Local and General.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 471, 28 January 1881, Page 2

Local and General.

In consequence of a pressure of loca matter our Melbourne 'etter is crowded out.

An adjourned race meeting is announced to be held to-morrow evening at Olphert's Hotel Little River.

Two whales of large dimensions were seen on Tuesdny last by Messrs Rhodes and Dominique in sailing from Stony Bay. Tlie whales came very close to them several times. Tint ought lo encourage

our local whalers

On Sunday night iast the tent of a man named Kerr, at French Farm, caught fire, and the result was a complete destruction of tent, and contents. Mr Kerr was unable to save any of his goods. 'We have not informed as to the cause of the

TilK iC'Ciit shinny winds fro in* seaward seem to have brought in visitors from the deep who do not, iiMially make this harbor their place of residence On Monday evening 'ast, a so i of .VI r Son it, teacher of the Robinson's Pay School, while li-xiing off the jetty, caught a very Ii io specimen of the elephant Ii h. winch weighed over eleven poun Is. and measured 2i't Gin in length. Another still more extraordinary

visitant of tin finny lril>e h.-n also heeu seen in our waters. Mr Wight of the steam launch reports hiving seen a veritable flying fish in the harbor. It is a very rare it' not an v iprer-eilented occurrence f«>r this fidi to be discovered out of the tropics. In fact, its usual habilat is within a few degrees of tbe equator. The case of ' Ivoss v. Crisp," beard on Monday last in tlie Supreme Court should act as a salutary warning to persons disposed too hastily to put tlie criminal law in motion. Defendant was Borough Solicitor of Ashburtou, and received a salary for the work he was called upon to do in that capacity. He used his position, however, to obtain certain .sums out of defaulting ratepayers for writing- letter.-! which, if charged for at all. clearly ought to have been charged to the Council. The local journal, of which plaintiff was proprietor, published an article on the subject, characterising the charge as 11 extortion." Upon this Mr Crisp laid an information, and of course had no difficulty in persuading tho magistrates that they must commit the shocking newspaper man tor trial. When, however, it would be necessary for the prosecutor to appear before the Supreme Court, he thought better of it, and prudently withdrew from the case on the eve of its coming on. and after ho had put Mr Ivess to as much annoyance and expense as he could. Under these circumstances Mr Ivess brought an action against his wouldha prosecutor for malicious prosecution. A jury found a verdict in plaintiff's favor and awarded him £25 damages. The verdict is somewhat illogical, as it is cle »r the amount awarded will not recoup Mr Ivess for his expenses out of pocket However, it will act as a deterrent to irascible individuals like Mr Crisp, who arc frequently too ready to set tho law in motion against their neighbor whether they have any just grounds to go upon or not. In the course of the case His Honor wanted to know why Mr Crisp's recog nisances were not forfeited, as he had been bound over to prosecute, and failed to do so. We share His Honor's surprise at the circumstance.

The Australian cricketers have hemi paying an Oamarn twenly two. This time they have not bern able to score a win, as time did not allow of its being played out. Some idea of the bowling that our cricketers have to contend against may he formed from the fact that at the fall of the seventeenth wicket, SporTorth had bagged no less than 12 for 4 runs The Oamaru men made 142 in their two innings, and the Australians 118 in their first. When the latter went to their wickets for the second time, they had. therefore 25 to aud half-an-hour to do it in, but a perverse shower again came on, and when Ihe second innings began only sixteen minutes remained to get the runs. Spnfforth and Boyle essayed tho task, but only got 18. Victory was thus snatched from their grasp in a, very un-looked-for manner. An Auckland telegram informs us that —'• While effecting certain street excavations in Newton, T. Hayes' store collapse I."' Now we should like to know what business " T. llaye's store " had to be effecting these excavations? No wonder it came to grief while engaged in such extraoniinarv proceedings. The moral is obvious. Well-conducted stores should not go knocking round, effecting excavations or otherwise interfering injuriously with the labor market and the course of trade. It appears that in the North Island it is possible for a man to be brought before a court on one charge and convicted on another. Of course we are aware that such a thing never happened south of Cook Strait. The Evening Post (Wellington) calls attention to what it calls l, a queer c«tse of ,; justice's justice," as follows--A man, well-known in Carterton, was found in the house of another well, known resident and an in formal ion charging him with burglary was laid at the instigation of the police. When, however, the case came on for hearingit was found that the accused was frequently in the house in question, and the owner bid nothing to say against the alleged burglar, except that he objected to bis being drunk. The sapient justices of course, had to dismiss the charge of burglary ; but while they endorsed on the information their belief in his having any felonious intent, they also entered up a conviction for drunkenness— ! an offence for which there was no charge laid—and sentenced the iiiifoituii.ilo man | to four //;.--c/v:' hard labor. The prisoner litis been brought to Wellington to undergo ids senienee, but in the mean- i time the fa-.-u of fir; ease are being ' brought under the. notice, of ihe Minisn-'r ,' of Justice by Mr 11. Bunny, M.U.R. ' The matter is, we are in.'o.-nied. th.- subject of much uu['av-'-ab|e. ..-onr;ie ;l - in (!u> ,