The Akaroa Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 10.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 285, 10 April 1879, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 10.

A meeting of: the Akaroa School Committee was held last evening at the schoolroom, at;\v.hiclr Messrs' Meecjh Billens, Missen,' and Wiggins were'present. The minutes bftlie,previous meeting were read and confirmed. Letters were read—From the Board of Education, enclosing agreement with John M'Gregor, pupil teacher ; • declining to accede to the request of the Committee for an assistant mistress in place of Miss Bruce, and authorizing the erection of a paling fence round the school ground It was resolved strongly to recommend the Board to sanction the erection •of an iron fence. The Schoolmaster furnished a list of books in use in the school. Mr Biliens stated that he had the books mentioned on hand. Two applications were received for the vacant pupil teachership, and Master Bateman' Missen was appointed subject to the approval of the Board of Education. The Chairman read the answers received to the Committee's circular on the subject of a High School. It was resolved to write to the Board of Education on the matter. The Chairman reported that he had procured a copying press, which he found a necessity. The expenditure was authorized. One or two small payments were made, and a supply of firewood directed to be procured. It was agreed to close t lho school during Easter week, and to postpone the school treat for a month. The meeting then adjourned.

The Rev, H. Stocker, who f has, recently been appointed to the cure of this parish, intends coming here on Saturday io hold the services on Easter Sunday. It is expected that he will be instituted to the cure of the parish by the Most Rev. the Lord Bishop of Christchurch, or by his Commissary the Rev. C. Knowles, on Easter or the following Sunday. As the Rev. H. Stocker is very highly esteemed by all who know him, not only the con. gregation of which he will take charge, but Akaroa generally may be congratulated upon his coming to reside here. He may have to return to Lincoln for a time, but he intends staying until the meeting of parishioners on Wednesday next, when he will no doubt find a large gathering to welcome him.

In another column appears a full report of a' meeting' which was held after the nomination of candidates for the County Council on Tuesday last, at Wainui. We have given the proceedings rather more prominence than the limited space at our command justifies, because we look upon the questions raised as of decidedly more jthan mere local importance. What are ■the functions, and what the limit of the ifunctipriß,.of :a,Connty Council; is a quesItion on which public opinipri is at present jmuch divided. ( At present the majprity of :the Alcaroa County Council 'appear to be of opinion that the' Council should simply act as a distributing body between the Govern, memfand the Road "Boards. "■'But there are 'not wanting' those who think that in doing so the Council to a great extent abnegates 'its functions; -arid that it < should take in hand works of general importance, siieh as .arterial roads. Both the candidates possess considerable claims to public support. Mr. M'Donald is intimately 'connected with the riding, and has made a very useful-representative--on the Koad Board, while Mr Piper's services for a number of years are too well known to need recapitulation. A close contest may t>e anticipated.' -

', We hare been requested to correct an error in our report of the last meeting of the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board: Messrs Edmondson and Ricfafield's tender for widening the Okain's Bay Road, was 'accepted at 55s per chain, and not 45s as reported. The error is an excusable one considering the large number of figures' appearing under the head of tenders, and as we have no means of checking them. , : Mr A. F. Hawthorne, plaintiff in a case of Hawthorne v; MoeVjitd/ , heard at the R. M. Court on Aprillrhae written, asking us to corect ari erfoj^wbich'crept'' into bur Report of the case:. 1 "The claim was for £7 j6s, instead of £7" 10s, as reported by us. Mr Haivthorne also Btate3 that the judgment was given " by consent of plaintiff." [We have heard of defendants.in civil cases •' consenting" to judgments against them* but never of a asked to consent to a verdict in his favor. When a plaintiff comes into Court he has to consent to whatever order is made. Our report <: judgment for plaintiff for £2 and costs" is in exact a<"fonl'ii'C< will* tLp records of the Co'irt

The criminal sittings of the Supreme Court opened in Cfiriatehurdi on Monday last. There were 27 charges awaiting trial, but of these nine were against one person, three against another, and two against a third. Hia Honor, in charging the Grand Jury, called special attention \4 the charges of arson arid fraudulent ruptcy." Edgar Bastings, \vlnlplfatjk:d\ gnilty to a charge of forgery and*uttering, was sentenced to ten months' urfpris'oriRasmus Jorgensen pleaded guilty to three charges of larceny and horse of 'wascominitted at-Little Rivet, <an/ has been already reported in our columns. The ■ prisoner*-beingan old offender, was.senr tenced to ten years' penal servitude. Jas. M'Ardell, for larceny from ,xeftgiv»edi t.wglve,; jnonths , imprisonment. Angelo Bordassi,: charged with indecent: assault, wa£ acquitted. f Walter ,Bulliva.nt.who'had escaped from Lyttel'toriwhile undergoing a" sentence for forgery, and ! immediately/ commenced,- forging,, again, j was sentenced to six years' penal serviitude. Robert Lee, charged with forgery, ! pleaded guilty to uttering, and got twelve months. Alexander' Fitzgerald, charged with larceny from' the person, and Esther Garr, with larceny from a dwelling, were acquitted. Peter James Fowler, a railway guard, was charged with embezzlement. The Jury returned a verdict of "Not guilty." A man named James Watt was a witness in this case. He was employed as a private detective by the Railway Department. In cross-examination he admitted that he had offered to bet five to one that there would be a conviction. His Honor expressed his disgust at such conduct. Prisoner was acquitted.

The time for receiving tenders for the Akaroa Court-house expires on Saturday next, at noon. The place for receiving tenders is the Public Works Office, Christchurch, but telegraphic tenders will be received, provided the original, with deposit, is lodged in time. The cricket match between the Akaroa and Barry's Bay clubs, which has been arranged for Monday next, will take place at the Head of the Bay, and not Barry's Bay, as mentioned in our last issue. We observe that the Catholic Sunday School teachers have arranged a treat ar.d picnic, which will take place in the grounds surrounding the Church, on.Monday next, Easter Monday. Friends are invited. To judge by the manner in which these affairs have been managed in former years, the event promises to be a great success.

Regarding the Waimate Plains difficulty, the New Zealander has the following : — "We are in a position to state that Mr Mackay's report to the Native Minister will, when made public, effectually dispel any lingering apprehension that, in the settlement of the Waimate difficulty, there i will be need for appeal to arms. Nothing is further from Te Whiti's thoughts. In his conference with Messrs Maekay and Blake he adopted the character of a practical man of business, and told them plainly to drop all metaphor and cireninlocut.bn and come.at.once to the point "with any offer they might bie authorized by the Government to make-in settlement of the dispute. He ignores what he terms the paper confiscation of the land, and claims in law and in equity that if the Government want quiet possession, they must make reasonable compensation as an ordinary matter of .business. Pending the amicable adjustment of the affair, the land ;which it ; is intended to dispose- of on the Plains Ms been, temporarily withdrawn from this does hot in any way limply that negotiations are otherwise than 'satisfactorily progressing."

■ The B.S. Maori was to have called into Akaroa yesterday, proceeding southwards. iFrom BOtne change in the programme, however, she did not arrive. The Wanaka wjll call here for Dunedin on' '• Saturday instead.. '. . 1 A storekeeper in one of the Wairarapa townships (says-the Standard) sold a box of collars for cash a day or two ago. All 'the other storekeepers in the town were 'savage with hiiri for taking all the ready money in the place. The s. 8. Hiua is expected to arrive in harbor to-night from Lyttelton, with excursionists. :, She' sails again, on Saturday morning, and will-take-the machinery of the saw-mill lately owned ■by Meßsrs Saxtbn and Williams, wliich has beenjabld to go to the North-Island;-

i We have received acopy of the " Union Insurance Almanac ■"■ for 1879. It is a very creditable production, and besides the usual items to be found in such publications contains a variety of new and interesting information. Among: other things are lists of the different Ministries in a 1 the Australasian Colonies, Governors of s th§i : .the, date, ofj Jup to ;the present time, t various statistical information regarding the whole of the British possessions, full detail of the matches played by the Australian Eleven in Australia and England, and various other items of interest. Copies may be had at the office of this journal. Messrs Win. and Fred. Birdling writej disclaiming that they had any connection with the races held at Little River last Friday. Their letter was, r ,.i-..'v-..i » ,-,