NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 892, 4 May 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Grey Coal. —The following were the shipments of coal, coke, and firebricks from the port of Grey for the week ended April 28th : Coastwise, 581' tons coal, 32 tons eoke, 4000 fire brieks. The Gaiety. —There was again a very good house at the Gaiety last evening, when the burlesque and harlequinade was repeated very successfully. All the characters were excellently filled, and the piece as a whole went capitally. To-night “ Cinderella ” will again be played. Maori Relic. —A greenstone hatchet has been found by Mr Neil MeConuoehie while prospecting in the ranges near Reefton. The discovery is a. remarkable one, having regard to the locality, and the fact that so few Maoris are suppe sed to have inhabited this portion of New Zealand. Philosophical Institute. The usual meeting of this institute was held last evening at the Public Library ; the president, Dr. Von Haast, in the chair. After the transaction of some routine business, and the election of Messrs C. C. Howard and J. Holloway, as members, Mr Czerwonka read a paper on the Drainage question. Considerable discussion followed, Dr. Powell, Mr Dobson, Revs. C. Fraser, Habens, and Jackson taking part in it. Licensed Victuallers’ Association. — A committee meeting was held yesterday at Radeliffe’s Hotel, when it was resolved to instruct Messrs Joynt and Thomas [to appear for those members who had been summoned for having extra bars, and should the decision be adverse to appeal to (he Supreme Court. It was also determined to seek an interview with the members for the city in reference to any new Ordinance that may be introduced in the approaching session of the General Assembly. The Eight Hours’ System. —The anniversary of the inauguration of the eight hours system among the Melbourne trades was celebrated on Saturday week by a magnificenl procession never before equalled in Melbourne, and having a strong political significance af Ihis juncture, on the eve of a general election. The procession extended a good mile, fom abreast, enlivened by the massive banners h front of nearly every trade, and eight band interspersed, six with brass instruments and two drum and fife.

Entertainment. —An entertainment, comprising the exhibition of dissolving views of various kinds, and a concert, took place last evening,at St. Luke’s schoolroom. The proceeds were to be devoted towards the reduction of the debt on St. Matthew’s Church, Caledonian road. There was a very good attendance, and both parts of the entertainment went off successfully. Stealing Amalgam. The Liangahua Timex makes a somewhat startling disclosure of what it designates as a wholesale system of amalgam stealing. Our contemporary alleges that it lias been ascertained that large quantities of amalgam have been sold to one of the Nelson banks, and further that a Dunedin bank has also purchased amalgam under circumstances which leave little room to doubt that it came from the Inangahua. So far, however, the police have not been able to make any further discovery. The “ Lyell Argus ” Once More. —The editor of the Lyell Arqvs lias been paid for an advertisement, evidently to his astonishment. Under the head of Wanted, the following appears in the Argus: —“A Young Woman of domestic habits, with strength of mind to refuse the first offer of marriage she would be sure to receive. Apply Ary vs Office. (The above advertisement has been inserted by a lady who, strange to say, paid for it. We mention this as we don’t want all the young women in the country fooling about our office under the pretence of looking for a situation. However, wo should like to see the girl with strength of mind, &c., &c. She’d be a curiosity to this part of the world. Ed. A.)” South Canterbury Jockey Club. —The annual meeting of this club was held at the Criterion Hotel on Wednesday evening. The following members of the club were elected a committee of management for the ensuing year —viz., Messrs Hamraersley, Martelli, R. Stansell, Jonas, and T. Hall. Mr M. Studholme was elected president of the club for the ensuing year. Mr R. Stansell tendered his resignation as secretary to the club, but was re-elected. Mr Hammersley was elected treasurer of the club for the ensuing year. It was resolved that the next half-yearly meeting should be held on the first Monday of September. Thanks were given to Mr Lance for his services as handicapper, and several other resolutions were passed.

The Rev. Father Chareyre. This reverend gentleman, who is now in Nelson, on his way to his native country, France, was previous to his departure from Christchurch met by a few of the prominent members of his congregation and presented with an address and a purse of sovereigns. Father Chareyre made a feeling reply to the affectionately worded address, thanking Catholics and those of other denominations for their generous assistance to the liquidation of the debt of the church. His departure, which will be regretted by members of several flocks in different parts of the colonywas rendered necessary in consequence of the delicate state of his health. Paying Wages in Public-houses.—A case of some importance to publicans was heard at the Auckland Police Court last week, in which Mr Dempsey was fined for allowing wages to be paid in his licensed house. By the clause of the Act under which the information was laid, any publican allowing wages to be paid in his licensed house, subjects himself to a penalty not exceeding £2O. The circumstances, as stated by the defendant and corroborated by the police, _ were simple enough. Mr Dempsey, besides owning a public-house, is contractor for a section of the reclamation works, and has been in the habit of paying his men in a small office on the works. On the day in question he was unable to pay Iris men in this office, as it had changed owners, and when the workmen came to his own residence he paid them there the amounts due to them. He disclaimed any intention of breaking through the Act, and stated also that since he took the contract ho did not allow any of the men employed by him to obtain drink at his licensed house. These facts were taken into consideration by the Resident Magistrate (Mr Barstow), who fined the defendant in the mitigated penalty of twenty shillings and costs. Lyttelton Colonists’ Society. —The committee of this society held their annual meeting on Wednesday evening last; Mr H. N. Naldcr, the president, in the chair. A letter from Mr Joshua Little, resigning his seat on the committee, as ho was leaving the port, was read. The resignation was received. From the treasurer’s report it appeared that the receipts for the past month amounted to £ll 6s 6d. Accounts amounting to 8s 6d were passed for payment. A report from the entertainment committee, stating that they had arranged to give the first of the winter evening readings on Friday, May 11th, was read. The meeting next considered a report of the sub-com-mittee appointed to improve the ventilation of the Hall, who stated the work was now in progress, the matter of enclosing the additional dressing-room was to be proceeded ■with at once. Mr R. Kingsford was elected a committeeman vice Mr Little, resigned. Dr Rouse, who had been absent from several meetings, was re-elected a member of committee. The secretary laid on the table a return of the papers and periodicals taken by the society, and the question of the advisableness of procuring these in the colony was discussed. This concluded the business. Auckland v Canterbury. —This is how the Auckland correspondent of the Otago Times discourses on hospitals, schools, Auckland, and Canterbury:—“The new hospital is to be opened in a few days. Its position is magnificent —on the crest of a hill in the Domain. It is visible from all parts of the surrounding country, and is the most prominent landmark to vessels coming up the harbour. The building has cost about £IB,OOO. The money was partly obtained by debentures, issued on the security of the reserve in Queen street, under an Act passed during the last session of the Provincial Council. Half the money so raised was to go to the hospital. The other half was to go to school building—£2o,ooo was raised and equally divided, so that the schools have benelited as well as the hospital. To the £IO,OOO for schools from this source, there lias been added another £IO,OOO from the vote of last session. Previous to this the whole of the school buildings in the province were not worth £SOOO. They will now be worth £25,000. Our population is larger than that of Canterbury, and all our school buildings together have not probably cost as much as those in Christchurch alone. Yet the people of this province have paid a school rate of about £12,000 a year, and those of Canterbury, who are fond of talking of our want of self-reliance, are very far behind us in this respect at all events. You will hear more of those tilings in their relation to the land fund >f the colony during the next session, if our representatives take the part universally expected from them.”

The Ohinemuri “War.” —The Paeroa correspondent of the Thames paper reports on April 21st: —“ Mr Puckey, Taipara, and others, came up yesterday in the Buona Yentura to take steps to put an end to the war. The result of the talk was that the Ngatitamatera raised the blockade and shot the booms. One casualtyitook place while the firing was going on, Paora Tuinga’s dog having unluckily come in the way of one of the balls. So ends the war in Ohinemuri! The Ngatirahiri still say that they will never make friends with Ngatitamatera, and the latter have placed themselves in a very undignified position. A party started tins mornng to demolish No. 1 Redoubt. The Sitotover Reefs. —The reeling interest in the Upper Shotover district looks promising according to accounts in the Wakatip paper, but water for crushing purposes is scarce. The tributors of the Phoenix claim have about 150 tons of stone to grass, and are kept nearly idle for want of water. It is calculated the stone will yield from half an ounce to an ounce to the ton. Mr Southberg’s party are said to be getting out good payable quartz, and will soon be ready to crush. A very fine specimen was taken from the new tunnel of the New Nugget and Cornish Company’s claim, which is reported to be looking exceedingly well. Messrs Hicks and Malaghan, two of the directors, visited the mine on Monday last, and they express themselves highly pleased with the prospects. The reef at present in sight in the tunnel (which is 730 ft. long) shows good gold throughout, with every indication of improvement on being further opened up. Lecture at Waltham. —There was a large attendance at the Wesleyan Chapel, Waltham, on Wednesday evening last to hear a lecture on “ Modern Discoveries in Assyria,” delivered by the Rev. J. S. Smalley, The lecture was illustrated by 34 large diagrams, which took up all the space on the wall behind the pulpit and conveyed to the audience a very correct idea of these remarkable discoveries. The human-headed winged lions and bulls in alabaster, the bas-reliefs of sieges, processions, and divinities, showing the manners, arts, and customs of the Assyrians, were all represented. The chief explorers of Assyrian remains were Mr Rich, M. Botta, Mr Layard, and Mr G-eorge Smith. The work of each of those gentlemen was reviewed by the rev. gentleman, who dwelt at some length upon the cuneiform character, of which some specimens were exhibited. The inscriptions had thrown much light upon the Bible, especially the flood—legends found in the Royal Library at Konyunjik by Mr Layard and afterwards deciphered by Mr Smith. The process by which these ancient palaces were entombed and hidden for several thousand years from the gaze of the world, was explained ; the cause of Assyria’s decline and destruction was pointed out; and comparisons were made between the history of that nation and of Britain, with the deduction that as the champion of freedom and the refuge of the oppressed, the prosperity and greatness of the latter should never decay. The action of Britain in the matter of the Turkish atrocities was a most cheering and hopeful sign of the times. The lecture was listened to with unwearying attention throughout, and elicited frequent applause. Votes of thanks to the lecturer, the choir, and the chairman, which were carried by acclamation, brought to a close a very pleasant meeting.