NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1417, 30 August 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Canterbury College.— Negotiations are pending for securing an additional piece of land for the College site. The piece in question is at the junction of Montreal and G-loucester streets, and contains about a third of an acre. The late Fire. —The Victoria Fire Insurance Company, with commendable promptitude, yesterday paid over to Mr Ponsford the amount of bis insurance (£300) on the two shops in Manchester street, which were destroyed on Thursday morning. The Dunedin and Chhisiciittecii Railway.—A telegram has been received by the Mayor of Christchurch from the Mayor and City Council of Dunedin, inviting their confreres of Christchurch to the banquet to be given in Dunedin on Saturday week, in honor of the opening of the railway. L. O.L. —The usual monthly meeting of the Courtenay True Blue Lodge, L.0.L., was held on the 27th inst., when the following officers were elected for the ensuing year : —.W.M., Bro Dysant; D.M., Bro. Smith; secretary, Bro. Nelson; treasurer, Bro. Stevenson; foreman of committee, Bro. Cook. The Metropolitan Show.—At the meeting of the committee of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday, the various sub committees were appointed to select certain names to act as judges in the various classes at the Metropolitan Show. The committees have been instructed to select two judges in each class outside the Canterbury Provincial district. Reopening the Museum. —The reopening of the Museum is to lake place on Thursday next, at. noon, and will be accompanied by some little ceremonial. _ His Excellency the Governor has been invited to preside on the occasion, and there will probably be an address delivered by him to those assembled. Timaeu Magistrate.—The Napier “Telegraph ” of the 20th inst. says: “ Richmond Beetbam, Esq., who has filled the position of Resident Magistrate, Ac., with such credit to himself and this district, is under orders to proceed to Timaru and relievo Mr R. Woolcombe. R. Stuart, Esq., the Mayor, will act as magistrate until Mr Beetbam’a successor is appointed.” Kew Zealand Draught Horse Book —The efforts of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association towards the establishment of a stud book for draught horses appear to have been exceedingly successful. At the monthly meeting of the committee yesterday, it was stated that over 400 entries' had already been received. Such a publicilion will be of very great; use to the colony, as the number of draught stock is rapidly increasing, and a Ergo proportion of the animals are of high pedigree. The Mayoral Banquet—His Worship the Mayor has received telegrams from the Mayor and City Council of Dunedin, and the Mayors of Tobomairiro and Greymouth, accepting his invitation to the banquet on Thursday evening at the Provincial Council Chamber in honor of the visit of His Excellency the Governor and the members of both Houses, on the occasion of the opening of the line from Dunedin to Christchurch. As the number of guests expected is large, the room at the disposal of his Worship will not admit of his inviting an unlimited number. It is also requested that those who have received invitations will reply as early as possible, in order to allow of arrangements feeing made.

The Circus.—-Last night Mdlle. de Granville took a benefit, when there was a good homo. A very excellent programme was gone through, and the audience testified their approval by frequent applause. To-night a capital bill will he presented, and to-morrow a matinee will be given. Ashley County Council.—The olectioi of a councillor for the Eyreton riding is an nouncod to bo field, on September 16th ; nominations to bo sent in before noon o September Oth. The poll, if necessary, wil be held on the former date, between the hours of 9 a m. and 6 p.m., at Kaiapoi Island (north), and Flaxlon schools. Mr Robert Coup, chairman of the Eyreton Hoad Board, is spoken of as a candidate, having received a requisition inviting him to stand for election. Rangiora Borough Council.—A special meeting of this Council was held on Wednes day evening; the Mayor, Mr Blackett, presiding. It was resolved that Mr C. G Chapman, town clerk, be appointed returningofficer for the borough. At the annual meeting it was announced that Councillors Good, Luxton, and Boyd, would retire, as provided by the Act. The Mayor, Councillors Burt and Cone, -were appointed a deputation, to confer with the members of the Cabinet, on Saturday, in reference to the unfair way in which the borough had been treated a> regards the endowment of land. The Council then adjourned. The Minstrels.—The fourth programme of the O.K B. Minstrels drew a capital house at the Theatre last night. In the first part Mr Drayton sang “The picture on the wall” very nicely, and Messrs Campbell, Roper, and Reid were also successful in their contributions. Messrs Cheevers and Bent were as funny as ever in their stories and ditties, and the finale—the phantom chorus from “La Somnambula” was made very humorous by them. In the second part Messrs Kennedy and Cheevers introduced some new specialities in their wonderful clever change acE Tin great point about their performance is that in drees and dialect ft complete and thorough change is made in an incredit ly short time, so much so that it is difficult to believe that they are the same performers. Messrs Reid, Drayton, and Campbell sang the good old glee, “ Life’s a bumper,” very nicely, and Mr Roper made quite a success in “ The dear little Shamrock.” Mr Cheevers' gave a very amusing sketch of a New York policeman, and in response to an encore sang a capital parody on “ Eileen Alannah.” In the two farces Mr Bent’s dry humor made them go capitally, and he was ably seconded by the other members of the company. M Thompson played a cornet solo very well, and generally the performance passed off successfully. To-night Mr Martin Simonsen will play his celebrated solo “ The Bird on the Tree,” which should draw a large house. Or Saturday, which is the last night of the season, Messrs Cheevers and Kennedy take their benefit. The Ashburton Magistrate.—On Friday last Mr Saunders is reported to have asked the Minister of Justice whether he knew anything of the antecedents of Alex ander Lo Grand Campbell before appointing him to the position of Resident Magistrate at Ashburton and Temuka; whether he has seen the manner in which he misused his power as Registration and Returning Officer, as recorded in the Appendix to the Journals of the House, 1871, vol. 2; whether he has seen the evidence given by the said A. Le G, Campbell before the Motueka election com mittee ; whether he has seen the opinion the chairman of that committee expressed as to his ignorance of the duties he had so long been paid to perform ; whether he is acquainted with the circumstances which com-p-lied the Government to remove him from the posit ion of Returning Officer for Motueka it 1871; whether lie had any such personal knowledge, or such reliable information, as justified his appointment to a position of such enor mous responsibility as that of administering civil and criminal justice in one of the most important and most rapidly growing districts in this colony P The hon. member was pro ceeding to say that the administration of justice was being brought into contempt, when Mr Wakefield rose to a point of order, as the hon. member for Cheviot was intro duoing matter of a dobateable nature. The Sneaker ruled that the hon, member for Cheviot was out of order. The Hon. Mr Stout asked the hon. member for Cheviot to allow his question to stand over until Tuesday, when his hon, colleague (Mr Sheehan) would be in the House to reply thereto. The question was postponed accordingly. Presentation at Rangioea.—On Wed nesduy evening a number of the principal inhabitants met in the commercial room of Roberts’ Club Hotel, on the occasion of a presentation being made to Mr James Tonge, late station master at Rangiora. The Mayor (Mr Blackett), who occupied the chair, ex pressed the pleasure which it gave him to testify to Mr Tango’s assiduous attention to his duties, his uniform courtesy, and the estimation in which he was held by the public of the borough, who now desired to show the same in a substantial form, and on whose behalf he handed that gentleman a handsome eight-day clock, purchased from Mr J. Grossman, on which was an inscription “ Presented to Mr James Tonge by the inhabitants of Rangiora, on the occasion of his resigning the appointment of station master, August 26th, 1878.” Mr R. Aherno, who had undertaken the collecting of the donations, desired to second all that the Mayor had said, and, further, to hand over a purse with a balance of twenty-five sovereigns. The health of Mr Tonge having been toasted, that gentleman responded, observing that two years and a half ago, when he came there, ho did not expect such a reception as this. Ilis experience of railways, extending over twenty-six years, had been mainly gained in twenty years’ service on English lines. Although he was always treated kindly, ho had not previously received such a substantial expression of kindness as now. Prom his boyhood he had been trained to be civil, and do his duty without favor. [A voice : This is what comes of it.] While at the station he had a very good staff, and he always tried to avoid what was known as “red tape.” In thanking the donors, he expressed a hope that Mr Stringer, his successor, would some day share in a similar token of their good will. The Mayor gave the health of Mr Stringer, which toast was suitably acknowledged, after which the proceedings closed. Kaiapoi Institute.—A general meeting of members was held on Wednesday evening There was a largo attendance. The president (Mr Wilson) stated that seeing a Literary Institutions and Public Libraries Bill was being considered in Parliament, he had asked for and been kindly furnished with a copy by Mr Bowen, M.H.R. After reading the most important clauses and reviewing the intentions of the Bill, ho pointed out that although such institutions as theirs, which nearly met ordinary expenditure by the regular contributions of members, would not be entitled to satisfactory grants, there were several advantageous points in the Bill. As none of the similar institutions were likely to be quite self-supporting, or would receive sufficient aid from the Government grant to maintain decent positions as free public libraries, further encouragement ought to be held out than that contemplated in the proposed Act. Mr R. W. Smith considered this point should ha represented before the Bill was passed, Otherwise the measure seemed to bn a good one. Mr R. H. Mathews thought there was au attempt in it to interfere with the independence of the committees who came under the Bill, and ho thought it would be more satisfactory if the proposed Government interference was somewhat lessoned. Mr R. M. Wright hoped members would consider the matter well before bringing tuo institute unde, tmy Act which would hamper them. It would also be desirable to know definitely to what extent the Government would contribute to the institutions, especially when the Government so distinctly defined the amount which the managing committees should c mlribute and the conditions they should observe. After some discussion, Mr Caleb Smith advised a fuller consideration of the questions brought forward, and moved—- “ That this meeting be adjourned till after the committee meeting on Monday next, and in the meantime members be requested to make themselves acquainted with the proposed Act.” Mr Mathews *oconded the motion, which was agreed to, The meeting then adjourned,

New Medals.—The design for the new medals to be issued by the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, has been received, and is a very handsome piece of jpork. On one side of the medal a sheaf of wheat occupies the centre, having three small uodallions radiating from it. Two of these nedallions are placed slightly above the bird, and they represent respectively the u-ad of a horse, sheep, and bull, The workmanship displayed is first class. At the ool.tom, forming a kind of base, is a plough. Round the edge are the words “ Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, founded 1963.” On the reverse is a laurel wreath, encircling the words “Awarded to.” Altogether the design is a very handsome one. Charitable Aid Board.—-The usual weekly sitting of this Board will be held at the Ho-pital to morrow evening. Cricket. —Persons interested in the formation of a cricket club in the Stanmore road are invited by advertisement to meet this evening at the Royal George Hotel, at eight o’clock. Civic Elections. —The annual election of councillors for the boroughs of Kainpoi and hangiora will take place on Thursday, September I'/th Nominations must be left at the respective Borough Council offices on Thursday, September sth, and a poll, if necessary, will be taken on the day of election. Football.—The following will represent the Christchurch Club in the match with the Eastern Club on Saturday Mcs rs Alabaster, Bray, Baker, Brewster, Cotterill, Dobson, 0., Hales, Hawkes, Lanauza, Mathias, Morgan, Partridge, Potts, W., Smith, M., and Wilkinson. Emergency—Bishop, Dobson, 8., Hanmer, Hawkins, and Whitcombc. Mr Bray will captain the team. Colors, scarlet and black.