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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 99, 29 June 1877, Page 2

The following reply has been received by Mr. S. Watkins, the Secretary of the Domain Board, in answer to the Board's request to have the domain vested in the Borough Council.—" Sir, lam directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, addressed to Mr. Rolleston, in which you state the wish of the Domain Board to transfer to the Borough Council, the management of the domain, and to state in reply that there is not at present, any authority under which the contemplated transfer could be made. I am therefore to suggest, that the gentlemen who are now acting as the Domain Board, should continue in office for the present."-1 am, &c, W. Jamieson.

Mr. B. Short, of the Australian Mutua Provident Society, arrived by the Hawea this morning, and will lecture on Monday evening at the Town Hall, the subject being " Happy Homes, and How to Make Them ; to be illustrated by numerous anecdotes, with hints on Mutual Lfie Assurance. Mr Short has, been for 17 years a most successful canvasser and lecturer) and addressed audiences throughout all the colonies, winning a high reputation for himself as "an entertaining lecturer. Although he'introduces the subject-of Life Assurance, his addresses are replete with anecdotes and allusions of a most amusing, instructive, and interesting character. The society which he represents stands preeminently high in the estimation of the public. The lecture will be open free of admission, and ladies are especialy invited. Mr. Short will make a tour of the surrounding bays. A public meeting of the inhabitants of Little River, was held on Saturday, 16th instant., for the purpose of taking steps to start a Good Templar.Lodge in the district. A good many q£ the residents . of the Valley were * -present—Bro. Clements D.D.G.W.GT. was called to the chair, and explained that the object of the meeting was to give information as to the principles of the Order, and take the preliminary steps towards, forming a Lodge. B. Trumble, S.D.G.W.C.T. followed>nd urged on his audience the necessity of combined and earnest warfare, against the drinking usages of the colony. Immediately after the public meeting, 19 persons intimated their willingness to be initiated. Bros Clements and Trumble, assisted by a number of the brethren from Christchurch opened the new Lodge, and installed the officers. The name of the new Lodge is Forsyth Lodge, and we have no doubt it will be a useful addition to the institution of Little River. From an advertisement in the Gazette we notice that Gorham Lambert, of Akaroa, boatman, has filed a declaration that he is unable to meet his engagements with .[his creditors. The first meeting of creditors will be held at the Supreme Court House Christchurch, on Tuesday, 3rd July next at eleven o'clock. The practice of furious riding across the beach between the so-called French and English portions of the borough and through its streets, seems to be on the increase. We are informed that between six and seven o'clock in the evening of the 26th, no less than seven horsemen in a ruck, come across the beach at a furious pace, and continued their dangerous race up Jol lie-street, towards the Onuku-road. Until an accident occurs, or some of these criminally careless horsemen are summoned, and fined, we suppose Akaroa streets will still be used as what the horsey fraternity calls? convincing grounds of these disgraceful amateur sports. In consequence of the accident to the s.s. Wellington, there will be no steamer for Lyttelton until Monday, July 2, when the s.s. Hawea calls on her way from Dunedin. During the fruit season, and especially towards its close, bushels upon bushels of fruit may be seen lying rotting on the ground of the gardens and orchards of Akaroa. Why this waste ? We know full well what the reply will be, that there is ho market for this surplus fruit. Jus so, and there never will be so long as our fruit growers do not try and provide a market themselves. We wonder whethe. such wicked waste of one of God's good gifts would be allowed in Yankee land ? No, our American cousins are far too wise for that. But in Akaroa we import our jam from Tasmania, and our preserved peaches plums, and grapes from California when we could not only make them for our own use but also for exportt Shame on our apathy, we want a little Yankee enterprise and energy infused into our sluggish blood in order to render us alive as to what is really to our interest As an offset to the above we have just seen a very complete cider press, imported direct trom the makers in Boston, U.S.. by Mr. S. Watkins. The mach,ne occu" pies but a small space, and is capable of making 30 gallons of cider pei Two of these presses were imported, and theother has been'secured by Mr. S. French Farm ; so that iustead of the fruit being wasted as hitherto, we will be able to procure a healthy and exhilarating beverage, locally manufactured. The sale of Mr. J. Sunckell's dairy stock) at his farm, German Bay, yesterday, was largely attended by all the local buyers, and also by a considerable number of dealers from a distance. Messrs. Bridge and Bnshell, who conducted the sale, were fortunate in securing what might have been characterised as very long pricesSuperior cows brought from £11, £1410s. each ; medium, £9 to £11 ; 2-year-old heifers, £8, to £10 10s; and fair calves averaged the extreme figure of £3 lis. each. The biddings throughout were brisk for all the lines of cattle. There was no demand for a number of horses which were passed in. The dairy utensils was also keenly competed for, and from the general feeling of the dairymen present, we should think that they anticipate a good coming season. Our readers are reminded that the Dedication Services, in connection with St. Peter's Church, takes place to-day. The Akaroa and Wainui Road Board, hold their usual fortnightly meeting in the office, at 1 p.m. to-morrow.

We hear that the entertainment we noticed in a previous- iasue, is now in full rehearsal, The object is to supplement the funds of some of our local charities, and the performers, though amateurs, are spoken of very favourably. The performances are a little out of the usual course, viz., acrobatic feats, comprising Flying Trapeze, Davenport Brother's Ropetying trick, Juggling plates, wire-walking, songs, dances" &c. ; the whole of the performance to conclude with the perilous flights on the Flying Trapeze. The usual weekly meeting of the Mutual. Improvement Society, was held in the public schoolroom last Tuesday evening. The attendance was large. The debate for the evening being Standing Army v. Volunteers, for New Zealand. Mr. Brocher and G. Armstrong for the Standing Army. Mr. Billens and Charles E. Watkins for the Volunteers. Several of the members spoke, and after an animated discussion it was put to the meeting, and the votes were found to be in favour of Volunteers. The Zion Congregational Church at Le Bon's Bay has recently undergone considerable repairs ; the roof'has been lined with neatly dressed battens from Christchurch. The floor has been newly re-laid, and a very chaste moulding, has been run round the door and windows, and repeated twice round the Church. The whole has been varnished, and the Church internally presents a neat and comfortable appearance. Messrs. Bridge and Bushell, on Tuesday and Wednesday last, held a clearing sale of Mr, Daly's goods in the Town Hall. The sale consisted of every possible useful article for family use. The attendance on either day was not so large as might have been expected, but the prices realised were generally such as should be satisfactory to both the seller and the buyer. A telegram from Napier in the Wellington Argus says:—" At a meeting of the Municipal Council a letter was read from the Inspector of Police, calling attention to the large amount of destitution in Napieralso stating that he had paid £60 out of his own private pocket for the relief of those requiring aid. He desired the Council, as he could not stand such a drain on his private resources, to make some pro; vision. The Council debated the matter' and concluded to lay the matter before the general Government, and to ask for a refund of £192 stopped from the subsidy for the relief of the destitute. Business is more than ordinarily dull, even for this season of the year, numbers being unable to find employment. A Palmerston storekeeper named Nelson has been fined £50 for selling four glasses of mm to a customer on Good Friday. A diver on the coast of Queensland, was the means, last year, of recovering from a wreck, which was haunted by sharks attracted by the corpses, a bos containing £9000. The Colonial Admiralty Court awarded him about £3000 as salvage, and the owner of the gold, an Australian bank, appealed against this sum excessive. Says the Timaru Herald :—" We shall pay with pleasure the costliest prices for war telegrams which really interest and inform our readers. But we do think that the Government ought to help in this wothy endeavour, and ought to give us every advantage that can be derived from the public department. Nota bene. —The public, not the newspapers, gain by cheap and expeditious telegrams. These messages are a dead loss to every newspaper." In the course of a case in the Supreme Court on Saturday (says the Southland Times) Mr. Harvey was lying it down to the jury that a husband who assigned property to his wife could not afterwards compel her to dispose of it in any way whereupon his Honor Byronically remarked—" Compel her, Mr. Harvey! Certainly : but he may Soft saivder her." Is anyone curious to know that Lord' Beaconsfield's Parliamentary dinner cost him ? Well, his Lordship contracts for plate, wine, food, glass—everything, in fact save guests —at £5 a head, hence with forry uoble " invites the expense of the repast would be exactly £200. There is something very Disraelian about this method of proceeding.—" Vanity Fair."