Local and General.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 498, 22 April 1881, Page 2

Local and General.

Elskwiikrb tho Borough Council notifies that William street is closed for traffic, and will remain so until further notice; „ From Wellington we learn that instructions have been issued to the Deputy Property Tax Commissioners throughout the Colony to take proceedings against defaulters.

In our telegraphic colnmr.s will bo found an account of the death of tho Earl of BeaconsQeld. Tlie'dc'censed nobleman was born in 1804, and was consequently in his seventy-seventh year at tho time of his death. He'has occupied a seat in Parliament and a prominent position in British politics for over forty years, while his fame as a novelist dates from a still earlier period, he having made his first appearance as an author in 1825. Lord Beaeoiish'eld is universally regretted by persons of all shades of opinion. :

The following reference to a gentleman not unknown to Akaroa fame we clip from the Southland Times. Mr F. B. Mailing has just published a business and trade directory for Invereargill and the Southern district which must prove of great use to buisnosa men as an advertising medium* It takes the form of a large broadside of effective appearance, and being got up in colors and bronze will at once attract notice in places of public resort. The design also includes a calendar for the curreut year, and will compare favorably with similar handiwork produced in the colony. ; Wβ are glad to find that the Commission, of Enquiry into the state of affairs at the Wellington Lunatic Asylum li'ns not turned out the farce which' is usually the outcome of such proceedings.' The report of the Commissioner.*, though of a very cautious nature, and in spite of their rejecting all the evidence given by former •in.nates of the Asylum when nncorrobo rated, nevertheless finds Whitelaw, the late superintendent, guilty of acts of cruelty to the unfortunate patients which are enough to make the blood run cold. The Government ior once has acted, instead of considering. Whitelaw has been peremptorily dismissed, and criminal proceedings have been instituted against him. At the Wellington Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. John Henry Whitelaw, exsuperintendent of the Mount View Asylum, was committed for trial for the ill-treat-ment of a patient named M'lntosh. Bail was fixed, himself in £300, and two sureties of £150 each. Accused, however, was unable to obtain bail, and was taken to gaol. It is to hoped that the greater offenders, Dra Skae and France, will also be dealt with as their conduct deserves.

, Pursuant to notice a meeting , of ratepayers was held at Lo Bon's Bay on Wednesday evening to consider the ttoppage of a road in that locality,- .particulars of which have appeared in our advertising columns. Mr Macinillan was voted to the chair, and explained the purpose for which the meeting had been called. A very long and stormy discussion ensued, the principal interlocutors being Mr Jas. Dalglish and Mr Barnett, sen. The Chairman's post was no sinecure, and he had frequently to call the disputants to order. Ultimacely Mr Leonardo proposed a rcsoluthat tlio road he stopped, which was carried (whether unan.mously or not our informant saith not), and a vote ot thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings.

A fatal accident happened on the Christchurch race course on Monday afternoon to an elderly man named W. Deakin, ionnerly a stable keeper, and well known in town. At the conclusion of the hack race, as the horses were running in to the winning post, he attempted to cross the course, and was knocked down and rendered insensible b}' the last horse, ridden by n young man named Frederick Ward. He was at once attended to by Dr Prins but died in a few moment? after the accident. An inquest was held on the following day, when a verdict of " Accidental Death," was rendered, no blame being attached to the jockey. Deceased fell a victim to an idiotic practice continually indulged in at similar gatherings, and it is to be hoped the melancholy reBult may prove a warning to others fond of rushing across a course in front of a lot of galloping horses.