and representing a cockatoo and magpie perched on the rail of a vine-covered verandah, in which is seated » young woman with a curly-beaded child at her side. This picture in extremely well executed, and suggests a common scene of Australian life. Amongst the other illustrations, a spirited sketch of a laughingjackass destroying a snake is remarkable, n The tender of Messrs Gill and Forest has been accepted for fcht erection of Mr. Murphy's hotel on the site occupied by the Glasgow Arms in Princes-street. Their estimate amounts to £8,377. The 'Ross Guardian,' of the 19th ultimo, says:— Mr John Gowan caught a curious bird on the beach on Saturday last. It is web-footed, has a body like that of a platypus, the feathers of a duck, and the head and bill of a snipe, while round the head the feathera form a ruff. It seemed unable to fly, and was running quickly towards the sea when Mr. M'Govan caught it. The Archbishop of Granada, having failed to do homage to the Count de Coello, Spanish Ambassador al Rome, has fallen under the censure of the Government at Madrid, and has been refused re-ad-mittance into Spain. The enmity of the Ambassador was probably embittered by the fact that his Excellency -was denied permission to be present at the audience accorded to the Spanish pilgrims by His Holiness the Pope. In consequence of this, and some other petty jealousies that arose, several rumors were spread about, that have been seized upon by persons inimical to pilgrimages and generally bigoted, and employed in the calumnious manner common to such folk. The Rev. Fathers Kelly, S. J. and O'Sullivan, arrived at Port Chalmers in the s.s. Arawata, from Melbourne, on Wednesday last, on a visit to his Lordship the Bishop of Dunedin. The Rev. Father Kelly will preach in St. Joseph's Church on Sunday next at the 11 o'clock Mass.