NEWS OF THE DAY

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 895, 8 May 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Wool Exports prom Wellington.— Nino ships have this season been laden with wool at Wellington. Their cargoes contain 39,361 bales and packages, weighing 12,437,715 lbs., valued at £647,554. Last season eight ships were despatched, carrying 31,464 bales and packages, weighing 10,057,692 lbs., valued at £580,963.

Otago Harbor Loan. —At the last meeting of the Dunedin Harbor Board, a letter from the Bank of New Zealand was read, stating that the Bank was prepared to arrange for the immediate negotiation of the unissued balance of the Otago Harbor Board Loan, say £120,600, and to place at the disposal of the Board extended facilities for financial arrangements. The letter was referred to the finance committee for consideration.

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton.— A special meeting of the vestry of this church was held on Friday, 4th instant, at which it was resolved that the churchwardens be authorised to make preliminary arrangements for the sale of the parsonage site. It was also determined to advertise for a suitable person to fill the offices of sexton and verger, at £IOO per annum. Resident Magistrate’s Court. —lt is just as well for the public to know that in future, owing to the rapidly-increasing business at the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, all cases will be set down for hearing at 10 a.m., instead of 11 a.m. as formerly. This direction of Mr Mellish has been in force for some time witli respect to police cases only, but the rule will now apply to all.

The Gaiety. —There was a very good house at the Gaiety last night, when the farce of “Turn Him Out,” preceded the pantomine. The farce went very well throughout, as also did the pantomime. In the latter several new tricks were introduced, which evoked great laughter, many of them being exceedingly comic. To-night the same bill will be repeated, and to-morrow has been set apart for a special juvenile night. On this occasion gifts of toys will be made to the little folks attending. The pantomime will run the remainder of the week until Saturday, when the new burlesque “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” will be produced. Christchurch Poultry Society. A meeting of the committee was held on Friday last, at 8 p.m., at Warner’s Hotel, Cathedral square. Present —Messrs R. W. Fereday (vice-president in the chair), Stapleton, Goodman, Mills, Muschamp, Deacon, Adkin, Reade, Porter, Roes, and W. G. Walker (hon. sec.) Messrs Mills, Porter, Deacon, and Walker were appointed a sub-committee to arrange details for the next show and an art union, and they were asked to inspect the skating rink, with the view of holding the show there. Mr Porter reported a number of special prizes, and the committee undertook to canvass for more. Judges were nominated for all the classes, and after going partly into the regulations for the pigeon race from Timaru, the meeting adjourned to the 10th instant, at 7.30 p.m. Disfranchisement.— ln reference to the Eyreton district list of ratepayers who are entitled to be enrolled in respect of the Registration of Electors Act, 1875, it appears the returns prepared in good time and in a clear manner by the officer of the Board, were forwarded to Mr Hamilton, the former registration officer, it being supposed that he was still in office. Up to yesterday the missing returns had not reached the proper officer. No doubt Mr Hamilton would take immediate steps to put it in the right channel, and the question now is, where is it ? And in the event of its not turning up, will those of the electors on it who are not already on the electoral roll be deprived of enfranchisement ? Leeston. —A game of cricket, especially interesting, as evincing what may be expected from the rising generation in the Ellesmere district, was played on Saturday afternoon in a paddock kindly lent by Mr Geo. Sandrey. The Leeston school boys, with the assistance of some promising youngsters, gained a decided victory over the Southbridge school cricketers in one innings. In point of age and weight Leeston had by far the stronger show. But the result of the return match to bo played on the Southbridge ground on Saturday next, if those boys who have very lately taken to the game improve as much as they promise, may be very different.

Volunteering in Dunedin. —Judging by the reports of the Acting-Adjutant in Otago, the volunteer spirit is somewhat declining amongst the older and younger corps in the citv of Dunedin. Of the once celebrated and efficient No. 1 Company of City Guards he says :—“ This corps is not in the same prosperous state as when I had the honor of inspecting it last year, and the remarks I then made do not apply on this occasion. On the contrary, there is a general falling-off in the attendance at parade, and there seems to be but little interest taken by the members in the prosperity of the company. It is to be regretted that these unhealthy signs should manifest themselves in a corps which formed the nucleus of the volunteer movement in the citv, as well as the province, and a corps that undoubtedly was the main-stay of the volunteers here since 1864.” Of the City Guards Cadets he also says:—“ The arms and accoutrements I found to be but carelessly taken care of, and it was urged as an excuse that the arms issued to the company were now old, and consequently the cadets took but little interest in keeping them clean. I replied that they would be trusted with good and serviceable rifles when they took better care of the old ones. The conduct of the company generally reflects but little credit on its owcers.”

Cabs in Wellington. —The Inspector of Nuisances has made his annual official inspection of the cabs and other vehicles licensed to ply for passenger hire in the city of Wellington. The result of his inspection was as follows :—59 cabs, &c., presented themselves for examination ; of these 43 were passed, and 14 were sent back in consequence of their number, as posted up, being on a smaller scale than that prescribed by law, or because no scale of fares was exhibited. These 14 can come up again for inspection when they have complied with the requirements of the law. Lastly, three were rejected altogether as being in too dilapidated a condition to be permitted to run. Gold Prospecting at Porangahau.--The following original production appears in Te IVanantja in the form of a letter to the editor :—“ This is a notice so that all may know it. Gold lias been found by an European. It was found in the Porangahau district. That money (the gold) was like the gravel in size. He (the finder) also had a bag of stones, which were white, which he said was quartz. That European said it was found twenty miles from Porangahau. That European said that he has surveyed a piece of land for himself 100 feet long by 100 feet broad. When the Maoris said to him that he must show the place where the gold was found, he answered that he would not show it. The Maori said it was good, we did think you would show it so that we the two people (the Maori and European) might have property in it. The European ran (or went) away with his money (gold). If that European comes, do not give him the Government reward. That man has a red head, is six feet high, and his name is Teene (Mr Tierney, or Kane). If you see that he really has gold, keep it and take care of it in your possession. That European went on to our land without authority. He also took our spade, dish, and an American axe, and some of our food, and then he ran away into the forest, where he could dig secretly on our land. If that European comes with his gold, if it is really gold, take charge of him, so that we may hear where he has obtained the gold. —Enough from Tipene Matau.” Cricket. —An Australian Eleven.— Colonial cricketers (writes the .S A. Adcerti&er) will be glad to learn that definite arrangements are being made for taking an eleven of Australia to India and the old country. We have it on the best authority that several of the leading players of New South Wales, Kendall, Midwinter, and Hodges, of Victoria, and Arthur and Bailey, of Tasmania, have consented to join the team, but the final selection will not be made until after the int ercolonial match in Melbourne on Boxing Day. South Australia will have a chance of being represented in the team shoidd one or more of our Adelaide players show sufficiently good form during the intervening months to warrant their selection. There are at least sixteen good names now on the list from which to select, but the desire is to make the eleven thoroughly intercolonial and almost entirely amateur, but good enough to play against the county elevens of England. Coates will be captain of the team, and Bannerman will be included in it. In fact, all the best Sydney bats have consented to go home if chosen, with the exception of Evans, who has not yet given a reply. After the Boxing Day match in Melbourne, the selected men will play a round of matches at Ballarat, Sandhurst, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. From Sydney they will probably return to Melbourne, and play a final match ere they take ship for India, They will play against the leading clubs of Colombo, Madras, Bombay, and Allahabad, and after their Indian tour will proceed to England. Mr John Conway, the well-known cricketer and sporting writer, will accompany the team as agent.

The Commodore on Colonial Defences. —At a banquet to the Governor at Invercargill, Commodore Hoskins, in reply to the toast of the Navy, said, “ They must bear in mind that Her Majesty’s vessels at this part of the world had a great area to protect. To divide eight Governments in the Pacific among three ships was more than could be done. If any consul gets into trouble, or the natives anywhere make a disturbance, the English ships are expected to protect English subjects. Sometimes he was puzzled to find a ship when he wanted one. On account of the number of warlike natives here, New Zealand often had vessels of war calling, and thus the jealousy of some of the other colonies was aroused. As regards the danger to this colony from a hostile attack, he considered it small. The work at the outbreak of a war between two great nations was so concentrated that no large detachments could be spared to attack the colonies. The danger was rather from a small expeditionary force, or from privateers. In case of war being declared, our commerce could be carried almost entirely in fast steamers. As for fighting on land, the danger was a remote one, though he agreed that the young men of the colony should be prepared for that. A little military training was an admirable thing for them, as it taught them something of discipline, and also how to carry themselves well. They would want in war time torpedoes for their harbours, and two Armstrong guns in addition would keep a harbour tolerably secure.”

Thk San Francisco Mail Service.— On the 9th March the New Zealand Times published extracts from the log of the Zcalandia of her voyage from Auckland to San Francisco and back in December and February last, and now giyes similar particulars of the voyage of the Australia, just completed. Comparing the steaming capabilities of the two ships, it is found that on the upward voyage the Zcalandia averaged 1134 miles per hour, and the Australia 11 - 58. On the downward voyage the Australia’s speed averaged 11'90 miles an hour, while the Zealandia’s reached 12'03. From this it will be seen that the Zcalandia and Australia arc evenly matched, and that the performances of these two magnificent vessels are of a very high order indeed. The London mails by the Australia were delivered in Auckland' in forty-one days, in Wellington in forty-four days, and in Dunedin in forty-six days. These arc the quickest times within which mails from London have ever been delivered in the colony. As a matter of comparison, it may be of interest to state that the quickest delivery of mails in the colony from London via Brindisi lias been forty-five days, and this on an occasion when the Galle and intercolonial packets made remarkably quick passages, delivering the mails at the Bluff in seven days in advance of the clue date. The New Zealand mails have been delivered in London by way of San Francisco in forty-one days from Auckland, while the shortest time within which our mails have reached London by the Brindisi route has been fifty-one days from the Bluff. T)ie time is computed from the date of departure from Auckland and the Bluff, these ports being the last of departure for the respective services.

Resident Magistrate’s Court, Akaroa. —We hare received from our correspondent at Akaroa a very lengthy report of a civil case heard in the Resident Magistrate’s Court there, in which the plaintiff was 11. G. Watkins, and the defendant T. Adams. The action was to recover £4O 13s 9d lor goods supplied to the defendant’s “god-daughter,” Maggie Henderson. In the course of the hearing there was some curious evidence of a personal and domestic character, and the presiding magistrates, Mr Aylmer and the Mayor, considered there was reason for charging some of the parties with perjury. A subsequent telegram reports their arrest on that charge. The case is said to be exciting intense interest in the locality, but it is not of such public concern as to justify the publication of the report in full, especially when “space” does not adjust itself for the purpose A Nice Point. —A case in which the licensed victuallers’ elementof the community is very strongly interested, came before Mr Mellish yesterday. The police authorities summoned a number of the hotelkeepers for alleged identical breaches of the Licensing Act, but as the counsel retained on their joint behalf intimated that it was likely an appeal to the Supreme Court would be made, it was decided to proceed with one information only, and make it a test case. The offence laid in the information was to the effect that the proprietor of Barrett’s Family Hotel had more than one bar in his licensed house, without having received the consent of the Licensing Bench and paid the fees for the same. Evidence was led that a door cut in two—on the top of the lower part of which was a kind of ledge or shelf —gave access to the bar from a passage, and that a small aperture or pigeon hole in another passage could, if opened, enable the person serving in the bar to supply drink to customers. It was therefore contended that this aperture in one passage and the two half doors in the other passage must be taken to be separate bars under the Act. Mr Joynt combatted this construction of the Act, and. as a preliminary observation, informed the Court that he had vainly searched for a legal definition of the word “bar.” He had likewise consulted the best dictionaries, and the general definition given was that a bar was an enclosed place of a tavern, in which a landlord or his servant sat and dispensed liquors or refreshments to his customers ; and this place, he submitted, might have entrances from all directions. For convenience sake, it was necessary to board up certain portions, as in the present case, but he submitted that all the apertures or entrances leading into the one place must be taken to be part and parcel of the one bar from which all comers were supplied. No such distinction as was attempted to bo made here had ever arisen in England. It was not only repugnant to the definition of the word “ bar ” but to common sense itself to say that the two apertures constituted two separate bars. The Resident Magistrate ruled that for the purpose of this case, the definition of the word bar must be taken to bo the definition as given in the Act of 1873, which laid down that “ the words public bar shall mean and include any room, passage, or lobby in any licensed public-house open immediately to any street, highway, or public thoroughfare wherein the public may enter and purchase any spirituous or fermented liquors.” His Worship imposed a fine of £5 for each extra bar initialed on the ground plan of the building produced in Court; and in answer to Mr Joynt. consented to state a case for appeal. This being taken as a test case, all the others were adjourned sine die pending the decision of the Supreme Court, except that against the proprietor of the Golden Fleece Hotel, in which the defendant admitted having a bar in the billiard-room without the necessary consent of the Licensing Bench and payment of the fees stipulated by the Act, and was mulcted in the penalty of £5. The point raised in Barrett’s case is a most important one, but as his Honor the Judge is just on the ere of departure for Wellington to attend the Court of Appeal, some weeks must necessarily elapse before argument is held and the decision of the Supreme Court, sitting in banco, pronounced. Should the decision on the appeal be against them, it is more than likely that the members of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association will endeavour to have the Act amended.