NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 11, 12 June 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Parcel Bates on the Railway.—ln answer to a question from Mr Westenra laßt evening, the Government stated that it was not their intention to reduce the charge on parcels carried on the railways of the province, il:■'■"(:! '.•'■ : '•'■-■.;

Petitions.—Dr Tumbull presented a petition last evening from the City Council, praying that the, dog .fees and fees arising from licenses should be handed over to them; also, from several electors, asking for improvement in the navigation of the River Heathcote. '

Supreme c6t7RT.--Dr Tumbull has given notice of motionlin the Provincial Council to the effect;thab the ,< Government be requested to take steps to remedy the bad acoustic properties of the Supreme Court. Kaiapoi 'Footbridge.—The approaches to this bridge are highly dangerous, and should be fenced in, and also increased in width, before an accident happens. Immigrants.—On Thursday a number of immigrants—in all twenty-five families—went forward to the.depot at Oxford. They were conveyed by rail to Rangiora, and thence by Messrs Seaton and Burt's coaches.

-Heathcote Swing Bridge.—ln reply tdaqufestionfrdm Mr Fisher in the Council last evening, tbe Government stated that they were of opinion that the bridge should be placed in the same position as the Kaiapoi bridge/ l be. rendered free of toll.

Christchurch Harmonic Society.— There will be a rehearsal this evening at eight o'clock of Romberg's "Lay of the Bell" by the members of the Christchurch Harmonic Society. Lyttelton Gas Works.—A supplement to the "New Zealand Gazette," contains a notice that application is intended to be made at the next session of the. General Assembly for leave to bring in a Bill to to authorise the Lyttelton Gas, Coal, and Coke Company (Limited) incorporated under the provisions'of the Joint Stock Companies Act, 1860, to break up streets and bridges, and to lay down and place pipes, conduits, and service pipes, and to make and construct other.works for supplying the borough of Lyttelton and suburbs with gas. Honorarium.—A somewhat lengthy discussion tcK'k place last evening on amotion by Mr J. N. Tosswill for placing £2OO on the estimates as an honorarium to the chairman of the Board of Education. The motion was negatived on division, the numbers being 4iye8,45 ; ; 32, ,

Rangiora Church.—An adjourned meeting of the parishioners/>f St. John the Baptist, Bangiora, was to have been held on Wednesday evening, but owing to the limited attendance, in consequence of the inclement state of the weather, it was postponed. College Literary Evenings.—The second entertainment of the series was held last night in the College Library. There was an excellent attendance, considering the inclement nature of the evening, and the various items on the programme were rendered in a manner pleasiug to all who were present. The following is the programme : —Pianoforte selection (" Huguenots"), Miss N, Ashwin ; reading, "The Poor Relation," Rev Canon Cotterell ; song, "Ye did it unto me," Rev E. A. Lingard ; glee, " To a rosebud," Christchurch Leidertafel ; reading, " The Sleeping Beauty," Mr E. A. Worthy ; glee, " The young musicians," Christchurch Leidertafel.

TAI TAPU. —A meeting of the library committee of this district was held on the Bth June, 1874. Present—Messrs Forbes, Champion, Nutt, Neil, Tanner, Hayes, Dunford, Kimber, Wheeler, and Barrett (chairman.) Mr Barrett opened the proceedings by calling on those who had been appointed to canvas the district for subscriptions towards the library, (and who were all present except Mr Mangles) to present their reports. They stated that they had been very successful, having collected £46 5s 6d, which, with the previous collection of £22, and the estimated value; £ls, of the land site for the library building, which has been kindly promised by Mr Rhodes, makes a total of £B3 5s 6d, and they are sanguiue of being able to raise £IOO by means of entertainments, &c. The:following reso'utions were proposed and carried. Ist, That we state our collection at £IOO. 2nd. That the chairman wait on the Provincial Secretary to inquire about applying for the public grant, 3rd. That the library be open for circulation .on Tuesday, 22nd June, at the New Schoolroom. The meeting then separated. Theatre Royal.—" Milky White" and a musical interlude formed the bill at the Theatre Royal last evening. The same bill will be repeated this evening. INQUEST.—An inquest was held yesterday at Tai Tapu, before J. W. S. Coward, Esq., coroner, on the body of a child of Mr John Tobeck, who took ill on Tuesday night, and died suddenly in convulsions the following morning. Dr Nedwill, who made the ])0»t mortem examination, stated that death had resulted from congestion of the brain. The jury returned a verdict of died from Datural causes.

Football.—The match, College, Banks, and Office Bearers against the remainder of the Club, which was commenced on Saturday last, will be continued to-morrow afternoon. Should the weather clear to-day the ground will be rather improved than otherwise by the rain. There will be a strong muster for both sides.

Inquest at Moeraki Downs.—An. inquest was held at Messent's hotel, on Thursday, before C. Dudley, Esq., coroner for the district, touching the death of Thomas Swan, who committed suicide at the Ashley Gorge flax-works, on Wednesday morning. Evidence was given by a witness named Freshwater, who identified deceased, that deceased had lived in a hut with seven or eight other men. They got up at seven o'clock, leaving him in bed. Heard one of the men asking him how he was. Deceased replied he was better, and would do very well. The reason he asked him was because deceased said the night before the devil was after him. He was shakey in his limbs and wild-looking. He gave him a glass of rum and water before he went to sleep on the previous night. He went to him at ten o'clock to give him some breakfast. He called to him, but getting no answer, he looked and found the deceased's hands covered with blood. There was also blood about the bed, and he saw deceased had cut his throat, and was quite dead. A razor was lying open and covered with blood near his right hand on the bed, He had known deceased several years. He occasionally went off drinking, and suffered from delirium tremens. He had been absent from the mill for the last eight or nine days in Christchurch, and had returned in a bad State. Deceased had not quarrelled with any of the men. Mounted-sergeant Mullin stated that on receipt of information that a man had cut his throat, he went to the Ashley Gorge flax-mills, where he saw the deceased's body in the bunk lying on its left Side. The hands and bedclothes were covered with blood, and an open razor as described by last witness was lying by his side. The wound on the throat was a deep gash on the left side of the neck, extending from the ear to the windpipe, and evidently such a wound as could be inflicted by the man using his right hand. Other witnesses were expected, but.were not able to attend owing to the sudden rise of the river by the rain.. The coroner said if the -jury thought the evidence was sufficient, they could decide without an adjournment. The jury returned a verdict that deceased committed suicide while laboring under a ; fit of temporary insanity brought on by drinking. Lyttelton Trinity Church Association.—The monthly meeting of the above association was held.in the Church of England school on' Tuesday evening last, Rev F. Pember in the chair. After singing and prayer the meeting proceeded to elect a permanent committee to act with the vestry, consisting of the following eight members— Mesdames Bouse; F. Graham, Nalder, and Whitby, Messrs Plummer, Hillier, Wollstein and V. Parsons. Mr Plimmer was chosen as vice-president; Mrs F. Graham, treasurer;: Mr Newell Phillips, secretary. The Rev F. Pember. read a paper on the best means for the promotion of the spiritual welfare pf the working classes, A. discussion on this subject ensued* The opinion expressed was that it would be very desirable to revive the special services, provided a proper room could be secured for this pur pose. After discussion the matter was deferred until next monthly meeting. The rev chairman announced that Mr Newell Phillips would read a paper at the July meeting. The pronouncing of the benediction by the rev chairman, brought the meeting to a close. Northern Rivers.—The rain caused small freshes in all the northern rivers on Thursday. At noon it was telegraphed that the Waiau was rapidly rising. The Hurunui and Waipara were flooded, and the Ashley was so much swollen that the coach from: Leithfield, reaching Kaiapoi at 2.20 p.m., returned immediately, instead of waiting till 5 p.m., lest at the latter hour the river would hi too high to cross. The Waimakariri was not much affected, being only discoloured,

Supreme Court.—ln the course of the Bankruptcy Sittings yesterday, Mr Garrick, on the part of the Bar, drew his Honor's attention to the very bad acoustic properties of the Court-house, complaining that even when counsel spoke in the loudest tones it was almost impossible to hear distinctly. The learned gentleman expressed a hope that, now a member of the Bar was also a member of the Executive, some steps would be taken by the Government to remedy the evil complained of, the more so as they were voting large sums of money for the outside ornamentation of the Court. His Honor quite agreed with Mr Garrick as to the very bad acoustic properties of the Court-house. He had the greatest difficulty in hearing counsel and witnesses even when speaking loudly. It was certainly very trying to have to keep constantly on the strain to hear the arguments of counsel. Mr Joynt promised to bring the matter under the notice of the Government at the next meeting of the Executive. Those who have any business in the Court—both the members of the Bar and the reporters for the daily press—will fully endorse all that Mr Garrick advanced relative to this. It is positively impossible to catch with any accuracy the remarks made either by his Honor from the Bench, or by the barristers at the table ; and it is high time that the inconvenience complained of should be remedied in some way.

The Nova Scotia fisheries were valued at 6,200,000d0l last year.