NEWS OF THE DAY

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 936, 25 June 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

O Loyal City of Christchurch Lodge.— A summoned meeting of members will be held tills evening at half-past seven. Safety of Coasting Vessels. —Mr C. W. Turner has kindly forwarded us the following telegram from Nelson, dated June 23rd: — " Lady Don, Sarah Pile, and Onward safe at Totaranui. Reward discharged to-day. Owake and Elizabeth Conway at Astrolabe roadstead. No damage. All to sail first fair wind." Diseased Trout. —Three fine trout, each weighing about 51b, were found dead yesterday morning floating in the river a little below the baths. When taken out of the water large mouldy spots were observed on the J leads and bodies of the fish, having all the appearance of disease, and portions of the tails had seemingly rotted off. It is said that two large ones were taken out of the river near the hospital some few days ago, bearing similar marks. Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton.— The Rev. Mr Townsend, who takes charge of this parish during the absence in England of the Rev. F. C. Lloyd, arrived yesterday by the s.s. Rotorua. On Wednesday evening the Dean of Hobart Town is to preach, when collections will be made in aid of the enlargement of the Sunday School, which is much required. The Railway.—On Saturday, judging from the crowded passenger trains from North and South, it was evident that the country people are anxious to avail themselves of the cheap travelling so long as it lasts. The single fare for the return journey on Saturdays has for a long time had the effect of promoting traffic on the lines, and it will be a matter of general regret, and will probably materially lessen the traffic receipts, if under the new regulations the same inducement to persons travelling is not offered. Loyal Perseverance Lodge, 1.0.0. P., MAT., Woolsox. —The half-yearly meeting of this lodge was held on Wednesday, 20th instant. There was a good attendance of members. The district was represented by D.P.G.M. Bro. D. Cameron. The following officers were then elected and duly installed in their respective offices : —Bro. T. Hayward, G-.M.; Bro. C. W. D. Morris, N.G-. ; Bro. W. R. Turner, E.S. ; Bro. W. G. Shepheard, E.S.; Bros. H. A. Bamford and A. McKinnon were elected auditors. The N.G-. and V.G-. then nominated their supporters and minor officers, who took their respective situations. Receipts of the evening £59 18s 2d. Boakd of Health.—A meeting of this Board wtfs held this morning. PresentMessrs Robbs (chairman), Harman, Tancred, and Duncan. Regarding Mr Hancock's soap and candle factory, it was resolved to request the residents in the neighbourhood to again communicate with the Board if any repetition of the nuisance occurred. The report of the Inspector was read. He reported inspecting various nuisances in the district. A letter was read from Mr Reese stating that Mr Morrison iutended to remove his piggeries, which he thought would do away with the nuisance complained of. It was resolved to serve notice on the owners of freeholds at Russell's paddock, calling on them to remove stagnant water lying on an improved road. The Inspector in reply to Mr Harman, stated than in his opinion the health of the district, as a whole, had been very much improved during the month of May. The Board then adjourned. The G-eorgias.—The Minstrels jgave their final performance in Christchurch on Saturday evening, to a capital house. The programme submitted was in the main'similar to that of the evening before, and, judging from the applause bestowed by the audience upon many of the items, was highly approved of. In the first part the songs of Messrs Hicks, Matlock, and Bowman went well, the choruses especially being good. In the second part Messrs Matlock, Hicks, and Bowman sang a trio, and were encored. Messrs Mills and Kecnan, in their plantation sketch, did some capittal dancing, and Mr Mills also gave a step dance with much success. At the conclusion of the entertainment Mr Hicks, on behalf of the Minstrels, thanked the public of Chi'istchurch for the patronage extended ! to them during the stay of the Company. j They leave to-day for Dunedin overland, > playing at Timaru and Oamaru. After their | Dunedin season they will proceed to Ausi tralia. | The Gaiety.—Mr Hall and his company J will re-open at the Gaiety this evening after I their southern tour. The bill includes the ] burlesque of " The Field of the Cloth of | Gold" and a comedy. During this week, in I order to give the management an opportunity t of placing the new pieces on the stage with ; due effect, many of the old favorites such as "Paris," &c, will be repeated. After their : somewhat lengthened absence, Mr Hall and the various members of his company will no doubt be warmly welcomed. The first appearance of Miss Morgan has been postponed until Monday next, when playgoers will have an ; opportunity of seeing whether the encomiums passed upon this young lady elsewhere are deserved. It may be noticed that Mr James O'Brien, favorably known as the advance courier of the Chicago Minstrels, has joined Mr Hall's company. If Mr O'Brien is as good an actor as he was an agent he will make a . decided hit here. j The Gaiety Troupe at Lyttelton.— ) This troupe concluded their Lyttelton per- ; formances on Saturday night. "Cinderella," i with the pantomime, was the piece selected, i and it was played to an overflowing house. 1 Considering the limited size of the stage, and the scanty appliances the whole thing was wonderfully well managed, and nothing approaching the transformation scene has ever before been put on the Lyttelton stage. The whole company acted with such spirit that a perfect storm of applause deservedly greeted every fresh scene, and the harlequinade was so realistic that some of the Colonial children who were at their first pantomime were quite alarmed at the grimaces and funniments of Mr Hall and Mr Wilkinson as clown and pantaloon. Miss AViseman has a good voice and sang charmingly, and Miss Bessy Vivian acted, danced, and sang the "Kiss song" capitally. The Seventy-Mile Bush.—We read in the llawkes Bay papers that the Seventymile Bush natives, intend shortly putting in the market, in the shape of farms and town sections, a block of land 10,000 acres in extent, lying between Takapau and Kopua. The land adjoins the railway line in course of construction. It is level and suitable for agriculture. A large proportion of it is still forest clad. Townships will be laid out at each end, and the sections will no doubt command high prices. Mr Locke and Mr Sheehan both made speeches on the subject during their recent visit to Takapau, commending the project to the natives,

A Claimant Wanted. —The North Otago Thues is requested to state that a man named Eobert Keene died last week at Omarama station, leaving considerable property, to which as yet there are no claimants. He 'i supposed to hare come to this country frcm Northamptonshire, England, and was known to have a considerable sum to his credit in the Bank, amounting, it is believed, to between £4OO and £6OO.

Enviable.—The Otago Times states that Mr Procter, a gentleman well known in Dunedin, received a lawyer's letter by the San Francisco mail yesterday, conveying news more pleasant than is usually contained in such missives. The story goes that he is unexpectedly heir to something like £40,000 by the death of a female relative who leaves £170,000 to be divided according to law.

Backing His Opinion.—The Guardian relates that during the hearing of an action for trespass in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Dunedin, a witness expressed himself as positive that a certain horse was not wandering at large on a particular day. When asked to give his reasons, he stated that had the animal not been in the stable it would have made its way back to Tapanui, where it was bred. Mr Bathgate said that the witness must not give what was merely his opinion. "Well," was the reply, "I can bet a tenpound note on it, anyhow."

Exemptions from Juries. Colonel Whitmore, in the Hawke's Bay Council, suggested, characteristically enough, that to the recommendations for the amendment of the Counties Act should be added a recommendation for the exemption of county councillors from service |on juries. The suggestion met with general favor. Upon this the Telegraph unkindly remarks—" No doubt it did. Town councillors, members of Eoad Boards, Bank managers, everybody in fact, would be only too glad to be exempted from any public duties that conferjjno particular honor, patronage, or emolument."

Importation or Greyhounds.—Nelson is likely to become the head quarters of a fine stud of] greyhounds, Mr Chatteris having purchased in England the following thoroughbred stock :—Stud dog, Balchristie, by Cashier, out of Bab at the Bowster; brood slut, Glare, by Master M'Grath, out of Medal. Glare is own sister to Sandy, the winner and runner-up for the Australian Waterloo. Brood slut, Handsome Girl, by Dan O'Connell, out of Priestess; and second season dog, Alcydes, by Balchristie, out of Diana. All four dogs are as high class blood as anything in the world. They are now on the ship Queen Bee, and should arrive ncxfc month.

Sunday Work in Lyttelton.—Uponhia Worship the Mayor of Lyttelton learning that the Rotorua, was to be worked yesterday, he despatched the following telegram to the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs, Wellington : " Would respectfully submit that, unless some urgent cause requires it, no vessel should be allowed to clear on Sunday. The feeling in town is against Sunday work on the wharf.— J. T. Rouse, Mayor." The following reply was received : —" To his Worship the Mayor of Lyttelton: The arrangement made with the company at departure of last San Francisco mail was, on condition they arrived, Rotorua to leave Port Chalmers on Friday instead of Thursday,* she was to be allowed to clear afc Lyttelton on the 24th, on her way back, so' as give her time to leave on the usual day, Thursday, with the mail. I quite agree with you that clearing on Sunday should be an unusual occurrence.— Geo. McLean." The telegram is rather obscure, and probably that part marked with an asterisk should read " Thursday instead of Friday." General opinion in Lyttelton, however, seem to be that there was mo very urgent necessity for the work being done, as, had she remained till to-day, she might have been discharged by noon, and have reached Port Chalmers by 6 a.m. on Tuesday, which would leave Tuesday, Wednesday, and part of Thursday for her to discharge, go into dock, and load. The railway hands and others were at work all day yesterday, as if it had been an ordinary working day, and there was great dissatisfaction.

Judge Richmond and Mr Eees.—There was a slight passage of arras between His Honor Mr Justice Richmond and Mr Rees, barrister, during a recent trial of a civil case in the Supreme Court at Napier. Before His Honor had left the Bench, Mr Sainsbury ap* plied to have the special jury case of Canning v Hcnare Matau postponed from the day appointed for the trial until next Thursday. The ground upon which Mr Sainsbury made the application was that the solicitor on the other side was raising obstacles in the matter of the jury. His Honor asked whether Mr Sainsbury thought that the course he mentioned was being pursued for the purpose of delay. Mr Sainsbury replied that he believed so. His Honor said that if it was done for the purpose of delay it was discreditable to the party for whom the means were used, and still more discreditable to the solicitor who made himself the instrument. His Honor strongly reprobated conduct of the kind. It looked bad on the face of it, but he would rather believe that there was a mistake, and that there was some substantial obstacle of which Mr Sainsbury was unaware. Mr Sainsbury would be good enough to renew his application before the* sitting of the Court the following morning. On the following morning Mr Recs asked toto be heard first. On the previous night he had heard some very severe remarks from the Bench in respect to the objection he had raised to the irregularity in striking the jury. Those remarks had been published; they were much to his disadvantage, and would be circulated all over New Zealand. His Honor—They were made on certain assumptions, and it has not yet been shown that the objection has not been raised for the purpose of delay. Don't ask me to retract anything, lest I should repeat more emphatically the remarks I then made. The remarks referred to no person by name, but only to the mode of proceeding, which I felt it to be my duty to reprobate. Mr Rees—l was referred to by name, and I . His Honor (warmly) —Not by me. The remarks I made were impersonal, and I did not know to whom they might apply. According to my oath, sir,' I felt bound to make them in the interests of justice. I think the matter ought to be before me on aihdavits. As, however, it appears to me that a miscarriage has occurred, I think I should treat the proceeding as void. At a later state, his Honor said that so far he had decided in Mr Rees's favor. With respect to the remarks lie had made on the previous evening, they were impersonal, but lie desired to say that if members of an honorable profession were to use their knowledge merely to raise a quibble to delay or defeat just claims, they ceased to be entitled to style themselves' members of an honorable proi'es3iorj||

' Appointment.—Joseph Giles, Esq., UnderSecretary for Crown Lands, is appointed a member Jof the Civil Service Examination Board.

Football.—A match took place on Saturday afternoon between the Old Col ege Boys' Association and the Christchurch Club, the former mustering twenty-one and the latter seventeen players. Immediately on the ball being kicked off the play became fast and furious, both going to work with an unusual amount of energy and hearty good will. For some little time the Old Boys seemed to be getting- the best of it, and by keeping the ball well in the enemv's ground twice compelled them to touch down in self defence. Directly after this the Club rushed the ball back the whole length of the ground and over their opponent's goal line, Boag securing a touchdown. Moore, however, was unsuccessful with the try. Goals were changed and the ball again kicked off, when a good deal of very close plav took place, the Association eventually adding another half-point to their score. In the second spell the play was very even, and, notwithstanding the extra weight and numbers in the Old Boys' favor, they were unable to add anything more to the score before time was called, the result then being—Christchurch Club, three points ; Old College Boys' Association, one and a half. In the third spell no point was scored by either side ; but in the fourth extra numbers told against the Club, and after a series of tough scrimmages, the Old Boys gradually worked the ball over their opponents' goal line, and a smart bit of play on the part of Mihton secured them a touch-down, but the try was a failure. Soon after this the same side obtained another touch-down. The try, however, which was an easy one, was again unfruitful. The ball was still kept well in the Club quarters, and several times their goal was in great danger, but it vras saved by the excellent back play of Anderson and Stringer, the latter making some brilliant runs through nearly the whole of his opponents. Beyond another force-down, however, nothing further resulted up till five o'clock, when a capitally contested game ended in favour of the Old College Boys' Association by two touchdowns and three force-downs to one touchdown.