Local and General.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 423, 10 August 1880, Page 2

Local and General.

We learn'that'a matt named Henry Belmont, mate of the schobrier Dido, suspected of stealing a sum of money from that vessel, at Lyttelton. last week, was , arrested on Friday last by Constable Beaumont. The constable traced his man from Port to Governor's Bay, the Head of the Bay, and finally came upon him at Wascoe's publichouse, on the road to Little River.

! Thr following is the portion of the Public Works Statement relating to railway works to be undertaken in Canterbury during the ensuing year. It will, be seen that the Government have no intention of continuing the Little River ana "Akaroa line beyond thei end of the present-forma-tion :—" The section of the main line from Amberley to the Waikari Plains is to be finished, the nine miles through the Weka Pass being reserved for the unemployedA; few urgent station works on the opened lines are provided for. The Waimakariri Gbrge portion of the Oxford-Sheffield line, which was reserved for. the about a year ago, will be carried on as the demand for work may require. The extension of the Opawa branch towards Fairlie Creek will also be carried out by the same means. The Ellesmero section of the Little River and Akaroa branch is to be completed."

We are sorry to learn that that excellent institution, the Akaroa Library, is in pecuniary straits. The Government subsidy having ceased, it has nothing to depend on but subscriptions. The number of!these is very small—in fact, very much smaller than is creditable to the place.' It is self-evident that;the reading room being opened freely to the public, a large number make use of its advantages, who do riot contribute in any way towards the necesj sary expenses of management. These expenses have been cut down to the lowest possible limit, and yet the ordinary income is hardly sufficient to meet them, without leaving any funds for the purpose of adding to the number of books. It will be well for the public at large to realise the position, and " make an effort," as Mrs Chick would say, to prevent,so valuable an institution being compelled to close its doors. ;..,:;.;.... •, .. . i .>;..'.. An action for damages will be heard at the next sittings of the Supreme Court, Christchurch, arising. out of the libel case Crisp v. Ivess, the ' latter being then proprietor of the Asliburton Mail. It may be remembered that the criminal prosecution instituted by Mr Crisp was abandoned, and the defendant has now issued a' writ to recover £500 damages for legal expenses arid loss sustained in preparing for .the, defence of tho said prosecution.

A oynical reporter of a Christchurch paper writes as follows:—" Mr Thompson'/ of the firm of Milner and Thompson, lias recently placed a very large piece of looking.glass in the recess of his doorway, facing down High stroet, and it was wonder- 1 ful to notice tho large number of ladies who stopped in front of the shop to look at tho music in the window, co much so aa to seriously impede the traffic."

We learn that the Lynch family of bellringers are now in Wellington, and intend revisiting Canterbury for a farewell season previous to leaving for Australia,

A Christchurch correspondent saya:— " A society of ladies has been formed here called the ' Anti-Wild-Oats Society.' A preliminary meeting was held on Thursday evening last, when the plan of operations was sketched, subject to future alterations. The ladies have for their object the reformation and moral improvement of young men. A vigilance committee was appointed, whose business it will be to carefully watch the proceedings of alUsuch as are inclined to enter onthlt horrid course called ' seeing life,' and a ■'-general circumnavigation commission 'has been organised, the precise duties of which ' your own' has not yet been able to discover. It, is understood that, every lady becoming a member of the Association takes a solemn vow, to the effect that in case all other measures fail (this being Leap Year) propose to the wayward one, and thus reclaim him. The latter motion is generally understood by the sex to be a : clincher."

. The. lines of Mr Paul A. F. Birch, Sheriff of Napier are not cast in pleasant places. ,Mr Birch has been entrusted with a writ of the Supreme Court which/, the Maoris refuse to allow him to put in force. t He has asked assistance...from the police but .the Government decline toiallow them to interfere.. f A Mr Harding at whose instance the writ is issued, threatens to sue Mr Birch .if he does not enforce I it; while the noble savages 'threaten to cut him into a thousand pieces if he does. The Representation Bill has been introduced' at last. At present the House consists of [84* members, 1 exclusive of the four Maori members. By the new Bill it is proposed to raise the number of European members to' 901 The coloriy 'is divided into; 89 electoral districts, one of * which ;(Wanganui) will continue to return two Only one Canterbury district remains unchanged by the Bill, arid that is Avon. The number of members to be re" turned by Canterbury is increased from 14 to 18.', Stated proportionally, the number of Canterbury members is .at .present: 16"§ per cent, of the whole ; under the,, new measure it would be. 2Q per cent, of the total number of European members.

Greer, who shot his wife and the Frenchraau Soudry, and afterwards shot himself,;at the Opera House, Melbourne* has succumbed to his-injuries. At the inque3t, a verdict of " temporary insanity" was returned. Mrs Greer and Soudry are recovering from their wounds. .