NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 957, 19 July 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Total Abstinence Society. — A meeting of the Christchurch Total Abstinence Society will be held at the Temperance Hall, Gloucester street, at half-past seven this evening. Entertainment at Merivale. —The next entertainment of the series will bo given on Friday evening, at eight o’clock, in the Merivale schoolroom. Kaiapoi Woollen Factory. —The sale of the entire property of the Canterbury Spinning, Weaving, and Fibre Company, took place to-day at Messrs R. Walton and Co.’s auction rooms. There was a large attendance. The bidding started at £4OOO, and after one jump of £IOOO, proceeded by £IOO bids until £7OOO was readied, at which price it was knocked down to the Hon. J. T. Peacock. Christchurch Mutual Improvement Society. —The usual weekly meeting was held last evening, when Mr Patterson opened a discussion on “ Education,” in which Messrs Hall, Oonnal, Ryland, Shelton, Gapes, and Allison took part. The subject which will occupy the attention of the Society at the next meeting, is “Anatomy,” to be introduced by Mr Gapes, who will read a paper on the subject. Lyttelton Gaol. —There are at present no fewer than 115 prisoners in Lyttelton Gaol —more than at any previous period. A party of seven, who had been sentenced to more than a year’s imprisonment at the late sittings of the Supreme Court at Timaru, were brought down to Lyttelton on Friday, under an escort of police, to assist in carrying out the Gaol extensions. Amongst them is the prisoner Cornelius Toll, who attempted to escape at the last sessions, and was afterwards awarded ten years’ penal servitude. Entertainment, St. Andrews. The second popular entertainment of the series was held last evening at St. Andrew’s Schoolroom. The Rev. Charles Fraser presided, and the room was crowded. The programme, which consisted of songs and readings, was contributed by Mrs Gray, Messrs Gray, Crawford, Gates, Johnston, Rentoul, Ambrose, and Webster. The pey. phairman, when moving a vote of thanks to those who had assisted during the evening, said that a lecture would be delivered by the Rev. Mr Waddell next week on “Characteristics of English Poetry.”

Property Sale. —Messrs R. Walton and Co. held a very successful property sale yesterday at their rooms, when the following lots were quitted ;- Equity of redemption of house and land in Cashel street, near the Eastern Hotel, having a mortgage of £220 upon it, sold for £260 ; equity of redemption of part of town section 652, at corner of Gloucester and Barbadoes street, with three houses thereon, subject to a mortgage of £1237, sold fqr £760 ; rural section No. 11,330, containing twenty acres of freehold with Government lease of thirty-two acres sold for £lO5 $ 100 acres of lans, Lfim R-3. 1 2.336, Ashley district, sold for wu fhs per acre; forty-five acres of land, being R.S. 842, sold for £5 per acre ; house ■vnd three-quarters of .an acre of land, subjec (o mortgage of £IBO, sold fop £3fio. Ihe attendance was large and bidding spirited. Gold in WELLINGTON.-The Wellington « Post ” is authorise! by Mr J. 0, Crawford to state that he lately reeled * 10 ” . f bourne ihe following report upon a quartz from that district, sent by him lor examination ;—•“ Bank of Victoria, Melbourne, 23rd May, 1877. I have tested the quartz specimens left with mo for assay, and find it to bo competed of sulphate of iron. I likewise assayed for geld, and from 1000 grains I (rut button weighing ; 03d qr qz. 1'092 per ton. —Signed, -1. Chapman.” Mr Crawford proposes to give full particulars, with information as to the localities in which the sort of quartz is found, in a paper to bo read before the Wellington Philosophical Society.

Accident at Waikuku. —On Tuesday a child of Mr T. Hart,, during tlie absence of its mother, getting too near the fire, accidentally fell into it and was severely burnt. Dr Ovenden was sent for, and the little sufferer, at last accounts, was doing as well as could bo expected.

Lecture. —Mr A. Q-. Wiggins, agent o the G-ovornment Insurance Department, has paid a visit to Pigeon Bay. On Tuesday evening he delivered a lecture in the schoolroom at that place. Considering the shortness of the notice there was a fair audience. Mr Wiggins dwelt in a forcible and lucid manner on the benefits of life assurance. The chair was taken by Mr Pitcaithly, to whom a cordial vote of thanks was awarded. Mr Wiggins has met with considerable success in his canvass of the neighborhood.

A Liberal Employer. —iEgles in the “Australasian” relates that a young fellow “out back” in Riverina managed to lose himself. After considerable suffering from hunger lie looked for certain death, and dug his own grave. He afterwards bethought himself of killing his horse, and having done so, he thereby sustained life for some days. He was found in a helpless condition, but was brought in alive, and being young, and of sound constitution, . soon rallied. In squaring accounts with him his employer charged him with “ One horse killed £20,” and added that “it ought to have been £30.” Public Meeting at Kaiapoi. — A meeting is convened to be held at the Institute on Monday evening, to consider the question of asking the Q-ovcrnment to increase the waterway of the south branch of the Waimakariri, so that in time of flood the overflow may not be, as at present, held back to the damage of farms and the railway through the district. It is also intended to discuss at the same meeting the matter of improving the navigation of the river. On two such important matters it is expected the meeting will be largely attended.

The Artillery Bail. —This ball took place last evening at the Oddfellows’ Hall, and was very largely attended. The committee to whom the arrangements had been entrusted worked admirably together, and the result was a decided success. The room was nicely decorated, and with the gay dresses of the ladies and the various Yolunteer uniforms, presented a very pretty effect. The secretary and committee during the evening were indefatigable in their endeavors to promote tiro "enjoyment of their guests, and they succeeded to admiration in doing so. The catering by Mr Morton was all that could be desired; the music provided by Herr Bunz was not so well appreciated as on some occasions. Altogether, however, the Artillery Ball of 1877 was fully as enjoyable as those which have preceded it, and that is saying a good deal. Dancing commenced shortly after nine o’clock, and was kept up with great spirit until an early hour this morning. Amongst those present were Sir Cracroft and Lady Wilson, Mr Justice Williams and lady, his Worship the Mayor, Colonel Packe, Major Lean, and Captains Hawkes and Craig. Canterbury Cropping. —The following letter appears in the Hawke’s Bay “Herald”: —I see by a paragraph in to-day’s “ Herald ” you allude to a system of cropping in Canterbury ; you say one of the commonest arrangements you believe is, that the farmer should take three white crops, giving the owner ten bushels the first year, half the crop the second and third years. Having lived in Canterbury for a great number of years, I never heard of such an arrangement as you have mentioned ; in fact, the thing would be absurd. Until the last two years the large landed proprietors were only too glad to get their land in order for laying down with English grasses, without getting any rent at all, that is, the farmer had to plough the land in summer and cross-plough it in autumn, and after the crop had been removed, he had to harrow the land, the proprietor finding seed. It is also a mistake to think that the proprietor would let his land for three white crops ; in the first place it would take too much out of the land. The highest price I have known given for one crop by a farmer was 10s per acre, but I have known thousands of acres let without rent; and I believe the large holders here would be only too glad to give a crop for nothing if they could get their land ready for grass.

Personal Items. —Mr Macalister, of the chief post office in Wellington, is about to leave to take charge of the post office at Queenstown. —Mr Tabuteau, of the General post office, has been presented by his fellow officers with a handsomely mounted meerschaum pipe and silver match-box, prior to his departure for Christchurch, whither he is to be transferred by the Government. —Mr Simpson, Clerk of the Court at Goldsborough, has been suspended from his duties by Mr Price, R.M. Mr Percy Zohrab is now acting temporarily in Mr Simpson’s place.—Mr J. W. M'Neale, formerly one of the masters of the Nelson College, has been appointed to the editorship of [the Rangitikci “Advocate.”— Mr Thomas Whinam has been elected Mayor of West Hawksbury without opposition.—Mr Street, who has held the position of clerk of the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Dunedin, for upwards of three years, has tendered his resignation. It is understood that Mr Someryille, who has performed the duties of clerk of the City Police Court, will be appointed to the vacancy.

The Late Fatal Accident at Ktjwaka. —Kelly, one of the men who was rescued alive, but who died shortly afterwards, gave an account of the accident to the following effect ; —“ The four men had been working together in the face, and the time for leaving had nearly arrived. Kiley proceeded to knock out a ‘dog,’ when, at the first stroke he made, five sets of timber gave way, and the ground came in upon them ‘ like a shot from a gun.’ There had been five in the claim, but one left the others about a week ago, The claim was not paying wages, and the party had resolved to abandon it after this washing-up.” The “ Kumara Times” adds:—“Kelly has a brother in Otago. All the men 'are highly spoken of as steady, hardworking miners. The lower limbs of Kelly are very much discolored; on the side of the right foot is a black mark where a stone lyad jammed him, His right hand had been holding a pick during the time ho was buried, and was much swollen. The left hand had been at liberty, and with it ho had kept the earth from his face. Kiley’s bom~ uus rt'WYO'cd at a quarter to five yesterday morning, ah 4 Colley ’s w;as recovered shortly after midnight. This is sadly' tlisfigured, and shows conclusively that death nmst have been instantaneous, Kiley’s death was probably equally sudden, though Kelly said that he heard him cry out once or twice. Kelly and Kiley were Limerick men, Cooney was ‘from Clarm Mrs Cooney is in very poor circumstances, but handsome subscriptions for relief have already been made.’ 11

“ Q-uilty of Starvation.”— Recently, in the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, W. J. O’Connor, who was charged with vagrancy, on being asked whether he was guilty or not guilty, replied :—“ Does that mean starvation, your Worship ? Because, if so, lam guilty of that—l am guilty of starvation, for I can get nothing to do. No one will employ me, as I am subject to epileptic fits. I am perishing daily in the streets, and, because I am starving, and have no home, I am taken up for vagrancy ; or if I happen to be seen in one of my epileptic fits, I am taken up as a lunatic. What am I to do?” Sergeant Price said defendant had been up several times for drunkenness and vagrancy. He was subject to epileptic fits, and had no place to live. Defendant—l admit that lam guilty of starvation, for that is what it means. Mr Crawford thought that if defendant would keep from drink he would suffer less from these fits. He should commit him for one calendar month, which would give liim board and lodging at any rate.