NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 225, 27 February 1875, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Canterbury Ram Fair. —Our readers are reminded that the entries for the above close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday next. Canterbury Museum.— Owing to the additions to the Museum not being completed, it will be closed until Sunday, 7th March inclusive. Malvern Railway. The- tender of George Holden, of Christchurch, has been accepted for plate laying on the White Cliffs branch. The amount is £4112 15s. Canterbury College. A meeting of the Board of Governors will be held in his Honor the Superintendent’s room on Monday, at 10 a.m., for the transaction of important business. Educational. —The Gazette of February 25th contains the boundaries of the Wainui and French farm districts, and the appointment of Mr H. R. Webb as a member of the Board of Education, in the place of Mr Harman, resigned. Footpaths.— The following are gazetted public footpaths within the meaning of the Ordinance, on east side of North Road, from R.S. 46, to R.S. 136; at Papanui from section 203 to section 3. Sheep Worrying.— On Sunday two dogs killed ten ram lambs out of imported ewes running on Mr Marcroft’s farm near Kaiapoi, and on the same evening Mr P, C. Threlkeld, of Inglewood Farm, had one of his most valuable Lincoln sheep also worried. Extension of Waterman’s Jetty at Lyttelton. —The extension of this jetty was commenced yesterday. We hear it is to be carried out 45 feet beyond its present length. The work is being done by Messrs Hawkins and Co. Lyttelton Borough School.— Mr John Inglis, chairman of the Board of Education, paid a visit to the new school yesterday, accompanied by Mr H. R. Webb, chairman of the local committee, who pointed out the deficiency of accommodation in the junior department, and several other alterations necessary in the arrangements, such as increased space in the lobbies, &c. Harvest Festival. —A thanksgiving service will be held in St John’s Church on Thursday evening next at half-past seven. The service will be choral. An anthem and selections from “ The Creation ” will be sung by the choir, assisted by some members of the Harmonic Society, who have kindly volunteered their services, The Girards. These clever artistes, whose dancing is spoken) of as something wonderful, will appear at the Oddfellows’ Hall on Tuesday evening next for the first time in Christchurch for a short season of three nights. They will be assisted by Mr V. Jacobs, wizard and ventriloquist. They have had a very successful season in Dunedin, appearing to crowded houses during their stay. Anderson Testimonial.— A meeting of the committee and stewards of the Anderson Testimonial was held yesterday afternoon at Mr 0. C. Aikman’s offices, Mr Wm. Wilson in the chair. It was reported that over £IOO had been collected, and as it is wished to remit the money by next mail those having lists were requested to send them in before next Monday, and those wishing to subscribe are reminded that it will be necessary to do so early. The meeting then adjourned. Destructive Fires. —By the Suez mail we have particulars of a destructive fire which broke out in Boston on the 15th December, in the business part of the city, by which damage to the extent of 1,000,000 dollars is estimated to have been done. A great fire at Lille destroyed one of the oldest and most important printing offices in France, belonging to Messrs Dauel, Many rare books were consumed. The loss is about £60,000, a-\d only very partially insured. A cotton mill near Oldham, containing 24,000 spindles, was burnt to a total wreck, involving a loss of £25,000. A spinning mill in Dundee was partially destroyed, causing £12,000 damage, and depriving 300 persons of employment. Collins’s large carriage manufactory at Oxford was destroyed by fire; the loss is valued at £30,000. It was only partially insured. The Great Western Railway works at Reading were burned, the damage being £3 ),000, and 450 people were deprived of employment. Littleton House, near iStaines, the residence of the late General Wood, has been consumed, and several valuable pictures destroyed,

Theatre Royal,— The play of “The New Magdalen” was repeated last night, and there was a full house present at the performance. A version of “ Oliver Twist” will be played to-night, Miss May Howard appearing as Nancy. Presentation. —The Christchurch postal officers assembled last evening at their office for the purpose of saying farewell and wishing God speed to Mr Jago, chief clerk, on his being transferred to the Nelson office. Mr Gumming, on behalf of the staff, expressed the regret felt throughout the office at his departure, and presented him with a small testimonial in recognition of the courtesy and kindness they had all experienced at his hands during the period he had been with them. The testimonial consisted of a massive signet ring, with the inscription “ To S. J. Jago, Esq, from the Christchurch Postal Officers, February, 1875;” also a set of very chaste pearl studs. Mr Jago gracefully acknowledged the compliment, and thanked them cordially for the feeling which the gift evinced. Traffic Returns— The following is a summary of the traffic on the Canterbury railways for the four weeks ending January 28th :—Passengers—Lyttelton and Christchurch railway, £ll3B Os 8d ; season tickets, £92 4s ; parcels, &c, £63 18s ; passengers— Great Southern railway, £1559-17s 5d ; season tickets, £lO 14s 4d ; parcels, &c, £95 12s 4d ; passengers—Great Northern railway, £B9l 12s 9d ; season tickets, £33 10s 7d ; parcels, &c, £52 12s 4d ; passengers—Rolleston and Malvern railway, £155 5s 3d ; parcels, &c, £9 Is Id ; passengers—Rangiora and Oxford railway, £127 3s 5d ; parcels, &c, £7 16s 7d. Freight uo—Lyttelton and Christchurch railway, £2142 2s 4d ; freight down, £849 17s Id ; freight up—Great Southern railway, £832 5s 8d ; freight down, £612 15s 9d; freight up—Great Northern railway, £232 5s 3d ; freight down, £202 17s 6d ; freight up- Rolleston and Malvern railway, £lO6 19s lOd ; freight down, £97 6s lid ; freight up—Rangiora and Oxford railway, £4B 13s 6d ; freight down, £22 3s 7d. Storage—£2B9 14s 7d ; labor, £248 4s 8d ; wharfage, £SBO 16s ; total, £10,503 11s sd. The total for the corresponding month of 1874 was £8123 10s Bd. Salmon Trout. —We hear (says the Daily Times ) that highly satisfactory evidence is being furnished from time to time of the successful naturalisation of the salmon-trout in these waters. We have on several occasions during the last six months recorded the capture of some of these imported fish, chiefly in Otago Harbor, and we learn now that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence for the fishermen to obtain specimens of the salmon-trout in their nets. Some of these are of small size, about nine inches long; a circumstance which proves that the original fish which were turned into Shag River in 1869Jmust have visited some of our streams and bred. A proclamation, under the hand of his Honor the Superintendent, was issued some two or three months ago, prohibiting netting near the mouths of streams on the northern seaboard, _lf through ignorance this prohibition is being infringed, we trust that the fishermen will take a hint and confine their netting to other parts of the coast. Lately, several salmontrout have been observed near the mouth of the Water of Leith, where, no doubt, they will eventually spawn if not disturbed. Malvern Hill Coal.— The sinking of a shaft and bore-hole on the property known as Mr I. B. Sheath’s (now in the hands of Messrs Twentyman, Saunders, and Pratt, trustees of his estate), on the river Selwyn, has been, we are informed, eminently sue cessful, exhibiting from the low angle at which the coal seams lie, also the absence of dislocations and disturbances in the coal measures, a large trough ot basin of coal. The shaft is sunk on the western part of section No 3717, and a short distance west of a drive that had been mined for several chains in a two-foot seam of coal, underlying other seams, one 6ft thick, and on the dip of the shaft. On that account the latterraentioned seams would not be met with in the shaft that has been sunk. The data obtained from the execution of the beforenamed works cannot be too highly estimated commercially, and to those interested in geological pursuits a basis is furnished from which something more than abstract theory or conjecture can be obtained. It is only by penetrating into the bowels of the earth and exposing what is there hidden that mining operations can be successfully conducted. The trustees for the estate in question are amply rewarded, and the country benefited by their enterprise. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 50ft, and a seam of coal met with 3ft 6in thick, and at a depth of 75ft from the surface a seam of coal was met with that proved to be Bft in thickness. This is a most valuable acquisition to the mineral wealth of Canterbury, more especially as the shaft is sunk on the plains, and close by the side of the White Cliffs Railway. It is not a patch of coal high up on the mountain ranges, nor is it difficult of access or heavily flooded with water. The 3ft 6in seam would be worked to profit, but where there is an Bft seam 25ft below the 3ft 6in seam, the smaller seam is likely for a long time to be neglected. There are many seams of coal in the South Yorkshire district varying from Ift to sft in thickness, none of them can successfully compete with the Barnsley thick coal. An eight feet seam of coal will yield 10,000 tons to the acre, and pOO acres would yield 5,000,000 tons of coal, or 100,000 tons per annum for fifty years, or 2000 tons per week for that period; the other seams of coal, known in the locality of the Bft seam, would increase the quantity fivefold or more. There is no doubt a large amount of money has been expended in prospecting for minerals in Canterbury during the last fifteen years, but none, we should think, to so great advantage as in sinking and boring to the depth of 162 feet at the works before described, which we hope will place the question of a supply of coal of a good quality for an indefinite period beyond a doubt. Now that contagious diseases are abroad, every housewife should use carbolic soap for household purposes, as it is a thorough disinfectant, and recommended by the faculty.— [Advt.] ♦- The lazy schoolboy who spelled Andrew Jackson “&ru Jaxon” has been equalled by a student who wished to mark half a dozen new shirts. He marked the first “John Jones,” and the rest “ do.” Two young men out riding were passing a farmhouse where a farmer was trying to harness an obstinate mule. “ Won’t he draw?” said of the men? “Of course,” said the farmer; “ he’ll draw the attention of every fool that passes this way. ” The young men rode on.

The Emperor of Russia has conferred on Marshal MacMahon the highest rank in the Order of St Andrew. There have been exciting scenes in the German Parliament during the debates on intervention in Spanish affairs, and on Alsace and Lorraine, and also on the abolition of the envoy to the Vatican, and the arrest of members. During the sittings of the House a conflict between the Parliament and the Government arose out of the arrest of Deputy Magimce, editor of the Ultramontane paper, Germania, to undergo a sentence of a year’s imprisonment for violation of' the press laws. Parliament passed a resolution affirming the inviolability of its members, and Prince Bismarck interpreted this as an equivalent vote of want of confidence, and tendered his resignation, whiah the Emperor refused to accept,