The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1877.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 110, 7 August 1877, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1877.

A meeting of theßanks.Pen'nsula Pastoral Association was held at the Somerset Hotel yesterday afternoon.. The members present .were Messrs Shadbolt,. Inman,-; Dicken,.Piper, Lee, Aylmer, and,McKay., Mr.-.B.;Shadbolt was voted,to- the ■ A letter was read from Mr..Buchanan resigning his position as president of the Association on'the grotm<ls ot! ill health, but promising all support and assistance;. It was proposed by Mr Pijjer and seconded by, '■ Mr : Inmah,' that the secretary be instructed to write to Mr Buchanan acknowledging the receipt of the letter, and asking Turn to reconsider his.resignation. On the motion of Mr Inman seconded by, Mr Mckay as series of rules and the meeting closed, with a vote of thanks to the chairman. ■ ■..,-.,■ .;■. Our readers will do well to note a curious case under the Stamp Act, which appears in our telegraphic columns. It is just possible that many of' us have unwittingly offended in a similar way, and without the slightest intention of evading the Act. In .these days when certain people prowl around seeking whom, and Avbat, the}' may devour, it behoves u& to be cautious and exact in the veriest trifles.

There can be no doubt' that the beach is a legitimate source from Which to obtain shingle or gravelly stuff, for road-mending purposes, the permission to remove it having previously been obfciiiied from the harbormaster. But, at the. same time, it is necessary to use discretion, a;id judicious selection, in fixing the spot whence such material is excavated, for tbe reason that the shingle is, to a great extei it, a check on the encroachment of the sea. Especially so is it, where the land juts abruptly out into the water, as in the case of the reserve opposite Bruce's Hotel, and where one side ia exposed to the full force of the waves in southerly weather. Within the last few years, even, this reserve has been getting gradually smaller, and beautifully less, by the combined action of wind and tide, on that side exposed .to the southwest ; and, it will be easily understood that anything tending to reduce the shingle bank on that side will only the more expose it to the ruthless element. Only very recently, gravel, so-called by courtesy, has been excavated at the spot alluded to, close to the bridge leading to *tho cemetery road, and we would suggest to the Borough Council that there are other places where a better class of material c«>uld be obtained with no injurious result to the mainland.

A special meeting of the Akaroa Borough Council was held on Saturday the 4th inst., to consider the matter of the footpath on the west side of Levaud-street, when the Engineer received instructions with regard to the same.

The lands granted for endowment to the Akaroa Borough Council, as notified in a previous issue appear in the Gazette of the 26th ult. . -. ;

Owing to the press of local, and other matter we are reluctantly compelled to hold over our leading article until our next publication. '

A meeting of the Manse Committee, was held last Saturday, at Mr. Innes's, Pigeon Bay, Mr. Lines in the chair. The minutes of the former meeting were read and confirmed. It was reported that the Manse is nearly finished, and the second instalment of tbe payment,, amounting to £150, was ordered to be paid ; also, Mr. Roberts' account for survey. Mr. Dalgleish was empowered to see after extras, such as bridge fence, &c, such extras to be only what are necessary.' Encouraging : reports were given of the diligence and success of several collectors ; but it is absolutely necessary'that all collectors should do their utmost. With one or two exceptions there have been no denials to appeals made, whether to members of the Presbyterian Church or others, much however, remaining to be done.

Messrs. Snow and Anson, of Peraki station . report the capture of a large seal at that place on Sunday the sth instant. We understand that the captors intend sending the skin.up to Christchurch for proper preparation, with a view to its being finally made into articles of use or adornment.

We are sorry to have to record the sudden death, on Saturday last, at Lyttelton, of Mrs Rouse, the-wife of Dr. Rouse, the respected Mayor of that Borough. In consequence of this calamity, " Akaroa " s.s., was despatched to Wellington to fetch Dr. Rouse, who was absent in that city attending the Conference of Mayors now being held there. The Titan steamer therefore brought yesterday's mails to Pigeon Ba}* in the place of the Akaroa Mr. and Mrs Victor have been appointed Master and Sewing Mistress to the Robinson's Bay School.

We beg to draw attention to J :the advertisement in our columns relating to the sale of the effects' in the estate of T. W. Barker, HehdW the Bay, on Thursday next, August 9th.- The lease,furniture, stock-in-trade, license; book debts, &c, of the Sonierset sold by auction on that date, And there is little doubt that there will be plenty of * competition and brisk bidding. Mr. H. E.Alport wields the magic hammer.- : ;

Messrs. Wood Bros,-and Co., agents for the South British Fire arid Marinc'lnsurance. Company,.' have .'heen " informed by Mr. MacphersOn, the Christchurch Manager of that Company, thatlie intends drawing the attention of the Fire Insurance Association to the " AkamaFire Brigade " with a view to furthering the'movement by any assistance or advice needed in; forming so important and desirable an institution..

Visitors to Akaroa cannot fail to have been struck with a certain peculiar looking .structure just Mr. Wagsfaff's gate. At a casual glance it Inay not unnaturally be imagined rto have some connection with the internal ecomony of Bruce's Hotel, as a meat-safe, for instance. "No very great stretch of intellect would confound it with a firing platform'fdi* volunteers, and one practical tourist was for ■', some days under the impression that it was the " lock-up,'' until Hocper's'beer caused him to make an involuntary inspection of the police quarters, wbenhe.found,himself lead away.the opposite direction. It is only when you go rigbt,up to it that its use is made manifest, -as an ornament, it would have been prettier if out of. sight. -Having ascertained its utility, what we want to know is, "who does it belong to? Whose business is it to look after it? Andis it of sufficient importance to be left there to mar the beauty of one of the most picturesque parts of the town?" Again, why do not the owners look after it ? We.notice the waste-pipe has been pulled apart from the tanks, and the overflow running down the sides instead of through this pipe which would lead it into the creek, must make the ground all round a perfect swamp. Granting that it cannot be moved, surely the Borough Council might see their way to planting shrubs round the hideous thing, so that the face of nature may be relieved of so unsightly an excrescence. We regret haying to announce the loss of the ketch (i Quiver " belonging to Mr. John Smith of Le Bon's Bay. It appears that the ketch was bound for Le Bon's in ballast, and was standing away from the land on the starboard tack about half-past six on Friday evening last, when the's.s. Taranaki ran'lnto her, causing such severe damage" that the craft sank in five minutes after the collision. The master, Mr. Smith* and the other hand on board, were picked up by the Taranaki just as the ketch went from under their feet. An enquiry will be held on tbe steamer's return to port. The ketch was insured for £200 in the National Insurance Company. We understand that Robinson's Bay is about to be proclaimed a separate district, and that an election of a Schoo Committee is shortly to, be held. .We.have a remembrance of the Road Board having ordered the removal of that i-oadside ornamentation, which embellishes if gaunt and naked ugliness is an embellishment, Duvauchelle's Bay, in the shape of the keel and ribs of an intended, bus never finished ' vessel. However, one cannot help noticing that, whether by Road Board instructions, or not, the "goodly structure" is growing beautifully less and in time will cease to be an object of affright to horses as well as an eye sore to the public.

A monster specimen of the Wild Boar ;was killed in Duvauchelle's Bay, oh the 4th inst by Messrs Piper and Demahnanche who with a party where engaged in pig hunting. The length of the pig was quite 6 feet and it was estimated to weigh over 5 cwt. All of the party were agreed in stating that this was the largest boar that has been destroyed in,the district. Mr. Piper has sent the head, skin, &c, to Dr. Haast to be mounted for the museum. •

A meeting of the German Bay school committee, was held x>n Thursday the 2nd instant, when four applications for the mastership of the school, were opened and laid before the meeting of the chairman. The names of the applicants are Herbert Hewer, D. Thompson, H. Bright, : and Stephen Carrick, the latter being at present master of a district school in Taranaki and the holder of a third class certificate' It was resolved to apply to Mr. Carrick for further particulars, and to ask him to send a testimonial from the, chairman of H,i(3. present school committee. When Mr Dawber received the required information he was requested to call the committee together, so that a final decision might be come to.

A correspondent says The /Stoir.advertises " A cup of Tea, Coffee, or Cocoa, which cheers especially on a cold winter's day made as you like it." The winter's days just now are not at all as we like them ;

The following is a true bill:—Teacher- " Yes, that battle took place off Cape Actium. Now what other memorable engagement was fought there by Augustus ?" Pause: Scholar. " With Antony." Teacher —"Quite right, now, who was with Antony ?" Another pause : Teacher, with a view to assisting:—" Why, remember Shakespeart, what name ahoays go.es with Antony. " Scholar:—"-Trollbpe." General emotion..

Negotiations are pending to induce the. p.s. Luna, to-call. into Akaroa, about the mjddle of tho present month, on her return voyage from Dunedin to the West Coast.

The agreeable change in the weather during the latter part of last week, brought out the. sporting proclivities of some of our residents. .. On Saturday last, a temporary racecourse was formed on the roadway from Bruce'e Hotel, towards the jetty, and then, ; and there, some contests of a novel and exciting character were run. ; Foremost among the competitors mounted on his steed, and surveying the convincing ground with the eye of an expert, was our old friend—he of the goose ranche ; near by was an athlete locally well known as-a coin of small value. !Our old friend, being still labouring under the dispensation of Stevens's blister was unable to niakethat display of nimble footed-, ness .for which he. is proverbial, and in consequence challenged the. before mentioned athlete to a series of contests—biped mounted on quadruped against biped, the results being that our old friend discovered that he could not obtain much change out of a penny. A numerous, excited, and applauding audience, among whom were some visitors from a distance, looked on admiringly, arid by- their plaudits encouraged the efforts of the compe-, titors. Mine host of Bruce's was to the fore and was most energetic in advising a " lap" to be taken between each spurt.

The Nelson Daily Times is responsible for the following invaluable Wellington correspondent writes me that the question of the reconstruction of the London Agency and the discharge of the ei-Premier will form the subject of an important debate during the present session. The Ministry could get out of the difficulty by appointing some more suitable and popular person than the present occupant of the office in addition to reducing the cost of management. To facilitate some such arrangement the following cablegram was dispatched on Monday morning:— Weliingtoh, July 16th. To the Aqent-Genebal My dear Sir Julius, to assuage The Opposition's " Heathen rage," Will you resign your present billet ? We've got a man out here to fill it Signed, Atkinson. To this the following reply was received on Thursday morning .-— . London July 18th To The Hon., &c. You ask me, Major, to resign This pleasant agency of mine ; You cannot seriously suppose it; It's not for Julius, if he knows it. ~•-,-;•?■::;: v. '.-.-.• . .Signed,, Vogel.