NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1247, 6 March 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

OHEiSTCHfHCH City Q-tTAEDS.—A meeting of this corps will bo held alter parade on Thursday. Akaboa County.—lt will be seen by our telegrams that, at a meeting held yesterday, the Akaroa County Council determined to bring the whole Act into operation. Wool Ships.—Corrected telegraphic advice has been Received by Messrs Dalgety, Huchols, and Co. to the eh'ect that the ships Merope and Schiehallion arrived home on the 19 th February. Assessment Cocets. —An oflicial notification of the days upon which objections to the 'assessments of the Mandeville and Rangiora, Oxford, Kowai and Eyreton road districts yiU bp heard appears in our advertising columns . , W avkhj,ey. —A petit ion, numerously signed by residents and landowners in the district, is being circulated askiDg the G-overnment to make a platform on the Eyreton-Oxford line at Waverley, between Kaiapoi and Wilson's Mill.

City Assessment. —With respect to the objections raised to the late assessment by the City Council, we learn that in several cases ratepayers have intimated their acquiescence i» toe »»ouot to which, the Council hoe raised ik'J nktim on tlwiy rwpstfJTe propeyUej,

The Vtctortan Crisis.—Our special cablegram announces that the Victorian crisis is at an end. The Government have agreed to withdraw the item for payment of members from the Appropriation Bill, on the Council undertaking to pass a measure authorising the payment. Correction. —In the case of James Fisher, who whs charged on Monday with lunacy from drink, the constable's report was that accused arrived at the Rolleston Hotel at half-past nine in the evening, ani went to bed, but made such a noise that early in the morning the landlord give him in charge. The drink which brought on the attack wus therefore obtained before he went to the hotel. GATHOUO Cht/BCH, Oxford —Great exertions are being made by the members of this church at Oxford, to erect a suitable place of worship. As their numbers have increased largely within the last few years, such a building has become a matter of urgent necessity. On Sunday a collection was begun, and the large sum of £l2O was collected and promised. Inquest.—An inquest was held at the Hurunui Hotel, on Monday, before J. W. Mallock, Esq., J.P., and a jury, of whom Mr W. Daniels was foreman, touching the d* ith of William Makin, who died from the effect s of a fall from his horse at the races. Dr. Morris stated that death resulted from concussion of the brain. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental Death." Reported Wreck. —It will be seen from our shipping intelligence that the barque Qlencoe is reported to have gone ashore at Gore Bay. The following telegram from the Press Agency appeared in the "North Otajo Times" yesterday, but for some inscrutable reason was not forwarded to Christchurch : " The barque Glencoe, loaded with iron bark and timber for the Hurunui bridge, broke adrift from her anchorage at Port Robinson, Gore Bay, and has become a complete wreck."

The Waimakariri Protective Works.— To-day his Worship the Mayor, with the members of the City Council, those of the Board of Conservators, and several guests will pay a visit of inspection to the protective works at the Waimakariri. The works have been very largely added to since the last visit of the City Council, and no doubt the present one will give them a clear insight into the means which are being taken to prevent the overflow of the river reaching Christchurch.

Masosic. —We understand that the first lodge under the Irish Constitution, to which reference was made yesterday, will start with a very fair prospect of success. Already it has a goodly number of brethren on its roll, who have hitherto been without a lodge of their own constitution, besides which the names of several candidates for initiation have been handed in for proposal. The great progress made by Masonry during the past two or three years in Canterbury must be very gratifying to the craft generally.

Kaiapoi Regatta Committee.—A meeting of this committee was held on Monday evening at the Borough Council Chamber. Eleven members were present, Dr. Dudley, commodore, in the chair. It was announced that Mr C. Whitefoord had consented to act as judge. The programme and prize list were then gone through, and that advertised in another column adopted. It was resolved that all entries close on March 14th, at 7 p.m. The secretary, Messrs Sims and Dudley, were appointed a committee to lay out the course. On the motion of Mr Wilson, seconded by Dr. Ovenden, it was resolved to engage a band, if the funds admitted of it. The committee then adjourned.

Fire at Rangtoha.—An alarm of fire was raised in Rangiora on Tuesday afternoon by the ringing of the firebell, and it was soon ascertained that several stacks of straw and straw-covered sheds belonging to Mr W. A. Burt had caught fire. The Rangiora Fire Brigade with the two engines soon arrived at the scene of the fire, hut beyond preventing the flames from catching other buildings their services were of little value, as the fire had got too great a hold of the sheds to bo easily extinguished. The buildings were old ones, and the damage done is therefore comparatively trilling.

North Canterbury Race Club.—A meeting of the members of this club was held at Roberts's Junction Hotel, Rangiora, on Monday evening. Sixteen were present, Captain Parsons, president, in the chair. It was resolved to appoint Mr H. P. Lanoe, handicapper ; Mr A. Parsons, judge ; Mr C. J. King, starter; Mr E. Mulcuck, clerk of the course, and Mr J. Wheeler, clerk of the scales. The programme for the Easter Monday race meeting was amended in some of the events, and after passing some routine business the meeting adjourned. The revised programme will be found in another part of today's issue. St. Barnabas, Woodend. —A tea meeting and concert were held at the district school on Thursday last, when a large number assembled, notwithstanding that harvest work was not over. Tables were provided by Mesdames G-resson, Hinge, Stackwood, Stoke, J. Pope, Bowie, and Horrell. In the subsequent concert several ladies and gentlemen, besides local performers, took part The proceeds were devoted to the necessary repairs to the church, and additions to be made to the Sunday school. On Sunday harvest thanksgiving services were held, the church being very tastefully decorated. The servioes were choral. The offertories, whioh were large, were devoted to the church renovation fund. The Sunday school festival, which was to have taken place yesterday, was postponed until to-day on account of the wet weather. Cust—lnstitute Hall Company.—The adjourned meeting waß held at the Road Board office at 8 p.m. on Monday. The attendance of shareholders was small. Mr Searell occupied the chair, and opened the meeting by reading the notice calling the shareholders together, after which he called upon Mr Scott, the secretary, to read the last year's balance-sheet, from which it appeared that there was a debit balance of £lB 10s lOd, but against this there was 102 shares yet to be disposed of. Tt was the general opinion of those shareholders present that, as there is no immediate likelihood of the remaining shareß being taken up, it would be advisable to raise money to finish the hall. The following gentlemen were nominated as directors for the ensuing year, viz.: —Kev. Hamilton, Messrs Higgins, Ruddenklau, Meredith, Garland, Gardner, Leach, Wotherspoon, Searell, Scott, Dixon, Howson, and O'Shannasy. It was proposed by Mr Brown, and seconded by Mr Butler —" That the gentlemen proposed be elected as directors!" An amendment in favor of the election being by ballot was lost. Mea*rs Sco't and Howson withdrew their names from the list of directors. On the motion of Mr Higgins, it wa's unanimously resolved that a sum of money be borrowed wherewith to finish the building. On the motion of Mr Higgins, seconded by Mr Ruddenklau, Mr Meredith was appointed honorary treasurer and secretary.' Mr Meredith moVf d, and Rev. Hamilton seconded " That the thanks of the shareholders be accorded to the members of the late Board of Directors for services rendered to the company during their tenure of office." Property in Colonial Cities. Mr Walton, in his remarks yesterday preliminary to the silo of Mr Wilson's p-operty, quoted instances of the great rise in the value of lauded property which has taken place in the colonies. He said that a corner section in Grey street, Wellington, 32ft. by 28ft., sold the 'other day for £6OO(J, and the purchaser was immediately offered £IOOO for his bargain, but would not accept it, as he wanted £3OOO. jf.n Duuedin no freehold land can bo obtained, but a rental of £8 to £l2 or £ls per foot is paisl for short leases. In Christchurch the Caversham Hotel was sold for £5750, the Clarendon for £8075, the Garrick for £4500, the Feathers for about the same sum. In Melbourne, for the site of Germain Nicholson's shoo, at the corner of Collins and Swanstou streets, a bank offered £50,000. This was a section 66ft. by 320 ft. The adjoining section was purchased by Mr Petty a few years ago for £39,000, and his executors now ask £50,000 for it. Messrs Brlsooe and Co. gave £36,000 for their section, 66ft. by 320 ft. On the other side of Collins street £6OO a foot was lately refused for a section whioh in 1853 sold for £2OO. In Elizabeth street the Union Bank gave £±o,ooo for 66ft. {xox&W*, 9»d tie Imperial Insurance Co©.

Durham Street Weslkyan Church. — The anniversary of the Durham street Chuich will be celebrated this evening by a tea meeting. This will be followed by a publi.; mceti g, when the Rev. Gervase Smith, the representative of the British Weslevan Conference, will deliver an address. This is intended as a formal welcome to their distinguished visitor from the Weeleyans of Christohurch, and the anniversary happens most opportunely to enable this to be done. Arthur Orton.—The announcement contained in our cable news, that the lunatic Creswcll, now confined in the Parramatta Asylum, has been identified as Arthur Orton, would be of a rather startling character if the same thing had had not been said before. We do not throw the least doubt upon the statement itself, or the bona Jidis of the identifiers. The assertion will, however, need much corroboration. Belated travellers have ere now, in all sincerity, identified ihe moon as the sun, and the street pavement as a comfortable couch, but these views have met with little acceptance.

Women's Improvement Association. — In Auckland the idea is mooted of establishing a " Women's Mutual Improvement Association," and correspondence on the subject is published in the papers. One male writer thinks that the best remedy for young ladies' defects is " not t» establish a Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Society, but to induce the ladies to join the association now existing among young men." On the other side it might be urged that this also is vanity: that a reversal of the proposed process is more likely to be beneficial, as it is well known that there is much greater room for improvement in young men than in young women.

Fire. Shortly before four o'clock this morning, the Lichfield street bell rang out a few strokes of a fire alarm, and then ceased. The Market-place bell, however, took up the ringing, and it was then seen that a large fire was raging in St Asaph street. On getting to the spot it was found to be on the premises known as Allenton House. The brigade, under Mr Superintendent Harris, were soon on the spot, and the steamers Deluge and Extinguisher being placed at the tank opposite Wilson, Sawtell & Co's, a large body of water was quickly poured on to the burning mass. The fire had got so firm a hold that, notwithstanding the volume of water poured on the building, it was seen that all chance of saving it was over. The efforts of the Brigade to prevent its spread to Maples' Southern Hotel on the one side, and the row of cottages on the other were successful and the fire was cosflned to the buildnig in which it originated which was entirely destroyed. It was occupied by a Mr Bird and sca>cely anything in it was saved. The insurances amount in the whole to £IOOO, of which £6OO, on the building, is in the Union, and £4OO, on the furniture, in the Victoria. No cause has yet been ascertained for the fire, but it is known that it broke out down below, and, from the rapidity with which it extended, it must have been smouldering for some time. One of the ledgers, in escaping from the upper windows, fell and broke his leg. He was conveyed to Mr Gardiner's shop close by, and Drs. Bell Haye and Frankish were soon in attendance. He is now doing well

City. Property.—Messrs R. Walton and Co. yesterday sold some unusually valuable city properly, consisting of freeholds in the centre of Ohristchurch, the property of Mr William Wilson. There were in all four lots submitted to public competition, and the prices realised show the wonderful increase in the value of city property during a period of twenty years. The first lot was the land upon which the Borough Hotel and stables stand. The hotel is subject to a ground rent of £2B 2s 6d, terminating on the 25th December, 1879, and the stable yard to a rent of £ll ss, terminating on the 24th June, 1879. The whole lot has a frontage of 99ft. to Manchester street and 30ft. to High street, with a depth varying from 54ft. to 105 ft. 6in. The first bid for this valuable site was £4OOO, but the bids rapidly ran up to £6500, at which price Mr John Barrett was declared to be the purchaser. Lot 2 was the section adjoining the High street frontage of Lot 1. This is subject to a ground rental of £22 10s, terminath gon the 21st July, 1880 The lot has a frontaee of 30ft. to High street, with a depth of 54ft. The first bid for this was £IOOO, and the purchaser was Mr William Powell, for £I3OO. Lot 3 was a triangular section with a frontage of 48ft. to High street, and a depth of about 50ft. This is subject to a ground rental of £36 7s 6d, terminating on the 4th June, 1883. The first bid for this was £ISOO. Mr Henry Brettargh was the purchaser for £IB7O. Lot 4 was Carl's Empire Hotel, which has a frontage of 30ft. to High street, opposite the central cab stand, with a depth of about 100 ft. The ground rental on this lot is £3l 10s, terminating on the 24th June, 1882. The first bid for this valuable property was £4OOO. The purchaser was Mr John Carl, for £SIOO. The hotel property which thus changed hands contained—the Borough Hotel, fourteen bedrooms, several sitting rooms and parlors, a double bar, a bagatelle room, a large kitchen, &c.; the Empire Hotel, thirteen bedrooms, a large restaurant, private rooms and parlors, a double bar, an excellent kitchen, &c. The lots, as will be seen from the above, realised in all £14.770.