South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1880. NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2219, 28 April 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1880. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Referring to the late fatal accident at Addington,, the “Lyttelton Times” says: “In connection with this sad occurrence some singular facts are recorded. The sou of the dead man, who is driving an engine on the Oxford branch line, had a dream, in which he saw some one lying across the rails, and in the morning, talking to his mate, he expressed the , opinion that it was his father he had seen in his dream. It is also strange that Duffy was to have been replaced on tire very day be was killed, by a man from Amberley, but some trivial circumstance prevented the man being despatched as was intended.” . . The whale (Physalus antarcticus) stranded übout eight days ago upon the New Brighton beach has been seemed for the CanterbmyJVluseum.,. It is 64ft long, and some idea of its size may be. gathered from the fact that its bones formed four heavy drayloads.

MrHislop M.H.R., for the Waitnki has withdrawn' from politics.' Mr W. L. Rees of Napier will probably contest the seat. ; A wholesale slaughter of cattle, supposed to be infected with pleuro-pncumonia, is going on at Waikato.

Government have received advices from London that £1,100,000 of the live million loan have been converted into 4 per cent, inscribed stocks, under the Consolidated Stock Act, 1877.

An extraordinary occurrence is reported by the “Argus” to have occurred in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, early on the morning of the 20th. An elderly man was walking quietly along, when he saw upon the ground 'a dark looking object which excited his curiosity. He picked it up and was about to examine it, when it suddenly exploded, a portion of it passing right through his hand. Pie at once ran up to the Melbourne Hospital and was attended by Drs Newman and AVoinarski. It wars found that a bullet or some other substance had passed through his hand fracturing the metacarpal bone and lacerating the flesh in its transit. The man dropped the weapon when it exploded, and it was not subsequently found, so that the matter is at present inexplicable. The man gave his name as Alexander Robinson, and stated that he had only yesterday being put to work at stone-breaking by the Government.

At Christchurch yesterday a man named J. W. Crabtree was sentenced to a month's hard labor for revolting Cruelty to a marc. The animal w r as left to linger with a broken leg which rotted away by degrees. She was seen eating wood, and gnawing boards from the house. A veterinary surgeon ordered her to be destroyed, but. no wm tal:cn, An attempt was made to defend the case by stating that the horse was part of a bankrupt estate and did not belong to the defendant, but the trustees sw’ore that Crabtree had sent another horse to the sale and the trustees had nothing to do with it. The accused, it turned out, had been convicted in January last on a similar charge, and the Magistrate in passing sentence spoke very strongly of the revolting inhumanity of the prisoner.

Encouraged by the successful floating of the Harbor Board loan of £IOO,OOO in the London market, Oamaru is preparing for a another desperate engagement wdth the floating shingle. It is proposed, if the shingle wall only permit, to make the breakwater as secure as a dock, and to dredge the enclosure to a depth of 25 feet. A good race between the Oamaru and Timaru harbor-makers may be anticipated.

A woman named Esther Teague died very suddenly in Dunedin yesterday_ Heart disoaac is supposed to have been the cause.

At the sitting of the Canterbury AA r nstc Lands Board yesterday the following amounts w r ere sold, realising £2282 11s 3d. subject to a refund of £BS 7s 4d: —Ashley, 70 acres; Selwin, 813 a Ir 15p ; Akaroa, IGa Ir; Geraldine, 126 a3r Blp ; town of Arowheuua,. 2a Ir ; towm of Orari, 4a (under Public Reserves Hale Act) ; total, 1057 a Ir 19 .

Our morning contemporary announces that the intimation that a free pardon had been granted to F. A. Sims, is incorrect, and that only one-third of the sentence passed by Judge Ward has been remitted. Wc believe the “ Herald ” is perfectly right, a commutation of sentence having been granted, to take effect from the 30th inst. There is, however, one portion of the paragraph which wc must accept wdth reservation. It says :—“The Jury recommended Sims to mercy, and the Judge, on a petition in Sims’ favor being referred to him, supported that recommendation. Upon this the Governor w r as advised to remit onethird of the sentence imposed by the Court.” Being under the impression that Judge AVard gave effect to the recommendation of the jury w'hen he passed what (supposing the accused to have been righteously convicted), was a ludicrously light sentence, wc are at a loss to see how His Honor could consistently and conscientiously have transferred the recommendation that w r as addressed to himself to the Governor in Council. Having given effect to the recommendation, there was no need that the duty should be performed over again by somebody else. . However, as w r c do not write under inspiration, w r e arc not in a position to contradict the statement. If it is correct, Mr Sims is the fortunate recipient of a double-distilled kind of mercy, which, even in this age of winders, is undoubtedly a novelty.

The principal beauty of the Mormon religion is that the same woman doesn’t have to get up lirst the entire winter to build the kitchen lire.