NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1017, 28 September 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Normal School. The Normal school was closed last evening for the weekly holiday, customarily given at the end of each quarter. Choir Festival. —The various choirs of the city and suburban Wesleyan Churches assembled last evening at the Durham street Church, and gave a very tine selection of music. There was a very good attendance, and the various items on the programme were well rendered. Good Temi’lar Entertainment. —The entertainment, which was to have been held last evening at the Orange Hall in aid of the proposed Good Templar Cricket Club, was postponed until a future date, as several of the ladies who had promised to assist were unable to attend through prior engagements. Quart/- Reefs at Jackson’s Bay. —With a view of further testing the value of the quartz discovery recently made in the district of Jackson’s Bay, a couple of stampers have been forwarded to that locality from Hokitika by the steamer Maori.

Civilisation. —Stewart’s Island is at last recognised by the police department, and is to have a constable “all to itself.” The person selected is Mr Angus E. Livingstone, who has been appointed a special constable, with his head-quarters in Halfmoon Bay. Incident in Jury Trials. — One of the jurymen impannelled to hear the case of Jvnopp v Lapliam, tried at Hokitika, was discovered to be of unsound mind, and the case had to be tried by a jury of eleven instead of twelve. The twelfth was conveyed to the Lunatic Asylum. The action, in which plaintiff sought to recover £SOO damages for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment, resulted in a verdict for defendant, who is manager of the Greymouth branch of the New Zealand Bank. Lyttelton Borough Council Election. —The election of this Council took place yesterday. There was very little excitement. Eleven candidates offered themselves to fdl the nine vacancies, and the following was, at half-past seven o’clock, declared to be the result of the poll:—Allwright, 213 ; Cunningham, 205 ; McClatchie, 201; Parsons, 19(5 ; Chalmers. 192 ; Weybnrn, 188; Hawkins, 185 ; McPherson, 181; McDonald, 177; Tayler, 134; Holmes, 87. The Returning Officer declared the first nine duly elected. There was a large crowd to hear the result, and several of the candidates made speeches. Canterbury Gun Club.—A well attended meeting of gentlemen was held last evening at Cookson’s Garrick Hotel for the purpose of forming a Gun Club. Mr A. J. Tudball was voted (o the chair. The following standing committee was elected : —Messrs Cookson, Pox, Judge, Wagner, Wild, Warner, and Tudball. Mr Cookson was unanimously elected secretary and treasurer. It was resolved that the entrance fee be one guinea, and that the annual subscription be one guinea. On the motion of Mr Cookson it was decided to call the club “The Canterbury Gun Club.” Resolutions—" That subscriptions be paid on on the first Monday in October of each year,” and “ That members be elected by a majority” were carried. The “Bell’s Life” Gun Club rules were read over, and adopted with slight alterations to meet local requirements. After arranging that the committee should meet fortnightly, the meeting adjourned.

Maritime Adventure. — Three women, natives of the Kingsmill Group, arrived at Sydney by the steamer Bowen, they had been driven out to sea, and picked up by the French barque Daphne, and taken on to Hong Kong. Licenses in Kumara. —There are sixtyone publicans’ licenses issued within the boundary of the Borough of Kumara. The amount to be refunded by the County Council on account of licenses taken out for the year commencing the Ist July, is exactly £l4lO.

Bonnie Scotland. The “ Dunedin Guardian ” relates that, a few days ago, an old lady, hailing from the “land o’ cakes,” caused a great deal of amusement in the Resi - dent Magistrate’s Court. She was sued for the amount of a small account which she disputed, but at the same time she informed the Court in the broadest of Scotch that if the plaintiff swore that she owed the money she would pay it. The plaintiff did swear that the money was owing, but the old lady held up her hands in pious horror at the statement, and informed the Bench, Bar, reporters, and Court crier, collectively and severally, that she w T as being imposed upon. “ Whar’s ma dochter ?” she cried ; and the “ dochter,” a bouncing lass of about 20, rushed excitedly to her mother’s assistance. When judgment was given for the amount claimed, the defendant evinced a decided disposition to assault the plaintiff, and left the Court exclaiming indignantly and sorrowfully, “ We’re no’ in Scotland.” The Late Mr. Barsuam’s Family. —lt is understood that, in reply to an application made to the Hon. the Defence Minister, Mr Broham has been informed that no pension or gratuity will be paid by the Government to the late Inspector Barsham’s family, who were suddenly bereaved and left unprovided for. This seems to be a particularly hard case, as Mr Barsham, after over ten years’ service in the Victorian force, was induced to come to Canterbury to assist in forming a proper constabulary force here. He had been in active service in the province over a period of thirteen years up to the day of his decease. Some sort of provision is made by the Government for members of the force after twenty years’ service, and in cases of injury, by which gratuities are given, but in a case like the one under notice, ■where an officer who has spent the best of his years in the service suddenly dies, his wife and family receive no consolation beyond that of sympathetic friends. The public will probably not be slow in doing what the Government has stated it cannot do, and besides will also urge that special cases of this kind are entitled to consideration.

The Bullee Coal Mines. —Respecting coal leases at Westport, the local paper says: —“There is a possibility of the various proprietaries of coal leases in the Waimaugaroa district amalgamating in one influential company; at least, as wc understand, a proposal to this effect will shortly be submitted for consideration. The Wellington Company’s mine forms the key of connection with the main line to Westport, and whenever the other companies on the hills get to work they must, if they would save time and unnecessary outlay, avail themselves of the very excellent branch line laid down by theJWellington Company. The Wellington Company’s coal, though not of first-class quality, so far as yet developed, for steam or household purposes, is the very best for coke manufacture, while the mines a mile or two further inland yield coal surpassing the best Newcastle. In union is strength, and an amalgamation of the various interests will speedily give most satisfactory commercial results.” Scarlet Fever. —Referring to the prevalence of scarlet fever in Hokitika, and tire necessity of the local Board of Health taking vigorous action to stay the progress of the malady by sanitary measures, the “ West Coast Times ” says : —ln some months, owing to the prevalence of scarlet fever, the death rate of Hokitika has been exceptionally high, higher in fact than in any other part of the colony. The returns for August show that at the Thames, where it was the lowest, it was only ‘45, whilst in Hokitika it was not less than 3TO, or nearly seven times as large. The average in the next worst place—Wellington —was only T 24, not nearly half as bad as here. In July, our proportion was still worse, being 4 - S2, and it was hoped that the disease was decreasing. In addition to scarlet fever, a true case of typhoid fever proved fatal to a little girl, of'eight years of age, a few days ago. With the mild weather that has lately set in, miasmatic illness, under which head fevers are classed, has shockingly and painfully increased. Within four days one family has lost two children, and within a little more than a week a widowed mother has lost the same number. These cases are rapidly spreading, and, it is hardly necessary to add, parents are in terror for the fate of their little ones. There are scores of instances in the town, and the epidemic threatens to assume, very shortly, still greater proportions. Several grown-up people have lately been attacked, though as yet we have not heard of any fatal results attending the more mature sufferers.

Primitive Melbourne- The ancient rivalries of Batman and Fawkncr as to the discovery of the River Yarra and the country adjacent —a dispute which at one time divided into two hitter factions the inhabitants of the little village then called the Doutigalla Settlement, and now known as the city of Melbourne—have been decisively set at rest by the finding in the colonial records in Sydney of a very curious and valuable manuscript journal of an exploration sent forth in 1802 by Governor Ring under the charge of Mr Charles Grimes, the then sur-veyor-general of New South Wales. In gathering local materials for a memoir of

Captain Flinders, the illustrious Australian navigator, upon which he has been engaged for some years, Mr J. Shillinglaw, says the “Argus,” recently disinterred from an obscurity of three quarters of a century the survey made by Grimes of what was denominated Port King, until that name was altered by the Governor to Port Phillip, after his predecessor, the first Governor of Now South Wales. This proved to be an elaborate and accurate chart, showing soundings all round Port Phillip and ilobson’s and Corio bays, and the course of the Saltwater and Yarra rivers—-the former nearly as far as Kellor, and the latter up to Light’s Falls in Studley park, hollowing up the traces thus obtained, Mr Shillinglaw lias been successful in hunting up the M.S. journal of the exploration alluded to, which contains much interesting detail of the nature of the country passed over, the runs of water met with, and the incidents of the voyage of the Cumberland, in which the party were embarked. The discovery and ascent of the River Yarra was made on Sunday, 30th of January, 1803. The chart and journal, which have been fruitlessly sought by writers who have dealt with the early days of the colonies, clear up many misconceptions, errors, and pretensions.

Entries tor the Horse Parade. —The entries for the annual horse parade, to be held in the Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s ground on Saturday next, amount to 84’, as against 68 last year. The various classes are—Ponies, 4 ; roadsters, «S ; carriage horses, 10; colonial thoroughbreds, 20; imported thoroughbreds, 2 ; colonial draughts, 87 ; imported draughts, 11; total, 84.