NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1050, 8 November 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Inquest.—An inquest touching the death of Martin O'Halloran, found drowned in the Okuku, was held before M. Morris, Esq., coroner, and the jury returned a verdict that "The deceased was found drowned." The Steamer Albion. —This steamer arrived at Nelson from Melbourne on Wednesday morning, efter waiting vainly to be tendered on the West Coast, where the late violent gales must have been felt in their full force. No summary of Australian newhas been transmitted, the agent for the PresrAgency explaining that by some mistake thi steamer was sent away without a purser, i) whose charge telegrams and newspaper files are generally placed.

HOLIDAY AT THE POST OFFICE.—It will be observed by the mail notice that the Post Office, Christchurch, will be closed to-morrow in honour of the Prince of Wales's birthday. The local mails will be despatched by the morning trains, and the mails due in the evening will be sorted after arrival. The Chinese in Queensland. The "Vagabond," who lately visited Queensland, telegraphed to the " Argus" a strongly worded statement condemnatory of the treatment of the Chinese by the Queensland Government. Subsequently a monster meeting was held in Cooktown, when resolutions were passed denouncing the present Queensland Government for its tyrannical acts against the Chinese, and fully endorsing the "Vagabond's " telegram as to the Chinese immigration being indispensable to settlement in this tropical climate. Groans were given by the crowd for the " Queenslander" and the Queensland Ministry. Commercial Honesty.—A friend of ours, says a writer in London "Truth," is fortunate enough to be the possessor of some meadows on the banks of the Thames. The other morning his dairymaid brought him a letter which she said was tied to the tail of one of the cows. On opening it he found it contained a threepenny piece and the following pencilled memorandum :—" To the owner of this cow. Sir, —For the last hour we have been trying at various houses to purchase some milk. Having been unsuccessful, we took the liberty of extracting a sodawater bottle full from the bearer. Please accept our apologies and our 3d. Yours respectfully, Three Bank Holiday Keepers." This shows the advantage of a strictly honest commercial education.

Population of Kumara. —The total population of the Kurnara district is set down as about 4700, including those at Quinn's and Hayes's terraces on the north side of the river, where it is estimated that there are about 4-00 miners at work. The local paper estimates that in the borough there are 150 miners, on the Shallow Lead 80, on the Shamrock Lead 235, on the Dunedin Flat 550, on Patrick's Terrace 225, in Dillman's Town 175, on Blake's Lead 130, on the Larrikin's Lead 623, making a total mining population on the south side the river of 2168. There are 926 men employed otherwise than in mining. Of these 825 are in the borough ; there are 437 women, of whom 280 are in the borough, and there are 693 children, of whom 375 are in the borough. Musical Instrument Manufacture. — In this branch of skilled industry Messrs Cutler and Fanner, of Christchurch, _ have lately executed some work of a very creditable character. They have recently completed the construction of some instruments which will hold their own with the best of their kind sent out of the European markets. One is a model church harmonium, with fifteen stops, ornamental case, and keys, whose expression is perfect in each degree. The body of sound which it can be made to emit is sufficiently replete to fill a building capable of seating some hundreds of people. Another of these instruments is a cabinet harmonium than which no similar instrument of its kind can possibly give utterance to a concord of sweeter sounds. It is so constructed, too, that it is at once a writing desk and an elegant harmonium. The third of the series is a piano, which is of kindred quality as regards adaptability to musical purposes. Mr H. M. Lund, of this city, one of the foremost pianists in the country, has tested this instrument, and has expressed himself completely satisfied with it. These instruments are now to be seen in the vestibule of Radcliite's Commercial Hotel. "The Tower of London." —Mr Charles Clark delivered his unique lecture on " The Tower of London " last evening in the Oddfellows Hall. Taking his subject up at the dim dawn of English history, and bringing it down to the days of Queen Victoria, Mr Clark painted in peculiarly pictorial language the characters and the careers of the illustrious but ill-fated men and women who have been involuntary dwellers in the Tower of London. Occasionally, but not often, Mr Clark's language assumes a familiarity to which some objection might be taken, but with the exception of this feature his style is irresistibly attractive, and he describeswhatever is humorous, beautiful, or noble in the characters or pathetic in the destinies of the men and women of whom he speaks with a power which is all-swaying with the audience. His descriptions last night of Cardinal Fisher, Sir Thomas Moore, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Earl and Countess of Nithsdale were word paintings in which shade and sunshine, humor and pathoß were blended with wonderful skill and power. To-night Mr Clark will lecture on "Thackeray—the Snobographer." Amongst the selections which he will introduce into his lecture will be "Mrs Major Ponto's Musical Party " and "The Death of Colonel Newcome."

Civic Hospitality.—His Worship the Mayor and the members of the City Council participated in the enjoyment of the holiday yesterday in a manner suitable to the occasion, creditable to his Worship, and pleasant to all the civic representatives. The Councillors, as the guests of the Mayor, proceeded in one conveyance to the racecourse, and were most liberally entertained while there in those particulars which make presence at races enjoyable. On the return journey the member's of Mr Toomer's band were accommodated with seats on the same coach, accompanying the party to the Council Chambers, and there the day's pleasure was appropriately terminated by the toast of the health of the worshipful host being heartily proposed and received with the usual ceremonial out-pouring of that which " needs no bush." Death by Drowning near Ashburton. —On Monday last a man named Ferguson, who was leading the entire horse belonging to Mr Johnston, of Temuka, was drowned when crossing the Ashbnrton river near the Forks. It appears that Ferguson left Mr Tisch's Spread Eagle Hotel about 1 p.m. to cross the river. Before doing so he tied up the horse he was leading, and proceeded to find the ford. He was seen to ride into the river a short distance, and to return, after which no notice was taken of him for a short time, when the horse he was riding was observed on the opposite bank, quite wet, and alone. Mr Ruddick, who saw him in his first attempt, then sent one of his men on horseback to Beo what had becomo of Ferguson, and to bring back his horse. The man rode a sliort distance down tho river and found the deceased's hat on a sand spit, but could see nothing of the body. On Tuesday Constable Cartmill went out to search, and discovered the body in the river a short distance from where the deceased tried to cross. It is surmised that the deceased got off the ford into a deep hole, and was washed off his hoi'se. The river was in fresh, but not so as to be dangerous at this ford to those who knew it well. An inquest was to be held on Wednesday,

A New Reading.—The following dialogue occurred at a school-board examination in England : Examiner : " And who reigned after Saul?" Answer: "David." Examiner: " And who came after David? " Answer: "Solomon." Examiner: "And who came after Solomon ? " Sharp little girl: " Oh, please sir, the Queen of Sheba." Quartz Reef at Ross.—The local paper states that the prospects of the Ross QuartzMining Company are at present most promising. In the 30ft. tunnel, the men have driven along the reef for a distance of 30ft. in a northerly direction, where it has widened to 15in., and from which splendid prospects of golden stone can be obtained. It is proposed to sink a winze at this point to follow the reef down. Putting? it Plainly.—Greymouth, so far, does not seem to have joined in aiding the Indian Famine Fund, but at least one resident appears to be willing. Signing himself " A poor man," he writes to the local paper: —" I am not much of a scholar, nor letter writer, but as nobody else will do it, I should like to ask when some one is coming round to collect for the starving folks in India. I know what the want of a square meal is, and will try and spare a few bob if anyone will come and take the money." A Disciplinarian.—The parent of a girl attending the school at Waihola wrote to the Otago Education Board complaining that the teacher declined to excuse her from attendance at drill though a medical certificate had been produced that her attendance seriously affected her eyesight. It was alleged that the teacher's refusal was based on the ground that attendance at drill was in accordance with the Board's regulations, with which he could not interfere. The Board adopted a minute advising the committee to release the girl from attendance at drill as her parent desired it. The Hon. Mes Lyttelton.—The death of this lady, the wife of the Hon. and Rev. W. H. Lyttelton, rector of Hagley, took place at Hagley Rectory on September 12th. The deceased lady was much respected for her devoted and self-denying labors in her husband's parish, and was known in the literary world as the author of an admirable translation, published last year, of Godet'a " Studies on the New Testament." She was a daughter of the late Dr Pepys, Bishop of Worcester, and sister of the present chancellor of the diocese. Timaru Wool Sales.—A Christchurch wool and skin buyer writes to the "Timaru Herald " as to the local auctioneers holding their sales on Thursday : —" I would suggest that some other day be substituted, and the hour made suitable for the trains, so that buyers from here or elsewhere would only have to stay in Timaru one night. I have no doubt that if Christchurch buyers found sufficient quantities to warrant their trip, they would regularly attend. At any rate they would do so during the wool season. By regulating the hour to suit buyers from a distance, it cannot possibly interfere with local buvers.

Painful Mining Accident. —A severe accident occurred to a Swede named Charles Andersen while engaged in the Energetic mine, Reefton. He went on at the eight o'clock shift, and his light happening to go out, he accidentally fell down a pass connecting two of the levels, a distance of about 90ft. It was at first feared that injuries to the spine had been inflicted, but it has been found that there is no ground for the apprehension. The external injuries consist of one leg fractured, as also the bones of the heel of the right foot.

Dull Times.—The cry of dull times and the plea of empty exchequers amongst the community of Hokitika cannot hold good ■when we read, as we do in the " West Coast Times," of £2OO being swept off in halfcrowns at the Drill-Bhed on Monday evening last, to obtain tickets in Evans and Hansen's sweep on the Cup. There were fcmr tables surrounded for several hours with ready investors, and the dice boxes were kept in motion all the time. It is also mentioned in a telegram thai, as much as £7OOO has been drawn for there in sweeps within the last fortnight. Sulieman Pasha. —The personal appearanco of Sulieman Pasha is thus described by a correspondent of the "Daily News ":—" The general is hardly forty years old, a man of middle height, and for a wonder not inclined to corpulency, as appears to be the almost invariable effect of high command in Turkey. To look at his fair complexion, sandy beard and whiskers, and his grey eyes, one would almost imagine oneself in the presence of a migratory Scotchman bent upon amassing wealth in a foreign land, and that pure English with an unmistakeable accent would proceed from out of his mouth ; but no such phenomenon, unluckily for me, occurred, and instead the conversation was carried on in French."

The Colorado Beetle. —Mr E. M. Sunley, Nelson, is suspicious that this bugbear of a bug has found a habitation in that neighborhood. Some seasons ago he used various manures to his small crop, and he noticed that the plants to which he applied guano drooped and died. In a letter to the "Colonist" he says—"l at first attributed this to their having got too strong a dose, but upon closer inspection I found the stalks, especially at the tops, to be covered with a sort of beetle that I had never before seen, in various stages of growth. They were marked and shaped quite like the models, and when crushed emitted a most offensive odour; but Ido not think any that I saw were so large as the biggest model. In a very short time every potato in the row was covered with them, so I dug them all up and threw them to the pigs. The tubers were about one-third grown, and appeared soft and flabby. The thing had nearly escaped my memory, and it is only reading the accounts of the Colorado beetle of late that has brought it to my mind." A Quartz-Mining Failure.—We read in the Eeefton papers that all hands have been cleared out of the Dauntless Extended mine, and a gate, with clasp, staple, and padlock affixed, hung at the mouth of the tunnel. Simultaneously with these proceedings an application (a copy of which is posted at the tunnel) was made to the Warden for a protection order for a period of four months, and the reason assigned in the application for stoppage of works and for such order is alleged to be " The unpayable nature of the quartz lodes developed in the claim up to the present time." It is further alleged that "tho company, consisting only of a few shareholders,' have expended fully £Booo—£4ooo in machinery, tramway, &c, and £4OOO in opening the claim. The quartz veins found in the claim have proved totally unpayable, and large means will have to be provided again to test the ground at lower levels. The shareholders wish now to suspend operations for four months in order to square up past accounts, and study how next to try and further prospect the wine."