NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1394, 3 August 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colombo Road Wksleyan CnuscH. — Tho Rev. T. Fee will be the preacher at the Evangelistic servico in the Colombo road Wesleyan Ckurch to-morrow evening. R. M. Couht.—The only case which the Resident Magistrate had to dispose of this morning was one in which the accusod was fined 40s for indecency. The s.B. Hawba.—The s.s. Hawea is to leave Auckland for the South to-night. The Manukau bar is now Bmooth, and the Taranaki with tho mail on board will no doubt have left early to-day, and will therefore be due at Lyttelton on Tuesday. Sudden Dbath in Ltttelton.—A lad aged thirteen, named Alexander Brown, belonging to the barque Southern Cross, wbb found dead in his bed this morning. He had complained of a severe cold yesterday morning. Some medicine had been procured and given him, and at 5 p.m. he said he felt better. He was reading, and apparently well, till 10 p.m., when he was last seen alive. Whon tho men turned out this morning the boy was found lying dead in his bed. Deceased was a native of Hobart Town. An inquest will be held. Unsold Waste Lands.—On the 31st of July it was estimated that 5,450,042 acres 0 roods 32 perches were still available for future disposal in the Canterbury provincial district.

A Large Pane of G-LAS3.—The shop in High street, next to the White Hart Hotel, which is about to be opened as a drapery establishment by Mr Mulligan will, it is said, have the largest pane of glass in New Zealand. It is intended that the whole shop front, nearly 200 square feet, shall be one sheet of plate glass. The order for it has been sent to Melbourne.

Northern Land, Building, Loan, and Investment Society.—The second year of this society ha 9 been reached, and it is understood that a favorable balance-sheet will be presented at the yearly general meeting of members on Wednesday. It is anticipated that the report of the Directors will announce an increaso in the value of shares, and the advances to members will be made on very liberal terms. ;-1.0.0.F.—8y the City of Sydney, Mr Harmon, the representative of the American Oddfellows, took his departure from Australia for San Francisco. At a complimentary dinner at Sydney he expressed the opinion that the Australian lodges have a great deal to learn from those of America, and, but that his affairs rendered it imperative that he should return to San Francisco forthwith, he would liked much to have remained in the Australian Colonies, of the future of which he had formed a high opinion. Theatre Eotal.—" Formosa " w?s repeated last night at the Theatre Koyal. The attendance was good, and the piece went more smoothly than on the previous evening. On Monday evening a new piece, entitled " Quits ; or, Life for Life," will be produced The piece is from the pen of Mr J. F. Craham, a circumstance which should enhance the attraction of his benefit. As an actor Mr J. F. Graham has been unusually successful, considering the limited time ho has been on the stage, and judging from opinions expressed by those who have read his play, he promises to be equally foitunate as a dramatic author.

N. Z. Shipping Company.—Tho fifth annual meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Shipping Company was held yesterday at noon. The report and balance sheet were presented and adopted. A dividend of 10 percent, on the year was declared, and an addition to the reserve fund made, bringing it up to £40,000. Messrs A. O. Wilson, John Anderson, and J. Studholme were reelected directors, and Messrs D. Craig and A. Carrick auditors. The usual votes of thanks were pissed, and the meeting terminated. At a subsequent meeting of directors Mr J. L. Coster was re-elected chairman, and H. P. Murr&y-Aynsley deputy chairman, of the hoard of directors for the ensuing year. Tubning tub Tables.—A very unusual charge was yesterday brought against two men in the R.M. Court. This was the serious one of "higliway robbery with violence." As will be seen by reference to the police report in another column, the hearing of tho charge was postponed till Monday, tho prosecutor in the case being himself charged with petty larceny, and the two men accused by him taking the role of witnesses against him. During the course of yesterday the house of the supposed victim of the highway robbery was searched by the police, and under tho pillow of his bed was found the watch which he alleged he had been robbed of. The facts of the case as far as at present known are as follovr: —A man named Peter Johnston was detected by the barman at the Garrick Hot«l in the act of taking from the premises a tumbler, which he had secreted in his pocket. Tho barman and another man took the tumbler from him, and sent him about his business, not deeming it worth while to inform the police of so trifling a theft. Johnston, however, thinking to be beforehand with them, immediately went home and concealed his watch under the pillow of his bed, and then hastened to the Police Depot, where he gave information that lie had been violently robbed in the street by the barman and his assistant. The consequence was the immediate arrest of the accused, and their subsequent appearance in court. There the counter charge was made, and an adjournment of both cases obtained by the police, in order that the whole matter might be thoroughly sifted. This has now been done, and on Monday the rosult will be deposed to, as given above, in the R.M. Court.

1.0.G-.T. Anniversary.—The first anniversary of the Dawn of Peace Lodge was celebrated list night in the Library Hall, Ashburton, by a tea and concert. Over 250 people sat down to tea, and at the after meeting a good 300 were present. Dr. Trevor occupied the chair, and the other speakers were the Rev. Westbrooke and Mr Webber, of Christchurch. The chairman said he was pleased to have the honor of presiding. His being asked to take the chair wss a proof that the Templars of Ashburton werewilling to accept as friends and helpers in their cause those who sympathised with the broad principles of temperance, but were not prepared to go the whole length of total abstinence. Some of the legislation on the liquor traffic was rather a stimulus to drunkenness than a check, and such men as Fox and Stout and Saunders were doing a great work, and there were others perhaps equally earnest if less prominent; still there were legislators who strove, without being teetotallers, to make liquor legislature preventative in fact, and not in name—a!l those were surely helpers and friends to tho cause. An excellent programme of songs, glees, etc., wa< get through very creditably, local talent being assisted by friends from Christchurch, and at the close of tho secretary of the Lodge stated that twelve months ago it had commenced with eighteen members, and now numbered 150. Tho usual votes of thanks closed the meeting.

St. Albans.—An entertainment was given in the St. Albans schoolroom last evening;, when a well selected programme of vocal and instrumental music was gone through very successfully.

New Zealand's Steam Butchers. —A telegram to the Dunedin " Star " says that — Owing to the lirge number of cattle killed on the Auckland-Waikato railway Hues, Mr Macfarlane, M.H.R, has induced Messrs Conyers and Lawsoti to issue a circular to the railway employees that in future all collisions with cattle must be reported within twentyfour hours, and that inquiry is to be made iu erery case whether blame is attachable or not; and whore neglect is shown a black mark is to be made against the driver, will operate against his preferment. Scuttling a Ship.—ln Melbourne Captain Steel and his carpenter, Thomas Newlands, have been arrested on a charge of unlawfully, maliciously, and feloniously casting away the British ship Leota, while on tho voyage between the port of Sydney and Shanghai. It appears that during tho voyage the captain bore up for the island of Rotutnah, one of the Society Group, and there, it is alleged, beached his vessel, which had on board a cargo of coals for Shanghai. Before arriving at the island it was noticed by the crew that the vessel was making an unusual quantity of water, and when she had been beached it was discovered that some auger holes had been made in the stern of the vessel. After the beaching of the ship on the island, Captain Steel and the man Newlands suddenly disappeared, and had not since been seen or heard of by the crew. The crew were brought on to Levuka, Fiji, by a trader's schooner, and are at present in Sydney. An official inquiry into the grounding of the Leota was held at Levuka, at which some very damaging statements were made, connecting Captain Steel and the carpenter with the offence of scuttling the veesel. The depositions taken at the inquiry at Levuka have been forwarded to tho Victorian Government, and the crew are expected to arrive from Sydney in the course of a few days, when, no doubt, the matter will be thoroughly investigated.

Gold at 2000 Feet Deep.—The Ballarat correspondent of the " Argus" writes : —The fact that gold has b?en found in quartz at nearly 2000 ft. below the surface is one of much greater importance to Australia than to the Magdala shareholders ; and if these shareholders should be able to prove that good payable stone exists at that or at a deeper level, a brilliant future will loom before all the quartz mines in Victoria. The actual finding of a few specks of gold intheMagdala shaft at 1888 ft deep is not the only incentive, however, to future action. Hitherto, most of the country passed through by that shaft has been of a hard, brittle nature, and is known among mining men by the characteristic of a country in which gold could not "live," which I understand to mean a country in which gold need not be expected to be found. For some time past, however, the country has changed its character, and has become, in the opinion of miners, not only a country in winch gold can exi»t, but one in which it is very likely to live, being soft, soapy, or greasy, and to all appearance never subjected to much pressure. So far, the discovery is of no great direct value to the Magdala shareholders, because the vein of stone is small; but they are buoyed up with the hope that further sinking may reveal to them something far beyond the most sanguine expectations of the more moderate among them. On all hands'nearly I hear it stated tliat this is the finest show the Magdala Company has yet had.

Another Find of Copper.—The following is from the " West Coast Times" of Monday: —It haß been for some time known that specimens of copper ore have been frequently met with up the Hokitika river, but no absolute proof of the existence of this valuable metal in large quantities has been till very recently afforded. On Saturday last, however, Messrs Macgregor, Lawrie, and George, who have for some time past been diligently prospecting, brought down about a hundredweight of ore. They state that the lode has been traced by them for two miles, and averages some 18ft. in thickness. It is situated somewhere near the Gorge, and is only three and a half miles from a main road, and a tramway or track can be readily formed. The ore is of the grey kind, but on being subjected to heat shows copper in quantity. As yet not even a rough assay has been attempted, but Mr Davidson has undertaken to melt a hundredweight in his forge, and so an approximate value can roidily be arrived at. The mineral is said to be in almost inexhaustible quantity, and experts consider that if it only yields from 10 to 15 per cent, of metal, it will be a fortune to the lucky prospectors. Some of the stone that has been powdered and burnt shows traces of other metals, but whether of value or not has yet to be proved. What with the encouraging news from Boucher's Gully, and the copper find above referred to, things are certainly looking up in the valley of Hokitika.