South Canterbury Times. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 1880. NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2165, 25 February 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 1880. NEWS OF THE DAY.

At a meeting of the Vestry of St Mary’s Church, which took place yesterday afternoon, it was resolved to hold a Bazaar during the Agricultural week 1880, in aid of the Church Building Fund.

Considerable amusement was caused at the R. M. Court, yesterday. A very seedy looking individual was marched before His Worship, and in reply to the usual question as to what he had to say in answer to the charge, he remarked, in a bluff, straight-, forward voice: “I had four drinks, yesterday, and that’s all I remember. This morning I found myself in the lock-up.” His Worship : “ How many drinks did you have?” Accused : “Four.” His Worship: “ And you look as bad as if you had forty!” (Laughter.) Accused was further charged with breaking some panes of glass. His Worship remarked' that he “ supposed that he did not remember anything about that either ?” Accused said he did not, but added that he was willing to pay for broken glass. He was ordered to pay 25s for the damage done and left the Court, a “ sadder but a wiser man.”

To-morrow and on the following night Mr and Mrs Florence will appear at the Theatre Royal in their musical and dramatic entertainment, supported by local amateurs.

A parade (in uniform) of the C Battery N.Z.A. Cadets, took place last evening. The Corps will meet for practice at the Winchester Range on Saturday, if they can obtain the use of the range. Sixty new chums bound for Timaru have just arrived at Lyttelton in the ship Westland.

A painful scene occurred at the Auckland Police Court yesterday. Wiliiam A, Baker, a respectably connected young man was sentenced to two months imprisonment, with hard labor, for obtaining goods under false pretences, by means of cheques on the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. He fainted on being taken into the corridor.

Half a dozen of the French Communists who lately landed at Auckland have gone off to the gum diggings.

The Padishah, sliip, from London, arrived at Otago Heads to-day. The following iinmigmnts for Tiraaru, arc on board the Westland, at Lyttelten . —Emily Crompton, Michael, Patrick and Lawrence Purcell, _ "Stephen Hayes, Martin and Nelly Sullivan,’John Fitzgerald, James Hoare, Catherine, Donnelly, Michael, Margaret, and Mary Jennings, > Ellen Sheey, James, Hannah, and James McGrath, Benjamin, Anna, Benjamin, James, andErama Sircars, Jarre, Bosannah, Eliza, and Anne Dvnrr, John O’Hanc, Joseph- Diamond, Thomas and John Burnett, Dugald McNeil, Robert Peacock, Maurice Bonayne, Patrick Burke, Benjamin, Christina, and Dorotlra Nicholson, Patrick Kerin, Thomas, Louisa, and Mary Patterson, Margaret Booney, Julia O'Sullivan, Alexander Allen and family, George, Mary, Nellie, Isabella, and Thicu Strong. Of these 17 are English, 6 Scotch, and 27 Irish.

Messrs Peacock and Geaney, the wellknown butchers, have just completed some extensive improvements to their Church street establishment. The shop and count, ing-house have, like the two fat gentlemen of the song, been “ rolled into one,” and the result is a hue spacious front, part of which is glazed and reserved for the ezhibition of small goods, while the rest affords ample room for the display of joints and carcases. A neatly constructed verandah, of chaste design, has also been added to the premises.

Mr F. W. Stubbs has been appointed Secretary to the Geraldine County Council. The business of the Council will be transacted at the Secretary’s office, McLean and Stewart’s buildings, from March 4.

At the usual meeting of the Lifeboat Lodge, No. 101, 1.0.G,T„ a new member was proposed and initiated. Songs and readings followed, by Bros. McLaren, Walcot, Johns, Kennedy, and Lyle. Bro. Bamshottom contributed the instrumental selections.

Lily Payne, 5 years old, a passenger by the ship Westland, died at the Quarantine station, at Lyttelton, yesterday from measles. The Easter Review Committee at Christchurch has resolved to camp out any men that cannot he accommodated at the hotels, the Immigration Barracks having been rendered unsuitable through the arrival of diseased immigrants. Although in these hard times deserving men are often without employment there is a large section of the unemployed who are scarcely entitled to much sympathy. It is known that for some time past a considerable number of compositors have been out of work. We have had the opportunity of sampling some of these of late, and our experiences have been hitter. One, who had done a large number of offices, appeared desirous of redeeming Iris lost prestige, and stuck steadily at his work, hut one fine morning, just as work was becoming pressing, his frame was deserted, and he was found in a happy-go-lucky frame of mind interviewing the pubs. A stranger who had been out of work for ten months succeeded him, but he had only been at ease a day and a half, when he suddenly knocked off at dinner-time, disabled by an accident. Ho bad grazed the skin of his thumb while cutting some tobacco. Comment is unnecessary. George Longhurst aged 21 has been committed by the Wellington bench to take his trial for criminally assaulting his cousin aged 8 years. Heavy bail has been fixed.

At the end of October last, in the city of New York, a sale of nearly a hundred trotting horses took place. So attractive was the sale that several thousand persons attended, breeders being present from nearly every state in the Union. The horses had been bred by a New York publisher (Mr Bonner). This enthusiastic gentleman has a stud farm some miles, from New York, where he breeds those kind of animals for pleasure, never, it would appear, allowing them to go on a racecourse. The stock offered were all first-class, but they did not bring the prices anticipated—the highest price for ahorse being -1000 dollars, and the lowest 110 dollars, They were knocked down at prices ranging from 200 dollars to 1500 dollars.

The following are the awards to the New Zealand exhibitors in the Mining Department at the Sydney exhibition : —Dr Hector, first prize for geological collection ; Bank of New Zealand, first prize for gold collection ; D’Urville Island Copper Mining Company, second prize for copper; John P>. Stan,sell (Christchurch), first prize for glass sand ; J. R. Hackett (for Johnston and Co., Nelson), first prize for chrome ; Hematite Paint Company, Nelson, third prize for hematite. ore; G. Munro, Dunedin, first prize for marble; Canterbury Marble Company, third prize; Oamaru Stone Company, W. Daniel (Southland), Professor J. Von Haast, Edward McCaffray (Queenstown) first prize, and Canterbury and Otago Slats Company, Second prize for building stone; Nelson Museum, second prize for paving stone; H. D. Jackson, Nelson, first prize, and Richmond,Quinn and Spence (Lawrence, Otago), and George Munro (Dunedin), second prizes for clays. Mr F. J. Davies, a gentleman who was for many years one of the most popular and generally respected pressmen of Dunedin, died at Christchurch on Saturday. The deceased gentleman was for five years a member of the literary staff of the Melbourne “ Age,” and came to Dunedin under engagement to the “Daily Times,” on the staff of -which he worked five years as chief reporter. He subsequently held a similarposition outlie “ Guardian ;” and when the “ Palmerston Times” was established under what then appeared to be most auspicious circumstances, he was appointed its editor and manager from among a large number of applicants at a very high salary for a country journal. He eventually purchased that journal from the company, and was one of its proprietors at the time of his death.

The Dunedin City CounciHrave resolved, by way of retrenchment, to get rid of their day laborers, and give no further assistance to the unemployed. This means a reduction of £7OOO per annum. The officers of the Council, whose salaries vary from £IBO to £6OO per annum, are not to be interfered with.

. , The South train was crowded to-day with passengers, the majority being from Christchurch, en route for the Dunedin races. The North train was also well patronised. Its passengers included a number of Volunteers and their officers on their way to the prize firing at Nelson. The Levels Road Board is not the only public body that • has got into trouble through indulging in a change of valuers, A' few' months ago by general consent a valuer was appointed for the whole of the road districts in the County of Ashburton. The district being a large one, the valuer was required to do the work of half-a-dozen ordinary valuers. As a natural consequence some of the work has been done rather hurriedly and imperfectly, and the other day,at the Rakaia Assessment Court, Judge Guinness declared the valuation list for the South Rakaia district, to be incomplete, nd ordered the new valuer to prepare a fresh list, without extra fee, by a future date.

The accoustic properties of the Timaru R.M. Court are about as bad as they can possibly he. Every Court day, when Magistrate, witnesses, the public, the Bar, and the reporters are alike inconvenienced, only serves to confirm the fact. This defect of the Court-house is most annoying, more especially on those occasions when an important case is being summed up by the Magistrate or the Judge, as the case may be. The observations from the Bench are nearly always made in a subdued voice, and it is next to impossible to catch the magisterial or judicial remarks. Can nothing be done to mitigate the evil ?

Messrs Maclean and Stewart will sell, at the South Canterbury Yards, to-morrow, at noon, fat and store cattle. Messrs Jonas, Hart and Wildie will sell, at the South Canterbury Yards, to-morrow, at noon, 17 head fat and store cattle, 9 head horses.

We have been requested to draw the attention of contractors, builders, &c., to a sale of Kauri timber, to be sold by Maclean and Stewart at the Government Landing Service at 11.30. Messrs Murphy and Patterson have purchased the plant and business of Messrs Cornelius and Son, and have a splendid stock of horses and buggies, and riding hacks to meet the requirements of travellers and others.