NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1295, 14 May 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

ETANGKTJSTrc Services. The Unite- 1 Evangelistic Committee announce that d<y prayer meeting will he held in * iXie £ hows’ Hall to-morrow from te' 80 and an evangelistic eevv'‘ J in the evening at 7.30. „ The T-iitoim Market.— From enquiries mad® of the administrator of charitable aid, it appo rs (save the Pressjthe prospects o the laboit - iu-srti-'t for the approaching winter sea--,u are verv good. Up to the presen app’ieations for charitable aid In re been below the average at this season of the year, and as the supply of immigrants likely to arrive during the next few months will bo small, there is but little probability of any dearth of employment during the winter season. Of course it is impossible to foresee what may arise, but, judging from the prospects nt present, there appears no likelihood of a repetition at tijo &smim 9t wmo mouth* hm,

Tub Tasmanian Cable. —This cable is again broken. During the interruption telegrams for Tasmania will bo posted at Melbourne.

Sydenham Borough Council. The Sydenham Borough Council held their fortnightly meeting last night, when they struck a shilling rate for the current year. Horticultural Society. The annual general meeting of the Christchurch Horticultural Society will be held this evening at Radcliffe’s Hotel, at seven o’clock. Ashburton County Handicap Steeplechase. —The following entries have been received for this event: —Tvanhoo, Lone Hand, the Raven, Te Kooki, Faugh a Ballagh, The Rake, Billy Buttons. The weights will be declared on or about May 17th. A Curiosity. —There is now on view at the shop of Messrs Raven and McCallum, Cashel street, a pair of ram’s horns, beautifully mounted in silver. The horns themselves are of very large size, and well proportioned, besides which the mounting has been most artistically done. The Session of Parliament —A “Gazette” issued yesterday further prorogues the General Assembly until June 15th. Some northern journals have already stated, professedly upon information from the Government, that the Assembly will not really meet until the middle of July. Poultry Association. —The adjourned meeting of the Poultry Association, to consider the offers received for the purchase of the stock proposed to be imported by the Association, will be held on Thursday evening at Radcliffe’s Hotel. A committee meeting will be held previous to the general meeting.

Mr Ballance and his Constituents. — The Hon. J. Ballance addressed his constituents at Marton, in the Rangitikei district, last evening, when he unfolded some parts of the Ministerial policy. A summary of his address will be found elsewhere. At its conclusion a vote of confidence was carried almost unanimously. Grand National Steeplechases. —The arrangements for the steeplechases on the Queen’s Birthday are in a forward state. The stone wall is in course of erection, and the water jump is also approaching completion. The horses engaged are now getting into work. The Tasmanian flyer, Eversley, being the favorite, with the North Island horse, Te Whetu, as second. The acceptances for the Grand National Handicap Steeplechase close on Saturday evening next, at the 0 J.O. room, Radcliffe’s Hotel. Kaiapoi Native Meeting. —As it is expected that Mr Sheehan will be able to attend the proposed congress of Maoris to be held at St. Stephen’s in reference to the land claims, the committee entrusted with the arrangement of the meeting have decided to postpone the first day of meeting from the 15th instant till the 22nd. It is anticipated by the natives that Mr Sheehan will arrive about the 29th, in which case the conference will have settled the preliminaries on which, it is to be hoped, a final settlement of these claims will be made.

The Queen’s Bietiiday.—The anniversary of Her Majesty’s birthday will be celebrated with all due honor by the people of Canterbury. For those of sporting proclivities there will be the meet of the Grand National Steeplechase Club and the opening meeting of the Canterbury Coursing Club. The usual facilities by steamers, &c., will be afforded to pic-nic parties to visit the various sea-side resorts. In the evening the City Guards’ ball in Christchurch, and the fancy dress ball, given by his Worship the Mayor of Lyttelton, will enable the day to be fittingly concluded.

The Late Wbathbe. —The violence of the gale on Sunday was much felt up-country, and the rain was generally acceptable. The Waimakariri was partially in flood, but not sufficiently so to cause any uneasiness. Of the weather at Ashburton a correspondent writes : —“ Sunday morning a gale or extraordinary violence swept over Ashburton. At 11 a.m. it was at its height, and moving out was then no easy matter. Outhouses on all sides were blown over, and the whole back of Messrs Montgomery and Co.’s fine new building in East street was blown out. The inside of this building had just received its first coat of plaster. It is thought that this gale was more severe, though of shorter duration, than any we have had.”

Auckland Banking Accounts. A Northern paper gives the following as the very favorable terms on which the National Bank’s tender for the Auckland municipal account has been accepted by the City Council: —Fixed deposits, three, six, and twelve months, 61, 6f, and 61 per cent.; daily credit balance, per cent, per annum. Negotiating loans, half per cent., less brokerage and expenses ; exchange on London at half ordinary rates ; overdrawn account, 2 per cent, below current rates, the Corporation to be allowed an overdraft of £25,000 without special security. The New Zealand and Colonial Banks tendered. The New South Wales and Australasian declined. Legislation ee Bills op Sale— At the annual meeting of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce a report was read which contained the following reference to the law relating to bills of sale: —The Act to amend the law relating to bills of sale, which was passed in December, 1876, has worked on the whole very satisfactorily, and has prevented the evils which it was designed to prevent. Nevertheless questions have been raised in regard to its operation both in this colony and New Zealand, and the committee were for some months in correspondence with the Chamber of Commerce at Christchurch, and their legal adviser, Dr Poster, whose queries and suggestions (oifered in the most friendly and courteous spirit) have been well considered by the sub-committee of the chamber, who were charged with watching the operation and effect of the Act, and the somewhat novel provisions which it embodies. The committee have felt that on the whole the Act was accomplishing its intended purpose efficiently, and they could not recommend any attempt at amending it, although it may be considered desirable when opportunity offers to seek further legislation in one direction at least, where frauds are possible, of a cognate character to those which this Act has been the means of frustrating. The extensive intertrading of the several colonies, which is carried on despite the arbitrary lines which divide them, renders it extremely important to traders on both sides the border lines that there should be uniformity of law relating to bills of sale, and copies of the Victorian Act were accordingly forwarded by the chamber to the neighbouring colonies, with suggestions for engrafting its provisions on their legislation. Although at present the Victorian Act has not been actually adopted as a precedent for legislation in either of the other colonies, yet it has been under consideration with a view to the adoption of its principles in more than one colony of the group.