NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 144, 18 November 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Good Templar Picnic. —It is contemplated to hold a Good Templar picnic at Kangiora, on the 16th of December.

Tea Meeting.—A tea meeting will be held in the Wesleyan Chapel, Heathcote Valley, to-morrow evening, at half-past six. Philosophical Institute. —A special meeting of members will be held to-morrow evening, at the Public Library, at half-past seven, when papers will be read by the Rev C. Fraser and Professor Bickerton. Minister of Justice. —Mr C. C. Bowen, R.M., has joined the ministry, as Minister of Justice, with a seat in the Upper House. The offer was made to Mr Bowen some time ago, and correspondence has been passing between him and the Government since that time, but owing to Mr Vogel's absence from the colony the fiual answer in the affirmative was not given till Monday evening.

Cathedral Guild.—A general meeting of the members of the Cathedral Guild w s held last evening in the College library, The Very Rev the Dean presided. The Rev H. J.

Edwards and Mr B. W. Mountfort were

elected to fill the vacancies in the committee. Mr Mountfort gave an account of the progress made in the construction of the Cathedral, and illustrated his remarks with sketch plans. A paper on " The formation of a Diocesan Choral Union" was read by the Rev C. Boweu, and after some discussion it was resolved to request .the Primate to call a meeting of the incumbents and choirmasters to take steps towards the formation of a choral union. The proceedings were closed with singing and prayer. Female Refuge.—An adjourned meeting of the provisional committee was held in the Superintendent's office yesterday afternoon. Present —His Honor the Superintentendent, the Bishop, the Dean of Christchurch, Revs Edwards, C. Fraser, W. J. Habens, and J. Buller, Messrs Montgomery, G. Hart, J. B. Acland, and H. J. Taucred. Mr H. J. Tancred was voted to the chair. It was stated that Mr G.'Gould had! given a donation of £25 and an annual subscription of £ls ; also that the subscriptions received had amounted to £142. On the motion of Rev W. J. Habens, it was resolved that the chairman be requested to convene a meeting of subscribers to elect a working committee. The chairman was appointed treasurer, and the proceedings terminated.

Lumpers' Society. Messrs Cameron Bros, and Talbot, and McClatchie, called the lumpers together on Monday evening at the Mitre Hotel, Lyttelton. Their object in doing so was to ask them if they would agree, under certain conditions, to take half a day's pay when they had only been at work for a shorter period. It appears that it is now the custom for the men to get a full day's pay if they go to work at all, even for an hour, and this, of course, prevents their employers from sending them off to a vessel in the afternoon, as they would have to pay a full day's wages for a few hours work. They, therefore, hoped that the men, when only employed a short time, would take half a day's pay, being prepared to give them that for even an hour's work, and, of course, it would be a great benefit to the captains of vessels, who are kept waiting in consequence. Tiie lumpers, however, refused to listen to the proposal, determining that if they went off at all they would demand a full day's pay.

Popular Amusement Association.—A meeting of the above wa3 held yesterday at 4 p.m, Mr Wynn Williams in the chair. A letter was read from Mr \V. Ness stating that the friendly societies hardly thought that there was time enough to get up Kichardson's show for the 16th. On the motion of Mr Mitchell, the name of Mr Cuff was added to the ground committee. Mr Mitchell said that he was surprised to miss from the meetings of the association the presence of several —such as his Honor the Superintendent, the Dean, and others; as the object of the association was to provide a day's amusement without intoxication, he did think these gentlemen should come forward on the occasion of the meetings and help forward the objects of the association. He hoped therefore that those gentlemen would come forward and help in the carrying out of the ■lav's sports. It was resolved that the ten guinea cup should be given for the two-mile rate. After the arrangement of the programme, the meeting adjourned.

The Opera,—Bellini's charming opera of " I.a Sonnambula" was produced last evening, and most successfully. Miss May, in the character of Amiua, both acted and sang excellently. Her rendering of "I'm not guilty," was fully deserving of the loud plaudits which greeted her on the conclusion of the act. But Miss May's great success in the opera was "Do not mingle," which, together with the aria, " 0, must ye fade sweet flowers," was beautifully given. The trills and embellishments with which the composer has enriched the various arias allotted to Amina were all taken with a fidelity and pureness of tone which rendered the impersonation throughout very enjoyable, and we have not, though comparatively a light part to some which Miss May has sustained during the season, seen her appear to. such advantage as last night. At the close of the scena she received a perfect ovation 'jn the shape of bouquets. Miss Lambert, as Lisa, sang her music excellently throughout, the part is one which suits her voice, and she deserves every credit for her rendering. Mr Hallam, as Klvino, was in fine voice, and sang the arias allotted to him very well, In " Take now this ring," " All is lost now," and <; Still so gently," he sung capitally, and acted with spirit throughout. Mr Templeton, as the Count, also deserves credit for his singing. lie rendered "As I view those scenes so charming" well, there was no affectation, the air was simply but effectively sung, and throughout the opera he contributed greatly to the success as a whole. The choruses were well sung, being both in time and tune, Miss Howe sang the little music she has as Theresa well. Tonight " The Rose of Castile," one of the most successful operas given by the company, will be produced.

Mark Twain sympathises with the woman movement, when the "movement" is around a wash-tub.

Two Irishmen travelling on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway track came to a mile post, when one of them exclaimed "Thread, aisy Pat;" here lies a man who was 10S years old —his name was Miles from Baltimore."

An American paper tells the following story:—A dapper little fellow at Alverdo attended the late mask ball at Livermore, and chose the character of a monkey, in which to shine at the festive entertainment. He doffed his habiliments at a hotel two blocks distant from the ball room, and donned the disguise, intending to walk in costume to the hall. It Avas about ten o'clock when he set forth, snugly clad in his tight-fitting suit, and playfully swinging the caudal appendage; but he had not proceeded far when two dogs espied him, and taking him for a huge monster of some kind, started for him. The little fellow concluded that the better part of valour wottld be to climb the high board fence at Stevens's Mills. He did so with marvellotts agility, and the statement comes from reliable authority that he was compelled to sit on the sharp edge of that fence, shivering in the cold air, till morning. Dick Lucas, candidate for jailer at Bowling Green, Kentucky, recently made the following appeal in a speech :—" Fellow sitizens, Where are my opponents ? Why, gentle men, they are nowhere. I feel myself as much above my opponents as a possum in a persimmon tree does above the ground he crawls on. I call on you in the name of the shaggy-headed lion, which whipped the American eagle ; I call on you in the name of the peacock of liberty which flewed over the Rocky Mountings—to come to my rescue. Come on Monday next, and promote Dick to the office to which he perspires. When you shall have been dead, and the green briars shall have entwined themselves round your graves, then will your sons come to me and say, Dick, some years ago our fathers voted for you for the office of jailership of Warren County ; then will I say, roll on thou silver moon, 1 will be with thee till the last day in the evening." The year's Colonial Statistical Abstract which has been issued by the Board of Trade gives a statement of the population of the British possessions abroad, which may be condensed as follows :—British India, 190,663,623; Ceylon, Straits Settlements, and Labuan, 2,718,282 ; British North America, 3,748,857 ; Australia, with New Zealand, 1.978,748 ; the West Indies, Honduras, and British Guiana, 1.280,268 : the Cape of Good Hope and Natal, 855,931 ; West African Settlements—viz. Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Latos, 539.654 ; Mauritius, 318,584 ; Hong Kong, 124.198 ; St Helena, 6,241 ; Bermuda, 12,121 ; Falkland Islands, 811; Maltaand Gibraltar, 141,918 and 16,454 respectively, exclusive of the military. The total is 202,405.690 ; and in North America and Australia there has been a substantial iucrease since the census was taken.

The Sydney Morning Herald of October 28th says:—" Definite arrangements have been made for the holding of a conference of stcck inspectors in the various Australian colonies. The initiatory steps were taken by the Government of this colony, and it was thought that the meetings would have been held in September last. For a variety of reasons, however, it was'found necessary to postpone the matter for a few weeks. The representatives from Queensland and Tasmania have been in Sydney some few days, bit the South Australian representative has suffered from severe illness, and on that account the conference has been postponed to the 10th November. The Victorian representative is expected in Sydney to-day. The object for which these gentlemen meet is to consider the best means to be adopted for the prevention of diseases in cattle and sheep, and to consider what can be done to prevent contagion by travelling stock. Various other matteis will also be discussed, and the results of the conference will be embodied in a series of recommendations to the Governments of the respective colonies represented. We understand that a series of original papers on stock diseases will be read by the representatives, and these will be followed by discussions.