NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 734, 26 October 1876, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Concert.— A miscellaneous concert, in aid of thechoir fund, will be given on Friday evening, at the Durham street Wesleyan school. Postal. —On and after the 26th instant a post office will be opened at the Long Beach railway station, and the office designated “ Winslow.” Mr H. Crowe Francis has been appointed postmaster. Post Card. —We have to acknowledge the receipt of a specimen of the post card, which is to be brought into use in this colony on the Ist of November next. In England, and some of the other Australian colonies, the post card has been found a great public convenience, and such will no doubt be the case here, when the public become accustomed to its use. The New Zealand card is very neatly got up. Narrow Escape. —Mr J. Macfarlane, grocer, had a narrow escape yesterday afternoon from being seriously hurt. When nearing Worcester street bridge the horse he was riding shied at a trap coming in an opposite direction, and stumbling against some loose stones on the road, threw his rider heavily on the metal. Fortunately Mr Macfarlane escaped with a slight shaking,

Bast Christchurch School Entertainment. —The children attending East Christchurch school had a practice at the drill shed yesterday preparatory to their entertainment on Friday next in aid of their fife and drum band, Some 600 scholars attended, as well as a goodly number of the general public, who appeared highly pleased with the performance. The children sang admirably, and the entertainment to-morrow evening promises to be a great success.

Death from Drowning. —About halfpast five yesterday afternoon a young lad named Alfred Clark, fifteen years of age, was drowned in the dam of the river Styx mill. Deceased had gone to bathe, in company with a younger brother, and a short time afterwards the latter returned home, saying his brother was drownc l The body was afterwards taken out by the boy’s father from under a projecting bank where the water is about 15ft deep. The deceased could not swim.

Inquest.—An inquest was held yesterday at the Hospital on the body of Lucy Tracey. The evidence showed that deceased had for some time past been leading an intemperate life, and on Tuesday last when crossing Montreal bridge was seen to stagger and fall down as if intoxicated. She was picked up and conveyed to the Hospital, but died before reaching there. The medical evidence showed that death had resulted from sunstroke, accelerated by heart disease. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the evidence.

Avon Road Board.— A meeting was held on October 23rd, Present— Messrs Wilson, Dickenson, and Philpott. Mr Wilson was voted to the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The surveyor’s report was read and considered. A deputation waited upon the Board to ask that something might be done to the road leading past their land, and known as the Bottle Lake road. After some discussion it was decided that those interested should endeavour to make some arrangement among themselves, and the Board would do what they could towards forming the road Letter received from Gas Company, asking whether, in the event of a gas main being laid up the Springfield road, the Board would require any lamps erected. The Board decided that they would not require any at present. Letter received from the City Council, asking what is the rate of wages given by the Board to the men in their employ, and the nature of the employment. The clerk was instructed to give the required information. Tenders were received for claying Canal Reserve Road, and shingling Cumberland street, Bingsland, when those of Foster Brothers and Partridge were accepted. Accounts to the amount of £248 10s lid were passed and ordered to be paid. The Board then adjourned.

The Bombardment Hanaro. With reference to the comments of some of the newspapers on his letter to Captain Maling, Mr Dsrgaville writes —“ Sir.—The Auckland mail has just arrived, bringing newspapers containing comments upon my letter to Captain Mating re Sir George Grey’s bombardment canard. At present I have only time to say that I protest against the conversation between the Superintendent and myself being regarded as in any sense private or confidential. As he himself says, we were not in the habit of conversing confidentially. He spoke as Superintendent of the province to me as a member of the Pro vincial Council on a purely political matter. 1 was strongly opposed to him and his partyin the Council at the time. His object was to induce me to withdraw my motion with reference to the assumption by him of the control of the police, and the arguments he. used were those stated in my letter to Capt Maling. The fact of my having mentioned the matter nest morning to several gentlemen shows that I, at least, did not consider the communication as of a private nature,”

Fire Alarms.— At a meeting of the Fire Brigade committee, held yesterday, the necessity of establishing telegraphic communication between the new Fire Brigade station and the Police Depot, Hospital, and other buildings, was discussed at great length. Ultimately the subject was ad journed until an early date to allow of an estimate of the cost of the proposed connections being prepared. The late fire in Tuam street was also considered, and it was decided ro communicate with the Commissioner of Police, and ask him to institute a strict inquiry into the matter. Cricket.— The U.C.C.C. will play a match on Saturday next between married and single, commencing at 2 p.m. The following are the names of the respective sides. All members are requested to attend Married —Cobb, Cuff, Dawe, Dickinson, Dunkly, Harman, Izard, Lance, Loughrey, Macquarie, Ollivier, Parkerson, Souter, W. G Walker, Wood, Worthy. Single—Barker, Condell, H. Cotterill, B. J, Cotterill, W. Cotterill, Cook, Deacon, W. Frith, Loughnan, Leach, W. Million, J. H, Million, Moore, Nalder, Neilson, O’Connell, Beade, Wilkinson, J. Warner, W. G. Warner.

Serious Loss, The Masterton News says:—“ Particulars of a serious casualty which lately befel the flocks of Mr J. Valentine Smith, of Mataikuna station, have reached us. It appears the flock was in course of being mustered for shearing, when a draft of 3000 broke am ay, and rushed headlong down a steep precipice, landing in a narrow gully. So precipitate was the descent that the animals went 1 pell-mell’ to the bottom, tumbling over each other in a heap. Before the mass could be extricated, upwards of of 300 young sheep, principally wethers and weaners, were smothered.” Inspection op Lunatic Asylums.—A Wellington contemporary says :—“ From a paper laid upon the table of tbe House, it appears that Dr F, Skae, superintendent of one of the principal district asylums in Scotland, has accepted the appointment of Inspector of Lunatic Asylums in tbe colony, his engagement being for three years, at a salary of £7OO a year. This is the office the salary for which was excised from the estimates a few nights ago. The Commissioners in Lunacy, it appears, had considerable difficulty in procuring a suitable person for the office, but they seem to have made a good selection in Dr Skae, who is a son of the late Dr Skae, of the Edinburgh Asylum, and whose acquaintance with asylum management is most extensive. It remains to be seen how the Government will deal with the difficulty in which they have been placed by the House, by the salary for the office being disallowed after the office had been filled, and bonds entered into by the Agent-General and Dr Skae, who is already on his way to the colony. Lyttelton Cricket Club —a meeting of gentlemen interested in forming a cricket club in Port, was held at the Mitre Hotel, Lyttelton, on Tuesday night. About twenty gentlemen were present, Mr W. H. Eyes occupying the chair. Messrs P. Ward and Sergeant-Major O’Grady, both of whom have taken great trouble in this matter, spoke at length of the possibility and advisableness of establishing a clnb, stating that nearly forty gentlemen had promised to join, and there was every prospect of being able to obtain suitable ground at the Heatbcote Valley or its neighbourhood. It was then proposed—“ That a Cricket Club be formed, to be called the Lyttelton Cricket Club ” Carried. Messrs P. Ward, W, H. Byes, and Sergeant-Major O’Grady were then ap pointed a preliminary committee (Mr P. Ward to act as bon secretary pro tem.) for the purpose of ascertaining particulars re ground and transit to valley, and also to prepare draft rules ; to report to a meeting to be held at the Mitre Hotel on Friday, 27th instant. An adjournment then took place.

An Ingenious Contrivance,— Owing to land fronting upon Manchester street being required for the new Bailway station, it was necessary to remove the two houses situated thereupon in occupation of the police. These two houses were upon the same basement, and consequently it was imperative that they should be moved together. Accordingly the following method was adopted: Powerful screw jacks were put into operation on Tuesday, for the purpose of raising the house to a certain height. When this was effected the entire building was shifted on to a frame placed upon an ordinary trolly, the trolly running upon an improvised line of broad gauge rails, with the sleepers simply laid upon the ground. The site chosen upon which to replace the building was one at the rear of the station master's house, and so the distance traversed was several hundreds of yards. The time taken to remove the building would have been no more than a few hours, but for an obstacle occurring in the form of the Corporation tanks. This threw the gear out of the line, and it was some time before the body of workmen could regain the original direction. However, they succeeded at last, and the whole affair must be deemed a very decided success, and the saving of a large sum of money, which must have been expended ia re-building.