NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2364, 14 October 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A regatta in the roadstead is talked about for Anniversary Day, Dec. IG. Mr Arthur Buechler, of Dunedin, has been appointed second master of the Timaru High School. November 3 has been set apart as a holiday at the High School, for the purpose of holding a sports meeting. The Roman Catholic Chapel at Russell, Bay of Islands, had a narrow escape from being burned, through some children setting fire to some undergrowth. A little child, 17 months old, a son of Mr Storey, of Temuka, was found dead in its bed early yesterday morning. The child is supposed to have turned on its face while asleep and to have thus been suffocated. It is stated the government has decided to give all the Police Inspectors and sub-in-spectors recently dismissed for retrenchment sake the option of continuing in the service, either at a lower grade and at a lower salary or else in the ranks as may be found practicable. Inspector Pender’s many friends will be glad to hear that he received a telegram from Government last evening, recognizing his claim upon it, viz:—That his Inspectorship dated from 1861. and that he would not therefore be included in the reductions. Inspector Buckley, of Christchurch, has received a similar intimation. In the Supreme Court at Christchurch yesterday, Mr A. G. Saunders sued Mr Godby, of Timaru, for £2lO, amount of a bill endorsed by him, and drawn by the late W. F. Neilson. The defence was chiefly that the bill had been satisfied, and that defendant had not endorsed the bill to plaintiff. Judgment was given for £IOO, with interest. Mr Hansford, R.M. of Wellington, having received twelve months’ leave of absence goes to Dunedin, where he undergoes an an operation on his throat. Should this have the anticipated effect; he will commence a long sea voyage. Mr G. B. Davy, 8.M., has been appointed his successor pro tm.

Professor Proctor has been invited to lecture to the Nuns at the Catholic Convent Dunedin.

Wheat is going up rapidly in price in the London market. A cablegram, dated October 11, says: —Adelaide wheat has advanced 2s per quarter, and is now quoted at 51s 6d ex warehouse.

The Dunedin railway delegate, who risked his situation by attending the Christchurch meetings during the railway agitation, has been presented with a purse of sovereigns by his fellow workmen.

The lease of the Government grain store in the railway yard, Lyttelton, was sold by auction yesterday, for a term of seven years, at £1,200 per annum, to Messrs P. Cunningham and Co.

The youthful incumbent of an Episcopal Church in Victoria has been denouncing the secular system of education in that colony. He took his text from Jeremiah, 11 Take away her battlements, for they are not the Lord’s.” A more appropriate text would have been, “ And the lad knew nothing of the matter.”

The* Timaru High School Board have agreed to vote £2O this year for prizes; to offer two prizes, one for boys and one for girls above the age of 16, of the value of £lO 10s each, to be expended in payment of school fees for the next year ; also to give two pupils their education free in return for two hours’ daily work as assistant teachers.

The Melbourne “Argus” in a recent issue says:—A stranger was in the Assembly yesterday, and could not be got rid of. The intruder was a handsome parrot, possessed of a musical turn. The bird made his presence in the upper regions known by interrupting Mr M’Kean with the lively tune of “Up and Down the City road” which he introduced with a vigour and propriety which moved the house to laughter.

An the annual sports at Christ’s College, Christchurch, yesterday, C. T. Newton putted the stone 29ft 10£in, eclipsing previous feats, and the same lad threw the cricket ball 93yds 2ft, winning that event also. W. P. Studholme jumped oft lin (high jump), which is within half an inch of the best ever made at these sports. With the exception of the mile race, won by H. H. Mathias in smin i 4-sth secs, the racing was not up to the mark.

Constables and detectives in Victoria can do things that would drive the seven-shilling-a-day men in New Zealand into the Bankruptcy Court. We take the following from the Melbourne “Telegraph” : —“ Suspicion having attached to several publichouses that gambling was allowed to be extensively carried on, two plain-clothes constables visited one of the suspected houses. After indulging in one or two games of billiards, they gained admission to a room in which poker was being played at which they took a hand, and thus allayed the suspicions they first aroused. After a while they proceeded muchjto the astonishment of those assembled to bar the door and handcuff the inmates, the landlord being amongst the number.

With regard to the girl Greaves, now on remand for larceny, we have received infor mation which tends to show that she is weak-minded, —so much so as to be hardly responsible for her actions. Her singular eccentricities have been observed by persons with whom she has been staying in Timaru, and we trust the police, before proceeding with a criminal prosecution, will institute enquiries with the view of ascertaining whether, if she is to be deprived of her liberty, she is not a more suitable subject for an asylum than a gaol.

Temuka, say our correspondent, was made uproarious by a drum and fife and brass-work competition last evening. The Temuka brass band from the north and the drum and fife band from the south came into noisy collision opposite the Eoyal Hotel, and for a time the noise and discord of the rival bandsmen made the old women of Temuka imagine that pandemonium had broke loose. At last after exhausting their wind and their tempers the musicians decided to take tune about, and the confusion of sounds became more refresh ing and grateful to the ear.

The “Auckland Star” of a late date has the following:—The lady who was married in Newton on Saturday has called at our office and wishes to state that it is quite untrue that she ever advertised for a husband. She has had several chances, but would not take a husband unless of her own age. Her age Jis only 55 and the bridegroom’s 66, so that the match is a very appropriate one. She has money and property of her own, and therefore had no occasion to borrow five shillings; she thinks that if people who put such stories about would pay the money that they owe her it would be better for them, and if the police would suppress larrikinism and keep order, there would be more peace in the neighborhood. The conduct of the boys was disgraceful. They climbed on the roof and danced on it, trampled down the flower beds, struck her husband, and behaved in the most outrageous way.

An energetic stonemason named Burns has been annoying the Auckland Police Magistrate. As ho refused to knock off work when the Court was sitting, the Bench ordered a constable to bring him in. Burns, in reply to the judicial admonitions, said he had to work for his living, and if he did not work, ho would not be paid. His Worship said the stones were intended for the new court house, and they might an well be taken up there in the first instance. The contractor had told him that there would be no noise allowed to interrupt the court proceedings. If the stones were taken up to the building (the new court house) there would be no interruption. Mr Burns : But, your Worship, these stones are very heavy, and I am making them light to take them up. His Worship: The few pounds you take off them will not make much difference. Mr Burns: I am taking a good many pounds off them. His Worship: If you continue to interrupt the court I shall take a good many pounds off you! Mr Burns; I have not many pounds to take. Will your Worship send mo word when I may begin? His Worship promised that he would, and Mr Burns loft the court.

The Rev. Bartholomew Goddard, late a Roman Catholic priest, has just been married to a Portuguese lady at tit. George’s, Hanover Square, Loudou.