NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1062, 22 November 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Mutual Benefit Building Sui iktv. — The fifth annual meeting of this society will be held in Mr Gee’s schoolroom, on Friday, at 7.30 p.m. Earthquake. —A shock of earthquake, the wave apparently passing from west to east, was felt at Ivaiapoi at 3.50 p.m. on Wednesday.

St. Michael’s. —The first of a series of parish entertainments, in connection with the parish of St. Michael’s and All Angels, will be held in the schoolroom this evening. A very attractive programme has been prepared. Home Ships. —By telegram, Messrs Dalgety, Nichols and Co. are informed that the ship Otago lias arrived at London, and that the James Wishart sailed for Caritpfbmy on f,h;; 10th instqnt. The Wild Deer, from Duueqm, is also reported as having arrived.

Stock for Dunedin Show.— Per the Taranaki, on Wednesday, Messrs Henderson and Mcßeath, and J. Mann shipped fifty-seven head of fat sheep, two heifers, and a fat steer, sold to the City Company for exhibition at the Dunedin Show. This stock obtained the prizes for fat stock at the Canterbury Show.

Extension of City Boundabies. —It is rumoured that a public meeting of the residents of a portion of the Avon district will shortly be held at Bingsland to consider whether it would be advisable to take steps to he joined to the municipality of OhrisN church. It is also stated that a meeting wlil be held in a little while at Phillipstown for a similar purpose.

E.Vst CußiSTOHUiicn Batu.—TKo repairs to this bath were inspected on Monday by Messrs Cane and 8011, and, being considered satisfactory, the work of refilling • onimenced yesterday. The sumps for fire prevention purposes, leading to the hath, from G-loucefeter and Armagh streets, arc finished. The water is led in earthenware pipes one foot in diameter, and laid down in cement j (be sumps being sunk a trifle lower than the level of the baths. As they are of easy access in case of fire, this improvement will no doubt be appreciated py til© yesi4«itp ia the neigh]JW3WP4f

Freight on Coal. —At the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday in the course of a discussion as to the interpretation by the Government of the railway tariff on coal, Mr Turner made a statement which will be read with satisfaction. Tt was to the effect that the Government intended to take the matter into their early consideration, with a view to an alteration in the mode of charging freight on coal. Dock Accommodation in Lyttelton.— It is far from creditable to a port like Lyttelton that there should be no means of repairing a vessel of any size. At the inquiry held re the accident to the Empress of China, one of the surveyors, Capt. Gourlay, said —“ We recommended Capt. Griggs to have the vessel placed on the slip if possible, but finding there was not sufficient slip accommodation in Lyttelton for vessels of this class, recommended the vessel should be beached, and have temporary repairs effected sufficient to enable her to proceed to another port where there is proper dock accommodation.” Comment is needless. Steam Road-rollee. —Once more the road-roller is located in the City Council yard, but not without having experienced and causing a few mishaps during its trip from town. "When working at Templeton the other day it stuck in a soft part of the road, and soon settled down quietly, where it remained for some time. While being driven into town the night before last, it broke down opposite St. Michael’s Church, and had to be left there all night. On the Riccarton road several horses in traps travelled faster for a little while than their drivers desired, and the wheels of one buggy coming into contact with the machine capsized, the rev. gentleman who was in it landing several yards distant, but fortunately among high grass. The horse was quickly stopped without any injury being done. Having safely got their treasure back, it is not likely the Council will allow the “Invicta ” to roam again. Coal in Marlborough —The Marlborough “ Express ” learns that a discovery of great importance to the whole district has been made near Picton, namely, coal at Shakspere Bay. It appears to be a strong anthracite coal of very superior quality, not unlike jet. Two colliers from Blenheim, who have been down to look at the place with a view of sinking a shaft, state that there is a vein of coal two feet thick at the outcrop, underlying which is a strata of fireclay, while in the immediate vicinity is slate and limestone in abundance. It is situated close to the water's edge, so that, vessels could load with very little difficulty. Masonic Regalia. —The regalia for the new Provincial Grand Lodge for the North Island of New Zealand, Scottish Constitution, has arrived in Auckland. It has been manufactured by Bro. Kenning, the eminent Masonic jeweller, of London. The color is thistle green, the color of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and beautifully trimmed with gold lace, with watered gold pendants and jewels attached. This will enable the members o S the new Grand Lodge to appear in proper regalia at the installation of Bro. P. Whitaker* which is to take place in the Choral Hall, Auckland, on St. Andrew’s Day, 30th November. Bishop Selwyn. —The mission schooner Southern Cross has returned to Auckland from the Pacific Islands. Bishop Selwyn, of Melanesia, is at Norfolk Island, having spent □even months among the various islands of the Pacific. Two natives from the Swallow Group of the Santa Cruz Island were blown away while visiting an adjacent island, and they fetched up at Port Adam, a distance of 456 miles, one of the Solomon Islands. The Bishop, on his visit to the Solomons, found them there, and tried to purchase them. He, however, only succeeded in getting one, and ho was taken back to Santa Cruz, much to the gratification of his friends, who looked upon him as lost. The natives of Port Adam would not part witli the other. Shipment of Horses. —The ships which have left Melbourne during the present year for India with horses, have not escaped without some mortality amongst their four-footed freights. The South Esk, which took 64, lost 10; the Maulesden, which took 193, lost 45 at sea, and two died on landing; the Blythswood shipped 241, and lost 11; the Allanshaw 196, and lost 25, together with three more on landing; the Udstontcok 266, and lost 58 at sea, while three died on shore : the Ellora took 130, and lost 14, four others dying when they got on shore ; and the Rollo, which took 159 and Wilson’s Circus troupe, lost 18, and one more on shore. Two of Wilson’s valuable circus horses, it is said, were amongst the deaths on board the Rollo.

Cleansing Trees from Vermin. —An, ingenious instrument for Hie cleansing oil trees from caterpillars lias just come to jdghL It is invented by a Frenchman, M. Damauiou, of Koaiere, near Saint Foy-la-Grande, Gironde, and which, after a careful trial by the engi-neer-in-chief in charge of the public thoroughfares in the department of the Seine, has been ai l opted by the French Minister of Public Works for the cleansing of trees on the public roadways. The instrument consists of a brass tube about 4ft. long and lin. in diameter, enclosing another of the same length, which is worked by telescopic action. To one end of this an india-rubber tube of equal length, with a mouthpiece, is affixed ; and at the opposite end is a small brass receptacle for oil, with n fine spray nozzle. Petroleum, being the most deadly liquid known to? flip destruction of caterpillars, is preferred to all other oils for use in this instrument, through which it is blown in the form of a dense fine spray on to the nests of the insects, causing immediate destruction to them without injuring the frees.

Relics or the “Coka Link.” —Lately a leather case was picked up on the bank of the River Ouse, near Old Goole Mill, about two miles from the town of Goole, by a daughter of Mr Geo. Tyler. It was found, on examination, to contain seven photographs and fragments of letters, all of which are much damaged by water. Three of the photographs, evidently of the same person —a young woman (in one with a child in her arms) —are by a London photographer ; another, a man apparently about thirty years of age, has been taken in Christchurch, New Zealand, and one at Cleethorpcs Road, Grimsby. Of the fragments of letters, one bears the address : “Captain IT. York, Cora Lunn, care of John Good and Son.” Another torn envelope - “ Captain on board Cora , Queenstown.” In this the word Queenstown has beer, crossed out and Goole substituted, and one of the papers contains a small loci of hair. What remains of the letters is easily read, and the photographs would bo easily recognised by anymore who knew the sitters. These fragments arei no doubt, a last melancholy relic of the ill-fated ship Cora Linn, which was capsized in the Humber, near Calder Ness, in 1875, and afterwards blowg ujj) fcjp order of tlje conservators

Thk Cab Stands. —As numerous complaints have lately been made through the obstruction to traffic caused by the cabmen crowding on some of the stands in the city and standing in the streets off the allotted spaces while the other stands remained unoccupied, notice has been given to the cabmen by the city inspector that if the practice complained of is continued, instructions will bo issued to the police to proceed against all persons so offending. The by-law regulates the number of cabs which shall occupy each stand to be as follows :—Triangle stand, opposite Cobb and Co.’s office, 7; opposite City Hotel, 6; Post Office, 5; junction of High and Manchester streets, 7 ; junction of Peterborough street and Whately road, 7 ; entrance to Railway passenger station, 20; Cathedral Square, 20 ; Supreme Court stand, 8.