The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 25.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 397, 25 May 1880, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 25.

The entertainment given by the Jubilee Minstrels at the Oddfellows' Hall last night was patronised by a large audience, and proved a great success. The various items on the programme were rendered in an admirable manner, and were all done so well that it would be invidious oh our' part to criticise any particular one. !The entertainment wound up with a dance, admission to which was by special invitation.

The nomination of candidates for the office of councillor, occasioned by the retirement of C. W. Bridge, Esq., took place on Saturday last, and resulted in Messrs W. H. Henning and J. O'Brion being nominated. The latter gentleman, how-' ever, refusing to enter into a contest, W. H. Henning, Esq., was declared duly elected. We regret to state that a somewhat un- '> fortunate accident happened yesterday morning to A. G. Wiggins, Esq., of the' Akaroa Mail. It appears that he was returning at an early hour on the day in question from a ride to Le Bon's Bay, and somewhat foolishly cantered his horse over wooden bridge which was still wet from the previous night's frost. His horse fell and in falling the rider inflicted upon him--self, by coming against the rails of the bridge, two ugly wounds on the head, J besides injuring the knee-cap of his left leg. We trust, however, the injuries may be but temporary, and not long incapacitate him from work. In the meantime we must request our readers to excuse the absence of editorial matter. Mr Wiggins desires to acknowledge the kind assistance i rendered him on the occasion by Mr and Mrs Oldridge and others with whom he iwas unacquainted.

We have been informed that the races theld at Little River were a great success. ".The morning opened as fine as could be (desired, and a good number of visitors were on the ground. Owing to the unfortunate accident which happened to the proprietor of this journal we are compelled to hold over a more minute account till our next issue. Yesterday, notwithstanding it being the Queen's Birthday and an occasion celebrated through most towns and cities in the Colonies for its sports, passed off exceedingly quietly in this town. It was most certainly kept as a public holiday, but the sports which were some time previously talked about were not held,

although, we believe, that with very little energy on the part of those gentlemen who first stirred in the matter, a most satisfactory programme could have been drawn up. This, however, is somewhat on a par with many other affairs in the town, a general feeling of languor and? inertia seeming to prevail. In the af terPi noon tfifc. y&ung tovVn metj tpgetltei?to 1 tisfce pairfc% a football Weft ofc the gre<k> : opposite' Mt. Garwood's, and" a'good many-of the-fair sex were•J^reße'nt , as spectators.'j The mktch was/a scratch .one *>etw"eeii the young mci of i'Afeai'd'a,; and a well contested game was played.

On Friday last three candidates were nominated.for the office of.Auditors for .the Boroagh of Akaroa,! viz. j 'Messrs Wat-, kins, Nicholls, and Daly. We were somewhat surprised at an early hour in the morning to find an intending candidate for municipal honors strenuously canvassing the town in order to find two parties willing to act gratuitously as auditors. We much regretted to find such a-step taken, as we looked upon it not only as an insult to the Borough ingeneralto suppose such a step necessary, but also as an unparalleled one. We might say further that the same gentleman, not being satisfied with having acquired his ends (so far as the finding of two persons willing to offer their services gratis to the Borough was concerned, and allowing the ratepayers to use their discretion as to whether they would have their work done for charity or not) must go further and by various means endeavor to persuade the third candidate to retire, using arguments altogether unfair. That the Returning Officer for the Borough was made the party to the negotiations is well known to all the ratepayers in the Borough, and we think a much more positive argument to be brought forward against the desirability of the Town Clerk and the Returning Officer being one and the same cannot be desired. To combine the two would require the utmost tact and ingenuity, and we are convinced neither one nor the other need be looked for from the members of the Akaroa Borough Council. That body would have no compunction in forcing duties of a disagreeable nature upon their paid Clerk, and, in fact, would only be too happy to have some instrument to make use of; and for a Returning Officer to be in any way a servant of, or dependant on,such people is, in our opinion, a simple absurdity. The poll for auditors will take place on Tuesday next, when we trnst to find the ratepayers not against returning a man who works for his money, and is not above accepting it when honestly earned. For our part, we have very little faith in services iendered gratuitously.

The following nominations for the office of City Auditor for Christchurch were received at noon on Friday:—-H. E. Alport. J. A. Bird, Neil Black, T. B. Craig, William Forster, and William Jameson. The polling for the election of two of the above candidates will take place at the City Council Chambers on Tuesday, June 1, betwesn the hours of 9 a.m and 6. p.m.

The South Dunedin ratepayers at a public meeting on Tuesday night last proposed that their Mayor should be hanged. The resolution was seconded, but was not carried. According lo the -Times a long and acrimonious discussion 'then ens'ueid as £o the modd.oi.; tkking the' voting, in 'cpnsfeqiience of the,, large': nUmb.r Of non-rate-payers in' the hall. After a'lehgthei-ed delay, the chairman said there was no jbope 1 of the question being decided at ; ;ttiat infeeti ing, and consequently .vacated) the cliair and retired. The whole'/probeSdingST were charact'eris&d by a sp.ciei o'f\ rowdyism rarely- witnessed, tber6 Jbeihg-'at feast a dozen figlifS and scrimmages during the while the. town.' clerk at the conclusion of 'his oration""* Wa- brought most unceremoniously from the platform to the floOr'by a ratepayer, and i number of intending speakers were simply "'shied'» off the platform. - From the above our ratepayers will find that althbugH.Jth'ere has of late been a little agitation in municipial matters, still the upro&r has -been : positively mild in comparison; with that of their South Dunedin brethren.