NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1390, 30 July 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Impounded Land Fund. —At the sittings in banco this morning, on the motion of Mr Joynt, after considerable argument, bis Honor granted a rule nisi calling on the Colonial Treasurer to show cause why a mandamus should not issue to compel him to pay over to the Avon Road Board certain moneys alleged to be due on December 31st last. The rule is returnable in a fortnight. Railway Teafpic. —The waters of the Waimakariri are gradually subsiding. This morning the General Manager, Mr Back, drove up to the submerged part of the railway for the purpose of personally inspecting the amount of damage done, and the probable time that must elapse before traffic can be resumed on the line. There is little cause, for fear for the stability of the Rakaia bridge. When the first train passed over this morning it was apparent that the protective works were sufficient for its safety. City Council —The ordinary meeting of the City Council was held last night. A report of the proceedings appears in another column. Sporting. —At a special meeting of the C.J.C. held yesterday, the disqualification of Fishhook'and Derrilt, his rider, was removed in accordance with the resolution of the Dunedin J. 0. Building in Christchurch.— Some idea of the extent of building operations now going on in Christchurch may be formed from the fact that the building fees paid into the Citv Council during the last month amounted to £Bl. Liberator Lodge I 0 G.T.—The place of meeting of this lodge will be changed after this week, from the Orange Hall, on Wednesday, to the Temperance Hall, on Friday night. Young Women’s Christian Association. —An association under this title, but which will include any woman a member of a Christian Church, is about to be formed in Dunedin. At the preliminary meeting, Professor Salmond pertinently said: —The name, he thought, might be changed. Why should it be a “Young Women’s Christian Association,” and at what age did a woman cease to be young P The Turf. —Somewhat of a sensation was occasioned in sporting circles yesterday afternoon (says the “ Sydney Morning Herald ” of July 19th), when it became known that Chester was scratched for the Metropolitan Stakes. The pen was drawn through his name at 6 p.m., and as the public would have been sure to have backed him, it is well that his withdrawal has taken place thus early. His prospects are much fancied for the Melbourne Cup, for which he is a trifle better in than he was for the Metropolitan. Ho has been heavily backed for the double, in conjunction with Bosworth, for the Y.R.C. Derby and the Cup. Drowning of Captain Yernazzoni.—A telegram was received in Lyttelton yesterday, stating that Captain Yernazzoni had been drowned in the Hokitika river. It appears he was crossing the river to go to the s.s. Mullough, which was ashore on the south spit, anothe boat upset. Capt. Yernazzoni has been well known and much respected in Lyttelton for years as master and owner of the three-masted schooner Garibaldi. He recently purchased the s.s. Mullough from Messrs Cameron Bros., and took her to the West Coast. On the 19th inst., whilst lightering the Prosperity, the Mullough went ashore at Hokitika. Canterbury Rifle Association. A meeting of the council was held yesterday at Radcliffe’s Hotel. All the members present, Captain Warner in the chair. The minutes of last meeting were duly confirmed. As the rules relating to prize-firing were considered unsatisfactory, a complete set of new ones, to supply their place, were drawn up and ordered to be printed in pamphlet form. The council has not yet received any reply from Dunedin to their challenge, but have very little doubt that it will be accepted. A carefully worded circular was drawn up, advocating the claims of the association on the public, and a number of copies ordered to be printed and distributed. Mr Pillow was appointed collector for the association. The season of 1878 9 promises to be a very satisfactory one. The date on which the first contest will take place is not yet decided, but the council intend opening the season as early as possible.

Total Abstinence Society. — A special general meeting of this society was held last night in the Templar Hall, Worcester street. Mr J. T. Smith, president of the society was in the chair, and announced the object of the meeting, which was to elect trustees to fill the vacancies on the trust deed of the society. There were at first only two vacancies, but, on examination of the deed, it was found that tho provisions with regard to the election had not been fully complied with at the last election, aiid, consequently, five new trustees had to be elected. The vacancies were caused by two deaths, one resignation, one by removal from the district, and one by violation of the temperance pledge. Seven names were proposed, and a ballot was taken, which resulted in the election of Messrs H. Hale, J. Allison, J, T. Smith, W. B. Clarkson, and W. Kerr. In order to assist tho trustees in their wmrk of raising the necessary funds for completing tho purchase of the Templar Hall, it was resolved —“ That the trustees be empowered to grant a diploma of life membership to any total abstainer who may within twelve months from this date pay to the trust fund of the society the sum of £4, in one or more payments.” Other resolutions on the subject of life membership were relegated to the next annual meeting of the society. A vote of thanks to Mr S. P. Andrews, who has acted as secretary to the trust for some years, was passed with acclamation.

Accomplishing the Impossible.—The number of impossibilities which the Government has achieved during the recess is pretty considerable. The last is the arrangement respecting the Greymouth harbor works, on the news of which the local “ Argus ” says—- “ This information may bo considered satisfactory, and it proves that when the public have right on their side there is nothing like persistency. Only a short time ago the Government asserted that it was impossible to proceed wit h the harbor works without the consent of Parliament.” Yaltjr of Land in Ashburton District. —A few days ago a piece of land near Chertsey, containing 128 acres, was purchased at £6 per acre, on very advantageous terms. After retaining possession for twentyfour hours, the purchaser met a friend from a distant part of the province, who quickly became possessor of the same land at the price of £8 per acre, speculator No. 1 thus realising a, profit of £256 in twenty-four hours. Next (morning speculator No. 2 met with a customer for the land, to whom he disposed of it for £lO per acre, or a profit of £256, This piece of land, which is clearly of no use for agricultural purposes, realised, in fortv-eight hours, the very handsome profit of £512. The Rowing Championship.—The London correspondent of the Sydney “ Morning Herald” writes ;—Tins week’s rowing match between Higgins and Elliott will be of some interest to Australia. Higgins now holds the English championship, and his master (C. Bush) is willing to make a match with Trickett for the championship of the world. It is said that if Trickett will arrange for this event to take place on the Thames next spring, Mr Bush will contribute £l5O towards his expenses. As one of the Australian cricketers has shown a written offer from Trickett to come to England if any one will pay that sum it seems to be likely that the race between Higgins and Trickett will come off according to Mr Bush’s proposal. Oamahu Stoke Company.—The “ North Otago Times,” of Friday, says the Oamaru Stone Company means business. It transpired at the last meeting of directors, that, arrangements for commencing operations had been carried a stage further; that, in fact, the deed by which Mr Meek agrees to lease his western property, containing stone, to the company, for a term of fifteen years, was ready for signature. If the Government does its duty, it will arrange the charges for conveying this stone so as to encourage the company to work the quarries vigorously, and intending builders to buy. The Dunedin and Christchurch markets would, of themselves, keep the company in full operation, to say nothing of the increasing demand for the stone in Victoria, and the supplying of local wants. A Dangerous Railway.—The “'North Otago Times” writes as follows respecting a section of the southern railway : —We have no more desire now to act as an alarmist than we had several months ago, when, on the opening of the Blueskin section of the Southern railway, we pointed out the dangers that besot the traveller who trusted his neck upon it. But that portion of the Blueskin section cut in the side of a mountain, with a precipitous mass of crumbling rock above and a giddy depth below, is not safe, even at the crawling pace at which the train proceeds over it. The accident which occurred on Saturday last was of a nature such as to make the stoutest heart quail. Our fears, and those of many others, were realised; for masses of rock fell from the hill side, and landed near the line at a most critical spot. A little nearer, and the train and its denizens could only have escaped destruction by a miracle. As it happened, the steps of the carriages only came into contact with the obstructions, and fortunately, being fragile, gave way, or the whole fabric would have stood a very good chance of toppling over the precipice.

Religious War in Rotumah. —The Fiji “ Argus” of the 14th June gives the following account of a religious fight between two sections of the natives of the island of Rotumah. It says :—A very determined war is raging on the island between the Wesleyan and Roman Catholic natives, and great numbers on both sides are being killed. They have very good firearms, though not much powder, and are cutting down large numbers of cocoanut trees for the purpose of forming forts, barricades, &o. The fighting, we are told, is being carried on in regular civilised fashion, the men being well drilled, and executing various military manoeuvres in orthodox style, which many of the natives, being fond of roaming about the world, have evidently picked up in their travels. Most of the men only woi«i|id die, as they have no doctors’ instrumem»r persons capable of dressing gun-shot-"-ounds. A correspondent informs us that just shortly before the Menschikoff sailed for Fiji, he saw twelve men lying in a house horribly wounded, who had been shot in a fight the day before. There were no means of alleviating their sufferings. The whites on the island, who number about seven, hare been told that if they interfere in any way with either side they will be shot. It is said that the Wesleyan side must ultimately get the best of it, as they far outnumber their opponents. The Cost of Law. — A little {fact which com.es to our (“New Zealand Herald”) knowledge regarding a civil cause, tried by a special jury in the Supreme Court this week, invites a recurrence to the subject of civil jury trials in general. In truth, the fact referred to strikes at the very root of the principle of special jury and Supreme Court trials in such cases. It is a matter of costs, and. these, as usual in minor cases, overshadow the principal sum awarded by the modest amount of three to one. That is the position of affairs in the case of He Thierry versus Fitzgerald. The award of the jury, “stumbled ” on by a chance process, was £IOO to the plaintiff, who claimed originally £427. The costs, which fall on the defendant, are £3OO. This does not much affect the defendant, who can pay, and never feel the loss. But what does this state of things really mean ? Suppose the plaintiff had been a poor man, and that the verdict had been for the defendant, what would have been the result ? In such a case, with the plaintiff poor, and without means, the defendant, though ho gets a verdict in his favour, would have to pay his own costs, and thus bo the loser, while perhaps plaintiff, though honestly striving to obtain whut he believed to bo his just rights, would through, it might be, some mishap, some legal flaw, some misconception, or stubbornness of the jury, be reduced to penury, or perhaps bankruptcy, by the heavy costs of a suit, from which poor men are practically debarred, unless on the principle of “no cure, no pay,” which is in accordance with neither the etiquette of the bar, nor of even-handed justice.

Ministekial Candoue. Tho Hon. J. Macandrcw, in reply to a deputation on tho 16th inst., stated that the railway from Clutha to Clinton is expected to be finished by the end of September. Now, everybody who knows anything at all about the line (says tho “ Clutha Leader ”) knows that such a desirable consummation is quite impossible, and why the Minister for Public Works should wilfully make such a misstatement is inexplicable. Many miles of the formation are yet unfinished, and only some three or four miles of the ballasting have been done out of the sixteen miles. The ballast taken from Waipahi was condemned, and it was only on the 2nd of July that the first load went from Gore. The wear and tear on the lino by running ballasting engines is very great, much greater than will be repaid by the £l5O or so tha* the contractors have to contribute per month towards the maintenance of twenty-six miles between the ballast pit and Clinton. On the other hand, Mr Thomson, M.H.K., in the course of a recent address, said he comidered the delay in the completion of the section of railway between Eaiclutba and Clinton quite unreasonable and uuwarrantable. He expressed an opinion that the penalties should bo strictly enforced, not only in tho case of this contract, but also in another section where much delay has occurred. It was mentioned that the penalty stipulated was only £IOO for every week’s delay, and it was pointed out that this sum was far too small lio prevent delays. Cases might occur w here it would be to tho contractor’s advantage to pay tho penalty rather than to complete the work within the time, and no doubt this was the case in the instance referred to.

Suspected Incbndiaeisvi. —It is reported that on Saturday night an attempt was made by using dry gorso sprinkled with kerosene to burn down a house in course of erection at Rangiora. It is to be hoped the offender will be brought to justice. The Spaeeow Nuisance.—ln order to prevent the sparrows or other birds picking up the grain after it is sown, the following recipe for the treatment of the seed is recommended by a practical man. For a four bushel sack of wheat half pint gas tar, lib vitriol, one gallon hot water mixed, to be poured over the seed with an ordinary watering pot twelve hours before sowing.