NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2373, 25 October 1880, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY .

The C Battery Artillery Volunteers yesterday paraded for Church, Captain Hamcrslcy in command. The men marched to the Trinity Church, when the Rev. W. Gillies preached an appropriate sermon. Mr W. France, the chief officer in the Co nmiissioner ofCustoms Department at Wellington has received notice to retire. He will receive compensation and also six months’ full salary.

Mr Proctor is in Christchurch, but he talks of coming South again shortly, when it is to be hoped that he may be induced to give us one or more lectures.

Captain Barry is on a flying visit to Timaru. He complains that the purse of sovereigns, which accompanied his Timaru testimonial, only contained when inspected sevenpence half-penny in coppers and half-a-crown. The captain has evidently a grievance.

The wellknown scriptural quotation il it biteth like a serpent ” has received a literal continuation at the hands of a woman named Lee at Christchurch, who while drinking spirits from a tumbler on Saturday night was seized with a fit, bit through the glass and cut her mouth so badly that she had to be attended by a surgeon, Mrs Fitzwilliam, who died in'Wellington last week, was a member of the London Haymarket Company twenty years ago, and was the original Mrs Smith in “ David Garrick.” She was a friend of and played with most of the leading actors of the past two decades, including Mrs Alfred Mellon, Toole, Ben Webster, and Charles Mathews. The “ New Zealand Times ” says: “ The deceased lady leaves considerable property in London to a nephew and niece, and her life was insured in an English office for £IOOO.

Some of the public bodies are trying to make themselves as ridiculous as the Government have done in knocking 10 per cent off the wage of a country postmaster drawing £5 a year, or the Nelson charwoman who got a salary of 3s a week. According to the “ Mail,” the Nelson School Committee recently sent an intimation, in the full glory of tinted note paper with printed heading, to its teachers that" when school brooms require renewing or repairing, the teachers are required to forward all the old ones to the secretary,” Economy, this with a vengeance. If any proof were needed that a judicious system of advertising is the true key to commercial success, a very convincing one is afforded by the experience of Mr Strachan, draper of the Great North road. Mr Strachan on Saturday introduced a decided novelty (so far ns Timaru is concerned) in the advertising line. Express vans covered with posters paraded the town all day and naturally attracted much attention. The business done on Saturday was so great that Mr Strachan was unable to open his premises until ten o’clock this morning, in consequence of the disarrangement of stock.

The hard-labor gang arc rapidly improving the surroundings of the new public buildings, and by their efforts the hill dividing Sophia street from Church Terraco is daily becoming small by degrees and beautifully less. The footpath leading to the Post-office receiving boxes is, however, just now in anything but a satisfactory condition. The small shingle with which the path is covered, gives it ft firm and inviting appearance, but some caution is required in walking along it especially after a shower of rain, or otherwise the feet are apt to sink through the pebbles into the treacherous sludge beneath. A nother proof, as the moralist would say, who never loses an opportunity of this kind, that we should not be too ready to trust to appearances. Wc cordially endorse the sentiments of the Nelson “ Mail,” which, unable to stand the nuisance and expense any longer, writes that “ it would pay the newspaper proprietors in the colony either to enter into some sort of compromise with the Government about that confounded Invercargill railway time-table which would induce them to let the people down there have their own way in the matter or else to strike a bargain with the "‘Press” correspondent and give,him so much not to pester the public any more with telegrams relating to a subject about which they care nothing whatever. From the fact of our having heard nothing of the matter for a few days wc had hoped that the correspondent was clothed in his right mind once more, but to-day he has broken out in a fresh place, and two telegraph forms full of municipal borough council resolutions and so on have found their way into our waste-paper basket without their contents appearing in print.” The Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Show will be held on the new show grounds, Wai-iti road, to-morrow and on Wednesday. The only exhibits to-morrow will be sheep and implements. This afternoon was devoted to the arranging of the machinery, ploughs, Ac., of which there is an unusually good display. Sheep intended for exhibition must be on the ground by noon to-morrow. The judging will take place during the afternoon, but it is not expected that the awards will be made or the prizetakers ticketed before Wednesday morning. Altogether 7-10 entries have been received. We may add that visitors to town will have the opportunity of spending their leisure hours at the Church Bazaars, of which there are two, one in aid of the Primitive Methodist Church, in the Central Auction mart opposite the old Post office, the other in aid of .St Mary's Church Building Fund in the Queen’s Hall. The Comedy Company in the Theatre Royal present attractive bills of fare, ond doubtless they will receive penty of patronage.

It is stated (says the -< Post”) that the unfortunate young fellow Pearson, whose brain gave way under the pressure of preparing for the law examination, has successfully jjassed, and that His Honor the Chief Justice, with commendable kindly feeling* took upon himself personally to inform the unhappy young man of the fact.

A number of choice building sites at Fairlie Creek, facing the proposed railway terminus, will be offered for sale by Messrs J. T. Ford and Co, at the Grosvenor Hotel on Thursday. Attention is called to the sale of purebred stock at the Timaru Show on Wednesday. Instructed by the Hon 11. Campbell, .1. Haydon, and other well-known breeders, Messrs J. T. Ford and Co. will offer on the show grounds the two-year old draught entire, Young Vanquisher, a bull which has won several prizes, several pure-bred shorthorns, and a number of pure merino, rams. The opportunity of improving their stock deserves the attention of breeders.