CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 517, 9 March 1883, Page 13

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our own Correspondent).

March 5, 1883. According to an English paper, the much-vexed question of a " Missing Link " is practically settled by the exhibition of a wonder bearing that name, which is now exhibited at the London Aquarium, and unites the characteristics of the human being and the ape. The "child" is seven years old, and belongs to a tribe of,' "hairy people" living in the jungle-fastnesses of Siam. Four generations of these " hairy people " have been seen at the Court of Ava, the British Ambassador himself seeing an old man in 1862, and Colonel Yale, no less than three of ihese creatures in 1857. " Krao," the specimen under notice, was secured with infinite difficulty, and after hairbreadth escapes by Carl Beck, the German traveller, and is described as follows :—" Her head is covered with thick, black, and perfectly straight hair. The fur on her body is about two inches long, on the forehead somewhat thicker and longer. Her hands are well shaped and perfectly human. Her feet, which she uses to pick up small objects, are flat. Her head is disproportional to her size, being very large ; the nose flat to the face where the bridge should be, but wide at the nostrils. Her eyes are large, black, and very brilliant. She looks shyly at the multitude of upturned faces gazing upon her, half hiding her face now and then with her hand. She seems much attached to Mr. Farini, the manager of the aquarium, continually Btroking him with a simple confiding action, not unsuggestive, when we remember that the poor solitary little creature has been torn from her native jungles, and from thp complete solitudes where she dwelt with her parents in a nest formed in the fork of a tree." It is useless to speculate what Darwin would have said to her ; it will be interesting to hear the verdict of men of science on the " Missing Link."

A writer in a sporting journal, who carefully states that he is no " male prude," speaks with excessive severity of the present style of theatrical dresses, especially as regards the ballet. He says that " the skirts, the brevity of which caused the Lord Chamberlain to blush, have been improved off the face of theatrical creation, and we have instead a very tight low bodice and ' tights,' the sight of which would cause that great functionary to expire of wounded modesty." And this sentence is about the mildest I could select for quotation. It actually appears that in one ofjthe Christmas pantomimes, " there is a ' racing ' ballet, wherein half of the young ladies employed are attired like jockeys, and the other half are net attired at all unless a piece of horse-cloth and a saddle strapped into the ' small ' of the back, may bo deemed ' attire.' The lovely jockeys drive their prancing steeds up and down, and the latter toss their manes, wave their flowing tails, and paw the ground very archly and emphatically." What can be said for the morals and decency of the crowded audience (including unfortunate children) who could tolerate so shameless and abominable an exhibition ?

A firm belief in one's own infallibility, and a supreme contentment with one's own self under all possible circumstances, may be a state of mind verging on " fools' paradise," but must at the same time be so absolutely delightful that one might long to experience the feeling for a few minutes. It however appears to be the normal condition of Mr. Lee, one of the candidates for the representation of the Selwyn County, judging from his addresses to the electors. However, I am not going to quarrel with his self-appreciation, but only to allude to his remarks on the education question, as regards which he had the courage and honesty to admit that his belief was that no education was worth the name from which all religion was eliminated. Consequently, — excellent Protestant as he is —it would be his strenuous effort to get the small concession of the Bible being read in schools. In answer to the somewhat pertinent question as to which Bible he would prefer — the Douay — that of King James 1., or the new revision, he explained that he meant the one which they, as Protestants, received as " the " Bible. Although in other respects he would not alter the present Act. Mr. Lee seems by no means overenamoured of it ; indeed he thinks that it will fall by its own weight, as it costs a large sum of money, too large to be continued. He was perfectly outspoken in expressing his opinion that " injustice and hardship are now inflicted on a portion of the people, and that the day was not far distant when denominational schools, fulfilling the Government requirements, giving an education up to the Government standard, and submitting to inspection, would receive a portion of the grant." He thought this only fair, and would be prepared to support it. It will be remembered by Catholics that Mr. Lee's opponent, the Hon. E. Richardson, is an ardent supporter of secular education.

At a recent lecture by Professor Bickerton on " Simple Tests for Valuable Minerals," he tested some of the " diamonds " lately discovered in Canterbury by Mr. Jacobsen, the result ot which was, that in the lecturer's opinion, the stones were only quartz. Since that time Mr. Jacobsen has submitted others to Mr. C. E. Button who pronounced one, a black stone, to be a diamond. Besides this, Mr. Jacobsen has himself tested with fluoric acid some of the stones tried and rejected by both Professor Bickerton and Mr. Button, and believes them to be diamonds, as they were quite unaffected by the trial. He has therefore applied to the Chief Commissioner for protection to cover prospecting over 500 acres of land.

His Excellency the Governor opened the Exhibition of the Society of Arts in Anderson's building, Cashel street. The works exhibited are considered decidedly superior to those shown on former occasions, and in addition to the pictures displayed by such wellknown names as Gibb, Cousins etc., the productions of some of the new members are highly meritorious. Amongst these may be men - tioned the contributions of Messrs. Elliot and Beere, the latter of whom shows a bust of Dr. Von Haast, an excellent likeness, and a statuette of a " Maori Warrior," the latter of which has been selected by the curator of the Museum, together with the pictures '• On the Look Out" by Mr. Cousins ; and " Still Life" by Mr. Elliot as gifts kindly presented to the Museum by Mr. George Gould.

A very sad case of drowning took place at Sumner yesterday week. The son of Mr. Colborne- Veel,— Secretary to the North Canterbury Board of Education, — aged fourteen, with another boy, son of Mr. Hart, of the Press, got into a punt which was tied up at Burns' jetty : the rope, however, soon became undone, and the boat drifted into the stream. Young Veel tried to scull with the solitary oar which was in the boat, but unfortunately lost it overboard, and then sprang out himself, intending to swim ashore, but the tide proved too strong for him. A noble black retriever, belonging to Mr. Milner, endeavoured to rescue the drowning boy, catching him more than once, but the weight of the body and the strength of the tide were too much for it, though it did not let go until it had been dragged some way under the water. The body was ultimately recovered by Mr. Day. Much sympathy is felt for the family, Mr. Veel himself being in delicate health, and having within the last year or two, lost two sons from diptheria. A very deplorable case of suicide has occurred, a Mrs. Cavanagh having been discovered hanging by a rope in the scullery of her house on the Ist inst. She had been in a very low, desponding state for some time past, otherwise, no cause could be assigned for the sad act, as she was quite as well as usual the same afternoon, and had even made purchases at a neighbouring shop. Mr. England, of the Industrial Association, in speaking of the Barbed Wire Works at Oamaru, stated that no less than 25 boya are employed under the superintendence of only two men, and believed that similar works at Christchurcb would put an end to the larrikin question. The Association have therefore requested him to read a paper on the profitable employment of our boys. Pour donations, of £250 each, have been received by the Lyttelton Harbour Board from Messrs. Shaw, Savill and Co., the N. Z. Shipping Co., Mr. P. Cunningham, and Mr. C. W. Turner (the new chairman of the Harbour Boaid), towards the Lyttelton Sailors' Home. Government have also given £500 towards this institution.

At last there seems a prospect of the establishment of a hospital for infectious diseases. The Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, acting on the representation of the Board of Health, intend to bring the subject under the notice of the Government, with the view of obtaining the necessary funds. As an instance of the urgent necessity for such a building, Dr. Brittan has written to one of the papers saying that one of his patients came from the country by the last train, ill with diphtheria, and that after driving about in a cab for more than an hour, vainly endeavouring to find lodgings, he was compelled to take him to the Hospital, where, though the rules prohibit admission to infectious patients, still, under the circumstances, the house surgeon, as an act of humanity, admitted the patient. Dr. Brittan's concluding question, as to whether the authorities make any provision for disinfecting cabs, raises a very unpleasant suspicion that they do no such thing.

Considerable interest was taken in the elections of the Licensing Committees, both parties working energetically to return their candidates. The total abstainers may be said to have been signally defeated, as hardly in a single instance were their men successful. Nevertheless, it has been determined that no fresh midnight licenses will be granted. Statistics prove that since these were given in July, 1882, drunkenness has sadly —nay, alarmingly — increased, as the arrests are 80 per cent, over the average for the two previous years.

Mr. John Dewe, of Invercargill, gave a very interesting exhibition of his skill as a horse-tamer, at Tatteraall's, last Monday evening. The large audience who witnessed his method, should be amply convinced that there is neither necessity nor excuse for the brutal treatment that horse-breakers usually wantonly inflict on their unfortunate victims. Mr. Dewe experimented on two mares, one of which in particular was certified to be a prodigy of vice in all forms. IJevertheless, solely through extreme gentleness and patience, Mr. Dewe in both cases entirely tamed and handled the animals, standing on them and cracking the whip all round them, and so accustoming them to the sound, though he did not touch them with it,

The wording of your reference to the Rev. Father Ginaty's request for the payment of the promised subscriptions towards the building of St. Mary's, leads me to fancy that you are under a slight misapprehension with regard to the Masses which will be offered for benefactors. It is not proposed to wait for the completion of the church, nor the erection of the high altar, before offering these Masses ; on the contrary, the Holy Sacrifice is now offered once a week for that intention.

I notice from a circular lately issued by the Rev. Father Ginaty, in connection with the St. Leo's High School, that Mr. R.Dobbin has been appointed — as I mentioned in a former letter — Principal of the school. The circular goes on to say that Mr. Dobbin successfully prepared candidates both for the Cambridge University local examinations, and the Irish intermediate examinations. It is now proposed to prepare such students of St. Leo's High School as may desire it, when eligible, for the New Zealand University matriculation examination. Catholics generally will, I feel sure, regard with kindly interest and good wishes this most laudable attempt to place additional educational advantages within the reach of their boys.