NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 69, 20 August 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

C.Y.F.B. —The usual annual soiree of the members of the Fire Brigade, their wives and friends, will take place this evening, at the Fire Brigade Hall, Lichfield street.

Professor Bickerton’s Lectures. —The second of the course of lectures by Professor Bickerton, on Matter, will be given this evening, in the Oddfellows’ Hall.

St Michael’s. —The first of a series of entertainments in connection with St Michael’s, took place last evening, at the Oddfellows’ Hall. The Rev H. J. Edwards occupied the chair. A capital programme of readings, music, &c., was rendered very successfully by several ladies and gentlemen.

Smith’s Combination Troupe. —These talented artistes concluded a highly successful season last night, to a capital house. The De Castro family in their various acts were excellent, particularly in the flying rings—a performance which, for grace and ease has not. been equalled here. Mr Vose with his friends were as amusing as ever, and Mr Vincent received the honor of a double encore for his solos. We take leave of these clever and entertaining performers with regret, and hope that ere long we may have the pleasure of again seeing them in Christchurch. It will be a very long time before we see such a combination of talent in their various lines of business again. Attempted Suicide. A man named John Jordan, a laborer, and unmarried, living in No. 4 street, off Colombo street south', attempted to poison himself yesterday morning by taking a dose of Battle’s vermin powder. After committing the rash act he told some of the neighbours that he had taken poison, and begged for a drink of water, which, however, was not given him. He was seen by Dr Frankish during the afternoon, and was removed to the Hospital last night by Inspector Buckley. The man has been drinking heavily for the last fortnight. Fire Police. —The following gentlemen were sworn in yesterday by his Worship the Mayor, as the Fire Poiice for the ensuing year;—Messrs W. R. Mitchell, Geo. Fletcher, A. A. Dobbs. Wrn. Jno. Fisher, Chas. Kivcr, juu, J. F. Ryan, Eras. Smith, F. A. Bishop, Sam. Manning, Malcolm McCollum, Duncan McLaren, W. S. King, C. Lczard, N. Woolfe, R. Smith, S. C. Farr, W. White, juu, J. H. Hall, J. Ballautyne, S. P. Andrews, R. 0. Bishop, C. P. Hulbcrt, W. H. Phillips, T, F. Fountain, R Sutherland, D. McGuinness, J. Wagner, K. H, Wood, Geo. Beattie, M. Sand slein. We understand that a general meeting for the election of officers for the ensuing year, will be called in a few days.

California Minstrels. This troupe give their first performance this evening at the Theatre Royal, and we hope to see a good house to welcome them on the occasion. Revision op the Burgess List.—Hip Worship the Mayor and the assessors (Messrs W. Wilson and E. B. Bishop) held a Court yesterday, at the City Council Chambers, for revising the burgess list, the town clerk and rate collector attended. There were no claims or objections lodged. The Court went through the list, and expunged the names of those who were proved to be dead. The list was then signed by the Mayor and assessors, and handed to the town clerk. St. Luke’s.— At the meeting of parishioners of St Luke’s, held on Tuesday evening, Mr Mclntyre was elected parishioners’ churchwarden, in the room of Mr T. Gordon, resigned. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Mr Gordon for his attention, to the duties of the office since his appointment. Mr Allington was elected a vestryman. The opinion of the meeting was against the hour of the evening service on Sundays being changed from half-past six to seven o’clock, as it was considered the former hour was much more convenient for a large number of people. Lyttelton Parochial Association. — An adjourned meeting of this Association was held in the Church of England schoolroom on Tuesday evening, Rev F. Pember in the chair, who called on Mr Wm. Graham to read his paper on “ The Cathedral question.” In the discussion which followed, the Rev president, Mr Plimmer, and otl’ers took part. The proceedings were closed by singing hymn 256 and the Benediction. Silver in Queensland .—A contemporary says In Queensland some new-found silver mines are just now causing great excitement. The locale of the discovery is at New Zealand gully, Coorival diggings, sixteen miles from Rockhampton. The metal, which is a chloride of silver, has long been regarded as a nuisance by the miners, who, ignorant of its quality, dreaded its presence in the tindish, and have been throwing it away in quantities for years past.' The true character of the supposed refuse has been tested by competent assayers, who have reported that it contains 50 per cent of silver, and as much as 10 per cent of gold, and its value is estimated at £BOOO per ton. If the yield is permanent, it is anticipated that the celebrated Comstock lode, and the Nevada mines of America, will be eclipsed. The Mantou, who were the first to devemp the Peak Downs, taken up a great portion of the ground in New Zealand gully. Besides the silver, one party averaged seventytwo ounces of gold per day for a week lately. . , Drowned at Ashburton.— At about twelve o’clock on August 18th, the body of a man was found in a hole of about four feet deep, in the very centre of the township. It is supposed to be the body of a man named Alex. Blaney, who about four or five weeks ago in a fit of delirium tremens , got out of his bed one morning in his night clothes from Klingenstein’a '’hotel, and was never afterwards heard off. The pool in question is situate on the railway reserve, and rt has often been a matter of surprise that as it is in the heart of the town it has never been filled up. It is customary to take the coach and other horses into the pool to wash their legs—and it can only be owing to the fact of the recent cold weather that the body never made its appearance on the surface before the time it was found. The pool in question is in the jurisdiction of the General Government. An inquest was held on the body on August 18th, before Alfred Saunders, Esq, Coroner, and a jury, of whom Andrew Dawson was chosen foreman. After hearing the evidence of Sergeant C. W• Greenwood, of Ashburton, Mr R. G. Blight, and Dr James E. Trevor. M.R.C.S., the jury returned a verdict whilst in a state of delirium tremens, brought on by excessive drinking, adding as a rider, that the General Government should be written to to fill up the said pool, as it is dangerous to the public, and directly injurious to health.”

The California Minstrels. This troupe gave their first entertainment in Canterbury at the Lyttelton Colonists’ Hall on Tuesday night. It was extremely well attended, and all those present went away well satisfied with all they had A great many people were refused admission, as there was not sufficient space to accommodate them. It is a wonder that a town containing a population like Lyttelton, does not provide some larger building for meetings and entertainments. There is little doubt that such a building, if erected, would prove, in a commercial sense, a good speculation. The troupe consists of thirteen members, and there are five in the orchestra, arranged as follows —Ist violin and leader, Mr Miller ; 2nd violin, Mr Herman ; bass viol, Mr McGuiness ; cornet, Mr Scuthern ; and flageolet, Mr Martin. The tenor of the company is Mr Mavor, the baritone Mr Campbell, the alto Mr Rockefeller, and the bass Mr Amery ; Mr Rockefeller is the traditional Johnson, and Messrs Sutton and Kelly arc respectively tambourine and bones. The programme consisted of an overture by the band, songs by Messrs Amery, Kelly, Rockefeller, Sutton and Mavor, amongst which we mnst particularly mention —“ The days of happy childhood,” sung by Mr Amery, and Mr Rockefeller’s “ Mamma, where has baby gone?” which were both sung with considerable taste, and elicited warm applause. The “ gag ” in the first part was amusing, and some of it quite new to Canterbury. The first part concluded with scenes in the circle, in which Messrs Kelly, Rockefeller and Sutton took part; and they were both amusing and original. In the second part Messrs Sutton and Kelly, in their double songs and dances, were excellent, but there was a slight tendency to vulgarity which had better be omitted in future. Three farces respectively entitled the “ Doctor’s shop” “ As like as two peas,” and “A shower of cats,” and a performance of Mr Rockefeller on the banjo brought a very successful entertainment to a close. The company are particularly successful in farce, in fact it appears their “forte.” Kelly and Sutton are both excellent actors, and they are well supported by the company. Mr Rockefeller ou the banjo must be heard to be appreciated. His playing “ Home, sweet home,” and imitation of the London Chimes were both excellent. A duet, “ The larboard watch,” was sung during the evening by Messrs Mavor and Amery, and was well worthy of the applause it received. Mr Campbell (the baritone) did not sign in the first part, as he was suffering from a severe cold, but appeared in the farces. Messrs Kelly, Herman and Amery are old faces here, and seem to have not lost but gained by their absence. The others are entirely new to us,

Christchurch Horticultural Society.—The committee of this society held a meeting last night at the Clarendon, when the following extra prizes were added to the list. Messrs Veitch and Sons, London, for two new or rare plants, 21s, and 10s 6d to be competed for at the Spring Show, or if there should be no competition at that show, to be competed for at the Autumn Show. Mr Sandstein,for six new or rare plants, natives of New Zealand, the Chatham or Auckland Islands ; silver medal. Mr W. Montgomery for eighteen dahlias in the open class, 26s and 16s, and for nine dahlias in the amateur class, 12s 6d and 8a 6d. Messrs Lee of London, for the best collection of stove or greenhouse plants, not less than twelve in number, 26s and 16s. The prize schedules were ordered to be printed. Accident in Otago. —The Otago Guardian of the 17th says:—“The notorious Upper Taieri ford, between Naseby and Hamilton, appears to have been the scene of another fatal accident. Our readers may remember that the bridging of this river at the place indicated has been repeatedly brought under the notice of the Government, but up to the present time nothing whatever has been done to lessen the danger. If Government really be unable to overtake a work of this kind, surely something might be done to lessen the chances of accidents. A very considerable amount of traffic passes to and fro at this spot, and, with a bottom subject to all the changes of a river carrying down a heavy body of sluicing debris, the crossing cannot be depended upon even under the most favorable circumstances. A wire rope extended from bank to bank would be of very great assistance. It would enable the luckless traveller to feel his way cautiously, and, if he lost his footing, would give him some chance of holding on until he could manage to regain it A simple contrivance of this kind would have been the means of saving one life after another which has been sacrificed at this very spot without the slightest effort having been made by the authorities to prevent their recurrence. The particulars of the accident in question, which we extract from the Mount Ida paper, are as follow:—“ About a month ago a Chinaman, named Ah Fon, left Naseby for Hamilton to visit some of his countrymen. As he did not return, inquiry was made at Hamilton to ascertain what had become of him ; the result being that it was at once found out that he had not been there at all. It was accordingly concluded that he had been drowned in the Taieri. On the Bth inst the matter was reported to the police, and Sub-Inspector M‘Cluskey sent Constable Walsh the following morning (who was accompanied by five Chinamen) to search the river. The search party found a pair of boots tied together close to the bank in the water, about a quarter of a mile below the present irery dangerous ford, which has been so destructive to life. The boots were identified by one of the Chinese as those worn by the missing Chinaman. Inquiries have been set on foot by the police at Dunstan Creek, Macrae’s and other localities, but no trace has been found of the man. The strong probability, indeed almost certainty, is that the river was deeper than he fancied, if not deep enough to carry him off his legs being withdrawn from, the shifting dangerous mud about half-way across. We have heard of no attempt havingbeen made to drag the river for the possiblerecovery of the body.”

A Norwegian boy named Yaldemar Moi>tensen has been drowned, together with eleven bullocks, in crossing the Waipawa river, Hawke's Bay. About £3OO worth of stores have been also lost by the accident. The following extract is made by the Newcastle Pilot from a letter addressed to a resident of Newcastle by a friend at Noumea, New Caledonia. The letter is dated July 16th,. 1874—“ We have had no less than five duels: here in one day. The first was between twomounted troopers with swords, and resulted fatally ; one of the combatants being run through the neck, expired shortly afterwards. The. others were all with pistols, and the results were not serious. There was also a very large fire at the Government stores today. The military were all called out for the purpose, it appeared, of compelling all who were in the neighborhood of the fire to assist in extinguishing the flames. One English digger who was there was walking away from the fire when a French soldier ordered him back. The Englishman refused with great determination, and the Frenchman struck him with the flat of his sabre. The Englishman thereupon rushed upon his adversary whom he immediately deprived of his sword, and gave him a good thrashing. Six or seven French troopers, sword in hand, attempted to arrest the Britisher, when two more Englishmen arrived, and a general fight ensued, which was quelled with some difficulty by a number of the troops."