CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 14, 30 July 1886, Page 13

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our own Correspondent.) July 26, 1886. THE great event in the Catholic world since my last has been the arrival of the Lady Superior and four nuns of the Order of the Good Shepherd. Last autumn the Cardinal laid the foundation-stone of the establisbm -nt at Mount Magdalen within a few days of tbe acquisition of the site, a thing accomplished only a few weeks after the dispersion of the legal clouds which for a time hung over tbe Maxwell bequest. And here a few days after midwinter, we have the first detachment of nuns arriving in Christchurch, and tbe second detachment of equal number actually on the way out from the parent house in Europe. Promptitude, I think, it will be allowed is not the least of the leading features of the great work that has been inaugurated. The descriptions of the great convent at Abbotsford in Melbourne have made tne world aware of the extraordinary capacity of the Order of tbe Good Shepherd for dealing with an evil from which the best-i mentioned eff jrts of society have in all ages recoiled with failure. Such an establishment we shall, it is now within the bounds of probability, shortly see carrying out the wonderful mission of this noble Order at Mount Magdala. The nuns are at present located at the house in Manchester street North which some years ago was, with the grounds in which it is situated, acquired for the purpose of building the church of St. Mary's, for which Mr. Petre has made a very handsome design. The property, however, not having been used for the purpose, has remained vacant, and is now useful for housing the good Sisters till an establishment can be erected at Mount Magdala for their accommodation. The plan for that will, I hear, soon be ready, as Father Ginaty and Mr. Petre have, as I informed you in one of my later letters, returned from Abbotsford with a thorough understanding of all the requirements. For the rest I can only say that in every quarter the good cause is well received. Ido not think, therefore, ttiat it will be long before I Bhall be able to chronicle from day to day the progress of the building. The safe passage of the Midland Railway Bill, the receipt of news of a contract actually let, under which work will be commenced at both ends simultaneously, and the arrival in Christchurch of a representative of the contracting engineers, are the sum of tbe events of the past fortnight in connection with our favourite railway. We see nuw that it has progressed from the regions of agitation, through the stages of legislation, and commercial negotiation, to the phase of actual fact. The croakers still hang on to the project, finding convenient pegs for denunciation of sorrebody or something. But there is general enthusiasm, and there will soon be a demonstration of some kind. Volunteers throughout the Colony who are not looking forward with pleasure to the approaching meeting of the Rifle Association in our city, for the simple reason that we have not a range which ie worthy of the name, will be pleased to learn that the basis of their fears may very Boon disappear. The Defence Department has acquired twenty acres of land at the Sandhills, near the Drainage Beserve, and is in treaty with the Drainage Board for a piece of their sandhill, between the said twenty acres and the estuary, so that a clear line of fire may be given. The Board will probably gee Teason in a few days, when the range will be put in order. It is accessible by tram. General politics have interested us chiefly about Major Steward, and feeling runs high as to whether he ought or ought not to have accepted that commission. The prevailing idea is with the Maori Member, that £1000 is too much luck for one man in such times as these. Local and general politics, taken together, hare culminated in the committal of an inebriate suffering from JD.T. to the Christ -hurch Hospital. The authorities protested and the public was indignant. The Government said in effect : " A gaol is no place for such people. You ought to have a separate ward for such cases " The Hospital people said : "We have not a warsl. We shall not allow our patients to be disturbed." The law distinctly is on the •ide of the Government. The authorities of the Hospital (the Board) have the popular sympathy. During the first heat of the dispute, the patient escaped. Being captured, he became the centre of combat as to what was to be done with him. When the combat got to its hottest, the man solved the problem by getting well. I hope tbe case will not be taken as a precedent for treating delirium tremens by process of scuffling round the patient,