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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 93, 8 June 1877, Page 2

The usual weekly meeting of the Mutual Improvement Association was held in the public school-room last Tuesday evening, when a large number of members and theirfriends were present. Mr. McGregor, one of the members, read a short essay on the " Influences of Art," treating the subject from the point of view adopted by Lecky in his recent book " The rise and influence of Rationalism in Europe." A number of members took part in the discussion, notably Messrs Hughes and Nicholls. The subject was brought down to the middle of the fifteenth century, and a promise was given by the writer to continue the subject down to modern times at a future date.

It is but seldom that a" journalist has to chronicle the voluntary closing of a country hotel by its owner, because of the contemplated opening of a house in the same trade, some miles distant from the site of the former. Such, however, is the case in this district, it being the intention of MrBirdling to close the Beach Arms Hotel, Lake Ellesmere, if a license is granted to Mr. Stanbury's house Little River. We have nothing to say as regards the advisability or desirability of the establishment of an hotel at Little River, but as regards Mr. Birdling's house, we have this to say : —Its being kept open is a necessity for the travelling public, to and from the plains ; it being situated midway between Christchurch and Akaroa, together'with the fact, that coach travellers have always stopped there to dine supports us' in the view we take of its still being as much, in fact, with increased and increasing traffic it is more required than when its license was first granted. In the interests of the travelling public we ask Mr. Birdling to reconsider the determination he has arrived at, and hope he will see the reasonableness of our wishes and acquiesce therein.

It would appear as if the parsons of the Peninsula Avere bent on emulating each other in the way. of hair-breath escapes, and " moving accidents by flood and field." On Saturday last, when the Rev. D. O. Hampton was riding from Okain's Bay, while attempting to open a gate on the track his horse rushed forward, bringing Mr. Hampton so close to the gate-post, that in his effort to save himself he fell to the ground. As his horse could not get through the gate, he lay for some time with his head in close proximity to his horse's heels. Had the horse not been a remarkably quiet one, the result might have been ssrious. We are informed the gate at which the accident occurred is one that has been erected across the public road, and which is so badly constructed, that it will not open, thereby causing both inconvenience and danger to travellers.

A Lodge of Good Templary is, we hear, about to be started at Little River. Messrs Joblin and Reynolds are the moving spirits in the matter.

The Lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation and Railway Trust, meet at the Little River Road Board office, Kaituna, on Tuesday next at noon.

Shall we ever have a daily house delivery within the Borough of Akaroa, of our mails, is a query often asked of us and one which we find ourselves compelled to answer, failing anything more suitable, in the words of the great agitator, O'Connell.— Agitate! Agitate !

Captain Lloyd of the s.s. Wellington has spoken to us in strong terms as to the urgent need of a light on the north head of Akaroa harbour. Of late we have also received communications from several masters of coasters couched in language bearing out Captain Lloyd's remarks. We hope that steps will be taken.to urge on the Government to at once commence this necessary .public work, work.

We see by the report of the Akaroa School Committee's meeting, published in our last issue, that they have taken a most important step in writing to the Board of Education in regard to the play-ground. It is admitted on all hands that the playground is far too small for the number of scholars attending the public school. The fact of the children being able to play on the beach at low water is no answer to the objection, that the present play-ground is quite inadequate to the requirements of the school. The Committee, in their application, assist another very desirable measure, namely, the removal of the Resident Magistrate's Court to another site, with increased accommodation for the Bench, and those whose business bringa them to the present miserable building. We hope that those interested;, will bring the question of the removal of the police buildings before the proper authorities, in time for the coming Session of Parliament, and in the removal of those we see a prospect of increased play-ground for the youth atttending the public school.

The Borough Council held a meeting on Wednesday at noon, to consider several telegrams received from the ma3 r or who is at present in Christchurch, in regard to the endowment of waste lands for the Borough All the members Were present, and Cr. Wagstaff, in the absence of his worship, took the chair. The usual fortnightly meeting at 7 o'clock in the evening, lapsed for want of a quorum, and was adjourned till this evening at half-past seven o'clock

The editor of the San Diego World gives the following personal experience :—" Some months ago the writer read in an English paper of a discovery made by some physi. cians in Europe of the value of the eucalyptus"—our well-known gum tree— '' in early stages of cold and fever." Some weeks ago, being taken by a severe cold, we made a decoction of eucalyptus leaves and drank it on retiring to bed. The re. suit was that it brought on a gentle perspL ration and sleep, and. in the morning all symptoms of the cold had disappeared. A fortnight ago a friend of ours was seized with cold and fever. He had aching pains all over his body,.and.to every appearance bade fair to be confined to his room. We thought of the eucatyptus, and told him of our experience. He went home and had a strong decoction made, and drank freely on going to bed. It worked like a charm,

for he was in perfect health next morning, only a little weak from profuse perspiration. His wife was suffering from cold at the time, and tried the remedy, and found it a perfect and immediate cure. One instance more in our case. Last night just before retiring to bed,, we were seized with a violent chill, >. accompanied with pains in the back and legs. This was folio wed. by a little fever. These symptoms had presaged a very serious illness a year or two ago, and we thought ominously on the subject. We ! sent out to the street, and had some leaves plucked, andooru r favorite tea was'at once made. We drank about a pint and soon fell asleep, and to the credit of eucalyptus wo are as well to_ day as ever we were in our life. Ou r opinion is that the tea is perfectly harmless to drink even in a large quantity. For a medicine free we can recommend everybody to grow eucalyptus."

The Warwick Examiner relates the following as the result of supplying aboriginals with drink, at 'Farm Creek, Southern Queensland :—" A tribe of blacks hadbeen there for some time engaged in the locality clearing the scrub, in order that the land could be turned into use. They were remunerated by having a regular supply of rations and tobacco given to them, and after they had cleared a certain area they were to be paid in money. They finished their work, and -were paid their balance in cash. Whilst they were idle they decided to hold a corroboree, and to make it enjoyable to themselves, they determined to obtain grog by some means or other.. For this purpose three of them started acros* country to a bush public house, and returned with (as our informant states) 12 bottles. All this was consumed in one night by sis blackfellows, and as the grog began to take effect upon the semi-savages they commenced fighting, using knives to one another. Night was made hideous with their yells and the cries of the gins 5 and in the morning a hideous sight of wounded blacks, half-mad with drink and passion, and bleeding from the deep cuts and gashes they had given one with pools of blood on the ground on which they lay, presented itself. The result is what might have been expected ; one blackfellow has died from the injuries received ; and another, the one who inflicted them, has, since the effects of the drink have died away and the nature- of the injuries he caused been made known to him, severed his windpipe, and there is little chance of his recovering. The black who has fallen a victim to this scene of savagery is said to" have been tolerably civilised. He was an industrious fellow and an expert stockman, and was well known and much liked on the stations of Acacia Creek and Koreelah, and in the districts of Killarney and Farm Creek. It is further said that it "was owing to his declining to join in the drunken revelry that one of the blacks crept up behind him and inflicted a frightful gash on the back part of the leg.

A baillie of Glasgow was noted for the simplicity of his manners on the bench. A youth was charged before him with abstracting a handkerchief from a gentleman' pocket. The indictment being read, the baillie, addressing the prisoner, remarked " I hae nae doot ye did the deed, for I had a handkerchief ta'eu oot o' my am pouch this vera week." The same magisterial 1 ogician was on another occasion seated on he bench, when a case of serious assault *\vas brought forward by the public prosecutor. Struck by the" powerful phraseology of the indictment, the baillie proceeded to say, " For malicious crime ye are fined haif-a-guinea." The assessor remarked that the case had not yet been " Then," said the magistrate, " we'll just mak' the fine five shillings."

The Dunedin correspondent of the Lyttelton Times says that at the meeting of the Li. censing Bench last Tuesday, the following remarks in regard to sly-grog selling:— " I may state the. opinion of the Court in regard to the matter of sly grog-selling. There is no doubt that sly-grog-selling is a fraudulent invasion of the rights of licenses, which should be put down, and a heavy fine inflicted'wherever a conviction can be obtained. There is great difficulty in getting convictions. However noto. rious the number of places where that illicit traffic is carried on, we do not believe in the exaggerated statements made recently by some of the publicans. It is impossible to believe that there can be as many illicit grog shanties as there are licensed houses, which was the statement made ; still these places do exist, and the suggestion is now thrown out that if those interested, namely, the publican's themselves, would move the Legislature, they could get this evil checked. There are two ways in which the evil can be checked; they should move the Legislature to pass a la,v giving the police more summary procedure. If there is suspicion of sly grog selling then the police should be entitled to apply to a Magistrate for a warrant to enter the house, and if illicit spirits are found there the onus of. proving for what purpose they are in the house should be laid on the party owing it. If some procedure of that kind were adopted, some check might be obtained. Again licensees have another remedy in' their power. It is a well known fact that brewers, wholesale dealers, and others supply these places that have no licenses with beer. The licensees dealing with the brewers who encourage such traffic should not deal with them any more. In this Court I have seen brewers recover debts from parties not licensed. Now this suggestion is thrown out for the benefit of parties interested.

We (Auckland Perald) are informed by a passenger by the City of New York, that previous to that vessel leaving San Fran, cisco, a telegram was received by the Russian Consul at San Francisco from the Consul of that nation at Philadelphia, di recting him to proceed to Honolulu and endeavour to make such arrangements with the King of that Island, so that the Russian squadron in the Pacific might count upon obtaining supplies and other accommodations in the event of war. The eight ships of war are still at San Francisco.

A writer in an Exchange says : " Touch, ing waterproofs, I think I can give travellers a valuable hint or two. Good Scottish tweed can be made completely impervious to rain. In a bucket of soft water put hal a pound of powdered alum; stir this a intervals until it becomes clear ; then pour it into another bucket, and put the garment therein, and let it be in for 24 hours, and then hang it up to dry without wringing it. The rain hangs upon the cloth in globules. This is, I think, a secret worth knowing ; for cloth, if it can be made to keep out wet, is in every way better than what we know as waterproofs."

Regarding the explorations in a correspondent of the Times writes: — " Has it occurred to the explorers of that country to notice the information given in the historical book of the Maccabees II chapter 2, verses 4-7, wherein we are told that immediately before the Babylonish captivity the Prophet Jeremiah was in. structed to deposit in Mount Nebo the most valuable treasures which the Temple contained, namely, the tabernacle, the sacred ark and doubtless the tables of stone of which the ark was merely the receptacle on which was written the law of the Ten Commandments, traced there originally we are told, by the finger of God Himself ? They were in that mountain said to be concealed, and if that historical book is to be relied on, we must credit the fact tha* these sacred treasures are there stiU Would it not be worth the explorers' while to seek for these in the place specified The discovery of them would throw great light upon the Old Testament, and the language in which the tables were written.''

The Franklyn Gazette, published in Virginia, states that Mr. Brooks Haines and Miss Kate Drewry were married in a romantic style on the public highway a short time since, "with the canopy of heaven overshadowing them, and the smiles of a bright noonday sun beaming on their happy faces, and the pure balmy air of heaven, fanning the cheeks of the lovely brideThis happy affair took place above Starry Creek Meeting House. The bride and groom were mounted on two beautiful match greys. The Rev. Joel Meadow performed this interesting ceremony, and they with their lively companions who witnessed the same 1 went on their way re joicing." A correspondent of the Australasian writes from Adelaide as follows: The rapid advance in the value of flour is telling very considerably upon the price of bread, much to the consternation of householders with large families. During th c past month the 21b loaf has risen from 2d to sd, and if flour happens to touch £20 per ton, which there seems every probability it will do before long, I should not be astonished to see the bakers demand 6d, for those tradesmen have a convenient knack of quadrupling any increase which the bakers may charge them with. A lively correspondence has taken place in the daily papers on the excessive price of bread as compared with the cost of flour, and it has been pointed out that we hav e to pay 25 per. cent, more for a 21b loaf here than it is sold for in Melbourne, notwithstanding the fact that flour is £Ippre r ton cheaper here. But the indignation c householders is of little avail. There is a present a combination among the mast o bakers, and we have no means of resisting their demands, however unreasonable they may be. The statistics of our stock i n hand reveal the fact that we shall be utterly unable to meet all the requirements of our customers this season. We have already exported more than one half Of our surplus of 80,000 tons. It is computed that in addition to what we have already sent, New South Wales will want 27,500 tons, and Queensland 10,000 tons, so tha upon the lowest computation these two colonies will require all our available sur. plus, and at least 5,000 tons besides. Then South Africa, Western Australia, New Zealand, and possibly Victoria, may appeal to us for supplies. In view, therefore, of these contingencies, the rapid advance in the value of wheat from 6s. 6d. to Bs. per bushel is easily understood, despite alto gether the condition of the English marketUnder such circumstances, also, we cannot look for any reduction in the staff of life however much we may lament the pros, pect.

President Hayes said a good thing, the other day, to Miss Phoebe Cozzens, of St. Louis, who went up to the White House to pay her respects to him. Miss Cozzens is a lady who has studied the law, and who differs from nearly all the ladies who have' invaded the profession usually practised by men, in being decidedly attractive in personal appearance. In the course' of her conversation Miss Cozzens playfully referred to General Grant's having talked of appointing her Chief Justice, and said that had he done so, it would have been her duty to have administered the oath of office to him on Monday. President Hayes replied to her," My dear Miss Cozzens, in that case I should have kissed something besides the book."

In regard to Walker, the trance medium, and his first seance in Dunedin the Lyttelton Times states that it was given to about 50 persons, and that 'outside of those who are spirit struck, the opinion is that though he states his age to be 19 he is fully 25, and that his ordinary half idiotic state and apparent ignorance are a clever assumption. His lecture last night was well sounding ' and eloquent, but the language was redundant and vague. It is regarded as a fine effort of memory.