NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 202, 1 February 1875, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Railway Servants’ Benefit Society. —A general meeting of the Canterbury Railway Servants’ Benefit Society will be held in the old Oddfellows’ Hall on Thursday evening at half-past seven. Good Templar Hall Co. (Limited.) —The annual general meeting of shareholders will be held this evening at the Temperance Hall, Gloucester street, at eight o’clock, when the first annual report will be submitted, and four directors elected.

Board of Education. —At the meeting of the Board of Education, held on Saturday last, the day of meeting was changed to Monday evenings, at 7 p.m. The first meeting under the new arrangement will be held on Monday next, at 7 o’clock.

Mr Gladstone and the Liberals.—A telegram, dated London, January 15th, says; —Mr Gladstone has written to Bari Granville resigning the leadership of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, but the right hon gentleman still retains his seat in Parliament.

Orchestral Society. —The next concert of this society will take place on Thursday next in the Oddfellows’ Hall. The principal instrumental pieces are Haydn’s aytnphony, and overtures, &c, by Mozart, Mehul, Keler, Bela, and Schubert. In addition, several vocal solos and part songs will be given.

New Publications. —We have received from the author a copy of “The Shilling Illustrated Horse and Cattle Doctor,” which contains a number of recipes which are valuable to those who have the charge of live stock. The publication is very neatly got up. St Patrick’s Day.—A meeting of Irishmen of all shades of religious and political opinions is convened for to-morrow evening, at the Criterion Hotel, at 8 p.m., for the purpose of making preliminary arrangements for the due celebration of the natal day of Ireland’s patron Saint. As this is intended to be a purely national gathering, it is hoped there will be a large attendance at the meeting.

Melanesian Mission.— A public meeting will be held at the Oddfellows’ Hall to* morrow evening, at eight o’clock, when the Rev C. Bice, of the Melanesian mission, will deliver an address on the work and prospects of the mission. The Rev R, S. Jackson will address the meeting on the labor traffic. The chair will be taken by the Right Rev the Primate.

Accident. — A singular]! . and somewhat serious accident happened to Mr P. Klein on Saturday night. He was turning very quickly round the corner by the Central Hotel into Gloucester street, when he came into contact violently with another man who was coming as quickly from the opposite direction. Both fell, and Mr Klein, in attempting to save himself, put out his arm as he reached the ground, and snapped it just above the wrist. He went at once to Dr Campbell, who on examining the fracture determined to postpone setting the arm until last evening.

Lurline. —From the files received by the Alhambra we learn the weights for the Sydney Gold Cup have been issued. As we expected, the handicapper has taken notice of Lurline’s performance in the Midsummsr Handicap, at Plemington, on New Year’s Day, and accordingly he has allotted her the steadying impost of Bst 9lb. This weight is a very big one for the mare to carry when we look at her previous performances in Australia, and we think she might with justice have had a few punds less on her back. .The other notable performers are handicapped as follows :—Dagworth, 9st 71b; The Diver, 9st 21b; Goldsbrough, 9st; Sterling, Bst 51b; Kingsborough and Haricot, 7st 121 b each ; Stockbridge, 7st 61b; Speculation (last year’s winner), 7st 41b; and Gaslight, 6tt 41b. Kaiapoi School Committee.— An ordinary meeting of the Borough school committee was held on Friday evening. Present —Messrs Kerr (chairman), Rev Willock, Messrs Beswick, Macfarlane, Pashby and Johnston. An application from 0. S. Edwards, for remission of rates, owing to his having received a broken leg, was recommended to his Honor the Superintendent. Accounts amounting to £282 4s 8d were passed for payment. A letter was read from the rate collector, asking for information regarding the ages of children attending the schools. It was resolved that the teachers be requested to supply the same. It was decided the Board of Education be informed of Mr Cara field’s appointment as assistantmaster, subject to approval. Several applications for the office of care-taker were handed in and read. Attempted Suicide. —A man named Timothy Fahey, who had been discharged on Saturday on the charge of lunacy from drink, attempted to commit suicide yesterday by fthrowing himself into the Avon. About half-past twelve, a man named Robert Smith, when crossing Madras street bridge, directed by a ripple on the surface, saw a man lying at the bottom of the river. He at once took of his boots and coat, dived in, and caught the man by the hair of the head, bringing him to the surface and afterwards to the side of the river, when he was pulled out. Fahey was insensible when rescued, but recovered in a few moments. It is fortunate that Mr Smith happened to be passing at the time, as no other person was near, and even he did not see the man jump in. This is the second time that Fahey has attempted to drown himself, as when he was being brought to town by his brother, and while crossing the Ashley river, he threw himself in, and was only rescued with difficulty. The Cab Question.— Shortly before two o’clock on Saturday a considerable crowd of persons gathered in and around the cabstand in front of the City Hotel, it being anticipated that the cabmen would make an attempt to regain the stand vi hich had been barricaded by the City Council. Mr Commissioner Shearman, Mr Inspector Buckley, and a strong body of police were in attendance, but happily there was no attempt made, and the crowd, after waiting some time in anticipation of a scene, dispersed. During the afternoon his Worship the Mayor received a communication from Mr Commissioner Shearman requesting him to take steps to swear in a body of special constables to assist the police, should it be found necessary, and also to be prepared to read the Riot Act if any attempt were made forcibly by the cabmen to take possession of the stands. In accordance with this request summonses were issued, and forty persons sworn in as special constables at the City Council Chambers by his Worship the Mayor on Saturday evening. A further number will be sworn in to-day, but it is not anticipated that there will be the slightest occasion for their services, only in view of the small number of regular police—thirteen—available, it was thought wise to be prepared for any emergency that might arise, Presentation to the Hon C. C. Bowen. —The presentation by the people of Canterbury to the Hon C. C. Bowen, on the occasion of his retirement from the magistracy of Christchurch, which he has held for many years, took place at the Oddfellows’ Hall this morning, at noon. The presentation comprised plate to the value of about £4OO. The hall was well filled, all classes of the community being represented. On the platform were his Honor the Superintendent, his Honor the Judge, his Worship the Mayor, Messrs Montgomery, Maude, Gould, Ollivier, Harman, G. Gordon, and the recipient of the testimonial, who was seated to the right of the chairman. On the motion of Mr Ollivier, his Honor the Superintendent took the chair, and proceeded to make the presentation in a very eloquent speech, in which he eulogised Mr Bowen’s character both as a public man and as a private, gentleman, and also referred in feeling terms to the high talents of Mr Bowen’s father, who for some years acted as Speaker of the Provincial Council. His Honor, in the name of the people of Canterbury, wished Mr Bowen every success in the larger sphere of labour upon which he had entered, assuring him that the Canterbury people would watch with deep interest his future career. Mr Bowen responded, in a short but telling speech, in which he assured those present that as long as he lived, and wherever he might be located, he should never forget Canterbury, or cease to be a Canterbury man. The proceedings then termi- * nated.

It is related that the secretary of an insurance company, being in command of a platoon during the late unpleasantness in Arkansas, struck up the gun of one of his men who was about to fire at a staff officer, with the explanation. ‘ Don’t fire — we’ve got a policy on him I’

The Emperor of Austria has conferred upon Dr W. H. Russell the Commander s Grade of the Franz Joseph Order. Dr Russell was juror on the section of the jury of the Vienna Exhibition which reported on small Anus* Referring to the cases of the Oneca and William Tapscott, the Herald urges that, “some endeavors should be made by the Australian and New Zealand Colonies jointly to have propounded a solution for the difficulties which must increase with a growing foreign trade. Frequent escapes in this colony from the hands of justice, in serious cases, offer a premium to the commission of crime on foreign bottoms ; place at the mercy of a brutal captain and bullying mate the lives and liberties of a whole crew, who, in their own defence, with no defined law to lay hands on them, would have little compunction in treating the officers as the men of the William Tapscott treated theirs. If, as asserted, it is the intention of the Victorian Government to communicate with the Imperial authorities upon the question, the opportunity would be a favorable one for the New Zealand Government to act in conjunction with them, and lay before the Imperial Government the whole facts of the recent cases which occupied the attention of our judges and terminated so unsatisfactorily.