NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1210, 19 January 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

New Justices.—The Wellington correspondent of the "Eawke's Bay Herald" writes: —" The last list of men put on the Commission of the Peaca is considered here as the worst yet made. Mr Edmund Barff has long worked hard to obtain the right of adding J.P. to his signatui'e. Several Ministries refused his application." I Holidays.— The various insurance offices will be closed at noon on Monday and Tuesday, on the occasion of the cricket match, Australia v Canterbury. Merchants' offices will also be closed on Monday, that day being the occasion of their employees'picnic. Tolls in New South Wales.—We read in the Sydney papers that the net receipto from the sale of tollbars amounted to about £20,000 las't year, and that this sum has been relinquished in deference to the expressed will of Parliament. The amount relinquished by the abolition of tolls, on the 31st December last, was about £15,000. The abolition of these tolls will entail a corresponding increase in the vote for the Roads Department, the expenditure of which amounted last year to £155,000, and which no doubt will soon reach half-a-million sterling, but the question has arisen whether the 'time has not arrived to throw thiß olape of expenditure largely, if [not wholly, upoo the dipfrictf tynet

PUKSB Found. —A largo brown leather purse, containing a good sum of money, was taken to the Police Depot last evening by Mr Win. Brassington, of Kilmore street. The purse had been found by his son about 1.30 p.m., in the channel in Colombo street, opposite the Golden Fleece Hotel.

Supreme Court. The case Retina v Horler was continusd yesterday at the Supreme Court, before Mr Justice Johnston and a special jury. Five more witnesses were examined for "the prosecution, and two for the defence, but the evidence was of a technical nature, and of no general interest. The Court adjourned at 6.15 p.m. until 10 a.m. to-day. IMKIGBANTS UT THE CAKNATIC.— the lotlowing i- a list oi the trades and occupations of the immigrants to arrive by the ship Carnatic: Farm labourers, 75 ; general do.. 3J- farmers, 2 ; gardener, I ; builder. 1 ; carpenters, I; shepherds, 3 ; joiner, 1; wool sorter, 1 : 1. Single women— General servants, 3!); dairymaids,!; housemaids, 3 ; housekeeper, 1. Summary—Male adidts, 93 ; female do., 72 ; male children, 15 ; female do., 9 ; male infants, ■' ; female do.,' 3; total, 105, equal to 177 statute adults. .Nationality--Knglish, !>2 ; Irish, !>1 ; Scotch, ; Welsh, 3.

Father 11 bnnebeky. The temperance mission of Father Hennebery in Lyttelfon closed on Thursday night with a procession of the proselytes made. More than 200 people paraded tf e town, going through Winch ester, Oxford, Dublin, Canterbury, and London streets, and Norwich Q.uay, wearing green sashes and carrying banners bearing suitable inscriptions. The services have been very numerouslv attended, not only by Roman Catholics,' but by Protestants also. Father Hennebery, accompanied by Bishop Redwood and Father Donovan, went to Akaroa via Pigeon Bay by steamer and coach yesterday morning.

The Soldene Comi>anv:.—This company will make their first appearance in Christchurch on Tuesday evening at the Theatre Royal in Lecocq's opera-bouffe ''Giroflo-G-iroila." Of the production of this opera in Melbourne, the "Argus" said:—"Miss Soldene bore the principal part, and nothing she has yet done in Melbourne has shown her fine artistic qualities to better advantage than this. As a singer, the public now know the beauty of Mise Soldene's voice, and they are acquainted with her highly artistic manner of using it whenever the subject is such as to make any call on the intelligence. All the singing and the playing in the scene of the entry of the twin daughters were charmingly rendered, and the success of the grand finale to the first act—a success which brought about an encore—was wholly due to the_ fine sustaining tones of Miss Soldene's rich voice." Judging from the demand for subscription tickets, the season here promises to be a very successful one.

Testimonial to Dean Bbomby.—At the close of Dean Bromby's mission in Lyttelton some of the congregation of Holy Trinity Church resolved to present him with some memorial of his visit. Accordingly a handsome silver inkstand was given at the time, and an order sent home for some suitable presentation books. These arrived from England via Melbourne in the s.s. Ringarooma on Thursday. They consist of " Wordsworth's Commentaries on the Old and New Testaments," in six volumes, bound in purple morocco antique, with red and gilt edges. In the title page is a handsomely illuminated dedicatory address. The crest of the Dean is also inscribed on each volume. The cost of the books, which are from Eivington's, was twenty-two guineas. They will be forwarded to the Dean by first steamer.

New Tbamway Locomotive. —In co 11 " tcmplation of the early construction of tramways in and about Cnristchurch, it is well to bo acquainted with the latest improvements introduced in the working of these conveniences. The Berlin correspondent of an Adelaide contemporary thus describes the character of a newly tried locomotive for tramways:—Our principal line—the Grand Berlin Tramway, about 14 miles long—was finished in 1873, and on it are employed 196 carriages and i»OS horses, which carried in 1876 about 23,000,000 passengers. As the traffic has increased so much that on many days the means of locomotion proved insufficient, the directors of the company thought it advisable to look for a substitute for horse power, and accordingly have lately made repeated trials with a steam-engine built in the factory of a Mr Schwarzhopf here, after several other trials with a Copenhagen machine had not fulfilled the expectations held out by the makers. The Schwarzhopf locomotive has a horizontal boiler and an outer cylinder of 150 millimetre (54-inch) diameter, rests on two coupled axes, and is entirely hidden in an iron case of about 6£ft. length. The machine, which drives both ways without being turned, has nothing in appearance to frighten horses or other animals, has no smoke, makes no noise, possesses a nominal power of ten horses, and draws easily a carriage with fifty-six passengers. A condensing apparatus leads the heat of the machine into the carriage to warm the passengers. The trials have been so successful that the company will now use these machines, as they are greatly cheaper and better than horses.

Important Event at Balcitttha.—-An eccentric piece of irony has to be credited to the "Bruce Herald." It gives prominence under thiß heading to an article in its local columns, the same being surmounted with ihe Roya} Arms, and. with the arms ol' the Oddfellows, as represented by a cut which has apparently been in possession of some printer since the beginning of the century. The article, which refers to u local resident, proceeds :—" We have much pleasure in informing our readers that J. 8. F., Esquire, was on Wednesday morning sworn in as a Jußticeof the Peace, by Mr E. H. Carcvr, E.M. The Government is to br congratulated on its choice of a gentleman to fill t'iic commission of the peace in the Balclutha district. Several of the leading residents in the town of Balclutha have asked us to record their approval of the same. The interesting ceremony took place in the Court-house, Balclutha, which had eome time previously been cjeeorated with a coat of paint in anticipation an 4in honor of the coming occasion. The commendable and judicious discretion which guided the Government in their eelection may not be apparent at the first glance, but will be discovered after profound consideration. We have it on the best authority that Sir George Grey was deeply moved at the eloquence of a speech made at the banquet to the Superintendents, and finding'accidentally the other day that the spirited orator was not on the roll, instantly commanded, ' Write him down a J.P., Normanby,' which his Excellency, not Jiting a second Wilson affair, and charge of disregarding constitutional pjivijegeg, instantly 191

Railway Parcels.—A considerable convenience is now afforded l>y Cobb and Co.'s office, which is now under the management of Mr Dlricb, being converted into a bookingoflke for parcels to be delivered at the different railway stations. "Parcels are received, forwarded for the first train, and charged for according to the authorised tariff —an'obvious advantage to many senders who may have no time to go as far as the Railway station.

Gaiety Theatre. The Lydia Howardc company appeared at the Gaiety last evening. The'iirst part of the programme consisted ot a concert. Miss Howarde's contributions were "I'll Follow Thee," "Oh, how delightful," and she also took part in the- duet ••Sainted Mother," and the "Laughing Trio." In response to encores she gave two other tongs. Mi.s Navaro sang " l"e little birds, and a ballad of Campani'e, " Come bark to me, love," which was very nicely given, and she also sang in tiie conceited music. Mr Sidney's best effort was "The Gallants of England," which was capitally sung, and he was aleo very good in "The "Village Blacksmith." The concert was followed by Offenbach's operatta, " The Eose of Auvorgnc," in which Miss llowarde and Miss jNavaro appeared as Ncarette and Alphonse, and Mr Sidney as Pierre. The incidental music was well rendered. To-night there will be a change of programme, when a new operetta, " The S-.-rgeant's Dilemma," will be given. On Monday Miss Howarde takes her benefit, when Miss Ada Ward will appear. On Tuesday the company appear at Kaiapoi, and on Wednesday in Timaru, in conjunction with Miss Ward.

Thk Secbetaby to the Education DepaetMENT. On Mr Hislop, now secretary to the Education Department of the colony, tendering his resignation of the secretaryship to the Otago Education Board, a committee was appointed to draw up a minute recording the Board's appreciation of his services, and an influential deputation waited upon him to ask whether he would accept a public dinner or other testimonial. Mr Hislop made the following reply :—I thank you very heartily for the kindly terms in which you have referred to my p'ist public labors in Otago. I feel much gratified at the desire expressed by you on behalf of yourselves and other wellknown and and respected residents of Otago to mark in a public manner your appreciation of those labors, in view of my contemplated removal to another part of the colony. Permit me, however, to give expression to my own feelings and wishes in regard to the matter. I have long held decided, and probably peculiar, views on the subject of public testimonials, and I have ever tried to keep as much as possible clear of all such proceedings, unless in what I regarded as exceptional cases. Consistency and selfrespect seem to me to demand that in my own case I should decline any such honor as I have referred to, and 1 therefore very earnestly request my friends to permit me to leave for my new home in the quietest manner possible. Do not for a moment suppose I undervalue the expression of esteem and good-will on the part of my friends and fellow-colonists; far from it. I know I shall leave behind me very many good and true friends, but I assure all of them that they cannot do me a greater favor than to permit me to go away in the manner most gratifying to my own feelings. I have been in the service of the Otago Education Board for upwards of twenty-one_ years, and I have had many important, difficult, and perplexing duties to perform in the course of those years. I have ever felt under great obligation to the Provincial authorities, the school committees, and the people of Otago for the support and encouragement I have invariably received from them, and for the largo measure of confidence they liave been pleased to place in me,