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Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 944, 16 May 1883, Page 2

Mr Rutherford, M. H. R. for Bruce, fM ~ seriously ill. Ninety-five persons took the Blue Ribbon pledge at Christchurch last night, making 217 since the commencement of the mission. The immigrants by the British Queen" . consigned to Canterbury number 150, ; being composed of eleven families, twenty* ' seven single men, and eighty-three single* ; women. All the single women who : ar-’. ' rived bythe vessel have been engaged 1 wages from 10a,per week to - L4Q a, year. The promoters of the Auckland Frozen' J Meat and Storage Company applied to. the’ „ Harbor Board that Mr McDonald, its" * engineer, be permitted to act as engineer for its proposed reclamation works. The request was refused, on the ground that the engineer could not serve-two 'master*”?* Mr Sheppard, M.H.R., for Waimea, addressed the electors at Richmond on Monday night. He spoke 'principally A on the land laws, national insurance,rail- f *•" way route and special taxation for railways. He argued against Major Atkinson’s insurance scheme, and said that as . .. -modified it could not be called ‘ a scheme for the prevention of pauperism. -A 1 vote ' of thanks and* confidence wits earned ' ; unanimously. ■ A peculiar case mis heard, in th,o,,Apcklapd Resident Magistrate’s Court , 4 ~ which, the Jfew Zealand Herald thiilks, is ~ instructive in many ways. A young lady , named Blake wished to gat lessons • , -in : - the whole course of equitation ’’ from the- ? riding master, Mr Haxell, whose ‘riding 1 school is in the New North Road. ■ She Eays Lsss in advance. So long as she idy. might be taught separately every- , thing went' well. But in the “ whole - course of equitatiou” it was necessary that the lady should join a class where she would be associated with “respectable married ladies.” The riding master had heard something, and he would neither admit her to the class nor return any part of the money. Hence the action for -/ breach of contract. What aroused. Mr.-vi. H&zell’s suspicions was the fact that .the* lady in the first place called herself “ Mn Blake,” and he found out from her own 'admission that “there was no Mr Blake. V He “jumped” to the conclusion that . something was wrong, and he would, not ZT allow her te the “Chevy Chase” of the riding class. The explanation of the lady was extremely simple and natural.; She said she kept a boarding-house, and it was better for her business that she should be known as “ Mrs ” than as “ Miss ” Blake. It was convenient that she should be so regarded for many other reasons. But < Mr Hazell thought there was a “ bar ; sinister ” on the lady’s ’scutcheon and he would not have her with the “other! ■' married ladies.” What might have hap- m pened had the fair spinster taken the ; / lead of the dowagers of the riding aca- ■ • demy it was impossible to say. There wae K no data for arrival at any opinion. sThe defendant had to pay back to the lady the five guineas, and thus she is the gainer by five lessons id equitation, while Mr Hazell has received one in law that , will cleave to his memory.