NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2609, 17 August 1882, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Sun’s Oolob —Mr B. A. Proctor, in commenting upon Professor Langley’* theory that the sun is in reality not a white ann, but a blue one, points out (in “ Knowledge the value which photographs have in relation to this interesting question, stating that anyone who studies a photograph of the solar disc will notice that the darkening towards the edge is much more marked there than it is in the ordinary photographic diso of the sun. He says ;—“ It follows that those rays which produce the photographic image of the sun (chiefly the blue, indigo and violet rays) are more affected by the absorption of the eolar atmosphere than those which form the ordinary visual image of the sun- His atmosphere then acts mere strongly to absorb the rays belonging to the blue end of the epectrnm than the rays belonging to the red end. The Ban’s apparent color, therefore, is less blue than his real oc 1 or. If his atmosphere were suddenly removed he would shange from his preieot white or wti'ieh-yellowcolor to bluish or perhaps greenish, precisely as the setting sun, if the air between the eye and him were suddenly removed, would change from his apparently ruddy hue to the white color of the overhead sun.” Thus the apparent whiteness is chiefly due to the absorptive action of the sun’s own atmosphere [and partly to that of cur own air. TEOTIIN& Houses. Messrs H. Matson and Co. have be;n advised by Mr John Kerr, of Tarndale, Nelson, that he will be in Ohristohnroh within a fortnight with seven of hifl celebrated trotting horses. Three of these are entires, which he intends shall stand this season in Canterbury j the other font ore brood mares—ene pair bays, the other pair greys,— they are described as being first class, and well matched. In addition to these, Mr Kerr has feur entires, which will be reserved for stud service in other parts of the colony. Judged from the well known character of Mr Kerr’s stud, this importation will be a valuable addition to Canterbury stud stock, and there is no donbt breeders of trotting horses will not hesitate to avail themselves of tbe opportunity afforded of securing this valuable strain of blood. Lbqaii.— Hia Honor Mr Justice Bichmond will hold a sitting in chambers and lance tomorrow at 10,30 a.m,, to dispose of the list remaining. A Buenham Waip. —A lad named Boicoe, who escaped some time since from Burnham, was arrested in Dnnedin by Detective Bayne, and brought to Christchurch by last night’s express train.

Iheateb Eoyal, —“ New Babylon ” wss repeated last night to a very good house, despite the inclemency of the weather. In the last act Mr Holt was encored for his song, and responded with another, whioh wss very laughable. The principals wore called before the curtain several times daring the progress of the piece. It will be played again this evening. Accidents. —A man named Thompson was admitted into the hospital yesterday, having broken his leg, which was reset. —A lad named Charles Wainwright, residing at Sprirgston, was also admitted, suffering from a gun shot wound in the left band, which necessitated ampiualion. Both patients are progressing favorably.

, Funebai, at Poet. —The shipping in port yesterday lowered their flags to half-mast out of respect to the late railway clerk, Mr Atcbley (son of Mr H. M. Atohley, Highgate, London), whoso sudden death was reported cn Monday, Deceased was a member of the choir of Holy Trinity Church, where the funeral services took place yesterday afternoon. Mr Ford, the organist, played the Dead March, and the choir sung the psalms eppoiuted and also a hymn at the grave. The liev. J. Townsend, Incumbent of the Church, read the burial service. The Caxctttta Exhibition. —M. Joubert has obtained from Mr T. 8. Lambert plans of the building proposed to be erected on the Maiden at Calcutta for au Exhibition. A photograph of one set of these has been taken by Messrs Wheeler, comprising the front elevation, section of the front, elevation of art gallery, and plan of roof. The entrance is a very handsome one, surmounted by a large dome, with two smaller ones on each side. The entrance to the art gallery is similar in construction and design to that of the late Exhibition here. The plans will be submitted to the Viceroy of India, by M. Joubert, for his approval. Weatheb Exchange. New Zealand, yesterday—Wind changing to W. in tbeSouth ; strong easterly wind at Taranaki j generally showery. Australia —Moderate easterly wind. Barometer still high, but falling. No report from Western Australia. Barometer Bussell. 29 7; Wellirgton, 29 5 ; Bluff, 29 6 ; Portland, 30.2; Hobart, 30.2 ; Sydney, 80.8,

Tnw Absoohdiko Souoiiob —Nothing is at present known definitely a* to the manner in which Mr Thompson has succeeded in vanishing into apace. Doubt* are entertained a* to hia haying gone in the San Francisco mail steamer, ani no trace* of him have been heard of in Wellington or Auckland. The mystery will no doubt, however, be_ quickly cleared up, a* the police are making inquiries on the subject. O.B.XJ.—A meeting of the above Union waa held last evening at the Clarendon Hotel. Present—Messrs Parker, Kealeven, Fuller, Bobimon, Lewin, and W. V. Million. Mr Million presided. It was decided to play the association match on Oranmer square on Saturday next, at 2.30 sharp. The representative team to play the Otago team will be chosen at a meeting to be held on Saturday evening at the Clarendon Hotel, when all the delegates are particularly requested to be present. It was stated that the tickets for the concert were selling rapidly, and that the arrangements for the performance were perfected, and that it was expected to bo very successful. The following players were selected to play in next Saturday’s match Ho. 1 team —Messrs B. and W. J . Ootterill, Beswick, Anderson, Helmore, Hammerlon, W. V. Million (captain), L. Lane, H. Farr, W. Potts, J, G. B. Wineloe, Haines, 35. Million, Waohsmao, and Hyman. No, 2 team—J, D. Hall, A. Alabaster, J. Hosiack, Harman, Spragge, Pringle, J. Hartland, Fuller (captain), Q, Fisher, B. J. Wilson, Kestevan, Hawkes, Robinson, Blanchard, Parson, Newman, Allardyoe, W. Edgar, A. Chapman, and Wright.

Mbbivalb Sunday School —The annual entertainment and presentation of prizes in connection with the above took place last evening. Not withe anding the weather there was a fair attendance of the pupils and their parents. The basinets of the evening commenced with the prizes, of which three were given to each of the seven classes, and thirty to those who had never missed a Sunday’s attendance when the school was open; also prizes to those who had gained the greatest possible numbers of marks. The Bev. T, Slave!!, in presenting the prizes, took occasion to refer to the closing of the Sunday school through illness in the district, and trusted all present would work hard next year to make up for their compulsory absence. The proceedings were interspersed with songs by the chcir boys end recitations by some of the scholars. The next portion consisted of a lecture by the Incumbent, entitled “ A Journey Home via Suez,” illustrated by Mr Crooks, who afterwards exhibited a number of comic pictures for the benefit of the younger portion of the audience. The proceedings were brought to a close with cheers for Mr and Mrs Flavell, and also for the school teachers,

OmUBTOHUBCH Bbnbvoient Association.—A meeting of the committee was held yesterday. Present—Mr O. T. Ick (in the chair), Messrs O. F. Halbert, J. P. Jameson, O. Kiyer, W. B, Mitchell, H. W. Packer, W. Pratt, and B. P. Orosbie, secretary. The secretary reported that in answer to the advertised application for contributions to the fnnda, the following has responded :—Per W. Pratt, A Friend £5, J. L. Coster £lO, J. McNamara £2, T. Merson £l, G. Bowron£l; per O. T. Ick, Harper and Co., solicitors, £10; per T. King, sundries, £lO 13s 4d ; per C. P. Halbert, H. A. Davis £2 2s, B. Bichardson £2 2s, J. Carl, £3 3s ; per J. P. Jameson, J. Dent, Dnnsandel, £1; per secretary, J. A. Bedpath £1 6s, J. Bosewsrne £2 Ss, the Dean of Christchurch £2 2s, H. Hobday £6 9s 6d, Geo. Gould £2O; and the committee, vis., W. Pratt £3 Bs, C. P. Halbert £3 3s, H. W. Packer £5 ss, O. T. Ick £2 2», Geo. Booth £2 2s, J. P. Jameson £3 Si, W. B. Mitchell £3 3s, C. Kiver, £5 ss, J. T. Brown £2 2s, W. Harris £3 3s. The chairman stated that as arranged at the previous meeting the deputation had waited upon the Moat Bev. the Primate, and his Lordship had expressed his sympathy with the objects of the association, and as regarded the naming of a special Sunday to be set apart for a general collection he suggested the advisability of a meeting of the association and the clergy to dieonss the matter. On the motion of Mr J. P. Jameson, seconded by Mr H. W. Packer, it was resolved—“ That an invitation be sent to the ministers of all denominations to meet the committee of the Benevolent Association to consider the subject of a Sunday being appointed npon which a collection shall be made in all the churches toward the funds of the association.” The secretary was instructed to make the necessary arrangements as to time and place of meeting, and the committee adjourned. Wo understand that his Worship the Mayor has kindly given the nse of the Council Chamber, where the meeting will be held next Tuesday at 3 p.m. Bbooklev Mink Coal. —Wo (“ Now Zealand Times") were privileged to witness in the Parliamentary Library a trial of the coal found in the Malvern mines, Canterbury, and were much pleased with the result. The coal burns well, throws out a great heat, and has the advantage, agreeable to all householders, of making a very small quantity of ash. The sample supplying the test was forwarded at the instance of Mr McMillan, member for the district, and it mast be gratifying to him as well as to his constituents that its success proved so satisfactory. We are given to understand that it is very suitable for steam and other purposes, as well as for household use, and it is not unlikely that, in addition to the large demand for it for railway and family requirements in the Canterbury 'Provincial District, a mar. ket may be found for it in Wellington, if it can be supplied, as we believe it can, at a reasonable price. This furnishes another proof of the abundant wealth which the colony possesses in its coal deposits. The specimens of coal referred to above were from the Brockley mines, and wore sent to the Minister of Fnblio Works in answer to a statement made that there was nothing but “brown coal” in the Malvern district. Death op Pbopbssob Jevons. Telegrams published this morning contain the news of the death by drowning of Professor William Stanley Jevons, M.A. He was the grandson of William Boscoe, of Liverpool, where he was born in 1835. He was educated at University College, London; held an appointment at the Australian Boyal Mint, Sydney, from 1854 till 1859; took the M.A. degree at the University of London in 1862, and was made Fellow of his college in 1864. He was appointed Professor of Logie, Mental and Moral Philosophy, and Oobden Lecturer in Political Economy, in Owens’ College. Manchester, in June, 1866 He wrote a pamphlet on the “ Value of Gold,” published in 1863 ; “ The Coal Question, an Inquiry concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines,” in 1865; “ The Substitution of Similars, the True Principles ef Seasoning, devised from a Modification of Aristotle’s Dictum,” a logical work published in 1869; a paper on " The Mechanical Performance of Logical Inference,” read at the Boyal Society in 1870 ; *• Elementary Lessons in Logic,” 1878 ; and “ The Principles of Science: a Treaties on Logic and Scientific Method,” 1874.

Abolition op Exixb to Siberia. —It ii stated that the Russian Government is actively engaged discussing a project for abolishing exile to Siberia. Of course a place mnat etill bo found for the 30,000 exiles who are deported from European Russia every year, and hero the recent annexation of Saghalian comes in handy to play in the North Pacific the role that New Caledonia plays on behalf of the French in the South Pacific Ocean. Should the island become overcrowded, as it would very likely be in course of time, unless the stream of exiles diminished, a second penal settlement could be formed in the inhospitable wilds of Novoe Zemlia, where a Russian geographer has recently demonstrated the winters to be not nearly so bad as usually represented. Whether this be so or not, or whether Novoe Zemlia will ever succeed Sagbalien, it seems to be tolerably certain that before long the indiscriminate distribu--tion of exiles over the length and breadth of Siberia will undergo a thorough overhauling. At present the exiles are shot over the Urals into Asia in a most promiscuous manner, scarcely a third remaining in the districts assigned to them, and a largo proportion wandering about the country like vagrants. In a word, in most essentials the deportation of non-political convicts is simply a sort of enforced colonisation, with a sufficient grant from the State to keep the exiles from actual starvation.

Mount Somers Eoad'Boaed. —An election to fill the two vacant seats on the Mount Somei s Road Board took place at Mount Somers on August 14th, and resulted in Mr Benjamin Jtde and Mr William Edion being returned.

Mr W. H. Porter has backed his well■known horse Blaokboy, for £6O, to trot fourteen miles in one hour, lOst up. The event is to come off within three weeks from this date.

Kaiapoi Firs Bbiqadb.— The ever popular Volunteer Kre Brigade have, on the occasion of the entertainment for the benefit o funds, he din the Oddfellows’ Hall on X ■ day evening, received a bumper bouse, * being hardly standing room even, and ao £4O waa estimated to bo the gross receipts ©! the affair. The piece presented by the Albio Dramatic Society was that of Ten Nights in a Bar Boom,” in five acts. The audience was kept for some time waiting after tne advertised hour owing to a delay on the part of the performer* in reaching the town. Whore the acting of all the players was very good, it would be invidious toparticularise any, but Mr Newman and Miss Came Fisher went through their parts with the greatest satisfaction to those present. At the close, on the motion of Mr Superintendent Blackwell, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Albion Company, and the room was cleared for dancing. The local brass band gave its services and rendered some _ new selections in a manner which did their instructor infinite credit.