NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1901, 29 March 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Magistrate’s Court, Lyttelton. —Tho only business at this Court this morning was the fining of Joseph Mawly 10s for being drunk and disorderly. Mr J. W. Maopheracn was on the Bench. The Druids. —lt is anticipated that, should a sufficient number of members be forthcoming, a Lodge of this order will be opened in Eangiora. Alleged Larceny. —A woman named Amy Dawson was arrested on Saturday afternoon, charged with stealing a watch valued at £5 from the person of Edward E. Morgan. Alleged Criminal Assault. —William Skedgewell, of Ashburton, was arrested by Detective Neill on Saturday, charged with with having committed an offence of this nature at Ashburton. He will be brought before tho Besident Magistrate to-morrow morning. Sporting. —The final payments were made on Saturday evening for the Free Handicap, the Champagne, and Epsom Plates. In the first there are three, in the second five, and tho third four. Volunteer Larrikinism.— With reference to the paragraph as to the disorderly conduct of some Southern Volunteers at Ashburton, Captain Feldwick, who was in charge of the Invercargill and Southern contingent, states that none of the men under his charge were concerned in tho affair. Accident at Mbthvbn. —One of Messrs Q-ould and Cameron's men while unloading grain from a dray into a railway waggon, at Mothven, on Friday, fell with a sack across one of the rails, and sustained a fracture of one of his legs. He was taken to the homestead, where ho received all tho attention which his case demanded.

Volunteer Ball. —Every preparation has boon made to render the volunteer ball which takes place this evening a success. The floor of the drillshcd has been reened, and the catering has been entrusted to Mr Morton, who has received carte blanche to provide everything of the best. The arrangements for the music have been entrusted to Mr O. Coombs, who has also been instructed to spare no expense in securing an efficient band. Taken altogether, tho ball promises to be a brilliant success.

Ashley County Council. —The annual meeting of this Council was convened to bo held at the Road Board office, Rangiora, on Saturday morning last. There were present Messrs Fendall, Coup, Diion, Cunningham, Blackett, McParlane, and Higgins. The object of the meeting was to elect a chairman, and propose the system upon which the distribution of the land fund to the Road Boards of the county ought to be allocated. As the late chairman, Mr Lance, member for the Waipara Riding, was not present, it was resolved, after a brief discussion, that the meeting should stand adjourned till Saturday neat, at 10 a.m.

Impbotbd Tbleoeaph Wieeb. —German telegraphic engineers have recently been experimenting with aluminium as a material for telegraph wires. This metal can easily be drawn to a much finer gauge than is possible with iron, and its conductibility is twice as great as that of iron wire. Its excessive cost has hitherto prevented its use for the purpose indicated, but it is found that an alloy of aluminium and iron can easily be made which will produce a wire both finer and stronger, and less susceptible to atmospheric changes than iron wire, while it is much superior as a conducting medium. Municipal Amenities, The following unique motion was tabled at a recent meeting of the Greymouth Municipal Council : —‘‘That the town clerk be instructed by resolution of the Council to refuse the Mayor access to the borough seal for the purpose of stamping any paper or document which may in any way interfere or countermand instructions given by the chairman of the public works committee, unless otherwise instructed by special resolution of the Council.” The Mayor ruled the motion to bo “ impertinent, disrespectful, and ultra vires.” Jewb in Russia. According to the Russian paper “ Rasvet,” the total number of Jewish farmers in Russia is now probably upwards of 100,000. In the year 1858 there were 28,391 Jewish agriculturists enumerated in the kingdom of Poland. In New Russia there were in 1859 35 agricultural colonies, with a Jewish population of 26,396, occupying an area of 205,603 desjatines. In the Governments of Kiev, Tolhynia, and Podolia, there existed in 1869 56 colonies, whose Jewish population numbered 20,665 persons. Besides those above mentioned, there are isolated colonies of Jewish farmers scattered in other provinces, especially in Little and White Russia, the Caucasus, and Transcaucasia. Foreign Woekmsn at Home. —A correspondent of the “Standard” recently made a grievous complaint of the increasing number of foreign workmen in London and seme of the large provincial towns, attracted by the higher current wages. Exactly the same complaint comes from the United States. The “New York Tribune ” laments that the American workshops, press rooms, and manufactories are filled up with foreigners while by the action of trades unions in limiting the number of apprentices, native Americans are shut out. The overcrowding of genteel occupations in the States as in England is (states “ Iron”) more closely connected with the condition of things complained of in the “ Tribune ” than any action of the trades unions ; and if the writer had taken a more philosophical view of the case, he would have congratulated his countrymen on the acquisition of so much capacity and mechanical skill, and tried to disabuse them of prejudices which belong to tho Old World, and should find no place in the New. Anothbe Discoveet. —An account of “ a fundamentally new phenomenon ia electricity, not explicable by anything hitherto known,” is given in the American “Journal of Mathematics,” which is published under the auspices of the John Hopkins University. The definition of tho new action is not yet certainly made out, but it appears to bo that, if we say that the direction of a galvanic current is from the negative to the positive, then a magnet tends to deflect tho current within the conductor in the same direction in which it tends to turn the conductor itsolf. The discoverer is Mr E. H. Hall, assistant in the laboratory of Professor Rowland, to whose encouragement and assistance the disoovery was in large measure due. The “Nation,” commenting on tho subject, observes that tho fact discovered will be a complete surprise to physicists, and its importance to the theory of electricity can hardly be over-estimated. It may be justly said that no discovery equally “fundamental” has been made within the past fifty years.

Intebpeovinoiai Eiixb Match-— The match Otago t Canterbury will be fired tomorrow at the Cashmere rifle range at 9 a.m. The condition are —ten men a side, ten shots at each range; ranges, 200, 500, and 6CO yards. Canterbury will bo represented by Mes-rs Buckley, Appleby, Chapman, Thompson, | Marshall, Parker, Fox, Hill, Cameron, Ellis, S. Manning, and J. B. Hunter. Any of the above gentlemen who are unable to take part in the match are requested to notify the fact to Lieut. Appleby, at Coker’s Hotel, in the course of to-day. The team will leave Fox’s Hotel at 8.30 a.m by omnibus. At present Otago scores two wins to the good. Yolitntbbe Church Parades. —Yesterday morning the various Volunteer companies at present mustered in Christchurch were paraded at their respective quarters at halfpast 9 a.m., and from thence marched to their several places of worship.

Bastbe Services at Kaiapoi. —Pull services were held in the Church of England by the Bev. D. O. Hampton. The ohanoel and font and other parts of the church were very prettily decorated, this being the work of a few of the ladies of the parish. At the Wesleyan Church the Bev. W. H. Beck, from Lyttelton, conducted services morning and evening, and addressed the children of the Sunday school during the afternoon. To-day the anniversary tea meeting in connection with the Wesleyan Sunday school is announced tro be held.

Kaiapoi Ebgatta. —A meeting of the committee was held in the Borough Council Chambers on Saturday evening. Nine gentlemen were present, and Mr B. Moore, iu the unavoidable absence of the commodore, occupied the chair. The collectors’ lists were examined, and progress reported. A vote of thanks was passed to Messrs B. Petersen and Co. for a cup given for the double sculling races. The tender of the local brass band to supply music on the day of the regatta for £8 was accepted. It was decided to adopt oval courses for the double sculling races, and if funds admit, a scullers’ race over a straight course will be added to the programme of events. As no offers had been made for the right of selling cards, the secretary was instructed to arrange regarding the same. The committee then adjourned till Friday evening next, when the entries for the regatta will be received.

An Unfortunate City. —The city of Tokio, Japan, has been burned down for the thirtieth time in seven years, though, considering that it is constructed of tto lightest and flimsiest material, it might just as well have been the seventh time in three years. Although 15,000 houses were destroyed the loss is not so severe as these numbers would indicate, for they are cheaply and quickly built up again. In Japan a fire is cheeked by pulling houses to pieces, and the firemen ins'ead of pumping water on the burning building, keep soaking the men who are demolishing the houses. Evidently, however, when 50,000 people are made homeless and 100 perish in the flames, the blaze has got as much beyond their control as the famous one in Chicago. Plain Speaking.- Mr Parnell, in a flimsy and utterly unsubstantiated letter to the “ Now York Herald,” asserts that the Queen of England caused a net loss of £6OOO for the alleviation of Ireland’s distress in 1817 by intimating to the Sultan of Turkey that he should not contribute more than she intended to. We (“San Francisco Newsletter”) will not call Mr Parnell a liar in this connection, because it would not read well; but be will excuse us if we express our conviction that he is one. Queen Victoria has never been found wanting when weighed in the balance of charity ; and, munificent as she is in public affairs, in private almsgiving she is well known to bo still more ope;i-honded. It docs not lie in a woman like her Majesty to intercept contributions in aid of even her most ungrateful subjects. A Chinese Fan. —Tbo San Francisco “ Weekly Bulletin ” gives an account of an article which seemed to be acloaed-up Chinese tan, but was discovered to bo a disguised scabbard, containing a dangerous knife, more murderous looking than a bowio knife, being about seven inches long and an inch in width, tapering to a sharp point at the end. About four inches of the supposed fan forma tho hilt or handle, and tho other nine inches forms the scabbard, with a hole in tho handle to pass through a cord or ribbon for suspending it from the neck, as a useful ornament as well as a deadly weapon. According to the “Ovens and Murray Advertiser,” Mr K. H. Jcnkyns, of Boochworfh, has in his possession a “ fan ” similar to tho ono described above, and it would prove a dangerous weapon iu tho hands of an assassin.

The Totalisator. —lt will be seen from an advertisement in another column that Mr Franck has made arrangements to work his instrument, and a sweepstake will be opened on the Autumn Handicap. Mr Franck’s office is in Cathedral square, near the Commercial Hotel. Cricket. —The following will represent the Midland C.C. in their match versus Ashley County C.C., to take place on Thur day, April Ist, on tho ground of the former—Messrs Atnck, Alpe, Beard, Cohen, Clark, Douglas, Evans, Fairhnrst, Milner, Thomas, and Watson. Emergencies—Hunt and H. Turner. Play will commence at 10,30 a.m, sharp.