NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 172, 24 December 1874, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

S. S. Wellington. —This favorite steamer is advertised to leave for Wellington and Northern Ports on Saturday next, at 10 a. in.

Cricket. —The Interprovincial match— Otago v Canterbury—will take place on the Christchurch Cricket Ground, on January 27th and 28th, Fire Inspectors.—Mr W. Harris is gazetted chief tire inspector for the city of Christchurch, and Mr F. A. Bishop a lire inspector, School Treat. —The annual treat to the children attending the Durham street Wesleyan Sunday school will take place at Berwick farm, Cashel street east, on Saturday next. I O.G.T.—A session of the Olive Branch Temple, No 1, will be held this evening at the Foresters’ Hall for the conferring of the second degree. Boxing Night. —A quadrille assembly will be held at the Canterbury Music Hall on Boxing night. The music will be under the direction of Mr Weber. Fire Police. —A meeting of the gentlemen interested in the formation of a body of fire police for Lyttelton was held at the Colonists’ Hall on Tuesday night. The Mayor was in attendance, and a number of gentlemen were duly sworn in. The election of officers was deferred for a few days. The Holidays.—A notice appears in the Gazette that the offices of the Provincial Government will be closed on Friday and Saturday, the 25th and 26th instant, and on Friday and Saturday, the Ist and 2nd of January next; Wrestling Match. —We learn that articles of agreement have been drawn up between Bray, of Christchurch, and an Auckland man to wrestle on the 26th of December for £25 a side, west of England style, best of three back falls to take the money. It is to take place at the old grounds, Plough Inn. St John’s Church. —The church of St John’s will be appropriately decorated for Christmas Day, and the services will be of a special character, being choral throughout. The anthem for the day will be rendered for the first time in Christchurch. To-night there will be a vigil service, commencing at eleven o’clock by a processional hymn. The choir will render the usual Christmas carols, and the service will be concluded by suitable selections from the “ Messiah,” in which Mrs Palmer has kindly undertaken to render the soprano solo. Christmas Services —Full choral services will be held in the various Anglican churches in the city this evening, in accordance with usual custom. At St Michael’s there will be a choral service at ten o’clock, and the following music has been selected for the occasion ;—Processional Hymn 43; Psalms (24th Evening), single chants (Barnby); Magnificat, Nunc Dimiltis, W; H. Monk; Anthem (Mass in B flat). Henry Farmer; Christmas Carols, “The first Nowell,” “See amid the winter’s snow,” “As Joseph was a walking,” “Good Christian men rejoice,” from Dr Stainer’s collection; Recessional Hymn, 376. At St Luke’s and St John’s full choral services will be held, and the ladies of all the parishes are busily employed decorating the churches, German Church Bells. —The three bells brought out from Germany by Mr J. G. Buddenklau for the German church have been suspended in the tower erected near the church, and the opening peal will be rang this evening by his Honor the Superintendent, Sir Cracroft Wilson, and his Worship the Mayor, The bells comprise baritone, tenor, and alto, and are remarkably sweet and full in tone. In the evening a sacred concert will be given by the choir of the church, assisted by other musical friends, under the direction of Mr J. G. M. Smith, the organist of the church. As the space is limited, those desirous of attending should secure their tickets at once. The Great American Circus. —One of the proprietors of this circus (Mr Thos. L. King), which has been playing to crowded houses in Auckland, Nelson, and Wellington, has just arrived, per Ladybird, and informs us that his object is to make arrangements for a short season in Christchurch. The company will arrive here by the Taranaki from Welling ton, and will open on Thursday next. At this season of the year, with the attractive bill of fare which is to be issued, there should he no doubt as to the company’s success. The company comprises the stars of Chiarini’s circus, which was so popular here, and the origin;! members of the Great American Circus, one of the strongest troupes that ever left America. Athletic Association. —A meeting of the above was held yesterday, at 5 p.m., Mr G. Gordon in the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The draft programme of the sports to be held on the 30th of January was brought up. A letter was read from Mr E. C. J. Stevens, secretary of the C.C.C., stating that the date fixed would be very inconvenient, as the interprovincial match would be played about that time. It would, therefore, be advisable for the Athletic Association to postpone their sports until after the interprovincial cricket match. The meeting, after having discussed the matter for some time, decided to adjourn until a future date for the settling of the date of sports. Torpedo. —Last week as Mr Wales and his mate were fishing in Port Levy, they hauled up a large fish similar to a skate, on taking hold of it to take the hook from its mouth, Mr Wales felt a strange sensation as if he were paralyzed. After a few minutes on recovering, he seized the fish again, and this time he felt; dislinclly a powerful shock the moment he touclied it; determined not to be served in this way again, he attacked the fish with an iron hook that was in the boat, and was surprised to find that he received a stronger shock than the other two. He asked some Maoris who were close by if they had ever seen a fish of the sort before, and they replied in the negative, and he proposed to bring the fish to Lyttelton, with a view of sending it to the Museum, but was dissuaded by his mate, who assured him it was no rarity. He mentioned the matter to Dr Bouse, who showed him a sketch of the torpedo, which lie recognised as au exact portrait of the fish he had caught, He estimated the fish to weigh from eighty to one hundred pounds. The fish was left high and dry on the beach, It is a pity it was not preserved, being so great a rarity on the coasL

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton.— A full choral service will be held in this Church on Christmas Day at 11 a.m. The opening hymn will be “ Christians Awake.” Tallis’s responses and pieces will be used. The “ Vcnite” will also be Tallis’s, and both the “Te Deum” and “Jubilate” will be Jacksons’ in F. The anthem will be “ Behold I bring you glad tidings.” The hymns will be appropriate ones for the day.