NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2470, 7 March 1882, Page 3

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Accident at Poet.—A labourer named ' Peter Leurs, a married man, residing in Kipon , street, Lyttelton, was seriously injured tnis r morning. Ho was at the time in the hold of the ’ ship Carnarvon Castle, lying alongside one of f the jetties, helping to discharge her cargo of coal A coal bucket had just been filled and was in course of beinj hoisted out of the hold, and. i whoa it had reached a considerable height, it turned over the contents, between six and seven hundred weight of coal falling down upon the head of the unfortunate man below. *’ e , w ® B , carried to the Casual Ward and attended by , Dri. H. Macd; nald and J. T. Rouse. His head, i as may well be supposed, was frightfully cut, but at last accounts it was expected the injuries would not prove fatal City Council.-—Tbii body held an ordinary meeting last night, and transacted a good deal of routine business, particulars of which will bo found in another column. Pedestbianibm.—W. 8. Fagan has telegraphed to W. J. Burke, of Dunedin, challenging him for half a mile or a mile for the championship of New Zealand, and £SO or £ICO, according to distance, the place of meet-

ing to be arranged. Inspection.— The Lyttelton Naval Brigade, mustering forty-five men under _ Lieutenants MeLt-llen and Dransfield, were inspected by Lieut.-Colonel Packo on Monday evening. The Jjatb Dbowning Oabb in the Heathootb.—A neat monument, subscribed for and erected by the cabmen of Christcburob, has been erected over the grave of the cabman Kerr, who lost bis life in attempting to save the lad Chapman in the Heath-

ooto. Theateb Royal.—Last night the Mon-taguo-Xurner Company gave Balfe’s 11 Bohemian GHrl” to a good house. Though in parts somewhat unevenly played, the splendid vocalisation of Miss Montague and _Mr Turner went far to redeem the faults noticeable. Miss Montague’s siuging in the part of Arlino was unexceptionable, more particularly her rendition of “ I dreamt that I dwelt,” which evoked an enthusiastic encore. Mr Turner’s singing of “ When other lips” and " The fair land of Poland” will long be remembered by lovers of music as a great treat. Miss Deakin sang the difficult music of the Gipsy Queen very well, and Mr Gordon’s Count was an excellent performance throughout. Except that Mr Farley almost exhausted the patience of the audience in the third act, be was good as Devilehoof. The remainder of the characters call for no comment. The orchestra played well, but the choruses were very indifferently sung, with one or two exceptions. To-night “ Luoia di Lammermoor” will be given. Lyttelton Dog Tax—Owners of collarless dogs in the borough of Lyttelton may find it profitable to read the notice issued by the Town Clerk to he found elsewhere. Thompson’s Diokama. There was a crowded house last sight at the Gaiety Theatre, when the diorama of the Zulu war was again exhibited with undiminished success. Mr Thompson’s distribution of the gifts, which is one of the features of the entertainment, caused much amusement. The Diorama will be on view this evening, and there is as usur.l a liberal programme of gifts. Waikabi Stbbplechase,—lt is proposed to hold a steeplechase here in a few weeks, towards which a fair amount .of support has been promised. Mr 1 tjbnbb’b Benefit. The farewell benefit to Mr Turner of the Opera Company takes place on Friday when “ Maritana ” will be given, Mr Turner has fully established himself as one of the best tenors wa have bad in New Zealand, and as the opera selected is one in which his really splendid voice is hoard to the greatest advantage no doubt there will be a full house. Not a Pleasant Pbospbct,—There is a long banco roll requiring the attention of the Judges in Dunedin, and the other day Mr Justice Williams said that he would have to spend three days at Lawrence to dispose of one case there. Mr Justice Johnston remarked :—“ We shall one of these days be having a sitting of the Supreme Court at that ultima Thule from which we have just come.” Evidently his Honor has not pleasant reminiscences of his trip to Riverton, Thb City Guards, —A meeting of the Christchurch City Guards was held last evening. Captain Wolfe presided, and there were forty-five members present. The question of whether the company would be willing to take part in the Wellington encampment was discussed, and all present unanimously expressed their willingness to go. It will be seen from our Wellington telegrams that the encampment will not take place as the Defence Minister will not spend money on the undertaking. Caledonian Sooibtt. —A well attended meeting was held yesterday afternoon at the rooms of Mr P. Cunningham, to discuss the propriety of forming a Canterbury Caledonian Society. Mr Cunningham occupied the □hair. Dr. Stewart moved, Mr H. A. Watt seconded the following resolution, which was carried unanimously : —“ That it is desirable to form a Caledonian Society, and that a provisional committee composed of the following gentlemen be formed to draw up rules, &0., viz., Messrs P. Ounninghsm, H. A. Watt, J. Campbell, G. N. Gordon, A. O. Wilson, R. Sutherland, and Dr. Stewart.” After some other business had been transacted, the meeting adjourned till Monday, March 20th, at the same hour and place. Oantbbbuky Coubsinq Club.—A meeting of the committee of the Canterbury Coursing Club was held at 4 pm. yesterday at the Shades, Hereford street; Mr B. R. Deacon in the chair. The secretary reported that he had received replies from the Oamaru, Papanui, Southland, and South Canterbury Coursing Clubs re the appointment of a judge for the forthcoming coursing season, which were read. After some discussion it was resolved—“ That the secretary telegraph Mr Wise, the judge for the past season, and that a meeting of the secretaries of the various clubs interested be held at the Qrosvenor Hotel, Timaru, on Saturday next, at one o’clock, to finally settle the matter.” it was also agreed that three coursing meetings be held during the coming season, and that the most convenient dates will be the first week in May, the middle of June, and the end of August. The gentlemen who were proposed as members of the club at its last meeting were then put to the vote and unanimously elected. This was all the business. The Mbmbbb fob Northampton.—At the preliminary investigation of a charge of perjury against George Wybar, in the Dunedin Police Court, Messrs J. Logan and J. Brown, J.P.’s, presided, and as Messrs Sievwright and Stout were concerned in the laying of the information, Mr McDermott, defendant’s counsel, asked the first-mentioned justice to retire from the Bench, presumably because Mr Logan happens to be Mr Stout’s father in-law. Mr Logan, however, says the "Daily Times,” refused to take any notice of such an absurd request. Later on during the hearing of the case, when the usher of the Supreme Court was giving evidence as to administering the usual oath to the accused, Mr McDermott asked the witness to state whether it was not the " Holy Gospel ” Wybar was sworn on, and added, “If we had that beast Bradlangh here, I suppose he would not certify to that.” Mr Logan remarked that he did not think it was right of Mr McDermott to make such an observation. Mr McDermott then said—“l would not hesitate to designate him at all times and at all places a filthy beast.” Mr Logan contented himself with rejoining that perhaps Mr Bradlaugh was just as good os Mr McDermott. The Albion’s Mail.—lt was reported yesterday that one of the mail bags shipped by the s.s. Albion wag lost off the steamer as she wont down tho harbor on Saturday night. From what can be gleaned of the affair, it appears that the whole of the mail, which comprised that for Europe, via Brindisi, wai put into the vessel’s hold when she left tho wharf, and at first sight the idea that a ba; could have fallen overboard would seem most improbable. Captain Butt reports, however that when the steamer was a considerabli distance on her journey down the harbor i bag of mail matter was picked up. Th( steamer had brought up, and tho yaohi Fleotwing, then coming into port, was olosi by at tho time. One of the steamer’s boat was out, and before she reached the wantec sack, a dingy from the yacht had secured it The bag was subsequently put on board thi Albion, and the vessel proceeded on he voyage. As above stated, it seems inoredibl that a package containing mail matter couh have fallen in the harbor, seeing that th mail bad been put in the hold, but it is pos siblo that after leaving tho wharf some of th bags were taken up to admit of the luggag being put below, hence the occurrence. Boti the master of the Fleetwing, Captain Josep: Foster, and Captain Butt on board tho yaoh , have reported the matter. It is a source o satisfaction, however, to th« correspondent ’ by Ithe steamer to know that the bag wa 1 recovered before its contents could have beei much injured,

U.A.O.D.—The Anchor Lodge held thejr usual fortnightly meeting at the Oddfellows Hall, Woolston, on Wednesday lest, when there was a good attendance of members, also about eighty visitors from town, including official visitors from the Pioneer, Oak ol Sydenham, and Campbell Lodges. _ Eight members were initiated, after which the Lodge adjourned for harmony, when some capital songs and recitations were given by the members and visitors. After some further routine business had been transacts, the Lodge was closed in due form by A.D. Bro. Englemsn. The visitors then returned to town, thoroughly pleased with the manner in which they had been treated by that Lodge. A Weak Mind.— A peculiar case of perjury was brought before tho Central Criminal Court at Melbourne on February 22nd. It appeared (says the “Argus”) that a woman named Elizabeth Foster, living at Barry’s Reef, was afraid that her husband would reprove her for extravagance in spending some money. In order to avoid his reproaches she went to a magistrate and swore an information that two men unknown had burglariously entered her house. Inquiries made by tho detectives led to the discovery that what she had sworn was incorrect, and she was committed for trial for the offence. When her case was called on for trial, an attorney applied for an adjournment till next day, as the counsel who was eaid to have

been employed was absent. Owing, however, to the peculiar manner of the attorney the Judge would only grant an adjournment for a couple of hours, but when the prisoner was put in the dock she pleaded guilty to the charge. Her husband tried to take a place near her in tho dock, but the officials prevented him. Detective Nixon said that from inquiries he made he believed she was of weak intellect, but she had borne a good character. Mr Justice Holroyd sentenced her to three months’ imprisonment, which, he said, he considered a lenient punishment. On the sentence b-ing pronounced, however, the husband came forward and begged that it might be remitted, and said that his wife’s brother was in the asylum, and it she were kept in gaol her head might also be affected. Hia Honor said be could only treat her as a sane woman, but if it could be shown to the Governor-in Council that at the time the offence was committed she was insane, the sentence would probably be remitted. Thb Latb Teamway Aooidbnt. —At the inquest yesterday on the body of Mr J. Anderson, who died from the effects of his van coming into collision with the tram on the Papanui road on the night of the 27th February, the jury returned a verdict of “ Accidental death,”