NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1991, 12 July 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Supreme Court.—Tho case of Bracken v. Darrell, for libel, was tried to-day before his Honor Mr Justice Johnston and a common jury, and resulted in a verdict for the plain, tiff, damages £SO. Cutting it Fine.— An Italian organgrinder recently proceeded to Albury (N.S.W.) with organ and monkey, for the purpose of crossing into Victoria. The Custom House officers on the Border stopped him and demanded £1 10j for duty. Sounding Niagara.—A party of United States engineers has recently taken soundings of tho Niagara river below the falls. It was a work of groat difficulty to approach the falls in a small boat. Great jets of water were thrown out from the falls far into the stream, and the roar was so terrible that no other sound could be heard. The leadsman cast the line, which gave 83 feet. This was near the shore. Further down stream a second cast of the lead told of 100 feet, deepening to 192 feet at the inclined railway. The average depth of tho Swift Drift, where tho river suddenly becomes narrow with a velocity too great to be measured, was 153 feet. Immediately under tho lower bridge the whirlpool rapids sot in. Hero the depth was computed to be 210 feet. A Petted Prince.—The yourg heir-ap-parent to the Burmese throne is dead, and perhaps it is as well that the poor little fellow has passed away, seeing that ho would almost certainly have been made away with as soon as he became old enough to be worth crowning. Ho was only seven weeks old, and he fell a victim to the scourge of small pox, which has already carried off 15,000 of King Theobau’s subjects. The young heir was greatly petted by his royal father, and vast sums were spent upon him. He was rocked in a cradle encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds of incredible value, and his outfit, which has been imported from England, cost 5000 rupees. His Majesty King Theobau is now said to be irreconcilable. Novel Fire Extinguisher.—Tho last mail from Montevideo states that a fire broke out recently at an extensive German brewery in that city. All available supplies of water having been exhausted, and the flames still progressing, the fire brigade asked and received permission of the proprietor to make use of the large stock of beer in the premises in order to continue their operations. Tho President of tho Republic, Colonel Latorre, tho Minister of tho Interior, and a number of offiesrs assisted at the conflagration, which was not extinguished until it had cost tho life of one man by suffocation, and more or less severe injuries to many others, in addition to the loss (which some of the reporters appear to have considered the most cruel of a)i) of some 20,000 gallons of beer oast into the flames. The Sultan of Morocco.—The tradition of centuries has established tho inviolable usage that the Sultans of Morocco appear on horseback at all solemn audiences. The audiences are held in one of tho open squares within tho Palace enclosure. The Sultan rides inte tho square on a fiery Arab, in full military equipment, and with his eword drawn ; the person admitted to audience presents his petition on his knees, for no one is allowed to address the Sultan standing. Tho petition is always previously submitted to his Majesty, and etiquette has settled that when ho purposes granting its prayer he appears on a white horse ; a black one indicates a refusal. Tho reigning Sovereign, Sidi-Mulay-Hassan, is a great sufferer from gout, and during the last eighteen months has been unable to sit on horseback. But he will not depart from the traditional ceremonial, and has preferred to hold no solemn audiences rather than appear on foot or sitting. But his subjects are not too well satisfied with this abrogation of audiences. City Council. —The usual weekly meeting of the City Council will take place this evening at seven o’clock.

The Nbw London Docks. —At noon on May 6th the completion of the enormous docju created at North Woolwich for the better reception of the water-borne supplies to the metropolis, was marked by the formal act of opening the sluices which connect them with the River Thames, and, although the ceremonial inauguration will take place some weeks later, the proceedings were full of interest. At noon the chairman and deputy chairman simultaneously opened two sluice gates, through which the water poured rapidly into the entrance of the lock. As, howe ret, this area of the docks is ninety acres in extent, and the inlets are, by comparison, insignificant, the process of flooding is relatively slow, for it will occupy about a fortnight. Not until the dock is quite fall will the piles of the coffer dam bo drawn out of the river bed, and the clay in which it is embedded will then be dredged out, and the water-gates opened for the docking of the first ship. The Cost of an Empire.—An interesting return, just published, gives a comprehensive view of the financial position of the colonies and dependencies which make up the mighty aggregate of the British Empire. Their united revenue and expenditure considerably exceed those of the mother country. In 1878 these revenues amounted to £92,889,015, the expenditure to £92,961,£85. The excess of expenditure over income was—in the case of India, three millions and a halt ; in our Aus. tralian colonies, a little over one million ; in our North American, £1,700,000. Our smaller settlements managed to make both ends meet, and maintained the balance as well. The total debt of the colonies for the year 1878 was £255,516,987 one third of the British National Debt, whilst the entire debt of the British Empire in all parts of the world reaches the tremendous sum of more than one thousand millions of pounds. Bank Notes. The London Chartered Bank of Australia is now issuing (says the “ Argus ”) a now class of Bank notes. The peculiarity is the adoption of scientific precautions which render it impossible for the notes to be duplicated by means of photography. It is obviously undesirable to disclose the process, but it may be mentioned that the notes are printed in light colors, and that they may bo described as good-looking. So far only £1 notes are being issued, but in due course notes of the higher denominations will make their appearance. The London Chartered Bank is equally in advance as regards its cheque-books, which are now printed on a special paper, prepared with chemicals in such a manner that an attempt at erasure is exposed at once, and thus the alteration of a cheque once written is made impossible. Some recent large forgeries in England could not have occurred had the same precaution been in operation at the time there. A Runaway.—A horse attached to a buggy bolted in Colombo street yesterday, and was not stopped until reaching St. Albans lans. The occupants wore thrown out, but fortunately sustained no injury. Patent String Binder. —Mr Charles Cooper, of Carlton, is now engaged fitting up, for view at the Industrial Exhibition, an invention of his, being a string-binder attachment for the McCormick reaping machine. Ashburton.—A very successful dramatic entertainment, entitled “The Lost Ship,” was given in the Town Hall, Ashburton, by the icoal amateurs last Friday evening for the benefit of Mr Charles Bourk, an amateur scenic artist, whose paintings have been the leading features of the amateur entertainments held in that place for some time past, Mr Bourk’s masterpiece was on that occasion exhibited for the fiist time and elicited great applause, necessitating his appearance on the stage several times. The scene was a view of Lake Maggiore in Italy, and would certainly do great credit to a professional artist, the perspective and coloring being capital. It is intended for a drop scene, and is certainly a great advantage to the hall, which has undergone considerable alterations,'and improvements recently. Several other scenes by the same artist were also loudly applauded, and Mr Bourk may well be complimented on his success. There was a very good attendance at his benefit, and the performance went off in a very satisfactory manner. Friendly Societies’ Association. —The amalgation into one executive body of the various friendly societies in Canterbury is all but completed. A sub committee has been appointed to frame the constitution of the proposed Association, and they will be prepared at an early date with a comprehensive report to present to the adjourned meeting of delegates. The variouj subjects to be dealt with by the proposed Association will be amendment in the Friendly Societies Act and any other matters of general interest to the welfare of the friendly societies of Canterbury. St. Albans Literary Society.—A very successful meeting of the above was held on Friday night, in the Wesleyan schoolroom, St. Albans. There were present the Bsv. J. B. Richardson, president, and nineteen other members of the society. A very thoughtful essay on “Light” was read by Mr John Partridge, and an interesting conversation followed. On next Friday evening the business will be a debate on “ The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell,” to be introduced by the secretary, Mr W. S. Smith. Stabbing with a Knife.—A fishmonger named Samuel Dobbinson was arrested by Constable Trevelyan at an early hour yesterday morning, on a charge of stabbing his wife with a knife. It appears Dobbinson went home on Saturday night about half-past eleven, under the influence of liquor, and had some high words with his wife, which terminated by his taking up a knife and stabbing her in the head in two places, inflicting an incised wound five inches long and a quarter of an inch deep. Dr. Irvine was sent for, and dressed the wounds, after which the woman was taken to the hospital, and her children to the Armagh street depot. Pedbstrianism.—A match between Swan, of Christchurch, and O’Connor, of Timaru, has been made for £25 a aide, to walk twelve hours. The match will take place in Christchurch on the 31st inst. The articles have been signed, and Mr R. Richardson, of the Empire Hotel, has been appointed stakeholder. Referees and judge will be appointed in a few days. Swan came in second in the twenty-four hours’ competition in Dunedin, Brookes, of Dunedin, who was the winner, walking 116 miles. Swan walked 11-4 miles and one lap, but unfortunately met with an accident to his foot, which delayed him thirtyfive minutes, otherwise the result might have been different. The match mentioned above creates great interest in sporting circles, as both men are known to be good, fair walkers. Concert. —The benefit concert to Mr Edmonds. the conductor of the Sydenham Amateur Musical Society, tendered by the members, takes place to-morrow evening in the Oddfellows’ Hall. A very excellent programme has been prepared, and no doubt Mr Edmonds will receive what he fairly deserves, a bumper house on the occasion. Orange Anniversary.—The annual dinner of the Orange Institution will take place at the Oddfellows’ Hall this evening. The chair will be taken by the G.M. of the Middle Island. —To night the L.O L. Maiden City No. 1, Lyttelton, will celebrate their annual ball at the Oddfellows’ Hall, at Port. At a meeting of the L.0.L., No. 10, Kaiapoi, held ou Friday evening, it was decided to celebrate the twelfth with a ball, in the Oddfellows’ Hall, which will therefore take place this evening. Preserving Eggs.—A French pharmacist offers the following discovery for preserving eggs, namely, to use a solution of silicate of soda, which, being of a very glutinous or adhesive character, is kept in a liquid state by adding a little tepid water. Simply dip the eggs in this and then dry them. When thoroughly dried and completely covered with the silicate solution, which any druggist can furnish, the eggs can then bo put away, and will keep, it is stated, for more than a year without injury. Interesting to Local Bodies.—Up to the present time, says the Dunedin “ Star,” officers of local bodies have been regarded by the Mork of the Resident Magistrates’ Court, as “'public officers ” within the meaning of the 142nd section of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1877. This view the Minister of Justice has ruled to be unwarrantable, and instructions have been issued to resident magistrates to the effect that in future the benefit of this section is not to be extended to such officers, so chat all summonses applied for by officers of the Corporation must now be paid for before being issued. The Mayor of Wellington has undertaken to move Parliament in the matter of getting the Act so amended so as to allow of the former practice being continued. A New “Love Spell.”—The “Golos” states that in a village in the Sklomin district, government of Grodno, a peasant was perpetually quarrelling with his wife, because, as he declared, he “had ceased to love her.” The village council took the matter into consideration, and adjudged the peasant to receive twenty blows with rods “ to compel him to love his wife again.” The remedy was administered, but the report does not say whether it has proved efficacious.