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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 111, 10 August 1877, Page 2

The football match, Dunedin against Christchurch, which was played in Cranmer Square, Christchurch, on the Bth inst., resulted in a victory for the Southern men. As showing the interest taken by the public in this match, it is stated that there were from 4000 to 5000 onlookers.

The monthly meeting of the Akaroa School Committee, was held on Monday evening last, in the school room. Present W. Penlington, (Chairman), Messrs Rodrigues, Bruce, Annand, Sims, and MisseniThe minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was read from, the Board of Education, with enclosure; from the Secretary of Crown Lands, sta-', ting that the site of the government ings could not at present be spared for additional school grounds. The Committee agreed to remit the rates in the case of Mrs. Peter Malmanche. The applications of Mrs Brown and Mrs Munro, weie ordered to stand over,, to allow the Chairman to make enquiries. Mrs. Ward's account, for cleaning- new schoolroom, was ordered to stand over, for want of funds. After some discussion on the new Education Bill, the meeting adjourned. Amongst the various rumours that are flying round our small circle, one has reached us, concerning the contemplated removal of the present jetty at the English end, and its addition to that known as " Daly's wharf," at the French end of the town. We presume this is as a set-off against the proposed site for the new public buildings. Some of the most influential of our community' have already taken statistics as to the depth of water obtainable by this extension, and it has been unanimously agreed that far greater facilities for shipping, &c., will be afforded. It is urged in recommendation of the plan that steamers will be able to turn with greater ease, and that the Custom's House and Bank, are close at hand. The usual weekly meeting of the Akaroa Mutual Improvement Society, was held in the public schoolroom, on the 7th August. The subject for discussion was, " Religious instruction in Schools." The Rev. Mr. Douglas, President, opened the conference, most of the members present, taking part in the discussion, and expressing their opinions on the question. It was agreed that the " Conscience Clause" in the Bill, should be left intact, and that a committee be formed, to draw up a petition to the Hon. the Minister of Justice, to that effect. Signatures were to be canvassed for, and when completed, the petition was to be forwarded to the member for Akaroa, for presentation. The petition is at present in course of being signed. It will be gratifying to the friends of Mr. Ivess, as it is to ourselves, to know that the support accorded to the Ashburton Mail, has been so good, that already that journal has assumed a larger form. Our old friends, Mr. and Mrs Wascoe, have become respectively host and hostess of the " Beach Arms" Hotel, Lake Ellesmere, formerly kept by Mr. Franks. Mrs Wascoe is well known as an :escellent manageress, and we feel sure that travellers to and from Christchurch, will find their wants well and ably ministered to. As the coach stops here for dinner, a good cuisine is an essential, and in this department the new hostess excels. We sincerely wish them all success in their new life and undertaking. We beg- to draw the attention of our readers, to an advertisement in another column, relating to the election of a person to serve on the Akaroa School Committee. The meeting for that purpose, will take place at the schoolhouse, on 13th August, at 7 p.m. If necessary, a poll will be taken on August 20th, at the same place, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Another advertisement notifies the division of the Duvauchelle's Bay Educational district into two separate districts, viz., Duvauchelle's Bay, and Robinson's Bay. And notice is given that meetings will be held in the schoolhouse of each of the above districts, on Monday, August 13th, 1877, at 7 p.m., for the purpose of electing a school committee, and that a poll, if demanded in either district, shall be taken at the same places, on Monday,' August 20th> between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. It is not often that we receive gratuitous offers of assistance, and when we do, they are not generally in a poetical form. There is some satisfaction, however, in the information contained in the followingcommunication. "If ever I'm completely done, And work and tucker fail, I'll get a Maori kit and run The Akaroa Mail." Such disinterested kindness as this is almost too much 1 We rather. expect our correspondent wants a free paper 1 Captain Aschman, of the E.U. Cameron, reports, than when lying in Le Bon's Bay on the 27th ult., he experienced one of the heaviest seas ever witnessed by him, during the many years he has been trading round the Peninsula. The vessel behaved splendily, but for a time the danger was imminent, and the captain had great doubts of her weathering it out. We are informed that the lease, furniture, stock in trade, &c, of the Somerset Hotel, was in yesterday, for the trustees of the estate of T. W. Barker, for the sum of £800. The quarterly meeting of the Akaroa Literary Institute was held at the Library, on Monday evening last. Present: —Messrs J. Aylmer (President), Scarbrough, Inwood Sims, Harris, Bruce, Dalglish, and Annand, The Sub-committee's report on the supply of home papers was laid on the table. On the motion of Mr. Inwood, seconded by Mr Bruce, Mr. J. Aylmer's offer of supplying the Library with the World within one week after delivery in Akaroa, at half the

cost of the paper was accepted. Mr Bruce nioved, and Mr. Inwood seconded, that the Illustrated News, Punch, and Home News, be obtained direct from England. It was agreed to obtain the New Zealand Auckland Herald, and the Sydney Mail, for the use of the Library. The Treasurer laid on the table an invoice of the new selection of books from Mudie's. It was arranged that a volume of Ainsworth's novels should be obtained to replace that lost by one of the members. Mr. Inwood moved, and Mr. Dalglish seconded, that immediate steps be taken'to have a Bill passed to change the boundaries of the present site and to vest the property in the Corporation. It was agreed that Mr. Inwood should write to Mr. Montgomery, giving all necessary information. Accounts to the ainonnt of £11 5s 7d, were passed for payment. The idea was mooted of getting up an entertainment in aid of the Library funds, and a subcommittee consisting of Messrs. Scarbrough, Dalglish, Inwood, Harris, and H. Bridge be appointed to take the necessary steps to carry out the same. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting.

The London Times of the 28th May has the following account of Russian " derringdo" :—" One of the most daring deeds ever recorded in the history of warfare was performed on the Lower Danube, near Ibraila, on Saturday morning last. A small detachment of Russian soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant Dubascheff, accompanied by the commander of the Roumanian flotilla, Major Murgescu, left the northern shore of the Danube in a number of small boats, and proceeded towards the point Petra Fetei, below Matchin, and opposite Ibraila at which point there was stationed a large Turkish monitor. The night was very dark, and they managed to surround the monitor before being discovered by the Turkish look-outs. When finally observed by the sentries on board they were challenged, and " Who goes there I" rang out on the night air. Major Murgescu replied in Turkish, "Friends." The Turks, evidently not satisfied, commenced firing in the direction of Matchin, not knowing where these boats came from. The shots flew wide of their mark and did no damage to tbe daring men in the boats. During the firing several of the Russian soldiers, under the direction of Lieutenant Dubascheff, plunged into the water, swam silently to the hull of the ironclad vessel, and placed the deadly torpedo in close contact with the bottom of the monitor. After the destructive machine, had been securely fastened and wires of an electric battery accurately adjusted, the men retired to the neighbouring shore of the river, and at half past 3 in the morning the monitor was blown into the air, with all the officers and crew. The explosion was terrific, and, as nothing is said of the crew being saved, it is supposed that all on board perished with the vessel. The cool determination with which this fearful enterprise was successfully carried out speaks for itself in the results, and the fate of the second Turkish monitor already sent to the bottom of the Danube with all on board shows how futile was the expectation that gunboats can maintain the mastery of a river lined with hostile batteries filled with enemies as resolute as the men whose deeds are recorded above. The Roumanian Major Murgescu, who took part in the attack upon the monitor, is an officer of distinction, who was educated in France, and has travelled over the whole civilized world. The Turks are notorious for the wretched character of their outposts and night service, and it is doubtless owing to their defects in these respects that the desperate undertaking near Ibraila was so successful." " Two of a trade can never agree, " is often quoted as a truim, although it is not strictly so. However occasionally the adage proves correct, as witness the following, on the merits of Auckland made sausages. Maker of mysteries number one says:—"Many people in Auckland are aware that Tom Barnett is the only legitimate pork butcher in the city, and original steam sausage factor. The flavor of the sausages is widely known," On which number two gives the retort courteous as follows-—" Truth, like honesty, is the best policy. Tom Barnett says he is the only legitimate pork but cher and original steam sausage factor. I never said he was •illegitimate;' I simply said I was the largest sausage manufacturer in the colony The quantity of sausages sold by me is more than T B sells in a week, so it proves the flavoring of our sausages are still more widely known. And as for him being the original steam factor, I say No, I being the first that introduced steam machinery for making sausages in New Zealand, and had one of the largest chopping machines working before he left England. A difficulty has arisen in Christchurch, between a wholesale firm of bootmakers and their employees. The case presents some remarkable features, and as it has been misrepresented in other parts of the colony, a clear statement of the facts may not be without interest to our readers. It appears that Messrs. Lightband, Allan, Co. ? the firm in question, having in contemplation, a reduction in the scale of wages, and being pretty sure that their men would object, took the bull by the horns, and dismissed them straight off, to the number of about 60. They gave them no option and no chance to retaliate ; it was not a strike but a lock-out; a strike Of masters, if it can be so called. The thing is common enough in England, where a lock-out is

often the result of a strike, and usually brings the workmen lb their senses, but we believe it has never occurred upon such a scale in Christchurch before, where, in fact the only difficulty,of ft serious kind they have had, was the railway strike of last year. That,it is important, is evidenced by the commotion which Messrs. Lightband & Go/a proceeding has caused in other places, Dunedin especially. The bootmakers bf Christchurch, in the emergency, have taken protective measures, by making their trade-union as strong as possible. They resolved then to give every one the immediate choice of enrolling himself or no, and gave the necessary power to their committee or council, or whatever it is called, to protect the interests of the Society, a phase sufficiently indefinite. In the meantime, they have telegraphed to Melbourne, Sydney, and elsewhere, asking for sympathy and help. The lockedout workmen complain that they are suddenly thrown out of employment) which, in the middle of winter, is undoubtedly a serious thing for them, but it is evident, from their employer's statement, in the columns of the Lyttelton Times, that they have only their trade-union pranks in days gone by, to thank for their summary ejection. At the same time, Messrs. Lightband & Co., announce that they are willing to re-engage their workmen if they submit at discretion. As the matter stands, they have undoubtedly the best of it, and it seems pretty evident that the men must surrender, despite the parade of ■ associated interests trade-unionisms, &c. The unemployed of Christchuich, have been, during the past and present weeks, holding public meetings in that city. The language* used on these occasions, and the subsequent actions taken by the deputations emanating from these meetings, was extremely temperate, the results being that the Government were communicated with, and employment has been offered by the City Council, whilst Mr. March, the charitable aid officer, is in correspondence with the different Road Boards, as to their requiring labour. We believe there is a regulation, that when a steamer leaves one port for another, she is to be advised at once at her destined port as having left for there. How well they manage, at Lyttelton, to carry out this regulation, was shown here last evening. The Taupo left that port at 3 p.m., for Akaroa, and her lights were just in sight, when tho telegraphic advice arrived of her having sailed. Smart work this, but very annoying to those having shipments to expecting consignments.