Untitled

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 108, 31 July 1877, Page 2

The friends and late pupils of Mr. D. Thompson, recently schoolmaster of Le Bon's Bay, will be pleased to hear that that gentleman is now settled as master of the public school at. Normanby, in the Patea District of the North Island. In this issue we publish- some garden memoranda for the month of August, being the first of a series of " Garden Calendar" notes, which will :appear from month to month in this paper. We trust our efforts in this direction may prove successful in leading those who have a bit of ground to cultivate the same, and thus in | some degree remove the stigma that lies ! upon Akaroa for the neglected state of its' ! gardens orchards, &c. We clip the following from the WairarapdNews:—" Mr. Richard Greening, long, and favourably known in connection with the coaching trade to and from Wellington and the Wairarapa, has succeeded Mr. P. Donecker in the business carried on by the latter at.the Empire Hotel." As most of our readers are, doubtless, aware ? Mr. Greening was for some considerable time the driver of the ; coach running between Christchurch and Akaroa, during which period his skilful " jebu-ism" was the admiration of all who travelled by that route, while his unvarying courtesy, and his ever willingness to oblige, gained him many friends. We trust Mr. Greening's second appearance in the character of "Boniface" may be more successful than his first, and that he may continue to retain the good wishes of those amongst whom he resides. There is a rumour here (writes the Wei lington correspondent of a Northern jouinal) which, " so far as I am able to test it, appears to be well founded. The Government will place on the Estimates a considerable sum of money, to be distributed amongst the Mechanics' Institutes in the colony, and in aid of country libraries." This is indeed, if true, very refreshing news. Like Epp's Cocoa, it is " grateful, comforting." With the abolition of Provincial Institutions, it was generally supposed all chance of any Government asr sistance to Mechanics' Institutes and Libraries had passed; away. We shall anxiously look for further confirmation of this rumour. • We beg to draw attention to a notice in our advertising columns re the meeting of; the working committee of the Bauks Peninsula Pastoral Association, at the Head of the Bay, on August 6th. As the business for which the meeting is called is of great importance, we hope all members will be present. . ... ~ '' ■ The case "Buchanaii-v.- Joblin," in which the. plaintiff sought''to recover damages for slander, came off in the Supreme Court,. Christchurch, on Thursday last, before Mr. Justice Williams and;a special jury. Dr. Foster and J. S. Williams appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Garrick for the defendant. The evidence 'of Messrs. Gilmour, Gebbie, and Nutt, for the plaintiff, went to show that the defendant, on the occasion of the nomination of ihembers to serve on the Little River Riding of the. : Akaroa County, was nominated, but that his nomination was objected to by certain nominators, as he had not paid his rates. That on hearing of this objection, the defendant had said the Little River Road Board was up to all sorts of dirty work, especially " Mr. Buchanan, the chairman," and that be (Mr. Buchanan) had appropriated the funds of tho Board. At the conclusion of the case for the plaintiff, Mr. Garrick moved for a nonsuit, on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to prove the slander charged in the declaration. Dr. Foster asked leave to amend the declaration. After some, discussion, His Honor allowed the amendment, reserving the point of nonsuit. Mr. Garrick then proceeded with the case for the defendant, and called Mr. Franks, the landlord of the Beach Arms, whose evidence went to prove that Mr Joblin paid that-the Board were dishonest, more particularly the chairman. The defendant was then examined, and gave his version of the affair at Franks' Hotel. He said that the Road 3oard wo;vs mean enough for anything; and that it i was absolutely dishonest bis being objected to, on the ground of his not having paid his rates. When he said it, Mr. Gebbie, one of the members of the Road *

Board, said that he (witness) knew no dis" honesty on the part, of members of the Road Board... Witness replied, if falsehood constituted dishonesty, he did—their chairman. The witness denied having usedi'the words imputed to hjm in the declaration. This closed the defendant's case..' Mr. Garrick, having addressed the jury, and Dr. Foster having replied, His Honor summed up. Verdict entered for the plaintiff, for two guineas. This will carry costs.

The following telegram from Mr. Montgomery, reshe site for the public buildings, Akaroa, has been posted for. ( general information. "G. W. Nalder, Esq. I have received a great number of telegrams todaj*, objecting to site of public buildings being changed. . My best attention will be given to the matter, and I shall object to change of site to either end o£ the town, against the wishes of the inhabitants. Post this for general information. —W. Montgomery. A rumour has' reached us to 'the effect that a certain proprietor of a goose ranch has been distinguishing himself by an experiment which unfortunately resulted in his Confinement te the house by a bad leg. It appears that, whilst paying his usual visit to his outlying station, he discovered there was something (an accumulation of goose flesh, we presume,) the matter with one of his legs. It was evident something had to be done for it,- and. in so out-of-the-way a place,-the question, was—what? But the fertile imagination that had devised eccentricities, too numerous and varied to particularize, was not to be stuck up, so to speak, by a sore leg. It happened that a bottle of " Steven's blister," a preparation for treating splint, wind-gall, spavin, &Q. y in horses, was at hand, and in the twinkling of an eye this was applied to the.misound limb. JThe next morning that gentleman's leg was the sfee of a hogshead, and, we regret to say, he has been anchored to his room by it ever since. With the best intentions we prescribe •' goose-grease" as a probable remedy, at any rate, we wish him a speedy recovery. There is some old proverb or other, that remarks upon what is good for the horse, not being good for the gander, or something to that effect. The London Weekly Times of May 2nd, says :—" While we do not know how soon the policy of the Earl of Beaconsfield may drag us into war, it is. pleasant to see that a colony which has always been loyal to us Under many temptations has just given us another proof of natural attachment. Canada has offered us the aid of 10,000 men to serve in any part of the Empire in which they may be required. To a small army like ours, such an addition is very valuable, and even the great military powers of the continent would not despise such a contingent of stout-hearted volunteers." Although New Zealand is not in a position to offer similar aid to the mother country or indeed, likely ever to be called upon to do so ; still we should make some preparations for our own defence. The apathy shown by the Government in regard to this important subject is astonishing, to say the least of it, and we should like to see, amongst us, evon the faintest reflection of Canadian spirit and pluck. We clip the following from the Temperance Times I—And now we discover the object of Providence in the creation of editors. • I do not deny (for I can afford to credit all men with what belongs to them, and am not compelled to steal) that I am not a little indebted to Dean Swift, who gives one of the reasons for not abolishing Christianity and the establishment in England, the fact that it provided a class of men (the clergy) whom everybody could feel atliberty to insult with entire impunity, knowing that their professional character precluded them from resorting to the violent measures that a lay-man would employ. And so the editor affords a safe receptacle for all the small spite which it has pleased Providence to bestow on pur race- .A man says:'"! don't dare to touch any of my neighbours. For reasons which I will not specify, I do not wish to say anything to my wife. But I cart write a letter and blow up the editor. If he has said, or allowed to be said, anything that I don't like, or anything that is capable of an unfavourable construction, I can air my cheap loyalty and philanthropy and orthodoxy, and can call him all manner of names. Probably he will be too busy to reply ; but I can hope and believe that I have made him wince, and the lelief to me will be all the same." And what a delightful thing it is to think that anyone above the grade of—well, above a very low grade of intellect- —can stop his paper!— Rev. L. P. Dobbs.

Our readers will doubtless remember the Davenport Brothers, who were, a few weeks ago, exhibiting in Christchurch, and •whose performances, ascribed at one time to spiritual influences, caused intense excitement in England, When they first exhibited there. It will be seen by the paragraph below, that one of the brothers has recently died in Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald of July 2nd says :—" Mr. W. H. H. Davenport, one of the' brothers whose performances have created so much discussion in England, America, and more recently in the colonies, died of consumption, at 'the Oxford Hoi,ei, yesterday morning. The deceased waa a native of Buffalo, U.S. A.., and first appeared in connection with his brother, and Professor Fay, 23 years ago, as exponents of what have been termed spiritualistic seances. He arrived in Sydney a few days ago from Auckland."

From the Otago Daily Times of July 20, we see that the s.s. " Taiaroa," which, under the command of Captain Pietersen, has been for some time trading between Dunedin and Timaru, has ..been removed from, the trade, and is after receiving an overhaul,, to be sent to Sydney, preparatory "to running in the trade between that port and New Caledonia, i Captain Pietersen, who is■; well and, favourably known in now command of the Wellington, which vessel has taken the " Taiaroa's " place in the Timaru trade. Captain Andrews will take command of the "Taiaroa" in the new trade which the Union Company is embarking in. Captain Lloyd, late of the Wellington, appears to be out of a command.