The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1881.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 472, 1 February 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1881.

The Lytlelton Times has the following remarks on a question which was raised at tho last meeting of the Akaroa County Council:—"A spirit oE discontent has been awakened in tho County Councilor mind after four years of difficult existence. The spark has been lighted at Wairoa, and the Wairoa Council is doing its best to make it spread into the conflagration of n general demand upon the colony from the County Councils, into which it is divided. The subject of the grievance is the absence of land endowment. The counties are asked to raise an outcry that, unlike the municipalities, they have been left by a thoughtless and unfair legislation without provision in land necessary for their respectable maintenance. This, to a Canterbury County Council, must be a curious way of putting things. It is true that the County Councils have not been endowed by law with lands, but it is also true tint they have received according to law the proceeds of many land sales of astonishing financial proportions. The law has given a beggarly 2,000 acres to the municipalities which have never received, as a rule, more than half of the same, principally situated in inaccessible mountains, while to County Councils nnd Road' Boards it has ordered the payment of hundreds oE thou sands of pounds in hard cash, which th.-y have duly received. The Akaroa County Council has replied to the circular in question, affirming the desirability of land endowment, and declining to go into the question of elective Waste Lands Boards, on the ground that there is no more iand for sale in Canterbury. Those gentlementhough countrymen, and therefore acquainted with poultry, seem not to be aware that what is sauce for the goose is likewise sauce for tho gander."

We fancy we have before this heard a remark about the occasional proximity of the sublime and the ridiculous. The following, which we clip from the advertisement columns of a contemporary, is certainly an oxample of this ijl-assorted union :-— HAVE YOG A BAIJY Fairer than poet's dreaming, With budding beauty teeming? Then nourish it ou S.'ybag's Food, as .■.iipiilie Ito the Royal princes! Sold in tins guaranteed to certain One Pound of Food. —One Shilling.

It will ire gratifying to the many friends of Mr H. B. Bridge, late of this town, to learn tint he has been distinguishing himself as -\ dramatic author in

Wellington. On tho 18ih inst. the Wellington Amateur Dramatic Club gave a performance, commencing with Byron's comedy, " Dearer thm Life." The entertainment concluded with what the playbills cull " a locally written burlesque, by a member of the club, entitled 'The Very Witty Diggings.' Scene —■ Terawhiti. Time—Present. Tom Inkslinger, excivil servant out on the diggings, who thinks his present occupation decidedly infra, dig ; Lorrie Spooner, Tom's mate, in love with Nancy, and in pecuniary difficulties ; Fifzgushington Chaunter, I l >q., late, of Government Buildings, and would-be digger; Michael Hardbake, storekeeper and mail carrier, i:i fact the only male carrier to the diggings ; Nancy, his daughter, clandestinely engaged to Lorrie Spooner." The N.Z. Times of the following- mon ing thus speaks of the burlesque : —"The remainder of last night's programme was made up of a smartly written burlesque sketch, called ' The Very Witty Diggings, the being laid at Terawhiti. The various characters were cleverly filled by Messrs Morris, Hill, Leon, Nicholls and Riverton, and incidental to the burlesque a number of songs, comic- sketches, and imitations of well known actors are introduced. ' Very Witty Diggings ' is a work far above the average of such productions and is bristling with local jokes nnd ingenious puns. We are unaware who is its author.but the work is creditable to him." Another paper says of the same burlesque : "It is a really clever production, and re fleets considerable credit on the author, whoever he may be. It bristles with puns witticisms, and topical allusions from beginning to end, while tho incidental songs are of a very pleasing description. As might have been concluded from the title, the scene is laid at Terawhiti, where several victims of the ten per cent reductions, with a few others, undergo some curious experiences." We are enabled to state, what our Wellington contemporaries were unaware of, that the author is, a. v we have already mentioned, Mr Bridge,and wo heartily congratulate him ou his success. Emtio ft A ! We have found it at last. Parents have often complained with justice of the want of a real "Family Hotel " where they and their olive branches would receive proper attention. This desideratum has been at last provided and the venture will no d >u!>t prove so successful as to provoke numerous imitations. The following ia an extract from the circular of an American Hotel located somewhere " ®ut West," and no doubt tlie noble principles there laid down will be adopted by all hotel-keepers who desire to merit a share of parental patronage : —

"Children are welcomed with <L-1 i/jlit, and are requested to bring hoop-sticks and haw-keys to bang the carved rosewood furniture especially provided for that pur po c. and peg tops to spin on the velvet carpets; they will be allowed to bang at the piano at all hours, yell in the balls; slide down the bannisters, fall down stairs. carry away dessert enough for a small family in their pockets at dinner, and make themselves as disagreeable as tho fondest mother can desire."

The cricket mitch between tho Australian Eleven and the Chri tch'ircb fifteen (ommeneed on Saturday. The weather was fine though the wind was rather high, and as might have been expected the attendance was very large, being variously estimated at from 6000 to 7000. Ollivier won the toss, and his men went to the wickets. The match commenced at 12.30, and at 4.20 the local team were dispose I of for a total score of 00. Of Ibis Secretan contributed no less than 30, and carried his bat out at that. The only other men who achieved double figures were Loach and W. Frith,who made 18 and 1G respectively before the}' retired to S| offorth'ri bowling. Ollivier, the cap tain, was disposed of after having made one hit for two. In the second over he was clean bowled by the "Demon." Cot| terill, from whom something respectab'e was anticipated, was still more unfortunate, as he succumbed to his first ball. For the Australian Eleven, Spofforth and Groube went first to the wicketsFuller clean bowled the "Demon" with his second ball, after he bad scored 3 for a cut off C. Frith. When time wa3 called three wickets only were down, and the visitors had put together 95. Of thinumber Groube contributed 42. and Murdoch (not out) 43. So far, the match appears to be as hollow an affair as any of those played as yet by the Australians. In the evening a dinner was given to the visiters in the large room in Ford and Newton's bail ling. Between fifty and sixty gentlemen were present, and the chair was occupied by Mr Stevens, M.11.R. The usual toasts wore given and responded to, and the entire proceedings were of a most harmonious and enjoyable nature.

The Pioneer Bicycle Club (Christchurch) have decided to have a run to Akaroa on the 19th of February.

A CHALLENGE swimming match has been arranged to come off ou Saturday next between Mr M. Daly and a Mr G. Clarkson of Christchurch. The course is to be from Daly's jetty to the Government jetty. We bavu not yet been informed as to what jie a••icunt of the stakes are to

Ouu readers are aware that the Property Tax is due and payable in two half-} early instalments. As the Wellington correspondent to a contemporary points out, one of these ought to have been paid some months ago ; but owing to successive delays, occasioned by the objections raised, the first instalment cannot be collected until the other is nearly ilno. This is very Fcvcre upon the taxpayers, the date of payment of the first instalment being fixed for the Bth oh March, and the second for the 22ud of the same month, which means an interval of a fortnight. For all practhal purposes the two instalments might just as well have been collected simultaneously without perpetrating the farce of such an absurdly short interval.

Tun Press says:—" His Worship the Mayor, after consulting with the members of the City Council, has declined to give a permit to Mr Siinonsen to perform sacred music at the Theatre Royal on Sunday. The artistes of the company are desolated in consequence." By the satirical allusion in tho last clause, our contemporary seems to approve of this arbitrary action of the City Fathers, and their thus—consciously? or otherwise —playing into the hands of the great Beer and Gin Interest. Verily, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians."

Monday's Press says :—What, but for the prompt action of the police would have been a very great disturbance, occurred last night in Cathedral Square ; the Mormons had issued a challenge to Mr Binstead to dispute on some doctrinal points. At the time appointed an immense crowd collected, and the rival preachers set up their temporary pulpits in close proximity to each other. The proceedings had hardly commenced, however before the crowd evinced most tmmistakeably their disapprobation of the Salt Lake delegates, and would no doubt have proceeded to more unpleasant demonstrations had not Sergeants Morrice and Hughes promptly put in an appearance and, acting with great tact, succeeded in inducing the belligerent preachers to desist. Mr Binstead promptly retired on being requested to do so, and was allowed to depart unmo'ested. The Mormon detachment were, however, not so fortunate, as the crowd followed them hooting, and making such an inimical display that Sergeant Morrice deemed it expedient for their personal safety to give them shelter in the police library, where they utilised the time during which their assailants waited for them by endeavoring, though unsuccessfully, to convert some of the members of the force to their peculiar way of thinking. After a short time the crowd dispersed, and tbe Mormons were able to return home without molestation.

Regarding the case of John Murphy the following appears in the Wellington Times of the 27th inst. :—Judgment was delivered yesterday in the Court of Appeal case, the Queen v. Murpli}'. Murphy had been convicted nnd sentenced to four years at the Christchurch Supremo Court for forging a sale note to deliver and appealed, in error, on the ground that a genera! verdict was given on all the counts, one of which charged him with forging a " writing obligatory," which hail not been sustained. Arguments were heard some dnys ago, and Ins Honor the Chief Justice now said that it was quite clear from the authorities that where there was any bad count in an indictment, and a general judgment was given, the judgment mu.-t be reversed. Tho iir. ; t count charged tho accuse 1 with forging a writing obligatory—a document under sjal, and of the samo force as a deed' which this sale note was not. But there were other counts in the indictment which might be supported by the evidence, and tho case must therefore be remitted back to the Supreme Court at Christchurch for the. proper judgment to be given under the good counts. Mr Justice Richmond concurred in the judgment.

From some remarks m.ide at the meeting of the Okain's Road Board held on .Saturday an imp ession seems to have got abroad that driving fees cannot be charged on cattle impounded at the new pound in Le Bon's Bay. We need hardly say that such an opinion is utterly unfounded and betrays an utter ignorance of the subject on the part of any one putting it forward. The County Council can neither give nor take away the r'gbt to charge driving or trespass fee, which is conferred by the Ordinance. All that the Council can do and all that it has attempted to do is, in terms of the Act, to '- fix the fees and charges to be paid for animals pounded, and for their keep whilst in the pound." This is evidently entirely outside of any claim which any individual may have on the same animals prior to their arrival at the pound. So let no one run away with the idea that he is entitled to have his stray cattle driven to the Le Bon's Bay Pound. A mon story comes from a State School : not 100 miles from To Am, Wellington. ! A teacher enthusiastic in the can c of | temperance offered a prize of £1 to any ! boy iv bis class who would answer tbe question " What is worse than strong drink?''' The youngsters w;-re ■<;i- ,; y 'nn'.'/.L-d ; hut one diminutive m* -hoi ■ <<'•-- termine.d to make a shot for mo filthy iuc-re, and answered Weak drink. Tha horrified master still retains the stakes.