NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2694, 25 November 1882, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

East and West Coast Railway.—The following telegram was received this morning by the president of the Chamber of Commerce from the Hon. Walter Johnston, in continuation of the correspondence which is published elsewhere in the report of the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon : obliged to you for your message of yesterday, but are you not under misapprehen sion as to the purport of the declaration of the Commission, the report of which I have referred to. This seems to me to recognise on the part of the Commissioners that they

have power to consider inter alia tho route for the main trunk line northwards, via Amuri, Reofton, and Tophouse, and I understand it is all you desire, since the continuation from Eeel'ton to Greyiuoutli is otherwise provided for." Chamber of Commerce.—This body held its quarterly meeting yesterday afternoon. It was decided to relinquish for the present the intention of erecting- a ne\c building. The question of the East and West Coast Railway was discussed at some length, and it was finally resolved to request the Government to amend the posvers of the Royal _ Commission, or appoint another Commission to report on the question of the best route for a railway to connect Canterbury with the West Coast. A report of the meeting appears elsewhere. Kaiapoi Swino Bridge.—From the action taken by the Borough Council in erecting notice boards on this structure, it would appear that the bridge is in the last stage of decay. The peremptory notice, " Stop and walk," appears on each board in con- • spicuous letters. That this notice applies to the driving of vehicles over the bridge will be taken for granted, but some doubt exists whether the warning applies to pedestrians, who might bo inclined to in- - crease their speed while on the bridge. Theatre Rotal. —The theatre was well" filled last night on the occasion of the annual performance by the members of the " Lyttelton Times " Dramatic Club, in aid of the sick fund. Tho gentlemen of theclub had, on this occasion, the advantage of the assistance of Miss Amy Horton, Miss May Bell, and other Ladies, who certainly i deserve every credit for the way in which their parts were rendered throughout. The pieces chosen were the comedy of " Our Nelly," and the farce of " The Goose with the Golden Eggs." Both pieces went well from first to last. The object, as well as fraternal respect for the gentlemen engaged, precludes criticism, but it may be said, that all engaged in the production of the pieces were very good indeed in their re* spective parts. Miss Amy Horton sangthree songs during the comedy remarkably well, and was encored. The other ladies and gentlemen deserve very great credit for the admirable manner in which they played their respective roles, and the only regret was that in the comedy the sporting representative should have had such conspicuous bad luck as to be cast for a part in which by no possibility could he score a I win.

The Little Akaloa Aesojt Cisr.—At Akaloa on Thursday, before Messrs Aylmer, 8.M., and Adams, J.P., Alexander and Henry: Mcintosh were charged with having burnt down the Akaloa Hotel on throe occasions. The prosecution was conducted by Mr Inspector Pender, and Mr Joynt appeared for the defence. A great mass of evidence was adduced, from which it appeared that the land upon which the hotel had been erected, was, some time ago, the subject of litigation, the father of the accused young men being one of the parties. The property ultimately passed into the occupation ofr Henry Cooper, and was recently burned, down. Cooper was not dismayed by the first burning, and then commenced the business of hotelkeeping in the hen-house, but that was burned down alsoIn his evidence he remarked that he. thought that having burned down the henhouse the incendiaries would have had. enough, but it was not so, and his premises were burned down a third time. Threatening letters had been sent to Cooper, and" one of these bore no post mark, although it passed through the Akaloa post odce, which was kept by one of the accused. The case was investigated by Detective Connor, who obtained specimens of the handwriting of nearly every person in the district. The handwriting of the letters was sworn to be that of one of the accused, and it was deposed that A. Mcintosh bad offered .£5 to a person to burn down the place. At the conclusion of the evidence, the Bench did not consider there was sufficient evidence on which to commit for trial, and dismissed the case. The charge of burning the stable was withdrawn by the police. The Railway Commission. —The Com-

mission sat yesterday morning at teno'clock. Mr C. Y. O'Connor, C.E., at-

tended, and produced tabulated statementsshowing the length, probable cost, distance already constructed, and the distance to be constructed, of the lines from Christchurch to Picton, and from Christchurch to Nelson, also showing the length of those lines which go through agricultural, pastoral, and barren country respectively, and through Crown and private lands. Mr O'Connor stated that he was collecting statistical information as to the population along the different proposed routes and the probable revenue which would accrue from the railway. He promised to furnish the Cotnmission with a report on the Maruia route. In the afternoon the Commissioners took the evidence of Mr William Atkinson, Bangiora, who resided for a good many years in the Wairau district. He described the character of the country between the Wairau and Hanmer Plains. He was unfavorable to the expenditure of money on the construction of a railway northward by either the East Coast or central routesDuring the winter parsons had been frequently stopped in their journey on the Hanmer Plains from the depth of snowfall, which lies for a considerable time. He did not see how a railway train could make its way through the snow in winter. The snow drifts reach a height of 10ft. There was a considerable destruction of cattle and sheep during the winter. He did not think there was much prospect of railway traffic through that country, and the expense of keeping a railway along the West Coast in repair would be considerable. The Commissioners will leave this morning on their way to Blenheim. Belfast Mantjke Works. Yesterday, by the invitation of Mr T. C. Moorhouse, anumber of gentlemen interested in farming and the development of industrial resources, paid a visit to the works at Belfast, where the manure known as Moorhouse's superphosphate of lime is manufactured. After an inspection of the works, under the able guidance of the proprietor, the guests sat down to a sumptuous luncheon laid in the stores. The chair was occupied by Mr J. P. Jameson, and tb,e vice-chair by Mr M. Murphy, secretary of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. After ample justice hadbeen done to the provisions, Mr Howland proposed " Success to the works," coupled with the name of Mr T. C. Moorhouse,and inthe course of his remarks made reference to the memory of the kite Mr W. S. Moorhouse and his services to Canterbury. Mr Moorhouse responded, and proposed " rhe Industrial Association," coupled with the name of Mr A. G. Ilowland, the president, who responded briefly. The Kev. T. Flavell then proposed '* The Agricultural and Pastoral Association of Canterbury," coupled with the name of Mr Murphy, paying a well deserved tribute to the energy and zeal of that gentleman. Mr Murphy, in respi nding, mentioned that he had received apcJogies for non-attendance from Messrs I. Cunningham, J.Grigg, and Mcllwraith. Mr Moorhouse then proposed " The health of Mr J. P. Jameson, the chairman," who responded. The other toasts given were *' Mr Gray, of the Canterbury College," " The Press," coupled with the name of Messrs C. E. Briggs and Hart; "The District of Belfast," coupled with the name of Mr J. L. Wilson; "The Agent, Mr Brown," &c. After spending a very pleasant afternoon, the visitors returned to town.

Cabmen's Dinneb. —A dinner -was held last evening by the non-society cabmen at Warner's Commercial Hotel. The chair was occupied by Mr J. Dalwood and the vice-chair by Mr G. Dodd. About thirtysis persons sat down to a capital spread provided by host "Warner. After ample justice had been done to the good things provided the chairman proposed the toast of the " Queen and Royal Family." Mr Yellop proposed "The House of Representatives." He did not know if they had done the cabmen much good except to grant the tramway the use of the road and run them off, but he hoped they would drink the toast with enthusiasm. The toast was duly honored, and the name of Mr Holmes was coupled with it. The vice-chaivinan proposed " The Cabmen's Protection Society." He said it was with a great deal of diffidence he rose to propose the toast. He believed that such gatherings as the present helped to heal any little differences they had. He believed there was not a more energetic member of the society than the secretary, Mr Thomas, with whose name he would couple the toast. Mr Thomas, in responding, said he thanked them all for the hearty manner in which they had received the toast. He hoped the next time they met there would be no non-society cabmen, and that next year they would have 120 present. The City Council would never have made such objectionable rules had they all been in unison, but they thought that when the society wrote to them about any grievance that only half the cabmen w.ere represented, and no notice was taken of it. He trusted that they would all join the society at its next meeting. Ho again thanked them for the manner in which they had drunk the society's health. " The Press," proposed by Mr Brooks, " The Chairman," by Mr J. Crew, and "The Host," by Mr Watson, concluded the toast list. During the evening some excellent songa were sung byMessrs Yellop, J. Brook, S. Thomas, Ball, C Dodd, Harvey, Collins, Irvine, Brown,. Cuff, Wood, A. Brown, and Burn ham.

Cruelty to a Horse.—A man named W. Hooker, residing at Templeton, was stopped by a member of the police force for driving: a horse with sore shoulders. Bail being forthcoming, he will appear at the Resident Magistrate's Court at an early date to answer the charge. _ Cricket .—The match, Auckland v. l>unedinand Suburban Association, was not commenced to-day until late, owing to the bad weather. At the time of our going to press they had only made 39 runs for the loss of six wickets.

An American who started to ride from Colima to Manzanillo was stopped on the highway by a well armed bandit. ' Pardon, senor,' exclaimed the latter, ' but, I perceive that you have my coat on. The American produced a six-shooter, and cocking it, said, * Senor, I am of opinion that you are mistaken about that coat. 'On closer examination I perceive that I am,' the bandit answered, and disappeared in the wood.

A merchant entered his store in the morning and found his boy Bobby attempting to throw all kinds of somersaults. * What are you about r' asked the merchant, looking astonished at the evolutions of the boy. ' Obligin' my girl,' replied the almost exhausted youth. ' She's writ me a letter, and at the bottom of the page she said turn over and oblige, and I've been going it for mor'n half-an-hour.'