Local and General.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 422, 6 August 1880, Page 2

Local and General.

The third annual report of tho Registrar ' of Friendly Societies has boenjaid on the ; j table of the Hquse. It contains some important information and some highly valuable suggestions, emanating from the' able actuary of the department, Mr F. W. Frankland. Regarding cases of chronic sickness and superannuation allowance,the report says : " It is very desirable that the superannuation risk should be epread over the whole district, as the funeral liability already is. The liability for payments in all cases of protracted sickness—say after the first six months of protracted sickness —should be spread over the entire district, as in several districts of the Order of Foresters in England. A few cases of chronic sickness, even where the contributions would have been sufficient for average expenses, will soon exhaust the funds of a small lodge. The liability for payments in acute diseases can be borne with less danger by a small society." On the broad question of the sufficiency or otherwise of contributions, the actuary says : •' Considering the magnitude of the operations of friendly societies in this colony, receiving contributions'from over 20,000 members, it is a matter of the greatest import to the Slato that tha contributions by members of these societies aro adequate to meet the promise of benefits, as the failure to do so would involve much misery, especially among aged members who are depending on their sick pay in case of infirmity and inability to work, and would impose upon the State or upon society the additional duty of supporting these aged people." It is cheering to learn that while, at the time the Friendly Soc'otiea Act was passed, only three or four branches charged premiums adequate to the benefits guaranteed, the Registrar reports now that 72 brandies have adopted rates eqnal to, or slightly ia excens, of the rates recommended by the actuary of the department, while 97 others have effected improvements tending in the right direction. Altogether the report deserves the moat serioni- attention of all members of these societies, and of a!! interested in tiieir welfare. The quarterly meeting of the Library Committee wan held on August 2. Present :—Messrs Aylmer (President), Bruce, Guthrie, Harris, Tosswill, and Stocker. Tiie Secretary reported that the sub-oom-miltee appointed to select hooka bad

ordered ninety-three (93) workn from Mudie, ancl had requested that tbey should be sent by the Orient line. The Secretary was instructed to have shelves prepared for the now books. It was resolved that Kughler's '• Handbook of Painting " should be placed in the circulating department. The Secretary waa instructed to write to the County Council, requesting a grant in aid of the library funds, on the ground that the room isopon to the. public, and i 8 much used by non-subscribers.*

We hear no time has been lost in carrying the resolution proposed by Mr Toss_ will" at the late public meeting into effect.. The Government and W. 11. Montgomery, Esq.j have already been communicated with on the mibject -of the mail service subsidy. .The Public Works Statement, which was to have been made on Wednesday evening, has been postponed till Friday. Thia is' what the correspondent of the Press has to say as to tiie reasons for the delay:— <l Expectation was on tip-too all day in regard to tho Public Works" Statement, which thePremior last night had announced would be delivered by Mr Oliver .this evenmgV: There was brisk demand for Speaker's galfery ..tickets, and crowded galleries were to be the order of the night. It transpired, however, during the day that various hindrances had occurred which would prevent the delivery of the Statement to-nighr,, and that it will not be brought down till Friday night, but will almost certainly be delivered then. It is no secret that the 5 great and almba't* insuperable difficulty has been;to make even the faintest attempt to satisfy the clamorous demande of all parts of the colony with the small remaining balance of the loan. As Mr Oliver pithily put it in conversation 1 with me to-day, • We have so very little butter left, and so many slices of bread to spread it bverl':"P . ' ' ' ' '

Writing of the Maori Prisoners Bill the correspondent of ; the ''■ Timaru Herald says :—ln tho Legislative Council-it raised' some discussion, but was supported by' everybody except Colonel Brett, who made one of his Jingo speeches against it, and two or throe more who really! did not eeern to know anything \ about it. Mr Scotland, who is said to. suffer from the ordinary Taranaki malady—an innocuous form of mental derangement—ridiculed the idea of being afraid of a few old women on the West Coast. Mr Whitaker, with that burning, scathing, polished satire which is so essential a weapon for the leader of the Upper Housu, instantly retorted that 'if ' there won? only old. women tliere, Mr Scotland had better go and join them. Witty was it not ? But that i*i how those desr old .lords go on." It aruuwis tiism and d<**»6 sot hart anybody

TlH&'Gazette of "July I'SthiContama three■ new regulations for the ''examination of of teacher's. : 'Tiie' annual; examinations are to be held in '•-the:lasrt—week of January in 6aoh year instead or in , March, and candidates for any class uaHßt give written notice, accompanied' by all necessary testimonials arid declarations' not later than tho Ist November, preceding tho examination. Every candidate for a full examination must pay £1, towards defraying'".'tiie'' expenses-,, of the; examination,'into tlie Public account at any : branch of the Bank, of New Zealand, and forward tho bahk.rec.eipt to the Minister for Education, with tiie notice of intention to sit at the examination. Candidateswho do not hold .certificates and whohave not already passed in those subjects must pass a satisfactory inspection before a public school Inspector- in reading, spelling dictation, and writing, and a certificate signed by the Inspector must accompany the application of exaininst-. tion.

The Home News by tho last mail, in cricket notices, has the following paragraph ; —A feat, probably without paralell in the history of cricket, was performed last week by Spofirorth, tlie Australian bowler, in a match against eighteen of Burnley, including five local professionals. The Australians had made 148 in their innings; The Burnley eighteen were disposed off in their first innings for 43 .runs. Spoiforth, in this innings howled fourteen overs, of which eleven were maidens. In three overs—that ia, the eighteen balls— ten runs were made ofl: his bowling, but at the cost of twelve wickets. The ■' Demon" has never done anything likethis hitherto,: and 'there ie no similar record in English chronicles oi: the king of eports. .- ' ,'■'' \ ■ V .': The Victoria: Theatre, >. Sydney, tbe oldest temple •of tho drama in Australia, has just met with tbe natural death of a theatro, having been hurried down on the 22nd of July last. Fortunately, the' firo broke out after the performance was over and just as several hundreds of spectator s had quitted the building.