NEWS OF THE DAY

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 903, 17 May 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

English Shipping. —The Waimea, from Lyttelton, had arrived at London on May Bth.

Christchurch East Infant School. — At the meeting of the Board of Education yesterday, a tender for the erection of tire new infant school in connection with the Christchurch East district was accepted.

Mertvale Foot is a r. r, Clujj.—A match will bo played on Saturday next, at three o’clock sharp, in Mr Blakiston’s paddock, Springfield road, the sides being the Banks against the rest of the Club. The Bankers will appear in white jerseys, and the rest of the club will wear the club colors. The Proposed Prison at Taranaki. — A paragraph has been going the rounds of Northern papers to the effect that the Govern - ment had abandoned the idea of a colonial prison at Taranaki in favour of a project for erecting one at Auckland. The Jtaranaki Herald, however, has authority to contradict the statement.

Chess. —Several Cup games were played on Saturday at the Dunedin Chess Club room. Mr D. E. Hay still heads the list Avith —won 18, lost 2 ; Jan ion—won 151*, lost 3| ; Mouat —won 13, lost 5. Several competitors having retired from the Cup contest, the total number of games the winner will play will be about 24. Mr D. E. Hay lias challenged Mr Hookham and Mr Jacobsen, of Canterbury. Heaehcote Eoad Board. —At the nomination of candidates to-day for the vacancy caused by the death of Mr Peter Kerr, Messrs Hawker, Peppered, E. J. T. Ford, and E. Grade! were proposed. The latter subsequently withdrew his candidature. A poll was demanded on behalf of Mr Ford, and was fixed to take place to-morrow. Scholarships.—Four late applications for entering on the roll of candidates for the Government scholarships were before the Board of Education yesterday. The Board, however, could not sec their way clear to relax the regulation, more especially as notice had been given by advertisement for a long time.

Painful Accident.—While the second son of Mrs Holiday, of Timaru, was experimenting with some gunpowder and kerosene a few days back, the material caught fire and burnt all the skin off his face. He was attended to by Dr. Maclntyre, and is progressing favorably. ' The injuries were very painful, and it Avill be a considerable time before he recovers.

Ashburton —Severe Storm.— This district was visited by a very severe south-west gale, which commenced about seven o’clock on Saturday evening, accompanied by heavy rain, and continued all day on Sunday and Monday. The weather was excessively cold, and we learn that the snow is from seven to Icn indies deep on the plains within twelve miles of I lie lownship. The rivers have not been much affected. (PiiMSTCiii KOIi Mrrni, Imvkovemext Sooietv. Tin* snbjecl. discussed all the lin'dina held la.-.t evening lei.. “The Mastei'n Question,” introduced by Mr \V .S. Willstead, with an essay of a historical, geographical, and political character. The discussion which followed was both lively and interesting. The next meeting of the society will bo devoted to the rendering of readings and recitations. West Coast Mails.— Though the weather is reported to have been much more mild on the West Coast than it has been here, there lias evidently been a very heavy fall of snow on the intervening hills. The snow lino seemed to reach a lower level yesterday than has been seen for some time past, even in the winter season. It is said that there arc two feet of snow on Porter’s Pass, but it is evident that at some part of the ranges the storm has been severely felt, as Cassidy and Clarke’s mail coach, which usually arrives at Sheffield with punctuality, was not able to get through yesterday in time for the latest train. St. Michael’s and All Angels. —The mission services at St. Michael’s, which commenced on Monday last, have been well attended, and last evening the Very Rev. Dean Bromby preached a very impressive sermon to a large congregation. The services will conclude this week. A meeting of parishioners was held last night at. the schoolroom, for the purpose of receiving the report of the building committee on the erection of the proposed now schoolroom. The Rev. E. G. Penny, incumbent, presided. After some discussion it was decided to adjourn the meeting to a future date, to enable the committee to further mature their plans. The Gaiety. —There was a capital attendance at the Gaiety last evening, when the burlesque of “The Field of the Cloth of Gold,” preceded by “ Slasher and Crasher,” was repeated. The various characters in the burlesque have now got thoroughly into the run of the dialogue, and it went capitally last evening throughout. The various songs and dances arc good, many of them exceedingly so, and one could hardly imagine anything funnier than Mr Hall and Mr Keelcy in “ Hush, you’ll wake the baby.” We omitted when previously speaking of this piece to mention Mr Wilkinson as Eloe. His make-up is one of the funniest we have seen for many a day. The dresses and scenery are both good ■md * generally the burlesque is a success. It will be repeated this evening. We understand that Mr Hall intends strengthening his company shortly by the advent of some new faces.

Lyttelton Railway.— A narrow guage shunter was used in Lyttelton for the first time yesterday, and greatly helped to facilitate the work.

Gazette Notices. — A New Zealand Gazette was issued on Thursday. It contains— Proclamations under the Armed Constabulary Act, Stamp Act, Marriage Act, &c.; appointment of William Henry Mullen, of West Maitland, in the colony of New South Wales, to be a Commissioner of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and the appointment of Michael Kidstone, of Melbourne, to a like position ; certain Crown lands declared to be pastoral; declarations under the Counties Act; bank returns and general statements of the liabilities of the different banks in the colony; abstract of the meteorological observations in New Zealand for the month of December, 1876 ; and a number of Land Transfer Act and goldmining notices, &c. The Telegraph Department, —We fake from the New Zealand Gazette the following returns of the number of telegrams, the revenue received, and the value of General Government telegrams transmitted for the quarter ended 31st March, 1876 and 1877 : Number of telegrams forwarded from Ist January to 31st March, 1876, 270,312; for the same period in 1877, 292,308, showing an increase of 21,996. Cash revenue received, 1876, £15,470 3s lid; 1877, £16,337 9s Id ; increase for the first quarter of the present year, £867 5s 2d. The value of Government telegrams was as follows: —First quarter in 1876, £4331 7s Id ; for 1877, £4546 2s 8d; increase, £214 15s 7d. The increase in the number of telegrams forwarded, and f lic additional revenue obtained, is significant of the fact that the use of the telegraph is becoming yearly more extended.

Drainage Meeting, Woolston.—The third of the scries of suburban meetings was held at Woolston, on the Ferry road, last night, and was very numerously attended. Mr Ollivicr apologised for the absence of Mr Wynn Williams, in consequence of a severe cold. The chair was taken by Mr S. Manning, chairman of the Heathcotc Eoad Board, who in a few appropriate words introduced Mr Ollivicr to the meeting as the representative of the drainage committee appointed at the meeting held at Mr Clark’s ofllcc. Mr Ollivicr then proceeded to address the meeting at considerable length, setting forth the action taken by the committee ho represented, and pointing out very fully the objections entertained to Mr Carruthers’s scheme. It is scarcely necessary to follow him in this report, as no doubt the meeting to be held in Christchurch will necessarily be the occasion for a fuller exposition of the views and sentiments to be expressed by all parties. It was sufficient to say that Mr Ollivicr ended an energetic speech by proposing “ that the meeting accepts and approves the resolutions passed at Mr Clark’s rooms on the 11th May.” Mr Hawker briefly seconded this resolution. Dr Frankish, in a very able speech, referred to the scheme, and stated that while he claimed no knowledge of engineering science as regarded drainage, he did assert his right to have some knowledge of what was necessary for t lie public health, and he had always objected to the scheme put forth for the drainage of the city. In his ignorance he thought that the consideration of the matter —even when the city outfall drain was suggested should have emanated from a body of engineers and not. from an individual. The present scheme was utterly beyond the public requirements of the district, and should be rejected. Dr. Frankish concluded his speech by a few amusing anecdotes, which were very forcibly applied to the action of the Drainage Board. Mr Hopkins asked what course would be adopted in the event of the Drainage Board persevering in their scheme notwithstanding the protest of the ratepayers. Mr Ollivicr replied that it would probably be necessary to resort to the Supreme Court for an injunction, and that then an appeal would have to bo made to the ratepayers for aid. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr Bamford proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Ollivicr and Dr. Frankish for their perseverance in their work, which was carried with great applause. After a vote of thanks to the chairman the meeting separated. A meeting of ratepayers will be field this evening in the Colombo road schoolroom, at seven o’clock. Several members of the central committee will be present.