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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 229, 27 September 1878, Page 2

The Town Hall presented a most pleasing appearance last Wednesday evening on the occasion of a juvenile fancy dress ball. The hall was well lit, and decorated in the manner usual on such occasions, the walls being ornamented with ferns, and the windows and doorways curtained off with various handsome flags. Several ladies and gentlemen in fancy costume were also present, who entered heartily into the enjoyment of the little ones. Tea having been laid in one of the ante-rooms, the children did full justice to the meal, and tbe ball commenced about 8 o'clock. Some ladies present did their utmost hot to let the piano flag, whilst Mr Fenton, as pianist, supported by Mr Daly on the cornet, and Mr Wood on the violin, immensely increased the enjoyment of a delightful evening. A carefully drawn up programme was gone through, the grand old country dance of Sir Roger de Coverly being twice on the list. This, together with the Swedish dance, was perhaps the most thoroughly amusing part q_ the programme, especially when some lady or gentleman had as partner some little fairy or page of some five or six summers. The dancing was kept up with great spirit until the small hours of the morning, and though tiie company, both juvenile and adult, was somewhat thinned before the conclusion of the ball, those who remained seemed to lose none of their zest and spirits. The costumes were most tastefully got up, in some cases two young people appearing in a similar costume as a tout ensemble, but varying from one another in details. Upwards of sixty young people were present, and amongst the most noticeable costumes were, the following:—Lady and

gentleman 18th century, Queen of Bride, Red Riding Hood, Men-of-warsmen, Ruth, Gleaner, Highlanders, Scotch lassie, Page 17th century, Flower-girl, Volunteer in Garibaldi costume, Forget-me-not, Courtier 17th century, Collegian, Baker, Minstrel, Shepherdess, Milkmaid, Vivandiere, Minnehaha, Zouave. Midshipman, Spring, Kunali Peasants, Turk, and Sundowner. Comparisons are always odious, and in the present instance would be most invidious ; but for all that it must be admitted that the get-up of the juvenile Sundowner of some three summers, with his swag and billy and short clay pipe, elicited many hearty laughs, though the grave behaviour of the little gentleman himself encourages the hope that he does not share in the vagabond propensities of his prototype.

An entertainment took place in the schoolhouse, Little Akaloa, on Friday evening last, 20th inst. Mr J. B. Barker, who occupied the chair, stated that the object of the entertainment was to raise funds to clear off the debt on the church, and as this was the third entertainment for the same object, he was glad to see such a large attendance, and also to state that the proceeds from the present entertainment would more than clear off the "debt on the church. He would not detain them any longer, but proceed at once With the programme, This was a good one' and was successfully carried out, each one going through his or her respective part with great credit, and was as follows: — " All's well," class ; song, " Light of other days," Mrs Barker ; song, " Cottage by the sea," Mr Thomas Coyne ; song, " Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye," Mrs Hunter ; charade, " Wardrobe," in 3 acts — Ist act, " Ward," by Messrs A. Waghorn, jun., R. Shuttleworth, D. Waghorn, jun., Misses Moiselle and Emily Waghorn : song, " Lived and loved together," Mrs Barker ; " Larboard watch," class; song, " The golden stair," Miss Anne Hunter. After an interval of fifteen minutes, the programme was proceeded with, as follows : — Song, " Bunch of roses," Mrs Alex. M'lntosh ; charade—2nd act, " Robe," by Messrs A. Waghorn, jun., D. Waghorn, jun., R. Shuttleworth, Mrs A. Waghorn, jun., Misses Moiselle and Emily Waghorn ; song," Still I love thee," Mrs A. Waghorn, jun. ; song. " Her bright smile haunts me Mrs Barker ; song, "Something sweet to think of," Miss Moiselle Waghorn ; charade — 3rd act, " Wardrobe," by Misses Moiselle and Emily Waghorn, Mrs A. Waghorn and Mrs A. M'lntosh ; song, " I've journeyed over many lands," Mrs Hunter; song, "Mulligan guards," Messrs R. Shuttleworth, A. Waghorn, and D. Waghorn. The singing of the National Anthem concluded the entertainment, after which dancing commenced, and was kept up with great spirit till three o'clock in the morning, all present seeming to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

We notice that the important subject of " Modern Socialism " is to form the subject of a lecture in the Presbyterian Church, Akaroa, on Sunday evening next.

It would appear that burglaries are not yet a thing of the past, even in such a well conducted and well-officered community as Christchurch, judging from the following/paragraph which we clip from the Lyttelton*Times oi Tuesday last:— " Last evening between seven and eight o'clooh, the shop of Mrs Brad well, stationer and news agent, Colombo street, was burglariously entered, and two cash boxes were stolen. One contained a small sum of money, principally in copper, and the other a quantity of stamps of the probable value of £100. They consisted of promissory and acceptance forms, and adhesive duty stamps, of various amounts, and of postage stamps. Mrs Bradwell and her daughter left home about seven, securing the shop door from the inside, and locking the side door of the house after them. On their return, within one hour, they were astonished to find the side door unfastened. The property was missed almost immediately, and as the police were speedly communicated with, it is to be hoped that a clue to the discovery of the thief will soon be forthcoming. Necessarily the loss which Mrs Bradwell has incurred is to her a most serious one, and she will at anyrate have the sincere sympathy of the general public."

By advertisement which appears elsewhere it will be observed that a petition has been presented to the Governor, praying'that a portion of the Little River Road District described therein maybe separated from that. District and attached to the Halswell If no counter petition is presented within two months, the separation as asked for will be granted. A full description ot the boundaries appears in the advertisement. The practice among farmers of laying poisoned grain for sparrows seems likety to lead to the extermination of the pheasants. A letter from Mr J. L. Hall, of Ellesmere, read at yesterday's meeting of the Acclimatisation Society, stated that he had found three dead pheasants on his property, and further inquiries elicited the fact that his neighbors had laid down poisoned grain for the destruction of small birds, which had evidently been partaken of by the larger ones. The members present expressed a wish that the contents of the letter might be made widely known.— Lyttelton Times, Sept. 24.

* Referring to a telegram which appeared lately, stating that a Mr Wilkinson had the intention of establishing a" jam manufactory, and was about to visit Akaroa with a view of judging as to its suitability, the Standard (Rangiora) thus discourses :— " As to Akaroa, the idea of selecting ft as a place fruit could be procured in abundance or at v nominal rates is preposterous. Wje know ..pi oho single garden in Hawkewood wherejiuore Vfruit is annually grown "than the wlhole of Akaroa ; cari produce. There has" of late years' been a great want of care in that pleasant locality, where the early French settlers first planted their foot upon New Zealand. Orchards and plantations of all kinds have been allowed to run Wild, and as an industry—if we exeeptone or two cases only —fruit growing at Akaroa may be said to be,.a.thing of the past." What do our gardener's say to that? We are afraid there is a great deal too much truth in the remarks.

Those of our readers who go in for breeding dranght stock, admittedly the class of horse-flesh for which the best value is obtainable, have the opportunity of securiiig the services of an excellent sire. By advertisement elsewhere, it will be _cen that the Clydesdale stallion Lord Clyde will stand for the season at O'Reilly's livery stables. Lord Clyde appears to have an excellent pedigree, and will, no doubt, receive a fair share of patronage. We have had some rather unpleasant north-westerly winds here for the last two days, but from the-reports to hand from other places we must congratulate ourselves on our immunity from the serious consequences which have been produced elsewhere by the north-wester. From all places there come terrible accounts of the violence of the gate and the amount of damage done. Houses, and churches have been blown down, iron roofs lifted and scattered like leaves, while at Oxford we learn that one lock-up was blown off its piles and the other one has disappeared altogether! The sergeant of Police is said to be still looking for it. It is not stated what has become of its inmates, if any. By a telegram in another column it will be seen that railway communication is interrupted both north and south of Christchurch. With regard to the vacancies in the Christchurch City Council, we learn that the following persons have been duly nominated as candidates for the office of Councillors, in the room of Messrs Radcliffe, Pratt, Ruddenklau, Jameson, and Bickerton, resigned : —Jno. Barrett, Reuben Binstead, Berry Cass, William Clifford, Frederick Jenkins, William Tremayne. A poll for the election of five of these gentlemen will be taken on Monday, 7th October, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. A correspondent, writing from Little Akaloa, says :—" Owing to the very dry Bummer, and the severe winter we have had, the loss of cattle in this bay has been very great. If other bays on the peninsula have suffered in proportion in loss of cattle as here there will be a great deficiency in the quantity of cheese made this'season to former seasons. The following is a list of the number of head which have died within the last two or three months :—Mr W. Kirk, has lost between 40 and 50 head ; Mark Turner, 27; John Hunter, 19; Robert Shuttleworth, 6; Charles Marshall, 6; George Rix, 2; David Waghorn, 14; George Ashton, 14; George Craw, 5; Arthur Waghorn, 20;