The Rumara Times. Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1879.

Kumara Times, Issue 996, 9 December 1879, Page 2

The Rumara Times. Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1879.

A meeting convened by "his YVorship the Mayor in accordance with a requisition, to that effect v,-as held in the Town Hall yesterday afternoon to consider the desirability of continuing a Benevolent Society in the town, as the ladies at present forming that society had notified their intention of resigning in consequence of several members having left the district. -The Rev. E. A. Scott was voted to the chair and a resolution was passed " That a Benevolent Society was a very necessary institution in the district, and that those present form a Committee for t!ie purpose of giving cUeet to tins resolution.'' The following v/cre then elected ns a Committee :-—P.ev. E. A. Seott, Jiov. Father ArOmghey, Rev. W. West, Rev. J. S. Garlick, his YVovship the Mayor, and Messrs Drummuml, Duggan, Munyard, and CaLo. It was resolved to procure copies of the rules of similar institutions in Oreymouth and Hukitika for a guide in drawing up those for the Kumara Benevolent Society, and pendingtheir arrival, the Committee adjourned for a week.

Tlie meeting of the Hospital Committee adjourned lass week through there beingno quorum present, will be held at the Secretary's ofticc this evening.

The manager of tlie Government waterrace has taken prompt and active steps to repair the damage done to the Kumara dam by the late heavy rains as a large number of men are now busily employed' in replacing the portion that was carried away. Should the weather prove favorable, Mr Gow anticipates that in three weeks the dam will again be thoroughly servicable. The probable cost of this reconstruction is estimated at about £'2oo. The police yesterday received information that the tail-race of Jones and party's claim at Larrikins had been robbed the previous night of a considerable quantity of gold—it is presumed about 40 ozs—judging from the last washing up. "Dp to the present time ho clue has heen found of the thief or thieves', but probably before many days more will be heard of tlie matter. A meeting of the Children's Picnic Committee was held in the town Hall last evening; present His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Messrs Duggan, Campbell, Drummond, Munyard, Singer, Pollock, Galland, Bain, O'Hagan, Wilson, Whatham, and the Revs. Messrs Scott and West. Tlie secretary pro-tem (Mr Munyard) read the minutes of the previous meeting, and also the inward and outward correspondence, after which (as agreed at a previous meeting) Mr Whatham was appointed Secretary. The consideration of a letter relative to a brass band, from Mr Sehultz, was postponed until the next meeting. Tenders were authorized to be called for the supply of two meals to the children on New Year's Day, as also the right to erect a refreshment booth and two fruit stalls on the ground. A deputation, consisting of the Chairman, the Rev. E. A. Scott and Mr 0 'Hagan were appointed to wait on Mr Stanton and ack him to allow his school to co-operate with the other schools in the. district at : tlre annual picnic. Messrs Duggan and Wilson were appointed a committee to procure the necessary articles in the way of cricketing materials. &c, required for the use of the children. The name of Mr Metcalfe was added to the Committee. It was unanimously agreed to ask the scholars at the Greenstone and Westbrook schools to attend the picnic. The meeting was then adjourned for a week. There was a very good attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening, on the occasion of a lecture on " The Creation of the World," delivered by Mr Lalor, B.A. The chair was occupied by E. Barff, Esq.; and the lecture, which was of a most interesting character, was listened to with the greatest attention and pleasure by those present. The usual weekly parade of the local Rifle Volunteers will be held at the Adelphi Hall this evening, when we understand several new members will be proposed. Immediately the musketry instruction is over, the annual class firing will commence', tlie highest scorer in which will receive a handsome medal presented by Lieut. Spence. The adjourned meeting of the Broad Miners Testimonial Fund Committee -will be held at the Resident, Magistrate's Court this evening, Tenders for the supply of meals', and also the right to erect refreshment and fruit stalls on the ground on the occasion of the children's annual picnic, are invited by advertisement in another column. Those persons who purchased sections of land lately thrown open for sale in this township can now obtain their Crown grants, on application to the District Land Registrar, Hokitika. A special meeting of the Loyal Albert Lodge of Oddfellows is summoned for Monday evening next, on business of importance. Mr A. Cameron, photographer, notifies ! elsewhere that ho will return to this town next week, when he will be prepared to execute all orders in photography with which he may be favored. M. Blondin, who is now performing on the rope in Vienna, is said, by the London World, to be followed everywhere by a Mr Thompson, who has made a bet of 50,000 dob. that the acrobat will fall from the rope and be killed before he readies the ago of sixty. M. Blondin is now fiftyi\ ve. The works now in course of execution in Paris, in the Pavilion of Flora and in the wing of the Tuileries bordering on the Seine, have brought to light a number of secret stairways and passages, the existence of which was unknown even to the keepers. The cellars form a perfect labyrinth. The old Louvre, built Under Francis First, is honeycombed with secret passages and staircases, and it was in these places that the most of the artistic

riches of the museum were hidden in 1870, when the Prussians were [advancing on Paris. A largo number of the inhabitants of Amakusa, Japan, and the surrouj|[ing villages, hive discarded the Budduist religion, and accepted Cliristianity in its stead, destroying the sacred books and tablets of their forefathers 'With fire. Amakusa is the central district of former persecutions, and the Christians there arc principally Catholics. A remarkable invention or improvement has just been patented in Germany by Professor Klinkerfues, "the principal astronomer at the Observatory of Gottingen, and widely known for his meteorological and physical researches. The improvement now referred to consists of a method by help of which it will be possible to despatch as many as eight different messages simultaneously. along a single wire. An apparatus his likewise been devised by which all the messages will at the same time be mechanically written down. A new phase of wanton destruction of property is,reported from Dublin, where efforts are being made by the police to capture a .number of persons who, during the month of August, made a habit of throwing leaden bullets from catapults at all largo plate glass windows in Dublin. They employed hansoms or tops of tram cars as their vantage ground. Upwards of 100 policemen in plain clothes have have been placed on duty to detect offenders, for within a few weeks £303 worth of plate glass had been broken in the city. Somebody wrote the editor of "a village paper to ask how he would break an ox. The editor replies as follows:—"If only one ox, a good way would be to hoist him, by means of a long chain attached to his tail, to the top of a pole 40ft from the ground, then hoist him by a rope tied to his horns to anothor pole. Then descend on his back a 5-ton pile-driver, and if that don't break him, let him start a country newspaper, arid trust people for subscriptions. One of the two will do it sure."