NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1432, 18 September 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

PBArEBS' AND CIOTIIIEES' ASSOCIATION. —The adjourned general meeting of this Association will be held at the Commercial Hotel, to-morrow evening. Sale of Sububban Land. —Mr C. F. Barker will hold an important sale of suburban building sections, situated in the Stanmore road and at Peerswick, to-morrow. Particulars appear in advertisement. American Cabs.—lt is contemplated by the railway department to send over an order by the next mail for ten American cars. These are vastly superior to anything at present in use on the New Zealand railways. Acknowledgment. —The Clerk to the Bench, Christ church, acknowledges with thanks the receipt of the sum of £4 Is, from Mr Thomas Haydon, of Prebbleton. The amount waß sued for by a servant of Mr Haydon, and judgment was given for the defendant, at whose request the amount is forwarded to the Orphanage. Theatbe Boval. —"East Lynne " was revived last night with Mies Tilly Andrews in the dual character of Lady Isabel and Madame Vine. The cast was in some respects modified since the last representation of the piece, and not advantageously, Mr Jerrames sustaining the character of Mr Levison, formerly played by Mr Hoßkins. Mr J. JT. Graharn creditably sustained the character of Archibald Carlyle. To-night "Struck OH" will be produced. 1.0.0. F., M.U., Rangioba.—At a meeting of the committee appointed to manage the anniversary celebration proceedings, a letter was read from the Commissioner of Railways, regretting that he could not allow any concession on the price of tickets to the members of the order travelling per train to the intended picnic, owing to the great number of similar applications. In consequence of this decision it was resolved to refer the whole question to a full meeting of the lodge to be held on Monday evening. Railway Tbttcks.— Of the 800 trucks which the Government ordered for the lines in this isl ind there are now 300 built and running, and the other 500 will be completed and in working order by the time the next grain season comes round. The whole of the ironwork for these trucks is imported, but all the wood work is done in the railway workshops of the colony, or else by contract. On board the Southminster there is a very large quantity of all kinds of American railway machinery which has been ordered by the Colonial Government, and which is intended for the railway workshops. Theatbioal. —Messrs Baker and Farron have been very successful in Auckland with " Struck Oil," which appears to have taken the taste of the Auckland playgoors. Mr J. Gardner, agent for Trotter and Webb's Marionettes, arrived yesterday per Wanaka, to make arrangements for their appearance in Ohristchurch. They open on Saturday week at the Oddfellows' Hall. Mr G. Chaplin, after a very successful season in Auckland, left per Taiaroa yesterday. He will open a Shakspearian season here on Monday next at the Theatre Royal, his first appearance being in " Hamlet." The Speingmeld Coal.—lt was reported to the railway authorities that the Springfield coal was equal, for generating steam, to the Newcastle coal, but this would not appear to be so under certain circumstances. It seeing, for instance, that on the occasion of the return of the express train from Dunedin last Monday week, the train was an hour late, which was caused through the Springfield coal in use being wet —the day being very rainy. It has now been decided to have the Springfield coal mixed with the Newcastle. A New Lock-dp.—The railway official* are often annoyed just as a train is about to start by the arrival of drunken and disorderly men, who at such times givo considerable trouble, as they cannot always be at once removed to a safe retreat. Such a retreat has now, however, been constructed on the platform, near the engine shed, and drunken rowdies who in future obstruct the platform at such times will be placed in this strong apartment until after the departure of the train, when they will be removed to the police-station for further treatment. Cantebbuby Pigeon Flying Club.—A meeting of several gentlemen interested in the formation of a club to encourage the training and flying of the homing pigeon, was at the Shades last evening. Mr Porter was voted to the chair. The following resolutions were carried:—(l.) That in the opinion of this meeting it is necessary to form a club for the purpose of encouraging the training and flying of the homing pigeon. (2) That the name of the club be "The Canterbury Pigeon Flying Club." (3.) That a special meeting be held on the 24th inst. to revise and adopt the rules of the club. It is confidently expected from the great interest taken by members and the general public in the several pigeon flying matches which have been held, that the newly formed club will be successful.

The Govebnob's Nabbow Escape Canabd.—With reference to the sensational story whicli appeared in a recent issue of the Wellington " Evening Poßt," narrating how his Excellency the Governor, and the distinguished party by whom he was accompanied, were almost getting cut into mince-meat in the Lyttelton tunnel, it may be well that tho real facts should be known. The following account of the affair is supplied by one who was a passenger in the train going through from Christchurch to tho Valley. It seems that as he was getting out at the Valley, the station-master at that place received a telegram from the Commissioner of Railways, who was with the vice-regal party, instructing him to shunt the Christchurch train on to°the siding until the " special" had passed. This the Btation-master did ; but in order that it could be placed upon the Biding it had to advance some little distance towards the tunnel, and tLen return on to the siding. After it had done this and had come to a standstill—much to the disgust of many of tho passengers —the Btation-master gave tho signal to Lyttelton, and the express, thus receiving official intimation that the line was clear, at once made a start, and proceeded through to Christchurch without stopping. It will thus be seen that the train which, according to the fervid imagination of the " Post's " informant, was nearly causing this "dreadful collision," was on the siding some five or six minutes before the expregs. came through this end of tho tunnel at all,

The Racehorse Ngaro.—Mr Heywood's racer Ngaro arrived per Wanaka yesterday from the North. LEcruaE.—The Rev. J. Mirams delivered his lecture on " Common Proverbs " at the German Church last evening, when there was a fair attendance.

Municipal Election.—A request has been made to Messrs Banks, Bird, Toomer, and Briggs, to allow themselves to be nominated as candidates to fill the vacancies in the City Council caused by the recent resignations, but they have all declined. Cricket Meeting. A well attended meeting was held last evening at Sydenham to consider the desirability of forming a club in the district. After the ordinary routine of business usual at such meetings, the following officers were elected .-—Captain, C. Wagstaff; vice-captain, J. Ro we; treasurer, Gr. H. Mason; secretary, A. Webber. The club will open next Saturday, play commencing at 2 p.m. sharp. Victorian Items.—The following further items of Victorian news were received by the City of New York, which arrived from Sydney at Auckland yesterday :—The Victorian loan of five millions included one million for the purchase of the Hobson's Bay railway ; two hundred thousand for parliamentary buildings and new liw courts; two hundred thousand for State schools ; two and half millions for new railways. The last general election cost £9400 and the census £12,400. Courtenay and Teickett. Our Dunedin correspondent telegraphs the following intelligence received by the Claud Hamilton : Courtenay says in a letter which haß just been received in Sydney, that he would long since have come to Sydney but for a fictitious advertisement which appeared in American papers intimating that Trickett was going to America. Courtenay will leave America next winter for Sydney, and hopes to row Trickett on the Parramatta river for £SOO or £IOOO aside. New American Engines^—The six new American engines ordered by the G-overnment in January last, have arrived at Port Chalmers in the ship Southminster, from New York. The vessel, after discharging a quantity of cargo at Port Chalmers, will come on to Lyttelton and there discharge the engines, which, like other cargo of a similar character, are at the bottom of the vessel. They are intended principally for the Christchurch section of the railway, but will be used for the express trains between here and Dunedin. The firm to whom the order was sent have certainly lost no time in executing it, for the letter did not leave New Zealand until the 3rd of January, and would take at least a month to reach its destination. Then the voyage from New York to this country would take another three months. So that the time actually employed in constructing the engines—for they have been made expressly for this colony—has heen but very short. The American engines " Lincoln " and "Washington" ary giving great satisfaction to the railway authorities, and are considered infinitele superior to the English locomotives for the light description of railways in this country. They are wonderfully equable in their rates of speed, and may be depended upon almost to a second. With the exception of the first return trip from Dunedin, they have not varied a minute from the time of arrival, and in a journey of nearly 250 miles, this is a great deal to say. A further advantage in obtaining engines from America is that an order can be much more quickly supplied thence than from England. For instance, half a dozen Fairlie six-wheel couple-bogie engines were ordered from England for the Dunedin section of the line eleven months ago, and have not yet arrived. It need hardly be said that with the large traffic that now passes over the line, these locomotives are very urgently needed—in fact, the whole line from Amberley to Invercargill is very Bhort of engine power, particularly on the Dunedin section. The American engines referred to are expected to arrive in Christchurch in about a fortnight, and will, in all probability, be running a fortnight afterwards.