NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1514, 23 December 1878, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

School Teeat. —It is announced in our advertising columns that the annual treat in connection with St. Paul’s Presbyterian Sunday school will bo held on the 26th inst. Meeting. —Members of the Loyal City of Christchurch Lodge, 1.0.0. F., M.U., are reminded that their half-yearly meeting will be held this evening at 7.30. Baker and Fabeon. —Messrs Baker and Farron opened to a well filled house at the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening in “ Conrad and Lizette ;” or life on the Mississippi. The piece will be repeated this evening. Confirmation Service.—A confirmation service was held at Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, yesterday afternoon by the Primate. Wellington Races. —The name of Titania was omitted from the telegram of the acceptances for the Wellington Cup published on Saturday, Hospital and Chaeitable Aid Board. — This body had a long meeting on Saturday night, when a good deal of business, principally connected with the Orphanage and Charitable Aid, was transacted. It had been resolved to revise the Hospital rules, but as the Board has only been gazetted as a temporary one it was not considered advisable to do so at present. The meeting adjourned at its rising until the 30th inst. The “ Messiah.” —The Christmas performance of this oratorio, which, from a variety of circumstances, has been omitted for the past year or two, will take place this evening at* the Provincial Council Chamber, which has been fitted up for the occasion. The solo parts will be taken by the Misses Ness, Smith, Hurrell, Rowley, and E. B. Rowley, and Messrs H. F. Towle, Rowley, and Knox. The band and chorus will number about eighty performers. Poverty in Canterbury.— During the last month the vouchers for relief of the poor signed by the chairman of the Charitable Aid Board, amounted to £3OO. On Saturday night the Board, in discussing the whole matter, considered that the expenditure could very well be cut down without depriving the really poor of the necessary relief. A committee was appointed to investigate the subject, and bring up a report at a future date. Sunnyside Asylum.— As evidencing the deep interest felt by the general public in the welfare of the inmates of Sunnyside Asylum, it may be noted that during the past few days some friends of the asylum started a subscription list towards a fund for providing some little luxuries at Christmas. In two hours after the list was started. £lO had been subscribed, Mr Seager intends appropriating this first towards providing a dinner after the old English stylo on Christmas Day, and secondly to giving prizes to the male and female inmates for neatness of dormitories, tidiness of gardens, Ac. Presentation at Rolleston. —On December 20th the residents in and around Rolleston presented Mr Wm. Eourke, late station-master there, with a valuable watch and chain inscribed with his name and the object of the gift, as a mark of the esteem in which ho was held during the twelve years ho had been employed in the above capacity. The gentlemen who had the matter in hand had waited some time, hoping that Mr Bourke would have had an opportunity of being present, but as tins was impossible they had resolved to forward the present to his residence at Eaiapoi. In offering it to him they expressed their cordial thanks for the great courtesy they had always received from him, and their hearty good wishes for his future welfare. ~, . . Ordination.— Mr Reginald Mortimer and Mr Waller Dunkiey were yesterday ordained for holy orders by hi? Lordship the Bishop at St. Michael’s Church. The Concert in Aid of the Hospital.— This concert promises to ho a great success. The committee have already sold 200 tickets, and it is expected that the sum of £l5O will be realised by the performance. Church of England, Ashley. —A meeting of the parishioners was held here on Friday evening in reference to raising tho stipend of tho Rev. Mr Wright. It waq resolved that a tea and entertainment be held after harvest to raise part of the necessary funds, and a committee of management was appointed. Waikuku School Committee. — The Waikuku school Committee mot onlriday evening. Present —Messrs Wilson (chairman),McDonald, Morris, Skevington, Griffiths, and Pope. The master’s quarterly report was received and considered, and it was decided, on account of tho crowded state of the school, to enlarge it, and to apply to the Board of Education for an assistant mistress. It was also decided to close the school for holidays on the 21th of this month, and open again on the 27th of January. After arranging several other matters the committee adjourned.

Narrow Escape from Drowning—As Mr William Blunden was passing along Oxford Terrace last evening, he hoard loud cries from the water, and observed a man struggling in the river, which at that spot is very deep. He at once plunged in and succeeded in bringing the man to the shore in a state of considerable exhaustion. Ho was removed to the police depot, where ho gave Ms name as James Mills, laborer. Ho was very much the worse for liquor at the time, and was accordingly detained. It seems that ho had arrived from the country on the Srevious day, and had been drinking a good eal during Saturday and Sunday.

The Stewart Family— This clever company make their dchut before a Christchurch audience this evening at the Oddfellows’ Hall, piece selected for the occasion is one written expressly for the Stewarts by Mr Garnet Walsh, the well-known Melbourne literateur. It comprises a series of character sketches linked together by a thread of plot which serve to bring out into relief the talents of the Misses Nellie, Docy, and Maggie, and Mr Stewart himself. The changes of costume are rapid and the drosses very good. Good music has not been forgotten, being provided for by the introduction of a number of airs. Miss Docy sings operatic scenes, whilst the other sisters contribute ballads, &c. The Mystery cleared. —The case recently reported of a female having been admitted to the Hospital, who from paralysis was unable to account for her condition, has been explained. The woman’s name is Harriet Miller, the wife of a brickraakcr residing at Waltham, and, from inquiries made by the police, it transpires that she has been Buffering for the last twelve months from a scalp disease, which was first brought on by a scratch from a comb. She has had medical advice during that period, but as her condition got worse, and she became paralysed, it was deemed advisable to remove her to the Hospital, where she was taken by her husband on Friday evening. Ho stated that he would have given his name, but thought it unnecessary, as he was not asked the question.

The Railway Fire Brigade— This brigade, which has been some time in existence, has not worked so satisfactorily as could be desired, and a meeting of the members is to be held this week with a view to its increased efficiency. The great difficulty the authorities have had to contend with is the distance which most of the men live from the station and the consequent irregular practices. However, it is hoped that such changes will be made as will lead to an improvement in this respect, so that the brigade may be more efficient in future. Among other changes to take place in the organisation will be a change of officers.

Orphanage Apprentices.— At a meeting of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board on Saturday, a form of indenture was read and a good deal of discussion took place on the clause in reference to apprentices attending places of worship on Sabbath. As drawn up the clause in connection with the subject set forth that when apprentices had reached the age of sixteen, obligation on the part of the masters to see that they went to church, and also on the part of the apprentices themselves should cease. After a long discussion the Board decided that the obligation should remain during the whole term of the apprenticeship. In connection with this subject of apprentices the Board resolved to be very particular in their selection of masters, as it was said a boy who had recently been taken as an apprentice had been ill used and even beaten with a whip. The boy in quest ion had consequently been withdrawn from the service of his employer, the indenture not having been signed, and provided with another place.

Burglars in Melbourne. —During the past month (says the “Argus ”) no less than twenty private residences in the suburbs have been broken into by petty thieves. As a rule the places were entered in the day time, during the temporary absence of the occupants, and in almost every case property of a more or leas valuable nature, consisting principally of jewellery, was abstracted. The various pawn offices in the city and suburb received due notification of the depredations, but none of the missing property was recovered until Saturday last, when Detectives Forster and Considine, acting under certain information, proceeded to a house of ill-fame situated in Bouverio street, Carlton, in the occupation of a woman named Ada Cox, alias Russell, and after a strict search of the place they discovered a quantity of jewellery, the greater portion of which had been secreted in the wainscoting under a flight of stairs, to get at which several boards had to be removed. Among the articles discovered ■was a valuable watch and chain and a gold brooch, which had been ingeniously “planted” in the frame of a looking-glass, between the glass and the woodwork at the back. The whole of the jewellery recovered, with the exception of a few articles, has been identified as being the proceeds of five distinct cases of housebreaking from private residences in Collingwood and Emerald Hill. The woman Cox, together with three other women, named Maria M'Namara, Matilda Grant, and Elizabeth Walker, were subsequently lodged in the city watchhonse on a charge of receiving stolen property, and will be brought up at the City Police Court this morning. When taken to the watchhonse the prisoners positively refused to give any information as to the source from whence they received the stolen property, but the police have a pretty good idea as to the perpetrators of the robberies. Ebicsson’9 Torpedo. —Captain Ericsson, a New York scientist, has been for some time working at a new torpedo expected to work wonders. This singular craft was expected to be finished this month, and subjected to various tests as to the power of her engines and her adaptation to the torpedo service. To the representative of a XT. S. scientific paper, who visited him, Captain Ericsson would venture on no predictions, but was emphatic in declaring that the machine, as a device for fighting ironclads, would bo impregnable. Moved by an engine of great power, it would have a velocity surpassing that of any antagonist, and being almost always submerged and in perfect control, could advance boldly in the face of the enemy and deliver her missile with destructive effect. Captain Ericsson maintains the superiority of his torpedo compared with the Whitehead pattern, which could not be guided with any certainty, and the Lay, which was too much exposed above the surface of the water. He could use either steam or compressed air as a motive power. Although the inventor declines to speak more in detail at present, it is understood that while his boat does not exceed 120 ft., it will have a pair of 24in. cylinders, and, judging from former experiments on the Hudson, will he able to propel a torpedo horizontally under water with great velocity, or, if desired, the missile can be given an upward direction so as to pierce a ship’s bottom below the iron plates.

Education in Russia.— Somo interesting statistics relative to public education in Russia are published by the “ Gulos.” It says that, up to the year 1865, Russia possessed 8000 elementary public schools, with 280,000 pupils. That number has now increased to 2-1,000 (inclusive of the municipal schools), with nearly 1,000,000 pupils; but this is still far from sufficient for the educational requirements of the people, as the number of children between the ages of seven and thirteen is about 12,00<>,000; so that upwards of 90 per cent, of Russian children remain uneducated. The amount expended in elementary education in Russia is about. 6,000,000 roubles, 6 9 kopecks per head Of the population ; while Italy pays twice as much, Spain and Greece 0-6 times, 33enmark ID times, and some of the States of North America more thon 50 times as much for this object. Of the above sum of 6.000. one-half is paid out of local taxes. Xu order to obtain one school for every thousand inhabitants, 77,000 schools would be required; but, looking to the fact that the population is scattered over vast spaces of territory, it is found that, in order to enable all children to attend school, one school would bo necessary for every 250 of the inhabitants, making 300,000 schools in all. Judging by the present rate of progress, however, it would take 230 years and 105.000. roubles to establish this number of schools in the Empire.

Slaughter op Babbits. —As an instance of the slaughter of those animals in this province, it may bo stated that Mr Seal, of this city, has destroyed no less than 1(1,000 at Kaiapoi Island within the last six months.