NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1380, 18 July 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Bueglaby.— Guthrie and Larnach's store in Colombo street was entered last night by the office window. The burglars broke into a cheffonier, and attempted to break open a safe. The only article actually missing is a rug. City Peopeety.—Mr 0. F. Barker sold today city properties in the Barker Estate, situated in Cathedral square, Worcester street, and Oxford Terrace. Lot 1, quarter-acre, fronting Worcester street, and Cathedral square, realised £77 10s per foot, or £5155 for the section. The remaining sections, twelve in number, brought from £52 to £26 per foot. . Chaeitable Aid.—At a meeting or. the Board held lust night, it was reßolved that the members should visit the Old Men's Refuge at Selwyn on Saturday next. Dr. Nedwill was appointed medical officer to the department viee Dr. Coward resigned. Accident at Ashbubton— Mr Thomas Holland, a farmer of Longbeach, when getting out of his dray yesterday evening at Friedlander's store, Ashburton, unfortunately slipped and broke his arm above the wrist. INVEECAK&ILI/ Election—lt will be seen by the telegrams published this evening tl at Mr H. Eeldwick, formerly of Christchurch, has been returned for tthe Assembly by the Invercargill electors, vice Mr Lumßden retired. Mr Eeldwick goes in as a strong supporter of the Ministry. Sheffield. —There was a very heavy fall of snow on Sunday and Monday, and the ground is still covered with snow. It is stated that the telegraph wires on the Hokitika line have been damaged, and that the frost has been unutually severe,

High School Cadets.—The monthly in epection of the High School Cadets by Major Lean, the officer commanding the district, took place at the drillshed hist evening. There was a very good muster of the members of the corps. The band, numbering fourteen, under the leadership of Mr R. Hawkins, were in attendance, and played several selections during the inspection.

Ice in Lyttelton HABBOR.—Both on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings an area of about six or eight acres in Lyttelton harbor, extending from the Gladstone Pier to the newly reclaimed land, was frozen over, the ice being from an eighth to a quarter of an inch thick. Such a thing has never been known to occur in Lyttelton before since the first settlement. This shows how severe the frosts must have been. The water at the Head of the Bay has also been frozen over. Bazaab in Ashbueton.—The bazaar m aid of the funds of the Presbyterian Church was continued on Tuesday evening. Those who assisted in getting it up have every reason to be satisfied with their day's work. The receipts from the different stalls were extremely good. At, 7 p.m. Messrs Bullock and Co. disposed of a large amount of goods at the highest prices. The Ashburton Brass Band, under the leadership of Mr J. S. . Savage, occupied the gallery, and played at \ intervals during the evening. The total receipts for the day amounted to the handsome J sum of £2OO.

West Oxfobd Muedeb.—The man Eguirs Hoff, charged with the murder of his wife, Tekla Hoff, on the Bth inst., was brought before the Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, and committed on that charge for (rial to the Supreme Court. His demeanor in Court was very quiet, and he shewed very little disposition to crossexamine the witnesses. At various points of the evidence, he nodded his assent to the correctness of the testimony. When his wife was stated to have been kind to him, he gave a negative shake of the head and smiled in a cynical manner. When the portion of the medical evidence was given, in which it was stated that the wounds which caused death were administered by either a shingling hammer, clea,ver, or a tomahawk, he pointed to the head of the latter, from which the handle had been burnt, as the instrument with which the deed was committed. The only statements made which he attempted to deny were those of the man Barrett. Hoff never seemed fully to realise his position. He reserved his statement of the affair till brought before the Supreme Court. Ltttelton ScnooLS. —Mr P. Cunningham, Master of the Lodge of Unanimity, No. 604, E.C., has presented the winners of the Masonic Scholarships for 1877-78 with a present. In each case the gift consists of a very handsomely-bound Bible, with two pockets, one of which contains a prayer book and the other a hymnal. On the fly leaf of the Bible is the following address—" Presented by P. Cunningham, W.M. Lodge of Unanimity, 604), E.C., to commemorate successful competition for the Masonic Scholarships." The successful competitors were—in 1877, Miss D'Au'.hreau, and in 1878, Miss Alice Hobbs. Both these young ladies have been educated in the Lyttelton school; and it must be gratifying to Mr W. L. Edge, the head master, and the town generally, that not only has the Masonic Scholarship for two successive years fallen to Lyttelton school, but that Miss" Milson in 1877, and Miss Pitcaithly in the present year, have taken Government Scholarships in such a way as to reflect the greatest credit on the school. The committee have resolved to commemorate the event by granting a holiday to the school to-morrow. Supbeme Cotjbt.—The civil sittings of the Supreme Court were resumed yesterday, when the case of Chapman v. Wilson was heard. The case was one for damages for malicious prosecution, the plaintiff being a wool sorter, and the defendant Sir J. C. Wilson. The defendant, acting upon information received, laid an information against the plaintiff for having stolen four bales of wool, the property of defendant, and the plaintiff was committed to take his trial at the Supreme Court, where he was acquitted. The damages in the present action were laid at £SOO ordinary, and £SOO special. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff on all the issues for £l5O. After the jury had retired some little time to consider their verdict, the foreman came into Court and asked his Honor if a verdict of the majority would be received. His Honor explained that the law provided that a jury must be locked up for three hours before a three-fourths verdict could be taken, and then only if three-fourths of the jury intimated to the Judge that there was no possibility of a unanimous verdict being arrived at. The intelligence that they would have to remain in consultation for three hours seemed to have a quickening effect on the jury, as they returned into Court shortly after receiving an answer to their enquiry, with a verdict for the plaintiff for £l5O. The Court will resume its sittings on Friday at 10 a.m.

How some Electobs value toe Franchise. —In his recent address at Ophir, Mr Vincent Pyke is reported to have said: —There is a great deal of "difficulty in putting men on the roll, but there is a worse difficulty than that, in the apathy and inaction of the electors themselves. There is no use, gentlemen, in giving you the franchise if you won't do two things; if you won't register without being hunted up to do bo, and having been registered you must vote. So strongly do I feel upon that, that the minorities in New Zealand return the members, that I would have any man struck off the roll if on two successive occasions he failed to exercise the franchise. I will give an illustration of the indifference of the electors. At tue last election in Dunedin, when there was a great deal of public feeling excited —it was not a tame election, both parties in the State were doing their utmost to excite the people into a political furore, and what was the issue ? There were on the roll 3335 electors, and how many of these voted ? A minority, gentlemen. Only 1552, being considerably less than one-half of the electors. At Roslyn there were 843 electors on the roll, and the total number polled was only 279, about one-third of them. At Caversham, which is a very loud-voiced political district, there were 933 electors on the roll, and all who voted were 462, not more than half. Now, gentlemen, it is of no use to give to men privileges if they will not exercise them, and therefore when men talk about the extension of the franchise, it is their duty to take pains to rouse the people to come to the polling-booths, and to record their votes when called upon so to do.

Licensed Victtjallehs of Ashbttbton. — A meeting of the Licensed Victuallers of Ashburton was held at the Somerset Hotel on Tuesday, 16th instant. Present Messrs Shearman, Somerset Hotel; Quill, Commercial ; Power, Royal; Williamson, Ashburton; Butler, ISew Inn; Stenning, Chertsey. Mr Shearman was roted to the chair, and stated that the object of this meeting was to consider if it would not be advisable to petition the Bench against granting any more licenses in Ashburton, as some of the proprietors in the town were ordered by the Bench to increase the accommodation of their houses, and Messrs M'Kenzie, Power, and Butler, had already plans prepared, to be submitted to the Bench on the next quarterly licensing day. When Mr Quill's Hotel waß ercr' :£-*fc, was thought that first-class accommodation, was required in the town. Since thai bouse A was built, every requirement had been niefy *, and when the improvements now in progress in the other houses were completed, there would really be no need for more licenses to be granted. There were already two large boarding houses about to be erected in the township. Mr Stenning proposed, and Mr Power seconded —" That all the Licensed Victuallers in the district should unite, and engage the services of a solicitor in the town. Mr Quill moved—" That in the opinon of thiß meeting, further hotel accommodation in Ashburton is unnecessary, owing to the additional accommodation now being provided, according to the wish of the Licensing Commissioners." Mr Butler seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr Shearman moved, and Mr Quill seconded—" That Mr Thomas be asked to attend the next quarterly licensing meeting at Ashburton. The attention of the meeting was called to a paragraph which appeared in a Christ church paper relative to the erection of another hotel, for which it was statt d the license had been promised,

ACCIDENT TO THE NEW ZEALAND BLONDIN. —A good many people in Canterbury will be sorry to hear of the accident recorded in the following extract from the Southland " Times " :—Henry Morris, " the New Zealand Blondin," met with a serious accident thie morning. While cutting wood with his father in the Waikiwi Bush, his axe caught in some scrub and came on to his toes, slitting the big one, cutting the next off close to the foot, and lastly the tips off the three others. He was brought to the hospital. The family are deserving of sympathy, all they possessed and their whole energies for a long time past havr'ng been devoted towards making the lad proficient in the pursuit he has adopted. He had been practising in the bush for the last six weeks while not engaged in working with his father for a livelihood, with the intention of starting on a tour in the spring. Is IT A Job ? —The specifications as to payment of contractors for the Tapanui railway, are, we believe, exceptional in the history of public works in the colony, being such as can only suit contractors who can command a large capital. Suspicion is, therefore, naturally aroused, and questions asked as to whether the Public Works Department is anxious to throw the contract into the hands of some particular contractors, by debarring others from tendering. The Tapanui correa-

pondent of the Dunedin "Star" telev graphs : —" The intending contractors here rare Y&IJ much dissatisfied with the speeifiea- * tiona for the railway. There is no clause for progress payments, two years being allowed for the construction of the line, and it is not

until sixty days after the completion of the line, station buildings, and permanent way that a single payment will be made, and then only a small percentage. Contractors who are not large capitalists therefore growl."

Artillery Ball. —The annual ball of the Christchurch Artillery Volunteers has been fixed to take place on August 14th. The balls hitherto given by this corps have been highly successful, and that now projected will doubtless equal its predecessors. Reunion.—The annual reunion of the employes of Messrs P. and D. Duncan, of the South British Iron Works, given by the proprietors, will take place in the Oddfellows' Hall to-morrow evening. The form which it will take will be a supper and a ball. I.O.G.T.—The tea meeting, entertainment, concert, &c, to celebrate the anniversary of Good emplary in Canterbury, will take place at the Oddfellows' Hall this evening. Addresses, interspersed with music, &c, will be delivered by several ministers and gentlemen. Coursing.—The entries for the Canterbury Cup, to be run at the next meet of tho Canterbury Coursing Club on the 26th instant, close today at the Shades. Political.—Mr W. S. Moorhouse, M.H.R. for Christchurch, will address the electors at the Oddfellows' Hall on Saturday evening.

Licensed Victuallers' Association.— The animal dinner of the Canterbury Licensed Victuallers' Association has been fixed for this evening. It will take place at Wearing s Terminus Hotel. Christchurch Football Club.—There will be two matches in connection with this club on Saturday, viz., Fifteen v the College, to be played on the College ground, and a second Fifteen v Twenty of the Eastern Football Club, to be played on Uraum< r square. The following are the fifteens :—College ; C. Bolton, E. Cottenll, J. R. Evans, J. S. Field, R.J. S. Harman, W. Hartlmd, M. Lewin, G. S. Mathias, W. Millton. H. Mcrardell, A. Ollivier, L M. Ollivier, G. Parker, E. A. Pavitt,and J. Wilkin. Cranmer square—A tack (captain), Anderson, Alabaster, Kray, Bell, Baker, Dobson, Hales, E. Hawkes, 1. Hawkes, Johnston, Lanauze, L. Mathias, Reeves, and Httltmar.m. Emergency —Bishop, Cotterill, and Whitcom'c The colors will be scarlet and black for b tli fifteens. Both matches will commence at three o'clock sharp.