NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1218, 28 January 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Railway Picnic.— The first picnic of the railway employees was held on Saturday in a paddock beyond Ashburton, and was a complete success throughout. The attendance was very large indeed, and the sports passed off excellently. A full report of the proceedis unavoidably held over in consequence of pressure upon our space. Runaway. —About nine o’clock on Saturday evening a horse and cab belonging to W. Jordan bolted along Manchester street. Jordan had been engaged opening the door of his cab at the Railway Station, for the ac- ’ commodation of a fare, when the horse started off, knocking him down. One wheel passed over his legs, but fortunately no. damage resulted. The animal pulled up in his owner’s yard at Knightstown. An Infuriated Animal. —A heifer being driven at a furious pace along Tuam street yesterday morning, looking as if it had been galloped out of temper, rushed Constable L Wat kin, who .was standing near the comer of Tuam and Montreal streets. The constable was knocked down, and his tunic and trousers torn. The man who was driving the heifer, and who lives in the Riccarton road, though he saw the accident, rode away at once, without attempting to render assistance. St. Paul’s, Papanui. —A concert, consisting of sacred music, under the conductorship of Mr A. A. North, took place in the above church on Friday night, at which there was a good attendance. Mr Mill occupied the chair, and in a few well chosen remarks stated that the funds accruing from the concert would be devoted to the liquidation of the debt upon the harmonium. The programme comprised solos, duets, quartettes, and choruses, which were admirably given by Mesdames E. Long, Vague, Grant, Messrs Hammond, Cresswell, Parker, and the members of the choir. Mrs Long presided at the j harmonium, and by her excellent accompani- } ments did much to make the affair a great success. v Cricket. —A match was played on Saturday on Latimer square between the Press and “ Lyttelton Times ” Clubs, which resulted in a victory for the Press by three runs and four wickets. A match was also played on the same day between the Hagley-Oak-Leaf and Normal College Clubs on the ground of the former, which resulted in a victory for the Hagley-Oak-Leaf by 35 runs. Atack, 15, and Anson, 14, were tire only double figures scored for the home team; Cumberworth, 12, was the only double figure for the Normal College. Anson bowled well for the Hagley-Oak-Leaf, nine wickets falling to his share. The scores were Hagley-Oak-Leaf, 70 j Normal College. 3 . Election op School Committees.— The annual election by the householders of the various education districts of committees will take place this evening. The elections will take place in the various schoolrooms, and as the sections of the Act bearing upon the subject may not be familiar to our readers we publish them :—“ * Householder’ means every adult male or female person, who as owner or tenant, lessee or occupier, occupies, uses, or resides in any dwellinghouse, shop, warehouse, or other building in any district, or every parent or guardian who is liable to maintain, or has the actual custody of, any child.” (Section 4). “No bankrupt who has not obtained his final order of discharge, no person attainted of treason, or convicted of felony, or perjury, or any infamous crime, no person of unsound mind, and no person not qualified as herein required, shall be capable of being or continuing a member of any committee.” (Section 59). “At such meeting for election of committee a chairman shall be chosen, and the committee for the preceding year shall give a full report of its proceedings, and thereupon the electors present shall proceed to elect by ballot, as hereinafter provided, a new committee for the then current year of seven persons qualified as prescribed by the fifty-eighth section of this Act, and may re-elect all or any of the persons going out of office to be members of such new committee.” (Section 64). “At every meeting convened and held for the election of a committee, the chairman having a deliberative vote shall also have a casting vote.” (Section 64). “At every election' for a school committee every Voter shall be entitled to a number of votes equal to the number of : the 'coihmittee tb be elected, and may give all such votes to one candidate, or may distribute them among the candidate?, t&s&'fifc.” (Sectiw 65),

Patent Flagging.— Mr Chas. O’Neill, C.E., Wellington, has given notice of his intention to apply for a patent for his imitation Caithness flagging, which is likely to come into very extensive use for footpaths. Mr. Irving.—The London correspondent of the “South Australian Register” mentions the probability of Mr Irving, the celebrated actor, visiting Australia. He says : “I have good authority for informing you that Mr Henry Irving may shortly close with one of the many offers which have lately been made to him for a prolonged tour in the United States and Australia. The arrangement would not take effect at once, perhaps not for a couple of seasons yet; but Mr Irving himself looks forward to it with some interest.” He also mentions that Mr Irving wss a pupil of the veteran comedian Mr Hoskins, some twenty years ago.

The Soldene Comic Opera.— -On Saturday evening the Soldene Comic Opera Company proda-ed yet another novelty. This was “ La Belle Poule,” the plot of which was sketched in Saturday’s issue. The part of Poulette was of course taken by Miss Soldene, who played it with all due gaucherie and with a freedom of action which proved her to have identified herself with the character. For all that her singing at the proper times was marked with the same amount of execution and tenderness of expression which she has exhibited on previous nights. This was specially noticeable in the duets with Mr Campbell (Poulet) “’Tis love” and “I love thee. In contrast to these was the dashii g style in which she rattled through other songs, where the rapidity of her utterance was marvellous. In one of these, “The King’s dragoon,” she was encored, and could scarcely satisfy the audience with a single repetition. Mr Campbell in the Tyrolienne “ Of Toledo, I am a Prince, sir! ” availed himself of his falsetto notes and managed them excellently. Mr Farley secured an encore for his song, introduced at the opening of She third act, in which he described his system of teaching vocal music. By the way an excellent piece of business was the sudden vanishing of the teachers at the termination of Mr Farley’s song. Miss Yesey sang a very pretty waltz song with much taste and in good style, and was deservedly encoied for it. Mention should not be omitted of Mr Wallace, whose get up as Marcou, a dancing Highlander, was admirable, while his excellent step dancing and mirth inspiring drolleries frequently convulsed the audience. “La Belle Poule” forms no exception, in the list of operas produced by this company, in the matter of dressing and general completeness of preparation. The chorus do everything at the right moment and form an appropriate background to the more prominent performers. The dance of the whole company at the end of the second act was so thoroughly relished by the house that the curtain had to be raised and the evolutions to bo repeated. This evening “La Belle Poule ” will be presented for the last time, as to-morrow evening the company perform “ Chilperic.” Possession op a Prodigy.— The young prodigy who has become pretty widely known as the Australian Mozart has been the subject of a painful dispute between his parents. As the “ Argus ” describes the circumstances, it appears that the child is illegitimate, and that 'the name he has to bear is Ernest Brown. Sis father and mother have lived together for a number of years ostensibly as man and wife, and have a family of four children, of whom this one is the eldest. The parents lately quarrelled about some engagement that was made, or to be made, for the child, and their violent differences led to separation. Both parties wished to possess the prodigy, and they appeared yesterday before the Chief Justice, in chambers, so have their claims decided. As the law only recognises the mother as the lawful custodian, his Honor ordered that the child should be given up to Bosina Brown. Some persons who happened to be present at the time the parties left the court witnessed a most unpleasant spectacle. The child was at once caught up by the Eev. Fletcher Long, who appeared to be the only male member of the victorious party. The little fellow set up loud outcries, and strove as hard as one of his tender years could be expected to do to get free. He constantly screamed out. “ I won’t go with you.” The father, for whom an unmistakable preference was shown, could only play the part of an onlooker, and hover round the group. So decided a resistance veas shown by the child that Mr Long had to take temporary rest on one of the outdoor benches. All the time the child kept up loud screams, and appeared to be on the verge of convulsions. A cab was then procured, and Mr Long got into it with the child still in his arms ; the mother followed with a female friend, and two very small children, for whom there had been no contention. The party then drove off. The name of Miss Christian, the vocalist, is mixed up in the affair as one of the supporters of the mother.