NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 715, 4 October 1876, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Lyttelton Harbour Bill.— The Lyttelton Harbour Board Bill has been received from Wellington, and is to be seen at the Chamber of Commerce.

St. Peter’s Church. Riccarton.— The new chancel lately added to this church will be opened by the Primate on Thursday next. Services will be held at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Diggings,— On board the Ladybird, s s., yesterday, were some eighty Otago diggers bound for the new rush. Several had to be refused a passage from here, as there was no room, so they wait for the Wakatipu, which sails to-morrow.

The Proposed New Municipality.— Over 800 signatures have already been received to the petition asking that the proposed new southern municipality, to be called Sydenham, should be proclaimed. It is stated that only about 5 per cent of the ratepayers called upon have refused to sign. The document will be forwarded to Wellington during next week. Volunteer Parade —The head quarte s companies and officers paraded last night at the Drill shed. There was a good muster. The battalion, with Major Lean in charge, marched to Hagley park, preceded by the engineers’ band, where they were exercised in skirmishing drill with blank cartridge for about two hours. After breaking off for a short while a return was made to the Drill shed, when each company was dismissed to its own parade ground. Spinning and Weaving Company.—A meeting of shareholders in this company was held last right at the Pier Hotel, Kaiapoi, at which one hundred shares were represented. Mr Oram occupied the chair. It was resolved unanimously—" That in the opinion of the shareholders present, the Canterbury Spinning and Weaving Company be forthwith wound up, and a committee te formed to canvass the whole of the shareholders to get the consent of the requisite majority,” The committee appointed consisted of Messrs Beharrell, Parnham, Isnac Wilson, Johnston, 11. Moore, Wearing, and J, Wilson.

Rules foe Sale op Ammunition.—A proclamation appears in the General Government Gazette , declaring th it the provisions relative to the sale and disposal of ammunition for mining and sporting purposes, and the fee imposed in respect to ordinary licenses in the form A, are suspended within the Middle Island, and new rules on the subject issued. Any Justice of the Peace, collector of customs, or officer of police, may grant a permit to any applicant to purchase not more than two pounds powder, twenty pounds shot, and 500]caps ; the permit shall be free of cost, For the pu-pose of destroying rabbits, twenty-five pounds may be granted. A Resident Magistrate may grant a permit for an increased quantity of powder for blasting mining, rne necessary forms to bn obsAfi/et! are set forth in the Ga»Me of 28thi

St. Augustine’s, Waimatb.— On Friday last, being the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, special services were held in this church. There was a celebration oi'the Holy Communion after Matins, the celebrant and preacher being the Most Reverend the Primate. The Litany was said at 3 p.m,, after which his Lordship held a Confirmation. The candidates, eighteen in number, were presented separately by .the curate to receive the holy rite. Before the laying on of hands, and after a short interval of silent prayer, the Yeni Creator was sung, the candidates kneeling, Although the afternoon was wet, the church was crowded, some persons being obliged to stand throughout the service. At Evensong the preacher was the Venerable Archdeacon Harper. There was again a good congregation.

Opening Boating Season.— The boating season will be opened on Saturday, October 7, by a procession of boats. The committee are taking some trouble to make the event a success, and if the weather holds fine, there is no doubt that spectators will have a good afternoon’s enjoyment. The usual amount of bunting will be displayed, and a thoroughly efficient band has been engaged to discourse music during the afternoon. The band will, on this occasion, be stationed in the paddock opposite the boat sheds, and not as hitherto, in front of Mr Lee’s house. A meeting of the opening day committee will be held this evening, to make final arrangements. Supreme Court. —The Court was occupied during the whole of yesterday with the case of Regina v Alice Sheehan, for the murder of her infant. After two and a half hoars’ deliberation the jury returned a verdict of “Not Guilty,” owing to "insanity at the time of the commission of the offence. Under the 9th section of the Lunatics Act, his Honor directed the prisoner to be removed to Sunnyside Asylum, there to be kept during the pleasure of the Colonial Secretary. In the case of Regina v Fluerty and Fabrica, charged with killing cattle with intent to steal the carcases, the Grand Jury threw out the bill., They were then discharged without making any presentment.

A.O.F.—The members of the Court Star of Canterbury, 2309, held their usual quarterly summoned meeting on Monday evening last, when there watf a very large muster of the brethren, and business of a very important nature was transacted. The present hall having been found too small and too poorly ventilated for the comfort of the members, it has been decided to remove it and build a more commodious one on the same site, and a committee of seven members was formed on Monday evening to carry out all necessary detail connected with same. This Court numbers now over 400 members, and with the extra inducements held out by the district (they having lately increased the funeral donation to £2O on a member’s death, and £lO on a member’s wife’s death) there is every probability of this Court becoming one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Un

Rangiora Cricket Club.—A general meeting of this club was held at Lewton’s Junction Hotel, on Monday evening,' at which there was a large attendance. Mr O, Merton was voted to the chair. Mr E. R. Good, secretary and treasurer, gave in a report of the affairs of the club, and stated there was a credit balance to its account at the bank amounting to £lO 16s lOd. There was also some of the materials of the club in good order. It was resolved—“ That a commencement be made with, the game this season, and that a sub-committee of Messrs Merton, J. Wheeler, W. A. Burt, and Morice, be appointed to select a playing ground.” It was decided that the members’ subscriptions be 10s 6d each, and a number of gentlemen were elected as members. Mr O, Merton was unanimously elected president. Messrs G. Watson, D. M. Martin, E, R. Good, P. Morice, L. Hunnibell, and O. Wright, were elected a managing committee for the year, Mr Good kindly consenting to act as secretary and treasurer, pro tem. Mr Hunnibell, by request, accepted the office of custodian. Before adjourning it was decided that the opening game be played on Saturday next, at 1.30 p.m.

Oust, —An entertainment, consisting of readings, songa, and music, was he’d in the schoolroom, Oust, on Friday evening last. Owing to the very inclement state of the weather there was not a large attendance. Mr H. H. Oholmondeley (in the unavoidable absence of the Rev R. Jackson) occupied the chair. The several items on the programme went off very successfully, notably the piano duets of the Misses Higgins and the Misses Searell, and a pianoforte solo by Ernest Searell, which was loudly encored. Several readings, one by Mr R. L. Higgins from “ Nicholas Nickleby,” were capitally given, and caused great laughter. Mr Oholmondley and Mr Dobson also gave good readings. Mr Blunden’s song, “ Pour out the Rhine wine," was sung well. The Oust choir sung several rounds during the evening, which appeared to amuse the audience. The proceeds of the entertainment were not very large, owing to the thin attendance, and it is proposed to hold another of a similar kind in about a fortnight. Upwards of £3 were, however, netted, and will be devoted to the Oust Parsonage Building Fund. Billiards —The champion played his last two matches in Canterbury at Cameron’s Mitre Hotel, on Monday evening. The first was with his agent, Mr Cole, to whom he gave 350 in 600. The attendance was good, about forty being present during the evening. The table has just arrived from Melbourne, and is one of the best Alcock can make. Play began at 7 20, the champion playing most brilliantly, making a 54 break after the miss had been given, and then after Mr Cole had made a 9, and he himself a 6, Mr Cole gave another miss, and the champion then went to work and made a grand break of 247* thus bringing the scores to—Cole, 386 ; Roberts, 309, The 247 were put together very rapidly by splendid all round play, comparatively few spot strokes being made. Cole then made a creditable 23. The champion followed with breaks of 35 and 26, Cole scoring slowly, a break of ten being, his largest score till the game stood—Roberts, 434 ; Cole, 450, when the champion made a pretty break of 44, thus heading Cole by 18. Cole then scored 10 and Roberta 20, after which the latter drew away, making a capital 33, one 18 and 15, Cole getting further and further behind, till the game stood—Roberts, 597 ; Cole, 508 ; the latter then made a pretty 23, after which the Cham* pion scored out with a long losirg hazard. The time occupied in scoring the 600 was I hour 10 minutes. The champiqn then played three games at pyramids with Mr Cole, giying liim three balls; he won the first by five balls, Cels wog the second by

one ball; but in the third Roberts went in, pocketing nine balls in succession, winning by seven balls. The three games occupied 15 minutes. After an interval, the champion played Weston, giving him 300 out of 600. At the very beginning of the game Roberts made breaks of 59 and 60, when Westou, who was in splendid form, made a 44 and then a 24 break, after which the champion put a clever 44 together. After some small breaks Weston made a beautiful 53, and the champion then made 119, thegame standing—Weston, 467 ; Roberts, 365. This looked like a win for the champion, who made 45 off the spot, but Weston, by careful play, made another fine break of 52. Roberts made another 33, the game then standing— Roberts, 502 ; Weston; 651 ; the game became very interesting from this point, the champion making 30, bringing him to 648, Weston then got to 699 when he missed, and gave Roberts another chance, which he did not take, Weston then ran oat, the scores feeing—Weston 600, Roberts 652, The game was a most interesting one, and Was played in Ih lOmin, the same time as the former, the audience testified their satisfaction by frequent applause. As in the former game, the champion played very few spot strokes. Some fancy strokes played by the champion brought the evening’s play to a close. Mr Roberts was a passenger to Wellington by the s.B Ladybird yesterday. Destructive Fire at Hokitika.— Monday’s West Coast Times gives the following account of a fire which , happened there on the Saturday morning previously: “ Numbers of persons had been sitting up watching the flood till past two o’clock, when the secoud channel breaking out soon caused the water in the low lying parts to become reduced, and most people had retired for a few hours of peaceful rest. They did not remain long undisturbed however, for at five o’clock the fire bell rang oat an alarm, with a loudness and continuance which denoted unmistakably that a large fire bad broken out. It was soon discovered that Mr James Craig’s upper store, in Gibson’s Quay, was the scene of the conflagration, Notwithstanding the difficulties of approach, many parts of the town being then several feet under water, there were hundreds of persons on the spot in a few minutes. Before the alarm was given the flames had caught firm hold of the building, immense flames and towers of smoke were to be seen bursting forth, and all hope of saving the building, or much of the stock, was past. The chief consideration was to save the houses of Mr Plaisted, ironmonger, and Mr Smith, school inspector, both closely adjoining. Mr Plaisted had felt the smell of smoke long before the fire bell gave forth its notes. He instantly woke his household, and gave the alarm all round. The children were quickly dressed and taken to Mrs Shepherd’s dwelling close by. For a time it was considered that Mr Flaisted’a house was doomed, it being engnlphed in the flames. The front windows were broken with the heat, and' the paint charred along the upper portion of the building. The wind was blowing strongly from the south-west at the time, and had Mr Plaisted’s house caught, Mr Smith's would be sure to meet with a like fate. Noue.of the furniture was removed from Mr Plaisted’s, but it was thought advisable to remove most of Mr Smith’s in case of the worst happening, and some little damage was done in this way, as the ground was soaking wet in all directions, Everything that could possibly be done at the commencement to save tha stock belonging to Mr Craig was done, though as we have stated, the fire had got too firm a hold for much to be saved. The store was filled with iron, oil, paints, timber, doors, sashes, saws, glass, and general merchandise of that description. A few barrels of oil and kegs of paint, and other small goods which were easily removable by hand, were saved; but a large quantity of valuable material was totally consumed. The total loss is said to be between £760 and £IOOO,- which will all fall upon Mr Craig, who happened to be unin» sured. The risk was considered so safe, being some distance apart from other buildings, and not containing shavings or combustibles of any kind, that Mr Craig ran the full risk himself. Besides, the building was unoccupied at night, and there was consequently no fire whatever at any time on tha premises. The accident, it appears, arose in this way: Mr Craig landed a few bags of unslacked lime from one of the steamers, which he placed in the store for a day or two. The flood came on in the meantime, the rain never ceasing all day, and a considerable quantity of water got through the roof and around the building. The lime must have got thoroughly saturated, caught fire, and extended to the other articles within the building, and then to the building itself, which soon became a complete ruin.”