NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 19, 22 June 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Masonic. —A Lodge of Instruction in connection with the Canterbury Lodge, No 1018, E.C., will be held this evening at 7.30 p.m. Bricklayers’ Society. —A meeting of the members of the above will beheld to-morrow at 8 p.m., to receive contributions, elect auditors, &c. Government Buildings, Lyttelton.— The contract for these buildings has been accepted by the Government. The .successful tenderer is a Chiistchurch contractor. Wesleyan Musical Festival. —A full rehearsal of the music intended to be performed at the opening of the new organ of the Durham street Church will be held this evening.

New Wharf, Lyttelton. —The contractors are pushing forward the works at the new wharf near the tunnel mouth. The wharf is to be oOOft in length by 59ft wide. The cost will be about 117000. Catholic Church. The Rev Father Ecuyerwho has for some time been in charge of the Christchurch portion of the Catholic church, preached his valedictory sermon at matins yesterday morning when the church was crowded to excess. The rev gentleman will be succeeded in his pastorate hereby the the Rev Father Chataigucr. During Father Ecuyer’s stay in Christchurch he has, by his activity and zeal, as well as by his general kindliness of demeanour, won for himself the affection of his people and the respect of those belonging to other denominations,

Atrato’s Immigrants.— r J he immigrants by Hie s.s. Atrato may be engaged recording (•j p, iority of application at the Depot, Addington, on Wednesday next, commencing at 10.30 a.m. Kaiapoi Institute.—The annual meeting of members is postponed till Friday evening next, the choral class concert being held on Thursday evening.

Kaiapoi Choral, Class. The third concert under the auspices of this class will be given on Thursday evening next at the Institute, and judging from bearing a private rehearsal promises to afford the public a musical treat.

Primary Education. —The Provincial Secretary will move to-morrow—“ That his Aonor the Superintendent be recommended to reserve 200,000 acres of pastoral lands as an endowment for the purposes of primary education in the province.”

Another Man Frost-Bitten.—A telegram was received yesterday from the policesergeant at the Cass, stating that he had forwarded on to town a man whose feet were frost-bitten.' The man was received into the Hospital late l ast night.

Agricultural and Pastoral Association. —A meeting of the committee of the above will be held at Tattersall’s to-mor-row at 3 p.ra. to receive the report of the sub-committee appointed to revise the catalogue of the midsummer show.

St. Michael and All-Angels. At morning prayers yesterday at St Michael’s church Mr H. J. Gould was ordained to deacon’s orders. In the evening the Right Rev the Primate held a Confirmation, when thirty candidates—twenty-five females and five males—were confirmed.

The Railway.—Mr Isaac Wilson will move in the Provincial Council to-morrow evening that his Honor be requested to place upon the supplementary estimates a sufficient sum of money to enable a survey to be made, and an estimate of the cost obtained of taking a line of railway as nearly straight as possible from the Christchurch railway station to the station at Papanui.

Hospital fob Lyttelton. — Hr Webb will move to-morrow evening in the Council, “ That an address be presented to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to give effect to the prayer of the petition of the Borough Council and residents of Lyttelton ashing for hospital accommodation in the town.

GUxY Accident at Rangioba. — An accident happened on Thursday last to George John, second son of Mr Leech, by the bursting of a fowling pieec. He h 1 gone out to shoot pigeons, but on discharging the gun it burst into three parts, and with such force as to break the locks off both barrels. He was resting the piece in the usual way on his left hand, when a pait of the barrel was sent through the centre of it coming out between the first and second finger, inflicting a severe wound. The sufferer was immediately attended by Dr Downes, and no danger from the wound is apprehended.

Mandeville and Rangioba Road Board. — A special meeting of this Board was held on Friday. Present Messrs Blackett (chairman), J. C. Boys, M. Duncan, and W. Rramlcy. Applicationsfor the appointment of clerk and surveyor to the Board were opened and considered, when it was resolved that Mr R. Ahcrne be appointed. The Board then proceeded to note the necessary expenditure for the coming year, with a view to requesting a grant from the Government. The Board then adjourned.

Good Templar Demonstration. —It is in contemplation to eelebrafe the annivcrsaiy of the advent of Good Templarisra into Canterbury by a public demonstration, which will probably take place about the hitler end of July. The demonstration will take the form of a soiree to be held in the new Oddfellows’ Hall, Lichfield street, to be followed by a public meeting, at which addresses in favor of the temperance cause will be delivered, interspersed with a variety of vocal and instrumental music.

Quarantine Station Wc arc sorry to learn that although the health of the patients suffering from modified small pox is improving, two fresh cases of sickness —scarlet fever —occurred on Saturday, a Mrs Smith, nurse in the hospital, and a lad named Newport being attacked by the disease. Every arrangement has been made for the care and comfort of the people on the island, but it is a pity that it is necessary to keep those in robust health in the same place with those suffering from fever. It is to be hoped that steps will be taken to enlarge the quarantine grounds. A section of land could be purchased on the mainland, on which buildings might be erected. Had the Atrato teen put in quarantine, the immigration department would have been in considerable difficulties. It is true that the barracks at Camp Bay have been put somewhat into habitable condition, but that is not sufficient. There are no less than six vessels now on their way from England, and the question arises where are these immigrants to be put, should one or two of these ships be placed in quarantine on arrival.

Ashburton Library Entertainment. —On Thursday last, the 18th instant, a second performance for the benefit of the library, was given by the Ashburton local amateurs. The pieces selected for the occasion, were : “ Whitebait at Greenwich,” and Bombastes Furioso.” It is but just to say that both pieces were gone through most successfully, In the first piece, the two gentlemen representing Mr Buzzard and John Small acquitted themselves in a manner which would have done credit to many a professional actor, and at the cud of the piece, the whole of the performers were deservedly called before the curtain. An interval of abont half an hour was agreeably filled up with vocal and instrumental music, by various ladies and gentlemen, who deserve the thanks of the committee. The curtain then rose to the well-known farce of “ Bombastes Furioso,” in which the two gentlemen mentioned before, again displayed their talent, as General Bombastes and Minister Fuzboz, ably assisted by the King of Utopia, who performed his part in his usual sty le. The costumes, both male and female, were all that could be desired, and the performance mot with general approval. Owing to the present unsettled state of the weather, muddy roads, and dark nights, the audience was not as numerous as on former occasions, but no doubt a nice little sum will be added to the general fund. A dance followed. A lecture is announced by Mr Alfred Saunders for Thursday evening, the 25th inst., on food, drink, raiment, and air, which will no doubt prove highly interesting and instructive,

Width of Tires. —It is satisfactory to notice that Mr Knight has followed up his remarks recently about the width of tires by a motion in the Provincial Council. No one who has seen the roads—-more particularly in the country—cut up by the narrow wheels so much in vogue, will deny that legislation in tills direction is urgently needed, and that the power sought to"be conferred upon the Road Boards by the resolution is a salutary one. A Bill to" the same effect was brought in last session of the General Assembly—for it seems it is necessary to go to that body—but was introduced very late, and consequently in the huny of the last weeks of the session was thrown on one side. Mr Knight now proposes to give the Road Boards power to regulate the width of tires, and the resolution, if carried, will be forwarded to the Canterbury members in the General Assembly, with a request that they will take relive steps in the matter.

Football. —The match, the Club and Present Collegians against the Past Collegians, was played on Saturday last, at Cranmcr square. The Past Collegians were distinguished by blue caps, and their opponents by red caps. The Club lost the choice of goal, and had to kick off from the northern end. as that was against the wind, which was blowing gently from the southwest. AHhough the Past Collegians were far less numerous than their opponents, they succeeded in keeping the ball down at their goal. The red caps, by one or two goed efforts, drove the ball towards their opponents’ goal, but it was only for a very short time, as it was immediately taken back, and after a few narrow escapes, K. Searell, by a good kick, obtained the first goal for the blues. The ends were immediately changed, and the red caps, receiving some fresh players, were better able to hold their own, and more than once pushed their opponents very hard for a goal, but the goalkeepers were fully up to their work, and no beneficial result was gained. The blue caps, who played rem.- rkably well together throughout the after noon, then drove the ball down in the vicinity of their opponents’ goal, in front of which a scrimmage took place. The ball was kicked in the air by one of the reds, and A. Ollivier obtaining a “mark” secured an easy goal for the blues. Goals being again changed, the game was continued with great vigor on both sides. The Club and Present Collegians having received more assistance, were rather stronger than their opponents ; but although they obtamed a touchdown, and kept the ball well at the blues’ goal, they were unable 1j obtain any advantage, At the call of time the Past Collegians had obtained two goals to none, and thus won the match. For the Club and Present Collego, Messrs Macquarie, Lcwi.n, Booih, Barker, Rhodes, Westenra, and W. Cotter 111 worked hard to gain the victory. For the Past Collegians, all played with great spirit and worked hard, as may be imagined, wheu their opponents had nearly double their number of players. The ground, although rather slippery in places, was in capital order, notwithstanding the recent rains.

Lake Taupo. —The 11 New Zealand Times” remarks :—An interesting incident of recent occurrence is the launching a steamer into the waters of the famous Lake Taupo. The experiment of placing steam vessels on the magnificent lakes of the South Island was first made subsequent to the great Dunstan rush, when one of the small iron steamers plying in Port Otago was conveyed by dray to the shores of tire lake, where she continued to trade for several years, conveying miners and tiieir stores to the remote localities where gold was sought for and obtained. Since then several other steamers have been built on the shores of the same lake, and steam communication on that magnificent sheet of water has done much to promote the settlement of the district, and to contribute to the convenience and pleasure of hundreds attracted thither by its picturesque surroundings. The placing of a steamer on Lake Taupo is necessarily more of an experiment than was the introduction of steamers on Lake Wakatip, the prospect of the traffic proving profitable being as yet but slight ; but the fact is a gratifying illustration of the peaceful state of that part of the count)y, and the presence of such a vessel on the waters of the Lake will doubtless in a very short time develop a local trade, and prove especially convenient to the increasing number of visitors w T ho are now' being attracted to the interior in search of health and the picturesque. The building of the steamer, christened the Victoria, has ocoupicd some six months, and seems to have bean a faithful piece of work, the material us"d in her construction being some of the best timber available in the Waikato district. Her launch was the occasion of some demonstration, and woi Lhily so, for the enterprise is one which is creditable to her owners, and and is an incident in the progress of civilisation in the North Island which deserves to be prominently recorded.

The Revenue of Canterbury and Otago. —ln an article on the Southern provinces and their revenue, the '• Daily Southern Cross,” after giving a summary of the financial statements of Otago and Canterbury, and the proposed expenditure of the two’ provinces, remarks :—Some of these may be deemed luxuries, and looking from an Auckland point of view, they are luxuiics which can only be glanced at from afar, and envied by a province which, by the compact of 185(5, for a paltry sum sacrificed its right to lands which belonged to the colony. Not only lias Auckland suffered from the war which brought such trouble upon her, while the south was free from any costly and injurious visitation of the kind ; but we see now bow the south benefits through the lapse of time—those years which produced such protracted suffering to Auckland, whose settlement has been retarded, her best land still unsecured, and hoc exchequer almost empty ; whilst Canterbury is rolling in wealth, the product of what many view as colonial lands. We do not grudge Canterbury her good fortune, nor are we pn pared to say that the money produced by the sa'e of land in certain districts is not properly applied by being largely expended in public works in such districts. But it is fairly open to us to say that while such abundance blesses a province so well able to help itself, and in which, at the same tinrn, large expenditure of colonial loans is being made on other railways and works, Auckland merits at the hands of the Colonial Government a generous —a just consideration, in view of the difficulties she has had for many years to encounter —difficulties which w re really those of the colony at large, but of which she, unfortunately, was the theatre ; and through the pressure of which she unwisely, by the compact of 18.5(5, sacrificed her claims to lauds in which, but for that compact, she would now have had her share, There is

another and not less strong argument which, as regards Canterbury, applies to the unfortunate political blunder which brought about a division of provinces. That is, the position of. the new province of Westland. Formerly an integral part of Canterbury, she was permitted to separate, taking with her a large and, as it proves, a wholly undue share of the debt of the parent province. Had Westland remained, as a wise policy would have dictated she should, a part of Canterbury, the large and rich revenues that province is now obtaining would have partially been spent for the general welfare of the whole united district, and Westland would not now have been the suffering and povertystricken daughter of a province whose wealth, from public lands, enables her to spend this year a sura nearly equal to the estimated revenue of the whole colony. There can be no doubt that a grave injustice has been done to the country comprised within the new province by the separation, and a parity of reasoning will show that, as respects Auckland and the compact of 1856, a similar injustice has been suffered by this province.

Professor Andrews, of Belfast, has been read : ng a paper before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, “On Ozone.” He confiims his foimer experiments, that this mysterious body exists independently in the atmosphere. The facility with which the nature of ozone was changed was shown by shaking it in a bottle with a little perfectly dried ground glass, w’hen sample oxygen appeared. The bleaching properties of ozone had been tried at both Belfast and Greenock, and had failed. Dr Andrew's doubts the alleced connection of atmospheric ozone with the state of public health.

A contemporary says : —An inquiry was held in Sydney as to the circumstances which attended the stranding of the mail steamer Macgregor at Kandavau. We are gratified to learn that the decision of the Court was that no blame attached to Captain Horace Grainger, and that, at the close of the investigation, Captain Grainger was highly complimented for the skill and perseverance he has shown in saving the Macgrcgor from total wreck, and in navigating her safely in her crippled state to Sydney. A ce.„ain French Baron, whose scientific tastes led him to collect the skulls of celerated persons, one day received a visit from a man with whom he was accustomed to deal. “ What do you bring me here V' asked the Baron, as the man slowly unwrapped a carefully enveloped package. “ The skull of Shakspeare.” “ Impossible !” “ I speak the truth, Monsieur le Baron. Here is proof of what I say,” said the dealer producing some papers. “ But,” replied the Baron, drawing aside the drapery which concealed his own singular collection, “ I already possess that skull.” He must have been a rogue who sold you that,’ was the remark of the honest dealer. “ Who was it, Monsieur ?” “ Your father,” said the Baron, in a mild tone ; “ he sold it to me about twenty-nine years ago.” The broker was for a moment disconcerted, then explained with vivacity, “ I comprehend. Be good enough to observe the small dimensions of the skull on your shelf. Remark the narrow occiput, the undeveloped forehead, where intelligence is still mute. It is of Shakspeare, certainly, but Shakspeare rs a child about twelve or fourteen years old, whereas this is that of Shakspeare when he had attained a certain age, and had become the great genius of which England is so iustly proud.” The Baron bought the second head.

The Constantinople correspondent of the “ Journal de St Petersburg ” says that the Persian Ambassador accredited to the Porte has opened negotiations for a commercial treaty between the two countries. The leading provisions for a treaty of this kind were drawn up by Mirza Hussein Khan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Teheran, some years ago, but he fell into disgrace with the Shah soon after, and his chief political opponent Mirza Kaid Khan, was appointed to succeed him. The latter, however, has been in such bad health of late that the Shah dismissed him on the 27th of January, and recalled Mirza Hussein Khan, who has now been entirely restored to the favor of his Sovereign. The correspondent adds that the new Minister seems disposed to enter upon an energetic foreign policy, and that he has already settled the long - standing difference between the Turkish) and Persian Governments as to the rights of their respective subjects when residing 0:1 the other State’s territory. According <0 the convention which has been prepared on this subject, Turkish subjects res ding on Persian territory and Persian subjects residing on Turkish territory are to enjoy the same rights as the subjects of the country where they reside.

We live in an age of magnificent schcnKS. It is now proposed by Senator Jones, of Nevada, in the United States, to submerge the great Colorado Desert by turning into it the waters of the Colorado river or the Gulf of California, or reclaim it for purposes of cultivation. A scientific exploration of the de-ert has recently been made, which shows that the greater portion of the Colorado Desert, and the Mojarc Valley, and Death Valley, which lie north of it, are from fO to 10D feet below the level of the sea, and that this great desert, stretching from Lower California to Inyo county, in the State of California, and from the basin of the Coa.-t Range Mountains to the Colorado River, comprising an area of about 800 miles long by 130 wide, may be converted into a chain of lakes, or irrigated by the method proposed ; and also that a large portion of this desert really consists of an extremely fertile soil, being a deep alluvium susceptible of the highest cultivation It is further shown that the prevalence of what arc known as “ sandstorms” and hot dcssicating winds, and the deficient rainfall—tire evils suffered by the surrounding country and as far north as the Tulare Valley of California—are directly traceable to the existence of this desert, from which, as a great furnace, there constantly arises in the summer time a vast column of heated air without appreciable humidity. Thus the raoisturcof the rainbearing clouds, which are blown northwesterly during the summer months from the Gulf of California, is dissipated as soon as they reach the borders of this superheated region, and prevented from reaching the dry but fertile plains of California beyond. The shells found on the surface of this desert prove that it hat been atone time the bed of a sea, and at a subsequent period the bed of a fresh-water lake. The shore lines of both sea and lake can still be seen and recognised in many places. The question is whether the desert shall be totally submerged or irrigated, and the only difficulty in the way of cither couisc is the question where the money is to come from,

We take the following from the “New York Herald” We print, elsewhere a singularly thoughtful and able letter IVom a. correspondent in London in reference lo the Eastern question and the relation between England and Russia. Our correspondent shows us. on the one hand, the restlessness of Engll.-h temper so far as foreign relations are concerned —a restlessness which was one of the animating causes of the downfall of Gladstone. For although Mr Disraeli has no more intention of making war than his predecessors, and although he sees very clearly that the glory of his administration must be peaceful to be enduring, yet it was a good party cry to remind Englishmen that they had been “ snubbed ” by Bismarck and “cheated” by the Americans. There is a feeling, as our correspondent shows, that England cannot make any further concessions in European affairs without “losing her prestige ” and becoming as unimportant in Europe as Belgium or Sweden. A New York journal says:—“The New York Diamond Company exhibited yestcrlay the largest ever imported inlo this country. In its rough state it weighed eighty c. ’ats. The design and cutting of this gem were done personally by I. Hermann, president of the company. It was found in the South Africa diamond-fields, and was valued in the rough at 10,000dol. It lost about 83 per cent in cutfin", and is now valued at about 40,C00d01. It is not for sale, but was exhibits as a choice specimen of a new branch of indusuy slablished in this city, which has so far a Ivanced that it now i va's in results of workmanship the best effo;of the diamond workmen of Amsterdam. Five months’ lime Wi s occupi'd in‘the cutting, and the brilliant, although slightly off color, being a delicate straw shade, is a m; wel of beauty. When disturbed by any movement, it scams to pour out new flocJs of light, until the eyes a’e d: • zled by its splendour.” Upon the l. st return trip of the Basilisk, from New Guinea, some eight months ago (wi’testhe “Sydney Empi.e”), it wrs announced that her commander, Captain Moresby, in addition to taking possession of the island in the name of the Queen, had discovered a new strait rHording a safe channel from To: es Strait to the China c?as. Upon her present voyage the Basilisk took down a steam launch end surveyors to sound and draw up a cura t of the channel, which, however, upon investigation, tuned out to be a cvl de sac , showing that the o’d belief in a China strait at the south-east end of New Guinea is not founded upon fact, as no such strait exists.