NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 714, 3 October 1876, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Jury List—lt seems necessary that i thorough revision of the jury list should be undertaken at once. In the Supreme Court yesterday, his Honor observed that it was necessary, in the interests of the public. that mistakes and errors in the list should be reduced to a minimum. At the same time, gentlemen who w<;re on the list, or had been served, should attend, even if they resided over the distance. It was their duty then to come and to have their name removed, from the list.

Rev Mb Flavell. The Grey River Argns of a recent date says : —" The Rev Mr Flavell left by the steamer Kennedy en route for his new cure at Merivale, Canterbury. The rev gentleman takes with him not only very general wishes for his future happiness, but very earnest regrets at his departure. The public testimonies of regard that have been given to Mr Flavell has been so numerous, that little remains for us to say except that we may congratulate the parish of Merivale in having secured the services of so able and industrious a minister as Mr Flavell." Gaol Accommodation.—ln sentencing a prisoner yesterday for larceny, which was treated as, a first offence, his Honor took occasion to remark respecting the want of accommodation to classify those prisoners sentenced merely to imprisonment. If such accommodation was available in the gaol, his Honor said the prisoner would be spared the contamination of being mixed up with the lowest class of society. As it was, however, he had no alternative but to send him to mix with the criminals referred to. The Mikonui Race.—-There is some probability, says the West Coast Times, of tenders being invited for the construction of the whole tunnel of the Mikonui race before many weeks. We are informed that Mr Tribe has received the assurance of the Gouemment that a vote of £16,000 will be asked from Parliament ere the session closes. The previous tenders were for the construction of about twenty chains at each end of the tunnel, but the Government has recently had specifications completed for the whole work, in all about 150 chains.

Canterbury Archery Club. The annual general meeting was held on Thursday, September 28th, when there was a large attendance of members. It was decided that Wednesday, October 4th, should be the opeuing day, on which day several prizes will be shot for, shooting to begin at 2 30. The following officers were elected:—Lady paramount, Lady Wilson ; president, Mr Rolleston ; captain, Mr Fereday. Commitue—Mrs Hennah.Mrs Coster, Mrs Palmer, ;tf m Worthy, Mr Fereday, Mr Condell, Mr Vlo';d?rnos9, Mr Mclutyre. Treasurer, Mr Wo.cthy; secretary, Mr F. H. Briltan.

Is ion Rowing '3lub.—A committee n*3«.i-.ng wK3 heM last evening at Waraer\-; H,vf i; Iftr H Thomson in the chair. The f c l'o\vinggen:lemen were elected as members, viz :—Messrs Walton. Forsyth. T B. Jacksom, 8. C. Kesteven, B. Cass, Gapes, Adams, Hatchard, Falconer, Petrie, Vogeler, Strange, Johnston, Culpin, T. A. Joynt. Tho following were elected as coxswains:—V. Harris, W. Lawrie, J. Lawrie, and A. Lawrie. A letter was read from the secretary of the Cure Boating Club, asking the c'ub to take part in the opening ceremony at Kampoi, and it was resolved that the committee do not deem it advisable to send boats to Kaiapoi, but would be glad to see membera of the club present at the opening. After transacting some routine business, the meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

The MoA.—The Otago Daily Times says : "A valuable piece of evidence, which points to the probability of the moa having lived in comparatively recent times has just been brought to light, When in London, Dr Hector ascertained that in the British Musc-um there were certain cases which had been brought from New Zealand by Captain Cook, and which were still unopened, Dr Hector was allowed to examine the boxes which contained Maori curiosities, and in one of them was a spear adorned with a tuft of moa feathers. With the permission of the trustees of the Museum, he detached one of the feathers, and he he,s brought it out to New Zealand. Strange that this evidence should have reposed in the cellars of the British Museum for a century."

Excuses of Jurors..—During the calling of the panel of the common jury at the Supreme Court yesterday, one of the jurors asked to be excused, on the ground that he was an engine driver on the Canterbury railways. His Honor said he had often spoken from the Bench as to the advisability of some provision being made by the Legislature to r xeuse persons in tho position of the applicant. The railways were a sort of Government institution, and it would be well if heads of departments and engine drivers were excused by the Legislature. As, however, it had not done so, he was unable to excuse persona in these positions. In answer to a question from his Honor, the applicant Btated that be was a driver between Lyttelton [and Obristchurch, and that there were not sufficient without him to drive the trains His Honor expressed his surprise that the railway service between the metropolis and br e port should depend upon one man, who might be taken ill or otherwise be unable to attend to his duty. Under these circumstances, he would excuse the applicant. A New Point.—A point in the conduct of criminal cases, of some importance, cropped up yesterday in the Supreme Court. In the case of Regina v R. J. Thompson, for forgery and uttering, the prisoner appeared in the dock wearing the prison clothing. His Honor enquired of the gaoler the reason of this, and was informed that he was serving a sentence for a similar offence committed iu Oamaru. His Honor pointed out that had the prisoner pleaded " Not Guilty," and a jury been empannelled, his appearance in prison clothes was likely at once to militate against him. It would, at once inform tie jury of what they were supposed to be in Ignorance of, viz—that the prisoner had been .iouvieted before. It was opposed to the spirit, of English law, and he hoped it would not occur again. Even if prisoner had no clothes of his own, efforts should have been made to bring him up out of prison clothes. The gaoler explained that considerable thought had been given to the matter, and as nothing was said about it in the prison regulations, it had been deemed right to bring the prisoner up as he was. His Honor siid he was not blaming the gaoler, but it should not occur again. Stranding op the Matau.—The Westport Times of the 23rd ult gives the following particulars of the stranding of the Matau:— " The town was startled this morning by the arrival of a posse of strangers coming from northward along the beach. They were passengers from the steamer Matau, and brought the news that the steamer had at 1 30 this morniug gone ashore on the beach between Df>adman's Creek and Waritea Creek. A good run was made down from Wellington to the Spit, and then the full force of the gale was felt. Captain Urquhart kept his boat running before it in anticipation of making the comparative shelter of the Buller roadstead, but a breakage in the machinery valves caused delay, and the vessel was kept under canvas while the repairs were being effected, and standing well off to get bearings of the Buller entrance, a most difficult matter in the haze and scud of the gale. When about in a line with the Mokihinui river, at 8 p.m, the wind shifted, and some very heavy seas were shipped, making a clean sweep of the decks, carrying away binnacle, lockers, tanks, and deck cargo, fouling the stearing gear and carrying away rudder chains and blocks, and causing loss of all control over the vessel, which drifted rapidly with the set of the current towards shore. As the only resource to save lives and property, the steamer was headed-for the beach between the Waritea and Deadman's, and stranded about half-past one this morning, providentially without the locs of a single life. The vessel was crowded with passengers, comprising a large number of miners en route for the Kurnara, and a number of Government immigrants for Westlaud, as also several cabin passengers. At daylight this morniug the majority of the passengers and the purser of the steamer came overland and reported the disaster. At the time of stranding, the majority of the passengers were in their bunks, and the crew all behaved manfully. In all there were 101 souls on board, but, so far as we can learn, none for Westport. She brings between 30 and 40 tons of cargo for this port, and about an equal quantity for Greymouth. Owing to the number of paasengert? on board the forehold was temporarily fitted up with bunks, and several tons of cargo was left behind, probably for Hokitika. The Matau is lying high and dry at low tide, and her cargo will be landed without delay." Floods at Hokitika.—The West Coast Times of Monday last says :—" The flood of Friday and Saturday morning was perhaps the heaviest ever experienced in Hokitika. It was at its highest about one or two o'clock on Saturday morning, about which time it suddenly fell, owing to another channel having broken out direct to sea near the flagstaff. Although, however, the water subsided for a few minutes after one a.m. it was not until one or two p.m. on Saturday that the low-lying portion of the town resumed its wonted appearance, and the water was diverted to its natural channel, the river. All round the Post Office and Custom House ; and, in fact, all of the Quay was coveted with water. Fitzherbert, Tancred, Eaniiltoa, Kewell and other streets, suffered ' o rlber more than the usual extent in rime <~i floods, and householders in those streets •vill bave good cause to remember the night, of the 22nd and the raorniog of the 23rd September, owing to the excessive inconvenience and obnoxionsnesa of the water. We hear, however, of no instances of any great damage being done. Housewives will have to lament, as usual, over spoiled carpets, and the departure into space of sundry household articles and utensils, but beyond that there is nothing serious to record." Cable Communication. —The following ■ elegram from the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, with reference to duplicate cab e communication, has been, published: " Mr Cracknell, our Superintendent of Telegraphs, advises by telegram from London as follows :—' Before deciding duplicate cable, see my letter 23rd August via San Francisco Am satisfied that cheapest and only duplication necessary at present is from Singapore to Banjoewangie, which will require only Srmall subsidy. Darwin cable not likely to give much trouble for some time, and will in future be immediately repaired. When Western Australian line fini&hed, could ?arry cable from Banjoewangie to NorthWest Cape. Submarine cable to Ceylon or Mauritius considered impracticable, and nothing doing for cable Mauritius to Aden. Duplicate hues are being shipped for Suez and Bombay, also for Rangoon and Penang. (The advantage of that, the hon gentleman f aid, would be that a connexion would be afforded with the land line from Calcutta, and this would virtually give a duplicate

line from Penang to Madras, between which places the present and late interruptions had occurred.) Norman ton proposal too expensive in comparison to Queensland proportion of subsidy. Above is only practicable arrangement without involving unnecessary expense to colonies ; cost per annum will be supplied in few days. So soon as the letter of the 23rd August arrives we will send you a copy.'" -Jackson's Bay,—The West Coast Times saya :—" The settlors at Jackson's Bay must be by th's time in a state of semi-starvation. When the Maori visited the Bay on her recent trip, the settlement was short of provisions, and unfortunately the steamer could only supply a ton or so of potatoes. When the Maori left on the 11th inst, there was no flour to be obtained, and no substitute for it, neither rice, barley, or oatmeal, so that by this time the two hundred families, who by a fiction are supposed to be under the care of a paternal Government, are in no enviable state. There are numbers of children at the settlement, and it is positively disgraceful to allow them to starve, or to sow the seeds of disease in their bodies by causing them to undergo privations which are trying enough to adults."

On the occasion of a recent " perambulation" of the parish of St George-in-the East, London, it was discovered that the " bumping stone" had been stolen, and the usual " bumping" ceremony had to be dispensed with.