NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1282, 29 April 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Political.—Mr E. 0. J. Stevens, M.H R. for Christchurch, will address his constituents this evening at the Oddfellows’ Hall, at halfpast seven o’clock. Sporting.—The entries for the Grand National Steeplechases were received on Saturday Lst. Fur the Maiden Plate there are twelve entries, for the Grand National seventeen, for the Hunt Club Cup eleven. Cheviot Election. —The nomination of a member of the House of Representatives for the Cheviot district, will take place at Kaikoura on May Bth, and the polling on May 17th.

Game Licenses. —The fee for licenses to take, kill, or pursue game in the provincial district of Canterbury is fixed at 50s, being 10s higher than in any other province except Hawke’s Bay, where it is the same. Fire.—A fire occurred on Saturday at the Racecourse. It appears that a stack of hay, situate on a portion of the course rented by Mr Redwood, caught fire in some manner, and was destroyed. In attempting to put out the fire, a man in the employ of Mr Redwood was severely burned, and was removed to the Hospital. Masonic. —At the regular monthly meeting of the Somerset Lodge, Ashburton, held on Friday, 26th inst., Bro. P. M. Booth, on behalf of Bro. Shearman, presented the lodge with a life-size portrait of Bro. the late F. W. Thiel. The likeness was very striking, and was handsomely framed. Bro. Stephenson, S.W., on behalf of the lodge, expressed the gratitude of the members to Bro. Shearman for his present. Appointments Gazetted. —Mr Ballance is appointed Commissioner of Stamp Duties ; Professor Shand is appointed a Fellow of the University vice the Hon. T, Fraser; Dr. Nedwill is appointed public vaccinator for Christchurch ; Mr J. Ollivier auditor for the County of Selwyn ; and Mr A. Le G. Campbell Judge of the Assessment Court for the Ashburton district. Dr. Nedwill is also appointed surgeon to the Addington Gaol. MrHabens appointment as Inspector-General of Schools ofllcially notified. Ashburton Reserves. —The purpose of

reserve of twenty acres in the Ashburton district, originally made for railway and telegraph purposes, is changed under the Land Act of last session, and the reserve is to be used for the purposes of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Two other reserves in the same district made for Provincial Government purposes are to bo utilised, one of twenty-two acres as a recreation ground, and the other of twenty acres as a cemetery. Catholic Chxjhch, Baebadoes Steeet. —The enlargement of the Roman Catholic Church in Barbadoes street is now so far advanced that a good notion may be formed of the increased accommodation which will bo afforded. Besides the great increase to the number of sittings, there is more than a proportionate addition to the amount of light and air admitted to the building. The architectural appearance of the church likewise is greatly improved. Mr J. S. M. Jacobson is the architect, from whose designs and under whose supervision the alterations have been made.

Dh. Somerville. Yesterday afternoon Dr. Somerville delivered an address at the Theatre Royal, taking Iris text from the 6th chapter of the Song of Solomon. Every portion of the theatre was crowded, numbers being admitted to the stage. Even the corridor leading to the stalls was full. Dr. Somerville will deliver his lecture on “ The Fiery Furnace ” this evening at the Theatre Royal, under the auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Association. The doors will be open at 7.15. A collection will be made in aid of the building fund of the association. At 11 a.m. this morning there will be a conference of ministers and others. At noon the usual prayer meeting will take place. Dr. Somerville will leave for Timaru on Tuesday morning, and will hold a service there in the evening. The next day he will go on to Oamaru, where he will stay two days, leaving on Friday for Dunedin. INFANTICIDE AND LIFE INSURANCE. —The disclosures that have been made on one or two occasions lately (says the “Pall Mall Gazette”) at inquests on the bodies of children whose lives have been insured go to justify the prevalent suspicion of a close con-' nection between infant mortality and life insurance. At an inquest held a few days ago as to the death of two children at Low Speunymoor, Durham, which was adjourned for evidence as to the result of an analytical examination, a startling statement was made by Dr. O’Hanlon, medical officer to the local board. “In the last few years,” he said, “ever since there had been such an enormous canvassing going on amongst insurance companies, there had been a wonderful increase in the mortality amongst children.” A§ a rule, he found that the children were always insured. The temptation to get rid of a child rather than maintain it is, to many parents, very great at all times; and when, in addition to being relieved of the burden of its maintenance, they can actually gain hard cash by its death, the temptation may become irresistible.” Chess—The match between the Christchurch and Dunedin Chess Clubs expired on Saturday evening, like a five-year old House of Representatives, through effluxion of time. It had been previously agreed that play should not be continued beyond the fourth Saturday. The result of this arrangement is not very satisfactory, as, out of the nine games, only two have been played out. Of these, each club scores one ; the remainder arc left, in various stages of incompletion, to the decision of the umpires. We should explain, however, that three games—two on the part of Dunedin and one of Christchurch —were quitted perforce on the second and third evenings, in consequence of the players being prevented by business engagements from continuing their attendance. With regard to the seven games referred, it would be indiscreet to make any comment while the positions are still under consideration, but it seems to be the opinion of the Christchurch players that in the majority of cases their man has the advantage. Whether this is a view which will be shared by the judges remains to bo seen.

The Reef near Hokitika. —The latest reports from the Butcher’s Gully reefs near Hokitika favour the belief that at length a discovery has been made which will lift the capital of Westland out of that prolonged state of decadence, caused by the falling off in alluvial mining, which has for years atllicted it. The Hokitika “ Star ”of April 20th writes After trials sufficient to convince the most sceptical, though accomplished by the very insufficient means of a hammer or an iron pestle, it has been proved conclusively that the reefs in Butcher’s Gully are not only gold-bearing, but sufficiently so to render t hem highly payable. The stone is in enormous quantities, the means of getting it out remarkably easy, and two miles and a half of road will connect the goldfields with Hokitika. A huge goldfield of a permanent character calculated to yield profitable employment to numbers of men, for the present century at least, lies within a few miles, and all that is necessary for people to do in order to open it is at once to send machinery on to the ground. All who have inspected the reef, whether skilled in mineralogy or not, have bad ample proofs of the value of the discovery.

The Southern Railway.—The Palmerston “ Times ” says : —We wonder how many more talcs will be gushingly told ; how many more flying visits Ministers, engineers, railway managers, and their understrappers will make to this district before the lino between Palmerston and Dunedin will be actually open for passenger and goods traffic. By the Hon. Mr Larnach, when at length he did condescend to pass thiough the district on a Ministerial excursion, people were deluded into the belief the line from Moeraki to Palmerston would bo opou in six weeks hence, and that the novelty of travelling by rail in a northerly direction would lose scarcely any of its delicious freshness before we should find ourselves scampering away to Dunedin by the same means. Something like progress in some parts, is being made, certainly ; people may notice that, hero and there, the line is growing; but of the predictions —promises we should say—of the hou. gentleman, who is now well beyond reach of complaint or reproach, there is evidence, ample and uumistakeablc, that they will yet go a long time unfulfilled.

The West Coast Murder Case.— The gecond trial of Ryan for the murder of Daniels, at Kumara, will bo commenced at Hokitika on Monday before Justice Richmond. T TV The Member tor Clutha. — Mr J. vv. Thomson, who is universally regarded ns the Srime boro of New Zealand’s Parliament, adressed his constituents at Gatlin’s River, on April 13th, and received a vote of confidence. „ Ballarat Juvenile Exhibition—Victorian papers state that this exhibition has on the whole been a fair success, due in a great measure to the cheap rate at which the rail■way department has enabled inhabitants or all parts of the colony to visit the show,, Accident trom Burning.— A man named William Armstrong, ploughman for Mr Redwood, at Upper Riccarton, was received into the Hospital on Saturday with both feet burnt. Ho had been burning stubble, when the fire communicated with a slack of hay, and in his efforts to trample it out, the fire fot inf o his boots, burning him rather badly, [e is likely, however, to do well. The Sculling Championship.— According to the Sydney “Echo,” Trickelt has received from Courtney the following message, dated Auburn, New York, 31st March:—“Race accepted by me for £IOOO a-sido; Trickett allowed £3OO for expenses. Water on which the race shall be rowed to bo left to me.-Charles JS. Courtney, Champion of America.” Trickett, however, declares himself satisfied to rest on his laurels unless Mr Courtney is willing to accept similar terms from him. Novel Sport. —A proclamation in the “New Zealand Gazette” defines the open season for killing game in the several provincial districts. In Canterbury, excepting the Counties of Waimate and Geraldine, it is declared that pheasants “ shall be open to be hunted, shot, taken or killed” during the month of Juno. In some districts cockpheasants only are to be submitted to the ordeal. The wordii gof the proclamation to some extent follows that of the Act, but the clauses of the latter deal with game, both animal and birds, collectively. Hunting a pheasant, as distinguished from shooting one, is quite a new sport, and one likely to be of a rather dreary character. A Dark Lighthouse.— lt is now nearly three weeks (says the “ Tiraaru Herald” of Saturday) since the now lighthouse on Lo Cren’s terrace was finished ; and yet, so far, there is no sign of the light being fixed in it. The apparatus has been stored in Lyttelton for between three and four years, and we should have thought the Government would have lost no time in placing it in position more especially as wo have reason to believe they have been paying heavy storage rates for it. Not a few people have from the beginning objected to the new lighthouse being erected on its present site, but now that the building is int fait accompli, we do not see why it should not be utilised. Could not the Harbor Board move in the matter ? Breach oe Promise Actions.— Writing on the prospect of the abolition through the agency of Mr Herschell’s Bill of Breach of Promise of Marriage Actions, the London “ Times ” says : —lt is not for any decent Englishman or Englishwoman, of any rank, high or low, that there exists the legal facility for exhibiting to the public, the letters of maudlin sots or crazy dotards in the clutches of hungry spinsters or disreputable widows. These are the polite letter-writers of our period; these are our Sapphics and Anacreontics. We cannot but be sorry to deprive some readers of their amusement, even though it only recur a dozen times or so in a year. But good taste has put an end to many other amusements not more exceptionable. Cockfighting, bull-baiting, and the prize-ring are things of the past in this country, and it is quite time that the public trial of breach of promise of marriage cases should follow them. An Ingenious Invention.— During the week wo (“Forbes Times ”) have had the opportunity of seeing at work a most unique piece of machinery which has just been completed by Mr J. B, Preston of this town. The work of the machine is to turn out any kind of wheel-spoke perfect and symmetrical in shape, and requiring no further finish than the ordinary sard paper process. With some of the best American mi chines now used by the largest coachbuilders in Sydney a good deal remains to be done after the machine has done its work, and chisels and spokeshaves are still a necessity for bringing the spoke into the required shape. Mr Preston’s machine, however, does away with all this, and when once the unshaped timber is put into the lathe it requires no further handling until it is taken out a perfectly shaped spoke. Ordinarily, a lathe will turn anything circular and nothing more, but the singularity of Mr Preston’s invention is, that it turns the spoke from end to end with all its variations of form, and without any readjustment of the machine or the timber it operates upon. First of all the square shoulder, fitting into the nave, is turned, and this is done with the edges so clearly cut and the other part so level, that a “ square” applied to them showed them to be as true as possible. No gear is altered as the machine works away, cutting the “neck” with the“ spring” in it perfect as the pattern, and finally running out the spoke, oval at one side and tapering at the other, until the whole is complete. The invention is one of the most ingenious we have ever seen, and on a sample spoke being shown to some of the Sydney coachbuilders they expressed grave doubts as to its having been done as stated. We have, however, seen the machine at work and witnessed a spoke turned out in a singularly short time, so that its practicability is beyond doubt. We understand that Mr Preston had several offers made him while in Sydney, but it is more than likely that he will patent the invention and retain to himself the profits arising therefrom.