NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1355, 18 June 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

City Rate. —Notice has been given of the intention of the City Council to strike a rate of one shilling in the £ at its next mesli'ig, on the Ist July. Political.—Mr Murray-Aynsley, M.H.R. for Lyttelton, will address the electors tomorrow evening. The Canterbury members who have not yet intimated their intention of addressing their constituencies are, Messrs Richardson, Moorhouse, and J. E. Brown. A Novel Plea.—At the Kaiapoi Magistrate's Court yesterday an aboriginal, charged with being drunk and resisting the constable, pleaded—" All right. What's to pay?" The Magistrate rebuked his unseasonable flippancy, and fined him 10s for the first offence, and 20s for the second.

Bobough of Rangioea.—Mr H. Blackett being the only candidate nominated for the office of Mayor, will be declared duly elected at the Road Board oflice at noon to-day. Two of the candidates for Councillorships have retired—Messrs Aherne and Burke: so that there are now only fifteen candidates, and the polling will take place on Thursday. The public meeting at which candidates address the burgesses will take place this evening. Theatbical— Mr H. E. Walton and Mrs Fitzwilliam passed through on Saturday per s.s. liotorua for Dunedin, where they appear at the Princess Theatre for a short season under engagement witli Mr Sibbald. Mr Charles Wallace, with an original entertainment written for him in Sydney, has started on a tour in the up country townships of New South. Wale*, and purposes revisiting New Zealand about the end of the year. Xebosene Tests. The Inspector of Weights and Measures here intends to make a series of tests, in tho manner prescribed by the Dangerous Goods Act, of samples of kerosene obtained from the various stores. Should the oil Hash at a lower temperature than that fixed by tho Act, it will have to be labelled " dangerous" conspicuously when offered for sale. It is eaiu that there is a very large quantity of inferior kerosene in the market just now, and tho result of the tests proposed to be made will prove whether this is the case or not.

TIIE VOLUNTEEBS. —The Government seem determined to reduce the cost of the Volunteer service in Canterbury as much as possible. Some little time back Lieut.-Colonel Packe, the officer commanding the district, received an intimation that in future no pay wonld attach to that oflice. Colonel Packe, however, intimated his intention of discharging the duties without receiving any honorarium for the future. The latest reduction lias been that of tho bughr to the battalion, who has been in tiie receipt of a small salary for some years. Una has now been withdrawn, and tho bugler made his last appearance ut the recent head-quarters parade.

The Small-tox in Melbourne. —Referring to the small-pox on board the P. and O. mail steamer Siam, the Melbourne "Argus" B ays —" The Central Board of Health consider there are serious grounds for apprehending that the disease may have spread beyond the ship, as the crew were allowed free communication with the shore, and have consequently requested the medical men of Williamstown to keep a sharp look-out for any suspicious cases."

Sea Lions.—Last week two large sea lions were captured by Mr Thomas Gibbs, on the beach within a mile of Leithfield. One of animals he shot in the face, the other one lie struck on the head, killing both of them. The length of the largest one was 9ft., the other one onlv 7ft. These are not the first of the kind that have been captured in this locality. Some little time back one was caught alive, and kept on view in a paddock for some time, and was subsequently taken to Christchurch and exhibited there for some time as the " Great Sea Leopard," after which it was sent to the Museum. The Railway Station. —The almost impassable state of the road fronting the railway station during the continuance of the wet weather has been the constant theme of complaint during the past few days. An inexpensive remedy and one which would obviate the discomfort now experienced would be to run a narrow asphalt crossing from the side walk to the station. The number of people who have to pass to and fro daily is very considerable, and the cabs, omnibusses, &c, rni ning constantly have so cut~up the road as to render the passage a matter of great difficulty. The cost of the work proposed would be but small and the convenience to the public very great. Papanui Ploughing Match.—The programme of the prizes to be awarded in this match appears elsewhere. It is fixed to take place on July 2nd, and there are four classes in which prizes will be given. The first is the champion class, the premier prize in which is a very handsome silver cup and ten guineas. There are three other prizes in this class, varying from £lO to £2 10s. The second class contains six prizes, ranging from £l2 to £2. In the boys' class five prizes are offered, varying from £8 to £l. The double furrow class has three prizes, the first being value £lO. There are also the usual prizes for best finishes, &c. It may be noted that no time has been fixed for entries to be made, an intimation which has perhaps been inadvertently omitted. The annual dinner will take place on the evening of the match.

Extradition of Prisoners.—ln charging the Napier Grand Jury respecting the case of a man charged with an offence under the Fraudulent Debtors Act, and who had absconded and been brought back from New South Wales, Judge Richmond said: —lt would be highly improper for me to anticipate what may be the conclusion arrived at in that case, but I may say that it is satisfactory to know that persons charged with crime can be reached at a very great distance. In the present case the prisoner was arrested at a place much more than 200 miles beyond Sydney. The law relating to the extradition of criminals is still in an unsatisfactory state, but improvements are constantly being made, and the time may come when the arm of the law will reach to any corner of the civilised world.

Poultry ASSociation. —The annual show of the Poultry Association, which takes place on the 28th and 29th inst., at the Oddfellows' Hall, promises to be a very successful one. A very large number of private prizes have already been promised, and the managing committee are sanguine of adding still further to the list. It has been decided to hold the exhibition this year over two days, in order to allow of the arrangements in connection with the art union being carried out properly. The extended time will also enable the judges to devote more time to their work, and thus give the large number of exhibits that thorough examination which is necessary. The art union will form a conspicuous portion of the arrangements, and the prizes will be of a valuable character. The entries close at 6 p.m. on Friday next, and from what can be seen all the classes are likely to fill well. Rifle Match. A match between the Oamaru Rifles and the Christchurch Volunteer Engineers was fired on the respective ranges on Saturday last. The Engineers made 753, the ranges being 200, 400, and 500 yards, seven shots at each, and twelve men on each side. The Oamaru 6core amounted to 779. The Engineers are thus victors by four points. The shooting throughout was very good—indeed, it may be doubted whether better scoring has ever been made in the colony. The average of the twenty-four competitors was over 65 points, and in the case of one of the team of the Engineers the best score was made ever recorded in the colony—viz., 81 out of a possible 84. This score was made by Corporal Chapman, of the C.E.V. The Oamaru men, it will be recollected, won the last match between the two teams. A deciding match will be fired at an early date. Colombo Bridge.—Now that the City Council have determined to enforce the very necessary by-law as to driving round corners of streets at full speed, it might be as well to consider also whether some such restriction could not be applied to Colombo bridge. At present cabs and other vehicles cross it at express speed, and owing to the absence of a side walk pedestrians are completely at the mercy of the drivers, and on dark evenings the chances of accident are great. With the Yictoria bridge it is different, as the footway prevents any accident. The Colombo bridge is far too narrow for the very large amount of traffic which passes over it, and unless the Council can see their way to widening it, it would be well to compel vehicles to cress it at a slower pace than they now do. There would be no hardship in this, and pedestrians would escape the daily risk of being run over. New Zealand Directory.—Messrs Wise and Co., of Dunadin, have issued their New Zealand Directory for 1878. A number of improvements have been made in it since its last publication, and a great mass of information is now given in a manner which enables it to be referred to without difficulty. The former arrangement under whicli the Directory was compiled, viz., by provinces, has been abandoned, and the whole colony has just been treated as one large city, and the directory of the four principal cities, and all the postal towns and townships throughout New Zealand, arranged alphabetically. The cities of Wellington, Dunedin, Auckland, and Christchurch have a street directory, and a well executed map of each is also published. Following this is an alphabetical directory of the whole colony, in which is included the names of the residents in the various towns, &c, with their trades. In addition, there is also a trade and professional directory for the colony alphabetically arranged. The other items of information contained in the volume are medical, ecclesiastical, and legal directories, a directory of runholders arranged under the various provincial districts, giving the number of acres held, banking, insurance, County Council, Road Board and municipal, educational and official directories. Further, the postal and telegraph rates corrected to Ist May of this year, and a mass of useful information on other subjects are supplied. The different seel ions of the work are so arranged by being lettered on the leaves and the edges coloured differently that reference to them is made easy. In addition, however, to this, there is a copious index. Altogether the work shows evidence of a large amount of trouble having been expended on it, and that, too, in a way most likely to give the fullest information on the subject treated of. It is announced that the work will not appear in 1879, the publishers believing that the commercial requirements of the colony do not yet demand thaA the directory should bo published annually. Hence the next publication will be for the year 1880. Lecture.—The Rev. J. Elmslie, of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, will deliver a i lecturo therein this evening ou the Second Advent. A collection will be made in aid of the funds of the Young Women's Christian Association. , Selwyn County Council.—A special meeting of the Council will be held on Saturday, July 13th, at 10.30 am., for the purpose cf coiifirming, or otherwise, a refoluti n, re Slaughter-houses Act, 1877, and the Counties A-'t, 1870, passed at the meeting held on Friday last.

Board of Education. —A. meeting of the Nortu Canterbury Board of Education will be held on Thursday next, at three o'clock. Election of City Auditors.—The official enquiry into the circumstances connected with the election of city auditors will be held before Mr Mcllish on Thursday. The enquiry is held under the Regulation of Local Elections Act, and it will be for the Resident Magistrate to say whether under the circumstances the electio'i is vitiated or not.