NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1081, 14 December 1877, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Timaku Libel Case.— We learn from a private telegram that the Grand Jury at Timarn to-day have brought in “ No Bill” in the libel ease brought by Judge Ward against Mr E. Ball, of the “ South Canterbury Times.” There was considerable excitement in Court, and the result appears to have given general satisfaction. Deainage Boaed. —Mr Thomas Gordon, , at the meeting of the Board to-day, was appointed to the office of secretary and treasurer. Peacock’s Whaet, —We understaud that i the purchase of Peacock’s Wharf was yesterday concluded by the Lyttelton Harbour Board, The Hon, W. Fox. —We understand that that the Hon, Mr Fox, who is at present in Timaru, attending the meetings of the Grand LfcpdjJ 6 of Good Templars, is expected to visit Christchurch op Monday, and to address a public meeting in fhia city. Noemal School. — A very pleasant and successful entertainment was given last evening in the newly erected drill-hall attached to the Normal School. The programme comprised the reading of Dickens’s Christmas Carol “ The Cricket on the Hearth,” by Mr G. C. Howard, the principal of the school, This iVas'divided ipto three parts, the reading being interspersed with instrumental and vocal selections. Altogether a very enjoyable evening was spent by those present. The Canoe Regatta.— Thecanoe regatta, under the auspices of the Pilgrim Canoe Club, I which is fixed to take place on the 22nd inst., I! promisee to be a success. Already a number I of entries haye teen made for the various i events, and as the programme includes many , | novelties a goodly attendance of spectators j i may be looked for. Up to the present date | | the entries received have been as follows : I { Laqllep* pgye, 8; steeplechase, 5; Pilgrim’s. | Cup, .8. These numbers will, no doubt, be I largely’adijled to by the dyy or entry, 1 JLgE |LIgE BEIGApp ' DEMONSTRATION.- — tjb o Brigade are working ($# d,em,oufd,' : ai.io’! on the 17th ,*• , ‘n vk# spatier of fireworks hard to !«. .-, 0 doubt a perfect success. s iu great preparations are on advantage will be taken of the granu - the square by a largo number of spectators. The dinner in the afternoon will be held in the Oddfellows’ Hall. L or this 250 invita- I lions have been issued, and a large response is anticipated. The catering has been placed m the hands of Messrs J. 0. Sheppard and Oookson, who will no doubt discharge their duties most efficiently, (

New Insurance Company.— The Mercantile Mutual Fire Insurance Company, with a capital of £IOO,OOO, in £1 shares, has been floated in Sydney, the whole of the shares having been taken up privately. Land and Property Sales. —Yesterday Mr Charles Clark held an auction sale in his rooms of town and suburban properties, with the following results : —Land and house in St. Asaph street sold for £800; in Madras street, land and small shop for £300; and four sections with forty links frontage, by a depth of 152, at from £lO5 to £llO each ; a small section and two-rooiAed cottage on Going’s road for £120; and ten small building sites at Willow Bank, Windmill road, at from £25 to £3O each. —Messrs Walton and Co. sold on the same day at their rooms three acres at Avonside, in Herdson’s estate, for £l2O per acre; one acre in Armagh street east, £l9O ; one acre on Ferry road for £SO. Coal near Waimate. —Some time ago mention was made of the existence of coal seams in the vicinity of Waimate, and the “ Timaru Herald ” now mentions that the persevering efforts of Mr Rout in prospecting for coal have been successful. The men employed by him have lately struck a very good seam of lignite on his section near the Waiho, about seven miles from Waimate. The shaft is about 22 feet deep, and the seam at the point struck by the shaft about 51 feet in depth, the material being of a superior quality to any hitherto found in this locality. There is a good level road from Waimate to a point about a quarter of a mile from the place where the lignite has been found, and the County Council have lately engaged to form the road so as to complete the connection between the Main Gorge road and the pit. Death of an Old Colonist. — Melbourne papers announce the death of Mr R. K. Hammond, of the firm of Messrs Ryan and Hammond, stock and station agents. He was an old colonist, and though never having taken a prominent part in political matters, evinced an active interest in social questions. He was a native of Sydney, and at about the age of eighteen went to Deniliquin in the service of the Royal Banking Company. He occupied the position of accountant, and afterwards manager, but after some years’ residence there he resigned his connection with the Bank, and entered into squatting pursuits in the North-Eastern district of Victoria with Mr Ryan. A short time afterwards Messrs Ryan and Hammond established themselves in business in Melbourne as stock and station agents, where for the last twenty years they have held an honorable position in the mercantile world. He leaves a wife and family of eight children. Suspected Incendiarism. —An inquest has been held at Kumara, before the Resident Magistrate, M. Price, Esq., and a jury, relative to the late fire at Messrs Ronlston and MTlroy’s store in the above township. A large amount of evidence was given, and a quantity of sawdust, thoroughly impregnated with kerosene, was also produced and proved to have been found in the centre of a pile of goods, where the fire was first discovered. The insurances on the stock and premises were—National, £SOO on stock and £3OO on buildings Standard, £IOO on stock. The verdict arrived at was as follows :—“ That we find that the premises of Messrs Ronlston and Mcllroy were set fire to on the night of the 26th of November, or the morning of the 27th, by some person or persons unknown.” The police are on the alert, and it is probable that the fire-raisers will be in custody before long, should the verdict be a correct one. The insurance companies will refuse to pay the policies, and will let any claims be preferred in courts of law. The case has naturally excited a great deal of local interest.

Ingenious Invention. —An ingenious invention has recently been designed by Messrs jtrunton and Trier, of Battersea Foundry, London, for dressing granite and other hard descriptions of stone for building and other purposes. The machine, which is specially adapted for dressing hard varieties of stone, such as Oraigleith, Greenmoor, and Yorkshire stones generally, lias been thoroughly tested, and pronounced to be a decided improvent over the ordinary means of dressing stone by hand labor. The peculiarity of the invention consists in the construction of the cutters and their mode of action, the rate of dressing being very rapid. Ho sparks are emitted during the revolution of the cutters over the stone, and a feature of the machine is that the arrises and corners of the stone are operated upon very finely, thereby avoiding the chipping of the edges. Two samples of stone dressed by this machine—one of granite, and the other of Yorkshire stone—have been received by the Mayor of Melbourne from London. The Block System on Railways. —For some time past Mr Conyers, Superintending Engineer, and Mr Grant, General Manager of Otago Railways, have been in favour of the introduction of the block system, and in the report recently laid before Parliament the Railway Commission recommended that the block system should bo established on the busy portions of the railway lines wherever practicable. Thatjrecommcndation, says the “Otago Times,” is now to he carried into effect on the line between Dunedin and Mosgiel in a few days, and the necessary instruments have been forwarded from Wellington. Under the block system the chances of accidents are reduced to the minimum, for it ia impossible for trains to meet or overtake one another.’ For instance, when a train leaves Dunedin for Caversham the instruments at both those stations indicate that the line between the two places is “ blocked,” and a second train cannot be sent on until the arrival of the first at its destination, which is indicated by the hand of the instrument pointing to the word “ clear.” It will thus be ceen that trains can be despatched one after another at. mv shorter intervals of titiae, and with much greater safety, than by the staff system, under which time was the only guide. A Young Colonist at the Was. —fn a graphic account of the attack on Plevnk oh the J2th September, the special correspondent of the “ |}aiiy Telegraph ” describes how in one portion of the engagement phe Russians came so close to the Turkish position that the'officers' were able to fire their’revolvers into the Turkish entrenchments. The writer goes on to say:—“ Young Dr. Ryan, a bravo yopng Irishman here, lias' since dressed several revblyej.’ wqiu.icb repaired during this struggle : indeed, h“ pparjv got ghofc himself while courageously doing hp duf-y as a surgeon in the Turkish service amongst the trenches,” T * iUU-p:?]. colcjihaj. reapers to Jearn that iuflhfflfirr ’■ honorably Victoria, itprl u son of die “ bra,. ‘ J Watiimouti. spoken of is a naiv e . ‘ - Mr Charles Ryan, oi Uyan anile v. a? o, medical student at the Melbourne . University, but took hie degree at EdfiTburgh. I tie has been attached to the Turkish army I 3ver since the commencement of hostilities. *

New Zealand Institute. —The Eight Eev. the BlhOp of Nelson, J. C. Crawford, Esq., E.M., aud Professor Kirk hare been elected Governors of the New Zealand Institute, Cheap Land. —There has been a sale of land sections near Greymouth, the property of Mr Harry Kenrick, at which the prices were not very promising. Several lots were passed without a bid, and in other cases low prices were obtained. Eighty acres of rural land on the Marsden road were knocked down to A. E. Guinness, Esq., for 6s per acre, and Mr Glenn became the purchaser of 100 acres on the same line of road at the rate of os per acre. Between Cup and Lip. —A Castlemaine paper records what is described as a Cup incident, and what may be called so in a double sense. A man in Melbourne was in two sweeps - one for £IOOO and the other for £BOO. Two days before the Cup day they were drawn, and the individual mentioned drew Chester in both. Next day he sold both chances for £5, and on the evening of the Cup day the purchaser found himself the winner of £IBOO. Ashburton. —The public of Ashburton have learned with regret that Mr Francis Doherty, who has been for seven years postmaster of this district, is about to be removed to another. Mr Doherty will leave Ashburton . carrying with him the good wishes of all the inhabitants, who thoroughly appreciate the \ perfect willingness with which he was always ready to oblige them, and the courtesy with, which he carried out the duties of his office. Whatever the district may be to which Mr [ Doherty is moving it will have reason to congratulate itself, and it is trusted that the change will be promotion for him. A Judge an Offender. —Mr Hill, elocu- ■ tionist, and Dr. Nield, dramatic critic, have 1 been respectively complainant and defendant ’ in a case [of malicious prosecution, the case having arisen out of a friendly correspondence between the doctor and Mrs Hill, ! of which Mr Hill decidedly disapproved. DuringjMr Hill’s examination Serjeant Sleigh asked him the question—“ Were you ever locked up for drunkenness?” The learned serjeant, while meaning the question for the witness, was looking directly towards the ] Judge, His Honor (Judge Cope) promptly replied—" I never was. I was never charged with anything except letting off crackers.” The answer, coming from such a quarter, naturally caused some hearty laughter in the Court. The Land Bin.—The “New Zealand Times” makes prominent a description of the i “last scene of all ” the session in which the ; chief actors were the Governor, the Premier, and the Ministerial mediators, Messrs Macandrew and Sheehan ; and it concludes its narrative with the following comment:— This last business ought to settle Sir George Grey in the estimation of the people of the colony. The vetoing of such a Bill as the : Land Bill in connection with the passing the Act enabling the Government to sell the waste lands of the Crown by auction, would have simply enabled a number of landsharks to swallow up the national estate, and deprived the people of their right. We always said that this was the policy of Sir George Grey and Mr Larnach—now we are sure of it. Warning to Would-be Miners.— The Inangahua “Times” deprecates an indiscriminate rush to Eeefton. It says :—“ A constant stream of population is now pouring into Eeefton f rom all quarters, and at night time the streets wear a most busy aspect. It must be confessed, however, that the number of the arrivals is very far in excess of the requirements of the district, and we consider it our duty to discourage this incursion as much as possible. Already a large number of the old hands in the district are out of work, ind with no very near show of getting an inning®, and the chances of strangers against those men must necessarily be very small. No doubt the great depression now prevalent along the whole of the Coast has much to do with this migration, but it must unfortunately be admitted that men who make their way hither have but a poor prospect before them, unless provided with the means of investment, in however small a way.” Murders in the Bush— The “Cooktown Herald ” reports the murder of three men on the Daintree. A camp of cedar-getters on their own account was formed by Thomas Hanley and John Began, with whom was associated another man named George. On the sth November the party was at work some five or six miles higher up the river than the main camp, about twelve miles from the mouth. On the morning of that day Hanley and his party left the camp for their cedar work, and the former promised his wife on leaving that he would return in the evening, but he would not bring the whole of the party, as the distance was too far to walk. This was the last seen of the party alive. The dead bodies of the men were afterwards found in the scrub fearfully mutilated. That of Hanley was in a sitting posture, leaning against a tree, with a spear wound through his body from side to side, his two legs chopped off below the knees, one leg lying beside the body, the other missing ; the head scalped. Began was lying beside him in the same posture, a spear wound through the heart, and scalped. The other man—George —was a short distunes away with one arm chopped off, scalped as the others, and four apear Wound®. The search party then returned to the damp, obtained tools, and then buried the poor fellows’. ' 1 The Telephone. —Mr A. Eubule-Evano writes to “The Times” from the VerlJam Club, St. James’s street: —“Just now the papers'are full of references to the telephone * but as I have nowhere seen it intelligibly described, perhaps the following simple description may be of interest. The telephone consists of a strong ordinary magnet, to thp two extremities or poles of which are attached' properly insulated telegraph ’wirea. Just in front of the extremities of the magnet there is a thin plate of iron, and in front of this again tfpepe is the njouthpiepe of g speakipg-tubp. By tips last, the floundg which it is desired' to transmit arp ppllecfpd and concentrated, and tailing on the metal plate, causes it to vibrate. These vibrations, in their turn, excite in the two wires electric currants, which correspond exactly with the vibrations' —that is, the original pounds. If, now, fha two wires arc connected with qu ordinary linp ot telegraph, specially insulated for the purpose, the sounds can be transmitted to auy distance,'ami. on arriving at their destination, are reproduced in a precisely similar apAlready there are varieties of ihs> ‘ ■ hut this ie its essentia! nature. J lelep , u , ' *** vitimtj I JfPf *1 have endeavoured to u* -. becoming obscurp» M

The Wheat Crop in Victoria.— The “Argus” mentions that a sample of new wheat, representing 1400 bags, from Mitiamo, in the Murray district, has been sent in for inspection. The quality is very good and fit for milling, though not equal to what may bo expected a little later. The crops now promise splendidly, and a very large yield is anticipated. The weather is most favourable, and cutting in some of the early districts is becoming very general. The Mungaroa Tunnel. —The Wellington “ Post” states that the Mungaroa tunnel is now completed, and that the engine “Belmont” has made her first trip through with ballast. The lining of the tunnel has been entrusted to Mr Burton, of Wellington, and has been done principally with compressed concrete blocks, similar to those introduced and used by him in lining the Pakuratahi tunnel, and now being made for the Rimutaka tunnel. Mr Burton has been less than four months in lining 124 chains of tunnel. Much difficulty has been experienced in getting a supply of material for the use of about seventy men working necessarily night and day.