NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 72, 24 August 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Cathedral Guild. —The commemoration service of this guild will take place this evening at St Michael's, when there will be full choral service. A sermon will be preached by the very rev the Dean of Christchurch. California Minstrels,—This troupe gave their third performance on Saturday evening to a good, house. The programme was an entire change from that submitted on previous evenings, and the various items were well received by the audience. Lecture. —A lecture will be delivered by the Rev A. F. Douglas to-morrow evening, iD the Oddfellows' Hall. The subject chosen by the rev lecturer is "John Stuart Mill ; a biography and critique." During the lecture some musical illustrations will be given by the choir of St. Paul's Church. Volunteer Fire Police. The first general meeting of the Fire Police sworn in for the year 1874-5 will be held to-morrow evening at the Fire Brigade Hall, Lichfield street. The business to be brought forward will be the passing of rules and election of officers. The remaining intending members who have not yet been sworn in arc requested to attend before the sitting of the City Council, at the Council Chambers, this evening, when his Worship the Mayor will complete the enrolment. Suicide in Dunedin : The Daily Times of the 20th says—"lntense surprise was caused by a report which spread with rapidity through the town yesterday morning that Mr Anthony Hayzen, well known to the business men of Dunedin and the province, had committed suicide. The report, which was at first discredited, he being, as a witness said at the inquest yesterday, the last man that would be expected to commit suicide, turned out to be too true. At the inquest held, a verdict was returned of " Suicide, committed while in a state of temporary insanity." fcir Hayzen was widely known and popular, and his death will be regretted by many. The Polynesian Scheme.—The in concluding a leading article on the Premier's Polynesian seheme, says:—"MrVogel is evidently determined to exclaim with the Corsair —' Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, survey our empire, and behold our home.' But to instruct and discipline the dusky inhabitants of innumerable groups of islands in the art of self-government ; to convince them that our civilisation is preprefcrable to their semi-barbarism ; and to weld the whole of these scattered races and tribes into one homogeneous and homologous community, controlled by a supreme authority thousands of miles distant, would demand, on the part of any man who should undertake it, superhuman genius and the absolute control of unlimited resources, Democracies have always proved to be unfavorable to the development of such a genius, and altogether averse to entrusting him with those resources, even if they were attainable."

Poultby SHOW.—The exhibition of the Poultry Association in the Oddfellows' Hall, was fairly attended on Saturday, especially in the evening. During the afternoon a meeting of the committee was held to consider a protest entered by Mr J. R. Hill, against pens Nos. 151 and 156 receiving second and third prizes respectively in the the class forlßouen ducks, Mr Reade occupied the chair. After some discussion Mr Todd moved, " That the protest be allowed," which was seconded by Mr Wood and agreed to. It was then moved by Mr Todd and seconded by Mr Rees —"That Mr Thomas Williams and Mr Gould be requested to judge the whole of the Rouen ducks, except the first prize pen." This was carried and the judges then examined the pens as requested, recommending that the second and third prizes in the class be withheld, as each pen was liable to disqualification according to the standard of excellence. The committee then adjourned. Football.—The match on Saturday last was English versus Scotch and Irish. The former played from the south goal. The play throughout the afternoon was good, and almost entirely free from disputes, which added considerably to the enjoyment of the game. The English, who were more numerous than their opponents, had the best of the game, for although the combined side played with greater energy than most of their opponents they were unable to make any effectual resistance to the superior numbers. At half time no goal had been obtained by either side although the English had several times very nearly effected the desired result. The combined team obtained a touch down,but the place kick was not successful. Shortly after changing goals the English obtained the first and only goal, Mr Booth giving the final kick. Prom this the game was more even, and although both sides tried hard to obtain an advantage it was without success. At the call of time the English had won the game by one goal to none. On Saturday next the final game of the season will be played, when it is hoped that all members will attend. Effects of Lightning.—The residence of Mr Scott, master of the academy, Hokitika, was recently struck by lightning. The local paper says :—" Mr Scott, it seems, was lying down when he heard a fearful clap of thunder, and directly after that saw an unusually bright light iu one corner of the room. Following almost immediately on this luminous appearance, flame burst out of the part where the light had appeared, the paper and scrim of the room in that part being on fire. Mr Scott at once jumped up and threw a basin or two of water on the blaze before it had obtained any great hold, and extinguised it without much trouble, Had he been absent, however, if only for a few minutes, the house would have been reduced to ashes. On examination of the outside of the building, he found some of the boards displaced, the nails having apparently been melted, the corner stud or post was split through, and the lining was burnt." The Golden CROWN Mine.—A contemporary says :—The once-famed Golden Crown mine at the Thames goldfield has, after many years of profitable yielding, at last fail 3d in productiveness, and, in consequence, work in it has been suspended. The Herald's correspondent thus commeuts upon the circumstance :—" It is with regret that I have to record that the steam was shut off to-day at noon, consequent upon the manager being unable to obtain payable stone. However, the manager's attention will be devoted to the prospecting of the ground at a low level on either side of the lodes. I believe this is the first stoppage of the company's plant for nearly five years, on account of unproductiveness. Stoppages have occurred many times, but these have been for repairs. The stoppage of the winding engine will play sad havoc with the Manukau Company, without some arrangement can be made both by them and the Cure for the winding of their stuff,"

Sheep Snowed Up.—The Wakatip Mail sa yg : —" a very large number of sheep are reported to have been snowed up during the recent frosts, and there is little hope of the ultimate recovery of the larger number alive. It is said that heavy loss will fall upon the owners of sheep throughout the district."

Coal at Reefton.—The Inangahua Herald reports that a very superior class of coal has been discovered by Mr Peno, and a lease applied for by Messrs Peno and Trewick. It is barely a mile distant from Reefton, and as the seam has been proved to be of considerable extent, the proprietors of the mine will doubtless be able to furnish this fuel at a moderate price to the householders of Reefton. It is their intention to forward a sample immediately to the Laboratory at Wellington, and to have the coal analytically tested. In company with other gentlemen interested in the development of the industry, we tested a quantity of the coal yesterday in a stove in a confined room, and found it perfectly free from disagreeable smell under so specially trying a test. It burns freely, and being hard and free from dirt, we have no hesitation in pronouncing it a very superior household coal. We further learn that it has been tested in a retort and found to possess all the qualities of a superior gas coal. We should recommend that the Government analyst be requested to express an opinion on this point, since if this should prove correct, it must greatly enhance the value of the discovery.

Poverty Bay Petroleum Company.— The directors of the Poverty Bay Petroleum and Kerosene Company have issued their report for the past year, in which they state —"Your directors made last Christmas a personal examination of the spring and the roads to them, accompanied by Mr Winter, surveyor ; and, contrary to their expectations, were so far successful as to discover a practicable dray road to the springs. Several other adjacent springs have since been discovered. The unavoidable detention of the Splendid, in consequence of having been dismasted by a hurricane, has delayed the manager, who is a passenger by her, and has prevented the commencement of boring operations at the springs, as it was considered imprudent to attempt works of that nature, save under the supervision of a man of practical knowledge and experience; he may, however, now be expected at any moment. All that could have been done in the meantime, has been done ; everything has been for months in readiness for immediate operations on his arrival; and it is more than probable that a very ft,w weeks—perhaps only days—of boring, may produce the long hoped for flow of oil."

Witchcraft. —The Hawlie's Bay Herald reports " an interesting case" of supposed witchcraft as occurring at one of the native settlements in the Poverty Bay district. The victim is a young Maori girl, who, being attacked with some ordinary disorder, took it into her head that she had been makutued by a tohunga, or wizard, who lives a few miles distant, simply because a girl with whom she had quarrelled had gone to reside in the settlement where this tohunga was living, and the sick girl therefore set it down as a foregone conclusion that her enemy had induced the tohunga to betwitch her. She is fairly out of her mind, partakes of but little nourishment, and remains from day to day in a sort of stupor, varied at intervals with a species of frenzy, when she rushes about, climbing poles, and on to the roofs of whares, with other similar feats of agility. It is a pity to see a young girl in so distressing a state ; but the majority of the natives are firm in tbeir belief as to the witchcraft, and have made up their minds that she must die, unless another tohunga of a more powerful calibre arrives on the scene, and counteracts the spells of his contemporary in the black art.

Meeting AT Hokitika. —The West Coast Times of the 19th supplies the following report of a meeting held there:—A public meeting was held last aight at the Town Hall to take into consideration the present action of the Premier in relation to the abolition of Provincialism. The chair, after some slight delay, was taken by J. Chesney, Esq., who briefly introduced the subject on which the inhabitants had been called together. Mr Woolcock, Provincial Secretary, in bringing the first resolution said that he had always been an advocate for the abolition of Provincialism, and although he was now an Executive officer of the province he yet dared in public and in private to avow his antagonism to that kind of institution, and though he had been elected a member of the Provincial Council, he had, at the same time, always expressed his antagonism to the existing form of Government ; and even now, as Provincial Secretary, he would avow that his sentiments were unaltered, and would still endeavor to aid in the abolishment of such a pernicious system. He would move the first resolution—" That this meeting fully approves of the action taken by the Premier in respect to the abolition of Provincialism in the North Island, and trusts that the Government will extend the same policy to the Middle Island." The resolution was seconded by Mr Jack, and carried unanimously. Mr John Cross moved the second resolution—" That in the event of the Government being defeated on the resolutions before the House of Representatives, and appealing to the country, this meeting hereby pledges itself to support the candidature of those only who are favorable to the abolition of provincialism and its attendant evils throughout the colony." The motion was seconded by Mr Herman Meyer, and carried unanimously. The third resolution was moved by Mr Barff, "That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be forwarded to the hon the Premier and the representatives of the district in the Assembly." The motion, on being put, was, like its predecessors, carried unanimously, and after a vote of thanks to the chairman the meeting dispersed.